MARCH 2024

METRO DETROIT CHALDEAN COMMUNITY VOL. 21 ISSUE II MARCH 2024
Decision,
Diligence
& Destiny
DAVID GARMO’S
PURSUIT OF
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Featuring:
Her Story: Chaldean Women
CABA Comeback
Poet Al Mutanabbi

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6 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2024

METRO DETROIT CHALDEAN COMMUNITY | MARCH 2024 | VOL. 21 ISSUE II
ON THE COVER
20 Decision, Diligence & Destiny
David Garmo’s pursuit of excellence
By Cal Abbo
FEATURES
26 Her Story
Chaldean women making history
By Sarah Kittle
28 Healing Through the Arts
By Omar Binno
30 CABA Comeback
Chaldean American Bar
Association returns
By Cal Abbo
32 Time Marches On
March covers through the years
By Sarah Kittle
20
36 Culture & History
Al Mutanabbi, the would be prophet
By Dr. Adhid Miri
DEPARTMENTS
8 From the Editor
In Pursuit of Excellence
By Sarah Kittle
16 Iraq Today
What to know about the strikes
in Iraq and Syria
42 From Mesopotamia
to the Motor City
Part III: New ventures in a new land
By Cal Abbo
10 Your Letters
11 Guest Column
Dr. Samir Jamil
Living with Contentment
10 Foundation Update
Diversity Summit, Advocacy efforts,
Donation to Giving Hearts
14 Noteworthy
OU/CCF partnership, Mother of God 75
years, Sweet Dreams Habibi book
18 Religion
By Michael Antoon
34 Economics & Enterprise
Beverly Hills Grill
By Sari Cicurel
44 In Memoriam
46 From the Archive
Prioritizing education
36
MARCH 2024 CHALDEAN NEWS 7

FROM THE EDITOR
PUBLISHED BY
Chaldean News, LLC
Chaldean Community Foundation
EDITORIAL
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Sarah Kittle
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Cal Abbo
Michael Antoon
Omar Binno
Sari Cicurel
Dr. Samir Jamil
Sarah Kittle
Dr. Adhid Miri
ART & PRODUCTION
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Alex Lumelsky with SKY Creative
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Zina Lumelsky with SKY Creative
PHOTOGRAPHER
Alex Lumelsky
SALES
Interlink Media
Sana Navarrette
CLASSIFIEDS
Sana Navarrette
Subscriptions: $35 per year
CONTACT INFORMATION
Story ideas: edit@chaldeannews.com
Advertisements: ads@chaldeannews.com
Subscription and all other inquiries:
info@chaldeannews.com
Chaldean News
30095 Northwestern Hwy, Suite 101
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
www.chaldeannews.com
Phone: (248) 851-8600
Publication: The Chaldean News (P-6);
Published monthly; Issue Date: March 2024
Subscriptions: 12 months, $35.
Publication Address:
30095 Northwestern Hwy., Suite 101,
Farmington Hills, MI 48334;
Permit to mail at periodicals postage rates
is on file at Farmington Hills Post Office
Postmaster: Send address changes to
“The Chaldean News 30095 Northwestern
Hwy., Suite 101, Farmington Hills, MI 48334”
In Pursuit of Excellence
This March issue is all about the pursuit of
excellence in sports, education, professional
work – virtually all walks of life. Chaldean
culture calls for distinction, for brilliance
and superiority. It is what we have come to expect
from the community.
Our cover exemplifies that pursuit. The story
is centered around David Garmo’s belief that he is
the best Jiu Jitsu fighter in the realm. It does not
matter if it is still a dream; one day soon, it will be
a fact. Garmo knows it in his heart.
It was difficult to decide on a cover this month,
as we have a wonderful story about extremely
successful Chaldean career women
to publish as well. These women are “killing
it;” forging high-profile careers and achieving
a work-life balance that many would
envy. Indeed, recent archaeological findings
in Kanesh, an Assyrian city in Iraq, shows
that women throughout history served crucial
roles in trading networks, managed finances and workers,
and pushed against societal expectations to better their
lives. “It’s their own thoughts and writing. It’s not our interpretation
of them,” said Yale University Assyriologist Agnete
Wisti Lassen of the tablets found. “There’s a deep value to
that, to having their own voices heard.”
The final installment of “From Mesopotamia to the Motor
City,” traces the ancient routes of trade and culture that
once connected the cradle of civilization to the busy streets
of Detroit. In the heart of this convergence lies a vibrant community
of Chaldeans, whose rich heritage and entrepreneurial
spirit have left a mark on both the ancient world and the
modern landscape of commerce. Cal Abbo looks at two community
members who definitively made their mark: Michael
George of Melody Farms and Saad Abbo of US Ice.
In addition, we cover the March cover stories for the last
two decades. It is a trip down memory lane as well as an
important timeline that spotlights community concerns. So
much has happened in the last twenty years!
In our Economic and Enterprise section, we feature
SARAH KITTLE
EDITOR
IN CHIEF
Beverly Hills Grill and its owner Raphael Michael.
Beverly Hills Grill has been a landmark in the area
for many years, and its new owner is making sure
that things don’t change too much and the ‘regulars’
are kept happy.
Dr. Miri introduces us to the famous poet Al
Mutanabbi, a dreamer and wordsmith who took
the Arabic language to new dimensions in the
odes he wrote to honor contemporary rulers. His
work is widely recognized as proverbial, and many
have heard his words even if they aren’t familiar
with the source.
Chaldean culture calls for distinction, for
brilliance and superiority. It is what we
have come to expect from the community.
Dr. Samir Jamil wrote in again, sending a column on finding
contentment. His tips on managing emotions and using
all available resources to see and enjoy the beauty that surrounds
us are a timeless reminder that we alone control our
emotions and reactions.
Omar Binno returns to the CN to author a piece about
music therapy and his new nonprofit that aims to use music
to help the disabled and those suffering from trauma.
The Chaldean Cultural Center comes through again, providing
archival photos of educators and their students in
both Baghdad and Detroit, and Religion writer Michael Antoon
shares his thoughts on Lent and Easter.
Enjoy!
Sarah Kittle
Editor in Chief
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8 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2024

PUBLISHER'S CIRCLE
As the publication of record for
Michigan’s Chaldean community,
the mission of the Chaldean News
is to preserve and archive Chaldean
heritage and history, and to tell the
ongoing story of Chaldean contributions to
the communities in which we live and work – in
Michigan and around the world.
In the last 5 years the Chaldean News has
substantially increased its readership and social
media following, introduced new digital and website
content and expanded storytelling and video offerings
with the help of small grant funding.
The Publisher’s Circle is a unique opportunity for community
members to support the Chaldean News and its continuing
mission to be a voice for the community, wherever they
may be. With the warmhearted help of individual and
organizational supporters we can ensure that this important
resource remains to educate and connect the community
while evolving to meet the needs of future generations.
The Chaldean News has recently launched a CN app
and will continue to expand into new media such
as radio and TV, all with the goal of preserving our
culture and telling the story of our people. You can
take part in helping to preserve your Chaldean
heritage by joining the Publisher’s Circle today.
Jibran “Jim” Manna
Martin and Tamara Manna
We are grateful for the overwhelmingly
generous support of our community.
To learn more, visit chaldeannews.com
or contact us at 248-851-8600
Let’s grow the circle.
MARCH 2024 CHALDEAN NEWS 9

YOUR LETTERS
Dear Editor:
Based on my personal experience, I
highly recommend that new parents
who are fluent in Chaldean and/or Arabic
use these languages when speaking
to their young infants, babies, and kids.
My wife and I have two kids. When
they were young, we questioned
whether to speak with them in Arabic
(my wife does not speak Chaldean). I
preferred we speak in formal Arabic, so
later in life they would be able to communicate
with anyone in the Arabic
world. My wife preferred the Iraqi dialect,
which we often use. As it turned
out, we did little of each and now regret
it. I wish we had spoken more of either.
We had some concerns that if we
spoke only in Arabic with them, they
would be a bit behind when they went
to school. However, I now believe that
concern was unfounded. Kids befriend
other kids in preschool and learn English
that way, as well as from TV entertainment
in English. Kids adapt much
more quickly than adults, and would
have had no difficulty learning English
quickly, even if it was not spoken
much in the house.
I also recommend starting the
habit of speaking Arabic or Chaldean
in the home with the first child. As you
have more kids, they might communicate
with each other in English unless
the older one is used to speaking in the
language you spoke with him or her.
Of course, it is never too late to start
even if the kids are older, as long as
they are still home with you.
As kids grow to become teens, they
often show some rebellion against parents’
habits and that is normal. But,
as they approach their twenties and
older, they often revert to the original
culture, and they might wonder why
they were not taught their parents’ language
when they were young.
As kids are finishing high school
and preparing to go to college, they may
discover that many competitive universities
are impressed with kids who speak
multiple languages, and this might help
them in their college applications.
Arabic is spoken by at least half a
billion people in the world, and the Arabic
business and political world will
continue to dominate the news in the
future. Knowledge of Arabic will prove
to be an asset for your kids in business,
social, cultural, and political affairs.
As to the Chaldean language, it is
our heritage and is in danger of diminishing
with time, unless we make the
effort to convey it to our kids if we can.
Sincerely,
N. Peter Antone
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10 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2024

GUEST COLUMN
Living with Contentment
BY SAMIR JAMIL, MD
Being content (or not)
is all about emotions.
Emotionally sensitive
people react to events quickly
and with intense feeling. They
have difficulty in getting their
emotional reactions to go
away. Finding ways to manage
emotions effectively can
minimize the non-physical
pain they experience. This article
offers a few suggestions
and strategies to minimize
worries and live contently.
These strategies below are not in the order
of their significance.
Practice mindfulness. Mindfulness
helps reduce anxiety and stress
for everyone. Consider a way to practice
mindfulness every day that is
easy to remember (mindfully brush
your teeth or mindfully drink your
coffee). The point is action with intention.
Consider using a bracelet or a
sticky note to remind yourself.
Relax, be in control. Find a way
to laugh today (dance, watch a comedy,
run in the park, buy a balloon,
dabble with paint). Stay focused on
what is in your control. Attempting
to control other people or events creates
anxiety, anger, and feelings of
helplessness. It is enough work to
control our own actions; you cannot
control others’.
Practice gratitude. Each evening,
go through your day and list three
things you are grateful for. Be specific,
then focus on those three experiences
or interactions or things and
appreciate the positive.
Nurture relationships. Some
friends will make you angry or upset,
but having friendships is one of
the keys to contentment. When you
spend time with friends, focus on
what you like, and what energizes
you. Review the positive experiences
in your mind. Pick your friends carefully.
Give up your attachment to outcomes.
Being too attached to certain
outcomes, living in a certain way, or
fixating on a certain solution limits
you and leads to suffering. Try to be
SAMIR
JAMIL, MD
SPECIAL
TO THE
CHALDEAN
NEWS
open to what comes.
Learn something new.
You don’t have to choose
something difficult. Learn
a little about another culture,
read a magazine about
a hobby you know nothing
about, cook a new dish, or
play a new game.
Let go of urgency. Sometimes
we feel urgent about
everyday tasks. Be mindful,
let go of urgency when it
is not a 911 situation. Slow
down, breathe, and take small steps.
Accept imperfections. Life is
messy and imperfect. Striving for perfection
that does not exist crushes joy
and contentment.
Stop comparing. Comparing is
a way of evaluating and judging
ourselves and others. At times and
Finding ways to
manage emotions
effectively can
minimize the
non-physical pain
emotionally sensitive
people experience.
wrongly, we compare ourselves to
someone else who we see as superior
to us (a way of competing).
Get out-of-the-box. Having a big
family get together, watching movies
with friends, or focusing on a spiritual
journey are examples of activities
that may be helpful.
Notice what works and what you
are doing right. It is easy to overlook
what goes right. When you are feeling
upset, it is difficult to problem solve
or think of what actions might help.
Keeping a list of what works for you
could be a key good for coping successfully.
Practice self-compassion. Calling
yourself names is punishment, and
we all know that punishment does not
work. Accept yourself in kindness.
Identify your values. Living in
ways that are inconsistent with your
values causes stress and unhappiness.
So, make choices whenever you
can that reflect your values.
Think of loved ones. Think of the
people who love you no matter what.
Think of the people who love you as
part of your team and remember that
they are there to support you.
Under-react. Sometimes we just do
not need to react. This does not mean
under-feeling, minimizing, denying, or
suppressing, but just letting events be.
Relax your body. Practice brief deep
breathing and slow exhaling. A relaxed
body sends a safety message to the
mind; a tense body says there is danger.
Remember your positive qualities.
If you are not sure, ask those who are
close to you.
Ask yourself what you can give to
others. Helping others can be simply
smiling at someone, giving a cup of
coffee, giving clothes to a shelter, or
giving time to a child. We are all part
of the same community, and we all
need help.
Commitment. Take one small step
and commit to success in what is important
to you. Having a small success
builds hope and belief in yourself.
Having purpose and meaning
adds to your sense of well-being.
Learn to solve problems. Everyone
meets problems at certain times
in our lives. But being able to manage
your life can bring self-contentment
and satisfaction.
Practice willingness. Say yes to
LIFE. Yes, to being part of this universe.
No matter how disconnected
you may feel, you are part of the
whole. You belong. Accept the changes
that come with life.
See the beauty of the world. Notice
the sunsets, the mountains in the
fog, children playing, etc. Beauty is
all around us and everywhere, but we
often do not see it.
Man asked GOD, give me everything
to enjoy life. GOD replied, I have
given LIFE to enjoy everything.
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MARCH 2024 CHALDEAN NEWS 11

FOUNDATION UPDATE
Left: Planning
committee from
the 2024 Macomb
Student Diversity
Summit.
Generous Donation for
Breast Cancer Awareness
On February 1, Jason Tueni from Oak Holdings Investments, LLC
made a generous donation of $40,000 to support the CCF’s Giving
Hearts affiliate fund.
Giving Hearts is a philanthropic Chaldean women’s collaboration
in memory of the late Vivian Esshaki Shouneyia; the fund
helps alleviate financial duress related to medical care expenses
for breast cancer patients.
Macomb Student Diversity Summit
The CCF participated in the annual Macomb Student Diversity Summit, an event which provides an
opportunity for more than 400 middle and high school students across Macomb County to have a
dialogue about race relations and other relevant cultural matters.
Hosted on Thursday, February 15 from 8:00am until 1:30pm at the Macomb Intermediate School District,
this year’s theme was “Voices Amplified: The Power of Your Voice.” The overarching goals of the
summit include helping student leaders understand the value and impact of diversity and developing
action plans to create positive environments and promote social justice in their schools and communities.
Advocacy in Action
The Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce and
Chaldean Community Foundation have engaged
the Waad Murad Advocacy Fund in support of Thair
Dado, who was shot and killed in the parking lot of
his part-time job on Saturday, February 3, leaving
behind a grieving widow and teenage son.
The Fund, working with the Detroit Police Department
and Crimestoppers, will award $10,000 to
the supplier of information that leads to the arrest
and conviction of the culprits of the murder.
The Chaldean Chamber’s Sharkey Haddad
and Manar Deno, nephew of Thair Dado.
The Waad Murad Advocacy Fund was established in 2011 to aid the police in solving murders in
the Chaldean business community. Since immigrating to the U.S., more than 100 Chaldean small
business owners have been killed in their place of business in Detroit. The Fund aims to bring justice
to the perpetrators and hopefully, some small semblance of relief to the victim’s families.
Iraqi Consulate Visits
Metro Detroit
On January 25, CCF President Martin Manna met
with the new Iraqi Consulate General Muhamad
Hassan S. Muhamad at the Consulate General of the
Republic of Iraq office in Southfield.
We welcome the new Iraqi Consulate and look
forward to future discussions and a continued partnership
to serve our community in Michigan.
CCF President Martin Manna and Iraqi Consulate
General Muhamad Hussan S. Muhamad.
The Oak Holdings Investments team pictured with CCF staff
to present the check.
ARCH Recognition
The Chaldean Community Foundation
recently received recognition
from the ARCH National Respite Network
as an Innovative and Exemplary
Program for the C.H.A.I. Project
through 2027.
C.H.A.I. (Caregivers Helping Aid
Initiative) aims to educate and inform
caregivers about the importance of lifestyle, nutrition, exercise,
and health care when aging.
The program was one of only four respite services recognized
as Innovative and Exemplary by the ARCH National Respite Network
and Resource Center in 2024.
Upcoming Events
Penske Job Fair
Chaldean Community Foundation
February 28 from 2:00pm-4:00pm
Spring Community Job Fair
Chaldean Community Foundation
May 1 from 2:00pm-3:00pm
Learn with a Leader
Chaldean Community Foundation
May 22 from 4:00pm-6:00pm
12 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2024

