Health Care from page C2

budget included approximately S600
billion that over the course of a decade
would help pay for the health care over-
haul. The total cost of the expansion is
projected at more than S1 trillion. The
president has welcomed input and asked
that every idea be considered. In that
spirit, we put forth our core principles:
• People should have universal access
to health services, so that every indi-
vidual and family can have access to a
doctor regardless of income or other
barriers.
• The system should provide care for
the most vulnerable; and we should
expand and strengthen Medicaid,
which is vital in serving the most
vulnerable among us. There is a need
for incorporating long-term services
and supports, particularly given that
Jewish Americans are the fastest aging
minority in North America, and we will
work toward a more comprehensive con-
tinuum of care that will strive for more
choice and affordability.
• The system should have built-in
equity and aim to end unfair insurance
practices that have kept millions of
Americans from obtaining the medical
care they have desperately needed.
In sum, we assert that not only does
there need to be comprehensive care,
but also preventive care within the
new American health system. It is time
that the United States switches from
an illness-based model to one that is
centered on wellness from generation to
generation.
Health-care reform will have far-
reaching effects both on Jewish social-
service providers and on our com-
munity relations efforts. Many Jewish
Americans are among the ranks of the
uninsured, and our network of Jewish
social-service providers relies on a
strong health care safety net to serve
vulnerable Jewish populations.
\\Te need to work productively for a
stronger health care system in America.
Right now, we are pushing Congress to
stop harmful cuts to Medicare and assist
states in fiscal crisis, so they will not
consider weakening Medicaid to cover
their own state budgetary shortfalls.
This is the time to lead and our com-
munities need to be involved. We stand
at the ready to make these objectives
a reality for all Americans in need of a
strong health-care continuum. 1-

William C. Daroff is vice president for

public policy and director of UJC/Jewish

Federations of North America's Washington
office. Hadar Susskind is vice president and

Washington director for the Jewish Council

for Public Affairs.

The Early Maccabiot

A

s the State of Israel hosts the
18th Maccabiah, I thought it
would be of interest to remi-
nisce on the first three Maccabiot.
The first Maccabiah took place in the
Land of Israel/Eretz Yisrael on March
28, 1932. It began with a fes-
tive ceremony in Beit Haam
in Tel Aviv. The following day,
the mayor of Tel Aviv, Meir
Dizengoff, rode his horse to
lead the 390 participants on a
five-kilometer trek to the spe-
cially built stadium near the
Yarkon River.
My mother, Sarah, a regu-
lar Keren Kavemet (Jewish
National Fund) volunteer,
closed the family ice box store
on 48 Allenby Street. With two
Keren Kavemet boxes in hand, she solic-
ited contributions; she returned to the
Keren Kavemet offices with two pushkas
heavy with money, all kinds of money; the
foreign money was exchanged at the local

Anglo Palestina bank, later to be renamed
Bank Leumi.
My father, Yosef, his two partners and
most of the employees in their ice box
factory on Yitzhak Elchanan Street also
closed shop for a few hours to witness this
historic event, of which they and
the entire Yishuv (Jews of Eretz
Yisrael) were extremely proud.
The second Maccabiah took
place in 1935; its organizers not
wanting to imitate the Olympics
convening every four years.
Among the participants were a
Great number of non-athletes
making aliyah illegally. The
planned 1938 Maccabiah was
canceled because of increasing
Arab violence in the land and
the British fear, not without
justification, of increased illegal immigra-
tion. Then there were World War II and the
Shoal followed by the pre-state struggle.
So the next Maccabiah, the third and
first in the independent State of Israel,

took place in 1950. The festive open-
ing took place in the brand-new, not-
quite-finished Ramat Gan Stadium.
The main performance was a stunning
three rings, one inside the other, of
young members of HaMaccabi HaTzaiir
(Young Maccabi) with synchronized
exercises to music specially composed for
the event. Our esteemed gym teacher was
Shrnuel "Shumi" Shumacher, director of
HaMaccabi HaTzaiir. He added his pupils,
the ones ready to commit to the arduous
two months of after-school practice; I was
among the fortunate ones.
As a "thank you" for our dedication,
we all received free tickets to the ne'ilah
— the closing ceremony — for us and our
parents who were supposed to bring us to
the stadium anyway. My father deferred
to my sister Shula so she could savor this
precious memory of the first Maccabiah in
the independent State of Israel.

Israeli natives Rachel and Sheldon Kapen of

West Bloomfield came to America in 1963.

Photo Grg's Rieto.graphs

LIFE

S

GOOD!

New students enrolled in B'nai Moshe's LIFE program receive
a free one-year family membership and High-Holiday tickets!

The kids in. B'nai Moshe's LIFE (Learning is a Family Experience) religious
school attend classes on Saturday morning, connecting them and their families
to synagogue life each Shabbat, Top teachers, small classes, innovative
learning and unique family program_s will keep your children interested,
excited and connected from kindergarten through Bar & Bat Mitzvah,

Give your child, and your family, the good LIFE!

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LJ9

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