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Letters from page A6
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are back on their feet, once again a two income family.
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A8
December 13 • 2007
Tread Cautiously
In his Publisher's Notebook
("Jewish Detroit Must Save Itself",
Nov. 29, page 5), Arthur Horwitz
suggests that as a community we
must "re-balance" resources once
allocated to Israel and focus instead
on pressing local concerns.
While I agree that "charity begins
at home," I would caution our com-
munity to tread carefully when con-
sidering severing or reducing our
communal support for Israel.
To be sure, Jewish communal
resources should focus first and
foremost on those most in need
here at home. But before we "re-bal-
ance" our material and financial
connections with Israel — chari-
table or otherwise — it would be
worthwhile to examine local com-
munal expenditures first.
Expenditures both within
Federation and through its vari-
ous agencies and committees not
directly connected with the core
functions of the Jewish community
should be reexamined and/or re-
balanced first. At the same time
that Jewish communities through-
out this country are struggling to
enhance communal cohesion, Israel
and its significance to the Jewish
people serves as one of the most
important elements in the success
of that effort.
Simply put, the continued
growth, prosperity and security of
the Jewish state serve as the binding
tie for Jewish people throughout the
diaspora.
When we speak about cutting
or reducing our financial support
for Israel, we should consider two
unintended consequences that may
follow. First, without financial skin
in the game, the spiritual and emo-
tional connections with the Jewish
homeland will likely follow; second,
we send a message to the rest of the
world that suggests that when times
get tough, the support of American
Jews — always considered Israel's
bedrock — may be waning.
West Bloomfield
DETROIT
JEWISH NEWS
Correction
In a Snapshot ("Saving Lives:' Nov.
15, page A8), a Mobile Intensive
Cardiac Care Unit was donated to the
people of Israel by Natalie and Manny
Charach and their son, Jeffrey, in trib-
ute to their friends, Eva Mames and
the late Dr. John J. Mames.