DESIGNS IN DECORATOR WOOD & LAMINATES, LTD.

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continued from page 10

“By taking part in this work, we recognize
that all of us were once immigrants.”

— Doug Ross, former state senator

It Doesn't Have
To Cost A Fortune…
Only Look Like It!

and on the weekends, and the
children are picking up English in
school and preschool.
Now that Haifa just earned her
driver’s license, she will begin to
look for work to help the family
become fully economically self-
sufficient.
Both Samer and Haifa indicate
they very much miss their families
who remain in Syria. However, they
regard America as their future and
have no thoughts of returning to
their homeland, Ross said.
“We are happy and comfortable
in America,” Samer told Ross. “We
have encountered some difficul-

Complete kitchen and bathroom
remodeling as well as furniture
design and installations including
granite, wood and other materials.

ties, but thanks to all of you [Team
Alasad], we can go beyond them.
Thank you and everyone who
helped us.”
Ross told a gathering of about 20
people at a dinner in early March at
Mezza restaurant in Orchard Lake
that “by taking part in this work, we
recognize that all of us were once
immigrants.
“No matter the need, from find-
ing English classes for the couple
on the weekends to finding donors
to help with rent, Team Alasad will
be there for them to make sure
the family becomes successful
Americans,” he said.

Lois Haron Allied Member ASID 248.851.6989

‘Let My People In’

BEGINS TUESDAY! • THE TONY –WINNING BROADWAY PHENOMENON

®

Detroit Jews for Justice raises funds for refugees.

“BELIEVE THE BUZZ!” —Variety

ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

M

PHOTO OF LUKE TREADAWAY BY HUGO GLENDINNING

—Time Magazine

Fisher Theatre • May 2–14

ticketmaster.com, 800-982-2787 & box ofﬁce.
Info: BroadwayInDetroit.com, 313-872-1000.
Groups (10+): Groups@BroadwayInDetroit.com or 313-871-1132.

12

April 27 • 2017

jn

7:30PM May 7.

ore than 100 members-strong since
its founding in 2015, Detroit Jews
for Justice (DJJ) envisions a Jewish com-
munity mobilizing for a better world with
racial and economic justice.
Leading DJJ is Rabbi Alana Alpert
of Congregation T’chiyah in Oak Park,
which originated the initiative. It offers
opportunities for education, leadership
development, grassroots campaigns,
community-building and arts and cul-
ture.
On April 15, DJJ hosted “Let My
People In: Refugee Voices and the
Music of Daniel Kahn,” a Passover-
themed benefit event for the Syrian
American Rescue Network (SARN), a
local organization providing humanitar-
ian and economic support to refugees
entering Michigan. A total of $2,000
from 105 attendees was raised.
Held at Red Door Digital in Detroit’s
North End, the evening featured
“speakers from Syria, a mini-seder,
liberation stories, poetry, and Yiddish
and German cabaret and folk music,”
said attendee Roslyn Schindler of
Huntington Woods.
Six members of DJJ’s immigrant/
Muslim solidarity work group orga-

nized the event, assisted by staff/com-
munity organizer Eleanor Gamalski of
Hamtramck.
The work group was founded this
year “after the signing of the executive
order now referred to as the ‘Muslim
Ban’ and the immediate call to action
for a protest at Metro Airport,” said
committee member Raya Samet of
Oak Park.
“We had been thinking about the
subject of Syrian refugees for a while,
especially in a time of heightening
xenophobia,” said Dana Kornberg of
Detroit, a committee member. “We
were concerned with figuring out how
we might contribute to immigrant and
refugee justice.”
Samet added, “We needed a group
of leaders to start some intensive work
and figure out how to mobilize people
quickly around these issues in our
community.”
Team leader Rachel Lerner of Detroit
had the idea for doing an adapted
seder with small groups interacting.
Samet latched on to the concept of
Magid to provide a contemporary tell-
ing of liberation stories. Familiar with
SARN, she asked for a couple of refu-

