I
World
Questioning from page 21
"My piece never claimed to offer an
overview of the Israeli-Palestinian or
Israeli-Iranian conflict:' he wrote.
"Rather, it was a plea for American
Jewish organizations to take sides in
Israel's domestic struggle between demo-
crats and authoritarians, and thus help
save liberal Zionism in the United States.
Those American Jewish organizations, of
course, don't need to be encouraged to
criticize Iran and the Palestinians."
As for Netanyahu, Beinart argues that
his acceptance of Palestinian statehood
was only grudging and came under
intense American pressure.
Rosner also picks over Beinart's sta-
tistical analyses, wondering if they hold
up. The research, Rosner says, shows that
American Jews who believe in trading
land for peace — and who conceivably
would be at odds with its current govern-
ment — nonetheless describe themselves
as attached to Israel, whatever its current
political posture.
Kirchick notes that attachment to
Israel has traditionally increased with a
person's age.
More Debate
Steven M. Cohen, one of the sociologists
whose work Beinart cites in his essay,
thinks Beinart is right to say younger
Jews are increasingly alienated from
Israel, but he is wrong to blame it on
politics.
Instead, he argued in a response pub-
lished by Foreign Policy, the main factor
is intermarriage — more specifically, the
"departure from all manner of Jewish eth-
nic cgroupiness; of which Israel attachment
is pare
That said, Cohen added, "Jewishly
engaged young adults" are turned off by
their perception that debate over Israel
is not welcomed in Jewish communal
circles.
"If Israel is to retain the engagement
of the coming (and present) genera-
tion of American Jews:' Cohen wrote,
"organized American Jewry will need
to provide a third alternative — one
that combines love of Israel with a rich
and open discourse on its policies and
politics."
Whatever the dimensions of the threat,
even some of Beinart's named targets
— speaking off the record — agreed that
a crisis was imminent and that he raised
worthwhile issues.
"Is my diagnosis as dour as his is?
No, I'm probably not as pessimistic as
Beinart is," said one such official. "But
anybody's who's not worried about" dis-
affection among younger Jews, "whether
they believe his thesis or not, is fooling
themselves."
Beinart's best point, this official said,
is that young Jews are not as prone to see
themselves as victims as the establish-
ment is.
"The most correct part of his analy-
sis, the challenge for us, is a Jewish
community that is changing," the offi-
cial said.
"We have viewed ourselves as having
been powerless and weak, but we have
evolved into a community that is power-
ful and strong."
❑
Women Of WISDOM Tell Of
Interaction Between Faiths
A panel consisting of women of Jewish,
Hindu, Baha'i, Christian and Muslim faiths
will speak about their journeys to inter-
faith interaction and personal challenges
within their faiths at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday,
June 8, at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield.
The women on the WISDOM (Women's
Interfaith Solutions for Dialogue and
Outreach in Metro Detroit) panel will
speak from personal experience and will
present insights about their faiths, beliefs
and challenges as women.
The book Friendship & Faith was
written by the women of WISDOM and
is a collection of stories about creating
friendships across religious and cultural
divides. The book will be available for
purchase at this event.
This program is free and open to the
community; reservations are requested
Contact Michelle Lichtman at 248-661-
5700 or michelle@temple-israel.org.
This event is co-sponsored by Temple
Israel Sisterhood.
Cel‘ation of Cantorial and Jewish Music
7:30 p.m., Sunday, June 6, 2010
Congregation B'nai Moshe, 6800 Drake Road, West Bloomfield
Celebrating the Cantorial Ordination of Zachary Mondrow, 2010 graduate of the
H.L. Miller Cantorial School of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS).
Featuring
Zachary Mondrow, Cantorial Graduate
Cantor Earl G. Berris, Congregation B'nai Moshe
Special Guest
Cantor Alberto Mizrahi, Anshe Emet Synagogue, Chicago
Cantors Assembly and the Michigan Board of Cantors Members
Cantor Daniel Gross
Cantor Kat Hastings
Cantor Pamela Schiffer
Cliff Monear, Piano Accompanist
Congregation
fAorbe
DETROIT
JEWISH NEWS
J
22
Concert Only (open seating):$18 per person
Walk-ins Welcome
For tickets and more information please contact
Congregation B'nai Moshe at 248-788-0600.
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