Reflection
A Teen Mission
participant basks
in the glow
the Old Czty
Above: Rob Klegon
in the Kotel tunnel.
Above right: We made it!
Finally on Israeli soil,
Eric Burnstein, Sheryl Soble
and Sarah Hull stretch
before getting, on the bus
for their first destination.
4
Right: Teens from Bus Ri
head for the Western Wall.
Miriam Lieberman, an 11th
grader at North Farmington
High School, is one of 216
teens on the Teen Mission 2
Israel. She is on Bus C-1 from
Adat Shalom Synagogue and
Congregation Shaarey Zedek.
Hyp es an 14441172S piled s
The Wall for which many have died
-Echo-6 ofp- rayer heard from afar
Sent up above past the farthest star
Each brick a legend
Each crack a possibility
To- break thro
ib;irriers
-. and
ostility
Centuries of belief withstand
the generations
We're here on a Journey
Filled with anticipation!
— Participants on Bus C,t,
on their way to the Western Wall
MIRIAM LIEBERMAN
Special to The Jewish News
T
wo-hundred and sixteen
teenagers from Detroit
embarked together on a
.
journey — a journey to their
past, their present and their future — a
journey to Israel.
.
The scorching sun shone especially
bright on June 29, the aroma of
Jerusalem's nature especially sweet.
Maybe it was merely a gorgeous day, or
maybe it indicated the bright eyes and
distinct images to come. Whatever the
7/10
1998
14
- \
case, the setting was ideal for 35 teens
to meet the great Western Wall.
Walking in the direction of the
Kotel, the group gradually walked
into Orthodox Israeli custom, ancient
history and Jewish tradition. The
girls replaced shorts with long skirts.
The guys covered their heads with
kippas or hats. Clad in the proper
physical attire, everyone prepared
mentally. As the group entered the
sacred area, they were at the heart of
Israel and Jerusalem.
Men to the left, women to the right.
Resembling the fatal order in Hitler's
concentration camps, the setup, in fact,
vigorously defies the Holocaust. For
the Wall is existing proof that we, the
Jews, have endured.
- Led by Rabbi Daniel Nevins of
Adat Shalom, we had operated as a
group up until then. As everyone
approached the Kotel, though, it
became a personal experience. For
some, it was emotional, for others sim-
ply another sight. Some, like Darth
Newman, wanted to feel a pull and
connection to it. Many gave tzedakah
and took pictures by the Wall. Notes
were piled on top of hundreds of thou-