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Jewish, Chaldean partnership event
draws crowd for political dialogue.
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Pray For
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World Peace
Ryan Fishman, Klint Kesto, Sheldon Yellen and Derek Dickow
To date we've lot 4,487 in Iraq,
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and 32,226 wounded in Iraq,
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Paid for by Irwin Swider, Sr Not authorized by any candidate or group.
Please join us as we celebrate the
22nd Anniversary of Yad Ezra
the kosher food pantry feeding
vulnerable families in our community.
Rissa and Sheldon Winkelman
2012 Honorees
Sandy and Alan S. Schwartz and Esther and Neal E Zalenko
Dinner Chairpersons
Richard Simtob, Yad Ezra President
Monday, October 29, 2012
at Congregation Shaarey Zedek
Strolling Supper 6:00pm
followed by a brief program 7:10pm - 8:00pm
Couvert $180 per adult
$90 per young adult (19-40 years)
$60 per youth (8-18 years)
Yad Ezra is a 501 (c)(3) organization.
For questions please call (248) 548-3663
or email info@yadezra.org
Yad Ezra
Feeding Hungry Jewish Families
1788380
34
October 18 • 2012
N
early 250 leaders from
the Metro Detroit Jewish
and Chaldean communi-
ties came together Oct. 4 at Tam-
0-Shanter Country Club in West
Bloomfield for a joint dialogue on
politics, shared values, bridge
building and a common vision for
the state of Michigan.
Joined by Gov. Rick Snyder,
Michigan Republican Party
Chairman Robert Schostak and
Belfor CEO Sheldon Yellen, the
group also supported Klint Kesto,
Republican nominee for state repre-
sentative.
"It was inspiring to see this group
of elected officials, prominent lead-
ers from our communities and many
young adults come together and take
a step forward in efforts to find corn-
mon ground and collaborate politi-
cally," said Derek Dickow, founder of
Steward Media, a business develop-
ment consulting firm.
"I'm proud of the initiative taken
by Chaldean leaders like my friend
Mint Kesto and, with the help and
guidance of our Jewish brothers and
sisters, there's no telling what we can
accomplish, together."
The event, produced by Dickow
and Ryan Fishman, vice president
of strategic consultation at Steward
Media, grew from a conversation
in Yellen's office. The three saw the
need for a community dialogue
on political unity, and began to
lay the foundation for this event,
which brought together Jewish and
Chaldean leaders, both Democrats
and Republicans, for what was just a
first, positive step in that direction.
"We wanted to showcase all that
our communities have in common
and spark a conversation that reso-
nates across party lines," Fishman
said.
"As a group, we are business own-
ers and professionals with concerns
at the state level, but we also have
international interests in our shared
homeland that remains in jeopar-
dy. It's important to have a dialogue
like this because we truly are better
together:'
The successful Building Commun-
ity Initiative, begun more than 21/2
years ago by two Southfield publica-
tions, the Detroit Jewish News and
the Chaldean News, set the stage for
improved Jewish-Chaldean relations
in Metro Detroit.
The joint fundraiser brought in
more than $30,000 for Kesto, but
merely serves as a starting point for
this collaboration.
With Yellen's help, Dickow and
Fishman will host a 60-person town
hall meeting at Tam-O-Shanter in
the coming weeks aimed at collect-
ing concerns and comments from
prospective participants in this grow-
ing initiative. From there, they will
plan events of political, cultural and
religious significance to attract a large
population of community-minded
Jewish and Chaldean activists.
There is no immediate goal for the
initiative other than to promote inter-
faith relationships in a positive and
meaningful way that benefits young
leaders, like Kesto, who have found
a way to become engaged with their
peers and take the message of their
neighborhoods to a broader audience
for the good of all involved. ❑