Sta ff p ho tos By Arman do R ios

Middle East

Andy Migdal of Bloomfield Hills, Lisa Menuck of Birmingham and

Adi Broza of Haifa

Erika Parr of Los Angeles, her mother, Denise, of West Bloomfield, Stephanie Nosan of West

Bloomfield and Larry Miller of Bloomfield Hills

Aiding Israel

Tam O'Shanter members and friends give in a
big way to helping northern Israelis dodging
rocket attacks.

Robin Schwartz

Special to the Jewish News

W

ith her long, red
curly hair and
angelic face, Israeli
camper Zoe Sofer, 13, of Timrat
looks like any other carefree
teenager. But, Sofer and several
of her friends are about to return
home to a war zone. The campers
are part of the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit's Israel
exchange program at Camp
Tamarack in Ortonville.
Sofer and two other campers,
Noga Beeri, 13, of Shimshit and
Lin Raveh, 12, of Nazareth Illit,
shared their heartfelt thoughts
and concerns with more than
400 Israel supporters during
an emergency meeting at Tam
O'Shanter Country Club in West
Bloomfield on Aug. 9.
"lArhen we phone home, it is
us encouraging our parents to be
strong and not to worry," Sofer
told the crowd."We're excited to
go back home soon to our fami-

lies and friends but we also know
we are going back to a different
Israel than we knew a the begin-
ning of the summery'
The campers leave their sum-
mer of fun and relaxation to
return to a life of uncertainly and
conflict on Aug. 20. The eighth-
and ninth-graders told the group
they're not sure whether they'll
be attending school as usual in
September or spending their
days in bomb shelters. But they
said the big outpouring of sup-
port from the local Jewish com-
munity provides some comfort.
"As Jews, we have been raised
on a concept — kol yisrael ara-
vim zeh lazeh — all Jews are
responsible for one another," said
Beeri. "It is now very clear to us
what it means ... We will return
home with a feeling that we are
not alone."
"I know now that America and
Michigan are with Israel and will
be there for us — it feels good:'
added Raveh.
The campers' stories helped

Mark and Sheila Fenton of West Bloomfield

illustrate the urgent need for
help. That's why members of the
country club pulled together the
fundraising effort called "Tam's

Aiding Israel on page 16

Larry and Marilyn Wayne of West Bloomfield and Mitchell Wayne of

Bloomfield Hills

David Guz, 16, of Franklin was

among the Teen Mission goers
collecting donations from event

participants. The money is ear-
marked for humanitarian aid in

Kirk Gold and Marcia Cohen of Bloomfield Hills

Israel.

August 17 - 2006

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