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MARCH 2024 CHALDEAN NEWS 13

NOTEWORTHY
The Pursuit of Higher Education: Oakland
University and Chaldean Community
Foundation unite for a brighter future
In an exciting collaboration aimed at fostering the
next generation of educators, Oakland University
and the Chaldean Community Foundation have
joined forces to inspire and support students in pursuing
careers in education. This innovative partnership
not only underscores the shared commitment
of both institutions to academic excellence, but also
seeks to address the growing need for passionate and
diverse individuals to lead the way in shaping the future
of education.
As we navigate an ever-evolving educational
landscape, the demand for dedicated and culturally
aware educators has never been more pronounced.
Mother of God 75th Anniversary
Recognizing this imperative, Oakland University and
the Chaldean Community Foundation have set out
on a mission to empower students, particularly those
from the Chaldean community, to explore and embark
on fulfilling careers in education.
This collaborative initiative starts with an advisory
council made up of Oakland University staff and
alumni along with Chaldean Community Foundation
staff. The purpose of the council is to develop outreach
for assisting perspective student with filling
out forms for admission and financial aid and developing
pathways for students to become educators,
among other goals.
Mother of God Chaldean Church is
75! This milestone commemorates
a beacon of faith and community
in its 75th year of existence,
embodying a rich tapestry of
tradition, culture, and spirituality.
Nestled within the heart of its
community, this sacred place of
worship has been a steadfast pillar
for generations of Chaldean Catholics,
serving as a sanctuary where
families gather to celebrate their
faith and heritage.
Mother of God Church was established
in Southfield in 1948. The current edifice was
designed in a Byzantine Revival style and completed in
1980. Two years later, the church became a Chaldean
cathedral when the Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle
was established.
Throughout its storied history, Mother of God has
been a source of spiritual nourishment, offering a myriad
of religious services, sacraments,
and cultural events. From traditional
liturgies to festive celebrations marking
Chaldean holidays and milestones,
the church fosters a sense
of belonging and continuity for its
members, bridging the gap between
generations and preserving cherished
customs for years to come.
Beyond its role as a place of
worship, the church serves as a
catalyst for social outreach and
community engagement. Through
charitable initiatives, educational
programs, and interfaith collaborations, it extends its
embrace beyond its walls, embodying the teachings of
compassion and solidarity espoused by its namesake,
the Mother of God. As the church commemorates its
75th anniversary, it stands as a testament to the enduring
spirit of faith, hope, and love that continues to inspire
and unite the Chaldean faithful.
Sweet Dreams
Habibi
Jacquelyn Faranso Santo, the daughter of
Catholic-Iraqi immigrants and a first generation
American, recently wrote a children’s book
titled, “Sweet Dreams Habibi.” The book centers
around themes of family, cultural identity and
the universal desire to belong.
Inspired by the stories
that her mom used
to share about her childhood
in Iraq and her
journey to America, the
book recounts a heartwarming
story that resonates
deeply with immigrant
families, offering
a relatable and enriching
experience for both
children and parents. The tale unfolds through a
mom’s story to her daughter at bedtime, painting
a picture of her simple life back home filled with
rich culture and traditions.
Jacquelyn grew up in the Detroit metropolitan
area and witnessed her parents’ journey to
build a life in the United States. Today, Jacquelyn
is a DePaul University graduate, a dedicated
wife, and mother of two. She also manages a
travel concierge business while passionately
pursuing her creative endeavors. The story she
shares reflects the cultural mosaic that shaped
her upbringing.
“This book is not only a tribute to my family,
but also a tribute to the bravery, love and
dreams that immigrant families bring with them
on their incredible journeys,” shares Jacqueline.
“My hope is that this narrative contributes to the
empowerment of immigrant families.”
“Sweet Dreams Habibi” by Jacquelyn
Faranso Santo is available for purchase at
barnesandnoble.com and amazon.com.
14 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2024

MARCH 2024 CHALDEAN NEWS 15

IRAQ TODAY
Iraq Territory Targeted
What to know about the US strikes in Iraq and Syria
and its attacks with the UK in Yemen
Beirut (AP) Feb. 3 — British forces on
Saturday joined their American allies
in new attacks against militia in Yemen.
The U.S. military earlier launched
strikes on dozens of sites manned by
Iran-backed fighters in western Iraq
and eastern Syria in retaliation for a
drone strike in Jordan in late January
that killed three U.S. service members
and wounded dozens.
Tensions have been rising in the
region since the Israel-Hamas war
started on Oct. 7. A week later, Iranbacked
fighters, who are loosely allied
with Hamas, began carrying out drone
and rocket attacks on bases housing
U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria. A deadly
strike on the desert outpost known as
Tower 22 in Jordan near the Syrian border
further increased tensions.
What Happened in Yemen?
The United States and Britain said they
launched a barrage of strikes against
Houthi targets in Yemen from fighter
jets and warships in the Red Sea.
The strikes hit 36 Houthi targets
in 13 locations, according to the U.S.
and U.K. militaries. It is the third time
in two weeks that the U.S. and Britain
have conducted a large joint operation
to strike Houthi weapon launchers, radar
sites and drones.
The strikes came in response to
almost daily missile or drone attacks
against commercial and military ships
in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin
said Australia, Bahrain, Canada,
Denmark, the Netherlands, and New
Zealand supported the latest wave of
strikes intended to “defend lives and
the free flow of commerce in one of the
world’s most critical waterways.”
What Jets Were Used in the
Yemen Strikes?
The Houthi targets were struck by U.S.
F/A-18 fighter jets from the USS Dwight
D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier, by British
Typhoon FGR4 fighter aircraft and by
the Navy destroyers USS Gravely and the
AKASHAT
AL QAIM
Akashat and Al Qaim were among the Iraqi settlements that were targeted.
USS Carney firing Tomahawk missiles
from the Red Sea, according to U.S. officials
and the U.K. Defense Ministry.
Who Was Targeted in Syria
and Iraq, And Why?
The strikes on Friday came in retaliation
for the drone strike that killed
three U.S. troops in Jordan on Jan. 28.
U.S. forces struck 85 targets in
seven locations in a strategic region
where thousands of Iran-backed fighters
are deployed to help expand Iran’s
influence from Tehran to the Mediterranean
coast.
U.S. bases in Syria’s eastern province
of Deir el-Zour and the northeastern
province of Hassakeh have come
under attack for years. The Euphrates
River cuts through Syria into Iraq,
with U.S. troops and American-backed
Kurdish-led fighters on the east bank
and Iran-backed fighters and Syrian
government forces to the west.
Bases for U.S. troops in Iraq have
come under attack too.
Iran-backed militias control the
Iraqi side of the border and move freely
in and out of Syria, where they man
posts with their allies from Lebanon’s
powerful Hezbollah and other Shiite
armed groups.
What Was Hit in Iraq and Syria?
How Many People Were Killed?
The U.S. military said the barrage of
strikes hit command and control headquarters;
intelligence centers; rockets
and missiles, drone and ammunition
storage sites; and other facilities connected
to the militias and the Iranian
Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force,
which handles Tehran’s relationship
with, and arming of, regional militias.
Syrian opposition activists said
the strikes hit the Imam Ali base near
the border Syrian town of Boukamal,
the Ein Ali base in Quriya, just south
of the strategic town of Mayadeen,
and a radar center on a mountain
near the provincial capital that is also
called Deir el-Zour.
Rami Abdurrahman, who heads
the Britain-based Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights, said 29 rank-andfile
fighters were killed in those strikes.
The attacks also hit a border crossing
known as Humaydiya, where militia
cross back and forth between Iraq
and Syria, according to Omar Abu Layla,
a Europe-based activist who heads
the Deir Ezzor 24 media outlet. He said
the strikes also hit an area inside the
town of Mayadeen known as “the security
quarter.”
Iraqi government spokesperson
Bassim al-Awadi said the border
strikes killed 16 people and caused
“significant damage” to homes and
private properties.
The Popular Mobilization Force, a
coalition of Iran-backed militia that
is nominally under the control of the
Iraqi military, said the strikes in western
Iraq hit a logistical support post,
a tanks battalion, an artillery post and
a hospital. The PMF said 16 people
were killed and 36 wounded, and that
authorities were searching for other
missing people.
Will Iran-Backed Fighters Retaliate?
Iran and groups it backs in the region
aim to put pressure on Washington
to force Israel to end its crushing offensive
in Gaza, but do not appear to
want all-out war. The defeat of Hamas
would be a major setback for Tehran,
which considers itself and its allies
the main defenders of the Palestinian
cause.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq,
an umbrella group for Iran-backed
groups, said it carried out two explosive
drone attacks Saturday on bases
housing U.S. troops in the northern
Iraqi city of Irbil and a post in northeast
Syria near the Iraqi border.
The only Iran-backed faction that
has been escalating are the Houthi
rebels in Yemen, and they have made
clear that they have no intention of
scaling back their campaign.
By Bassem Mroue, Lolita C. Baldor and
Tara Copp / Associated Press. Baldor
and Copp reported from Washington.
16 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2024

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MARCH 2024 CHALDEAN NEWS 17

RELIGION
Reflecting on the Resurrection
BY MICHAEL ANTOON
As the arrival of spring brings about a period
of rebirth and renewal, Christians all around
the world draw their hearts and minds closer
to the most sacred, holy, and significant events in the
faith – Easter. Far beyond symbolism of colored eggs
and spring flowers, Easter encapsulates the celebration
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ rising from
the dead, giving us the promise of eternal life.
At its core, Easter commemorates the resurrection
of Jesus Christ, the pivotal moment that defines the
very essence of our Christian belief. This celebration
is the feast of feasts! It transcends all cultural and political
boundaries and unites believers in the shared
acknowledgment of the ultimate triumph of light over
darkness, redemption over sin, and life over death.
The resurrection narrative, as it is documented in
the Holy Gospels, tells the story of Jesus Christ triumphantly
resurrecting from the tomb after three days.
It is truly a tale of divine love and mercy, our loving
God making the ultimate sacrifice for the redemption
of humanity. Easter, therefore, becomes more than a
historical and monumental event; it transforms into
a living truth that shapes the spiritual identity of
Christians around the world.
For Catholics, Easter is not a one-day feast, rather
it is an entire season of reflection, contemplation,
and renewal. The profound impact of the resurrection
extends beyond the walls of churches and becomes
a daily guiding force in the lives of believers.
St. Augustine of Hippo captures this declaring, “We
are the Easter people, and ‘Halleluiah’ is our song.”
The celebration is the very cornerstone of our faith,
which is lived out daily as faithful believers.
One of the central themes that is embodied
in the resurrection is the symbolism of hope. In a
world that is often marked by uncertainty and challenges,
the resurrection of Jesus Christ serves as a
beacon, reminding believers that there is hope even
in the darkest times. The empty tomb represents not
only the victory proclaimed over death, but also a
promise of a new beginning – having died to sin and
living to God.
In Romans 6, it says:
“We were buried therefore with him by baptism
into death, so that as Christ was raised from the
dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk
in newness of life. For if we have been united with
him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united
with him in a resurrection like his… For we know
that Christ being raised from the dead will never die
again; death no longer has dominion over him. The
death he died, he died to sin, once for all, but the
life he lives, he lives to God” (Romans 6: 4-5, 9-10).
This reading from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans
is popularly read at funeral Masses throughout
our Eparchy. The deceased, through their faith and
baptism, share in the promise of a renewed and eternal
existence. Being “united with him in a death like
his” draws us a parallel between our human mortality
and Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross
for our sins. This message becomes a source of hope,
signifying that the deceased, having passed through
the veil of death, now lives a life in communion with
God, freed from the bonds of sin and death.
As Easter approaches, the Holy Church calls upon
its faithful to fast, pray, and give alms diligently in
the Lenten season. Our Holy Father, His Beatitude
Cardinal Mar Louis Raphael Sako, in his ‘Pastoral
Letter on the Occasion of Lent 2024’ says:
“Lent comes this year in this fragile environment
preceding Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection,
giving our lives a new horizon, to distinguish
right from wrong, true from false, [and] good
from evil. It helps us also in choosing what God
wants from us, by getting along with each other to
change ourselves for the better and move forward
in the spirit of humility, reconciliation, and wisdom.”
(Chaldean Patriarchate)
As we prepare to celebrate the resurrection of our
Lord, we can join our faith community in fasting,
prayer, and almsgiving. The same way Jesus fasted in
the desert, we too have an invitation to fast and reject
the evil one and all his works. It is through fasting
that we can form a greater connection with our loving
God, being made new in his mercy. Fasting is a
great way to purify the body and soul, and to detach
from worldly distractions. Through detachment we
are able enhance our awareness of God, our almighty
Father. In His Beatitude’s letter “Fasting reinforces
hope in our hearts” he says:
‏“الصوم،‏ يخلق أجواء مالمئة للدخول اىل بيتنا الداخيل،‏ والنظر اىل األبعد
وترميمه بالتوبة والرجوع إىل الله.‏ حضوره يف حياتنا اليومية يفتح لنا باب
الرجاء واالهتداء اإلنجييل،‏ لتصحيح السلوك،‏ والتخيل عن العادات السيئة،‏
وتغيري العقلية،‏ والتفكري،‏ والقرارات،‏ عىل ضوء ما يطرحه علينا اإلميان من
أسئلة حول قضايا مهمة ومصريية نواجهها عىل الصعيد الشخيص والعائيل
والكنيس واالجتامعي،‏ حتى نتمكن من العيش بتناغم وسالم.‏
األمل – الرجاء،‏ هو الحفاظ عىل شعلة األمل وعدم السامح بإخامدها
يف قلب املؤمن أبداً.‏ ويتعنّيّ‏ عىل الكنيسة،‏ يف عامل مثقل باألحداث كعاملنا
الحايل،‏ أن تسهر أكرث عىل الخدمة االنسانية والروحية،‏ وتعمّق الثقة
املطلقة بالعناية االلهية يف قلوب املؤمننّي املتعبنّي،‏ وترفع معنوياتهم.‏ وان
تساعدهم عىل اإلصغاء اىل صوت الله واكتشاف القيمة اإليجابية يف األمل
والضيق،‏ ويدركوا أن الخري يف النهاية ينترص عىل الرش،‏ واملحبة عىل الحقد،‏
والحق عىل الكذب،‏ والعدالة عىل الظلم،‏ والسالم عىل الحرب،‏ والنور عىل
الظالم،‏ الن املسيحية ليست ديانة األمل والهزمية،‏ بل ديانة الحياة والتجدد
والقيامة.‏ اإلحباط واليأس موت بطيء ‏)البطريركية الكلدانية(‏
“Fasting creates a conducive atmosphere for
entering our inner selves, looking beyond and
repairing it with repentance and turning back
to God. Its presence in our daily lives opens the
door to hope and Gospel guidance, for correcting
behavior, abandoning bad habits, and changing
mindset, thoughts, and decisions, in light of the
questions posed by faith about significant and
existential issues we face personally, as families,
in the Church, and in society. This enables us to
live in harmony and peace.
Hope is about preserving the flame of hope
and never allowing it to be extinguished in the
heart of the believer. In a world burdened with
events like our current world, the Church must
be more vigilant in human and spiritual service,
deepening absolute trust in divine care in
the hearts of the weary believers and boosting
their morale. It should help them listen to God’s
voice and discover the positive value in pain and
distress. They must realize that in the end, good
triumphs over evil, love over hatred, truth over
falsehood, justice over injustice, peace over war,
and light over darkness, for Christianity is not a
religion of pain and defeat, but a religion of life,
renewal, and resurrection. Despair and hopelessness
are a slow death.” (Chaldean Patriarchate
translation from Arabic)
So, as we approach the joyous feast of the Resurrection
of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us embrace the significance
of the resurrection in our own lives. As we
fast, pray, and give alms during this Lenten season,
let us heed the call of renewal in God. In the spirit of
Easter, let us carry this message of hope, renewal, and
resurrection into our homes, communities, and the
world. May the grace of the risen Christ inspire us to
live harmoniously, radiating the light of our faith and
love to overcome the shadows of despair and death. As
we emerge from the Lenten season and celebrate the
joy of the resurrection, let the hymn of ‘Halleluiah’ resound
in our hearts, for we truly are the Easter people,
celebrating the victory of life everlasting. Amen.
Christ has Risen! / Qimleh Maran! / Qam al-Messih!
18 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2024

