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The Art Of Accord

T

Dry Bones

he lack of kosher certification has
threatened to put kosher butcher Sherry
Gilman out of business, despite her
hard work as the new operator of
Dexter-Davison Kosher Meats.
The store is located in the heart of
Detroit Jewry's Orthodox community.
But all of Detroit Jewry would feel
the effects if the business shut down;
not many people are willing to accept the
added "responsibility that running a kosher busi-
ness requires.
Gilman's plight is disconcerting. It shouldn't
have to be this way. Thanks to Rabbi David
Nelson, stepping forward when somebody
needed to do so, a compromise may yet come.
The dispute pits Detroit Jewry's first woman
kosher butcher against the Council of
Orthodox Rabbis of Greater Detroit (Vaad
Harabonim). The Vaad had certified Gilman's
business for a brief time until a disagreement
developed earlier this year; she lost a major
client in Grand Rapids in the process.
Enter Rabbi Nelson, of Oak Park's

Congregation Beth Shalom, where Gilman is
affiliated. For nearly a month, he has supervised
the kashering of meat deliveries to Gilman's
market on his own time at no charge.
Not one to shy from controversy
or avoid a congregant in need,
Rabbi Nelson is desperately trying
to do the "kosher" thing: bring
Gilman and the Vaad back together.
His effort is a mitzvah.
Like Rabbi Nelson, we respect everyone
involved. We value the Vaad's effort to maintain
the highest-quality kosher standards. At the
same time, based on Rabbi Nelson's eyewitness
account, we have the highest regard for Sherry
Gilman's commitment to kashering.
Although Rabbi Nelson serves a Conservative
synagogue and isn't part of the Vaad, he's well
regarded in the larger Jewish community.
We hope the Vaad responds to his unquali-
fied support for Sherry Gilman's work ethic
by working to bring Dexter-Davison Kosher
Meats back into its family of kosher-certified
businesses.
For that result, however, the two sides will
first have to settle their differences. ❑

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EDITORIAL

Related story: page 28

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So Far, So Good

or a fellow who came into office with a lot
of dismal expectations, Ariel Sharon is
doing a lot better than just "okay."
No, he hasn't been able to absolutely
end the violence of the Palestinian intifada (upris-
ing), already under way when he was elected prime
minister of Israel last fall. Nor has he been able to
restore an economy battered by
the precipitous drop in tourism
and the collapse of the NAS-
DAQ-financed high-tech sector
of the economy.
But, despite his reputation as a
warrior first and foremost, he has
engineered remarkable military
restraint despite the repeated
Palestinian incitements. He cor-
rectly understood that the battle
right now is for world under-
standing that effectively neutralizes the Arab claim to
the moral high ground.
The shooting and bombing by the Palestinians is
intolerable; yet Sharon has somehow made it bear-
able by turning it into proof to the world of who the
real aggressor is. Perhaps only a general of his reputa-
tion could have been so successful in keeping the
IDF reprisals — like Monday's tank foray into
Hebron — measured and swift.

F

intact. When two cabinet members, who wanted a
stronger military blow against the Palestinian
Authority defected from the government, they were
at some pains to say their leaving was only tempo-
rary. That is a far cry from the days when the Shas
Party could set Ehud Barak's whole Labor-led coali-
tion trembling with its threats to get out.

Sharon's unwillingness to be pushed
around by the Palestinians, the
European Union or Washington
makes him a steadying force.

Further, he has kept his national unity government

Related coverage: page 22

Calming Influence

In fact, one of the most remarkable aspects of this
government has been the calming of the harshly
competitive internal voices. The nation always
pulls together in times of peril, of course, but
Sharon has made it seem somehow easier this
time. Even when the domestic spending budgets
were being cut to provide more funding for mili-
tary operations, the protests were almost nonexist-
ent. If the American Reform Movement had can-

celled its Israeli youth trips a year ago, it would
have re-ignited the whole "who is a Jew" argu-
ment; this time, the religious factionalism was
brief and muted.
Sharon has also been skillful in making use of
the strengths of his cabinet. For example, he has
allowed Shimon Peres a lot of latitude as foreign
minister, using him as the "good cop" whose sin-
cerity in the quest for peace cannot be in doubt.
Sharon obviously understands that Peres is the
Israeli leader whom PA leader Yasser Arafat is
most likely to believe about the national resolve
not to negotiate at gunpoint.
Arik hasn't been perfect, of course. He should
not, for example, continue to approve the growth
of West Bank settlements.
But all along, Sharon's admirers have insisted
that he would be a steadying force because of his
deeply ingrained unwillingness to be pushed
around by the Palestinians, the European Union
or by Washington. With so much in flux, that
firmness has served Israel well.
We already knew that Sharon would be up to
the task should Palestinian violence force Israel to
employ its military might more forcefully. But as
American Jews who grieve over the detour from
the path of peace, we are pleased that Israel is in
the hands of a guide who seems to know what
direction will most surely lead it back to a
brighter and more secure future. ❑

,

.4N,
7/20
2001

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