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Teens Get Ready
For A Memorable Trip
For years, we've read the studies and heard - the
debate. We've even participated to the extent
that the word "continuity" is worn out.
But there's always been one common solution
that's come out of the organized Jewish com-
munity. It could be a synagogue brotherhood
meeting or a grand-scale Council of Jewish Fed-
erations General Assembly. The message goes
like this: Send the kids to Israel.
Without sounding too much like a cheerleader,
we have to look at Federation, the Agency for
Jewish Education and our community and real-
ize that on Sunday there is follow-through on
this mandate for continuity. That's when some
238 Detroit teens will board an El-Al jet at Metro
Airport and fly for a 4 1/2-week experience like
they've never had. They will be going under the
supervision of some of our best administrators,
educators, rabbis and teachers.
It was no coincidence that in 1993 this com-
munity sent 1,300 of its members to Israel on
Miracle Mission I, which is still the largest UJA
trip ever. Then last year, another 800 flew to Is-
rael for Miracle Mission II. These were missions
geared to adults, and mainly to those who were
first-time visitors. Solicitations didn't happen on
the trip. The idea was to give this community a
feeling, a taste, so they could realize Israel is not
a foreign country to a Jew.
Now, we give this opportunity to our children.
We know that they will be touched by the expe-
rience. We can't wait for them to see what many
of us have seen, to experience what we have ex-
perienced. We hope that every moment they are
there, from the time the plane touches down,
their lives are changed.
When they return, AJE will continue with
followup and follow-through. The trip is a
wonderful beginning. The journey, though, will
last their lifetimes and further enrich the ties
this community and its families have with Is-
rael.
Why We Should Care
About Russia's Vote
For months, the Jewish world has kept an eye
on the criticality of Israel's election and the re-
sulting Netanyahu victory.
Last Sunday, it was Russia's turn. Like Israel,
the Russian election produced a close race re-
sulting in political uncertainty. Unlike Israel,
there was no winner declared. As a result, Boris
Yeltsin will defend his presidency in an early
July runoff with Communist candidate Genna-
di Zyuganov.
The vote sends a disconcerting message to Jew-
ish groups and human-rights organizations who
have warned the world of Russia's slow but me-
thodical move to nationalism. Recently, the pre-
electorial moves of Mr. Yeltsin to a more
nationalistic point of view have popped up in the
U.S. presidential debate.
Retired Gen. Aleksandr I. Lebed, who finished
third in the balloting, ran as a "law and order"
candidate. He has authoritarian leanings and is
considered to be a "moderate" nationalist. He
was actively courted and accepted a ministeri-
al post Tuesday in the Yeltsin government.
No matter who wins this election, it is sure-
ly time for the U.S. government to dust off the
old talk of basing aid to Russia on how it han-
dles human-rights issues and immigration.
Russian Jewish emigres living here freely cite
the growing fear of violent anti-Semitism in-
creasingly faced by their loved ones they left be-
hind.
What is even more of a concern is the back-
room lobbying that is likely to include reformist
economist Grigory Yavlinsky, who placed fourth
with 7 percent of the vote, and ultranationalist
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who finished with 6 per-
cent. Mikhail Gorbachev, at one time ranked one
of the two most powerful political figures in the
world, and a man who helped open the door to
Jewish immigration, got a mere 0.5 percent of
the vote.
The United States, as well as human-rights
organizations, needs to have a heightened con-
cern over these results. It is feared by the Union
of Councils of Soviet Jews that anything less than
a consolidation of all non-extremist forces will
result in victory for Mr. Zyuganov.
Mr. Yeltsin and Mr. Zyuganov would proba-
bly make a deal with the devil to win this first
election of a Russian president since the breakup
of the Soviet Union.
But the "devil" can be clamped down upon.
Typically, it takes a threat of cutbacks in finan-
cial aid, the common tongue most countries seem
to speak. The United States has pushed the In-
ternational Monetary Fund to grant Russia more
than $17 billion in economic restructuring loans.
Still, American dollars are needed to help prop
up the democratic infrastructure, no matter what
shape it may take.
Even though we can hold money over the Russ-
ian government's head, there is no way we can
measure the cost of the loss of human life, civil
rights and basic dignity. That is the measure the
Russian people face. It is their choice — but we
do have a message to send.
Letters
Israel's Vote:
New Math?
as the abundance of other He-
brew names which convey a spe-
cial meaning?
Our four adult sons have He-
For the second time in as many brew names, two names each,
weeks, I have read that the vast which are found on their birth
majority of Israeli Jews voted for certificates, their school diplomas,
Bibi Netanyahu. Please excuse their driver's licenses and, last
my math, but I never thought of but not least, are used when they
10 percent as being a vast ma- have the honor of being called to
jority. We should also remind the Torah.
ourselves that Israel's Arab pop-
ulation also voted, and their votes
Rachel Kapen
count as well. The views of all
West Bloomfield
people count in a democracy, not
just those with whom we agree.
Despicable Acts
The recent wave of arson attacks
aimed at African-American
churches throughout the South
is despicable and must be vocif-
Student Pride
erously denounced by all peoples
What a pleasure to see our of goodwill. This heinous, crimi-
teacher, Marc Eichner, and the nal act has no place in a civilized,
democratic society.
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
For our part, the American
High School students featured on
Jewish
Committee is in full soli-
the cover of your June 14 issue,
darity
and
friendship with the
as well as a photo of another of
African-American
community in
our teachers, Saul Rube, and his
their
time
of
sorrow
and need.
students in the Close Up article.
We
urge
our
fellow
citizens to
We at C.S.Z. are most proud of
help
in
the
rebuilding
of these
both the large number of students
houses
of
worship,
and
in the
enrolled in our high-school de-
restoration
of
faith
in
an
Ameri-
partment and the quality of the
ca that will not allow such intol-
educational process.
erance
to go unnoticed or
May we all grow and flourish
unpunished.
as we continue on the path of pro-
viding Jewish education to the
Sharona Shapiro
teen-agers of our community.
Area Director, AJC
Bloomfield Hills
Leonard P. Baruch
Larry Winer
Oak Park
Executive Director
Cong. Shaarey Zedek
Southfield
A Name,
A Jewish Identity
In a recent Jewish News article,
Rabbi William Gershon of
Shaarey Zedek laments the fact
that there are Jews who are not
aware of their, or of their de-
parted relative's, Hebrew name.
There is a simple, practical and
beautiful solution to remedy this
deplorable situation. Why not
give your child onename, or if you
wish two names, which will serve
all purposes, secular as well as
religious?
Are names such as Jennifer,
Jessica, Erin, Brian, Ryan or Dil-
lon more beautiful than the
names of our biblical forefathers
or the myriad of other figures
from our Book of Books, as well
Publicity
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