continued from page 8
Some group singing before lighting the menorah at Temple Israel
Chanukah Lights
Festivities at Temple Israel, Adat Shalom.
0
n Saturday, Dec. 5, young families gathered at Temple Israel in West
Bloomfield for Shabbat Mishpacha to celebrate large and small, and to
share Havdalah together.
On Dec. 9, families at Adat Shalom in Farmington Hills celebrated Chanukah
with song, arts and crafts. The evening began with Chanukah festivities, songs,
crafts and dancing, and music and dancing provided by Star Trax. *
Families display
the completed
Great Mosaic
Menorah Sticker
Project art they
created at Adat
Shalom.
Eitan Katz, 13, of Southfield composes a letter to be taken to Israel.
a personal connection between our
students and the victims," said Malkie
Rosenbloom, Akiva's director of market-
ing and public relations.
In a letter to each family that accom-
panied those written by the students,
Akiva's Interim CEO Jordana Wolfson
wrote, in part, "Our feelings of support
and unity toward klal Yisrael [the Jewish
people] are stronger than ever. Each
member of our school has been greatly
affected by the series of terror attacks in
Israel and has chosen to reach out to you
and show our unwavering support.
"Our students learned about each pre-
cious soul that was lost, recited tehillim
[psalms] and special prayers on their
behalf. We discussed with our students
the acts of heroism displayed by the
victims. Each victim displayed acts of
everyday courage from simply raising
a family in Israel to attempting to save
another suffering victim of terror. A les-
son can be learned from each lost soul
— a lesson in courage, heroism, love and
unity."
Influenced by the story of Chanukah,
Yosef Malca said he wanted to give the
students the opportunity to show their
own strength for the Jewish people like
the Maccabees did. "When our people
face threats and difficult times in Israel
and all over the world, we are reminded
to stand up for our people, show our
support and show our strength. Our stu-
dents are modern-day Maccabees"
Greenbaum said the high schoolers,
too, showed their camaraderie.
"The project to adopt the IDF unit was
created around the same time the recent
escalation in terror was just beginning.
Even though we are over 6,000 miles
away, we felt it was important to stand
strong with our brothers and sisters in
Israel and show our support for the IDF.
"I believe it is paramount to support
the IDF and our soldiers fighting to
protect our homeland. It is one thing for
them to go out on their own and protect
the State of Israel and its citizens, but it
is another thing for them to do it with
the support of their brothers and sisters
around the world. It makes all the differ-
ence" *
4 y,
Adat Shalom Rabbi Rachel Shere with
Suzan Tepman and Jordyn, 5, of West
Josh Pollak, 11, of West Bloomfield
Bloomfield at Adat Shalom
.4111nr
Adin Kleinfeldt, 13, of Huntington Woods writes a letter to an Israeli family
Bayla Kaluzny, 5, at Temple Israel
Benjamin, 7, Allyson, 5, and Blake
Berman, 2, at Temple Israel
10 December 24 2015
JN
affected by terror.