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Let the

jewfro

Taking My Tales To Sunny Florida

Live6 Alliance, whose mission is to
enhance quality of life and economic
opportunity in Northwest Detroit: “Tell

outlasted and overcame the many challeng-
es of their time. Through faith, collabora-
tion and community, a new precedence was
established and a new hope was carved.
It is upon this hope that we will continue
to build; in honor of this legacy, providing
renewed hope for people of all races and
cultures in the city of Detroit and beyond.”
— Pastor Aramis Hinds

Global Detroit: “Over the past
year, Jewish consciousness was
drawn to the growth in the num-
ber of refugees fleeing terror and
violence, especially persecution
stemming from their religious and
ethnic identities. Understanding
that our Jewish survival is predi-
cated on the end of ethnic and
religious persecution and the triumph of
peace and tolerance, we Jews play a unique
role in welcoming immigrants and refugees
to America.
Global Detroit is working with partners
in the refugee resettlement community,
state and local government, and workforce
and entrepreneurship areas to make Metro
Detroit a leading region for immigrant and
refugee attraction, retention and welcom-
ing. It is a pathway that will revitalize our
city and community and build long-term
prosperity. And, for me personally, it is
rooted in the Jewish immigration experi-
ence of my grandparents who fled Eastern
Europe in the nick of time.”
— Steve Tobocman

Detroit City Moishe House: “After six
months of searching, we are excited to have
a home in the historic Indian Village. The
house creates a Jewish anchor on the East
Side, a space for Jewish young professionals
to explore the city of Detroit in meaningful
ways. Everything we do is driven by the
same values that have guided the Jewish
community for generations — a tenacious
pursuit of togetherness and collective
well-being. It’s just that the borders of our
community have grown. We’re excited to
strengthen our connection with Jewish
peers, but also to pursue racial and eco-
nomic justice for our broader Detroit com-
munity.”
— Hayley Sakwa

Bethel Community Transformation
Center, a new group (I’m a board mem-
ber) based at the old Temple Beth El on
Woodward Avenue: “I envision this phe-
nomenal historic structure as a testament
to the strength and resilience of individuals
who, in the face of despair and hardship,

Yad Ezra, on Giving Gardens, its new
greenhouse: “As volunteers learn to bring
food from soil to table, we strengthen resil-
ience in our community with knowledge
inherited by our bubbies and zaydies. We’ll
learn shtetl skills, like preserving our har-
vest through biblical-age pickling methods,
and understand what these processes look
like in our modern food system — a sys-
tem that simultaneously produces waste
and food insecurity.”
— Carly Sugar

take care
of you.

With great rates, an
even better staff, and the
speediest buses in the
business, trust Qwik Park
to get you to the airport
Qwik as a flash.

Save time.
Reserve online!
qwikpark.com

7782 Merriman Rd., Romulus, MI

Yours truly, Ben

P.S. If any locals have messages they want me to
bring to the Sunshine State, I will make sure to store
them safely in the overhead compartment.

SMITH RD

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Commentary

94

Campaign Cursive

O

n Jan. 23 each year, America
recognizes “John Hancock
Day.” We celebrate the beauty
and achievements of human communica-
tion and innovation
using pen and paper.
It is a skill we should
cherish and nurture and
certainly not take for
granted.
This year, in par-
ticular, professional
David Littmann handwriting groups and

MIDDLEBELT RD

us your stories! As much potential as
Livernois and 6 Mile (did anyone ever call
it McNichols?) have for commercial devel-
opment, we believe it can be even richer
as a cultural corridor. We want to weave
together generations of narratives about
the surrounding neighborhoods. Sanders
seems like a logical place to start.”
— Lauren Hood

MERRIMAN RD

T

o my old friends in South
Florida:
Boychick Ben here. Writing
to say “Thank you!” and “See you soon!”
(And, no, it’s not just you — people use
a lot more exclamation points than they
used to. F. Scott Fitzgerald said they were
like laughing at your own joke; I blame the
Facebook.)
Thanks: Even if my column
is intended to skew “millennial,”
I know that many of my most
engaged readers are of an era
where jewfros were a political
statement, and vinyl and sus-
penders were purely practical.
Heading your way: I’m excited
Ben Falik
to join you for the JCC’s SAJE
in the Sun (Seminars for Adult
Jewish Enrichment). What’s on my mind
as I prepare for the panel on “Detroit:
America’s Comeback City”?
Repairing the World. Under way! The
volunteer energy of Detroiters (both city
residents and Detroiters in spirit) never
ceases to amaze me. The drivers of our
good work in education and food justice
are eight Repair the World Fellows who
dedicate a year of their lives to service
inspired and informed by Jewish values.
Because I have to set them free each sum-
mer, I need your help finding the next
crop. Got a grandchild (or any millennial
mentsh) between 21 and 26 years old?
Send them to werepair.org — en route to
Southwest Detroit. (To boot, this summer
will be Summer in the City’s 15th.)
But enough about me. I asked some of
my heroes what they’d like to share with
you, in particular:

N

W

document examiners stress to parents and
educators the wisdom of retaining or rein-
stalling instruction for cursive writing in
the early grade school years.
National Handwriting Day comes in
January, chosen in honor of John Hancock’s
birth in 1737. John Hancock was the
Founding Father noted for his large and
ornate signature on our Declaration
of Independence. “Give me your John
Hancock” endures to this day as the light-
hearted request for affixing one’s cursive
signature to a contract or a document to

render it legitimate or legally binding.
Many new studies illustrate the advan-
tages of cursive writing for enhancing
lifetime individual performance. Ideas and
essays are written faster, more fully, and
expressed with greater fluidity and consis-
tency than those in which writers struggle
solely with start-stop, unconnected, indi-
vidual letter formations. Regions of the
brain activated by reading and memory
turn out to be the same regions activated
during cursive handwriting.
More than 3,000 nerve endings in each of

E

S

DTW

Exit 198 from I-94
Exit 20 from I-275

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January 21 • 2016

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