COMMUNITY VIEWS

Being A Light,
When Nations Seek Arms

action.
ll over the world, countries
Choosing life is important because
of different ideologies are
nuclear
war threatens all life.
seeking ways to prevent
The
planet's
entire life-support sys-
nuclear war.
tem,
as
well
as
millions
of lives, may
The nuclear tests by Pakistan, corn-
be destroyed in a nuclear war. To initi-
ing two weeks after India's
ate a nuclear war is to
own tests, have brought both
choose death and evil over
countries closer to actually
life
and good.
placing nuclear weapons in
The
Jewish response to the
their arsenals. To be sure,
threat
of nuclear war should
there is still a large gap
include
education and re-
between conducting success-
education.
Jewish love of life
ful tests and having effective,
is the guiding force for
usable nuclear weapons.
action.
There is still time to head off
First, consciousness raising is
a spiral of escalation that
needed
so that all people
RABBI
could draw India and Pak-
may
confront
the uniqueness
istan toward war and even
HERBERT
of
nuclear
warfare.
The Jew-
bring other countries into
YOSKOWITZ
ish
community
should
not
the fray.
Special to
wait
for
others
to
engage
in
As Jews, our experience
The Jewish News
the task of education. The
and the wisdom of our tradi-
urgency of a response is
tion can contribute to an ongoing
mandated
by the law of pekuach
determination to choose life and reject
nefesh,
the
importance of saving a sin-
movements toward the use of nuclear
gle
soul.
weapons.
To participate in an educational
Against this possibility of a nuclear
process of the horrors of nuclear war is
war, Judaism poses the mitzvah of
a first step to be taken — not when
"choose life!" (Deuteronomy 30:40).
we
reach the danger point of two
The commandment uses the word
adversaries
confronting each other
"choose" because it is not enough to
across
borders,
but as soon as there is
rely upon the natural instinct for self-
that
possibility.
That possibility now
preservation; the heart's sentiments are
exists.
not enough. When we choose life and
Second, we should actively fight
are dedicated to that choice, there
against any myth that posits that one
must be a powerful guiding vision for
people is mysteriously and metaphysi-
cally different from the rest of human-
Herbert Yoskowitz is rabbi of Congre-
ity. On the part of the Jewish commu-
gation Beth Achim.
nity as it looks within itself, this

A

requires a re-education of what the
"chosen people" concept was intended
to mean.
The concept can be interpreted in
historical and rational terms. The Jews
were the first bearers of monotheism.
Thus God calls us "My first-born
Israel" (Exodus 4:22). We are the first
in a family of many children. Being
first gives us special obligations,
including an obligation to lead
humanity away from a nuclear Holo-
caust.
We must be cautious about the
thread within our people's thoughts
that looks upon us with a romantic
current of being metaphysically differ-

ent. No less a great person than Yehu-
dah Halevi puts Jews in a unique
domain somewhere between humanity
and the angels. Some of this thinking
became axiomatic in the vast literature
of Kabbalah and in the folk imagina-
tion of our people.
The Christian religion took over
this myth of Jews being different from
everyone else and changed its balance
from plus to minus. Rather than
becoming the chosen people, we
became the rejected people with a
curse upon us until the end of days.
Hitler, preparing for absolute war,
tagged us as the absolute enemy who

NATION

on page 31

LITTERS

all of us, everywhere and at any
time." Many Lubavitch/Chabad
Chasidim sing may our master,
teacher and rabbi the King Messiah
live forever." Or as an Israeli publica-
tion of Lubavitch put it, "Since the
Rebbe ascended the leadership 45
years ago, everyone (sic) saw that he
could not be limited by the laws of
nature ... Even when the third of
Tamuz 5754 came and the Rebbe
King Messia disappeared from our
physical eyes, we know with corn-
plete certainty that the Rebbe Messi-
ah did not, heaven forbid, pass away.
The Rebbe is alive and well and he is
the one who shall come and redeem
us imminently."
Zvi Gitelman
Frankel Center for Judaic Studies
Ann Arbor

6/19
1998

28

Imam Karoub's
Peaceful World

I recently attended my first Muslim
funeral — for Imam Muhammed
Karoub. It was remarkably like a Jew-
ish or Christian funeral except it was
longer and more people were asked to
say a few words.
Having known him for 16 years —
since co-founding the American Arab
and Jewish Friends in 1981 — he was
one of the few imams in Detroit who
would reach out when approached to
be part of this new organization.
Imam Karoub was born here, the
son of the first imam in America, was
an eloquent speaker with a brilliant
command of both English and Arabic.
He was involved with anything and
everything to help people.
My wife Florence and I were invit-

ed to attend a
did not include him.
memorial dinner in
This resulted in our
his honor at the
eventually changing
Hyatt-Regency as
our local name to the
guests of the Karoub
Greater Detroit Inter-
family. There were
faith Roundtable,
more. than 500 peo-
which was, of course,
ple there — a real
acceptable not only
who's who in the
to Muslims but all
local Arab communi-
religions. Years later,
ty.
Charles Alawan and I
It was more like a
went
to New York
Imam Karoub: Will be missed
party celebrating the
City to the national
friendships he created over a lifetime
convention and got national to change
of 73 years. There was a longer parade
its name.
of speakers than at the funeral and I
A booklet of pictures and reprints
was asked to say a few words.
of articles was distributed at the din-
I reminded the audience that when
ner and among them was a reprint of
we first met, Imam Karoub was
The Jewish News of March 12, 1993,
among those who pointed out that
with a full picture of Imam Karoub in
our parent organization, the National
his office. The caption reads, "An out-
Conference of Christians and Jews,
spoken defender of human rights in

