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A great example was how people dealt
with President Clinton and Monica
Lewinsky — they didn't care about the
scandal because they liked this presi-
dent. I think we are going in the right
direction.
JN: What about guns and violence,
which you address in your book.
LU: We are coming to moral impera-
tives. In this country the proliferation
of guns has reached a period of insani-
ty. It's very scary. I think the media
plays a role. When I was a kid the
media covered things like famine in
India, but now, anything goes. And,
when a story develops, the media
swarm — in the style of OJ, Monica
Lewinsky and the death of Princess
Di. Integrity skids and rumors spread.
The press does not regulate itself well.
There is this lack of self-control or
desire to remain humane with your
neighbors. We are swamped with
information we can never use.
JN: It's obvious you are concerned
about the next generation. What do
you think about youth today?
LU: They are an outgrowth of us. They
are the wisest, most educated,
strongest, the best we've got. When you
come to a millennium, you are handing
the new generation one tough job. Still,
you go back to the basics, which are
the relationships of people to their fam-
ilies and to society. We have become a
little more electronic with each genera-
tion, but the same problems are there. I
think this generation is very capable of
leadership. We worried about the lead-
ership of Israel after Ben-Gurion and
Golda Meir died, but they did fine. I
think we will, too.
JN: Speaking of Israel, what direction
do you see Israel going in, and what
do you think of the country's new
leadership?
LU: I think the new leadership is
good. I believe the stranglehold of the
Orthodox has to be broken or there
will be a messy situation. These people
represent a small minority of the
Israelis and unfortunately are very
reactionary. They want far more than
their share and are not willing to give
the nation what it needs. I don't think
they are very democratic.
We have the unsolved Sephardic
and Ashkenazi split, and that has to be
rectified. We have the great Russian
immigration and little diverse commu-
nities that have settled on a piece of
land that isn't very large and has to
turn away from agriculture as its
mainstay. But Israel is already one of
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John Tanasy•httl: Detroit Free. Press
January 8th, 1999
JN: What about Israel's future?
LU: There will be a Silicon Valley in
Israel that compares with the Silicon
Valley in California. That is obviously
Israel's future. As for peace with the
Arab neighbors — when [Israel] makes
a peace treaty with Syria, you can take
a deep breath. The Syrian hatred runs
about as deep as you can get.
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JN:What about a Palestinian state?
LU: It's inevitable. You can't deny
another people what you have been
denied. I don't say the Palestinians are
ever going to make a democracy, but
the way that history has played out
the cards, they are entitled to their
piece of land and their government.
WEEKENDS UNTIL 3:30 AM
JN: Your novel Exodus was one of the
greatest stories ever told about Israel.
When you wrote it, did you ever
think it would have such an impact?
LU: I felt there was an untold story
that was dynamic. It turns out it was
instrumental, especially among the
Russian Jews. It was one of the prime
motivators of the exodus from Russia.
Dozens of illegal translations of the
book have been made and passed along
from family to family and read in the
dark of the night. I have one of the
illegal books here, which is my prized
possession, and you look at the hand-
prints on it — the covers are dirty, and
you think of the people who read it to
each other throughout the night, and
then decided to go to Israel.
JN: You spent a lot of time in Israel
writing Exodus. How many times
have you been there??
LU: More times than you can count,
although I have not been there within
the last decade.
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Detroit Jewish News
6/18
1999
89