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Driving For Life

Teens at Temple Beth El
join with parents to craft safe-driving agreements.

T

emple Beth El in Bloomfield
Township recently gathered its
10th-grade students and their
parents for "Segment Chai: Driving for
Life." Recognizing that obtaining a driv-
er's license is, for most teens, the "next
big thing" after bar or bat mitzvah, the
parents and teens met during Monday
Night School to craft a Parent-Teen
Driving Agreement — Brit Chayim, a
promise for life.
The teens were in various stages of
their driving education, some just begin-
ning, some not having started yet, and
one student already a licensed driver.

Students and parents privately discussed
the ground rules for usage of their fam-
ily cars, including consequences for poor
decision making. They also discussed
ways for all of them to be role models
for one another by keeping the cars in
good repair, making sure the teens knew
what to do in case of an emergency and,
of course, not texting or talking on cell
phones when driving.
After the students and parents had
signed agreements regarding future behav-
iors and responsibilities on all of their
parts, the students received a car mezuzah
to bless them on their journeys.

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Rachel Fenberq and Carly Taub, both of Birmingham

Tzedakah Experience

Paige Hamburger of Birmingham

Chris Beider of West Bloomfield

Margot Alpert of Grosse Pointe Farms

Laurie Glass and her son, Austin, of Huntington Woods

shows off her car mezuzah.

work on their agreement.

Area sixth-graders learn firsthand about giving back to the community.

W

hat happens when you bring together
250 sixth-graders and their parents for
a morning of fun learning? You begin to
change the world.
On Feb. 12 at Temple Israel, this group gathered
for the annual Tzedakah Experience, which was
co-sponsored by Federation's Alliance for Jewish
Education, the Metro Detroit Board of Jewish
Educators and Temple Israel. People from 16 congre-
gational and day schools participated in a morning of
learning about mitzvah agencies in our community.
They began with the "Change Matters" segment of
the program, where sixth-graders collected coins for
tzedakah (charity) and brought them to the event.
The event collected $1,700, which was distributed to
15 community agencies determined by student votes.
"It is incredible how this program connects the
dots for so many," says Gail Greenberg, Federation
senior staff associate and Tzedakah Experience coor-
dinator."Families stopped me on their way out to
share what they learned, and agency representatives
expressed their delight in being able to connect with a
new generation of volunteers:'
Other parts of the day included a "Choose Your
Own Adventure" activity, where families gathered to
"help" a fictitious family by working with multiple
Jewish agencies, and the Mitzvah Mall, where sixth-
graders learned about ways they could help the com-
munity and complete mitzvah hours.
Students and others can learn more about places
to go to help by going to www.jewishdetroit.org/
mitzvah.

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March 1 ® 2012

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Left: Michael Phillips from the Jewish Gay Network talks with some sixth-graders. Right: Melanie Gorman, with her

husband, Scott, looking over her shoulder, and their son, Noah, in the striped shirt, work with some Temple Kol Ami

sixth-graders.

Left: Harvey Leven from Alliance for Jewish Education. Right: Teen madrichim (counselors), right to left: Jack lwrey

of Temple Israel, Jeffrey Fox, Sarah Fried, Isabella Lackner and Matt Kopel, all of Shir Shalom, helped at the Tzedakah

Experience.