Promises, Promises
D
isregarding
any election
time, we are
often faced with
promises that we
should be able to put
some faith in.
We promise to love,
and obey. We
MANELLO promise tCr be better
in a new year.
Editorial
We promise our-
Assistant
selves to take better
care of ourselves. All
these are important, but none as vital
as those words of promise we are faced
with in advertising. After all, if you
can't believe advertisers, whom can
you believe? Well, let's look at some of
the things that are promised to us if
only we will invest our money.
• "Get 10 years back!" Just by
smearing your face with this deep
wrinkle night cream, you can regain
your youth. What if we were to slather
ourselves with this day and night for a
week. Talk about regression. (Caution:
don't try to physically do the things
you did then; remember it's only your
face that "went back.")
• "Nurture your soul." In our quest
to feed our bodies (and minds?) we are
negligent of our souls, and the solu-
tion is — no, not religion, silly — it's
in aromatherapy products. Here you
thought that the stuff just smelled
good.
• "Pass a tradition, not just a dish."
See there. You are promised that you
can be the stuff that culinary legends
are made of and all you have to do is
use a certain brand of spice. It has
nothing at all to do with the ability to
cook, so get sprinkling.
• "Bring joy to the world." Now,
that's a task worth trying, especially
when all it entails is eating some
crackers.
`Wall Was A Wake-Up'
Peace (IIFWP) led the trip
from March 29 to April 5. "It
believes that an essential pre-
condition for peace in the
Middle East is reconciliation
among religious leaders of
Judaism, Christianity and
Islam," said Taub, a Detroit
Public Schools teacher.
After one meeting with the
Muslim sheiks of the Sharia
Court in Al Azaria in the West Bank,
the 72 American participants, joined by
A local school teacher visited
Jordan and Israel to help spur
a lasting peace in the Middle
East.
Edward Taub of Grosse
Pointe Park took part in a
series of interfaith meetings
tided "Middle East Peace
Initiative-Forging a Path to
Peace and Reconciliation in
Taub
the Middle East."
The -Inter-Religious and
International Federation for World
Federation Exec Chosen For Program
Ann Arbor
Jeff Levin, executive director of the
Jewish Federation of Washtenaw
County, has been named as a participant
in the new United Jewish Communities
'cha
Don't Know©
Mandel Executive Development
Program, a two-year initiative to train
outstanding candidates for the chief pro-
fessional position in the top 40 Jewish
federations throughout North America.
2005
Whenever we tune in a radio station on the AM
or FM dial, we are using a system developed by a
Jewish inventor. Who?
—
Goldfein
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• "Stay fit." Though you may be
misled by the picture of folks exercis-
ing, this promise is made to improve
your oral health. So go ahead, be the
first couch potato on your block with
great gums.
• "Never again yell at your pet to get
off the bed." No, not that it will be
better trained. All you have to do is
cover your bed with a Teflon fabric
protector.
• "Get in the mood." Wait — before
you think of something untoward, the
reference here is the use of scented
fabric softeners. So whether you are
angry, romantic, studious or hungry
— you'll smell good.
• "Peace of mind." Oh, what a great
promise. And what do I have to do?
Tell my boss off? Live as a hermit? Go
on an extended vacation? No, just use
a thermo thermometer.
• "You are the masterpiece." And to
realize the promise of everlasting beau-
ty, just contact this plastic surgery
group. While you are at it, you may
want to make an annual appointment.
• "Not getting older." Oh, joy! Lest
you think that you have to alter your
lifestyle or eating habits, think again.
All you need do is install new lighting.
However, it seems to me that really
good lighting will convince you that
you are as old as you feel.
• "Bring the sun indoors." This is a
real appeal to those of us in a state
that has nine months of gray winter.
We can cash in on this promise this by
installing heated towel bars.
• "Free your mind." Before you
worry that you will be getting
involved with some mind altering cult
or have to memorize a quieting
mantra, just invest in some comfort
furniture; that will do it — I promise.
And what lesson is to be drawn
from all this? Start reading some of the
ads carefully, and I promise you a
good laugh at how gullible advertisers
believe we are. ❑
the sheiks and hundreds of local
Palestinians, marched to the Israel secu-
rity fence going up on the West Bank
border and held a peaceful protest.
- Taub, who welcomes dialogue via
etaub@provide.net, is convinced the
fence is wrong.
"Seeing the wall was a wake-up for
me," he said. "I had always taken the
Israeli point of view in the past, but I
could understand the Palestinian view-
point when I saw the wall. It was so
huge and so divisive. I wouldn't want
to have it in my back yard. It is causing
so much resentment from the
Palestinians. It has got to come down."
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
ordered the security fence as a last-
resort defensive deterrent against
Palestinian terrorist attacks, which have
lead to the murder of more than 1,000
people in Israel over the past 54
months. The frequency of attacks has
dropped dramatically since July 2003
— the start of construction on the
more than 410-mile-long barrier, which
is mostly a fence line. As of March, 140
miles of fence line had been completed.
Twenty-five were chosen from a field
of 78 applicants for the program, which
is a partnership between the UJC and
the Mandel Foundation.
The new program was designed to
ensure succession into the most senior-
level executive positions in the Jewish
federation system. Officials said partici-
pants possess exceptional leadership abil-
ities and management skills and are seen
as being the visionaries needed to lead
the Jewish community in the future.
-- Robert A. Sklar, editor
— Keri Guten Cohen,
story development editor
Quotable
Do You Remember?
"One clearly important statistic is that [breast can-
cer] attacks 95 Jewish Israelis compared with 46
Arab Israelis in every 100,000 women. Its inci-
dence is significantly higher among Ashkenazic
immigrants to Israel than among newly arrived
Sefardim ... Jewish women of all ethnic back-
grounds who are born in Israel have breast cancer
levels approaching those found among Ashkenazic
newcomers."
Ap ril 1965
— Dr. Tamar Peretz, head of Sharett Institute of
Oncology, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical
Center at Ein Kerem, in Hadassah magazine's April
article, 'Attacking Breast Cancer on All Fronts."
A series of solemn rites marking the anniversary
of the liberation of wartime German concentra-
tion camps and the Warsaw Ghetto rebellion was
being considered in many places throughout
Europe and the United States.
In New York, 2,000 persons, many of them
survivors, took part in such observances, spon-
sored by the Council of Organizations of the
United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York.
— Sy Manello, editorial assistant
4/21
2005