Your Passover Destination Metro Partnership 2000 THE JCC STEPHEN GOTTLIEB FJA students, Israeli visitors discuss contemporary Israeli dilemmas. We're happy to bring you a great selection of products for Passover. Look for these and many more Passover items throughout the store! L'Chaim! /11 a4C.. See our impressive selection of Kosher for Passover grocery items. Teens Band Together For Project Chessed 11111=st Israeli Ruthie Zamir listens intently to Frankel Jewish Academy seniors. Debra Darvick Special to the Jewish News Best prices and largest selection of Kosher wines for Passover from Israeli and boutique wineries. Increcole ouy $12.97 LIST PRICE $18.00 MIN Bartenura Moscato D'Asti 750mL, OU tvlevushal. Crisp and refreshing. semi sweet. with lingering pear. tangerine, nectar and melon flavors on the finish. Plum Market Bloomfield Maple & Lahser Plum Market West Bloomfield Orchard Lake & Maple Plum Market Ann Arbor Maple & Jackson Live Well, with Taste www.plummarket.com 12 March 25 • 2010 S tudents at Frankel Jewish Academy recently welcomed to their school 15 Israeli partici- pants in the Jewish Agency's Partnership 2000 program. The emissaries, who were in Michigan for a five-day visit as part of the Michigan Central Galilee Partnership, met with FJA seniors March 8 in advance of the students' three-week trip to Israel this May. FINs Chavaya-Senior Israel Experience enables FJA students to see firsthand the issues and challenges facing Israel today as well as engage on numerous levels with the country they have studied in class. After a general introduction, stu- dents and Partnership participants broke into three groups to discuss contemporary dilemmas that play out daily in Israeli society: the capture of Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit; entering the IDF; and from a U.S. perspective — making aliyah. Students were called on to debate the merits of exchanging 450 jailed Palestinian terrorists for the captured Shalit. In another session's discus- sion, students were exposed to the decisions faCing Israelis their age who serve in the IDF after high school graduation. A third group imagined the arguments — for and against — that might occur between parents and their young adult child who has decided to make aliyah. "I was moved to discover how these youths are involved in the Israel experi- ence said Ruthie Zamir of Shimshit, a new community in Israel's Jezreel Valley. "I feel we have a lot to learn from our partners in Detroit as far as educat- ing for Jewish identity is concerned. "In Israel, we take for granted that we're Jewish and our children grow up without a great deal of knowledge concerning their Judaism. I wish that in Israel, we had programs that enrich us and bring us closer to the Jewish religion!" Stephanie Hoffman, director of Jewish Student Life at FJA was instru- mental in bringing the Partnership 2000 participants to the West Bloomfield school. "It is important to give our students a taste of the deci- sions facing Israeli kids who are their own age she said. "They have been learning about various facets of Israeli life and these issues will be coming up during their trip. The discussion sessions with the Partnership 2000 participants gave our seniors a context for the conversa- tions they will be having with Israeli youth during our home stays and other programs!' FJA senior Corey Rosen, 17, of Farmington Hills participated in the IDF discussion group. "It gave me a lot of insight into what American parents feel when their child says that they want to go into the Israeli army and how they debate the pros and cons about this life- altering decision," he said. El Debra Darvick is a local author and works in communications at Frankel Jewish Academy. A uditions will be held from noon-2:30 p.m. Sunday, March 28, at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield for teen bands and solo acts who want to perform at the May 23 Banding Together event. To schedule an audition, send an e- mail to YFTI@temple-israel.org . Last year, more than a dozen musical acts performed, helping to raise more than $50,000. The event drew more than 800 people, and raised money for Jewish orphans. The second annual Banding Together will partner with the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit's Stephen Gottlieb Music Festival to raise funds to benefit Project Chessed, a Jewish Family Services pro- gram that assists the medically unin- sured of our community. Banding Together will be held at 7 p.m. Sunday, May 23, at the JCC in West Bloomfield. The Detroit Jewish News is the exclusive media partner of Banding Together 2010. St. John Providence Health System is an event sponsor. A kick-off event for volunteers and participating bands/artists will be held from 1-4 p.m. May 2 at the JCC's Wagner Teen Center. Teens interested in volunteering should come to the kick-off event or contact YFTI@temple- israel.org . Volunteers will be needed at the event for a variety of jobs. The Banding Together concert idea started with the rock band, Yom Sheini, which means Monday. The name evolved because the band practices at Monday Night School at Temple Israel. According to Rabbi Paul Yedwab, the band members came up with the idea for an event "where they could play music, which is their passion, and raise money!' FA