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 1! paualaid pue aiatil 'uosiallar sewoqi •plop 4! 6144ea pue lapeq luaptsaid pi q} e uo palsel 'sales papun ut uopuoi jo sonar ata :JaMsuy AM Jemped Aim e peg AmiluaD t4g4 Apea ul tisu 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. 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 IN: 29200 Northwestern Highway, Suite 110, Southfield, MI 48034; fax (248) 304-8885; e-mail, letters@the jewishnews.com . We prefer e-mail.