SPECIAL COMMENTARY/

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Helping The Garden Grow

Jews and wounded in a Jewish facility
t was a typical day at our Jewish
just like ours made us feel pain as if it
Community Center. The park-
had happened in our own community.
ing lot was filled, children were
And it showed us how really vulnera-
disembarking from their day
ble we are.
camp buses and adults were working
How did we respond? We
out in the health club.
had a good internal and exter-
The day after the shoot-
nal communications vehicle in
ings at the North Valley Jew-
place. Our board and staff
ish Community Center in
were alerted, our children pro-
California was like any other
tected, the West Bloomfield
day at our JCC, except for
and Oak Park police depart-
the police cars patrolling the
ments contacted. We consult-
perimeter of the building,
ed with community agencies
the staff stationed at the
— the Anti-Defamation
doors and the persistent
League, Jewish Community
presence of the news media.
DAVID SORKIN Council and Jewish Federa-
There was also an uneasiness
Speci al to
tion of Metropolitan Detroit.
that loomed.
the Jewi sh News
Jewish Family Service, among
The horrible shootings at
others, volunteered its sup-
the North Valley Jewish
pOrt. Members of the community
Community Center made us stop and
offered to be additional eyes and ears for
take notice of our surroundings in a
the Center. This was the short-term
way we hadn't before. First, we real-
effect; now we must look at security
ized that we, too, were vulnerable.
measures for the future.
Second, we responded immediately to
In addition to physical security, we
the event, providing security and com-
had to think about the emotional
municating with our staff, board and
security of our staff, members, board
members. Third, we reflected on the
and guests. At our Aug. 11 special
future: How do we protect ourselves
board meeting (arranged long before
— each other — and deal with the
the Los Angeles incident), we called
emotional toll in the face of hatred?
upon a guest rabbi to help us reflect
What the tragic event in Los Ange-
on the tragic event. In both our D.
les did was awaken our feelings of kin-
Dan and Betty Kahn and Jimmy Pren-
ship with our fellow Jews. We may not
tis Morris buildings, we displayed
have been related to or even known
flowers and prayers that expressed our
the injured, but the fact that they were
solidarity with the North Valley JCC-
area community and wishes for the
David Sorkin is executive director of
speedy recovery of the injured.
the Jewish Community Center of Met-
Not only did this horrible event
ropolitan Detroit.
remind us that anyone can be a target

I

of hate-mongers at any time, it
also gave us an opportunity to
reflect on where we go from here.
It's a shame that it took this kind
of incident to bring the issues of
hate and gun control to the fore.
But as a result of the North Valley
JCC tragedy, we are reminded of
the sages' admonition:

Kol Yisroel areivim zeh la'zeh.
All Israel is responsible one for
another.

Richard Macalis holds. his 3-year-old son,
We must open dialogues with
David, while talking to reporters outside the
each other on how the Jewish com- North Valley Jewish Community Center.
munity can pull together to be pro-
the alarm. We must be aware that
active and respond when such evil and
these anti-Semitic events are still hap-
heinous crimes threaten our people. Per-
pening in America on the verge of a
haps gun control would not have pre-
new millennium. We must care for
vented this madman from his hateful
each
other as a community.
mission, but we as Jews should support
As
the center of our community,
legislation for the reduction of guns in
the Jewish Community Center is the
our communities. We need to be vigi-
natural place for all groups to meet
lant of groups whose only desire is to
and discuss these issues. I invite the
destroy others who are not like them.
members of our community to come
We need to take the hate-mongers seri-
to the Center to voice their concerns.
ously. And we need to talk with our
Let's not wait until the next anti-
children, our families and our commu-
Semitic incident to conduct a dialogue
nity about their feelings about dealing
and create a plan of action.
with such a tragedy and coping with
A ervar Torah recently passed along
helplessness. As we look forward to a
to me by Rabbi Daniel Pernick says it
new Jewish year, we must find ways for
all: "Wherever we live and work, we
Jewish organizations, congregations,
have the same task: not only to pro-
agencies and individuals to pull together
tect our garden, but to nurture and
to strengthen our community, enhance
feed it, so that it grows to fruition.
our community spirit and take measures
Simply guarding the fence will not
that ensure the continuing vitality of our
help the garden to grow."
Jewish community.
Let's come together and save our
The recent synagogue desecrations
garden.
in San Francisco should have sounded

It's Hate, Pure And Simple

KENNETH WALTZER
Special to the Jewish. News

I

t is a measure of the integration
of Jews in America that newspa-
per reports about the shootings
at the North Valley JCC in Los
Angeles first treated them like other
school and office shootings this year.
They were viewed like shootings at
Columbine High School in Littleton,
Colo.; Heritage High School in Cony-
ers, Ga.; and day trading offices in

Kenneth Waltzer is professor of history
in James Madison College at Michigan
State University. He directs the Center
for Integrative Studies in Arts and
Humanities. His coursework includes
"Jews and Anti-Semitism" in the Jewish.
Studies program.

Atlanta. "The violence was the latest
in a series of shootings at workplaces
and schools," Jeff Wong wrote for the
Associated Press.
I did not see the shootings in the
same way (I teach about Jews and
anti-Semitism) — and neither do
newspaper reports of three days later.
Nor did most of us who read the Jew-
ish News. The violence in the San Fer-
nando Valley was rather the latest in a
series of fire bombings and shootings
aimed at Jewish institutions and Jews,
and at blacks and Asians, including
synagogue fires in Sacramento and
shootings in Chicago and Blooming-
ton. The suspect in Los Angeles,
Buford O'Neal Furrow, a member of
the Aryan Nations, said he fired 70
rounds at young children and women
at a day care center "to send a message

to America by killing Jews." He said
he murdered a Filipino-American
postman, Joseph Ileto, because of the
color of his skin. Apparently, Furrow
first sought more prominent targets,
including the Museum of Tolerance,
then settled for what he found.
It turns out Furrow has a long his-
tory of ties with white racist, anti-
Semitic groups in the. West, including
the Aryan Nations and the Order, a
racist gang that drew its members
from the Aryan Nations. Members of
the Order killed talk show radio host
Alan Berg in 1984, bombed a syna-
gogue and robbed banks. Furrow also
is linked with the Phineas Priesthood,
a sect of Christian Identity, whose
members commit "Phineas" acts —
violence against non-whites. Members
of the Aryan Nations believe white

Europeans (Aryans) are engaged in a
race war with Jews, blacks and non-
whites. They seek to build a nation-
state for the Aryan race. In a word,
they are Nazis. They want a Nazi
America.
Everywhere in the U.S. today,
leaders in Jewish institutions are
talking about enhanced security
measures. Some are calling for more
aggressive FBI surveillance of white
racist groups. It is not simply a mat-
ter of the availability of guns to
crazy people — of gun control. It is
a matter of hate — orneo-Nazi,
white racist, anti-Semitic hate. It is
not clear that we should want more
aggressive FBI surveillance, which is
problematic itself in a free society,
but we surely desire enhanced vigi-
lance by decent citizens. Fl

8/20

1999

Detroit Jewish News

31