xt7ftt4fr63j https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7ftt4fr63j/data/mets.xml Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass Kentucky Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass 1988-09 Newsletter of the Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass, previously named the Central Kentucky Jewish Association and Central Kentucky Jewish Federation. The Federation seeks to bring Jewish community members together through holiday parties, lectures, Yiddish courses, meals, and other celebrations of Jewish heritage and culture. They also host fundraisers and provide financial assistance for Jews in need, both locally and around the world. newsletters  English Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass  Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass records Jews -- Kentucky -- Lexington Jews -- History Central Kentucky Jewish Federation newsletter, September 1988, volume 11 number 6 text Central Kentucky Jewish Federation newsletter, September 1988, volume 11 number 6 1988 1988-09 2020 true xt7ftt4fr63j section xt7ftt4fr63j  

CK 3311”

 

 

 

VOL. XI

@HflfiFU
Kemtueky
Jewish
Fedemiimm

SEPTEMBER 1988

”0-5

 

MAY YOU HAVE A GOOD AND A SWEET YEAR.

May we, in the coming year, enjoy a
spirit of cooperation within our Lexington
community which will improve the quality
of Jewish life for all its members.

we also have a great concern for the
welfare of the State of Israel. This is a
ivery difficult time for Israel, a time
when she needs her friends. It is our
responsibility to educate ourselves about
the very complicated issues which are
involved in the current unrest. In this
season of renewal, we pray for a speedy
and peaceful resolution of these problems.

On behalf of the officers and board of
the Central Kentucky Jewish Federation I
wish you and yours a happy, healthy and
peaceful New Year.

A ROLE

' President , CKJF

 

 

May the approaching year be one of
growth, joy and good health for everyone
in our community. Let freedom and peace
be increased throughout the world, and
Judaism strengthened as the days go by.

L’Shanah Tovah

_ rr‘\ ,_\
& I \ \/ (4:: ‘\~‘x\\‘\)
NJsz‘Qr‘ .~-_ - \ ‘

Administrator, CKJF

 

 

 

   

Congratulations

  

Congratulations to David Rose who was
elected Regional Advisory Board Vice
Chairman to the Anti-Defamation League of
B’nai B’rith (Dhio—Kentucky—Indiana) at
its annual meeting held recently in
Columbus.

David is a lifelong resident of Lexing—
ton, past treasurer and president of B’nai
B’rith, a former member of the CKJF board,
and was active on the Temple Adath Israel
building fund committee.

 

Welcome to New Consul General

CKJF welcomes Dr. Israel Peleg in his
position as new Consul General of Israel
for the mid-Atlantic states which includes
Kentucky.

Dr. Peleg can be contacted at: Consu—
late General of Israel, Lewis Tower, 225
South 15th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102,
(215) 546-5556.

CKJF Joins Peaceseeking Group

CKJF has joined the Central Kentucky
Council for Peace and Justice, a coalition
of peacemaking groups, incorporated in
198A. Charlotte Baer is going to be
CKJF’s representative to council meetings,
where a variety of topics of concern
around the world are discussed each month.
The Council publishes an interesting
newsletter, highlighting central Kentucky
activities like the Hiroshima Day obser—
vance held in downtown Lexington. Any
CKJF member who would like to receive this
newsletter free of charge, should contact
the CKJF office. Anyone who would like
Charlotte to bring up specific issues or
who would like to attend a council meeting
should contact Charlotte Baer, 277-3078.

COUNCH.OFJEWE%1FEDERAHONS

57th General Assembly
November 16-20. 1988

 

"Areyvim Zeh Eazeh: Responsibility and
Service—-Federation’s Role in Creating a
Caring Community" will be the theme of the
57th General Assembly of the Council of
Jewish Federations.

Speakers will include Simcha Dinitz,
Chairman of the Jewish Agency Executive
and Former Israeli Ambassador to the US;
Professor Arnold Eisen, Chairman of the
Department of Judaic Studies at Stanford
University; and Mendel Kaplan, Chairman of
the Jewish Agency Board of Governors.

