APRIL 29 • 2021 | 29

D

uring a May 10 
Hadassah Greater 
Detroit virtual pro-
gram, “Raiders of the Lost Ark: 
The Hidden Jews of Ethiopia,” 
Rabbi Josh Bennett of Temple 
Israel in West Bloomfield 
will explore the history of 
Ethiopia’s Jewish community, 
including the possibility that 
the Ark of the Covenant may 
be there, and also present a 
video about the self-described 
“Hidden Jews,” numbering 

more than 150,000 in central 
Ethiopia. 
Bennett learned of these 
Jews (called Beta Israel) after 
Temple Israel member Suzi 
Colman had a chance meeting 
in 2018 with young Jewish 
leaders at their synagogue in 
Kechene, outside Addis Ababa. 
She enlisted Bennett to help 
fulfill her promise to help 
them.
Bennett joined Colman and 
a few others on a fact-finding 

mission in November 2019. 
They wanted to meet them, see 
their religious practices and 
learn how they could help. 
After the trip, Colman, 
Bennett and David Goldberg, 
a global Jewish leader from 
Cleveland, formed the Friends 
of the Beta Israel of North 
Shewa, with a nonprofit fund 
under Temple Israel. 
At the Hadassah meet-
ing, Bennett will talk about 
efforts by the Friends group, 
which include helping the 
Kechene community set up a 
modest mask-making oper-
ation during the pandemic. 
Working with the Israeli NGO 
CultivAid to coordinate its 
efforts, another target is to 
update agricultural methods. 
Now, there is excitement about 
two new opportunities. 
“We are doing amazing work 
because of a $50,000 Shalom 
Corps grant,” Bennett said of 
the global Jewish volunteering 

initiative of the Israeli Ministry 
of Diaspora Affairs. 
“In the last six months, 
Jewish Ethiopian volunteers 
working with Israeli staff have 
put new chimneys on two 
pottery-making facilities to 
make them safer. The projects 
are designed to develop the 
community and to upgrade 
the economics of their crafts 
programming and the facili-
ties in the gedams [the Jewish 
religious centers, through the 
Adopt-a-Gedam program].” 
Bennett also is excited about 
teaming with the World Union 
for Progressive Judaism, the 
arm of the Reform movement 
outside the U.S., “to develop 
partnerships to better support 
the Ethiopians.”
Hadassah’s online program 
begins at 11 a.m. May 10. 
Register by May 6 at 
hadassahmidwest.org/
GDraiders. Cost is $10. A link 
will be sent May 9. 

FRIENDS OF THE BETA ISRAEL OF NORTH SHEWA

Hadassah program 
will look at the “hidden 
Jews” of Ethiopia.

Raiders of 
the Lost Ark

KERI GUTEN COHEN
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
A member of Beta Israel

M

etro Detroiters liv-
ing with intellectual 
and developmental 
disabilities whose in-person 
attendance at Choices, a beloved 
day program operated by JVS 
Human Services, was halted 
by the COVID-19 pandemic, 
are now able to reconnect with 
friends and community with 
virtual programming. 

As part of this new virtu-
al Choices day program, an 
option called “JVS Frequency,
” 
was recently launched to allow 
participants to join in and out 
of the program at any point. It 
operates on Zoom every day 
from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., offering 
a variety of interactive activities 
including music, quizzes, cook-
ing, behavioral support exer-

cises, caring for animals and 
plants, mindfulness exercises, 
word searches and games. 
“Choices on the Go” is 
another option where partici-
pants gain a virtual experience 
of taking a trip to a favorite 
local destination such as the 
Detroit Zoo or Greenfield 
Village.
“One of the hardest things 
for the people we serve is 
adapting to change,
” said 
Nathan Volz, manager for the 
Choices program. “What they 
are going through right now 
has been a real loss: not meet-
ing with their friends, engaging 
in daily activities or experienc-
ing community outings. They 
face a lot of challenges under 
typical circumstances, but the 
isolation caused by the pandem-
ic has just made it worse.
” 
Volz added that some partic-
ipants also have dementia and, 
due to the pandemic, less social 
connection. This combination 

has been shown to impact a 
person’s lifespan, so adding daily 
enriching activities is vital for 
their physical well-being. “The 
people we are reaching want the 
community, the interaction and 
the activities — and they need 
it. They want a chance to be 
included in their community,
” 
Volz said.
Prior to the pandemic, 
approximately 120 people with 
disabilities took part in Choices. 
Of those, 20 individuals have 
returned to in-person program-
ming at the Southfield JVS loca-
tion; 77 others have been partic-
ipating in Zoom programming. 
Participants in Choices are 
typically referred by their county 
supports coordinator at age 26 
(or older), when they age out 
of the educational system in 
Michigan. For more informa-
tion, contact Nathan Volz at 
nvolz@
jvshumanservices.org or call 
(248) 233-4335. 

JVS of
 ers online 
 activities for those 
 with intellectual 
 or developmental 
 disabilities.

Virtual Fun

ALISON SCHWARTZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Leslee Milgrom 
does an arts and 
craft activity. 

JOHN HARDWICK

