Opinion
T
" vv
Hadassah's Miracle Mission
W
elcome to Israel, Hadassah."
Speaker of the Knesset Dalia
Iztik greeted us via her micro-
phone while she presided over a Knesset
meeting. She looked up at the visitors'
booth where we sat, the 38 members of
the Greater Detroit Chapter of Hadassah
Mission.
This, the first all-Detroit mission for
Hadassah, was meticulously planned
by National Hadassah's Missions Chair,
Detroit's own
Annette Meskin.
We were whole-
heartedly welcomed
to Israel many times
during our 10-day
exploration of our
ancestral homeland.
About one-third of
the group had never
been to Israel; others
had visited several
times. But each of
us felt that special
connection to this
beautiful and complex country so steeped
in history — our history
"Israel is feeling fairly comfortable right
now," said David Horovitz, editor-in-chief of
the Jerusalem Post, as he updated us during
a briefing. He indicated that the decrease
in violence (in part because of the security
wall, in part because of terrorism task
force methods of surveillance), in addition
to the healthy stock market, contribute to
an improved overall sense of well being.
Having said that, however, Mr. Horovitz cau-
tioned that this is a relative feeling: Israelis
as a whole are forever aware of their vulner-
ability, and are not particularly optimistic
about the peace overtures in Annapolis.
This pervasive obsession with political
events and a constant yearning for stability
Right: Russell Meskin
of Sylvan Lake with Jo-
Anne Nosan, Elliott Parr
and Wendy and Larry
Kohlenberg, all of West
Bloomfield, at Hadassah
Hospital/Mt. Scopus. Top:
Andrew and Carol Sofen of
West Bloomfield at Masada.
and peace was evident in the most ordinary
of social interchanges.
On one occasion, I commented to a bell-
hop that checking into the hotel was corn-
plicated."This is easy:' he replied."Peace is
complicated."
On another occasion, when I made a
remark about how the archeological finds
were a "miracle the tour guide said, "No,
peace would be a miracle."
Contrary to some of the Detroit delegates'
preconceived notions and concerns, we all
felt quite safe during our cross-country trek.
Under the watchful eye of our brilliant
guide Danny Apelbom, an ex-paratrooper
whom we nicknamed "the Encyclopedia:'
we journeyed from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv
with stopovers at Masada, Haifa, Jaffa,
Zichron Ya'akov and Shiloh, a Jewish settle-
ment in the West Bank.
Our brains — and our emotions — were
stretched to their limits at the various sites,
including the Old City, the Western Wall
tunnels, the Davidson Center, Yad Vashem
and, of course, our Hadassah projects.
We were greeted like VIPs at each of our
Hadassah installations: Hadassah College
Jerusalem, Meir Shfeya Youth Village, Young
Judaean Youth Hostel, Hadassah Hospital
Mt. Scopus and last, but certainly not least,
Hadassah Hospital Ein Karem.
The incredible lifesaving and life-enhanc-
ing work accomplished at each of these sites
came to life in the very real form of eager
students, at-risk youth, Detroit high-school
graduates on Year Course and the myriad of
patients at our hospitals.
At Hadassah Hospital Ein Karem, we
were treated to a very special honor. For
the first time ever, a Hadassah group was
assembled at the entrance of the ground-
breaking site of the Sara Wetsman Davidson
Tower. Donning bright yellow hard hats and
grinning from ear to ear, the proud Detroit
delegates stood for a unique photo-op. Each
of us felt as though we were ambassadors
representing Detroiters Karen and Bill
Davidson and their extraordinary gift to
Israel and the world.
This trip will soon become a haze of
memories punctuated by certain vignettes
that stand the test of time. One of these,
I am sure, will be of Barbara, a British
woman who had made aliyah to Haifa
several years ago. She proudly "hosted" us
in her bomb shelter that had given safe
haven to several Hadassah participants of
the solidarity mission during the Lebanese
war. After we all crowded into the 14- by 10-
foot concrete-walled space, Annette Meskin
described the previous ordeal, then Barbara
proclaimed, "Thank you for coming to
Israel. Tell everyone you know to come to
Israel."
Judi Schram of West Bloomfield is president of
Greater Detroit Chapter of Hadassah, which is
based in West Bloomfield. The Detroit mission
dates were Nov. 7-16.
Stand Strongly With Israel
Linda Stulberg and Eva Mames
Community View
W
e are saddened that Arthur
M. Horwitz would pen a
Publisher's Notebook ("Jewish
Detroit Must Save Itself' Nov. 29, page 5),
appearing on the 60th anniversary of the
U.N. resolution calling for the establish-
ment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, urging
Metro Detroit Jewry to retrench our finan-
cial support for our eternal homeland.
While we admire your rallying call to
resuscitate Michigan's moribund economy
and our own waning demographics, your
suggestion that we do so at the expense of
Israel is regrettably misguided.
You hardly need reminding of the cen-
trality of a strong and secure Israel to the
strength and security of Jews worldwide.
Nor do you need reminding of the exis-
tential threats imperiling Israel: the geno-
cidal ambitions of a near-nuclear Iran, the
looming dangers of Syria and Hezbollah,
continuing terrorism and incitement to vio-
lence by Hamas, Fatah, et al, and the crush-
ing pressure of hostile world opinion.
That our hearts go out to Israel does not
diminish our sensitivity to those in our
midst coping with Michigan's economic
contraction. We feel for our relatives, friends
and neighbors struggling with the hard-
ships resultant from failed leadership and
failed policies in our state. Likewise, the
regrettable brain-drain and out-migration
of our young is an inevitability of our state's
sagging job market.
Support Jewish Needs
We applaud your blueprint for economic
reconstruction and agree it will take vision-
ary leadership backed by a vigorous corn-
mitment of resources, talent and innovative
partnerships to promote economic growth.
In the meantime, our community must
respond compassionately and effectively
to Jews in financial distress. We have every
confidence our many agencies will success-
fully rise to this challenge; it is our primary
responsibility to provide a safety net for
Jewish families and individuals in need.
But just as Michigan needs forward-
looking entrepreneurs to catapult us to
economic health, our Jewish community
Israel on page A28
December 13 • 2007
A27