Editor's Notebook

Community Views

Put Jewish Leadership
In A Master Plan For The Future

Rolling Out A Red Carpet
On Social Action Day

BERL FALBAUM SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

PHIL JACOBS EDITOR

At the turn of the
century, Theo-
dore Herzl recog-
nized that if the
Zionist dream of
creating a Jewish
state were to be
realized, it would
require the una-
nimity of the
Jewish people.
This premise led to the first
World Congress in
1897 and a mere
50 years later —
and the measure-
ment is "mere" in
terms of history —
Herzl's vision be-
came a reality.
Perhaps it is
time for another
such Congress at
which Jews
throughout the
world meet to de-
velop what might
be called a master
strategic plan.
Where are we
going? What are
our goals as a peo-
ple? Who will lead
us? Why is no one
leading us?
These and many
other questions
need answers be-
cause whether we
recognize it or not,
we are a people in
trouble.
Presently, Jew-
ish organizations
are maintaining the status quo,
pursuing individual programs
and objectives and, in many in-
stances, working at cross pur-
poses.
Let's take a short inventory
of the political environment fac-
ing the Jewish people:
* The "handshake" notwith-
standing, Israel remains the tar-
get of criticism throughout the
world.
* The media, reflecting the
constant political pressure, pro-
vide the public with a constant
stream of biased reporting. Not
only are we failing to take ac-
tion, but in many instances Jew-
ish organizations reward
offending media institutions
with journalism awards.
* Institutions of scholarship
(such as Encyclopedia Brittan-
ica), which once prided them-
selves on their objectivity, are
writing histories on the Middle
East which are so one-sided that
they appear to have been draft-
ed by Arabs.
* Holocaust revisionists are
making headway in their cam-
paign to deny mankind's most

Bed Falba= is a public relations
specialist and a free-lance
writer.

heinous crimes while Jews ar-
gue over unrelated academic
and esoteric freedom of press is-
sues.
* Anti-Semitism is growing
throughout the world, particu-
larly in Europe.
* Russia is particularly omi-
nous for Jews, and it was so
even before the election of a
leader in Parliament who
spouts neo-fascist philosophies.

are prepared, as a people, to
help others with theirs.
That we have never done as
a people, but it is time we start.
Those in the United States
who take comfort in the notion
that "it" — however one defines
"it" — can never happen here,
might read Fatal Embrace:
Jews and the State by Ben-
jamin Ginsberg.
In this treatise, Mr. Ginsberg
writes that Jews
historically have
participated in
the highest levels
of government,
wherever they
have lived, and
assumed that this
*A would offer them
protection against
anti-Semitism.
But, as he de-
tails meticulously,
as though it were
necessary, the in-
volvement of Jews
in government
has been no pro-
tection.
When circum-
stances required,
governments
have abandoned
Jews and thrown
them to the anti-
Semitic wolves
and they had no
hesitancy in doing
so.
Taking a look
at the future for
Jews in the Unit-
ed States, Mr. Ginsberg dis-
cusses the implications of the
David Dukes, Pat Buchanans,
black anti-Semites, the tradi-
tional fascist right and other im-
portant political signs. And his
prognosis is not encouraging.
Those who suggest that he is
too pessimistic, might remem-
ber that the liberal Democrat-
ic Party could not even bring
itself to adopt a simple resolu-
tion condemning anti-Semitism
at the convention which nomi-
nated Walter Mondale when the
power brokers believed it might
cause some political fallout.
Mr. Ginsberg indicates that
the fate of the Jews in the Unit-
ed States depends largely on the
performance of the economy.
(Indeed it has always been the
case. Throughout history, when
the economies of countries suf-
fered, Jews were made the
scapegoats).
With all these ominous
trends, with Israel and Jews
around the world always on the
defensive, it is time to conduct
a self-analysis.
We need goals. We need
strategies. We need political ac-
tivism. We need a leader. We
need a plan. We need to be pre-
pared. We need to do it now. .0

