creation of WISDOM — their meeting
at an interfaith event, the documentary
premier of "Reuniting the Children of
Abraham" at Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian
Church in Bloomfield Hills, and how
WISDOM has developed into a dynamic
women's interfaith dialogue organization
hosting many successful educational and
social-service programs.
Many stories will feel like you're witness-
ing events unfolding in your back yard —
stories about overcoming tough problems
with relationships at school — or finding
solutions when families suddenly encounter
friction over interreligious marriages.
Other stories take you to times and places
around the world — two girls in Iran risk-
ing the wrath of religious authorities with
their interfaith friendship; a Jewish woman,
a child of Holocaust survivors, who finds
an unexpected friendship when a German
couple moves in next door; a Muslim-
Hindu marriage that raises cross-country
anxiety in India; and a rare true story about
an innocent Japanese girl who bravely faced
hatred in an internment camp here and also
in Japan during World War II.
You will read the heartfelt stories of per-
sonal struggles. One Muslim woman shares
her story of how challenging it was for her
to start wearing a head scarf after 9-11 and
another about how she ended an abusive
marriage, stopped wearing her head scarf
and started helping other Arab woman in
all their relationships. Some stories, like
mine, show how a lunch with an Imam led
to creating an interfaith project "Reuniting
the Children of Abraham" that has crossed
race, faith, cultural barriers and interna-
tional boundaries.

Contact us online at the
WISDOM Web site, www.
interfaithwisdom.org and
look for our stories at www.
FriendshipAndFaith.com as well
as www.ReadtheSpirit.com . We
would love to come to your
congregation or organization
and present our program
"5 Women 5 Journeys," an
insightful exchange about our
faiths, beliefs and challenges
as women. If you are interested
in organizing a congregational
read of this book, contact Gail
Katz at gailkatz@comcast.net .

FRIENDSHIP and FAITH; the
WISDOM of women creating
alliances for peace was
unveiled at a meeting of
the Interfaith Leadership
Council (IFLC) held April 14
at Christ Church Cranbrook,
Bloomfield Hills. The group is
the brainchild of former Detroit
Free Press religion writer David
Crumm and local interfaith
advocates. The IFLC is trying
to be a resource and learning
point for area religion writers
as well as intensify interfaith
activity in Metropolitan
Detroit. The book is available
via amazon.com .

Brenda Rosenberg is a member of Temple Beth El

'A Holy Moment'

Rabbi earns special preacher honors

R

abbi Daniel Syme, known
for his interreligious
work as spiritual leader
of Temple Beth El in Bloomfield
Township, has been inducted into
the Martin Luther King Jr. Board
of Preachers of Morehouse College
in Atlanta.
The ceremony
was held April
1 in the Martin
Luther King Jr.
International
Chapel as part
of the 24th
annual College
of Ministers and
Rabbi Syme
Laity Program,
which promotes
Dr. King's ethical
traditions of nonviolence through
clergy, scholars and laity.
"It was an astounding experi-
ence," Syme told the JN last week.
"This is holy ground."
On a tour of the campus,
inductees visited a gallery of
honor featuring painted por-
traits of great civil rights leaders,
including Ghandi, Rabin and
Heschel.
Also portrayed is Rev. Charles
G. Adams, pastor of Hartford
Memorial Baptist Church in
Detroit and a good friend of
Syme's. Adams, one of the deans

of American preachers and an
honorary dean of Morehouse
College, was among the MLK
Board of Preachers members who
supported Syme's induction.
"It was an incredible moment
seeing his portrait," Syme said.
More than 800 people have been
inducted since 1986. Selection is
based on the recommendation
of current members of the MLK
Board of Preachers as well as evi-
dence that the proposed inductee
is committed to Dr. King's prin-
ciples and practices.
Syme was told he is the first
rabbinic inductee. He called
the induction "a transcendent
moment in my life."
Recalling his successful bout
with cancer when he was 20,
which influenced him to become a
rabbi, Syme said about his Atlanta
visit: "The experience just leaves
me with a feeling that there is
something more I am supposed
to do."
He added, "Each of us has a
responsibility to do whatever
we can for world peace and for
interreligious understanding. The
people represented at Morehouse
College gave everything during
their lifetimes so we could have a
better world to live in now.
"I am truly humbled." E

in Bloomfield Township.

I grew up with Holocaust stories and
I knew that my mother was alive only
because my grandfather had the fore-
sight to get his family out of Poland in
the 1920s. My parents made their chil-
dren keenly aware of our calling as Jews
to tikkun olam [repair of the world].
There were Russian refuseniks at our
Passover seders, and we championed the
civil rights of African-Americans.
Because of my family background, I
was drawn toward a career of teaching
English to immigrant students in the
Berkley School District. These students
felt ostracized because of their struggle
with the English language and their dif-
ferent cultures and religions. I formed
a diversity club called STARS (Students
Taking a Right Stand) to help deal with

these problems. We addressed all of our
differences, celebrated our diversity and
learned how to stand up and speak out
against bullying.
Teaching the foreign students sparked
my interest in different faith traditions
and I soon became the coordinator of a
program entitled the Religious Diversity
Journeys for Seventh Graders. This
program for Oakland County schools
promotes greater awareness and under-
standing of the many religions prevalent
in Metro Detroit and prepares students
for life in our increasingly diverse soci-
ety.
I also chair the annual World Sabbath
for Religious Reconciliation, which
began at Christ Church Cranbrook in
Blomfield Hills and in 2011 will be held

at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield. The
World Sabbath has become an interfaith
happening: focusing on youth of vari-
ous faith traditions leading prayers for
peace, entertaining us with dance, music
and creating peace banners that are
woven into a "Children of Peace Quilt"!!
In March of 2006, I met my spiritual
soul mates Trish Harris and Shahina
Begg at Brenda Rosenberg's "Reuniting
the Children of Abraham" program. The
three of us — a Christian, a Muslim and
a Jew — realized our common passion
for making the world a better place and
WISDOM (Women's Interfaith Solutions
for Dialogue and Outreach in Metro
Detroit) was born. It is a nonprofit
organization where women of many
faith traditions and their families learn,

encounter, dialogue, respect and cham-
pion the other.
What's most remarkable about my
journey is that it has strengthened and
deepened my Judaism. Because of my
interfaith interaction, I have reconnected
with my own childhood yearning.
I have come full circle — from the
days of feeling "left out" as a youngster,
to conquering that feeling by enrolling
in Torah and Talmud classes and plan-
ning for my adult bat mitzvah. I am
awed by this turn in my long quest —
taking me home even as it has carried
me so far from my home. My journey
continues — outward and inward! ❑

Gail Katz is a member of Temple Israel,

West Bloomfield.

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