Staff Notebook
Far left:
The new
Cyrano boat.
Left:
Brenda
Rosenberg with
Arab friends.
Birthday Adventure
la
ost 21-year-olds head off to the bar to cele-
brate their coming of age. Justin Hiller's
dad has a better idea.
Jim Hiller of Franklin, owner of Hiller's Markets,
and eldest son, Justin, will celebrate Justin's Dec. 15
birthday with a month-long sailing adventure off the
coast of Mexico. The two will leave from southern
California in a custom-built, 28-foot, Jim Hiller-
designed sailboat.
Cyrano, the new boat, is based on a 150-year-old
Bristol Channel cutter, which can withstand severe
storms at sea.
A VHF radio will allow communication when close
to shore, but father and son plan to rely on the sun,
moon and stars to determine their location at sea.
— Alan Hitsky
Support EMU's Jews
T
he community needs to stand with Eastern
Michigan University's Jewish students,
staff and faculty at this pivotal time for
our institution and for our people," says EMU polit-
ical science professor Jeffrey Bernstein.
And a lecture Wednesday, Dec. 4, by Zvi
Gitelman, a University of Michigan political science
and Judaic studies professor, is just the time to do it,
Bernstein says.
EMU often is overlooked when Jews discuss
Michigan universities, but the 24,000-student
school was hit hard by the spillover from the anti-
Israel "divestment conference" held October 12-14
at neighboring U-M.
For example, students earned extra credit for
attending a reception where EMU honored Israeli
anti-Zionist activist Prof. Ilan Pappe of Haifa
University. Pappe was introduced by the chairman of
the EMU History Department as a mainstream
Israeli voice for peace.
As Aaron Kaufman, campus director at the EMU
Hillel, has written, Pappe "made inaccurate and inflam-
matory statements about the conflict in the Middle
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2002
14
East [and] overt acts ofanti-Semitism have occurred on
campus as a direct result of the Pappe lecture."
Kaufman urges the community to "please stand
strong with EMU's Jewish students, faculty and staff
by attending" when Gitelman, a first-rate academic,
addresses the topic, "Can There Be Peace Between
Israelis and Palestinians?" It is important, Kaufman
says, to let the EMU administration know of com-
munity concern about the way Israel is portrayed on
campus and about the safety of Jewish students.
The program . will begin 4 p.m. Dec. 4 in the audi-
torium of EMU's Bruce T. Halle Library in Ypsilanti.
For information, contact Kaufman, (734) 487-0456.
— Don Cohen
Volunteers Needed
ecause of the situation in Iraq, Israel's Civil
Defense Authority needs volunteers to pre-
pare gas masks for the population, and seeks
American Jews to help.
About 80 volunteers a day will be needed in the
next four months, said Larry Ritter, New Jersey
coordinator for Sar-El, the National Project for
Volunteers in Israel.
"At present, we are sending them the maximum
number we can, only 25, as there remains a need for
work on other bases," he said.
Volunteers should expect to live in spartan condi-
tions on army bases throughout Israel during their
three-week stay, said Ed Kohl, Sar-El coordinator
from West Bloomfield Township.
For information, contact Kohl at (248) 788-0551
or e-mail sekohl@earthlink.net
— Harry Kirsbaum
B
Bring Your Chanukiah
he importance of oil to the holiday of
Chanukah was brought home to
Congregation Chaye Olam Religious School
this week during a Chanukah celebration.
"The students' families each brought part of a
meal when we got together to have dinner and
T
make latkes," says Cantor Stephen Dubov. "But we
couldn't start on time because we couldn't cook
until the person with the oil arrived!"
In celebration of Chanukah, Chaye Olam will also
host a Tot Shabbat service 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6,
followed by a 7:30 p.m. Chaye Olam Youth Choir
performance. Participants are invited to bring their
own family Chanukah menorahs to light. It all takes
place at Green Elementary School, 4500 Walnut
Lake Road in West Bloomfield.
For information, call Cantor Dubov,
(248) 752-6669.
— Shelli Liebman Dorfman
Sacred Connections
n an attempt to share a voice of moderation,
Brenda Rosenberg of Bloomfield Hills told 200
worshippers at the Islamic House of Wisdom
that peace is possible only if people connect to
God, to themselves and to other people.
"The great religions of Islam, Christianity and
Judaism can be a powerful force for good — a
force so powerful that it can heal our wounds,"
said Rosenberg, during the Dearborn Heights
mosque's evening service on Nov. 22.
"With God as our partner, we can create the
sacred connections that will help us heal and create
-
peace," she said.
After the services, Rosenberg, the first Jewish
woman ever to speak at the mosque, was warmly
received during a question-and-answer session, said
Noor Abdallah of the House of Wisdom.
While those who attended weren't heads of state
or influential in number, they still have the "ability
to plant seeds," Abdallah said. As Rosenberg
"speaks in our community about Christianity,
Judaism and Islam in a very peaceful way, then
people have a positive impression about Jewish
people. That helps to build bridges and have more
understanding and dialogue between the commu-
nities of faith.
"The message gets carried on."
— Harry Kirsbatim
I