MARCH 2024 CHALDEAN NEWS 19

COVER STORY
Decision,
Diligence
& Destiny
David Garmo’s
pursuit of
excellence
BY CAL ABBO
When David Garmo makes a
decision, he doesn’t look
back. This resolute attitude
led him to the pinnacle of athletics in
the sport of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, where
he represents Chaldeans as one of the
toughest fighters in the world. It also
brought him to the 2023 world finals
match against repeated world champion
Ronaldo Junior.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) is a selfdefense
martial art focused on taking
your opponent to the ground and establishing
a joint lock or chokehold
to force a submission or win points.
Its strategy centers on the idea that a
smaller and less-powerful fighter can
establish a leverage advantage and a
superior position through technique
rather than strength. Garmo participates
in a version of BJJ called No-Gi,
where participants wear skin-tight
wrestling suits instead of a traditional
robe (called a Gi) that your opponent is
allowed to grab.
In tournaments, a classic BJJ match
has a 10-minute timer. Just under half
of BJJ matches end early in a submission
while the rest are decided by a
point system, and, in the case of a tie,
a referee’s decision.
The Decision
At the ripe age of 18, Garmo made the
most important decision of his life.
Even today, this pivotal moment ripples
across time, affecting thousands
of martial artists that he competes
against and teaches. At the time, Garmo
was a normal teenager, getting into
trouble and “doing dumb stuff” with
his friends, as he said. While he had a
few years of martial arts training from
his childhood, he hadn’t participated
in anything serious since early middle
school, choosing to focus on football
while he was in high school.
After graduating, Garmo signed up
for a free trial at a BJJ gym out of general
interest and a longing to return
to his childhood sport. He received a
phone call that confirmed his spot in
the course and left for the gym to attend
his first class a few hours later.
“At the time, I was a smoker. After the
class finished, I got in my car to leave. I
had 11 cigarettes left in this pack,” he
said, reminiscing about the day that
changed his life forever. “I remember it
very specifically. I took the cigarettes,
crushed them in my hand, and threw
them out … I never stopped BJJ since.”
Garmo prides himself on his remarkable
ability to make spontaneous
and tough decisions. In fact, throughout
his entire life, he’s never regretted
any decision he’s ever made. “Once
you do it, regret doesn’t help you at
all,” he said. “I learn a lot from my
decisions, but I don’t regret things. I
think that allows me to continue being
decisive … I can name quite a few times
I made big decisions in only a few moments
that served me extremely well.”
Pursuit of Excellence
From that moment on, Garmo removed
himself from his friends and all other
distractions. Like something out of a
Rocky film, for five years, his schedule
consisted of training, eating, sleeping,
and competing. “I needed to be away
from my old life and focus on my journey
as a martial artist,” he said.
After this extended period of isolation,
Garmo eased back into a normal
life, but he would never be the same.
He had cultivated and incorporated
into his identity a distinguished and
elusive motivation that would carry
him through both challenging trials
and tough setbacks: a relentless and
uncompromising focus on the pursuit
of excellence.
Garmo first heard this phrase, the
pursuit of excellence, when he attended
Brother Rice High School. “It
20 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2024

was something we heard all the time,
in both school and sports, and it really
stuck with me,” he said. “I decided that
this pursuit has to be something that I
enjoy, something I couldn’t be without.
BJJ became that thing for me.”
When Garmo graduated from high
school, he attended Oakland Community
College for only one semester. His
parents, he said, were always supportive
of his career and his choices, but he
couldn’t bring himself to tell his mother
that he had dropped out. He kept
up the lie for two years and spent all
his time training; he wasn’t enrolled in
college at all.
From where he stood, Garmo could
see his path from the outset like a divine
plan revealed only to him. It’s difficult,
however, to explain the vision to
others who aren’t living it. A few years
later, only after the plan could be demonstrated
and his loved ones persuaded
of its validity, did he admit his dropout
status to his parents. Finally, Garmo
saw himself as a success even in the
eyes of his most important loved ones.
“We have to pursue something to
a degree that we would sacrifice our
whole lives for it,” Garmo said. “It
could be anything for anybody. But for
me, BJJ was that thing. So, I decided to
pursue this one thing with every fiber
of my being.”
Now, 16 years later, neither his
love for the sport nor the intensity
with which he pursues it has waned.
If anything, it’s become even stronger.
“Obviously, I’ve gotten so much better
at it in the last 16 years, and I believe I
can still do this deep into my 60s, and
even as a professional competitor deep
into my 40s,” Garmo said, remembering
that he turns 34 this year. “If you
can do anything for that long, you’ll
become pretty good at it.”
In some sports, there are basic physical
requirements that act as limitations.
Had he dedicated himself to basketball,
for example, Garmo, who stands at 5’7”,
would fare poorly against the immense
wingspan and towering stature of 6’9”
Lebron James. In a grappling match,
however, the BJJ master would surely
dominate the NBA superstar, even
though he’s 70 pounds lighter.
Despite common perception, outright
strength rarely decides the winner
in combat sports. Weight classes
ensure that fighters of relatively equal
size face one another, and even then,
the rules and style of BJJ in particular
will always favor mastery of technique
over raw power.
“I believe it’s all about your work
ethic and technical prowess,” Garmo
said. “You don’t have to be the fastest
or strongest. You have to be the smartest
in your training, and you have to be
driven. Absolutely driven.”
Just as important as an athlete’s
physical ability is their mindset and outlook.
Garmo has mastered his mind in
a way that few people in the world can
attest. He took a lot of his initial inspiration
from martial arts movies that he
enjoyed in his childhood and Japanese
samurai culture that he experienced
while living periodically in Japan.
“You might think that martial artists
are these big, brawny people who are
aggressive toward others,” Garmo said.
“It’s really quite the opposite. People
who do martial arts were likely the ones
targeted by that kind of abuse. They go
into a school and transform themselves
into what you eventually see as an inshape,
confident, capable person.”
Just because these people are
strong, according to Garmo, doesn’t
mean that they’ll use their newfound
power against you. “If anything, they’re
less likely to do so compared to someone
who is untrained, undisciplined,
and not confident in themselves,” he
said. “They’re getting their energy out
every day in the gym and have no interest
in using it out in the streets.”
Over those fateful five years, Garmo
brought his full energy to training
every single day and built up his capacity
for willpower and grit. These aspects
also need to be learned, trained,
and maintained. In his own words,
he developed a sense of self-respect,
a shield that protected him from the
unwanted influence of others, even
if they are friends, and even if their
intentions are good. “I had this overwhelming
need to be the best at what
I did. All those other things wouldn’t
serve me, so I only did that which
brought me closer to the goal.”
The Best in the World
In a competitive one-on-one combat
sport like BJJ, fighters come up
against one another directly. There’s
little room for debate on who is considered
the world’s best competitor
at any given moment. It’s all resolved
on the mat, witnessed by thousands
of people, and recorded in the annals
of history and video archives. It begs
the question: How, then, could Garmo
consider himself the best in the world
before he became a world champion?
“I had convinced myself very early
on,” he said, “that I was one of the
best in the world. I kept telling myself,
hook, line, and sinker, that I was one
of the best. I will continue to believe it
and work toward it until it’s true.”
Because of its extreme technicality,
BJJ has several different competitive
belt levels that allow martial artists of
the same skill and experience to compete
against one another. Walking into
a gym will earn you a white belt. From
there, it takes many years to advance
through blue, purple, and brown. Finally,
once a fighter has achieved true
mastery, they are rewarded with the exalted
and revered status of black belt.
These competitors are the fiercest and
most powerful in the world. There’s no
measure of further advancement besides
earning your place in direct competition.
Garmo earned his black belt in
late 2017, nine long years after his quest
for world domination began.
In 2010, Garmo went to his first
World Championship as a blue belt.
He won his first match and lost his
second, falling many rounds short of a
medal, let alone championship status.
Even then, “It didn’t deter me at all,”
he said. “I continued to train and compete.
I told myself again that I’m the
best, but I just didn’t have a good day.”
Not even the confidence of a topflight
fighter is impenetrable. Garmo is
human and experiences his fair share
of doubt. Some days, he feels the impostor
syndrome creeping in. Knowing
his confidence, it may seem counterintuitive,
but Garmo’s reasoning is
sharp. “In a sense, it feels like what
I’m doing is not really that impressive,”
he said, attributing his success
to hard work rather than natural talent.
“Which is obviously not the case.”
It’s a strange feeling you can have
as a top athlete, especially in a sport as
divergent and technically oriented as
fighting. On the one hand, Garmo has
spent half his life preparing his mind
and body for an extremely specific
purpose, at which he has seen virtually
unbounded success, which is obvious
given his match history. On the
other, and only because of that experience
and his own belated beginnings,
Garmo is convinced that talent does
not come close to settling the issue. “If
I could do it,” he said, “then anyone
can.” And he truly believes it.
In other fighting competitions, like
boxing or UFC, top contenders often go
undefeated for a long stretch at the beginning
of their career, and once they
experience a few important losses,
they lose their spot forever. Muhammad
Ali, for example, acquired only 5
losses in his professional career, and
did not lose a single fight until 1971
against Joe Frazier, seven years after
he first won the world title. Rocky
Marciano and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
remained undefeated for their entire
career. This is nearly impossible in BJJ.
Fighters at the highest level of BJJ
experience extreme variance because
of fighting style and the sheer number
of matches they have. The top grapplers
will lose an important match,
learn from their mistakes, and come
back to win many in a row. “You always
go up in weight and experience, and
you take tough matches on purpose,”
Garmo said, “because it’s good for your
progression and for the sport. I’ve lost
plenty, but I’ve got a lot more impressive
wins than heartbreaking losses.”
One of those losses in particular
changed the trajectory of Garmo’s career.
“I had a match where I replaced one of
my teammates,” he said. “I had to compete
up a weight class, against an upand-comer
who was very good. I wasn’t
very confident going into the match because
of the weight difference, and he’s
bigger, very skilled, and very strong.”
Garmo and his opponent had an
extremely tough fight. He lost in a
quick and unsatisfying way when the
two competitors were transitioning between
positions. “It was so disappointing,”
he said, “because I felt like I was
doing well enough to where I could
have won that match if I had more confidence
before it started.”
After the contest, Garmo took
the result to the drawing board and
learned from his mistake. Most of the
time, he said, losses propel him to do
better in the future. He began to take
his training much more seriously. He
found a high-level trainer and started
working out with weights four days a
week, something he’d never done before.
In addition, he focused on prehabilitation,
which Garmo described
as a form of training that emphasizes
injury prevention and recovery.
“I can stay in the gym longer, and
I’m not getting injured as often,” he
said. “I’m much stronger and I can
grab and squeeze my opponents until
they become fearful. That has taken
my BJJ to the best it’s ever been in my
15 years of training, and it manifested
in my performance at the 2023 World
Championship.”
The Chaldean Influence
In his early days, Garmo was an aggressive
child. Fittingly, he would always
try to fight or wrestle with cousins,
friends, or anyone who would take
him on. One of his uncles introduced
him to martial arts movies, and they
would go together to see stars like
Garmo continued on page 22
MARCH 2024 CHALDEAN NEWS 21

COVER STORY
GARMO continued from page 21
David Garmo on top of Renaldo Junior in the World Finals.
Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, and Jet Li.
When he was only 5 years old,
Garmo’s parents tried to start him in
swimming classes. He quickly realized
that he hated it, so they moved him to
a martial arts studio. There, he learned
American Karate and some rudimentary
BJJ. All of this immersed him in
martial arts culture, and he eventually
fell in love with it.
Garmo grew up in West Bloomfield,
specifically a neighborhood called
Timbers Edge. Plenty of Chaldean kids
right around his age grew up in the
same place. A lot of the community
from his area, Garmo said, wanted to
be the tough guy and be able to take a
fight if they needed to. This foundation
helped him understand from the outset
that fighting as a sport was a worthy
and interesting pursuit, separate
from fighting to hurt or bully someone.
“It was about honor and separating
yourself from someone,” he said.
Garmo identified a specific trait
Chaldeans possess that he thinks affords
them success in virtually any
aspect. In his mind, Chaldeans have
an extreme focus on being the best at
whatever they do, whether it’s business,
school, family life, or athletics.
This attitude only needed to awaken
in Garmo after he finished high school.
Garmo’s immediate family holds a
special place for him. He’s the oldest
of three siblings, about two and four
years apart from his brother and sister,
respectively. His brother Devone felt
the brunt of Garmo’s wrath when they
were kids. “I was absolutely a bully and
not in a fun way for him,” he said, remembering
all the times he beat up on
Devone. “I had too much energy that I
wasn’t getting out in martial arts.”
Devone also took an abnormal
path, entering the Marines and spending
time overseas in places like Afghanistan.
Eventually, he returned
home and has a great relationship
with his brother David. As one might
expect, Devone has his own BJJ career
as a blue belt, training at David’s gym.
His little sister, David Garmo said,
was a bit too young for them to influence
one another as kids, but they’re
very close now. She’s successful and
married and has a beautiful son. “Each
of them has their own things they are
very good at, and I have tried to emulate
those aspects in my own pursuits
and business.”
Perhaps the biggest Chaldean influence
that Garmo applied was the entrepreneurial
journey of starting his own
gym. The idea came while he was living
part-time in Japan around 2017. He
would live and train there, come home
and work to earn some money, and go
back to Japan to continue his training.
He realized that he always wanted to
live there permanently, but it was too
difficult as a foreigner to start his own
gym and earn a reasonable income.
The realization and subsequent decision
came all at once. He was popular
in his hometown, and that’s where
his success was most known and widespread.
Why not start a gym there? At
the time, metro Detroit was far from a
hub for BJJ or martial arts in general,
but that was no matter for Garmo. He
would make it so.
“In April 2018, I started writing a
business plan,” he said. “I used a friend
to bounce ideas off of, and he gave suggestions
to help me. Eventually, when
it came to a head, he decided to invest,
and we started working on it together.”
Garmo returned from Japan later
that year, began looking for a space
for his gym, and prepared to open. In
March 2019, he opened Assembly Jiu
Jitsu in Bloomfield Hills and started
teaching his first class.
“The first year was really tough,”
Garmo said. “It went really slow, and
it wasn’t as successful as I envisioned
it to be. But we kept grinding and doing
the thing and never took our foot
off the gas.”
David met his wife, Lana Antwan
(now Garmo), in 2021, and they married
the following year. She is an architect,
designer, and artist, and her entry into
and influence on his life changed his
perspective and focus dramatically. As
a result of these changes and the gift of
perseverance, Garmo found a way to
succeed in his business venture.
Now, Assembly has over 300 members,
and is the most competitive team
in the Midwest, according to Garmo.
“We crush it wherever we go. Financially,
it’s been successful,” he said,
“and we’re looking to expand on that.
But we focus on putting the best Jiu
Jitsu product out there. We teach our
students with the utmost care. We
make them the best they can possibly
be, and the rest works itself out.”
Garmo is proud of his accomplishments
with Assembly over the last five
years. Many gyms have been around
for much longer and have seen only
a fraction of Assembly’s success. This
fact is a testament to his extraordinary
Chaldean focus and a tribute to his
cultural upbringing.
Over the last few years, Garmo has
started to get some Chaldean students
at his gym, but he’d like even more. “We
have so many different ethnicities and
backgrounds that makes for a really nice
melting pot. I always love to add more of
the people I grew up with into the mix
because, in my opinion, the Chaldean
community has that single-minded focus
like nobody else … If I can harness
that in this sport, Chaldeans can be some
of the most successful fighters ever.”
The 2023 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World
Championship
Outside the Las Vegas Convention Center,
it was a cool December day. The
temperature hovered around a mostly
sunny 60 degrees, a mild-mannered
forecast compared to the deluge of aggression
about to take place indoors.
Inside the Las Vegas Convention
Center, the atmosphere was electric,
the crowds buzzing with excitement
and anticipation. In just three days’
time, only one fighter from each weight
class will remain undefeated and be
crowned champion of the world.
Hundreds of competitors also
mulled around the competition area.
Their aura gave off a somewhat different
vibration as they prepared their
minds and bodies for all-out, one-onone,
single elimination combat. This
event comes around once a year and
serves as the ultimate showdown, an
opportunity for world champions to
once again prove their dominance and
for rising stars to unseat their foes.
At any other tournament, Garmo’s
razor-sharp focus, zealous training,
and unwavering commitment to winning
would carry him through. But
this time was different. Garmo was set
to confront the most dangerous people
in the world, most of whom were as determined
as he was.
His first competition was a division
called the open class, which has no
weight limit. In this, Garmo expected
to do well, but he could be competing
against people much larger and stronger
than him.
He won his first open class fight,
but lost his second, and was eliminated
from that portion of the tournament.
While he would like to win every
fight, he had yet to start the competition
that consumed his attention: The
medium heavyweight division.
“I had to compete again in three
hours for my weight class,” Garmo
commented about his mental state after
the loss. “I had my teammates and
students with me, so we went to lunch
to get my spirits back up.”
When Garmo and his team returned
to the convention center, he
weighed more than a pound over the
limit for his division. This meant that
over the next hour, he would need to
GARMO continued on page 24
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COVER STORY
GARMO continued from page 22
lose almost two pounds. “I didn’t want
to cut weight and then compete,” he
said. “I would be tired for the match.”
Garmo’s wrestling coach Kyle Horr
and his trainer Ty Jensen helped him
get moving. They started jogging and
sweating, which is exactly the protocol
if you’re overweight before a fight. At
the same time, Jensen worked Garmo’s
calf, which had taken damage during
an earlier match.
“I was not in the headspace to continue
on that day,” he said. “Thank
God they were there. Basically, they
babied me for 40 minutes.”
Garmo stepped on the scale and
his weight reflected what he needed
to compete, which maxes out at 188
pounds in his class. Garmo’s first opponent
was injured, so he won that round
automatically and moved on. His next
fight was against a “tough Israeli competitor”
whom Garmo had seen fight
but had yet to grapple with before.
“I go into it feeling a looseness in
my body,” he said, “and end up winning
the match on points. But I dominated
the entire time and it felt great.
I wasn’t tired at all,” despite the morning
loss and afternoon of cutting.
In Garmo’s next fight, he was pitted
against the current Pan-American champion
Francisco Lo, a tough and dangerous
fighter who’s full of power and destructive
capability when it comes to
submissions. “This is my biggest test,”
Garmo remembered thinking.
As the match began, the two fighters
circled one another. For the first
few minutes, the bout was relatively
slow and uneventful. Garmo went for
a move that Lo countered easily. In his
counter, however, Garmo noticed the
fighter left one leg open. “I captured
his leg,” he said, “and rotated his heel
240 degrees. He’s very tough and he
thought he could get out, but instead,
I tore every ligament in his knee.” It
was an explosive victory that put Garmo
through to the medal rounds that
would be held the next day.
For the first time in his career, Garmo
could become a black belt world
medalist. He had been here before as a
purple belt, which meant almost nothing
compared to where he was now.
In the semi-finals, Garmo was
matched against a man named Rafael
Paganini. The Brazilian grappler has
many awards to his name, including
three world championship medals
before he earned his black belt and a
first-place finish as a black belt in the
2019 South American Championship.
“I felt the same way I did prior to
the match against Lo,” Garmo said.
“It was almost an elation, a tingling
across the body. It puts me in this
thing we call a flow state, and it gives
me the absolute best performance I
could possibly produce, and I believe
my best performance can beat
anyone in the world. When I have
this feeling, I always win. It’s preordained,
in a way.”
As the fight commenced, Garmo vs.
Paganini seemed a fair match. Before
one minute elapsed, Paganini scored
two points on Garmo, but he would
not be deterred. After another minute,
Garmo tied the score. The intense
wrestling match ensued; each competitor
eager to advance to their first
world finals as a black belt.
As the clock ticked downward, Garmo
added two more points to his score,
which put him up 4-2. The points, however,
were not necessary. Just as they
crossed the halfway point, Garmo captured
Paganini’s leg, and much in the
same fashion as his previous contest,
rotated his heel until he forced a submission
from the fearsome Brazilian,
bringing the match to a dramatic end.
“I finally believed that I belonged
in that moment, in the finals of the
world championship,” Garmo said
about how he felt following the victory.
“It wasn’t a close match. I dominated
this guy and the guy before. I had this
string of incredible wins leading up to
this moment, and I knew this is where
I was supposed to be.”
Garmo’s next opponent, with
whom it seemed he was destined to
meet in the finals, was the famed
Ronaldo Junior. At just 28 years old,
Ronaldo had racked up extraordinary
accomplishments in his BJJ career and
Garmo placed second in the 2023 World IBJJF Jiu Jitsu No-Gi Championship
by a razor-thin referee’s decision.
is known for participating in both Gi
and No-Gi BJJ. Notably, he has 13 firstplace
tournament finishes as a purple
or brown belt, including three World
Championships and three Pan-American
Championships.
Most impressively, he was promoted
to a black belt in 2019 and had
accumulated six first-place finishes
since then, including two Pan-American
Championships, a tournament
widely regarded as the second most
important after Worlds. At the Gi Pan-
American Championship, Ronaldo
had won a top-3 finish in every black
belt competition he’s participated in.
Coming into this tournament, both
Ronaldo and Garmo had never won a
PHOTOS COURTESY DAVID GARMO
World Championship as a black belt.
According to Garmo, Ronaldo is
an athletic fighter who likes to jump
around and move fast. That style,
when compared to his, gives Garmo a
slight advantage. As the match drew
closer, Garmo felt the same tingling
sensation throughout his body; that
which has, up until this moment, signaled
a pre-destined victory.
For six minutes, Garmo and Ronaldo
had an extremely uneventful
match, with neither fighter willing
to budge an inch, and neither fighter
forcing the other to ground. With three
minutes remaining, Ronaldo voluntarily
went to the ground in a defensive
position called guard. After some brief
grappling and not much progress, the
finalists stood back up and resumed
their begrudging match from earlier.
With two minutes remaining, the
commentators seemed to acknowledge
the inevitable. The scoreless
contest looked like it would need a referee’s
decision. Until now, it was hard
to decide a winner, according to the
commentators, with Garmo possibly
carrying a slight advantage because of
his aggressiveness.
With 11 seconds remaining, Ronaldo
pushed Garmo out of bounds and
into a scorekeeper’s table, breaking a
TV screen in the process. Uninjured,
Garmo stared down Ronaldo as they
walked back to the center of the arena
and finished off the last few remaining
seconds of their impassioned duel.
“Per the decision, I lost,” Garmo
recalled harshly, a hint of disappointment
in his voice. “It was as razor thin
as it could be. You could’ve flipped a
coin to decide the winner. I was heartbroken,
and at the same time, extremely
happy with what I had accomplished.
I felt everything in the span of
a few minutes.”
Just a few months later, Garmo is
not reliving the past. Same as ever, he
will take what he can from his mistakes
and improve. In the final match,
however, those lessons are extremely
hard to find. Garmo is confident that
he will soon overcome all obstacles and
achieve his goal of becoming the world
champion. Until then, he will follow
the same advice he offers to others.
“The only time you’ll fail is if you
stop,” he said. “You can fail every day
for years and years and years. But if you
don’t stop, you haven’t failed yet.”
24 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2024

