Photos by Brandon Schwartz metro » aro u nd tow n Open House Yad Ezra’s greenhouse and gardens serve as a community learning lab. O n June 3, 150 guests toured the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation Giving Gardens, featuring the Geri Lester Greenhouse and Yad Ezra’s warehouse sporting new banners designed by local day schools and synagogues. Yad Ezra President Sam Rozenberg and Nancy Kleinfeldt, immediate past president, welcomed and thanked the Fisher and Lester family members who provided the necessary funds for the project. Additional shout-outs went to Team4Community, Yad Ezra’s consulting group; Sheldon Yellen and Joe Detloff from Belfor USA Group; and Berkley city officials. The Giving Gardens provide a learning lab to educate volunteers, clients, students and sup- porters by bringing them together to experience the benefits of planting and harvesting produce while blurring the lines between the demographic groups. Programming at Giving Gardens serves the larger mission of Yad Ezra by providing par- ticipants with a holistic view of the issue of hun- ger through a Jewish lens. Combining the daily work of Yad Ezra with the Giving Gardens at the same site provides a central location to experi- ence the sweet spot between social service and social justice work. * Past President of Yad Ezra and Greenhouse project chair Nancy Kleinfeldt, Yad Ezra Executive Director Lea Luger, Giving Gardens Manager Carly Sugar and design team member Shari Stein at the dedication ceremony Nicole and Matt Lester pose for a pic with Yad Ezra Executive Director Lea Luger, center, in front of the plaque dedicating the Giving Gardens in honor of Matt’s mother, Geri Lester. Attendees gather in the greenhouse gardens before the dedication ceremony. Banners made by students at local day schools and synagogues dress up the Yad Ezra warehouse. T Kids enjoy the sudsy bubble machine. he Jewish Family Festival brought together more than 700 participants from all walks of life for a day of Jewish unity, inspiration and fun on Lag b’Omer, May 26. “It is heartwarming to experi- ence the incredible response from the community growing from year to year,” says Rabbi Kasriel Shemtov, spiritual director of The Shul-Chabad Lubavitch in West Bloomfield, which sponsored the event with sponsorship from Kroger, JFamily of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, Singing and dancing around a bonfire marked the celebration of Lag b’Omer. 22 June 16 • 2016 Friendship Circle, Bouncing Bubbles and Jerusalem Pizza. Participants enjoyed an assortment of activities including bubble soc- cer, rock climbing, a foam machine, archery, a nature hike, sports, face painting and more. Participants roasted marshmallows and sang lively songs around a bon- fire, while they met the Lag b’Omer historical figures, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and Rabbi Akiva, played by students from the LubavitchYeshiva- International School for Chabad Omer Burshtein of Berkley has some fun at Leadership in Oak Park. * Shaina, 2, and Chana Stein, 4½, of West Bloomfield the wading pool with his son, Noam, 2 . Kids enjoy roasted marshmallows around one of the firepits. Photos by Brandon Schwartz Family Festival Lag b’Omer was the backdrop for The Shul’s annual community event.