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.