Shavuot: A Celebration
Of Our Commitment
There's a story about a Holocaust survivor who
had all but lost his faith in God after years of la-
bor camps, endless marches, and incarceration
in a place where he most surely would die.
His camp, however, was liberated by Ameri-
cans. And during the stages of liberation, in-
cluding a r turn to basics such as food and water
and new clothing, the survivor came to learn
about his spiritualrehabilitation.
It was May in Poland, a warm, spring day
when a U.S. military chaplain, a Jew, announced
that Shavuot services were to be held. The story
continues that there was some debate about
attendance at a religious service from some of
the newly liberated, who were embittered
toward God after the hell they had lived
through. Yet that night in a part of what was
once the death camp, new life could be seen and
heard. Men and women, a bit better than skele-
tons both physically and spiritually, prayed,
danced and sang songs in honor of the giving
of the Torah.
Fifty years later, we ask the question, if they
who had been through the unimaginable can
hold onto their faith, then why can't we?
Outreach organizations and synagogues all
over Detroit are experiencing a resurgence in
those seeking the knowledge of the Torah. We
can be Reform, we can be Chasid, but the words
that we all seek come from the same source. Be-
ginning Sunday night, there will be many all-
night learning sessions at area synagogues
followed by holiday observances on Monday and
Tuesday.
Here's an opportunity to learn about a holi-
day, the anniversary of the very day that Moses
was given the basis of our Jewish civilization.
It's a holiday made more remarkable by our
learning. It should be a day of deliverance, and
a first day to recommit to Judaism.
Who In The PLO Leadership
Will Implement Peace?
Israel is meticulously disassembling 27 years of
military and governmental infrastructure it put
together in Gaza and Jericho.
But before it turns the keys over to the new
Palestinian keepers of the watch, maybe Israel
should be as painstaking in checking some ref-
erences. Or is it already too late for that?
In the U.S., to obtain financing for a house
loan, all sorts of references on credit are made.
Certain down payments, tax arrangements and
other steps must be taken.
The arming and installation of a Palestinian
police force has signaled a new era for Gaza and
Jericho. Palestinians are so overjoyed by the
prospects here that they still are throwing rocks,
intifada-style, at Israeli soldiers.
What's worrisome about this step to so-called
peace is that the Palestinians don't seem ready
for it. The organization all seems to be in the
head of PLO chairman Yassir Ardat. As late as
Wednesday, the PLO hadn't secured the funds
to pay the police officers. This includes training
and moving the officers, arming them and plac-
ing them in facilities. The problem, though, is
made worse, because the 24-member Palestin-
ian authority that is supposed to rule Gaza and
Jericho until elections are held four months from
now still isn't named.
In short, at this critical time, while their leader
was in South Africa at Nelson Mandela's
inauguration, there's a lack of leadership
here. Israel is turning over territory to
thousands of armed "policemen" who as late as
this week, don't have a government in place
yet.
The severe shortage of funds experienced by
the PLO won't be fixed until a governing body
starts the implementation of programs tied to
promised foreign aid.
What Israel has done is: freed thousands of
Palestinian prisoners, agreed to self- rule and
gone out and armed a police force. Shouldn't
there be agencies and organization and the sem-
blance of a government that wants to co-exist
with Israel in place here?
It seems as if Western-style standards for
peace are being thrown on a people who might
not know how to implement codes of governance;
nor do they fully understand how to live under
those codes.
Didn't Israel check the references here? Or
was the credit approved without a background
check because of world pressure and public opin-
ion? We just hope that world pressure and pub-
lic opinion will be there to defend Israel if this
"peace" falls through because there wasn't some-
one in charge.
The Palestinians need time to learn, time to
form a working order. Peace is more than land
and a police force. Right now, though, Pales-
tinians seem to be asking, at least on the street,
who's in charge here?
If they're asking that question, why didn't Is-
rael figure that out with Mr. Arafat before hand-
ing over the store, not to mention Palestinian
futures, to an entity of disorganization.
Letters
Dr. Kevorkian
And Holocaust
In response to your May 6 arti-
cle regarding Jack Kevorkian's
collection of signatures in front
of the JCC and his response to
seeing Schindler's List, I'd like to
Jack Kevorkian
point out that Dr. Death has had
some pretty contrary views of the
Holocaust in the past that your
readers should know about.
In an interview in the Free
Press Magazine in 1992, Dr.
Kevorkian was quoted as saying,
"I wish my forefathers went
through what the Jews did. The
Jews were gassed. The Armeni-
ans were killed in every conceiv-
able way ... So the Holocaust
doesn't interest me, see? They
have had a lot of publicity, but
they didn't suffer as much."
Pretty incredible for a man
who prides himself on the digni-
ty of others and the lessening of
suffering in the world!
Just thought you should know
where Dr. Kevorkian is really
coming from in his relationship
with the Jews. Even though I
agree with Dr. Kevorkian on as-
sisted suicide, I'd like to see him
and Mr. Fieger defend those out-
rageous statements.
Gary Dembs
Southfield
Discussion,
Not Division
In recent weeks, several items
have appeared in The Jewish
News about the relationship be-
tween the African American and
Jewish communities. These news
articles, op-ed pieces, and letters
to the editor refer to recent events
that have been cause for grave
concern: the Howard University
hatefest, speeches by Khalid
Muhammad, the secret meeting
in Detroit of black nationalists
with NAACP Executive Director
Benjamin Chavis, and the ap-
pearance by Leonard Jeffries at
a Detroit school board-sanctioned
seminar.
These developments warrant
our close scrutiny and strong re-
sponse. However, I am concerned
about the tone of some of the
statements printed in the news-
paper implying that the entire
African-American community
adheres to the extremist, anti-
Semitic and racist rhetoric of the
demagogues.
This blanket characterization
of the African-American com-
munity is not only inaccurate; it
serves to further drive a wedge
between our two communities.
Some writers have claimed
that African-American leaders
never condemn bigots within
their community. Unfortunate-
ly, the bigots receive media at-
tention disproportionate to their
newsworthiness, while those who
reject bigotry are shunted to the
back pages or are completely ig-
nored by the news media.
For example, how many of us
are aware that, thanks to the
ADL ad that brought to the na-
tion's attention the hate-filled
words of Khalid Muhammad, nu-
merous national African-Ameri-
can leaders quickly condemned
him? The fact that Louis Far-
rakhan failed to do so is less im-
portant than that Benjamin
Chavis, the Rev. Jesse Jackson,
and Congressional Black Caucus
Chairman Kweisi Mfume spoke
out vigorously, of their own ac-
cord, not in response to a plea
from the Jewish community.
We must not be silent about
these despicable incidents, but
we must also not allow them to
infect local relationships. The
negative generalizations about
"the black community" under-
mine the efforts of those, like
Mayor Dennis Archer, Federal
Judge Damon Keith and others
who are attempting to build a re-
vitalized Detroit, of which all of
us can be a proud part.
David Gar-Harf
Jewish Community Council,
Executive Director
LETTERS page 26