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Mazel
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X3 1 5 fX aisparr or
Holoedust Ro.vivorss
re Gil' Ytwr c o
iekarski, 19, of Northville,
A.1.(17,Trinick, 2a of-Kentucky
and 2-Ltonahn Love, 19, of Detroit.

otential civic leaders spend a "Day at the I" learning about the Detroit Jewish community.

participants in JVS'
Jewish Occupational
Intern Program (JOIN).
In a seminar called
"Day at the J," the City
Year participants were
exposed to Judaism,
Jewish history and local
Jewish communal work.
The day began with an
emotional tour of the
Lafitte Makkuliyane o oweto, South Africa, Holocaust Memorial
who is visiting City fear Detroit to learn about Center in West
bringing the program to his country, chats with Bloomfield. Listening to
Leslie Zack of Farmington Hills, a JOIN intern. the accounts of Nazi
brutality and family sep-
aration deeply affected
both the non-Jews and
Jews alike.
"Seeing the video made all participants aware
JOSHUA FEINBERG
of
the horrific experiences that Jews in the
Special to the Jewish News
Holocaust went through," said Adam Kott, a
JOIN intern from West Bloomfield. "Both
ome 80 young adult participants with
groups were affected."
City Year Detroit — an "action tank"
Following the tour, Holocaust survivor Sam
that runs a full-time service corps —
Offen
spoke on his experiences in the Plaszow,
were given a get-acquainted welcome to
Mauthausen
and Gusen concentration camps.
the Jewish community June 14.
"I never discussed my experiences in the con-
The 17- to 24-year-old City Year Detroit par-
centration camps for years and years," Offen
ticipants, who have the potential to become the
region's leaders of the future, were greeted at the said. "You must learn from me, a witness to
what happened in those dark, dark days."
Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield
Corps members and interns alike appreciated
by more than a dozen Jewish college students —

S

Offen's powerful firsthand description of life
before, during and after the Holocaust. "Please
remember, always fight bigotry and injustice,
wherever you find it," he said.
"Hearing the survivor speak gave me a little
glimpse of what it must have been like," said
Joe Harrison, a City Year participant from
Redford. "He's calling out to us."
Rabbi Hal Greenwald of the JCC spoke to
participants on a range of issues, including
Judaism and Christianity, the Middle East, and
the structure of the Jewish community. His
humorous, light-hearted approach created a
good transition from the morning's Holocaust
theme to the afternoon's introduction to the
Jewish community.
"It was good to go through the Holocaust
Memorial and hear Mr. Offen speak, and then
hear the rabbi talk and lighten the mood," said
Kott.
Participants broke into smaller groups and
toured the JCC, including the Janice Charach
Epstein Gallery, where they marveled at the art
and photography. The day ended with students
enjoying nearly two hours of open activity at
the Center's facilities, including the weight
room, swimming pool, basketball court, track
and Health Club.
JOIN interns such as Emily Radner of West
Bloomfield saw special value in the program
because it promoted Holocaust education. "I
thought it was good that the City Year volun-

6/28
2002

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