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Special Report

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Related stories from page 20

1 Million Pennies

Tu b'Shevat goal allows young Detroiters
to help restore the Carmel forest.

and encourage the penny collection.
Don Cohen
The pennies will be counted at
Special to the Jewish News
4:30 p.m. Jan. 23 at the JCC in West
Bloomfield. Free family activities,
ore than 5,000 young Detroit
including a Tu b'Shevat art project, a
Jews are part of the community
sing-a-long and recycling crafts, will
outreach to collect a million
be held. Children will be given parsley
pennies to help restore Israel's Carmel
to grow to put on their Passover seder
forest. The effort, spearheaded by the
plates. Following these activities, a
Jewish Community Center's
catered kosher dinner will
Shalom Street activity center,
be held. Cost is $30 for a
has already engaged more than
family of four ($5 for each
28 days schools, synagogue
additional child). To make
schools and youth groups in
reservations call (248) 432-
an effort that will culminate
5451 by Jan.16.
Sunday, Jan. 23, the week
The collection efforts
before Tu b'Shevat, known as
have already begun as
BBYO collected pennies
from the hundreds of teen
participating in its annual
Tina Abohasira
regional convention held
during the holiday break at
the end of December.
Steve Freedman, head of Hillel
Day School in Farmington Hills, says
he's looking forward to involving the
school's students and families.
"As a Zionist school, we want to help
alleviate this disaster in Israel and have
our children be actively involved in
the community," Freedman said. "Our
Student Congress meets every Friday
and discusses uses for our tzedekah
money. We'll have a study component
for Tu b'Shevat to discuss why this was
such a devastation to Israel; and when
the New Year of the Trees.
our eighth-graders go to Israel after
"We're really, really excited about the
Pesach, I'm sure they will visit the area
project," said Tina Abohasira, Shalom
and see the damage."
Street's Jewish family educator. "The
At press time, participants in
reaction has been overwhelming."
the penny project include Adat
Shalom Street Director Tal Siegmann
Shalom Synagogue, Aish HaTorah,
said they wanted to do "something
Akiva Hebrew Day School, ATID,
big because of the fire." His boss, JCC
Birmingham Temple, Congregation
Executive Director Mark Lit, suggested
Beth Ahm, Congregation Beth Shalom,
collecting 1 million pennies, or $10,000,
Congregation B'nai Israel, Congregation
by working with community groups.
B'nai Moshe, BBYO, Congregation
While the effort focuses on having
Shaarey Zedek, Frankel Jewish
kids donate, everyone is welcome to
Academy, Hillel Day School, Jewish
contribute pennies to the effort.
Parents Institute (JPI), JCC-Child
The funds will be contributed to the
Development Center, JCC-Oak Park,
Jewish National Fund (JNF), which is
Congregation Shir Tikvah, Temple Beth
providing its legendary "Blue Boxes,"
El, Temple Emanu-El, Temple Israel,
magnets and other materials to kids
Temple Kol Ami, Temple Shir Shalom,
to educate them about the importance
The Shul, Yeshiva Beth Yehudah (boys),
of giving to build the land of Israel.
Yeshivah Beth Yehudah (girls), Yeshivas
Volunteers dressed as Blue Box Bob,
Darchei Torah (boys), Yeshivas Darchei
JNF's mascot, will visit schools during
Torah (girls) and Yeshivat Gedolah.
the next few weeks to distribute boxes

M

22 January 6 s 2011

Mourning The Loss,
Restoring The Forests

Jewish community leaders Hannan and Lisa Lis and their daughter
Ariella sent this dispatch Dec. 27 from Haifa, Israel. Hannan writes:

his past weekend, we drove through the devastated Carmel
National Forest. We left our home on the top of the Carmel
Mountain in the coastal city of Haifa and drove the short dis-
tance to the outskirts of town along the Carmel ridge.
This forest was my favorite Shabbat hiking spot since I was a
young boy growing up in Haifa. The narrow British-built road snak-
ing through the thick brush leading to the overlook we fondly
called Little Switzerland was an early part of my life. As we initially
approached, things appeared normal. Yet as we climbed higher, we
realized that the entire valley below us was now filled with blackened
trees with no leaves or any ground-level vegetation.
The long and slim
trunks formed a
strange sight yet
the surrounding hills
managed to retain
many areas that
were still green and
lush.
We later drove
down from the
Damon Prison com-
pound along the road
leading to kibbutz
Beit Oren and the
coastal town of Atlit.
We drove through

I

The roadside memorial to the pris-

on guards and firefighters

who died in the fire

a huge traffic jam due to the thou-
sands of Israelis driving through to
view the devastation firsthand.
Police were directing traffic as
we drove past the kibbutz's main
entrance. We looked up and noticed
Lisa, Ariella and Hannan Lis
the homes overlooking the road and
the beautiful mountain were situated
at the heart of a totally burned-out forest. Rows of tree stumps stood
between the road and the abandoned and burned-out homes. This
part of the kibbutz suffered the most extensive damage.
As the road snaked downwards, we encountered a very slow line
of cars driving past the newly constructed memorial for the prison
guards and firefighters killed along the road. Israeli flags as well as
the flags of the fire brigade surrounded the memorial. We stopped to
pay our respects and continued slowly down the road with both sides
of the road blackened by the fire.
As we drove along, it became clear to us how the bus carrying the
prison guards was trapped between the burning hill on one side and
the steep drop on the other. There was no place to turn; no option for
escaping the inferno.
Yet almost every Israeli is convinced that nature will repair itself
and that the beautiful Carmel National Forest will once again return
to its old glory. The memories of the fire still linger, but the work of
restoring the forests has already begun. Li