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SPECIAL COMMENTARY

The Baby And The Bathwater

Jerusalem
Of the many fascinating paradoxes of
srael's 52nd birthday, its first of
Zionism, this is the saddest. This, and.
the new millennium, came and
not denominational issues, is what
went this week. And it's as fine
world Jewry ought to be most con-
an occasion as any to muse on
cerned about. The religious pluralism
the State of the Jews.
question is slowly working itself out.
In America, democracy is an axiom.
The Reform and Conservative move-
ments are pressing on with court cases,
Immigrants unschooled in democratic
values imbibe the common
seeking to compel the state
creed in the process of their
to accept non-Orthodox
naturalization. Citizenship is
converts trained in Israel as
granted only after completing
Jews.
a course of study.
The Reform movement
In Israel, no Jewish immi-
has just inaugurated a pro-
grant ever-•1as had to pass a
gram to certify physicians —
citizenship test. One Jewish
male and female — as mohe-
grandparent, and zap, you're
lim (ritual circumcisers), pro-
an Israeli. Most Israelis derive
voking a predictable denun-
from countries with no tradi-
ciation from the Orthodox.
STUART
tion of democracy (or reli-
This aside, the deeper
SCHOFFMAN question that might fairly
gious pluralism).
Special to
For many Israelis, democ-
be asked is: How Jewish are
the
Jewish News
racy means the license to
Israeli Jews?
wield decisive parliamentary
Shas leader Rabbi Ovadiah
power while at the same time reserv-
Yosef, by scurrilously comparing Edu-
ing the right to flout the rule of law or cation Minister Yossi Sarid to Haman
shirk civic responsibility.
and Pharoah, only reinforced the
alienation of secular Israelis from the
Of course, one major issue is the
perceived power of the Orthodox
religious establishment. Yet when the
haredim; it may be the single biggest
rabbi wondered why Sarid did not
agonize over how so many Israeli stu-
reason that so many Israelis are, ironi-
cally — indeed tragically — turned
dents were ignorant of the prayer
off to Judaism in the very country
Shema Yisrael, he had a point.
invented to preserve and protect it.
I suspect that the garden-variety
Israeli youngster does, in fact, know
Stuart Schoffman is associate editor of
the difference between Shema Yisrael
the Jerusalem Report and a contributing
and "Beam Me Up, Scotty," but it
columnist to the Jewish News. His e-
may well be that his or her Jewish lit-
mail address is steart@netvision.net.il
eracy doesn't go much beyond that.

I

Secular Jewish leaders of earlier
generations --- David Ben-Gurion and
Menachem Begin, for example —
were steeped in the religious heritage
they chose to transmute into some-
thing new That legacy has been all
but lost. At the same time, the wide-
spread consensus in society that right-
wing Orthodoxy represents Jewish
authenticity minimizes the likelihood
that many secular, liberal Israelis will
be inclined to re-embrace their roots.
In the Midrash Tanhuma, we find a
beautiful legend about Rabbi Akiva. A
cynical Roman, known as Tornosrufus
the Wicked, inquires scoffingly: "If cir-
cumcision is so important to your God,
how come boys don't emerge from the
womb pre-circumcised?" Rabbi Akiva
promptly produces a stalk of wheat and
some cakes. "We are commanded to
improve upon creation," is his reply,
"and thereby to participate in God's
ongoing enterprise."
Let me offer an additional layer of
interpretation. This midrash teaches
that improving the world is the very
essence of the brit mila, entering into
the covenant. Tikkun olam is thus no
ordinary commandment — it is
inscribed in the flesh.
Many secular Israelis, of course,
espouse a similar philosophy, though not
couched in religious language. And it is
true that a growing number of secular
Israelis are taking up classical Jewish
texts in various study groups. But many
of these same people retain a strong sus-
picion of traditional Judaism, and of

rabbis in particular, and as a result are
reluctant to go the next step and
become religiously affiliated, even with
the non-Orthodox streams.
The word haredi means "fearful", and
these ultra-Orthodox are first of all
God-fearing, and also afraid that the sec-
ular authorities — mainly the Supreme
Court — will erode the Jewishness of
Israel by awarding further victories to
the Reform and Conservative move-
. ments. The staunch secularists are no
less doctrinaire. They are fearful that the
haredim, given their druthers, would
turn Israel into a Jewish version of Iran.
Rabbi Meir, the great mishnaic sage,
was a student of nisha ben Avuyah, a
rabbinic genius who became a heretic
(consequently called Aber, the "Other")
— yet continued to regard him as his
master even after Flisha abandoned his
Jewish faith. It was said of Rabbi Mein
"He found a pomegranate, ate the seeds
and threw away the peel."
Analogously (and conversely), liberal
Jews in Israel and elsewhere ought not
be automatically put off by the "other-
ness" of the black-hatted haredim.
There's a world of wisdom to be gleaned
frnm the ultra-Orthodox, the Chasidim
not least. As the great Galician Rebbe
Elimelech of Lizhensk (1717-1787)
taught in his "Prayer Before Praying": •
"May it be given to me to see my neigh-
bor's virtues, not his faults."
Such a capability is a gift indeed,
one that all Jews are empowered to
give themselves, and, God willing,
each other. ❑

Make Mother's Day
A Peace Day

a 6-year-old child shooting a classmate
near Flint.
We have natural disasters like torna-
does in Oklahoma and the more •
recent floods in Mozambique. Let us
put a stop to the self-manifested dis-
asters. On this Mother's Day, let us
take a stand and wear a black-and-
white ribbon.
Teach our children and send letters
to Congress. As Julia Ward Howe
said, "We will not have questions
decided by irrelevant agencies. Our
husbands shall not come to us reeking
with carnage for causes and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to
unlearn all that we have been able to
teach them of charity, mercy and
patience."

Film Festival-
A Delight

Contrary to popular belief, Hall-
mark did not invent Mother's Day.
Mother's Day was Julia Ward
Howe's original idea.
She chose June 2, 1872, as the
proper date and wrote Mother's Day
peace letters to friends and family.
Mrs. Howe's idea was not sending
flowers and gifts. She conceived
Mother's Day as the day when every-
one should be bringing about world
peace.
This Mother's Day, I would like to
reintroduce Mother's Peace Day. On this
day, I would have all mothers, grand-
mothers, aunts and sisters wear a black-
and-white ribbon: white for peace and

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black
for mourn-
ing the killing fields in Kosovo, the
tragedy at Columbine High School in
Colorado and the most recent tragedy of

Ruth Fuller

West Bloomfield

What a wonderful opportunity for the
Jewish community to be able to attend
the JCC Lenore Marwil Jewish Film
Festival ("Of Faith & Flicks," April 21,
page 81). We saw so many outstanding
movies on different topics. These - movies
might never have been shown in our
area if not for this film festival.
Yasher koach (thank you) to the
Marwil family, the Jewish Community
Center of Metropolitan Detroit, the
sponsors, the organization supporters,
the steering committee and all the vol-
unteers. We look forward to joining
you again next year.

Dr. Marvin and Joyce Weckstein

West Bloomfield

IN

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5/12
2000

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