I PURELY COMMENTARY I

Zionism As A Duty In Ecumenism

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Editor Emeritus

C Kristian-Jewish relations, the
ecumenism involved in ad-
vancing and improving human
relations, gradually encourage in-
creased Zionist involvements.
For a total understanding of the
events that keep adding anguish to cur-
rent occurences in Israel, responsible
Zionist leaders are calling upon par-
ticipants in ecumenical planning to
take into account the historic values of
Zionist idealism as they relate to the
issues involved.
There is an emphasis on this aspect
in Zionism in Christian-Jewish Rela-
tions published by the Zionist Organiza-
tion of America and distributed as a
public service by the Jacob Goodman
Institute for Middle East Research and
Information. The volume was assem-
bled by Paul Flacks, executive vice
president of the ZOA.
Great value attaches to this educa-
tional task in the labors exerted by
Flacks who has mobilized activities for
an understanding of the developing con-
troversies as means of exposing and
refuting the prejudicial treatment of
Israel in the current disputes.
Flacks bases the studies in the pre-
sently distributed text on conferences
on Christian-Jewish relations held in
Dayton, Ohio, and in Charleston, S.C.
It is the factual approach to an
ecumenism in the current crisis that is
vital. The analyses of the issues
presented here are based on the ac-
cumulated records of most recent
events. The negatives have a share with
the positives in the Zionist appeal and
the encouragement is to reach an

understanding that will eliminate the
venemous.
At a time when intifada has become
a matter of great concern in the plan-
ning of a documentation charged with
so many indignities that they compel a
repudiation in a forced supplement to
justify the protestations, the testing of
truth is mandatory. Flacks' presenta-
tion invites it in the Christian-Jewish
interests.
Especially demanding in the
studies thus provided is to detect the
"rumor mills." Spreading of misrepre-
sentations by way of gossip can never
be completely blunted, but exposing
them is mandatory in the current ap-
proaches to the challenges.
Flacks draws upon the views of a
famous Christian leader and theologian
who called upon the Christian churches
to "begin to turn their attention in a
serious fashion to the various faces of
Zionism." Flacks utilizes this declara-
tion by the Rev. John T. Pawlikowski as
a credo, declaring in his address to the
ecumenical conference in Dayton:
The exclusion of Zionism
from the Jewish-Christian
dialogue agenda seriously im-
poverishes the encounter. If
Christians continue to insist on
such an exclusion, they are in
fact asking for dialogue with an
emaciated form of Judaism and
depriving themselves of a deep-
ly enriching confrontation with
their own faith perspective.
The accumulation of factual
evidence as well as opinions of merit
therefore assumes importance in the
aim for a genuine ecumenism.
Exploding misrepresentations is
vital to the approach outlined in the

Estimated Jewish Population
in Muslim Countries

pre-1948
1989
Algeria
130,000-140,000
300
Bahrain
400
10
Egypt
750,000
178
Iran
90,000-100,000
22,500
Iraq
125,000
250
Lebanon
5,000
60
Libya
38,000
6
Morocco
265,000-300,000
7,000-10,000
Syria
30,000 (1943)
4,000
Tunisia
105,000
2,200
Yemen
55,000
1,000-2,000
Source: American Jewish Committee.

Flacks-edited documentaries. Here is a
thoroughly outlined account that is
vital to the issue. It is important that
the status of homeless Arabs and their
contentions also be known. Flacks
presents the following data which can
not be disputed because views by Arabs
also are utilized.

Diaspora is a word original-
ly used to describe thousands of
Jews who were forced to leave
their homeland after the
Babylonian exile and were scat-
tered around the world and
resettled outside of Israel. The
term has been adopted by Arab
propagandists to make the
analogy that Palestinians living
outside their homeland are op-
pressed and made homeless by
the Jews, now the alleged
oppressors.
The political issue concerns
the extent to which Palestinians
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip
should be allowed to govern

themselves. The Palestinians
have tried to recast the issue —
using Zionist terminology — by
asserting that they have been
dispersed and must be allowed
to return to their homes. The no-
tion of a Palestinian Viaspora;
however, is contradicted by the
demographic facts.
The majority of Palestinians
settled within what they define
as Palestine: Israel, Jordan, the
West Bank and Gaza Strip.
About 72 percent of the world's
Palestinians live in what was
historically Palestine. More than
two-thirds of the Palestinians
living outside historic Palestine
have settled among their
brethren in Arab countries.
That being the case, it is
fallacious to compare Palesti-
nians with the scattered
Diaspora Jews who were forced
to leave their homes and settled

Continued on Page 40

Avoiding Misconceptions About Jews And Judaism

M

any items about Jews and
much that is related to us has
multiplied misconceptions
that not only confuse but thereby add
to ignorance. Rabbi Reuven P. Bulka of
Ottawa, Canada, who has gained
recognition as a lecturer on current
Jewish concerns and who has authored
18 books, has undertaken the challeng-
ing task of warning against involving
misinterpretations about religious and
related matters.
His What You Thought You Knew

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Vol. XCV No. 24

2

August 11, 1989

FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 1989

About Judaism (Aronson Publishers)
deals with "341 Common Misconcep-
tions about Jewish Life."
In a sense, it is a daring book. Rab-
bi Bulka doesn't hesitate to tackle what
would ordinarily be considered a most
ordinary and indisputable fact in
Jewish living. Aiming for the definitive,
he relates to everything in Jewish prac-
tice and study to eliminate
misunderstanding and exaggeration.
Perhaps the best way to explain his
way of avoiding misunderstanding and
a lack of knowledge about the basics in
Jewish experience is to relate to one of
the topics in his fascinatingly con-
structed book. In "Judaism Is a
Religion," he wrote:
The truth is that Judaism is
not a religion. It is more a way
of life that is predicated upon a
religious belief. Judaism has
been lumped together with
other religions such as Chris-
tianity and Islam, and is
therefore painted with the same
brush.
If religion is defined as a
relationship of faith, then cer-
tainly that ingredient is very

significant within Judaism.
However, the matter of faith is
merely the foundation, the
ground upon which Judaism is
built.
It is difficult to legislate a
relationship. An individual can-
not be told to marry someone
else. However, once two in-
dividuals agree to marry, then
certain rules and regulations
apply for their marital compact.
In a similar sense, an in-
dividual cannot be ordered to
believe in God. Leading Jewish
thinkers of the past refused to
include belief in God as one of
the Commandments. The rela-
tionship itself cannot be com-
manded. That must stem from
within the individual.
However, once that relation-
ship is firmly established, it is
possible to propose the
parameters for that relationship.
In other words, once an in-
dividual professes faith in God,
Judaism projects the rules and
regulations that should govern
that faith relationship. Faith is a
given — it is presumed.

We refuse to relegate the no-
tion of faith in God to being a
mere abstraction. Instead,
through various affirmations,
testimonies, and fulfillments of
obligation, we affirm, entrench,
and solidify that faith. The com-
mandments are the tangible ex-
pression of our faith, which at
once reinforce the relationship
and enhance our lives.
Rabbi Bulka treats another concept
as a possible "misconception." Under
the title "Misconception: Judaism Is
Based on Democratic Ideals," he pro-
vides the following factual statement:
This impression may be bas-
ed on the fact that the modern
State of Israel is seemingly
modeled along the lines of
Western democracies, with an
elected Knesset and with each
individual given the right to
vote.
However, it is questionable
whether Judaism itself
espouses the democratic ideals
basic to Western civilization.
The two ideals that will be focus-

Continued on Page 40