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|Shelli Liebman Dorfman|Contributing Writer

After receiving the mind-numbing news that theirnewborn son was blind

and that the suggested doctor was6,000 miles away, Israelis Ido andVered Porat turned to everyone theyknew and didnt know for infor-mation and recommendations.

But it took a single social mediaemail to the right person to maketheir journey to a Detroit-area physi-cian one of incredible support andongoing friendship for the young fam-ily, who spent a month and a half sur-rounded by our Jewish community.

The connection began with a sim-

ple typed note.I got this message on Facebook

from a friend of mine who lives inIsrael, but used to live in Detroit,whose daughters in-laws knowthe Porats, said Beth Brandvain ofFarmington Hills. The message said,[The] baby has some kind of rare eyecondition and has to have urgent sur-gery in Detroit where it turns out thebiggest experts on this are. It includ-ed this request: Would it be OK ifthey call you when they are there as afriendly person with a great smile?

Far beyond the great smiles ofBrandvain and her husband, Avi,

came the connection to their friends,which included the loan of a car, cellphone, baby clothes and equipment,transportation to appointments,

someone to sit with them during theisons surgeries, invitations to dinnersand community events, and remark-ably, even a place to live during theirstay from Sept. 23-Oct. 31.

They would have connected withsomebody else if it wasnt us, insistsBrandvain, who was at the airport togreet the Porats when they landed.Avi and I feel really lucky to have methem and to be able to connect themwith our resources. Thinking aboutthem going through this on their ownwould be very sad.

Warmest Of Welcomes

Two days after Yanay was born, Vered31, and Ido, 33, were told he had nosight. We were told something wasvery wrong with his eyes and that hewas blind, Vered said. We were toldto see specialists and that there wereno options; he was going to be blindand no surgeries would help.

It was suspected that the infant,the couples first child, might havethe rare genetic disorder Norrie dis-ease that leads to blindness in maleinfants, but initial tests were nega-tive. It still could be some kind of

Avi Brandvain, Ido Porat, Beth Brandvain, Vered Porat and baby Yanay in his

new glasses

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Village Of Friends on page 20

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derivative of Norrie, which couldbe passed down to future chil-dren, Brandvain said. Results ofadditional genetic tests are not yetback.

The doctors in Israel told us

Yanay was getting worse and oneof them said we should go toMichigan for surgery, Vered said.In one week, we had to get a visaand passport for Yanay and con-tact the doctor in Detroit to makean appointment. Thats when afriend of a friend gave us the num-ber for Beth. She said she wouldbe someone who could help withthings like renting a car and anapartment.

Turns out they never neededeither.

They drove Brandvains carwhile she borrowed from friends

Susie and Bill Graham of WestBloomfield and a few others.

We bonded almost immediately,and we wanted them to stay with us,Brandvain said. I didnt want them tobe alone.

During the course of their timehere, two friends of the Brandvains Shari and Alon Kaufman of OrchardLake and Carol and Mark DeVore ofWest Bloomfield also opened theirhomes for the young family to stay.

Amazing DoctorsYanays ophthalmologist, Dr.Michael Trese [of Associated Retinal

Consultants] does surgery at WilliamBeaumont Hospital in Royal Oak,and apparently is the worlds fore-most expert on these conditions,Brandvain said. Parents bring theirchildren from everywhere after beingtold they wont see.

Yanay had multiple doctor visitsand two surgical procedures, one oneach eye. The first was done by one ofTreses partner, Dr. Kimberly Drenser,and the second by Trese.

The day before the first surgery,Dr. Trese explained what would takeplace, Brandvain said. By the timewe got home we had a lot of questions

so we called our friends, Drs. Amyand Steve Dunn.

She is a pediatrician and he is anophthalmologist, a cornea special-ist, and has actually worked with Dr.Treses team, she said. Steve talkedto the doctor and then came over toexplain everything to Vered and Ido.He even brought a poster and a modelof an eye. They have both been avail-able to explain, answer questions andhelp out.

Community EmbraceVered and Ido are in awe of our won-derful community, Brandvain said.

They are very thankful and appre-ciative of the support, friendship andgenerosity that kept on coming.

A friend loaned Brandvain a carseat and portable crib for the firstweek; after that she borrowed equip-ment from Detroit Baby Drive, whichloans baby items to members of theJewish community.

We began with nothing and sud-denly we had a baby seat and a crib,Ido said. And we had a telephonefrom the Robinsons [Davida andWarren of Franklin] and dinners attheir house and at Marty and Judy

Liebmans [Farmington Hills] home.We got wonderful things from

Kim Schon [of West Bloomfield], Idosaid of baby items including a bouncyseat, baby carrier and car seat cover.Schons young children also overheardYanays story and separated out theirmusical and noisy toys for him tolisten to.

