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December 12, 2013 - Image 5

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 2013-12-12

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

frontlines >> letters

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Bar Mitzvah Reflected
Values Taught At Akiva
We read with pride the beautiful front
page news article about the Wrotslaysky
family's celebration of completing a
Torah scroll in honor of Yehudah's bar
mitzvah ("Beyond Thanksgiv-ukah,"
Nov. 28). The entire Akiva Hebrew Day
School community appreciated the
Jewish News devoting a special space to
highlight this wonderful event.
We feel very close with the
Wrotslaysky family as all of Yehudah's
siblings attended Yeshivat Akiva. Their
commitment even extends to their
grandchildren who currently also attend
Akiva.
The Wrotslaysky family, like so many
of our Akiva families, chose to mark
Yehuda's bar mitzvah with a true rep-
resentation of the Torah values and
mitzvot that Yeshivat Akiva instills in
our students. The dedication of a new
Torah for Young Israel of Southfield was
such a meaningful way for his family
to share the joy of his becoming a bar
mitzvah with the rest of the community,
and aligned beautifully with the concept
of the rededication of the Jewish people
at Chanukah time.
This new Torah will serve as a gift for
generations to come. The entire Yeshivat
Akiva family wishes a mazel tov to
the Wrotslaysky family on their fam-
ily's smachot and wish them continued
nachas in the future!

Dan Mendelson, president
Rabbi Tzvi Kluqerman, head of school
Yeshivat Akiva
Southfield

Campus Anti-Israel Lecture
Rife With Misinformation
On Nov. 25, Ed Kohl, Eugene Greenstein
and I attended a lecture at University of
Michigan-Dearborn. More than 100 peo-
ple attended "Justice Too Long Delayed:'
put on by the Arab Student Union.
The speakers were Josh Ruebner, who
is Jewish; Ben White, a Brit; and Susan
Abulhawa, a Palestinian Arab American.
The speakers reflected an anti-Israel
viewpoint, spinning sensationalist mis-
information about Israel being an
"apartheid state Ms. Abulhawa made
ridiculous statements that "the Israeli
government sterilizes Ethiopian babies"
(in reality, some immigrating Ethiopian
women received birth control to ease
their transition process; birth control is
hardly sterilization), "Israel denies Gaza
electricity" (Israel supplies 90 percent of
Gaza's electricity) and "the Israeli flag's
two stripes represent the claim for land
"from the Jordan River to the Sea" (in
actuality, the two stripes emulate the
tallit prayer shawl).

Mutual recognition of Jewish/
Palestinian claims to the land, which
would have given the lecture some bal-
ance, was never discussed. Terrorism
against Israeli civilians was never
acknowledged.
Interestingly, the speakers admitted
not knowing how to deal with the rising
number of Christian Zionists who sup-
port the right of Jews to have a Jewish
sovereign country. Instead, they appeal
to perceived disenfranchised groups,
such as Native Americans and African
Americans. They use boycott of Israeli
products as their action of dissent.
Having just returned from Israel, I
personally saw Israeli teenagers walk-
ing the streets of Haifa and Jerusalem,
arm-in-arm, black and white together. I
saw Arab Israeli families picnicking on
the shores and swimming in the Sea of
Galilee alongside Israeli families. I saw
no "apartheid" on the streets of Israel.
Positive news about Israel is sup-
pressed in our mainstream media.
And the unknowing attendees who
heard sensationalist falsehoods at
UM-Dearborn are unlikely to have other
information to draw upon. Our Jewish
News can be a beacon to expose the lies,
but only when these propagandist orga-
nizations are taken seriously.
The public should be aware of what is
happening on our local college campus-
es. We need to support our pro-Israel
students and organizations such as
ZOA, StandWithUs and CAMERA.

Ruth Katsnelson
West Bloomfield

Jews For Judaism Handbook
Answers Tom Cantor
Regarding Tom Cantor's calls seeking to
convert Jews, the "Praying or Preying"
article (Dec. 5, page 1) gives grossly
negligent advice on responding to those
who choose to engage.
My best friend in college was an
Evangelical, and I chose to engage him.
Christianity never made sense to me
at face value, but I was troubled by
his proof texts and my ignorance in
responding as a secular Jew.
I set about reading the Bible the rabbi
gave me at my bar mitzvah and my
friend's New Testament. Then I read the
King James version after noticing some
differences, and finally, the Koran, just
to see if all holy books were as inspiring.
(Regarding the Koran, all it inspired in
me was revulsion so great that I couldn't
complete the last few short chapters.)
My theological debating skills
were still inadequate until I stumbled
across an ad for the organization Jews
for Judaism in the Jewish News. The
handbook posted on its website was

so impressive that I ordered their full
counter-missionary study course.
Their handbook was enough to dis-
credit the missionary pitch, but the full
course was like watching that show that
exposes the tricks used by magicians —
once you know how the trick works, you
can never again believe it's magic.
Christian missionaries have had
2,000 years to perfect their sales pitch,
and they provide exhaustive training to
the people they send out. As with the
sleight-of-hand tricks of magicians, a
novice cannot see past it. Even scien-
tists are fooled because they don't know
where to look.
I strongly urge your readers to visit
the JewsForJudaism.org website and
read its Counter Missionary Handbook
before engaging any missionary. Armed
with these facts, no Jew should be vul-
nerable to a missionary's pitch.

Lisa Moreno celebrating
Hanukkah

The annual

Independent

Living Services

Hanukkah Party

at Congregation

Beth Shalom is

always an event

to remember.

Generously

Dennis L Green
Farmington Hills

Are They 'Messianic Jews'
Or Crypto-Christians?
Thanks for your article on recent
Christian efforts to proselytize Jews in
Metro Detroit. I'm all too familiar with
this movement from my time on the
West Coast, where it's larger and better
organized.
Instead of accepting their own term
("messianic Jews"), I prefer to call them
what they really are: crypto-Christians.
The local groups sound obvious about
their Christianness, but some go so far
as to keep kosher, adopt Hebrew names,
wear tzitzit, etc.
But tacking Jewish practices onto
Christian (fundamentalist) theol-
ogy doesn't make one a Jew. Crypto-
Christians don't study rabbinic thinking,
don't care about Jewish history (outside
of Tanach, Israel since 1948 and the
Holocaust), and most of them weren't
even born Jewish.
While the crypto-Christian move-
ment is a tiny slice of Evangelicalism,
it's widely respected in those circles and
confuses people as to what Judaism is.
Some 34 percent of respondents in the
Pew "Portrait of Jewish Americans"
survey said a person can be Jewish and
believe in Jesus as their messiah.
It's easy to scoff at this, but con-
sider: If 6 percent of the 70 million
Evangelicals in the USA came to iden-
tify themselves as "messianic Jews:' they
would equal the number of religious
Jews in the country. While appreciating
the support that many Evangelicals give
to Israel, it's worth keeping in mind that
they also support crypto-Christians.

underwritten

and hosted by



V

Anita and Ron

Taylor and their

children Stacey

and Marc

Wittenberg,

the party

includes music

and dancing

compliments

of Joe Cornell

Entertainment,

candle lighting,

latkes and gifts.

It is truly a

festive and

meaningful

celebration.



jarc

Support JARC Today!

Make your gift
at jarc.org
or 248.538.6611

Aric Haley
Dearborn

iN

December 12 • 2013

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