Editorials

>-0

Here's To An Uplifting Mission

Swimming in the Dead Sea, rafting on the Jor-
dan River, camel riding in the desert and disco-
ing on a boat promise fun times. But observing
Shabbat in the Old City, praying at the Western
Wall, hiking to Masada and visiting the Israel
Museum are bound to spawn more lasting
impressions.
That's why we think teen travel to Israel
should focus more on Jewish education than on
popular excursions and beaches.
Detroit's "Teen Mission 2
Israel," co-sponsored by the Jew-
ish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit and its Michigan/Israel
Connection, left last week. It
unites 216 Detroiters with 32
Israelis from the Central Galilee,
Detroit's partner region. Many of
the Detroiters took advantage of
the Agency for Jewish Educa-
tion/Ben Teitel Incentive Savings
Plan for teen travel to Israel.
Because we feel teen travel to
Israel should be a Jewish lifecycle
event, just like bar/bat mitzvah and confirma-
tion, we've planned expanded coverage of the
mission. Our intent is to provide up-close and
personal coverage.
Throughout the five-week sojourn in Israel,

we'll provide an insightful combination of pho-
tographs by Israeli photographer David Joseph
and articles by specially selected mission partici-
pants. We'll explore the history and heritage of
Klal Yisrael through this exclusive perspective.
Special activities include digging at Beit
Guvrin, sunrise at Masada, rappelling at .Nahal
Yehudiah, visiting the Druze village of Pekin and
touring the Qumran Caves (of Dead Sea Scroll
fame). The itinerary also
includes visits to David Ben-
Gurion's Grave, Bahai Gardens,
Yad Vashem, Mount of Olives,
the Tomb of the Maccabees, the
Tower of David, Hezekiah's Tun-
nel and the First Temple Model.
We want our teen travelers to
return with a deeper sense of
Jewish identity and a stronger
commitment to Jewish continu-
ity. We want them to feel con-
nected to Eretz Yisrael and proud
of who they are. And we want
them to remain drawn to Jewish
tradition and involved in Jewish life.
With heartfelt anticipation, we wish Teen
Mission 2 Israel participants the journey of a
lifetime — one that's not only invigorating and
fun but also spiritually uplifting.

Our intent
is to provide
up-close and
personal
coverage.

Israel Should Lift Wagner Ban

His music was filled with anti-Semitic themes
and he helped set the stage for the thinking that
ultimately led to the Nazi ideology of racial
supremacy.
But Richard Wagner was a composer whose
19th-century operas are historically and artistical-
ly significant.
A debate rages in Israel over whether to lift a
50-year ban on the playing of Wagner's music on
the airwaves or in concert. Musicians of the New
Israel Opera, as well as the musical director, want
to feature selections of Wagner; the Opera's
chairman, however, wants the Knesset ban main-
tained.
We think the people of Israel, not the govern-
ment, should decide what they choose to hear.
The ban conflicts with the progressive ideals of
Israel's Declaration of Independence.
Wagner was Adolf Hitler's favorite composer.
The composer's operas punctuated Nazi Party
rallies and German death camps. Hitler quoted
Wagner in blaming the Jews for the ills of the
Aryan race.
Jews, especially Holocaust survivors, have
every reason to be repulsed by the way the Nazis
used Wagner's music and ideas to destructive
advantage.
To legislate against the playing of his music,
however, is an act of censorship by government
control, an aberration in a parliamentary democ-
racy like Israel.

The engine factories of Daimler-Benz AG,
now involved in merger talks with Chrysler
Corp., kept Hitler's war machine humming
for years. But Jews today nonetheless have a
choice whether to buy a Daimler-Benz prod-
uct. Some Jews are loyal to the Mercedes-
Benz, citing Daimler-Benz's war reparations
and desire to atone. Others, in deference to
the six-million Jews who died in the Holo-
caust, say they'll never buy a German-made
car.
On a broader scale, the Germany of today is a
key trading partner, military friend and political
ally of Israel. Hebrew University students study
Hitler's "Mein Kampf" along with other histori-
cal works. And Israelis vacation at German
resorts.
Clearly, whether to listen to Wagner or buy a
Mercedes-Benz is a matter of personal choice.
No one should have to do either. But neither
should the Knesset impose its will.
Besides, playing Wagner would not denote
acquiescence to his anti-Semitic beliefs. It would
be a symbol of Jewish survival.
• In the meantime, we suggest his music be part
of special concerts only, not subscription pack-
ages. No one should be forced to pay even indi-
rectly for a Wagner concert.
The quickest way to resolve the controversy is
to stage an all-Wagner concert and see how
many Israelis show up.

IN FOCUS

Prelude to Shabbat

To usher in summertime outdoor Shabbat services, Temple
Israel hosted a pre-Shabbat picnic June 26. More than 300
congregants — including Talia Loss, her parents, Rabbi Harold
and Susan Loss, and Elliott Lewkow — enjoyed a catered
boxed dinner or their own picnic fixings on the grassy area near
the Wasserman Pavilion in the L'Dor V'dor Garden. Other pre-
Shabbat picnics are planned for July 10, July 24 and Aug. 7.

LETTERS

Farm Story
Drew Interest

I thoroughly enjoyed the arti-
cle about the Benjamin family
in the June 26 issue ("Subur-
ban Oasis"). The idea of a real
farm in an urban setting is
certainly an exciting and
unusual adventure. The fact
that the Benjamins are Ortho-
dox Jews made this of particu-
lar interest to me.
I would like to add one
significant point to Mr. Ben-
jamin's statement about
Orthodox Jewish farmers. He
must be aware that Israel has
many successful Jewish farm-
ers, many of whom are
Orthodox. Also, in the early
part of this century, Jewish
immigrants from Russia and
Rumania were homesteaders
and farmers in various parts
of the U.S., South America
and Canada. In fact, most of
the early pioneers of western
Canada were Jews to whom
we offered free land and

Akiva Yaakov, farming

financial support from the
Jewish Colonization Associa-
tion. They were all Orthodox.
My grandparents immi-
grated to Lipton,
Saskatchewan, where they
were given 160 acres to live
on and farm along with 300
other Jewish families. Dozens
more colonies like Lipton
spread through Manitoba,
Saskatchewan, Alberta and
British Columbia. In most
areas, the Jewish farmers were
the first non-natives to inhab-
it the land.
My grandparents had many
years of a hard life on the
Canadian prairie. The winters
were brutal with temperatures

7/3
1998

27