metro >> continued from page 9 AUGUST f VAIN 1111 011 a Yi .1. ■■ •=.1.i1 AUGUST: A scene from one of JET's produc- AUGUST: Matthew Kuppe, arrested tions of The Diary of Anne Frank, shown Aug. 12 at his West Bloomfield annually to local students. home, was a counselor/assistant unit head at the JCC Day Camps in JET CHANGES FOCUS After 27 seasons of professional theatrical productions geared toward Jewish audiences, the Jewish Ensemble Theatre (JET) announced it is heading in a new direction. The theater will present two main stage plays instead of the usual four and expand its youth outreach programs to schools and other audiences in Detroit and Southeast Michigan. JCC CAMP COUNSELOR ARRESTED FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY Campers, parents and staff members of the Jewish Community Center Day Camps reacted with dismay and outrage to the Aug. 12 arrest of counselor and assistant unit head Matthew Kuppe, 21. He was charged by federal authorities with child pornography, including allegedly taking nude photographs of JCC campers and posting them on a foreign website. West Bloomfield. A WIN-WIN! The Jimmy Prentis Morris JCC in Oak Park closed on Aug. 31, but all was not lost. A donor, described as someone "with a deep love for the community:' will make a multimillion-dollar investment in the JPM building. Plans are to preserve the swimming pool while tearing down the rest of the 59-year-old building and replacing the structure with a brand-new, state-of-the- art facility. SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER: Attendees closed their eyes OCTOBER: Teen mission partici- and participated in a guided meditation pants discover the beauty of Israel focusing on how to welcome others to their through hiking, learning and personal Well. touring. COMMUNAL TASHLICH Nearly 500 people, mostly ages 22-35, joined together Downtown in Hart Plaza and along the Detroit Riverwalk for a Rosh Hashanah celebration and tashlich ceremony. The Sept. 15 event, dubbed "Rosh Hashanah Rush Hour:' was organized and hosted by The Well, Metro Detroit's new pluralistic Jewish community-building, education and spirituality outreach initiative. THE SHUL CELEBRATES BAR MITZVAH YEAR During the High Holiday season, The Shul in West Bloomfield, which is run by the Chabad- Lubavitch movement, invited families and individuals of all ages to commemorate its bar mitz- vah, called "Celebration 13:' the culmination of 13 years of prayer, learning and social experi- ences for children and adults in a warm and welcoming setting. OCTOBER NOVEMBER: Jordon Wertheimer, NOVEMBER: Rally organizers: Cole Levine, Rabbi Mark Miller and Dr. Nisim Nesimov and Ben Rashty. Raymond Rosenfeld. NEW ALLIANCE ANNOUNCED Tamarack Camps announced it will join the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and local congregations on Teen Mission 2016, July 5-Aug. 5. Tamarack will work on the logistics of recruitment, travel, organizing activities on the go, supervising and creating outstanding teen experiences on a day-to-day basis in the field. NOVEMBER TEMPLE BETH EL CELEBRATES 165TH ANNIVERSARY Temple Beth El hosted a sold-out event for 320 TBE members and friends on Saturday, Nov. 7. The gala featured live entertainment, food and enduring friendships. The historical committee, led by Elaine Schonberger and Cindy Bolokofsky, created the Beth El Story, a multimedia pre- sentation of the temple's history. NOVEMBER: Bill and Audrey Farber, center, sur- rounded by their family and Rabbi Harold Loss of Temple Israel. ,r t Atimse R.! 44 ' 61P ler GY "N7 R TEENS ORGANIZE RALLY TO SUPPORT ISRAEL When three local Jewish teens witnessed a pro-Palestinian rally on the corner of Maple and Orchard Lake roads, they decided to counter it with their own rally for Israel at the same loca- tion on Sunday, Nov. 9. ' 21111 1 7,4 'in' 0 "", 3 -' 91 4 1 a e, it il ill ' IP ELL: .1'111: ', ∎ Q:'4,'. I" ,,,,I; I V lc ,:. Mi.L.1 - ; r n 2 - " A f si I. r ; NOVEMBER: Pulling a covering from the JWV Memorial Wall are Hans Weinmann, Art Fishman, Harmon Tron, Stephen Goldman and Guy Stern. A NEW RESTING PLACE The Michigan Jewish War Veterans (JWV) officially rededicated the Memorial Wall at their new home at the Holocaust Memorial Center (HMC). They were previously at the the Jimmy Prentis Morris Jewish Community Center building in Oak Park. DECEMBER: Rabbi Kasriel Shemtov of The Shul-Chabad Lubavitch in West Bloomfield at DECEMBER the podium addresses the audi- MENORAH IN THE D DRAWS THOUSANDS DOWNTOWN Thousands of people filled Detroit's Campus Martius Dec. 6 to celebrate the first night of Chanukah and watch as a 26-foot-tall menorah was lit to shine the light of the holiday over Downtown Detroit. The menorah remained lit through Dec. 11. ence before lighting the giant menorah. Seated behind him are guest dignitaries. 10 December 31 .2015 AKIVA'S NEXT CHAPTER On Nov. 15, more than 300 guests gathered to witness the groundbreaking for Akiva Hebrew Day School's future building and to honor the Farber family, whose transformative donation of $8 million to the school allowed for its construction. The Southfield school will be renamed the Farber Hebrew Day School-Yeshivat Akiva starting in September 2016. Jr.