Speaker Ann Antone,
right, makes a funny
comment while
speaker Sathab
Abbo Ousachi reacts.
Both are from West
Bloomfield.
Event co-chair Gail Katz of West --
Bloomfield laughs with Lita Zemmol
of Beverly Hills,
_
Ruth Grey chats with Rita Pappadakis, both of Farmington Hills.
homelands.
Ousachi and Antone described the
work of the many Chaldean organiza-
tions assisting refugees.
LeeAnn Kirma leads one such group,
Chaldean American Ladies of Charity.
Many of the Chaldean women at the
event are activists with this group. As
volunteers, they assess financial needs,
assist with food and clothing issues
and manage housing concerns in much
the same way as the Jewish Family
Service of Metropolitan Detroit dealt
with Soviet Jewry resettlement several
14 CHALDEAN NEWS I JEWISH NEWS
August 2011
Event co-chair Jeannie Weiner of West Bloomfield addresses the crowd.
years ago.
The established members in the
Chaldean community have learned
from the experiences of Jewish Family
Service and Hebrew Free Loan of
Metropolitan Detroit.
The women discussed the Chaldean
Federation of America and that group's
advocacy with the U.S. Department of
State and local congressional leaders.
Some of the Jewish women were sur-
prised that another group, the Chaldean
Chamber of Commerce, included many
Jewish business owners.
Lighter Moments
By the end of the evening, an open
forum among the women involved a
lot of laughing. We learned that for
hundreds of years, Jews and Chaldeans
have been neighbors.
One of the Chaldean women speaking
about West Bloomfield said, "Wherever
there's a lake, there's a Jewish commu-
nity; and the Chaldeans follow the Jews
to the same lake."
A Chaldean woman at my table told
me about cooking for a Jewish friend
during Passover. Forgetting to separate
the eggs for a cake, she worried that she
would have to throw out the ingredients
and start again.
"Say a prayer," said her Jewish friend,
and let's hope."
The Chaldean woman made a sign of
the cross over the Passover cake.
It came out of the oven beautifully
and was delicious': she said.
"Same God': we said together.
The next event of our subcommit-
tee, in September, will feature Jewish
women discussing the Jewish commu-
nity in Metro Detroit. BC
"