More information on the General Assem-
bly and registration forms are available
through CKJF, 258—7628.

CKJSingles Announce Events

The Central Kentucky Jewish Singles
announce the following two events:
Monday, Sept. 12 - Family Style Dinner
at Ri Gleason’s, 273-0095
Friday, Sept. 23 — Shabbat Dinner
For more information contact
Hava Shalit, 271-5106.

Best Wishes to Rabbi Smith

Our best wishes go to Rabbi Uriel Smith
who is leaving Lexington for Ambridge,
Pennsylvania. His new address is: Beth
Samuel Jewish Center, P.D. Box 219,
Ambridge, PA. 15003.

 

 

Needed: Used furniture (beds, chests,
dinette set, etc.) for Israeli family with
five children moving to Lexington for one
year. Contact Joe Kuc (269-6409) or Susan
Mason (277-2593).

 

 

 

 American Jewish Political Behavior

Editor’s Note: The following is
excerpted from UJF Virginia News, June,
1988.

NEW YORK— With the presidential elec—

tion drawing near, is there anything new
and noteworthy about the politics of
American Jews?

Yes and no, answer two
Jewish political behavior.

Milton Himmelfarb, editor of the
American Jewish Year Book; and Leonard
Fein, founder and editor—in—chief of
Moment magazine and author of the newly
published book, ”here Are He, led a
session, titled "The New Jewish Politics,“
as part of the American Jewish Committee’s
88nd Annual Meeting.

Himmelfarb analyzed some of the trends
in Jewish voting patterns both nationally
and internationally.

"From a strictly American

experts on

perspective,

the Jews continue to be the same anomaly
they have always been,” he said. "They
are uniquely the group that consistently

votes to the left of their pocketbooks..“

In a study of the Jewish voting pattern
in the 1968 election, Himmelfarb asserted
that ”while the Jews have the incomes of
Episcopalians, they vote like Hispanics."
Commenting on an exit poll conducted
during the 1984 presidential election that
showed more Jews voted for Walter Mondale
than did Hispanics, he revised his obser-
vation and said that ”Jews vote like
Hispanics, only more so."

"From a world—wide perspective,"
Himmelfarb continued, "Jewish behavior
corresponded to the political behavior of
Jews in other Western countries such as
France and Great Britain."

He noted that in Great Britain 85 years
ago, 95 percent of the Jewish members of
Parliament were Labor, yet in Great
Britain today 70 percent are conservative,
constituting what he called ”a drastic and
significant turn-around."

In France, stated Himmelfarb, the
Jewish vote can now sometimes be found to
the left of the majority and sometimes to
the right of the majority.

"What is new and important is that now
American Jewish political behavior is
anomalous not only from an American per—
spective but also from a world—wide Jewish
perspective,” he said.

 

SAVE A PLACE in your
NEW YEAR
to help the

JEWS in the

SOVIET
UNION

Your letters, telegrams and moral
support build a lifeline to our people in
the Soviet Union.

The two families that have been adopted
by the Central Kentucky Jewish community
are:

Binsion & Purim Shmailov
Naberezhnaya 18

Kuba, Krasnaya Sloboda
A2erb.SSR, USSR

(Adopted by 025)

Binyamin 3 Zinaida Abramovich
Teobashevskaya 3Q/7

Kishinev

Moldavian SSR, USSR

(Adopted by TAI)

Provide a Lifeline for Soviet Jews

ADOPT-A-FAHILY

Write to a family needing moral support
while waiting for an exit visa.

TNINNING
Share your Bar/Bat Mitzvah with a

refusenik who has been denied the opportu—
nity to celebrate his/her Jewish heritage.
HRITE
Write to your congresspeople, senators and
other government officials about the
plight of Soviet Jewry, and about your
adopted family in particular.
PARTICIPATE

Attend the community—wide rallies, lec—
tures, and concerts held throughout the
year in support of Soviet Jewry.

