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