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Only Justice Heals
All Of Our Wounds
How many times do we have to hear Jews, not
to mention gentiles, tell us, "OK, he was in the
SS, but that was 50 years ago. He has a nice
family here in the United States. He paid taxes.
He's been a great neighbor. He brought me soup
when I was sick."
Leave them alone? Time heals the wounds?
It's often pathetic to think of a 75-year-old man
facing deportation for crimes he allegedly com-
mitted in a different world some 50 years ago.
But is the man's frailty and repentance
enough?
Never. As U.S. Justice Department
spokesman John Russell told The Jewish News,
"We are more kind to them than they were to
their victims."
Fortunately, organizations, even government-
funded offices such as the Office of Special
Investigations, believe that justice — pure justice
— heals the wounds.
The stories that appear on our front page and
Detroit pages this week tell us that there are
still people out there who haven't been held ac-
countable for our generations annihilated.
The search for Nazis, no matter how old, no
matter how frail, no matter how wonderful they
are as neighbors, cannot end. Internally, it's dif-
ficult to believe that people could live with them-
selves and the memories they have. But as long
as they can, the OSI needs to continue its work,
and those who are guilty need to face justice,
even if it's 50 years after the crime.
A Dialogue Vacuum
The Jewish world has often been accused of
having a glut of institutions: Its swirling alpha-
bet soup of organizations may duplicate others'
efforts, sometimes get in others' way, sometimes
serve as nothing more than ego-pleasing forums
for those with big bucks, big mouths — or both.
But one group recently dosed its doors that was
singularly unique and will be sorely missed: the
Synagogue Council of America.
The council, the nation's only organization
that represented Reform, Conservative and
Orthodox rabbis, ended its 68-year existence
in late November. The immediate reason was
finances: Its debts hovered between $100,000
and $200,000. But lurking behind the fiscal crisis
was another crisis, one regarding the strategic
importance placed on dialogue, both within
Judaism and between Judaism and other
faiths.
The council was the only rabbinic group that
had the broad imprimatur of the Jewish
community to speak with groups from other
religions, including those from the Vatican. And
since it was the only national body where rabbis
from the three major Jewish denominations met,
it was also the only forum where there could
potentially be a parity and an understanding
between Reform, Conservative and Orthodox
religious leaders.
(This last point is said with two caveats:
1) Explicit theology was barred from the coun-
cil's deliberations: It was deemed too delicate
and divisive for even rabbis to tackle.
2) Reconstructionist rabbis were barred from
the council because Orthodox members recent-
ly had twice vetoed their membership. Ironic-
ally, for an organization that circumscribed
theology from its chambers, Reconstructionist
theology was deemed too far out. Apparently,
the line had to be drawn somewhere.)
As long as the vacuum created by the Syna-
gogue Council's demise continues, intra-Jewish
and interreligious dialogue will suffer. Let us
hope this is temporary, for in this world of sus-
picion, ignorance and confusion, any effort to
erode insularity and to enhance understanding
— the sort of effort that the Synagogue Coun-
cil at least attempted — can only benefit all.
Letters
Honest Talks,
Honest Actions
Peace by murder, disregard for
human life, and violation of pre-
cepts in all sacred books can nev-
er be achieved. As vigilance is
price of democracy, so it is the
price of peace.
Without vigilance, in the forect
honest talks and actions, peace
may be unainable. Better dis-
cussions than detonations.
Zvi Strom
President, American Zionist
Movement, Michigan Region
Rose Colored
Glasses?
When your recent issue reported
the embrace of Edgar Bronfman,
president of the World Jewish
Congress, by Neal Sher, execu-
tive director of the American Is-
rael Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC), the origin of the recent
policy statement proclaimed by
AIPAC became very clear. Mr.
Bronfman is well-known for his
left-wing politics vis-a-vis Israel
and was kind enough just last
week to treat the American pub-
lic to a scathing criticism of Ben-
jamin Netanyahu in a letter to
the editor in the New York Times.
AIPAC proclaimed its "strong
support of the peace process" and
the "Early Empowerment" agree-
ment. For those not familiar with
diplomatic jargon, "Early Em-
Dry Bones
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powerment" is a euphemism
used by the Rabin government
for giving jurisdiction over the
land in which 120,000 Israelis
and their communities in Judea
and Samaria exist, to the Pales-
tinian Authority, as quickly as
possible.
The principal rationale for this
position is that the proponents
are simply going along with the
policy of the present Israeli gov-
ernment. Unfortunately, the Is-
raeli government no longer
represents the desires of the Is-
raeli public.
AIPAC has also reported a poll
of Israelis in which 73 percent
said they did not believe Arafat
would live up to his agreements
nor would he suppress Hamas
and Islamic Jihad. In a Gallup
poll, 77 percent of Israelis op-
posed unconditionally resuming
negotiations with the PLO. Cur-
rent political thinking also re-
ported in last week's Jewish
News, is that if elections were
held tomorrow, Labor would be
out and the Likud with a less
rose-colored perspective of the
current "peace" process would be
back in.
Isn't it time for American Jew-
ish leadership also to take off
their rose-colored glasses and pay
greater attention to the people
who are putting their lives and
the very existence of their coun-
try on the line and stop selling
a "peace" process in which the Is-
raelis no longer believe?
J.S. Kaufman, D.O.
Bloomfield Hills