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September 22, 1989 - Image 14

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1989-09-22

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

I OPINION I

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All There Is?

Continued from Page 7

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14

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1989

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In light of the secular hells
produced by secular uto-
pians, it becomes evident
just how brilliant Judaism
was to defer utopia to a fu-
ture world (messianic or oth-
erwise). And yet how equally
brilliant of Judaism to keep
Jews from relying on the fu-
ture world in order to ignore
the evils of this world. Had
Jews like Marx, Trotsky and
myriad other radical secular
Jews not tried to create hea-
ven on earth, they would not
have created hell on earth.
There is, finally, one other
logical and all too common
consequence of believing
that this world is all there is.
Despair.
In view of the relentless
pain that so many people ex-
perience in this life, nothing
is more likely to induce de-
spair than the belief that
this life is all there is.
The malaise felt by so
many in our society in our
time is not traceable to ma-
terial deprivation. It is in-
duced by the secular belief
that this world is all there is.
That is why peasants with
religious faith are probably
happier than affluent Jews
who have no faith (and why
affluent secular Jews and
non-Jews, not the poor, start
all the radical revolutions).
If this is all there is, and
people live only solely
through the memories of
loved ones, then most of the
six million died as forgotten
smoke, with fates and me-
morials no different, there-
fore, than that of the smoke
from a cigarette.
Any Jew is free to believe
that this life is all there is.
But that Jew should ac-
knowledge that this view is
alien to Judaism and that it
renders the lives of most us
little more than a cruel joke.

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physical life is all I have,
then it is very logical to live
a life pursuing pleasure. If
the physical is the one reali-
ty, let me experience as
much physical joy as I can.
As John Silber, president of
Boston University, recently
said, the message today is,
"You only go around once in
life, so get all the gusto you
can."
Moral fervor without reli-
gious belief has led many to
radicalism. Many of those
who believe that this is all
there is have not opted for
hedonism. Many secular
Jews for example, heirs to
thousands of years of Juda-
ism's preoccupation with
"repairing the world under
the rule of God," have devot-
ed themselves to repairing
this world — but without
God.
First, since there is no
such thing as a hereafter,
they reasoned, it is this
world that must be made
into a heaven. Hence, utopi-
anism is attractive to so
many in the 20th century
who have rejected Judaism
and Christianity.
Second, since this is our
one existence, this world
must become a utopia now.
We cannot wait.
Judaism rejects both con-
clusions. In the words of one
of its basic teachings, "It is
not up to you to complete the
task, but neither are you
permitted to desist from it."
Both parts are critical. The
Jew is never allowed to say,
"I don't have to preoccupy
myself with fighting for a
better world; things will
work out in the next world."
But neither is he ever to
expect a utopia in this world.
We cannot perfect the world.
We can only gradually re-
pair it.

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Jews Supported Dinkins
In N.Y. Primary

STEWART AIN

Special to The Jewish News

N

ew York (JTA) — A
surprisingly strong
Jewish vote in com-
munities that in the past
were solid strongholds for
the incumbent Mayor Ed-
ward I. Koch helped give
Manhattan Borough Presi-
dent David N. Dinkins his
Democratic mayoral prima-
ry victory last Tuesday.
Dinkins garnered about
one-third of the estimated

Stewart Ain reports on po-
litical affairs for The New
York Jewish Week.

270,000 Jewish votes cast.

Dinkins' managers had
hoped to get about 25 per-
cent of that vote, but were
not certain they could get
more than 20 percent. Had
they been correct in their
estimates, Dinkins would
have lost the primary to
Koch in a close vote. As it
was, the approximately
89,000 Jewish votes Dinkins
received represented 24,000
more than his 65,000-vote
margin over Koch.
David Pollock, associate
executive director of New
York's Jewish Community
Relations Council, said it
was the largest Jewish turn-
out in a Democratic primary
in recent memory.

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