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Signs Of Progress

A

fuer the government instability of
the last six months in Israel, it is
comforting to see progress being
made iri restoring a semblance of

order.
The Labor Party did the right thing, swal-
lowing its bitter medicine and agreeing to
serve in a national unity government under
Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon.
The third largest bloc, Shas, repre-
senting Sephardim interests, also
signed on, giving Sharon the Knes-
set majority he will need to advance his ideas
— although he may come to regret his deci-
sion to give Shas the Interior Ministry, which
it had run before with disastrous results for
religious pluralism.
The new Israeli administration has two
immediate tasks — dealing effectively with
Palestinian violence and reworking the basic
governmental structures so that the smaller
political parties cannot continue to block
important measures with their peripheral
demands. Sharon has wisely refused to tip his
hand on how he intends to deal with the ter-
rorist actions, such as the suicide bombing
last weekend in Netanya. It may never be
possible to eliminate the would-be martyrs,
but with good intelligence work, Israel ought
to be able to pinpoint the ringleaders and act
against them individually.

The Israel Defense Forces has apparently
recommended continuing to maintain the
border closures and the economic pressure —
a sound strategy; for now. In making his deals
with Labor, Shas and at least three smaller
parties, Sharon is said to have insisted on
rapid Knesset action to restore the voting sys-
tem under which the parliament and the
prime minister are chosen jointly.
It is not clear, however, that he can
get a meaningful rise in the thresh-
old for representation in the Knes-
set from the current 1 percent of the vote.
While this threshold does protect minority
viewpoints, the cost in terms of stalling nec-
essary action is way too high.
One of the nicer signs about the new cabi-
net Sharon is forming is that it will include
Salah Tarif, a Labor Member of Knesset from
the Arab Druze population. He will be the
first non-Jewish member of an Israeli cabinet.
His nomination is a very welcome sign that
the Labor Party Central Committee appar-
ently got the message sent from disgruntled
Arab voters, who stayed away from the polls
last month. The committee voted Tarif into a
ministerial position in the Sharon govern-
ment.
That Sharon also understands this need
for ethnic pluralism also bodes well. Sooner
rather than later, Israel must address the legit-
imate needs of its non-Jewish citizens, and
Tarif may provide intelligent insight for
Sharon in how he must proceed.

EDIT ORM

Related coverage: page 22

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Making Sense Of My Heritage

A

Hod Ha'Sharon, Israel
few days ago, I hiked up Masada.
At five in the morning, my group
began to trek the arduous snake path the
Romans once climbed in their attempt to
murder the rebellious zealots.
I watched the sun rise over the horizon when I
reached the top of the fortress. February wind blew
in gusts across the dusty, deserted mountaintop; rain
began to sprinkle onto my face. Yet, it was easy to
imagine the zealots gathering in a final attempt to
decide whether to murder their own families and kill
their own brothers, or to be brutally conquered by
the enemy Romans.
It was my third time atop Masada, but it was
the first time I was aware of the heroism of my

Jacyln Goldis-Rapaport, 17, is the daughter of
Cheryl and Alex Goldis of Bloomfield Hills. She is
active at Congregation Beth Ahm. She left Feb. 5 for a
two-month stay at Alexander Muss High School, along
with 100 other U.S. students.

ancestors and the bravery they
displayed in striving to attain
freedom at a time when Jews
were persecuted in masses.
I listened to my teacher
recount the entire story in the
context of the historical knowl-
edge he'd built up through
weeks of classes and prepara-
tion. For days, I'd been learning
JACLYN
about
the history of the biblical
GOLDIS-
Jews,
and
I understood how and
RAPAPORT
why
the
events
culminated as
Community
they
did.
For
the
first time, it all
Views
made sense. Out of the spectac-
ular fortress built by Herod, I
could almost re-live the entire scene of the zealots'
last hours in my imagination.
It is my fourth time here in Israel, but this fourth
visit is like no visit before. In the past, I came here
with blinders over my eyes, allowing me to glimpse
some amazing sights, yet shielding me from the real
beauty of Israel, with all its joy and pain, with all its

3,000 years of viable history.
Last summer I was in Safed, one of the four
holy cities of Israel, on a United Synagogue Youth
program. I purchased candles and an ice cream
bar; I played in the park, and I even bought a
micro-calligraphy painting with the entire volume
of Exodus contained on a single canvas. But I
never knew the fantastic stories of the holy men
of Safed who studied the Torah, invented Kabbal-
ah and searched for answers in the aftermath of
the tortuous Spanish Inquisition and the persecut-
ed German ghettos.

A Rich Connection

During my short stay on the Alexander Muss High
School campus, I have already formed invaluable
friendships that I am confident will last a lifetime.
I've laughed, I've bonded and I've shared countless
memories with Jewish teenagers from around Ameri-
ca — much of that fun attributed to the sponta-
neous moments of bonding with my dorm mates

MAKING SENSE

on page

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