This Week

ivirrzva.

200 MICHIGANDERS HEAD TO ISRAEL IN A STRONG SHOW OF SUPPORT.

MISSION

KERI GUTEN COHEN

Story Development Editor

I

tetg.

1/12
2001

16

t was a prelude to
a mitzvah for par-
ticipants of the
Michigan Unity
Mission to Israel Jan.
14-19.
A sense of excitement
permeated Handleman
Hall of the West
Bloomfield Jewish
Community Center
Sunday morning Jan. 7 as
this diverse group of Israel
supporters from the
Detroit area, Ann Arbor,
Flint and Grand Rapids
gathered to learn more
about their four-day soli-
darity trip to Israel.
"You are doing the most
mitzvah you can do,"
Marta Rosenthal, co-chair
of the mission organized
by the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit,
told the group. "It's easy to
go to Israel when times are good. You
will feel so good you are going now."
Rosenthal and Robert Aronson,
Federation chief executive officer, spoke
about their recent trips to Israel.
Rosenthal had attended a United Jewish
Communities solidarity mission last
month. Her co-chair is Richard Krugel.
"The people are emotionally
depressed. I can't teil you how excited
they are to have you coming to Israel,"
Rosenthal said. Then she made a sincere
pitch urging mission members to shop.
With tourism down so severely because
of Arab-Israeli clashes, shopkeepers are
suffering.
"I walked out of some shops in tears,"
she said. "I can't tell you how important
it is. It's very stressful for them. At one

store, we were the first customers of the
day and it was 5 o'clock. You didn't
want to leave and people didn't want us
to leave. They would look you in the
eye and thank you for coming."
A charter El Al plane capable of hold-
ing 200 people has been filled by the
mission. A dozen or so more people are
on a waiting list for seats on the charter,
but they will be able to join the group
by flying on regularly scheduled flights.
Participants come from all streams of
Judaism and represent all age groups,
from teens to senior citizens.
"I'm excited," said Frank Hoffman
. of Farmington Hills. "There's a slight
amount of anxiety, but primarily I'm
looking forward to the trip. It's been
10 years since I've been to Israel.

spent in the Jerusalem
and Tel Aviv areas, high-
lighted by a speech by
former Israeli Prime
Minister Shimon Peres;
two days will be spent in
the Central Galilee,
Detroit's Partnership
2000 region, where resi-
dents will host small
groups for dinner.
Though there was an
underlying concern for
safety, questions from the
group dealt more with
trip details than security
issues. These are people
who know they are going
to Israel during troubled
times.
"This is really the time
to go to Israel," said
Aronson, who had been
in Israel last week. "It's a
time of great anxiety, pri-
marily because of the
election on Feb. 6, and
there's a great deal of
debate over the peace
"I was supposed to
Ellery Diem, 17, of process ... This is a crossroads
in Israel's history and we will
go on a Technion
Farmington Hills
have
the experience of dis-
University-planned
signs the Michigan
cussing
these issues firsthand."
giving trip in
Unity Mission to
Federation
President Penny
November, but that
Israel banner.
Blumenstein seemed to sum it
got canceled. After
up perfectly: "Not one person
talking with people
will come home feeling they didn't do
who've just been to Israel and hearing
the most wonderful thing for the
from people here today, I'm pleased
Israelis and for themselves." CI
with security and the focus on people.
With the combination of affordability,
The mission is co-sponsored by
brevity and the focus of the trip, it's a
the Jewish News, which will provide
no-brainer to go."
full mission coverage for the next
two weeks. Log on to
Five Busloads
www.thisisfederation.com or
for
wwvv.detroitjewishnews.com
The group will travel on five buses
daily
photographs
from
the
mission.
that occasionally will separate and
visit individual sites. Two days will be