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Editor's Letter
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Walking Together For Israel
M
ark Segel learned it's not easy organizing a
Jewish communal event. Conflict with other
scheduled events, questions about sponsor-
ships, the need to recruit volunteers, even the matter of
whether to serve a kosher or non-kosher lunch — all have
proven to be hurdles.
"I learned my lesson the hard way:' he acknowledged.
He's hoping to make amends by staging a grassroots
communal celebration of Israel's
independence, which occurred
58 years ago on 5 Iyar. This year,
Israel Independence Day (Yom
HaAtzmaut) falls on May 3.
Thanks to Segel's determination,
Detroit Jewry will have an Israel
Independence Day Walk on Sunday,
May 7. The West Bloomfield walk will
step off at 1 p.m. from Temple Shir
Shalom, following a 12:30 kosher
community lunch. It will head west
for 1 1 /4 miles along Walnut Lake Road
to Temple Kol Ami, then return to Shir Shalom for an Israel
Festival. The event is not a fund-raiser.
"I felt that a visible showing of support for Israel would be
healthy for the Jewish community:' Segel said. "It isn't often
that Jews can feel proud of who they are, what they stand for
and how important Israel is to us and the world."
The Southfield insurance agent/financial adviser added,
"I believe there are many - Jews in this community who want
this public display of Jewish pride for Israel:'
I do, too:.
. I don't know if Segel's idea is the answer given the decline
in participation at Federation's Yom HaAtzmaut walks after
attracting hundreds if not thousands of participants during
the 1990s. Did that decline suggest waning local interest in
Israel? Or did the walk just need a more engaging reason for
being? If ever there was a time for such a grand show again,
it is now = 5 1 /2 years into a Palestinian reign of terror that
has killed more than 1,100 people in Israel.
Imagine the statement that a walk of 500 or more people
could make as reinforcement of why we as a community
doggedly support Israel through Federation's Annual
Campaign. .
A Clarion Call
I'm eager to see how the community responds to Mark
Segel's call to march. A lousy turnout would say a lot about
us — either we can't take a few hours on a spring afternoon
to march for our ancestral homeland, or a walk with logisti-
cal, weather and security issues requires much more time to
pull off. -
Segel has synagogues, orOnizations and individuals on .
his planning team. They're providing vital know-how and
clout.
Segel is a proud Zionist. He and his wife, Cathy, visited
Israel in 1983. They came home reinvigorated as Jews. Over
the years, he became active in the Zionist Organization of
• America. In 2003; he volunteered on an Israeli army base
D
it)
through the fine organization Sar El.
Segel practices what he preaches. He has worked alongside
some of our community's most devoted Zionists to educate,
promote and defend. In March, he enlisted Kenneth Levin,
author of the Oslo Syndrome: Delusions of a People
Under Siege, to address the ZoMs Metro Detroit chapter.
Like Segel, I am infuriated that Israel is under attack from
divestment efforts, campus hatred, widening anti-Zionism,
Muslim fanatics in Europe, U.N. resolutions and Palestinian
terror.
"I felt it was worthwhile to take a stand and go on the
offensive Segel said.
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The Iran Factor
The same day that Segel outlined his plans for an Israel
walk, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sharpened
his anti-Zionist rhetoric by proclaiming that Israel was
"heading toward annihilation" and that it was a "perma-
nent threat" to the Middle East. He said
Israel's "existence has harmed the dig-
nity of Islamic nations." He vowed that
the biblical land of Palestine — Israel,
Gaza and Judea/Samaria — "will be
freed soon" but didn't say how.
If those verbal daggers weren't enough
on the heels of Tehran's declaration that
it successfully has enriched uranium,
thus enhancing its hope to develop
Mark Segel
nuclear firepower, Ahmadinejad again
questioned and belittled the 'Holocaust.
Whether a walk is the best concept to expresS solidarity
with Israel is open to debate. But I can't help but think that
Ahmadinejad's rant will give the walk that -Segel is planning
a reason for being. We've survived as a people for more than
3,300 years because we've never lost our sense of unity amid
adversity.
Then came .the Palestinian suicide bombing in Tel Aviv
during Pesach that killed nine Israelis and wounded at least
60 — an attack that Hamas, the Palestinian Authority's rul-
ing government, not surprisingly deemed legitimate
Remember, the walk•isn't just for us. It's to let the non-
Jewish community know there are Jews eager to display
their support for Israel.
On the morning of May 7, the Detroit Jewish News will
host a run, walk and diaper dash to fight hunger. This Race
for Hunger will be held on the Farmington Hills campus
of Oakland Community College. All proceeds from the $18
preregistration will go to the Berkley-based Yad Ezra kosher
food bank and the Detroit-based Gleaners Community Food
Bank of Southeastern Michigan.
Walking to repel hunger in the morning and walking to
support Israel in the afternoon —exercise aside, May 7
promises to fill you with the ruach, the spirit, that is at the
core of what it means to be Jewish.
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Preregister for the Race for Hunger at www.jncarathon.com .
Call Mark Segel to sign up for the Israel Independence Day Walk
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April 27 • 2006
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