E’rootha members get participants out to dance
to traditional Chaldean music.

Cultural Sharing

Jewish and Chaldean communities
bond over traditional music, dance.

‘

M

usic and dance have been
known to bring people
together. That’s what hap-
pened May 12 when about 85 Jews and
Chaldeans came together at Henry Ford
West Bloomfield Hospital for a potluck
dinner, a social action project, and a
sharing of music and dance from each
other’s cultures.
For the sixth year, the Jewish and
Chaldean communities have joined
together as part of the larger Jewish
News and Chaldean News “Building
Community Initiative.” As part of this
initiative, our two communities have
reached out to one another, visited each
other’s holy places of worship and partici-
pated in each other’s cultural events.
Thanks to Amy Strauss of Henry Ford
West Bloomfield, Jews and Chaldeans
were able to share their culinary delights
in the hospital’s downstairs atrium.
Hazzan Dan Gross, cantor at Adat
Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills,
entertained all with a fascinating musical
journey through the Jewish calendar. He
educated the interfaith audience about
the meaning of Passover, Shavuot, Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur, among other
holidays, and shared Jewish melodies
using his incredible voice.
E’rootha, a group whose mission is to
promote cultural awareness, community
service and education with the Chaldean,
Assyrian and Syriac communities, per-
formed some fun Chaldean dancing, and
many attendees joined them in the line
dances around the atrium.
Along with bringing ethnic food,
everyone brought supplies for infants
and hygiene products for the needy who
come to the weekly Open Hands Food
Pantry at St. John’s Episcopal Church in
Royal Oak.
As co-chair of this event, I was so
pleased with the turnout and the interac-
tion between our two communities as we
sampled each other’s home cooking, and
shared our traditional Jewish melodies
and Chaldean dancing.

Photos by Brandon Schwartz

Gail Katz | Special to the Jewish News

E S

J O

PRO D UC
E

Gourmet Market

Father Andrew Seba of St. Thomas
Chaldean Catholic Church in West
Bloomfield, and Social Action
Committee co-chairs Gail Katz and
Rula Yono.

Joe Says...
Get Your Grill On

Kick off a tasty summer with
grilling favorites

Jeannie Weiner of West Bloomfield
and Hazzan Dan Gross of Adat Shalom

Rula Yono, my Chaldean co-chair, said,
“It was a great day for our committee and
our initiative.”
Jeannie Weiner, a member of our social
action committee, said, “The Chaldean-
Jewish Social Action Committee provides
for a perfect combination of volunteer
activities and the opportunity to learn
about another culture.”
Both Arthur Horwitz, publisher of the
Jewish News, and Vanessa Denha Garmo,
co-publisher and editor of the Chaldean
News, welcomed participants.
The next Jewish Chaldean Social
Action event will be on Thursday, Aug.
18, to stuff backpacks to help needy chil-
dren who will start school in the fall.

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June 2 • 2016

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