-
JEWISH
RENAISSANCE

Front Lines

DIGEST

Boys Town Jerusalem's Resonance

Robert Sklar

Editor

H

e tries to do the best he can for
Israel and Jewish causes.
To that end, David Kahan
of Troy wants to spotlight and solicit
support for the good that Boys Town
Jerusalem does in elevating Israel's next
generation of leaders in the fields of
technology, commerce, education, public
service and the military.
The program takes students from lim-
ited backgrounds and gives them the abil-
ity to achieve in today's highly developed
and competitive world. It combines a high-
quality education with a love of Israel.
More than 800 boys ages 12-20 study
and live on campus. Their families
come from 45 countries and six con-
tinents; they live in 140 communities
across Israel. Over the past 61 years,
the 6,000 graduates have been exposed
to academics, technology and Torah.
The Comprehensive Interdisciplinary
Technology Program is highly acclaimed.
Boys Town Jerusalem is situated on
an 18-acre campus in the Bait Vegan
neighborhood. Brooklyn-born Rabbi
Alexander Linchner opened it in 1948 to
provide a haven for child survivors of the
Holocaust and for kids of the masses of
destitute post-war Jews who poured into
the new Jewish state.
Kahan visited BTJ on a recent
American Israel Public Affairs Committee
trip to Israel. He was duly impressed.
"It was a very meaningful experience':
he told the IN. "They are doing a tremen-
dous job helping young boys from many
countries and particularly many Israeli
young boys from broken homes."
More than 75 percent of the students

come from underprivi-
leged families. Many
arrive for junior high
and stay through pre-
army technological
programs. Recent arriv-
als are from France and
the former Soviet Union
who moved to Israel
without their parents.
Ethiopian students con-
tinue to flourish.
In partnership with
the Israeli Defense
Tenth- and 11th-graders prepare for their upcoming
Forces and business-
matriculation exams at Boys Town Jerusalem.
men working to improve
their proficiency, a
all 40 Boys Town students, especially dur-
handpicked group of 40 Boys Towns
ing their summer vacation, is unprece-
Jerusalem 10th-graders have spent part
dented in the Michael program's history."
of their summer in the "Michael" course
A real estate investor who knows
for self-development. BTJ won Israeli
Michigan's economic plunge all too well,
Ministry of Education funding over 30
Kahan still hopes to inspire local interest
other Israeli schools to make this expen-
sive program available to needy students. in the little-known Israeli program that
generates big results.
"We've learned new, useful skills
"Detroit is one of the most generous
like memory tricks, speed reading and
Jewish communities in the country,"
time management," said BTJ's Eichanan
he said. "I can hardly believe, nor can I
Mordechai, 16. Classmate Yechiel Tzur
added, "The course gave us a taste of new understand, why no one from here is sup-
porting Boys Town Jerusalem.
worlds to explore music, art, psychology
"I believe that there must be people in
and more."
our community who will lend support if
For the first time since Michael was
instituted in 1993, all 40 participants com- we can reach them." Cl
pleted the intensive, demanding course.
"Generally, the average of those com-
For more information about
pleting the course is 25-30, which is quite
Boys Town Jerusalem, visit www.
legitimate considering our rigid require-
. Call David
boystownjerusalem.org
ments, including punctual arrival, full
Kahan about donation opportunities
attention, self-discipline, tidiness and
at his Troy office: (248) 362-4666.
daily personal and group missions," said
BTJ's New York phone number is:
Kahan, honorary chair of the Michigan
(800) 469-2697.
Friends of Boys Town Jerusalem. "The
level of motivation and participation of

Young Adult Road Show
Patterned after similar hip events for transplanted
young Detroiters in Los Angeles and New York last year,
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit will hit
the road again with "Young Detroit in Chicago."
The social event for Jewish Detroit young adults who
now live in Chicago will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday,
Sept. 10, at LaSalle Power Company, 500 N. LaSalle
Blvd., Chicago. More than 250 transplanted Detroiters
gathered in L.A; 300 mingled in midtown Manhattan.
The Chicago event has the potential to be the biggest.
Federation is seeking e-mail addresses of
Detroiters, age 21-40, who live in Chicago. Send e-
mail information to davis@jfmd.org.
— Robert Sklar, editor

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