Roots continued from page 50
of the garden is motivation enough to continue the
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U-M senior Rebecca Liebschutz of Delmar, N.Y., helped found the
community garden.
History continued
from page 50
the film debuted at the HMC's corn-
munitywide Kristallnacht remembrance
event.
Cooper's West Bloomfield High School
video teacher, Kevin Walsh, attended the
event and, after watching the film, was
incredibly proud of him and his accom-
efforts, but the close relationship we formed with the
church was another great outcome of the initiative.
At HaYerukim's annual "Dinner in the Sukkah" this
fall, we felt it would be more than fitting to invite the
Interfaith Garden church members to join us in honor-
ing the harvest festival as well as commemorating
our very own harvest. That night, we celebrated in the
beautiful sukkah at Hillel with great food and even
greater company.
I believe it was this special night that further
strengthened our interfaith partnership and helped to
remind us all why we started such a project in the first
place. Looking around the sukkah on that evening,
there were young and old, Jewish and Christian, but
more importantly, there were people making up one
plishments.
"I have always thought he was an
outstanding writer and filmmaker,"
Walsh said. "Not only is he all that, but
he is also a top-notch person. It was
exciting to see people impressed by
him."
Cooper said, "I wanted people to see
how horrible and scary it was. However,
the real message I wanted to send,
as disturbing as it was to have syna-
gogues destroyed and people murdered,
[Kristallnacht] was just the beginning of
a worse nightmare to come:'
He felt it was his responsibility to
create a film like this. In the future,
he hopes to become a film direc-
tor and direct a movie about the
Holocaust.
"I am the video guy; Cooper said. "I
realize the importance of capturing the
survivors' stories. Twenty to 30 years
caring and passionate community, one interfaith group
sharing dialogue and stories. In that moment, I real-
ized how much I could relate to the different people
who sat at my table. We discussed our values in
regard to the connection between faith, the environ-
ment and the effect each person has on the world.
As I listened, shared and learned, I realized how
grateful I was to be part of this moment at Hillel. I
felt the spirit of the holiday, friendship and gratitude
come together; it was incredible, and it motivated me
to share that feeling with others and help them feel it
as well. @
Rose Henkin of Ann Arbor is a junior at the University of
Michigan in Ann Arbor.
from now, younger generations won't get
the firsthand stories we have been lucky
enough to listen to. It is my responsibility
as a filmmaker to capture that informa-
tion and preserve it for future genera-
tions so we never forget:' (4'
Erin Ben-Moche, 19, of West Bloomfield is a
sophomore at Oakland University in Rochester.
To watch Cooper's film, go to www.youtube.com/
watch?v=DbQ6hnzqLkg.
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November 26 2015
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