Opinion

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Yad Ezra Aids Record Numbers

W

aking up
every morn-
ing this
summer has been a joy
for those of us who get
through winter by count-
ing the moments until the
return of sun-drenched
days. It's certainly not the
season when people think
about hunger, a thought
reserved for winter, when days
are dark, cold and foreboding.
Yet, during those sun-kissed
days of June, July and August, a
record number of new families
came to Yad Ezra, the kosher food
pantry, for assistance.
Yad Ezra served 66 new fami-
lies this summer, compared to
45 new families the summer of
2005. Overall, Yad Ezra has seen
an increase of 47 percent in the
number of new families from

January-August 2006,
compared to January-
August 2005.
They were referred
by other agencies in
the greater community,
synagogues, rabbis and
friends. These families
weren't basking in
summer's warmth;
their days have been
shrouded in darkness, frustration
and sometimes despair. These
families live in Michigan, where
the unemployment rate stands
at 7 percent, higher than the
national unemployment rate of
4.7 percent.
"Michigan's economy is still
being heavily impacted by job
losses resulting from the con-
tinuing restructuring in the auto
industry," said Rick Waclawek,
director of the state's Bureau of

Labor Market Information and
Strategic Initiatives.
So who were these families
who found their way to Yad Ezra
because they needed help? Some
were elderly who, until recently,
managed to get by; the majority
were families whose incomes are
nowhere near what they need to
survive without assistance.
A few are disabled who receive
some government assistance.
Many are the working poor,
those with incomes far below
what it takes to put food on the
table and a roof overhead for
themselves and their families.
They work at fast food chains,
discount department stores and
grocery stores.
Some are union workers wait-
ing for the call back to work.
Some are new to Michigan; most
are native Michiganders.

One woman burst into tears
as she received her groceries,
never imagining that she would
have to rely on a food pantry for
assistance. A single mother with
three kids in tow overheard her
children's excitement over the
fact that they would have some-
thing other than water to drink
in their home. The kids, desper-
ate for something flavored, had
recently pooled their pennies to
buy a single package of Kool-Aid.
Another mother was so grate-
ful for the groceries because her
Family Independence Agency
benefits had been cut off. A cou-
ple, both recently unemployed,
with two children, had stretched
their meager budget to pay for
rent and gas, and didn't have
enough left over to buy food.
In total, 140 new individuals
were helped by Yad Ezra this past

summer.
Thanks to all of you who have
generously supported Yad Ezra,
these new families were able to
receive grocery bags overflowing
with a variety of food items, toi-
letries and household goods.
During their darkest days,
these families had a place to turn
where they could take delight
in the fragrance of fresh-baked
bread, tomatoes, strawberries
and cucumbers; find sustenance
in the chicken, ground meat,
tuna, salmon, eggs, pasta prod-
ucts and canned goods; wake up
to a table filled with cereal, rolls
and juice, and maybe, even enjoy
a beautiful sunset while dunking
a cookie into a glass of milk.

Lea Luger is director of development

at Yad Ezra in Berkley.

Maccabi The Magnificent

I

t was a gift you
can't buy and could
never replace.
For years, I have heard
how wonderful the JCC
Maccabi Games are for
athletes and their fami-
lies. My two children
participated this year.
Nicole ran track and
Mark played baseball. I
had the chance to be an
assistant baseball coach, experi-
encing the games firsthand.
The Maccabi Games are about
promoting Judaism, sportsman-
ship and friendship. After a well-
organized effort by Karen Gordon
and Harold Friedman of the JCC
Detroit Maccabi Club, the Detroit
delegation traveled to Vancouver
in August.
The opening ceremonies set the
stage for an incredible week. I was
proud that Detroit sent the largest
delegation of athletes, more than
90 strong, along with dozens of
wonderful parents and coaches.
It gave me the chills.
What a sight as the delega-
tions marched into the arena: Los
Angeles, New York, Chicago, New
Jersey, Philadelphia and many
others. Nearly 2,000 athletes

34

September 14. 2006

participated. My pride
was at its zenith when
Detroit was announced.
But nothing eclipsed my
feelings, and everyone
else's, when the mem-
bers of the small Israeli
delegation made their
way onto the arena floor.
Many of the Israeli
athletes had been in
hiding for days or weeks
simply trying to get through
missile attacks perpetrated by
Hezbollah. Yet the games were a
time to put the war behind and
have fun. Did they have fun! The
crowd saw them dancing across
the floor to the wild cheering of
thousands of people.
The 25,000 residents who make
up the Vancouver Jewish commu-
nity did such a magnificent job of
putting the games together, it was
as if they were all in the arena
that night.
The opening ceremonies were
also a time to remember. A 1972
Jewish Canadian Olympic swim-
mer addressed the crowd, sharing
her memories of the night of the
massacre of the Israeli athletes
in Berlin. She explained she
had been out for a stroll in the

Olympic Village. She described
how she climbed a fence to get
back in the village rather than
come through the main gate. She
saw a group of men also hopping
the fence, but she reelected that
sadly, she thought nothing of it.
That group of men, in fact, was
the Arab commandos, the mur-
derers who killed our brothers
and sisters on the way to the ram-
page. How could she have known,
she asked. She remained silent.
The audience reflected on how
she has carried that burden with
her for years. This was the most
poignant moment of what was to
be a great week.
On Monday, the games began
in earnest. I had the privilege of
assisting my friends Harry Glanz
and Gary Bistrow in coaching
the Detroit 14 and under base-
ball team. By week's end, Detroit
would defeat Philadelphia in the
bronze medal game, bringing a
baseball medal back to Detroit for
the first time in almost a decade.
In a true show of sportsmanship,
our boys and coaches posed a
short time later with the Chicago
team, whose players soundly
defeated Los Angeles for the gold
medal.

As for my
daughter, she
won a gold,
silver and two
bronze medals
in the 400, 200
and a couple
of relays.
Watching her
on the podi-
um and see-
Nicole Meisner after receiving her gold medal for
ing the gold
the 400-meter run, with other medal winners from
medal draped
Mexico and New York.
around her
food in the city many people refer
neck was
to
as "Kongcouver?"
beautifulit was tough getting
Some
in the Jewish community
there, as she had to out duel the
say
Detroit
may be a host city in
top gun in the 400, who came
the
next
several
years. I would
from the nationally respected
urge
our
Jewish
residents to open
92nd Street YMCA in Manhattan.
our
doors
to
other
Jewish teenage
In the end, what I realized is
athletes,
from
anywhere
on the
that the way the JCC Maccabi
globe.
Make
them
feel
welcome
Games proMote Judaism is mas-
the way we were made to feel.
terful. Where could we have gone
This is what being a Jew is about.
for a week to spend time with
The JCC Maccabi Games are a
Jews from throughout the world
gift,
whether you are an athlete,
amidst a spirit that is unparal-
a
coach,
a spectator or a host
leled? Where else could we have
family
member.
What better way
gone to witness strangers, call-
(repair of the
for
tikkun
olam
ing themselves host families as
world).
they opened their doors to our
children? Finally, short of going to
Mort Meisner is a Huntington Woods
Hong Kong, where else could us
resident.
Jews have enjoyed better Chinese