r l Opinion
OTHER VILVVS
Hamas Rockets, Israeli Response
T
he rockets must stop. That's the
message our Jewish community
must get across to the general
community, to the news media and to
government officials in every discussion
about Gaza.
Nothing of import in the Middle East
is simple. Only when people begin to
glimpse the complexity of the Arab-Israeli
conflict can they have an intelligent con-
versation about it. But a simple principle
must first prevail before any progress
towards peace and reconciliation can
begin. The rockets must stop.
Advocates for the Palestinians are focus-
ing their grief, their anger and their criti-
cism of Israel on the plight of Palestinian
civilians in Gaza. Innocent men, women
and children have been killed or injured,
lost their homes and livelihoods, struggled
with shortages of food, water and other
necessities. The images, sound bites and
statistics coming out of Gaza are horrific.
But it is Hamas that has brought
from Egypt, Jordan and Saudi
about this suffering through its
Arabia, Israel was compelled
ever-widening rocket campaign
to take definitive action. That
against Israel. The only military
action has but one goal: The
actions Israel is taking now or
rockets must stop.
has taken in the three years
Some accuse Israel of target-
since leaving Gaza has been
ing civilians or being indif-
aimed at those firing at Israeli
ferent to their safety. In fact,
civilians. There is but one path
Israeli military actions target
to ending Palestinian suffering:
the Hamas infrastructure,
Robe rt Cohen
The rockets must stop.
not the innocent Palestinian
Co mmunity
Israelis are suffering, too. A
civilians living in Gaza, who
View
million residents of southern
they even warn by phone in
Israel are now within range
advance of attacks. The truth
of Palestinian rockets. They,
is that Israel places the high-
too, live under the constant fear of death
est value on the sanctity of all human life.
raining down upon them from the s
By contrast, Hamas attacks indiscrimi-
Of course, Israel is going to act in their
nately, seeking to maximize the number
defense, with not only the right but also
of civilian casualties on the Israeli side.
the responsibility to do so. When Hamas
Perversely, Hamas intentionally operates
dramatically escalated its attacks — 60
from within Palestinian population cen-
rockets Christmas Eve alone! — despite
ters, using non-combatant men, women
warnings not only from Israel but also
and children as human shields in clear
violation of legal and moral norms. How
to bring an end to the deaths and injuries
on both sides? The rockets must stop.
With the end of the Bush administra-
tion and the start of Barack Obama's
a couple weeks away, it is especially
important for our members of Congress
to speak out in support of Israel. Call or
e-mail them, assuring them that Israel
longs for normal relations with all of its
neighbors and has proven it is willing to
make painful sacrifices to achieve peace.
Explain to them that defeat of Hamas
in Gaza could bring peace closer by
reinforcing the leadership of Mahmoud
Abbas and Salam Fayad, Palestinian
officials in control of the West Bank who
reject terrorism. But for that to happen,
the rockets must stop. E
Robert Cohen is executive director of the
Bloomfield Township-based Jewish Community
Relations Council of Metropolitan Detroit.
Climb Up or Climb Down
T
he Bernard Madoff scandal may
be the most frightening example
of fraud and theft that any of us
have ever seen. It feels inconceivable to
witness such thievery, but it's even worse
to witness a Jew robbing other Jews as
well as others who believed Madoff was a
financial idol, simply the most consistent,
trusted investor in America.
Even still, I wonder, why did so many
people and organizations believe that
they should invest everything with him?
It is devastating to see so many people's
life savings and charitable organizations'
entire financial accounts wiped out.
Madoff may have been the perfect
fraud in an investment world that became
permeated with unimaginable deception
and insane leverage. The former chair-
man of the NASDAQ Stock Exchange,
Madoff appeared as a brilliant investor,
philanthropist and pillar of the Jewish and
financial communities. He appeared as the
perfect investor: a respected, trusted man
with a seemingly uncanny ability for con-
sistent returns, month by month, year by
year, in bull and bear markets.
