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DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

theJEWISHNEWS.com

Arthur M. Horwitz
Publisher / Executive Editor
ahorwitz@renmedia.us

guest column

Importance Of Jewish History

0

n Oct. 8, The New York Times
published an article that dis-
regarded any Jewish historical
claims to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Ask the average pre-bar mitzvah adolescent
attending a supplementary congregational
Hebrew school why this is so troubling and
you may get some blank stares.
The paucity of contact hours spent at
Hebrew school means that our Jewish kids
are getting a minimal Jewish education. They
learn to decode Hebrew enough for Hebrew
prayer and bar mitzvah preparation.
Through experiential learning, they get
the basics of the Jewish holiday cycle and
maybe a sprinkling of Torah stories. Teachers
need to accomplish this within five or less
hours of weekly instruction, all while deal-
ing with kids arriving late or leaving early
because of extracurricular activities.
That means teaching Jewish history —
from our most ancient beginnings in Judea,
through the Roman exile and up to the birth
of the modern State of Israel — has mostly
met the chopping block.
I speak from experience. I have taught
Hebrew school in one capacity or another

F. Kevin Browett
Chief Operating Officer
kbrowett@renmedia.us

here or in New York for 13 years.
own kid to take you seriously as a
As a parent, a Jewish educator and
teacher is no cakewalk; but with
a writer who has been observing
the promise of a treat after a cer-
media coverage of the Israeli-Arab
tain amount of studying has been
conflict since college, I cannot help
accomplished, we settle down and
but notice an ominous connection
get to work.
between the neglect of teaching
Each time, we get through one
Jewish history and the rise of the
chapter from an age-appropriate
Stacy
distortion and demonization of
textbook. Fortunately, there are
Gittlem an
Israel on American campuses and
many educational resources and
throughout the world.
videos online to make ancient Jewish
American Jewish kids with a minimal
history come alive. Right now, we are
education are blindsided when they reach
working our way through learning about
the college campus and do not know how
ancient Judea and the Jewish revolts after
to respond when confronted with organiza-
the Romans conquered Jerusalem.
tions on college campuses calling to boycott
Even as Israel works hard to preserve
"apartheid" Israel.
its antiquities, there are some who wish to
As parents and Jewish professionals, we
erase them. As we sat learning the other
are doing ourselves a disservice when we let
night, an online news source reported that
our children's Jewish education take a back
Palestinians had destroyed a 1,900-year-
seat to our many other priorities.
old cave in the Gush Etzion region that
This year, after much soul searching, I
dated back to the Bar Kochba revolt. If you
decided to "home Hebrew school" my own
had never heard of this era in Jewish his-
child. I do not recommend this for every-
tory, I encourage you to look it up. *
one. Ideally, Jewish learning needs to take
place in a communal setting and with
Stacy Gittleman is a contributing writer
lively discussion. Believe me, getting your
for the Jewish News.

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The Iran Deal

Proponents of the Iran nuclear deal inside
and outside of the Obama administration
(including Michigan's senators) promised
that once the Iran debate was over, we would
come together and stand up to Iran's aggres-
sion in the Mideast.
Unfortunately, this promise appears to
be just another talking point as President
Obama and the Democrats are welcom-
ing Russia's alliance with Iran, Iraq and
Hezbollah. It is indisputable that bringing
Russia into this alliance strengthens Iran
and places Israel in an even more precarious
position.
Now we learn that Iran has conducted
ballistic missile tests that violate the United
Nations ban. Yet we hear nothing from sup-
porters of the Iran deal on this disturbing
development. If Iran violates the ballistic
missile ban, why wouldn't they violate the
nuclear deal they just signed?
Of course they will because Iran has never
fulfilled any of its commitments.
Jewish unity is important, but if it means
joining supporters of the Iran nuclear deal
by sticking our heads in the sand and pre-
tending that the world is more peaceful as a
result of surrendering to Iran's ambitions to
dominate the Mideast, I think many of us
will have a hard time unifying around such
a bizarre and dangerous position.
Isn't it more reasonable that the propo-

nents of this deal do what they promised
and urge our elected leaders to exercise U.S.
strength and leverage in confronting the
murderous, anti-Semitic and outlaw Iranian
regime?

Josh Baker

Birmingham

Keep Up Standards

The now month-long violence in Israel is
worrisome. I have my views on the subject
and among them is that Israel is a democ-
racy — imperfect as are all others but a
democracy by any standard, particularly in
the Middle East.
Therefore, it disturbs me when curious
statements referring to the Al Aqsa Mosque
as an "alleged" Muslim holy site are made.
Lowering our standard to that of many in
the Arab world is unhelpful and demeans
the standards that Israelis strive for and gen-
erally reach.

Les Goldstein

West Bloomfield

Must Remain Vigilant

Louis Finkelman's "Refugees, Migrants,
Infiltrators" (Oct. 15, page 8) advocates
accepting Syrian refugees with open arms
because "refugees would love the United
States of America the way my grandpar-

ents did ..." There is a difference between
European immigration 100 years ago and
today. Americans have always been recep-
tive to refugees from other countries and
even those from the conflicts in Iraq and
Afghanistan, but the same is not true with
Syrian refugees.
Americans are afraid because Muslims are
forming cities within cities where mosques
are being built to consolidate, train and pro-
mote a growing American Muslim popula-
tion that supports Sharia law.
Americans are afraid because our govern-
ment cannot properly screen the new arriv-
als for signs of radicalization.
Americans are afraid because ISIS
exploits the refugee resettlement process to
set up operatives in the West. According to
ISIS itself, this is not considered a refugee
crisis but a stealth jihad. ISIS claims it smug-
gles trained radicals in with the immigrants.
Even the wealthiest Muslim nations
(Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Oman
and Kuwait) refuse to accept Syrian refu-
gees, arguing that accepting Syrian refu-
gees poses a serious threat to the safety of
its citizens because terrorists could hide
among civilians. These arguments cannot
be ignored. The safety of every American
depends on being vigilant.

Donald Kitain

West Bloomfield

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6 October 22 2015

