editorials
Readers come to us and tell us that the
With Passover beginning at sundown today,
news
they read, the television they watch, is
many of us have worked overtime to rid our
getting
more and more sensational, almost
or
chametz,
homes of the last remnants of
weird.
You
think your children don't inter-
bread crumbs.
nalize the people fighting on the talk show,
May we suggest to you that there is a very
or the wholesale deaths they witness via tele-
\_, definite spiritual chametz that we need to seek
vision?
out and remove as we approach our seder tables.
They do. The world is a difficult place. Yet,
There is also a societal chametz transcending
we
can give the kids something. We can give
our Jewish lives that we need to figure out. The
them
structure; we can give them predictabili-
recent incomprehensible shootings of school
ty.
We
can tell them how great they are. And
children in Arkansas point in this direction. No,
we can show them that as a light
not one of those involved was
onto the world, the Jewish peo-
Jewish. That shouldn't matter. We
ple had to stick together and
should learn from this atrocity.
overcome the chametz of an
We should take time to make
Egyptian pharaoh.
sure that any chametz between us
That pharaoh is now taking
and our children is cleaned and
the
form of guns, abuse and
cleared. We should teach these
other
societal maladies.
precious gems that they are the
We
have a seder and a Hag-
reason for our love, for teaching.
that
can bring light to the
gadah
But how can we teach if we
darkness
of
the world. Most of
don't learn these lessons our-
all, we have each other and we have love. Let
selves. We should see in the seder that the
these positive feelings be the flame that helps
leadership provided for our children helps
all of us face our innermost chametz and make
them understand that they are safe within the
this world a safer, better place for our children,
traditions of the Jewish people.
the future generations.
None should ever know the meaning of
It's almost as if we're writing a Haggadah
such awful violence as occurred in Arkansas.
today.
No, there aren't Egyptians chasing us
Though not as extreme or dramatic, there are
through
the desert. But certainly there are
many acts of violence happening within our
enough maladies. We need to realize that.
households. Maybe our homes aren't as safe
Especially now, as we celebrate Passover, which
and joyous as they should be.
At our seder tables, we ask that the afikomen commemorates the freeing of the Israelites
from Egyptian slavery and their Exodus from
really be the hugs, the kisses, the love and the
Egypt in pursuit of religious freedom nearly
security that we as parents can give our chil-
3,300 years ago. ❑
dren and our loved ones.
Cleaning
away the
chametz.
Slaying Racism
One week after recalling the moral legacy of
slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Ltither King
Jr., and on the eve of Passover, the quintessential
Jewish holiday of freedom and liberation, affir- i
mative action headlines are back with a
vengeance.
According to the University of California at
Berkeley, black, Hispanic and Native American
enrollment at the prestigious school will
plunge in September. The numbers are similar
at UCLA and the state's law schools. The rea-
son? Proposition 209, the successful California
ballot initiative prohibiting public schools
from making admissions decisions based on
race and ethnicity.
Jews have many reasons for opposing quotas
in hiring and college enrollment, and that viscer-
al feeling has caused considerable discomfort in
our community in recent years.
Affirmative action advocates insist that they
are simply seeking "goals and timetables" for
remedying past discrimination, not quotas. The
best programs, they say, retain merit as a key ele-
ment in decisions about hiring and admissions.
H
Critics counter by citing particularly egre-
gious cases of reverse discrimination. Quotas,
even when they are a byproduct of well-meant
efforts to remedy past injustice, are unfair to
other groups, they say, and establish a dangerous
legal precedent.
But California's facts speak for themselves:
Affirmative action, though imperfect, was help-
ing reverse longstanding injustices. Without it,
limited gains likely will be lost.
Jews are not responsible for America's worsen-
ing racial plight, but our tradition and self-inter-
est requires us to be an active part of the solu-
tion. That doesn't mean Jewish groups must
embrace affirmative action across the board. But
a community that has known discrimination's
bitter taste must have a special interest in finding
solutions to the problems affirmative action was
created to address.
Unchecked, California's plunge in minority
enrollment in universities will have a devastating
impact on minority communities and countless
individuals — and be repeated elsewhere. All
Americans will live with the results.
❑
IN FOCUS
Photo by Krista Husa
The Chametz Is All Around
Sew Busy
In the past two years that they've gathered at the Hadassah
House in West Bloomfield, volunteers have turned out 3,400
"working dolls" that go to children in five area hospitals. Made
of muslin and fiberfill, the dolls, clad in cheerful hospital
gowns, are used to explain medical procedures to young
patients. Last month, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital presented
Hadassah with a $500 check to support the project. Volunteers
and donations are needed. Call Beverly Goldman at (248) 683-
5030.
LETTERS
Lyons Left
Great Legacy
It is with great sadness and a
deep sense of loss that we
note the recent passing of the
visionary and remarkable
leader, the Rev. James Lyons,
director of the Ecumenical
Institute for Jewish-Christian
Studies.
His dedication and corn-
mitment to creating real
understanding among Chris-
tians and Jews leaves a legacy
and an example to all people
of good will working to make
a positive difference in peo-
ple's lives and the life of the
community.
Jim was a great friend of
the Jewish community and
the Anti-Defamation League.
His dream of establishing the
first institute in America
devoted entirely to relation-
ships between Christians and
Jews was realized in 1982
when, together with then-
ADL director Dick Loben-
thal, he co-founded the Ecu-
menical Institute and became
its director.
Upon returning from one
of his countless trips to Israel,
Jim was quoted in 1994 as
saying: "People tend to
believe that peace exists when
you are not waging a war. But
the truth is that war happens
when you do not wage peace.
You have to make it happen."
Though these words were
in the context of the Middle
East, they aptly describe how
he felt about Christian-Jewish
understanding. In the absence
of efforts to communicate,
cooperate and build trust;
miscommunication, isolation
and distrust flourish. The
forces of intolerance and divi-
sion will find no counterpoint
unless one is actively engaged
in creating understanding.
Jim took it upon himself, in a
selfless and straightforward