Close Call
Friends avoid tsunami in Thailand.
SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN
StaffWriter
T
he advice Dorothy Barak of West Bloomfield
gave her daughter and her friends at the start
of their journey to Thailand last November
seems trivial now
Her list to the three 2004 college graduates included
things like being wary of food sold by street vendors
and learning local customs like not shaking hands or
pointing their feet toward others while sitting.
Never could she have imagined the disaster that
would surround daughter Laya Barak, 22, and friends
Jessica Leeb of Orchard Lake and Kristin Sheiko of
Waterford, both 23, two months into their visit.
They already had been swimming with sharks and
bungy jumping during their travels, and Jessica's mom,
Laurie Leeb, said, "I actually thought they were safer
there than some of the other places they could have
been, because I wasn't
worried about terrorism in
Thailand."
To double her alarm in
hearing about the tsuna-
mi, it hit at a time when
the Leeb's son, Adam, was
also in Thailand, on break
from school at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston.
"Jessica and Adam were with Laya and me the week
before the tsunami hit," said Dorothy Barak, who visit-
ed them in Bangkok. "We all spent Shabbat together.
Then they all discussed what they were going to do
next."
For the girls, who had already been to places includ-
ing Fuji, Australia and Cambodia since leaving home
in August, no site would shock their parents.
But, seemingly laid-back in their planning, they all
Long-Term Aid A Goal
When it comes to helping victims of the Southeast
Asian tsunami, the American Jewish World Service is
taking the adage "teach a man how to fish" quite liter-
ally.
As part of its long-term relief efforts for victims of
the Dec. 24 tragedy; the group is working with its
partner organizations in the region, including the
Sanghamitra Service Society in Andhra Pradesh, India,
which helps local fishing communities with sustain-
able development and disaster preparedness.
The philosophy behind the group's post-tsunami
effort is the same as that behind general AJWS opera-
tions — long-term efforts through collaboration with
groups in the region.
"We don't just go in and leave. We go in and we
develop," said Ronni Strongin, a spokeswoman for
AJWS, which already has raised more than $2 million
in online contributions alone for tsunami victims.
The AJWS isn't alone in its approach: While not
Pi r_ 7,(17 'cha
Don't Know02005
All eggs — except one — are parve (neutral)
and can be eaten at either a milk or meat meal.
Which one is not?
— Goldfein
ignoring immediate needs, other Jewish groups also
are planning aid that addresses the long-range needs of
areas affected by the tsunami.
The American Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee, which has raised more than $1.7 million,
is taking a similar approach.
"Everybody comes in to provide emergency relief,
and then they all leave and there's nobody left behind
to help rebuild the infrastructure," said JDC's execu-
tive vice president, Steven Schwager. "While a portion
of our money will go for short-term emergency relief,
a larger part of our money will go for infrastructure..."
That approach is likely to influence the Jewish
Coalition for Disaster Relief, an umbrella of North
American Jewish organizations, expected to convene
next week at the JDC's request.
The group provides a central address and decision-
making process for disbursement of Jewish relief aid.
— Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Yiddish Limericks
01IN
1/ 7
2005
10
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E ap!su! punoj '22a amieurur! uv :Jamstry
decided to go to the beach. "Laya and some friends
wanted to go to a beach on the eastern coast," Barak
said. "But Jessica and Adam were determined to go to
the beach in Phuket, because Adam said the scuba div-
ing was better there and he wanted to get certified like
the girls already were."
In-The Right Place
The Leebs, Laya and new friends met along the way
went in different directions — as they had done in the
past, like when Laya and her mom left the group to
visit Vietnam.
"Jessica and Adam set out to the National Forest to
hike before the trip to the beach," Laurie said.
"By a quirk of fate, at the last minute, they decided
instead of going to the west coast, they would surprise
Laya on the east coast beach," Dorothy Barak said.
"During the time they would have been there, the
beach was destroyed."
Before the Baraks could hear about the tragedy on
the news, their phone rang at 3 a.m. "It was Laya
telling us they were all together and safe," Barak said.
"But she also reminded us that Jessica and Adam had
planned to go to Phuket."
"They were supposed to be in a little scuba diving
boat on the Similan Islands," Fred Leeb said.
On a blog (vvvvw.worldtourjkl.blogspot.com) the
girls have kept since leaving home, they added a Dec.
26 entry: "Kind of creepy that Jess and Adam were
supposed to be aboard a boat on the Similan Islands
Do You Remember?
January 1995
I feel much relief in confessing,
Some unanswered prayers aren't distressing.
It's not as I'd wished?
Dos ergert mere nisht,*
'Cause some things denied are a blessing!
— Martha Jo Fleischmann
-112nETs
Backpackers Jessica Leeb, Laya Barak and Kristin
Sheiko in Thailand
* this doesn't upset me
Ice cream imported to Israel will now be taxed,
according to the Knesset finance committee.
The tax was requested by the trade ministry,
which charged that European ice creams do not
compete fairly with Israeli brands because they
are made with subsidized milk products, while
Israeli companies must pay the real cost of their
ingredients.
—
Sy Manello, editorial assistant