Opinion

Dry Bones

A MIX OF IDEAS

Editorials are posted and archived on JNonline.us.

Editorial

Promoting Israeli Dialogue

T

he answer to the surging debate
over religious pluralism in Israel
lies in a basic communication
principle: dialogue.
No less a party of interest than Rabbi
Avi Weiss, who heads the Amcha activism
group and Yeshivat
Chovevei Torah, a lib-
eral Modern Orthodox
seminary, thinks that's
the way to go.
So do we.
As Weiss put it,
"The greatest threat
facing us, more than
an external enemy, is
a divisiveness within
our people that is so
dangerous, God for-
bid, it could lead to
calamity."
Harsh?
Yes.
But there's a mes-
sage there worth heeding: Sometimes,
the social enemy is within for Jews.
Israel has enough worries to confront,
given the lineup of neighboring enemies.
It shouldn't have to fear inter-stream
intimidation.

Israel's fervently Orthodox Jews strictly
enforce Orthodox law there, leaving less-
traditional Jews feeling voiceless in the
public arena. Orthodox control in the
Jewish state is the law. But that shouldn't
preclude a government-sanctioned sound-
ing board that at least
hears the flow of head-
line-grabbing actions
that involve the practice
of Judaism in Israel. On
Dec. 28, the New York-
based Jewish Telegraphic
Agency described a
few of these: women
who wear tallitot at the
Western Wall; haredi
protests against a park-
ing lot open on Shabbat
and against the Intel
branch in Jerusalem for
allowing work through
Shabbat; a battle over
gender-segregated
public buses; and the burial of a child con-
verted to Judaism by a Conservative rabbi
in a corner of a Spanish cemetery reserved
for non-Jews.
The alienation fostered by Israel's
Orthodox religious leaders is certainly

There needs to
be a mechanism
through which
Israeli Jews, all
along the identity
spectrum, can
share concerns
and hopes.

QUIZ

THE ANSWER 15;
"WHEN THEY STOP
NAMING THEIR STREETS,
STADIUMS, SUMMER
CAMPS, AND STUDENT
AWARDS TO HONOR
TERRORIST MURDERERS".

fodder for discus-
sion. The grow-
ing numbers of
Reform and Masorti
(Conservative) Jews
in Israel demand a
WHEN WILL WE KNOW
forum through which
THAT THE PALESTINIANS
members of the three
WANT PEACE?
major Jewish streams
can talk without a
prevailing chill of
coercion. No one
benefits from such
separation.
Jewish pluralism
here in America is
stronger than ever.
We still have tense
DryBones_com
moments, but inter-
action among the
retain the final say although we hope it
streams is becoming more commonplace.
begins to recognize the value of the other
Needless to say, we Jews on this side of
the Atlantic shouldn't impose our religious streams and the need to listen to their
mores on Israel; Israeli Jews should guide
concerns.
Israel is more apt to thrive with Jewish
their own religious destiny. But for that to
diversity and positive religious energy.
happen, there needs to be a mechanism
Strong as it is, Jewish America's plu-
through which Israeli Jews all along the
identity spectrum can, at minimum, share ralism model can be a starting point to
inspire real dialogue among the expanse
their concerns and hopes. The govern-
of Israel's Jews.
ment-funded Orthodox rabbinate will

❑

Reality Check

Stonewall Punts

D

uring one of the recent col-
lege football bowl games, the
camera panned across a view
of an equestrian statue in downtown
Jacksonville, Fla.
"And there intoned one of the network
announcers, "is the general for whom this
city is named — Stonewall Jackson."
Uhhh, not quite. The statue and city's
name actually honor Gen. Andrew
Jackson, which is hardly one of the great
cover-ups of American history. But I
think the network sports announcers are
so used to babbling on and on during
the course of a game that spouting mis-
informed factoids counts for very little.
Besides, the way the schools teach history
these days, who's to know?
These people make a lot of money. I read
recently that one of them was ordered to
pay nearly $1 million in annual child sup-
port and alimony. Now I'm no expert in
this field, but that would seem to indicate
he was earning something substantially

more than $1 million a year.
And for what? Have you ever
tuned into a televised sport-
ing event because of who was
announcing it? I can name a few
who drive me away when I real-
ize that I'm going to hear their
tiresome shtick for an entire
evening — as if screaming
cliches at the top of their lungs
somehow enhances the drama
of the event.
Ernie Harwell was a great
exception, the perfect blend of
reporter and story-teller. Before
he turned into a pompous self-
parody, so was Howard Cosell.
But I was saddened to read that one of
the great figures in Detroit sports televi-
sion journalism, Dave Diles, passed away
late last year. Dave was always a journalist
first, conditioned by years of tough report-
ing with the Associated Press. He was
breaking more stories than the newspaper

reporters who were assigned to
the major beats and he was also
a rakishly handsome guy.
Someone noticed, and before
long he was running the sports
desk at Channel 7. His resigna-
tion at the AP opened the way
for Jerry Green and Joe Falls
to take over there and for Al
Ackerman, cut in the same mold
as Diles, to get a job on TV.
They did not back down if
they knew their story was right.
They were not shills for the
teams their stations covered.
Diles went on to great success
on network TV and quietly retired to his
farm in southern Ohio.
It was a great era for those who liked
their local sports covered seriously and
not as a series of cartoon clips. I under-
stand that is mostly the consequence of
ESPN's wall-to-wall coverage. Still, much
of ESPN's commentary simply consists of

more babbling.
"Pardon the Interruption:' is one of my
favorite ESPN shows. Tony Kornheiser
is one of the wittiest guys on TV. He and
his partner, Michael Wilbon, are based
in Washington, D.C., but are expected to
offer analysis on teams from all over the
country.
Much of it is highly amusing. But
whenever the show touches a Detroit or
Michigan issue, I realize neither one of
them has any sort of handle on it. How
could they? The territory is much too vast
to cover. Sometimes it sounds like it's gone
to Jacksonville.
"Here is a statue of Abraham Lincoln;
not only a great leader but the inventor
of one of the top luxury cars in Detroit's
history:'
And, I might add, a hard man to double
on a roller down the third base line.

❑

George Cantor's e-mail address is

gcantor614@aol.com .

January 21 . 2010

33