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Her Story
Chaldean women making history
BY SARAH KITTLE
In the tapestry of history, the contributions of
remarkable women often remain woven in the
shadows, their stories hidden beneath layers of
time, patterns, and societal norms. Yet, within the
rich and vibrant cultural heritage of the Chaldean
community, a garment of strength, resilience, and
empowerment emerges; one adorned with the narratives
of extraordinary women who have defied expectations
and altered the weave.
Standing on her shoulders
“I’m waiting for the day when we don’t use the word
‘first’ when talking about Chaldean women,” said Honorable
Hala Jarbou, the first Chaldean judge to sit on the
federal bench. “I want to hear, ‘Here’s another Chaldean
judge, or here’s another Chaldean fill-in-the-blank’.”
Jarbou recalled being one of only three Chaldean
students in her class in law school and is gratified
now to hear friends and family talk about their kids
(or their cousins) who are attending or have attended
law school and medical school. “It’s amazing how far
we’ve come,” she said.
Jarbou followed Jane Shallal to the US Attorney’s
Office and Diane D’Agostini to the bench. “We stand
on their shoulders,” Jarbou remarked, including her
mother and female relatives and all the Chaldean
women who came before. “They know the word ‘sacrifice’
very well.”
“Most of our mothers did not have a fraction of
the opportunities that we have had, yet their wisdom,
faith and strength permeate in their daughters,” said
Honorable Judge Diane (Dickow) D’Agostini, the first
elected Chaldean judge in the US. “When I graduated
high school, people actually questioned my mom
about why she would allow us to go to college, as it
was rare in the ‘80s for Chaldean girls.”
I imagine her mother’s response, at least internally,
went something like, “Try to stop her!”
“Those moments stay with me,” added D’Agostini.
“Being an immigrant made me more driven,” said
Jaclyn (Lossia) McQuaid, a by-any-definition highly
successful automobile engineer who heads up GM
in Europe. “When you have no established network,
you have to make things happen yourself.”
Her primary goal, she revealed in an interview a
few years ago, is to show all young people, regardless
of gender, ethnicity, social class, or physical ability, that
they can take their passion and make a career out of
it. As a young girl, McQuaid dreamt of designing roller
coasters; she ended up being involved in automobile
design at a pivotal time in the history of the industry.
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha is a pediatrician, professor
and public health advocate who gained widespread recognition
for her role in exposing the Flint water crisis.
In “An Open Letter to Fellow Chaldeans,” composed
in fall of 2020, Dr. Attisha wrote, “With all the
hateful stereotypes percolating about immigrants today
and a corrosion of the American Dream, it is important
for us to tell our story of American success. We
are immigrants engaged, active, prominent and effective
in our communities, and have been for decades.
“Understanding my role in Flint and how I see
the world is also about understanding who I am and
where I came from. My immigrant story – complete
with the Arabic I spoke at home, our food, culture
and social justice heritage – is unapologetically and
proudly part of who I am. In a sense, it’s my superpower
that has given me a heightened antenna for
injustice and the courage to fight for justice.”
A sensitivity to injustice comes with the territory
for a people who have been driven from their homeland
through persecution and terror. Dr. Attisha
summed up her philosophy simply with, “My parents
raised me never to look away.”
That speaks to the core of what it means to be accountable,
something that Renee Tomina, Senior VP
with the Project Management Office at DTE, says is crucial
for a good leader, along with the ability to inspire
and to be totally authentic with your subordinates.
“Authenticity – it’s the key to building strong,
trusting relationships,” said Tomina. “This involves
being vulnerable and letting your team see and know
the ‘real you’...and having the courage to make the
tough decisions.”
“An effective leader cares more about being respected
for their decisions rather than being popular
for their decisions,” said D’Agostini.
Jarbou, who calls D’Agostini “a trailblazer,” said,
“I don’t like the word ‘leader’ or being designated as a
leader because the way I look at it, I just do things the
way they should be done.” If she must be classified as
a leader, Jarbou strives to be a servant leader, one who
would get down in the trenches to help her staff. It is
about trust—trusting your people to do the right thing
and then having their backs when they need support.
Soft strength
“Women are strong. Our mothers and grandmothers
and great-grandmothers grew up in villages without
running water and look how much they accomplished!”
said Jarbou. “You have to put it in perspective. We have
the luxury of living in the United States where there are
so many opportunities and so many privileges. And the
Chaldean culture installs a really strong work ethic.”
“I think there is something inherent in the Chaldean
culture, especially for women, that drives us
to be strong, disciplined and have a passion for not
26 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2024

CHALDEAN NEWS
APP IS HERE
wanting to disappoint others,” said
Tomina. “I’d also add hardworking…
from a young age, we are giving a lot
of responsibility and expected to work
hard to care for others, which also
translates naturally to working hard in
your professional life.”
“As a child, I watched my mom handle
my dad’s tragic death, make business
decisions, navigate a life-altering
future and raise three kids under the age
of nine, all while being an immigrant,”
shared D’Agostini. “My worst day will
never compare to what she experienced
at age 27, so her example and strength
give me the strength to do my job.”
McQuaid said in an earlier interview
that her father taught her to take
the occasion to “beat hard,” in other
words, overcome adversity. If you look
at each challenge as an opportunity,
it helps you come out on top. Her siblings
are equally driven, with her twin
Jamie high in the ranks at GM, Jennifer
(McManus) a principal at her own law
firm, and Jessica making a career in
the nursing profession.
“We didn’t invent leadership,”
explained Jarbou. “We’ve all learned
from each other.”
“As a leader,” said D’Agostini, “I
am still learning.”
Earning her place
In past decades, “Nobody would hire
a woman,” said Jarbou. Even if they
stuck it out and graduated law school
or medical school, those that were hiring
almost always preferred a male
candidate. It was a far more difficult
situation than what women must put
up with now, although sometimes it
still takes extra effort.
Like the attorney who wouldn’t
stand when Judge Jarbou entered the
courtroom. It took a week of court and
a nudge from the court officer, but she
finally earned his respect and he stood.
It’s just that a male judge wouldn’t have
to earn the respect. He’d already have
it, by nature of his position and his sex.
“I learned early on, during college,
how to get comfortable being the only
woman at the table or working on a
project,” shared Tomina. “That dynamic
followed me into my career. It
helped me prepare to be confident and
know I deserved a seat at the table.”
“Being a woman leader is all about
balance to ensure you don’t get labeled,”
explained Tomina. “Holding
people accountable can easily get you
labeled as aggressive or abrasive. At
the same time, you do not want to be
run over, which is where that balance
comes in. This is also where authenticity
plays a role – if you are being true to
yourself and have built strong, caring
relationships, you can achieve both.”
The ability to keep learning and
adapting may be the strongest trait that
makes these career women so effective;
some other attributes that make
good leaders include compassion, said
D’Agostini, and “a really strong moral
compass,” said Jarbou. “We’re always
going to try and do the right thing, and
we’re going to work really hard to do it.”
Honigman Law Firm, one of the
top law firms in Michigan, has 8 young
female Chaldean attorneys on staff.
They have formed a dinner group
where they meet every few months
and discuss Chaldean issues as well
as law life. The group includes Diane
D’Agostini’s daughter.
“Things have changed dramatically
in the last 40 years,” said D’Agostini.
“Chaldean women are empowered and
are visible in nearly every profession.
I’m just waiting for the first Chaldean
astronaut.”
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MARCH 2024 CHALDEAN NEWS 27

FEATURE
Healing Through the Arts
BY OMAR BINNO
I
was recently out to lunch with some family and friends and
the topic came up of how taboo and even frowned upon
mental therapy is within the Chaldean community.
Like other social issues such as disabilities or physical
ailments, therapy has had its own negative stigma
for years uncounted. In the past, if you even remotely
considered counseling, you were deemed
weak, crazy, or both. Pride was, and in many
cases, still is the main culprit behind people
avoiding therapy, or even talking about it as
an option for resolving deep seated issues.
Therapy has been an integral part of my
life over the years, whether in the form of
traditional counseling or spiritual direction.
My positive experiences with therapy
as well as recent spiritual struggles were
what led to my founding the non-profit organization
Healing Arts of the Little Flower
(HALF) in December 2022. This new resource
will provide music, art, nature, and
equestrian therapy for veterans and those
with special needs.
Being blind and surrounded by a plethora
of family and friends with varying disabilities, I
witnessed, first-hand, the negative and destructive
stigmas that can encompass the life of these individuals.
My own battle with depression over blindness
started around age sixteen. High school became a
place of unrealistic sandcastles, with hopes of miraculously
regaining my eyesight, having my own
car and being able to do all the things that “normal”
people did.
In 1992, about two years into my college career,
I realized that I needed to talk to someone on a consistent
basis; someone who could guide me through
the turmoil that ensued once I became disillusioned
after high school. That year, I met a priest who also
had a background in counseling. I began therapy
and counsel for spiritual direction with him, and
since then I’ve done therapy of all types, both traditional
and spiritual.
The idea for HALF had been brewing in my mind
for about five years, but the thought of starting such
an arduous task was so daunting that, for a while, I
just left the project in the realm of dreams. The only
person at that time who knew how important the
idea was to me was one of my close friends, Mark
Kassa, who was also my main source of encouragement
when I finally decided to initiate the process.
I personally believe that HALF was inspired by St.
Therese of the Little Flower in response to my struggles
with doubt, but that’s a whole other story.
As a lifelong musician and writer, I can certainly
testify to the therapeutic effects of music or other
forms of art. I’ve loved music since I was four years
old and have always been enchanted with stories
of magic and fantasy. The arts were an important
part of my life from my early childhood and were
instrumental in helping me maintain peace of mind
through some dark times over the years.
There is mounting evidence that the arts are
highly therapeutic for releasing negative emotions
and stress. There is also strong scientific data
emerging to support the use and importance of nature
and animal therapy for those who suffer from
trauma or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Sessions are as varied as walks outside on a nature
trail with a therapist, or just sitting quietly in a naturalistic
setting and absorbing the scenery.
When Healing Arts of the Little Flower (HALF)
was established as a non-profit, I was humbled and
honored at the huge interest people had in bringing
to fruition a project like this, especially with the rise
of autism within the community and abroad. Several
people from various walks of life were interested
in participating as board members to get the project
launched, including doctors, psychologists, and
veterans, as well as Bishop Francis Kalabat, who
has been a close friend and my greatest mentor over the past
twenty-three years. Ronnie Babbie, a media marketing producer
and family friend for years, was so excited about
the project that he quickly offered his resources and
assistance for its development and is now the Chief
Operating Officer for the organization.
Another part of HALF’s mission is to provide
support groups led by qualified therapists for
parents of children with special needs. Parents
are often left feeling helpless, confused,
and a lot of times overwhelmed to the point
where they may feel stuck trying to find resources
for assisting their children.
They also often face stereotypes and
stigmas, which can lead them to feel isolated
just for having a child with special
needs. I remember my psychology teacher
in high school once telling the class, “The
two hardest things for a mother to bear are
the loss of a child and having a disabled
child.” Truer words couldn’t have been spoken.
Having two blind children, my mom endured
the struggles associated with it; I’ve seen
cousins and friends go through similar issues.
It is my hope that HALF becomes a place of
peace and healing for not only our clients, but for
their families as well. I have an unshakeable conviction
that both nature and the arts are more beneficial
than drugs in helping human beings deal with
suffering or trauma. It is the advancement of technology
that has caused us to drift away from our
naturalistic roots. Whether a walk on the grass or
sitting in front of a fire outside enjoying a snowfall,
interactions with nature are the real wonder drug.
HALF is in the process of securing a base location
from which to provide various forms of therapy. It
is also the mission of the organization to eventually
provide work for those with special needs—whether
as music instructors collaborating with the therapist
or managing various administrative tasks such as
community outreach or social media marketing.
Healing Arts of the Little Flower is not an ethnic
or religion-based organization and is open to all
those who truly need its services; however, the story
of its inception is, for me, a spiritual one. God gave
us Jesus, and Jesus gave us each other.
If you want to make a difference in the lives of
those with special gifts, whose real needs are often
overlooked, support HALF’s first fundraiser on
Friday, May 10, from 6PM-9PM at Wabeek Country
Club. To learn more about Healing Arts of the
Little Flower and the upcoming fundraiser, visit
healingartslf.org.
28 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2024

CHALDEAN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
Educational programs
Registration now open!
Please call for an appointment.
ALL NATIONALITIES
WELCOME!
CITIZENSHIP
PREPARATION
LITTLE
SCHOLARS
PRESCHOOL AND
PRE-KINDERGARTEN
Offers instruction and training for successful completion
of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
Naturalization interview.
January 9, 2024 – March 21, 2024
Prepares children for kindergarten through a variety
of emergent literacy, early learning and development
opportunities.
September 16, 2024 - June 13, 2025
GED
(HIGH SCHOOL
EQUIVALENCY DEGREE)
ENGLISH
AS A SECOND
LANGUAGE
Small group instruction in math, science, social
studies, and reading language arts for individuals
working towards their GED.
February 12, 2024 – June 28, 2024
Provides individuals English instruction at basic/beginner and
intermediate/advanced levels.
February 5, 2024 – June 28, 2024
WANT TO LEARN MORE? Please contact Rachel Hall
at rachel.hall@chaldeanfoundation.org or call (586) 722-7253
3601 15 Mile Rd., Sterling Heights, MI 48310
MARCH 2024 CHALDEAN NEWS 29

