metro
Raising Awareness
Local teens tie purple ribbons
to combat domestic abuse.
Ronelle Grier
Contributing Writer
W
hile the purple ribbons adorn-
ing local Jewish organizations
and institutions add a festive
touch, the message behind them is far
more serious: The ribbons are part of
an awareness campaign about domestic
abuse within the Jewish community.
Since the beginning of October, which
is National Domestic Violence Awareness
Month, purple ribbon pins and posters
designed by JCADA (Jewish Coalition
Against Domestic Assault) have been
distributed as part of a yearlong "Take
the Message Home" initiative sponsored
by a grant from the Jewish Women's
Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit.
On Oct. 21, a group of teenage girls
from local BBYO chapters participated
in a ribbon-tying brigade coordinated
by Lauren Yellen of Farmington Hills,
a member of Or Shemesh BBG, and Bri
Dines of West Bloomfield, a member of
Aliyah BBG. Teens from Ahavah, Ruach,
and Gittleman BBG chapters were also
present.
Armed with rolls of purple satin ribbon,
Learn How You
Can Help Kids Read
"Literacy in Detroit: Be the Solution,"
a fall workshop hosted by the Detroit
Jewish Coalition for Literacy (DJCL)
featuring Pamela Good, president and
executive director of Beyond Basics, will
be held from 10 a.m.-noon Friday, Nov. 2,
at the Max M. Fisher Federation Building
in Bloomfield Hills.
DJCL has joined with the nonprofit
Beyond Basics to help at-risk children
in Detroit and the Metro area develop
fundamental education skills. Good will
discuss how Beyond Basics, which serves
thousands of inner-city children annu-
ally in Detroit, is getting kids reading at
grade level in six weeks with one-on-one
tutoring. DJCL is working in concert with
Beyond Basics by recruiting volunteers to
be weekly "reading buddies" for Beyond
Basic's students in Detroit Public Schools.
Good and the Beyond Basics program
have been featured on Dateline and in
two Forbes articles as well as numerous
local new papers, television and radio
programs.
Founded and facilitated by the Jewish
Community Relations Council (JCRC),
DJCL engages volunteers from local
18
October 25 2012
the girls divided into groups to tie ribbon
bows around trees, posts and pillars at
Jewish organizations throughout the com-
munity.
According to Ellen Yashinsky Chute,
chief community outreach officer at
Jewish Family Service in West Bloomfield
and coordinator of JCADA, more than 40
local Jewish organizations, all of which
are members of JCADA, signed up to par-
ticipate in the awareness campaign. The
agencies and organizations are sharing the
message in a variety of ways, displaying
ribbons and posters and engaging in other
forms of outreach to their respective corn-
munities.
Participants include most of the area
temples, synagogues, shuls and day
schools as well as other institutions such
as Friendship Circle, the Anti-Defamation
League, JARC, JVS, JFS, Yad Ezra, ORT,
Kadima, NCJW (National Council of
Jewish Women), Tamarack Camps, the
Jewish Hour, Hadassah, Hebrew Free
Loan, Hillel of Metro Detroit , the Jewish
Community Center, Jewish Gay Network,
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit,
Jewish Women's Foundation and the West
Bloomfield Police Department.
BBYOers: Brianna Dines, Laurne Yellen, Claudia Halpern and Molly Klein.
Statistics from the National Coalition
on Domestic Violence as well as other
sources state that domestic violence,
including physical, emotional and psy-
chological abuse, affects one out of four
women in the United States. Although
many people mistakenly assume domestic
abuse is not a "Jewish problem," the inci-
dence among Jews is the same as within
the general population.
Julie Ohana, social worker at Frankel
Jewish Academy in West Bloomfield and
a JCADA member, obtained a basket of
purple ribbon pins for students and visi-
tors. Domestic abuse is part of the well-
ness curriculum at the school, starting in
the ninth grade.
"I believe that the education about
domestic abuse should start young so our
students understand the warning signs
for themselves and their friends," said
Ohana.
