The Perfect Family Floor Plan CARPET CLEANING 5 ROOMS $10999 2 ROOMS $59 99 7' SOFA $59 99 OR 2 CHAIRS some restrictions apply 411/ 1 M RUG CLEANING 2 FOR 1 Bring your rugs to any of our drop-off centers and we'll clean every other one FREE! Ask about our expert rug repair! New Year Reflections From kids playing to adults relaxing, we all love to hang out on the floor. But with all the activities of everyday life, our homes can get messy. Teen Mission participant looks back at his experience in Israel. Let Hagopian take care of the messes, keeping your home and floors looking like new! 1-800-HAGOPIA (424-6742) www.originalhagopian.com HAGOPIAN Expect the Best... Expect the Purple Truck! Oak Park • Birmingham Novi • Utica • Ann Arbor la DESIGNS IN DECORATOR WOOD & LAMINATES, LTD.: Daniel Fox of Rochester Hills and Jeremy Rosenberg of West Bloomfield climb Masada with Federation's Teen Mission 2014. Jeremy Rosenberg Teen2Teen writer r R It Doesn't Have To Cost A fortune... Only Look Like It! Complete kitchen and bathroom remodeling as well as furniture design and installations including granite, wood and other materials. Lois Haron Allied Member ASID 248.851.6989 Wishing You a Happy, Healthy and Sweet New Year (561) 487-5886 (561) 870-5886 Y•0•U•R Tina J. Krinsky Realtor www.bocaconnection.com bocaconnection@gmail.com LANG R_E A LT Y 1940440 110 September 18 • 2014 iN osh Hashanah is a time of thanks, a time of reflection and a time of looking on toward the new year. In this past year, there were many things to be thankful for and many things to reflect on. One significant part of my year was traveling on the Sue & Alan J. Kaufman Family Teen Mission to Israel through Detroit's wonderful Jewish Federation. I traveled to Israel in a time of tension between the Jewish and Palestinian communities, and a time of hostility between Hamas and Israel. While I was there, Hamas began shooting missiles into Israel. At first, it didn't affect us much, and we car- ried on with most of our itinerary as planned. As we made our way further south, and somewhat closer to Gaza, we began hearing more things. In one day, I counted almost 20 helicopters flying directly over the kibbutz where we were staying and then later that evening I heard a siren. I wasn't scared. I was with my friends who I wanted to comfort, and I wanted to make sure that they were all right. For me, and a lot of people on my bus, the scariest thing about the rockets and missiles was the fact that they could push us out of Israel. Despite all of this, I am thankful that the worst thing that did happen was that we were brought home early. I am thankful that no one was hurt, and that nothing too drastic happened to us throughout our 15 days in the Holy Land. As the new year begins, I'd like to look forward to a year of peace and a year of quiet between Israel and Gaza, and throughout the entire Middle East. I look forward to returning to Israel in a time where there is no war and much less worry about the countries sur- rounding it. If there's anything that I learned from this trip, and this conflict as a whole, it's that Israel may be smaller than the state of New Jersey, but it still belongs to each and every Jew throughout the world, whether they realize it or not. Israel is here for everyone and anyone who wants to be a part of something magical and some- thing that is a true miracle. Shanah tovah u'metukah. ❑ Jeremy Rosenberg, 15, of West Bloom- field attends Frankel Jewish Academy.