DETROIT

United Nations Vote Signals
Difficult Times For Israel

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM

Assistant Editor

A

merican support for
the United Nations'
resolution condemn-
ing the Temple Mount inci-
dent portends dangerous
times ahead of the Jewish
state, political analyst Alan
Keyes said last week.
Dr. Keyes, speaking at a
fund-raiser for the American
Technion Society Detroit
chapter, said the future of
U.S.-Israel relations hasn't
looked good for some time.
Blame for this tension
cannot be placed solely on
the shoulders of Iraq, he
said.
Resident scholar at the
American Enterprise In-
stitute for Public Policy
Research and assistant sec-
retary for international af-
fairs in the Reagan ad-
ministration, Dr. Keyes said
Israel's "moral credibility
and legitimacy" are under
attack.
Within the United States,
Dr. Keyes said he has seen
"approaches and statements
I,would have thought to find
only in the more
vituperative debates at the
assemblies of the U.N."
In the past, the United
States has been critical of
Israel, he said. But it also
had established a pattern of
rejecting any unfair analy-
ses of Middle East situa-
tions, as was the U.N.
resolution, he said.
Dr. Keyes said the U.S.
was wrong in taking the lead
in crafting the resolution
that accepted the interna-
tional body's report saying
Israel had mishandled the
Oct. 8 incident at Temple
Mount. There, Israeli police
shot 17 rioting Arabs.
"And what we see in the
United Nations is what we
will see later in the world,"
he said. If the United States
continues to support such
resolutions, "pro-Arab ap-
peasement will become the
cornerstone for the (U.S.)
policy in the Middle East."
Dr. Keyes said the Bush
administration accepted the
U.N. resolution "because we
didn't want to aggravate and
cause difficulties for the
Arab coalition" fighting
beside the United States
against Iraq's Saddam Hus-
sein.
Yet, he said, the United
States is in the region to
help the other Arabs from

14

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1990

Iraq, "so why is it that we
must pay to defend the im-
mediate interests of Saudi
Arabia?"
That payment is coming in
the form of the U.S. relation-
ship with Israel, Dr. Keyes
said.
"And the Arab world has
an inexhaustible appetite for
that kind of coinage," he
said.
Furthermore, such a
sacrifice will not guarantee
support from the erratic
Arab world, he said.
"That doesn't seem like a
good trade-off to me," he
said.
The United States' rela-
tionship of trust with Israel

is quickly eroding, Dr. Keyes
said.
"And that's not just bad
for Israel. That's bad for
America. That's bad for
peace in the Middle East.
That's bad for the world," he
said.
Dr. Keyes also said the
president and his officials
seem confused about why
U.S. forces have been sent to
the Middle East. Secretary
of State James Baker said
forces were deployed in the
interest of maintaining
American jobs and preserv-
ing the American way of life.
"But don't tell me you're
sending men and women
halfway across the world to

Dr. Alan Keyes:
Israel is a "flagship of reason in
the sea of despotism."

die for the American way of
life,' " Dr. Keyes said. The
United States must fight
Saddam Hussein because
the Iraqi leader has
chemical and possibly

nuclear weapons ready to
use at any moment, he said.
Calling Israel the
"flagship of reason in the sea
of despotism," Dr. Keyes
said the Jewish state is a
critical symbol in the world
today. It is a nation not born
in "the ashes of
hopelessness" as its creation
after the Holocaust would
imply. Instead, Israel is a
state that constantly re-
members "that kernel of
human dignity" in each per-
son, Dr. Keyes said.
That kernel, and Israel's
dedication to democracy, are
not just abstract hopes, he
said. They stand as beacons
to other nations striving for
justice and equality.
Lately, the United States
often seems ready to
sacrifice Israel and its
values, Dr. Keyes said. "And
that is a sacrifice that will
never be justified." ❑

