oints of view
Guest Column
Guest Column
Maccabi Pride
Full Honors
he Jewish Community Center
of Metropolitan Detroit hosted
the 2014 JCC Maccabi Games
& Artsfest from Aug. 17-22. More than
1,000 Jewish teenagers from all over
the U.S. as well as teens from Venezuela
and Mexico, Canada and Israel partici-
pated in sports from inline hockey to
baseball, basketball to table
tennis, volleyball to soccer, and
many other sports as well as
the arts — from culinary arts
to music and dance to the fine
arts and vocal arts.
More than 1,000 Jewish
teenagers competed at ven-
ues from Downtown Detroit
to Birmingham and West
Bloomfield, Farmington Hills,
Oak Park and Southfield.
Every athlete and artist also
participated in JCC Cares,
activities that teach kids to give back
to the community, including organiz-
ing a library at the Northwest Detroit
Activity Center, wrapping gifts for those
less privileged and packaging thousands
of lunches for Kids Against Hunger,
among others.
More than 1,000 Jewish teenagers
participating in a Jewish event — that
along with winning and losing — taught
Jewish values of kindness and rach-
mones (compassion).
The world is a difficult place — the
world has always been a difficult place.
This past week, I witnessed the good
and the promise of the world. In addi-
ollowing the surprise attack
on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7,
1941, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt declared, "This is a date
which will live in infamy." Although
this event took place 10
years before I was born,
the fact that I am writ-
ing of this day 73 years
later proves President
Roosevelt's point.
In my lifetime, there
have been three days that
live in infamy: Nov. 22,
1963, the day President
John F. Kennedy was
assassinated; Jan. 28,
1986, the day the Space
Shuttle Challenger exploded killing
seven astronauts including teacher
Christa McAuliffe; and, finally, wak-
ing up on Sept. 11, 2001, and watch-
ing the Today Show report on a
terror attack as planes flew into
the Twin Towers of the World Trade
Center in New York.
On Sept. 11, 2014, on the 13th anni-
versary, 13 honorably discharged
veterans will be laid to rest with
full military honors at the Great
Lakes National Cemetery in Holly.
All branches of service will be rep-
resented – Army, Air Force, Marines,
Navy and Coast Guard. These heroes
will be buried on a day that is sym-
bolic of the horror of the day, but
also symbolic of the spirit of this
great country, where we will always
remember, but we will never forget!
The 13 burials will be the final act
of providing dignity and respect to
the almost 200 unclaimed bodies at
the Wayne County Morgue, some of
them unclaimed for more than three
years. Thanks to the generosity of
the local Jewish Fund, the volunteer
T
tion to the teenagers, I witnessed hun-
dreds of coaches and delegation heads
who volunteered their time to teach
and supervise these young adults. I
witnessed more than 1,000 volunteers
from Metropolitan Detroit, who did
everything from serve food to manage
transportation, to arrange for host fami-
lies, to act as eyes and ears
throughout the week.
In addition to the vol-
unteers, the JCC staff was
engaged, and smiles and
thank you's were every-
where for all of our visitors,
guests and hard-working
volunteers. Of course, in
today's world, we had tight
security, at the JCC and all
venues, to ensure the safety
and security of all. Many
generous donors allowed
this event to take place. Your gifts were
well spent — young and old, partici-
pants, volunteers and spectators alike,
were all treated to the finest example of
humankind.
I cannot begin to thank all of the
staff, volunteers, coaches, delegation
heads, law enforcement and security
personnel, vendors and suppliers, and
participants for their efforts in making
the Games a huge success. The JCC and
the Metro Detroit Jewish community
were on center stage, and we performed
incredibly well. We should be proud of
our Jewish community, our JCC and all
who provide support from individu-
als to foundations,
from the Jewish
Federation to the
JCCA.
More than 1,000
Jewish teenag-
ers from around
the world came
to Metro Detroit,
experienced fair
play in sports and
the arts, gave back
to the community,
and experienced the
wonderful example
of more than 1,000
adults volunteering
in the spirit of the
event and doing so
in a Jewish environ-
ment.
Maybe an escape
from the realities
of a difficult world;
maybe a glimpse into
a better future!
Dry Bones
ISRAEL HAS BEEN UNITED BY
THE SHOCK OF THE TERRORIST
TUNNELS,
THE MOURNING FOR
OUR CASUALTIES,
AND BY THE CAMPAIGN OF
HATEFUL ANTI ISRAEL
DEMONSTRATIONS.
❑
Jim Issner is executive
director of the Jewish
Community Center of
F
efforts of members of the Michigan
Funeral Directors Association, the
special efforts of John Desmond
of A.J. Desmond and Sons Funeral
Home and my son, Chad Techner,
who were at the Wayne
County Morgue almost daily
this summer, ensuring that
every one of these people
received a proper burial.
Perhaps the real hero
in this final effort is Mary
Compeau, who gives her
time locally to the Missing
in America Project, believ-
ing that every single vet-
eran is owed a burial with
honor and respect.
As we prepared to bury every
body unclaimed at the morgue, Mary
insisted on waiting until each and
every person was identified, ensur-
ing that every veteran receive the
full military honors they deserve.
The irony is that those we lay to
rest on Sept.11 likely were inspired by
an act of terror 13 years ago to vol-
unteer to protect this great land and
its inhabitants. We owe these veter-
ans respect, honor and much more.
This will be a day of celebration
as we honor all 13 veterans, but
of equal importance, we will dem-
onstrate the dignity and respect
accorded to all veterans who served
their country. All who attend will see
the special measures taken to honor
their service and their memories. In
attending this memorable service,
President Roosevelt's words, "A date
which will live in infamy," might be
changed to "A day I will never for-
get." r
David Techner is the funeral director at
the Ira Kaufman Chapel in Southfield.
Terrorism from page 52
• Behind every terrorist organiza-
tion usually stands a national libera-
tion movement, and therefore there
is a need to engage with it as soon as
possible.
On the contrary, and very much so.
While national liberation movements
occasionally need to appear as terrorist-
like in nature in order to achieve their
policy objectives, they shed their terror
identity when those goals are achieved,
even partially.
Terrorist movements, however, are
only concerned with terrorism: Their
goals, aided from sowing terror, are
phrased in absolute terms from the out-
set and are clearly unrealistic.
Terrorism is what defines them, ter-
rorism is the magnet that draws their
recruits to them, and therefore there
is no reason in negotiating with them,
as opposed to the logic of entering into
dialogue with national liberation move-
ments.
No terrorist organization has ever
triumphed over democracy, as stated —
but neither has a democracy ever beaten
a movement for national liberation or
liberation from occupation. And that is
the difference that one must understand
and remember.
❑
Sever Plocker is chief economics editor
at Ynet News.
Metropolitan Detroit.
September 4 • 2014
53