a a
it
'
S
a
A
S
A
- A ' A
– 4-3
ar
if 1
Or
Letters
3 1.,Ta
2'•
Your Home. Your Office. Your Health.
Cleaner, Healthier Home
We are dedicated to making every home a
cleaner and healthier place to be. As the nation's
premier air duct cleaning company, we are trusted
by hospitals, schools, and homes like yours all
across America.
Breathe easier knowing you and yours are
protected by the best.
me. Your
David Rott
General Manager
734-973-7777
ilk
ti
S
n OFF
5
Air Duct
Cleaning Special
With whole house cleaning
of air duct system.
Not valid with any other offer. Restrictions may apply.
Residential only. Must present coupon at time of cleaning.
Expires 12/31/2010
Try a FREE
Dryer Vent Cleaning!
With whole house duct
cleaning, a $149 value!
i
Not valid with any other offer. No cash value for coupon.
Restricbons may app-`.y. Residential only. Must present
coupon at time of cleaning.
Expires 12/31/2010
734.973.7777 I www.ductz.com
Bring your rugs to us and we'll clean every other one FREE
4 Rooms $99.99
2 Rooms $59.99
Sofa or 2 Chairs $59.99
24 Hour Water and Fire Damage Response
AGOPIAN
CLEANING SERVICES
How to Send Letters
We prefer letters relating to JN articles. We reserve the right to edit or reject letters. Letters of
225 words or less are considered first. Longer ones will be subject to trimming. Letter writers
are limited in frequency of publication. Letters must be original and contain the name, address
and title of the writer and a day phone number. Non-electronic copies must be hand signed.
Send letters to the JN: 29200 Northwestern Highway, Suite 110, Southfield, MI 48034; fax (248)
304-8885; e-mail, letters@the jewishnews.com . We prefer e-mail.
A Bavarian Welcome
Your Opinion article, "A Bavarian
Welcome" by Dr. Susan Adelman (June
17, page 30), struck a chord with us. We
have been taking annual hiking trips to
Switzerland and Austria for more than
30 years. In Vienna, we visit graves of our
grandparents and righteous Christian
friends who were so good to us when we
lived there for a year under the Nazis.
We have driven through all parts of
Austria, seeking out Jewish sites. In all
major cities, we have personally visited
synagogues and well-maintained cem-
eteries rebuilt by the federal and local
governments after their destruction
during Kristallnacht, even if there was
only a handful of Jews living there.
In Vienna, where most of the
remaining 10,000 or so Austrian Jews
live, there are synagogues and kosher
restaurants, a Kosherland House of
Jewish Foods, a Theodor Herzl-Platz
dedicated in 2004 in an elegant area, a
Leonard Bernstein-Strasse, a Tel Aviv
Beach night club with sand imported
from Israel in celebration of that city's
100-year anniversary, monuments
commemorating the horrors of the
Nazi period and a huge, well-main-
tained Jewish cemetery.
One sees Orthodox Jews in the
streets. And the Israeli Philharmonic is
frequently performing in Vienna and
in Salzburg.
The exhibit on Jewish alpine life
mentioned in Dr. Adelman's article
originated at the Jewish Museum in
Hohenems, Austria, where we saw it
last summer. There is, of course, the
Mauthausen Concentration Camp
(near Linz), a gruesome yet hopeful
landmark with its museum, extensive
audiovisual program and huge monu-
ments dedicated by the nations that
Hitler tried to destroy. The most prom-
inent is the one erected by Israel.
Though it is impossible and improp-
er to erase the black mark in Austria's
history, it is encouraging to see a flick-
ering of Jewish revival and attempts by
the authorities to maintain monuments
as reminders of the terrible sins com-
mitted by Hitler and the Nazis.
We, as well as several other Jews
we meet on our trips, have not expe-
rienced any acts of anti-Semitism or
feeling of being unwelcome.
Doris and Eric Billes
West Bloomfield
Rug Care Centers
Oak Park Birmingham Novi Utica Ann Arbor
6
July 8 • 2010
iN
Jews Missed Out
It's too bad that the Jewish community
chose not to participate in the U.S.
Social Forum held in Detroit ("Zionist
Support Targeted," July 1, page 16).
The thousands of young people
(younger than 35) who did participate
were eager to learn. We missed the
opportunity to be in touch with activ-
ists from all over the country. We could
have heard a different version than the
anti-Israelite's "damn Zionist/Israel for
all the woes in the Middle East"
We would learn that many of us are
critical of many of the Israel govern-
ment's activities. We would not need to
apologize or justify Israel's actions. For
example: We could relate the numerous
on-the-ground peace efforts going on in
Israel. We would not even have to men-
tion the lack of comparable activity in
any other Middle Eastern country.
I am a lifelong supporter of Israel
and I have a couple dozen relatives liv-
ing there. Yet I have a long list of griev-
ances against the Israeli government.
I was born in Michigan and I have
a lot of complaints of state policies.
Justified criticism is always in order.
As long as our community feels
that local health care, poverty, home
foreclosures, hunger, etc., are issues for
other folks, we will become more and
more isolated. Our moneyed support
of elected officials may not be enough
for our own wellbeing.
Selma Goode
Redford
Power Of Flowers
I am a student in the Advance
Placement Environmental Science
class provided through Berkley High
School.
A healthy environment has always
been of huge importance to me so I
was so excited when I saw volunteers
planting flowers at Temple Emanu-
El in Oak Park. Flowers are not only
beautiful decorations, but they also are
very important contributors to many
ecosystems. Flowers help put nutrients
back into the soil.
Also, through photosynthesis, flowers
take in carbon dioxide and convert it
into oxygen, which they put back into
the air. This is an extremely important
cycle of nature that we can easily help
promote just by planting flowers and
trees in our local communities.
I think planting flowers around
Temple Emanu-EI was a great idea; it
made me smile to see so many volun-
teers taking their time to help the envi-
ronment and their community. In fact, I
plan to be one of those volunteer flower
planters next spring at Temple Emanu-
EI; and you are welcome to join us in this
act of tikkun olam [repair of the world].
Emily Wedes
Huntington Woods