Letters
What A Mission
I would like to thank Story
Development Editor Keri Guten
Cohen for her outstanding article
"Grace Under Fire" (Aug. 17, page
29).
I have the privilege to be the
volunteer national Hadassah
missions chair and was one of
the organizers and leaders of this
extraordinary mission, which
was planned in less than a week.
We had 70 Hadassah members
and men associates of Hadassah
including my husband, Russell,
attend this incredible three-day
solidarity mission.
Hadassah is the Women's
Zionist Organization of America
with 300,000 members. All the
participants of the mission felt
the need to be in Israel at this
critical time when Israel's inter-
nationally recognized borders
have been breached and the
security of her citizens jeopar-
dized. We experienced firsthand
what it is like to be in Haifa when
the sirens blasted and had 15
seconds to leave our bus for the
nearest shelter. We experienced
this three times in just a few
hours. I can't really imagine how
it has been for the citizens living
in the north to have been con-
stantly under attack.
We hope that the cease-fire
will last, but the danger is not
over. Our abducted soldiers have
not returned home. Our enemies,
tragically, place little value on
human lives, including their own,
and are guided by hatred and the
desire to destroy. I feel very lucky
to have been in Israel and now
better understand how difficult
and terrible war is.
I want to thank the Detroit
Jewish News for the support
and coverage of the Hadassah
Solidarity Mission to Israel.
Annette Meskin
past president, Greater Detroit
Chapter of Hadassah
Sylvan Lake
Coming Together
StandWithUs-Michigan would
like to extend our gratitude to
the metro community for its
enthusiastic response to recent
programming.
We'd like to thank the clergy,
staff and congregation of Temple
Israel for partnering with our
organization to present Pastor
Glenn Plummer two weeks ago.
As an outspoken champion
for Israel and founder of the
Fellowship of Israel and Black
America (FIBA), Pastor Plummer
is deserving of our community's
kavod (honor) for promoting
friendship and understanding
between our two communities
and for his commitment to our
Jewish homeland.
Kudos also to JN Editor
Robert Sklar for his column
enlightening the community
about Plummer and recognizing
that bridges of brotherhood must
be built upon durable founda-
tions of mutual respect and good
will ("Reinforcing Black-Jewish
Bonds," Aug. 10, page 5).
We'd also like to recognize
B'nai B'rith, ZOA-Michigan,
Michigan Friends of the IDF,
FIBA and the Michigan Chapter
of Magen David Adorn for their
co-sponsorship of last week's
Obsession screening that
StandWithUs hosted with hones-
treporting.com-Aish, producers
of the film. This riveting docu-
mentary is must-see viewing for
every American and its impact
is sure to extend beyond the
sold-out audience at the Maple
Theatre. Guest speaker U.S. Rep.
Eric Cantor, R-Va., chair of the
Congressional Task Force on
Terrorism, found the movie so
powerful that he pledged to dis-
tribute copies of the DVD to his
House and Senate colleagues.
WJR Radio morning host
Frank Beckman devoted three
segments and an op-ed to
Obsession's chilling expose
of radical Islamo-fascism and
emphatically agreed with Detroit
News Editorial Page Editor
Nolan Finley, who moderated our
program, that Obsession should
be screened all over America this
Sept. 11 as a fitting commemora-
tion of the five-year anniversary
of the Al Qaida attack on the
World Trade Center in New York
City and Pentagon in Arlington,
Va.
Inspired by the community's
gratifying support and encour-
agement, StandWithUs will con-
tinue to catalyze vigorous Israel
advocacy through educational
programming and dynamic ini-
tiatives. We invite all who share
our zeal in promoting a better
appreciation of Israel to learn
more about our mission and to
join our volunteer opportunities
(standwithus.com ).
Linda Stulberq
volunteer director
StandWithUs-Michigan
Farmington Hills
Joshua Opperer
Class Of A Million
—Goldfein
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August 24 * 2006
To learn more about the Class
of a Million, call Dan Ginis at
Federation: (248) 203-1485.
