100%

Scanned image of the page. Keyboard directions: use + to zoom in, - to zoom out, arrow keys to pan inside the viewer.

Page Options

Share

Something wrong?

Something wrong with this page? Report problem.

Rights / Permissions

The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes. These materials may be under copyright. If you decide to use any of these materials, you are responsible for making your own legal assessment and securing any necessary permission. If you have questions about the collection, please contact the Bentley Historical Library at bentley.ref@umich.edu

December 31, 2009 - Image 29

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 2009-12-31

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

Opinion

A MIX OF IDEAS

---Editorials are posted and archived on JNonline.us.
George Cantor's Reality Check column will return next week.

Dry Bones

KING SOLOMON
IN OUR DAY...

Editorial

Too Far Left

M

embers of the Michigan
chapter of the pro-Zionist
educational and advocacy
organization StandWithUs stood up to
help balance a local speech by the national
director of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP),
a politically left organization that stands
largely opposed to Israeli policy in the
Palestinian territories.
The Dec. 10 appearance by speaker
Rebecca Vilkomerson at Wayne State
University's Spencer M. Partrich
Auditorium in Detroit was sponsored
by the faculty-led Committee for Peace
and Justice in the Middle East and the
campus-sponsored Center for Peace and
Conflict Studies.
The event illustrates the necessity for
Jewish Detroit to be on guard to assure
campus debate on the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict is not one-sided, especially when
faculty sponsorship is involved.
The audience was small, maybe 15 peo-
ple, most of whom seemed sympathetic to
the JVP cause in the longstanding conflict
over borders, refugees and even Israel's
right to exist as a Jewish state.
Vilkomerson, who currently lives in
America, talked about being married to
an Israeli and living in Israel for three
years. Eugene Greenstein, one the Detroit
Jewish community's most respected
Zionist watchdogs, told the JN that the two

StandWithUs-Michigan members on hand
countered some of the rhetoric during the
time they were allowed to speak. He said
Vilkomerson "acknowledged that she is
a committed leftist and that everything
Israel did was wrong and evil as to the
treatment of the Palestinians. She is not a
fan of the United States, either. There were
numerous statements made that were not
true or out of context:'
In a revealing passage in her Activist
Profile on JVP's Web site (www.jewish-
voiceforpeace.org),Vilkomerson writes:
"The more I learned, the more I had to
question not just the occupation, but
[also] the premise of a state for one reli-
gious group" Try to reconcile that thought
with JVP's belief in Israel's right to "secu-
rity, sovereignty and self-determination:'
according to its Web site.
The JVP political platform spells out
what the Jewish state must stop doing so
Palestinian statehood can move forward.
JVP seeks an end to Israeli "occupation
of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east
Jerusalem" as well as Israeli relinquish-
ment of "all its settlements, military
outposts and bypass roads" Such dras-
tic measures would essentially yield a
Palestinian state in form, if not in fact.
While acknowledging Palestinian sui-
cide bombings and other attacks on Israeli
civilians must stop, JVP argues that Israel

must cease its
use of military
force against
Palestinian
civilians" and
claims that
Israel is guilty
of various
human rights
violations.
Further,
JVP believes
Palestinian refu-
gees should play
a part in decid-
ing whether to
pursue "return,
resettlement or
financial com-
pensation."
We fear the
JVP prescription for peace would make it
impossible for Israel to defend its civilians
or secure its borders. Ending the so-called
occupation short of a negotiated settle-
ment would harm Israel, continue to sty-
mie peace, elevate llamas and do little to
help the Palestinian people.
JVP's call for U.S. suspension of military
aid to Israel to hasten the end of the "occu-
pation" is hollow. JVP insists the occupa-
tion devastates Palestinian society and
promotes militarization of Israeli society. In

"

reality, Israel is the only legitimate democ-
racy in the Middle East and America's clos-
est ally. Enemies surround it.
We fervently oppose JVP's call for a
divided Jerusalem.
JVP's advocacy on behalf of the
Palestinian people is admirable. Its posi-
tion statements, however, give more cre-
dence to the Palestinian government as a
force for improving the Palestinian condi-
tion and as a partner for peace with Israel
than it deserves.

Hillel's Open Tent

New York/JTA

W

hen the Jewish people seeks
an exemplar for openness and
hospitality, we often turn to
our patriarch, Abraham. In one fascinat-
ing chapter in Genesis, we learn that just
three days after his circumcision, an ailing
Abraham rushes from his tent in the heat
of the day to welcome three passing visi-
tors who turn out to be divine messenger's.
Our tradition amplifies Abraham's
righteousness by teaching that his tent
was open on all sides so that he would not
miss a single passerby.
Following in Abraham's sandal steps,
the rabbinic sage Hillel was famous for his
patience and openness. When a potential
convert asked him to describe the essence
of the Torah, Hillel did not rebuff him, but
responded, "What is hateful to you, do not
do to your fellow; this is the whole law. All
the rest is a commentary:'
These stories resonate with anyone who
is fortunate enough to be involved with

the sage's namesake,
and to providing
Hillel, and to work
resources to Jewish
with college students.
activists. Both
Who knows what
Hillel's Steinhardt
divine spark may lie
Jewish Campus
within the scruffy
Service Corps
kid in the baggy
program and our
sweatpants? Who
current Campus
knows which words
Entrepreneurs
of wisdom will
Initiative emphasize
change a life? That's
peer
engagement.
Edgar M. Bronfman and Randall
why Hillel's tents are
When
paired with
Kaplan
always open.
deeper
Jewish
Special Commentary
Today's Jewish
exploration through
college students are
a more senior
more diverse than ever. They come from
Jewish educator — helping to find Jewish
a variety of ethnic, educational, political
answers to life's big questions — this
and ideological backgrounds. The children method provides a meaningful approach
of two Jewish parents will study with the
to Jewish identity building.
children of the intermarried. They have
Immersive experiences such as Taglit-
to be equally accepted and at ease in their
Birthright Israel and service learning
Hillel activities.
trips build social networks, expose young
Hillel has spent the last decade-and-a-
people to senior educators and teach,
half grappling with various approaches
concretely, the importance of Israel and
to welcoming uninvolved Jewish students
tikkun olam (repair of the world).

Hillel has enjoyed success with these
approaches but, more important, it is con-
stantly evaluating their effectiveness while
seeking to improve or replace them.
Techniques that work in North America
are equally applicable abroad. Young
people share fashion, food and Facebook.
Hillel students and professionals from
North America, Latin America, Israel
and the former Soviet Union are travel-
ing between countries learning from and
teaching one another. Their close personal
bonds are creating a true sense of Klal
Yisrael, global Jewish peoplehood.
Throwing open our communities to
Jews of all nationalities and backgrounds
is more easily said than done. Embracing
Jews of divergent and sometimes conflict-
ing ideologies challenges us to create envi-
ronments in which differences are respect-
ed and civil discourse is promoted. Hillel's
Open Tent shouldn't just be a metaphor,
but a living, breathing forum in which big

Hillel on page 30

December 31 • 2009

29

Back to Top

© 2024 Regents of the University of Michigan