DETROIT GUARANTEED LOWEST PRICES! DESIGNER EYEWEAR SALE! Y.U. Students Organize `Operation Torah Shield' TZVI DOLE and PHIL JACOBS R 30% OFF OUR ENTIRE STOCK! FERRE YRIMM POLICE NEOSTYLE® GUCCI Beau monde T A X 1 GIORGIO ARMANI LUNETTES WE GUARANTEE THE LOWEST PRICES ON EYEWEAR! SOUTHFIELD 647-9790 WEST BLOOMFIELD 626-9590 6667 Orchard Lake Road 30800 Southfield Road Bring in Your Prescription & Save! Bring in Your Prescription & Save! Above prices and discount offers good at West Bloomfield and Southfield stores only. Limited time offer. EXAMINATIONS AVAILABLE! WALK-INS WELCOME! DYSAUTONOMIA We Create Impressions That Last GIFT BASKETS & TRAYS FOR ALL OCCASIONS OUR SPECIALTY 737-8088 33020 NORTHWESTERN Ma s4 C w d Outside Of Michigan = 1 ,400-152-2133 Special Candy & Sugarfree Available 16 FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 1991 Local & Nationwide Delivery No child should be denied correct diagnosis and proper treatment . Support the Dysautonomia Foundation. Dysautonomia Foundation Inc. 3000 Town Center, Suite 1500, Southfield, MI 48075 (313) 444-4848 abbi Gedalya Shem- tov knew that it was just a matter of time before he and his family would visit Israel. He just didn't know until the weekend that the trip would be as soon as Monday night. An employee of the Brooklyn-based Lubavitch Foundation and a native of Oak Park, the rabbi was part of a special and fully booked El Al flight leaving New York's JFK Airport for Tel Aviv. Organized by Orthodox Jewish students of Yeshiva University (Y.U.), "Operation Torah Shield" offered participants $50 round-trip air fare to Israel to study Torah for one to two weeks. The trip was sub- sidized by anonymous do- nors, reportedly from Florida, to show solidarity with Israel at this critical time. "The idea was for young college and yeshiva students to bring a high level of Torah and morale to Israel," said David Borowich, 21, a senior at Y.U. who is also vice pres- ident of the student council. A spokesman at Yeshiva University estimated the cost of the flight at $350,000, plus $125,000 in insurance. Most of the more than 400 passengers on Flight 012 were faculty, students and alumni of Yeshiva and Stern colleges in New York. Among them, Rabbi Israel Miller, vice president of Yeshiva University, Roshei Yeshiva Rabbi Herschel Schechter, Rabbi Moshe Tendler and Rabbi Heshie Reichman. Dr. Norman Lamm, president of Yeshiva University and his wife, left two hours earlier and met the group at the airport in Tel Aviv. Approximately 30 Lubavitch Foundation members, including small children, also joined the trip. The flight had a stand-by list of about 400 people as well. It was an emotional scene, covered by television news crews, as a crowd of about 100 people, most of them Yeshiva University students spending the year studying in Israel, greeted the plane. There was singing and danc- ing, followed by a message of greeting from Deputy For- eign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Andy Goldsmith, 21, a student leader of the trip from Long Island, told the crowd: "We have made a very significant statement by coming here today." He said that this is the time for American Jews to be runn- ing to Israel, not from Israel. From the airport, buses took the students directly to the Western Wall, where prayers were offered, and the singing and dancing con- tinued. Chief Rabbi of Israel Avraham Shapiro extended greetings and Dr. Lamm., president of Y.U., told the students how proud he was of them. "We're not scared," Rabbi Shemtov said. "The Rebbe (Lubavitch Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson) said that the safest place in the world is Israel. Our mission here is not to make this a mission. Going to Israel has to be a natural thing. By go- ing we don't feel that we're doing a big service for any- one. We're not paying atten- tion to the situation over there. We know it's going to be okay. We know that God is watching over Israel. We're going and we hope that all other Jews will follow us there." The organizational aspects of "Operation Torah Shield" were entirely run by student volunteers during finals week at Y.U. The trip began hours after the term's last final exam. "I don't know what this is going to do to our G.P.A.'s" said Andy Goldsmith, 21, a senior from Cedar Hurst, Long Island who still wor- ried about his grade point average. "But it's certainly worth it." Several students donated their dorm rooms for the effort. Parents of the students planning to go on the trip were concerned about safety. Some parents would not allow their children to par- ticipate. Many parents ap- proved of their children's commitment. Mr. Goldsmith said his parents also expressed some concern when he first told them he wanted to go on the trip. "But they thought, as I did, that it's a very impor- tant time for American Jews to show their support." ❑ Tzvi Dole is a staff reporter for the Baltimore Jewish Times. Phil Jacobs is managing editor of The Jewish News. 4 4 -4 4