Opinion

OTHER VIEWS

Fragility Of Hope

A

s we enter the New Year
5766, we are reminded of
the awesome and unpre-
dictable power of nature, and the
vulnerability of humanity
despite 21st-century technology
and sophistication.
Tsunami is now a permanent
part of our vocabulary. Katrina's
and Rita's devastation of por-
tions of the Gulf Coast, New
Orleans and Texas is painfully
breathtaking in its scope. While
many have become numb to the
acts of violence and barbarism
initiated by humankind against

itself, the "acts of God" starkly
remind us of our vulnerabilities
and frailties and compel us to
appreciate and value the gift of
life we have received from our
Maker.
Rosh Hashanah is a time for
reflection, introspection and
appreciation for reaching this
holiday season. It is also a time
that celebrates the birth of the
world. This year, it seems, the
world wants us to remember not
to take its beauty and power for
granted.
Taking things for granted is

something we try not to
cally and technological-
do at the Jewish News. We
ly. We are responding to
recognize that, every
these shifts, without
week, we are an invited
losing the integrity,
guest in your homes,
credibility and fairness
your lives. For us to con-
that are at the core of
tinue to receive that invi-
our operations.
tation, we must continue
Today, because of
Arth ur M.
to change and reinvent
our print and JN
Ho rwitz
ourselves to meet your
Online offerings, more
Pub
lisher
information needs. This
eyeballs look at the
challenge is magnified
content of the Jewish
by the increasingly
News than at any time
diverse interests of our Jewish
in its 63-year history. IN
community, which is fragment-
Platinum, a monthly glossy
ing demographically, geographi-
Jewish lifestyle supplement, is

growing in size and distribution
as it resonates with 20-, 30- and
40-somethings. Our single-copy
distribution network has
expanded into Ann Arbor,
Commerce and other points west
as we identify new pockets of
Jewish community. And the focal
point of our efforts, the weekly
Jewish News, continues to
improve and innovate, in content
and design, while earning covet-
ed 2004 Newspaper of the Year
honors from the Michigan Press
Association.
What more can you expect

Sweetness Amid Broken Worlds

Julia Tapper
Community View

Ann Arbor

onight as you're lying in
bed, distracted by thoughts
of bills, frustrated by the
complications of daily life, take a
minute to think of James. If, for
an instant, you can strip yourself
of everything physical, you might
be able to imagine the anguish of
a tiny boy who lies awake, half
way across the world.
Remove all of the clothing
from your closet full of luxury
— save for the tattered shirt on
your otherwise exposed body. At
7 years old, you have had your
bare footsteps continuously lead
you upon a path of incredible
sadness. Your father's grave lies
in the yard, just feet from where
you sleep, his death a painful
spark in a catalogue of memories
that has left you alone to parent
your 3-year-old sister.
Lying together at night, the
darkness their only blanket,
James and his tiny companion
are paralyzed by the idea that
someone — anyone — could
come in the night and take them
from the only world that they
have ever known.
Days later, in a world apart
from James, his sister and the
millions of children treading on
the throes of a non-existent
childhood, I am trying to reclaim
my closet, to indulge in the luxu-

T

100

Julia Tapper with a child in Tanzania.

ries of my house — the giant
couches, the lavish refrigerator.
And yet I have found that the
imagery of how much people
struggle in this dichotomous
world is never far from my mind.

On the one hand, I wanted to
walk back into my house on that
first night home after a drive
down an exceptionally foreign
Orchard Lake Road, and to leap
back into the mindset that I have

always known. Indulgence.
Comfort. Luxury.
And yet as I sink back into my
daily routine, I am constantly
flooded by the idea that the $3 I
spend on a latte would literally

feed a family — perhaps even
the one that I lived with. And at
once, standing across from that
Starbucks Barista, or in the gro-
cery store or even in my bed-
room filled with things, I am sick

September 29 2005

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