Letters
Appealing To Youth
The community demographic
survey results ("Hand In Hand:'
June 8, page 14) confirm the
importance of making this area
more attractive to our young
people.
Hand-wringing won't stem the
losses we've suffered, but invest-
ing in institutions important to
young people will surely help.
That means supporting efforts
to revitalize the city of Detroit.
Young people flock to bustling
urban areas and flee from those
that lack excitement and eco-
nomic opportunity.
While the Jewish commu-
nity in large part no longer lives
within the city of Detroit itself,
many Jewish activists, commu-
nity leaders and entrepreneurs
have been in the forefront of
efforts to restore the city as a
vibrant urban center. Through
programs like the Detroit Jewish
Initiative, the Jewish Federation
has recognized the importance of
a healthy, booming Detroit to the
future of our area's Jewish com-
munity.
No great urban center exists
without a great university. In
Detroit, that is Wayne State
University. WSU is not only one
of the nation's premier research
universities, but in recent years
has become an engine for eco-
nomic development in Southeast
Michigan and a major player in
the rebirth of the midtown area
of Detroit. Unfortunately, its abil-
ity to continue that effort has
been hampered by severe cuts in
its state appropriations.
Wayne State, which has edu-
cated so many members of our
Jewish community, deserves and
needs support from that com-
munity now. It provides one of
the very best chances we have
to restore to economic health so
that our children and grandchil-
dren will find good reason to stay
here.
Supporting adequate fund-
ing for Wayne State is important
to all of us who care about the
future of this area.
Eugene Driker
Detroit
Editor's note: Mr. Driker is a
member of the Wayne State
University Board of Governors.
Fond Memories
I was saddened by the JN story
about the shelling of Sderot
("Living In Fear," June 29, page
57). It evoked many memories.
My wife and I lived there for a
month while I worked as a volun-
teer in the city dental clinic. We
lived on the third floor of an
apartment building. Our main
household chore was clearing out
the swarms of flying cockroaches
every morning.
The majority of the popula-
tion of the city was comprised of
newly arrived immigrants from
the Arab countries and Ethiopia.
In order to get acquainted with
our neighbors, we posted a note
on the bulletin board at the
entrance, inviting everybody to a
cocktail party. The only requisite
was that one of the couples could
speak English. We then went to
the general store and asked the
owner what people drank. He
assured us that all would drink
rose wine and Coca Cola. We
bought scotch and bourbon just
in case; but he was right, every-
body drank rose wine and Coca
Cola.
Twenty couples came, includ-
ing the entire teaching faculty
of the school, the police chief
and his staff, and the owner of
the kiosk in the middle of town.
There were no restaurants in
Sderot at that time, but there was
an ATM machine.
The party was a great suc-
cess, and we were then invited
to homes for dinners. When the
police chief invited us, he also
brought his entire extended
family from all over Israel and
the meal was a feast of Middle
Eastern dishes. He presented me
with one of the paintings he had
created, and we saw each other
often after that.
I have not returned to Sderot,
but the story of the shelling
brought back wonderful memo-
ries of a unique month in my
visits to Israel.
Davisburq
Arlene Goldberg
Bloomfield Hills
Eat Wisely
It was very nice to see Leslie
Goldman's book The Naked
Truth, reviewed in the JN (June
22, page 44).
Eating disorders are a big
problem in the Jewish commu-
nity. I feel that the community
needs more support to combat
this illness. It is an extremely
serious disease that has very few
resources one can go to for help.
I hope in the future that the
Jewish News will continue to
give coverage to this serious
issue.
Julie Kaufman
Farmington Hills
Uncivilized Response?
I am writing in response to
George Cantor's column "When
Rights Are Wrong" (June 29,
page 25). It would seem to me
that to regard all prisoners at
Guantanamo "guilty without
charges" and then to feel that
-Goldfein
EIOSOLIUM)
!6Az '(slum
maw) psi1 pacio8 i(supispa8 uolbuNsem) JapAus laweg a(salbe3 elydlaPeRld)
apni Aamar a(sumois puelanam JauJai ApueH 1(slop4ed puei6u3 maw) 4.0.01 4.10pH 1 (siaauenng
Aeg edwei) Jazei9 twopiew '(siappi puei)leo) wea Id 1 (suo3IP3 elueI4V) luelE1 m.114 jamslIV
July 6 • 2006
Librarians' Invasion
You really couldn't ask for a nicer,
more sympathetic, needless to
say quieter bunch of people to
invade a city than 18,000 U.S.
librarians who flocked to New
Orleans to attend the annual con-
vention of the American Library
Association June 22-27 at the
New Orleans Convention Center,
which gained notoriety as the
temporary shelter of the city's
poor who didn't have anywhere
to go when Hurricane Katrina hit
("Remember The Fury," June 1,
page 5).
It seemed like yesterday when
we at our Shaarey Zedek-Bnai
Israel Center in West Bloomfield
stayed well past Shabbat ser-
vices, whole families including
the very young, to pack the toi-
letries donated mostly by local
merchants to be distributed
via a New Orleans synagogue
to Katrina survivors at the
Convention Center. Now the cen-
ter once again was abuzz with the
bustle of conventioneers.
After seeingNew Orleans
post-Katrina — my husband
and I came to the city to attend
a family wedding — I just know,
despite the sad fact that many
New Orleans residents will never
return to their beloved city
because of circumstances beyond
their control, that in good time
and with continued hard work,
city will regain its glory.
Metropolitan Detroit in general
and the Jewish community in
particular reached out to New
Orleans and its inhabitants when
they were in dire need. Now we
should show the same kind of
caring to help in its revival so
it once again can become the .
unique city on the banks of the
Mississippi with matchless cui-
sine, music and a most coveted
venue for national conventions.
Rachel Kapen
West Bloomfield
Non-Toxic Cleaners
An interactive session with
Mary Jane Larson will tell
what products to avoid and
compare them to natural
cleaning products. She
will also examine scientific
research on toxins.
The event will take place
7-9 p.m. Tuesday, July 11, at
Temple Israel, 5725 Walnut
Lake Road, West Bloomfield.
(248) 661-5700.
How to Send Letters
The National Football League has nine Jewish team owners, one shy of a
minyan. Can you name them?
6
.
Dr. Gerald Freedman
MERE' 'cha Don't Know
1,Copyroght 2006, Jewish Renaissance Media
whatever ill treatment they
receive is well deserved makes us
no better than those we accuse of
being uncivilized.
Whatever we may feel about
a group, we are obliged to give
each person an opportunity to be
legally charged with a crime and
to have an opportunity to for a
defense and proper trial. Holding
a person indefinitely and with-
out legal defense, and treating
a prisoner cruelly, is a violation
of established principles in this
country. Taking them to another
country does not absolve us of
our obligations. Apparently, the
U.S. Supreme Court also feels we
have gone too far and without
legal authority. Let us not forget
why the Mayflower passengers
came to this country.
We prefer letters relating to JN articles. We reserve the right to edit or
reject letters. Letters of 225 words or less are considered first. Longer
ones will be subject to trimming. Letter writers are limited in frequency
of publication. Letters must be original and contain the name, address
and title of the writer and a day phone number. Non-electronic cop-
ies must be hand signed. Send letters to the JN: 29200 Northwestern
Highway, Suite 110, Southfield, MI 48034; fax (248) 304-8885;
e-mail, letters@the jewishnews.com . We prefer e-mail.