Hunger And Chills Taught Us Lessons AVI EBENSTEIN STUDENT WRITER A International Award Winning Photographer Carol Goren Visit our Fabulous New Studio and Fashion Boutique. 29499 Northwestern Highway at the Parkwest Plaza As seen on Inside Edition, Kelly & Co. and CH 2, 4, 7 & 50 Capturedglamour 313-354-0080 glappy Cidays PRESTON BURKE From ■ A WIDE SELECTION OF AMERICAN & INTERNATIONAL ART expecting.. 7the boot M A TERN 1 TY Contemporary maternity fashions designed especially for today's expectant mother Stop in today and see our holiday dress collection GALLERY GIFTS ■ CUSTOM FRAMING ■ INTERIOR DESIGN SERVICES ■ lloilenX VW— The Boardwalk 6907 Orchard Lake Road West Bloomfield 737-8020 And visit Maternity Ltd. West Oaks II • 27793 Novi Rd. • Novi • 347-0715 PHONE CLEANING AND TAILORING HAPPY NEW YEAR! From Mark, Ida, Charline & Kim 32730 Northwestern Hwy. (Between Middlebelt & 14 Mile) 170 737-0360 "Ifyour clothes aren't becoming to you, you should be coming to us!" 488-0200 CORNER OF W. 12 MILE ROAD & HALSTED FARMINGTON HILLS, MI IN HALSTED VILLAGE CENTER OPEN MON. THRU FRI. 10 AM TO 6 PM THURS. TIL 9 • SAT. TIL 5 Breast self-examination — LEARN. Call us. i, AMERKAN CANCER SOCIETY t summer camp this year, I found myself cold, ravenous and weary from trudging up the Allegheny River for eight hours without breaks, food or dry clothing. But it was the best vaca- tion of my life. Seriously. These hellish conditions were common while I was participating in a program called Machal. The program is run by Camp Stone, in northern Pennsylvania, spon- sored by Bnei Akiva. Bnei Akiva, an interna- tional Zionist youth move- ment, encourages young people to move to Israel and prepares them for the expe- rience through programs like Machal. Machal is an acronym, de- rived from the Hebrew words "It was the best vacation of my life." Avi Ebenstein meaning "Camp Pioneers." During my month at Machal, I hiked, canoed, pitched tents and lit campfires with nine other 14- and 15-year-old boys and girls. "The program attempts to show the kids that they can survive for extended periods of time without what are typ- ically considered bare neces- sities: food, shelter, electricity and heat," said Ari Ellen, head Machal counselor. Mr. Ellen stressed that liv- ing without these creature comforts is good practice for surviving disasters. I per- sonally think that this expe- rience could be useful in a time of extreme peril, like the Gulf War, when Israelis had to live without necessities during the Scud missile at- tacks. In addition, the campers realize they cannot always depend on counselors for guidance, but rather must or- ganize themselves as a group. For example, on many occa- sions, we were left alone by a fire pit and told to share all the food equally. Surprising- ly, this worked rather well, even though none of us had eaten in six hours. Avi Ebenstein is a sophomore at Akiva Hebrew Day School. Avl Ebenstein "At first, there were plen- ty of arguments (between campers), but the group even- tually realized that coopera- tion is the fastest way of collecting wood, starting a fire and dividing the food equal- ly," said counselor Debra Chopp. "The main point of Machal is to teach the participants that they can survive without elders as long as the group works together," Mr. Ellen said. Shari Weinstein, a Machal participant, said: "The program entrusts us with a lot of responsiblity, but the whole group lives up to it. In the process, we learn a lot and have an awesome time." Machal also prepares youth for Mach Hach Ba'aretz, a six-week Bnei Aki- va program in Israel for peo- ple going into their junior year of high school. Detroiter Amy Zwas, 17, has partici- pated in both Machal and Mach Hach Ba'aretz. "Mach. Hach adds a his- torical aspect which Machal lacks (because participants) hike through famous monu- ments in Jewish history. For example, in Machal we hiked down some river in Pennsyl- vania, but in Mach Hach we were hiking down the same river that our ancestors hiked down in order to get supplies into the besieged Jeru- salem." 0 If you. are a teen-ager in- terested in contributing to "Taking Notes," the new high school section in The Jewish News, please call staff writer Ruth Litt- mann at 354-6060. The first "Taking Notes" sec- tion of this school year will run in early October.