For information contact:
Central Kentucky Jewish Federation
252—7682

Rabbi Jon Adland, Chairman, Dppressed
Jewry, CKJF Community Relations Committee
269-2979

 

 

  

Visas for Israel—hmmd Jews Only

Editor’s Note: The following was excerpt-

ed from the Jewish Observer, July 21,
1988.
JERUSALEM (JTA)—The Israeli Cabinet

decided that hereafter Israeli visas will
be issued only to those Soviet Jews
committed to immigrate to Israel.

Other Jews seeking to leave the Soviet
Union will have to apply for visas to the
country of their choice.

The decision, aimed at eliminating the

so-called "dropout" phenomenon, was
carried by a vote of 16—8 with three
abstentions. But four of the ministers

who backed it made clear they voted with
reluctance and misgivings.

The move was hailed by Yuli
Kosharovsky, a longtime refusenik and
aliyah activist in Moscow. But it was
denounced by several prominent
ex-refuseniks living in Israel.

The decision was enthusiastically
welcomed by Simcha Dinitz, chairman of the
World Zionist Organization and Jewish
Agency executive, and by Mendel Kaplan,
chairman of the Jewish Agency Board of
Governors.

Both expressed the
should not assist
Diaspora to another.

But the Israeli leadership is braced
for strong criticism from Jewish organiza-
tions abroad active on behalf of Soviet
Jewry, especially the United States.

The "dropouts” have embarrassed and
angered Israeli and Zionist officials.
Israel got nowhere trying to persuade
Nashington to withdraw the refugee status
it grants Jews leaving the USSR nor would
international Jewish relief and resettle—
ment agencies agree to cease aiding them.

The cabinet vote followed a forceful
presentation of the case for restricted
visas by absorption minister Yaacov Tsur.
He spoke of the anti-Israel propaganda
Jews were exposed to in the USSR, which he
said robbed them of free choice.

Tsur was firmly supported by both
Premier Yitzhak Shamir and Foreign Minis—
ter Shimon Peres. "We have nothing more
to lose,“ Peres argued, noting that the
"dropout" rate has reached 90 percent in
recent months.

Shamir said Israel in effect would be
endorsing the dropouts if it allowed every

Israel
from one

view that
Jews to go

 

 

5+

Jewish emigrant from the Soviet Union to
"exploit“ an Israeli visa.

Housing Minister David Levy of Likud,
one of the three who abstained, warned
that the decision would risk reducing the
number of Soviet Jews seeking to leave.

But longtime refusenik Kosharovsky told
Israel Radio in a telephone interview from
Moscow the decision would increase aliyah
to Israel and overall Jewish emigration in
the long run. He claimed there are
100,000 Jews in the Soviet Union who want
to go only to Israel.

Tsur argued that limiting visas only to
Jews definitely going to Israel would not
impose an obstacle for others. He noted
that new Soviet regulations enable rela—
tives living in any country to apply on
behalf of would-be emigrants for family
reunification.

He said some 6,000 Soviet citizens,
most of them Jews, have already applied
for exit permits under the new rules.

Critics pointed out, however, that the
new rules empower the Soviet authorities

to deny family reunification where the
applicant is not a first-degree relative
(that is, a member of the immediate

family).

Israelis, Soviets Begin Trade

Editor’s Note: The following was reprint—
ed from the Jewish Observer, June 9, 1988.

TEL AVIV (JTA)-Israel and the Soviet
Union will commence trading with each
other shortly, using Nest German business

agents to facilitate the
Haariv reported.

According to the newspaper, a dozen
Israeli factories are preparing for the
Germans’ arrival here to sign agreements
on behalf of Soviet importers.

Israel will export clothing,
stockings and disposable diapers,
said. The Soviets will export a
cloth fabric.

transactions,

women’s
Maariv
special

 

 

 

 

  

N atan Sharansky

struggled 9 years to go on
a Mission to Israel.

But we’re free to go today.

