metro

14450 W 10 Mile, Oak Park

Kick Off The New Year!

Sunday, September 8th
llam - 1pm FREE
Bounce House, Face
Painting and More!

Wed., Sep. 18th
6 pm Family Services
Come shake the lulav
and enjoy

5:45 pm Dinner
6:30 pm Dance w/Torah
Famil Service

Starring 1st graders, ECC
students & youth groups

11:30 am at Temple
or 12:30 at
Erwin's Orchard
Petting Farm, Hay Maze,
Donuts & Cider

20

Rev. King's 'Dream' Speech
Feted In West Bloomfield
The MLK365 subcom-
mittee of United We
Walk will present three
programs to commem-
orate Rev. Martin
Luther King Jes histor-
ic march on Washing-
ton 50 years ago. All
Rev. Martin
programs are free of
Luther King
charge and will be held
Jr. memorial
at the West Bloomfield
in Washington, Township Library,
D.C.
4600 Walnut Lake
Road.
• On Tuesday, Aug.
27, at 8:45 p.m., the community is invited
to watch and then discuss the premiere of
the PBS documentary The March, telling
what unfolded when King delivered his "I
Have a Dream" speech.
• "Reflections on the Dream Speech,
50 Year Later," at noon Wednesday, Aug.
28, provides an opportunity to share
memories, after a reading of the "Dream"
speech. Bring a lunch; beverages will be
provided.
• At 4-6 p.m. Wednesday will be "The
Dream Speech and Beyond; a chance
to listen to and reflect on a selection of
King's speeches and writings.
All three programs will be recorded by
Civic Center TV for replay on Channels
15 & 19.
Pre-registration is not required. For
information, email MLKjr365@aol.com
or call Deb at (248) 425-4111 or Barbara
at (248) 891-2563.

Israeli Poet Laureate's
Work Is Celebrated
The 13th yahrtzeit of Israel's modern
poet laureate Yehuda Amichai begins at
sundown, Tuesday, Aug. 27. There will be
an evening of appreciation and reflection
on his life and work
at 7:30 p.m. facilitated
by Jewish educator
Elissa Berg at the West
Bloomfield home of
Francine and Robert
Levine.
A selection of
Yehuda
Amichai's poems will
Amichai
be read in the original
Hebrew (English trans-
lation will be provided)
followed by a discus-
sion.
Amichai's poetry
deals with issues of
day-to-day life and
with
philosophical
Elissa Berg
issues of the meaning
of life and death. His
work is characterized by gentle irony and
original, often surprising, imagery. Like
many secular Israeli poets, he struggles
with religious faith. His poems are full
of references to God and the religious
experience.
Due to limited space, RSVPs are

required. For reservations and directions,
contact Francine Levine at (248) 855-
6063 or falevine@yahoo.com.

Celebrate Detroit's
Historic Buildings
Whether it's the Penobscot Building, the
Masonic Temple or old Tiger Stadium,
the Detroit Historical Society is asking
for Southeastern Michiganders to cast
their nominations for any past or present
building that best embodies the spirit of
Detroit.
As a changing exhibit in the Allesee
Gallery of Culture, the Detroit Historical
Museum (5401 Woodward) is creating an
exhibit titled "Detroit Decides: Our Most
Celebrated Buildings" The exhibit, to
open Feb. 1, will feature three buildings
that signify the spirit of Detroit as nomi-
nated by local citizens.
Any building in Detroit, past or pres-
ent, can be nominated. The deadline is
Friday, Aug. 30. Submit your vote online
at www.detroithistorical.org or at the
museum. Results will be announced near
the end of October.

Knesset Members Learn
About American Jews
The Ruderman Family Foundation,
which prioritizes Israel-diaspora rela-
tions, has in the past sponsored U.S. trips
for two delegations of Israeli Members of
Knesset and launched a caucus designed
to improve Knesset members' under-
standing of the American Jewish com-
munity.
Now, the foundation is further
addressing knowledge gaps in the next
generation of Israeli leaders through its
funding of the new Ruderman Program
for American Jewish Studies at the
University of Haifa.
"Israeli universities have all sorts of
programs studying Asia, Africa and the
Arab world, but no one is studying the
American Jewish community, which is
probably the most important community
affecting the future of Israel; says Jay
Ruderman, president of the foundation.

Animated Scapegoat App
Assists With Atonement
Tech-savvy people looking to clean their
slates of sin and to learn about Judaism
now have a web app to help them —
"The Atonement App"
Created by San Francisco-based Jewish
nonprofit G-dcast, the app allows users
to anonymously share their sins with
the help of a scapegoat via an animated
website and to see those of their friends.
Users will also have opportunities to
encourage friends to share their sins, and
those in the Bay Area can attend in-per-
son events where they can pet live goats
and receive giveaways.
"The scapegoat story is one of the
wildest, weirdest stories we have in the
Bible. We wanted to share it with every-
one; stated Sarah Lefton, G-dcast's exec-
utive director. "Like everything we do,

it's ultimately about raising basic Jewish
literacy — but it's pretty fun, no matter
how tame or edgy your sins may be7
The Atonement App experience
was inspired by the atonement ritual
described in the book of Leviticus, in
which a goat was symbolically burdened
with the sins of the Israelites before being
sent off into the wilderness. G-dcast's
rendition includes a whimsical animated
goat. For information, visit www.escGoat.
corn.

Anti-Israel Author Walker
Disinvited, Invited At U-M
Ann Arbor (JTA) — Author Alice Walker
will be invited to speak in a public forum
on campus, the provost of the University
of Michigan said, after being disinvited
from a women's center celebration.
Walker is a supporter of the boycott,
divestment and sanctions, or BDS, move-
ment against Israel, in particular "a
cultural boycott of Israel and Israeli insti-
tutions; such as her decision last year to
not allow an Israeli publishing house to
translate her book The Color Purple into
Hebrew.
Walker in a blog post on her website
last week said she had been disinvited
from speaking at the 50th anniversary of
the university's Center for the Education
of Women. The Pulitzer Prize winner
maintained that she was asked to step
down as speaker at the initiative of
donors.
The center said the decision to with-
draw the invitation was based solely on
the "celebratory nature" they hoped to
achieve at the anniversary event.
The provost, Martha Pollack, said in a
letter to university faculty posted on the
university's Center for the Education of
Women's web page that the center and
the Department of Afroamerican and
African Studies plan to invite Walker to
speak on campus.
Pollack, in the letter, reiterated the
university's "firm commitment to free
speech and to the expression of diverse
viewpoints7
At the same time, we respect the right
of individual academic units to make
decisions about whom they invite to
campus, consistent with university prin-
ciples and values; she wrote.

Matisyahu To Perform
To Fight Bullying
Defeat the Label, the anti-bullying
nonprofit, will hold "Back to School
Palooza" fundraiser with guest performer
Matisyahu.
Matisyahu, a popular pop and reggae
singer, also serves as a celebrity ambassa-
dor for Defeat the Label, visiting schools
and students. His recently released
album Spark Seeker includes "Live Like
a Warrior; a song that he wrote about
the bullying issues in schools.
The event will be held on Monday,
Sept. 2 at the Crofoot in Pontiac. For
tickets, visit www.thecrofoot.com .