Community Views
Editor's Notebook
Family Education Can Lead Us
Out Of Our Jewish Morass
A Job For Gore:
Justice, Continuity
HARLENE WINNICK APPELMAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
GARY ROSENBLATT EDITOR
The Jewish News is proud to in-
troduce its "Community Views"
column, a weekly look at the
Jewish community from its
leaders and readers. We wel-
come your letters and feedback
in response to the column.
The American
Jewish family
today has more
choices than
ever before.
Although we
may find the
modern glut of
choices confusing or even ex-
hausting, we revere people
who can absorb, process, and
respond to it. The active per-
son, who power breakfasts,
power lunches, works 10
hours, hits exercise class, the
hottest new restaurant, and
the most exciting new play all
in the same day has become
someone to be admired.
Clearly, the family, and yes,
even the Jewish family,
reflects these societal trends.
Just as the family is the
seedbed and training ground
for life in society, so, as the
backbone of that society, it
will reflect whatever trends
prevail in the community at
large.
-) Our kids must be power
kids, able not only to be
talented academically,
musically and athletically,
but also socially. As a family
educator, the two issues with
which I am constantly con-
I z fronted are the ever shrinking
) hour and the ever growing
number of choices of how to
spend it.
Today, many of us act less
and less like Jews. There is
simply not enough time to
develop expertise in every-
thing and Judaism has been
allowed to fall to last place.
Many of our families don't
have the repertoire of learn-
ed Jewish behaviors that
were once transmitted
through generations and
community.
The idea of past nisht (not
'
proper) is not understood by
the majority of our families.
And, when families do make
Jewish choices, such as sen-
ding their children to
religious school in spite of the
> myriad of alternatives, the
community does little to rein-
force that behavior.
As Jewish educators and
leaders we still assume that
> Harlene Winnick Appelman is
director of field services,
Whizin Institute for the Fami-
ly, University of Judaism, Los
Angeles, and former director
of Detroit's Jewish Ex-
periences for Families.
families will make a Jewish
choice, rather than looking
beyond our own parochial
walls and appreciating and
reinforcing families for mak-
ing that choice.
Parents of young children
are looking for guidance and
encouragement. The phe-
nomenon of mobility and lack
of extended family propels
them to look for outside
guidance in parenting and
support in family shaping.
Further, they are looking for
more, not fewer, ways to spend
time with their children in a
positive Jewish atmosphere.
They are willing to bring
their children to things
Jewish, more, rather than
less. And, I am convinced that
school lessons, the answer is
not to cut instruction time,
but to look for alternative in-
struction time. It also means
taking the time to counsel
and talk to parents about the
importance of that time and
the importance of the stand-
ards from which we can no
longer shy away.
Some communities have in-
stituted "educational coun-
selors" for the Soviet
newcomers to their corn-
munities. American families
need educational counselors
to explain and review their
Jewish educational options.
The family education coun-
selor conversation would go
something like this:
Counselor: "Hello, Mr. Ap-
Dena Roth interviews her grandmother Edith during a program at the JCC.
they are willing to learn
things Jewish.
Parents of preadolescents
and adolescents ask why
there is not more provided for
them. At this age, needs
become more current, and
issues such as substance
abuse, self esteem and sex-
uality take center stage. All
of these issues can be ap-
proached from a Jewish
perspective and can add to the
information that our family
consumers seek so arduously.
Again, this does not replace
what many of us believe is
basic Jewish literacy: it is just
another pathway, that if used
creatively, can lead to basic
Jewish literacy.
However, all of this bodes
more, not less, work for the
religious school. It means be-
ing open and available more
hours, not fewer, with more
teachers offering quality
choices, not fewer. It means
adding family mentoring pro-
grams, latchkey programs,
busing and even one-on-one
Jewish teaching to our bag of
educational strategies.
If the data and trends show
parents resistant to after-
ple, I understand that you
have just joined Beth Mitz-
vah, welcome! I'd like to come
to your home and talk to you
about the educational oppor-
tunities we offer for you and
your family."
At the time of the appoint-
ment the counselor would
talk about day school, after-
noon school, adult and family
education. He/she could
enroll the family on the spot;
put together a five-year group
insurance (Jewish) plan so
that families could see what
long-term educational plan-
ning might have to offer. A
camp package could easily be
included.
