You're Invited to Explore and Enjoy our Family Friendly Temple Emanu-EI Fall Events 14450 W. 10 Mile, Oak Park WELCOME PICNIC & SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE All families invited - FREE! Sunday Sep 7th 1 1:30 - 1 Hot Dogs, Bounce House, Glitter Tattoo, Social Action, more Meet our teachers and school families Thurs, Sep. 25th Youth & Family Service 9-10am (best for 3rd graders and up) Young Family/Tot Service 4-5pm (best for tot - 2nd graders) Birthright Reunion Mifgash brings Birthrighters and Israelis back together. M ifgash: the Hebrew word for coming together. On Aug. 13, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit kicked-off its Mifgash, a five-day event that brought together 100 participants from this year's three Community Birthright trips with 20 of the Israelis who joined them on their experience in Israel. Through a busy schedule of programs and activities across the city, the Detroit and Israeli Mifgash participants renewed and strengthened the bonds that were forged on their trips. When the Israeli visitors arrived at Detroit Metro Airport, they were greeted by a group of excited Americans that would host them in their homes for the entirety of their stay. The next four More than 100 people enjoy a luncheon reuniting Birthright participants and their Israeli comrades. days were filled with learning, discovery, dis- cussions and bonding. The program included interactive dialogues with Reform, Conservative and Orthodox Rabbis; a bar- becue at Kensington Park; a trip to the Holocaust Memorial Center; an Liraz Gibli, Mirabeth Braude, Noga Barzilai , Jessica afternoon spent with Prentice, Shaked Amzalleg, Nisim Vaknin, Shir Kima the Tigers at Comerica Park; an overnight trip to Tamarack; and a NEXTGen Detroit Good time community experience in Israel. Shabbos Detroit dinner at Temple Israel. Traveling with peers from their com- Detroit Community Birthright, a pro- munity, participants climb Masada, gram of Federation's NEXTGen Detroit swim in the Dead Sea and tuck prayers and Israel & Overseas Departments, in the Western Wall. They spend a day offers 21-26 year-olds a free first- in beautiful Central Galilee, Federation's Cross-Cultural Cagers OPEN TO ALL! YOM KIPPUR SERVICES Sat., October 4th For all families 9-10am Music from our Youth Choir! Celebrate w/ us! sualltot Services Pizza In The Hut LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO 'DO JEWISH' I warm, inclusive, Give our student-centere d Religious school a try! Register now: ich.org w ww.emanuel-m TEMPLE EMANU-EL WHERE YOU BELONG! - Call an me: www.emanuel-mich.org 26 August 28 • 2014 metro JN Jewish and Chaldean basketball players enjoy long-term friendship. I t's not just about the sport; it's about deep friendships. We live parallel lives and we don't intersect all the time, but basketball was the mechanism (for us) to intersect. And our lives are richer because of it." Who said it? Lebron James reminisc- ing about his Miami teammates after announcing he was returning to the Cavaliers? Or a moment of reflection by retired NBA commissioner David Stern at his recent NBA Hall of Fame induction? Give up? Actually it was Rick Sherline, Southfield insur- ance agent and pick-up basketball fanatic, describ- ing his 15-year relation- ship with a group of Iraqi Christian (Chaldean) bas- ketball players with whom he shares "a special kind of relationship:' I met Rick after having written an article about his father and Jewish War Veteran, Herman Sherline, of blessed memory. Rick told me about his basket- ball brethren and thought readers would enjoy hearing the feel good story. From the moment I heard the first heartwarm- ing details, I understood why Rick felt it was a story people could learn from Above: These Jewish and Chaldean friends bonded over basketball. as well. Two cultures, one sport, countless hours of fun. There are a few versions of exactly just how it all began. By most accounts, it came down to two different groups of play- ers showing up at a court, one Jewish, one Chaldean, each in need of extra players to field two teams for a game of pick- up basketball. Game on. It was there, Sherline recalls fondly, that we "cross-pollinat- ed ... melded (our) two games together" and, in doing so, the players discovered they shared the same passion for family, education and friendship. As the years passed, the friendships grew and so did the number of players with the games moving from the school yard to the backyard of West Bloomfield physician Dr. Norman Markowitz. "The guys meshed from day one," Markowitz says. "There were never any issues regarding our different cultures or any awkwardness whatsoever:' Chaldean counterparts Justin Hermiz and Tim Somero echo those exact senti- ments. "It has been a great Chaldean/ Jewish social connection we have devel- oped," Justin says. Tim adds, "I love the guys ... like they're my own brothers ... I don't make a distinction between who is Jewish or Chaldean." Today the list of participating play- ers, who range in age from young adult to the 60s, has grown to 50, and this