FEATURE
CABA Comeback
Chaldean American Bar Association returns after hiatus
BY CAL ABBO
The Chaldean American Bar Association
(CABA) has risen from
the ashes. A young and energetic
board led by president Rita Soka
has big plans for the future of the Chaldean
legal community.
CABA hosted its first event in January
at the new restaurant and bar West
End to kickoff its relaunch. It was
well attended, drawing nearly 70 attorneys,
judges, students, and other
professionals. Even Peter Abbo, one
of the founders and the first president
of CABA back in the day, attended the
event.
This is a stark change from CABA’s
past. When the pandemic happened
in 2020, the group essentially became
inactive, like so many other organizations.
Various people reached out to
the previous president, Koro Khammo,
asking how to get involved or help
restart the organization. Those individuals
are now the board members
charged with leading the
new group.
Right now, the leadership
consists of seven attorneys
and two student
liaisons. President Rita
Soka, Vice President Joseph
Arabbo, Secretary
Deion Kathawa, Treasurer
Alexander Karana, and Directors
Lauren Azzo, Lauren
Kallabat, and Brandon
Kastaw comprise the
core and will each serve a
CABA president,
Rita Soka
CABA leadership celebrating the organization’s comeback.
two-year term for the new organization.
University of Detroit Mercy Law student
Tina Toma and Wayne State University
Law student Cameron Jajonie represent
the next generation of Chaldean attorneys
and help involve students in the
operations. Each will serve a one year
term, and the organization is looking
for more student liaisons.
Soka is proud of the burgeoning
organization’s recent restart. In her
mind, it’s important to engage the
youth as well as the “seasoned veterans”
of the Chaldean legal community.
The interaction between them
can lead to important exchanges of
knowledge that can help Chaldeans
in unseen ways.
The board needed to be strategic
about recruiting
from each of these age
groups. Thanks to Azzo
and Toma, who oversee
the organization’s marketing
and social media,
they were able to reach a
large audience via that
avenue.
In addition, Soka
said she sent 371 emails
to past CABA members
or attorneys she thought
would be interested in
joining the organization’s kickoff. The
combination of these efforts led to the
well-attended kickoff event.
In addition, dozens of law students
attended the kickoff party because of
Toma and Jajonie’s help. This is something
Soka plans for the organization
to focus on, as she’s already had her
share of interactions with the community’s
youth.
Soka, who is also a professor at
UDM, travels around metro Detroit
speaking to high schoolers, especially
Chaldeans. The Chaldean American
Student Association (CASA) helps to
organize this event, where Soka encourages
the students to go into a
profession, especially the field of law.
“I’m very involved in our youth, to
make them aware of the professional
world,” she said. “A lot of them don’t
have people to look up to.”
One of CABA’s first activities will be
putting on “The Chaldean Red Mass,”
which they have labeled Raze Smoqa.
This refers to an age-old Catholic tradition
of Red Mass in which the Church
gathers annually with judges, lawyers,
professors, students, and anyone related
to the legal community to pray
and ask for guidance from the Holy
Spirit over the following year. UDM has
a long-standing tradition of putting on
the Red Mass, and Toma started to put
the idea together with her school before
bringing it to CABA.
“Raze Smoqa will posthumously
honor Clarence Dass, a Chaldean
attorney who left an indelible mark
on the legal profession,” reads the
event flyer. “We will also announce
the Clarence Dass Memorial Award,
annually recognizing a Chaldean attorney
who exemplifies Clarence’s
dedication and commitment to the
legal profession.” The event will be
held the evening of April 10 at Saints
Peter and Paul Jesuit Church, with a
reception to follow at UDM Law.
Dass was an award-winning attorney
who was diagnosed with stage
four colon cancer in 2017. His death
in 2022 as a result of the cancer was a
gut-punch for the community. His family
still speaks about his compassion,
empathy, calming demeanor, and unceasing
attitude of service.
This is a good start, then, for CABA,
which looks to represent these and
other Chaldean values in their work.
The organization is open-minded and
always looking for fresh ideas on how
to connect the Chaldean community in
more intimate ways.
One of their ideas is to bring back
the annual CABA Gala, at which the
group will celebrate all of their members
who passed the bar this year.
This is another good way, according
to Soka, to engage the youth and provide
continuity for the organization,
which is desperately needed following
its near-demise in 2020. Though
it may seem strong at the moment, it
could only be a representation of the
excitement at its relaunch. Sustaining
a group like this takes effort, planning,
and active engagement.
CABA’s short-term goals are relatively
simple, like activating their network
of Chaldean legal professionals
and engaging other Bar associations.
Their long-term goals, on the other
hand, are ambitious and could take
years to bear fruit.
Brandon Kastaw plans to handle
public affairs and politics. While the organization
has just restarted and hasn’t
accomplished much yet, they plan to
connect with politicians, not only for
the purpose of assisting our community
here, but in order to gather resources
and aid the homeland in some way.
The future is bright for CABA and
everyone involved. Those interested
in the organization are encouraged to
follow their social media accounts for
updates on events and visit their website,
chaldeanlawyers.org.
30 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2024

3601 15 Mile Rd., Sterling Heights, MI 48310
MARCH 2024 CHALDEAN NEWS 31

Time Marches On
20 years of March covers
BY SARAH KITTLE
Fittingly, the first March cover in 2004 (and only
the second CN issue ever) was about the community
having a voice. Featuring a young Shoki
Konja from Chaldean Voice Radio, the article told the
story of the radio show that began as “Voice of the
Chaldean Youth” and was broadcast from a closet
below the stairs of Mother of God Church. Chaldean
Voice Radio, going on 45 years old, is still going strong.
The Chaldean Community Foundation is building a
studio in its new center in West Bloomfield for the program.
Mother of God Church is celebrating 75 years.
Also still going strong is Carey Denha and his cover
band “Mega 80s.” Featured on the front of the March
issue in 2005, Denha now owns Ferndale’s popular
concert venue Magic Bag, which he purchased in 2014.
Magic Bag closed for a while during the COVID-19 pandemic,
when Denha became an activist and fought for
pandemic assistance for music venues, and reopened
again in summer of 2021. He’s a bit of a local legend.
The cover story in March 2006 was about the mass
migration of talent leaving the state of Michigan, including
many from the community. As the opportunity
to get in on a franchise spread across the country,
so did Chaldean businesspeople. While economic
prospects in Michigan were falling due to the decline
of the Big Three automakers, opportunities in places
like Texas and Las Vegas arose for franchises like
Wireless Toyz and Wireless Giant.
As Chaldeans were blazing a trail across the
states, they desired representation in the areas where
they worked, lived and raised their families. The
March 2007 cover featured Richard Sulaka and the
accompanying story was about his run for mayor of
Warren. Although he was ultimately unsuccessful in
that effort, he had a career of civil service and his son
Richard Saluka II pursued a career in law, serving in
government positions including a stint as General
Counsel and Human Resources Director for the City
of Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. Since
that time, several Chaldeans have held elected office.
The next five years devoted the March issue to
weddings, offering guidance on everything from
premarital classes to wedding day decorum. Showing
the latest trends and sharing tips from wedding
experts such as Lawrence and Andy (you know who
they are), these “Wedding Guides” also offered ways
to save money on expenses and ideas for unique and
budget-friendly honeymoons.
Then in 2013, we experienced “A Season of
Change.” There was a commotion in the Catholic
Church when Pope Benedict XVI announced he was
stepping down from the role. Cardinal Raphael Sako
had just been named Patriarch of the Babylon of the
Chaldeans and Bishop Ibrahim Ibrahim had submitted
his resignation to the pope. It was indeed a season
of change.
Change seemed to breathe some new life into the
community, and the 2014 cover (“A Spiritual Renewal”)
and 2015 cover (“Resurgence of Faith”), reflected
that feeling. 2016 showcased Steve Francis and Joey
Marougi, childhood friends who grew up wanting to
be cops; one would go on to serve in high office at
the Department of Homeland Security and one would
climb the ranks within the FBI.
2017 was a difficult year for many Chaldeans but
in March, things were looking good for asylum seekers.
Then-president Donald Trump had just signed an
executive order that gave preference to Christian immigrants
from Iraq and Syria. The arrests and deportation
would occur later that year. In 2018, we were still trying
to stop the deportation of Iraqi nationals but were gaining
ground in court, as told by Ashourina Slewa, whose
father spent way too long in an Ohio jail.
In 2019, editor Vanessa Denha-Garmo asked the
men of the community a question: “Are you your brother’s
keeper?” The answer was a resounding “yes.” From
Genesis 4:9 to The Breakfast Club, faith groups consisting
solely of men of were discovered meeting and bolstering
each other on their Christian walk.
The 2020 cover showed a silhouette of President
Trump giving the “thumbs up.” The story is about
how, on the plane trip to visit automakers in Warren,
Congressman John Moolenaar bent the president’s
ear and filled him in on the plight of Chaldeans
caught between ICE and ISIS; thereafter, Trump publicly
promised relief.
2021 saw the ascension of Chaldeans in all walks
of leadership, from elected officials to appointed officers.
This was the year that the community celebrated
Yasmine Poles filling the vacancy on the state bench
that Hala Jarbou had freed up when she rose to federal
court and Nadine Kalasho’s appointment to serve on
the Commission for Middle Eastern American Affairs.
In 2022, the Chaldean News heralded the 100th anniversary
of the order of Daughters of Mary Immaculate,
a women’s group that was founded to help the
poor, orphaned and uneducated in Iraq. Conceived by
a priest in Baghdad, Fr. Anton Zebouni, as a way to
keep the youth in Iraq, ironically the order has spread
to many corners of the earth including Michigan.
Last year, the bright and lively March cover showcased
Genevieve Kashat, an adolescent entrepreneur
competitor on Kids Baking Championship who stole
our hearts with her macaroons. Because time marches
on, in the not-too-distant future, we expect to see
Genevieve grace our pages once again. We hope to
see you there, too.
32 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2024

ARE
YOU
HIRING?
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
3:00PM – 5:00PM
JOIN US
SPRING
COMMUNITY
JO F R
B AI
The Chaldean Community Foundation (CCF) invites you to participate in our 1st Spring Edition of the Annual
Community Job Fair on Wednesday, May 1, 2024! Our job fair will enable you, the employer, to meet and conduct
on-the-spot interviews with New Americans and the greater community. It is an excellent opportunity to promote
open positions and network with other businesses and organizations. We look forward to seeing you!
Please register by scaning the
QR code below.
Employers will receive:
• Table and two chairs for setup.
• Light refreshments and snacks.
* Space is limited. Registration is available
on a first come, first served basis.
$150 Registration fee
For more info contact Elias at Elias.Kattoula@chaldeanfoundation.org or call 586-722-7253.
Chaldean Community Foundation
Wireless Vision Gymnasium
3601 15 Mile Rd.
Sterling Heights, MI, 48310
MARCH 2024 CHALDEAN NEWS 33

ECONOMICS & ENTERPRISE
Beverly Hills Grill
Where everybody knows your name
BY SARI CICUREL
Raphael Michael of Beverly Hills Grill. Photo courtesy SMC.
Often when a restaurant changes
ownership, there’s a complete
remodel, the menu is
scrapped, and several employees are
let go. But when Raphael Michael took
ownership of the Beverly Hills Grill, he
made a promise to founder Bill Roberts
that he wasn’t going to do that.
“When I met with Bill, he told me
he didn’t want someone to take over
the Grill and abandon everything he
had built over the last 34 years,” said
Michael. “Bill had a very deep loyalty
to his staff, and he wanted to make
sure his predecessor would take care
of them. I told him, ‘If you choose me,
I will continue your legacy.’”
And that’s exactly what Michael
has done – maintaining what guests
have come to expect from the restaurant
while keeping all of Roberts’ employees
on the team.
“The staff here is amazing. Once I
took over, everyone who was here before
– they all stayed on. When they
realized that my best interest was their
best interest, they accepted me as part
of the family,” said Michael.
Working in the restaurant industry
since he was a student at Eastern
Michigan University, Michael started
out as an assistant manager at Happy’s
Pizza in Ann Arbor when he was
19. At age 24, he bought the pizzeria’s
Kalamazoo location, where he stayed
for the next 12 years. In October 2022,
he moved to metro Detroit and took
over Beverly Hills Grill.
Since then, his only changes have
been to bring back brunch, which
halted during COVID-19, and hire more
employees to keep up with the demand.
Only two months after taking
ownership, he launched a breakfast/
brunch/lunch menu, which is now offered
every Tuesday through Sunday
from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
“We’re working to get the word out
because many guests who used to come
all the time for brunch haven’t realized
it’s back now. When people see we’re
open, they’re so happy that we serve
breakfast again,” Michael said.
Some of the most popular brunch
items are the crab omelet, shrimp and
grits, Oreo pancakes, banana fosters
French toast, and corned beef hash.
For dinner, which starts at 3 p.m. every
day but Sunday, meatloaf has been a
guest favorite since the restaurant first
opened in 1988. Other staples include
creole gulf shrimp linguine, chipotle
honey glazed salmon, and veal marsala.
“Everything on your plate is made
fresh. It doesn’t come in a bag. That’s
how Bill Roberts did it for years and
years, and we’re continuing that level
of expectation,” Michael said.
Known as “The Cheers of Birmingham,”
Beverly Hills Grill is a place
where everybody knows your name –
as well as your food and drink order.
“We have a lot of regulars here, and
I’ve gotten to know all of them. When
I first started, I noticed that guests
would talk to each other from different
tables. I’ve been to a lot of restaurants,
and I’ve never seen that happen
before. But you see that here. This is
really the neighborhood place to go,”
Michael said.
You know – in case you want to go
where everybody knows your name.
Beverly Hills Grill is located at
31471 Southfield Road. The restaurant
now takes online reservations at
https://beverlyhillsgrill.com or s
ocial media @beverlyhillsgrill.
34 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2024

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are you an aspiring leader that wants to excel in your career?
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The purpose of the Learn with a Leader program is to strengthen and grow leadership ski ls for emerging talent
Learn with a Leader is a 6-month program
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through bi-weekly development sessions and
creating networking opportunities within the
community. Hear from top leaders in the Chaldean
community about their own leadership journey
and visit successful businesses! Spots are limited!
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Scan QR code to register
Topics Include
• People Intelligence
• Character as a Leader
• Creating Vision & Purpose
• Critical & Strategic Thinking
Program start date - May 22, 2024
Tuition for Learn with a Leader (if selected) is $250
and covers all program related costs.
Deadline to apply is March 29, 2024
For more information, visit: www.learnwithaleader.com
MARCH 2024 CHALDEAN NEWS 35

CULTURE & HISTORY
Al Mutanabbi
The would-be prophet
BY ADHID MIRI, PHD
‏“الخيل والليل والبيداء تعرفني...والسيف والرمح
والقرطاس والقلمُ”‏
“The steeds, the nights, and the desert know me, so
does the sword, the spear, the literature, and the pen.”
– Al Mutanabbi
Poetry is a form of art much like painting, calligraphy,
composing, or playing a musical instrument.
Discovering poetry is an adventure to a
world of wonder led by intuition and imagination,
arriving at a love of words. For those who choose to
explore this medium, it is a beautiful personal journey
of the mind and soul.
Many modern writers in the Arab world began
their literary careers by practicing poetry. Arab poets
compose in various forms, capturing the essence of
their generation. It’s difficult to determine the “most
beautiful” Arabic poem, as beauty is subjective; however,
many renowned poems are widely celebrated for
their decorative language and ability to stir the soul.
Some of the most famous Arabic poets include Imru’
al-Qais (501-565), Al-Khansa (575-645), Abu Nuwas
(756-814), Abu al-Alaa al-Maarri (973-1057), Abu Firas
al-Hamdani (932–968), and Al Mutanabbi (915-965).
Al Mutanabbi is recognized as one of the most
prominent poets of the Arabic language. His body
of work, more than 326 poems, is so influential that
much of it has been translated into over 20 languages
worldwide.
Born Ahmed bin al-Hussein al-Kindi in Kufa, Iraq
in the early 10th century, Al Mutanabbi came from
humble beginnings. His father was a water carrier
from the Kindah tribe. Little Ahmed was writing poems
at the age of nine, and when Shi’ite Qarmatians
attacked Kufa in 924 AD, he chose to join them. He
lived among the Bedouins, a nomadic Arab tribe,
researching their doctrines and texts. He told them
he was a prophet, earning the nickname by which
he would go down in history—Al Mutanabbi, which
translates as “he who would be a prophet” or “the
would-be prophet.”
In 932, while still in his teens, Al Mutanabbi used
his status to lead a revolt in Syria. After being imprisoned
for 2 years, he decided to cast his lot as a traveling
poet. He was quick-witted, and on one occasion
when someone wanting to embarrass him said, “I
saw you from afar, so I thought you were a woman,”
Al Mutanabbi cheekily replied, “I saw you from afar,
and thought you were a man!”
Many of his poems are not only still widely read in
today’s Arab world but are considered to be proverbial.
You may be familiar with some of quotes, such
as “If you see the lion show his teeth, do not think the
lion is smiling at you,” or “If you venture for a noble
aim, do not settle for less than the stars.”
Some poems are less instructive and more descriptive,
like “Small deeds are great in small men’s
eyes; great deeds, in great men’s eyes, are small.”
And some are observational: “Firm resolutions happen
in proportion to the resolute, and noble deeds
come in proportion to the noble.”
Al Mutanabbi lived during the Abbasid Caliphate
period, when a wandering poet with political aspirations
could make a name for himself. His writing
revolved around descriptions of life, the kings he
met, and his own philosophy. He never rested in one
place, traveling to Baghdad, Damascus, Tiberias, Antioch,
Aleppo, and Cairo among others, earning income
from emirs for his poetic praise for them.
Al Mutanabbi enjoyed the best and most rewarding
days of his life in Aleppo, in the court of Sayf al-
Dawla al-Hamdani, a Hamdanid poet-prince of northern
Syria – composing panegyrics, or odes to his liege.
These are considered the masterpieces which have
earned him recognition all over the Arab world. His
poems and sayings have become proverbs, part of the
daily vocabulary of Arabic conversation today.
It was during his time in Aleppo that Al Mutanabbi
wrote one of his most famous poems, “Ode to Sayf al-
Dawla.” Al Mutanabbi stayed in the prince’s court for 9
years, from 948 to 957, earning not only fame and fortune
but also the animosity of rival court poets, including
the prince’s own cousin. In addition, the prince became
weary of Al Mutanabbi’s political goal to become
a regional Wali, or governor. The prince saw this as a
threat and betrayal, and the poet left Syria for Egypt.
In Egypt, Al Mutanabbi joined the court of Abu al-
Misk Kafur. Kafur, however, mistrusted Al Mutanabbi’s
political ambitions, believing them to be a threat
to his position. Al Mutanabbi realized that his hopes
of becoming governor were not going anywhere and
he left Egypt in 960. After he left, he heavily criticized
Abu al-Misk Kafur with satirical odes.
For over a thousand years, the poetry of Al Mutanabbi
has been used in Arabic literature as a reference
and proof of his wisdom, intelligence, pride,
and insight. His poetry has strong words, and his
verses have a certain sophistication.
Through his artistry, he mastered Arabic verse
like no other and treated poetry as a craft to be studied
and taught. Many of his verses are used today as
proverbs to reflect on life experiences of friendship,
love, departure, war, and death.
Al Mutanabbi himself died in 965, a victim of a
vengeance. He was traveling from Ahvaz in modernday
Iran to Basra when he was set upon by Dabbah
al-Assadi. Al-Assadi was following the poet in a blind
rage, insulted by an unflattering poem that Al Mutanabbi
had written about him.
At first, Al Mutanabbi was going to flee with his
son, Muhassad; however, one of his servants reminded
him of his courageous poems and at that moment,
Al Mutanabbi decided to fight with conviction for his
beliefs. He fought valiantly but died with his son by
his side. His influence at the time was such that news
of his death reverberated like thunder around the
Muslim world.
In honor of him, in 1932, the people of Baghdad
named a cultural market Mutanabbi Street. The narrow
one-kilometer-long auto-free street is full of booksellers
and bookstores. At the entrance to the street
stands an arch adorned with the poet’s quotes. Over
time, Mutanabbi Street evolved into a symbol of intellectual
freedom, attracting writers, artists, and diverse
dissenting voices from across the country.
On that street also stands a statue of the great
poet created by the renowned Iraqi sculptor, Mohammad
Ghani Hikmat. Created in the 1960s, it will stand
strong just as Mutanabbi’s poems stay timeless.
We live between two historic eras — the time of
steeds, nights, and desert and the time of WhatsApp,
Facebook, and Google. As a lover of language and
disciple of the greatest Arab poet who ever lived, I
wish that time could go back centuries, that I could
travel backward in time and spend a day around this
remarkable man, sit in his audience, hear the tone of
his voice, or walk as a shadow in his giant steps.
36 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2024