Distorted View
The Mel Gibson fiasco boils
down to capitalism run amok
("Courting Mel," Aug. 10, page
27).
It was once the case that a
person's wealth was an indica-
tion that he studied hard, worked
hard, knew a great deal and
made a considerable contribution
to the economy and to society as
a whole. Therefore, a wealthy per-
son was to be respected and his
opinion carried weight.
Today, however, for reasons
that continue to elude, we pay
our Hollywood actors (and pro-
fessional athletes) dollars that are
cartoonishly out of proportion
to their value as contributors to
society. In case of disaster, who is
more likely to have useful skills?
The obscenely wealthy actor or
the out-of-work handyman?
The wealth that the acting
community has received leads
the common folk to respect their
opinions. In fact, a multimil-
lionaire of an actor or athlete is
often someone whose views of
the world are simply not worth
repeating. And their wealth
doesn't for a moment show that
they know much of anything or
are capable of cogent or impor-
tant thought.
The rabbis who are now
courting Gibson should visit the
question of how this drunken
anti-Semite's tirade is more note-
worthy than anyone else's. I am
sure they cdn think of millions
of ways.
Ezra Goldman
Oak Park
Arabs For Israel?
Harry Kirsbaum's column "'Nuff
Said" (Aug. 17, page 9) gives me a
great idea: If Arabs can be part of
organizations like Jewish Voices
for Peace and talk about the evils
of Israel, why don't we Jews form
an organization called Arabs for
Israel? Then we can send out
press releases and make state-
ments about how Israel deserves
to live in peace and how the Arab
countries can work with Israel to
make the region a commercial
powerhouse.
We can criticize llamas,
Hezbollah and the countries
that kowtow to them. We can
probably find some Sephardi
Jews with Arab-sounding names
who we can quote so that we
seem authentic to the naive
public — as least as authentic
as the Neturei Karta Jews who
the Arabs keep trotting out. If
anyone wises up, we can smile
innocently and remind them that
we don't discriminate against
Jews who want to join our open-
armed organization.
Bobbie Lewis
Oak Park
How to Send Letters
What is "fried fish in the Jewish manner"?
6
Huntington Woods
Thank you for your article on
Federation's Class of a Million
("We Want You," Aug. 17, page
25). The Class of a Million dem-
onstrates in several ways the
almost limitless generosity of our
Jewish community.
First, the Class of a Million is
a success only because so many
— 75 (yes, up three since your
article) — families in the under-
40 age group have committed to
increase their annual pledges to
Federation's Annual Campaign
to at least $10,000 (or at least
$18,000, if they already are giving
$10,000) by the 2009 campaign.
Second, this initiative was
launched and is being imple-
mented by a devoted steering
committee, the members of
which have been inspired in
communicating the importance
of Federation's Annual Campaign
and diligent in planning unique,
dynamic programs. These
individuals — Michael Berger,
IlLEFIET 'cha Don't Know
*Copyrtatt 2006, Jewish Re.1354M1CC Media
Wendy Eisenshtadt, Lorne Gold,
David Gorosh, Jim Hooberman,
David Jacobson, Robb Lippitt,
Craig Menuck, Lea Narens,
Bubba Urdan, Sheri Wagner,
Randy Wertheimer and Jason
Zimmerman — are to be com-
mended.
Finally, as you noted in your
article, the class is the ben-
eficiary of the generosity of the
Blumenstein Millennium Fund
and Lauren and Phillip Wm.
Fisher. We are able to offer to the
Class experiences such as the
study trip to Washington and
what promises to be very special
Israel mission this fall because
of the tremendous support the
Class has received from the
Blumensteins, the Fishers and
many other volunteer and profes-
sional leaders.
Each new family brings the
class closer to its goal of 100
families giving an aggregate of at
least $1,000,000 annually.
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