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Commentary
Editorial
Middle East Quandary
Iran is the problem, not the Jewish state.
New York/JTA
T
.
he third round of negotiations with Iran
on its nuclear activities have failed, the
latest and most severe round of sanctions
st the Iranian economy has gone into effect,
ll eyes are turned to ... Israel.
el — such a small piece of land!
ants is to live in peace with
bors.
!ie and again, little Israel is
c:d front and center stage as an
gressor, an oppressor, an antagonist
and the source of all the evil in the
Middle East and beyond. Terror attacks,
boycotts, divestments, sanctions, hate
conferences and countless U.N. resolu-
tions have been aimed at Israel, pun-
ishment for her "crime" of survival.
But if Iran should achieve nuclear
capability, Israel will be right in Tehran's sites.
Israel cannot be expected to be a sitting duck,
and so Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
Defense Minister Ehud Barak have threatened a
preemptive strike, much to the world's chagrin.
The world should not be focused on whether
Israel will attack Iran in a lifesaving effort to
prevent the Islamic Republic from acquiring
nuclear capabilities. Israel is not the problem. The
world should be focused on preventing Iran from
acquiring nuclear capabilities. Not for Israel's sake,
but for the sake of the world.
Dangerous Iran
A nuclear Iran would create an untenable situa-
tion and have devastating and incalculable effects
on the world's safety and economy. A nuclear Iran
would cause the cost of oil to permanently sky-
rocket due to its ability to intimidate and control
fellow members of OPEC. Iran will share nuclear
technology with its proxies all over the world.
Groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, which
already have 50,000 rockets that we know of, could
conduct nuclear terror activities anywhere, includ-
ing in the United States.
Earlier this year, Jerome Hauer, commissioner
of the State of New York's Division of Homeland
Security and Emergency Services, met with repre-
sentatives of more than 60 Jewish institutions at the
Orthodox Union. He expressed his greatest security
concern: a "dirty bomb" hidden in a parked car that
could instantly destroy thousands of lives.
Countries allied with Iran — Venezuela,
Nicaragua and Bolivia — also could gain from
Iran's nuclear capabilities and bring a nuclear
threat closer to American shores. If Iran devel-
ops nuclear capabilities, it will set off a round of
nuclear proliferation in the entire Middle East.
To keep a balance of power, Saudi Arabia,
Turkey, Egypt and others will race to develop
their own nuclear capabilities. A nuclear Middle
East will inevitably lead to nuclear terrorism, and
nuclear terrorism is a game changer for the world.
The Backdrop
In the 1930s, Great Britain's Winston Churchill
was perceived as a warmonger for warning that
military action needed to be taken against Hitler.
But after World War I, the world was tired of
fighting and instead engaged in capitulation and
appeasement. This emboldened Hitler
and enabled him to follow through on
what all along he told the world were
his intentions.
The Iranians have not been shy about
their intentions, either. They have used
"talks" and "negotiations" for more than
20 years to cheat and deceive the West.
They continue to push the envelope;
every day, they are closer to acquiring
nuclear capabilities. Even as the so-called
"technical experts" meet to keep negotia-
tions alive, the centrifuges keep spinning.
Yes, we are tired after the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan. Yes, there will be dire consequenc-
es if we take military action against Iran. Oil prices
will rise and sleeper cells will be roused. Pentagon
war games have predicted that some American
ships in the Persian Gulf will go down. But the
world needs to have no doubts: not stopping Iran
will pose the most devastating consequences of all.
Israel's Grave Risk
Israel is at the most immediate risk due to its
proximity to Iran. A nuclear Iran poses an exis-
tential threat to the Jewish state, which has lim-
ited capabilities to defend herself against such a
nuclear attack. When Iran's leaders and people
say "death to Israel:' they are not engaged in mere
bluster — they mean it. As an Iranian general told
Reuters recently, if Israel attacks Iran's nuclear
installations, "They will hand us an excuse to wipe
them off the face of the Earth."
