Editor's Notebook
Community Views
The Rotten
Smell Of Money
Let's Get Out Of Here,
At Least For A Minute
LEONARD FEIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
PHIL JACOBS ED TOR
I note with inter-
est, and mild dis-
gust, this news
item: This year's
Scopus Award of
the American
Friends of the
Hebrew Univer-
sity, presented in
Los Angeles, will
go to Larry King. The reason it
will go to Larry King is that the
original designee withdrew/was
withdrawn. Who was he?
Michael Jackson.
Now, I don't want to be stuffy,
and I don't think I am. I can tol-
erate some compromises that
Jewish institutions make in the
name of convenience, profit, and
so forth. But surely there must
be limits. And surely the notion
that Michael Jackson, even be-
fore his current troubles, was an
appropriate candidate for an
award from the university with
which such
names as Ein-
stein and Buber
are associated
(among many
very distin-
guished others)
crosses those
limits. However
prodigious Mr.
Jackson's tal-
ents, his sheer
vulgarity, one
might have sup-
posed, would
have disqualified
him.
And so, once
again, I return to
one of my pet
kvetches: The be-
havior of au-
tonomous Jew-
ish institutions
has implications
for us all. Yet "all
of us" have no
way of monitor-
ing that behav-
ior.
When the American Friends
of the Hebrew University de-
cided to give an award to
Michael Jackson, young Jews
may have read of it. And even if
those young Jews are Michael
Jackson fans, if they are
thoughtful, there will be some
wonder about what the King of
Pop is doing atop Mount Scopus.
Not only will those young Jews
take the Hebrew University less
seriously, but also to be taken
less seriously will be the awe-
some tales they have heard re-
garding Judaism as a religious
civilization of high aspirations
and standards.
How can we so demean our-
selves? More precisely, how can
the community-at-large be so
Leonard Fein is a writer who lives
in Boston.
indifferent to its being de-
meaned by this organization or
that?
Of course, this happens all
the time. Here a slumlord, there
a vulgarian. My simple point is
that these kinds of things have
as powerful an effect on Jewish
continuity as do trips to Israel
and all the other remedies to
"the crisis in continuity" we now
so energetically pursue. Our left
hand not only knoweth not
what our right hand doeth; ev-
idently, it careth not.
The need for money that is
the constant ofJewish organi-
zational life is the root of this
sort of thing, and the root has
other and equally gnarled
branches. So, for example, who
among us that has served on the
board of a Jewish organization
does not know that nine times
out of 10, board membership im-
plies financial commitment?
And why not? If a person cares
about the organization on whose
board he or she serves, should
not that concern be expressed
in the most tangible form?
Well, not quite. Some worthy
board members may have oth-
er things to contribute: their
names, time, talent, connec-
tions, etc. That is why many or-
ganizations adopt the "give-get"
rule, which names a sum that
each board member must either
contribute or raise from others.
That's a step, albeit only a
baby step, toward a participa-
tory community. The truth is
that most board seats in most
organizations are for sale. The
same with our honors. It is also
true that the higher the price
you're prepared to pay, the high-
er the position within the orga-
nization to which you can
aspire. Sadly, that seems to be
the only way organizations can
raise the dollars they need. Or,
if it is not in fact the only way,
it is thought to be the only way.
The consequence is that we
are perceived not only as need-
ing money, but as being about
money.
Some of my best friends are
rich, and those among them
who are generous deserve
praise. But this is not about
praise, it is about power. The
problem of how we come to be
perceived by those who glance
in our direction is only one of the
sorry consequences of our
method of distributing power.
The other is that rich people
quite often know very little
about how non-rich people think
and feel and what they desire
for themselves and their chil-
dren.
There's no easy way around
the problem,
since activity at
the national lev-
el is necessarily
restricted to
those who can
afford the time--
and the money
to travel to the
required meet-
ings. And since,
even at the local
level, board
members are
expected to set
an example for
others from
whom contribu-
tions are sought.
But let us be-
gin, at the least,
by acknowledg-
ing the problem:
If our nation's
representatives
in Washington
are inevitably
infected by the
"Inside The
Beltway" virus,
our Jewish leaders suffer from
"The Sweet Smell of Success
Syndrome." Too often, they have
little capacity to sniff out the
smells of amcha, ofJewish life
as it is lived by most Jews. The
sweet smell of some makes for
sour sniffing by most; it makes
for a widespread alienation from
organized Jewish life of which,
alas, our organizations seem un-
aware.
Here's an idea: From now on,
let's do all our questionable hon-
oring only on Purim. We don't
have to tell the honorees; we
need merely begin with an adap-
tation of the Kol Nidre (in Ara-
maic, lest they understand): Our
honors are not honors. By pub-
licly acknowledging the joke, our
honors no longer will dishonor
us, as surely they now do. ❑
Okay, I've had
enough.
You?
If I hear the
words "wind
chill" one more
time, I'm going
to turn off the
Weather Chan-
nel, take off my
electric socks and head south.
How about a little virtual
reality? Come on, come with
me. Look, it's January, we've
got at least another month of
snow emergencies, ice, forced
ing. It's difficult to remember
that at all. Is the sprinkler
still on in the front yard? I
wish those lawn mower ser-
vices weren't working so late.
Was that a Bobbit that just
hopped through our garden?
What did I just say? I meant
a rabbit. Grounder through
the middle. Pull the pitcher.
President Clinton? White-
water? The health care plan?
Bosnia bombing? I can't even
remember what happened. By
the way, who won the Super-
bowl? Who finished second?
air heat, night-time cold reme-
dies and the blue stuff that
goes in the spritzer or is it sh-
pritzer? Put the virtual reali-
ty glasses on, sit in the easy
chair and let's get out of here.
We're looking back at win-
ter now. It's one of those glo-
rious Great Lakes summer
nights, the kind where it stays
light out until nearly 10. We're
on the deck; the barbecue
coals still are glowing a soft
orange. Rick and Bob are
broadcasting the eighth inning
from the Corner. The bug zap-
per goes off again. Yes! And
we're stretched out on the
lounge.
Remember Nancy Kerrig-
an? She ended up winning the
gold medal, bum knee and all.
What was the name of the
lady who finished second?
Who was found guilty. The ex-
husband, the body guard, the
skater? I don't remember.
Pass the Rolling Rock.
What was the result of the
earthquake? Remember that?
The lost lives, the billions of
dollars, the years of rebuild-
Buffalo again? Did the Pistons
win 10 games this year? Did
they even play? That Stanley
Cup sure looks good down at
the Joe.
Borman Hall finally closed.
There are a million stars in
the summer sky, and I'm go-
ing to count them all. Was
that Israel making peace with
the Arabs last April? Or did
they sell out their future?
What did the state do about
eduction reform? Do you re-
member?
Spielberg finally won the
Oskar. But the skinheads are
still getting away with attacks
in the "new" Germany.
Lessons in this world are dif-
ficult to learn. Game's over.
Tigers win again. I think it's
getting kind of late. We've got
work in the morning.
Time to emerge from virtu-
al reality. Back to the real
thing. Time to head south all-
right, even if it's Southfield.
Looking back on the winter,
the cold weather alone doesn't
seem so bad.
Hope the car starts. I=1
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