EDITORIAL
Bushwhacking
Jerusalem
T
he Bush administration is an-
noyed by the Israeli Cabinet's
lack of progress in moving
ahead on Prime Minister Shamir's
peace plan. But the administration is
in part responsible for the stalemate in
Jerusalem.
Recent statements by President
Bush about the status of East
Jerusalem and Secretary of State
Baker on his impatience with Israel
have had the exact opposite of their
desired effect. Rather than pressure
Jerusalem into concessions, they have
rallied Israeli politicians from the left
and right, all of whom stand behind the
indivisibility of Jerusalem. (President
Bush said at a news conference last
week that the U.S. opposed new Israeli
settlements in East Jerusalem. Until
now, Washington has only criticized
such settlements in the West Bank and
Gaza.)
The American Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC), the pro-Israel
lobby in Washington, has long endors-
ed the Bush Administration's peace
efforts in the Mideast. But this week,
an angered Tom Dine, executive direc-
tor of AIPAC, told the delegates at the
United Jewish Appeal Young Leader-
ship Conference in Washington that
the administration is tilting against
Israel. (See Inside Washington, Page
30).
"Unfortunately, the Administra-
tion has, in the past 10 days, made a
series of mistakes that, taken together,
suggest that something new and diff-
erent and very unwelcome is going on,"
said Dine. "Suddenly there is a rejoic-
ing at PLO (Palestine Liberation
Organization) headquarters and
dismay in Israel."
In addition to the Bush statement
on East Jerusalem, Dine cited Baker's
testimony that the PLO has complied
with its commitment to peace and re-
nunciation of terrorism, and a recent
briefing by national security adviser
Brent Scowcroft that upset Israeli offi-
cials.
Privately, the word is out in Wash-
ington that President Bush is fed up
with Prime Minister Shamir and that
the administration believes that public
pressure on Israel is effective.
It would be unfair to pin all of
Israel's current political problems on
Washington. There is a legitimate split
among Israel's leaders as to whether to
go ahead with the proposed peace
negotiations — a split which may result
in new elections. But as Seymour
Reich, chairman of the Conference of
Presidents of Major American Jewish
Organizations noted, Washington's re-
cent rumblings are only serving to
"undermine the confidence necessary
for Israel to take those risks for peace
that the administration asks."
LETTERS
A Misguided
Mind Set
The letter you published in
the March 2 issue of The
Jewish News, "What Do
Secular Jews Observe?" is, it
seems to me, a good example
of a misguided mind set.
First, the letter writer
postulates that if one does not
subscribe to the idea of
"Torah min-Hashomayim"
one can not be an observant
Jew.
What he is doing is making
his irrational belief the basis
for "true" observation. By
taking this stance, he casts all
those Jews who opt for a more
enlightened form of Judaism
into a class not equal to the
one he apparently belongs to.
He conveniently overlooks
the fact that change in obser-
vance goes back many hun-
dreds of years and did not
6
FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 1990
start, as he implies, with
Reform Judaism.
The question we should ask
ourselves is: How many more
Jews would have left the fold,
having been unable to accept
the dicta that are contrary to
reason and rationality?
As far as divisiveness is
concerned, the letter writer
may not be aware of facts that
transpired in the not too dis-
tant past. In the part of the
world where I come from it
was precisely the Orthodox
group that rejected the idea of
maintaining a united com-
munity and created the so-
called Austrittsgemeinde
(separatist congregation). If
this is not a striking example
of divisiveness, one would
have to redefine the meaning
of the word.
There are ample forms of
devisiveness right here in our
midst and it is with an eye on
not wanting to stir up any
more bad feelings that I
refrain from mentioning any.
What Jewish groups need
badly is respect for each other,
else we have not learned the
lessons of our history.
Kurt Bauer
Farmington Hills
'Observant' Is In
Eyes Of Beholder
My initial reaction to your
citation of Mark Schlussel as
"the first observant president
of the Jewish Welfare Federa-
tion" was that you were doing
a disservice both to Schlussel
and all his illustrious
predecessors at the Federa-
tion. It seemed to me that the
label put him at the center of
a needless and fruitless con-
troversy (Shelby Koss' shrill
letter "What Do Secular Jews
Observe?" March 2).
The strength and vitality of
modern-day Judaism lie in
the pluralism of Jewish
lifestyles and mores and in
the diversity of religious and
ritual practices. Orthodox,
Conservative, Reform and,
yes, Secular-Humanistic
Judaism, provide alternative
approaches to Jewish commit-
ment and observance with
parallel authenticity and
validity. lb ascribe to any par-
ticular denomination or
Jewish mode of commitment
and lifestyle a monopoly on
"observance" or to endow it
with the privilege of
establishing definitions, stan-
dards and modes of Jewish
conduct and conformity is to
depreciate the validity and
essence of the bulk of Jewish
living. Observance, like beau-
ty, is in the yes of the beholder
and lies within the frame-
work of the variety of authen-
tic Jewish lifestyles.
The problems of confronting
the Jewish people, both in
Israel and the Diaspora, are
too real and serious to
squander energy and effort on
mischievous, polarized
argumentation on who is
"keeper of the true way."
Since the Enlightenment, the
Jewish people has over-
whelmingly demonstrated
that no single way has unique
validity. Innovation and
creative adaptation to our
modern, scientific age have
produced coexisting paths for
flourishing and vibrant
Jewish lifestyles.
Finally, to answer Koss'
question of "what are secular
Jews observant of?" Secular-
Humanistic Jews observe
commitment to Jewish con-
tinuity, Jewish identity,
Jewish survival, Jewish
history, Jewish peoplehood,
Jewish culture, Jewish educa-
tion, Jewish holidays, Jewish
ethics, the State of Israel and
to the Jewish future.
Our lifestyles and practices
have meaningful Jewish
validity and are within the
framework of Jewish con-
tinuity. We have no inferiori-
ty complex about the
equalities of our mode of
Jewish observance and com-
mitment. More willingness to
learn about alternative op-
tions for practical Jewish liv-
ing might pleasantly surprise
Shelby Koss.
Julius Harwood,
Chairman, Michigan Coalition of
Secular and Humanistic Jews
Soviet Jews
Belong In Israel
In your editorial "Trapped
in Moscow" (Feb. 23), you say
events dictate that a new
alternative be explored, that
pressure should be brought
on countries like Canada or
Australia to take in Soviet
Jews. I think this is the wrong
remedy.
First, it will take months or
maybe years of processing un-
til Jews are allowed to leave
the Soviet Union. Second,
most Soviet Jews, besides
physical safety, need spiritual
nourishment. They have been
denied for 70 years religious
or Jewish culture and educa-
tion. Their souls seek an
uplifting, and the best place
to get it is Israel.
The best solution will be to
open up new routes through
Czechoslovakia or Poland. It
will be much faster to get
them to safety.
Aaron Friedman
Farmington Hills
Let Us Know
Letters must be concise,
typewritten and double-
spaced. Correspondence
must include the signa-
ture, home address and
daytime phone number of
the writer.