Community Views
Editor's Notebook
When Is A Problem
A 'Jewish' Issue?
Seeing The World
Through A Child's Eyes
DAVID GAD HARE SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
ALAN HITSKY ASSOCIATE EDITOR
-
Among the roles priority level? I suggest that or-
played by the Jew- ganizations like the Jewish Com-
ish Community munity Council and individuals
Council is to exam- should apply the following ques-
ine public policy is- tions:
sues and to
* Does the issue directly in-
determine posi- volve the security of Jews or of the
tions on those is- Jewish community locally, across
the country or abroad?
sues.
When the issue
* Does the issue relate to the
relates to the U.S.-Israel rela- social fabric of America and ad-
tionship or to organi z ed prayer in dress festering problems that
public schools, there is precedent threaten to result in intergroup
that guides our actions. Howev- friction, scapegoating or worse?
er, when a new issue emerges, the
* Does the issue directly relate
Council board needs to engage in to a fundamental Jewish value,
a discussion and, by majority one that Jews should feel com-
vote, decide which position to pelled to uphold in American so-
ciety?
take.
* Does the issue relate to sup-
Almost without exception, par-
ticularly on issues on the do- port for Jewish institutions and
mestic agenda, the question is to the clients they serve?
raised: "Why is this a 'Jewish'
* Would JeWish community
involvement in the issue en-
issue? By this, the questioner
asks whether the issue at hand
hance ties between our com-
is one that is truly connected to
our mission of safeguarding the
local Jewish community. Put
another way: How are the inter-
ests of the Jewish community
advanced by taking a position on
this issue?
Most recently, this concern
was raised during the debate on
reaffirming Council's position on
the permanent replacement of
striking workers (which the
board had opposed). However,
this was just the latest in a
long line of issues whose
very legitimacy as "Jew-
ish" issues has been
questioned, spanning
several decades.
I often hear stories
about the heated
Council debate on
the grape and let-
tuce boycotts
some 25 years
ago and the
criticism
Council received for involving it- munity and other important
self in these issues. In fact, if one segments of the community-at-
takes a look at the list of issues large?
that are categorized as "social and
To the extent that you could
economic justice" issues, debate answer "yes" to most of the above
on every one of them probably in- questions, the issue should be
cluded questions about their Jew- considered a high priority for Jew-
ish connection,
ish community involvement. If,
So, what, in fact, is a "Jewish" for example, the only rationale is
issue? I believe that a case could the potential benefits derived
be made that practically every is- from our participating in a coali-
sue on public policy agenda has a tion with other like-minded
link to Jewish interests and/or groups, then the issue should be
Jewish values. Therefore, it is im- considered a lower-order priori-
possible to easily divide the agen- ty.
da between "Jewish" issues and
This is not to say that the a
those that are clearly outside the Jewish community should restrict
its involvement to high priority
boundaries ofJewish concern.
I find it more useful to catego- issues. But neither is it possible
rize issues in terms of their pri- or advisable to have an equal lev-
ority. So what criteria should be el of involvement in every con-
used to determine a given issue's ceivable issue.
The "bible" ofJewish commu-
David Gad-Hart is executive
nity relations, which is called the
director of the Jewish
Joint Program Plan, produces an-
Community Council of
nually by the National Jewish
Metropolitan Detroit.
Community Relations Advisory
Council, describes about two
dozen issue areas and many more
specific issues within them. The
issue areas range from separa-
tion of church and state to envi-
ronmental justice.
Each community must deter-
mine the level of activity on this
broad array of issues, depending
on its local circumstances, the at-
titudes of its decision-makers and
the available human and finan-
cial resources.
A community might decide
that a high-priority issue deserves
and requires a full-fledged mass
mobilization aimed at numerous
contacts with public officials and
other key influential people. A
medium priority might result in
an organizational letter to a pub-
lic official laying out the opposi-
tion in the issue. On a low-priority
issue, an organization might
agree to add its name to an ad hoc
coalition.
The point is that the amount
of attention and type of attention
an issue receives should be tied
to its level of priority. Over time,
the priority level on any issue is
likely to change and, therefore,
the type of action taken will like-
wise change. For example, for
most of the 1970s and 1980s, the
Jewish Community Council's
principal activities were advoca-
cy for strong U.S.-Israel ties and
for human rights in the former
Soviet Union.
