CHECKING OUR
MEWW.111.

ny reminiscences of the past

NEIL RUBIN

SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

CI)

Lu

C/)

LU

CC
F-
LU

LU

00

year's Jewish events are corn-
manded to begin with the ag-
onizing pain and aftermath
of Yitzhak Rabin's assas-
sination. For some, its
shadow has not reced-
ed. That moment,
which we pray re-
mains a singular one in
the modern history of our peo-
ple, revealed an intriguing
glimpse into the psyche of pre-
sent-day Jewry.
In one stunning blow, it spoke
of our connection to Israel as
well as the world's acceptance of
the Jewish state. An unprece-
dented retinue of global leaders
— including shockingly strong
Arab representation — came to
pay their last respects to the sol-
dier turned warrior for peace. A
Jewish place among the nations
seemed unquestioned.
But the trauma also spiraled
to the forefront the horrifying
reality that our internal divides
are deep, and obviously dead-
ly. As such, many of us began to
wonder — some knowingly and
some not so — if we need not in-
spect our collective mezuzah.
Traditionally, in times of trou-
ble the Jew has examined the
scroll that, as instructed by the
Torah, is affixed in a box on the
doorpost. There are countless
stories of someone doing so in
difficult times and discovering
the mezuzah no longer kosher,
meaning that the words can no

Neal Rubin is editor of one of our
sister publications, The Atlanta
Jewish Times.

longer be read or that they were
incorrectly written. As a mira-
cle — because perhaps that's
what the existence of our people
and the intertwined concept of
faith is — evils passed by or end-
ed when a new mezuzah re-
placed the old. These tales have
become affixed to our people's
beliefs.
The words on the mezuzah
scroll themselves often are pre-
sented as a nutshell of what it
means to be a Jew. The text

starts with the heralded decla-
ration Sh'ma Yisrael , Hear 0' Is-
rael. As the shofar blast will do
on Sunday, it is a clarion call,
one said thrice daily, to heed the
basic shared destiny of being a
Jew. The mezuzah's words also
instruct us that if we fulfill God's
wishes, we will be blessed with
the bounties of a happy life. Un-
derlying it all is a sense of
shared destiny and purpose, sa-
cred teachings that we are ob-
ligated to transmit to our

THE PAST YEAR
DEMANDED
AN IN-DEPTH
EXPLORATION
OF WHERE WE
STAN D
AS A PEOPLE.

children. We must enable them
to carry on the holy work of
bringing society closer to "God-
like" qualities.
So when Israel's prime min-
ister was felled by one of his
own, we all knew that the ba-
sic law of "thou shalt not mur-
der" had been violated in the
most frightening of manners.
And we went inward to check
our personal mezuzot and how
we publicly act on their com-
mands.
In many places, it led to
pledges and ideas for the amor-
phous concept of Jewish unity.
In the ensuing months, it also
led to bickering and accusa-
tions, none of which any Jew
could be proud.
We also realized that this
tragedy revealed how bound
many of us felt to our spiritual
homeland. We were forced to
confront the chilling question
often asked by Jewish sociolo-
gists and demographers in their
studies: "If something terrible
happened to Israel, would you
feel a personal sense of loss?"
This year, something terrible
did happen to Israel. We, mem-
bers of the House of Israel, were
pierced by its pain. And it hap-
pened in a time of downward
spiral for the once passionate-
ly defended twin towers of Jew-
ish identity — the Holocaust
and Israel.
While many Jews were im-
mersed in this calamity, some
noticed what was not happen-
ing. We recall hearing of one
young Jew telling reporters