4/110/4.10.-

-.411111111111111111.1111101 11111PIENIMINIONROPMPIIII* ,

.411110010101106

OPINION

A Jewish Responsibility:
Watching Over Our Miracles

PHIL JACOBS

Managing Editor

W

hen anyone asks
Temple Beth El
Rabbi Daniel Polish
how he spent his summer
vacation, he'll be one of the
few people who can sincerely
say he took a "dream trip."
And his dream trip came
at a time when the words
"Crown Heights" have fur-
ther crumbled the state of
Jewish and black relations.
Rabbi Polish spent his
three weeks off this summer
as a teacher's aide for a
group of newly arrived Ethi-
opian Jewish children at a
Jerusalem absorption
center. This was something
he has wanted to do since his
years as the director of the
Washington office of the
Synagogue Council of
America. There he was ac-
tive in lobbying the Israeli
government to do more to
get Jews out of Ethiopia.
Every day of his vacation,
from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Rabbi
Polish assisted in teaching
Hebrew to little children.
And every day, he said, the
Hebrew of children at the
absorption center got better
and better.
The rabbi said it was
amazing to see how the chil-
dren reacted to toy cars and

motorcycles. Because they
had never seen them work
before, they did not know the
proper noise to make during
pretend play.
Rabbi Polish added that it
was difficult not to get emo-
tional when the children
sang "Am Yisroel Chai."
He described the children
as "very beautiful, sweet
and affectionate." He said
because they were new to
much that was civilized,
they became excited when
they saw facilities we take
for granted, such as a water
fountain.

Rabbi Polish:
"There is a miracle happening."

"They would wait for me
at the door every morning
and follow me out when I
left, waving goodbye. It was
painful to finally have to
leave," said Rabbi Polish.
"Israel seems committed not
to allow the formation of
stereotypes. The Ethiopian
children are Jews and they
play and they learn and they
hold hands with fellow Jews,
white or black. The Ethiopi-
an kids are being well-
educated there. This is a
miracle happening here."
As long as we're talking
about miracles, there is
something to be said about
the recent squabble between
Israel and the Bush ad-
ministration concerning $10
billion in loan guarantees to
settle Soviet olim. How
much more miracle is left to
happen for the Soviet olim
now that the Soviet Union is
falling apart?
This is a question that
resettlement officials need to
keep an eye on. There have
been many stories in the
media detailing life for
Soviet Jews without a
stronger, totalitarian
government. The in-
dependence of the Soviet re-
publics is an important step
in the "New World Order."
The Jews of the Soviet
Union, however, lived under a
double-edged sword. On one

A new emigre looks at Israel on her way to an absorption center.

hand, it was bad to live
under totalitarianism and
communism, and Jews were
not given opportunities or
advancements because of the
faith they were not allowed
to practice.
Maybe there is more
freedom now that the repub-

"The Ethiopian
children are Jews
and they play and
they learn and
they hold hands
with fellow Jews,
white or black."

Rabbi Polish

lies are independent, but
there is also more freedom
for anti-Semites to rise and

voice their hatred. A recent
interview with Lithuanians
brand-new to this country
pointed out that fact. The
family was supposed to come
to this country with a grand-
father. But the grandfather
was beaten to death by
thugs. His relatives are cer-
tain that it is because of his
religion.
The clannishness of the
republics through history
has shown that Jews are
often the fatal target. As
Jews, we need to stand our
ground and point out to the
world what changes these
new "freedoms" in the
Soviet republics can mean.
In the meantime, we need
to evacuate as many families
as we possibly can. That
must continue, before we
run out of miracle. ❑

How To Endure The Long High Holy Day Services

GARY ROSENBLATT

Editor

For those who
have a difficult
time sitting
through the
High Holy Day
services in syna-
gogue, a few sug-
gestions in time
for Yom Kippur:
Why not bring a Jewish
book with you to read during
. . . (I hesitate to say the
"dull parts" but rather,
those portions of the service
during which your mind
tends to wander)?
I'm not talking about
sneaking a Jackie Mason
autobiography or Belva
Plain novel into your tallit
bag, but there are so many
high-quality books available
in English these days on
Jewish philosophy and prac-
tice that it almost qualifies

as a mitzvah to read them
during services.
For those interested
specifically in the High Holy
Days and the theme of spiri-
tual introspection, there is
an English translation of
Rabbi Joseph Soloveichik's
scholarly work, On Repen-
tance. A bit easier to read,
and thoroughly enjoyable,
are Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz's
Teshuvah, a traditional but
level-headed guide to becom-
ing more observant, and
David Wolpe's recent book
on Jewish views of God, The
Healer Of Shattered Hearts.

In recent years there has
been a virtual explosion' of
Jewish spiritual writing,
from Congregation, essays
on each book of the Bible by
modern scholars and
thinkers, to Contemporary
Jewish Religious Thought,
original essays on critical con-
cepts, movements and beliefs
edited by Arthur Cohen and

Paul Mendes- Flohr.
There are books for every
denomination, for Jewish
feminists and for children.
There are • important works
by such Jewish thinkers as
Arthur Hertzberg, Benjamin
Blech, Yitz Greenberg and
Lawrence Kushner on topics
ranging from the holidays to
the mystical meaning of the
Hebrew alphabet. And for a
quick read, I'd recommend
Sh'ma,the eight-page bi-
weekly with short essays on
a full range of Jewish topics
of the day from a variety of
perspectives.
Ideally, we'd read these
books and journals at home
in our spare time, but if you
have as much spare time at
home as I do, you may never
get to them.
So why not go to the Jewish
bookstore this weekend — or
virtually any bookstore, or
the library — and find a
book of serious Jewish con-

tent to take with you to syn-
agogue before Kol Nidre.
Your criteria should be: is
this a book that would
enhance my Jewish knowl-
edge, help me understand an
aspect of Jewish life or
thought that I am interested
in? And if I don't bring it

There are so many
excellent Jewish
books that it
almost qualifies as
a mitzvah to read
them during
services.

with me to read during ser-
vices, is it quite possible that
I may never get around to
reading it?
Please, I'm not suggesting
that you put aside your
prayer book during the most
important parts of the ser-
vice so you can bury your

head in Famous Jewish
Mountain Climbers (a short
tome, no doubt) or the an-
nual Sports Illustrated
Chasidic swimsuit issue.
You have to know yourself.
And if you suspect that you
may do a bit of daydreaming
during services, or idle chit-
chat with the person sitting
next to you, I'm simply sug-
gesting that you'd be better
off doing a little bit of Jewish
learning.
After all, the idea behind
the High Holy Days is to
cleanse our souls and com-
mit ourselves to becoming
better Jews. And for many of
us, that means learning
more about what Judaism
has to say about a whole
range of topics and beliefs.
I have found these
readings spiritually and in-
tellectually uplifting. But
remember, if you get a dirty
look from your rabbi during
the sermon, you're on your
own. ❑

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

7