 

 

 

[LU J A = FEDERATUW] HHSSHWS

JUBILEE MISSIONS — EUROPE/ISRAEL...........OCTOBER 9-19
FALL STUDY MISSIONS.......................NOVEMBER 6—16
WINTER FAMILY MISSIONS.....DEC. 22, 1988 — JAN. 1, 1989
WINTER STUDENT MISSION.....DEC. 25, 1988 - JAN. 4, 1989

DISCOVERY 1989 MIDWEST MISSION......JANUARY 15-25, 1989
FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL:
Central Kentucky Jewish Federation - 252-7622
Steve Caller - 266—1314
fix

DISCOVERY 1989 MIDWEST MIWON TO ISRAEL
January 15-25, 1989

 

Cost: $1,875 per person-double occupancy
Departure from New York
Single Supplement—$260

 

Minimum
Contribution: $1,000 minimum gift from the principal
contributor
Subsidy: Each individual meeting the $1,000 minimum gift is eli—

gible to receive a National UJA subsidy of $500
applicable to the mission cost. CKJF will also sub-
sidize $500 (on a first come-first serve basis up to

a maximum of 20 participants) in order for a participant
to receive the National UJA subsidy.

Hotel Deluxe accommodations***** Tel Aviv — Hilton,
Accommodations: Tiberias — Plaza, Jerusalem - LaRomme

Registration: $500 deposit must accompany each completed application.
Changes and Cancellations are subject to a $25 processing fee per
Cancellations: participant plus an additional $100 fee per participant

charged by airlines for cancellations received within
30 days of departure.

Payment: Full payment due 30 days prior to departure — 12/15/88
For more information: CKJF Office — 252-7622
Steve Caller - 266-1314

E5

 

  

Mashanah

GREETINGC)

May the year 5749 be a year of sweet-
ness and peace for the Jewish Community of
Central Kentucky and to Jews throughout
the world. Shana Tova Tikatavu. May you
be inscribed for a good year.

r‘- , 7 a»
30% @m KQBst

Rabbi, Ohavay Zion Synagogue

Each new year bring us the opportunity
to examine the successes and failures of
our past and to renew our efforts to be
better. As this joyous'season approaches,
we at Dhavay Zion Synagogue wish you and
yours the happiness and peace of a fruit-
ful holiday and a better year for us all.

L’ Shanah Tovah,

4L LEM;

Presiden , Dhavay Zion Synagogue

On behalf of the Dhavay Zion
Sisterhood, I wish you and your family a
year of health, happiness and peace.
L’Shanah Tova Tikatevu.

_ wit/1. (g/LLAL

President, Dhavay Zion Sisterhood

 

On behalf of Sandy and Joshua, let me
extend our wishes to you for a Happy,
Healthy New Year. May this year be filled
with growth, fulfillment, and a renewed
commitment to our Jewish community and our
Jewish future.

From the Temple Adath Israel Executive
Committee, Board of Trustees and temple
members, L’SHANA TOVA V’ TEKATEIVU. MAY
THE YEAR 5749 BE A YEAR OF BLESSING FOR US
ALL.

 

Rabbi, Temple Adath Israel

On behalf of the Temple Adath Israel
Congregation, I would like to wish all of
our friends in the Central Kentucky Jewish
community a healthy and peaceful New Year.

w‘W

President, Temple Adath Israel

The Temple Adath Israel Brotherhood
wishes Lexington L’Shana Tovah

fidfl‘Wfl.

President, Temple Adath Israel
Brotherhood

 

 

  

May the New Year bring fulfillment to
your efforts, joy to your heart, and peace
to your spirit. L’Shana Tova

éiz‘ 35,?

President, Temple Adath Israel
Sisterhood

On behalf of the Lexington Chapter of
Hadassah, I’d like to wish the entire
Jewish community a happy and healthy New
Year, along with our wishes for peace in
the Middle East. Shana Tova

President, Hadassah

Wishing you a year
health.

y441W

6:5;gazcfié;lfgahv‘l
Director, Hillel

On behalf of the Lexington Havurah, I
wish you, your family, firends, and the
entire Central Kentucky Jewish Community,

of peace, joy, and

the Blessings of Peace and Happiness in
the New Year. "Le-Shanah Tovah
Tikkatevu.”

hwy Wu
President The Lexington Havurah

Shalom and best wishes for a happy New
Year from B’nai B;rith District Two and
Stanley Rose Lodge #289

‘5‘ my»,

President, B’nai B’rith

 

Welcmne to New Rabbi

Rabbi Eric Slaton grew up in

Minneapo—
lis, Minnesota. He was active in the
Jewish community there as a camp counsel-
or, Religious and Hebrew school teacher,
B’nai Mitzvah tutor, Junior and Senior
Youth Group Advisor, member of the Campus
Jewish Appeal and the Minneapolis Jewish
Federation’s Hillel Board.