Today, the threats to the
U.S.-Israel relationship
have subsided and Russ-
ian Jews are gen-
erally free to
practice their reli-
gion and to emi-
grate. While the
intensity of our in-
volvement has
somewhat declined
in international af-
fairs, more attention has been giv-
en to issues on the local and state
scene.
A continual process is needed
to evaluate changes in the public
policy terrain so that modifica-
tions can be made to ensure that
the a Jewish community is, in
fact, pursuing its mission. These
decisions cannot be made in a
vacuum. They should flow from
a process involving the widest
range of concerned people with-
in the Jewish community, in or-
der to make sure the priorities are
valid.
I encourage anyone who is in-
terested in issue-related discus-
sions and public policy advocacy
to contact one of the many Jewish
community organizations in De-
troit, including the Jewish Com-
munity Council. You can be part
of a dynamic process during a pe-
riod characterized by dramatic
change on the local, national and
international level. ❑
Adam White is a
wonderful young
man.
Oh, I'm sure
he doesn't al-
ways pick up his
room, or some-
times fights with
his brother. I
didn't ask; I'm
just making that assumption.
But after meeting Adam on
Dec. 17 I feel a little better
about the world.
On many occasions we try to
balance the grim weekly news
digest with a look at some of
the little things that are right
with the world.
Adam White is my most
recent balancer. I had the plea-
sure of calling his home in
Huntington Woods and
leaving a message on the
answering machine: Adam was
the winner of our 1995
Chanukah Art Contest and
his work would appear as the
Dec. 15 cover of
The Jewish News.
I also wanted to
interview Adam
for the story that
is included with
the artwork and
photographs of all
24 winners.
Mrs. White
telephoned the
next day to say
Adam would call
me when he
got home from Adam White
school. He did,
and I was amazed.
A poised 11 112-year-old was
talking on the other end of
the line. He didn't give me the
standard one-word, pre-teen
answers: Do you like school?
"Yes." What is your favorite
class? "Art." What do you like
about it? "Drawing."
In a few minutes I learned
that Adam likes many things,
including video games, com-
puters, sports and art. I didn't
have to prod. Adam enjoyed the
interview, enjoyed describing
how he had first drawn and
then cut out the shapes that
made up his award-winning
design.
He had done it so that his
entry would be different, not
like his friends'.
His mother told me later
that Adam and brother
Michael often do art projects at
home, and the boys take art
materials along in the car
when the family goes on trips.
Michael also was a winner in
the 1995 contest, placing first
out of 180 entries in the 7-9 age
group.
It marked the first time in
the eight-year history of the
competition that siblings won
in the same year.
There was an interesting
footnote to the contest this
year. It used to take up to two
days to telephone all the win-
ners and request a photograph
of the artist to accompany his
or her winning design. Busy
signals, no answer — that was
the normal response.
This time, using a prepared
script so I wouldn't forget any
of the details, I completed 24
telephone calls in less than two
hours.
OK, telephone company. I
know there's a gizmo out there
that would have done this for
me, automatically dialing and
reading my prepared speech.
But it must be a little pricey for
once-a-year use and, besides, I
like hearing real people at the
other end, especially when I'm
delivering happy news.
So how did I narrow the job
from two days to two hours? A
different gizmo.
I didn't speak to
real people in 20
out of 24 calls. I
left messages on
answering ma-
chines. And in the
remaining four
cases, I spoke to
one child, one
mother and two
fathers.
There's a socio-
logical lesson
there, but I'm sure
I don't have
enough informa-
tion for a proper study.
There was a sociological
lesson as well at the Jimmy
Prentis Morris Jewish Com-
munity Center on Sunday, Dec.
17, at the Chanukah Art
Contest party. You could see it
as beaming children wandered
the halls, looking for their
contest entry and admiring the
work of their friends.
Perhaps the best message
of all was alive and walking
through those hallways. There,
kids from Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah, Akiva, Hillel, Ealey
Elementary School, Burton
Elementary, Temple Israel,
Kol Ami, B'nai Moshe, Sea-
holm High School and other
locations participated. It was
truly a moment of communal
pride. It reminded us of an
event that happened last year
in the nearby JPM playground
when Jews from all over the
area came together, forgot
their affiliations, and built a
playground for the children.
Again, in the hallways, the
children take pride.
They were all beaming, but
no one was prouder than Adam
White. 0