Metro
FEDERATION'S WOMEN'S DEPARTMENT
INVITES YOU TO
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.
STRETCH
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YOUR
1-1 E L. lz:'
BODY... at one of many
exclusive classes for women of all ages and abilities on
SUN DAY, MARCH 15 , 2009_
Appreciate Israel
Ethiopian Jew embraces
Zionist cause advocating
for the Jewish state.
1
ST R ETC H
YOUR MINI ED
Art Aisner
Special to the Jewish News
::.and learn about how you
can change our community.
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STRETCH
YOUR 1---i A. NI 0
.„to help those in need.
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STRETCH
TO H E 1._1='...and be part of
this life-changing event.
There is no charge to participate in any of the Stretch to Help
classes. A pledge to the Jewish Federation for 2009 is
required to participate. Register online by March 2nd at
http://jewishdetroit.org/stretch . Reservations will be
granted on a first-come, first serve basis and you must
register in advance. Call Women's Department. at
•
248-642-4260 x202 for more information:
THANK
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to participating venues for donating space, time and instruction!
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SHELTER
Jewish
Federation
of Metropolitan Detriiit
WOMEN'S DEPARTMENT
-
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Al2
February 26 2009
ews for centuries have pon-
dered what it was like for
their ancestors to wander the
desert in search of the land of milk
and honey.
Zion Uness knows firsthand.
At age 7, he was among the 8,000
Ethiopian Jews airlifted from the
Sudan to Israel in Operation Moses
during the famine of 1984. The
remarkable journey culminated a
three-year effort to reach the Holy
Land, including a perilous trek across
thousands of kilometers in the pun-
ishing desert.
His story of courage, unyielding
faith and achievement is the type of
inspirational message that the new
Zionist Organization of America lead-
ership in Michigan wants to empha-
size in a fresh campaign to address a
very old problem.
"It's time to change the percep-
tion of Israel; and through my story,
I think, we as Jews, can be stronger
and have a bet-
ter life Uness, 31,
said before receiv-
ing resounding
applause from more
than 100 people
at a Feb. 18 talk at
the Max M. Fisher
Federation Building
in Bloomfield
Township.
His stop in Metro
Detroit — the sec-
ond since November
— is part of a
nationwide ZOA
speaking tour to
highlight Zionism's
positive global
impact.
"Our goal this
year is to show the
positive light that Israel has shown
to the world. We're the light unto all
the nations, and that gets lost in the
message somewhere," said Pamela
Lipid, new executive director of the
Southfield-based ZOA Michigan
Region.
ZOA President Beverly Baker with
Zion Uness
The Journey
"Yerusalem, Yerusalem, Yerusalem ."
His mother Osnat's words cried out
in his mind with every leg-numbing
step. There wasn't much time to dream
while trying to survive the sweltering
daytime heat and bone-chilling mid-
night air of the unforgiving Sudanese
wastelands. But he kept imagining
what the holy city would look and
pictured a pure, holy
place, where people
wore white cloth-
ing and relished
the chance to walk
the same hallowed
streets as the sages
years earlier.
Uness often flashes
a wide smile while
recounting his
"Exodus," but there
are some aspects of
the personal journey
he still has difficulty
discussing, including
what he and his three
sisters did to survive.
— Zion Uness
An estimated 4,000
Ethiopian Jews per-
ished en route. Many
died of starvation;
others of hypothermia or attacks from
Muslim marauders.
"Faith is beyond anything and
everything. It's beyond what your body
can de he said, lightly tapping the left
side of his chest with his fingertips.
"We believed we were the last Jews
"We need
to create a
stronger Israel
and not to be
dependant on
other nations
to make Israel
greater."