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12 March 30 • 2017 jn continued from page 10 jews d in the Health Crisis led to her current posi- tion in the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She said moving to a new city when you are young and single can be very lonely, and she is thankful for her year with Avodah and the professional and social support it provided. "I lived with other Avodah partici- pants that year," Lovinger said. "After a hard day at work, I came home to supportive Jewish housemates. We cooked dinner together and talked about the challenges of our work and shared advice." Now, she enjoys the inclusiveness of the Park Slope Jewish Center, in addition to hosting Shabbat dinners where topics of conversation range from building communities for Jews of color to fighting racism. She also is an active member of Jewish Voice for Peace ( JVP), a Jewish American organization that supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, seeks an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, and works toward a just solution for Palestinian refugees. Avodah's Bocknek says there is no relationship between Avodah and JVP. Lovinger said her involvement with JVP, which developed independently from her involvement with Avodah, along with her activism in Brooklyn- based Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and at her synagogue, are central parts to her Jewish life in Brooklyn. "I've long been opposed to the occu- pation, and I wanted to find a Jewish community that contained a wide variety of opinions and experiences about Israel and Palestine," she said. "This was actually something I was looking for when I started in Avodah, and something that is just as impor- tant to me as my community's com- mitment to racial justice, economic justice, LGBTQ justice and ending other forms of oppression. By defin- ing Judaism on my terms, I have truly found my Jewish community." WORK IN NEW ORLEANS Several Avodah participants who grew up in Detroit headed south and worked for the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) to fight against housing discrimination issues. At an early age, Lisa Tencer, 28, became aware of Detroit's "extreme segregation issues" and decided anti-poverty work, through a Jewish lens, would become her life's calling. Upon her 2015 graduation from the University of Michigan, she enrolled in Avodah's program in the Crescent City. Tencer continues to work at GNOFHAC and is now a testing coor- dinator monitoring trends in housing discrimination. She maintains her Jewish connections in her new city by living in the local Moishe House and being an active member of Jewish Voice for Peace. "My childhood neighborhood in Huntington Woods was just a few miles away from neighborhoods vastly different than mine," Tencer says. "When I moved to New Orleans with Avodah, I saw many of those same painful similarities. It helped me rede- fine my Jewish identity. Just because I do not attend a synagogue does not mean I do not have a deep connec- tion to Judaism. I choose to identify through social action." Another Detroiter who spent her Avodah year fighting for fair housing at GNOFHAC is fifth-year Jewish Theological Seminary rabbini- cal student Miriam Liebman, 30, of Farmington Hills. During her Avodah year in 2009- 2010, she helped GNOFHAC in its lawsuit that over- turned a discrimina- tory "blood relative" ordinance in St. Bernard Parish that violated the Fair Housing Act. The ordinance prohibited property owners from renting to non-blood relatives. At the time, 93 percent of the population in the parish was white. "What I saw and did in New Orleans through Avodah strength- ened my resolve to someday return to my native Detroit," said Liebman, who grew up going to Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills and had a day school education through the 10th grade. "I know the reality of the job market for young rabbis, but someday I hope to be back to work and live in Detroit. To me, this is what it means to be grounded, to come home to a place where my family roots are." Liebman said her Avodah experi- ence reinforced her knowledge of jus- tice being a core pillar of Judaism. "Justice affects how we see and look at other individuals and makes us realize they, too, are created in the image of God," she says. "The question is: How can we mobilize communally in how we see and change the world around us?" • Miriam Liebman Elizabeth Lovinger CelebrateISRAEL Design Donated by: Walk for Israel is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization, federal tax ID # 45-3546279. www.WalkForIsrael.org Sunday, May 7, 2017 Community-wide Event Hosted by Temple Shir Shalom Bouncies, Trackless Train, Popcorn, Cotton Candy, Face Painting, Balloon Man, Fun for the Whole Family! For the kids! Temple Shir Shalom Friends of Israel Ameinu Detroit Anne & Eugene Greenstein B'nai Israel Synagogue Jiffy Signs Inc. & JS Printing Amy & Andre Douville Mort Meisner Associates Congregation Beth Ahm Congregation Shir Tikvah Fran Bell Michigan Friends of the Israel Defense Forces Greater Detroit Chapter of Hadassah Hillel Day School Volunteers for Israel Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus StandWithUs Michigan jbrooksdesign inc. Jewish Community Relations Council National Council of Jewish Women Regency Manor Suretta Must Temple Beth El Temple Emanu-El Temple Israel Zionist Organization of America – Michigan Region Adat Shalom Synagogue Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce Congregation Beth Shalom Hillel of Metro Detroit Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit Michigan Board of Rabbis MJS Packaging Art Fishman Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit Co-Sponsors * Premier Sponsor 2168780