Spring Sale Doo Doo Walls Tom' Hall Israel Ann Arbor Jews plan a community forum on their views of the Jewish state. KAREN SCHWARTZ Special to the Jewish News Ann Arbor 111 embers of the Washtenaw County Jewish community will participate Sunday, June 6, in an unprecedented discus- sion on Israel. With the guidance of dialogue facili- tator Mark Gerzon, a town-hall-style conversation will be held at the Jewish Community Center of Washtenaw County. "It is an opportunity for local people to bring their perspectives to a community forum," said Jewish Federation of Washtenaw County Executive Director Jeff Levin. Gerzon has designed and facilitated U.S. House of Representative bipartisan retreats, as well as worked with a number of Jewish communities, and Jews and Arabs in the Middle East. He will lead a facilitator training session earlier Sunday. The 4-7 p.m. Gerzon Washtenaw County forum includes a "mapping" of community opinion. The goal is to "create a community strong enough to contain its differ- ences" and to bring people together for a frank, respectful dialogue about issues they agree upon and those where they may have differences, Levin said. It is an event not about changing minds but about breaking down barriers and opening up discus- sion, he added. _ "We understand that there are many different ways that people understand their relationship with Israel and their support of Israel, and we know that there are many, many conversations that happen on an individual level in the community, a lot of conversations that happen around the dinner table," he said. "We wanted to create a forum for people to share in public their range of views on a topic we know is so important to them." The event is sponsored by a broad coalition of Ann Arbor Jewish organi- zations. In addition to the federation and the JCC, the "Community Conversation" is sponsored by Beth - Israel Congregation, Temple Beth Emeth, the Jewish Cultural Society, the Reconstructionist Havurah, Jewish Voices for Peace and Justice, B'rit Tzedek v'Shalom, AIPAC, Chabad House and the Ann Arbor Orthodox Minyan. Aaron Ahuvia, chairman of the local Brit Tzedek and a Reconstructionist Havurah member, served on the June 6 planning committee. He said the diverse team focused on making the event open and inclusive. "Everyone on the committee, no matter what their individual political views, really made their best effort to be sure that all views would be repre- sented and that we would maximize participation in the community, that every- one would feel comfortable attending," he said. "Usually, these things occur at the synagogue level. But that's just at a single synagogue, or maybe we'll get a few organizations together," he said. "But to have something at this scope, this professionally managed, this well promot- ed — that's really great." The conversation American Jews are having about Israel is self-censored compared to the dialogue taking place in the Israeli Jewish community, Ahuvia said, and the censorship taking place in public is not in the interest of Israel or a local Jewish community. "I think the fact that we're doing it now shows that the message that Brit Tzedek has been trying to get across ... that Jews need to talk openly about what it means to support Israel and realize that our community has a vari- ety of legitimate views and perspec- tives." Rabbi Robert Dobrusin of Beth Israel Congregation in Ann Arbor is encouraging his congregants to take part. "People in our congregation are all over the map in their views on Israel and we're hoping that many members of our congregation from all sides of the political spectrum will come and be part of the dialogue," he said. "One thing that won't happen is their opinion won't be heard unless they're there to share it." ❑ BloomfieldHills 23 Franklin Rd 248-333-9348 Farmington 31205 Grand River 248-476-0730 Commerce Tp. 2891 Haggerty 248-624-2288 Southfield 24055 W. 10 Mile 248-353-1500 Free Estima-tes & Professional Installation Novi 24300 Novi Rd. 248-380-0300 ssitifige€ 422".• GLASS - Y. Take Our Listen to our Customers! "We visited many other providers and found that at Alterra Clare Bridge of Farmington Hills, the family members and residents were always treated with dignity, respect and affection. We saw the heart of Alterra... the souls behind the caregivers eyes and we selected Alterra because we saw their warmth and compassion which we did not see at other providers." — Joyce Weiss, West Bloomfield CLARE BRIDGE 27950 Drake Rd Farmington Hirt's, MI 48331 (248) 489-9362 WIVIV.tiSSiSted.00111 I AGING WITI I ClIOICI 6/ 4 2004 23