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Celebrate And Salivate
W
hat is it that causes us joy, raises our hopes, feeds our
• June — The month offers us Shavuot and a chance to indulge in
souls (and stomachs) and gets us through the year? Why,
dairy meals, my personal favorite. Add to that the chances to con-
a calendar of holidays, that's what.
gratulate grads (with cake and ice cream) and confirmands (with ice
Mixing the secular and the religious, let's examine the delicacies
cream and cake).
that await us each month. Realize of course that the
• July — What a bang-up time (oy!) to be had on the 4th.
months are often off by a smidge — no Jewish holiday is
What a challenge to make red, white and blue treats like flag
ever on time; it's always "early this year" or "late this yen"
cakes and to cook out every day. Celebrate the hot dog, the
• January — Once we recover from our celebratory
hamburger, the chicken wings and the freedom to make a pig
hangovers, we are ready for resolutions, promising our-
of yourself.
selves to be better in the coming year. Food involvement
• August — Ok, you got me here. I really can't make a food
comes in the form of promises to diet and only then
association with a fast, especially like Tisha b'Av; but we do
because we have overdone it at so many holiday parties.
get a breather to counteract the renewed gorging that is to
(Worry not, since these delusions will soon pass.)
come up on the High Holidays.
• February — To take our minds off winter (you know,
• September — Labor Day comes and goes, taking with
that nine-month stretch of snow, ice, cold and darkness),
it the wearing of white and leads us to prepare for the food
we have Valentine's Day (honoring chocolate, love and
fest we've come to know as Rosh Hashanah. True, we recant
Sy Manello
more chocolate); President's Day (honoring store sales
on Yom Kippur, but go back to feasting on Sukkot in October.
Editorial
and cake with cherries on it, chocolate cherries and cher-
What a month!
Assistant
ries jubilee).
• October — eating in the sukkah just seems to boost
• March — Coming in like a lion, this month enables
appetites a notch and that's not a bad thing. For those who
us to tell others to "go fly a kite" and not seem too brusque. All
have put on a few pounds, try dancing them off with the Torah on
munchies are welcomed at this time as we wake from hibernation.
Simchat Torah.
• April — Despite the proverbial shower-flower bit, we plan for
• November — Why is it that when we think of giving thanks it is
Passover. Here is our opportunity to eat all that stuff considered cha-
for a "bountiful feast"? No, I'm not that cynical; I know that many of
metz (leavened) to get rid of it in time and then stuff ourselves with
us find many things to be thankful for in addition to plentiful cran-
Pesach goodies (just avoid the cereal; it's deadly!)
berry sauce and sweet potatoes with marshmallows.
• May — We take time out to remember Israel (Independence and
• December — The month of the visit by the Great Latke is truly
Remembrance days) as well as the Holocaust. Though a sobering
worthy of note. And what better time to prep ourselves for the
time, why pass up an opportunity to whisk up some tasty Middle East onslaught of the New Year parties.
treats?
Here we go again!
❑
Fire blazes at the
Hechtman II Jewish
Apartments in West
Bloomfield.
Federation Board of Governors recently voted to allocate $50,000 from
the general fund. An additional $50,000 was donated by an individual,
so now the fund stands at $151,000.
JAS executive staff and some Hechtman staff attended a fire de-
briefing session at the West Bloomfield Fire Department. The key fire
personnel from each station involved went through a step-by-step dis-
cussion about how events unfolded and what, if anything, could have
been improved.
"Without exception;' Wurdock says, "the chiefs and commanders of
both fire and police praised JAS staff for their quick response, attrib-
uting a large portion of their success to our preparedness."
A full report will be available from the fire department by early
summer.
Guten Cohen, story development editor
Hechtman Fire Update
The staff of Jewish Apartments & Services coordinated the move-
outs of former Hechtman II residents after the April 9 fire. The goal
was to have them completed by May 2, and that was accomplished.
Now begins the process of removing loose debris and other damaged
material from the building, which is expected to take about three
months, says spokesman Pete Wurdock.
The Hechtman Fire Relief Fund, coordinated by the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit for JAS, has raised $51,000. The
.
A8
May 15 • 2008
Israel@60: We Are Strong
A new Web site, supported by the Jewish Agency for Israel, honors
Israel's 60th anniversary of independence with photos, blog entries
and samplings of songs from a new CD by Lawrence and Robin
Dermer.
Israel@60: We Are Strong is a CD that features seven contemporary
pop songs co-written by this husband-wife team. The compositions
share a theme of peace, unity and independence. The Dermers and
their two sons, also musicians, traveled to Israel to record the CD,
which also includes voices of top Israeli singers as well as Israeli
choirs. Portions of their trip also are shown on the Web site:
www.israelwearestrong.org .
- Keri Guten Cohen, story development editor
Israel Photo Contest
JN readers showed their
love of Israel by entering our
Israel@60 photo contest. The
top three winners' photos
grace our cover, contents
page and the opening page
of our Israel@60 special sec-
tion. AD the entries can be
seen online. From majestic
landscapes to people riding
camels or frolicking in the
Dead Sea, our readers cap-
tured the Israel experience.
For a look at all the photos,
go to JNonline.us and click
the photo contest button.
Latest From Israel
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news from Israel? Check
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Ynetnews.com for continu-
ous updates and longer news,
opinion and feature stories.
And look at the center of our
Homepage for an Israel story
that changes twice daily.
Just visit JNonline.us and
click on a scrolling story on
the left.
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Hezbollah threatening the
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