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