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The Light Of Chanukah
Light begins the moment that darkness strikes
this coming Sunday — and for the seven nights
after that. On each night of Chanukah, the can-
dles, one by one by one, will illuminate our homes
and our lives. Their light will defy the darkness
and the gloom of winter. Their glow will warm
our souls and our hearts.
Light will emanate from our menorahs to en-
rich the world, to remind us of miracles, of pos-
sibilities beyond our limiting assumptions about
the world and about ourselves.
Light from tiny candles will invoke awe and
splendor, wonder and grandeur. The magnitude
of their brilliance will be in inverse proportion
to their small and compact size. By itself, the in-
tensity of their beam will be a miracle, although
one that pales beside the one that occurred in
the Temple in Jerusalem about 2,158 years ago.
Light will assure us of the certainty of our
faith. It will remind us that Jews need not look
to comparisons with other religions to bolster
their faith; that Chanukah is a holiday that sus-
tains itself; that to justify it in terms of Christ-
mas or to compare it to that holiday is to demean
ourselves and those who have celebrated it for
centuries — and even the Maccabeans them-
selves.
Light, to a kabbalist, is the building block of
the universe. The intensity of their divine ener-
gy shattered the "vessels" for which they were
intended, so their sparks were lodged in all
things. It is the task of all of us to elevate them
back to their primary source. When this occurs,
the divine harmony will be complete once more.
Few of us are kabbalists, but all of us are cel-
ebrants. We celebrate the spirit of Chanukah
and the spirit of our people; the spirit of mira-
cles and the spirit with which the Maccabees re-
sisted tyranny. We celebrate the Divine — and
we celebrate the various resistances to tyranny
since the Maccabean revolt, for it seems that
there is always a tyranny to resist, and (almost)
always, a resistance that is victorious in the end.
T H E D E TRO T J EWIS H NEWS
No Golan Guarantees
4
Part of the latest push for a U.S. brokered Is-
rael-Syria rapprochement is the idea of deploy-
ing American soldiers in a Golan Heights
demilitarized zone. A peacekeeping role for U.S.
troops in the Mideast is not new, argue advo-
cates of the policy. For more than a decade, U.S.
troops have been part of a successful multina-
tional Sinai force, guarding the peace between
Israel and Egypt.
But there ends the comparison and there be-
gins the concern. There might be a role for U.S.
troops on the Golan, but not until Syria provides
real, concrete evidence that it will handle this
situation differently than others in the past.
In recent years, a multinational force has been
monitoring southern Lebanon. Yet, Syria, the
power-broker in Lebanon, has done little to stop
Lebanon's fratricide and continued attacks
against Israeli troops and border communities.
Also, without sufficient guarantees from Syr-
ia, terrorist groups could easily target a Golan
peacekeeping force. But Syria continues to use
such groups for political gains. And in Gaza, the
Palestinian Authority has been incapable of con-
trolling them, although it has certainly made
moves to combat them in recent days. After the
Tel Aviv bus bombing, one can easily imagine
friends of the radicals in the Gaza Strip making
their presence felt on the Golan and elsewhere.
Were a disastrous incident to occur, such as
terrorist bombings similar to those against U.S.
forces in Lebanon during the early 1980s, there
could be a chilling effect on Capitol Hill. This is
compounded by a recent public opinion poll by
the Middle East Forum, which found that 64
percent of the American public opposes U.S.
forces on the Golan Heights and only 18 percent
approves. Although the incoming Republican-
dominated Congress is expected to be pro-Israel,
this anti-U.S. Golan sentiment reflects an iso-
lationist mood, which does no good for U.S. pol-
icy in the Mideast.
Nonetheless, the United States plays the crit-
ical role in bridging the void between Syria and
Israel. Through a hard combination of the eco-
nomic/political carrot-and-stick policy, positive
results can be made.
A Syria-Israel peace is best wrought by an-
swering the existential questions both countries
face. Israel's public must be convinced that Syr-
ia will honor a peace accord and Syria's leader-
ship must be convinced that peace will bring
tangible benefits, including opening world mar-
kets and having their state removed from the
U.S. list of sponsors of terrorism. But these
should come after real moves against terrorism.
Stemming terrorism emanating from Lebanon
is the ideal place to start such efforts.
When the United States and Israel have evi-
dence of Syria's willingness to do more than re-
gain territory, talk of a U.S. military presence,
as part of a multinational force, should be con-
templated.
AS ONCE AGAIN
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Letters
Single Most
Important Issue
Please Reconsider
Campaign Giving
Ruth Littmann's article, "How's
Your Social Life?" (Nov. 18), rais-
es several issues which affect
young Jewish singles today and
illustrates the need for young
adults to become more involved
in the community in which they
live.
The monthly bar nights host-
ed by organizations such as
Young Adult Division of Federa-
tion and the new B'nai B'rith
Leadership Network offer a
unique challenge to those seek-
ing to meet "that special some-
one." No question about it, bar
nights are a terrific way to meet
new people. However, involve-
ment in organizations that spon-
sor those programs provides a
greater opportunity to establish
relationships within the com-
munity.
The concern expressed by
many is that while we see an in-
crease in the attendance of sin-
gles at events such as the YAD
and Leadership Network Bar
Nights, there appears an overall
decrease in volunteerism within
the various community organi-
zations. This scenario poses the
question to singles: What are the
alternatives and am I taking ad-
vantage of them?"
Many young adults, both sin-
gle and married, who have in-
volved themselves in volunteer
organizational life feel that par-
ticipation is the single most ef-
fective way of meeting new
people and establishing long-
term relationships because these
organizations stress involvement
in addition to social opportunity.
Many organizations like the
B'nai B'rith Leadership Network
have a variety of committees
which are open for anyone wish-
ing to participate.
As these social programs con-
tinue to meet with success — and
young adults ask themselves,
"Should I attend the Bar Night?"
— it is equally essential for them
to ask, "How can I help plan the
next one?"
To the Jeffrey Bells of this com-
munity, we ask that you please
reconsider your decision not to
contribute to the Allied Jewish
Campaign. Mr. Bell's letter of
Nov. 11 indicates that he will not
contribute to the Campaign be-
cause his children's Jewish day
school does not receive funding
from the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit.
Tzedakah, traditionally used
as a term to connote charity, is
literally translated as justice or
righteousness. Tzedakah: justice.
Is it just that a certain day school
does not receive funding? Per-
haps not. Is it just to cut off fund-
ing to Federation? Absolutely not.
With Federation funding, 560
children received scholarships to
attend a Jewish summer camp
(for many of them, their only
Jewish experience), 700 people
with disabilities found jobs
through the Jewish Vocational
Services, 1,600 Bosnian Jews
have been rescued from the tur-
moil in their homeland and thou-
sands of children and adults
receive formal and informal Jew-
ish education.
We do not mean to single out
Mr. Bell. There are many in this
community who may have been
offended by a volunteer solicitor,
angered by a Federation or
agency decision, or for a multi-
tude of reasons hold back fund-
ing from Federation. However,
we are part of a community, and
that community needs your help.
Please reconsider, and contribute
to the Allied Jewish Campaign.
Dan-in S. Elias
President
B'nai B'rith Leadership Network
Editor's note: See Next Genera-
tion, page 103.
Robert Kleiman
and Jeff Garden
Detroit Co-Chain, Young Leadership
Cabinet United Jewish Appeal
Letters Policy
Letters must be typewritten,
double-spaced, and include
the name, home address,
daytime phone number and
signature of the writer.