Middle East
SPECIAL REPORT
The Home Front
Detroit rallies support Israel and returning Teen Mission goers.
Shelli Liebman Dorfman
Staff Writer
bile many Detroiters were
making personal decisions
W . about Israeli travel and indi-
vidual gestures of support for Israel, local
synagogues and rabbis spent the week
working to coordinate the community in
prayer, solidarity and fundraising efforts.
The anticipated early return of the
more than 200 participants of the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit's
Teen Mission to Israel spurred the
planning of a community rally for July
19 at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in
Southfield.
The Wednesday event, according to
Shaarey Zedek Rabbi Joseph Krakoff, was
scheduled to occur after the Teen Mission
returned so the kids could be part of it.
"We wanted it to be part of their re-entry
into life here," said Rabbi Krakoff who
was slated to give the invocation at the
rally. Rabbi Krakoff planned to meet the
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"We will include our returning Teen
Mission participants in this project:'
Rabbi Krakoff said.
He also said the synagogue's clergy will
assess the emotional state of the teens
and may plan an education and outreach
program for them.
But Shaarey Zedek Rabbi Eric Yanoff,
who was in Israel with the mission,
told his colleague that the kids' spirits
remained high — although they were
returning with mixed feelings.
"He told me they understand the seri-
ousness of the situation but also have .
deeply bonded with the country and
the people and feel sad about leaving
their Israeli brothers and sisters," Rabbi
Krakoff said. "But," he said, "the good
thing is that there is a sense that they
can't wait go get back to Israel."
Children In Israel
With a son living in Safed and a daughter
who left Detroit on Sunday for a five-
week trip to Israel, it is important to be
there right now, said Rabbi
Elimelech Silberberg of
Sara Tugman Bais Chabad
Torah Center in West
Bloomfield.
"During the Gulf War,
when SCUDS were hit-
ting Israel, the Rebbe
[late Lubavitcher Rebbe
Menachem Mendel
Schneerson] urged all
those who were there to
stay and all those who had
plans to go to keep them,"
he
said.
The teens were in good hands in Israel with Rabbis
"Twenty
Katyusha rock-
David Castiglione of Temple Beth El, Michael
ets
landed
near
my son's
Moskowitz of Temple Shir Shalom, Josh Bennett of
home
this
Shabbos
— one
Temple Israel and Jonathan Berkun of Congregation
directly
into
someone's
Shaarey Zedek.
house — but no one was
injured," Rabbi Silberberg said. "But if
plane that brought the kids — including
more than 40 Shaarey Zedek members
the whole Safed — including my son,
his wife and their five kids — and all the
— home.
people in the north back out, we are giv-
As in other synagogues, Shaarey
Zedek's Shabbat services included special ing in to terror."
The rabbi's 17-year-old daughter,
prayers for Israel.
Malki, will travel and learn in Israel
"I also encouraged the congregation to
this summer on a Chabad-sponsored
make contributions to the IDF to make
sure the soldiers are taken care of," he said program.- Of the 50 girls participating
— including five Detroiters — Rabbi
of a Michigan Friends of the IDF project
Silberberg said,"Everybody went. I didn't
to raise money to send personal care
force my daughter to go. She wanted to
packages and create recreation tents for
go. Her itinerary will change based on
soldiers. Other area synagogues, includ-
safety."
ing Congregation B'nai Moshe and Adat
Rabbi Silberberg plans to be:part of
Shalom Synagogue, will also participate.
a community-wide prayer service on
Thursday, July 20, at 7:30 p.m. at Dovid
Ben Nuchim synagogue in Oak Park.
"Also, every night at my shul we read
special psalms for Israel at 7:30, right
after Minchah," he said. On Shabbat,
the rabbi spoke about the importance of
communal prayer, describing it as "expo-
nentially more powerful than private
prayer."
Rabbi Silberberg's synagogue —
which has many members with children
and other family living in Israel — has
established a special fund for victims of
terror and members of the Israeli Army.
"I suggested that people put a special
tzedakah box aside for this purpose and
give additional tzedakah there each day
before davening."
Ups And Downs
"It's been a rollercoaster few days,"
said Rabbi Daniel Nevins of Adat
Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills.
Originally scheduled to leave for Israel
this past Monday to accompany mem-
bers of the Teen Mission for its final two
weeks, Rabbi Nevins had a slight change
of plans. "I felt it was important for me
to be here to greet the kids [including 18
from Adat Shalom] at the airport and to
be here for Wednesday's community rally.
"But I don't like the idea of canceling
a trip to Israel. So, on Sunday I will leave
for Israel where I will do Torah study
at the United Synagogue Conservative
Yeshiva and the Schechter Institute of
Jewish Studies [both in Jerusalem] in
the mornings and volunteer work in the
afternoons at soup kitchens and for other
charities:"
While he was not planning to par-
ticipate in the Teen Mission, Rabbi Paul
Yedwab had involvement on two levels.
Among the two buSloads of his West
Bloomfield synagogue's participants was
his 15-year-old daughter, Ariella.
"Ariella was loving her time in Israel
and was very upset about leaving,"
said the rabbi, who has focused recent
Temple Israel Shabbat sermons on the
situation in Israel."When asked if I was
worried about her being there, I've said,
`My level of apprehension is somewhere
above when she is sleeping safely in
her bed and below when she is driving
on Orchard Lake Road. Ifs often nerve
wracking to be a parent, but I know
these kids are in good hands and that
Federation did the right thing in bringing