Editorials

Teen Correspondents Came Through

We hope you've enjoyed our personalized weekly
reports about Teen Mission 2 Israel. If so, our
student correspondents deserve much of the
credit. Their work has deftly captured the won-
der of the spiritually uplifting sojourn.
The stories have proven richly informative and
insightful. And that has permitted us to explore
the history and heritage of nal Yisrael through
the unique perspective of teen travelers. We're
sure younger readers, especially, have liked read-
ing what our talented team of teen correspon-
dents have had to say about Eretz Yisrael.
So we applaud Dan Freeman, Miriam Lieber-
man, Jennifer Nathan and Caryn Roman — four
unselfish, very special teens. We didn't "hire"
them. They volunteered for this assignment,
knowing they would have to take time from their
five-week odyssey to meaningfully commit some
of their experiences to paper, then find a fax
machine.
Taken together, our Teen Mission stories pro-
vide a mosaic of experiences touching virtually
every emotion. The whirlwind itinerary spurred
equal doses of joy and awe — the Kotel, the Sea
of Galilee, the Jordan River, Tzippori, Masada,
the Dead Sea, the Golan Heights, the Museum
of the Diaspora, the Bedouin village of Kfar
Nokdim.

The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit and its Michigan/Israel Connection co-
sponsored Teen Mission 2 Israel. "The whole
premise of the Israel experience," said Teen Mis-
sion 2 chairman Allan Nachman, Federation's
treasurer, "is to be one of the singular, strong,
positive things the community can do to incul-
cate teens with their religion, culture and her-
itage. I, for one, am quite sure the great majority
will feel closer to their people as a result of the
experience."
We fervently hope the teens on the pilgrimage
sustain a deeper sense of Jewish identity and a
stronger commitment to Jewish continuity. We
hope they feel drawn to the Land of Israel and
proud of who they are. And we hope they forever
remain observant of Jewish tradition and
involved in Jewish life.
These hopes, however, will only be fulfilled if
Federation leadership dedicates the staff and
funding necessary for a resourceful follow-up.
Such a follow-up is crucial to keeping Teen Mis-
sion participants connected so they want to give
back to the Jewish community throughout their
lives.
Meanwhile, Dan, Miriam, Jennifer and Caryn
— on behalf of the Detroit Jewish community,
thanks for the memories and a job well done. 0

Jewish National Fund Is Still Vital

The Jewish National Fund, working to make the
countryside compatible for all who live in, sup-
port and visit Israel, is not the anachronism some
critics claim.
With roots in biblical agricultural law, the
JNF sprouted from Theodor Herzl's Fifth Zionist
Congress in Basle, Switzerland, in 1901. Since
then, it has planted 205 million trees, developed
300,000 acres of woodlands, created 440 major
parks and picnic areas, and reclaimed 875,000
acres of difficult terrain — from the rocky
expanses of the Galilee to the desert stretches of
the Negev.
As times have changed, so has its mission.
Today, the JNF owns 23 percent of Israel's land
outright. With the Israel Lands Authority, it co-
administers 85 percent of the land as well as nat-
ural resources like reservoirs and infrastructure
like roads. Part of the JNF mandate is to help
Jews buy land in Israel, including Jerusalem, so
new Jewish communities can be built to house
immigrants and strengthen the Jewish people's
hold on their ancient homeland.
The growth and shift in the agency have
brought it under sharp scrutiny.
Not too many years ago, charges of misman-
agement dogged the charity. And last month,
Yossi Beilen, a strident member of the Knesset
from Israel's opposition Labor Party and a former
Israeli deputy prime minister, called for disband-
ing the JNF. He said that because Israel is now "a

normal state with land authorities," it no longer
needed "an addendum of the past."
Beilin's outburst was sparked by the agency's
effort to meet its mandate to reclaim land in
Jerusalem that it legally owns, and intends to use
for Jewish settlement. Even in that case — which
requires evicting a Palestinian family that has
occupied the land since the 1960s — the JNF
has shown sensitivity by trying to work out equi-
table compensation.
Cognizant of the skepticism, the JNF is focus-
ing on reorganizing its leadership and attracting
younger supporters. The goal: to become more
accountable and productive.
It must be doing something right; Americans
now send $15 to $20 million a year to Israel via
the JNF, which has a new national leader, cos-
metics heir Ronald Lauder, an ally of Prime Min-
ister Binyamin Netanyahu.
For 97 years, the JNF has helped colonize
the land by looking to a natural gift: the ilan
(tree). But as Israel has developed, the JNF has
extended its reach beyond trees to other envi-
ronmental issues, like water supply and
drainage control.
Beilen and other critics are entitled to their
opinions, of course. But we think they conve-
niently ignore that to partner with the JNF is to
be a stakeholder in Eretz Yisrael. The partnership
is much like an eternal umbilical cord between
the diaspora and the Land of Israel. El

IN FOCUS

Time To Remember

Rabbi Avraham
Jacobovitz
(standing) led
an informal
educational
experience,
"Why Is The
Western Wall
Still Wailing?,"
as part the Tisha
B'Av observance
on Aug. 2 at
Machon
L'Torah, the Oak Park-based Jewish Learning Network of
Michigan. Participants did not use chairs, wear leather shoes or
exchange greetings. Fasting marks the day, the saddest on the
Jewish calendar. On this day, we sorrowfully remember the
anniversaries of: the divine decree that Jews had to remain in
the desert for 40 years, the destruction of the First and Second
Temples, the Roman capture of Beitar and Jerusalem, the
expulsion of the Jews from Spain, and the start of World War I,
which uprooted many large Jewish populations. All that
remains of the Second Temple is the Kotel, or Western Wall.
The spark of redemption is born in the darkest of days, the
sages tell us. Tisha B'Av reminds us that through good will,
and a trust in God, we can turn darkness to light, brightening
the way for people everywhere.

LETTERS

Mission Results
Most Rewarding

I want to applaud and thank
The Jewish News for its exten-
sive coverage of our Teen Mis-
sion 2 Israel.
Your decision to run articles
written by participants and
your extensive coverage of this
trip greatly enhanced the mis-
sion's impact. This is an exam-
ple of the finest in community-
based journalism; and you have
earned our deep appreciation.
On the subject of gratitude,
I think it is also important to
note that many people devoted
hundreds of hours behind the
scenes to create this wonderful
experience for our teens. Allan
Nachman, the mission chair-
man, created a sense of team-
work and positive reinforce-
ment that allowed all of the
professionals to do their jobs.
His co-chair, Jim Jonas, also

Mandy May and Adam
Bloom atop an Israeli tank.

volunteered untold hours to
this project both before the trip
and in Israel.
Partnership is the key
concept in understanding
this program. Locally, the
Teen Mission brings together
rabbis and educators of
diverse backgrounds with the

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1998

Detroit Jewish News

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