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Opinion

A MIX OF IDEAS

Dry Bones T r gEnfi l

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In Search Of Safer Skies

I

n the wake of the failed Christmas
Day bombing attempt against a
Northwest Airlines flight to Detroit,
the question echoes loud and clear:
Should Israel be a model for U.S. airport
security?
It may well be.
For years, Israel's Ben-Gurion
International Airport has stood alone
when it comes to enforcing high-end
safety measures. As America and other
civilized lands mull what more they can
do to avert air catastrophes, they can look
to the Jewish state for a starting point.
El Al, Israel's national airline, knows
more about attacks and specific threats
than any other airline in the world,
reports the New York-based Jewish
Telegraphic Agency (JTA). Following ter-
rorist shootings and hijackings during the
late 1960s and early 1970s, the govern-
ment-owned company adopted stringent
security precautions that have become the
gold standard.
The ring-oriented security structure at
Ben-Gurion includes the highly charged
method of passenger profiling. Security
personnel question ticket holders before
releasing their luggage and screen them
based on their answers and backgrounds.
Ticket holders viewed as a potential risk
face further questioning and a thorough
search.
Although not linked to the recent attack

on a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines
flight by a Nigerian man reportedly acting
on behalf of an Al Qaida affiliate group,
Ben-Gurion staged a significant emer-
gency exercise on Dec. 29. The exercise,
by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and
the Israel Airports Authority, spanned 10
hours. The IDF Home Front Command
and the Israel Police also joined the drill,
which is part of the army's annual course
of training. The drill underscores how
serious Israel is about airport security
and safer skies.
Many Arab passengers, including Israeli
Arabs, have complained of being forced to
undergo excessive and demeaning secu-
rity checks at Ben-Gurion. Israeli civil
rights groups and Israeli Arab lawmakers
have petitioned Israel's Supreme Court,
asking that it ban ethnicity-based profil-
ing as discriminatory, reports JTA.
Israel's tough, successful approach has
stirred real concern about the possibil-
ity of U.S. airports installing additional
security checkpoints and sophisticated
machinery, including the hottest-button
deterrent: full-body scanners. Canada
is introducing them in Toronto and
Vancouver for all U.S.-bound passengers.
Here in America, airport security
embraces technology; in Israel, human
intelligence and profiling reign supreme.
The American model shifted some when
the U.S. government, after what happened

IN 2009
PRESIDENT
OBAMA

STRETCHED OUT
HIS HAND TO
RUSSIA AND THE
MUSLIM WORLD.

on Northwest Flight
253 on Dec. 25, man-
dated special searches
for passengers from
14 nations of interest.
But full-scale pas-
senger profiling is a
ways off; it first would
have to pass a bat-
IN 2010
tery of legal tests. U.S.
PRESIDENT
civil liberties groups,
OBAMA
meanwhile, are busy
IS COUNTING
preparing their oppo-
HIS FINGERS
sition.
Jennifer Laszlo
Mizrahi, founder and
t iO4 4119.
\
/04ttall
head of the New York-
based Israel Project,
.7 4418At3.
an international pro-
palwi,.111* "1
Israel advocacy group,
insists that profiling
isn't discriminatory.
www.drybonesblog.som
She told JTA it has
benefited Jews as well
if they save lives, the end result is worth
as Arabs in Israel. She sees its preventive
it:'
strands working much like the Israel-
It's hard to argue with that.
West Bank security fence.
The courts will decide the fate of
"The security fence has also been criti-
passenger profiling on this side of the
cized, but has saved lives on both sides,
Atlantic. But let there be no doubt: The
just like the airport measures have saved
Christmas Day bomber heightened the
lives on both sides:' she told JTA.
stakes.
"There are plenty of Arab citizens that
And the current U.S. security strategy
are also being protected by these security
at airports just doesn't cut it. We require a
measures. They may be inconvenient, but
major strategic makeover. ❑

The Decade In Jewish Education

R

ecently, JESNA, a national
Jewish education agency, chose
what it considers the "best in
Jewish education of the past decade"
(link: http://jesna.org/component/k2/
item/626). After reading JESNA's list, I
accepted their invitation to submit my
own.
JESNA included such educational ini-
tiatives as Taglit-Birthright Israel, fund-
ing partnerships, the PJ Library, online
Jewish learning and "public space" edu-
cational programs.
What follows, are my selections for
the best in Jewish education for the past
decade:

• Jewish Camping — I may be biased
as the rabbi of a large Jewish camp-
ing agency, but Jewish summer camps
are just about the only thing working
these days in terms of informal Jewish

education. Thanks to the
Foundation for Jewish Camp
and Harold Grinspoon, Jewish
camps are on the rise. The
euphoric experience that
thousands of Jewish kids and
teens feel for a month or two
each summer is the Jewish
education world's home run.

• Technology — From online
distance learning to the uti-
lization of social media, like
Twitter, no one can dispute
that modern technology has removed
borders and made the global Jewish com-
munity feel smaller. Many Jewish organi-
zations have discovered how to use Web
2.0 to their advantage and many more are
beginning to navigate the terrain. I have
to single out Darim, a Jewish technology
consulting company committed to assist-

ing Jewish organizations in use
of technology.

• Indie-Minyans — I was
surprised JESNA didn't men-
tion Hadar, which I consider
the decade's premier example
of do-it-yourself Judaism,
albeit in a professionalized
way. Hadar began the decade
as a start-up minyan (in
a cramped New York City
apartment) and ended it as
a dynamic community that
includes a yeshivah, minyan and think
tank. Hadar is educating young urban
Jews in fresh ways; and the established
synagogues and seminaries are certainly
watching closely.

• JDate — Yes, an online dating Web
site is one of the best in Jewish educa-

tion for the decade. JDate has 650,000
members worldwide making it a sub-
stantial community. While it may not
be a traditional education Web site,
its members learn a lot about Judaism
while searching for their potential mate.
It also forces unaffiliated Jews to feel
connected with a Jewish community-
and to consider their own Jewishness
(and their future Jewishness). More
than many educational initiatives, it
strengthens the Jewish community and
ensures that Jewish traditions are sus-
tained for generations to come.

• Pro-Israel Groups — I'm always
amazed at the level of involvement so
many unaffiliated Jews have with orga-
nizations like the American Israel Public
Affairs Committee and StandWithUs.

Jewish Education on page 24

January 28 • 2010

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