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Israel teens bolster memorial message.

W

e came, upwards of 1,000 strong, to
Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington
Hills on July 2 to remember the three
Israeli teens slain by Hamas operatives in a brazen
West Bank kidnapping. One of the most dramatic
moments during the somber 45-minute service
("Sharing Israel's Loss:' July 10, page 18) came
when two Israeli teens serving as Tamarack Camps
junior counselors strode to the bimah to share their
feelings.
Both Danna Ezer, 17, of the Jezreel Valley
and Eitam Silverman, 16, of Nazareth Illit are
at Tamarack's Camp Maas in Ortonville for the
summer as part of Partnership2Gether (P2G), an
interactive cultural, business and educational alli-
ance between Michigan Jewry and Israel's Central
Galilee.
These two Central Galileans were close in age to
the slain Israeli yeshivah students: Naftali
Fraenkel, who had dual Israeli and U.S. citi-
zenship, and Gilad Shaar were both 16; Eyal
Yifrah was 19.

Ties That Bind

Amid the tense times — from the June 12
kidnapping, through the search, up to dis-
covery of the abductees' bodies — Ezer and
Silverman said they felt "a warm feeling of
connection to the American Jewish com-
munity."
Like Jews the world over, Ezer and
Silverman had prayed for a good outcome.
They yearned to be back in Israel, in the
comfort of their country, once news of the kidnap-
ping broke. But they understood their place was in
Oakland County, helping enrich and embolden the
lives of young Jews, including 74 Israeli kids, at one
of America's premier Jewish camps.

Dry Bones

OUR BOYS

WREN OUR CHILDREN ARE KILLED, WE
DON'T CELEBRATE THEIR MARTYRDOM

WE FIND JOY IN
REMEMBERING
THEIR LIVES

AND
SADNESS g
IN OUR
TRAGIC
LOSS.

5

Tamarack junior counselors Eitam Silverman and
Danna Ezer offer words of unity at Adat Shalom.

Ezer and Silverman learned through camp
friends and Israeli contacts that the bodies of the
three abducted students had been found June 30 in
a shallow grave in a West Bank field near Hebron.
"The hope about bringing our
boys back home safe and in one
piece was broken:' Ezer told Jews
of all levels of religious observance
who had gathered at Adat Shalom.
You sensed, unequivocally, she
was speaking on behalf of the global
Jewish community. Jews are a peo-
ple, not just inhabitants of commu-
nities loosely linked by historical,
cultural, ethnic and religious ties.
Ezer talked about memorial
prayers emanating from "one, big
Jewish community, Israelis and
Americans as one" — a borderless,
homogenous community in one respect, a vast,
diverse community in another. Political views didn't
overshadow our collective expressions of sympathy.
Building on that unifying theme, Silverman said:
"We send our big support to the families and to the
Jewish people:'
A simple expression ... yet a very special
thought.

Coming Together
Following the community-wide memorial ser-
vice, the two junior counselors told the JN how
uplifting it had been to arrive at Adat Shalom and
receive "a heartwarming welcome" from Jewish
Detroit. They experienced what they called "our
care and love
The teens, clearly touched by the grief that filled
the sanctuary, appreciated the emotions and the
energy of the event, facilitated by Federation, the
Jewish Community Relations Council and the
local chapters of the American Jewish Committee
and the Anti-Defamation League.
Said Ezer: "It brought us together — one com-
munity supporting the grieving families and send-
ing our deep condolences:'
Embedded, once more, that idea of oneness.
In the perfect closing, Silverman prayed: "May
God bring peace to Israel and the Middle East:'
As a community, we said "amen" — knowing
full well the weight of finding such peace remains
ever pressing, sobering and elusive.

❑

40

July 17 • 2014

nce more, our Orthodox community turned out
with gusto to support the larger Detroit Jewish
community through gifts to Federation's Annual
Campaign. The outpouring reinforced how we as a commu-
nity are made up of parts that ultimately fit together.
The perception may be the Orthodox community,
especially its day schools, only draws on the Campaign
via annual allocations. But the nearly 600 Campaign
gifts pledged during a June 18 gathering at the Oak
Park home of Malke and Gary Torgow underscore how
the Orthodox community gives back, not just receives;
the Campaign assists a multitude of sectors within the
Jewish world. Gary Torgow is president of Southfield-
based Yeshiva Beth Yehudah and vice president of the
Federation executive board.
The Orthodox community helps shape the way forward
in other ways, too. For example, it provides a network of
Torah learning opportunities for Jews at various levels of
religious observance. It also hosts events that help bring
Jews of all stripes together, bound by heritage if not
beliefs.
Look around the crowds at the annual dinners of
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah, Yeshivat Akiva or Yeshivas
Darchei Torah. Many attendees are not Orthodox, dem-
onstrating the value Jews of other streams place on
Orthodox day school learning.
One of the themes at the Torgow-hosted gathering sur-
rounded gratitude and the role it plays in Jewish life. To
be grateful is to be humble and appreciative, not aloof
and demanding. Keynoter Rabbi Berel Wein, a revered
rebbe visiting from Jerusalem, gave Torah context to
that theme, making it all the more compelling.
Importantly, the evening was one that recognized
we ultimately are one Jewish community with many
interlinking strands.

❑

Barbaric To The Core

A

s if the Palestinian Arab terrorist organizations
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades, and the Lebanon-based Islamist
Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah, weren't enough to fear,
Israel must confront a savage new enemy: Islamic State,
or by its acronym, IS (formerly known as ISIS).
IS has roots in Al Qaida. But it's now on its own and in
control of swaths of Iraq and Syria. It's making inroads
into the Gaza Strip, home of Hamas, which is battling
Israel in a war it cannot win, but one through which it
can nurture international standing thanks to a well-
honed propaganda machine.
Via Twitter on July 3, IS vowed that genocide was in
store for the Jews, Steve Emerson's Washington-based
Investigative Project on Terrorism reported.
The Twitter post declared such a mass slaughter by
Islamic believers – dubbed "the Real Zionist Holocaust"
– was predicted in the Hadiths, which are Islamic reli-
gious teachings of the Prophet Mohammad.
This anti-Semitic declaration no doubt was a useful
jihadi recruitment tool to fight the "evil" Jews and other
"infidels."
Jihadists have urged IS, which is challenging Hamas
for power in Gaza City, to open a front against already
embattled Israel, making the Sunni-friendly movement
of ruthless leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi a force to be
reckoned with, whatever its ultimate staying power.

❑