DETROIT
WE BEAT
ANY PRICE
NO EXCEPTIONS!
Volunteers Fly To Israel
To Show Their Support
SUSAN GRANT
Staff Writer
G
POLICE
COMPARE
AT $204
SALE '169
p
COMPARE
AT $120
SALE '99
SALE '89
COMPARE
AT $106
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 with purchase of prescription lenses at West Bloomfield and Southfield stores only.
Limited time offer.
EXAMINATIONS AVAILABLE! WALK-INS WELCOME!
NIBBLES & NUTS
THE PERFECT ENDING
FOR YOUR SEDER
A Beautiful Tiray Filled With Special
Passover Candy, Dried Fruits & Nuts.
737-8088
ck4(\
33020 NORTHWESTERN
v.srrfca , cl
Outside Of Michigan
1.800-752-2133
Special Candy & Sugarfree Available
20
FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1991
Iii
Local & Nationwide Delivery
DISCOUNTS
$9999 INTERPLAK
Sugg.
TOOTHBRUSH $6488
SEIKO WATCHES
40-50% OFF ag.
MONT BLANC PENS
40% OFF sT
CUISINART
RCA-ZENITH TVs
Oscar Braun's NORELCO
15075 W. Lincoln SHAVERS
Oak Park 968-5858 $29.88
iving money to show
his support for Israel
was no longer enough
for Larry Traison.
For years, he has given
money to Israeli causes, Mr.
Traison said. But when Scud
missiles began hitting Tel
Aviv, he decided it was time
to act.
"I thought I would like to
do something, especially
with the war, for the people
of Israel," he said. "The war
was a motivator. In times of
need, Israel has always been
able to look to its people and
I really wanted to be there."
So he called the Jewish
Welfare Federation, which
led him to the Israel Pro-
gram Center. He joined the
Volunteers For Israel pro-
gram for two weeks.
Begun in 1982 during the
Lebanon War, the on-going
program allows volunteers
ages 18 to 65 to work at an
army base, hospital or kib-
butz, doing anything from
washing dishes and packing
mess kits to greasing
engines and folding
parachutes. While the tasks
may seem menial, it allows
Israeli reservists to do other
activities.
Volunteers, who for securi-
ty reasons are not told where
they will be stationed in
Israel until they arrive, can
stay from 14 to 23 days.
They work from 7:30 a.m. to
2 p.m. every day except
Shabbat, take a mini-
Hebrew course, and have
time to visit friends, family
or sightsee. Volunteers must
pay for their airfare to
Israel, but receive uniforms
and three kosher meals a
day.
Mr. Traison, one of six
Detroit area volunteers fly-
ing to Israel on Sunday, said
when he first heard about
the program, he asked his
wife, Barbara, if she would
come along. She said no.
Undaunted, he asked his
friend, Sid Rosenberg, a
record store owner in East
Lansing and Columbus,
Ohio, if he would join him. "I
told him I am going with or
without you, but I would like
to go with somebody," Mr.
Traison said. Mr. Rosenberg
agreed to go.
Both men share a deep
commitment to Israel. Mr.
Traison, 57, who owns
Walker Printery Inc. in Oak
Park, said being away from
his business for three weeks
was too long for him, but two
weeks was just right. "A lot
of people like myself could fit
it into their schedules," said
Mr. Traison, who hopes
other people will join the
program.
He doesn't look at his time
in Israel as a vacation. He
wants to work two shifts a
day, but the program will
not allow it. "I'm not used to
a seven-hour work day. Two
shifts will make me feel at
home."
One job he doesn't want to
do is wash dishes, he said.
He doesn't do them at home
and doesn't want to travel
halfway across the world to
get dishpan hands. Instead,
he hopes to spend the time
oiling motors for the Israeli
army.
The trip marks his second
to Israel. Five years ago, he
and Barbara celebrated
their anniversary in Israel.
"I wasn't very motivated to
go even though I was a past
president of my synagogue
(Congregation B'nai David)
Six Detroiters will
be washing dishes
or greasing
engines.
and active in a lot of Jewish
organizations. I didn't really
want to make the time to
go," Mr. Traison said. But as
soon as he walked off the El
Al plane, his attitude chang-
ed. He felt so at home in
Israel that "if I had to live
anywhere but the United
States, I would live there,"
he said.
He was planning to go
back to Israel next year for
his mother-in-law's 75th bir-
thday, Mr. Traison said.
They may still go. But when
the Persian Gulf war broke
out, he knew he wanted to be
there.
"My wife is concerned
She'll be happy when I'm
back. But she understands
why I want to go. Israel is
very important to us," he
said.
"I don't think there is
anything that would keep
me from going."
While he knows one of the
first things he will receive
when he arrives at Ben-
Gurion Airport is a gas
mask, Mr. Traison isn't wor-
ried about the possibility of a
chemical attack. "I'm not
frightened. But I'm not a
hero," he said, adding he is
aware of the possibility of
danger.
❑