Open during
Passover Chol HaMoed
Hours of Shopping
and skating event at the Farmington
Hills Ice Arena "could not have been
better in terms of turnout, cama-
raderie and obvious friendships that
have been formed this past week."
Most of the visitors, who attended
school with their host teens, were
making their first trip to the United
States. Many pointed to the variety in
streams of Judaism here.
"The community here in Michigan
is a very united one — it is very
warm and accepting," said Hagit
Zilberman, 16, of the Jezreel Valley.
"It is not like that in Israel.
"Here in the United States,
Orthodox accept Reform and
Conservative Jews. This is different in
Israel. There aren't many Reform and
Conservative Jews in Israel. The
Orthodox in Israel deny the others
and those who are not observant."
She said she enjoyed every
moment here. "I will be sad to leave,
but I miss Israel. I love my country
very much. I want to thank the
Federation for organizing this lovely
experience for all of us."
Also commenting on religious plu-
ralism, Ronit Hartmann, 16, of
Nazareth-Illit, said, "In Israel, the
Orthodox are religious and are very
strict. Here in the U.S., most Jews
seem to be Reform and Conservative.
I love the way Jews here express their
religion. I love Reform Judaism. It is
more open, happy and liberal.
"The family that I stayed with, the
Robinsons, were very interested in
Israel and what is going on there. It
made me feel very happy."
Jennifer Robinson, 15, a Temple
Israel member, said Ronit told her that
"Israel is a lot different than the U.S. in
that everything is a lot less modern.
Buildings are older and smaller than
here. I also learned a little Hebrew."
Dan Peterman, 17, a Temple Shir
Shalom member, and his family were
hosts to two Israeli students. Sharing
what he learned from his two new
friends about Israeli life, he said,
"Kibbutz work is not as hard as I
heard it was. We also went downtown
to a Tigers game and the students
were amazed by the buildings and the
game. Their lifestyle is different from
ours."
Elad Shooval, 15, of Kibbutz Ein
Dor, said, "People in the U.S. are close
to their religion in different ways from
Israel. Visiting Temple Shir Shalom was
very unique and special for me. Rabbis
in the United States make people like
the religion. Rabbis in Israel make the
service uncomfortable. It is a much less
open service in Israel."
Natan Golshmid, 16, of Nazareth-
Illit, said, "Every morning here we
spent in a different synagogue. It was
very interesting, like a new religion to
me. I saw women wearing kippot and
reading the Torah and men and
women together. It was a very inter-
esting trip. I am looking forward to
this summer."
Mariel Ostrower, 15, from Kibbutz
Ein Dor, observed that "Judaism
seems easier here in the United States
than in Israel. Temple is great. There
is singing and more fun."
Helen Sanitsky, 16, of Migdal
HaEmek said, "There is a lot more
freedom in Judaism in the U.S. Jews
in Israel are either Orthodox or non-
religious. I enjoyed learning about
Reform Judaism."
But many of the students talked
about the similarities, even though
the two countries are thousands of
miles apart.
Jared Goldberg, 16, a Temple Beth
El member, said that Israeli teens "are
just like us, the only difference being
they speak a different language. I
bonded with them just like I bond
with American kids."
Jennifer Robinson said she and
Ronit Hartmann have a lot in corn-
mon, including siblings and parents
who are the same ages. "We love the
same music and TV shows, even
though in Israel the shows are a little
bit behind us."
Dan Peterman agrees. "The Israeli
teens are just like us," he said. "They
like the same stuff we do. We take life
for granted. We don't realize how
much we have."
Rob Gordon, co-chair of Teen -
Mission 2000, said, "The week went
fabulous. It was a wonderful group of
Israeli students. I am looking forward
to seeing Israel. It was a very success-
ful week of bonding."
Summing up the week, David
Bitan of Migdal HaEmek, group
leader for the Israeli teens said, "The
trip was fun and educational for the
kids. Everything was taken care of.
Home hospitality was wonderful and
the kids were treated as if [they
belonged to the family]. The kids
learned about the community and it
was nice meeting the Americans
before their trip together this sum-
mer.
"The kids became friends with
each other. It was very successful. The
real reason we came was to form rela-
tionships. The ice breaking is behind
us." ❑
Sunday, April 23
Monday, April 24
Tuesday, April 25
9:00am -6:00pm
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8:00am -4:30pm
Thank you for a most successful year,
and we look forward to serving
you for many years to come.
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248-569-5000 •
Fax 248-569-5801
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