750
THE JEWISH NEWS
2 IYAR /APRIL 23, 1993
aside
SPORTS
Front Office
Publicity and promotions
for the Wings are full time.
Page 47
PTA To Payroll
Y.
Displaced homemakers
face the workforce.
Page 51
BACKGROUND
Israel Still Life
A siren sounds
for Y om Hashoah.
Page 61
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Contents on page 3
One Big, Happy, Airport Party
Song, dance and reunion marked take-off day for the
Michigan Miracle Mission on its way to the land of Israel.
0
RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER
n Sunday, Diane
Klein broke down and
cried. After months of
anticipation, the West
Bloomfield resident
couldn't believe she
was about to embark
on the Michigan Mir-
acle Mission.
Hundreds of Mission participants
shared her excitement. Two hours be-
fore departure on the long-awaited trip
to Israel, they crowded Metro Airport's
international terminal. The Mission-
aires mingled, sang and danced amid
colorful carry-on bags, blue and white
balloons, arid tables of popcorn and
Pop.
"I'm thrilled. We're thrilled. It's the
culmination of a dream," said Robert
Aronson, executive vice president of
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit.
`This is a bonding experience for all
of us," said Federation President David
Page, who is traveling with his son,
"Violence exists among
Jewish families. It range . ,
from parents abusing
ciiildren to children
abusing parents...The
statistics have shown it
all. But statistics are
debatable. They are
only inanimate numbers.
People are real."
Ruth Kovan hands in her papers at Detroit Metro Airport on Sunday, just prior to takeoff.
Jason.
The Michigan Miracle Mission,
sponsored by Federation and The
Jewish News, is the largest group ever
to travel to Israel from a single
metropolitan area. Leaders hope the
trip will, in the long run, involve more
people in the local Jewish community.
"As our society gets more and more
diverse, there are so many other in-
terests that attract us (away from
Judaism). We need an event like this
to pull us together, to find our roots
and build on our common history," Mr.
Page said.
Three El Al jets departed last
Sunday for the 10-day trip. The first
plane took off at 12:30 a.m. Twelve
hours later, Gov. John Engler and Sen.
AIRPORT PARTY page 30
'444ttiVo.