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Bnei Akiva's Shlichim
Leave It Alive, Thriving
I was thrilled to read the wonder-
ful article written by Contributing
Writer Shelli Liebman Dorfman
about cousins Amots and Atai
Amiram, the shlichim (emissaries)
of the New York-based religious
Zionist group Bnei Akiva who are
completing a year of service in our
West Bloomfield community ("A New
Chapter," June 6, page 1).
It described the numerous ways
that these young men have enhanced
the community. My family was
privileged to host them on their first
Shabbat in town, and we immediate-
ly embraced and welcomed them as
part of our family. They have become
sons to us and are very comfortable
in our home on a regular basis.
After Avi Mendelson, Jamie Rashty
and my daughter Elizabeth Kirshner
organized the very first West
Bloomfield Shabbat SNIF (chapter
programming) approximately two
years ago, Bnei Akiva experienced
steady growth.
During this third year, however,
the creativity, perseverance, skill,
commitment and dedication of
Amots and Atai have significantly
expanded the organization's growth
and vitality with a large number and
wide range of activities, several of
which are led by the students them-
selves with the guidance and super-
vision of the shlichim.
Elizabeth, who has heard of the
accelerated trajectory while spend-
ing this year at Nishmat Seminary in
Jerusalem, is kvelling from afar and
is very impressed with the progress
made by Amots and Atai in one brief
year.
The entire community is sad to
say shalom [goodbye] to these young
men, but we are confident that they
will continue their good work in
Eretz Yisrael.

Debbie Devries
West Bloomfield

Entrepreneurial Spirit
Among Israel's Young
My granddaughter and her friend
in Even Yehuda, Israel, became
entrepreneurial: At 5 years old, they
picked oranges in their backyard,
put them into a container with ice,
brought it to the main village center
and squeezed fresh, cold orange juice
for 10 shekels.
The yearly village children's bazaar

allowed the kids to display in a booth
(rent for 20 shekels) their products.
Orr, 11, sold his paintings and Netta
her ceramics ... Aviv sold fruit ...
They made 110 shekels.
Orr also put his cartoons on shirts,
diaries, etc. which are sold through
Amazon, of all places. A farmer got
12 goats and is making delicious
cheese, yogurt and kefir. Some have
micro-breweries with delicious
beer. Many have zimmers, a room in
German, for Bed and Breakfast.
I stayed in one with a luxurious
room and a wonderful breakfast.
More, the owner becomes instantly
your friend, shows his wonderful
garden and introduces you to other
guests. His place is called Pinah
Ba'Lev, a corner in your heart, which
deserves the name. Small restaurants
in the country offer unique experi-
ence in food, service and scenery.
High tech is on the menu of every-
body. A startup in a garage, WAZE,
was sold for $1.3 billion to Google.
Israeli companies also invade the
U.S. One, Aroma, in New York and
Florida offers an Israeli food menu.
Israel is known to be an entrepre-
neurial country, but when you see
it firsthand, you cannot help but be
amazed.

Isaac Barr M.D.
Bloomfield Hills

Strong, Heroic Women
Deserve Our Gratitude
I would like to point out the deter-
mination and bravery of our "weaker
sex."
Through the years, I have seen
ladies stand up to aggressive and
destructive bullies with no regard for
their own safety. They stand right in
front of bullies to protect children,
women and even some men too
afraid to speak up or get involved.
These women are deserving of
our respect and gratitude for their
bravery and determination to protect
others even at the risk of their own
safety.
And as always, being a member
of the Jewish War Veterans of the
United States of America, we are
always looking for new recruits to
replace our dwindling brave World
War II veterans.

David George
Commander, JWV Post #510
Auburn Hills

Critic Of Islamism
Is Not Objective
Robert Sklar's essay "Islamism At
Heart Of Boston Bombs" (June 13,
page 35) appropriately begins by
condemning terrorists who wrong-
fully act in the name of Islam.
He then goes on to quote exten-
sively from the American Islamic
Forum for Democracy (AIFD) in
support of his essay's criticism of the
Obama administration's "continuing
to be slow in embracing the scope of
Islamist danger as an extension of a
dangerous ideology."
AIFD and its leader, Zudhi Jasser,
do not qualify as an objective observ-
er of the administration's policies or
as a voice of the moderate Islamic
community. The notion that AIFD
is a "player in tracking terror," as
alleged by Sklar, is about as accurate
as identifying The Pink Panther's
Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau as
a super sleuth.
Jasser is an avid supporter of Newt
Gingrich and a favored commenta-
tor on Fox News/Entertainment.
The Washington Post in February
2011 identified Jasser as an active
Republican — a supporter of both
the disastrous wars in Afghanistan
and Iraq.
In fairness to his readers and
instead of falsely hyping him as "a
player," Sklar should have made
Jasser's political leadership of AIFD
and history known. It is not help-
ful to our understanding of the
government's approach to terrorism
or Islam, to use as validation of the
essay's criticism of the president
the views of a biased organization
(AIFD) and also hide its right-wing
political agenda by identifying it only
by its milk-and-honey name.

Paul Rosen
Farmington Hills

Corrections
• The correct number to reach
the American Friends of Bar-Ilan
University about Detroit's medical
library project is (248) 540-8900.

• In "Celebrating History" (Around
Town, June 13, page 27), the larger
photo is of Burton and Sharon Cohen
and their family. Burton Cohen is the
brother of the Historical Society of
Michigan's Leonard N. Simon History
Award honoree, Irwin Cohen.

Letters on page 6

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June 20 • 2013

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