EDITORIAL
Let My People Know
0
ur Close-Up story this week is a special report on what trends the
Jewish community can look for in the new decade — in Israel, on the po-
litical horizon in Washington and in our own Jewish community.
If anyone needed to be reminded, though, of how quickly events can over-
turn the predictions of experts, the last several months of 1989 are proof
positive. During that time, Communist governments toppled throughout
Eastern Europe like blocks of dominoes, and the gates of the Kremlin opened
wider than ever as thousands of Soviet Jews emigrated to the West, primarily
Israel. No one could have predicted these developments even months — much
less a decade — before they occurred.
Amidst all of the turmoil and confusion, though, there are certain basics
that apply to the future survival and well-being of the Jewish community, both
at home and in Israel, which merit our attention.
One is the continuing struggle for peace between Israel and her neighbors in
which we tend to become myopic in dealing with the here and now. The current
focus, for example, is on an upcoming meeting in Washington during which
U.S., Egyptian and Israeli officials will discuss how to form a Palestinian dele-
gation to meet with Israel; if that meeting is successful, those officials and the
Palestinians agreed upon in Washington will meet in Cairo to discuss pro-
cedures for holding West Bank and Gaza elections to choose representatives to
negotiate with Israel for interim self-government — all of which is an incredibly
delicate and complex prelude to even sitting down to discuss peace.
The basic point, which is all too often lost in this diplomatic shuffle, is that
peace will only come to the Mideast when the Arab states recognize Israel as a
legitimate state. Israel has been seeking a peaceful settlement with her Arab
neighbors for more than four decades now, and her historic agreement with
Egypt is proof not only that she desires peace but that such an arrangement is
viable. It is our responsibility to continue to remind the world in the coming
decade that when the Arabs change their sworn intent to destroy the Jewish
state, peace in the Mideast will be possible.
The mass influx of Soviet Jews to Israel may well be the major Jewish event
of the 1990s, and it is our duty to help make that absorption process possible.
One of the few common threads that Jews of all nationalities and religious prac-
tices have in common is an emotional bond to the Jewish state and a deep-seated
concern about the survival of the Jewish people. We can address both of those
issues by emphasizing the importance of providing a meaningful Jewish edu-
cation, whatever the cost, for our own children as well as for the hundreds of
thousands of emigrating Soviet Jews who know little of their Jewish heritage.
The battle cry for the 1980s was "Let My People Go." Perhaps the call for
the 1990s should be, "Let My People Know." For only by providing the next ge-
neration, here and in Israel, with the knowledge of what it means to live as a
Jew can we fulfill our task of ensuring the future survival of our people.
Israel's Black Eye
T
he Jerusalem Police response to a large peace march in the Old City last
weekend made headlines around the world. The fact that 15,000 Arabs
and Jews linked hands around the walled city in a demonstration of co-
operation was overshadowed by the police over-reaction, during which par-
ticipants were attacked by tear gas, water canons, billy clubs and rubber
bullets.
Sometimes, it seems, Israeli authorities are their own worst enemies when
it comes to presenting the image of the Jewish state to the world.
There were news reports this week of how the Israeli government had paid
millions of dollars over the years to former Romanian leader Nicolae Ceausescu
to ransom thousands of Jews and bring them to Israel. And even now, Israel is
doing all she can to rescue Jews from Ethiopia and the Soviet Union, while in-
tensifying her efforts to further the prospects for peace through meetings with
the U.S. and Egypt. These are good and noble deeds, but the images we are left
with this week in the media are of unarmed demonstrators — men, women and
children — beaten or overcome by tear gas during a peace demonstration.
And for all our criticism of the media's portrayal of Israel, this week she has
only herself to blame.
6
FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 1990
LETTERS
Rap Record
Calls For Boycott
Not content with the ran-
tings of one of their members,
the rap group Public Enemy
has released a record,
"Welcome to the Terror-
drome," that contains lyrics
describing rabbis with a sex-
ist and vulgar phrase relating
to menstruation and accusing
Jews of murdering Jesus, a
false charge that has in-
stigated centuries of violence
against Jews.
The recording is produced
by Def Jam Records and
distributed by CBS Records.
Until CBS discontinues its
relationship with Def Jam
and publicly apologizes to the
community, I encourage
everyone opposed to such
bigotry to boycott the pro-
ducts of CBS Records and its
parent corporation, Sony
Corp., as well as other sub-
sidiaries of Sony such as Col-
umbia Motion Pictures. I also
encourage people to contact
the executives of Sony and
CBS Records to inform them
of such action.
This is not an issue of ar-
tistic freedom or free speech.
It is a question of fighting
hatred and bigotry. Free
speech is a wonderful thing.
So is exercising freedom of
choice in the marketplace.
Ronnie Schreiber
Oak Park
Let Auschwitz
Convent Remain
As a survivor of two ghettos
and seven extermination
camps, I would like to express
my opinion about moving the
convent from the Auschwiz
site.
It is well documented
historically that American
Jews did absolutely nothing
to come to the rescue of the
European Jews in the ghettos
and in the extermination
camps during WWII.
rib me it does not matter if
the nuns stay there or not. Ac-
cording to the Jewish laws,
there is nothing holy in
Auschwitz; therefore, nothing
is being descrated.
Out of guilt feelings, the
American Jews organized a
protest. But I feel this protest
is 6,000,000 Jewish corpses
too late and 50 years to late.
Henry Friedman
Oak Park
Education Stories
Are Valuable
A number of us involved in
local Jewish educational
agencies have noticed how
The Jewish News has upgrad-
ed its focus on local Jewish
education. I think that I
speak for many, if not all of
my colleagues, in lauding this
development.
Although it may not be
easily or immediately quan-
tifiable, we are sure the long-
term impact your coverage
has on the community will be
hard to ignore.
Study after study reported
in The Jewish News and
elsewhere points to increased
levels of apathy among our
people, growing trends of
assimilation and general
downward movement in
young people's identification
and affiliation with Judaism.
Many of the studies refer to
an intensified community
commitment to Jewish educa-
tion as the only concrete
method of reversing these
trends.
But, how do we change our
community's attitude? That
seems to be the $64,000 ques-
tion that many committees,
"blue ribbon" panels and
,
Continued on Page 10