SPECIAL COMMENTARY

In Pursuit Of Greater Unity

for the families.
ur children sit together in
Monday this week was Ron Arad
the sukkah, pouring over the
Day. Ron Arad was captured by ter-
details of the new security
rorists 14 years ago when his plane
rules in Hoshaya. Play areas
was shot down. We haven't heard from
outdoors are limited. Kids
him since 1988. He lived
run after the soldiers asking a
near us. He was a Tech-
million questions. Our
nion-Israel Institute of
teenagers are participating in
Technology student.
patrols.
In Israel, hi-tech busi-
Three Israeli soldiers were
ness is as usual. As I
kidnapped on the border with
walked down the corridor
Lebanon. Two of the soldiers
of an office in the Haifa
are Jewish and one is a
area yesterday, there was
Bedouin Israeli. My kids
the usual bustle and
asked how it happened. Why
action of a successful hi-
won't the Hezbollah tell us if
DEB BY
tech company.
our soldiers are alive or dead?
SPIN NER
Although parents may be
Why do some of our friends
Speci al to
working, our children are
say it is better to die than to
the Jewis h News
on Sukkot vacation for the
fall into the terrorists' hands?
week. For security reasons,
How can we answer our chil-
their youth group activities
dren's questions?
were cancelled. We're going out on a
Israel is a small place and, of
limited scale.
course, my husband Ron and I know
Mira, our eldest, is serving in the
someone related to the kidnapped sol-
army. She has not been home since
dier from Tiberias.
Yom Kippur. We hope to see her on

g

MITIEMONIELNESINEMMNEESIMENNEFWISEVEREIMIEMBRAREMEMEZESEt

Homespun

Debby Spinner and her husband Ron are native Detroiters who grew up
in Oak Park, graduated from the University of Michigan and made aliyah
following their marriage in 1977.
Ron is chief executive officer of Vista Presentations. Debby's
hitechgiving promotes Yad Sarah (medical equipment), Gesher (programs
in tolerance and Jewish identity), Life and Environment and select educa-
tional programs.
The Spinners have five children.
Debby is the daughter of Beverly Weingarden and Dr. Lester Zeff.
She is the daughter-in-law of Dr. and Mrs. Edward Rosenbaum of
Southfield.

Last Thursday, the world witnessed
the lynching of two Israeli soldiers.
My husband was in the middle of a
business meeting in Haifa featuring a
new hi-tech product for the Internet.
As part of the product demonstration,
CNN was shown on the screen bring-
ing the atrocity live into the meeting
to the shock of all of the participants.
On Israeli TV, we were spared seeing
the most gruesome parts of the
footage. It was censored out of respect

Debby Spinner is director of hitech-
giving (www.hitechgiving.org .i1), a
newly launched program promoting sup-
port of non profits by Israeli hi-tech and
other sources. Hoshaya is in the central
Galilee, Detroit's partner region in
Israel. Her e-mail address is
deb@hitechgiving.com

this Shabbat/Simchat Torah weekend
at home.
The encroachment on our daily
lives includes fear of leaving our chil-
dren when we go to work and, on the
roads, the fear of attack. We will not
and cannot accept this. The State of
Israel has the power to take action and
we choose restraint for now.
For our benefit, and for the benefit
of the whole region, we have turned
over every stone in our search for
peace. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Barak has made every effort to end
this confrontation in a non-violent
manner, and he made that effort in
Sharm el-Sheikh as well. We are trying
to keep the situation from escalating,
but we have the power of force if we
must use it. Only from a stand of
strength could there be such power of

restraint. There is growing unity
among us.
It is a mitzvah to "rejoice in your
holidays." I think we were given the
commandment for times like these.

This Sukkot, it has not been easy to
rejoice. We have a tough path ahead
of us. By uniting as a people and
holding strong, we hope to celebrate
better times.

❑

REPRMIMEREMESmonstamyogsitatematexemwsmaimmmummoni

Respectful But Cautious

ARTHUR GERSTEN
Special to the Jewish News

Jerusalem
n our Jerusalem neighborhood, Har Nof, it is very quiet. Our area
is on the western most part of Jerusalem, not near any Arab popu-
lations or major roads.
Almost everyone is religious. The average family has 5 7 kids.
Har Nof is a densely populated area with six-to eight-story apartment
buildings, one next to the other. There are many educational institutions,
including for adults. So there are lots of people around all the time.
Israeli security repeatedly advise the population to be very alert for ter-
rorist attacks and be especially careful. For Sukkot, I bought luluv and
etrog and four species last Friday, like I normally do every year, in the
center of Jerusalem. There were less than half the people there. There
were lots and lots of police and soldiers. Also, many Israelis, like me, who
own guns, go armed.
Daniella, my 19-year-old daughter, is doing national service at
Shaare Zedek Hospital. She, and other staff members, went through
training for mass intake of injured people. The shopping centers have
very few shoppers. Also, the police insist that every car entering a
shopping mall lot be stopped, and the car and trunk be searched for
explosives. After parking, no one is allowed inside without a security
check. Normally, there is a civilian guard doing the check, with two to
three border police as backup. Many people do not want to be in
crowded areas or on buses.
The Palestinian Authority agreed to protect a Jewish holy place
Uoseph's Tomb) in Nablus and an ancient synogogue in Jericho. Both
places were desecrated and burned with approval of the PA. In Jerusalem,
Jewish homes in the Gilo neigborhood are repeatedly shot at from a near-
by Arab neighborhood. As Hayim Shavit, a leading leftist intellectual
said, "Our deep hope for peace with the Palestinians blinded us from rec-
ognizing reality [of their hatred]."
What is ahead? We expect that the Palestinians' hatred will not sud-
denly disappear. Nor can we ever meet their demands, for new demands
will always come forth. For example, I heard Arab members of parliament
demand retraction of the Israel Declaration of Independence, wherein
Israel is called a Jewish state 11 times; changing the flag of Israel with its
Magen David; and elimination of the national anthem Hatikva. We also
expect continued attacks against Jews. Palestinians can travel and work
among Israeli Jews, but Jews are in danger among them.
What to do? Be cautious. Avoid dangerous areas. We have a saying
in Hebrew, which translates like this: "Respect him, but suspect him."
We will continue to respect Palestinians, but suspect them as potential
enemies.
Our tradition teaches us that peace is of great value. We long for
peace, and will continue to pray for peace. But we cannot allow our
hopes to blind us to the actions of our Palestinian neighbors.
May God protect all of the Jews, in Israel and in the Diaspora.
As it says in the mishnah, Kol Yisraeh Aravim Ze Lezeh, which means,
"All of Israel is responsible for one another."

I

-

❑

Arthur Gersten is a native Detroiter who now lives in Israel.
This is condensed from a letter he sent to relatives in Detroit.

10/20
2000

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