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Opinion
OTHE
V i EWS
A Jew Down Under
A
ustralia is about the size of the
United States, so a visit offers
just a glimpse; but squeezing in
Jewish sites can be a highlight of the trip.
On a city bus in Sydney, I spotted an
elegantly dressed older woman sitting
primly with her purse on her lap. I recog-
nized her as a Holocaust survivor whom I
had seen earlier at the Jewish Museum of
Sydney as she was speaking with a group
of Jewish teens dressed in the uniforms
of their private school. The museum was
packed with student groups, all non-Jews
except for her group. Each group was
directed to view the well-done displays
explaining Jewish lifecycle events, the
Holocaust and the fascinating history of
Jews in Australia.
Jews arrived in Australia in 1788,
with the first shipload of convicts from
England. They have been an integral part
of Australia, contributing to the govern-
ment, military, business and professions.
The Great Synagogue in Sydney, the
largest and oldest of the city's 20 syna-
gogues, sits on a busy street across from
Hyde Park, a park reminiscent of New
York's Central Park albeit
small Jewish community meets
smaller. The building is so
at the Jewish Community Center
auspicious that tours with a
on a large lot with an area of
video explaining Jewish life
trees planted by the National
and practices are scheduled
Council of Jewish Women.
twice a week for tourists of
Nearby, in Embassy Row, a lovely
all stripes. The grandeur
residential area with dozens of
of the edifice rivals many
embassies from many countries,
European cathedrals; the
it was easy to spot the Israeli
simple elegance and lovely
embassy — not because it was
services reflect its tradi-
visible, but because it was sur-
Jeannie Weiner
tional Judaism.
rounded by ugly concrete barri-
Community
Unlike the Jewish com-
ers and several armed police in
View
munity in Hobart, Tasmania,
cars. Other embassies had some
Sydney's Jews have the
security but their edifices were
opportunity for a full Jewish lifestyle.
open to view.
Hobart's synagogue is the oldest syna-
The visions of the differing Jewish com-
gogue in Australia and is also in the heart
munities filled my thoughts as I watched
of the city, but it has few Jewish partici-
the woman on the bus. I had heard her
pants. On Shabbat, two services are held,
story of survival — a story of horror, loss,
one "progressive" led by a congregational
luck and strength. I moved to the open
"reader" and the other "traditional," with
seat next to her, telling her that I had
the women sitting upstairs by an electric
heard her discussion with the students
heater in the unheated building. Voices of
earlier that morning. I worried that I
the past, if not the present, are in atten-
might be disrupting her, but she looked
dance in Hobart's charming synagogue.
up with a warm smile: "Oh, an American!'
In Canberra, Australia's capital, the
Australians seem to know after two words
spoken if an American is speaking.
"I wanted to go to America after the
camps. I tried to go to America, but I met
my husband and we couldn't get in to
America so we somehow picked Australia;'
she said.
She spoke at length about her volunteer
work at the Jewish Museum and I learned
that her husband had died, but her chil-
dren and grandchildren lived nearby.
"Now I have no one my age she said. "But
I am glad I came to Australia. The country
has been good to us. Like America. We
must count our blessings for the countries
we live in. We must never forget to be
grateful."
Then it was time for her to get off the
bus. She rubbed my hand and stood up.
"Am Yisroel Chai [the Nation of Israel
lives]," she whispered. "Have a safe trip."
Before stepping off the bus and wav-
ing, she instructed the driver to direct us
to our stop. My husband and I had once
again been rewarded for adding Jewish
exploration to our travels. I I
Jeannie Weiner is a West Bloomfield resident.
Judgment Day
Jerusalem
T
he Israeli presidency is largely a
ceremonial position and has only
one real purpose: to uphold the
honor of the Jewish state.
Yet, over the last six months, as accu-
sations of sexual crimes accumulated
against him, President Moshe Katsav
resisted demands to resign, insisting on
his right to remain in office until being
formally charged — even though, by
tainting the presidency with scandal, he
has betrayed the job's core requirement.
