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11

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7/3
1998

98

31 051 stephenson hwy
madison heights, mi 48071
under new ownership

of long ago I was drivin
down Woodward when I
passed a sign for an
estate sale. Sometimes, I can tell
from the outset what the sale will
be like. A charming house, replete
with lace curtains and a mailbox
in the shape of a cottage, likely
means a good sale.
In this case, I didn't
think there would be
much. It was a fairly
nondescript apart-
ment. But inside,
what treasures I
found.
The place had
belonged to an elder-
! ly woman, a teacher,
who never married.
She was an extraordi-
nary collector whose
shelves overflowed with Beatrix
Potter mementos, purses, books,
dolls and perfumes. "And this is
just the start of it," one of the
workers told me. "We're going to
have another sale next month
because there's just too much."
I bought a turquoise planter and
a children's quilt, a Peter Rabbit
stuffed animal and one ofthose
purses (from the 1940s, never
used). As I was leaving, I was
drawn to- a large book about chil-
1 dren and added it to my pile, as
well. I was positively trembling
with delight at my wonderful finds.
I Later that evening I began look-
ing through that book. It's huge
(almost 700 pages). I didn't turn
to anything in particular, but within
Ia matter of minutes I had stumbled
across two items that have lin-
gered with me.
The first is a sign at a mission in
1 New York: A man says that one
day he's going to ask God why
i He doesn't do more to help the
poor. But he's concerned, he says.

11

The second man asks, Why?
and the first says: "I'm afraid He
might ask me the same thing."
Soon after, I came upon one of
the most troubling reports of child
abuse I have ever read: a 5-year-
old boy, Adam, beaten to death
by his parents. I won't go into the
details here for fear you will be
haunted the way I
was. Day and night I
thought of this boy,
and I felt impotent.
This is a kind of
hurting which no
solve can help. It's
like smothering or
drowning. , but it
never ends.
Still, for the first time
have come up with
an answer — a small
one, yes, but something. Rather
than simply feel, the way anyone
would or should, I am going to do
something about it. It's one of the
aspects I like best about Judaism:
the way to make a difference isn't
just to see suffering and say,
"That's terrible." That's why we are
commanded to give 10 percent of
our income to tzedakah.
I make this public pledge:
Whenever I read of a case like
Adam's, I am going to make a
donation, in that child's memory,
to the National Committee to Pre-
vent Child Abuse (1-800-CHIL-
DREN). And now I ask you, as a
parent, or a grandparent, or a
friend of children, to make a simi-
lar commitment to the charity of
your choice. Can I count on
you?
'--\

Elizabeth Applebaum
AppleTree Editor