Honoring Our Mothers

How's this for the text inside a Mother's Day card?
"She is robed in strength and dignity and she
smiles at the future. She opens her mouth with
wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her
tongue. Her children rise up and make her happy;
her husband praises her. Grace is elusive and beau-
ty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord — she
shall be praised. Give her credit for the fruit of her
labors and let her achievements praise her at the
gates."
No need to go running to the card shop to find
words like these for mom. They can be found in
most Sabbath prayer books. The above lines are
taken from the Sabbath evening song, Ayshes Chay-
il or Woman of Valor. Our sages, recognizing the
quiet day-to-day victories and achievements of
women, understood that their praises should be
sung on the highest level. There's little as sacred
and wonderful as hearing a husband and the chil-
dren singing these words to wife and mother at the
Sabbath table. It shows that in Judaism, Mother's
Day is certainly a wonderful event, but it doesn't
just happen once a year. It's every day and mom's
position in the family and in the home is at the lev-
el of Sabbath sanctity.
So for this Mother's Day, go ahead and get the
greeting card. But try something different as well.
Pick up a siddur Friday and read the words ofAysh-
es Chayil. But then go ahead and read it to mom
again next week and the week after that when you
know that for most Jewish Americans, Mother's
Day happened already. You and your wife, you and
your mom, you'll know differently.
Ayshet Chayil
A good wife who can find? She is more precious

than corals. Her husband places his trust in her
and only profits thereby. She brings him good, not
harm, all the days of her life. She seeks out wool
and flax and cheerfully does the work of her hands.
She is like the trading ships, bringing food from
afar. She gets up while it is still night to provide
food for her household, and a fair share for her staff
She considers a field and purchases it and plants
a vineyard with the fruit of her labors.
She invests herself with strength and makes her
arms powerful. She senses that her trade is prof
itable; her light does not go out at night. She stretch-
es out her hands to the distaff and her palms hold
the spindle. She opens her hand to the poor and
reaches out her hands to the needy.
She has no fear of the snow for her household,
for all her household is dressed in fine clothing. She
makes her own coverlets; her clothing is of fine linen
and luxurious cloth.
Her husband is known at the gates, where he sits
with the elders of the land. She makes and sells
linens; she supplies the merchants with sashes.
She is robed in strength and dignity and she
smiles at the future. Site opens her mouth with wis-
dom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
She looks after the conduct of her household and
never tastes the bread of sloth. Her children rise up
and make her happy; her husband praises her:
"Many women have exr.elled, but you outshine them
all!"
Grace is elusive and beauty is vain, but a woman
who fears the Lord — she shall be praised. Give her
credit for the fruit of her labors and let her achieve-
ments praise her at the gates." ❑

Experimenting With Peace

Israel turned an historic corner this week with the
signing in Cairo of the accord that transferred Gaza
and Jericho to Palestinian self-rule after 27 years
of Israeli control. As of this writing, Israeli military
units were withdrawing and Palestinian police
were moving in.
It's been a heady time: Israel's rapprochement
with Russia, Israelis attending official meetings in
Oman, movement —albeit ever-so-slight — on the
Syrian front, the first economic agreement with
the Palestinians signed in Paris, and now Pales-
tinian self-rule in Gaza and Jericho.
Forgive us, though, for not becoming giddy, even
if the momentum appears to again be shifting in
favor of peace. The situation is just too dicey at this
point for celebration. Because now, after all the
talking, we are about to receive an answer to the
question that, for Israel and its supporters, mat-
ters most: Will trading land for peace really bring
peace?
It is a bold experiment, a gamble that had to

