C011111111117 MEWS

We Must Be Alert
When Democracy Is Threatened

resignation from office.
he creation of the Office of
The Watergate break-in and its ulti-
Independent Counsel has
mate cover-up really went to the core of
wrought an extraordinary
our democratic process and sense of fair
change on the political land-
play. Those events sought to alter the
scape of American society. How this
election outcome by tinkering
change affects the Jewish com-
with the democratic process as
munity in the United States is
we Americans understand it.
something we need to ask our-
To date in this investigation,
selves.
the president's personal behav-
The vitality of the American
ior appears to be at the core of
political system and the trust
the inquiries. Ironically, in the
and faith which the American
past the peccadillos of men in
people have in that system are
high office have been some-
the bedrock of our democracy.
thing for disclosure in the his-
To the extent that our political
tory books long after the pres-
MARK E.
leaders are besieged by investi-
ident's term in office. This
USSEL
SCHL
gation, scrutiny and embarrass-
constant onslaught against the
Spec ial to
ment about issues which appear
president has had a continuing
ish
News
The
Jew
to have no impact on their
adverse impact on the office of
ability to govern causes the
the president and feeds a growing cyni-
democratic process to be eroded and
cism among the American people about
weakened.
our democratic processes.
Can anyone recall a time during the
Anyone reading the statistics of the
presidency of William Jefferson Clin-
percentage of eligible Americans who
ton when he was not under continu-
vote in general elections is well aware of
ing investigation? Without making
the ever increasing apathy of the Ameri-
value judgments about the president's
can people toward the electoral process.
personal behavior,-it is quite clear that
These events have a doubly chilling
the issues swirling around Washington
effect.
for the past six years do not relate to
First, as the number of people who
the president's ability to govern or to
vote by percentage diminish, the ability
actions which might be defined within
to control elections shifts to and ever
the context of "high crime and misde-
smaller "committed" group of citizens.
meanors." These events appear to be
Second, the microscopic scrutiny of our
quite distinguishable from those that
elected officials has had a chilling effect
surrounded Richard Nixon's forced
on the willingness of talented members
of our society to subject themselves to
Mark Scblussel is past president of
scrutiny, innuendo and press harassment
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
for the privilege of serving the American
Detroit..

7

LETTERS

Pope John Paul II extends a repentant hand. Here he meets with the late Israeli
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

4/24
1998

34

people. Who among us would really
want to face what president Clinton and
members of his cabinet have been sub-
jected to throughout their terms in
office. An environment has been created
where the most talented opt for contin-
uation of their business or professional
careers so that their personal lives
remain just that, their personal lives.
From the perspective of the Jewish
community, these events should be
causing us great concern. Our success in
America is tied directly to a political
process that is free, open, trusted by the
American people and participatory. The
more the American public is hammered
with the daily disclosures about the per-
sonal foibles of our political leadership,
the more we invite those whose instinct
and interests are basically anti-democrat-
ic to move forward to control the appa-
ratus of government.
This can't possibly inure to the bene-
fit of a Jewish community which is
diminishing in numbers and "real"
impact on the electoral process. Further,
it appears that our community is taking
an ever reduced role in the grass roots
political process in the United States.
We have turned our attention to those
other worlds which have opened up to
us in the past 30 years. Jews are now
very much part of the elite of corporate
America, the elite of professional Ameri-
ca and the elite of educational America.
We have begun to express our consider-
able talents in venues previously dosed
to us and have turned away from the
day-to-day political activities in which
we used to actively involve ourselves.

the development of Christianity, the
cardinal was quick to point out when
differences between religions became
racist rather than simply two religious
traditions. He used the word repentance
countless times when referring to the
sins of the Church of the past.
To think that an apology must be to
the exact likina
• b of the victim is, of
course, ideal. However, when one is
asked to look at their culture and make
a significant change in order to be as
self-reflective as the victim desires, slow
progress can mean lasting change. Last-
ing change is the goal of true tshuvah
(repentance).
Do we want proper rhetoric now at
the expense of true repentance? The
Catholic Church cannot simply erase
1,900 years of anti-Judaism and anti-
Semitism. Vatican II was not so long
ago. To indict Pious XII would create

The confluence of these events —
the Jewish community turning away
from grass roots politics and the politi-
cal process itself being fundamentally
altered by the ongoing personal attacks
on our political leaders — will have
long-run adverse consequences on our
community, on Israel and on the
democracy which we cherish.
Tragically, the advent of the office of
grand inquisitor and the use of that
office to investigate what used to be the
privately understood foibles of our polit-
ical leaders will continue to accelerate
our cynicism about politics. We must
begin to speak out, irrespective of our
political affiliations, that enough is
enough. On occasion, the prosecutors c /
need to balance the overall need of soci-
ety and the potential impact on the
democratic process of their disclosures
against the ultimate benefit of exposing
wrong doing on the part of an impor-
tant elected official.
Our society is built on a fine balance
between law, morality and pragmatic
thinking. Of late, it appears we are
using the law to enforce our moral judg y
ments; and, by so doing, we are destroy-)
ing the faith of the American people in
the ability of our leaders to pragmatical-
ly govern.
To paraphrase from Exodus, "There
came a leader who knew not Joseph"
and our enslavement in Egypt began. It
would indeed be an ironic tragedy for
American Jewry if we forgot this great
lesson of history. We cannot afford leaar
ers in America who forget what the
democratic process really means. ❑

a controversy which would distract
Catholics from creating new attitudes.
If the Shoah document lives up to
its author's and the pope's expecta- ( \ r
tions, Catholic reflection on the event
coupled with time may allow for Piou:
XII's role and other horrible realities
with which the Catholic Church must
live to be honestly confronted, too.
As one of the few North American
rabbis to have met with Cardinal Cas-
sidy, and the only one to host a home-
cooked Shabbat meal for him since
the statement on the Shoah was
issued, I believe we should embrace
the document for what it says. Better
relations with the Catholic Church
will undoubtedly lead to further self-
reflection. No one said this was the
last word on the Shoah by the
Catholic Church — but without
grasping the repentant hand as it is

K