OTHER VIEWS
Modern Day Maccabees
Pessie Busel Novick
Community View
I
f I forget thee, 0' Jerusalem',' the
psalmist writes, "may my right hand
lose its cunning ..."
The city of Jerusalem, its stone struc-
tures bearing silent witness to a long
embattled history, was reunited and
returned to Jewish hands some 40 years
ago with the victory of the Six-Day War.
To this day, however, Jewish presence in
certain parts of Jerusalem's Old City is bit-
terly contested. Ateret Cohanim, a.k.a. the
Jerusalem Reclamation Project (JRP), is
dedicated to the restoration and retention
of Jewish identity throughout the capital
of Jerusalem.
Ateret Cohanim has purchased prop-
erties, renovated apartments for young
yeshivah families and established insti-
tutions of Jewish learning throughout
Jerusalem. Today, one can hear the sound
of Torah study at the Kollel in the old
Yemenite village of Shiloach (Silwan),
purchase an apartment in Beit Warsaw
and pray at the Kotel HaKatan (the "small"
kotel, or wall, near the Temple Mount),
thanks to the effort of these dedicated
individuals who have devoted their lives to
reclaiming these areas of the Jewish capi-
tal for the Jewish people.
Founded in 1979 by Matityahu Dan,
Ateret Cohanim has successfully estab-
lished Jewish homes and institutions with-
in every quarter of the Old City. Yeshivat
Ateret Yerushalayim, in what is known as
the Muslim Quarter, is headed by prolific
scholar Rabbi Shlomo Aviner.
Yeshivat Chomot is located in Neot
David in Jerusalem's so-called Christian
Quarter of the Old City; it has an enroll-
ment of nearly 100 students.
Ateret Cohanim funds children's activi-
ties in the Wittenburg Children's Activities
Center and four nurseries.
It assists families in the Old City,
Yemenite Village and Kidmat Zion with
security needs in their newly established
Jewish neighborhoods where they live sur-
rounded by Arab populations.
The Jerusalem Reclamation Project
offers a walking tour of these renewed
Jewish neighborhoods throughout the
Old City and a bus tour to Yemenite
Village and Kidmat Zion known as the
Magen Yerushalayim tour.
People who walk with Ateret Cohanim
are amazed at the courage and spirit of the
Jews who proudly live in these renewed
neighborhoods in an effort to keep
Jerusalem's capital united with Jewish life.
"What has been accomplished over
the last 28 years is astounding:' said
Shoshana Hikind, director of development
of American Friends of Ateret Cohanim,
"and everyone who visits us in Jerusalem
is so proud of being our partners in this
remarkable rebirth of Jewish life in the
heart of Jerusalem."
Rabbi Yigal Tsaidi, educational director
of Southfield's Yeshivat Akiva, adds, "The
tour offered by Ateret Cohanim is one of
the highlights of Lehava, Akiva's three-
week program of experiential learning in
Israel.
"Hearing about the reclamation of
Jerusalem moves the students deeply,
igniting within them a lehava, or flame,
that warms their hearts and illuminates
their paths II
Pessie Busel Novick of Oak Park is a teacher at
Yeshivat Akiva in Southfield.
Poverty in Our Backyard
category III storm was not an isolated
such extreme economic devastation exists
occurrence. The community of Boothville,
in my own country as well. The greatest
located
at ground zero, has been affected
fter driving two hours southeast country in the world, the United States
by
storms
too many times before. Even
of America, assists nations abroad while
from New Orleans, our tour
worse,
the area was poverty
neglecting glaring examples
bus came to a complete stop
stricken
well before Katrina
of poverty within its own
in the middle of the barren countryside.
gained
it
public attention. If
Rev. Theodore Turner pointed to an empty borders.
anything,
Katrina simply made
I was fortunate to grow up
patch of grass, in the middle of which
the
severe
economic situation
in a Jewish family. Though
stood a small brick pillar.
manifest.
my family emphasized the
Before we could understand what we
I asked many members of
importance of tzedakah and
were looking at, Rev. Turner said: "That's
the
community why they chose
tikkun olam (repair of the
what is left of my house." As the bus con-
to
return,
with full awareness
world), I had never directly
tinued on its way, he continued to point
that
even
after their houses
experienced the kind of
out the remnants of driveways scattered
are
rebuilt
they could again
Shelley
approximately every 20 to 30 feet in other- poverty that I saw in the Gulf
be
destroyed
overnight. The
Coast. In college, in addi-
Rosenberg
wise desolate landscape.
answer
I
received
could not be
tion to traveling to Uruguay,
Community
Any driveway you see is where a
contested:
"This
is
my home."
I became more interested
View
house once stood',' he told us as he elabo-
Unfortunately,
two
years after
in social action as a student
rately described individual houses that
Hurricane
Katrina,
over
50 per-
government representa-
once comprised a full neighborhood in
cent
of
Boothville's
inhabitants
tive and a member of the
Boothville, La.
still cannot return home.
Michigan community scholars program.
This was not the first time I had seen
Despite such hardship, every commu-
However, it took two full years after
such devastation. Last February, I was
nity
member we met remained optimistic
Hurricane Katrina hit for me to go to the
fortunate to be a participant on the
about
the possibility of rebuilding. Rev.
Gulf region and serve my fellow citizens
University of Michigan Hillel's Alternative
Turner
has rebuilt his church to better
in need. This fall, I was lucky to be one of
Spring Break trip to Uruguay. There, I
serve
his
community.
17 U-M students to make the trek to New
worked with a group of 21 students to
He
continues
to rebuild his neighbor-
build emergency homes for those that had Orleans in an attempt to contribute to
hood,
house
by
house,
while his own home
rebuilding the hurricane-devastated area.
been affected by the economic collapse in
remains
in
ruins.
He
is
truly incredible;
The service-learning trip was a collabora-
the region.
his
passion
for
life
and
helping those in
tive effort between U-M Hillel and Jewish
Although I will never forget the harsh
need
is
moving.
Funds for Justice.
sights I witnessed in this foreign country,
Leaving the region was difficult as there
As our group stood atop the levees, we
I have even more trouble describing how
is
still
so much work to be done. Yet we left
came to understand that this infamous
I felt in Boothville, when I realized that
Ann Arbor
A
inspired by the power of ordinary indi-
viduals' efforts to help their fellow man.
I returned to campus with a new sense
of awareness of my responsibility as an
American and as a Jew.
I am now working to inform other
Michigan students of current issues such
as the congressional bill calling for stron-
ger levees, which is unlikely to be passed
as of yet because it is attached to a war
bill.
My experience in New Orleans has also
opened my eyes to my responsibilities as
a citizen here in Michigan, where many
inner-city neighborhoods are as devas-
tated as those that fell victim to Hurricane
Katrina.
I am a weekly volunteer for Big Brothers
Big Sisters of Washtenaw County as a
mentor for a high-risk child in a local
elementary school.
This spring, I intend to return to New
Orleans as a participant in U-M Hillel's
first ever interfaith Alternative Spring
Break trip comprised equally of Jewish
and Muslim students.
Furthermore, when I vote next fall, I
will undoubtedly consider my firsthand
knowledge of the poverty in this country.
As a Jew, I must continue to help those in
need throughout my life. II
Shelley Rosenberg, a sophomore at the University
of Michigan, is a native of West Bloom field.
December 6 * 2007
A23