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MARCH 2024 CHALDEAN NEWS 37

CULTURE & HISTORY
املُتنبي شاعر الشُ‏ عراء والعُىل والعَلياء
أنَا الذي نَظَرَ‏ األعْمَى إىل أدَيب - وَأسْ‏ مَعَتْ‏ كَلِاميت مَنْ‏ بهِ‏ صَ‏ مَمُ‏
بقلم د عضيد مريي
ألعراق بلد الشعراء واالدباء الكبار ومنهم ملك الضاد والشاعر العبايس
العراقي الكويف أبو الطّيب املتنبي مالئ الدنيا وشاغل الناس،‏ ومن سادة
لغة الضاد.‏ فاملتنبي هو شاعر العىل والعلياء،‏ ورجل الحكمة ألعظيم
واألدب النفيس والوصف ألبليغ وتكاد تكون ابياته معجم لكل األمثلة
والحكم العربية ومل يرتك يش للفالسفة وال لشعراء العرب واألزمنة يشء
يبتزون به عليه،‏ يف شعره كلامت قوية ويف رصاحته قوة الشخصية ناهيك
عن رقي أبيات شعره،‏ عاش رحاال ويا أسفا قتلته حروف شعره وكربياءه
وشجاعته.‏
مل يحظَ‏ شاعرٌ‏ من شعراء العربيّة مبثل ما حظي به أبو الطيّب املتنبّي
من مكانةٍ‏ عالية،‏ فقد كان أعجوبةً‏ أعجزت الشعراء من بعده؛ حيثُ‏ بقي
شعره إىل اآلن يُقرأ كمصدر وحي للكثري من األدباء والشُّ‏ عراء،‏ كام تُرى فيه
مظاهر القوّة والشاعرية القامئتنّي عىل التجربة الصادقة والحس الرهيف،‏
وقد أبدع املتنبّي يف صياغة أبياته صياغةً‏ تأرسُ‏ األلباب وتشغل القلوب،‏
فقد كان شاعراً‏ ينتمي لطبقة شعراءِ‏ املعاين،‏ حيثُ‏ كان موفِّقاً‏ بنّي الشعر
والحكمة،‏ وقد أخرجَ‏ الشّ‏ عر عن قيوده وحدوده وابتكرَ‏ الطريقة اإلبداعيّة
فيه.‏ وما زالت كلامت أبياته وبينّات حكمه فتية ليومنا هذا،‏ فهو الذي نُظر
البصري إىل أدبه،‏ وأسَ‏ معت كلامته من به صمم،‏ وهو الذي نام ملئ جفونه
والكل يف شوارد قصائده يختصموا.‏
من هو املتنبي
أبو الطيب املتنبي واسمه أحمد بن الحسنّي الجعفي الكندي ولد يف الكوفة
يف أوائل القرن العارش يف العراق عام ‎915‎م وجاء من بدايات متواضعة
للغاية،‏ إذ كان أبيه ساعي ماء من قبيلة كندة،‏ وتعود قبيلة كندة إىل القرن
الثاين قبل امليالد،‏ مل يكن يستقر يف مكان واحد قط،‏ فكان يسافر إىل بغداد
ودمشق وطربيا وأنطاكية وحلب والقاهرة وغريها،‏ ويكسب دخالً‏ من
األمراء بسبب مدحه الشعري لهم.‏
يُعد املتنبي أعظم شعراء العرب وأعرب الشعراء العظامء وفارس
الشعر العريب والبالغة لكل زمان،‏ واملتنبي شاعر يطري ويحلق يف أجواء ال
يصلها إال أملبدعنّي بأجنحة شعرية تعبريية ولكلامته سحر رسمدي وأثر
أبدي وكان مصورا بارعا لألحداث يرى ما ال يراه غريه وعندما تقرأ دواوينه
تجده مبدعاً‏ خالّقا ال يساميه من الشعراء الحكامء أحد،‏ فهو قيثارة الشعر
ومحري الدهر وشاعر القصيدة العصامء ومثله ال ميكن ان يتكرر مرة اخرى
ابدا وال زال الجدال مستمر حول اشعاره وقصائده ليومنا هذا.‏
عُرف املتنبي بشخصيته القوية وما كان يكتنفها من غموض،‏ وشعر
املتنبي حريّ‏ الناس،‏ واستعىص عليهم فهم مقاصده،‏ إذ قام برشحه أفذاذ
اللغة وعلامؤها،‏ ومنهم عامل النحو الكبري ابن جنّي،‏ والشاعر أبو عالء
املعرّي،‏ واللغويّ‏ املعروف ابن سيّدة.‏
وهو من الشعراء الذين اكتسبوا أهميةً‏ تجاوزت زمانهم ومكانهم،‏
فلم يكن املتنبي مجردَ‏ شاعرٍ‏ ميلك من الفصاحة والبالغة ما ال ميلكه غريه
من الشعراء،‏ بل كانَ‏ ذا شخصيةٍ‏ مميزة،‏ يعتز بنفسه ويفخر بها يف قصائده
ومجالسه وأفضل من استخدموا اللغة العربية وأكرثهم متكناً‏ م بقواعدها
وأعلمهم مبفرداتها،‏ ومل يشغل الناس شاعر بالقدر الذي شغلهم ابو الطيب
املتنبي حتى ان ابن رشيق القريواين اورد يف كتابه الشهري “ العمدة “
مقولته الشهرية:‏ “ جاء املتنبي فمأل الدنيا وشغل الناس”.‏
املتنبي شاعر الشعراء األول
ترك املتنبي وراءَه ثالمثائة وستة وعرشون قصيدةً،‏ وتعترب هذه القصائد
سجالّ‏ ً تاريخياً‏ ألحداث عرصه يف القرن الرابع الهجريّ‏ ، تعترب مبثابة سريةً‏
ذاتيةً‏ للشاعر،‏ حيث يستطيع القارئ من خاللها معرفة كيف جرت الحكمة
عىل لسانه وكيف تطورت،‏ ال سيّام يف قصائده األخرية قبل موته.‏
عاش أفضل أيام حياته وأكرثها عطاء يف بالط سيف الدولة الحمداين
يف حلب وكان من أعظم شعراء زمانه،‏ وكان له مكانة سامية مل تتح مثلها
لغريه من شعراء العربية وبقي شعره إىل اليوم مصدر إلهام ووحي للشعراء
واألدباء وأحد مفاخر األدب العريب.‏ قلدّه كثريون،‏ ولكن مل يفلح من
الشعراء أن ينافسه أحد.‏
لقب املتنبي
لُقِّب املتنبّي بهذا الّلقب ملا وردَ‏ عنه من ورعٍ‏ يف خُلقه،‏ فقد كان آخذاً‏
نفسه بالجدّ‏ ومُنرصفاً‏ للعلم مبتعداً‏ عن الفواحش،‏ وقد حظيَ‏ مبنزلةٍ‏
عظيمة عند عُلامء األدب واللغة والنحو؛ أمثال الربعي وابن جني وأيب
عىل الفاريس،‏ وقد كان مُكرثاً‏ من ذِكر األنبياء يف شعره،‏ مُشبِّها نفسه بهم،‏
ومُقارناً‏ أخالقَ‏ من ميدحهم بأخالقهم،‏ ومن ذلك قوله عن نفسه:‏
مَا مُقامي بأرْضِ‏ نَخْلَةَ‏ إالّ‏ كمُقامِ‏ املَسيحِ‏ بَنّيَ‏ اليَهُود أنَا يف أُمّةٍ‏ تَدارَكَهَا
اللّه غَريبٌ‏ كصَ‏ الِحٍ‏ يف مثَ‏ ودِ‏
وأما لقبه املتنبي فقيل ألنه ادعى النبوة قبل أن يتوب،‏ ولكنه أنكر
ذلك وقال للعامل النحوي عثامن بن جني بأن لقب املتنبي معناه املرتفع،‏
واشتقها من كلمة النبوة والتي تعني املرتفع من األرض.‏ ويروى عن املتنبي
أنه قال:‏ “ ابن جنّي،‏ أعلم بشعري منّي “. ووردَ‏ عن أيب عالءٍ‏ املعرّي قوله يف
كتابه معجز أحمد أنّ‏ املُتنبّي لُقّب بهذا اللقب نسبة إىل النَبْوَة،‏ ومعناها
املكانُ‏ املرتفع؛ إشارةً‏ لرفعة شِ‏ عره وعُلوّه ال إشارةً‏ الدّعائه النبوّة.‏
بدايات حياة املتنبي
كانت حياة املتنبي زاخرة باملحطات واملراحل التي صاغت تجربته األدبية،‏
والتحق املتنبي بكُتَّابٍ‏ كان فيه أبناء أرشاف العلوينّي لتلقّي علوم اللغة
العربية من شعر،‏ ونحو،‏ وبالغة،‏ وكان إضافةً‏ إىل ذلك يقيض معظم أوقاته
مالزماً‏ للورّاقنّي ليك يقرأ يف كتبهم فاكتسب معظم علمه من ذلك.‏
اشتهر النبي أبو الطيب أحمد بن حسنّي املتنبي الكندي مبوهبته
الشعرية يف سن مبكرة وكتب القصائد منذ أن كان يف التاسعة من عمره.‏
وعُرف عن املتنبي حبه الشديد للعلم واألدب،‏ كام أنّه متتع منذ صغره
بالذكاءِ‏ وقوة الحفظٍ‏ ، وقد أخرب أحد الرواة قصةً‏ طريفةً‏ عن قوة حفظه يف
صباه،‏ وهي أنّ‏ أحد الوراقنّي أخرب أنّ‏ أحدهم جاء ليبيع كتاباً‏ يحوي نحو
ثالثنّي صفحة.‏ وكان املتنبي عنده حينها،‏ فأخذ الكتاب من الرجل وصار
يقلّب صفحاته ويطيل النظر فيها،‏ فقال له الرجل:‏ يا هذا لقد عطلتني
عن بيعه،‏ فإن كنت تبغي حفظه يف هذه الفرتة القصرية فهذا بعيدٌ‏ عليك،‏
فقال املتنبي:‏ فإن كنت حفظته فام يل عليك؟ قال الرجل:‏ أعطيه لك،‏ فقال
الوراق:‏ فأمسكت الكتاب أراجع صفحاته واملتنبي الصغري يتلو ما به حتى
انتهى إىل آخره،‏ ثم استلبه فجعله يف كُمِّه ومىض لشأنه وكأن شياً‏ مل يكن.‏
يف عام 924 م،‏ عندما طرد القرامطة جامعة الشيعة من الكوفة
عام ‎924‎م،‏ التحقت عائلة املتنبي بهم وعاشوا بنّي البدو،‏ وتعلم املتنبي
مذاهبهم ونصوصهم واتقن اللغة العربية وإلعجابهم به وبذكائه وبالغته
أخرب البدو املتنبي بأنه نبي.‏ ويقال من هنا حصل عىل لقب املتنبي.‏
لكن املتنبي مل يستغل مكانته بينهم لتحقيق مكاسب شخصية،‏ ولكنه
استخدم مكانته لقيادة ثورة يف سوريا عام 932. وبعد أن سُ‏ جن ملدة
عامنّي،‏ قرر أن يصبح شاعرًا متنقالً‏ .
كان املتنبي ذكيًا للغاية،‏ وبسبب شهرته وسمو مكانته كان يتعرض
احياناً‏ لحسد ونكد ومكائد الحساد،‏ وكان الشاعر الوحيد الذي ال يلقي
شعره واقفاً‏ بنّي يدي سيف الدولة،‏ مام أثار غرية بقية شعراء البالط نحوه
فكادوا له املكائد.‏ ويف مناسبة نادرة أراد شخص إحراج الشاعر،‏ فشمت،‏
وقال له:‏ ‏“لقد رأيتك من بعيد فظننتك امرأة”،‏ فأجاب املتنبي برسعة
بديهته:‏ ‏“لقد رأيتك من بعيد”‏ من بعيد فظننتك رجالً.‏
حقائق شخصية عن املتنبي
قيل أنّ‏ املتنبي تزوج بامرأة شامية ورُزق منها بولدٍ‏ اسمه محسد تويف
معه يوم قتله.‏ كام هنالك قصة حبّ‏ مزعومة ألبتت عليه بالط سيف
الدولة،‏ وهي أنه كان يحب أخته خولة التي رثاها فيام بعد واصفاً‏ مبسمها
بالجميل.‏
يقال إنه مل ينافسه أحد من الشعراء يف توليد املعاين والخيال والعمق
يف قول وتضمنّي الحِ‏ كمة يف شعره،‏ ويف روائعه الشعرية حكم تقلب الزمان
باإلنسان واملرض واملوت وما ينطوي عليه زوال املُلك وتناول موضوعات
مثل الشجاعة وفلسفة الحياة ووصف املعارك وتأثر أسلوبه بالنّمط
الكالسييك والبالغة املتألقة،‏ وتقديس أشعاره لدى القرّاء العرب يُشبه
تقديس الغرب ألعامل شكسبري وتناولت حياته وأعامله دراسات متنوعة
لكنّ‏ قليل من االهتامم أُويلِ‏ َ لجانبه اإلنساين.‏
عاش املتنبي يف زمان كان الشاعر ميتهن الشعر كام ميُ‏ تهن الفن يومنا
هذا خصوصا وأن الشعر كان ديوان العرب،‏ وأصبحت قصائده وابيات
شعره أمثال وحكم وجزءا من مفردات اللغة العربية وقاموس العلم
واالدب مازلنا نرددها ونستشهد بها حتى دون الحاجة إىل ذكر اسم
صاحبها وكل هذه األشعار سارت مرسى األمثال عىل ألسنة الناس،‏ وهي إذ
تتكرر فإن املتنبي شاعر ال يتكرر،‏ وهل كمثل أقوال املتنبي حِ‏ كم؟
من أقوال املتنبي
أغايةُ‏ الدينِ‏ أن تَحفوا شواربكم يا أمةً‏ ضحكت من جهلِها األممُ‏
ال يَسلَمُ‏ الرشفُ‏ الرفيعُ‏ من األذى - حتى يُراقَ‏ عىل جوانبِهِ‏ الدَّمُ‏
ذو العقلِ‏ يشقى يف النعيمِ‏ بعقلهِ‏ - وأخو الجهالةِ‏ يف الشقاوةِ‏ يَنْعَمُ‏
ومِن العداوةِ‏ ما ينالُكَ‏ نفعُهُ‏ - ومِن الصداقةِ‏ ما يَرُضُ‏ ُّ ويُؤْلِمُ‏
إذا أنت أكرمتَ‏ الكريمَ‏ ملكْتَهُ‏ - وإن أنت أكرمتَ‏ اللئيمَ‏ مترَّدا
فال مجدَ‏ يف الدنيا ملن قلَّ‏ مالُهُ‏ - وال مالَ‏ يف الدنيا ملن قلَّ‏ مجدُهُ‏
ومِن نكدِ‏ الدنيا عىل الْحُرِّ‏ أن يرى - عدوًّا لهُ‏ ما مِن صداقتهِ‏ بدُّ‏
أعزُّ‏ مكانٍ‏ يف الدُّىن رسْجُ‏ سابِحٍ‏ - وخريُ‏ جليسٍ‏ يف الزمانِ‏ كتابُ‏
وإذا مل يكن من املوت بد - فمن العجز أن متوت جبانا
إذا غامَرْتَ‏ يف رَشَ‏ ‏َفٍ‏ مَرُومِ‏ - فَال تَقنَعْ‏ مبا دونَ‏ النّجومِ‏
فطَعْمُ‏ املَوْتِ‏ يف أمْرٍ‏ حَقِريٍ‏ - كطَعْمِ‏ املَوْتِ‏ يف أمْرٍ‏ عَظيمِ‏
ما كلُّ‏ ما يتمناه املرءُ‏ يدركُهُ‏ – تجري الرياحُ‏ مبا ال تشتهي السفنُ‏
ومن أبيات الفخر
كان املتنبي صاحب كربياء وشجاعة وطموح ومحب للمغامرات،‏ وكان يف
شعره يعتز بعروبته،‏ ويفتخر بنفسه،‏ وأفضل شعره يف الحكمة وفلسفة
الحياة ووصف املعارك،‏ إذ جاء بصياغة قوية محكمة.‏ وكان شاعرا مبدعا
عمالقا غزير اإلنتاج.‏ يعد بحق مفخرة لألدب العريب،‏ فهو القائل:‏
AL MUTANABBI
continued on page 42
38 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2024

