UP FRONT

After 14 Years, A Mg To Israel
Says Commitment, Connection

NANCY HANDELMAN

Special to The Jewish News

F

ourteen years is too
long to be away from
Israel. I remembered
the golden glow of Jerusalem
and the glorious coastline in
Tel Aviv and the beauty of
Haifa. I knew Israel had
changed a lot during the
years I had been away.
I came to Israel in July as
one of the 1,803 delegates to
the National Hadassah Con-
vention, the largest delega-
tion to visit Israel since the
Gulf War.
Hadassah orchestrated a
fabulous mission featuring
many of the national board
members who brought their
energy and love of Israel to
each and every one of the 33
buses that formed the
Hadassah caravan (seemed
more like an invasion of
Hadassah members and
associates). This was not their
first trip to Israel for many of
the delegates. For some it was
the 6th, 12th, 18th; one na-
tional board member said it
was her 60th. Now she
chooses to count how many
times she goes to Israel each
year.
I signed up for this conven-
tion because of the itinerary.

I also had my own agenda.
Many of my friends gave me
scraps of paper with phone
numbers of people to be sure
to call. The recent excava-
tions in and around the Old
City were among the top
priorities on my list. I also
was advised to visit new sites
and installations that have
gone up since my last visit.
My camera was loaded, my
notebook was open to page
one, and I had my most com-
fortable shoes on.

kept ticking. I wanted the two
weeks to last much longer.
After all, I had a long agen-
da and I wanted the time to
do everything at a leisurely
pace. At home, my life is at a
hectic pace. This would be my
two weeks to go at a slower
pace. That's a joke! I needed
two weeks to recover from this
trip when I returned home.
The nice part about this trip,
is that I returned home re-
newed and deeply connected
to Eretz Yisrael.

A cab driver said,
"The Syrians want
land for peace.
Israel will give the
Syrians peace;
they will give us
land."

Whenever I entered a cab, I
always asked the driver,
"How long have you been in
Israel?" The responses: three
generations in Jerusalem; my
grandparents came over on
Operation Magic Carpet; se-
ven generations in Jerusa-
lem; and one recent American
oleh said„ "I arrived here six
weeks ago and I will be here
for the rest of my life!"
I could have been on the
plane filled with Soviet o/im,
immigrants, that the
Hadassah delegates greeted
at 2:30 a.m. My great-grand-
parents made the decision to
leave Russia early in the 20th
century. We greeted these
new ohm as we sang "Shalom
Aleichem" and presented
them with Israeli flags. They
cried when they descended

What I did not expect was
my reaction to being back in
Israel. The sunshine was hot-
ter than I expected (95
degrees each day), armed
soldiers were wandering
around and banners had been
hung all along the route from
the airport to the hotel
welcoming the Hadassah con-
vention. From the minute the
plane landed to the moment
the plane left Israel the clock

Nancy Handelman with Yefet Ozeri in Jerusalem.

the stairs of the airplanes. We
cried as we greeted them.
Absorbing the Ethiopian
olim is also a major topic of
discussion. Yefet Ozeri,
former shaliach in Detroit,
took us on a private tour of
the Diplomat Hotel. This
hotel was rented by the
Jewish Agency and remodel-
ed to house 1,800 Ethiopian
o/im. We visited the
classrooms and saw Rabbi
Daniel Polish of Temple Beth
El assisting these 5-6-year-old
newcomers. No one knows for
sure if they are 5-6 years old
because they don't have birth
certificates, but no matter,
these youngsters looked the
right size.

The tour guide on the bus
talked about why he chose to
make aliyah. The child of sur-
vivors, he simply couldn't
stand living with anti-
Semitism in his hometown.
When we discussed Secretary
of State James Baker's peace
talks and the shuttle
diplomacy going on during
the convention, he explained
the situation to me like this:
The Syrians want land for
peace. "That's what we'll give
them," he said. "The Israelis
will give the Syrians peace;
the Syrians will give the
Israelis land."
One of the most important
details of the trip was the
view from my hotel window.

ROUND UP

Mending Jewish,
Ukrainian Ties
Kiev — News about the
wonderful world of Cossacks,
Chernobyl updates and ar-
ticles on "Why Foreign Wo-
men Don't Like Our Men"
usually fill the pages of a
small paper direct from the
Soviet Union called News
from Ukraine.
The paper is published
monthly in Kiev, in English
(well, sort of English. A
typical sentence: " 'Our two
peoples that suffered a lot'
said in conclusion Boris S.")
Last month, News from
Ukraine included an article
that never would have been
seen in such a publication
years ago. It was called "To
promote the rapprochement
between Israel and
Ukraine."
The story focused on a talk
given by Yakiv Suslensky,
who emigrated from the
Ukraine and settled in Israel
15 years ago. Speaking at a
Kiev conference on "The
Problems of Ukrainian-

Jewish Relations," Mr.
Suslensky said that
"Zionism" is not a dirty
word as for years the Com-
munist regime insisted. In-
stead,it represents the
yearning of Jews to return to
Zion. Similarly, he said,
"you might be called
Dniprovites as you want to
live near the Dnieper
(River)."
Mr. Suslensky, head of the
Haifa-based Society for Jew-
ish-Ukrainian Relations,
told his audience that Jew-
ish children know one thing
about the Ukraine: It was
the site of numerous
pogroms. He said the
pogroms must be spoken
about openly because, in the
words of News from Ukraine,
"It is the complete truth that
will help establish good con-
tacts based on mutual
truth."
For a book he is writing,
Mr. Suslensky is searching
for Jews whose lives were
saved by Ukrainians. More
than 400 such persons al-
ready have been found.

Two Arab Countries
Allow Israeli Visas
Washington, D.C. — Sen.
Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn.,
recently became the first
American allowed to use a
passport marked with an
Israeli visa to enter Saudi
Arabia and Kuwait.
Congress is now consider-
ing legislation in response to
the policy of numerous Arab
countries which denies entry
to anyone carrying a pass-
port bearing the Israeli
stamp.
Several months ago, Sen.
Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.,
was refused entry to Saudi
Arabia because of the Israeli
visa on his passport.
Previously, he and other
American officials used two
passports — one for travel-
ing to Israel, the other for
trips to Arab nations.
According to Sen. Lieber-
man's office, Saudi Arabia
and Kuwait will no longer
bar entry to anyone whose
passport carries an Israeli
visa.

Oily to bed, oily to rise: These ol-
ives' oil is good for you!

Avocado And
Almond Joyful News
New York — An almond —
or olive oil or an avocado — a
day helps keep cholesterol
away, according to a study
just published by Hadassah-
Hebrew University Medical
Center in Jerusalem.
The report shows that
diets enriched with the
mono-unsaturated fats found
in avocados, almonds and ol-
ive oil can lower by 12 per-
cent the amount of bad
cholesterol, Low Density
Lipoprotein (LDL), in the

blood. LDL causes heart and
vascular diseases.
Dr. Yechezkiel Stein, head
of the center's department of
internal medicine who
directed the research, noted
that while residents of
Mediterranean countries
consume a great deal of fat
in their diets, they have a
low proportion of heart
disease. "So we began to in-
vestigate the effects of the
fats in this culture's diet,"
he said.
The study was conducted
at a local yeshiva, where
boys were divided into four
groups. Each group ate a
standard diet of 2,500
calories a day. However, the
type of fat allowed each was
different. One group con-
sumed olive oil, avocados
and almonds; a second ate
safflower oil or soya; the
third had butter or cream;
the fourth received extra
carbohydrates.

Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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