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multi-generational families

Family Legacy Of BBYO Involvement

BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

M

any threads make up the
tapestry illustrating the
Sisler-Dines family’s rela-
tionship to the B’nai B’rith Youth
Organization (BBYO).
One thread shows how three gen-
erations of women have belonged
to the same chapter of BBG (B’nai
B’rith Girls). Another traces mem-
bers of AZA (Aleph Zedek Aleph),
the BBYO program for young men.
And there’s the thread showing
the huge impact of BBYO Israel pro-
grams on the family.
Sharon Sisler, 75, of Farmington
Hills, was the family’s BBYO pio-
neer. She joined BBG as a student
at Mumford High School in Detroit

to have fun with other Jewish teens.
“She still has friends from when
she was in BBG,” said her daughter,
Tammy Dines of West Bloomfield.
Dines, 53, joined BBG when she
was 15, both for the social life and
because she knew it would give her
leadership opportunities. Chapters
were organized geographically
and Savage was the BBG group for
Southfield, where she lived.
She met her husband, Steve, 55,
in the summer of 1979 at a BBYO
picnic. She was a sophomore at
Southfield-Lathup and he was a
senior at Southfield High. They’ve
been together since; this summer
they’ll celebrate their 30th wed-

Knox Maslia, Sami Dines, Tammy Dines, Steve Dines, Sharon Sisler, Bri Dines and Joe Freedman

ding anniversary.
Steve Dines was active in Sam
Beber AZA. He brought Tammy’s
brother, Scott Sisler of Novi, into
Beber — and soon afterward
Scott’s sister, Reva Rosenberg,
who now lives near Boston, joined
Savage BBG.
Dines and her two daughters all
held leadership positions in BBG.
Tammy was Savage chapter presi-
dent her junior year and served as
treasurer of the Michigan Region
her senior year.
Samantha “Sami” Dines, who
now works in the fashion industry
in New York, joined Savage BBYO in
eighth grade. Chapters were no lon-
ger neighborhood based and Sami,
who lived in West Bloomfield, was
pleased to follow in her grandmoth-
er’s and mother’s footsteps. She
held several chapter-level offices
and served on the Michigan Region
board as a senior.
Brianna “Bri” Dines, a grad
student in occupational therapy
at Grand Valley State University,
also joined Savage in eighth grade.
A year or so later, she and some
friends left to start a new chapter,
Aliyah BBG. After leading Aliyah
for several years, Bri was elected
Michigan Region president for her
senior year.
Tammy Dines went to Israel with
BBYO after high school and remem-
bers it as one of the best experi-
ences of her life. Both Sami, 25, and
Bri, 23, went on similar trips. Both
daughters met their long-term boy-

From the DJN

Davidson Digital Archive

I

f you really like books, then next week might be your favor-
ite time of the year. It’s the week of Bookstock, the largest
used book and media sale in Michigan.
I wondered about the history of Bookstock. So, naturally, I
looked into the William Davidson Digital Archives to what was in
the historic pages of the JN. There were 395 entries for Bookstock.
Most were announcements for this annual event, but there were a
number of feature stories that provided me with
some interesting facts.
The very first entry, however, when search-
ing for Bookstock was actually a bat mitzvah
announcement for Rachel Eryn Goodman
(Rachel Ashira) from the March 19, 2004, issue
of the JN. Besides being a double-honor student
at Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit, her
other activities included collecting and sorting
Mike Smith
books for Bookstock. Mazel tov, Rachel!
Detroit Jewish News
I also learned that Bookstock’s ancestor was
Foundation Archivist
the local version of the nationwide Brandeis

82

April 26 • 2018

jn

Book Sale, which ended in 2001 after a 40-year run in Detroit. The
Brandeis Women’s Committee organized the first such sale in
Boston in 1958.
Bookstock began in 2003, and it has been a highly successful
fundraiser. More than 200, 000 books are donated for sale each
year, and Bookstock has raised about $1.7 million for literacy and
other education nonprofits in Metro Detroit. Bookstock also gives
out the Bookstock Extraordinary Student/School/Teacher Awards
— the B.E.S.T. Awards — for creative children’s writing projects.
Currently, Bookstock is a program of the Jewish Community
Relations Council/American Jewish Committee. Indeed, it should
be noted that Bookstock and the Brandeis Book Sale before it have
always been brought to you by Detroit’s Jewish community. I am
also proud to say that the Detroit Jewish News is a longtime spon-
sor. •

For details about Bookstock, which runs from Sunday, April 22, to Sunday,
April 29, at Laurel Park Place in Livonia. Go to bookstockmi.org for hours and
special days of shopping.

friends, who were members of AZA,
on the Israel trip.
BBYO was a frequent topic of
conversation in the Dines’ home,
said Tammy, a social worker in pri-
vate practice.
“My daughters would ask me
how I knew so many people in the
community, and the answer was
often that I knew them from BBYO.
My best friends are people I met
in BBYO,” said Dines, who more
recently served on the organiza-
tion’s adult advisory board.
Now it seems as if her daughters
know everyone their age in the
community. “The friendships you
develop through BBYO are invalu-
able,” she said.
B’nai B’rith started AZA in 1923.
The BBG “junior girls auxiliary”
got going in 1927. BBYO now has
hundreds of chapters around the
world, including 13 in the Detroit
area: six each for BBG and AZA
and one, in Ann Arbor, designated
as BBYO.
Dines says BBYO provides a
healthy environment for Jewish
teens to meet and socialize.
There’s ample opportunity to take
on leadership roles where teens
can learn self-confidence and
communication skills and create
programs that give back to the
community.
“It’s just a fabulous organiza-
tion,” she said. •

To learn more about BBYO, go to bbyo.org/
region/michigan or call (248) 432-5684.