For Openers A Little Wobbly, But Standing With Israel S ome people have an Israeli flag hanging outside their homes and some drive around with replicas stuck on the bumpers of their cars. But for the past several weeks, Nathan Chomsky of Southfield had one he couldn't leave home without. His flag was actually an artistic reproduc- - SHELLI tion that was a permanent part of a cast he LIEBMAN wore on his leg — all the way up to his DORFMAN knee. When pain and discomfort didn't subside Staff Writer from a summer full of repeated ankle twists, falls and even a run-in with a golf cart, 9- year-old Nathan ended up in the Royal Oak office of pediatric orthopedic surgeon Dr. Ira Zaltz. Thinking about the several casts, bandages and braces Nathan wore on his ankle since the end of the last school year, his mother had a sudden thought. Hoping that this would be "the last and final cast — and injury," Susan Chomsky said, "I wanted it to be outstanding." She had a plan to turn the ordi- nary cast into a portable, protec- tive, replica of an Israeli flag. "I asked that the cast have a blue stripe, knowing that I would then add the star later, for the full effect." The circular blue stripe that wraps around the white cast was made with folded, blue casting material, with the Star of David drawn on with permanent marker. She said her son takes in stride any injuries incurred from being a vigorous, fun-loving boy. "He is an active kid who has really been great about all this," she said. A fifth-grade student at Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit, Nathan said his classmates have come up with one consistent comment after seeing the cast. "They all say it's cool," he said. "For me, though, it reminds me all the time of what's going on in Israel." Says Susan Chomsky, "You know the saying, 'Wherever we stand, we stand with Israel.' Well, Nathan takes that very seriously." He already knows what he will carry with him as a daily, physical reminder of Israel after the cast is removed. "I will keep wearing a bracelet that I got at my shul, [Congregation] Beth Shalom," Nathan said of a memorial bracelet purchased to help sup- port victims of Israeli terror through the organization All4Israel. "It has the name of a man who died in Israel from ter- rorism." The cast, too, will continue to be a reminder, but in a more covert way. "After it's taken off, I'm going to bring it home," Nathan said. "And I'll keep it in my closet, with two of my other casts." ❑ Aistbe t 'cha Don't Know CD 2003 T he death penalty was legal in biblical times, with the most commonly known execution done by stoning. There were three other even more gruesome forms of execution sanc- tioned in Hebrew Scriptures. Can you name them? — Goldfein •uoTaEardupap puu uorluInSuu.ns