In 1979 Rabbi Slaton received a Bache~
lors Degree from the University of Minne-
sota, and was accepted as a Rabbinic
student at the Hebrew Union College —
Jewish Institute of Religion. He spent
the first year of the five year program in
Jerusalem. At the end of the first year,
he took a leave of absence and spent that
year studying at Machon Pardes, a center
for traditional Jewish studies.

Rabbi Slaton returned to the United
States to complete his Rabbinical training

at the HUC campus in Cincinnati. In
addition to regular studies, Rabbi Slaton
completed a unit of Clinical Pastoral
Education at the St. Elizabeth Medical

Center of Covington. Kentucky. During his
second year at HUC, he was appointed Rabbi
of Congregation B’nai Tzedek which he
served for three years.

After ordination in 1985, Rabbi Slaton
accepted a position as Rabbi of Congrega-
tion Beth Israel in Plattsburgh, New York.
Among his duties in Plattsburgh were the
Chaplaincy at the Plattsburgh Air Force
Base, the Chaplaincy at Dannemora State
Correctional Facility and advisor of the
Plattsburgh Hillel Association.

In 1985, Rabbi Slaton was married to
his wife Kimberly. They are expecting
twins in October.

 

 

NOTICE TO PARENTS: As part of the Central
Kentucky Jewish Federation, we have a very
active school liaison program. He met
recently with Dr. Ronald Walton, Superin—
tendent Fayette County Public Schools,
about issues of concern to the Jewish
community, and were assured of his sup-
port.

Ne encourage all parents who are
experiencing difficulty concerning Jewish
holidays at their schools to contact the
CKJF Office (852-7628), Charlotte Baer
(277~3072) or Phil Berger (27740997) CKJF
Community Relations Committee Co-Chairmen.

 

 

  

THE HOLIDAY 0F SLKKOT

This season of the Jewish year is much
given to appreciation of the wonder and
joy of the world. Its traditions and
symbols focus on the awesomeness of
experience. It is this awareness of the
preciousness of life that lies at the
heart of the Sukkot festival. Four days
earlier, on Yom Kippur with its fasting
and white garments (shrouds), we symboli-
cally experience a kind of dying. With
the neilah service, at the end of the day,
we are restored to life. Perhaps it is
not so extraordinary, then, that immedi-
ately after this most life-threatening
moment in the Jewish calendar, we move to
the outburst of rejoicing called Sukkot.
For it is only in recognizing the fragili—
ty of life that we can truly gain a sense
of how vital and precious is the gift of
life itself.

Sukkot is one of the most joyous
festivals of the Jewish calendar. The
solemn Days of Awe have just passed, and a
spirit of hope, renewal and thanksgiving
permeates Jewish life. The austerity of
Yom Kippur gives way to the multi-colored
decorations that characterize Sukkot. The
focus of the celebration shifts, too, from
the synagogue to the home. Sukkot is a
family holiday, filled with visual imagery
and activity.

In biblical times, Sukkot was known as
heh-hag-—THE holiday. It was apparently
the most important celebration of the
ancient Jewish world. In fact, when the
Maccabees succeeded in liberating the
Temple from the Syrian-Greeks, they
decreed a delayed celebration of Sukkot,
which they had been unable to observe
during the war. (Our Hanukkah festival,
therefore, is a direct descendant of that
delayed Sukkot—-and may have more to do
with the number of days we observe Hanuk-
kah than do any of the "miraculous“
explanations.)

