Pho to by Anna Ring

Far left: Gabriella Ring with her

German great-uncle.

Left: Gabriella with her German great-

aunt at the top of Sparrenburg Castle

in central Bielefeld.

Summer Travels:
Today's Germany

I

By Gabriella Ring

T

he Holocaust happened more
than 60 years ago in Germany
and surrounding European
countries. The emotional heartache will
continue forever.
One thing we must not do is shy away
from the country, frightened to go there.
In a new time and generation, we are
constantly taught and reminded to be
accepting of different races, colors, heri-
tages and religions. Holding a grudge
against Germany will not fix what has
been done.
My Russian grandmother's younger
brother moved to Germany several years
ago. There, he raised a family. His son
married and had two kids. All are Jewish

One Teen's View

and live with Holocaust memorials within
walking distance from their front doors.
However, often they hide their chaff neck-
laces underneath their shirts and do not
showcase their Judaism.
They felt uneasy really talking about the
subject. I concluded that even though they
may not experience the anti-Semitism, it
still exists in a subtle form.
For my entire life, I've never had the
opportunity to meet and visit them. My
grandma always talks about how it would
be wonderful to finally become acquaint-
ed. This past March, she turned 80. My
mom decided it would be the perfect
occasion.
There was still the pressing issue of
whether or not my grandma could with-
stand the 71/2-hour flight. She had been

having problems with her knee and often
used a cane or walker. On doctor's orders,
she was forced to stay home.
Another family member would not be
joining us. My father refused to "support"
Germany by buying a plane ticket and
merchandise from a country that was
cruel to Jews decades ago. We explained
that we would be safe; that no threats or
violence would come our way. He was not
convinced and remained home.
The trip itself was amazing; we stayed
with my mom's cousin. I documented
every moment by snapping photos and
keeping a journal. I learned the history of
many memorials and cities, experienced
German cuisine (including doner, an over-
sized sandwich stuffed with vegetables
and turkey) and picked up basic vocabu-

lary of the language. I exercised my brain
by calculating prices from euros to dollars,
figuring out the temperature in Fahrenheit
and converting kilometers to miles.
Thankfully, I did not encounter anti-
Semitic situations or places, but rather
witnessed a fair amount of Jewish history,
including seeing the old mikvah and syna-
gogue in Colon.
Although at first I was slightly scared to
travel to the country, my fears were wiped
away by the end of the trip. Meeting my
relatives, experiencing European customs
and lifestyles, and spending a worthwhile
vacation in Germany is what it all came
down to. I I

Gabriella Ring, 14, is a freshman at Berkley

High School.

w
Sharing
Our Passion For Arts

T

Top row: Nolan Elias, 12, Bloomfield Hills; Alexandra White, 17,

West Bloomfield; and Patty Ceresnie, Detroit delegation head.

Bottom row: Daniel Hacker, 14, West Bloomfield; Lily Koscik,

15, Commerce Twp.; Alexandra Mark, 16, and Hillary Wallace,

15, both of Farmington Hills; and Molly Goldsmith, 13,
Huntington Woods.

his summer, I had the
pleasure of attend-
ing the JCC Maccabi
Artsfest in Deal Park, N.J., with
six other teens from Metro
Detroit. Artsfest is a chance for
Jewish teens from across the
country to share their com-
mon interest of the arts in a
non-competitive environment
Daniel Hacker
where they feel comfortable
Teen2Teen staff
to express their emotions
through art.
Each teen from the Detroit delegation was there for
a different specialty, some of which included musical
theater, creative writing, vocal music, dance and visual
arts. Each specialty group created a performance fea-
tured in the closing ceremonies at the end of the week.
I participated in the rock-pop specialty. We had five
complete rock bands led by three artists in residence.
This is the second year for Artsfest, which was

created for teens interested in the arts to be able to
participate and experience the same collaboration as
in the Maccabi games for sports. More than 245 par-
ticipants from all over the country came to New Jersey
for Artsfest.
"Maccabi Artsfest was a great experience said Lily
Koscik, J 5, from Walled Lake. "I met a lot of cool kids,
and the teachers were all amazing."
I could not agree more with this statement. I had the
pleasure of working with one of Judaism's top record-
ing artists, Josh Nelson. Josh and his band helped all
the rock groups get their acts together to each create
an original song and perform a cover song in one
week. I played guitar and sang lead vocals. Our cover
song was the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club
Band."
Artsfest was the highlight of my summer and I can-
not wait to attend again next year. 1

Daniel Hacker, 15, is a sophomore at the Frankel Jewish

Academy in West Bloomfield.

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September 13 p 2007

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