COMMUNITY VIEWS/Aitermath 01 Violence

Awakening The Sleeping Spark

college. It was the early '30s and he
rarely turn down an invitation to
casually dismissed the rantings of the
speak in Los Angeles. After teach-
would-be despot Adolf Hitler as the
ing at Yeshiva University of Los
rumbling of the insane. Echoing the
Angeles for three years, my wife
sentiments of reason that was popular in
and I maintain close and warm ties with
that day, my father foresaw
its Jewish community. While
that this egotistical maniac
speakers must always be pre-
never would be taken serious-
pared for any eventuality, I
ly.
admit being shaken three
In retrospect, it is now
years ago when, as a guest
hard to dismiss any acts of
lecturer for the Simon
violence and hatred as the
Wiesenthal Center, my pre-
mere pathos of an irrelevant
sentation "bombed."
few. Too many very popular
Actually according to the
demagogues still travel the
Los Angeles Police Depart-
length and breadth of this
ment, it was not a bomb but a
RABBI
country blaming the Jews for
rather vintage land mine that
ELIMELECH
everything from AIDS to the
some disgruntled individual
GOLDBERG
slave trade and relegating our
left by the front door of the
Special to
religion to the battered slopes
Center at the very same time
of the gutter. Do we have any
the Jewish News
that I was supposed to be pre-
choice but to be concerned?
senting. Calling for death to
One of the great ironies of the JCC
the Jews, this lunatic provided one more
tragedy is the timing. The Jewish
piece of evidence for the all-too-
community was just beginning to dust
endowed archives of the Simon Wiesen-
off the shofar from the shelves to mark
thal Museum of Intolerance.
the beginning of the month of Elul,
It was with great horror, but unfortu-
the preparatory period before Rosh
nately not shock, that we read of the
HaShana. Each day of Elul, with the
assault two weeks ago on the North Val-
exception of Rosh HaShana eve, the
ley Jewish Community Center in
shofar is sounded during the morning
Granada Hills, Calif. Random acts of
service. The Rambam (also known as
violence are becoming commonplace
Maimonides), quoting the midrash,
pictures on the national front pages. Psy-
describes the sounding of the ram's
chotics abound and millions of weapons
horn as a "wake-up call" arousing us
are very available tools for venting
from the sleepy indifference of spiritu-
pathological frustrations. Is there any
al apathy and religious non-commit-
message for us to derive beyond the
ment. Buford O'Neil Furrow Jr., I am
obvious need for vigilant security?
certain, never read Maimonides. But
I recently found an old diary that my
was his self-declared "wake-up call" a
dear father, of blessed memory, kept in
mere random event?
There is certainly a reading of his-
tory
that all events happen at ran-
Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg is spiritual
dom.
Starting from the original Big
leader of Young Israel of Southfield and
Bang
that formulated early amino
director of Camp Simcha in Southfield.

I

acids into significantly more and more
complex proteins, to the ongoing
march of human history, this view
subscribes to the idea that there is nei-
ther rhyme nor reason to the unfold-
ing of the human drama.
However, the basis of our Torah is
the belief in a very-involved and all-
powerful Being in our lives. It is this
very document that thousands of years
ago described the future victory of the
Jews against great odds in the Land of
Israel. The same author boldly decries
the future exiles and proclaims the con-
tinuing existence of the Jews scattered
throughout the peoples of the world.
Despite this totally improbable sce-
nario, the Torah continues to speak of
the eventual return to Zion and the
reunion of a People decimated and
tortured by the unthinkable events of
history that we know all too well.
Could anyone besides G-d tran-
scribe the entirety of our history before
it happened? What does our Creator
advise for our national security?
Throughout the annals of Jewish
continuity, there were many that saw
salvation from the parochial hatreds of
our enemies in the disguise of the cul-
ture in which they found themselves.
By throwing off the recognizable
practices of Judaism, they felt that
they could safely melt into the frame-
work of the gentile world. Too many
were surprised that the elegance of the
country clubs and labor guilds provid-
ed no extra protection from those who
were bent upon murdering members
of the Jewish community centers. If
the Torah is still a harbinger of the
future as it was for the last 3,000
years, then affiliation and connection
for all Jews are the best security
devices that we can invest in. We will

not continue otherwise.
Los Angeles is a diverse community
Jews from all walks of life had their chil-
dren participating in the various JCC
programs. There were people who
appeared very Orthodox in their dress
and those who gave no clue as to their
identity. It didn't matter to Buford
O'Neal Furrow Jr. whom he was shoot-
ing at. They were all Jews. We are one
soul that bleeds and cries together.
I recently returned from Camp
Simcha, a summer oncology program
for some very sick children. Perhaps
the most poignant camp moment is
watching children in long chasidic
coats embracing and being embraced
by other children who are bareheaded
and totally unaffiliated as they all pre-
pare to load the buses on their way
back to homes and hospitals. There
are very few places in the world where
young people from such distant back-
grounds come together as family. It is
so unfortunate that it takes serious ill-
ness or the pounding hatred of the
insane to meld us together.
There is no doubt that Jewish insti-
tutions in this country are now going
to invest heavily in the boon industry
of security equipment and cameras.
And there is no debating the wisdom
of such precautions. However, will we
as a people stop to look at the picture
of ourselves through the lens of 4,000
years of Jewish history? This is the
month of the spiritual wake-up call.
Now is the very brief time before the
Days of Awe usher in that demanding
plaintive blast of the shofar that we are
urged to awaken the sleeping spark of<
spiritual greatness that lies within the
Jewish soul, every Jewish soul. Let's
not wait for Furrow and his friends to
be the ones sounding the alarm.

To America," Aug. 13) shooting that
brought this reality back home.
Terrorism comes in all shapes and
forms; it has no boundaries.
As do terrorist organizations in the
Middle East, shooting suspect Buford
O'Neal Furrow Jr. was making a state-
ment. He created an American earth-
quake, giving us all a wake-up call.
Educators and administrators were
shaken by this earthquake and are
now discussing what we can do to
keep our children safe.
There are precautions and proce-
dures we must take. While using a
great deal of common sense, we must

no longer be indifferent to this very <
real danger.
Yet, there is a greater lesson here.
Anyone who has visited Israel can
safely say that Israelis, just like Ameri-
cans, pursue personal happiness. Yes,
"chefetz chashud" — a suspicious
item — passes their lips more often
than ours, but so do "fun," "happy"
and "normal." Israelis lead normal,
active lives. The agenda is not to be
scared and overprotective, but rather
cautious, aware, alert — to lead lives
as we did last month, pursuing happi-
ness, educating, and by doing so,
keeping our children safe. II

Balancing Security With Happiness

ANAT BORENSTEIN

Special to the Jewish. News

f someone was to ask me about
the first lesson I remember from
my childhood, I would have to
say my reaction to chefetz
chashud — a suspicious item.
I grew up in Israel, served in the
Israeli army and spent four years as a
security supervisor for an Israeli air-
line. I can safely say that I am security
conscious.

I

Anat Borenstein of Novi is assistant
director of education at Temple Israel.

8/27

1999

row.- 31.
30 Detroit Jewish News

Even after moving to Detroit, I
am still aware of bags left unattended
and I often discreetly profile people's
faces.
After coming to Detroit, and work-
ing in a school for the first time, I
began thinking and living differently.
Bags left unattended were no longer
an immediate threat; unrecognizable
people were not necessarily suspicious.
I was living the promise of freedom,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
It was the image of children hold-
ing hands as they were led away from
the scene of the North Valley Jewish
Community Center ("Wake-Up Call