DONE? rist STILL

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Stopping The Madness

This has been a difficult week to read the news or
watch it on television. It's sometimes hard to con-
centrate on the Festival of Lights when we hear
about people spraying commuter trains with
bullets, or rock and roll bands with names like
"Dead German Tourists."
We seem to have become a society where issues
such as "-Will casino gambling save Detroit?" and
"the Lions' losing streak" are taking a higher pri-
ority than the internal makeup of our families and
friends. Sadness and insensitivity are being felt
by us all, and it's broken through the checks and
balances of parents, flowing directly to our
children.
But if these tragedies we witness nationally and
locally have a purpose at all, maybe it is to sound
a wakeup call. We can only sit in front of the
television news, reality programming and docu-
dramas so long before we realize the events we
see happening to someone else are also happen-
ing to us.
That is why we urge parents to turn off the out-
side. Too many times children and parents speak
for barely minutes a day. Sometimes that talk is
relegated to the basic, 'What did you do in school
today?" followed by the typical, "Nothing," as a
response. When parents base their own conver-
sation around the commercials of a television
evening or the bleeps of a computer program, then
our expectation level for our children cannot be
much more.
We're talking less to one another. Instead, we're
waking up, rushing the kids through breakfast
and to the school bus, and we're off to our jobs.
Parents are coming home with stress, and they
are finding it more and more difficult to leave it
behind them. It's not like hanging a coat up on a
closet hanger. Instead, it's worn through the
evening, and getting the children to bed is often a
burden rather than something to look forward to.
Is it any wonder then that people are hurting?
Is it any wonder that we learn their message more
and more on the evening news? Is it any wonder

that we and our children are finding more room
in our sensitivities to identify with some of the vic-
tims whose tragedies gain the most publicity?
If there is good news, it's encouraging to learn
that institutions such as Windows, the Jewish
Family Service's domestic violence program, is
getting involved in the lives of local Jewish fami-
lies. It's a positive step that more and more of our
neighbors are reaching out for help. Groups such
as Yad Ezra, our community food bank, have seen
their client lists grow.
Many Jews are overcoming the stigmas that
kept them down in the past. We know these stig-
mas intimately. They tell us and the gentile world
that "Jews don't need money" or "Jews don't hit
their spouses" or "Jews don't need help."
The point is, though, that we have to change.
Outpourings of support are wonderful, but they
are a reaction. We've become a society that's rush-
ing around instead of taking time to touch and
hear.
Yes, there's violence increasing in Gaza again.
Yes, a man walked into a California home, ab-
ducted a girl and killed her. Yes, Dr. Jack
Kevorkian is attracting publicity with a self-
proclaimed hunger strike while in jail. And maybe
pop star Michael Jackson is in trouble for alleged
pedophilia.
But what about our own children? Do we put
as much energy into them as we do in Dr.
Kevorkian? What about our spouses? Who cares
about Michael Jackson? Do we know who is sitting
next to us on the family room sofa? What about
ourselves?
Let's encourage each other. Let's be proud of
our children. Let's cut back on the distractions.
Turn off the television set. We can miss the big
game. Read with your children. Cut back on the
telephone calls. Take your friend out for dinner.
Light candles on Friday night; stay home with the
family if you are so inclined. Talk, listen and hear.
It's not up to anyone else. It's up to us to stop
this madness.

THE DETROIT J EWIS H NEWS

Another December Dilemma

4

Much is being made of Dec. 13 — the scheduled
date for Israel to begin its pullback from Gaza and
Jericho. Arab opponents of the Israeli-PLO accord
maintain a delay would unmask Israel's intention
not to abide by its word; Israeli opponents say the
PLO cannot yet be trusted to maintain order and
that increased bloodshed among Jews and Arabs
is sure to follow any Israeli pullback.
At press time, it appeared that nothing sub-
stantial will, in fact, occur on Monday, although
some symbolic event may still be arranged for
public consumption. That is as it should be; neither
the Palestinians or the Israelis are ready for what
lies ahead and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's
suggestion of a two or three week delay makes
sense.
By nearly all objective accounts, the Palestine
Liberation Organization is in disarray, over-
whelmed by the task of changing from a terrorist
organization to a governmental entity. Chairman
Yassir Arafat — unwilling to share power — is
apparently as much the cause of these organiza-
tional problems as is anything or anyone else.
From Israel's perspective, however, perhaps the
greater problem is the PLO leader's unwillingness
or inability to stop Arab attacks against Jews —

