12 February 28 • 2019
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continued from page 10

jews d
in 
the

Ashley keeps detailed lists and every 
week — she’
s trying to get it to two 
weeks — the family drives a half-hour 
to Mt. Pleasant to shop. They frequent-
ly order food and supplies via Amazon. 
Even to run out for milk at the nearest 
grocery involves a trip of several miles 
along an unpaved road.
Once a month, they travel to the 
Detroit area to buy kosher meat, 
cheese and other products hard to find 
in mid-Michigan. They look for Jewish 
events and activities they can do at the 
same time. In November, they went to 
Congregation Beth Shalom’
s Chanu-
Con and enjoyed meeting members of 
the local community.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
Their plans for next year are modest: 
expand the existing organic garden; 
harvest fruit from the half-dozen 
apple, peach and cherry trees; and 
build coops for chickens, both for meat 
and for eggs. Ashley killed chickens as 
a farm girl and wants to learn to do it 
the kosher way. The Wormsleys also 
hope to raise turkeys and maybe goats. 
Eric bought a tractor to plow out the 
garden and purchased more than 300 
packets of non-GMO seeds, including 

many heirloom varieties.
They put in a wood-burning stove 
to help heat the house. Eric is still able 
to do a lot of the work, though he has 
occasional seizures and has some trou-
ble walking because of the numbness 
in his legs. 
When they’
re not doing formal 
schoolwork — from books or online 
programs — the older children help by 
caring for the younger siblings (David, 
6, Jenna, 4, Corban, 2, and baby Tovia), 
cooking, cleaning and doing laundry. 
Naomi, who loves to write, is pre-
paring college applications. Hannah 
enjoys baking and all kinds of arts and 
handicrafts; she recently started her 
own YouTube channel, That Creative 
Bug. Samuel likes to be hands-on with 
wood-working and electrical projects. 
He loves the outdoors and is looking 
forward to gardening as soon as spring 
comes.
Since moving to Michigan, the 
Wormsleys have relied on each other 
for social relationships. Eric and 
Ashley are hoping to find activities 
nearby where the children can meet 
others their own ages. They’
re also 
looking at Jewish camps for the sum-
mer. ■

Today, there are probably fewer 
than 50,000 Karaite Jews in the 
world, mostly in Israel. The United 
States has a single Karaite synagogue, 
Congregation B’
nai Israel in Daly City, 
Calif., near San Francisco, with several 
hundred families. The Bay Area has the 
largest American Karaite population.
For many centuries, the Karaite 
community did not recognize converts, 

a ban that was reversed only recently 
by the Karaite Council of Sages in 
Israel. The council authorized the 
founding of the non-accredited Karaite 
Jewish University in California in 2006; 
the first class of converts graduated in 
2007, following a year-long course of 
study. The converts took the oath the 
biblical Ruth used when she joined the 
ancient Hebrews. ■

The Wormsley children are homeschooled, using books and online programs.

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