Friday, December 12, 1' ;41
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Jewish Community Makes Brzezinski
Scapegoat for Carter Foreign Policy
By DAVID FRIEDMAN
the President directly. Of
course, Carter himself
There is one interesting was under strong attack
lesson that could be drawn from within the Jewish
by American Jews from a community, especially
segment of the recent hour- after the U.S. vote for the
long interview with Zbig- March 1 United Nations
niew Brzezinski, President Security Council Resolu-
Carter's national security tion condemning Israel
adviser, by Bill Moyers over which Carter sub-
the Public Broadcasting sequently disavowed.
Service. It is how to react But Brzezinski was the
toward government officials chief target for many
who propose policies seen as Jewish critics of the Carter
harmful to Israel.
Administration's Middle
Brzezinski, while speak- East policies and even sup-
ing carefully and circuit- porters of the President
usly, seemed to be express- tended to put the blame on
-mg hurt over the personal Brzezinski for unpopular
attacks on him for what was policies.
perceived as a pro-
In the interview with
Palestinian position. He Moyers, Brzezinski did not
said he had been the "light- directly blame the Jewish
ning rod" for those opposed community for the attacks
to the Carter Administra- on him. But many Jews,
tion's policies. after the experience of 1,000
Although Brzezinski did years of Polish discrimina-
not say so directly, he was tion against Jews, a dis-
trying to point out that he crimination that continued
was taking the blame for beyond the Holocaust, to the
what was after all the Car- present Communist regime,
ter - Administration's tend to view any Pole as an
policies, positions that had anti-Semite.
the full approval of the
Of course being Jewish
President. Even a powerful doesn't help either, as
figure like Brzezinski can- Henry Kissinger can tell
not carry out policies that do you. When Kissinger's
not have the President's policies toward Israel began
support. to be criticized he was at-
There is nothing new in tacked by some Jews even
this sort of attack. In more severly than
every Administration, Brzezinski. We began to see
there have been some cri- remarks about "self-hating
tics who have aimed their Jews," his marriage to a
attacks on Cabinet mem- non-Jew was played up in
bers or other officials some areas and there was
rather than confronting even one group that held a
(Copyright 1980, JTA, Inc.)
ceremony in a New York
hotel excommunicating
him.
The point here is not
that American Jews
should refrain from
criticizing Administra-
tion officials whose pro-
posals they consider'
harmful to Israel, or to
the United States for that
matter. On the contrary,
they should hit out with
the gloves off.
But this could be done and
much more effectively
without name calling and
without attempts by
amateur psychologists try-
id-
ing to find some dark, hid-
BURGLAR ALARMS
den
den,reason for every politi-
cal move.
The Jewish community is
waiting to see whether
President-elect Ronald
Reagan's campaign prom-
ises on Israel will turn into
U.S. policy when he takes
office Jan. 20.
It is too early to predict.
But is safe to say that
within one year there will
be at least one official of the
Reagan Administration
who will emerge as the
"lightning rod" for what-
ever the American Jewish
community finds wrong
with Reagan's Mideast pol-
icy.
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Observant Jew Speaks Out
Against Gluttony at Events
By BEN GALLOB
(Copyright 1980, JTA, Inc.)
An observant New York
Jewish attorney, assailing
"the traditional immense
smorgasbord, six-course
meal and obscene Viennese
dessert table" widely of-
fered at Jewish affairs, has
proposed that overeating be
added to the practices for-
bidden by the Jewish diet-
ary laws.
Joseph Kaplan raised the
issue of Jewish gluttony in
an article in "Sh'ma," titled
"For the Sin of Overeating."
He asked whether Jews
have lived in accordance
with the inextricable link in
Jewish lore between kas-
hrut and holiness and
thereby been sanctified.
– In declaring the an-
swers to those questions
for American Jews gen-
erally should be "no,"
Kaplan described the
"enormous" food offer-
ings at weddings, Bar
Mitzvas, and, "to a lesser
extent," Jewish com-
munal affairs. He re-
called "after shul-
kidush" events "where
the scene resembles Tom
Jones rather than the
Garden of Eden." He
asked: "Do any of these
celebrations of Jewish
life exemplify restraint,
holiness, sensitivity or
sanctity?"
Kaplan declared that "the
problem of gluttony" should
itself be part of the
framework of kashrut and
asked why those "who
enforce standards of kas-
hrut on caterers, hotels and
dining establishments" do
not also "endorse standards
which would limit the
amount of food that is
served and wasted."
Kaplan argued that if
Jewish community leaders
set proper eating norms for
Jewish celebrations, such
norms "could possibly be
used to offset and alleviate
peer pressure, which is a
major cause of the 'Goodbye
Columbus' syndrome."
Goodybe Columbus was one
of the first stories by Philip
Roth which described
American Jewish lifestyles
in a manner that brought
him sharp criticism from
literate Jews.
Kaplan also contended
that such norms should be
instituted by all Jewish
communities, including
those which do not observe
kashrut "since all of these
are guilty of these sins"
apart from non-observance
of the dietary laws.
He said kashrut "is being
used or perhaps misused
— to set up impenetrable
mehizot (separating men
and women at worship) be-
tween Jews, especially by
those who pride themselves
on how many homes of Jews
they cannot eat in."
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