Now, with impending charges that
include rape, sexual harassment, obstruc-
tion of justice and fraud, he is being
dragged out of office: On Jan. 26, the
Knesset approved the president's tempo-
rary suspension. But not before Mr. Katsav
called a hysterical press conference in
which he blamed the media, the police and
the attorney general for hounding him.
For Israelis, this is a time of near-
despair. A former justice minister is on
trial for sexual harassment; leading tax
authority officials have been arrested for
fraud; the finance minister is under inves-
tigation, and any of a half-dozen alleged
financial scandals could topple Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert.
"There is no judgment and no judge,"
Israelis tell each other, quoting a talmudic
28
February 15 2007
phrase.
With the looming threat of
a nuclear Iran, and jihadist
Hamas and Hezbollah pressing
against its borders, Israel faces
an internal challenge that is no
less daunting than the external
ones: to recreate a society that
is worth fighting for.
Never before has Israel faced
greater dangers, and never
before has it been so bereft of
trustworthy leaders.
David was also an adulterer.
But they knew their leaders
were devoted to the nation.
The same can hardly be said
about today's politicians, who
absorbed the wiles of the
founders but not their self-sac-
rifice.
Perhaps the greatest threat
to the political system today
Yossi Klein
is a corruption of the spirit of
Halevi
leadership. In refusing to accept
Special
responsibility for sullying the
Commentary
presidency, Mr. Katsav repre-
Deeply Seated
sents a new class of Israeli lead-
The roots of Israel's ethical crisis go back,
ers who reject accountability for failure.
ironically, to the heroic founders of the
Though last summer's war didn't achieve
state. Personally stoic, the leaders of Mapai, any of its objectives, none of the architects
the socialist party that led the state in its
of Israel's first military defeat admitted
formative years, created a culture of crony-
responsibility.
ism. Possession of a "red card," marking
Mr. Olmert continues to insist that Israel
Mapai membership, was often a precondi-
won even though Hezbollah has rearmed
tion for securing scarce employment.
and Israeli deterrence has been weakened
Cronyism was coupled with frontier
by the very war that was intended to
recklessness: Under constant siege, and
restore it. True, the army chief of staff, Dan
overwhelmed with impoverished refugees, Halutz, did resign in January — but only
Israel created a culture of improvisation,
to pre-empt a call for his dismissal from
a bending of the rules. With the country's
a commission of inquiry investigating the
survival constantly in the balance, Israelis
war, and without any admission of failure
indulged the sexual improprieties of their
on his part.
military heroes; Prime Minister David
It used to be different. When Avraham
Ben-Gurion defended the philandering
Ofer, housing minister in the first gov-
general, Moshe Dayan, by noting that King ernment of Yitzhak Rabin during the
mid-1970s, was accused of corruption, he
shot himself, leaving behind a note that
insisted on his innocence while adding
that he couldn't bear the shame.
And when the wife of Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin was found to have kept a
bank account in Washington, in violation
of the law at the time forbidding Israelis to
hold foreign currency, Rabin took personal
responsibility and resigned — incompre-
hensible by today's standards.
What's Needed
Corruption among Israel's leadership is
arguably no worse than anywhere else.
But a nation facing immediate existential
threats needs leaders who can inspire.
No citizen in the West makes the kind
of sacrifices, from compulsory military
reserve duty to punishingly high taxes, that
Israelis routinely endure. To a large extent,
they endure those hardships willingly:
Teenagers vie for every slot in elite combat
units; at times of national emergency, even
reservists who haven't been called up vol-
unteer for service. Israelis deserve a leader-
ship worthy of their sacrifices.
The founders of Zionism hoped to turn
the Jews into a "normal" people, a nation
like all other nations. They envisioned a
country maintaining normal international
relations while creating an admirable soci-
ety — externally normalized, internally