The GA Who Really Cares
What Happens In Montreal?
Two years ago, we waited in line in Baltimore
to hear then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak
Shamir address the 60th General Assembly of
the Council ofJewish Federations. In a fiery, non-
compromising speech, he called on the American
delegates to continue their support for Israel, a
strong, secure Israel.
But most of what Mr. Shamir said was for-
gotten. This year, Prime Minister Yitzhak Ra-
bin will address the 62nd GA, this one in
Montreal. Times have changed dramatically.
But the question is, will Mr. Rabin's words
also be just forgotten rhetoric two years from
now? The underlying key to Mr. Rabin's GA
address will be follow-up discussions on how
we, the American Jewish community, work
with Israel during times of peace.
A check of the GA program shows that only
one of its many sessions, one that lasts for
about an hour and 45 minutes, even takes up
the subject. Without a doubt, the focus of many
other scheduled panels dealing with econom-
ics, fund-raising and financial planning will
take on the overriding subject of peace. Still,
the Council of Jewish Federations, knowing
full well that American Jewry is facing a com-
plicated crossroads fronvmany directions,
needs to spend more time with the question.
But there's an even broader issue. Recent
surveys conducted by The Jewish News tell us
loudly and clearly that Jews in their 20s and
30s don't see Israel as a top priority. Instead,
they are more concerned about anti-Semitism
and their place in the future Jewish commu-
nity.
This is where we as a Detroit Jewish com-
munity and the Council ofJewish Federations
need to spend most of our time, yet we still
aren't understanding the message. It's im-
portant to talk about continuity at a confer-
ence of 3,000 Jewish delegates. It's important
to talk about Israel, and intermarriage, future
funding, the former Soviet Union and other
issues.
But basically, the same crowd that
shmoozed in the hallways outside of the
Shamir speech in Baltimore will be there Tues-
day in Montreal, shmoozing outside of the Ra-
bin speech.
Federations and the CJF need to change
that crowd. The unaffiliated, the disenchant-
ed, the assimilated, the intermarried, the new
Americans, the single parents need to be at-
tending these workshops that are otherwise
preaching to the choir. There should be a sys-
tem of scholarships as well as a way to iden-
tify the members of the so-called "unaffiliated
community." It would be refreshing for a
change to hear from these "consultants." Truth
is, while the Jewish world changes, the basic
format of the GA remains the same.
The critical unit of Judaism is the Jewish
family, whatever its definition may be. The
day-to-day issues, be it single-parent families,
educating our adults and children, counseling
during family crises, these are the issues that
our families care about. Lighting the Sabbath
candles, learning about holidays and Jewish
life but also knowing that Jews are there to
help other Jews should be the GA's top prior-
ity.
The point is, we're losing Jews. There are
many reasons, and we've written about them
over the years. The question is, when is CJF
and its annual General Assembly going to
throw the gauntlet down and say, "Enough"?
The people we're not reaching need to be in
the same room with the movers and shakers.
But they aren't. They weren't last year, and
they weren't the year before.
We need to include them in the hallway
shmooze. If we don't, then there might not be
a need to discuss Israel 20 years from now, be-
cause when we go home from the GA, we won't
find a community with which to interface. Of
course, we'll have one another in a convention
hall each November at another exciting city.
But that's not going to be enough.
Time For Arab Reciprocity
In the two months since Yitzhak Rabin and
Yasser Arafat shook hands at the White House,
Israel has:
• Stopped hunting leading terrorists associ-
ated with Fatah, the PLO faction directly led
by Chairman Arafat.
• Released some 650 Palestinian prisoners
and has promised to released more.
• Eased restrictions that kept Palestinian
workers from entering Israel proper.
• Lobbied for large amounts of Western aid
to spur sorely needed Palestinian economic de-
velopment.
• Pledged $75 million of its own funds to-
ward Palestinian economic development.
During this same period, the PLO has:
• Refused to call for an end to the continued
terrorist attacks against Israelis committed by
Palestinian rejectionists, including Hamas,
while urging Israel to release imprisoned
Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin.
• Taken no steps to delete from its Palestine
National Charter those clauses that call for the
total military destruction of Israel, which the
document calls an "illegal" state.
• Refused to call for an end to the Arab boy-
cott of Israel, even though the PLO effective-
ly ended its own participation in the boycott by
signing the peace accord with Israel.
• Declined to help facilitate the return of Is-
raeli military personnel missing in action, in-
cluding Air Force navigator Ron Arad, the only
one believed still alive.
• Continually made demands that show an
utter disregard for Israel's security concerns.
These include the immediate removal of all Is-
raeli troops from Jericho and Gaza and Israel's
relinquishing of control of border points.
Letters
Knowledge Is Low
Of The Holocaust
I display my art work about the
Holocaust and at the same time
I lecture about the subject. This
work has brought me in touch
with many young adults of var-
ious religions at their schools.
Many of the children have
visited the Holocaust Memori-
al Center, and have also had
guest lecturers talking about
the Holocaust at their schools.
Suprisingly, I find that their
account of the trip to Wash-
ington as well as describing
the ongoing importance of the
national museum for Holo-
caust education and remem-
brance.
We urge readers to visit
Washington to see the muse-
um for themselves as well as
touring our own very fine
Holocaust Memorial Center
in West Bloomfield.
We feel The Jewish News
has performed a valuable ser-
vice in educating the public
about the national museum
and its significant role for
Holocaust education and
awareness in our nation.
Charles Slow
President, C.FthIM
Borman Residents
Need Our Help
Baden-Baden Synagogue burns on
Kristallnacht, Nov. 9-10, 1938.
knowledge of the Holocaust is
almost non-existent. They do
not know the extent of the Nazi
crimes, no knowledge at all of
the Nuremberg Laws, and they
have no knowledge about the
Jews.
It is time to re-evaluate how
the Holocaust is being present-
ed to the young generation. At
present, they are still very ig-
norant about the subject.
Henry Friedman
Oak Park
Museum Trip
Was Important
On behalf of CHAIM — Chil-
dren of Holocaust-Survivors
Association In Michigan, we
are writing to commend The
Jewish News on its Nov. 5 ar-
ticle about the jointly spon-
sored Akiva/CHAIM trip to
the U.S. Holocaust Memori-
al Museum in Washington,
D.C.
We feel writer Kimberly
Lifton has written a moving
Now that we know we have
failed in our attempt to main-
tain an institution for depen-
dent elderly people and that
Borman Hall will probably
close, it is time for this commu-
nity to organize and help the
164 people and their families
who are caught in this tragic
situation.
Every congregation, B'nai
B'rith chapter and all service
organizations should be or-
ganizing support systems for
these people. Some residents
in this home have no family
in this city and some have no
family at all. Many have
spent their entire life savings
at this home with the under-
standing that they would be
cared for indefinitely.
At least they could be as-
sisted by community mem-
bers who care to do
something to help them cope
individually. Do we have a
community that cares and re-
sponds? To date the public
has reacted with unbeliev-
ably apathy and indifference.
Witnessing this response,
during the past few years,
has been a very dishearten-
ing experience for me. It re-
mains to be seen whether we
will develop a new spirit of
dediction and commitment.
Nancy Cohen
Farmington Hills
LETTERS page 8