teen 2 teen ex(ra

What Would You Endure To Perform A Mitzvah?

By Hadas Corey/T2T

than Friedman hadn't had a hair-
cut for three years.
It took him that long to grow
the required 10 inches for Locks of Love, an
organization that makes wigs for children
and youth who need them but can't afford
them. Most have lost their hair due to alope-
cia (spot baldness) or cancer treatment.
Ethan, 13, who attends Hillel Day School
of Metropolitan Detroit in Farmington Hills,
chose to donate his long brown locks as a
project for his upcoming bar mitzvah.
"When I saw this kid at my dad's office, I
felt so bad;' Ethan says. "So I decided that I
should donate my hair to Locks of Love so I
could help a kid like him."

Spring Break
Alternative

Little did he know what that decision
would bring.
"Ethan took a lot of deliberate and non-
deliberate kidding but never wavered; he
was 100 percent committed and deter-
minecr says Bob Friedman, Ethan's proud
father. "I think I got more offended than
Ethan most of the time, but he was always
there to assure me it's no big deal. He would
say, `Dad, it's only words; and I know I am
doing this for a good cause:"
If other kids dared to make fun of Ethan,
he would say, "I am donating my hair to
Locks of Love to help less fortunate people.
What are you doing to help people less for-
tunate?"
Ethan, being one of the only boys in his
hockey league to have hair flowing down

from his helmet, had to suffer comments
from players, fans and even parents.
"After one game in which Ethan excelled
physically, a parent from the other team came
up to me and commented, 'Wow, that girl
on your team can really hit;" his father said.
"My response was, `That girl is a boy, and he
happens to be my son.' Ethan and I got a big
laugh out of it. It never even fazed him:'
With his new, short haircut, Ethan is
studying for his Sept. 8 bar mitzvah at
Congregation B'nai Moshe
in West Bloomfield. II

- Hadas Corey, 16, T2T Intern,

attends Birmingham Seaholm

High School

Judaism In A New Light

Diller Teen Fellow experiences Shabbat at the Kotel.

By Hadas Corey/T2T

s

ay goodbye to Mexico and hello to
. Costa Rica.
The traditional spring break trip,
filled with partying and potential chaos, now
has a safe, meaningful alternative.
The Youth Department at Temple Israel in
West Bloomfield has created a vacation with
both fun and community service. Temple
Israel's high school juniors and seniors will
be offered the chance to travel through the
rainforests of Costa Rica. The seven-day
adventure will allow the students to connect
with the country's agricultural community
and do tikkun olam (repair of the world).
Students will be chaperoned by Rabbi Josh
Bennett and Tina Gargotta of Temple Israel
and other adults. Each student may invite one
Jewish friend who is not a congregant.
"Having another option to the danger-
ous trip that has become spring break is
an important message to send to our com-
munity. I hope that teens are interested in
making their vacations fun and educational;'
Bennett says.
The trip will cost $1,800 per student.
Several scholarships are available.
To learn more, attend one of the informa-
tion meetings for parents and students, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 6, or 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 10,
at Temple Israel. No reservation required.
To reserve a spot for the trip, e-mail Rabbi
Bennett (josh@temple-israel.org ) or Tina
Gargotta (tina@ temple-israel.org ). E

— Hadas Corey, 16, T2T intern

Ethan Friedman, 13, of West
Bloomfield donated his hair to
Locks of Love.

Diller Teen Fellows from Detroit and Israel on Shabbat in the Negev. Story author
Michael Baum is in top row, second from left.

Michael Baum/Diller Teen Fellow

his summer, I was luc
enough to join Detroit's Diller
Teen Fellows, a yearlong
national leadership development pro-
gram that encourages. Jewish activism,
community service and love for the
State of Israel. The highlight of this
program is a three-week trip in Israel
where we tour and have an opportunity
to stay with teens from our partnership
region in the Central Galilee.
We have a variety of choices for

Friday night services and while we were
in Jerusalem, I decided to go to the
Kotel, the Western Wall.
We overcame the unbearable
Jerusalem heat and streets full of
people and arrived at the Wall. I could
not believe my eyes. The entire Wall
was surrounded by a sea of black hats,
and the energy level was indescrib-
able. My brothers and sisters from
America (Diller teens also came from
San Francisco, Baltimore and Cleveland)

and Israel were speechless. I could
clearly look into each person's eyes and I
knew I possessed that same energy that
brought us all together there that night.
After some time, I was able to reach the
Kotel itself.
Although I had been there last year on
Federation's 2006 Teen Mission, being
able to touch the Wall on Shabbat, sur-
rounded by my new friends from all
over the world, gave me an entirely new
perspective. I never felt so connected
to Judaism and Israel, the homeland of
my people. I felt as if everything was
perfect.
Observing all the different types of
Jews from all over the world praying
together made me realize that we must
unite the Jewish people to guarantee a
successful future. From my experience
at the Kotel, I realized that we must
maintain a strong connection to Israel
as a whole and stay in close contact with
our partnership region to strengthen
our Detroit Jewish community. E 1

Michael Baum is a senior at the Frankel

Jewish Academy of Metropolitan Detroit

in West Bloomfield. The Diller Teen Fellows

program is coordinated by the Jewish

Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and fund-

ed by the Helen Diller Family Foundation,

with additional funds from Federation's

Stephen H. Schulman Millennium Fund.

Watch fo. teen 2 teen in next week's Jewish News

August 9 = 2007

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