20 | APRIL 8 • 2021
Herodium, Gamla, Akko, Tel
Aviv, Megiddo and, of course,
Jerusalem.
Over the years, students
experienced an in-depth visit
to a Druze village for lunch and
lecture, visited the home and
orange groves of an Israeli farm-
er, and enjoyed an overnight
stay at a Bedouin tent. The exca-
vation at Sha’arayim made world
news when it was associated to
the early kingdom of David, c.
1000 B.C.E.
From 2014 to 2017, Oakland
moved to the site of Lachish, a
monumental tel (a manmade
mound consisting of the strat-
ified debris from the accumu-
lated refuse of generations of
people) southwest of Jerusalem.
The goal here was to determine
when the early monarchy of
Judah fortified the site. It took
four hard seasons of work at this
complicated site, but not before
the team excavated a Canaanite
temple dated to the Late Bronze
Age (c. 1300 B.C.E.).
Digging immediately under
the national park footpath, the
team exposed the temple and
portions of a Canaanite palace
nearby. The finds were rich, and
the students enjoyed off time by
visiting Masada, taking behind-
the-scenes tours of Herodium,
the location of King Herod’s
tomb, Yad Vashem, the Israel
Museum and, of course, the
Dead Sea.
LINK TO KING DAVID
In 2018 and 2019, the team
ventured to a new site known
as Khirbet al-Rai. This site
is further west of Lachish. In
the two seasons at this site, we
announced that the site should
be identified as biblical Ziklag.
This site was given to David
before he was king by the
Philistine King of Gath, Achish
(I Samuel 27).
Such exciting finds fuel the
student experiences as does
touring exciting sites in the
country.
Our canceled 2020 trip was
to have included an expanded
itinerary and included an extra
day in Jerusalem, a private tour
of the Temple road site, and a
special weekend in Safed.
We hope that 2021 or 2022
(at the latest) will see us back in
Israel!
Dr. Michael Pytlik is director of Judaic
Studies, the Cis Maisel Center for Judaic
Studies and Community Engagement
and the Study Abroad in Israel, an
archaeological field school and culture
tour. Find more information about the
program at www.oakland.edu/ie/ou-pro-
grams/israel.
A
Huntington Woods
resident is raising
funds for a lifesav-
ing bone marrow transplant,
and he’s receiving the help of
friends, family, community and
a charity to make
it happen.
Colton Teicher,
a 22-year-old
Wayne State
University student,
was diagnosed in
2019 with Chronic
Granulomatous
Disease, a rare immune system
disorder. Teicher has had health
problems since he was born but
was misdiagnosed for the first
20 years of his life.
Finally with the correct
diagnosis, the transplant team
at the National Institutes of
Health Clinical Center (NIH)
in Bethesda, Md., recom-
mended the transplant for
Teicher.
Huntington Woods vol-
unteers are now raising
$50,000 for the Children’s
Organ Transplant Association
(COTA), a national 501(c)3
charity dedicated to organiz-
ing and guiding communities
in raising funds for trans-
plant-related expenses, to
assist with Teicher’s expenses.
Teicher came up with a
team of about 15 friends to
help run the fundraiser.
“I have amazing friends,
”
Teicher said. “I knew they
would say yes the minute I was
considering doing this, but,
honestly, they’re going above
and beyond what I was expect-
ing them to do.
”
A week into the fundraiser,
just through putting it out on
Facebook and Instagram, it’s hit
more than half its goal; already
over $25,000.
“I was expecting maybe
$3,000 so far,
” Teicher said.
“Friends of friends or friends
from high school I haven’t talk-
ed to in years have contributed,
and I’m really grateful for that,
and amazed by people’s gener-
osity.
”
Events for the fundraiser
include one at Panera Bread in
Royal Oak on April 15 from 4-8
p.m. Another event is a Krispy
Kreme fundraiser taking place
at any location in the country
until April 10. More informa-
tion on these events can be
found at COTAforColton.com.
Teicher will be at NIH on
May 14 for preliminary testing,
and they will begin looking for
bone marrow donors around
that time as well.
“I have 10,000 matches on
the bone marrow registry, and
we just need to find the right
one,
” Teacher said. “Hopefully
the actual transplant will start
in August but may be pushed to
September at the latest.
”
Volunteers are needed for
the COTA community cam-
paign. Individuals and groups
interested in more information
should contact Community
Coordinator Sari Grossman
at (248) 978-9737 or orgsari@
umich.edu.
Contributions may be sent
to COTA, 2501 W
. COTA
Drive, Bloomington, IN 47403.
Checks should be made pay-
able to COTA, with “In Honor
of Colton” written on the
memo line. Secure credit card
gifts are accepted online at
COTAforColton.com.
Student, 22, with friends’ help, is seeking
funds for a bone marrow transplant.
A Cure within Reach
DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER
Colton
Teicher
OUR COMMUNITY
ARCHAEOLOGICAL continued from page 18
Students learn surveying at the
site of Khirbet Qeiyafa, 2009