The soldiers I worked with and met
at Quitziot are the soldiers who defend
Israel's borders daily and maintain
her weaponry. They are some of the
most courageous people I have ever
met — not because they will be deco-
rated soldiers one day, because they
will not be. Not because they are bril-
liant people, because many of them
were not, but because they do what
they are required to do in the name of
Israel and the Jewish people.
These soldiers do what Jewish-
American kids do not do because in
order to be Jewish in America you
don't have to join the army. These kids
have no choice, and whatever posi-
tive or negative experience they have
in the army, they understand what it
means to serve their country. They
know that to be a Jew you need to
defend your right to remain one.
I've learned that it cannot be for-
gotten how these young people serve
_Israel and essentiallyserve for me
as well. I am now forever linked to
their experience and the unrewarding
work they do on military bases like
Quitziot.
These soldiers are nobodies to
Jewish-Americans 5,000 miles away,
but an essential link to the continu- •
ation of a culturally Jewish people
within a forever intensifying global
condition.
For three weeks, I brushed shoul-
ders with the greater realities of
the 2 1 s t century — the reality that
nations hate other nations, that people
kill each other and that "borders" are
not just the name of an American
bookstore chain. I'm prouder than I've
ever been to be where I'm from and to
have come as far as I have to see what
it means for 20-year-olds to tote an
M-16 to lunch, dinner and breakfast
because they are Jewish. -
In the end, I realize that however
far away Detroit may be from Quitziot,
it's really not so far at all. Because
the reality is that lewishness" and
M-16s relate more than I ever could
have imagined growing up Jewish in
America.
❑
Jerrin Zumberg, 24, grew up in
Huntington Woods, went to Berkley High
Happenings
financial
For college age through 30-
something. Send information to
ahitsky@thejewishnews.com .
HILLEL METRO
DETROIT
April 25, Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Holocaust film The Power of
Good at OCC Orchard Ridge. Post-
film discussion with Charles and
Rita Gelman about their experi-
ences with the film. RSVP by
Monday, April 24: (313) 577-
• 3459 or hilleled@wayne.edu .
April 28, Friday, 7 p.m. Graduate
and Professional Shabbat dinner.
Cost: $8. RSVP by Wednesday,
April 26: (313) 577-3459 or
hilleled@wayne.edu .
Exit 160 off1-96 (Beck Rd. S.)
Left on Grand River Ave.
Friday &
Saturday 10-6, Sunday 10-5
Adult Admission $7 — Good All 3 Days!
Children Under 12 & Parking FREE!
• 300 Artisans
• Craft Demonstrations
• Specialty Foods
• Children's Entertainment
Preview the show, print discount admission
coupons, get directions & more at
SugarloafArtFaincom
Coupons available online or by calling 800.210.9900
Teknicolor Paints, Inc.
EMU HILLEL, Ypsilanti
April 21 Aloha Shabbat ser-
vices at 6:30 p.m., dinner 7:15
p.m. Cost: $5. Dress in Hawaiian
attire for farewell BBQ. RSVP by
Wednesday, April 19: Jodie
Friedman, (734) 482-0456 or
hillel@emich.edu .
A Paint Store and More!
PRATT & LAMBERT
PAINTS
Never compromise
A
Benjamin Moore
Paints
Extensive line
of products .and
knowledgeable staff to
help you with any project.
Faux Finishes or
Venetian Plaster ... No Problem
April 23 Sunday, April 23,1.-3
p.m. Free brunch for First Year
Students of Hillel. Walton Putnam
Main Lounge. RSVP by Friday,
April 21: Kourtne,y Spaulding,
(734) 482-0456 or
kspauldi@emich.edu .
Nearly 600 2 oz. color samples
available for you at
$3.99
to test on your walls.
April 25 Tuesday, 3 p.m. Collect
canned food in EMU dorms for
Food Gatherers of Ann Arbor. To
help or to donate, Contact Sarah
Whorley at (734) 482-0456 or
smills4@emich.edu .
MSU HILLEL, E.
Lansing
.
April 21 Friday, 6 p.m. Shabbk
Teknicolor, the name you can trust and the service you deserve!!
* NE11 LOCATION
ORCHARD LAKE
WOODWARD S.
LAFAYETTE (Pontiac Trail) I,
WOODWARD N.
Farmington Hills
Birmingham
Pontiac
South Lyon
248-994-1300
248-646-5924
248-745-0003
248-486-4910
27849 Orchard Lake
33488 Woodward
51616 Woodward
117 N. Lafayette (Pontiac Tr)
Visit us at www.teknicolors.com or at 1 of our 4 convenient locations
services, 7 p.m. complimentary
dinner. RSVP:
marisa@msuhillel.org.
Budget Generators
Home & Commercial Generator Systems
Back Up Sump Pump Systems
April 26 Wednesday, 1:30 p.m.
Holocaust survivor luncheon at
Hillel. RSVP:
operations@msuhillel.org .
School and graduated from the University
of Chicago. She is finishing a six-month
April 27 Thursday, 5 p.m.
stint with Project OTZMA in Israel,
Mystery road rally. RSVP: Jenn
Bloom, bloomjel@msu.edu
representing the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit. Her volunteer ser-
vice in Quitziot as a Sat-El volunteer was
incorporated into her OTZMA program.
She plans to make aliyah this summer.
She is the daughter of Marshall and Cathy
Zumberg bf Huntington Woods.
U M HILLEL, Ann Arbor
April 20 Thursday, 8 p.m.
-
.
Graduate and Professional
Chometz Party at NYPD, 605 East
William.
Call For
Your FREE
Estimate
Mike Hovey 248.722.5090
'3995
Installed I Permits Additional
IN
April 20 • 2006
35