Editorials

Maccabi Memories

will not soon be forgotten.
Windsor
The Jewish Community Center Maccabi
In the process, we reconnected with our-
Games gave the Detroit Jewish community a
selves while sharing the duties of carpooling,
third opportunity to come together, to show
meals, social activities and volunteering. We
off what we're made of.
met neighbors we had never seen before, doing
It was certainly successful.
the same things we were doing for the good of
Yes, there were some disappointing glitches
other Jews, and learned again that we can lean
and maybe our aura of invincibility — left
on each other in this Jewish community to
over from the 1984 and 1990 games — was
accomplish an important goal.
tarnished in the herculean effort to house,
We built memories
feed, transport and
for
our guests and
stage athletic corn-
memories
for our-
petitions and social
selves
that
will last a
activities for a Mac-
lifetime.
cabi record 3,200
Will we do this
athletes. They came
again? Yes! But not
from the United
too soon, and maybe
States, Canada,
not in the format of
Mexico, Great
a
continental games
Britain and Israel,
that
taxes our com-
and Detroit certain-
munity
to its limits.
1y did not disap-
We
need
to sit back
point them.
and
rest
a
bit, and
But most impor-
West Bloomfield's Barney Zatkoff serves Delaware
smile
through
the
tantly, we did not
Valley's Stephanie Yellin at the Kahn JCC.
tears of saying l'hi-
disappoint our-
traot — until the
selves. We again
next time — to the many friends we made
invited the Jewish world to visit our home,
during last week's hectic JCC Maccabi
and the lavish welcome extended by thou-
Games. El
sands of Detroiters — from Ann Arbor to

IN FOCUS

Time Out

Neer Spinner, a 16-year-old Maccabi athlete from Chicago,
puts on tefillin before the games' closing ceremonies with the
help of 14-year-old Levi Gottlieb of Oak Park. The Bais
Chabad Torah Center of West Bloomfield sent several young
people to the Kahn Jewish Community Center in West Bloom-
field last weekend to distribute Shabbat candles to female com-
petitors and supervise male competitors in laying tefillin and
davening. "Helping others put on tefillin is a great mitzvah,"
said Schneur Zalman - Rabin, 15. "Mitzvahs ultimately will help
bring the Moshiach, the Messiah. They all add up." ❑

The New War On Terror

Seventy-five, 100 or even 100,000 sophisticat-
ed Tomahawk, cruise and other missiles will
never provide enough poison to eradicate the
entrenched roots of international terrorism.
Yet, the U.S. government must continually use
all means to attack and pursue terrorists — not
just in retaliation. And now, after unquestion-
ably declaring its unilateral readiness to use
massive military force, the Clinton administra-
tion must with equal fervor pursue global
cooperation to dry up the sustenance of terror-
ists — safe haven, money, weapons and public
support.
It's only been two weeks since the president
stunned the world by ordering what were
deemed preemptive attacks against suspected
terrorist training centers in Afghanistan and an
alleged chemical weapons-producing plant in
the Sudan. In doing so, he initiated what pun-
dits and aides call a new response to terror, one
that after receiving verifiable information
demands immediate response.
Hoopla aside, questions linger. Is Osama
bin Laden, the purported mastermind behind
the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa,
deservedly public enemy No. 1? Or is he just
another wealthy fundamentalist who must be
captured and tried? And isn't it the despair that
give rise to such cretins that really needs to be
attacked?
And where are the public voices of moder-

ate Islamic U.S. allies such as Saudi Arabia,
Egypt, Morocco and Jordan? Must they pre-
dictably play public relations by convening the
Arab League to issue condemnations when
ultimately they benefit from the actions? Was
the Sudan factory really linked to Iraqi chemi-
cal weapons production, or was it, as the
Sudanese are claiming in unprecedented open-
ness, a pharmaceuticals plant? And finally,
should the United States have sought, as it has
in recent years, a semblance of international
backing before striking?
Regardless of the answers, in ordering such
an attack, President Clinton has virtually
assured that there will be a bloody response —
or an attempted one. But critics who say that
these latest events only further the cycle of vio-
lence miss a critical point: U.S. embassies were
bombed and scores of innocent people mur-
dered in the carnage. This is not tit for tat; it is
an ongoing, difficult and complex war. Perpe-
trators of the recent embassy bombings, and
their fans, undoubtedly are planning addition-
al action against U.S. interests, regardless of
the military response.
A new chapter in the war against global ter-
rorism has begun. The United States will not
gain ground in this endless battle alone. Yet,
the world's sole superpower is on the offensive.
We pray that the strategy is a well-thought-out
and long-term one. [ -I

LETTERS

Performers
Recognized

As the chairperson
for the JCC Mac-
cabi Games open-
ing ceremonies, I
feel the need to
acknowledge the
The JCC Maccabi dancers perform at open-
dedicated perform- ing ceremonies.
ers who attempted
to display their tal-
the shlicha from JCCA,
ents with the presentation of
remarked, "Let's give the kids
"Israel's Story."
more credit than that."
Our committee decided to
Lonny Goldsmith stated in
present this original piece as a
his article ("Greetings Extend-
tribute to Israel's 50th
ed" Aug. 21) that by the time
anniversary with the intent of
we began to perform, "some of
educating the athletes and
the teenagers were squirming
members of our community,
in their seats." That was an
instilling a sense of pride in
understatement. They were on
the Jewish state. Many of us
their feet and filling the aisles
were concerned that the
trying to exit, which created a
opening ceremonies would
dangerous situation and the
run long and the athletes
lights needed to be turned on.
would have difficulty sitting
This was perceived by the per-
through it, but Anat Harel,
formers as extremely rude.

8/28
1998

Detroit Jewish News

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