EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK SHARE YOUR SOUL The Price Of A Homeland Lipsey's e-mail drove home precisely why we Jews in ancy Lipsey is a volunteer on the Israeli army America care so deeply about our ancestral homeland, why base Mashrap, one of the many small bases that we must never compromise Israel's security and why the comprise the military stronghold of Tel- counter protest at U-M was so vital. Hashomer, outside of Tel Aviv. The countries represented in the newest corps of volun- Mashrap is one of the Israel Defense Forces' medical teers at Mashrap are Mexico, Argentina, Canada, Australia, equipment centers. It dispenses medical equipment, sup- England and South Africa in addition to Israel and the plies and medicines to army bases across the Jewish state. It United States. also fills emergency medical needs arising from natural dis- Hirsch, a Canadian living in England, told Lipsey: asters, such as this summer's flooding in India. "There is no free lunch when it comes to Israel. I expect Lipsey was a Jewish professional in Detroit and Atlanta Israel to be here if I need her. I can't just expect it, I have before moving to Israel in June for a year of study at the to work to ensure it." WUJS (World Union of Jewish Students) Rob, a New Yorker on his first trip to Israel, said: "My Institute's International Center for Hebrew friends think I am crazy. Israel is at war. I had to do what I and Jewish Studies. The independent insti- could to help." tute is in Arad, a Judean desert town. Sara, from. Vancouver, has grandchildren living in Israel. As part of her. studies, Lipsey and 35 fel- She told Lipsey: "One day, they will all have to serve in the low students, ranging in age from 24-85, IDF. I just wanted to set the best example for them. If performed two to three weeks of volunteer bubbe can do it, they can." work at Mashrap- following Sukkot. Lipsey said she "can only imagine the sigh of relief The first night, Lipsey's group met in a breathed by Jews around the world in 1948" — the year of ROBERT A. lecture hall to get acquainted. Israel's independence. SKLAR "Everyone expressed a deep love for Israel "Every Jew today, no matter where they are, should feel a Editor as the primary reason for being here," sense of comfort that they can always go to Israel if there is Lipsey told me through electronic mail. trouble," Lipsey said. She added: "Most of the volunteers in my group are here She said she was taught to always "have my pass- out of a sense of frustration. Frustration with the port up to date and accessible." way the media are portraying Israel's struggle. "My parents didn't teach me this lesson so I Frustration about what diaspora Jewry can do for could jet off to Paris," she said. "They understand Israel. Frustration about what their friends, Jewish the reality that even in the United States, Canada, or not, are saying about Israel." England or any other comfortable country, the Hundreds of volunteers serve IDF bases thanks to time might come to leave and go to the only safe Sar-El, a Hebrew acronym for "Sherut Le-Yisroel haven for Jews — Israel." Service for Israel," one of the volunteer options that WUJS participants can choose from to give back to Standing As One the state. The Jewish Agency for Israel, which Nancy Lipsey receives Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit Lipsey speaks eloquently to how Israel resonates for funding, heavily subsidizes the volunteers' program. Jews fleeing persecution in Europe or the former Since 1982, the IDF has been blessed with WUJS volun- Soviet Union, Jews who are destitute from Argentina or teers from 35 countries. Ethiopia, and Jewish immigrants from anywhere, rich or For the past 24 months, the IDF has defended the 54- poor, educated or illiterate. year-old land of our forebears from the latest intifida (upris- Lipsey, former Southeast Region director for Women's ing). The Palestinian violence and terrorism have claimed at American ORT, isn't sure if she'll make aliyah or return to least 625 lives. America; regardless, she'll continue in Jewish communal Lipsey, who ran the Jewish Community Center of work. Metropolitan Detroit's Book Fair from 1995 to 1998, said She reminds that there's "a price to pay" for the "sense of Sar-El gives the volunteers in her group "a chance to con- comfort" Jews transplanted to Israel enjoy. tribute in some small way to the war effort and to the "We have to do our part to ensure that Israel exists for morale of the country." this generation and for the future," she said. Citing a Jerusalem Post report that 60 percent of Israelis believe they are fighting for their country's survival, she Love Of Israel argues convincingly that the price to pay "has to be paid by Ironically, Lipsey's e-mail arrived Oct. 13, the same day all of us, not just the people living in Israel." University of Michigan students representing- Hillel and Simply, she then put her army stint into perspective — other Jewish and Zionist causes staged an inspiring count- and, by extension, the lure of a tiny sliver of the Middle er-conference that drew nearly 400 supporters to the East 6,000 miles away. Student Union to counter the "Second National Student "Is Israel worth two weeks of army food, sleeping on a Conference on the Palestine Solidarity Movement" held cot with eight snoring roommates, ill-fitting green clothes Oct. 12-14 On the Ann Arbor campus. and a little hard work?" she asked. At their core, the conference's guiding principles were "Absolutely." • anti-Jewish. What's more, some of the conference speakers Similar passion reverberated Oct. 13 in Ann Arbor when previously had espoused hatred for, or terrorism against, Rick Dorfman -- a U-M junior from West Bloomfield Jews. As Bloomfield Hills' Jerome S. Kaufman, the Zionist and a founder of the Michigan Student Zionists — rein- Organization of America's national secretary, put it at the forced the will of Jews to unite against oppressors: "To student-sponsored protest to the conference, "This confer- those who seek our destruction, wherever you are, wherever ence, as all the other hate conferences, is about the destruc- you will go, we will be there!" ❑ tion of the Jewish state. Nothing less." N . Become a Judaic Volunteer for JARC JARC's Judaic Volunteers enrich the spiritual lives of men and women with disabilities in many ways. • Lead Shabbat prayers • Celebrate with JARC friends at an Oneg- bring your guitar! Sing a song! • Accompany your JARC friend(s) to services • Offer lessons in Hebrew language or prayer to a man or woman served by JARC • Share photos from your trip to Israel, Jewish art books or music with a JARC friend A great family volunteer opportunity! Call (248) 538-6610, ext. 349 to find out how you can share your soul. 30301 Northwestern Highway • Suite 100 Farmington Hills , MI 48334-3233 jarc@jarc.org • www.jarc.org fill 10/18 2002 5