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!UREIC 'Oa Don't Know

Which Michigan college was one of only two U.S. institu-
tions of higher learning mentioned as having a good quality
of Jewish life in the 2007 Fiske guide to colleges?

-Goldfein

•ueb!qvi lo Al!siamun aqi uamsuy

ALEFBET'cha runs every other week.
co Copyright 2008. Jewish Renaissance Media

Secretary Rice is not demanding that
the Palestinians publicly make per-
manent changes that recognize the
existence of the State of Israel.
Recently, Sen. Barack Obama [the
presumptive Democratic presidential
contender] stated that he could see
the day when two states will stand
together to share the territory west of
the Jordan River.
The recent meetings with various
Arab (including Saudi) leaders have
not resulted in any change in relation
to the longstanding Arab position on
the existence of the State of Israel.
Sen. John McCain [the presumptive
Republican presidential contender]
has stated that the U.S. must stay in
that part of the world until there is
stability in Iraq.
Will the election ballot in November
offer the choice "none of the above"?

Burton A. Zipser
Oak Park

Troubling Parallel
The letter "Citizen Power" (July 24,
page A6), which takes pride in the con-
tinuing development in Jerusalem and
in Israel in general, draws parallels to
the continuing distress in Detroit.
Thanks to the massive amount of
foreign aid from the U.S., there's a
$1,000 to $2,000 (exact figures are
hard to come by) per-capita grant
feeding the economy.
These dollars may very well be a
good investment for the United States,
but we should keep them in mind.
Also, an even more painfully
glossed-over topic is the hundreds of
thousands of underground migrant
workers who toil quietly in the back-
ground, earning far less and treated
much worse than mainstream Israelis.
Kind of like the situation in the U.S.
with the "undocumented aliens;' but
even uglier — and just as inexcusable.

Danny Burstein
New York, N.Y.

What A Mission!
Every day around 3 p.m. Detroit time,
I begin to feel a certain excitement
building inside me. I typically race
home to my computer in the hopes
that the pictures from the Detroit
Federation's Teen Mission are up on
the Web site. I drop everything and
run home.
Since the mission left on July 2, I

have been living the mission experi-
ence vicariously through the eyes of
our teens. It has been incredible from
where I sit. Every day, the expressions
on the teens' faces tell the story. The
look in their eyes is almost magical, if
not captivating. My son has never been
to Israel, nor have I. From the moment
he signed up for the trip, I was filled
with a deep sense of pride that he
would be going to our homeland, a
land that was still so mysterious, and
honestly foreign to me.
Before he left, he began to have
mixed feelings about going. Hearing
his excitement, in the brief time I
have spoken with him, and watching
his expression light up the camera,
only speaks to his enthusiasm, and
commitment to being a part of the
mission. Federation could not have
orchestrated a more beautiful trip for
our teens to drink in the culture, the
values and the heritage our Judaism
affords us.
Two weeks into the trip, my son
fell and broke his hand. I got a call
from Rabbi Daniel Schwartz, our new
rabbi at Temple Shir Shalom, West
Bloomfield. The situation was handled
with the utmost of care. I was assured
that he was taken care of, and of course
I spoke to him immediately. There was
no detail left unattended to. My son
sounded more than fine and was eager
to get back to "all the fun things that
awaited" him later that day. Nothing
has stopped him since, even with a cast
up to his elbow. I honestly think that
breaking his hand has only added to
the amazing story of his trip to Israel.
The feelings I have experienced dur-
ing these five weeks, as I hear stories
from others, and see pictures from my
rabbi, is a new and unusual one for
me. It is a deep longing to go to Israel
with my family, to experience some of
what the teens have, as I connect with
the land of Israel from afar. I person-
ally thank all who have worked so
hard to coordinate the trip, everyone
at Federation and on staff, without
whom the trip surely would not have
exceeded everyone's expectations.

Kate K. Smith
Bingham Farms

Correction
In "New Team Effort" (July 24, page
A31), the photo caption incor-
rectly stated that Jewish Theological
Seminary Chancellor Arnold Eisen is a
rabbi. He is a professor, not a rabbi.

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August 7 • 2008 A9