viewpoints » S end letters to: letters@thejewishnews.com DETROIT JEWISH NEWS theJEWISHNEWS.com 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 Publisher / Executive Editor ahorwitz@renmedia.us F. 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