Another scenario. Teacher:
"You've signed up Seth for
our gan (kindergarten). Let
me come to your home and
show you and Seth some of
the things Seth will be learn-
ing this year. It would be
great to meet you, and maybe
I can answer other questions
you might have about our
synagogue or community. I
also want to leave some new
materials that your family
can share. It will really help
EDUCATION page 8
Add me to the
list of people
with advice for
Bill Clinton:
Put Vice Pres-
ident-elect Al
Gore in charge
of the Mideast
peace talks.
Since the election, Mid-
east observers and Wash-
ington insiders have been
watching closely how Mr.
Clinton will approach the
Arab-Israeli conflict in gen-
eral and the peace talks in
particular.
Will he ask James Baker
to act as a special Mideast
negotiator to get the stalled
talks back on track? Will he
clean house at the State De-
partment and dismiss the
three Jewish "Baker Boys"
— Daniel Kurtzer, Richard
Haas and Aaron Miller —
who, under Dennis Ross,
helped shape U.S. policy on
the Mideast? Whom will he
select as Secretary of State?
There has even been talk
of Mr. Clinton asking for-
mer President Jimmy
Carter to act as a special
Mideast envoy. I don't know
which is a more chilling
prospect for pro-Israel ac-
tivists in this country —
Jimmy Carter or James
Baker handling Mideast
policy again.
One of the best political
decisions Mr. Clinton made
during his 13-month cam-
paign for the presidency
was to choose Al Gore as his
running mate. He is very
bright, capable and experi-
enced in foreign policy,
through his years in the
Senate. A problem facing
the president-elect is how
best to utilize Mr. Gore's
skills in the vice presiden-
cy, an office whose impor-
tance depends solely on how
much clout the president
chooses to delegate.
Why not let Mr. Gore
oversee the Mideast talks?
He has the knowledge, the
temperament and the cre-
dentials. And his long-
standing support of the
State of Israel would be a
powerful signal to the
Mideast participants, par-
ticularly in light of Mr.
Clinton's statements
throughout the campaign
that the Bush administra-
tion was placing undue
pressure on the Israelis.
So while pundits and
Jewish lobbyists debate
whether or not Warren
Christopher, the Carter-era
diplomat who heads Mr.
Clinton's transition team,
would be a positive choice
as Secretary of State, I cast
my vote for Al Gore as the
man in the administration
to oversee U.S. policy on the
Mideast peace talks.
Crown Heights Outrage
The only reason that
Yankel Rosenbaum was
murdered in the Crown
Heights section of Brooklyn
in August 1991 was because
he was Jewish.
The innocent victim of
black outrage, following the
death of a 7-year-old black
boy in an accident caused
by a car driven by a Lubav-
itcher Chasid, Mr. Rosen-
baum was in the wrong
place at the wrong time. As
he walked down the street
the night the riots broke
out, the 29-year-old Chasid,
visiting from Australia, was
surrounded by a group of
black youths and stabbed to
death.
Compounding the trage-
dy was the recent verdict
acquitting Lemrick Nelson
Jr., the black teenager who
was found with the bloody
knife, identified by the dy-
ing victim and who con-
fessed to police that night.
Sounds like an airtight
case, but an aggressive de-
fense attorney dramatized
the discrepancies and con-
tradictions in the testimo-
ny of several policemen
sufficiently to cause the
jury of six blacks, four His-
panics and two whites to
vote for acquittal.
The Chasidim of Crown
Heights were left to seethe
in anger, and though there
have been no riots, there
have been demonstrations
focusing the blame on May-
or David Dinkins. Hun-
dreds of demonstrators laid
a coffin outside Gracie Man-
sion this week. On it was
inscribed, "Justice For
Yankele."
The anger is under-
standable — it strains the
mind to conclude that all of
the evidence was planted,
the identification in error
and the police testimony
lies — but the mayor is not
the person to blame. In-
deed, he risked bodily harm
that awful night to try to
calm the crowds and visit-
ed the dying Mr. Rosen-
baum in the hospital.
Jewish rage should focus
on a system that gives an
advantage to skillful de-
fense attorneys who can
raise countless doubts but
need not offer plausible al-
ternatives. (Remember how
JOB FOR GORE page 10