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Attendees check the reflection of the flame of the Havdalah candle during the prayers.
liana Unger of West
Bloomfield and Rabbi Rachel
Barenblat of Congregation
Beth Israel in North Adams
watch as Rabbi David Evan
\
Markus, co-chair of ALEPH
Gail Hines of West Bloomfield, Mandy Garver of Bloomfield Hills and Sharona
(Alliance for Jewish Renewal)
Shapiro of West Bloomfield listen to host Dr. Sabrina Black of Detroit address the
with Barenblat, extinguishes
attendees.
her to Shapiro and Luger, and she's
been a member ever since.
One memorable meeting of the
local chapter provided funds to help
women in Rwanda make biodegrad-
able feminine hygiene products, a
huge boon to girls who were missing
up to a week of school every month
during their menstrual periods.
Other dinners have supported
midwifery in Haiti, efforts to combat
sex trafficking in Nepal, and support
for girls and women in India who
lived and worked on garbage dumps,
eking out a living from materials they
found there.
"We choose small, manageable
projects," Shapiro said. "The dollars
we raise are put together with all
the other chapters' donations, and
together it covers the cost of the proj-
ect. On a grass-roots level, we can
make a real difference."
Wendy Strip of Farmington Hills,
a retired fund development profes-
sional who has been part of the
group since its start, said, "We're just
a small part of what others are doing
all over the country. I also like the
food!"
The group occasionally funds
local causes as well, including
the Havdalah candle.
Enough Said, a Michigan Women's
Foundation effort to clear the back-
log of rape test kits in Detroit. The
upcoming December meeting will
benefit Detroit's Alternatives for
Girls.
Jan Wanetick of Southfield, a
retired teacher, said she attends the
dinners because she enjoys learning
about people in different countries
and is pleased that her modest dona-
tion is pooled with others to have a
significant effect.
Mandy Garver of Bloomfield
Towship, a retired human resources
manager, said she likes the focus
on helping women to develop busi-
nesses. "We can teach someone to
fish and she'll eat for a lifetime," she
said. "We're helping people to raise
themselves from poverty and better
their lives, and I like that the focus is
on women."
Membership in Dining for Women
is open to any woman willing to par-
ticipate in the potluck and contribute
$40 per dinner. Shapiro has a mail-
ing list of close to 100 women. Most
meetings attract 15 to 20.
For more information, contact
Shapiro at shapirolerner@gmail.
com . *
Dining For Women Affirmation
Song And Spirit(s)
Havdalah brings groups together.
T
he Well, in partnership with
Hazon Detroit and with the
support of the Covenant
Foundation, hosted A Night of Song
and Spirit(s) on Nov. 19. Held in the
dance studio space at Ponyride, a
shared working and arts space in the
Corktown neighborhood of Detroit,
the evening featured singing, storytell-
ing, poetry, Havdalah and dancing.
The capacity crowd welcomed the
co-chairs of ALEPH: The Alliance for
Jewish Renewal, Rabbi David Evan
Markus and Rabbi Rachel Barenblat;
studied Kabbalistic texts with Rabbi
Dr. Elliot Ginsburg, associate professor
of Jewish thought and mysticism at the
University of Michigan; and were led
in song by Cantor Michael Smolash
of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield,
Rabbi Aura Ahuvia of Congregation
Shir Tikvah in Troy, Rabbi Alana
Alpert of Congregation T'chiyah in
Detroit and The Well's Rabbi Dan
Horwitz. *
Ken and Gail Posner of West
Rabbi Dan Horwitz of The Well and
For more information about The Well, Metro
Detroit's inclusive Jewish community-building,
education and spirituality outreach initiative, visit
meetyouatthewell.org.
Bloomfield, Miriam Horwitz of
Hazon Detroit's Julie Rosenbaum,
Huntington Woods and Sara Lebovic
associate director, and Sue Salinger,
of West Bloomfield
director
(read by each dinner hostess)
As we share food, we share something of ourselves and we honor each other.
We recognize the powerful associations of women to food, life and nurture in all
cultures. We honor the importance of those. We also recognize the burdens they
can bring. We remember the women about whom we've learned, the ones they
strive to nurture and the organizations that are trying to nurture them. By eat-
ing together as women, we remember and honor those women, who also have
favorite foods and family recipes. And we express the hope that through our
efforts, they may find more sustenance for their lives. May we all be able to feast
together some day.
28 December 15.2016
The crowd enjoys
the music at the
Havdalah event
at the Ponyride in
Detroit.