How easy it is to be overwhelmed by the
injustice of it all. The perpetrators of so
much financial turmoil collected millions
while so many others can't pay their mort-
gages, get a loan, sell a car or find a job.
Even though thousands of Americans
are losing their homes and jobs, we must
not despair. We can use our voices for
A28
January 8 2009
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good and voice our outrage,
even when unpopular.
That was one of the key mes-
sages of Avraham Weiss, who
visited the Detroit community
in early December. On Dec. 5, I
joined with a few hundred oth-
ers at Adat Shalom Synagogue
in Farmington Hills to listen to
this Orthodox rabbi for an hour
of song and stories. It was an
hour I will never forget.
In November, I had never
heard of either Bernard Madoff
or Avraham Weiss. When I read
about Weiss in the Adat Shalom Voice, I
asked about him and heard that he was
well worth hearing, that he was an influ-
ential rabbi and had been instrumental in
freeing thousands of Soviet Jews.
Weiss began with song, leading the con-
gregation in a melodic Hebrew melody. He
spoke softly, but eloquently about his life
and his newest book, Spiritual Activism:
A Jewish Guide to Leadership, which states
that "our ultimate goal is to do our share to
redeem the world:' An Orthodox rabbi, he
believes that what unites all Jews is greater
than what divides us and that the pre-
dominant lesson of the Torah is to "treat all
people with dignity, respect, and honor."
Weiss told stories, as he does in his
book, about his efforts to fight bigots of all
kinds, which included Louis Farrakhan,
Pat Buchanan, Hugo Chavez, David Duke,
Cardinal Josef Glemp and
even Nelson Mandela when
he embraced Yasser Arafat,
Muammar Qaddafi and Fidel
Castro. Weiss writes, "Act when
it is right to do so, not when it
is popular." Both the triumphs
of liberation for Soviet and
Ethiopian Jewry began as
small, fringe movements that
gained power after more Jews
began taking action. Weiss
believes it is our command-
ment to stand up against evil in
all its forms.
"If the Holocaust has taught us any-
thing:' he writes, "it is that public protest,
far from rendering the threatened com-
munity more vulnerable, offers it added
protection:' Spiritual activism "denotes
how God can work through people." Weiss'
inspirations included Natan Sharansky
and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who said,
"Life's most urgent question is: What are
you doing for others?"
On Christmas in 2008, many Jews
decided to climb up by participating in
Mitzvah Day in Metropolitan Detroit.
More than 1,000 Jews in 40 different
locations spent much of the day help-
ing the neediest people have a merry
Christmas by donating food, clothes and
their time under the aegis of the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and
the Jewish Community Relations Council
of Metropolitan Detroit.
This year, my wife Judy and I joined
other members of Adat Shalom and West
Bloomfield-based Congregation Beth Ahm
at the HOPE Hospitality and Warming
Center in Pontiac, which helps shield the
most destitute in Oakland County from the
bitter cold and hunger. In this year of rising
foreclosures and economic crisis, even more
people are becoming homeless. This winter
has not only been brutal for the homeless;
it's been a terrible winter for charities. And
now, after Madoff, it is much worse, for
so many charities such as the Elie Wiesel,
Lappin and JEHT foundations.
Weiss' messages are fairly simple: Stand
up for Israel, speak out against injustice,
condemn racism and anti-Semitism and
give to others — all acts of "true kind-
ness." If you have a job and money, you
might think twice about shopping for
yourself. Do a little mitzvah by thinking
of the voiceless, the homeless, and the
impoverished. Donate what you can to
HOPE or to another charity.
Don't climb down like Madoff; instead,
climb up like Rabbi Avraham Weiss by
speaking your mind, fighting injustice and
giving to others.
In this cold winter filled with foreclo-
sures, avarice and poverty, we can decide
to rise up to be a better Jew and a more
humane human being.
Arnie Goldman is a Farmington Hills resident.