Multicultural Medley

Chaldean-Jewish arts enthusiasts
attend Berman Center opening.

Robin Schwartz
Contributing Writer

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T

he universal language of music
brought together members
of Metro Detroit's Jewish and
Chaldean communities for opening
night at the new $6.7 million Berman
Center for the Performing Arts. The
15,000-square-foot state-of-the-art
theater inside the Jewish Community
Center in West Bloomfield seats 350
people and can expand to accommo-
date 600.
About two-dozen arts enthusiasts
from various ethnic and religious back-
grounds mixed and mingled in perfect
harmony March 23 during a pre-glow
celebration at the JCC. The special event
was held before a performance featur-
ing renowned conductor and composer
Marvin Hamlisch; his familiar scores
include "A Chorus Line;' "The Way We
Were,""Theyre Playing Our Song" and so
many others.
"Music certainly
transcends any dif-
ferences between
our cultures," said
Mary Romaya of
Farmington Hills,
director of the West
Bloomfield-based
Chaldean Cultural
Mary Romaya
Center. "Promoting
and attending
each other's events
strengthens the
bonds between both
communities and
enhances the cultural
richness within each
Barbara
community."
Kratchman
Romaya and
Barbara "Bunny" Kratchman of
Bloomfield Hills are Arts & Culture
Committee co-chairs for the year-old
"Building Community" Initiative. The
Jewish/Chaldean partnership, spear-
headed by the Detroit Jewish News
and the Chaldean News, both based in
Southfield, was formally launched in
April 2010. Both groups share cultural
roots in the Middle East with ancient
languages (Hebrew and Aramaic) that
are related. Jews and Chaldeans live
side-by-side in Metro Detroit; many are
neighbors and small business owners
raising families in the same community
"We hear about globalization every
day," Kratchman said. "For me, the
Chaldean-Jewish initiative is globaliza-
tion in our own neighborhood. We live,

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Marvin Hamlisch

work, shop and frequent restaurants
together; yet, most of us hardly go out-
side our own backyards to know one
another on a personal level. How can we
discuss globalization on a world scale if
we do not participate at home?"
Romaya and Kratchman had never
met before becoming co-chairs of the
Arts & Culture Committee. During their
first one-on-one meeting, the women
quickly realized how much they have in
common.
"Since our childhoods in Northwest
Detroit, our lives have been very paral-
lel yet so far apart;' Kratchman said.
"The Building Community Initiative
brought us together; and we have both
enormously expanded our circle of
colleagues and friends over the past
year. Let's not forget that, often times,
it is through arts and culture that com-
munities learn from and about one
another."
The Arts & Culture Committee previ-
ously sponsored architectural tours of
both the JCC and Shenandoah Country
Club, also in West Bloomfield, with the
architects from each facility. It also
promoted the Chaldean American
Ladies of Charity launch of their newly
published cookbook, Ma Baseema (How
Delicious). Upcoming events include
a recipe-exchange and an art exhibit.
Details are still in the works.
Spotted in the Berman Center open-
ing night crowd were: Susie and Bob
Citrin of Birmingham; Elaine and
Eugene Driker, Kathleen Straus and
Judge Walter Shapiro, all of Detroit;
Firyal and Jerry Yono of Orchard Lake;
Karen and Todd Sachse of Huntington
Woods; and Betsy and Joel Kellman of
Huntington Woods. I I

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