Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/807429
4 April 6 • 2017 jn ref lections Each month, we ask community members to weigh in on a single topic. This month: Freedom. To participate, contact Keri Guten Cohen at kcohen@renmedia.us and put "essay" in the subject line. Enjoy! • p e t i t e e s s a y s I begin quietly with a nig- gun, a wordless melody that draws people toward our patchwork Shabbat table, which, tonight, stretches the length of the house. Shabbat in the Woods grew out of a conversation between my husband and Rabbi Bob Gamer. What if we organized an occasional, casual Friday night get together here in Huntington Woods? Just davening and dinner, not sponsored by a synagogue — a chance to connect and unwind among neighbors and friends. After three years, it's devel- oped into a sort of Shabbos pop-up, open to anyone who wants to attend. I am free here, a member of a mish-mash community that reconfigures itself every time we meet. During Shabbat in the Woods, we are just Jews, without labels or ideological constraints; Jews who bring lasagnas and brownies and lentil soup for the potluck. When it's my family's turn to host, we push the living room furniture against the walls, make space for coats in my office and clear the kitchen counters. And then we welcome Shabbat togeth- er, one melody at a time. Susan is CEO of Wow Writing Workshop, a strategic commu- nications and writing services company. She is also a poet and blogger, and loves teach- ing students, professionals and others to write (especially when they insist they can't). SUSAN KNOPPOW ALICIA CHANDLER Around Passover two years ago, my friend Mohammad escaped from the port of Aden in Yemen. Days before, he had said good- bye to his friends, certain he was going to lose his life amid the chaos and bomb- ings that had gripped the city. Weeks later, through the help of several determined Americans, Mohammed was in the United States when I met him at the American Jewish Committee's Global Forum. I was struck by his sweet- ness and caring. Despite all Mohammed had been through, he remains one of the kindest souls I have ever met. This Passover, as I cel- ebrate our freedom from Egyptian slavery, I will think of Mohammed and remember that the Exodus is not just a part of history. The Exodus — human- ity's fight for freedom — endures. Just as Moses had to part the Red Sea millennia ago, Mohammad had to cross the Red Sea from Yemen to Djibouti in search of free- dom. God parted the sea for us, now what can we do to part the sea for those still seeking freedom? Alicia of Birmingham is general counsel for continuing care for Trinity Health, vice president of JCRC|AJC and a member of Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom. RACHEL KAPEN In U.N. annals, it is known as Resolution 181, one of thousands of resolutions; however, for the Jewish Yishuv (settlement) in Eretz Israel or Palestine, the U.N. vote to be taken Nov. 29, 1947, called the Partition Resolution — meant to divide Palestine into a Jewish and Arab states — this was do or die. It was going to deter- mine whether there would be a Jewish state or not. Well, as we know, the vote was in our favor. I' ll never forget the uproar from those gathered in our small southern Tel Aviv apartment as well as my father telling me that we have a state, a fact I didn't fully understand then. However, as time passed, I understood it more and more. Seeing all our Jewish brethren who came to Israel once the British left, I often wonder how many precious souls could have been saved if inde- pendence had come a bit earlier. For many of the post- 1948 generations, the exis- tence of the State of Israel is taken for granted. Not for me. I see it in a very personal way. Rachel of West Bloomfield has served in the IDF. She is a frequent guest columnist for the Oakland Press and writes Yiddish limericks for the JN. EDITH MANIKER I think freedom is having the ability to think and being able to say things without being scared or embarrassed. I was 8 years old when I went to England on the Kindertransport. In my eight years there, I never told my schoolmates about my background. Children can be very cruel to each other. Their fathers, broth- ers, uncles and cousins were busy fighting the Germans. They would not understand the difference between being German and being Jewish and born in Germany. I am a docent at the Holocaust Memorial Center. I was told to start talking about the Kindertransport because most people did not know about it. (The Kindertransport saved the lives of nearly 10, 000 mostly Jewish children from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland by sending them to Britain during WWII.) What is freedom? It is being able to talk about things without being afraid and having the confidence that you would not be judged for something you had no control over. That is freedom. Edith of Southfield is a docent and speaker at the Holocaust Memorial Center. She and five cousins escaped Leipzig, Germany, on the Kindertransport. "'Tis Responsibility which grants Freedom's existence." Two stories explain: Sixteen years old … eastbound 696 … 65, 80, 95 miles per hour. The turn is approaching. Pedal to the metal. I hit 100 and ease off the gas with a smile. A car, a license, no parents, an empty stretch of highway — 100 mph! Freedom! A few weeks later … eastbound 696 … driving (a reasonable?) 85 mph. Exit at Southfield, check the rear- view and … flashing lights. "Son, you know how fast …?" Drop the ticket and keys on the dining room table, asking my parents, "What's my pun- ishment?" I learned that real freedom doesn't mean total freedom. The Jews created the Golden Calf. Americans get to vote. I can be Mario Andretti. Each of those freely chosen actions has consequences for which we are responsible. My ticket (and Judge Mom and Dad's decree that my license belonged to them until further notice) made me appreciate this fact. They are — and must be — relat- ed. This Pesach, I pray we are responsible for and to the freedoms we are granted. Eric of Farmington Hills is executive director of Kadima, a provider of services for peo- ple with mental health chal- lenges. Eric loves spending time with his wife, Karen, and two daughters, ages 10 and 5. He now drives the speed limit on 696 (more or less). ERIC ADELMAN