a place of our own cont.

T2T torah: Parshat
Chaye Sara

Staff photo by Armando Rios

Staff photo by Armando Rios

Nov. 22, 2008 - by Sarah Spitzer

Abraham's
blessings of
Israel and
family

Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for

everything we have, especially our country.

•
Left: Hannah Moiseev checks out a computer station. Above:

As American Jews, we are fortunate to have

Michelle Happy and Leigh Grinberg enjoy pinball. Right: Teens

in presently, and the one that is the land of

helped pick out the color schemes and amenities of the JCC

our people, our nation — Israel.

Beverly Prentis Wagner Teen Center.

more than one country — the one we live

In the parshah the week before last,

parshat Lech Lecha, God gave Abraham,

our forefather, the Land of Israel, and prom-

ised it to us — his future descendents. In

this week's parshah, parshat Chaye Sarah,

we see Abraham's commitment to secur-

ing the land for us beyond all doubt. When

Sarah dies, he looks for a burial site for her

and decides upon the cave of Machpelah,

owned by Ephron the Chiti. Ephron offers

to give the cave and the surrounding area

to Abraham for free, but Abraham wishes to

Left: Robbie Herman and Jake Balbes celebrate a great shot while Erica Sachse looks on. Right: JCC leaders: Director Mark Lit, Day Camps/
Youth and Teen Services Director Forest Levy, board member Brian Siegel and Teen Coordinator Lindsey Fox.

group. They wanted everyone was to be represented.
Logistics were worked out, colors were picked, games
were determined, furniture was chosen and, in time, a
prime hangout spot was created.
As part of the plan, the JCC decided to keep all youth
offices together in the Teen Center, including the Cen-
ter's Day Camps and Youth and Teens Services offices
with Director Forest Levy and Teen Coordinator Lind-
sey Fox as well as the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization
office headed by Eric Adelman. This way, teens will see
their new center when they go to these offices.
Major donors for the Teen Center were the Prentis
Family Support Foundation and the Bruce Frankel fam-
ily. The center is named after Beverly Prentis Wagner.
Cost of the youth center totaled nearly $850,000.
"Without our donors, this whole project would never
have happened and just been a fantasy," said co-chair
Erica Sachse. "I'd like to thank them for believing in the
teens of this community and making a haven for us.
"It's incredible, it surpassed all my expectations. I
didn't think it'd be that big, that modern and that cool.
We don't have a big city, so often we hang out at peo-
ple's houses. The center is like the most amazing base-
ment on steroids. One of the best aspects is the study
area, especially with kids preparing for college now. It
portrays a good image of the JCC — that study is just as
important as hanging out."
The significance of transforming a Holocaust memo-
rial into a youth center is not lost on Mark Lit.
"This is the best," he said. "We are not only helping
this generation; we are not just remembering the past;
but we are, in fact, living the future."
What could be better then tying the past, present and the

future into one amazing, safe and teen-oriented facility?
The JCC Beverly Prentis Wagner Teen Center is open
to all Jewish teens. Members will have a JCC/Maccabi
Club membership card. A Teen Center membership is
$60 annually; for $120, a Teen Center member can use
the whole JCC. All Frankel Jewish Academy of Metro-
politan Detroit teens will be members thanks to an anon-
ymous donor, while all Detroit Maccabi participants are
members because they paid for this in their registration
fee. Also, because the BBYO office will be housed there,
BBYO members will get a pass but are strongly encour-
aged to join the JCC Maccabi Club for all benefits.
Families are noticing the center, and have started to
book the space for future events.
"The more the center is taking on its own life, we
need a full-time director for this facility, and I'm thrilled
to bring Lindsey on board," said Todd Sachse, JCC pres-
ident and father of Erica.
"Feedback from teens is beyond our expectations. I
am beyond excited about what this will do for the whole
youth program at the JCC. It's like a teenage fantasy-
land, with everything they'd want to do."
Grand opening for the center will be Jan. 17, 2009. A
soft opening will be in December. Hours have not been
determined yet.
This facility was made by teens for teens. Let's enjoy
it!

For more photos, go to JNt2t.com

For information on the Teen Center, con-
tact Lindsey Fox at (248) 432-5428 or
e-mail lfox@jccdet.org.

Shaye Winer, 17, is a senior at West Bloom-
field High School.

pay for the land, and he gives Ephron his

asking price of 400 silver shekels.

According to the commentaries, Ephron

wanted to cheat Abraham by not having him

pay for the land then later saying he had

never given it to him. In order to make his

possession indisputable, Abraham paid the

unusually high price without question, even

though the land would rightfully belong to

his descendents anyway.

Abraham received Israel because of his

faith in God, and it has been passed down

to the Jewish people ever since. In more

recent years, we have reclaimed it. Our land

and our heritage, however, do not come

without their difficulties. We must work to

protect what

we

have and be thankful for it

at every moment.

The parshah of Chaye

Sara

details Abra-

ham's family and the marriage of Isaac, and

Abraham shows his strong belief in deep

family ties. He commands his servant to

return to his homeland to find a wife for his

son, Isaac, and his servant returns with Re-

becca, the daughter of Bethuel, the nephew

of Abraham.

Through the delineation of Abraham's

descendents and the legacy he leaves to

Isaac, Abraham displays the importance

of family, and we must learn from him to

be forever thankful for our family and to al-

ways stay close to our people. As Jews, we

must stand up for one

another and appreciate

and truly be grateful for

our heritage.

Sarah Spitzer, 17, is
a senior at Yeshivat

Akiva In Southfield.

teen2teen November • 2008 B3