Hillel fifth-graders look into the Yad Ezra sukkah through bamboo windows with real grapevines.

I

n 2012, the American Institute for
Architects, the Jewish Federation of
Greater Ann Arbor and other orga-
nizations held a sukkah-building contest.
Requirements for the sukkah were that it
be sustainable, promoted awareness for
the homeless and complied with halachic
tradition.
Entries from all over Michigan were
built, with the winning sukkah designed
and erected by Team4Community part-
ners: Shari Stein (interior designer),
Ralph Nunez (landscape architect,
urban designer) and Harold Remlinger
(licensed architect). The mission for this
Birmingham firm is to improve the quality
of life in Metro Detroit by mentoring the
next generation of emerging young design
professionals.
Their design, made of 59 straw bales and
taking one hour to build, includes branches
that form a Jewish star at the entry way,
the Hebrew letter "Hay" out of straw bales
on the outside, a small wood table inside, a
bamboo open window and real grape vines.
Evergreens were used for the traditional

schach on the roof. The designers chose
to make the sukkah out of hay because
it is warm and provides insulation and,
when the holiday is over, can be donat-
ed and used for other purposes.
Team4Community offered to build
the award-winning sukkah this year at
Yad Ezra for clients, volunteers, visitors
and staff members to enjoy.
Clara Gaba, fifth-grade teacher at
Hillel Day School in Farmington Hills,
organized a field trip to Yad Ezra in
Berkley for 59 students to visit the suk-
Kenneth Stein, Shari Stein, Matt Puz,
kah and help with the finishing touches.
Brendan Cagney, Ralph Nunez, Hannah
The students learned about the con-
Remlinger and Harold Remplinger relax
struction of the sukkah within the hala-
outside their award-winning sukkah.
chic laws, the value of sustainability and
participated in applying the schach.
Now that the holiday is over, hay from
The students then toured Yad Ezra and
the sukkah will be donated to the Detroit
learned about the organization's efforts to
Mounted Police for their horses to eat.
alleviate hunger in this community and
Yad Ezra currently provides 1,300 fami-
dropped off donated cans of food for the
lies with free kosher groceries every month.
client families to enjoy. The students, struck Last year, Yad Ezra distributed more than
by the experience of seeing their studies
1.1 million pounds of groceries to families
translate into real life, decided to collect
in need. For more information, go to www.
tzedakah for Yad Ezra.
yadezra.org or call (248) 548-3663. ❑

JN CONTENTS

EneJEWISHNEWS.com

Oct. 23-29, 2014 I 29 Tishrei-6 Cheshvan 5775 I Vol. CXLVI, No. 11

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Columnist
Danny Raskin

Shabbat: Friday, Oct. 24, 6:18 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, Oct. 25, 7:19 p.m.

Shabbat: Friday, Oct. 31, 6:09 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, Nov. 1, 7:10 p.m.

Times are from Yeshiva Beth Yehudah calendar.

44

111
Zack Herman

414\1

is an Oakland
University student majoring in educa-
tion and doing his student teaching in
Clarkston. "I'm teaching junior high
Spanish," Zack said. "I've always
loved languages, and teaching is what
I want. I've never been happier."
For years, Zack wasn't sure what to do
with his life. As high school ended, he
considered teaching as a profession,
but wasn't convinced it was right
for him. He worked retail while he
looked at options, and decided to
pursue a business degree. Along the
way he changed to liberal arts, and
with the advice of a trusted professor,
Zack came full circle back to teaching.
With that choice made, Zack looked
for a way to bridge the gap between
his costs and his available funds.
Friends had interest-free loans to
help pay for school and mentioned
the opportunity, so Zack called
Hebrew Free Loan, applied, and
received funding. The Mayer, Tillie,
Harold and Miriam Sansky
Evergreen Legacy Fund, which
was founded at HFL to benefit
those pursuing education and
training, helped support Zack.
"The loan process was easy, and
you knew where you stood every
step of the way. It felt more like
borrowing from family," Zack said.
"It seemed like the whole community
was there for me."

Click. Call. Give Now.
www.hfldetroit.org
248.723.8184

Health. A fresh start.
A good education.
The next great business idea.

Hebrew Free Loan gives interest-
free loans to members of our
community for a variety of per-
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through community donations
which continually recycle to
others, generating many times
the original value to help main-
tain the lives of local Jews.

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October 23 • 2014

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