Cover Story
Clockwise from top left:
Michael and Kathryn Marcus check out the handiwork of a Jewish immigrant from Iran at the
Lifelines for the Old senior crafts center in Jerusalem.
Neal Robin "high-fives" students at an elementary school in Detroit's sister region, the Central Galilee.
The Rosenberg family on the mission: Susan and Neal Robin, Mark Chess, Joel Rosenberg, Linda
Rosenberg Chess and Harold and Shirley Rosenberg.
An Israeli soldier patrolling Ben'Yehuda Street four nights after the suicide bombing.
Exploring The City
Back in Jerusalem that night, Detroiters had
their first free time to explore the city on their
own — and were not deterred by the bombing
earlier that day.
Eight people from the group walked to Ben
Yehuda Street, just four days after the suicide
bombings there. Most of the others shopped
there the next afternoon.
The eight Detroiters encountered a
makeshift memorial of flowers and memorial
candles where Ben Yehuda Street begins at
Zion Square — where one suicide bomb had
exploded. A block west on Ben Yehuda they
saw a similar memorial, where the other sui-
cide bomber struck. A car bomb had also
exploded around the corner Saturday night.
Young Israeli soldiers carrying M-16 rifles
were positioned at intersections Wednesday
night and most of the storefronts damaged
from Saturday night's blasts had already been
repai red.
The diverse group of Detroiters was not hes-
itant about visiting the plaza. The group
ranged from the "Three Musketeers" as they
called themselves, Katz, Kahan and Jack
Robinson of Bloomfield Hills — to the young
Marcuses. Valeri Sirlin of Bloomfield Hills and
Daniel Cutler of Ann Arbor also were part of
the entourage, which visited several jewelry
and gift shops in the area.
"Of course, we can worry a little bit," said
Kahan as he approached the plaza. "But life
must go on. We certainly aren't going to stay
in our room. We're going to Ben Yehuda
12/14
2001
16
Street, -we're going to do some shopping and,
God willing, everything will be all right."
"Obviously, we'll keep our eyes open," said
Katz. "But the safest guy in the world is the
guy who sits in jail. I'm not going to sit in a
jail all my life — I'm going to live it. I'm not
going to be afraid."
Their first stop was a jeweler on Jaffa Street.
There, proprietor Yoram Ahdut said his busi-
ness was not holding up well with the scarcity,
of tourists.
"We've been here since 1949," he said. "I
have a lot customers and we're also on the
Internet. Basically the stores here are closing
one after the other because of the situation. It's
not getting better."
Another jeweler, Elizar Refoul, said, "I will
not let them change my way. When a cus-
tomer comes, we laugh, we joke, we bargain.
Don't worry [about terrorism]. If it happens, it
can happen anyplace in the world.
"No generation in 2000 years had what we
have now — a State of-Israel. We are very
lucky — this is our state and we have to keep
it.
All the merchants expressed great gratitude for
the Detroiters' patronage. After shopping, half
the group took taxis to Eucalyptus Restaurant in
Jerusalem's City Hall area, whose menu features
ingredients native to biblical Israel.
There, Chef Moshe Basson paused to sit with
the Detroiters at their table and said, "It's so
touching and so important your coming here in
these days.
AT ISRAEL'S SIDE on page 18