"This (ribbon tying) is a unique way to
spread the message about an important
problem that many people in the Jewish
community are unaware of," said Lauren
Kunin of West Bloomfield, a member of
Or Shemesh BBG.
"Take the Message Home" includes
an ongoing social media campaign,
with a series of positive relation-
ship messages posted by JCADA
on Facebook (www.facebook.com/
JcadaofMetropolitanDetroit) and Twitter
(www.twitter.com/JCADA) . These mes-
sages correspond with the Jewish calen-
dar, starting with Rosh Hashanah and
continuing through Tu B'av, celebrated in
July in Israel as a holiday of love.
While Shalom Bayit or peace in the
home, is an important Jewish concept,
JCADA member Rabbi Marla Hornsten of
Temple Israel emphasizes that this does
not mean a woman should tolerate abuse
for the sake of peace.
"Peace in the home is a positive term,
a goal to strive for, but it doesn't mean
peace at any cost," Hornsten said.
Jewish organizations and benefits kinder-
garten through third-grade students in
schools in Detroit and Oakland County
through tutoring and enrichment pro-
grams and book drives. DJCL conducts
training workshops and provides resourc-
es for its volunteer tutors. JCRC board
members Ruth Grey and Sue Birnholtz
are co-chairs of DJCL.
the school, 32200 Middlebelt Road in
Farmington Hills. RSVPs are encouraged,
but not necessary. Financial assistance
is available to qualifying families. To
RSVP, schedule a private tour or receive
additional information, contact Amy
Schlussel, director of admission, at (248)
539-1484 or by email at aschlussel@
hillelday.org.
Hillel Open House
Set For Nov. 7
Parents will be able to get a peek inside
Hillel Day School during the school's
open house for grades K-8. They will
be able to explore the school, meet its
award-winning teachers, and hear how
children thrive within small classes
guided by the school's progressive, tech-
nology-rich dual curriculum.
This year, Hillel introduced 1:1 tech-
nology to its students in grades 7-8. Each
student received a PC tablet to use for
the school year. Both Hebrew and general
studies are accessible and enable students
to use technology as a vehicle to aid in
the development of critical thinking
skills. Other technology will be phased in
for younger grades soon.
Explore Hillel at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 7 at
Gala To Help
Kids Kicking Cancer
The Kids Kicking Cancer Gala, featuring
food, dancing and fun, will be held at 7
p.m. Nov. 1 at Villa Penna's of Sterling
Heights. Lila Lazarus will be the emcee
and the host is Salon Lux.
Tickets are $100 and include dinner,
premium open bar, live music by Robin
Horlock, silent auction, a demonstration
by the powerful martial artists of Kids
Kicking Cancer and more. Proceeds ben-
efit the nonprofit Kids Kicking Cancer
organization.
Sponsorship opportunities and dona-
tions of auction items are still available.
For more information, email mcohen@
kidskickingcancer.net or call call (313)
557-0021. Tickets must be purchased in
advance.
Video Focuses On
Living In Israel
A new video focusing on the importance
of living in Israel has been produced and is
available at www.israelvideonetwork.com .
The video features well-known Rabbis Ari
Berman, formerly of the Jewish Center in
New York City; Alan Haber, director of
MMY Seminary in Jerusalem; and Assaf
Bednarsh, head of Yeshiva University's
Kollel program in Israel as well as some
Israeli residents telling their personal
stories. The video is called "Lech Lecha —
Does that mean me?"
New Report Shows
High Israeli Poverty
(JTA) — Israel's Central Bureau of
Statistics last week issued a report show-
ing that some 31 percent of Israelis were
at risk of poverty in 2010, compared to
27 percent 12 years ago. Some 16 percent
of European Union residents fall into the
same category.
Being at risk of poverty means that
one's household's per capita income is less
than 60 percent of the median disposable
income. Israel's poverty line was at $506 for
2010.The amount to be labeled at risk of
poverty is anything less than $610.