Monday, August 24, 2009

Upcoming WISDOM Events!!

WISDOM Dates to Remember
2009-2010

a. Visit to Muslim Unity Center for Iftar Dinner – 6:30 PM, Thursday, Sept. 10th

b. Lift Detroit in Prayer Saturday, Sept. 12th – 11:00 AM Detroit – contact Paula Drewek drewekpau@aol.com

c. Troy Interfaith Group/WISDOM Interfaith Book Club, Monday, Sept. 21st, Troy Public Library 7:00 PM – contact Padma Kuppa, padma.kuppa@gmail.com

d. Sunday,October 18th International Dinner and Ethnic Heritage Festival 5:00 PM at North Congregational Church in Farmington Hills

e. Troy Interfaith Group/WISDOM Interfaith Book Club, Monday, October 19th, Troy Public Library 7:00 PM – contact Padma, padma.kuppa@gmail.com

f. Sunday, November 15th West Bloomfield Jewish Community Center Book Fair - America's Prophet: Moses and the American Story by Bruce Feiler, 5:00 Presentation, more information to come on WISDOM newsletter

g. Troy Interfaith Group/WISDOM Interfaith Book Club, Monday, November 16th, Troy Public Library 7:00 PM – contact Padma, padma.kuppa@gmail.com

h. Tuesday, November 17th 7:00 – 9:00 PM Five Women Five Journeys: How Different Are We? at The Birmingham Community House, Race Relations and Diversity Task Force, More information to come!!

i. Sunday, December 6th, Community Service Event with WINGS – Women in Need of Guidance and Skills, 15000 Trojan, Detroit – 2:00 – 5:00 PM Showing of DVD “Pray the Devil Back to Hell” and holiday gifts for women and children of WINGS – more information to come!!

j. January 1 through 31st, 2010 Launch of WISDOM book, Building Bridges and Crossing Divides on David Crumm’s www.ReadtheSpirit.com

k. Educational Day about Christianity, St. John’s Episcopal Church in Royal Oak on March 14 - morning services, light lunch and panel discussion, more information to come.

l. Visit to a Catholic Church for Easter Vigil – April 3rd TBD

m. April 18th, 2010 Five Women Five Journeys: How Different Are We? at Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park

n. Membership Celebration – March 21st 2010. Become a WISDOM member and join us!! See webpage, www.interfaithwisdom.org

o. Global Youth Service Days - Interfaith Connect!! interfaith coming together of high school and college teens on April 25 2010. More information down the road.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

WISDOM International Dinner and Ethnic Heritage Festival


A Taste of WISDOM” will be our First Annual International Dinner and Ethnic Heritage Festival, to be held at North Congregational Church, 36520 W. 12 Mile Road in Farmington Hills on Sunday, October 18th at 5:00 PM. Our event will also be part of the Eighth Annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days. The board members of WISDOM are very excited about this event!!



The fee for coming to the dinner is $5.00 per person with a maximum cost of $25.00 per family. We are asking you to come with a prepared dish from your family tradition to feed about 10 people and to bring with you a card listing the ingredients of that dish so that we can respect everyone’s food restrictions. We also request that you bring your own serving utensils.

There will be entertainment following the dinner that will include fun ethnic dance, music and song!! Additionally, we will be selling raffle tickets for the giving away of donated items. We hope that many of you will think about friends, family, and businesses who might be able to help support WISDOM’s future.



Please make your friends, family, and your places of worship aware of the upcoming fundraising event. Please get the word out about our fundraiser by telling folks about our invitation and registration form. If you would like us to deliver hard copies of the invitation/registration form to you or your place of worship, please let me know.

Thanks!! We are counting on your help to make this fundraiser a fabulous success. Please plan to come, bring your friends and family, and help with donations if possible.



Many thanks in advance!! Contact me with further questions by calling me on my cell phone.