Israel has too often been forced to defend her-
self alone against existential threats and she will
do so now, if necessary. This is Israel's issue and
Israel's prerogative.
No one desires war, and that is why the most
crippling sanctions to shut down the Iranian
economy are now operative. However, if sanctions
and international pressure fail, the world does not
have the option of tolerating a nuclear Iran. We
need to convey the message that Iran is the prob-
lem and not Israel. We need to articulate that no
one dare confuse the victim with the perpetrator.
Unfortunately, many in the news media and in
other circles lack an understanding of the facts
and a sense of moral clarity. We cannot allow a
repeat of what happened in the 1930s.
Our responsibility is to be as proactive as we
can in helping to clarify where the problem lies,
and to pray to the Almighty that the world does
not have to endure a nuclear Iran. I
Rabbi Steven Well is executive vice president of the
Orthodox Union. He is a former spiritual leader of Young
Israel of Oak Park.
Now-Closed Sinai Guild
Served With Distinction
B
reaking
up is hard
to do.
Knowing when to
do it can be even
harder. The Sinai
Guild got it right in
ending its 60-year
run following a memory-infused celebratory lunch on July 11. It
takes an organization free of ego and rich with heart to give it
up with gusto instead of disgrace.
The Sinai Guild is just such an organization.
It isn't the first organization with a Jewish bent to shutter itself.
The Ecumenical Institute for Jewish-Christian Studies, which built
interfaith knowledge and opportunities from Southfield, and the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit's Neighborhood Project,
an interest-free loan program for home buyers and renovators
to stabilize the Jewish neighborhoods of north Oak Park and
east Southfield, both had impressive runs before closing in the
last decade, leaving success stories in their wakes.
The Sinai Guild, a hospital auxiliary, extended its reach to all
of the Detroit Medical Center's hospitals after Sinai Hospital of
Detroit was acquired by the DMC in 1997. A major result of the
Guild's generosity was the Sinai Guild Medical Office Building at
DMC Huron Valley Sinai Hospital in Commerce. The building was
dedicated in 2009 in recognition of Sinai Hospital's legacy and
to honor the Guild's many Huron Valley Sinai gifts, including a
CT scanner.
The Sinai Guild's longevity underscored the organization's
knack for changing from a volunteer auxiliary to a nonprofit
agency that could raise money and productively award it.
Michigan's economic downturn took its toll on the Guild's fund-
raising prowess; support funding ended when Sinai Hospital of
Detroit closed in 1999 after 46 years of dedicated service.
A July 5 JN article highlighted some of the Guild grants:
robotic surgery equipment to Children's Hospital of Michigan,
a van to Kids Kicking Cancer, the first digital mammography
machine to the Karmanos Cancer Center-Maisel Breast Suite in
Farmington Hills.
Over the past 12 years, the Guild awarded $3.5 million in
grants for medical research and equipment. Jewish beneficia-
ries included Tamarack Camps, Project Chessed and Jewish
Senior Life. Hebrew Free Loan got a grant for recurring dental
and medical loans.
Sinai Hospital, which opened in 1953, sprang from the dis-
crimination facing Jewish doctors who sought hospital privi-
leges in the early years of the 20th century.
Detroit Jewry was blessed knowing the historically Jewish
hospital would live on not just in the name of the Commerce
hospital (as well as DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit), but
also in the soul of a vibrant part of Metro Detroit: the Jewish
Fund. The DMC bought Sinai for $65 million, furnishing the
endowment for the independently run fund, one of our region's
renowned grant givers across the age and needs spectrum of
Jewish and secular causes.
Sinai Hospital represented the Jewish community's com-
mitment to good will through high-end treatment. The Jewish
Fund represents it through life-enriching grants.
The Jewish Fund dwarfs the Sinai Guild's grant-making
capacity. But the Guild will stand tall in our communal memory
bank as an equal partner in preserving the historic name of
Sinai and the nobility of all the goodness that the hospital on
West Outer Drive stood for. 7
August 2 a 2012
35