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Detroit Connections

Fresh Air Society's Teen Mission
to Israel. The six-week program
matched 20 Detroiters with 20
teens from Detroit's Project Re-
newal neighborhood in liamle.
"I loved it," said Emily. "I
would never have gone on any
other trip. Living and travelling
with the Israelis gave us a better
feeling about Israel."
Although Emily has taken
Hebrew classes for four years at
Southfield-Lathrup, all of the Is-
raeli teens spoke English. "When
my friend Gila and I were alone,
we would make a deal. I would
speak Hebrew to her and she
would speak English to me. I.
learned real Hebrew that way,
slang and everything. My teacher
at school has noticed the im-
provement."
Emily has been a Tamarack
camper since she was six years
old, and was delighted to go to Is-
rael through a Tamarack pro-
gram. "Money was a factor," she
said, and she utilized scholarship
aid from the Fresh Air Society
and the Jewish Welfare Federa-
tion. "I also wanted to live with

Michelle Meskin endorses the summer programs.

filming street scenes in Jerusalem
and conducting their own interviews.
One of their subjects was former Is-
raeli Supreme Court Justice Chaim
Cohen.
The students arranged the in-
terviews and handled all aspects of
production, including editing and
producing titles and credits. The
final product, a 12-minute film, was
screened at the Cinematheque. The
1985 participants included Robin
Mainster of Bloomfield Hills and
Sandra Stein of Oak Park.
The Cinematheque, its archives
and daily screenings of Israeli and
foreign films, was the journalists'
last stop in Jerusalem for several
days. Boarding a mini-bus, the group
traveled down from Jerusalem, stop-
ping for a picnic lunch less than a
mile from the infamous police fort at
Latrun, a major Arab position in the
War of Independence which was fi-
nally captured by Israel 19 years
later in the 1967 Six-Day War.
The journalists were traveling to
Tel Aviv, to meet American high
school students participating in the
six-week Israel Connection leader-
ship program. The students that day
were touring Bet Hatefutsot — the
museum of - the Diaspora on the
campus of Tel Aviv University —
and participating in a Jewish iden-
tity program at the museum.
During a morning session, the
students developed a "Jewish plat-
form" to include Jewish culture, cus-
toms and traditions, community,
pride, education and betterment of
society. After touring the museum,
they developed a list of Jewish prob-
lems which their platform could at-
tack: assimilation, apathy, lack of
education, lack of funds, conformity,
intolerance, youth rebellion and
anti-Semitism. Their own counselors
and trained staff served as

ichelle Meskin had her
Bat Mitzvah at the Western Wall
four years ago. It was almost a
spur-of-the-moment decision, but
something she will remember for
the rest of her life.
"It was my first time in Israel
and I was 17. We had some prep-
aration from some yeshivah kids
the day before, and it was just
something that I wanted to do,"
Michelle told The Jewish News.
Michelle's mother, Annette, is
a past president of Greater De-
troit Chapter of Hadassah, and
Michelle spent the summer of
1982 in Israel as part of an
American Zionist Youth Founda-
tion prograin. In 1983, she re-
turned to Israel for a summer
program that included working on
a kibbutz and touring. In 1984,
she went back for an AZYF lead-
ership training seminar.
Now 21 and a nursery school
teacher, Michelle will be assistant
director at Camp Young Judea
this summer, but hopes to return
to Israel next fall. At the Israel
Summer Programs Fair at the
Jewish Community Center a few
weeks ago, she told The Jewish
News that "the kibbutz program
was a good experience to see how
the people lived and worked. The
leadership seminar gave me a
chance to talk to all kinds of
people — both Arabs and Jews,"
she said. "The programs were cer-
tainly more than what I ex-
pected."
Emily Holzman, a student at
Southfield-Lathrup High School,
travelled to Israel for the first
time last summer as part of the

My parents attitude was that if I
was going to Israel, I would be
safe. And I felt that way too."
Concerns pver the safety of
Americans in Europe in the wake
of several terrorism incidents last
fall have reduced overseas
tourism. But Benny Hershkovitz
of B & H Travel in Southfield said
trips to Israel from Detroit appear
to be at the same level ag last
year.
"Several years ago," he said,
"we had 1,500 to 2,000 people per
year travel to Israel. Last year,
we handled 1,200 and we seem to
be at the same level for this year.
Many people like to take three-
day side trips — Egypt used to be
the favorite stop — but those are
way down now. People are now
looking for the non-stop flights
from the United States" to Israel.
Hershkovitz said that "those
who are going to Israel are still
going."
Although overall figures are
•not available for the youth sum-
mer programs, a spot check indi-
cates that they too are getting
registrations at last year's pace.

el

Israel shaliach Benny Schwarz explains what is available to Florence, Cheryl and
Shel Dulberg.

Israelis and not just stay in hotels
and be with Americans."
Emily plans to attend Michi-
gan State University next fall and
wants to study at Hebrew Univer-
sity during her junior year in col-
lege.
Both Michelle and Emily felt
very comfortable and safe during
their trips to Israel. "My friends
had strong concerns during my
1982 trip," Michelle said, because
of the Lebanon War. "I didn't get
any reaction last summer," said
Emily, "But I know I would if I
were going this summer. But I
would go back today, with no wor-
ries, because I would be in Israel.

B'nai B'rith Youth Organization
has 36 youngsters registered for
its program in Israel this summer.
According to BBYO assistant di-
rector Joel Colman, it is the same
number as 1985, and is the
largest figure for any BBYO
region in the U.S.
Eliot Sorkin of the Fresh Air
Society said ten students have
signed up for the Israel Teen Mis-
sion, and another six have ex-
pressed a strong interest. The
Hashachar Young Judea pro-
grams of Hadassah have five per-
sons signed up and four others
strongly interested for its summer

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