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Hillel Lauds Hiller's Efforts
Judge Film For Yourself
We, the board of Hillel Day School of
Metropolitan Detroit, applaud the
efforts of Jim Hiller to support the
people of Israel by selling Israeli prod-
ucts in his supermarkets and donating
the profits to Israel through the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
("Standing With Israel," March 5,
page 13).
Mr. Hiller does so despite threats of
boycotts by groups demanding that he
withdraw and apologize for his sup-
port of Israel. Rather than back down,
Jim Hiller has extended his program
and he intends to increase the number
of products he sells from Israel.
We thank Jim Hiller for his generos-
ity and loyalty to Israel. To help his
program succeed, we encourage all
friends of Israel to visit Hiller's
Markets -and purchase the Israeli prod-
ucts that he makes available to us.
Suzanne Gildenberg
I really thought Staff Writer Sharon
Luckerman's story on Mel Gibson's
The Passion of the Christ was good
("Passionate About The 'Passion,'"
Feb. 20, page 16). As a Christian, I see
our ties with Jews being very close and
certainly have not seen any anti-
Semitism relayed, conveyed or con-
strued out of the film's intent. I don't
believe that any one race or culture
condemned Jesus to his death — it
was all who have ever lived and sinned.
We're all guilty. But I hold Jews very
close and respect your customs and
traditions. I have many Jewish friends.
I certainly don't look at them any less
or hate them for something that hap-
pened to Jesus. I am just as guilty as
any human being. I believe the ties
between Christianity and Judaism will
actually be strengthened not dimin-
ished by this film, if it has any long
lasting effect at all.
I feel as if our two religions are tied
together so closely and we walk
together through what life brings us. I
watch with terror every day to the
"real" anti-Semitism that occurs almost
daily in Israel from neighboring coun-
tries and their terrorism. Our hearts as
Americans and as Christians go out to
them and our prayers.
So it was great to read your article
and know that not all Jews fear this
film, as they shouldn't. Embrace it and
go watch it for yourselves. Make your
own judgments about it.
Greg D. Musgrove
on behalf of the board of Hillel Day
School of Metropolitan Detroit,
Farmington Hills
Hiller Congratulated
The Israel bashing continues. Now it's
right here at home via the boycott of
Hiller's Markets because the owner,
Jim Hiller, is donating profits from the
sales of his Israeli products back to
Israel through the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit ("Standing With
Israel," March 5, page 13).
It looks like these protesters support
a boycott of the only democracy and
real ally of the United States in the
Middle East -= Israel, the only coun-
try in the Middle East that shares our
democratic values.
Do these protesters understand that
when they boycott Israel they strength-
en and support the Palestinian
Authority — the same P.A. that
cheered the calamity of 9-11 and sup-
ports the terror being perpetrated
against our soldiers in Iraq.
Have the protesters considered boy-
cotting Mexico, Canada or the
European countries that have not sup-
ported the U.S. in Iraq? I doubt it.
Israel is an easy target.
Mr. Hiller has stated that in face of
the bullying threats, he will "extend
the program of donating to Israel
indefinitely," and that he intends to
"increase the number of products from
Israel in every way that he possibly
can." I congratulate Mr. Hiller and
intend on shopping at his markets.
Ed Kohl
West Bloomfield
3/26
2004
6
Atlanta
Big Payoff For Gibson
Man, ever since the days of the cave-
man, has feared the unknown and has
invented answers to make his eventual
death more bearable.
Mel Gibson has parleyed this fear to
make himself very rich and to foster
anti-Semitism through his movie The
Passion of the Christ. He depicts a mad
crowd of Jews screaming for the blood
of Jesus and a reluctant Pontius Pilate
struggling with the decision to crucify
Jesus. This defies history. Pontius
Pilate was said to have been willing to
kill anybody who defied the will of
Rome.
The question remains, has this sacri-
fice changed history at all? The Turks
slaughtered Armenians; America
imported human slaves; Hitler caused
the deaths of approximately 40 million
people, including English, French,
Americans, Russians, homosexuals,
gypsies and 6 million Jews.
Perhaps Gibson made this movie to
exonerate his father and his own anti-
Semitic leanings. The money didn't
hurt either.
Robert Leaf
Farmington Hills
Scouts Are An Asset
Thank you for the wonderful article
about our Adat Shalom Synagogue
Boy Scout campout and about Jewish
Scouting in general ("Hot Dog!" Feb.
27, page 30).
We have worked very hard to get
this program off the ground. We have
great den leaders and assistants who
are leading smaller groups of Cub
Scouts. We have parents at all our
Scout meetings, eager to pitch in. My
mom says, only half jokingly, "No one
ever helped me when I was a den
”
mother.
We are very happy we are truly a
community Scout program with fami-
lies who attend Reform, Conservative
and Orthodox synagogues. We have
10 boys who attend Hillel Day School
and 10 boys who attend Yeshivat
Akiva. This is a real strength.
Louis Sugarman
Scoutmaster, Troop 364,
West Bloomfield
Micah's Story Is Inspiring
Your article about Micah Fialka-
Feldman ("New Guy On Campus,"
March 19, page 31) was truly wonder-
ful. It should serve as a source of inspi-
ration to all parents whose children are
in special-needs programs, as well as
those who lead these programs.
Micah's success is the result of a con-
certed effort by his teachers, his peers
and his parents who refused to give up
on their son.
How lucky it is that he was able to
be in the Berkley School District,
which takes a special interest in all of
their students. I can say this because I
was a teacher at Berkley High School
and know first hand how caring the
teachers and administrators are —
how important it is to them that grad-
uating students are able to live inde-
pendent lives whether they go on to
higher education or not.
Your article, by Staff Writer Sharon
Luckerman, was well written, warm -
and certainly grabbed my heart.
Anne Weinman
Farmington Hills
Hospice Care A Mitzvah
As a reader of the Jewish News for
more than 50 years, I truly appreciate
the frequent heartwarming articles that
are published. The March 19 issue had
two such articles.
The cover story, "New Guy On
Campus" (page 31), featuring Micah
Fialka-Feldman, was extremely mov-
ing. As a college educator for 36 years
and a parent of a son with learning
disabilities, I fully understand the
struggle that these students go through
and how good it is to read of the suc-
cesses that Micah has accomplished.
Your article "Giving Hope To The
Ailing Young" (page 20) was wonder-
ful. I have known Rabbi Elimelech
Goldberg for more than 20 years and
Kids Kicking Cancer is one of the
most inspirational programs in exis-
tence. I believe that only Rabbi
Goldberg could have created, managed
and grown such an idea. He is truly
doling something extraordinary and
making the world a better place.
Harvey Bronstein
I.want to publicly thank the Jewish
Hospice and Chaplaincy Network for
the wonderful services they provided
my father for the past year.
I am an only child and could not
visit my father, Jerome Ziegler, as
much as I would like. It was very corn-
forting to see cards from various
Jewish Hospice volunteers who left
. their names and a short note of what
type of visit they had with my father.
Visiting someone who is sick and
does not speak much is difficult. But
the Jewish Hospice was there to'help
feed my father in the morning, listen
to music with him and speak Yiddish
to him. I had great comfort knowing
that there are wonderful people out
there who give their time to people
and want be with someone who needs
an extra hand.
Thank you, Jewish - Hospice for all
the wonderful services you pto.-
my father and the peace of mind you
provided me during the past year. I
want other members of the communi-
ty to know that you are truly God's
gift to the community. Nothing can
take the place of the human touch,
and for that I am forever grateful.
Rosalind Keidar
Southfield
West Bloomfield
Heartwarming Stories