oints of view

Moishe House from page 35

much-needed energy.
Communal support is essential for
the success of Moishe House, as new
houses open only with locally raised
dollars. Private donors, foundations
and Jewish federations have all pledged
support for Moishe House, and through
their generosity, have allowed the
Jewish young adult populations in their
areas to thrive.
Detroit is a prime example. Primary
support for the Moishe House comes
from the Norman and Esther Allan
Foundation, the A. Alfred Taubman
Foundation, the Jewish Women's
Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit
and the Mandell and Madeleine
Berman Foundation. Additional sup-
port is derived from the Four Friends
Foundation, Jane and Larry Sherman,
the Seligman Family Foundation,
Nancy and James Grosfeld, Gary
Torgow, and Eugene and Elaine Driker.
The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit and its CEO, Scott Kaufman,
play an active role as well. We are
grateful that our donors recognize the
impact Moishe Houses can have on
their communities.

Developing Leaders
Since opening in June, the Detroit
"Motor City" Moishe House, located in
Midtown, has hosted close to 30 events
and has touched more than 1,000 peo-
ple. The residents have become advo-
cates for Detroit and examples of how
to live a meaningful Jewish life within
the city limits.
Detroit's Moishe House has part-
nered with Federation, the Isaac Agree
Downtown Synagogue and Crain's
Detroit Business, among others. It has
hosted American Hasidic recording art-
ist Matisyahu and U.S. Sen. Carl Levin,
D-Mich. It also has hosted an average of
two Shabbat dinners per month, along
with other holiday and Jewish content
programming.
Residents — Allie, Ariella, Danniell,
Jordan, Josh and Justin — all serve as
shining examples of the amazing work
that can be done by young adults if
given the tools to build community.
The status quo is not working. With
Moishe House as a part of their engage-
ment approach, cities across the Midwest
have the ability to effectively, meaning-
fully and cost-efficiently engage their
Jewish young adult populations, mold-
ing future Jewish leaders and ensuring
their communities continue to go from
strength to strength. fl

Rabbi Dan Horwitz is the Chicago-based

Mid-Western regional director and organiza-

Commentary

The Consequences Of Palestinian Statehood

Jerusalem

t a time when a Palestinian
Arab sovereign state is so
widely discussed, consider
the consequences:
• Encirclement: Will a proposed
sovereign Palestine not swallow up
Jordan, most of whose population is
Palestinian and leave Israel with a
hostile state from the Iraqi border to
the Mediterranean Sea, with a cor-
ridor across the Negev between Gaza
to Hebron?
• Israeli Arabs: Will the Arabs of
Israel's Galilee and Triangle
regions not sue for "auton-
omy," and then demand the
fulfillment of U.N. Resolution
181, an Israeli withdrawal to
the 1947 lines (which would
entail the evacuation of
Jews from Nahariya, Acre,
Nazareth, Jaffa, Ashdod,
Ashkelon, Kiryat Gat and
Beer Sheva)?
• Terror: Will a new
Palestinian entity disband
terrorist organizations?
After all, Palestinian Authority leader
Mahmoud Abbas has so far refused
to dismantle or disband the Al Aksa
Martyrs Brigades of the Fatah, which
coordinates aerial attacks into Israel's
Western Negev region together with
the Hamas.
• Armament: Why should there be
any expectation that a sovereign
Palestine will uphold any commit-
ment for demilitarization, since the
Palestinian Authority has never

Greenberg's View

upheld any such commitment since
the 1990s Oslo Accords?
• Refugees: Based on the Saudi plan
as a basis for a Palestinian state, does
that not mean that Israel will have to
absorb descendents of refugees and
displace thousands of Israelis from
places like Haifa, Tfzat and Jaffa and
collective farms built on the ruins of
Arab neighborhoods or villages from
where Arabs fled in 1948?
• Air space: Will the Israel Air Force
be forbidden from flying over the
"West Bank" (Judea and Samaria),
just as it was banned from the
Lebanese skies?
• Alliances: Based on dip-
lomatic experience with
the Palestinian Authority,
will a Palestine not violate
every prohibition on sign-
ing military agreements
with countries hostile to
Israel, placing the Iranian
Revolutionary Guards on
Israel's borders?
• Water: Like the
Palestinian Authority
before it, will a sovereign
Palestine not carry out pirate drillings
and threaten the mountain aquifer
overlooking Israel's coastal plain?
• Jewish sovereignty: Will the momen-
tum of a Palestine not erase the right
of the Jews to the Land of Israel in
international consciousness?
• Loss of independence: Will Israel not
become a protectorate that is sub-
ject to the Quartet – the U.S., the
European Union, the United Nations
and Russia?

David Bedein is director of the Israel
Resource News Agency, Center for Near East
Policy Research, Beit Agron International

Press Center. He is the author of the book
"Where Has All the Flour Gone? Whims and

Wastes of U.N. Palestinian Arab Refugee
Policy."

Quotable

"We are actually
the last man
standing with our
relationship with
Israel."

— King Abdullah II in a Washington

Post interview about Jordan's peace

treaty with Israel and the fragileness of

Israel's similar pact with Egypt.

standing
guard

For Israel
And Our Jewish
Community

Most people have no idea that
some of the companies they do
business with or invest in also do
business with terrorists or those
who support terrorism, nuclear
proliferation or even genocide. A
decade after the 9-11 attacks, terror-
free investing is an innovative and
measurable way to fight back against
the enemies of democracies. For more
information, visit the following web
page: www.avijorisch.com/10390/
investing- terror-free.

- Prepared by Allan Gale, Jewish
Community Relations Council of
Metropolitan Detroit

tional chaplain for Moishe House. He can be

reached at Dan@Moishehouse.org . To learn

more, visit www.moishehouse.org .

36

November- 3 2011

© Nov. 3, 2011, Jewish Renaissance Media