views

for openers

Get A Move On

O

Is someone you know hav-
ne of the major
ing a special birthday? What
complaints today
better excuse to spring the sur-
seems to be that we
prise of a party! No, of course
are always on the go. We
you will not want to spring
act to save time; and with
for the whole thing yourself;
the time saved we race to
by all means, as you spring
try to do more, trying to be
into action, enlist the help of
everywhere at once. Often,
others. Spring to the defense
we fail.
Sy Manello
Editorial Assistant
of the honoree by reminding
Science tells us that for
participants that the party will
every action there is an
help you all spring back to life.
equal and opposite reac-
By the way, in choosing deco-
tion. So when we spring into
rations, be careful about the type of
action, we may fall apart. Hmmm.
balloon chosen; many kinds are sus-
Isn’t it nice to start the day with a
ceptible to springing a leak.
spring in your step? Even though you
If you do not plan any event careful-
may not be a spring chicken, you can
ly — if you fall down on the job — you
experience spring fever, feel the joys
of spring. You look for positive things
may get the label of being a fall guy
to happen; you do know that hope
and always getting the blame.
springs eternal!
Are you gullible? Do you hear a plan

and fall for it hook, line and sinker?
Perhaps you easily fall under the spell
of a fast talker; if so, you will have to
let the chips fall where they may.
In any bureaucracy, you may dis-
cover those who fall asleep at the
switch and, as a result, many who
could be helped tend to fall through
the cracks. Those in charge have
fallen down on the job!
If you take on the task of spring
cleaning, start with those items that
have fallen into disuse. Do not, how-
ever, let this task fall by the wayside
or you may have to spring for a new
abode.
I could now tell you to winter
through your troubles, but that is a
more seasoned observation than I
intended here. •

commentary

Comparing America To Israel
On Gun Laws Is Dishonest – And Revealing

O

n Feb. 14, a 19-year-old for-
mer student at the Marjory
Stoneman Douglas High School
in Parkland, Fla., walked into the school
and opened fire, killing 17 students and
teachers and wounding 14 more before
his shooting spree was done. It was one
of the deadliest shootings of its kind in
modern American history.
The next morning, former Arkansas
governor Mike
Huckabee, on a visit
to Israel, tweeted,
“Just waking up in
Israel to news of
heartbreaking school
shooting in Fla.;
reminded that Israel
pretty much eliminat-
Haviv Rettig Gur
ed it by placing highly
trained people strate-
gically to spot the one
common thread —
not the weapon, but a
person with intent. #PrayForParkland”
The tweet was “liked” over 28,000
times and retweeted more than 10,000
times. It played into a recurring refrain
on the American pro-gun right that sees
in Israel an example of the American
conservative’s ideal of a well-trained,
heavily armed citizenry.
There’s just one problem: It isn’t true.
Israelis are well-armed, of course,
but any similarity to conservative

Americans masks a fundamental
difference: In Israel, guns are tightly
controlled and carefully tracked by the
state.
Israelis must meet a detailed list of
criteria to be allowed to own a firearm.
They must ask the state for a license,
are permitted only one gun at a time
and must even ask for permission
to sell their guns. And the Firearms
Licensing Department is no rubber
stamp: Roughly 40 percent of requests
are rejected.
Indeed, before even requesting a
license, Israelis must meet minimum
age requirements, be in good health and
of sound mind, and have no criminal
record, among other preconditions.
There’s more. Once they are granted
the right to carry a gun, Israelis are
limited to just 50 bullets in their posses-
sion at any given time. They must shoot
or return old bullets before they can
buy new ones, a process that can only
take place at tightly regulated shoot-
ing ranges where each bullet’s sale is
carefully registered. The types of guns
permitted also depend on the reason
for the license — i.e., a veterinarian may
only purchase a gun approved by the
government for the killing of animals;
a hunter’s license only permits the pur-
chase of a firearm from an approved
firearms list kept by the Parks Authority
and so forth.

In other words, as the Public Security
Ministry explains on its website, Israeli
law “does not recognize a right to bear
arms, and anyone wanting to do so
must meet a number of requirements,
including a justified need to carry a
firearm.”
There is no inkling of a belief among
Israelis that citizens should be permit-
ted to own guns as a check on govern-
ment power — that is, as a limit to the
sovereignty of the state expressed in its
monopoly on violence.
Israel’s social reality — the large num-
ber of firearms on the country’s streets
— may look like an American conserva-
tive’s utopia, but it got there via a domi-
neering statist regulatory regime that
American gun control activists can only
fantasize about.
And that’s no accident. A comparison
of the gun control regimes of the U.S.
and Israel lays bare some fundamental
differences between the two societies.
For one thing, Israelis are much more
likely to trust in state power than are
Americans.
When it comes to guns, Israelis want
a well-armed society and expect the
state to manage things in such a way
that only the right people are armed.
In other words, Israelis are armed
not against the state, but by the state
against external threats like terror
attacks.

My
Story

In the 1980s, Vladimir Gendelman
and his family left the Ukraine for the
United States. In common with many
Russian families coming into Michigan,
his family received help from local
Jewish agencies to acclimate to their
new home. Hebrew Free Loan gave
them an interest-free loan to purchase
a reliable used car.
“I turned sixteen one month after we
came here,” Vladimir said. “It was all
so overwhelming, I didn’t understand
what was going on. We were told that
a lot of what the Russian families
received was from the goodness of
community donors, but it really didn’t
make much of an impression on me. I
was young, and I have always been
forward-thinking, not focusing on
what’s happening right now. I just
know there’s a potential for tomorrow
to be better than today.”
The car the Gendelmans purchased
was used to get members of the family
to work. “Lots of work,” Vladimir said.
“My parents, who were professionals
in Russia, did all kinds of odd jobs until
they were certified to go back to pro-
fessional careers here. I did just about
everything that came my way, too.”
Years later, now married, a father and
the founder of companyfolders.com,
Vladimir thought back to what that
used car meant to his family, and
joined the HFL Board.
“I wanted to give back and help,
like those community donors years ago.
HFL was there for us at a difficult time.
Today, for me to be on the other
side of the table helping fellow
Jews, helping people like me, is
huge. It’s very rewarding.”

Click. Call. Give Now.
www.hfldetroit.org
248.723.8184

Health. A fresh start.
A good education.
The next great business idea.

Hebrew Free Loan gives interest-
free loans to members of our
community for a variety of
personal and small business
needs. HFL loans are funded
entirely through community
donations which continually
recycle to others, generating
many times the original value
to help maintain the lives of
local Jews.

6735 Telegraph Road, Suite 300 • Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301

Hebrew Free Loan Detroit

@HFLDetroit

continued on page 6

jn

March 8 • 2018

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