OCTOBER 31 • 2019 | 17 iarity with Chaldean culture and family life that Adelman took notice of the terrorism being perpetrated by ISIS on Chaldean Christians in Northern Iraq. In her book, Adelman writes about the diaspora of the Christian community and links it to the reasons why Christianity is disap- pearing from Iraq and Syria, both Islamic countries. She says the diaspora has increased in the last 15 years due to the American inva- sion in Iraq in 2003 and the rise of ISIS in 2014. Hundreds of thousands of Chaldean Christians living in Iraq and Syria have been killed by ISIS, Adelman says. This, she says, has direct implications for Aramaic as a language and for its very survival as a spoken language. WHAT IS ARAMAIC? The Aramaic language, today often known as Chaldean, has been spoken in the Middle East for about as long as Hebrew has — around 3,000 years. Aramaic is most likely the language spoken by Jesus and is the language of many critical Jewish historic and religious texts, including the Talmud, not to mention poet- ry, songs, folklore and myths. “From a religious aspect, [the preservation of the Aramaic language] is import- ant, ” Adelman said. “From a scholarly aspect, it is absolute- ly critical. ” Currently, in Metro Detroit, there are between 120,000 to 150,000 Chaldean residents, according to the Chaldean Chamber of Commerce. Adelman felt it was import- ant to spread the word about the struggle of the Chaldean Christians living in Northern Iraq and the threat that terror- ism poses to the culture and language. “I feel very passionate about the importance of getting their story out, letting readers know about these people and getting the United States to be proactive in getting involved in the Chaldean community, ” Adelman said. “The best pos- sibility of getting Christianity re-established in their own vil- lages is in Northern Iraq. And, in terms of Aramaic being spoken, that’ s gone unless these people are able to live in their villages. ” Some of the Hakim family speak Aramaic/Chaldean, including Norma and some of her eight children. Karen Jalaba, 66, one of Norma’ s daughters, says her older siblings speak Chaldean continued on page 18 Click. Call. Give Now. www.hfldetroit.org 248.723.8184 Hebrew Free Loan Detroit 6735 Telegraph Road, Suite 300 Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48301 @HFLDetroit JEANNE MILSTEIN has lived in the same house for approximately 17 years. Most of the upkeep on the home was the province of her late husband, who passed away three years ago. “It’s hard owning a house,” Jeanne said. “There’s always something to look at, something to fix, some- thing to maintain. Most of this isn’t my forte, but I’m lucky enough to have a son who pitches in.” A few years ago, the Milsteins put an addition on their home, and it was at the point where the old roofline met the new roofline that an issue arose. “I came home one day and it had been raining outside, but when I came in the house, it was also raining inside. It was right at a place in the ceiling where the addition began. I put down a bucket, and the builder came out and fixed it temporarily, but it happened again. I didn’t want water damage to the inside, so I figured I might as well get the whole roof done and solve the entire problem, but it was pricey.” Jeanne considers herself very connected in the community, and says in her circle, people know about Hebrew Free Loan. “I have friends who have used Hebrew Free Loan, so I knew about it and I didn’t hesitate to call them about my roof, even though I wasn’t sure this was the type of loan they made. I was a little nervous to tell my story, but everyone was very nice and they put me at ease. It was a conversation, not intimidating at all. That was close to a year ago, and my home is safe and dry now. Everyone needs to know HFL is our people, helping our people with whatever they need, interest-free.” STORY My STORY My