SALLY'S
DESIGN
BOUTIQUE
25-50% OH
metro
Village Of Friends
A young Israeli family bonds with
Detroit's Jewish community.
Selected
Items in Store
Thursday, November 21st
Through
Saturday, December 7th
Run, Don't walk for
your best selection
ADDITIONAL PROMOTIONS IN STORE
Previous sales & special orders excluded,
all sales final
Inside Orchard Mall
Maple and Orchard Lake Rd.
West Bloomfield, MI 48322
248-626-0886
Avi Brandvain, Ido Porat, Beth Brandvain, Vered Porat and baby Yanay in his
new glasses
areMinders®
HOME CARE
Providing total quality home care for better living
• Skilled nursing care such as wound care, insulin
administration and infusion treatment
• Personal care such as bathing, dressing, and grooming
• Companion care services include shopping,
cooking, and cleaning, as well as transportation
• Home care for children with autism,
seizure disorders, or other special needs
• Care for clients who suffer from traumatic brain
injuries and other long-term disabilities
It's really all about living a better life at home, CareMinders
makes it possible for people to live safely at home."
— Richard Lampear, owner and operator
of CareMinders in W Bloomfield & Lansing
C areMinders®
HONIL CARE
5829 West Maple Rd, Suite 115 I West Bloomfield I 248-851-HELP (4357)
3225 West St. Joseph I Lansing I 517-908-3200
www.careminders.com
18
November 21 • 2013
JN
Shelli Liebman Dorfman
Contributing Writer
A
fter receiving the mind-
numbing news that their
newborn son was blind —
and that the suggested doctor was
6,000 miles away, Israelis Ido and
Vered Porat turned to everyone they
knew — and didn't know — for infor-
mation and recommendations.
But it took a single social media
email to the right person to make
their journey to a Detroit-area physi-
cian one of incredible support and
ongoing friendship for the young fam-
ily, who spent a month and a half sur-
rounded by our Jewish community.
The connection began with a sim-
ple typed note.
"I got this message on Facebook
from a friend of mine who lives in
Israel, but used to live in Detroit,
whose daughter's in-laws know
the Porats," said Beth Brandvain of
Farmington Hills. The message said,
"[The] baby has some kind of rare eye
condition and has to have urgent sur-
gery in Detroit where it turns out the
biggest experts on this are:' It includ-
ed this request: "Would it be OK if
they call you when they are there as a
friendly person with a great smile?"
Far beyond the great smiles of
Brandvain and her husband, Avi,
came the connection to their friends,
which included the loan of a car, cell
phone, baby clothes and equipment,
transportation to appointments,
someone to sit with them during their
son's surgeries, invitations to dinners
and community events, and remark-
ably, even a place to live during their
stay from Sept. 23-Oct. 31.
"They would have connected with
somebody else if it wasn't us," insists
Brandvain, who was at the airport to
greet the Porats when they landed.
"Avi and I feel really lucky to have met
them and to be able to connect them
with our resources. Thinking about
them going through this on their own
would be very sad:'
Warmest Of Welcomes
Two days after Yanay was born, Vered,
31, and Ido, 33, were told he had no
sight. "We were told something was
very wrong with his eyes and that he
was blind," Vered said. "We were told
to see specialists and that there were
no options; he was going to be blind
and no surgeries would help:'
It was suspected that the infant,
the couple's first child, might have
the rare genetic disorder Norrie dis-
ease that leads to blindness in male
infants, but initial tests were nega-
tive. "It still could be some kind of
Village Of Friends on page 20