MARCH 4 • 2021 | 23

vat, written by Detroit native 
Doba Rivka Weber and illus-
trated by Phyllis Saroff.
“The book’s pages were 
printed, with permission from 
the publisher, on large posters 
and attached to wooden posts,
” 
Eliefja said. “The families went 
from post to post reading the 
book as they walked. They 
would read the story, thinking 
about the points brought out on 
‘thoughts to ponder’ slips and 
try to figure out some funny 
tree-related riddles as well.
”

THE SEARCH WAS ON
Each child received a gift bag 
with snacks and instructions 
for a scavenger hunt for the 
seven species of fruit and grain 
mentioned in the Bible that 
were hidden throughout the 
trail “When the kids spotted 
the items, they simply placed 
a fruit-scented sticker on their 
bag,
” Eliefja said.
“With every holiday so far 
during the pandemic, we’ve 
been trying to think out of the 
box how to create safe family 
programming,
” Eliefja said. 
“We wanted to bring the joy of 

these holidays to all, so people 
can celebrate their Judaism in a 
safe manner. We did Shofar in 
the Park, Sukkah in the Park, a 
Chanukah donut truck and the 
virtual Menorah in the D, and 
now Tu b’Shevat in the Park as 
well.
” 
Rosenbaum, who said Tu 
b’Shevat is her favorite holiday, 
joined the walkers at Heritage 
Park. “They were so happy to 
see other humans and were 
so grateful to have something 
physical to do outside, even 
though it snowed the entire 
time,
” she said. “It was the per-
fect place for the event, since 
Tu b’Shevat is all about being 
outside and being amidst the 
trees.
”
At the end of each of the two 
trails, participants were poured 
piping hot cocoa to warm 
themselves up after a frigid 
Story Walk. 
“We had a crazy blizzard on 
one of the days, and freeeezing
cold on the other,
” Eliefja said. 
“But people came out and were 
so thankful to have something 
to enjoy safely with their fam-
ilies.
” 

Sherri and David 
Somers of Farmington 
Hills, with 9-year-old 
Savannah, get ready to 
walk and read.

Sara Hindin-Mor of
Southfield, gets her
pull-sled and baby
carrier ready to set
out on the path with 
Matanel, 5,
Lavi, 1, and
Ranan, 3.

Six-year-old Aiden, Jaclyn, and 
9-year-old Lily Arslanian; and 
Marcy Silver, all of Farmington, 
warm up with hot cocoa.

Friends of the IDF Create ‘FIDF Live’

U-M Lecture on Raoul Wallenberg

Friends of the Israel Defense 
Forces (FIDF) is introducing 
“FIDF Live,” a philanthropic 
initiative that aims to take 
audience engagement to 
a new level in the face of 
ongoing limitations posed 
by the pandemic. FIDF Live 
will provide an alternative to 
in-person experiences and 
bring awareness of FIDF’s 
cause and activities to a 
broader audience. 
As long as its supporters are 
unable to physically gather 
at FIDF’s community events 
and galas, travel to Israel on 

FIDF’s missions, visit soldiers 
on Israel Defense Forces (IDF) 
bases or meet them in the 
United States, FIDF seeks to 
bring Israel to its audience and 
offer direct access through this 
new platform.
 The FIDF Live show, 
hosted by American standup 
comedian and author Joel 
Chasnoff, will air 30-minute 
episodes on FIDF’s website 
every other week at 8:30 p.m. 
The biweekly series debuted 
Feb. 17.
To watch FIDF Live, visit 
fidf.org/fidflive. 

Rebecca Erbelding, 
a historian, archi-
vist, and curator 
at the United 
States Holocaust 
Memorial 
Museum, will be 
delivering the 31st 
David W
. Belin 
Lecture in American Jewish 
Affairs virtually on March 16. 
Her lecture will explore Raoul 
Wallenberg’s work on behalf 
of the War Refugee Board in 
Budapest, Hungary, as revealed 
by U.S. government records.
Wallenberg, one of the most 
famous Holocaust-era rescuers, 
was only 32 years old when he 
was arrested by the Soviets and 
disappeared in January 1945, 
10 years after graduating from 
the University of Michigan. 
“My goal is to restore the 
context of Budapest, the 
context of Washington, the 
relationships between all these 
events and people, and to 
explain how the chaos of the 
Holocaust and the war limit-
ed the possibility of carrying 
out any preconceived plan for 
his rescue work,” explained 

Erbelding.
Her book, Rescue Board: The 
Untold Story of America’s Efforts 
to Save the Jews of Europe, won 
the 2018 National Jewish 
Book Award in the category 
of Writing Based on Archival 
Material. She stresses that the 
most important message from 
the book is the impact public 
and private pressure can have 
on the United States govern-
ment. 
For information or to regis-
ter, visit myumi.ch/belin-lec-
ture. 

Rebecca 
Erbelding

Raoul Wallenberg as a U-M 
freshman