248-978-6664

Gail Katz
WISDOM President

REGISTER FOR “A TASTE OF WISDOM” on Sunday, October 18th at North Congregational Church in Farmington Hills, MI

NAME _______________________________________________________________________________
ADDRESS ___________________________________________________________________________
CITY AND ZIP ______________________________________________________________________
PHONE NUMBER ___________________________________________________________________
EMAIL ADDRESS ___________________________________________________________________

NUMBER OF GUESTS (INCLUDE YOURSELF) COMING WITH YOU ______________________

I PLAN TO BRING A FAMILY DISH FROM (please check):
___ North America
___ South America
___ Africa
___ Eastern Europe
___ Western Europe
___ Middle East
____ Asia

I PLAN TO BRING: (please bring index card with name of dish and ingredients listed and serving utensils)
___ MAIN COURSE
___ VEGETABLE
___ SALAD
___ STARCH (potato, rice, wheat, etc)
___ DESSERT

COST IS $5.00 PER PERSON WITH A MAXIMUM COST OF $25.00 PER FAMILY
PLEASE FILL OUT REGISTRATION FORM AND SEND WITH YOUR CHECK MADE OUT TO WISDOM TO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS:
WISDOM
P.O. BOX 525
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MI 48303

I’M SORRY I CANNOT ATTEND, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SUPPORT WISDOM’S FUNDRAISER WITH A DONATION OF $__________.

QUESTIONS? PLEASE CALL GAIL KATZ, WISDOM PRESIDENT AT
248-978-6664 OR E-MAIL HER AT gailkatz@comcast.net

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Upcoming WISDOM Events for the Fall, 2009

Dear WISDOM Subscribers:

I am sending you a SAVE THE DATE e-mail for our upcoming WISDOM events!! Please mark your calendars!!

1) Sunday, September 13th Educational Day about Christianity at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Royal Oak.


9:30 AM Sunday morning service followed by lunch and panel discussion about similarities and differences among some of the denominations of Christianity.

2) Sunday, October 18TH 5:00 – 9:00 PM “A Taste of WISDOM” International Dinner and Ethnic Heritage Festival at North Congregational Church on 12 Mile Road in Farmington Hills.

I have also included below an article written by the Bahraini Ambassador, who unfortunately had to cancel her trip to Detroit on June 29th. This article was posted on the PeaceXPeace website. I thought you would all enjoy reading it.

Gail

Your Voice from the Frontline

Smiling for Peace from Houda Ezra Nonoo, Bahrain
April 22nd, 2009

Her Excellency Houda Ezra Nonoo is the Ambassador from Bahrain to the USA.

I think I promote peace everywhere I go by smiling at people. It sounds simple, but it's true. Until I was 13 or 14 I wanted to be a veterinarian, but I gave that up to work in the family business. This current job is the height of my ambition. No other job could have so much variety. The best part of it is meeting people I would never have met otherwise, from around the world and around the US. I enjoy hearing what they think, and I enjoy dispelling their misconceptions. The questions are always: "Why aren't you covered? Can you drive? Can you go out alone?" What I tell them is that the Arab world is as diverse as the US. Bahrain, in particular, is an island, so we have always welcomed foreigners, seafaring people from everywhere. Bahraini people are friendly and love to get to know other people. We call it "The Island of 1,000 Smiles." Americans came for the first time in 1893, as missionaries, and started a clinic that is a major hospital now. Our friendship is people to people, not just a military alliance. We have Hindus, Jews, and Bahais as well as Muslims, Christians, and guest workers of many faiths and nations. My own family background is Jewish, and I celebrate the High Holidays. What breaks my peace is seeing every day's news: Sudan, Gaza, floods and earthquakes. In today's world we are all linked, so we know quickly when people are suffering near and far. What concerns me the most, though, is the Middle East, and the Arab-Israeli relationship. We can't allow another generation to go through what we have gone through. The new administration looks hopeful, even though hopes have been raised before, and then nothing. Still, I am hopeful. President Obama is my age. He's there for change. His campaign was about change and hope. It's so very important for people to have hope! Dialogue is important too. It's what we teach our children: Talk it out, don't hit. Don't bully people. He has put out some gestures to Iran, so maybe they will pick it up. Instead of spending money on bombs, I'd like to see it used to get people together, so we understand we are all human beings together. Bahrain is a small island where we all live together in peace. Peace X Peace does that too, by putting women from everywhere together. Patricia's book is such an amazing concept: Palestinian and Israeli women side by side. If governments and NGOs arrange more and more events to bring people together, we will be moving toward peace. Our baby steps will add up, and they will become something great. I think we need many more organizations like Peace X Peace.


