ditorials
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Sustaining The Excitement
T
here were Kodak moments
camel riding in the Negev,
floating in the Dead Sea
and disco dancing in .
Jerusalem. And there were moments
to ponder atop Masada, by the Kotel
and at Yad Vashem. But the moment
for reflection is now at hand.
WA the 282 Teen Mission 2000
traveler's back home from Israel for
the start of a new school year, their
parents and the trip sponsors are now
obliged to ask them these questions:
• How will you sustain the excitement
for Judaism you developed in Israel?
• How will you parlay that excitement
into lasting involvement in the Jewish
community?
We hope the 4 1/2-week sojourn
not only cleansed the lens that the
travelers use to view Judaism, but also
proved life-altering. Let's not be
fooled into thinking the trip itself was
enough.
For it to be a true success, the mis-
sion — like any quality trip to Israel
— needed to be transformational.
Just as Birthright Israel trips for col-
lege students, it needed to have
hooked the travelers on Jewish tradi-
tion and values. What's more, it
should have invigorated them to
where they will want to give back to
the Jewish community throughout
their lives.
Thoughtful, creative follow-up is
the best likelihood for a high return
on the investment in Israel travel. In
the case of the teen mission, such fol-
low-up falls chiefly to the lead spon-
sors: the Jewish Federation of Metro-
politan Detroit and eight local syna-
gogues.
But we all have a stake. Unless we,
together, inspire our teen travelers to
savor their strengthened ties to
Judaism, we shouldn't bill the Federa-
tion-subsidized mission as anything
more than a great summer vacation.
Federation will host a reunion on
Sept. 10 to help mission goers rein-
force their Jewish identity through
understanding and friendships. Later,
the teens will be able to invest directly
in Jewish causes via the high school
segment of Federation's Annual Cam-
paign.
Meanwhile, we suggest that Feder-
ation consider hosting a teen dialogue
on getting along for Jewish, Arab and
African American teens to keep the
spiritual juices flowing.
Synagogues represented on the
mission are scheduling follow-up
sessions with their teens as well —
and that's super. Hopefully, these
events will be impassioned enough
to stir the neshama, or soul, of each
participant.
If we are serious about Jewish con-
tinuity — about continuing to pass
our heritage from one generation to
the next — we must work to assure
that our teenagers not only feel con-
nected to the Land of Israel, but also
to the local Jewish community. ❑
IN FOCUS
Smooth Skating
A steady stream of visitors, mostly par-
ents and young boys, checked out the new
InLine Hockey Center at the Jewish Com-
munity Center in West Bloomfield during
an open house Aug. 13. The facility, in the
JCC's former indoor tennis complex, hous-
es a regulation-size competition hockey
rink, a smaller practice rink and two team
locker rooms. A new parking lot was built
adjacent to the building for convenient
entry through a new lobby. After watching
an exhibition game, visitors were allowed
to put on their in-line skates and hit the
boards. Hockey Center director Marshall
Shencopp fielded questions about the fall
program from eager youngsters and par-
ents.
-
*
1
'
Above:
Austin Tucker,
6, from Farm-
ington Hills.
Left:
Rachel Buck-
man of West
Bloomfield
helps son
Noam, 7, with
his skates.
Freedom, At Last
D
on't get lost in the initials and legislative
jargon.
The July 27 passage of the Religious
Land Use and Institutionalized Persons
Act of 2000 caught even the Jewish leaders who
worked hard for it by surprise; it's not often that the
House and Senate both take up and pass a bill by
unanimous consent in a matter of hours.
RLUIPA, as it is awkwardly called, is a stripped-
down version of an earlier religious-liberty measure.
It stalled when civil rights and gay rights groups
bailed out of the coalition backing it, citing its pos-
sible negative impact on other civil-rights laws. That
failed measure, in turn, was the legislative response
to the Supreme Court decision overturning the
1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a sweep-
ing law that made it harder for cities and states to
restrict religious activities, even inadvertently, with-
out showing a compelling government interest for
the restriction.
RLUIPA deals only with zoning regulations and
the religious rights of prisoners. Even so, it is.an
important first step that Jews should welcome. What
does the new law do?
• It will make it harderfor cities to use zoning regu-
lations to keep religious institutions out of certain
neighborhoods — a particularly vexing problem fac-
ing Orthodox Jews in some communities.
• It will make it easier for churches, synagogues and
mosques to make needed improvements.
• It will provide better access to kosher food and rit-
ual items for prisoners.
Contrary to some criticisms, RLUIPA will not give
religious institutions carte blanche to come in and
change the character of residential communities with
huge buildings and parking lots. Instead, it merely pro-
vides a better balance between the obligations of local
authorities to control growth and protect neighbor-
hoods, and the religious rights of individuals.
Several Jewish groups stood out in the fight for
RLUIPA. The Orthodox Union worked tirelessly for
the measure, and had a big impact in shoring up
support from key RepUblicans. The American Jew-
ish Congress, which helped write the earlier reli-
gious-liberty measure, helped patch together the
coalition of religious and civil-rights groups that
blew apart last year.
Legislators Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.; Rep.
Charles Canady, R-Fla.; Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-
Utah; and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., all made
the measure a top priority — and went to extraordi-
narily lengths to win passage in the frenzied hours
before the August congressional recess. These leaders
merit our community's thanks. ❑
8/18
2000
37