OPINION
An Experience Of Learning
those who had ordered kosher meals "to
11 the press on the Teen Mis-
please
raise their hands." We were going
sion 2 Israel, including arti-
to Israel.
cles from the traveling teens,
As I sat on the plane with my atlas,
rovides the setting for me to
trying to figure out if Israel is in Asia or
recount my amazing experience of trav-
Africa, my son announced that it is in
eling through Israel with my family.
Asia but its bordering country, Egypt, is
As I reflect on our first trip
in Africa. Being the week
to Israel, taken in celebration
before
Chanukah, my kids
of my daughter's bat mitzvah,
discussed
their plan to search
I think about how much I
Israel
for
a
dreidel that said,
now know about Israel and its
"Neis, Gadol, Haya, PO"- A
history, and how most of this
great miracle happened here.
knowledge came from my
My adventure had begun.
children. What I expected was
In our attempt to teach
to take a wonderful family
and
share with our children,
vacation, but what I found
they
were teaching us —
was an experience of learning,
about
Israel, its history and
SHE
LLI
and the grateful realization of
our
religion.
At Yad Vashem,
DORF
MAN
what my children have
they discussed how Denmark
Speci al to
already learned.
The Jew ish News saved Jews during the Holo-
As our family prepared to
caust. My children converted
travel to Israel, I was made
dollars
to shekels and Fahren-
to feel just how special this trip would
heit
into
celsius.
They
understood why
be by the many phone calls we
gas
is
cheap
in
Israel
and
could name
_received before we left. Everyone we
the
strange
fruits
growing
in the kib-
knew who had ever been to Israel
butz
we
visited.
called to tell us about the incredible
In Jerusalem, we found ourselves in a
experience we could look forward to,
place where a man wearing a kippah
and how much they wished they were
was the norm. We were in a place plen-
going, too.
tiful with kosher restaurants, where on
When we boarded the plane, it was
Shabbat
the hotels had elevators that
obvious that the clientele was not that
automatically
stopped on each floor,
of a typical flight to Florida over the
where
the
Great
Jerusalem Synagogue is
December break. There was a minyan
so
large
that
it
has
escalators, and where
in one corner, a man was helping male
the
phone
book
isn't
yellow but is called
passengers learn how to put on tefillin,
"The
Gold
Pages."
In
what other city
and there was no need to request for
do the post office and the mall close on
Shell Dorfman is a staff member of The
Friday afternoon and not reopen until
Jewish News.
Shabbat ends?
AIL
In a time in my children's lives where
they were just learning that the whole
world isn't Jewish, we were in a place
where, for us, came the incredible dis-
covery that in a small country, a day's
travel from home, there is a vital,
unequalled land where most everybody
Sea be floating without rafts, and how
could the blue lights seen through the
walls of the Bedouin tents be television,
and why does our cousin, whom we
had just met for the first time, have to
go into the army next year?
Is.
was the bat mitzvah of our daughter. As
she stood, surrounded by her family,
her grandparents and her newly met
Israeli aunt and cousins, she stood
beside the rabbi and used the yad she
carried across the world to chant from
an Israeli Torah on top of Masada.
I stood there, thinking about how
long ago did we first talk about this day,
and would it be worth the effort and
the time and the cost. And as our
daughter's voice was heard beyond the
open walls of the tiny stone building,
the worth of the moment could never
be measured.
As thg service concluded, and we all
sang "Hatikvah," we heard not only the
two dozen of us, but also the strong
voices of Israeli students and soldiers
who had surrounded us to join in our
simchah. And when the_last line of
"Hatikvah" was sung, there was a
silence, followed by the sound of our
Israeli "guests" as they began to sing
"Simen Toy Oo Mazel Toy," and we
shared our moment with Israelis ... and
with Israel.
Our weeks in Israel came to an end,
and suddenly we were back on the
plane going home, my daughters in
their treasured Na'ot sandals and my
son in his T-shirt with a picture of an
LEARNING on page 40 .
Our hotel room in itself was a cul-
tural and religious experience. We -
watched Angolan baseball, "Bonanza"
dubbed in German and "Saved by the
Bell" on Jordanian TV The kosher
foods on the room service menu and
the mezuzot on the doors were among
the constant reminders as to where we
were, but the most incredible one was
in the nightstand drawer. The book
inside was a Tanach.
We saw the incredibly old and the
amazingly new The site of the oldest
synagogue in the world is minutes from
the signs declaring Israel's statehood.
How amazing it is to stand on the low-
est point on Earth, to visit the tombs of
King David and Maimonides, and to
learn from your children the deep
importance of these sites and to see
their excitement at the visualization of
the history they've already learned.
We were astounded at the safety pre-
cautions taken everywhere, from the lit-
tle trucks with blue lights speeding up
to forgotten briefcases or boxes, to the
free passage given women soldiers on
public transportation to eliminate dan-
gerous hitchhiking.
We experienced things that were dif-
ficult to explain, like how can those
people reading their papers in the Dead
The most moving part of our trip
LETTERS
On behalf of the 216 young partici-
pants in the Teen Mission 2 Israel —
as well as their families, volunteers,
rabbis and staff— please accept my
sincere thanks for The Jewish News'
exceptional coverage of the mission.
Throughout the months preceding
the trip, The Jewish News helped us
recruit the largest Israel teen mission
in the country. During the mission,
your paper kept the community
informed of our young people's
odyssey; their words and photographs
demonstrated the extraordinary
impact that Israel can have on the lives
of our children.
I'm certain The Jewish News' interest
and participation will have a similar
impact as our community prepares for
8/28
1998
38 Detroit Jewish News
Pho to by Davi d Josep h
Jewish News
Deserves Thanks
Teen Mission participant Mike Hoff-
man of Temple Shir Shalom looks
through letters and journals of soldiers
who died in the 1967 battle for
Jerusalem.
Miracle Mission III. No parent of a
returning teenager will be able to resist
experiencing Israel for himself or her-
self.
Yael Waxman
Community shlicha, director
Michigan/Israel Connection
New Leader
Well Chosen
Thank you for publishing Harry Kirs-
baum's article ("First Lady" Aug. 21).
While it is a historic event for a
woman to be the
leader of metro
Detroit's orga-
nized Jewish com-
munity, I strongly
approve of the
nomination of
Penny Blumen-
stein for president
of the Jewish Fed-
eration of Metro- Penny
politan Detroit.
Blumenstein.
Penny is warm,
caring, bright and
demonstrates endless energy.
We are truly fortunate in the corn-
munity to have so many men and
women of extraordinary ability and
personality in positions of leadership. I
look forward to Penny's leadership.
Harvey S. Bronstein
Southfield
This Project
Deserves Note
In your July 31 editorial "Young Israel
Of Oak Park: Symbol Of A Vibrant
Orthodox Community," you quote
Young Israel President Joseph Green-
berg when he credits the Neighbor-
hood Project for helping to enhance
the neighborhood. On behalf of the
Neighborhood Project, I want to
thank you for calling attention to the
program.
PROJECT on page 40