COMMUNITY VIEWS

The Good Fence

C

out a special permit, he
always used to sit on the
bus reading a Hebrew
newspaper. Nobody ever
bothered him because he
didn't look Arab. Of
C
course, he assured me,
being law-abiding, he
always had a permit, but
this is a time he would
rather forget, as would all
Israeli Arabs.
As promised, Rafik
took me early the next -
morning to see the Good
Fence in action. We saw a
convoy of IDF military
trucks delivering supplies
to the troops. Rafik asked
me if I wanted him to
take me inside the securi-
ty zone, but I declined his
kind offer, having
Nawal, right, her brother Ralfk and Rachel Kapen
before leaving' an upper Galilee village aboard the bus
promised my worried
mother in Bat-Yam I'd be that Nawal's husband was driving for an Acco charter
bus company.
back on Sunday. So we
turned back to the village,
on a permanent basis. I remember
bidding a tearful shalom
thinking then how easy it is for him to
to my wonderful hosts and boarding
say it when, as an Israeli Arab, he is
the bus to Acco, where I took another
exempt from the IDF and doesn't have
bus to the Tahanah-Nlerkazit in Tel
to put his life on the line like Jewish
Aviv.
Israelis do.
Rafi and his family told me then
Well, perhaps it is time to touch
that they needed the Israeli army to
base with this wonderful family of
keep the security zone in south
Arab-Christians whom I met 18 years
Lebanon for their own security. I won-
ago in the eternal city, the city of
der how they feel now Nawal's son
Rome, and whose friendship I'll cher-
Rami was very adamant about the
ish forever. 0
Israeli army staying in south Lebanon

rience a traditional Arab-Christian
s the Israeli army finally
wedding. So here they were early in
leaves south Lebanon after
the morning: Nawal, her husband, the
some 22 years, and not a
driver and her elder brother Shuki,
moment too soon for most
who is the village mayor, to take me
Israelis, I can't help remembering my
with them from my moth-
visit to the Good Fence.
er's apartment in Bat-Yam
That's the name given at the
to their picturesque village
time to the fence separating
nestled on a hill in upper
Israel and the so-called secu-
Galilee.
rity zone in south Lebanon.
The wedding was indeed
I spent an unforgettable
an unforgettable experience,
weekend with my friends in
which actually began on
the Arab-Christian village in
Friday night and lasted the
upper Galilee, close to the
whole of Saturday till the
Lebanese border. I had met
small hours of the morning;
my friend Nawal a year
however, Nawal's younger
RACHEL
before. She and her widowed
brother Rafik managed to
KAPEN
father were part of a delega-
"kidnap" me from my dot-
Special to
tion of Christian Arabs from
ing hosts for a little ride in
the Jewish News
the Galilee coming to see the
his Jeep. I wanted to see the
pope in honor of the holy
famous Good Fence and we
year. The meeting in the
drove alongside it for a few kilometers.
Marini Strand Hotel in the heart of
The fence was closed because of the
Rome forged an instant friendship
Sabbath — actually the gates to enter
between us, a friendship that carried
it were closed — and Rafik promised
onto the heartfelt invitation to visit
to take me there early the next morn-
them in their little village on my next
ing so I could see it in action. Rafik is
time in Israel.
blond and blue-eyed and looks more
Nawal chose that particular week-
like a Swede than an Arab, as do some
end because a wedding took place in
others in the family, most probably
the village and she wanted me to expe-
because of their English mother. He is
a graduate of Haifa University in
Hebrew literature and I enjoyed
Rachel Kapen of West Bloomfield is a Tel
spending time with him and discover-
Aviv native who has lived in the United
ing how much in common we really
States for 30 years. She writes for Lamish-
have. Rafik told me that in the time of
pacha Hebrew Monthly and Hadoar
the military government when Israeli
Hebrew Bi-Weekly both part of New
Arabs were not allowed to travel with-
York-based Histadrut Ivrit ofAmerica.

A

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LETTERS

Don't Laugh In
Face Of Halacha

J 711

6/9
2000

Your Women at the Wall editorial
("Women At The Wall Revisited,"
June 2, page 25) was another truly
amazing piece from the editorial board
of the Jewish News.
It was amazing because it laughs in
the face of Halacha [Jewish religious
law] and mesora [Jewish religious tra-
dition] and this in a supposedly Jewish
newspaper.
Women are perfectly welcome to
daven at the Kotel [Western Wall] at any
time, just as men are welcome any time,
but within the bounds of halacha and
mesora. This requires that men and
women daven separately and with prop-
er decorum and tznius [modesty]. Those
requirements are the status quo.

Although different streams may
have different ideas about what is or is
not proper, the fact of the matter is
that the "highest common denomina-
tor" remains the status quo. In other
words, every Jew can accept things the
way they are now, and not be forced
to go against Jewish religious law or
traditions that extend back thousands
of years in order to daven at the Kotel.
The secular Supreme Court has dis-
rupted the status quo, ruling on reli-
gious issues.on which it has no stand-
ing to rule.
As a result, those Jews, who are reli-
giously observant and who live with the
yirat shomayim [fear of God]i-equired of
Jews everywhere, may be forced to go
against Jewish religious law in order to
be able to daven at the Kotel, or to
avoid davening at the Kotel altogether.
A sad state of affairs in a supposed-

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ly Jewish state, where Jews have to
struggle to be Jewish.
My question is, if the secular
Supreme Court has the standing to
rule on matters of religious law, why is
not the converse also true: That reli-
gious courts have the standing to rule
on secular law?
If the leftist, elitist Supreme Court
continues in its current anti-religious
vein, that may very well be the future
for Israel.
Jay Shayevitz
Oak Park

Self Defense.
Not Murder

Again! Another week of haranguing.
Okay. I get it. According to the Moth-
er's Day Jewish News ("Mom Power,"

May 12, page 7) and the next week
("Marching On," May 19, page 17), I
am a bad mother.
I admit it. I am against more gun
control. I am against more and more
gun laws when those already in exis-
tence are not even enforced. I
absolutely believe that American citi-
zens, especially Jewish citizens, must
exercise their right to bear arms.
Those who know the Hebrew lan-
guage know that there is a difference
between the word "murder" and the
word "kill." That difference is important
because it separates the aggressor, who
murders wantonly, from the victim, who
kills in self-defense. Judaism does not
turn the other cheek, but believes in self-
defense. We may want to think that the
American government will protect us,
but we would be better served to
remember Jewish history and under-

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