'Editor's Letter

Editor Letter from page A5

Satan. Palestinian kids who are as
young as 8 willingly strap on bomb
belts and explode in the presence of
Jews and Zionists to, in their indoctri-
nated minds, please Allah! Both Fatah
and Hamas, despite talk of new peace
talks, cunningly expose their people to
a deceptive drumbeat of Zionist and
Jewish hate — and the Jewish world is
too believing to see through that.

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Beyond Game Time
Karen Gordon has been a Detroit del-
egation head since 1999, a coach since
1986 and this year's Detroit Games
director. She and her professional staff,
in collaboration with the JCC staff as
well as our incredible Detroit Games
chairman and lay leader Harold
Friedman, deserve plaudits for weav-
ing the various threads that comprise
Maccabi into a wondrous tapestry that
accentuates the human condition.
Gordon aptly puts the Games in per-
spective: "They're a great way for kids
to meet other Jewish kids, not only
from all over the world, but all over the
U.S. We even have participants coming
from Nebraska. Maccabi gives kids,
who may not otherwise have much
exposure to Judaism or other Jews, the
chance to meet kids like themselves. It
really is great to see the athletes com-
pete, but the Games are so much more
than athletics."
How true.
A highlight this year will be Maccabi
participation in "A Fair To Remember:'
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit-sponsored climax celebration
on Thursday, Aug. 21, at the Michigan
State Fairgrounds in Detroit marking
60 years of Israel's statehood.
Working under coaches George
Cantor and Robert McLain, five
Maccabi reporters will write and
produce the daily Games newspaper
DRIVE!
Also, Wednesday will be Maccabi's
A Day of Caring and Sharing. Fifteen
communal groups will work with the
teens on service projects to fight hun-
ger, homelessness, cancer and join in
other causes like Holocaust awareness,
Friendship Circle and Israeli soldiers
who have no family.
Sharon Milberger of Farmington
Hills co-heads the Maccabi Darfur
Rally. Teens will gather at Temple
Israel in West Bloomfield to hear about
the current crisis in Darfur and gain a
better understanding of how they can
help stop the genocide. In addition
to education and awareness-raising,

another goal is advocacy.
"The athletes will have the chance
to sign postcards to Congress urging
an end to the genocide and learn how
to take action beyond the Games by
making a commitment in their home
communities to volunteer in programs
that support Darfur," Milberger says.
The day will conclude with a
march from Temple Israel to the West
Bloomfield JCC, complete with signs
and banners, where a second opportu-
nity for learning will be offered.
"We will set up a Tent of Hope
where visitors will be able to see the
tools used by Doctors Without Borders
to assess starvation in children:'
Milberger says.
Without a doubt, this will be a week
to connect more deeply with ourselves
and the Jewish community while wel-
coming our guests.

Personal Reward
My family hosted two girls from
Rochester, N.Y., in 1998. It proved
emotional and rewarding. The girls
were great and I don't just mean corn-
peting. In talking to other host fami-
lies, I discovered a common theme
— we all learned from our youthful
charges just as they hopefully did from
us.
Host families are a key to success:
They make the Games happen. They
open their hearts and homes to corn-
petitors. The bonds between teens and
hosts are a special gift; as a bonus,
some of the friendships continue.
At the end of the week, I'm positive
Jewish Detroit will look back on the
2008 JCC Maccabi Games as a keep-
sake in our collective memory bank.
I love how Karen Gordon, whose
love of Maccabi is infectious, put it: "I
want every single person two weeks
after the Games to say, 'I had so much
fun; as opposed to, 'I wish I would
have gotten involved.' I want everyone
to feel glad they participated and not
regret they didn't"
I wish this year's Maccabi delega-
tion a heartyyasher koach (go forth
in strength) for their noble efforts in
athletic and artistic competition as
well as higher achievements in life's
lessons.
The JCC Maccabi Games enable
us to affirm the familial ties of Klal
Yisrael, the Jewish people — to project
an ever-widening circle that ripples
across world Jewry, given the tens of
thousands of Maccabi alumni.
Let the Games begin!

❑

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August 14 • 2008

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