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IN FOCUS

The Road To Continuity

of such trips. According to one recent study,
group of major Jewish donors, with
78 percent of those young people who said
the backing of the Israeli govern-
they had strong religious affiliation also report-
ment, is getting ready to promise
ed having made a visit to Israel. Anecdotal evi-
every Jewish young person that he
dence, including the testimony of many of the,
or she can have one free trip to Israel.
200 or so Detroit-area youths who went on
It's a nice, simple idea, and one that will
the Jewish Federation-subsidized Teen Mission
appeal to a lot of young people who might
to Israel last summer, also records a beneficial
otherwise not have an opportunity to visit the
effect.
country that is so inextricably a part of their
But cause and effect may be harder to
heritage. It may also appeal to parents as a way
prove. To some extent, those who take the
to assure their child's discovery of the meaning
trips are already keenly aware of their Jewish
of being Jewish.
identity, so the trip serves to reinforce beliefs
But it would be a bad mistake to treat the
rather than to create them.
offer as some magic lance that impales_the
We support the trips — but only as an
•
dragon of assimilation.
adjunct to a much more sustained and
A trip can open a door to belief. It can
thoughtful effort by parents, clergy and teach-
underscore the lessons of a culture. But it is
ers to introduce young people to their Jewish
neither a theology nor a commitment.
heritage.
The program, Birthright Israel, was the
The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
brainchild of two exceptionally successful busi-
Detroit, for example, is on the right track in
nessmen — Charles R. Bronfman, co-chair-
stepping up funding for day and congregation-
man of Seagram's, the Montreal-based liquor
al schools, as well as adult education, via the
and entertainment company, and Michael H.
new Jewish Life Fund.
Steinhardt, a Wall Street money manager. Each
If Operation Birthright and existing pro-
is providing $5 million toward a $300-million,
grams like the teen missions represent an infu-
five-year program that they say will pay for any
sion of new resources, bravo. But if trips are
Jew in the world between 15 and 26 years old
used as a glamorous and easy substitute for
to travel to Israel for 10 days. The Israeli gov-
more basic and more costly efforts, they will
ernment is to put up some additional amount,
hurt the very goal they are being created to
but the bulk, apparently, is to come from other
serve.
organizations. These include the UJA Federa-
Kids can polish their sense of Jewish identi-
tions of North America before whose General
ty in a coach seat on El Al, but they need first
Assembly in Jerusalem the program was
to learn it in their homes and in their class-
announced earlier this week.
rooms. ❑
Some statistical evidence supports the value

A

We're One People, Aren't We?

IV

hat is Israel ultimately? It's the
Jewish homeland.
It's not supposed to be a
country of partitions separating
Jews according to their level of observance.
Israel is a rich tapestry of military might,
geographic beauty, historical treasure, farming
ingenuity, economic wealth, cultural artistry
and spiritual diversity. It also has its share of
problems, including crime, joblessness, politi-
cal skirmishes and-threats from neighbors.
Israel was born in the shadows of the Shoah
so dispersed Jews could return "home" and re-
build their lives.
But what are we as a people doing to each
other there?
We're at constant war spiritually with one
another. Consequently, we're tearing at the fab-
ric so necessary to carry the fragile, 50-year-old
experiment of a modern Jewish homeland into
the next millennium.
"We need all aspects of Israel together —

one without the other is incomplete," says
Barry Spielman, executive director of the Bar-
Ilan University Global Board of Trustees, who
discussed "Israel at 51: The Worst _of- Times or
the Best of Times?" Tuesday at the. Max M..
Fisher Jewish Federation Building in Bloom-
field Township.
And he's right.
Like the Israel-based university he represents
is trying to do with its new Center for Jewish
Identity, Israeli and Diaspora Jews must join.
hands and hearts to assure our continuity from
generation to generation — and assure survival
not only of Israel's statehood but also its soul.
It's truly sad that during this jubilee year
marking 50 years of statehood, amid so much
to be proud of, "the mood in Israel," as Spiel-
man relates, "is such that not many are cele-
brating."
Jews everywhere must work together to top-
ple Israel's social barriers and in their wake
erect sturdy bridges of understanding and
acceptance. ❑

Time To Remember

Oakland University German Department Chairman Eugene
Strobel and Holocaust Memorial Center Executive Vice Presi-
dent Rabbi Charles Rosenzveig chat at "Readings for the 60th
Anniversary of Kristallnacht" Nov. 10 at the Kahn Jewish
Community Center in West Bloomfield. The evening com-
memorated Nov. 9-10, 1938, "The Night of the Broken
Glass," when the Nazis launched their violent campaign against
the Jews of Germany. Program sponsors were the German-
American Heritage Foundation International and the West
Bloomfield-based Holocaust Memorial Center.

W9'6'3

would want the same in Israel.
I believe I can celebrate Shab-
bat by lighting candles at my
convenience. If someone else
While catching up with some
believes in a different schedule,
reading, I found you pub-
it's just as silly for me to expect
lished a story and several let-
them to adjust to my beliefs as
ters regarding an event that
for me to be required to adjust
took place at an international
to theirs. Just as we chose a
conference for Secular
• private area in a hotel dining
Humanistic Jews I attended
hall, others can celebrate as
in Tel Aviv last month.
they please at home or in some
The story described the con-
private manner.
frontation with the religious
While I don't live and vote
police at the Dan Panorama
in Israel, and obviously must
Hotel, due to the lighting of
accept their laws, I find it
candles after sunset at our
ironic that Israel is probably
Shabbat celebration. The letters
on a very short list of coun-
responded to whether secular
tries where I might not be
Jews should or should not be
free to celebrate my Jewish
required to adjust their behav-
identity my own way.
ior to conform to Orthodox
I recognize that one of the.
Jewish beliefs.
underlying problems for this
I would like to believe that
issue is that people, including
American Jews, who have been
most Jews, have difficulty
in the forefront in the United
defining Jewish and Judaism.
States and other countries,

Varied Beliefs
Demand Respect

11/2C
1998

Detroit Jewish News

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