OTHER VIEWS

Celebrating Life

As a 12-year-old boy in Germany,
riday night, Sept. 14, I
Ganor
had endured unspeakable hard-
attended a bar mitzvah serv-
ships
to
keep himself and his family
ice at the Birmingham
alive
during
the Nazi regime. After
Temple that would have
reading Light One Candle,
been inspirational at any time.
Jackson located the author,
But for the 300-plus who
now 74 years old and living
attended in the aftermath of
in Israel. The two then
the terrorist events of Sept.
began a yearlong e-mail cor-
11, it was an incredible experi-
respondence.
ence.
Jackson shared stories
Rabbi Sherwin Wine began
about how the Ganor family
by stating that the evening
had lived for a period in
had two purposes. The first
hiding, then were moved
was to mourn the victims of
from the Kaunas ghetto to a
the terrorist attacks, including
work camp, then to a con-
Josh Rosenthal, the son of a
CAROLINE
centration camp. Jackson
beloved temple member. The
BROIDA
told us about Solly Ganor's
second was to thwart the ter-
heart-wrenching
experiences,
TRAPP
rorists' desire to demoralize us
but also told us how Ganor,
Community
by continuing to celebrate life-
still in his teens, used his
Views
cycle events — in this case the
wits to survive.
bar mitzvah of Jackson Klein,
Jackson stated that he has
son of Carol and Mitchell Klein of
committed himself to telling Ganor's
Franklin.
story of courage.
At our Humanistic Jewish temple,
now in its 38th year, b'nai mitzvah
students traditionally spend the year
Guest Of Honor
prior to their 13th birthday research-
Jackson announced he had
ing the life of a Jewish hero or heroine
one more part to his bar
and apply lessons from their hero's
mitzvah.
actions to their own lives.
He stated that, "due to
Tonight, the rabbi stated, Jackson
the
closing of the airports
would be our teacher.
this
week, none of the out-
Jackson climbed the steps to the
of-towners
had been able
podium and faced the Farmington
Hills congregation. He announced that to come in for this night,
except for one. That per-
he would share the life story of Solly
son is .... Solly Ganor!" A
Ganor, author of Light One Candle: A
gasp went through the
Survivor's Tale from Lithuania to
entire room.
Jerusalem.
Jackson continued,
"Since Mr. Ganor was not
Caroline Broida Trapp is a
able to celebrate his bar
Farmington Hilts resident.
mitzvah, I invite him to
ISM

111

join me now."
A gray-haired man in the front
row stood and walked to the podi-
um. Everyone stood and applaud-
ed, many shedding tears.
For several minutes, Ganor
stood with a hand over his eyes,
struggling to regain his compo-
sure. Then, Jackson and Ganor
read together, first in Hebrew,
then in English.
Ganor stated he never expected
his experiences would one day be
an inspiration to a 13-year-old
boy. He was glad he had been able
to make the journey from Israel
and meet his e-mail pen pal.
Ganor's story reminded us that
evil in the world is not new, but
that the human spirit and will to
survive is strong. At a time when
many of us are asking how we can
bear the sadness of these last few
days, we are reminded of those
who suffered during the years of
Nazi cruelty and of people who
live in places where terrorism is a way
of life. We were reminded by 13-year-

Natalie Klein, the 11-year-old sister \
of Jackson, read the poem, "I Had a
Box of Colors" by Tal Sorek age 12
of Beersheva, Israel, at her brother's
bar mitzvah:

I had a box of colors
Shining, bright and bold.
I had a box of colors
Some warm, some very cold.

I had no red for the blood of wounds
I had no black for the orphan's gri ef.
I had no white for deadfaces and hands.
I had no yellow for burning sands.

But I had orange for the joy of life.
And I had green for buds and nests.
I had blue for clear skies.
I had pink for dreams and rest.

I sat down and painted
Peace.

old Jackson Klein that we must indeed
continue to celebrate life.
Our evening ended by standing
together and singing "Ayfo Oree." The
words, translated from Hebrew:

Where is my light? My light is in me.
Where is my hope? My hope is in me.
Where is my strength? My strength is
in me.
And in you.

❑

Lefi- • Jackson Klein and Solly Ganor
looking at the "Light On Candle: A
Child's Diary of the Holocaust" at the
Somerset Collection in Troy.

The Limits Of Fairness

Philadelphia
ccording to Graydon
Carter, the editor of the
fashionable Vanity Fair
magazine, the age of irony
is over. In the aftermath of the Sept.
11 terror attacks, it is no longer
acceptable for journalists to be cynical
about everything.
Carter's remarks, quoted in the Sept.
24 New York Times, are a reaction to

A

the sea change in thinking
changing.
about our country that has
Look at virtually any of
made patriotism fashionable
the television stations giv-
again. Much like the way the
ing saturation coverage to
Japanese attack on Pearl
the story of thousands of
Harbor transformed the
American deaths, the res-
America of 1941, so has ter-
cue and recovery efforts, as
rorism galvanized us today.
well as the beginnings of
For my generation, the
the U.S. military response,
models of the heroic journalist
and you'll see something
are cynics like Bob Woodward
very different about the
JONATHAN S
and Carl Bernstein of
well-coiffed
news readers
TOBIN
Watergate fame, as well as the
and
breathless,
on-the-
Special
anti-military attitudes of many
scene correspondents.
Commentary
who covered the Vietnam War.
Red, white and blue is
But in the wake of the local
the color of much of the
horror two weeks ago, this may be
coverage of the terror attacks on the

•

Jonathan S. Tobin is executive editor
of the Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia.
He can be reached via e-mail at

flif

9/28
2001

32

j to b in @J. ewishexponent. c om

World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Patriotism is in the air as Americans
have rallied around the flag, and many
journalists are not immune to the spir-
it of the times.
Think of Dan Rather choking up on
the David Letterman late-night show
while citing the lyrics of "America the
Beautiful." Not to mention the flag-
waving coverage titled "America
United" or other equally patriotic slo-
gans to headline the news on televi-
sion.
Cynicism is nowhere in sight on the

LIMITS OF FAIRNESS on page 33