R VE
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A S
Making An Environmental Difference
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ur planet Earth is at serous risk
for loss of life, land and resourc-
es; and we as citizens of this life-
giving planet have a moral imperative to
help heal the planet, which has sustained
us for more than 250,000 years. Scientific
evidence is now overwhelming in agree-
ment that our planet is "warming" at an
alarming rate, causing great harm to all its
inhabitants.
The report released this spring by
the United Nations, backed by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, is the most far-reaching study on
the subject to date. It states that there is
now "overwhelming scientific evidence"
that humans are a significant factor in
global warming. The combination of our
world population growth to 6 billion (the
largest incremental growth in history)
coupled with the rapid growth of indus-
try and technology (the largest incre-
mental growth in history) has
produced the most serious
crisis ever encountered in
humankind.
We are releasing carbon
dioxide into our environ-
ment at an alarming rate. We
are already witnessing the
devastating consequences:
viruses and insects, never
seen before in North America,
attacking our plant life, food
sources and ourselves; loss of popula-
tions in coastal areas around the world
from severe flooding; extreme storms, like
Katrina, spreading throughout the world.
I had the honor and privilege to be
selected by former Vice President Al Gore's
Climate Project Team to be trained in
Nashville April 8-10.1 am now among
1,000 presenters, personally trained by
Al Gore, a masterful educator, passion-
ate, articulate and willing to
engage his audience in discus-
sion.
I spent three days with
175 trainees from around
the world, the most diverse,
engaging mix of human-
ity, which included a visit-
ing professor at Brown
University from Cameroon,
to a young exchange student
from Kazakhstan, to the
head of the Australian Global Warming
Environmental Office.
I have been given the tools, a 300-
slide presentation developed by Al Gore
in cooperation with the academic and
scientific community, enabling me to
graphically and skillfully communicate
the scientific facts, communicate a strong
sense of urgency and inspire hope, offer-
ing many solutions within our grasp.
I stand proudly, among 1,000 fellow
"global warming missionariee As 175 fel-
low trainees from around the world return
to their communities around the world, I
return home to Bloomfield Hills, proud to
be a Jew and proud to have the skills and
opportunity to make a difference.
This is a global opportunity, unlike any
I believe we have ever encountered, to
bring the people of the world together to
help sustain and heal our planet. I look
forward to your calls and will be happy to
present the "Global Warming" slide show
to your group or organization, at no cost
— only the commitment to be part of the
solution. I1
Linda Zlotoff of Bloomfield Hills can be
reached at (248) 855-3465 or miljz@aol.com .
Please write "Global Warming" in the subject
line.
Showing Off Israel
Ramat Hasharon, Israel
I
always knew that before my army
duty, I would like to do a year of com-
munity service. I just didn't know
where. At the end of the 11th grade, while
visiting the United States with a delegation
from the Israeli Scouts youth movement,
Tzofim, I became exposed to the subject
of diaspora Jewry. It was a subject that
fascinated me.
Returning to Israel, feeling I had not
explored the subject deeply enough, I dis-
covered Garin Atid and knew it would be
my community service. But I had no idea
how much the year was going to change
my life.
Meeting and living with Jews my age
from Israel, the United States and England
for nearly a year not only allowed me
to expose them more to Israel, but also
changed my opinions, my perceptions and
my life decisions. It also reinforced the ties
between Israel and the diaspora.
The program's purpose is not to intro-
26
May 10 2007
duce these young people to my
country. Rather, it's to make
clear that Israel is also their
country.
Throughout the year, my
main goal was to make them
stop feeling like tourists and
begin to feel at home. I wanted
them to see beyond the Kotel,
Masada and the Kinneret, to
take them to the restaurants I
like, to teach them the up-to-
date slang, to share my opin-
ions about Israel and politics with them,
to bring them home to meet my family
and my friends.
Nothing is more fulfilling than seeing
your partners leave behind the Israel they
thought they were going to see and begin
to view your Israel — the Israel that you
and the members of your Garin show
them. The fulfillment comes from watch-
ing them know exactly where to shop and
what to buy in the supermarket, or wash-
ing the floors "Israeli style" in your shared
apartment, or listening to them sing the
songs from your Tzofim troop at the top of
their lungs.
It comes, too, from hearing that they
want to meet your family and friends
again, not to be polite but because they
enjoyed spending the weekend with your
family.
Gratifying feelings in the Garin are end-
less, like when your apartment mate, who
arrived in Israel not knowing anything in
Hebrew, gets the prize for the
best Hebrew. You know you
played a part; it's a moment
you will never forget.
Garin Atid led me to redis-
cover myself, the people
around me, my country and
my Judaism. Thanks to the
tours, the field trips and pro-
gramming in the framework
of the Young Judaea Year
Course and the Federation of
Zionist Youth, I had the oppor-
tunity to visit many places in Israel for the
first time.
Life in the Garin allowed me to look
at things I had taken for granted — my
country, the Israeli people, the govern-
ment, the army, the culture and the
Hebrew language. Most notably, I looked at
my Judaism anew.
Living in the same apartment with
Jews from abroad, you learn to discover
a Jewish way of life much different from
yours. You meet people who are proud of
and fight for their Judaism, who know
much more than you about Judaism and
maintain a Jewish life.
Suddenly, the holidays take on a little
more meaning. Suddenly, you take a little
more interest in liturgy or blessings or
customs and discover that observing
kashrut is not that bad.
For Jewish youth in the diaspora, the
greatest and most Zionistic thing they
can do at the age of 18 is to make aliyah.
Answering
Israel's Critics
The Charge
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal blamed
Israel last week for the continued cap-
tivity of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and
also for the economic crisis in Gaza
that, he said, could lead to another
intifada.
The Answer
Meshaal's first charge is outrageous as
it justifies the international crime of
kidnapping; his second charge follows
a long history of Arab leaders blaming
Israel for their people's internal prob-
lems.
— Allan Gale,
Jewish Community Relations
Council of Metropolitan Detroit
For me, a young Israeli, the most Zionistic
thing I could have done after high school
was to sign up for Garin Atid. This is my
personal Zionism. 17
Amir Even, 18, was one of 10 Israeli high school
graduates performing community service
in the Garin Atid, part of the Young Judaea
Year Course program, through Tzofim, Young
Judaea's sister movement in Israel. The teens
lived together for nine months.