Opinion
OTHER VIEWS
Rallying Behind Israel
W
. e recently returned
from Israel on the
National Federation
Solidarity Mission. While our trip
was short, it had more impact on
us than any other time we have
been to Israel.
Each interaction we had with
our Israeli. brothers and sisters
touched our souls in a way we
have not previously perceived.
Our national mission chair,
Jane Sherman (who has lived in
Israel), stated that she felt the
same way she did on her first
visit to Israel, as if she were see-
ing it for the first time.
What we witnessed was the
oneness of the Jewish people,
totally supportive of the need to
protect our recently penetrated
democratic nation. Previous sep-
aration between observant and
secular Jews, between "peace-
niks" and the religious right was
not perceptible.
While most Israelis always
thank their American counter-
parts for visiting Eretz Yisrael,
our hearts were equally pen-
etrated by each other with the
realization that we stand together
in this fight as one people.
Like most, we began our mis-
sion being welcomed by our
guide. He let us know that he has
three sons in the Israel Defense
Forces and one just entered
southern Lebanon. His anguish
at admitting this was notice-
able, but balanced with an inner
strength and commitment to
educate us.
We quickly learned that
approximately 1.5 million Israelis
are affected by the Katyushas
falling in the north, with the
majority living in bomb shelters.
When crisis-hits, it is the vulner-
able who suffer the most. This
is a harsh reality facing many
Israeli children, elderly, new
immigrants and families without
the means to leave the region.
Special Bonding
While our hearts were bur-
dened with this news, they
were warmed while witnessing
500 teenagers from central and
southern Israel who volunteered
to pack thousands of boxes of
food and games, paid for by our
Israel Emergency Fund dollars,
to improve the spirits of so many
who could not leave these shel-
ters. This volunteerism spoke
loudly to the Israeli spirit and
positive future of Israel.
We also visited with 90 chil-
dren at Ben Yakir, a youth village
that provides residential educa-
tion during the regular school
year and is now being used as a
summer campsite to keep these
children out of harm's way. This
program, one of many in central
Israel, provides a total of 12,000
children between the ages of 10
and 17 years old a safe environ-
ment and a wonderful summer
camp experience.
This program alone costs $350
per child per week..Our emer-
gency funds are already at work
keeping these young people out
of bomb shelters.
We met with Miri Eisen, for-
eign press adviser to the prime
minister and the most highly
decorated woman in IDF history.
As a forMer American who made
aliyah, and a mother, she brings
a soft, warm approach to her
position and has a mastery of the
English language. She educated
us on the difficulties of trying to
tell the Israeli story in a media
world where pictures sell and
truth doesn't matter. •
We were introduced to Karnit
Goldwasser the wife of Ehud, the
IDF soldier who was kidnapped
by the Hezbollah. She talked
about Ehud being a student who
Ben Yakir Youth Village near Tel Aviv. Federation dollars are relo-
cating hundreds of young Israelis, including new immigrants from
Ethiopia, moving them out of harm's way to safer areas and camp-
ing programs in central and southern Israel.
On the mission: Metro Detroit delegates Karen Alpiner; Marc
Borovoy; Jane Sherman, national mission chair; and Stacey
Crane, Federation director of endowment.
obtained two master's degrees,
loved photography and loved to
travel.
She spoke about their court-
ship and the fact that they were
newlyweds. She spoke about
first hearing the news about his
abduction. To hear her story and
see her anguish tugged at our
hearts. She told us that our pres-
ence gave her strength, but to
witness her inner.strength served
only to reinforce ours.
We met with Prime Minister-
Ehud Olmert shortly after he
met with U.S. Secretary of State
being. Add a bit of alcoholic
"veritas" serum to the mix, and
you're left with an anti-Semite in
Armani — and rather an ugly
one at that.
A sober Gibson, in both
meanings of the term, has
offered an apology in which he
condemned his own behavior.
His explanation? He was "under
the influence" and out of control.
Bear in mind, however, that
alcohol does not create hatred;
it exposes that which already
exists, that which the individ-
ual, when sober, knows better
than to reveal in polite society.
Knowing what is in Gibson's
not-so-brave heart, despite his
protestations to the contrary is
not a bad thing.
Furthermore, having one's
suspicions confirmed is a decid-
edly good one.
• Not surprisingly, Gibson's
project on the Holocaust
— a hollow attempt to placate
Jewish sensibilities — was
scratched. Time and deeds will
tell whether his profuse apolo-
gies stem from that place in his
heart best reached by alcohol.
In the meantime, perhaps the
actor should confine himself to
the area of cinematic art that he
knows so well. Anyone up for
Lethal Weapon 5? ri
Hatred: Deeply Rooted
T
he Romans had a say-
ing, "In vino veritas,"
or as our rabbis put it,
[Eruvin: 65a] "Enter wine, exit
secrets." Both expressions come
to mind in the wake of Mel
Gibson's recent arrest for driving
while intoxicated.
While struggling with arrest-
ing officers, Gibson spewed
vile, racist epithets, mounting
obscenity upon obscenity. That
these epithets modified the
word Jew was, to Gibson's mind,
the greatest insult he could
heap upon the officers. ,That,
perhaps, is the most flagrant
obscenity of all.
A few years back, when
Gibson's movie The Passion of
the Christ was the subject of
30
August 10 2006
heated
debate
regard-
ing what
many
viewed
as its
blatantly
anti-
Pessie Busel
Semitic
Novick
content,
Community View
the actor-
turned-
producer-turned-religious
spokesperson for pre-Vatican
II Catholicism, protested (some
thought too much) that this
was the furthest thing from his
mind.
When the press exposed
Gibson's father as a Holocaust
JN
denier, angry disclaimers were
published and retractions
demanded. Mel Gibson, pur-
veyor of such "quality" enter-
tainment as Lethal Weapon to
Lethal Weapon 4 and so forth
had moved into new realms
with this serious offering and
demanded respect.
Yet, many critics pointed out
that anti-Semitic invective to
the side, the movie was clearly a
vehicle for more blood and guts,
Braveheart on a cross, if you
would.
Well, if you take a hand-
some anti-Semite, dress him in
Armani, and feed him the right
lines, you will have a very pre-
sentable, not unconvincing sem-
blance of an intelligent human
Pessie Busel Novick of Oak Park
is a teacher in the upper school at
Yeshivat Akiva in Southfield.