LETTERS

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Since 1972

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get you to showcase them, that prevented
this facility from being as well known as
its relative in West Bloomfield, and put
the final nail in its coffin.
It is a shande (shame) in a Jewish com-
munity the size of ours not to have such a
facility for those who do not need a nurs-
ing home and who have limited funds.
My mother will now have to be placed in
a nursing home, where she does not
belong, where her freedom of movement
will be limited and where her quality of
life will not be what it should be.
Cherna Kowalsky

Southfield

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Blanchard Best
For Governor

I am supporting Jim Blanchard for gov-
ernor in the August primary based on,
among other things, his fervent support
of issues affecting the Jewish community
("Who Will Lead Michigan?" June 21,
page 14).
Under Blanchard's leadership as gover-
nor, Michigan in 1983 became the first
state to purchase Israel bonds. As a con-
gressman, he constantly voted in favor of
issues supporting Israel, and he publi-
cized the human rights abuses suffered
by Jewish families who lived in the for-
mer Soviet Union.
Blanchard was instrumental in the cre-
ation of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial
Museum in our nation's capital. He also
served by presidential appointment as a
member of the U.S. Commission on the
Holocaust.
In addition to his proven record in
support of Jewish causes, I am voting for
Jim Blanchard because of his vast experi-
ence as ainbassador, governor, congress-
man and attorney.
Lisa W. Kaplan

West Bloomfield

Young Israel
Inspires Aliyah

Call (WM 398-9711

7/ 5

2002

6

505 S. Lafayette • Royal Oak
www.lorioross.com

As a former Young Israel of Oak Park
member, I was pleased to read the edito-
rial describing the growth of Young
Israel in the Detroit area ("Spiritual
Bonding," June 21, page 37)
Many Detroiters affiliated with Young
Israel have made aliyah over the years.
In the late 1950s, given the choice of
moving from Dexter to northwest
Detroit, Harold Lax decided to move to
the State of Israel. A few years later, Alex
Saltzman's son Jerry made the move. He
was followed by Yehuda Gellman, who
went to Israel after receiving his doctor-
ate from Wayne State University.

Another notable olim from the Young
Israel community was Dr. Hugo
Mandelbaum, the person responsible for
the candlelighting schedule for Shabbat
and holidays. He, too, made aliyah.
In the 1970s, Rabbi Samuel Prero, the
rabbi of the Young Israel of Greenfield,
promoted a neighborhood in Beit
Shemesh, a town half way between
Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. People paid a
monthly deposit towards their apart-
ment in Israel. Unfortunately, the proj-
ect did not succeed; undaunted, he set-
tled in Israel after he retired. Rabbi
James Gordon of Young Israel of Oak
Woods made aliyah when he left the
pulpit in the 1980s.
Over the years, other members of the
Young Israel community have made
aliyah. It does not regard a member who
goes to live in Israel as "leaving" the
community, but rather becoming a link
between Young Israel and the State of
Israel. It is part of the extended family
that links the Detroit area reach to the
Jewish homeland.
Zev Davis

Nazareth Illit, Israel

Uniting To Avert
Another Shoah

Having just returned from a short visit
to Washington, D.C., I felt the need to
put into words my experience when
touring the U.S. Holocaust Memorial
Museum ("A Dream In The Making;"
June 28, page 16).
This was my first visit to the museum,
although I have been to Yad Vashem in
Israel and other Holocaust centers.
Hitler started off as a nothing, a ne'er-
do-well, a nobody. But his rise to power
as "leader of Germany" did come about.
He had followers because people always
want more when times are bad. His phi-
losophy was that it was the Jews that
kept Germans from getting "it," whatev-
cc•
er it was.
The danger here is that as the older
generation fades, the memory of the
Holocaust will fade as well. Those left,
the next generation, must continue to
expose the younger generations to what
can happen if one forgets or is subjected
to the words that "the Holocaust never
happened" or "it didn't happen that
way" The fact is that it did happen, but
there are those today that would very
much like to annihilate the Jewish
people and their traditions, for reasons
they believe are justified.
The things that make "man's injustice
to man" or "Jew against Jew" must never
happen again.
Each generation must keep reminding

every man, women and child that there
indeed was a Holocaust and that mil-
lions died; they were not all Jews either.
It was Hider's attempt to create the "per-
fect race." Those that dared to be differ-
ent — the ill, infirm, challenged, Jews,
clergy — were gassed and put to death.
Jews were classified according to how
many of their parents and grandparents
were Jewish.
Hitler tried to create the perfect Aryan
nation. He failed, but it is now up to
every Jew to make sure that another
Hitler never has the chance to do this
again.
Ginny Faber

West Bloomfield

Shabbat Experience
A Special Honor

I would like to thank Congregation
Beth El of Traverse City for hosting
Congregation Beth Ahm's Boy Scout
Troop 1579 for Kabbalat Shabbat (wel-
coming the Sabbath) and morning
Shabbat services June 21-22.
It was a privilege to pray alongside
their congregants on Friday night and to
share, along with them, the insights of
their guest speaker, Israel advocate Don
Cohen of West Bloomfield.
It was a special honor for our boys to
have been able to lead services in the
oldest continuously operating synagogue
in the state, it having been established in
1885.
Congregation Beth El's members are
fulfilling the dream that their founders
certainly must have had of continuity of
Jewish worship and culture in their area.
Their cooperation aided us immensely
in our efforts to instill a strong sense of
Judaism in our young scouts.
Robert Levine, scoutmaster

Boy Scout Troop 1579-CVC
West Bloomfield

Mazel Tov On
Press Awards

Jewish News readers want to congratulate
you on your latest American Jewish Press
Association awards ("Our Best To You,"
June 14, page 21).
The writers are professionals, but we
must include the folks who contribute
to the letter box. Their writings come
from the heart. Some letters are not
published. Yes, there is more important
news so when the letters are published,
we feel we do some good that the public
understands. We are proud.
Sonia Pittman
Oak Park

