ditorials

The Growth Of Shir Tikvah

Shir Tikvah isn't in a Jewish neighborhood.
Yet for the 250 member families, the Troy con-
gregation is a Jewish home.
If it's not the singing, it's the casual atmos-
phere. If it's not the service participation, it's
the involvement of youth. It is for sure the
presence of Rabbi Arnie Sleutelberg.
Rabbi Arnie, as he is known, has helped

bring Shir Tikvah to the threshold of a dream,
a soon-to-be-completed sanctuary.
What makes Shir Tikvah work is the inter-
activity between members and between mem-
bers and the rabbi. There is a role for every-
one. It is not escapist Judaism, but is instead
highly involved. As one member said, "Where
can you go these days where the rabbi knows
the kids' names, has been
to their homes and has
taught them to be better
people?"
Shir Tikvah's members
have an urgency to pro-
mote the survival of the
Jewish people. They know
they can't do it across the
world, or even across
Michigan. But east of
Woodward, they know
that 250 Jewish families
will be given a real chance
to understand the joys of
their faith and see it car-
ried on into the genera-
tions.

Chastisement
Was Unwarranted

But avid Israel watchers are following with
apprehension as well as excitement. Reports
last weekend suggested that after Netanyahu
soon pushes through his controversial budget,
he agrees that there can be no more delays in
pushing for real progress. That means mutual
agreed Israeli delays in building Jewish resi-
dences in the West Bank and Palestinian
unequivocal cooperation in
security concerns. There
even are reports of a pend-
ing Albright-Arafat-
Netanyahu meeting within
the next month.
As we move onward in
the peace effort, we recall
that the Hebrew word for
negotiations is ma'sah
uinatan, literally push and
pull. Ultimately, success
means that these two
opposing forces will come to rest with the
midpoint of their rope being exactly between
them. The trick will come in balancing the
tension from both ends.
Our hope is that in the coming weeks we
move a little closer to such a draw in this dead-
ly game. Recent history shows that wars do not
break out when the United States is an active
referee, coaxing each side to simultaneously
drop the rope to tend to the greater spiritual
and economic needs of their people. ❑

The surprising editorial that
chastised the Jewish Federation
for "moving too slowly" in
meeting the needs of the elder-
ly ("Continuing Bed Sores"
Dec. 19) was both ill-informed
and unwarranted. In the year
since its creation, the
Commission on Jewish
Eldercare Services (COJES)
has made extraordinary
progress toward addressing the
unmet needs of the elderly.
Despite repeated meetings
and conversations with The
Jewish News staff, there contin-
ues to be a gap in understand-
ing about the process and
funding of programs that we
all agree are so necessary to the
well-being of the elderly.
The chaplaincy program is
reaching out to hundreds of
isolated individuals in nursing
homes; a new ElderLink
phone line puts older adults
in touch with the many ser-
vices available to them in
Federation and non-
Federation agencies; a
guardianship program is
about to be inaugurated; and
day programs for Alzheimer's
disease and dementia sufferers
will become reality. In addi-
tion, COJES partnership
agencies provide many in-

Rancor Means Progress

The Mideast peace talks can be likened to a
perpetual tug of war game, one side fearing
that if it lets up on its pull it will forever be
banned from future competition. Of course,
the potential consequences are much deadlier.
Nonetheless, the, at times, vicious and violent
tug of war that has become the Israeli-
Palestinian negotiations has heated up anew.
And there are actually some
positive shouts coming
from the field of play.
This slight optimism
comes after two weeks run-
ning of public bickering
between Israelis and
Palestinians and Israelis and
themselves. That's not to
mention the private (at .
least until it was reported)
accusations and near-
threats between the United
States, Israel and the Palestinians.
Israeli, American and Arab newspapers have
been filled with nuanced and detail-laden
reports on a recent spate of meetings that U.S.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright held
with both Israel Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority head
Yassir Arafat. Admittedly, most American Jews
don't care about the nuances of whether Israel
should withdraw from 5 percent, 10 percent or
50 percent of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Look for a
Mideast summit
meeting in the
coming month.

12/26
1997

24

Saddam Hussein examines a model of a mosque to be built in
Baghdad on the site of a former airport.

LETTERS

home and community-based
services for the elderly.
Thanks to donors to the
Allied Jewish Campaign and
the Jewish Community Trust
for the Elderly, other programs
on the drawing board will be
initiated in the near future.
Federation is proud of the fine
work that COJES is doing to
bring to bring services to older
adults, both those living at
home and those residing in
facilities throughout metropol-
itan Detroit.
An additional error in fact
needs to be addressed:
Donors whose names
appear on signage at the
Danto Family Health Care
Center are contributors to the
Jewish Community Trust for
the Elderly, not to the Danto
Center, which was privately
constructed and is privately
owned and operated.
The generosity of the
Danto family and other
donors, who are acknowl-
edged on the center's wall of
honor, support vital services
for elderly Jews throughout
the Detroit metropolitan area
and contributes to the quality
of their lives.

Robert H. Naftaly
President, Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit

CONTINUED on page 26

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