The festival of Sukkot marks the final
harvest of the year, an event of great
importance to ancient Israel, an agricul-
tural society. Jews traveled from all
over Israel to Jerusalem, to offer their
finest produce as tribute to God in the

Temple. Sukkot was one of the shalosh

regaleem-—the three "pilgrimage" holidays
(the other two, marking the harvesting of
the first fruits, are Passover and
Shavuot).

There is also a historical aspect to
Sukkot, as the Torah instructs us

 

You should live in booths seven days;
all citizens of Israel shall live in
booths, in order that future
generations may know that I made the
Israelite people live in booths when I
brought them out of the land of Egypt,

I the Lord your God. (Leviticus

83:42-43)

Sukkot is also called Hag Heh—ah’seef——
the festival of the harvest (literally,
the "ingathering"), and z'man sim-ha—
taynoo—-the time of our rejoicing. Giving
thanks for the harvest, and rejoicing in
the abundance of the crops and the regular
alternation of the seasons characterize
this festival. The value of Sukkot and
its special significance were not lost on
the founding fathers of our country. The
American holiday of Thanksgiving is based
directly on Sukkot.

Sukkot begins on the 15th of Tishri,
five days after Yom Kippur, and continues
for seven days. The first two (first
only, in Reform congregations) are consid—
ered major festival days; the five inter—
mediate days are known as hol ha—mo-ayd

sukkot. (Hol means secular, workday, etc.
Mo-ed means ”festival.”) The seventh day

of Sukkot is known as Hoshanah Rabbah.
The eighth day, in Orthodox and Conserva-
tive congregations, is observed as the
festival known as Sh’mini Atzeret, the
effective conclusion of Sukkot. The
following day (the ninth consecutive
festival day) is Simhat Torah. Reform
congregations, which observe Sukkot for
seven days, combine the celebrations of
Sh’mini Atzeret and Simhat Torah, as is
the practice in the State of Israel.
Several unusual items are used on
Sukkot: the temporary ”house", covered
with leaves or corn stalks, known as the
sukkah; the lulav, consisting of the
branch of a date palm, bound together with
two branches of willbw and at least three
sprigs of myrtle; and the etrog, the fruit
of the hadar tree. The association of
these items with Sukkot comes directly
from Leviticus:
Mark, on the fifteenth day of the
seventh month, when you have gathered
in the yield of your land, you shall
observe the festival of the Lord seVen
days...Dn the first day you shall take

the product of hadar trees, boughs of
leafy trees, and willows of the brook,

and you shall rejoice before the Lord
your God seven days...You shall live in
booths for seven days...

 

 

 Once Again Into the Breach

On Shabbat, 6 August 1988, I saw
first—hand one example of the wanton
devastation of Israel’s forests. My
cousin had driven us to that section of
the B’nai B’rith Martyr’s Forest in which
stands the magnificent Scrolls of Fire
monument. As we neared this solemn -
almost holy - place, an ugly, twisted scar
intruded upon our pilgrimage. Acres of
trees which had been planted in memory of
the 6,000,000 holocaust victims had been
laid to waste by an arsonist’s hand. As
the Nazi terrorists had burned our peo-
ple’s bodies, Arab terrorists now are
burning our people’s land.

Lives, once lost, cannot be replaced.
The trees can be — must be — replaced.
The trees in this particular forest must
be replanted in recognition of our eternal
commitment to the memory of our people who
perished during world War II. The trees
in all forests must be replanted in
recognition of our commitment to Eretz
Yisroel - the Land of Israel.

The reclamation of our land, a land
vandalized and abused by countless other
people, is the responsibility of the
Jewish people. Other Jews have given
their lives for Israel. He can do no less
than to contribute the extra dollars that
now are needed so desperately. Our contri-
butions to CKJF—UJA assure the land
development of Israel, but are not ear—
marked specifically for reforestation.

Campaigns to raise the additional money
required to replace Israel’s lost forests
have been undertaken by a number of major
Jewish groups. Hadassah, the Masorti
movement, the Reform movement, and the
Jewish National Fund all are asking us to
contribute the extra funds that are
critically needed for this effort. I urge
you to contact the organization of your
choice and participate in the reforesta-
tion of Israel — now.

