ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY

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Eat, Drink And …

K

eeping safe is
a goal to be
desired.
I am not refer-
ring to safety in the
streets though I
know that the cra-
zies are out there
Sy Manello
and road rage is a
Editorial Assistant
real thing. I do not
refer to gun violence
though we are get-
ting our fill of that in
our everyday news.
Nor do I care to dis-
cuss the need to childproof and gen-
erally safety-proof our homes though
unthinking folks are still experiencing
kids getting entangled in blind cords,
adults tripping on loose carpeting,
seniors falling and not being able to
get up.
As my friend Dave Hundiak pointed
out to me, all those instances take
second place to the fact that we, to
stay alive, must stop eating the food,
drinking the water and breathing the
air. And, thus, my current rant.
We in Michigan are more than
familiar with the “water crisis” that
hit Flint. The entire city was placed

under a ban of the drink-
ing water and is still, several
years later, experiencing dif-
ficulties. In 2018, the state of
Washington reported at least
14 counties with warnings about
drinking water. Water warnings have
additionally been posted for Idaho,
Montana, California, Nevada and
Arizona.
The problem of air pollution has
worldwide warnings being offered.
Because of drought and climate
change (do not tell the government),
there are many states that have pol-
lution problems. Of the top 10 most
polluted cities, six are in California;
the other four are in Utah, Alaska,
Idaho and West Virginia. According
to reports, more than two of every
five people now live in countries with
unhealthy levels of pollution.
The World Health Organization
published a report of the top 20 global
cities deemed as having unsatisfac-
tory air quality. Seven of those were
in China, five in India, four in Iran,
two in Pakistan; the other two were
in Botswana and Mongolia. With
volcanic eruptions in Hawaii, smog
increases in California and heavy fires

Volunteers from the United States will have the
opportunity to work at an archaeological dig in
Israel.

yearly in our West, breathing is prob-
lematic at best.
Hungry? Better think twice about
what you ingest. Recently, we have
experienced many food recalls due to
contamination — real or perceived.
France had a raw cheese-E. coli
scare in several regions; Canada has
experienced salmonella cases found
in chicken; Utah has supplied many
states with “deadly” romaine lettuce;
egg pollution resulted in a huge recall
(several million).
In addition, salmonella was found
in a caterer’s food in Georgia and in
dried coconut in eight states. Oysters
in the U.K. were found to contain
norovirus. WebMD has published
lists of foods “most likely” to cause
foodborne illnesses. Among them are
chicken, beef, turkey, sprouts and raw
flour. Sure leaves a lot of choices, no?
The Dave Matthews Band recorded
a song “Don’t Drink the Water;”
Simon Fellows, author, penned a book
titled Don’t Breathe the Air.
Meanwhile, “Have a nice day!” •

letters

There’s A Reason
She Was Canceled

The shoe is on the other foot for Lena
Epstein (“Canceled,” July 5, 2018, page
17), and it’s not so comfortable judging
from her reaction. People are turning
on her not because she’s a Republican
but because she’s a hypocrite of the
worst kind. It has nothing to do with
conservative economic or foreign poli-
cies. She has pledged her support to
something that many of us find over the
line of acceptable behavior, likely even
illegal.
Her party successfully defended the
right to refuse service to people based
on religious objections to their sexual
actions. Well, some of us have religious
objections to punishing children for
the sins of their parents or accusing
babies of being MS-13 gang members
and denying due process on asylum and
custody of children. The Jewish religion
demands treating the stranger as one
of your own, so what kind of a Jew is
Epstein? If she can tolerate discrimina-

tion based on religious objections to
someone’s sexual preferences, she can
tolerate discrimination based on reli-
gious objections to injustice.

Dennis L. Green
Farmington Hills

We’re All Just Americans

Regarding “Confronting Racism” (July 5,
2018, page 6): America has been a melt-
ing pot where there are no black, white,
Asians, Latinos, etc. All people are
Americans. The classification to various
ethnicities is artificial, not scientific,
and done for political power only.
The #blacklivesmatter movement
supports the Palestinians and BDS,
which has nothing to do with being
black, but may get them a lot of money.
Many black people detest the “African
American” politically correct expression
because they see it as racist. I agree.
Confused Emma Share does not
understand that “white privilege” is a
derogatory misnomer and being white
is not a sin. It is decadent theory that
there are no personal responsibilities,

but all catastrophes relate to white
race guilt, which has to be atoned. This
obviously has nothing to do with being
Jewish, which traditionally does not
discriminate.
The bottom line: Share and her
confused friends must adhere to the
concept that made this country: Being
American does not need to be frag-
mented and classified.

Isaac Barr, M.D.
Bloomfield Hills

Protect Aging Population

A revolution in nursing home care is
needed. Large corporations that own
nursing homes extract a profit at the
expense of the elderly and infirm. Low
salaries, inadequate staffing, insuffi-
cient training and constant turnover of
staff create a problematic atmosphere.
The Jewish community should be
more vocal in its demands to improve
care for their loved ones. We have to
protect our aging population.

Judith Ginsberg
Farmington Hills

Volunteers For
Israel Starts
New Program

JNS.org

V

olunteers for Israel, a
36-year-old nonprofit orga-
nization that encourages
American Jews to lend their services
to help the Jewish state, announced
a new pilot program that tacks on
archaeology to its endeavors from
Nov. 18-Dec. 1.
The 14-day program starts with
one week of volunteering on an
Israeli army base, followed by a
week volunteering at an active
archaeological-dig site supervised
by the Israel Antiquities Authority
at the foot of Tel Assar in the Haifa
district, focusing on relics that date
back to 3,500 B.C.E.
The site covers the Chalcolithic
period, or Copper Age, which was
an era of transition between the
stone tool-using farmers of the
Neolithic and the metal-obsessed
civilizations of the Bronze Age. It
began in the late fifth millennium
B.C.E. and lasted for 1,000 years
before it gave rise to the Early
Bronze Age (approximately 4,300 to
3,300 B.C.E.).
The Tel Assar excavation began
in May of this year with about 300
archaeologists and workers.
Program manager and Volunteers
for Israel board member Steve
Plotkin said the dig came out of
“both a need and desire to expand
the scope and interest of the overall
experience. We fully expect that it
will succeed.”
The all-inclusive program, open
to people of all ages, covers digging
and excavation tools. Work hours
are from 6:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Sunday
to Thursday, with no activity on
Shabbat.
This program focuses on raising
awareness of Israel’s archaeological
treasures, in addition to immersion
in the nation’s culture. It’s spon-
sored by Volunteers for Israel, Sar-
El, the Israel Antiquities Authority
and Gil Travel.
Applications are being accepted
until Sept. 30. Visit www.vfi-usa.
org. •

jn

July 19 • 2018

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