Opinion
Editorials are posted and archived on JNonline.us.
Editorial
Dry Bones aolielai
THERE HAVE BEEN
RUMORS OF WAR
A Sterling Ambassador
is a bittersweet time as Jewish Detroit perceptively said: "I have experimented
in the ultimate laboratory of Jewish life,
bids farewell to Rabbi Daniel Nevins,
learning what works through the prism of
who is heading to New York City on
countless pastoral, intellectual and spiri-
July 1 as dean of the rabbinical school at
the Conservative movement's largest semi- tual interactions with my congregation."
He knows the danger of institutionalizing
nary. The job of recruiting and educating
study by discouraging the spontaneity. He
hundreds of new rabbis will be demand-
knows how diminished life can be without
ing, but the rewards stand to be great.
the vigor of spirituality. He's in demand as
Nevins, a 1989 Harvard graduate, came
a writer, but would never place published
to Detroit and Adat Shalom Synagogue in
scholarship above the human condition.
1994 as one of the best and brightest of a
Adat Shalom has experienced
new generation of leadership for
his excellence as a teacher, ora-
the Conservative movement. He
tor, fundraiser, pastoral caregiver,
arrived at the Farmington Hills
setter of halachic direction, com-
synagogue, one of our largest
munity relations strategist ... and
Conservative congregations, as a
drummer in the synagogue band.
young, engaging assistant rabbi
Teens have benefited from his
and will leave as the beloved char-
teaching of Talmud at the Frankel
ismatic senior rabbi at the still-
Jewish Academy.
youthful age of 41.
Rabbi N evins
Nevins is past president of the
An intellectual who is not
Michigan Board of Rabbis, the
detached, a scholar who embraces
Farmington Area Interfaith Association
prayer, Nevins earned a master of arts
and the Conservative movement's
degree in Hebrew letters from the Jewish
Theological Seminary of America in 1991. Rabbinical Assembly. His zest for connect-
ing and inspiring is what has helped him
He was ordained there three years later.
move so many souls.
Nevins will bring a confluence of
In 2005, Nevins left an indelible impres-
ideas, passion and energy to a rabbini-
sion on his interfaith colleagues when he
cal school yearning to define a middle
led a group of Christian ministers on a
movement searching to reinvent itself
amid the steady growth of the Reform and unique trip that featured Pope Benedict
XVI's first public audience, Yom HaShoah
Orthodox streams of Judaism.
at Titus' Arch in Rome and a week in Israel
On being named dean at JTS, Nevins
7
• ■ •••• ■•■ ••• ■ •1 ■ 11
11ON
AND CHATTER
ABOUT PEACE.
?eke
wAg
1M WA'
15
visiting holy places.
Is
Lou 8
NEAR peAco cotANG!
-rfte
During this time of
summee
challenge and transi-
i , , I ,
A wr i
I 1,
tion for the Conservative
movement, Nevins must
balance tradition against
pluralism. He can tap into
7'SADLYI WHEN
THE WAR
his Rabbinical Assembly
IT COMES TO
WARNINGS HAVE
work. As a member of
ACCURACY IN
ALWAYS PROVEN
the Committee on Jewish
Law and Standards, he
MIDDLE EAST
MUCH MORE
co-wrote "Homosexuality,
PREDICTIONS
RELIABLE
Human Dignity and
Halakhah." In December,
TVS
?CAC6
the committee approved
()LA?!
I (26iikCe.
that position paper,
tar
-7
I
which argued for the nor-
malization of the status
of gay and lesbian Jews,
wvvw.DryBonesBlog.com
including their admission
to the rabbinical school
will leave his mark on American Jewish
and the sanctioning of commitment cer-
emonies to unite couples. He wrote defini- life for generations to come. He'll instill his
vision for vitality and creativity in a school
tive papers on the moment of death and
training the rabbis who will transform
the participation of blind people in the
the movement. As the key shaper of his
Torah service.
rabbinic journey, the Detroit Jewish com-
At JTS, Nevins will blend the academic
and philosophical pillars that have been the munity will proudly have a part in that
transformation.
school's historical backbone with the prac-
We wish Rabbi Nevins, his wife, Lynn,
tical, on-the-ground needs of the move-
and their three children well under the
ment's constituents and front-line rabbis.
neon lights of New York City and God's
The future of the Conservative move-
hand at JTS.
ment in America is in flux. Rabbi Nevins
Reality Check
Crossing The Line
R
join political activists on one
etired U.S. Army Gen. John
side or the other of any issue,
Batiste was fired as a military
whether it's about war or
analyst by CBS News last month
after signing a newspaper ad critical of the peace, makes it impossible to
sustain your credibility.
Bush administration and the war in Iraq.
You have to choose: journal-
The statement was also endorsed by sev-
ist or partisan. Some try to do
eral other former military officers.
both and I have little sympathy
Many on the left insisted that this was
for them. That is why, even
a freedom of speech issue and that the
though I support Israel whole-
network had knuckled under to political
heartedly, I will not march
pressure to silence Batiste.
in parades or sign petitions.
It was nothing of the sort although
Batiste can be forgiven for not being aware It's the price you pay as a journalist and I
believe it's a reasonable one.
of that. He was a general, after all, not a
Admittedly, the situation is a bit different
journalist.
All journalists are told early in the game for a reporter from this newspaper than
it would be for someone from the main-
that there are a few blanket prohibitions.
stream media. But I write for that media,
You do not participate in political demon-
strations, and you do not lend your name • too, and so I feel that I must try, at least,
to keep an objective distance. Call me old
to political ads.
You may feel strongly about these issues fashioned, but I think objectivity matters.
Because if objectivity is not respected
and you are free to bash them as you like
the result can be what happened in Great
as a commentator or columnist. But to
24
June 21 . 2007
Britain with its National Union
of Journalists. The biases of the
British press against Israel are
obvious and well documented.
Anyone who believes what they
see on the BBC regarding any
issue in the Mideast should
have his head examined.
But for the official organi-
zation of journalists in that
country to support a boycott of
Israeli products is contemptible
and disgraceful. They not only stepped over
the line, they ground the line underfoot.
They exposed their bias and they rev-
eled in it. The Anti-Defamation League
has taken the lead in calling this action
what it is — blatant and vicious bigotry
disguised as principle.
Israel is an open society and doesn't
go around revoking the press credentials
of reporters who displease the govern-
ment. They don't kidnap or decapitate
them either. It is the freedom loving
Islamofascists who go in for that sort of
thing. Journalists who displease that bunch
don't get their credentials revoked; they get
their lives revoked. So the Brits have little
to fear from their low and craven behavior.
Much of British journalism is an open
cesspool. It is truly unfortunate that many
American publications have taken to
importing British editors to guide them to
the gutter. They represent the very worst
tendencies of the supermarket weeklies
and celebrity scandal sheets.
Instead of condemning the firing of
Gen. Batiste, the action of CBS should be
applauded as upholding the best stan-
dards of American journalism; even if you
agree completely with what he said.
Because the door he opened is one that
should remain firmly shut.
George Cantor's e-mail address is
gcantor614@aoLcom.