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Treason Definition
Doesn t Fit Spy
'
Your advice to American Jewish organ-
izations that they stay out of the legal
fracas involving Jonathan Pollard's
challenge to the sentencing process
that led to his potential life sentence is
on the mark and should be heeded
(The Spy In The Shadows," Aug. 16,
page 14).
However, when you say "without a
doubt [he] committed treason," you
err. Treason is defined in the
Constitution (the only crime it
defines), Article III, Sec. 3, as "levying
war against [the United States], or, in
adhering to their Enemies, giving
them Aid or Comfort."
We certainly were not at war with
Israel in the 1980s, nor was Israel an
enemy. The difficulty that Jews have
in properly assessing Pollard's crimes,
and the way the justice system dealt
with them, is the excessiveness of the
rhetoric that surrounds the discussion.
Your exaggeration doesn't help.
Avern Cohn
Detroit
Israel Is Safer
Than You Think
444
8/30
2002
6
I read the editorial describing the fear
and trembling that the Israeli
teenagers experience when they walk
out of their houses ("Summer To
Remember," Aug. 16, page 35).
As I walk out of my house in
Nazareth Illit, I think of my daughter
in Hadera, who takes a bus to come
visit with my 2-year-old grandson. I
think of my oldest daughter, who is
here and who is returning to Beit
Shemesh with her husband and her
two girls. And I think of my son,
who just came in from Ofakin, a
town outside of Beersheva in the
south.
They come to us without fear and
trembling. And I don't rush to the
synagogue and bentsh Gomel [a prayer
said after danger passes].
What gives here?
Just because somebody across an
imaginary Green Line wants to
remove us from our houses because
they think we "stole" their homeland,
does that mean I feel insecure?
Compared to the hot spots in
Europe, Israel is incredibly safe, much
safer than some places in the United
States, where you don't drive on the
surface [roads] for fear of carjackers.
The teenagers who come here know
that, too. They take buses, they hitch
rides to school and they do all sorts
of things that would make your hair
stand on end because they feel secure
in their own land, their own country.
Security is a feeling that you live
among your loved ones, where you
feel at home. That is the reason many
American Jews remain in the States
or in Argentina or as they once felt
secure" in Eastern Europe. It would
do you well,•all of you, to come to
Israel and feel the security we feel, as
part of a nation who lives in its own
land.
Zev Davis
Nazareth Illit, Israel
"
Buy Israeli Goods
To Aid Survival
I was thrilled to go to the Jewish
Community Center in Oak Park and
spend about $500 on Israeli products
("Everyone Wins," Aug. 16, page 20).
I was twice in Israel this year. As it
has been published in the Jewish News
many times, the Israeli economy is
devastated because of lack of tourism.
While Israel is fighting for its sur-
vival, we must do everything possible
to help in these difficult times. Many
anti-Semitic European countries are
boycotting Israeli products; so we
must step in and make up for it. The
shopping expo was only three days,
but if every Jewish family in the
Detroit area would buy $5 or $10
worth of Israeli products a week, and
if this could happen nationwide, it
would be a tremendous help.
The Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit, with the help of
the Jewish News and other Jewish
organizations, should provide to our
community details of where Israeli
products can be bought. Some depart-
ment stores have Israeli merchandise,
but most people do not know any-
thing about it. One-Stop Kosher on
Greenfield and 10 Mile Road in
Southfield has Israeli food products, as
does Hiller's Market in West
Bloomfield.
I checked Kroger at the Pine Lake
Mall on Orchard Lake Road in West
Bloomfield and they only had two
Israeli products — soups and falafel.
How can we get them to stock more
Israeli products?
Hundreds of families bought Israeli
products in three days (at the expo).
We must make this a continuing
effort.
David Kahan
Bloomfield Hills
Rep. Knollenberg
Deserves Our Vote
Apropos the 9th Congressional
District race, Democratic challenger
David Fink presumably is correct that
he and Republican incumbent Rep.
Joe Knollenberg "both ... are pro-
Israel" ("Special Interest," Aug. 16,
page 22). But it does not follow that
the race will be, or should be, decided
based on a domestic agenda.
Rep. Knollenberg has strongly sup-
ported Israel during a difficult time.
Given traditionally low levels of Jewish
support for Republican candidates, it
appears that he and his conservative
colleagues have done so because they
believe this is the right thing to do.
How refreshing. Even in politics,
friends and allies need not agree on
everything. As the saying goes, "A
friend in need is a friend in deed."
Israel can ill afford to lose its friends
in Congress by our application of a
domestic litmus test.
Quite apart from the benefits accru-
ing from his seniority, by his princi-
pled stand, Rep. Knollenberg deserves
our gratitude and, just possibly, our
votes. For some of us, our concern for
Israel trumps domestic issues this
November.
Roger H. Leemis
Bloomfield Hills
was extremely accommodating and
this, too, is greatly appreciated.
I would like to thank Dr. Zumsteg;
Dr. Nancy Campbell, assistant super-
intendent; and Jim Basel, Berkley
High School principal, for their efforts
in making sure that all the students
have an equal opportunity to share in
this wonderful life cycle experience.
Sharon Levine
Oak Park
Israeli Camper
Enjoys Camp Maas
Editor's note: This is a letter sent to
counselor Laurie Stocker of Farmington
Hills from one of her teen-aged Israeli
campers during the second session at
Fresh Air Society-Tamarack Camps'
Camp Maas in Ortonville.
I miss you so much, guys. When we
got up to the plane, I cried almost two
hours! When I met my parents, I start-
ed to cry again because it [camp] is
finished. But I must come back next
year to the same camp.
I had so much fun with you. I had
the best time in my life in this camp. I
don't have any news to write you right
now, only that I really want you to
keep in touch.
Noa Rumpler
Kibbutz Moshav Balfitriya
Israel
Berkley Schools
Show Sensitivity
Fond N emories
Of Old Windsor
I would like to take a moment to
acknowledge and thank the Berkley
School District for its concern and
prompt action with regard to Berkley
High School's June 2003 graduation.
In the programming for the upcoming
year, the graduation was mistakenly
scheduled at Meadow Brook Theatre
in Rochester Hills on erev Shavuot.
As I was putting together my calen-
dar for this school year, I noticed this
discrepancy and immediately contact-
ed Dr. Tresa Zumstag, superintendent
of Berkley schools. Within 24 hours,
the matter was settled and graduation
was rescheduled for Monday, June 9.
These efforts did not require any
drastic measures. I did not have to
turn to my rabbi or the community
for assistance. I was informed that if
even one child was not going to be
able to attend his or her commence-
ment because of the holiday, this was
cause enough to make the change.
I understand that Meadow Brook
I enjoyed your article and accompany-
ing pictures about the exhibit at the
Windsor Community Museum
("Community Pride," Aug. 2, page
74).
The class picture of the boys was
taken around 1940 in front of the
Bagley School, located on Assumption
Street, not the J.E. Benson School [as
indicated in the story]. The principal,
Mr. Fuller, is at the top row, left. I am
in the third row from the bottom, sec-
ond from the right.
Shaarey Zedek Synagogue was locat-
ed on Mercer Street and it was there I
attended services with my father,
Aaron Cooper. Tifereth Synagogue was
located in East Windsor, just off the
main street, Drouillard Road, in the
shadow of the towering Ford factory.
It was here, on the bimah in the pic-
ture shown, in the year 1942, that I
read the haftorah for my bar mitzvah.
Sam Cooper
Huntington Woods