OTHER VIEWS
Building Bridges
Curtain Call
Jerusalem
Iiirl hire lace curtains. They
hung in nearly every
house, even tl:ic–e that I
felt would crumble at
the slightest touch.
The curtains represented a country
struggling to survive nearly 10 years
after Communism had left, a country
struggling to accept its past and uncer-
tain future. They made the houses
comfortable, a comfort that is rarely
found in Poland. Here, in this corner
of the world, is where we would begin
our journey.
At first, no one could predict how
we would react and how deep the hurt
would run. We were a mixture, not a
compound; and yet sifting in the cre-
matorium early in the trip, we all
helped each other and dried each
other's tears. I looked around me.
There were streaks on the walls where
the gas had stained the surface and a
cold, eerie feeling to each of the six
sides of the cement box.
I imagined the loads of pec, )le
pouring in and I shivered. Yahrtzeit
candles formed ). pyramid in the cen-
ter and, despite my knowledge that
the light symbolized life, I could only
see them as fire — the fire from the
stoves in the next room. I could not
wait to walk out and felt guilty for all
those who couldn't.
For me, though, my nighttime
thoughts settled on Treblinka, a camp
where only 70 survived and hundreds
of thousands perished. There was a
cemetery where each gravestone repre-
sented a community. Ten thousand
here, 20,000 there, the numbers just
kept adding up. To think of the hor-
rors of these people: one pit for the
old and weak forever burning, 13 cre-
matoriums, hundreds Of wives watch-
ing their husbands leave them. This
was a death camp and no one left
alive. I could not believe what I was
hearing and could not wait to return
home to learn more. I will always
- remember.
That night, we boarded a plane to
Israel.
Upon touchdown there, we knew
that we had arrived at home. Cheers
of joy echoed all around me. Before
sunrise, we reached the Mediter-
ranean, where we would have break-
fast — the first good meal we had
been given on the trip. Flags waved all
Erin Kaufman, 18, of Farmington
Hills, is a 12th-grader at North Farm-
on High School and affiliated with
ington
Temple Kol Arni.
5/ 1 1
2001
38
around us as we
drove to our first
destination (and
to a bit of sleep).
Toppling
Barriers
Israel was the
experience of a
ERIN
lifetime. We
KAUFMAN
began with an
Special
invitation to
remember the
Corn m en tag
fallen soldiers at
the air force base.
It was a private ceremony and we were
honored to attend. Even though most
of the students were unable to under-
stand the Hebrew, there was a solemn
feeling that could be felt by all that
were present. A tear can break any lan-
guage
b
b barrier.
The highlight of the week was a
parry for Israel Independence Day
hosted by the March of the Living. It
began with representatives of each
country announcing their presence in
whatever language was most comfort-
able to them. The multitude of
able
nations was incredible, and we were all
Given a feeling that something greater
was present.
When a cha-
sidic band took
the stage and
began to play tra-
ditional songs to
modern rhythms,
Rachel Kohn, 16,
of West Bloom-
field and I began
to dance in our
own little space.
Before long, a
ring of men
began to dance
around us. We
were lifted by the
energy
b. in the cir-
cle as it rapidly
grew — a display
of the unity
between nations, all there for a corn-
mon goal. I was elated.
The journey in Israel was special
because Israelis didn't need white
lace curtains to make a comfortable
home for themselves. Unlike the
Jews in Poland, Israel accepts them
and makes them feel comfortable.
They need only a smile, a handshake
and a will to give so that Israel
might live. I can only hope that, one
day, Poland can evolve to a position
where there is no need for white lace
curtains. U
that was built was
evidenced by the
sense of cohesion
felt by all par-
ticipants and par-
ents.
Jerusalem
T
he lives of50 Jewish
youths have been touched
forever. The 35 Metro
Detroit and 15 Israeli Cen-
tral Galilee teens who participated in
the Federation-sponsored Teen Unity
March of the Living built Jewish
bridges on a number of levels that
have left a strong imprint on their
Jewish identity.
Following the experiences of local
survivors Mickey Milberger and Alex
Kuhn throughout Poland personalized
the story of the Holocaust and
instilled a sense of shared fate with the
Jewish people. Sharing the profound
grief of Yom HaZikaron, and then the
jubilance of Yom HaAtzmaut, with
the people of Israel helped understand
the price that has been paid for the
Jewish people to have an independent
national existence.
Equally important were the bridges
that were built between Jewish teens
who may otherwise never have met.
The Reform, Conservative and Ortho-
dox teens from Detroit each observed
their own form of Judaism during the
trip, yet the interaction between the
streams, which r,-pified this mission,
Bridge
Building
An important
bridge was built
between Jewish
Special
teens from Amer-
Commentary
ica and Israel.
Together, they
discovered the common Jewish her-
itage that was Europe and the Holo-
caust, while the Detroit teens learned,
through the cycle of Yom HaZikaron
and Yom HaAtzmaut in Israel, how
their Israeli counterparts grow up and
live in a fundamentally different reali-
ty from their own. The tearful farewell
at the end of the two-week emotional
journey attested to just how strong a
bridge was built in so short a rime.
Other bridges were built: Israeli par-
ticipants from our Partnership 2000
region come from Nazareth Hit,
Migdal HaEmek and the Jezreel Valley,
and the teen unity mission was a chance
MARK
MYERS
The March of the Living-Detroit Teen Unity
Poland/Israel Experience, for teens of all Jewish back-
grounds, ran April 16-30. The Jewish Federation of Met-
ropolitan Detroit and two of its agencies, the Agency for
Jewish Education and the Michigan/Israel Connection,
sponsored the Detroit delegation of 35 teens and 16 staff
members. Fifteen Israeli teens from the Central Galilee,
Detroit Jewry's Partnership 2000 region, joined them.
Rabbis Elimelech Goldberg of Young Israel of Southfield,
Marla Hornsten of Temple Israel and Hal Greenwald of
the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit
provided spiritual leadership. Southfield's Cookie Gonik
headed the planning committee. These dispatches arrived
after the group landed at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
A flag marking the countgside in Israel
widened the understanding of Jewish
diversity for all of the participants.
A truly unforgettable joint Oneg
Shabbat in Warsaw is but one of many
examples of this Jewish unirv. The -
Detroit contingent, together with
their parents, met on the evening of
May 7 ro process what they had expe-
rienced. The strength of the bridge
Mark Myers is community shaliach
with the Jewish Federation of ietro-
pclitan Detroit:c Michigan/Israel Con-
nection ollice.
for these teens ro interact for the first
rime. Israeli and American Orthodox
participants learned of each other's tradi-
tions through joint observance during
the mission. There was much that was
similar, vet differences were felt.
Several Jewish streams and back-
grounds were joined ro make the Teen
Uniry March of the Living one cohe-
sive contingent. Many Jewish bridges
were built through an experience that
will last a lifetime. As the group often
sang out joyously, Am Israel Chail,
Long Live Israel!