OPINION
My Hope For Israel: That It's A
Builder Of Peace In Middle East
I
make no demands upon others. They
t was Thomas Jefferson who
even develop the philosophical atti-
stated in the Declaration of
tude: "It might have been worse."
Independence that "all men are
Fifty years ago, the state of Israel
created equal." It is true that
came
into being, and it is interesting
before God, all men are created equal,
to
note
the different reactions of peo-
but in actual life, we are certainly
ple
to
that
incident. There is the chau-
unequal. Some are born in poverty,
vinistic
Jew,
the Jew who wears his
and some are born in wealth;
Jewishness for a sign upon
some are gifted in art and
his hand and for frontlets
music, and some are color
between his eyes; the Jew
blind and tone deaf. There is
who felt that not enough
no need to multiply exam-
non-Jews were aware of the
ples. It is obvious that we dif-
fact that Einstein, Ehrlich,
fer in temperament, in physi-
Freud, Bergson and hun-
cal endowments, in mentality
dreds of other great people
That is why psychology is so
were Jews. He rejoices in
fascinating. It is the key that
the creation of the state
unlocks the door to human
because, in his opinion, it
RABBI M.
personality. It helps us to
would
stamp future Jewish
understand the motivation of ROBERT SYME
geniuses
with the non-
Special to
people, their reactions. Why
removable
trademark,
The Jewish News
do two people react different-
"Made in Israel."
ly to a similar experience?
Then there is the Jew
Consider for example, the
who is afraid of dual allegiances. His
experience of illness and how people
lament is: For 2,000 years, Jews have
react to it. There are those who, when
prayed for a homeland, and it had to
confined to the bed of illness, reveal
happen to me.
their basic selfishness. They demand
These, of course, are extreme reac-
constant attention. They have no
tions. Most of us, I am certain, have
regard for the feelings of others and, at
reacted with the feeling of gratitude
the slightest touch of pain, will wail
that we were privileged to witness the
loudly and continuously so as to cast
redemption of Israel, the end of 2,000
serious doubt on their apparently
years
of wandering. In my case, there
weakened condition. On the other
were
several
reactions. As a little boy, I
hand, there are those who, if they have
can still remember my father, of
pain, suffer in silence. They are unde-
manding, they are understanding, they blessed memory, every year as he con-
cluded the seder with the words:
Rabbi M. Robert Syme is rabbi emer- "Next year in Jerusalem." Tears would
itus at Temple Israel.
stream down his cheeks. It was his
pie after the State of Israel. This is
hope and dream that the State of
what really motivated me to come to
Israel would become a reality. As a lit-
Temple Israel; in retrospect
tle boy, I vowed to myself
it was a blessed relation-
Two Jew ish settlers
that if and when that State
chat with an Arab
ship.
of Israel came into being, I
The only way I can
would do everything to take resident of Halhoul
in the Wiest Bank.
describe my hopes and
my father to Israel, to the
aspirations for the State of
city of Jerusalem. That was
Israel on this 50th anniversary is to
always my dream; that was always my
take you back to a book that was
hope.
written
during the war years. It was
In fact, that is why I was inspired
to select Temple Israel as my congrega- titled The Young Lions by Irwin Shaw.
Those of you who read the book will
tion. There were several other pulpits
remember that there were three
open to me at the time in 1953, but I
heroes, three American GIs — one a
had heard about Rabbi Leon Fram, of
Protestant, one a Catholic, one a Jew.
blessed memory, who was a passionate
The Jew's name was Noah Ackerman,,,_
Zionist and who had named the tem-
LITTES
No. Peabody has destroyed your
agreement; no authority can legiti-
mately compel you to carry out your
end of the deal after Peabody
informs you that he refuses to carry
out his.
Now suppose that you were Israel.
Peabody — Yassir Arafat, represent-
ing the executive authority of the so-
called Palestinian Authority, the gov-
ernment created by the Arab-Israeli
Oslo Accords — announces that he
intends to repudiate certain condi-
tions of the Oslo Accords, which you
requested and he agreed to. Note fur-
ther that these are no mere technical
details but conditions, which go to
the very essence of your Oslo bar-
gain.
Check it out for yourself. Most
news agencies — including our Jew-
ish papers — tend to play it down;
5/1
1998
36
at
but it's all there for you in the
record. Israel's government not only
knows it, but complains about it to
Arafat and other Oslo signatories. If
only whining could heal the breach-
es!
Arafat publicly repeatedly promis-
es, despite his Oslo-partner's non-
consent and his treaty obligations to
the contrary, to declare his Oslo-
granted territory sovereign, a full-
fledged country entitled to United
Nations membership and all the
trappings of independent nationhood
and to carry out "with every drop of
my blood" his side's pre-Oslo plan to
destroy his Oslo-partner in certain
stages, using whatever they get out of
Oslo as a launching pad to finally
annihilate Jewish Israel.
Michael Dallen
Southfield
out Detroit Jewry
oit metro
1
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*41
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care Services, Federation glif30.rce
Line, Michigan/Israel Connection,
Michigan Jewish Conference, Neigh-
borhood Project) supported by the
Allied Jewish Campaign.
a
00s.
On average, 300 immigrants set-
tle in Detroit each year with the help
of Federation agencies. ❑