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EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK
Shifting Priorities
Denver
0 ur survival as Jews in America hinges more on acknowledging our diver-
sity than on strengthening our unity, says one of American Jewry's most
compelling — and provocative — thinkers, Rabbi Irwin Kula.
I cherish our unity as klal Yisrael, as the Jewish people. But
Rabbi Kula, president of the New York City-based CLAL-The
National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, is on to
something.
He's right in saying we should look outside the box in our
search for new ways to find meaning and purpose in Judaism.
For example, he suggested that who we are is rooted both in
Jewish heritage and American history.
Evidence of that seems overwhelming.
So
I nodded yes when he told about 75 Jewish newspaper
ROBERT A.
executives
meeting in a downtown Denver hotel on June 8:
SKLAR
"For
Jews
in
America, there is no such thing as a Jewish story
Editor
without an American context."
As a keynoter, he tended to wander, but he wasn't boring.
The animated rabbi, ordained at the Conservative movement's Jewish Theological
Seminary of America, addressed the American Jewish Press Association on "Shifting
Values, Shifting Challenges: How Will the Jewish Media Adapt?"
Punctuating why he has deeply influenced the national debate on Jewish iden-
tity and spirituality, he declared: "Unity doesn't mean uniformity and diversity
doesn't mean animosity"
The thrust of his roller-coaster message: We must warm up to Jews with little
or no previous religious involvement and to Jews fighting rejection because their
spouse isn't Jewish or because they are homosexual. To ignore our diversity, he
said, is to doom our unity.
Our Roots
Rabbi Kula supported that argument with a historic overview.
Unity was essential to American Jews at the turn of the 20th
century. We ranged from well-off, assimilated German Jews to
poor, immigrant Eastern European Jews. We formed Jewish chari-
ties, like the United Jewish Charities in Detroit, to share our boun-
ty and keep Judaism alive in a Christian-dominated society.
Unity continued to be the priority into the 1930s and 1940s
as more American Jews became merchants or entered the pro-
fessions amid the storm clouds of Nazi Germany. The U.S. syn- Rabbi Kula
agogue, especially, became a rallying point.
But over the last 30 years, the American Jewish community changed amid the
technological advances and social upheaval that swept the country
That's why, today, it is more important to celebrate our diversity than fret
about the unity we have nurtured for 70 years.
At the same time, we need to reconsider who we are as American Jews. As
Rabbi Kula put it: "We need to think bigger and expand the definition of
Jewish to be more inclusive and diverse. We need to offer a way for the so-called
marginalized Jews to feel more connected to Jewish life. This will inevitably
redefine what we mean by community."
Defining "One"
Passionately, Rabbi Kula talked about the "massive disconnect between Jewish
institutions and Jews," the American Jewish "dependence on the moneyed elite,"
the "most massive concentration of Jewish power in history" the "increased
growth in nondenominational and pre-denominational Judaism" — and the
eroding foothold of Judaism in America.
And he was on target.
Consequently, as American Jews, we do need to come together and tap into
our collective will and power to restore our weakening foothold. But while
doing that, we can't ignore our inbred individualism.
We're Jews, and "one" people, but each of us is different. Echoing Rabbi Kula:
"We are a lot of ones."
In that spirit, "inclusive" and "diverse" surely must resonate as we begin the
breakthrough task of redefining what we, as American Jews, mean by "commu-
nity." 0
LETTERS
Letters are posted
and archived on JN Online:
ww-w.detroitj ewis h n ews. co m
Support For Israel
A Vital Concern
I was dismayed to find out about a lot
of trip cancellations to Israel ("Trips
Canceled," June 8, page 22). Israelis,
our brothers and sisters, need our help.
No, not money, but our moral support.
The media, the Jewish media, the
synagogues, the schools, all need to
team up in organizing the Jewish
community in support of Israel. We
need to send letters of support.
And we need to send our brides and
grooms to honeymoon in Israel. Why
couldn't our newlyweds go to Israel to
start their family life in a place that is
so meaningful to their heritage, rather
then go to Maui?
Two of my daughters now live in
Israel after making aliyah. Merav is
happily married and expecting. She
graduated from the University of
Michigan and now runs a major proj-
ect in one of the successful high-tech
Israeli companies. Tamar graduated
from Columbia University in New
York City and now teaches in Israel.
What is needed from us is to visit
Israel now. It may not be the most
comfortable trip, and you may have
some concerns about security, but
Israelis live with terror; to a certain
degree, we, too, live with killings here
in metro Detroit. My wife and I are
leaving for Israel soon. I hope that
many of you will follow.
Isaac Barr
Birmingham
When Children Suffer,
Indeed We All Suffer
We all suffer when children are dam-
aged and murdered by evil acts of vio-
lence ("One Bomb Too Many," June
8, page 24).
An effect that ripples like a mush-
room cloud of atomic energy passes
through the spirit of people all over
the world. We shudder collectively,
weakened by grief. We must all find a
way to cope and hope again.
Joy Gaines Friedler
Farmington Hills
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6/15
2001
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