Rally
Continued from Page 1
Pledges of time
money and blood
were individual
responses.
Sunday's rally in support of
Israel and the U.S.-led coali-
tion forces in the Middle
East. The rally, which was
sponsored by the Jewish
Welfare Federation and the
Jewish Community Council,
was intended to spearhead
an effort to raise some $9
million more for the Allied
Jewish Campaign. More
than 3,000 area Jews were
in attendance.
The Detroit Federation
has collected $19 million of
its $28.5 million goal for
1991. The Federation has
been asked to transmit $14
million to the United Jewish
Appeal by the end of March.
The result of the rally and
earlier Sunday telethons
resulted in collections of
about $1 million.
But the rally was so much
more than money. It gave
area Jews the opportunity to
listen to their community
leaders, but most of all a
chance to share the enormity
"I can never
remember the
number of people
sharing the
emotions we're all
feeling now."
Rabbi Norman Roman
and complexity of their feel-
ings with other Jews.
"It's very hard for us to be
here (in the United States),"
Mrs. Goldfein said. "We
have many friends who are
in Israel. We have been in
contact with them, and all I
can say is that I'd rather be
back there with them."
Mrs. Goldfein was among
some 50 people who vol-
unteered. The Israel Pro-
gram Center was taking
names just in case a need for
volunteers arises. The vol-
unteer positions available
range from farm work to
hospital volunteers to even
people who would help
grease and lubricate
military vehicles.
Howard Sherizen of Oak
Park said that he and his 6-
year-old son, Moshe, were
there to express a sense of
outrage as well as a sense of
unity.
"We would not want to be
anywhere else but here,"
Mr. Sherizen said. "This is
such an important time in
all of our lives."
Dr. Harvey Lefkowitz of
Southfield recently returned
from a month-long
fellowship at Hadassah
Hospital in Jerusalem. He
said that he expected the
Iraqi missile attacks on
Israel only because while he
was there he watched the
country prepare for it. But
he also said that for him the
remarkable thing was that
the Israelis were largely un-
panicked about the deadly
possibilities.
"While I was there, there
were heightened feelings all
around," Dr. Lefkowitz said.
"The hospital had set up a
MASH (Mobile Army
Surgical Hospital) unit and
was going through rehear-
sals.
"The possibility of war was
on everybody's mind. And
even though I'm here now, I
can still sense a definite
sense of belonging, and I
carry it with me in both my
home and my heart."
Mr. Zechory, who served
with the IDF during the
1973 war, called it
"heartwarming" to see such
support for Israel. He said in
many ways the rally was
more of a help for those who-
are here than in Israel.
"When I talk to my friends
and family in Israel and I
tell them about the support
here, they are glad to hear
it," Mr. Zechory said. "They
are just waiting for the next
bomb. And I've seen some of
the bombing results near
where my house was. It
looks like Beirut after the
bombing it's faced."
Mr. Zechory also said that
it is difficult for him to be in
Michigan while his
homeland is in danger. He
said he called his military
unit in Israel, and they told
him to remain here.
Photos by Glenn Triest
►
Avi Batt, the B'nei Israel
shaliach, said that he
somedays feels as if he is half
here and half in Israel.
"It's interesting for us
here, because we've lived
through war in Israel," he
said. "The people here look
to be more nervous than in
Israel. In Israel, life goes
on."
Sivan Maas, shlichah at
the Israel Program Center at-
the Jewish Community
Center, told the rally that
Iraq's dumping of Kuwaiti
oil into the Persian Gulf is
an "attack on all forms of
life. I can't imagine my
mother's face (in Israel) as
she puts on a gas mask.
"This war is not about oil,"
she added. "It is about life.
We should not forget that."
David Hermelin, the
international president of
Israel Bonds, asked "the
Jews of comfort" to take ac-
tion on behalf of Israel, "the
Jews of combat."
The Rev. Jim Lyons of the
Ecumenical Institute for
Jewish-Christian Studies in
Southfield, said there is
respect in the Christian
community for Israel's
"moral stand like I have not
seen in many years. How can
she sit there and take it?
Could we do that? "
"This is a wonderful day
for the Jewish community,"
said Jewish Community
Council president Paul D.
Borman. "If you are Jewish
and an American, you have
an agenda here. We as Jews
lived through World War II
and we're not going to let
ourselves be victims again.
We have to be vigilant.
We're not paranoid, but
we're wary."
"I can relate what is hap-
pening here today to actual-
ly being in Israel during a
crisis," said Rabbi Norman
Roman, president of the
Michigan Board of Rabbis.
"There, everyone stops what
they're doing to listen to the
news. The news is now seem-
ingly part of everyone's con-
sciousness. I can never
Helen Pliskow of the
Charles Shapiro
Auxiliary, Jewish War
Veterans.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
15