OPINION

When Journalists
Get Together .. .

GARY ROSENBLATT

Editor

■

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The question
of whether one
can be both a
committed Jew
and a committed
journalist was
asked — and
answered — in
any number of ways during
an international Jewish
media conference in
Jerusalem last week.
Can one write an unflat-
tering story about Israel,
and still be a good Jew?
When, if ever, is it proper for
us to pull our journalistic
punches?
Ari Goldman, a religion
reporter for the New York
Times and observant Jew,
dramatized his response by
juggling apples and oranges
in front of several hundred of
his fellow journalists at the
outset of his address. "There
is no better metaphor for
what we do," he said. "All of
us juggle our different iden-
tities."
Mr. Goldman noted how he
lost his objectivity during
the Crown Heights riots last
summer in New York. He
said the Times had been
playing the story "right
down the middle," reporting

Israelis view the
peace talks as a
form of cod liver oil.

•-

•

on clashes between blacks
and Jews. But after witness-
ing first-hand several anti-
Semitic episodes, Mr.
Goldman said he called his
editors and told them the
story was not two-sided, but
simply that of blacks attack-
ing Jews.
"I went from neutral
observer to passionate ad-
vocate," he acknowledged,
after 18 years of striving for
objectivity.
The editors responded by
teaming Mr. Goldman with
a black reporter to interview
black and Jewish families in
Crown Heights and write a
story together. But Mr.
Goldman remains convinced
that his perceptions were
correct.
One of the lessons he said
he came away with is that
"the things we juggle are not
always of equal weight. I
realized I was a Jew first and
everything else second."
Some journalists at the

conference, which attracted
about 175 Jewish journalists
from all over the Diaspora
plus another 80 from Israel,
resented the media attention
Mr. Goldman received dur-
ing his visit. Besides deliver-
ing the opening address at
the week-long conference, he
was the most sought-out par-
ticipant for interviews on
radio and television and in
newspapers.
Critics noted that he was
not a Jewish journalist in
the strictest sense because
he works for a secular daily,
not a Jewish community
newspaper. It is generally
believed that Jewish
publications more openly
advocate Jewish causes
while journalists on secular
newspapers seek to main-
tain objectivity.
But one quickly learns at a
conference such as this, held
every two years and spon-
sored by the World Zionist
Organization, that there are
few points of consensus.
A journalist from
Copenhagen responded to
Mr. Goldman's remarks by
stating that journalism
schools in Europe teach a
student to report the facts as
one sees them and not to
strive for objectivity. And a
Dutch journalist said that
since Jews have been vic-
tims for 2,000 years, it is
always our job to defend
Jewish causes.
Mr. Goldman maintained
that a committed Jewish
journalist is one who "deals
with the gray areas and does
not avoid them.
"The Ultimate Editor," he
said, pointing heavenward,
"understands our
struggles."
But those of us on earth
were left to struggle with the
cacophony of messages we
heard from a number of
Israeli political figures, in-
cluding Prime Minister Yit-
zhak Shamir, Labor Party
leader Shimon Peres,
Defense Minister Moshe
Arens and Jerusalem Mayor
Teddy Kollek as well as
members of Knesset repre-
senting extreme left and
right positions.
If the Jewish journalists
were to choose Israel's next
prime minister on the basis
of speaking skills and quot-
able quotes, Mr. Peres would
be the clear winner. He
called for new paradigms in
dealing with Mideast prob-
lems based on economic par-
ticipation of both Arabs and

Artwork by Barbara Cummings. Copyright° 1990, Barbara Cummings. Distributed by Los Anoelea Times Syria. te.

Jews. And he charged that
the Likud, the party of
Prime Minister Shamir,
lives in the past and has a
"one-legged ideology" based
on maintaining the land.
"Why should we police
Gaza?" he asked. "We have
enough problems policing
the Jews."
Mr. Peres said that it is
unrealistic for Israel to keep
all of the land, and that
security is not the issue be-
cause whatever land is given
to the Arabs will be de-
militarized.
Mr. Shamir, not surpris-
ingly, held fast to his posi-
tion that Israel should build
settlements throughout the
land, including Gaza, the
West - Bank and the Golan

Heights. And he expressed
confidence regarding
negotiations with Washing-
ton over loan guarantees as
well as with the peace talks
with the Arabs.
His speaking style is to say
as little as possible, then
stick to his guns during
questions. This may be
frustrating to journalists,
but Mr. Shamir remains
popular in the polls. As one
Russian cab driver told me,
"We like him because he is
tough cookie."
There is surprisingly little
talk on the streets of the
historic peace talks taking
place. Israelis view them as
a form of cod liver oil: some-
thing that has to be endured,
as distasteful as it is, be-

cause in the long run it may
prove helpful. But make no
mistake, no one is excited
about the prospects.
By the end of the con-
ference, the journalists took
comfort interviewing each
other about the problems
and challenges of doing their
jobs in countries as diverse
as Mexico, South Africa, the
United States and Russia.
And for many, the question
of whether or not one can be
a committed journalist and
committed Jew became a
moot point.
Like Mr. Goldman, we
constantly juggle our iden-
tities, doing the best we can
under the circumstances and
hoping the Ultimate Editor
appreciates our efforts. ❑

Portrait Of A Rabbi
And Everyone's Friend

RABBI CHASKEL GRUBNER

R

abbi Leizer Levin
symbolized the type of
rabbi who is unfor-
tunately seldom found on the
spiritual map of the Jewish
world today. He was of the
"old guard" of rabbis, and his
passing leaves a vacuum, an
empty place which cannot be
filled.
The title of "rabbi" by him
still held its original, tradi-
tional meaning: it denoted
wisdom, it commanded re-
spect, and it warmed the
heart. To the thousands of
Jews who came to accompany
him to his final resting place
he was more than a spiritual
leader or representative. He
was their father; now they
were orphaned and their grief
knew no bound.
Rabbi Levin always had
time for everyone. Until the
last weeks of his life his door
was open until late at night
to anyone who sought him,
who needed advice and who
wanted to pour out an aching
heart and receive comfort and
solace.

Rabbi Levin

Having worked with him
for almost 42 years to
establish the Council of Or-
thodox Rabbis of Greater
Detroit, I was privileged to
witness his saintliness, his
wisdom which he displayed
while engaged in his holy
work.
Rabbi Levin coordinated
the activities of 28 Orthodox
rabbis in unity and friend-
ship. He also sat on the com-
munal Beth Din (Rabbinical

Court) which adjudicated all
manners of civil Jewish cases
in the community.
How fortunate we were
when we had the opportunity
and merit to be in his
righteous presence, to drink
in his words which
strengthened and encourag-
ed, and to bask in his wise,
compassionate, loving gaze.
Under his leadership
Detroit was not a lost city. He
banished the course of disuni-
ty from our midst and
answered the questions and
solved the problems which
troubled us. At every
crossroad he took us by the
hand and led us in the way of
Torah and truth.
Rabbi
Levin
never
answered a halachic question
without being absolutely cer-
tain of its correctness. Known
to be uncompromisingly
honest and objective and un-
tainted by any hint of per-
sonal motive, he earned the
respect and affection of all
Jews, Orthodox or not, obser-
vant or secular, all of Detroit
Jewry loved and revered him.

Continued on Page 10

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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