YOUR
Therapy can be a big step toward being the
healthiest version of yourself and living the best
life possible — our licensed, professional therapists
are here for you to access. Through therapy, you
can change self-destructive behaviors and habits,
resolve painful feelings, improve your relationships,
and share your feelings and experiences. Individuals
often seek therapy for help with issues that may be
hard to face alone.
CONFIDENTIALITY AND PRIVACY: The CCF and Project Light is
committed to your privacy and confidentiality and are sensitive to
the stigma and stress that come with seeking mental health support.
Therefore, all counseling records are kept strictly confidential.
Information is not shared without client’s written consent. Exceptions
to confidentiality are rare and include persons who threaten safety of
themselves others or in circumstances of a court order.
In therapy your therapist will help you to establish
person centered goals and determine the steps you
will take to reach those goals. Your relationship
with your therapist is confidential and our common
therapeutic goal for those we engage is to inspire
healthy change to improve quality of life — no
matter the challenge.
We invite you seek out the Light of Project Light!
Serving individuals ages 13 years and up. Please call
to request a Project Light Intake at (586) 722-7253.
Looking for a great opportunity to make a difference?
NOW HIRING Behavioral Health Professional Therapists.
— Apply at www.chaldeanfoundation.org
Chaldean Community Foundation
3601 15 Mile Rd., Sterling Heights, MI 48310
MARCH 2024 CHALDEAN NEWS 39

CULTURE & HISTORY
الخَيْلُ‏ وَاللّيْلُ‏ وَالبَيْداءُ‏ تَعرِفُني - وَالسّ‏ يفُ‏ وَالرّمحُ‏ والقرْطاسُ‏ وَالقَلَمُ‏
ما أبعدَ‏ العَيبَ‏ والنّقصانَ‏ منْ‏ رَشَ‏ ‏َفِي - أنَا الرّثّ‏ ‏َيّا وَذانِ‏ الشّ‏ يبُ‏ وَالهَرَمُ‏
ال بقومي رَشفتُ‏ ، بل رَشفوا يب - وبنفيس فخرتُ‏ ال بجدودي
وما الدهرُ‏ إال من رواةِ‏ قصائدي - إذا قلت شِ‏ عرًا أصبح الدهرُ‏ مُنشدا
أنا تِربُ‏ الندى وربُّ‏ القوايف - وسِ‏ اممُ‏ العِدَ‏ ى وغيظُ‏ الحسودِ‏
وإذا أتتك مذمتي من ناقصٍ‏ - فهي الشهادةُ‏ يل بأين كاملُ‏
وفؤادي من امللوكِ‏ وإن كان - لساين يُرى من الشعراءِ‏
ويف إعتزاز املتنبي بالعروبة
من أبيات االعتزاز بالعروبة والوطن وفيها معاين تنطبق عىل العراق
املُحتل يف عرصنا هذا قوله:‏
وَ‏ إِمَّنَّ‏ ا الناسُ‏ بِاملُلوكِ‏ - وَما تُفلِحُ‏ عُربٌ‏ مُلوكُها عَجَمُ‏
ال أَدَبٌ‏ عِندَهُم وَال حَسَ‏ بٌ‏ - وَال عُهودٌ‏ لَهُم وَال ذِمَمُ‏
بِكُلِّ‏ أَرضٍ‏ وطئتها أُمَمٌ‏ - ترعى لِعَبدٍ‏ كَأَنَّها غَنَمُ‏
من طيبات أبا الطيّب املتنبي
أبلِغ عَزيزًا يف ثنايا القلبِ‏ مَنزله - أىن وإن كُنتُ‏ ال ألقاهُ‏ ألقاهُ‏
وإن طريف موصولٌ‏ برؤيتهِ‏ - وإن تباعد عَن سُ‏ كناي سُ‏ كناهُ‏
يا ليته يعلمُ‏ أين لستُ‏ أذكرهُ‏ - وكيف أذكرهُ‏ إذ لستُ‏ أنساهُ‏
يا مَن توَّهم أين لستُ‏ أذكرهُ‏ - واللهُ‏ يعلم أين لستُ‏ أنساهُ‏
إن غابَ‏ عني فالروحُ‏ مَسكنهُ‏ - مَن يسكنُ‏ الروح كيف القلبُ‏ ينساهُ‏
وبعض من أجمل أبيات العشق
أرَقٌ‏ عَىل أرَقٍ‏ وَمِثْيل يَأرَقُ‏ - وَجَوًى يَزيدُ‏ وَعَربْ‏ ‏َةٌ‏ تَرتَ‏ ‏َقْرَقُ‏
جُهْدُ‏ الصّ‏ بابَةِ‏ أنْ‏ تكونَ‏ كام أُرَى - عَنّيٌ‏ مُسَ‏ هَّدَةٌ‏ وقَلْبٌ‏ يَخْفِقُ‏
مَا الحَ‏ بَرْقٌ‏ أوْ‏ تَرَنّمَ‏ طائِرٌ‏ - إالّ‏ انْثَنَيْتُ‏ وَيل فُؤادٌ‏ شَ‏ يّقُ‏
جَرّبْتُ‏ مِنْ‏ نَارِ‏ الهَوَى ما تَنطَفي - نَارُ‏ الغَضَ‏ ا وَتَكِلُّ‏ عَامّ‏ يُحْرِقُ‏
وَعَذَلْتُ‏ أهْلَ‏ العِشْ‏ قِ‏ حتى ذُقْتُهُ‏ - فعجبتُ‏ كيفَ‏ ميَ‏ وتُ‏ مَن ال يَعشَ‏ قُ‏
وما كنت ممن يدخل العشق قلبه - ولكن من يبرص جفونك يعشق
املتنبي ميدح سيف الدولة الحمداين
يف سن الثالثة والثالثنّي،‏ عاش املتنبي أجمل أيامه يف حلب حيث كان
حاكمها سيف الدولة الحمداين يهتم بالشعر واألدب ويحمي الثغور
من الروم.‏ ويف هذه الفرتة كتب املتنبي إحدى أشهر قصائده واشتهر
عنه تقلبه يف عالقته مع الحكام،‏ فكان ميدح حاكم حلب سيف الدولة
الحمداين ثم يهجوه،‏ وكان ميدح حاكم مرص أبو املسك كافور ثم يهجوه.‏
وخالل تلك الفرتة مدح سيف الدولة يف قصيدة طويلة عصامء مطلعها:‏
عَىل قَدرِ‏ أَهلِ‏ العَزمِ‏ تَأيت العَزائِمُ‏ - وَتَأيت عَىل قَدرِ‏ الكِرامِ‏ املَكارِمُ‏
وَتَعظُمُ‏ يف عَنيِ‏ الصَ‏ غريِ‏ صِ‏ غارُها - وَتَصغُرُ‏ يف عَنيِ‏ العَظيمِ‏ العَظائِمُ‏
يُكَلِّفُ‏ سَ‏ يفُ‏ الدَولَةِ‏ الجَيشَ‏ هَمَّهُ‏ - وَقَد عَجَزَت عَنهُ‏ الجُيوشُ‏ الخَضارِمُ‏
املتنبي يعاتب سيف الدولة الحمداين
ويف قصيدة يختلط فيه مدح وذم وعتاب،‏ مدح سيف الدولة بأنه أعدل
الناس،‏ ولكن الذم والعتاب هو أن هذا العدل ال يشمل الشاعر،‏ فيقول
لسيف الدولة:‏ ‏“أنت أعدل الناس إال إذا عاملتني،‏ فقد حدث خصام
بيننا،‏ وأنا ال أستطيع أن أحاكمك لغريك ألنك ملك،‏ حينها تكون أنت
الخصم وأنت الحكم بيننا،‏ فأين العدل إذًا؟
يا أعدَ‏ لَ‏ النّاسِ‏ إالّ‏ يف مُعامَلَتي - فيكَ‏ الخِصامُ‏ وَأنتَ‏ الخصْ‏ مُ‏ وَالحكَمُ‏
أُعِيذُها نَظَراتٍ‏ مِنْكَ‏ صادِقَةً‏ - أن تحسَ‏ بَ‏ الشّ‏ حمَ‏ فيمن شحمهُ‏ وَرَمُ‏
وَمَا انْتِفَاعُ‏ أخي الدّنْيَا بِنَاظِ‏ رِهِ‏ - إذا اسْ‏ تَوَتْ‏ عِنْدَهُ‏ األنْوارُ‏ وَالظُّلَمُ‏
سَ‏ يعْلَمُ‏ الجَمعُ‏ ممّنْ‏ ضَ‏ مّ‏ مَجلِسُ‏ نا - بأنّني خَريُ‏ مَنْ‏ تَسْ‏ عَى بهِ‏ قَدَمُ‏
أنَا الذي نَظَرَ‏ األعْمَى إىل أدَيب - وَأسْ‏ مَعَتْ‏ كَلِاميت مَنْ‏ بهِ‏ صَ‏ مَمُ‏
أنَامُ‏ مِلْ‏ ءَ‏ جُفُوين عَنْ‏ شَوَارِدِهَا - وَيَسْ‏ هَرُ‏ الخَلْقُ‏ جَرّاهَا وَيخْتَصِ‏ مُ‏
وَجاهِلٍ‏ مَدّهُ‏ يف جَهْلِهِ‏ ضَ‏ حِيك - حَتى أتَتْه يَدٌ‏ فَرّاسَ‏ ةٌ‏ وَفَمُ‏
إذا رَأيْتَ‏ نُيُوبَ‏ اللّيْثِ‏ بارِزَةً‏ - فَال تَظُنّنّ‏ أنّ‏ اللّيْثَ‏ يَبْتَسِ‏ مُ‏
وَمُهْجَةٍ‏ مُهْجَتي من هَمّ‏ صَ‏ احِبها - أدرَكْتُهَا بجَوَادٍ‏ ظَهْرُه حَرَمُ‏
رِجالهُ‏ يف الرّكضِ‏ رِجلٌ‏ وَاليدانِ‏ يَدٌ‏ - وَفِعْلُهُ‏ مَا تُريدُ‏ الكَفُّ‏ وَالقَدَ‏ مُ‏
وَمُرْهَفٍ‏ رسْتُ‏ بنيَ‏ الجَحْفَلَنيِ‏ بهِ‏ - حتى رضَبْتُ‏ وَمَوْجُ‏ املَوْتِ‏ يَلْتَطِ‏ مُ‏
املتنبي يهجو سيف الدولة الحمداين
تحولت عالقة املتنبي مع سيف الدولة إىل عداء فقيل إن السبب هو
تعرض املتنبي لإلهانة يف أحد مجالس سيف الدولة،‏ وقيل ألن سيف الدولة
رفض أن يتزوج املتنبي من أخته،‏ فهجاه املتنبي بعد رحيله إىل مرص قائال:‏
فِراقٌ‏ وَمَن فارَقته غَريُ‏ مُذَمَّمِ‏ - وَأَمٌّ‏ وَمَن مَيَ‏ ‏َّمتُ‏ خَريُ‏ مُيَمَّمِ‏
إِذا ساءَ‏ فِعلُ‏ املَرءِ‏ ساءَت ظُنونُهُ‏ - وَصَ‏ دَّقَ‏ ما يَعتادُهُ‏ مِن تَوَهُّمِ‏
وَعادى مُحِبّيهِ‏ بِقَولِ‏ عُداتِهِ‏ - وَأَصبَحَ‏ يف لَيلٍ‏ مِنَ‏ الشَ‏ كِّ‏ مُظلِمِ‏
أُصادِقُ‏ نَفسَ‏ املَرءِ‏ مِن قَبلِ‏ جِسمِهِ‏ - وَأَعرِفُها يف فِعلِهِ‏ وَالتَكَلُّمِ‏
وَأَحلُمُ‏ عَن خِيّلّ‏ وَأَعلَمُ‏ أَنَّهُ‏ مَتى أَجزِهِ‏ - حِلامً‏ عَىل الجَهلِ‏ يَندَمِ‏
وَ‏ إِن بَذَل اإلِنسانُ‏ يل جودَ‏ عابِسٍ‏ - جَزَيتُ‏ بِجودِ‏ التارِكِ‏ املُتَبَسِّ‏ مِ‏
وَما كُلُّ‏ هاوٍ‏ لِلجَميلِ‏ بِفاعِلٍ‏ - وَال كُلُّ‏ فَعّالٍ‏ لَهُ‏ مبِ‏ ‏ُتَمِّمِ‏
رحلة املتنبي إىل مرص ولقائه
بكافور اإلخشيدي
غادر أبو الطيب حلب وهو كاره لذلك،‏ إذ كانت هناك فرتة يف حياته مليئة
باملؤامرات والغرية التي بلغت ذروتها وأجربت املتنبي عىل ترك سوريا يف عام
957 فاتّجه يف البداية إىل دمشق،‏ ثم شاءت األقدار أن يذهب إىل مرص حيث
استدعاه شخص أثيويب يُدعى أبو املسك كافور وُلِد عبدًا.‏ كافور اإلخشيدي
كان يحكم مرص،‏ وحنّي وصل املتنبي إىل مرص كان مجروح الفؤاد،‏ مكسور
الخاطر،‏ فأقام إىل جوار كافور خمس سنواتٍ‏ مدحه خاللها بعدة قصائد ليس
حباً‏ وإعجاباً،‏ إمنا أمالً‏ يف تحقيق ما كان يصبو إليه من رفعة وعُلّو شأن،‏ وكان
كافور يعرف ذلك جيداً‏ ويعرف أنّ‏ املتنبي مل يَكنْ‏ يُضمر له املحبة والود،‏
فخىل به ومل يحقق له شيئاً‏ من أمانيه،‏ بل ضيّق عليه وعاداهُ،‏ وزاده فوق
همّه هامّ‏ ً، فكَره الشاعر اإلقامة يف مرص،‏ وبعد أنّ‏ مدح كافور عاد وهجاه،‏
وقد سميت قصائده يف مدح كافور وهجائه يف تلك الفرتة بالكافوريّات.‏
املتنبي ميدح كافور
وبعد أن أىت املتنبي إىل مرص واستقبله حاكمها كافور اإلخشيدي مدح
املتنبي كافور قائال:‏
وما طرَيب ملَّا رأيتُكَ‏ بِدعةً‏ - لقد كُنتُ‏ أرجو أنْ‏ أراكَ‏ فأطربُ‏
وتعذلُني فيكَ‏ القوايف وهِمَّتي - كأين مبدحٍ‏ قبل مدحِ‏ كَ‏ مُذنِبُ‏
ولكنَّهُ‏ طالَ‏ الطَّريقُ‏ ومل أزَل - أُفَتَّشُ‏ عن هذا الكالمِ‏ ويُنهَبُ‏
يُدَبِّرُ‏ املمُلْكَ‏ من مرصٍ‏ إىل عدَنٍ‏ - إىل العراقِ‏ فأرضِ‏ الرُّومِ‏ فالنُّوبِ‏
املتنبي يهجو كافور
وعندما مل يلقَ‏ املتنبي من كافور اإلخشيدي ما كان يطمح له من مناصب
وعطايا،‏ نظّم به قصيدة هِجاءٍ‏ ارتكزَ‏ فيها عىل أصول اإلخشيدي الحبشية،‏ حيثُ‏
كان حبشيًا من الرقّ‏ والعبيد قبل وصوله للحكم،‏ يتّصف ببرشة سمراء وشفاه
وقدمنّي متشقّقتنّي.‏ وأساء إىل كافور بتصويره بشكلٍ‏ ساخر،‏ لذا هرب املتنبي
من مرص حوايل ‎960‎م.‏ قام بعدها بعدة رحالتٍ‏ أخرى،‏ مبا يف ذلك بغداد ويعترب
هجاء املتنبي لكافور من أشهر ما قيل يف الهجاء حيث عايره بأنه خيص وعبد
وبلون برشته األسود،‏ وقيل بعد هذه القصيدة لو قام كافور بإعطاء املتنبي حُكم
مرص بأرسها وليس فقط منصب لكان أفضل لكافور بدال من هذه القصيدة التي
أساءت له وخلدت هذه اإلساءة،‏ ومن أبيات املتنبي يف هجاء كافور اإلخشيدي:‏
ال تَشرَتَ‏ ِ العَبدَ‏ إِالّ‏ وَالعَصا مَعَهُ‏ - إِنَّ‏ العَبيدَ‏ ألَ‏ ‏َنجاسٌ‏ مَناكيدُ‏
ما كُنتُ‏ أَحسَ‏ بُني أبقى إِىل زَمَنٍ‏ - يُيسءُ‏ يب فيهِ‏ كَلبٌ‏ وَهوَ‏ مَحمودُ‏
وَأَنَّ‏ ذا األَسوَدَ‏ املَثقوبَ‏ مِشفَرُهُ‏ - تُطيعُهُ‏ ذي العَضاريطُ‏ الرَعاديدُ‏
جَوعانُ‏ يَأكُلُ‏ مِن زادي وَمُيُ‏ سِ‏ كُني - لِيكَ‏ يُقالَ‏ عَظيمُ‏ القَدرِ‏ مَقصودُ‏
مَن عَلَّمَ‏ األَسوَدَ‏ املَخيِصِ‏ َّ مَكرُمَةً‏ - أَقَومُهُ‏ البيضُ‏ أَم آبائُهُ‏ الصيدُ‏
أَم أُذنُهُ‏ يف يَدِ‏ النَخّاسِ‏ دامِيَةً‏ - أَم قَدرُهُ‏ وَهوَ‏ بِالفَلسَ‏ نيِ‏ مَردودُ‏
أَوىل اللِئامِ‏ كُوَيفريٌ‏ مبِ‏ ‏َعذِرَةٍ‏ - يف كُلِّ‏ لُؤمٍ‏ وَبَعضُ‏ العُذرِ‏ تَفنيدُ‏
وَذاكَ‏ أَنَّ‏ الفُحولَ‏ البيضَ‏ عاجِزَةٌ‏ - عَنِ‏ الجَميلِ‏ فَكَيفَ‏ الخِصيَةُ‏ السودُ‏
رحلة املتنبي للقاء عضد الدولة وابن العميد
وقد كان ملحنة املتنبي ومعاناته أثناء وجوده يف مرص أكرب األثر يف شعره،‏
حيث كان مختلفاً‏ عن كل شعره السابق،‏ إذ اتّسم شعره يف تلك السنوات
مبهارات عديدةٍ،‏ وقد وضع فيه خالصة تجارب حياته كلّها.‏
توجّه املتنبي إىل العراق بعد خيبة أمله عند كافور حيث كان يتنقل
بنّي الكوفة وبغداد،‏ ثم توجه إىل أرجان قاصداً‏ أيب الفضل ابن العميد
وزير عضد الدولة،‏ فمكث عنده فرتةً‏ من الزمن مدحه فيها مبجموعةٍ‏ من
القصائد سميت بالعميديات،‏ وأثناء وجوده يف أرجان أرسل عضد الدولة
بن بوّيه يدعوه للقدوم إليه،‏ فلّبى املتنبي الدعوة،‏ ووجد عند السلّطان
الحفاوة والتكريم،‏ فعادت للشاعر حريّته التي افتقدها يف مرص،‏ وملكته
الشعرية وآماله وطموحاته،‏ ومكث يف ضيافة عضد الدولة ثالثة أشهرٍ‏
مدحه خاللها يف ست قصائد غاية يف الروعةِ‏ سميت بالعضديات،‏
لكن املتنبي رغب بالرحيل والعودة إىل العراق لسببٍ‏ غري معروف،‏
وعىل إثر ذلك ودّع ابن بوية بالقصيدة التي استهلها قائال:‏ فِدًى لكَ‏ مَن
يُقَرصّ‏ ُ عَن مَداكا فَال مَلِكٌ‏ إذَنْ‏ إالّ‏ فَدَاكَا.‏
ولكنه مل يتمكن من تأمنّي الحامية لنفسه،‏ حيث كانت بغداد يف خطر
بسبب حمالت القرامطة املتعددة عليها،‏ ما اضطُر املتنبي أن يستقر يف مدينة
شرياز بإيران تحت حامية أمري الدولة من أرسة بئيد حتى عام 965 عندما عاد
إىل العراق وقتل بالقرب من النعامنية يف محافظة واسط/الكوت.‏
مقتله
عرف عن املتنبي إتقان املدح وهجاء نفس الشخص،‏ وكان شعرهُ‏ السبب
الرئييسّ‏ بوفاته وقيل قتلته قصيدتان له فيهام هجاءٌ‏ وفخر.‏ كان املتنبي
قد هجا قاطع طرق يدعى ضبة بن يزيد األسدي العيني بقصيدة شديدة
الهجاء شنيعة األلفاظ وتحتوي عىل الكثري من الطعن يف الرشف والقصيدة
معروفة ومشهورة ومطلعها:‏
مَا أنصَ‏ فَ‏ القَومُ‏ ضبّة وَأمهُ‏ الطرْطبّة - وإمنّ‏ ا قلتُ‏ ما قُلتُ‏ رَحمَة ال
مَحَبة
وعندما علم فاتك بن أيب الجهل األسدي ‏)خال ضبة(‏ بالقصيدة غضب
عند سامعها أراد االنتقام ألخته وابنها ضبة فاعرتض سبيل أيب الطيب وهو
يف طريقه إىل بغداد فالكوفة وواجهه بنحو 30 من رجاله وقيل أكرث،‏ فقاتله
املتنبي حتى قتل هو وابنه محسد وعدد ممن كانوا معه.‏
وقد قيل إن أبا الطيب ملا رأى كرثة رجال فاتك وأحس بالغلبة لهم
أراد الفرار فقال له غُالم له:‏ ال يتحدث الناس عنك بالفرار وتهرب وأنت
القائل:‏ فالخيلُ‏ والليلُ‏ والبيداءُ‏ تعرفني - والسيفُ‏ والرمحُ‏ والقرطاسُ‏
والقلمُ‏
فرد عليه املتنبي بقوله:‏ قتلتني قتلك الله،‏ وعاد املتنبي اىل سلوك
درب املوت راجعاً‏ وكان مقتله بسبب هذا البيت يف تاريخ 25 رمضان
354 هجري املوافق ‎965/09/24‎م،‏ وقُتل معه ابنه محسد وغالمه مُفلح
بالنعامنية بالقرب من دير العاقول جنوب غرب بغداد.‏
قرب املتنبي ‏)أبو سورة(‏
يوجد قرب املتنبي شامل مفرق النعامنية ب‎3‎ كم يف محافظة واسط،‏ بُنيَ‏
ألول مرة من الطنّي يف الثالثينيات من القرن املايض عىل يد حمودي
الشكور ‏)من وجهاء املنطقة(،‏ ثم يف نهاية االربعينيات جاءت لجان دولية
معنية بتحليل بقايا الجثامن للتأكد من انه يعود للشاعر ابو الطيّب
املتنبي؛ وتم التأكد من ذلك.‏
كان قربَ‏ املتنبي سابقاً‏ محاطاً‏ بالكثري من قبور االطفال،‏ ظناً‏ من الناس
انهُ‏ إمامٌ‏ ما وتربكاً‏ بهِ‏ قاموا يدفنون اطفالهم بقربه،‏ ثم متّت إزاحة املقربة
يف مطلع التسعينات وشُ‏ يّدَ‏ البناء الحايل يف الوقت نفسه،‏ وهناك تشابها
معامرياً‏ بينه وبنّي األبنية االثرية االخرى التي بُنيَتْ‏ يف عهد النظام السابق.‏
اهل واسط القدامى ينادون املتنبي ب ‏)ابو سَ‏ ورة(‏ ألن مياه فيضان
دجلة التي اغرقت اغلب مناطق واسط يف خمسينيات القرن املايض صارت
تطوف حول القرب ومل تصل اليه،‏ ويعتربون ذلك من كرامات املتنبي ولهذا
أصبحوا يدفنون اطفالهم بالقرب منه بعد الفيضان.‏
جاء أبا ألطيب املتنبي ورحل ولن يعود مثيله وكم أمتنى أن يرجع ألزمن
قرونا وأقيض يوما يف مجلس ديوانه ألستمع ألشعاره أو أسري ظال ظليال جنب
ركبانيات خطواته فهو عندي واحد من أصدقاء الفِكر العرشة ومن املستحيل
أن تحوي مقالة كهذه كل قصائده وأمثاله وتطوي حكمه وطيبّاته.‏
هذه بإيجاز كانت قصة الشاعر العظيم أيب الطيب املتنبي كام جاءت
يف كتب مقاالت الكتاب واألدب واالشعار واىل موعد مع شاعر اخر وقصائد
أخرى.‏
املصادر:‏ املؤرخ تامر الزغاري،‏ تاريخ بغداد-‏ الخطيب البغدادي،‏ املتنبي-‏
محمود شاكر رشح ديوان املتنبي-‏ عيل بن أحمد الواحدي،‏ أبو الطيب املتنبي يف
مرص والعراق-‏ مصطفى الشكعة،‏ نقوس املهدي/‏ املغرب،‏ الكاتب عيل جاسم.‏
40 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2024

