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in
the

A Walk To Remember

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Program
combines nature
walks with
Judaism.

Nena Chudnof of West Bloomfield
practices the ritual of tashlich with her
grandson Abe, 2, of Northville.

22

September 28 • 2017

T

emple Kol Ami and its
tiniest members kicked
off the High Holiday
season the natural way with
a pre-Rosh Hashanah walk
in Marshbank Park in West
Bloomfield in its inaugural
“Forest Kol Ami Tots” (Forest
KATS) event. On stroller-

Naomi Baum-Skorija practices tashlich
to the delight of her son Levi, 22
months.

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which is subsidized by the
friendly paths that wound
through a late summer land-
Hermelin-Davidson Center for
scape of yellow goldenrod and
Congregational Excellence.
The free, open-to-
purple asters, Rabbi
Brent Gutmann and
ABOVE: Rabbi Brent the-public series will
meet throughout the
his wife, Jill, led about
Gutmann leads the
a half-dozen families group in song while his fall and the spring
with children aged 0-5 wife, Jill, (standing to and continues 10:30
on a walking tour that the right) dances along a.m. Mondays, Oct. 2
combined appreciating with their youngest at Heritage Park and
children.
Oct. 9 at Marshbank
nature with Judaism.
Park. The next walks
“The Hebrew calen-
will continue the High Holiday
dar is based on natural season-
themes on the harvest of
al phenomena, and it is impor-
Sukkot and the deepening fall
tant to teach our children the
colors that herald the joy of
connection between Judaism
Simchat Torah.
and the environment at a very
The Gutmanns led the chil-
young age,” said Gutmann,
dren and their caregivers in
recalling his own family’s love
of nature and the many retreats prayers such as Modeh Ani
underneath a shady oak tree
he took with his congregation
and later distributed environ-
when he served as a rabbi in
mentally friendly birdseed to
New Zealand. “Increasingly,
toss into the lake for the Rosh
humans live in unnatural envi-
ronments. At Kol Ami, we want Hashanah tradition of tashlich.
to teach our children and youth The children learned how to
appreciate God’s creation of
to appreciate and advocate for
nature with all five senses and
nature and the environment.”
to think about how they could
Forest KATS is made pos-
be better people for the new
sible in part by a generous
year.
grant from jBaby detroit!

Naomi Baum-Skorija, 38, of
Bloomfield Hills, who belongs
to Congregation Shir Tikvah
in Troy, brought along her
22-month old son Levi for the
morning stroll. He delighted in
throwing the birdseed into the
water in hopes that some fish
and birds would come and eat.
“We moved here from
Maryland about two years ago,
and events like this are a great
way to be outside and experi-
ence nature with other Jews,”
Baum-Skorija said.
Longtime Temple Kol
Ami member Nena Chudnof
accompanied her daughter-
in-law Rosemary Chudnof of
Northville and grandson Abe, 2,
as he ambled along the path to
identify the colors in the flow-
ers and gather acorns.
“This is a wonderful oppor-
tunity for families with small
children to take a nature walk
and engage kids in Judaism,”
Chudnof said. “We hope to
catch a few more walks like this
into the fall.” •