(54e Chef
RESTAURANT
metro
Trick Or Treat
Or Go To School
AUTHENT1( LEBANESE FOOD
32621 Northwestern Hwy.
Farmington Hills
248-932-1300
Just in front of Sam's Club & Home Depot
www.lechefmi.com
Kol Ami students learn about being
an American Jew on Halloween.
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Noah Francis, a fifth-grader from
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14 November 15 • 2012
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Benjamin Rakolta and Hannah Smyk, fourth-graders, both from Farmington
Hills, enjoy a pizza dinner.
Nicole Jahr
Special to the Jewish News
S
tudents and faculty at Temple
Kol Ami (TKA) in West
Bloomfield had a unique expe-
rience on Oct. 31. In contrast to some
synagogue schools in the area, classes
were in session on Halloween. The eve-
ning's program, titled "Boo Who? I am
a Jew," provided a learning opportunity
that involved studying the history of
the holiday, discussing its values and
coming to conclusions on how to cel-
ebrate Halloween as an American Jew.
Students travelled through the
building on a digital scavenger hunt
taking designated pictures for each of
six clues that highlighted the history
of Halloween. One clue read, "During
the great potato famine in Ireland, the
Irish came to America and brought
the Halloween traditions with them?'
For that, students had to take a pic-
ture of a teammate holding a potato.
Rachel Weingarden, a fifth-grader
from Farmington Hills, said "It's nice
to know that Halloween started in
Ireland?' Prizes for winners were, of
course, pieces of candy.
Students gathered in a circle to dis-
cuss what it means to be an American
Jew on Halloween. First it was brought
up that in Europe, carnivals and cos-
tumes were the norm on Halloween.
Secondly, the group brainstormed the
values they experience on Halloween.
The students differentiated that it
depends on what they do on Halloween
to dictate the values discussion. Those
who trick or treated said that values
they "practice" on Halloween were
demanding and taking from oth-
ers, who may be strangers. However,
Elise Kravitz, a fifth-grader from
Farmington Hills, pointed out that if
you stay home and hand out candy, you
are displaying values of giving and car-
ing. Thirdly, as Jacob Cohen, a seventh
grader from Commerce Township,
stated, "We learned that Halloween is
not a Jewish holiday, but there are ways
we can celebrate it but still keep the
Jewish values?'
How To Celebrate
The students and staff came up with
some ideas on how to celebrate as
American Jews. One suggestion was
to purchase canned goods for the
TKA food donation bin based on
the amount of trick or treaters who
came to their homes. Another idea,
for those who stay home, was to add
a coin to the tzedakah box for every
trick or treater who came to the door.
Always looking for ways to do tikkun
olam (repair the world), a popular idea
was to donate outgrown or unwanted
costumes, something Judy Wormser, a
TKA member who is mom to Ashley, a
10th-grader, and Alexis, a fourth-grader,
is involved with. A teacher in the Detroit
School District, Wormser collects and
distributes them to students who need
them on Halloween. TKA plans to hold
its own costume drive next year to
enhance Wormser's inventory.
Nina Rosenblum, TKA fifth-grade
teacher, had a realization and a fantas-
tic idea. "I was inspired when Nicole
face during the digital scavenger
hunt.
Rachel Weingarden, a fifth-grader
from Farmington Hills, displays
items needed to fulfill a scaven-
ger hunt clue.
Jahr, TKA director of education, said
that for some children, it wasn't safe to
go trick or treating in their neighbor-
hoods:' she said.
As 'socially conscious' as I like to
think I am, I never thought about that,
even after volunteering with the 100
Homes project this weekend. Wouldn't
it be wonderful if Temple Kol Ami, and
possibly other local synagogues, could
open doors to city kids so they would
have a safe place to trick-or-treat?
"Maybe it could be marketed as
`Purim in October' to the synagogues:'
said Rosenblum, but really it would be
opening the doors to kids of Pontiac or
Detroit, and having them trick or treat
in an environment that was warm and
safe."
Temple Kol Ami is looking forward
to doing this school program again
next year before Halloween.
❑
Nicole
Jahr is director of education at
Temple Kol Ami in West Bloomfield.