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Mandela Birthday
And 'Mitzvah Day'
It was enlightening to read Dr. David
Nathanson's recollections of Nelson
Mandela's years as a young black attor-
ney in Johannesburg ("A Man For All
Families" Dec. 12, page 29).
While history shows that the South
African Jewish community lived on
the edge during the Apartheid era, it
embraced Mandela upon his release and
rolled up its collective sleeves to work
in creating "the New South Africa" these
past 23 years.
I was pleased to visit South Africa in
July and be present for Mandela's 95th
birthday celebration and the nationwide
Nelson Mandela Day of volunteering.
It reminded me of the Detroit Jewish
Community Relations Council and Jewish
Federation's own Mitzvah Day of volun-
teering that takes place here each Dec. 25.
Allan Gale
West Bloomfield
Opening A Wider
Path To Judaism
I read with great interest and understand-
ing Rabbi Kerry Olitzky and Professor
Steven Cohen's idea of "Jewish Cultural
Affirmation" ("Another Path To Join The
Jewish People Dec. 12, page 36).
It recognizes a significant social reality
in today's world where nearly 50 percent
of Jews are choosing partners from other
than Jewish backgrounds. It responds to a
deep desire for a connection to the Jewish
people without requiring the abandon-
ment of other family attachments. It
acknowledges that being Jewish has mul-
tiple dimensions — cultural, ethnic and
familial as well as religious.
Secular Humanistic Judaism has
embraced and shared that understand-
ing for many decades. In 1980, the
Association of Humanistic Rabbis for-
malized their commitment to "a new
approach to Jewish conversion"
The statement affirmed in part "that
Jewish identity is primarily a cultural
and ethnic identity, that belief systems
High School Teens Sought
To Be ZOA Israel Fellows
ZOAs Teens 4 Israel is now accepting
applications for the 2014 Michigan Israel
Fellowship Program.
Stellar candidates will be chosen to
plan Israel-themed events for other
teens, serve on the exclusive Teens 4
Israel board and receive $500 toward
their education.
Students from any Michigan high
school are eligible to apply.
For more information or to request an
are too diverse among Jews to serve as
criteria for membership, that joining
the Jewish community is a process of
cultural identification, and that Jewish
survival requires creative alternatives to
traditional procedures:'
Neither Olitzky, Cohen nor the
Association of Humanistic Rabbis is
suggesting that affirming cultural mem-
bership in the Jewish people replace
religious conversion. We are suggesting
that we open the gates a little wider so
that all those who seek to be connected
to Jewish life can find the path to do so.
Rabbi Miriam Jerris
Society for Humanistic Judaism
Farmington Hills
U-M's Unfair Response
To Mock Eviction Notices
After getting an email from University
of Michigan Hillel, as contributors to
Hillel, relating to the incident of eviction
notices being given to a large number of
dormitory residents by a pro-Palestinian
student group, we were saddened by
the occurrence of this insidious BDS
[Boycott, Divestiment and Sanctions]
tactic. But we are also pretty incensed
that our university reacted unfairly (See
`Anti-Israel Propaganda" on page 13 of
this week's IN).
The response of the university adopt-
ed the Palestinian narrative about home
demolitions, decrying the tactic but
sending a message which was unfair to
Israel and to the Israeli court system.
U-M proudly advertises in Moment
magazine that it is one of only two
schools listed in the Fiske Guide to
Colleges as having a large Jewish student
body, and we are also proud of it.
At the same time, perhaps because the
lie has been told enough that it is com-
monly accepted, the response seemed to
us an attempt to balance the actions of
the perpetrators by providing a reason
for these actions, while deploring the
incident itself.
Larry and Gladys Rockind
Miami Beach/West Bloomfield
application, contact Kobi Erez, executive
director, at (248) 661-6000 or kobi@
mizoa.org.
Teens Can Apply For
Bronfman Fellowships
Every year, Bronfman Fellowships select
outstanding teenagers (26 from North
America and 20 from Israel) for a rigor-
ous academic year of seminars, includ-
ing a free, five-week trip to Israel for
North American students between the
junior and senior years of high school.
Yiddish Limerick
Ask Attorney
Ken Gross
about...
Your
Legal Issues
Snow In Israel!
In Israel, it's tsu fil shnay*
It's zayer kalt, ** at home they stay.
Mi can nisht forn,*** can nisht
gain.****
But all is vise un zayer shath.*****
Far oondz,****** it's just a
vinter******* day.
* tsu fil-shnay — too much snow
** zayer kalt — very cold
*** Mi can nisht forn — you can
not travel
**** can nisht fain — cannot walk
***** vise un zayer shath — white
and very beautiful.
****** Far oondz — for us
******* vinter — winter
— Rachel Kapen
Milk, Honey ... And Snow
Jerusalem and other parts of Israel
in high elevations were hit by a
massive snowstorm on Dec. 12 that
continued through last weekend,
blanketing holy sites in white and
causing school and road closings as
well as major power outages.
In Tel Aviv and the Negev, rain
caused flash flooding. In the above
photo from the Timesoflsrael.com ,
some Orthodox men revel in the
snow outside the walls of the Old
City.
The program educates and inspires
exceptional young Jews from diverse
backgrounds to grow into leaders
grounded in their Jewish identity and
committed to social change. The pro-
gram is funded by Edgar M. Bronfman.
Applications are available at www.
bronfman.org and are due by Jan. 6.
Students who self-identify as Jewish and
who will be in the 12th grade in the fall
of 2014 are eligible. Prior Jewish educa-
tion is not required, and fellows are cho-
sen on the basis of merit alone.
n
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December 19 • 2013
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