he
Craig Fahle
Show
The Temple Beth El youth group in Sandusky, Ohio.
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True Togetherness
101.9 fm
Shabbat retreat brings awareness
to teens of those who are hungry.
Craig talks
A
fter a long day of school
assemble and package that would
and work, 40 Temple Beth
create a nutritionally complete meal
El youth group members
that was non-perishable, healthy and
and adult chaperones headed off to
tasty. We divided up, created a Detroit-
the 16th annual Ellin and Harold
worthy assembly line and began pack-
Lawson Youth Institute Nov.
aging. We quickly packaged
2 at the Kalahari Resort in
1,000 meals and now have
Sandusky, Ohio.
the know-how and capital
When we opened the
to make thousands more.
doors of our weekend
As we prepared food for
home, we were bowled over
others, a special banquet
by our beautiful villa — two
(based on the Oxfam world
floors of rooms, pool tables,
hunger banquet) awaited us.
hot tubs and far too many
We were divided into three
TVs. Everybody was excited
groups: high, middle and
because we could all be
low income and were served
Rabbi Keren
together and not in separate
the type of meal these
Alpert
hotel rooms.
income groups eat world-
Special to the
wide. The high-income
We lit Shabbat candles
Jewish News
and gathered in the liv-
people (those earning more
ing room for services.
than $12,000 annually —
Afterward, we ate our own mini chal-
you read that right) ate chicken strips,
lahs and the cookies and brownies sev- mashed potatoes, vegetables, brownies
eral had volunteered to make for our
and bottled water. The middle-income
Oneg Shabbat.
folks ate rice and beans with cups of
At Shabbat morning services, we
water. The majority were low-income;
used our traveling "baby" Torah.
they sat on the floor sharing bowls
Following services, we changed our
of rice, no utensils and a few cups of
focus from feeding ourselves to feed-
water. Some of them were so frustrated
ing others.
they went to visit their higher-income
First, we embarked on a shopping
neighbors, many of whom shared.
challenge. After discussing state aid
After discussing what we had
for families needing food assistance,
learned about the realities of hunger
we began to think about how to shop
worldwide, we shared some Subway
to feed families with limited incomes.
sandwiches that had been hidden from
With grocery prices in hand (supplied
us during the program.
by Yad Ezra, the kosher food pantry in
We had a good amount of time on
Berkley), we tried to create 21 meals
Shabbat afternoon to swim and hang
on $34 for one week. It was quite a
out. After dinner and bowling, we
challenge; most of the groups bought
celebrated Havdalah and stayed up too
limited (or no) amounts of fresh fruits late.
and vegetables and eschewed meat or
On Sunday morning, we assembled
bought one chicken or some tuna.
blankets for the Kids Kicking Cancer
It was a sobering task that showed
program, packed up and boarded the
how, for many Michiganders, organic
bus for home. Summarizing the week-
and fresh are often not so affordable.
end, one of the students said, "I wish
Jim Hiller and his staff from Hiller's
Lawson was for a month" — a thought
Markets had donated food for us to
shared by all.
Politics.
Craig & his guests
have a
Great Time.
Who knew this
was possible?
Craig and WSU Law Professor Jocelyn Benson
Join Craig
Weekdays at 10 a.m. & 7 p.m.
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service of
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UNIVERSITY
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1793110
30 December 20 • 2012
DI