Friday, May 29, 2009

Two Upcoming WISDOM events in June, 2009

Dear WISDOM Subscribers,

Please read about two very important events coming up!!

1) This is to let you know that you are all invited to join an Interfaith Book Club that WISDOM is going to participate in jointly with the Troy Interfaith Group. The first book club session will be at the Troy Public Library, 510 West Big Beaver Road, on Monday June 8th at 7:00 PM. Please see attached invitation.

Please register for this book club via email by replying to
troy.interfaith@gmail.com and including “Book Club” in the subject. Once you register, you will be sent downloadable information.

This first book club session will deal with Dan Buttry’s books entitled Interfaith Heroes. You can access some of the Interfaith Heroes at
http://www.readthespirit.com/interfaithheroes/

Rev. Charlotte Sommers, the Convener of Troy Interfaith Group and pastor of the congregation at Northminster Presbyterian Church (home of the Community Interfaith Labyrinth) will be leading the book discussion. I will be part of this exciting interfaith book club. I hope to see other WISDOM subscribers there!!



2) You are also invited to an event at the West Bloomfield Jewish Community Center event featuring Her Excellency Ambassador Houda Ezra Nonoo, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United States, the first Jewish ambassador from an Arab nation!! This event is sponsored by the Institute for Retired Professionals (IRP), and the Seminars for Adult Jewish Enrichment (SAJE), and co-sponsored by WISDOM among other organizations.

The event will be about “Women’s Rights: A View of Life in Bahrain.”

Houda Ezra Nonoo is ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United States. Appointed in 2008, she is the country’s first non-Muslim ambassador, the first Jew to be appointed by any Arab country as ambassador to the United States and only the third Bahraini woman ever named ambassador to any nation. Ambassador Nonoo was born in 1964 in Bahrain, a close U.S. ally whose Jewish community of about 50 dates to Talmudic times. Descended from Iraqi merchants, Ambassador Nonoo received her MBA from the International University of Europe in Waterford, UK. In 2006, the King of Bahrain, Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah, appointed Nonoo to the Shura (consultative) Council, in the upper chamber of parliament, where she served on the Committee for Finance and Economic Affairs. Ambassador Nonoo is one of the founding members of the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society and has worked to improve conditions in factories, as well as raise awareness about the rights of women, children and domestic workers. She is married and has two teenage sons.

Advance registration and payment are requested by Thursday, June 18, 2009. Cost is $10.00 in advance and $12.00 at the door. Please fill out the response form below with payment or call 248-432-5692 to charge by phone. For questions or more information about this event, please contact Sharon Levine, IRP director, at 248-967-4030 ext. 2018 or
slevine@jccdet.org


Number of attendees: ___________________ Total enclosed ___________________________

Name(s): ______________________________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________________________________

City: ____________________________State: _______________________ Zip: ______________

Phone: _________________________________ Email: ________________________________

Method of payment: (please circle) Check (enclosed) Visa Mastercard

Name on card ___________________________________________________________________

Card number: ____________________________________________________________________

Signature: ______________________________________________________________________

Please make checks payable to JCC of Metropolitan Detroit
Kindly RSVP by June 18, 2009. Return response card with payment to:

Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit
Attn: IRP/SAJE
6600 West Maple Road
West Bloomfield, MI 48322

It would be so wonderful to have a WISDOM presence at this event. I will definitely be there as WISDOM president, and I hope that you will join me.

