Opinion

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Greenberg's View

MAMAS CELEBRATES A YEAR OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Editorial

God Bless America

W

e have spent a great deal of
time this year celebrating
Israel's 60th birthday, with
good reason: Nothing since World War II
has been more important to the Jewish
people than the re-establishment of our
homeland in Israel.
But it's worth remembering this time of
year that the Jewish people have two great
population centers in the world, both of
which have proved to be havens for our
physical safety and our religious freedom.
Aside from Israel, of course, there is the
United States, which this week celebrates
its 232nd birthday.
For nearly four times as long as modern
Israel has existed, the United States has
stood as a beacon of freedom, which is
why almost as many Jews live in America
as live in Israel. Despite such horrific aber-
rations as the lynching of Leo Frank in
1915 and a rash of synagogue bombings
across the South in the late 1950s, this
country has been good to us. The U.S. gov-
ernment has never expelled us, locked us
into ghettos or inspired pogroms against
us.
The United States has not been a flaw-
less home for us. We cannot and should

not forget the quotas and other restric-
tions on our presence at universities,
hotels, country clubs and more. Nor is it
easy to forgive the U.S. refusal to allow
the refugee ship St. Louis to unload its
precious human cargo in 1939 or the
American failure to do more to save Jews
from the Holocaust.
But we also will never forget that the
first country to recognize the new nation
of Israel in 1948 was the United States and
that the truest friend Israel has to this day
is the United States.
We find ourselves reflecting on the gifts
of America not only because of the Fourth
of July, but also because of a recent exam-
ple of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish senti-
ment from a nongovernmental organiza-
tion in this country: the revised, ironically
titled statement "Vigilance Against Anti-
Jewish Ideas and Bias:' brought before
the national assembly of the Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.) in late June.
More than a dozen Jewish organiza-
tions quickly decried the statement after
the church released it last month. Despite
an earlier draft that drew Jewish praise,
the new statement follows Presbyterian
precedent in blaming Israel for all

Palestinian-Israeli violence, raising the
specter of divestment and delivering "a
blueprint for how to engage in anti-Israel
activity," according to a letter in response
from the Reform, Reconstructionist and
Conservative movements.
There is no question that the new state-
ment is a step back in church-synagogue
relations and that we are far from the
"new season of mutual understanding and
dialogue" envisioned by the Presbyterian
Church two years ago.
But while we share the disappointment
of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs,
B'nai B'rith and so many other Jewish
groups, we are confident that interfaith

dialogue will educate the Presbyterians
and lead to improvements.
That's the beauty of the United States.
Here, all religions can come together to
meet and talk on a level playing field. No
religion has the advantage of official gov-
ernment support or the disadvantage of
government censure. We are equals, and
that equality enables us to resolve our dif-
ferences with words instead of weapons.
When we come to terms with the
Presbyterian Church, we will add to an
impressive two-century track record in
the United States, a record that's worth fir-
ing off a few fireworks to celebrate on the
Fourth of July. ❑

died in an accident. "Once
Upon a Time," a song from a
show so bad that Mel Brooks
based The Producers on his
experiences in writing it.
"Thanks for the Memory:'
which is forever linked to the
comedy of Bob Hope but is
really a song about a divorced
couple recalling their past.
("And how are those little
dreams that never did come

ing Johnny Mercer lyric ("There's a dance
pavilion in the rain, all shuttered down.")
The Mel Torme classic, "A Stranger in
Town." ("Guess I'll leave on the twelve-
oh-two; can't believe that there's no more
you.")
That makes 23. I'd round out the list
with a Nat Cole favorite, "Somewhere
Along the Way:' and, on the eve of Tiger
Stadium's destruction, Sinatra's wonderful
"There Used To Be a Ballpark Here."
But maybe the saddest lines of all are
from a song that isn't even on my list,
"While We're Young." They are about the
nature of youth.
"None can refuse; time flies so fast.
"Too dear to lose, but too sweet to last."
Ah, if only I had followed my dream and
become a lounge singer, I could be belting
them all out right now Consider your-
selves lucky. ❑

Reality Check

Music To Kvetch By

S

everal weeks ago, America Online
presumed to list the 25 saddest
songs ever written. Apparently,
its "experts" believe there were few worthy
laments written before 1970. How very
wrong they are.
This is not an auspicious era for sad
songs. The best sad songs were written
about love, but most of what passes for
popular music today is about sex. I hesi-
tate to point this out, but there is a differ-
ence.
Great love songs are about dreams gone
wrong, longing, deferred desire. Great sex
songs are about sex, which rather limits
the emotional range.
The only two songs on the AOL list I
agreed with were "Eleanor Rigby," the
Beatles' ode to a terrible loneliness, and
one of the Frank Sinatra classics, "In the
Wee Small Hours of the Morning."
My list of fairly contemporary sad
songs would have included "What a Fool
Believes,""After the Love Has Gone" and

"Sometimes in Winter." What
killer lines each of them con-
tains.
"She had a place in his life; he
never made her think twice."
"Something happened along
the way and yesterday is all we
have."
"It's a cold room, and the walls
ask where you've gone."
My list would include some
of the greats: "Little Girl Blue
by Rodgers and Hart. "In My Solitude by
Duke Ellington. "The Man That Got Away:'
by Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin. Benny
Goodman's closing theme,"Good Bye."
Many of them are show tunes, where
the emotion can really flow. "If He Walked
into My Life,' from Mame. "Or Am I Losing
My Mind:' from Follies. "Here's That Rainy
Day:' from Carnival in Flanders. "Young
and Foolish:' from Plain and Fancy.
The unbearably sad "Tears in Heaven:'
which Eric Clapton wrote after his son

true?")
It would include the wartime hits, "I'll
Be Seeing You" and "There Will Never Be
Another You." For personal reasons I'd
put in "The Things We Did Last Summer,"
because my late daughter Courtney loved
it. I'd also throw in the shy guy's com-
plaint, "You Don't Know Me and Skeeter
Davis' ode to Country misery, "The End of
the World."
Some are not as well known as they
should be. "Early Autumn" with an ach-

George Cantor's e-mail address is

gcantor614@aoLcom.

July 3 • 2008

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