Other friends brought food to ourhouse, Brandvain said. Dany and ItzSaar [of West Bloomfield] took themto dinner, showed them around townwere shopping guides and providedthem with coupons.

Lisa S oble Siegmann, Federations

associate director of JewishExperiences for Families and InformaEducation, arranged for tickets forVered and Ido to go to the Palace ofAuburn Hills to watch the Maccabi TeAviv-Detroit Piston basketball game,while Beth and Avi babysat. Avi alsotook Ido to the Oct. 3 Michigan chap-ter of the Friends of the Israel DefensForces dinner.

Yanays VisionEven with the success of the surgeriesYanay will not have complete sight.

Vered, Ido and Yanay Porat shortly afte

Yanays second eye surgery

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His eyes look normal, but the optimistic result is forhim to have low vision rather than total blindness, saidBrandvain, who has received a crash course in medi-cal terminology. Patients with low vision have impairedsight that cannot be corrected by glasses, surgery ormedication, with degrees of impairment varying.

In late October, Yanay and his parents returnedhome, with the baby wearing newly prescribed glasses.The pediatric optometrist who did the evaluation, Dr.Mary Ference, was very upbeat and pretty certain thathe can see something out of each eye, Brandvain said.He seems to respond to light and high-contrast items.Paula Korelitz [outreach director at the Childrens LowVision Resource Center of the Vision Research ROPARDFoundation in Royal Oak] showed Vered and Ido how towork with Yanay to stimulate and maximize whateverpotential he may have.

Vered said, We work with him with a flashlight andwith colors. And he will need eye drops for the nextyear.

There is a lot of hope that his vision will improve,said Brandvain, who accompanied the Porats to Yanaysappointments and surgeries. The anatomy is developing

and things continue to take place for a long time afterthe surgery.

We met a family in the recovery room fromBirmingham, Ala., whose 4-year-old daughter had adiagnosis similar to Yanays. Doctors at home told themshe was going to be completely blind. Four years later,she has exceeded all expectations.

Medical treatment for Yanay has required advancepayment. Ido and Vered are both CPAs and had savedup money for a down payment on a house, Brandvainsaid. The money has gone toward medical treatment.

There is a chance some of the $18,000 cost per eye willbe reimbursed by Israeli insurance. In addition, theywill have the expense of follow-up visits that will takeplace in Rome at Treses satellite clinic.

The Brandvains, who first met in Israel, where Avi wasborn, plan to visit the Porats who live in Givatayim.

We will go before, but absolutely we will be there forYanays bar mitzvah in 2026, Beth said. The Robinsonswill visit over Thanksgiving.

We look forward to seeing all of them, Ido said.Beth is like an angel to us. She is like our mother,

Yanays grandmother, our teacher. It is hard to believewe didnt always know her and Avi. We cant thank themenough. They made us feel like we were at home here.We came here not knowing anyone, but we didnt feelalone for a minute. The people in this community arelike our family.

Dates and details have beenannounced for the third annualMenorah in the D Chanukah cel-

ebration, a two-pronged event surround-ing the installation and lighting of a public24-foot-tall menorah at Campus Martiusin Detroit.

Menorah in the D was developedand is hosted annually by The Shul ofWest Bloomfield, a Chabad LubavitchCommunity Center, in partnership withthe Jewish Federation of MetropolitanDetroits NEXTGen Detroit division, withgenerous support from Quicken Loans andvarious other sponsors.

On Nov. 26, the one-of-a-kind, larger-than-life, steel-and-glass menorah,designed by local artists the Nordin broth-ers of the Detroit Design Center, will beerected.

Then, on Dec. 4 at 5:30 p.m., the publicis invited to enjoy the official menorahlighting ceremony and free community

Chanukah party, which last year drewmore than 1,500 participants. In additionto the traditional lighting of the menorahattendees will enjoy light refreshments ana live performance by the 8th Day Band.

Chabad-organized public menorahlightings are now seen annually in hun-

dreds of locations worldwide, from theWhite House to the Eiffel Tower. Thecelebration of Chanukah, which translateto rededication, and the lighting of apublic menorah are particularly relevant Detroit and its area residents during dif-ficult times.

The menorah being placed inDowntown Detroit is a reminder to us allthat we should continually work to illuminate the world around us, Rabbi KasrielShemtov said. Its an honor to be able toshare the warmth and joy of Chanukahwith all.

For more information on Menorah inthe D, visit www.menorahinthed.com.

Lighting UpDowntownThird annual Menorah in the D lighting

ceremony coming Dec. 4.

Last years

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the D

Village Of Friends from page 20