jewis ado www.theJEWISHNEWS.com Environmental Concern from page JE 1 COMMENTARY help people help the environment." The partners have been active this winter when energy bills typically rise. Both par- ticipated in Weatherization Day in Lansing and installed energy-efficient light bulbs, caulked windows and applied weather stripping to five low-income family homes there. In November, they sponsored and donated two energy audits to the Hillels of Michigan Online Auction. This month, they conducted their first paid audit. With President Barack Obama and Michigan making energy efficiency a priority, the state is ripe for the green movement, Duke said. Michigan also approved homeowner tax credits for energy-efficiency improvements, an alternative energy personal property tax exemption and various other incentives to promote going green. And with a large base of unemployed yet educated and experienced workers and even more on the way as college graduates grow the glut, Go Green Energy Consulting sees tre- mendous potential for a statewide operation. "I'm looking for a job in the worst economy since my grandma was in her teens," said Smith, who grew up with Duke in West Bloomfield; both graduated from Birmingham Groves High School. "If you look at it that way, Adam and I have a really positive outlook. You can look at there not being jobs and say, 'Boo-hoo, everyone is out of work,' or you can say, 'Oh great, look at all these really qualified people available to work.'" Duke and Smith said much of the green movement's problems are attributed to decision- makers locked into an older way of thinking. While some people might have more busi- ness experience, often the smaller start-up firm is responsible for significant innovations. But business experience isn't everything, either. Duke has attended alternative energy conferences for four years and usually is the youngest person in the room, but he has put in just as many years in the alternative energy business as the next CEO. And in the end, it's Go Green Energy Consulting's combination of youth and experience that will bring the green movement — and jobs — to Michigan. "We have grown up and been handed a world, and the outlook doesn't look so good anymore," Duke said. "As young people, we have a duty to tell the people who gave us this world that we don't want it to be that way anymore and that the environmental cause is something we're going to have to deal with over the next 50 years. "I love working with my best friend; and we're just trying to help people in Michigan take advantage of this because it's going to happen no matter what." @ by Shelley Rosenberg Zack Colman of Bloomfield Township is a senior at Michigan State University in East Lansing. To contact Go Green Energy Consulting, visit GoGreenEC.net . Jerusalem Shelley Rosen:De:cc; in Israe.1 lasT. year. The Great Divide Exploring life on the other side of Israel's security barrier. S WRITING WORKSHOP Competition for college is fierce, Good grades and test scores are not enough . Wow them with your college essay! Juniors: Get a leg up on the admissions process with our spring workshops. Moms, Dads & Students: Join us for a free information session to discuss college essay myths and facts, and how to stand out from the crowd. Coming to Berkley, Birmingham, West Bloomfield, Bloomfield Hills, Huntington Woods and Farmington Hills. Find out more at wowwritingworkshop.com . .t-tontact Kim Lifton or Susan Knoppow info@wowwritingworkshop.com 248-895-4935 2 February 11 • 2010 jewish@edu • al tudying at the Hebrew University atop Mount Scopus last semester, my love of Zion was bolstered each morning when I awoke to the Jerusalem skyline. While brushing my teeth, I could catch a glimpse of the Temple Mount and the Kotel. Naturally, the Jerusalem hills took a toll on my daily run. One day, a friend and I lengthened our run. About 20 minutes from my apartment, we suddenly found ourselves running along the security barrier that separates Israel proper from the West Bank. Later, I could not stop thinking about the nearby security fence. What lay on the other side? Finally, I decided to visit the West Bank to better understand the divisiveness prevailing in Israel today. I visited Bethlehem as part of an established program through the organization Encounter and stayed overnight with a local Palestinian family. Although initially apprehensive, my fears quickly were allayed by common ground. My host-father, Salah, and I discovered our favorite movie was Slumdog Millionaire. He then told me he had never been to a movie the- ater and sat entranced as I described my typical cinematic experience. Only a 15-minute drive from my modem Israeli lifestyle, the juxtaposition of his dire liv- ing conditions was striking. In the West Bank, people lack many simple comforts of life and basic infrastructure such as an adequate sewage system. At first I thought our incompatible lives would leave us nothing to talk about, but after Salah and I cast aside our differences, we candidly discussed politics, religion and culture for several hours, nurturing an understanding of two varied life experiences. It is not fair that Israeli parents fear for their children's lives when loading them onto the school bus each morning. It is not right that the Jewish people still struggle to gain political acceptance from the world. But it also is not fair that Salah, an honest, hard-working man, just wants to provide his children with a better life, and he can't. Salah has never left the West Bank. If allowed out, he would not choose to bomb an Israeli cafe, but instead would move his family to a community like our own in Detroit and pursue the American Dream. His aspirations are similar to my very own great-grandparents and grandparents, who worked hard to provide me a better life than they had. Salah's life also is not fair. He was born on the wrong side of the security barrier. When working at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., two summers ago, I asked one of my bosses if he was pro-Palestine? His response forced me to probe deeper. He explained, confidently, "Of course. Being pro-Palestine is pro-Israel." While I am young, I am not naive. All I can offer you is what I have experienced and seen in my 21 years as a passionate Zionist. I have seen firsthand that face-to-face interaction has the power to transform conflict. As the Maharal, the famous 16th-century talmudic scholar, Kabbalist and philosopher, said, "For the love of inquiry and knowledge, it is advisable that one not reject what contra- dicts one's view." He added, "Therefore, it is not right to dismiss the words of one's oppo- nent, but to draw him close and look carefully into his words." @ Shelley Rosenberg is a senior at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. www.theJEWISHNEWS.com