Gail

Sunday, May 10, 2009

WISDOM Annual Dinner and Installation Ceremony, May 2009






Dear WISDOM Subscribers:

On Thursday evening, May 7, 2009 the WISDOM Board of Directors held their Second Annual Dinner and Installation Ceremony at the Peking House in Royal Oak. What a wonderful evening!! The food was outstanding, and the warmth and friendship in the room was priceless.

Gail Katz, WISDOM President, welcomed everyone, and the Rev. Sharon Buttry gave a blessing over the meal. Following a dinner of vegetarian choices, Chinese chicken and peapods and beef, Professor Charles Mabee, Director of the Religious Studies Program at Oakland University and the MDIV Program at the Ecumenical Theological Seminary, gave a presentation entitled "Inter-Religious Dialogue in Metro-Detroit."

Following his presentation the following board members were installed with a beautiful candle ceremony:

Executive Board

Gail Katz (Co-Founder) - President
Shahina Begg (Co-Founder) - Vice President
Patricia Harris (Co-Founder) - Vice President
Paula Drewek - Secretary
Bhavna Mehta - Treasurer

General Board

Sharon Buttry
Ellen Ehrlich
Fran Hildebrandt
Claudine Kafi
Padma Kuppa
Rehana Qureshi
Gigi Salka
Sheri Schiff
Elaine Schonberger
Betty Sheehan
Supreet Singh
Noelle Sutherland
Anjali Vale

Advisory Board

Beth Applebaum
Marsha Foster Boyd
Brenda Rosenberg
Freda Sampson
Judy Satterthwaite

Gail Katz then gave a review of WISDOM's accomplishments since the first annual dinner in May of 2008 and the evening closed with a beautiful interfaith prayer delivered by the WISDOM Program Committee Chair Judy Satterthwaite.

Thanks to all of the WISDOM Board members who have given of their time, their energy, their creativity and their financial resources to help make WISDOM the lively vital organization that we have become!!

Here's to a productive 2009-2010 year.

Enjoy the photos of the evening below.

Peace, Gail






























































































































































































































































































































































































































Friday, May 1, 2009

WISDOM Honors the Rev. Sharon Buttry

WISDOM honored the Rev. Sharon Buttry at the Birmingham Bloomfield Race Relations and Diversity Task Force Tenth Annual Diversity Champion Honor Roll on April 30, 2009.

Sharon lives in Hamtramck and serves as outreach director at Acts 29 Fellowship, a Christian mission dedicated to meeting the critical needs of neighbors of 26 different language groups. "My neighborhood is a United Nations: next door is Yemen, Libya and Poland; the smell of good cooking fills the air as I walk home each night."

Since moving to Michigan in 1996, Sharon has made many interfaith friends through the Hamtramck "Call to Prayer" ballot question and as a WISDOM Board member. Sharon and her husband Dan have facilitated workshops in conflict transformation in Poland, Thailand, Italy, India and Ethiopia.

Sharon has been an incredible asset to WISDOM. She facilitated our WISDOM retreat last January, and served a secretary on the Executive Board.

Thank you Sharon for all that you have done for WISDOM!!

Please enjoy the photos below.
















Monday, March 30, 2009

WISDOM Membership Celebration

Dear WISDOM Supporters:


On Sunday, March 29, 2009 WISDOM hosted their first Membership Celebration. About 40 women came together - WISDOM Board members, non-board members, and potential members - came to the Mulberry Square Condominium Clubhouse in Bloomfield Hills for appetizers and desserts. We shared our stories, auctioned off WISDOM tee-shirts and flowers, and had a marvelous time despite the rain and snow that battered the clubhouse windows outside. We offer a big thank you to everyone who brought treats and took the time to meet and greet each other. Thank you to our WISDOM members, and to all the people who joined WISDOM at this member celebration. We welcome all of you to WISDOM, and we hope to see you active on a WISDOM committee soon. Please take a few moments to look at the pictures below.


Gail Katz
WISDOM President