Editorials

Israel Fest '98 Holds
Extra Special Meaning

A triple treat's in store for participants in Sun- .
day's Israel Fest '98, which kicks off with the
traditional Walk for Israel.
Consider:
* The festivities will mark Detroit's commu-
nitywide celebration of the 50th anniversary of
Israel's statehood.
* For the first time ever, the walk will start
from the Jewish Community
Center of Metropolitan
Detroit's Jimmy Prentis Mor-
ris Building (Ten Mile, east
of Greenfield) in Oak Park
and end at the Detroit Zoo
/--" (10 Mile and Woodward) in
Royal Oak.
* Sunday, June 14, also is
Flag Day, an American salute
to the Stars & Stripes and the
civil liberties it represents.
The walk will wind 3.4
miles through neighborhoods
in north Oak Park and Hunt-
ington Woods, with a mid-
7- point at Lincoln and
Coolidge, before ending at
the zoo entrance. That's a sig-
nificant departure from past
years when the walk started and ended at the
JCC's Kahn Building at Maple and Drake,
with a rest stop at Temple Israel.
The rolling hills of West Bloomfield provid-
ed a scenic backdrop — no question about
\--.) that. But we applaud Israel Fest's sponsors, the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and
its Michigan/Israel Connection, for choosing
to showcase the vibrant southeast Oakland
County Jewish community during this golden
anniversary year in the State of Israel's history.
The annual walk, this year stepping off at

IN FOCUS

A Tribute To Tzadikim

4:30 p.m., is one of Detroit's largest Jewish
communal events. It brings Jews throughout
the region, and of vastly different levels of
observance, together for a love-in with our
homeland.
At the zoo (free tickets are available in
advance at either JCC building), festival-goers
will enjoy the animals amid Israeli entertain-
ment and art, face-painting,
clowns, storytelling and
kosher food from 6 to 9 p.m.
The Agency for Jewish
Education's Jewish Experi-
ences For Families (JEFF)
staff will host a special activi-
ty — a Biblical Zoo Scav-
enger Hunt. Families will
search for animals based on
biblical clues.
The Pinah B'mek Choir
and the Nazareth Irises folk
dance troupe, both from
Detroit's Partnership 2000
sister region of the Central
Galilee, will perform. Central
Galilee art also will be fea-
tured.
We can't think of a better way
to honor the 50th anniversary of Israel's state-
hood than to partner it with Flag Day — a
humbling, inspirational reminder of the politi-
cal, social and religious freedoms Old Glory
has stood sentry over for 222 years.
So this Sunday, as we say Yom Huledet
Sameach l'Yisrael — "Happy Birthday, Israel"
— Detroit Jews should pause for a moment in
tribute to our forebears who died pursuing the
right to be Jewish without governmental or
ruling interference.

❑

loses And The NRA

We live in a frightening time — gunpoint car-
jackings, school-ground killings, auto-plant
shootings.
Into this maelstrom steps the National Rifle
Association, which captured coast-to-coast
headlines Monday with election of a new pres-
ident, Charlton Heston. He and other NRA
members want to fight any limitation on the
right to own guns — whether they be hunting
rifles or Uzis.
We don't quibble with the constitutional
right to bear arms. But we are outraged at how
arrogant the debate has become. One wonders
if our country's founders, products of a frontier
era laden with the threat of imminent attack,
would embrace the NRA's zeal of the right to
buy "Saturday night specials," machine guns
and other assault weapons.

We recognize that there are Jewish NRA
members. We urge them to fight from within
against some of the more disturbing aspects of
America's gun culture. Vicious verbal attacks
on Rep. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), a lead-
ing gun control advocate, have included his
being called a "Jewish gun grabber."
There is another odd Jewish connection to
all this. Heston is best known to us for his
acclaimed role as Moses in The Ten Command-
ments. The actor is morally obligated to quick-
ly denounce any semblance of racism and anti-
Semitism in his midst, even from the private
militias that flourish in some areas. And he
must immediately become a moral voice
instead of a defensive one. He must lead his
organization into a massive campaign of gun
safety and stopping violence.

Six synagogues presented
the Lamed Vav Award,
shown here, at the Met-
ropolitan Detroit Federa-
tion of Reform Syna-
gogues' Fund for Reform
Judaism annual dinner
last week at Temple
Emanu-El. Honorees
were: Louis and Flo
Bloch (Temple Shir
Shalom), Paul and
Kathie Dizik (Temple
Beth El), Joseph Katz
(Congregation Shir Tik-
vah), Joel and Francine
Piell (Temple Israel),
Morris and Muriel Sher-
bow (Temple Emanu-El)
and Dr. Henry and
Susan Shevitz (Temple
Kol Ami). In Jewish leg-
end, each generation
contains 36 righteous people. In Hebrew, 36 is Lamed Vay. By
virtue of the goodness of the Lamed Vav tzadikim (righteous
people), the world exists and endures. "They who build up,
strengthen and sustain our congregations, our community, our
movement and our world embody the spirit of the Lamed
Vav," the Federation of Reform Synagogues tells us.

LIMES

prominently placed in an arti-
cle that does not share the
thoughts and vision I
expressed with the author of
I am writing this letter in
the article.
response to the May 29 article
In the interest of balanced
titled, "Retooling: The
reporting, please allow me to
Agency for Jewish Education
state that my commitment to
Hires An Interim Director
Jewish education is unwaver-
Amid Staff Vacancies And
ing, precisely because of my
Uncertainty About Its
optimism for the
Future."
future. Jewish
\5 A EXPERIENCES FOR F44,
It is corn-
Experiences
mon knowl-
for Families
edge that the
(JEFF) is
AJE, like other
enjoying a
organizations,
renewed sense
is in the midst
of purpose and
/4/G JEWISH FAMILIES
of several per-
direction.
sonnel changes.
Thanks to the
What is not commonly
Detroit Jewish community's
known, however, is the AJE
outstretched arm toward qual-
staff's enthusiasm about the
ity family education, future
future of Jewish education in
JEFF programming will reach
this community.
exhilarating heights.
It is disconcerting, at best,
I thank The Jewish News
to find a picture of myself

Commitment
Unquestioned

❑

6/12
1998

31

