Cover Ste
On The Homefront
ow that the war in Iraq is in full swing, many of us find
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our thoughts focused on the troops. It's hard to avoid
their plight, with cable news bringing the battles into our
homes in a constant flow of images and words.
We see men and women battling guerrillas dressed as civilians. We see
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TEHRAN
SYRIA
LEBABON‘
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BAGHDAD
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IRAQ
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plumes of smoke from missiles. We can almost feel the sand and grit as
soldiers make their way toward Baghdad across unforgiving terrain.
We are moved to action, but not always sure of what course to take.
SAUDI
ARABIA
QATAR
On these pages, JN writers offer some suggestions, from prayer to
blood donations.
— Keri Casten Cohen, story development editor
Capital cities are starred.
Raising Military Morale
Emanu-El families and Girl Scouts to send hundreds
of goodie boxes to U.S. troops.
RONELLE GRIER
Special to the Jewish News
IV
314
3/28
2003
12
ith the war in Iraq in full swing, many
local civilians want to do more than
watch the news from the relative comfort
of their living
b 0
b rooms. One congregation
acted quickly to support a project that will bring smiles
to U.S. military personnel engaged in the war with Iraq.
What could be more American than Girl Scout
cookies? The sugary delights were a natural choice
when members of Temple Emanu-El in Oak Park
decided to show their appreciation for U.S. soldiers
stationed in the Middle East.
The project was originally conceived by Bea Sacks of
Huntington Woods, a special assistant to U.S. Rep.
Sander Levin, D-Royal Oak. Sacks is also a past presi-
dent and active member of Temple Emanu-El.
She came up with the idea after reading an article writ-
ten by a Michigan sergeant assigned to the U. S. post
office in Doha, Qatar. He described how important it
was for the soldiers to receive "goodie boxes" from home,
and how much these gestures affected their morale.
'After I read that, it just hit me," Sacks said. "I felt
this was a wonderful opportunity for our students to
bring current events right into their lives, a real exam-
ple of the Jewish concept of tikkun olam [repairing the
world]. I thought it would be an upbeat project for
our religious school students."
Because of strict regulations preventing individuals
from sending packages to military personnel on their
own, Sacks contacted the 107th Wing at Selfridge Air
National Guard Base near Mt. Clemens for help in
coordinating the effort. "Someone from Selfridge called
me back the very next day, saying they'd be glad to take
as many donations as we could give them," Sacks said.
To comply with government security policies, only
store-bought treats in their original packages are
allowed, and any notes that are included should be
signed with first names only, without addresses or
other identifying information. Emanu-El students cre-
ated handmade cards to slip into the shoeboxes used
to ship the treats. Students dropped off their cards and
some already filled shoeboxes beginning March 23.
Girl Scouts In Action
Girl Scout and Emanu-El religious school student
Grace Klein, 13, heard about the cookie drive and
decided it would be the perfect community service
project for her Derby Middle School Girl Scout troop.
With the help of her parents, Donna and Sheldon
Klein of Birmingham, Grace sent an e-mail message to
friends and relatives asking them to buy cookies to
donate to the troops overseas.
"Everyone knows and loves Girl Scout cookies," said
Grace, a member of Troop 56, which has been respon-
sible for collecting more than 400 boxes of cookies so
far. "Since the soldiers are in an unfamiliar place, we
wanted to send something they would recognize,
something to remind them of home."
Her mother was surprised by the response.
"At first, I was afraid that people might be annoyed
at yet another solicitation, but we actually got thank-
you notes with some of the donations," Donna Klein