Mini-CAJE Conference Helps
Jewish Educators Improve Their Skills

SUSAN GRANT

Staff Writer

elayne Shaw, a se-
cond grade teacher at
Temple Kol Ami, had
never met the two women
from Grand Rapids who
were sitting behind her. But
it didn't matter.
As they waited for a
workshop on parents and
teachers to begin, the three
women were soon talking
like old friends as they
shared stories about the
difficulty of getting parents
involved in their child's Jew-
ish education.
"I wouldn't even be able to
recognize some of the
parents in my second grade
class," Ms. Shaw said. "I
think I know four or five out
of 11. Parents just drop their
children off at the door and
pick them up when class is
over."
While she doesn't have
that problem with the
parents of the pre-school
children she teaches at the
Jewish Community Center
of Washtenaw County, Ms.
Shaw isn't sure how to corn-
municate with those parents
she hasn't seen.
Ms. Shaw was one of 600
Jewish educators from six
states seeking new
classroom methods and an-
swers to common problems
at the Nov. 18 Mini-
CAJE/Oppenheim Family
Teachers Institute. The one-
day conference offered 12
workshops and nine

speakers to help educators
learn new teaching tech-
niques for children, in-
cluding those with special
needs.
Although not all of her
questions were answered by
workshop presenter David
Weikart, he did offer a few
practical suggestions which
Ms. Shaw and other teachers
could use to get parents in-
terested in classroom ac-
tivities.
Mrs. Elena Glasier, who
teaches Hebrew at Temple

600 Jewish
educators from six
states sought new
classroom
methods and
answers to
common problems.

Shir Shalom, said she plans
to change her teaching style
slightly based on sugges-
tions from keynote speaker
Dr. Susan Vogel. Dr. Vogel
urged teachers to use a corn-
bination of audio, visual and
tactile teaching techniques
so every student can learn
something.
"I'm interested in learning
different methodologies be-
cause there is a large
number of students with
learning disabilities," Mrs.
Glasier said. "Some children
can't comprehend using tra-
ditional methods. We have
to use different teaching
techniques."
In search of better tech-

niques, most teachers were
seen wandering around the
15 educational exhibits
searching for games and
books to bring back to. their
classroom. Bea Kriechman,
principal of the Adat Shalom
Synagogue branch of the
Agency for Jewish Edu-
cation, said at the end of the
conference her pockets were
filled with receipts for edu-
cational items teachers had
purchased.
Deborah Goldenberg, a
kindergarten teacher at
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah, said
based on a workshop on chil-
dren as decision makers, "I
learned we need to give in-
dividual children an oppor-
tunity to make more deci-
sions and plan their day. It
gives them a sense of power
and control. It helps give
them a positive attitude
toward being in the
classroom."
Yerachmiel Stewart, a
third grade teacher at
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah, said
much of what was said dur-
ing the workshops wasn't
new to him.
"But it gave me a strong
reinforcement of the things I
already do," Mr. Stewart
said. "One of the important
things is that you as the
teacher help shape the kids.
If they feel they are in a
secure environment, they
will have a better self-
image."
Other teachers, like Bette
Russell, another third grade
teacher at Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah, said she wished

many of the workshops were
longer. The workshop
speakers were just getting to
the heart of their presenta-
tion when it was time to
stop, she said.
Ms. Hanna Zimberg, a spe-
cial needs teacher at Temple
Emanu-El, said she wished
the workshops offered more
practical methods.
As part of the conference,
teachers with the best cur-
riculum ideas were reward-
ed with research grants from
the Oppenheim family who
supported the mini-CAJE.
Nira Lev from the Agency
for Jewish Education receiv-
ed the top award, a $500
grant for methodology and
principals on teaching Heb-
rew at the intermediate and
advanced levels to adults and
adolescents. Smaller grants
were given to Judy Simons
and Mindy Nathan of Tem-
ple Shir Shalom, Chana
Greenfield and Flo Ziffer of
Akiva Hebrew Day School
and the Agency for Jewish
Education, Susie Melamed
of Temple Emanu-El and
Beindy Weiss of D'archei
Torah.
Stan Alexander, a third
grade teacher at Beth Israel
Religious School in Ann Ar-
bor, said the greatest lesson
he learned at mini-CAJE
was he wasn't the only one
facing classroom problems.
"I feel much more valued
as a teacher. I see what I do
in a broader perspective.
Those hours I give up to
teach does make a differ-
ence," he said. ❑

