§four questions

Debra Darvick chats with Platinum.

Watching children spill out of Hillel Day
School in Farmington Hills at the end
of one school day struck a chord with
DEBRA DARVICK. "Their faces were so
beautiful," said the Birmingham-based
writer and blogger. "I looked at them all
and thought, 'I love these Jewish faces.'
" That moment of reflection ended up
serving as the inspiration for her new chil-
dren's picture book, /Love Jewish Faces
(URJ Books & Music; $8.95), due out this
month. Darvick, 53, a wife and mother
of two grown children, says the book
celebrates the many colors of Judaism
and sends the message that a Jewish
face can be any face. "Through the photo
research I did for the book, I realized how many Jews of color there are," Darvick explains. "It was
moving to realize how many thousands of people have chosen Judaism, its rhythms, laws and cus-
toms." Darvick's book is just the latest in a long string of published works. The graduate of Kenyon
College in central Ohio has received numerous awards for her nonfiction, feature writing, anthologies
and articles. She will be part of the JCC's Jewish Book Fair this year. Darvick also has a blog
(debradarvick.com ) and works at the Frankel Jewish Academy in West Bloomfield doing marketing
and communications. "I love the school and the unique educational option it gives Jewish Detroit,"
she says. Here, we ask Debra Darvick our version of the Four Questions.

1. WHAT BOOK, CD OR
OTHER MEDIA DO YOU
LONG TO SHARE?

it evoke such searing memories that
she couldn't get past the first few
chapters?

Kabbala Kirtan. On this CD, a singer
named Yofiyah chants Hebrew songs
and prayers in the call-and-answer
style of Kirtan music. The effect is
haunting, thrilling and a comfortable
blend of Far East and Middle East.

2. IF YOU COULD HAVE
BRUNCH WITH ONE
BIBLICAL OR HISTORICAL
JEWISH FIGURE, WHO
WOLD IT BE?

I'd ask Dinah [the only daughter of
Jacob and sister to his 12 sons, from
the book of Genesis] if she'd read
Anita Diamant's The Red Tent and
what she thought about the novel as
midrash. Does Dinah think Diamant
truly gave voice to her tragic experi-
ence? Could she put it down? Or did

3. WHAT IMPORTANT
LIFE LESSONS HAVE YOU
RECENTLY LEARNED?

I've learned that taking up water ski-
ing in one's 50s might not be the
wisest move. But the glow of having
the gumption mid-life to jump into
a new experience both-feet first way
outlasts the muscle aches.

4. WHAT WOULD PEOPLE
BE SURPRISED TO KNOW
ABOUT YOU?

I wear a size 9 shoe. I realized a long
time ago it was probably nature's way
of keeping me grounded. Either that
or someone forgot that big feet and
tall people usually go together.

— Robin Schwartz

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