Letters

Virtual Community

I'm a 22-year-old native Detroiter
— a North Farmington High
School and University of
Michigan graduate — who
moved away for exactly the rea-
sons described in Robert Sklar's
Editor's Notebook "Reverse The
Flight" (Oct. 20, page 5) — social
and economic. I am now a law
student at Columbia.
I think you underestimate the
pull of the coasts; some of my
peers passed up better long-term
economic opportunities in
Michigan for the social life of
Chicago, Boston or New York.
Don't saddle Federation with the
impossible task of creating a
social environment that rivals
that of these cities.
Many of us former Detroiters
would have stuck around had we
not noticed the virtual stampede
of all our peers to the coasts and
Chicago; we realized how that
would affect the few who chose
to remain. Many of my friends
who stayed in the Detroit area
initially also are moving away or
trying to move away (with a few
very noteworthy exceptions).
I suggest you ask Federation to
create, or consider working on
yourself, a social networking Web
site dedicated to keeping some
semblance of a community
among former Detroiters living
elsewhere. If you combine the
content of the JN with a profile
system similar to say Friendster
or Thefacebook and some sort of
message board, you might be
able to attract the interest of
some of us who have moved
away.
You could attempt to retain the
valuable social capital that the
Jewish institutions in Detroit
tried to build for us over the
course of our entire childhoods

— social capital that is being
lost as we grow increasingly sep-
arated by time and geography.
If you can't keep Detroiters
together in reality; try to keep us
together virtually.

Jared Ellias

New York City

Domestic Violence

Robert Sklar's Editor's Letter,
"Battered Women" (Oct. 13, page
5), gave your readers much to
think about. The violence and
abuse is not "out there but is
here in the Jewish community. It
not only involves the adult
women, but also the teenage and
young adult girls.
About 15 years ago, Jewish
Women International (JWI)
became the leader in strengthen-
ing the lives of children and
women living in safe shelters
across the United States. The
program gives aid to the sur-
vivors and trains those who do
the work of helping survivors.
The JWI National Conferences
on Domestic Violence and Abuse
are very well attended by clergy,
professionals in the field, advo-
cates, activists and survivors.
The workshops and keynote
speakers provide education, lead-
ership training and networking
devoted to combating domestic
violence and abuse. Through
outreach, the public has become
aware that the battered women
syndrome cannot be tolerated.
As a result of contributed
funds, JWI's Library Project
places libraries of books, book-
shelves, videos, puzzles and CDs,
and the electronic equipment
necessary for these items, in U.S.
shelters that serve victims of

Ida Nathan

Bloomfield Hills

Staying Focused

Henry Gleisner

Oxford

A Quiet Dignity

Anyone who doubts that one
person can change the world
should study the life of Rosa
Parks ("Friends Indeed:' Oct. 27,
page 40). Her quiet dignity and
historic courage forced our
nation to examine its soul. All
Americans will forever be in her
debt, and we Detroiters can be
very proud she chose our city to
be her adopted home.
It was an honor for me to
know her. My thoughts and
prayers are with her family.

The passing of Rosa Parks pro-
vides both a sense of loss and a
profound sense of the history
that her life symbolizes in our
nation's history ("Friends
Indeed," Oct. 27, page 40). Those
of us in Michigan have a special
place in our heart for Rosa Parks
because for so many years she
lived and worked among us.
Rosa Parks was the ripple that
started a wave, and for that she is
honored as the "Mother of the
Civil Rights Movement in
America." Yet she was a modest
woman and in her autobiogra-
phy, Quiet Strength, she
explained that she did not

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Wherever there is freedom all
over the globe, American has
contributed with blood, money
and diplomacy. The "Hate Bush"
agenda is neither a political pro-
gram nor platform, nor will it
help to make America sooner
victorious.

What a delight to read an intelli-
gent, balanced and insightful
opinion article, George Cantor's
"Sinful Politics" (Oct. 20, page
47).
Sadly, this seems to become a
rarity in the news media. Having
had the misfortune of living
under two dictatorships, the
Stalinists and the Nazis, I find it
very discouraging that a large .
part of the Jewish community
adheres to the ultra left. As a
minority that has been persecut-
ed for almost two millennia, they
seem not to rejoice at the over-
throw of a murderous dictator,
Iraq's Saddam Hussein, the over-
throw of Afghanistan's Taliban
regime, the capitulation of
Libya's and Lebanon's dictator-
ships and the eventual possible
reordering of the murderous
Islamo-fascist Middle East.

Jewish.com

See the story on Jewish.com.

6

domestic violence and abuse.
A National Clergy Task Force
has been formed as a result of a
study that found domestic vio-
lence and abuse in Jewish homes
and families.
JWI is very involved in forums
to train young people to recog-
nize abuse in relationships. JWI
sent out boxes of New Year cards
to all members. A portion of each
contribution for the cards will be
sent to shelters in Louisiana,
Mississippi and Texas, states dev-
astated by the hurricanes. This
will continue the much-needed
support of the important work of
the shelters in these stressful
times.
The goal is to break the silence
that has surrounded domestic
violence and abuse.

59% said cyclical
41% said global Warming -

A. Alfred Taubman

Bloomfield Hills

Making A Difference

change things alone.
She writes, "Four decades later
I am still uncomfortable with the
credit given to me for starting
the bus boycott. I would like peo-
ple to know I was not the only
person involved. I was just one of
many who fought for freedom!'
I have had the privilege of
knowing Rosa Parks over
decades of the civil rights move-
ment. As she has for millions of
Americans, she is for me an
enduring spotlight on the need
for each of us as individuals to
act in our way in the ongoing
struggle to end injustice and
inequality, and in doing so, to
know, by her example, that it can
make a difference.

U.S. Rep. Sander Levin

D-Royal Oak

Rosa's Lesson

While America is an infinitely
more fair and just society than it
was 50 years ago, the challenge of
ending hatred and prejudice
based on race, religion, ethnicity
or other factors is not over
("Friends Indeed:' Oct. 27, page
40). This is all the more reason
why we must keep alive the lega-
cy of Rosa Parks here in the
Detroit area, which was her home
for so many years, as well in
every city across America.
"As she taught by her example,
each of us is obligated to stand
up to bigotry wherever and
whenever it occurs. This is her
enduring lesson for us all!'

Sharona Shapiro
Michigan area director
American Jewish Committee

Bloomfield Township

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November 3 . 2005

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