metro

Jailed Man Sought Kosher Pesach Food

14 o)rr-17-iii:ui rni:INriter

W

hile preliminary examination
proceedings continue for for-
mer Tamarack Camps
employee Jesse Hermann, his
attorney expressed indignation
that his client did not have kosher
Passover food in the Wayne
County jail facility where he is
being held on $100,000 bond.
Hermann was arrested on Feb.
15 by Canton police and charged
Jesse
with four felony counts: two for
Herman
"child sexually abusive activity"
and two for "computer Internet
communication with another person in
order to commit a crime:'
Defense attorney David Cripps had

previously asked for a bond reduction so
Hermann could live with his mother while
awaiting trial. Judge Michael Gerou of the
35th District Court in Plymouth denied
that request, based on what he called the
serious nature of the offenses. He
also denied a subsequent request
made by Cripps during a prelimi-
nary exam on March 22.
Cripps said Hermann could not
observe Passover dietary rules
because the jail was not provid-
ing him with kosher food, despite
two previous court orders. Gerou
agreed to uphold the order for
kosher food but refused to reduce
Hermann's bond.
The primary March 22 witness was a
woman who allegedly began communi-
cating with Hermann on Facebook. She

Holy Breads

Interfaith event launches book about
bread as a faith symbol.

I

nterfaith groups WISDOM and DION
will present "Holy Bread!" on April 14 to
discuss the significance and symbolism
of bread in a variety of faiths and communi-
ties. The event will be a launch for the just-
released book, The Flavors of Faith: Holy
Breads by Southfield-based writer Lynne
Meredith Golodner.
"Bread is the cornerstone for so many
expressions of faith and community',' says
Golodner, who researched and interviewed
experts from a variety of communities
about their breads for this book. Holy
Breads, published by Read the Spirit Books,
features stories and recipes from Christian,
Jewish, Muslim, Native American and other
traditions.
Golodner will speak about the book,
which will be for sale at the event, take

questions and then lead participants in
a tasting of the breads represented in
the book. A few breads will be made
by JN food writer and caterer Annabel
Cohen, whose recipes are included in
the book. There also will be time to share
participants' stories and memories of bread.
WISDOM (Women's Interfaith Solutions
for Dialogue and Outreach in Metro
Detroit) is a group whose mission is to
provide concrete modeling of women from
different faith traditions working together
in harmony for the common good. Group
members seek to empower women to take
a more active role in furthering social jus-
tice and world peace, dispelling myths and
stereotypes, and eradicating prejudices and
fear about different faith traditions.
DION (Detroit Interfaith Outreach

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22

April 4 • 2013

told the court she notified police after
Hermann reportedly made sexually sug-
gestive remarks about her 3-year-old
daughter. She said she was asked to keep
communicating with Hermann under
police supervision. Hermann was appre-
hended by Canton police while driving
away from a local hotel where an alleged
meeting had been scheduled involv-
ing Hermann, the complainant and her
daughter.
Cripps said no actual physical contact
occurred because Hermann changed his
mind without entering the hotel. He said
the woman had never seen Hermann in
person or talked on the phone with him,
and that she said she had been "playing
along" during the Facebook communica-
tions.
"We believe there was entrapment activ-

ity involved, which is a violation of his First
Amendment rights; said Cripps. "The chats
in question are in the category of fantasy-
type chats as opposed to reality-type chats.
They were never meant to be construed as
reality."
Hermann was an employee at Tamarack
Camps from 2009 through January 2013,
working as a part-time art instructor and
counselor for the Family Camp program.
Tamarack officials said Hermann's arrest
was not connected with his employment
at camp or with any camp program par-
ticipants. They said Hermann was subject
to the same employee background check
required for all prospective employees.
The preliminary examination will con-
tinue on April 5 in Gerou's courtroom.

Network) has a mission
"to build community
through interfaith col-
laboration to promote
unity, integrity, respect,
education and the suc-
cessful development
of Metro Detroit youth
and families."
"When we come
together as human
beings, we eliminate
the concept of 'other'
from the conversation',' says Gail Katz, co-
founder and past president of WISDOM.
"On the heels of Easter and Passover, holi-
days that feature bread — or a lack thereof
— as a ritual element, this event is intended
to spark interesting and connecting dialogue
about the ways in which we are similar,
rather than different."
Rabbi Dorit Edut, founder and current
DION president, says, "Through sharing our
traditions around bread, the most basic of
nourishment, we can gain a deeper under-
standing of the many different faiths and
cultures that make up our Metro Detroit

community, while offering a great oppor-
tunity to uncover our mutual needs and
efforts 'to feed' our families on many levels."
This is Golodner's eighth book. A former
reporter, Golodner owns a marketing and
public relations firm, Your People LLC.
Holy Breads is the first in a series of books
on the "flavors of faith," which Golodner will
produce in conjunction with Read the Spirit
Books.
"I am honored to launch this exciting
book at such a warm and embracing inter-
faith event," Golodner says. "The focus and
scope of Holy Breads is to find common
ground between all the faith traditions,
breaking down notions that we are different
and opposing, and furthering a message of
similarity and mutually beneficial meaning.
We all break bread in some way; let's cel-
ebrate it as a bridge-builder toward under-
standing one another."
The event will be from 4-6 p.m.
Sunday, April 14, at St. John's Episcopal
Church, 26998 Woodward Ave., Royal
Oak. Admission is $8 per person, pay-
able by check to WISDOM, P.O. Box 7091,
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302. ❑

❑

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