F

in attendance. Architects and
directors of the buildings led the
tours. The evening focused on
the uniqueness and richness of
both buildings. It provided every-
one the opportunity to mingle,
meet new people, reacquaint with
old friends and, of course, enjoy
one another's traditional hors
d'oeuvres and desserts.
This past March, the commit-
tee helped promote the open-
ing of the Berman Center for
the Performing Arts at the JCC
and the launch of the Chaldean
American Ladies of Charity
(CALC) cookbook Ma Baseema,
which took place at Shenandoah.
[Ma Baseema (Huron River Press,
$35) is available from CALC at
(248) 538-8300 or on the Web at
calconline.org . In addition, the
cookbook will be sold at the JCC
Jewish Book Fair in November.]

In Remembrance

In May, the committee met at
the Holocaust Memorial Center
(HMC) in Farmington Hills.
The meeting began with a tour
of the museum exhibits led by
a docent along with Stephen
Goldman, executive director of
the center, who is a member of
the committee. It was a profound
and enlightening experience for
everyone, even for those who
had been to the center before.
At the conclusion of the tour,
Goldman said, "It is gratifying
to be able to host a tour with the
special people with whom I am
working on the Chaldean/Jewish
Arts & Culture Committee. I
hope that each has taken our
message of 'Never Again' away
with them and plan to return
when they will be able to spend
more time."
Firyal Yono, a Chaldean mem-
ber of the committee, stated,
"It was very moving and sad to
see what the Jewish people in
Europe went through before and
during World War II. It makes it
all the more important for me
that we publicize the plight of
Iraqi Christians today who are
being persecuted because of
their religious beliefs."

Coming Up

The committee is discussing
several possible future events
that would continue to bring the
Chaldean and Jewish communi-

ties together, to learn from one
another and help better realize
their similarities. After the great
success of the food-tasting event,
plans are in the works for the
committee to sponsor a presen-
tation of Ma Baseema at the JCC
Jewish Book Fair in November.
Discussion is under way for
the Arts & Culture Committee
to present a special event at the
Detroit Institute of Arts dur-
ing its upcoming Rembrandt
and the Face of esus exhibit.
Coming from the Louvre in
Paris, with only one other stop in
Philadelphia, the exhibit will be
open in Detroit from November
2011 through February 2012.
As discussed in Time maga-
zine, while Rembrandt lived
in a Jewish neighborhood of
Amsterdam, he used young
Jewish men as models to depict
his various images of Christ.
The highly acclaimed exhibit
features paintings of different
faces of Christ by this renowned
Flemish artist. This exhibit is
expected to have appeal in both
communities because of the
Christian and Jewish aspect to
these paintings.
Possibly in the winter/spring
of 2012, the Arts & Culture
Committee will have an event
highlighting works of Jewish
and Chaldean visual artists
in Metro Detroit. The work of
many active, talented artists who
paint, sculpt, design, etc., will
be shared with both communi-
ties as well as the larger general
population. Committee members
Dr. Sulafa Roumayah and Mira
Burack, both artists in their own
right, will co-chair this event and
details will be shared as they are
developed.
With five Chaldean and five
Jewish members — Barbara
Kratchman, Mary Romaya,
Dr. Sulafa Roumayah, Stephen
Goldman, Mark Lit, Sharon
Alterman, Firyal Yono, Michelle
Saroki, Mira Burack, Mark
Kassa — one of the most grati-
fying results of the of the Arts
& Culture Committee and the
Building Community Initiative
is the personal relationships that
are developing and deepening.
Members have gotten to know
one another and are forming
lasting bonds of mutual respect
and friendship. BC

N

Barbara Kratchman
shows Dr. Sulafa
Roumayah, both of
Bloomfield Township,
a replica of a Nazi
Germany death can
at the HMC.

Above: At the Holocaust
Memorial Center, Mira
Burack of Hamtramck
shows Mary Romaya
of Farmington Hills an
exhibit where a wreath is
made from human hair.

Right: Dale Rubin of
Royal Oak and Stephen
Goldman of West
Bloomfield listen to
questions asked by
Firyal Yono of Orchard
Lake during the tour of
the boxcar exhibit at the
HMC.

October 2011

CHALDEAN NEWS I JEWISH NEWS 11

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