Opposite page: Jerusalem and the Old City
This page (clockwise from top left):
Wendy Wagenheim of Birmingham, com-
munications director of Michigan's
American Civil Liberties Union, in the
courtyard of the Israeli Supreme Court.
husband Jonathan Trobe, in Safed.
Detroit Federation CEO Robert Aronson
with an Israeli policeman" in the Israeli
Arab district northeast of Caesaria.
Linda Glass ofWest Bloomfield shows a
child at the well-baby clinic for Ethiopian
Jewish families a photo she took of him.
Joan Lowenstein of Ann Arbor and her
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POLICE
nection, we are the poorer for it," he said.
To learn about their Jewish identity, mission-goers
found the home hospitality with Israeli families in
the Partnership 2000 region of the Central Galilee
most successful. Partnership 2000 creates economic,
educational, social and medical bonds between
Michigan Jewry and the Central Galilee areas of
Migdel HaEmek, the Jezreel Valley and Nazareth
IIlit.
"It was one of the best ways to quickly get behind
the scenes with Israelis," said Dr. Jonathan
Trobe of Ann Arbor, who traveled with his
daughter Dana of New York City, and his
wife, Joan Lowenstein, president of the Jewish
Federation of Washtenaw County and a
member of the Ann Arbor City Council.
Lowenstein, like her husband, has been to
Israel on numerous occasions, yet found this
trip no less profound.
"There's a fine line in Israel between the
ordinary and the miraculous," she said. "On
Yom HaZikaron, Israel's Memorial Day, you
get the feeling of the miraculous that the Jews are
here at all. But then you go into their homes and see
they live lives just like we do."
After visiting an Israeli family's home in the
Central Galilee, she said, "I left feeling not only a
part of a community, but of everyone feeling part of
one people."
There was also a unique kind of celebration in
Israel on this trip — of Israelis celebrating Detroiters.
At several locations in Jerusalem and especially in
the Partnership 2000 region, Detroiters were thanked
for their support of Israel. Programs were presented
putting Israeli faces on the programs and services
supported by Federation.
Drama of Life
One such event took place in Netanya, which has the
largest Ethiopian population in Israel. Several bus-
from well-baby clinics to literacy and math support
groups.
"The early learning programs in Netanya are phe-
nomenal," said Donna Frank of Bloomfield Hills.
"There isn't a human need that the Israelis haven't
tried to assist."
After meeting Ethiopian Jewish women, Carolyn
Greenberg of Farmington Hills said, "They're
absolutely beautiful people, and it's our responsibility
to give them the best we have."
The buses rolled on to Nazareth Mit.
The mission-goers attended the dedication
of a soccer field for Jewish and Arab chil-
dren with the man who made it possible,
former Detroiter Irwin Green, now of
Florida. Green, who has been involved
with Israel since 1956, found it necessary
three years ago to find ways for Arab and
Jewish citizens to be treated equally as citi-
zens of the state of Israel. "I want to do
what's best for Israel," Green said. "There
can't be two societies, but one equal one."
MeanWhile, the mission-goers divided into visits of
their choice — including hiking routes mentioned in
the Bible, hearing from Israel's defense forces, joining
an archeological dig or checking out Israel's rich cul-
tural scene.
Libby Sklar of West Bloomfield saw a performance
by Israel's Batsheva Dance Troupe, originally formed
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"This tnp gave me such a sense
of connection with the past, with
the people and with all those things
we hold in co mn."
—Pat &tonal!
loads of Detroiters arrived in this seaside city as
preschoolers, adorned with blue-and-white sashes
and paper hats, joined with their parents, mainly
Ethiopian Jews, in celebrating Yom HaAtzmaut,
Israel Independence Day.
To bridge the Ethiopian Jews' transition from an
underdeveloped agrarian culture to the fast-paced
modern one in Israel, Netanya created 18 programs,
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