jews d in the 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.