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in
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Forging A
Partnership

Film about the Jews of Kerala, India, builds bridges between
West Bloomfield and Israeli Rotarians.

W

Alan Muskovitz

TOP: Chendamangalam
Jewish Synagogue in
Kerala, India.

ith apologies to Charles Dickens,
I’d like to share a A Tale of Two
Cities — West Bloomfield and
Ramla, Israel — whose respective Rotary
clubs recently signed an “Agreement for
Partnership.” They are now officially sister
clubs.
“Our similar attitudes about the positive
influence both our clubs have in our com-
munities fostered the idea of connecting
and working jointly with our Israeli coun-
terpart on international projects,” says West
Bloomfield Rotary Club member Geebee
Thimotheose.
Dr. Henry Maicki, president of the West
Bloomfield Rotary, adds: “We look forward to
getting acquainted with our fellow Rotarians
and working together on projects that will
make a difference in the world.”
You might say it’s a Rotary version of tikkun
olam, of helping to repair the world.

As described on its website, Rotary
International is “grassroots at its core, whose
members believe they have a shared respon-
sibility to take action on our world’s most
persistent issues including fighting disease,
providing clean water, advocating for chil-
dren, supporting education and promoting
peace.”
The motto is “Service Before Self.” That’s
been the mission for more than 112 years.
The organization has amassed 1.2 million
volunteer members in more than 35,000
clubs.
It was during the process of chronicling
the burgeoning relationship between the
Rotary clubs of West Bloomfield and Ramla
that a riveting back story emerged surround-
ing the circumstances that led to this col-
laborative union in the first place. As it turns
out, the formal introduction and subsequent
partnership between the two clubs evolved

from sheer coincidence; an unintended con-
sequence of the research and filming for a
documentary by Geebee Thimotheose.

COEXISTENCE EXPLORED

By day, Geebee, 47, is a partner with the
Farmington Hills-based private venture capi-
tal fund, Kyyba Ventures. But, in his spare
time, he’s a passionate historian with an insa-
tiable thirst for learning about his heritage. A
Nasrani Christian, born in the state of Kerala
on the southwest coast of India, Geebee has
longed to tell the story of his unique birth-
place and how for centuries it has remained
a safe haven for people of all faiths — Jews,
Christians, Hindus and Muslims.
Undeniably though, it’s the story of how
the Jews coexisted with their neighbors
in Kerala that has had the most profound
impact on Geebee.
“Kerala,” Geebee says, “tells a different

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June 15 • 2017

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