COMIIIIIITY VIEWS

A Fond Goodbye

promote Detroit — and American
alk about plum assign-
Jewry — to Israel. And so I will. As
ments.
an educator of school administrators
When I arrived here as
and future teachers, I will have a
shlicha (Israel emissary)
wealth of experiences and new ideas
with the Michigan/Israel Connection
to share about the need for
two years ago, I was told that
partnership. As peace
Detroit was a great commu-
comes to Israel — and it
nity. I never dreamed just
surely will — and as the
how great it is.
level of tension drops, I
Now that I am about to
hope Israel will have more
return to Israel, it is with
time to focus on its rela-
some sadness that I leave
tionships with diaspora
good friends, colleagues and
Jewry. We need to know
an extended family of Jewish
you are with us, that we
people who will always
are not alone.
remain in my heart.
YAEL W AXMAN
For Detroit's. part, I
I leave a community that
would like the word Israel
Spec ial to
demonstrates its caring for
to be part of every Jew's
the Jew ish. News
fellow Jews throughout the
vocabulary. I would like
world, a community that
Israel to be cherished as a
shows up by the thousands
source of identity, Jewish
to celebrate Israel's 50th
belief and continuity. And I would
birthday, or to share its sorrow on a
like every parent and grandparent to
day of remembrance for Israel's fallen.
encourage their youngster to go on a
I leave a community whose gen-
mission — then follow their example.
erosity enables every teenager to visit -
Of the past two years, what
Israel, regardless of financial means —
makes me proud? The 600-plus young
a community that invests in the future
people who visited Israel on missions
through its children. I leave wonderful
and various study-travel programs.
professionals and volunteers who
The creation of a program — Come
understand the centrality of Israel to
Back/Give Back — that is keeping
our lives.
teen mission participants in touch
I came expecting to promote
with Israel via e-mail and with their
Israel to Detroit. I leave wanting to
community by participating in service
projects. The 80 Detroiters who made
has
completed
a
two-
Yael Wax.man
aliya with help from the
with
the
Michi-
year term as shlicha
Michigan/Israel Connection. The
gan/Israel Connection, part of the Jewish
founding of "Israeli House," an
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.

opportunity to
share our modern
Israeli culture
with those who
want to feel part
of Israel.
And I'm proud
of the many times
I carried Israel's
message to people
beyond the Jewish
community — to
Christian semi-
naries, to public
schools, to Arab
Americans like
the young people
from the Ramal-
lah Federation,
who exchanged
ideas about peace
with our Jewish
teens. What won-
derful conversa-
tions we had and
how much we
learned about
respect for each
other.
Not everyone
gets the opportu-
John Redmon greets his mom Judy and sister Rachel upon
nity to stop the
returning from the second teen mission to Israel last summer.
world and get off.
It was my good
responsibilities toward one another.
fortune that I paused in my education
Dear friends, thank you for enter-
career and set off on a voyage of dis-
ing my life — and for allowing me to
covery — a different kind of educa-
enter yours. We are truly one family.
don — that would give me a whole
L'hitraot — see you in Israel! I I
new perspective on Jewish life and our

LITTERS

consulting us before writing this piece
also. As you say, it is very difficult to
host high-quality events for 3,000-
plus athletes. Perhaps the regional
format was inevitable in order to
give the maximum number of
youngsters the Maccabi experience.
You are absolutely correct that the
regional format discourages interna-
tional participation and lowers the
overall quality of the competition.
These factors certainly limit the
event's attraction.
You suggest that "the Detroit
planners" analyze site selection,
transportation costs, levels of corn-
petition, earlier school starting dates,
etc., in order to compensate for the
impact these factors have on partici-
pation. The Maccabi Club's board of
directors met after the announce-

8/6
1999

28 Detroit Jewish News

ment of the sites and the number of
athletes we would be allotted by
each host community. We were ini-
tially granted spots only for the
week of Aug. 8-13 and more than
half of those were in Houston,
where we would have to fly. We ana-
lyzed all of the above-mentioned fac-
tors and decided that, in accordance
with our mission of maximum par-
ticipation, we would not only have
to travel to Columbus (which we
could inexpensively do by bus), but
would accept our invitation to
Houston and request spots at games
to be held Aug. 15-20 in Cherry
Hill, N.J.
In an article that ran in the same
issue as this editorial ("Maccabi Lure
Dims"), you stated that "participa-
tion in Youth Games is rising

nationwide; bur Detroit athletes
dwindle." Since 1982, the Detroit
Maccabi Club has consistently been
one of the three or four largest trav-
eling delegations to participate in
the games. This year is no exception.
On behalf of the club, I am flat-
tered that you suggest that our con-
tribution to the games should be
that we "ensure that the games' mass
appeal continues." Unfortunately, we
lack the power to affect camp dates,
school dates, fall sports schedules,
and games site and date selection.
What we do to compensate is to
provide generous scholarship assis-
tance, dedicated and enthusiastic
volunteer coaches, as much practice
and social contact as our kids' busy
schedules permit, and the utter joy
of providing what we hope contin-

ues to be an exciting and worthwhile
Jewish experience for our athletes.
Alan E. Horowitz
president,

Metropolitan Detroit Maccabi Club

Jewish Culture
Still Lives

Last Saturday night, my wife and I
had the privilege of hearing Debbie
Friedman and several hundred
campers singing and dancing to mod-
ern Jewish songs at Camp Tamarack.
The evening dispelled the myth
that Jewish children from the Ninten-
do generation cannot be reached by
Jewish culture. This group of kids,

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