Spirituality

SUSAN TAWIL

Special to the Jewish News

T

Mideast talk at
Ann Arbor's
Jewish Resource
Center brings
unexpected guests.

Rabbi Avraham Jacobovitz

he Friday-night Shabbat
meal was winding down at
Machon L'Torah's Jewish
Resource Center at the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor,
when a group of 12-15 Arabic Muslim
students came through the JRC's door.
They had come to hear Machon
Director Rabbi Avraham Jacobovitz's
talk, "Whose Jerusalem?" Although
the talk was not publicized, with invi-
tation by closed e-mail only, somehow
word had gotten out.
The previous week, a group of
Arabic students had attended a talk on
a similar theme at the Ann Arbor
Hillel House. Yossi Olmert, brother of
Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert, spoke
for IMPAC (Israel-Michigan Political
Action Committee). Reportedly, the
Muslim students were very disruptive,
and the talk ended in heated argu-
ments.
So the atmosphere was tense at the
JRC, affiliated with the Oak Park-
based Machon L:Torah/Jewish
Learning Network of Michigan. "You
don't have Arabs coming on an aver-
age Friday night," said JRC Director
Rabbi Aron Eiseman.
"Yes, we were nervous," said
Debbie Borenstein, a U-M junior
from St. Paul, Minn. "We didn't know
how it would play out. We didn't
know if they were there to argue,
protest, listen or what."
A few of the 45-50 Jewish students
in attendance apparently felt uneasy
and left. Rabbi Jacobovitz, however,
welcomed the Arabic students and
invited them to sit around the table
with the others and help themselves to
refreshments.
"It wasn't really comfortable," said
"Rabbi J." He added, "The look on
their faces was not so friendly. But
they were on my turf, worse comes to

worst, I would ask them to leave."
After making it clear that his talk
would be religious, not political, in
nature, Rabbi J. launched into an
hour-long speech on the Jewish right
to Jerusalem. He explained that the
Jewish people are granted the right to
the Land of Israel by virtue of their
acceptance of the ethical way of life
written in the Torah. The rabbi
stressed that it is not through military
or political might that the Jews will
gain sovereignty over their land, but
through adherence to the moral man-
dates of Torah law.
At the end of the talk, everyone
clapped, including the Arab students.
"There was not one word of
protest," said Rabbi Jacobovitz,
though he suspects the group came
specifically for that purpose.
Ari Scharg, a freshman from West
Bloomfield, felt Rabbi Jacobovitz
"handled it really well. People thought
they [the Arab students] were there to
intimidate, but they just wanted to
hear what the rabbi had to say. Once
we saw they were just listening, every-
one was comfortable."

Informal Follow-up

Several of the Arab students gathered
around Rabbi J. after the talk to ask
questions. An Israeli Muslim student
complained about secular Israelis and
asked what gives them the moral and
ethical right to Israel. Rabbi
Jacobovitz responded by explaining
that all the Jews accepted the Torah.
He then briefly discussed the ba'al
teshuvah movement (returnees to
Torah observance).
"We need to make an all-out effort
to educate Jews about their rich her-
itage, values and ethics," he said.
A Palestinian student from Haifa
then asked if the rabbi supports the
[secular] Israeli government. "Yes,"
replied Rabbi J. "I'm sure you under-

stand that as brothers, we Jews have a
moral obligation to support and pro-
tect each other, regardless of philo-
sophical differences."
Another Arab student asked
whether Muslims will be allowed to
pray on the Temple Mount, when,
accordina to Torah belief, it will be
regained b by the Jews. Rabbi J. quoted
from Isaiah (56:7): "I will bring them
to My holy mountain, and I will glad-
den them in My house of prayer ... for
My house will be called a house of
prayer for all the peoples." He
explained that in the past, gentiles also
came to pray in the Holy Temple in
Jerusalem, and gave assurance that
when the Temple will be rebuilt in the
future, it will again be open to the
righteous of all the nations.
Upon hearing this, a Palestinian
student who lives outside the
Damascus Gate of the Old City of
Jerusalem, smiled, shook the rabbi's
hand and said, "Ok, rabbi, so we'll see
you in Jerusalem!"
Danny Kalik, a Jewish sophomore
from Washington, D.C., said: "You
can't assume people are coming to
make trouble." Kalik thought the dis-
cussion was "great!"
He said, "It was really positive for
the two groups to come together and
hear different viewpoints. It was very
cool how it ended."
"Rabbi J. handled it fabulously,"
agreed student Debbie Borenstein. "It
was a good learning experience for
everybody. It wasn't even just about
what the Torah says about Jerusalem,
but about being in the same room
together and discussing the topic. We
all came out of it feeling that we're in
this together and need to talk it out.
It was a very civilized conversation."
"Everyone was ready for this
big confrontation, but they were
justblown away," said Rabbi
Eiseman. "The Torah has the
peaceful solution."

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