Special Report

FEDERATION'S FAMILY MISSION

Connecting from page A19

Left: Bruce Liebowitz of

Farmington Hills finds some

time to read while floating in

the Dead Sea.

Right: Jacob Kornblum,

11, of Southfield sleeps at

the table after lighting

Chanukah candles on the

first night in Israel.

Left: Ari, 9, and Annie

Cohen, 12, of Birmingham

lead the pack during a scav-

enger hunt in Tel Aviv.

Right: Alexander Varverakis,

10, of Farmington Hills,

Noah Sherbin, 10, and sis-

ter Sophia Sherbin, 7, of

Bloomfield Hills, Israeli

counselor Anat Varchitzk,

Lindsay Steinberg, 10, of

Commerce Township and

Ellie Moskowitz, 10, of

Bloomfield Township sing a

song in Caesarea.

Rabbi Josh Bennett of Temple Israel in

West Bloomfield plays drums with his

son Jacob, 2, during an event at Kibbutz

Yifat.

In catching Hamas off-guard by attack-
ing on Shabbat, the Israelis had a chance
to stop the ceaseless rocket attacks that
had come regularly for eight years in the
south near Sderot. In launching "Operation
Cast Lead',' Prime Minister Ehud Olmert,
Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign
Minister Tzipi Livni stood as one in affirm-
ing that Israel had done all it possibly could
until now to avoid this escalation but that
all its attempts had been met without suc-
cess.
Mission goers were certainly concerned
about the situation as their cell phones

A20

January 8

a

2009

began to ring off the hook, with most calls
coming from family and friends in the
United States who saw the horrible pictures
and biased reports on television news.
The mood in Israel among participants
was clearly positive, and everyone stood
together in affirming the need for Israel
to be strong and for all of us to be strong
along with it.
Warren Robinson, 56, of Franklin was on
his eighth trip to Israel. He also was here
during the second intifada that begin in
2000.
"I still feel safer in Israel than I do at
home;' Robinson said. "I always do. I feel
deeply connected to the Israelis and their
cause; and this is the place I want to be,
especially right now. We have the opportu-
nity to be at one with the Israelis and, for
even a few days, to feel what they are feeling
and to be here to stand right next to them
and support them:'
Warren's wife Davida, 56, was in Israel for
the 10th time. Two of their sons spent the
summer of 2006 in Israel during the height
of the war with Lebanon.
"The reality of the current situation
hit me hard while I was on the Jeep ride
through the Golan as I conversed with our
driver, who, I quickly learned, has a 19-
year-old son in the Army serving in Sderot,"
she said. "We also have a son who is 19. The
driver did not need to say anything else. I
got it. And, as challenging as we think our
life is at home, it could never compare."
Hannan Lis of West Bloomfield, mission
co-chair with his wife, Lisa, said, "Overall,

despite a very tense security situation,
everyone felt comfortable, safe and con-
stantly briefed about what was going on. It
was meaningful to be closer to where the
action was instead of watching it on CNN.
We all had the chance to see that life in
Israel still goes on as Israelis will not allow
the terrorists to deprive them of their nor-
mal lives."

Feeling The Connection
Many participated in an optional evening
visit to Independence Hall in Tel Aviv, the
sight of the signing of the Declaration
of Independence on 5 Iyar 1948. Lainie
Lipschutz, 42, of Bloomfield Hills, who
came to Israel with her husband Kenny,
45, and their two children Allie, 14, and
Michael, 12, said Independence Hall was
a turning point of the trip for her family,
especially for Kenny, who grew up mostly
secular.
"Just being in the room where it all hap-
pened — where Israel became a state,
hearing the recordings and seeing the
documents — made my husband Kenny
feel so proud of his Jewish identity more
than anything else,' Lainie said. "For the
first time in his life, he felt a connection. His
response was clear: `Now I feel Jewish, and I
am so proud.'"
Eileen Sherman, 41, of Birmingham
is on the mission with three generations
— her parents, her husband Stuart, and
children Alex, 12, and Justin, 10. Her visit to
the Latrun Armored Corps Museum was a
highlight of the mission.

"I was transformed the moment I put
my hand on the wall of the fallen soldiers
and realized that these were real people
who laid down their lives to protect their
homeland so that other people could live
freely:' she said. "It is amazing to me that for
Israelis, defending the safety and security
of their land, comes even before their own
lives. As for the current war, it gives me
peace of mind to know that the good guys
are on our side."
She added, "What is most special about
coming to Israel is being together with my
family."
The Shermans came to Israel to celebrate
Alex's bat mitzvah and her father's 70th
birthday.
"Everything has been meaningful," Eileen
said. "I am overwhelmed by my feelings of
connectedness as a Jewish person and feel-
ing a sense of pride in this beautiful coun-
try that is a part of who we are:'
To conclude the day, each bus had the
opportunity to offer an individual tribute
to the late former Israeli Prime Minister
Yitzchak Rabin. We stopped at Rabin
Square in Tel Aviv, the site of his assas-
sination, and recalled the tragic story of
how Rabin's life was cut short by a Jewish
extremist at a peace rally on Nov. 4, 1995.
Those on the buses took turns lighting
memorial candles while offering prayers
and sharing passages from Rabin's speech.
We concluded our commemoration with
the Mourner's Kaddish.
Day 4 included a visit to Kibbutz Yifat,
where we explored the Pioneer Settlement