Opinion " 4 , f i. , Pt 1014 15% OFF i I 1, 1i Health Fair Spurs Interfaith Ties Your entire purchase of all plants & flowers Valid with this ad. New retail purchases of live plants & !towers only. Hard goods, labor & custom orders excluded. May not be combined with any other promotions, discounts Of corporate rotes. Exp 12-31-11 I Tropical plants for the home & garden Come visit our breathtaking indoor plant oasis and see hundreds of exotics as well as our one-of-kind living wall. We offer Southeastern Michigan's best selection of tropicals and planters for sale in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors. 248-661-1515 7315 DRAKE RD. W BLOOMFIELD, MI 48322 14 Mile Rd. 4—M5,1-696 WWW,PLANTERRA.COM Evotic Botanicals • Decorative Pottery • Orchids • Garden Art • Vintage Planters Contacting HealthCall is the First Step to Maintaining Quality Life at Home Call 1-800-991-9933 Home Health Care and Private Duty Nursing Services At HealthCall, we provide a wide range of home care and private duty services to patients throughout Michigan, including: • Skilled Nursing Care • Physical Therapy • • Occupational Therapy Speech Therapy • • Post Surgical Care Diabetic Teaching • Stroke Rehabilitation • Medical Social Work Accepted payment includes private pay, long term care policies, private insurance plans, no fault auto insurance, workman's compensation, Medicare, and Medicaid. Every HealthCall employee must pass pre-employment skill level assessments as well as thorough background and reference checks. 1 HealthCall Immsamaga. www.healthcallhomecareicom Toll Free: 800.991.9933 CHIIP A CHAP Accredited Agency llness sees no religious boundaries; and the com- mandment to heal the sick is shared by Jews and Muslims. That was the thinking behind the Interfaith Health Fair held on Nov. 7, at the Muslim Center Mosque and Community Center in Detroit. Organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Detroit and the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan, it brought together some 60 Jewish and Muslim volunteers — doctors, nurses, medi- cal students, social workers and others — to provide a series of basic medical screenings to Detroiters. The majority of the clients served were African-American Christians from the area, which increased the interfaith interactions at the event. DTE Energy Foundation, Great Lakes Health Plan and Henry Ford Health Systems provided the monetary and in-kind support that made the event possible. The health fair was considered by the organizers, participants and clients to be a great success. Twenty-five volunteers who filled out a post-event survey rated their overall volunteer experience as "excellent" or "good." One volunteer said, "The health screenings, counseling and medications provided a real service for those who sought them out:" A physi- cian commented that it was a "great concept bringing together professionals of different faiths to work together to help others." A concrete indicator of the impact of the event was that 30 of the 120 clients served were found during the screenings Jewish paramedic Matt Migliore with fairgoer Sheila Log on to JNonline.us giveaways • forums • calendars VISIT JNonline.us 40 December 9 • 2010 IN Crutchfield and Muslim medical student Ahmer Ali to need immediate treatment or further intervention; and the adjacent Huda Clinic was opened and used to provide that additional care. The sugges- tion of an inter- faith health fair originated from the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, an organization founded by the renowned Rabbi Marc Schneier that promotes bridge-building between Jews, Muslims, blacks, Latinos and other groups. The idea also was a natural outgrowth of last year's first-time involvement by Muslims in Mitzvah Day, when almost a thousand Jewish volunteers replaced Christian workers on Christmas Day. This Jewish community initiative is echoed by Prophet Mohammad's dic- tum: "The best among the people are those who benefit the people." Both efforts used pragmatic social justice work to deliver an important message about interfaith relations: Beyond learning about other faiths, we need to learn about the people who ascribe to those other faiths. Working side-by-side with them to help repair the world breaks down stereotypes and opens the door to new friendships and perhaps even challenging but productive conversations. We are commanded to help those in need. Jews call the obligation tzedakah; Muslims call it sadaka. Doing so as partners is especially rewarding, mean- ingful and symbolic. CI Robert Cohen is executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Detroit. Victor Begg is co-founder of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan.