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DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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letters
We Must Continue To
Welcome Refugees
The letter “Welcoming America Has
Hidden Agenda” (Feb. 15, page 5) bla-
tantly misrepresents the work of and
connection between Welcoming America
and the federal Office of Refugee
Resettlement (ORR).
This misconception is further exac-
erbated by the JN’s own middling edito-
rial “Michigan Can’t Shun Fully Vetted
Refugees” (Feb. 18, page 8), which,
while attempting to foster a welcoming
attitude, falls short due to its misun-
derstanding of the nature of refugee
resettlement work and failure to deviate
from Gov. Snyder’s problematic position
of being unnecessarily vigilant on vacu-
ous security concerns.
Every refugee, regardless of whether
s/he is fleeing persecution in Bhutan,
Iraq, Syria or Somalia, must undergo a
thorough, two-year plus screening pro-
cess (that includes multiple background
checks with the databases maintained
by Departments of State, Homeland
Security, and Defense and the FBI,
among others).
So once a refugee is vetted by mul-
tiple federal departments, s/he will
be resettled by one of 11 “voluntary
agencies” (VOLAG) — not ORR and
not Welcoming America. The national
VOLAGs contract with local resettle-
ment programs, such as Jewish Family
Service in Ann Arbor, that understand
the characteristics of the population
groups they are resettling and provide
an array of resources for these vulner-
able individuals to succeed in finding
employment, learning English and con-
tributing to the fabric of our nation.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the Detroit
Jewish community assisted thousands of
refugees from the former Soviet Union
to resettle successfully in Metro Detroit.
Now, these resettled refugees and emi-
gres are our neighbors, friends, cowork-
ers and family. West Bloomfield —
among many other local cities and town-
ships — embraced them and thankfully
so. We would not be a vibrant (Jewish)
community without them.
In much the same way, we must con-
tinue to be welcoming to newcomers.
Southeast Michigan is strengthened by
being inclusive to these hardworking,
job-creating, family-focused immi-
grants from all over the world. Our
tradition will remind us as much in a
few weeks, in parshat Kedoshim, when
God instructs the Israelites how to treat
strangers living amongst them: v’ehavta
6 March 3 • 2016
PROGRAM TO EXAMINE
KOTEL COMPROMISE
lo camocha, ki gerim hayitem b’eretz
mitzrayim, (“And you shall love him as
yourself, for you were strangers in the
land of Egypt”).
As we move forward together, I hope
that the JN and its readership under-
stand that only when we embrace gerim
(immigrants) will we embody the best
ideals of America. B’nai Israel Synagogue
alluded to this in its letter from the
same issue. As the slogan for Welcoming
Michigan reads, “When Michigan wel-
comes immigrants, Michigan thrives.” I
hope that happens soon.
Ruby Robinson
Detroit, also a Welcoming City
Fond Memories Of
Linwood Avenue
Norman Prady’s guest column brought
back all kinds of memories (“My Kind
Of Town,” Feb. 25, page 6).
As a kid growing up on Waverly near
Davison, I took that walk to Durfee
many, many times. Benjamin Rich’s
office was on the corner of Fullerton
and Linwood (my mother worked there)
and his brother Joe’s was further down.
Atlantic Gardens was north and Pacific
Gardens was further south.
However, my fondest memory was
Skore’s grocery store on Linwood and
Tyler. Who knew from cash registers
and adding machines then? The Skores
(father and son) would list the prices of
all of your groceries on a Kraft bag and
tally them in record time without ever
making a mistake! Now, youngsters need
a calculator or computer. Oy!
Ron Horwitz
Farmington Hills
The recent Western Wall (Kotel) com-
promise deal and its implications for
egalitarian worship at Judaism’s holiest
site will be examined at a program 7
p.m. Thursday, March 10, at Hillel Day
School in Farmington Hills.
The deal will expand the Wall’s
egalitarian section, known as Robinson’s
Arch and place it under the authority of
a pluralist committee while solidifying
haredi Orthodox control over the site’s
traditional Orthodox section.
Professor Howard Lupovitch, chair
of the Cohn-Haddow Center for Jewish
Studies at Wayne State University, will
share the history of the ancient wall.
Participants will then study a range of
Jewish and secular texts, both ancient
and contemporary, under the guidance
of Talmud teacher Rabba Yaffa Epstein.
The evening will conclude with
an examination of the agreement by
Andrea Wiese, a member of Original
Women of the Wall, an advocacy group
calling for space for Feminist Orthodox
worship.
The March 10 program is sponsored
by The Well, in partnership with the
Anti-Defamation League, American
Jewish Committee, Cohn-Haddow
Center for Jewish Studies, Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit-
FedEd, Hillel Day School, Jewish
Community Relations Council, the
Detroit Jewish News, the Jewish Women's
Foundation and the National Council of
Jewish Women.
There is no charge for the program
and it is open to the community.
Hillel Day School is located at 32200
Middlebelt. For more information,
contact Rabbi Dan Horwitz at
dan@meetyouathtewell.org.
Arthur M. Horwitz
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