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be taken because Israel could no longer afford to
pay the high price associated with maintaining in-
definite control over the West Bank and Gaza. And
for better or worse, Yassir Arafat and his PLO were
the only Palestinians available for Israel to deal
with.
However, since last September's White House
ceremony, Chairman Arafat has repeatedly shown
himself to be unprepared for the magnitude of the
tasks ahead. Nor has he done much to build confi-
dence that he has truly become a man of peace and
can control the various PLO factions.
So instead of celebrating, we suggest closely
watching what unfolds with a sense of cautious —
very cautious optimism. An end to terrorism is
far from assured. The question of Jewish settlers
must still be adequately dealt with. Palestinian
civil war is not unlikely. Confusion and tension are
sure to dominate.
Hold your breath and stay tuned. ❑

—

Letters

Hebron Massacre:
Blaming The Jews

Blacks And Jews
And Jealousy

Since the tragic event occurred
in Hebron, the Israeli govern-
ment, Jews in the Diaspora and
the world at large have turned
upside down.
Do people remember what the
Arab terrorists did to the Jews,
Christians and their own Arabs?
So far, the builder of bridges
has turned out to be one-sided by
condemning Jews for self-de-
fense. The call for dialogue turns
to monologue when Arabs kill
Jews. The Arabs put the bag of
guilt on all the Jews because one
individual killed Arabs in He-
bron.
We Jews and the government
of Israel should learn the lesson
of the Holocaust and the seri-
ousness of the present times.
Part of the lesson is, "If I am not
for myself, who will be?"
Shlomo Micznik
Southfield

Mark Schlussel's comments in
The Jewish News (April 29) are
commendable for their clarity
and vision. Repeated attempts at
reaching out to the black com-
munity for mutual understand-
ing have been non-productive. A
recognition of this dilemma has
been long overdue.
Recently, I watched a program
on C-Span in which the notori-
ous Leonard Jeffries and a
spokesman of the Nation of Is-
lam, surrounded by uniformed
bodyguards, lectured at Howard
University spewing hatred and
insults against Jews that were
reminiscent of Hitler's style. Are
we ignoring early signs and again
seeking a "low profile"?
One reason for the polariza-
tion of Jews and blacks is that
the Jew is in relation to the black
as one step is to the next on an
escalator, with the Jew ahead of
black economically, educational-
ly and socially. The black, who is
more tolerated in the Jewish
neighborhood, sees the Jew as
the businessman, teacher, doc-
tor, social worker who have what
he wants.
He does not observe the top
steps of the escalator, the giant
corporations representing the
real power and wealth of the
country.
Some black militants exploit
the Jewish issue, identify with
the majority and adapt the dom-
inant prejudices of "hating the
Jews." They ignore the contribu-
tion Jews have made to civil
rights with their lives, leadership
and money.
They resent any gratitude ex-
pected from them by countering
that the purpose of the help was
to clear the conscience of the ex-
ploiters. The moderate leaders
are placed on the defensive as
"establishment" and "Uncle
Toms."
It is fair to say that despite the
tremendous progress made by
blacks in the last two decades,
the basic motivating emotions of
envy and jealousy, irrespective
of education, are as current to-
day as they were in the early
1970s.
Dr. Milton J. Steinhardt
Southfield

Group Blame
For Terrorism?

"We must remember that we are
dealing with a single individual,
not an entire community. We
have to learn to make that dis-
tinction." These words, by New
York City Mayor Rudolph Giu-
liani following the arrest of
Rashid Baz in connection with
the murder of Aaron Halberstam
on the Brooklyn Bridge, should
be pondered by those in Israel
and the U.S. who are urging the
expulsion of all Jews from He-
bron and other West Bank com-
munities in the aftermath of the
Hebron massacre.
The killing spree by a crazed
gunman on the Long Island Rail-
road did not lead to placing blame
on the entire African-American
community. Nor did the convic-
tion of four Arabs for the terror-
ist bombing of the World Trade
Center lead to the maligning of
all Arab-Americans.
By the same token, there is no
equivalence between the action
of one demented individual and
the continuous acts of terrorism
that are organized, aided and
abetted by the very same groups
with whom the Israeli govern-
ment is attempting to negotiate
a peace agreement.
Jack Friedman
Bernard Kaplan
New York