despite his tepid statement, issued under pres-
sure from Washington, urging Palestinians to put
aside the gun. Since the Sept. 13 White House
signing ceremony, terrorists have murdered at
least 18 Israelis.
These deaths have fueled retaliatory attacks
by Jewish settlers in the territories, further threat-
ening the phased plan to bring peace to Israel and
the Palestinians. Some settlers undoubtedly want
the accord to fail as dearly as do Arab rejection-
ists. Still, the settlers cannot simply be abandoned;
they deserve Israel's full protection while a final
agreement is still being negotiated.
Publicly, Chairman Arafat has said Israel must
begin its pullback on Monday — but that is just
more grandstanding. His lieutenants have let it
be known they are not unhappy about a delay, and
Mr. Rabin has said a "tacit understanding"
concerning a delay has been reached between the
parties.
Let the critics say what they will. It is better to
delay the next step in the struggle to achieve peace
than to risk everything for the sake of adhering
to an unrealistic schedule. Prudence is indeed the
better part of valor — particularly when so many
lives are at stake.

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Letters

Jonathan Pollard
And World Politics

As if to confirm an observa-
tion it has made in the past,
that the Pollard case will not
go away, The Jewish News
reported Nov.
26 that Prime
Minister Rabin
has made a
public appeal
to President
Clinton to com-
mute Jonathan
Pollard's life
sentence to
that of time
served.
It may be
speculated that
after receiving
the Justice De-
partment review of the Pol-
lard case, the president will
make his decision known,
possibly around Christmas.
It may be further specu-
lated that two factors could
weigh heavily on his decision:
one, being Caspar Weinberg-
er's role in the case, and the
other being the impact the
president's decision can have
on the Arab-Israeli fragile
peace process, given Pollard's
popularity with the Israelis.
As many continue to be-
lieve, Caspar Weinberger's
last-minute intervention in
the sentencing process, in
effect, sealed Pollard's fate.
While Weinberger's credibil-
ity may not have been a fac-
tor with Judge Robinson, it
should be with President
Clinton, given that Wein-
berger's credibility is suspect
on a number of other matters.
The question is, did Mr.
Weinberger mislead Judge
Robinson as he did on occa-
sion mislead Congress when
it suited his purpose? If the
Justice Department review is
thorough enough, perhaps an
answer will be provided. Or
better still, perhaps it will
recommend declassification
of the secret memo provided
Judge Robinson prior to
sentencing, to buttress its
recommendations to the pres-
ident.
President Clinton may
want to consider whether it

is in the best interests of U.S.
foreign policy to further sup-
port Prime Minister Rabin's
peace process initiative with
the PLO. If he believes it is,
he will have to consider
Prime Minister Rabin's di-
lemma: How
does the prime
minister ex-
plain to a skep-
tical
Israeli
public
that
while
hun-
dreds, if not
thousands, of
PLO prisoners
are being re-
leased under a
peace agree-
ment with the
PLO, Pollard
continues to
languish in an American
prison?
After eight-plus years of
imprisonment, Jonathan Pol-
lard has paid dearly for his
crime of espionage. If Presi-
dent Clinton concludes that
that is sufficient, then many
will agree that justice has
been served.

Irving Warshawsky

West Bloomfield

Observations
On Christmas

Amy Bigman is morally cor-
rect to chide Jews who
participate in Christmas ob-
servances ("Dealing with the
`It Would Have Been Easier'
Season," Dec. 3).
She is factually incorrect,
however, when she states
that "Christmas is the most
important, holiest of days for
Christians." That distinction
belongs to Easter.
Moreover, she is partially
correct when she states that
"Christmas celebrates the
birth of the Christian mes-
siah." Christianity teaches
that Jesus is not only savior,
but God in human form.
Aside from the social rea-
sons cited by Ms. Bigman,
there is a sound religious
basis why Jews ought to shun
any celebration of Christmas.
The holiday and i ymbols

LETTERS page 8

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