metro >> mentsh of the month
At Magen David Adorn,
we're often saving lives befor
our ambulances even arrive.
Sallyjo Levine believes voluntarism is an essential Jewish value.
Born To Help
SaIllyjo Levine heads Shir Shalom's
first homeless hospitality program.
Stacy Gittleman I Contributing Writer
W
At Magen David Adorn, Israel's national EMS service, help
begins the moment the phone is answered. Because EMTs
handle the calls, they can provide lifesaving instructions
while dispatching ambulances and first-responders on
Medicycles. And now, with 15,000 CPR-certified civilian Life
Guardians joining our team, help can be just seconds away.
Your year-end tax-deductible gift makes Israel's
premier lifesaving organization even better.
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Dr. John J. Mames Chapter —Michigan Region
30100 Chagrin Blvd. Suite 150
Pepper Pike, OH 44124
Toll-Free 877.405.3913
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AMERICAN FRIENDS OF
MAGEN DAVID ADOM
18 December 15 2016
hen she was a little girl,
Sallyjo Levine's mother
told her she was born with
her fist raised in the air.
"It seems as if I was born to have my
hand up to help:' said Levine, 69, of West
Bloomfield.
During her life, Levine said she has
been a teacher and a businesswoman,
but her greatest satisfaction and contri-
butions have come through volunteering
and social action.
Now Social Action Committee chair of
Temple Shir Shalom in West Bloomfield,
Levine believes that a lifetime of helping
others is beneficial to one's wellbeing.
From organizing meal preparation for
the poor, and now accompanying her
grandchildren to help at Yad Ezra, Levine
believes voluntarism is an essential
Jewish value that must be taught early
and practiced throughout one's lifetime.
For the past 18 months, Levine and
her small army of Shir Shalom volun-
teers — 60 and growing — have been
preparing to run the temple's first one-
week homeless hospitality program.
Through Dec. 18, 30 homeless men,
women and children from Southfield's
South Oakland Shelter (SOS) will be
hosted by the temple at the Corners in
West Bloomfield. The guests will be
provided breakfast and dinner. They
will sleep at the Corners and each morn-
ing will head out to their jobs or go to
school.
Levine began organizing hospitality
stays for SOS several years ago, when
she was a member at Temple Kol Ami
in West Bloomfield. When Shir Shalom
congregants brought up the idea to host
their own hospitality week, Levine knew
it was no small task, but she knew how
to mobilize.
"I cautioned people just how monu-
mental an undertaking it was, but people
of all ages and abilities came out in
droves to help:' she said.
Students worked to gather toiletries
and create care packages. Other congre-
gants will take turns cooking and serving
meals, and others still will stay overnight
with the guests.
In other volunteering activities, Levine
coordinated efforts for congregants to
prepare and deliver dinner to I Am My
Brother's Keeper Ministry in Detroit.
She organized volunteers for monthly
food deliveries to the Dr. Gary Burnstein
Community Health Clinic in Pontiac
through Forgotten Harvest, and started
a game night program for children at the
Coleman A. Young Elementary School
in Detroit.
Levine grew up in Northwest Detroit
and attended Congregation Shaarey
Zedek. Everyone in the neighborhood
back then was Jewish, she says. From an
extremely early age, her parents taught
her that because her family was blessed
with everything they needed, they had
an obligation to do good for others. Her
earliest memories include being pulled
in a wagon, going door to door with a jar
to collect money for March of Dimes.
Though times and the neighborhood
have changed, Levine believes that being
part of the Jewish community means she
and others have many talents to offer to
improve the lives of others.
"The kids attending the schools I
used to go to in Detroit don't look like
me anymore, but they deserve the exact
education I received when I was a kid:'
she said. "Just as Abraham ran out from
his tent to greet and help strangers, this
is what we as Jews need to do: Jump in
and help:' *