EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK
Working To Overcome
The Enemy Within
/ -
being pushed aside for matters of spir-
ingering notions that Israel's
it. Jewish mysticism and God-search
external threats are more
is in.
urgent than internal ones
Synagogues, particularly ones with
drowned in a massive sea of
day schools, are now primary cultiva-
black and white in Jerusalem on Sun-
tors of Jewish identity. Jewish com-
day.
munity centers find
Up to a quarter-million
"Judaism 101" classes
haredi (black hat) Jews peace-
booming. Nobody's scream-
fully blocked the city's
ing for the philosophy of
entrance to protest Supreme
Ber Borochov and Vladimir
Court dictates challenging
Jabotinsky.
Orthodoxy's hegemony on
Meanwhile, with Israel's
state-funded religious coun-
increasing cacophony of
cils, military deferment and
confusing images, we are
lifecycle events. Leaders of
more apt to shake our
the rally had referred to the
heads and say, "Such a
court as "enemies of the
mess; such a pity," and
NEIL
RUBIN
Jews."
ignore the Jewish state's
Senior
Editor
Down the road, about
woes.
And a generation
50,000 counter-demonstra-
moves farther from embrac-
tors returned the favor,
,
ing what the writer Ahad Ha'am
yelling that the haredim are "para-
referred to as the cultural center of
sites" who take state funding for
the Jewish world.
yeshivot without serving in the mili-
The problem is that we American
tary. The predicted violence didn't
Jews
desperately need the spiritual
occur. But one day soon it's likely.
injection
that the hills of Jerusalem
Don't ignore the possibility.
offer. And the Israelis urgently need
Ahh Jerusalem . . . city of peace.
our help in figuring out how Jews
From the safe confines of America,
can cooperate on a basic agenda —
where the separation of religion and
such as promoting Jewish learning
state is a sacred value, what does it
instead of focusing on unconquerable
mean? Plenty.
divides.
It comes when more American
Only religious American Jews,
Jews than ever seek a spiritual expres-
reared in a culture of accommodation,
sion of Judaism. With the death of
can set the example; Israelis, bred on
Jewish neighborhoods, other than
a culture of conflict, are incapable.
Orthodox ones, Jews who connect
But that would entail a Jewish-Jew-
Jewishly increasingly do so via reli-
ish dialogue group? American Jews
gion. Israel still looms large in our
seem much more interested in meet-
official communal agenda, but it is
Thus, Jordan invaded Israel twice,
once in 1948 under Abdullah (Hus-
sein's father), to destroy the Jewish
government and people, and second,
in 1967, under the "kindly" Hussein
himself, where thousands of Jews were
murdered as Jerusalem and the
Judean-Sumarian Hills were finally
won. Still, Jordan lost both wars and
the "west bank" of its kingdom.
Jews must remember Jordan is a
dictatorship. Backed by a Bedouin-
Arab military force, Hussein ruled his
palestinian"-Arab population. While
careful not to exacerbate the strained
relationships inherent, King Hussein,
with an iron hand, used force when
his now grieving "palestinian"-Arab
population rebelled to gain control
over Jordan through war and assassi-
nation of Hussein.
Instead, Hussein's destruction of
CC
the PLO in September 1970 indicated
he had no problem with obliteration
and driving the PLO into Lebanon. It
left him in power, albeit with a smaller
and certainly now docile population of
‘`palestinian"-Arabs.
Were Hussein, and now his son
King Abdullah, really interested in
peace with Israel, that portion of Israel
given would be returned for peace.
Jordan also would allow all the king-
dom's Arab people to vote honestly on
whom should remain in power.
Thirdly, the new king should use
his influence to prevent the Judea-
Samarian Hills from becoming a
palestinian"-Arab state because the
second "palestinian" state will become
a threat to both Jordan and Israel.
But the king is dead, another
monarch has been enthroned and,
therefore, Israel will be faced with
"
ing Catholics, Protestants and Baptists
than our own. Theological gaps will
always remain. Only through an
apparatus for continual dialogue with
one another (not just for rabbis) will
the non-Orthodox see that the very-
Only
American Jews
including the
black hats
can save Israel.
Orthodox do care for every single Jew
— and believe that non-Jews, in their
definition, are still created in the
image of God and commanding of
respect.
And only in this way will the
haredim (without whose consent
modern Orthodoxy is afraid to
budge) see the many Reform and
Conservative Jews who care deeply
about Torah and tradition. They are
not heathens; they are spiritual seekers
who include tradition in their
approach.
Many in the haredi camp will
reject this, seeing only a non-Ortho-
dox world rampant with assimilation,
another ruler. For the present, the new
King Abdullah awaits Syrian, Egyptian
or "palestinian"-Arab invasion. Or the
king may trade on Hussein's memories
to wrest and regain control of his
"west bank" to the profound disap-
intermarriage and Jewish illiteracy. To
an extent, they're right. So they must
engage that world before 80 percent
of the Jewish people disappears — a
disaster far greater than they currently
understand.
For their part, many in the other
camps see the haredim as an insular
world withdrawn from modernity's
promise. To an extent, they're right.
But the non-Orthodox need to better
learn basic texts to fully claim the
label religious Jews. And the Ortho-
dox, ultra or others, provide the best
models of "text-wrestling."
After some dialogue, the groups
need to take their understandings to
Israel and set up parallel discussions.
Ultimately, they need to work
toward separation of religion and
state while pushing Israel's obligation
to promote Jewish learning and liv-
ing.
Mind you, I've recently floated
this idea with various rabbinical
friends. I am, they say, more likely
to get a cholent recipe from the
pope.
But right now everyone has a raw
deal. Israel's haredim are subject to
interpretations of a secular court.
Israel's secular are burdened with an
imposed and unwanted lifestyle.
American Jews zone out from the crit-
ical debate.
And we all miss the point. Unity is
not uniformity. It is about Jews hav-
ing some coffee together and talking
about things Jewish — even if they
have to bring their own mug. IT
pointment of his persistent Jewish
detractors.
Michael Drissman
Executive director
Committee for the Jewish Idea
Troy
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2/19
1999
Detroit Jewish News
29