EDITORIAL

Israel In Perspective

A

s Israel prepares to celebrate
her 42nd anniversary of
statehood this weekend, she is
threatened by her neighbors, the news
media and even long time allies in
Washington.
Jerusalem's Arab neighbors — par-
ticularly the nuclear saber-rattling
Saddam Hussein of Iraq — continue to
threaten her very existence. Interna-
tional news organizations focus on
Israel's democratic shortcomings, and
even friends in Congress and the Bush
Administration are expressing exas-
peration with the stagnant peace pro-
cess and propose cutting back funds for
the Jewish state.
So what else is new?
The Jewish state has learned to
persevere over the years, despite the
myriad problems she faces. Perhaps
most disturbing, though, is a change in
the attitude toward Israel among grow-
ing numbers of American Jews.
Many, particularly those under the
age of 40, have become increasingly
disenfranchised with Israel in recent
years. In part, this is because younger
people did not live through the trauma
of the Holocaust or the creation of the
Jewish state. They think of Israel as a
given, a historical reality, rather than
a fragile — perhaps miraculous — crea-
tion.
Also contributing to Israel's tarnish-
ed image is that her political and
military leaders are no longer de-
scribed in mythic proportions but as
all-too fallible humans. Golda Meir,
Moshe Dayan and the Israeli soldier as
Super Jew have given way to Yitzhak

Shamir, Shimon Peres and images of
soldiers clubbing Palestinian youths.
Add to this the cumulative effect of the
intifada, the Who Is A Jew controversy,
the Pollard spy case, the invasion of
Lebanon, and the wheeling and dealing
of Israeli politics, and one is left with
an Israel that seems less a light unto
the nations than simply one troubled
country among many.
But Israel is not just another nation,
and it is our heritage, history and
responsibility that instructs us to iden-
tify her fate and destiny with our own.
Surely we have learned that when
Jews anywhere in the world are
threatened, all Jews are in danger.
And when Jews in Israel thrive, all
Jews can share in the sense of satisfac-
tion and security. Israel's role in seek-
ing to provide safe haven for Jews flee-
ing from the Soviet Union is but the
most recent and dramatic testimony to
her serving as a true homeland to Jews
everywhere.
The response to Jewish critics of
Israel is not to brand them as turncoats
but to seek to address their frustra-
tions, often legitimate, while em-
phasizing the need for perspective
when considering Israel. As the Jewish
state enters her 43rd year, plagued by
problems, internal and external, she
can hold her head high among the
nations of the world.
Israel remains a brave, tiny state in a
hostile world, surrounded by nations
who still seek her destruction. We take
pride in her daily struggle to survive
and flourish as a democracy and a
homeland for us all.

Beth Messiah
Chose Own Listing

I would like to clarify a few
points about your article,
"Jewish Organizations Battle
Christian Group in Yellow
Pages" (April 13).
First of all, as can be seen
in last year's Yellow Pages,
Shema Yisrael was not listed
under Synagogues. Shema
Yisrael is not a synagogue,
and no attempt has ever been
made to classify it as one. We
were listed under the general
heading Religious Organi-
zations.
Second, the Jewish Com-
munity Council had nothing
whatsoever to do with the
decision to list Congregation
Beth Messiah under
Synagogues — Messianic.
This was purposefully done

6

FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 1990

The Challenge Of
The Unaffiliated

The Jewish community is
delinquent in its efforts to
solve an urgent problem.
The preliminary results
from the demographic study
that shows the metropolitan
Detroit Jewish population to
be 96,000 rather than the

Norman Naimark
Franklin

Territory Issue
Transcends Politics

LETTERS

by Congregation Beth
Messiah so that it might be
clearly and accurately iden-
tified for those consulting the
Yellow Pages. This is not a
"partial victory" for the
Jewish Community Council
since it had nothing to do
with the decision.
Loren Jacobs
Congregational leader,
Beth Messiah

been limited in that its
leadership is fund-raising
driven and oriented.
The JCCouncil, which has
shown marked improvement
in the last few years, reflects
to a lesser extent similar con-
servative thinking and
resistance to grappling with
difficult but important issues.
Critical analysis is a prime
requirement for working
toward a solution of any dif-
ficult problem and especially
this one of unaffiliation in the
Jewish community. Unfor-
tunately, the Federation and
the JCCouncil have not
reached out sufficiently for
broader leadership and
leadership which has that
critical component.
The future of our Jewish
community depends on for-
mulating a program which
will draw the unaffiliated in-
to our community. This
challenge cannot be ignored
nor postponed.

previously estimated 70,000
raises serious and significant
questions.
The large number of unaf-
filiated Jews has always been
a matter of concern. When
26,000 additional unaffiliated
are added, the future conse-
quences to the community
cannot be ignored.
Attempts to solve this pro-
blem by the Jewish communi-
ty through its organizations
and institutions, especially
the Jewish Welfare Federa-
tion and the Jewish Com-
munity Council, are long
overdue.
The Federation has placed
its greatest efforts and con-
centration on fund raising,
where it has and continues to
do an outstanding job. It has
ventured into other areas, but
its efforts and results have

The Lubavitcher Rebbe,
Rabbi Menachem M.
Schneerson, has consistently
cautioned, privately and
publicly, against territorial
concessions and compromises
because they would be
disastrous to the security of
Israel. Even the appearance
of a willingness to discuss
such concessions encourages
terrorism in Israel and in
other parts of the world.
This is not an issue of
trading "land for peace," nor
is it an issue of "politics?'
Contrary to some published
reports, Lubavitch is not af-
filiated with any political
movement — here, in Israel or
anywhere.
The issue is one of life and
death, one which transcends
politics. The speculation that
the relinquishing of land will
lead to peace is inherently er-

roneous and, at best, naive.
Any shrinking of Israel's vital
borders would be mortally
dangerous. It would en-
courage and facilitate incur-
sions and acts of terror by un-
controllable elements,
leading to loss of life and
limb.
This should be the sole con-
sideration of all who pursue
peace.

Chabad Lubavitch
New York

UCSJ Answers
Kraar's Charges

I wish to respond to the
public attack on the Union of
Councils for Soviet Jews by
Council of Jewish Federa-
tions' Executive Vice Presi-
dent, Martin Kraar, which ap-
peared in The Jewish News.
In condemning UCSJ for its
direct mail fund-raising in
support of a new activity in
Moscow, Kraar's interference
in our activities follows on the
heels of similar public
criticisms directed at us, on
behalf of CJF, by the National
Conference on Soviet Jewry
in its March 13 memo to
"Federation, Community and
National Agencies?' Together,
they constitute a coordinated
and transparent attempt to
undermine donor confidence
in the UCSJ. In so doing,
however, they also attack
Soviet Jewish activists who
rely on our dedicated
volunteers as powerful, in-
dependent allies.
On the surface, NCSJ's Ex-
ecutive Director Martin
Wenick, CJF's Kraar, and
Shoshana Cardin, who speaks
for both of these giant
organizations, object to the
UCSJ's plan to set up an of-
fice in Moscow, in cooperation
with Soviet Jewish leaders
and organizations. Cardin
claims that no Western Soviet
Jewry activist presence in the
Soviet Union is necessary
because "the Israelis are
already in Moscow and are