Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/895657
18 November 2 • 2017 jn continued from page 16 jews d in the agree with their entire agenda, you are not considered a good feminist; it feels like they are railing against men and oppressiveness by men, but I think they're being oppressive to women." Canvasser, a nursery school assistant at Temple Israel, said she found Sarsour's past comments about Zionism's incompatibility with feminism offensive, but "this is bigger than that. We have to pro- tect our children, our reproductive rights, our health care and more. It's so much bigger than ourselves." Diane Orley of Bloomfield Hills, who attended the first day of the con- vention, agreed. "In the back of my mind, I know that she did support BDS. But you know, there is a much bigger picture going on. That's a different subject, a different place. This woman has apparently done a lot of great things. I wasn't going to not go because of that," she said. What bothered Orley more was the high ticket price — $300 for three days — which limited the number of peo- ple who could attend (Ellman-Golan said a third of the attendees qualified for a scholarship that reduced the cost of the event). "It left me with a bad taste," Orley said. "It wasn't inclusive because of the ticket price." Nor was the convention "earth shat- tering," she added. "I think it's preaching to the choir. Everyone seemed very passionate in there, but what did they walk away with? That's what I'm interested in; what did we walk away with that will make a difference in the midterm elections? I didn't walk out with any tools I could use personally to influ- ence the outcome of the midterms," said Orley, 57, a supporter of Planned Parenthood. Carole Caplan of Ann Arbor, who joined Orley for a session run by the Natural Resource Defense Council, offered a philosophical view of things. "In a time of deep isolation and fear, the easy thing to do is draw inward. This event is about looking outward," she said. Caplan, who operates an organic farm, said she liked Sarsour's call for "unity, not uniformity," because, "We may not agree on every issue but we as a group know things need to change." Nina Robb and Miriam Halprin, both of Bloomfield Township, spent three days at the convention. They were at the Women's March in Washington a day after Donald Trump's inauguration. "We didn't want it to be a one-day thing," said Robb, a former emergency room doctor who recently opened a medical marijuana certification clinic in Southfield called Integrity Medicine. "There's a groundswell of activism, of women's voices" over issues that are interconnected — women's reproduc- tive choices, affordable health care and funding for children's health pro- grams — "all of which are under attack by the current administration." Added Halprin, a social worker, "I need to be empowered. I need to know that women are being empow- ered. I need for my sons to know there is a world for them." Sue Simon, chairperson of the Courts Matter — Michigan project for the National Council of Jewish Women, Greater Detroit section, helped to run a workshop at the con- vention on influencing appointments to federal judgeships. "If you look at the headlines about immigration and you see what's hap- pening in our Chaldean community, you realize how important judgeships are to maintaining civil liberties in our country," said Simon, a retired teacher from West Bloomfield. Photographer Joan (Altman) Roth, 75, came to Michigan from New York a few days before the convention to see Hillary Clinton in Ann Arbor. Roth grew up in Detroit in the 1940s and 1950s, noticing very little outside of her "bubble," she said. She graduated from Mumford High. She said the Women's Convention was a "real move forward for a new generation. I need to learn from them." Roth attended a Kabbalat Shabbat service led by Rabbi Alana Alpert of Congregation T'chiyah in Oak Park and Rabbi Barat Ellman, a biblical the- ology professor at Fordham University in New York City and the mother of Sophie Ellman-Golan. The room turned out to be too small to comfortably accommodate everyone who wanted to join, but for those who found a seat and those who stood, the chanting and the drum- ming were soothing after a full day of rousing calls to action. A few minutes into the service, Sarsour walked in. A siddur was handed to her and she, like everyone, fell quiet. The kosher meals on a table in the back? Ellman-Golan said Sarsour had them ordered in case anyone needed one. • Sophie Ellman- Golan and Linda Sarsour at Kabbalat Shabbat ser- vices. For more information call Jill Bengle 248-661-2999 TTY #711 or assistedliving@jslmi.org Fleischman Residence/Blumberg Plaza 6710 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield Eugene & Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus People of all faiths and beliefs welcome When memory fades due to dementia, traditions and rituals celebrated in the past still resonate. 6HFXUHDQGVXSSRUWLYH residential memory care -hour nursing kosher meals a day $EXQGDQWSURJUDPLQJ designed for individuals with memory loss Fleischman Residence/Blumberg Plaza AWAKEN MEMORIES AT THE DOROTHY AND PETER BROWN MEMORY CARE PAVILION OPEN HOUSE NOV. 5 TH 1-3 PM G