Holy Land Sojourn

Ethnic mosaic a major lure of Chaldean-Jewish trip to Israel.

Robert Sklar I Jewish News Contributing Editor

Alan Baum is Jewish and Sue

Loussia Hickey is Chaldean — and

it was the inter-ethnic aspect

of the 2013 Chaldean/Jewish

Mission to Israel that first caught

their attention. Both are West

Bloomfield residents.

"My wife, Diane, and I have wanted to go
to Israel for a long time Baum said, "and
this trip offered a unique opportunity with
its multicultural twist"
Hickey, who is Catholic, will travel with
her cousin Theresa Nagarah of Commerce.
"This is the perfect opportunity to see the
Holy Land through the eyes of both cul-
tures:' Hickey said.
The 10-day mission is scheduled for April
16-25. It was conceived under the shared
leadership of the Detroit Jewish News and
the Chaldean News, both Southfield-based
publications, and their Building Community
Initiative. The Jewish Community Relations
Council of Metropolitan Detroit (JCRC) is
coordinating the specially tailored trip.
Metro Detroit is home to 67,000 Jews,
whose ancestral homeland is the Jewish

4

December 6 • 2012

state called Israel, and 121,000 Chaldeans,
ate how seeing Israel through the eyes of
who are Christians from Iraq. The two
people of another faith will be an especially
Semitic groups have dynamic
moving experience:'
Robert Cohen, Sue
and mostly parallel histories of
Loussia Hickey and
entrepreneurship, leadership
Travels Shaping Up
Alan
Baum meet at the The mission will offer lots to
and business acumen in Metro
Jewish Community
Detroit. The Jewish community
do and see that wouldn't be
Relations Council
preceded the Chaldean commu-
part of an all-Jewish or an
offices to review plans
nity here by a few generations.
all-Chaldean visit to the Holy
for the April 2013
Mission organizers hope to
Land. The itinerary is a work in
Israel mission.
have 45 participants, roughly
progress, with the expertise of
evenly divided between Jews and
an Israeli guide.
Chaldeans. By Thanksgiving,
Stops will include the
32 people had signed up: 21 Jews and 11
Christian and Jewish quarters in the Old
Chaldeans. Once the Jewish slots are filled,
City of Jerusalem, the historic Jordan River
a Jewish waiting list will begin. At least 11
Valley as well as Nazareth and other sig-
Chaldean slots potentially remain open.
nificant Christian sites. Participants will
"Everyone who has signed up or asked
visit Masada, the ancient mountaintop
for information is very enthusiastic about
fortress where rebel Jews valiantly fought
the trip:' said Robert Cohen, JCRC executive
off advancing Roman forces for three years
director. "They understand the uniqueness
before committing mass suicide as the
of a Chaldean-Jewish mission and appreci-
security wall was breached in 73 CE; the

Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth where
you can float on the surface as a result of
the high salt content; and Yad Vashem, the
Holocaust memorial. The modern city of Tel
Aviv and the adjacent old city of Jaffa will
reveal much about the rise and governance
of the State of Israel, founded in 1948 in the
aftermath of the Holocaust.
In a visit to the Central Galilee, the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit's partner
region, mission-goers will stay at a kibbutz
near Tiberias, one of Israel's four holy cities.

Ties That Bind
Baum is an automotive industry consultant
who performs market research and
forecasting through his company Baum and
Associates. He also is an adjunct professor
at Oakland Community College, where he
teaches American government.
Baum, who sings in the choir at Temple
Shir Shalom in West Bloomfield, has been

Our family values and morals, regardless of religion, are high in

both communities. We are, for the first time, recognizing how better

we can serve community together.

— Sue Loussia Hickey