Get
Better
Faster
Over 90%
Success Rate.
MLS LASER THERAPY
• Reduce Pain
• Non Invasive
• Relieve
Inflammation
• Painless
• FDA Cleared
• Restore Mobility
.01 LEDERMAN
WKWARTOWITZ
Center for Orthopedics & Sports Medicine
LKOrthopedics.com
248.669.2000
2300 Haggerty Road, Suite 1110
West Bloomfield, Michigan 48323
Holocaust survivor Eliezar Ayalon, subject of Eli's Story, lights a memorial
candle at the Yad Vashem Yom HaShoah program in 2010. His grandson
stands behind him.
Supporting Seniors
JSL offers films that celebrate life
and intergenerational relationships.
F
filmmaker Allyson Rockwell
grew up in West Bloomfield,
but the Grosfeld Mission
cracked her world wide open.
She's not alone. "Life altering"
"wonderful" and "exciting" are words
Nancy Grosfeld hears often when
young leaders return from the Grosfeld
Leadership Program's mission to Israel
and Poland. Nancy's family funds
the mission through an endowment
set up with the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit, which adminis-
ters the program.
Beyond connecting young leaders
with their culture through history,
for years the Grosfield mission con-
nected people to an unassuming man
with eyeglasses and a wide smile
— tourguide Eliezar Ayalon. His
impact on people is the basis for Eli's
Story: Inspiring Future Generations,
Rockwell's film that debuts April 24 at
the Maple Theater in Bloomfield Hills,
with proceeds benefiting Jewish Senior
Life's Program for Holocaust Survivors
and Families. The event will honor
leaders of the 10 Grosfeld Missions.
Born in Poland in 1928, Ayalon left
the Polish ghetto after receiving an
odd gift from his mother — a cup of
honey. His mother assured him he'd
survive the Holocaust and go on to
have "a sweet life'
Enduring five concentration camps,
Ayalon was the only surviving member
of his family. Survivor guilt and shame
silenced Ayalon until author and
activist Elie Wiesel told him he had
an obligation to share his experience,
starting Ayalon on his own journey of
inspiration. Ayalon died in 2012, after
inspiring many people to several self-
less acts detailed in the film.
"This film is not the story of the
Holocaust" says Rockwell. "It's the
story of a man who survived and did
incredible things with his life"
Rockwell's documentary features
local co-producer Dr. Shari Rogers,
along with Grosfeld Mission par-
ticipants, such as Molly Chernow, a
JSL board member and a past advi-
sory chairperson for its Program for
Holocaust Survivors and Families.
Chernow credits Ayalon as the spark
behind Mishpoch-Chai, a service of
the intergenerational Program for
Holocaust Survivors that connects
young Jewish American families with
survivors. Chernow and her friend,
Nikki Raimi, created Mishpoch-Chai
after meeting Ayalon on the Grosfeld
6 Mission.
Following the premiere, Eli's Story
will air on Detroit Public Television
this summer before being broadcast
nationwide.
In addition, JSL will host another
film event on April 15 to benefit
the Dorothy & Peter Brown Jewish
Community Adult Day Care Program.
Life in Stills is an Israeli documentary
of a precious relationship between
a grandmother and grandson; the
grandson, Ben Peter, will attend the
screening. It is showing at the Berman
Center for the Performing Arts as part
of the Jewish Community Center's
Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival.
"In hosting events that feature popu-
lar culture like these two fine films"
says Carol Rosenberg, director, JSL
Foundation, "we are creating a bridge
to younger generations who want to
contribute to their community and
support older adults"
For more information, contact Jewish
Senior Life at (248) 661-1836. ❑
• Life in Stills, 8 p.m., Monday, April 15, Berman Center in West
Bloomfield, contact Bobbi Chess at (248) 592-5033 or bchess@jsImi.org .
• Eli's Story, 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, Maple Theater in Bloomfield
Hills, contact Renee Fein at (248) 592-5028 or rfein@jsImi.org .
14 April 11 • 2013