Evelyn D. Geller

 

Tue W T482?

ca «005 mess '“W
“finals fgeuau SHOW“

‘TH’ATH u? we A3”

@123?“

 

 

 

 

Criminal Investigation
of Nazi War Criminals

The Justice Department Office of
Special Investigations (OSI) asks your
assistance in locating survivor witnesses
in connection with a pending deportation
action.

OSI would like to interview persons who
were imprisoned at the Nazi concentration
camps of Kattowitz (also known as
Eintrachthuette} or Gleiwitz I between
November of 1943 and January 1945. These
camps were subcamps within the Auschwitz
system. Survivors of these camps who were
already interviewed need ngt contact 081.

Replies should be addressed to Michael
S. Bernstein, Assistant Deputy Director,
Office of Special Investigations, Criminal
Division, Bond Building, 1400 New York
Avenue, Washington, D.C. 20530, (202)
786—5005.

U] A Warns Against
Uiapproved Solicitation

CKJF has received information from the
United Jewish Appeal concerning solicita~
tion by The Commission on the American
Promenade in Israel, on behalf of the
so-called Judean Hills Foundation, initi—
ated by Kiryat Telshe Stone. The Director
is Rabbi Eliot J. Sherman of Kiryat Telshe
Stone, with addresses in Wickliffe, Ohio,
home of Telshe Yeshiva, and in Jerusalem.
According to Hy Sainer of the National
Committee on Control and Authorization of
Campaigns of the Jewish Agency for Israel,
this project has not been approved. If you
are contacted on behalf of this group,
please call CKJF (258—7622) so that
appropriate action may be taken.

 

 

 

IT IS 114ka
mm Them 433?
HéARTS 35“,? o
.r"\.

@135

 

 

 

 

 

“?

 

 

  

A Mifiast Peace ——Is It Impossible?

Editor’s Note: The following article is
reprinted from the New York Times, June
83, 1988. It was written by Elie Wiesel,
author and lecturer, who won the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1986.

was it an accident or an illusion?
Wishful thinking perhaps? Gaza seemed
calm, if not peaceful. No burning tires,
no riots. I saw children going to school.
The stores were open. Bathing in dust and
sun, just another city in this region
whose destiny is named hatred.

The Israeli military presence was more
felt than seen, as was the implacable
plight of the tens of thousands of refu—
gees who dwell in inhuman conditions in
two camps nearby. Their suffering could
be sensed everywhere, as if it had a life
of its own.

Earlier, in Israel, I had asked politi-

cal leaders and military officers: How
long could this situation go on? What
will the future bring to this land, whose
past is so fertile in promise and vio-
lence? what is the meaning of all these
clashes between Jews and Arabs, these
security considerations, these moral
principles?

The Palestinians with whom I spoke
expressed themselves freely, without fear,
paying no attention to the Israeli offi-
cers who were present as observers. Some

complained about various forms of harass—
ment by Israeli soldiers. A renowned
lawyer, Fayez Abu Rahme (the uncle of the
assassinated Abu Jihad, Yasir Arafat’s No.

1 aide) struck me by his courage and
moderation.

"Are you reticent to talk with Israelis
around?" I asked.

”I am a free man."

His aspirations? "A Palestinian state.

Demilitarized. The police would carry
sticks, not guns."

How would he describe the Israeli
occupations? He refused to commit him-
self. Not too critical, though. He
denounced the lack of freedom, the admin-
istrative arrests.

Cases of torture?

"Yes, some time ago." He was not sure
about the present.

Did he understand Israel’s permanent
fears for its security?

"Israel’s military might ought to

assuage all her fears."

 

1(3)

I spent an hour with young Israeli
soldiers. Very young, all of them. Did
they take into consideration the
Palestinians’ desire to live freely, to
plan their future — and even suffer
freely?

We discussed Jewish history vs. general

history, politics vs. ethics, demography
vs. faith. How should one deal with the
sufferings of the Palestinians? Is
insensitivity the answer? Isn’t a Jew
called upon to be sensitive to his fellow
human beings’ concerns? How then is one
to reconcile the needs of security with

Judaism’s concept of humanism?
The debate grew animated, the faces
became dark as we touched the question of

questions: what was their response to the
international criticism of the way they
handled the uprising?