-

* In this country, the left is
joining the right in a common
target — Jews. New left anti-
Semitism, particularly in the
black community, is growing
uncontrollably.
* College campuses are caul-
drons of hatred, and these anti-
Semitic sentiments also will
take their toll as anti-Jewish ac-
tivists graduate.
How are Jews responding?
Are we responding? Are our re-
sponses effective? If they are,
then why are these forces grow-
ing?
The short answer, of course,
is that we have not been effec-
tive. We have conducted "busi-
ness as usual," particularly in
the United States, hoping
against hope. It almost appears
that we are, as a people, partic-
ularly Jewish officialdom, un-
aware of the seriousness of
these movements and the po-
tential consequences.
We have failed to recognize
that in order to make a differ-
ence, one must practice what
Abba Eban, referring to Israel
negotiations, recently called
"reciprocal diplomacy."
Translated, that means we
must make demands that serve
our special interests just as we

Two feet of snow
over a Washing-
ton's Birthday
several years ago
turned up a les-
son not soon for-
gotten. The fore-
casters were
caught with their
highs and lows on
stun one Sunday night in Feb-
ruary when what was supposed
to be three inches turned into 24.
We all awoke to a deafening
silence. The usual "woosh" and
screeching brakes of a nearby
turnpike that otherwise defined
silence were gone. So were the
shapes of the automobiles in our
apartment parking lot, which
were hidden by the snow. Our
local all-news radio station had
the same crew on from the night
before, and that crew was ask-
ing for volunteers with four-
wheel drive vehicles to report to
area hospitals to assist in shift
changes.
There's only so long a person
can stay inside a one-bedroom
apartment, even with the one
you love. My wife and I knew
there was a nursing home about
a half-mile away, so we shoveled
ourselves out of our flat and
walked in waste-high drifts un-
til we saw the green awning of
the home. There were no red car-
pets greeting volunteers from the
street. There were no smiling ori-
entation nurses or forms to clear
the nursing home of insurance
responsibility should we slip on
a freshly waxed corridor floor.
Instead, a nurse said, "Vol-
unteers?" We said yes, and she
handed us each a tray with food
on it, "Rooms 12 and 13 please."
In each room were very old peo-
ple, who had to be propped up on
pillows and fed soft, mushy gru-
el like food. The people in rooms
12 and 13 were stroke victims.
They were aphasiac, which
meant they had very difficult
speaking challenges. Our job
was to literally open their
mouths, feed them what they
would take and wipe away the
drivel from their mouths. When
we finished with Rooms 12 and
13, we were given other patients
to feed. The staff nurses had
been on duty with little or no
break for some 24 hours.
After staying for a few hours,
we were able to leave. The nurs-
es, of course, stayed. But this
was volunteerism. Working with
the professional staff and other
volunteers who ventured out in
the snow, you gain a sort of col-
lective momentum, a team cause
that makes the time go by in a
flash. You are moved by a sense
of responsibility, but also by a
strong sense of "there but for the
grace of God go I." You also learn
to appreciate what the profes-

sionals who do this sort of work
go through.
Many people are afraid to vol-
unteer, though. They are afraid
because it takes time, yet they
rarely find out just how much
time. They are worried because
they don't think they can offer
much in the way of skills, yet
they rarely find out what orga-
nizations can have them do. And
they don't volunteer because
they are unfamiliar with orga-
nizations that could use their
help.But they rarely run their
finger through the phone book
looking for agencies and calling
them for more information.
Detroit's Jewish Council and
this newspaper are going to dis-
arm all of those fears and pre-
sent in one convenient

On Sunday,
these organizations
will show you
how to get that
feeling for free.

opportunity, this Sunday at the
Maple/Drake JCC, over 30 or-
ganizations who need you as
part of a jointly sponsored Com-
munity Awareness/Social Action
Day. And you don't have to come
equipped with a cure for the
common cold. You don't have to
donate 40 hours a week. Instead,
there is an opportunity to do
something wonderful for others.
But the secret to volunteerism
is that while working hard for
others, you get something that
often money can't provide, a bet-
ter image of self. There are peo-
ple with all sorts of degrees that
will want to know your insur-
ance number before they teach
you how to get that feeling. On
Sunday, these organizations,
ranging from the American Red
Cross to Gleaners to JARC to
Reading for the Blind to Kadi-
ma will show you how to get that
feeling for free.
There are many of our com-
munity members who for one
reason or another have trouble
defining their Jewish identity
through regular synagogue at-
tendance. There are some who
define themselves Jewishly
through cultural contact, book
clubs, national organizations or
fund-raising groups. But there
are also Jews who find that the
highest level of Jewish spiritu-
ality they obtain is when they fill
a grocery sack full of non-per-
ishable items and present it to a
hungry person or when they
SOCIAL ACTION page 10

