EDITORIAL
Home To Whom?
Initial plans for the move of the Jewish
Home for Aged into a centralized geriatric
care facility in West Bloomfield should both
excite and concern Detroit's Jewish commun-
ity.
A geriatric care center at the Jewish Com-
munity Campus would offer new vistas for
Detroit's Jewish elderly. A state-of-the-art,
250-bed geriatric center would offer the most
modern care available. Placement adjacent to
Fleischman Home, Hechtman Federation
Apartments and the Jewish Community
Center opens all kinds of possibilities for joint
programming and a better quality of life for
our seniors residing in community institu-
tions.
The concern begins with the number of
people who would be served by the new facili-
ty if it only provides 250 beds. This marks a
reduction from the 212 at Borman Hall and
100 at Prentis Manor, the homes that a new
geriatric center would replace.
While the initial plans call for a 250-bed
facility, Home officials are non-committal
about the number of beds the center will
ultimately have. It is, they say, too early to
tell. With two certificates of need allowing for
312 beds, the Home could add beds later. It is
the responsibility of the Jewish community
now to pose a few questions to make sure its
elderly will be accommodated.
Will the new facility be large enough to
handle the expected demand? Will the goal of
30 percent private-pay residents further
reduce the number of beds available to those
with limited economic resources?
Every recent sociological and governmental
study has projected an increasing proportion
of elderly within the American population.
American Jews already have one of the
highest average ages of any American ethnic
group. The reality is the demand for beds
should grow.
A second reality is the Jewish Home for
Aged's continuing struggle to balance its
books. Health care costs have skyrocketed
while Medicaid reimbursements from the
state and federal governments have been
static at best. The Home has been caught,
and will continue to be, between the prover-
bial rock and hard place. And the Jewish
Welfare Federation will continue to be asked
to fill in the difference, with growing
pressure to shift a larger proportion of the
economic load to private-pay residents.
The Home must continue to be the place for
all Jews, particularly the needy, who have
few options. We urge its leaders to keep this
in mind as plans proceed.
Once More, The Intifada
A lone gunman's act in Israel, killing seven
Palestinians in the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon
L'Zion, has rekindled the intifada. The 29-
month-old Arab revolt, which had been win-
ding down in recent months, reached a new
high in bloodshed this week with the out-
break of violent clashes between Palestinians
and Israeli security forces.
There was no logic to either the initial inci-
dent, said to be the action of an emotionally
disturbed 21-year-old Israeli, or the resulting
violence by Palestinian youths. In recent
years, there have been several incidents in
Egypt where a lone Arab has gone on a
bloody rampage and killed Israeli civilians.
Though angered and distressed over the in-
cidents, Israelis were satisfied that the Egyp-
tian authorities were doing all in their power
to bring the perpetrators to justice and to
prevent further violence.
But in the current situation, Palestinians
have lashed out at Israeli society for the ac-
tions of a single individual, branding the
tragedy a "Zionist atrocity."
The painful truth is that it does not take
much to set off the cycle of bloodshed in the
Middle East. Israeli Jews may have become
desensitized to the daily violence, and it has
become increasingly acceptable for Israeli
politicians to speak of transferring Israeli
Arabs out of the Jewish state. But Arab
leaders continue to stir up the emotions of
their young people, inciting them to violence
against Israeli "occupation" rather than
taking the responsible position of sitting
down to negotiate face to face with Israeli of-
ficials.
For all of its bloodshed and headlines, the
intifada is not the key to the Mideast prob-
lem, but rather a symptom. Wars were fought
between Arab and Jew long before "intifada"
was part of our vocabulary. Peace will come
to the troubled region only when the Arab
states recognize the reality of the Jewish
state and put down their stones and enter the
dialogue.
I LETTERS
JFS Also Helps
The Mentally Ill
I commend the insightful
article on Kadima and the
plight of the Jewish mental-
ly ill in Detroit ("Moving For-
ward," May 11). There is no
doubt that our community
has a long way to go before we
can adequately serve the
needs of this population and
their families.
The article stated that
6 FRIDAY, MAY 25, 1990
Kadima is the "only Jewish
agency working with the
Jewish mentally ill in
metropolitan Detroit." Jewish
Family _ Service has worked
with the mentally ill for the
past 60 years and will con-
tinue to do so. We offer
counselling, therapeutic sup-
portive services, advocacy and
financial support to the men-
tally ill and their families. In
addition, we also work with
the Jewish Vocational Ser-
vice's "Project Outreach,"
which provides services to
mentally ill elderly
individuals.
Alan Goodman
Executive Director,
Jewish Family Service
Kadima Story
Was Insightful
Thank you for the excellent
article on mental illness
("Moving Forward," May 11).
The in-depth coverage,
awareness and insight into
the suffering of people af-
flicted with mental illness
was written with a sensitivi-
ty that captured their suffer-
ing; yet there was an element
of hope which is where
Kadima fits into the picture.
Your article will probably
do more to bring attention to
the problem than anything
we have attempted in the last
four years.
Rhoda Raderman,
President,
Kadima Board of Directors
Sordid 'trophies'
Were Offensive
Your Style Home Magazine
for Spring 1990 contains
photographs of a "trophy
room boasting a real leopard
throw, a grizzly bearskin rug,
two zebra skin rugs, elephant
tusks and more 'Out of Africa'
scenes from the owner's hun-
ting days."
The Jewish News magazine
staff and the author of the ar-
ticle should be informed that
this sordid collection of
"trophies" representing the
destruction of these precious
and endangered animals of-
fends this reader's sen-
sibilities. I deplore your effort
to sanction this wanton kill-
ing of wildlife in the name of
fashion.
Despite the pleas of en-
vironmentalists and conser-
vationists to protect and
preserve Africa's wildlife and
wilderness, The Jewish News
has chosen to glamorize the
loathsome conduct of the "big
game hunter" and the
poacher. Your readers are ow-
ed an explanation as to why
such a pictorial was publish-
ed in this era of ecological and
environmental consciousness.
The Jewish News also owes
its reader an apology.
Richard Ruby
Franklin
.
Protest Needed,
But Not For Roads
In response to the letter
stating the Walk for Jewish
Solidarity was marred by
open roads, I must tell you I
disagree. West Bloomfield
Township and the West
Bloomfield Police Depart-
ment were extremely
cooperative and supportive.
They allowed us, along with
Oakland County, to use the
shoulder of the roads, which
has not been done in the past.
The only entrance and exit
for the Aldingbrook Apart-
ments is on to Drake Road,
which cannot be blocked.
I agree with the writer that
we need to "express our
displeasure in a united
fashion." My concern, though,
is not West Bloomfield
lbwnship, but rather the lack
of coverage provided by The
Detroit Free Press and The
Detroit News. Neither had
any reports on the walk or the
activities after. Five hundred
new American citizens mar-
ched under their own banner.
Not only was this a Walk for
Solidarity, but a walk for
miracles!
This is a time of challenge
for all Jews. What a privilege
it is to be living at this par-
ticular time in history. No
Jew is saying no to the cry for
help as heard by the world 50
years ago.
Marta Rosenthal
Walk for Solidarity Co-Chairman
Franklin
Let Us Know
Letters must be concise,
typewritten and double-
spaced. Correspondence
must include the signa-
ture, home address and
daytime phone number of
the writer.