”What do they want us to do? Uprising

means war. We have no choice but to
defend ourselves."
Against women and children?
”It is not our fault that
hides behind children.”
Did they feel that
hated them?"
"No doubt."

Did they hate the Palestinians?

the enemy

the Palestinians

"Hatred can be answered by hatred
alone."

A soldier with dreamlike eyes inter-
vened, "I do not hate them. I feel sorry

for them.”

What can one do to alter the course of
events? What must one do to break the
cycle of suspicion and bloodshed linking
Israelis and Palestinians? The soldiers
were at a loss for answers; their eyes
reflected determination and sadness.

These soldiers did not have a good
press in the world. Here they aware of
it? They were. They knew the impact that
televised images had everywhere. The
beating of prisoners, breaking of bones,
demolition of houses. who was not out-
raged by the reports about Arabs being
buried alive by soldiers? Ignoring the
fact that these cases were regrettable
exceptions—-immediately corrected by
Israeli authorities——public opinion rushed
to condemn Israel.

Consequently, Israel took the place of
America during Vietnam, France during
Algeria and the Soviet Union during the
Gulag. Many critics were outdone by some

 

 

 never done
shamelessly
their

Jewish intellectuals who had
anything for Israel but now
used their Jewishness to justify
attacks against Israel.

Should Israel be above criticism? No
one says that. Israel’s society is human,
with its own shortcomings. But it is
being presented as mostly bloodthirsty -
and that is simply not true. In certain
pro—Arab circles, 'the argument is even
more vicious and ugly: Israel is being
compared to Hitler’s Germany, its policy
to Nazism and the Palestinians of today to
the Jews of yesterday. How are we to
convince Israel’s political adversaries
that the Holocaust is beyond politics and
beyond analogies?

I understand the
Palestinians. Frustrated, diminished,
disappointed, they feel cheated and
unwanted by society and betrayed by the
whole world, including the Arab world.
They are treated as nonpersons. Objects
of pity, at best. Why shouldn’t they have
chosen violence as a means of attracting
attention to their existence and their
dreams of obtaining national identity?

Self-determination is a sacred princi-
ple of civilized society. Should it not
apply to Palestinians, too? It should.
But what is it? Palestinians have been
escalating their goals for some time.

A modern poet, Mahmoud Darwish, recent—
ly stirred up angry passions in Israel
with his poem urging the Israelis to “get

anger of young

out" and take their dead with them.
Nablus and Gaza would no longer satisfy
the Palestinians. Now they are after

Haifa and Tel Aviv.

Nhen Israel accepted the United Nations
partition plan, it thus was the only
nation ever to recognize a Palestinian
state. Arab armies responded with war.
Had Israel’s peace offer been accepted in
1948, Jaffa and Lydda would be Palestinian
today. If after the 1967 war the Old City
of Jerusalem and the West Bank had re-
mained under King Hussein’s control, would
he have transformed them into a
Palestinian state? I doubt it. What is
certain is that Israel did not want those
territories; they were imposed on Israel
in war.

Contrary to some doubts voiced in the
press, Israel has not "lost its soul.”
Its soldiers are not sadists. They do not
enjoy fighting stone-throwing adolescents.

 

But confronted by them, what should a
soldier do? Retreat? How far? Run away?
Where?

I do not accept all that Israel has

done in recent months, but I must defend
it against malicious attacks by those who
offer simplistic solutions; they are
misleading and unworkable. If there is a
realistic solution to the problem, I do
mtkmwit

Israel is the only country that feels
its existence threatened. Some right-wing
Israeli fanatics speak about "transfer—
ring” all of the Palestinians to Jordan;
the suggestion is a disgrace. Some
liberals are ready to give up all the
territories immediately. To whom?

As long as the P.L.O. remains a terror—
ist organization, as long as it has not
given up on its goal of destroying Israel,
why should Israel negotiate with its
leaders? But then, the t