CITIZENSHIP PREPARATION
NOW ENROLLING FOR WINTER CLASSES
JANUARY 9, 2024 – MARCH 21, 2024
Tuesdays and Thursdays
MORNING SESSIONS
9:30 am – 11:30
am
OR
EVENING SESSIONS
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
REGISTRATION WILL BEGIN ON SEPTEMBER 25, 2023
To register please call CCF at 586-722-7253
$40 registration fee
CHALDEAN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION 3601 15 MILE ROAD, STERLING HEIGHTS, MI 48310 586-722-7253 CHALDEANFOUNDATION.ORG
MARCH 2024 NEWS 41

FEATURE
Mesopotamia to the Motor City
New ventures in a new land
BY CAL ABBO
Part 3
The Chaldeans’ journey to Detroit
is a story constantly being rewritten
as the community grows and
evolves. It would be relatively simple
to characterize Chaldeans in the early
1900s; their differences from other immigrants
left them with few options besides
the assembly line, menial labor,
or starting their own farmers market
stalls and eventually small storefronts.
As Chaldeans found the growing
need for integration into their new
community as well as a certain independence
from it, they realized that
the neighborhood store business was
perfect for them. Intimately familiar
with farming and agriculture, they
found synergy in buying and selling
produce. In addition, their biggest
advantage was the community trust
established and maintained by faith
and family, which they used to learn
from and support one another in
times of need.
As time went on and new generations
were born, however, they became
acculturated and Americanized.
Young, enterprising Chaldeans created
business ideas that have survived decades,
and their dedication to service
and their community has rendered tremendous
success.
In addition, Chaldean immigrant
families tend to act like others from
different communities, emphasizing
a complete education and pushing
their children to become professionals
in some high-earning field. Therefore,
Chaldeans in Michigan have
become doctors, lawyers, judges, engineers,
architects, salesmen, managers,
restaurant operators, athletes,
and excel many more professions, as
the Chaldean News highlights on a
daily basis.
This kind of integration is important
for any immigrant group to
become a productive and respected
part of society. By expanding their
scope, Chaldeans can interact with all
kinds of people while maintaining the
Mike George
close-knit ties to their community that
brought them this far.
In some cases, the most successful
businesses resulted only from the hard
work and dedication to service that
Chaldeans are known for.
Mike George’s Melody Farms
Mike George is one of the legendary
Chaldean pioneers, and for good reason.
He built a long record of service
and support for his community while
also demonstrating incredible business
acumen.
Scott George, one of Mike’s sons, described
how his father got started in his
famed career. “My grandfather owned
a meat market in Detroit,” he said. “My
father started delivering milk out of the
market. They bought a van for $100 and
just went door-to-door.”
Scott’s uncle and his father, Mike,
started Tom George Dairy and Sons. As
years passed, the business grew, and
Mike bought his own dairy company.
Eventually, even while Mike was still
running it, Melody Farms became the
Saad Abbo
largest independent dairy in the Midwest
with 450 employees.
In a 2003 interview with the Chaldean
News, Mike George commented
on how his business got its name. “We
were distributing milk through Wilson
Dairy at the time,” recalled George. “It
was homogenized milk. There was no 2
percent or low-fat at the time. We added
vitamin D to the milk and as a result we
had the highest butterfat milk of all the
competitors. The more fat, the smoother
the product.” In 1962, the name
changed to Mello-D to compliment
the smooth texture and the vitamin D,
eventually becoming Melody Farms.
Saad Abbo’s U.S. Ice
Saad Abbo’s family came to America in
1972, when he was 10 years old. For the
next ten years of his life, his family operated
that store. One fateful summer
day in 1984, which Abbo remembers
as the hottest day in summer, the ice
delivery service they used failed to deliver
on a Thursday night, not showing
up until Monday night.
“My father was so pissed,” Abbo
said. “When a customer walks in, they
come and buy groceries and pop and
other stuff. If you don’t have all the
items, they go to another store. We had
a few customers just leave the buggy
and walk away.”
In his anger, Abbo’s father suggested
the family start their own ice company.
The rest is history.
42 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2024

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“My father was aggressive,” Abbo added. “We
opened up the ice company and put a plant together.
It was producing 10,000 pounds of ice every day. At the
time, we thought that was a lot.”
Abbo and his brother bought a few trucks. After the
first year, they had about 50 customers. Not bad for a
startup, but it wasn’t something to start a career over.
The following year, that number tripled to 150. After
that, they really believed they could succeed in this
business. So they sold the store.
“The whole idea behind it is service,” Abbo said.
“We built this thing around the idea that you don’t delay
a customer. They call, and we were there every time.”
In the beginning, it was the Chaldeans who helped
Abbo and his family succeed. His high level of service
and ability to keep prices down was appealing to the
large community of store owners. Eventually word
spread about U.S. Ice, and they deservedly got many
more clients. A little over a year ago, Abbo decided to
retire, and sold his company to Home City Ice.
“We kept the price down in Michigan compared to
every other state in the country,” Abbo said. “Since we
sold the business one year ago, the prices have almost
doubled from what they used to be, which is actually a
normal price compared to the rest of the country. And
the service is not there.”
Abbo won the Chaldean Chamber of Commerce
Businessperson of the Year Award in 2014 and was
last year inducted into the Great Lakes Ice Association
Hall of Fame.
He attributes his success to God. “In the Chaldean
community, there’s family and God,” he said. “The way
we believe in God, no other community is like that.
Church is the center of everything.”
MARCH 2024 CHALDEAN NEWS 43

IN MEMORIAM
OBITUARY
Saad Dawood Saiyad
Oct 11, 1954 —
Jan 17, 2024
Ilisha Astafin
Apr 11, 1958 —
Jan 22, 2024
Roza Habbo
Jarjees Soter
Jul 1, 1932 —
Jan 23, 2024
Masaoud Jamil
Attisha
Jan 5, 1945 —
Jan 25, 2024
Yosif Sarmad Khasir
May 28, 2005 —
Jan 26, 2024
Thair Samir Dado
Bashar Yaldo
Jun 26, 1968 —
Jan 26, 2024
Manal Bahjat Guriya
Jun 23, 1958 —
Feb 1, 2024
Rev. Jacob
Moses Kakish
Dec 24, 1942 —
Jan 27, 2024
Silvia Yusuf Ideh
Mar 18, 1950 —
Feb 2, 2024
Batoul Putres
Jajawe Yaldo
Jul 15, 1954 —
Jan 28, 2024
Nooria Salmu
Mansour
May 5, 1935 —
Feb 2, 2024
Suad A. Hermiz
Jan 30, 2024
Sarah Petrus
Jul 1, 1930 —
Feb 2, 2024
Khairiya Toma Kassab
Jul 1, 1941 —
Jan 30, 2024
Adil Jubraeel
Jul1, 1937 —
Feb 3, 2024
Thair Samir Dado was born on June 23,
1980, and died on February 4, 2024. Thair,
43, was killed at work, gunned down in
the parking lot of All Stars Beverage Liquor
Store in the city of Detroit while attempting
to stop the theft of his vehicle.
Thair leaves behind a wife, Zina Francis,
and 16-year-old son, Steven. The Chaldean
American Chamber of Commerce
and Chaldean Community Foundation
have engaged the Waad Murad Advocacy
Fund in support of Thair. The Fund, working
with the Detroit Police Department
and Crimestoppers, will award $10,000
to the supplier of information that leads
to the arrest and conviction of the culprits
of the murder, bringing justice to the perpetrators
and hopefully, some small semblance
of relief to the victim’s families.
Arkan Hirmiz Kenaya
Aug 8, 1948 —
Feb 4, 2024
Louis Patto Meram
Aug 7, 1941 —
Feb 5, 2024
Samira Shaeena
Antwan
Jan 6, 1944 —
Feb 6, 2024
Steven Sabri
Shamoun
Dec 23, 1984 —
Feb 7, 2024
Sliwa Jarjis Kasgorgis
Aug 1, 1931 —
Feb 9, 2024
Lameea Odish Karcho
Aug 20, 1956 —
Feb 10, 2024
Nazar Awadis Krikor
Jul 1, 1938 —
Feb 10, 2024
Samira Mera
Jul 1, 1937 —
Feb 11, 2024
Najah Khamo Jarjosa
Apr 12, 1943 —
Feb 13, 2024
Goze Matti Khamis
Jul 1, 1932 —
Feb 13, 2024
Tarek Nouri Kizy
Jul 1, 1952 —
Feb 14, 2024
Amira Shakir Abro
Oct 25, 1936 –
Feb 16, 2024
Amir Salman Alyas
Apr 1, 1956 –
Feb 17, 2024
Najat Halata
Sep 24, 1938 –
Feb 18, 2024
44 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2024

WE ARE
HIRING
Do you possess a passion for bettering the lives of others?
Join our ever expanding team!
Behavioral Health Therapist
Case Worker • Citizenship Instructor
Advocacy
Acculturation
For More Information
HR@chaldeanfoundation.org
586-722-7253
www.chaldeanfoundation.org/careers
Community Development
Cultural Preservation
MARCH 2024 CHALDEAN NEWS 45

FROM THE ARCHIVE
Prioritizing
Education
As with most immigrant families, education is a
priority in Chaldean households. These archival
photos from the Chaldean Cultural Center
show classes in Baghdad as well as Detroit,
with Chaldean teachers in all classrooms. The
Chaldean mission in Michigan remains to educate
fellow citizens about who Chaldeans are.
Clockwise from top left:
Amira Mary taught English at Alsyryan
Catholic School in Baghdad in 1964.
Farouk Samona taught mathematics in
Detroit Public Schools in the 1990s.
Farouk Samona also taught at Redford High
School and Oakland Community College.
Malik Mary was an English language
and literature teacher at Al-Mustansiriya
University in Baghdad.
Mary Romaya at Warren Woods Tower
High School in 2009.
The Chaldean Cultural Center and Museum
owns a collection of captivating images from
our vibrant community that we are delighted
to share with the Chaldean News. If you
have photographs that you would like us to
incorporate into our archive, kindly reach
out to us at info@chaldeanculturalcenter.org
or call 248-681-5050.
46 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2024