$3.00 Frontier

The Israel Scene:

PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH NINE DAYS OF TERROR ELECTIONS UNDER FIRE

Salutes to Rabin

Gulf War in Retrospect Abba Hillel Silver and Labor Zionism The Jewish Family

The Stern Gang POEM Bearing Witness Menahem Stern

I E I-A1 I T JOURNAL

The 30th National Convention of the LABOR ZIONIST ALLIANCE will be held May 17-19,1996 at St. Moritz-on-the-Park 50 Central Park South • New York City

A Mobilization of American Labor Zionists • on behalf of the State of Israel in its search for peace and security • for strengthening American Jewish identity through Jewish education and dynamic youth programs • by supporting Labor-based institutions in Israel, that strengthen the fabric of Israel's democratic society

For more information : LABOR ZIONIST ALLIANCE 275 Seventh Avenue 17th Floor New York NY 10001

ISRAEL'S No I BANK WISHES YOU A HAPPY \DEPE\DE\CE DAY Ilfw 311K1]yy D11

BANKHIPDHLIM

Regional Management Western Hemisphere 1177 Avenue of the Americas 14th Floor New York NY 10036 Tel : (212) 782-2000 Fax : (212) 782- 2007 New York Branch ' 1177 Avenue of the Americas 12th 14th Floor New York NY 10036 Tel : 212 782-2000 Fax: 782-2222 Plaza Branch 1177 Avenue of the Americas 14th Floor New York NY 10036 Tel : 212 782-2000 Fax: 212 782- 2222 Americas Tower Branch 1177 Avenue of the Americas 11th Floor New York NY 10036 Tel : 212 782-2000 Fax: 212 782- 2222 Head Office 50 Rothschild BIvd Tel Aviv 66883 Israel .Tel : 03 5673333 Fax : 03 5607028 And 334 branches of the group in Israel

2 JEWISH FRONTIER JEWISH CONTENTSVol. LXIII No. 2 619 MARCH/APRIL 1996

Frontier Editorial 4 SINCE 1934 ON THE HORIZON Peace Process 6 A LABOR ZIONIST JOURNAL PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH Ehud Barak Founders Israel 9 Hayim Greenberg NINE DAYS OF TERROR Susan Hattis Marie Syrkin Rolef ELECTIONS UNDER FIRE 11 Editorial Board Misha Louvish Poetry 13 Henry Feingold Chairman A DAY IN Menahem Stern Saul B . Cohen SPRING Hyman Faine Yitzhak Rabin 14 Jonathan J . Goldberg AFTER MY DEATH Bialik Emanuel S . Goldsmith THE Jerry Goodman IN SERVICE 15 Rabbi Mark W. Kiel OF HIS PEOPLE David Rosenthal Rabbi Arthur J . Lelyveld International 18 Jeffry V Mallow GULF WAR IN RETROSPECT Ralph Seliger Daniel Mann Mordecai Newman Report 20 Samuel Norich JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM World Jewish Michael S . Perry Congress Mark Raider Eduardo Rauch Biography 21 Chava Reich ABBA HILLEL SILVER Mark A. Raider Mordecai Shtrigler Ezra Spicehandler Memoir 25 Phyllis Sutker MICHELANGELO S PAUL Haim Chertok David Twersky Essay 27 Steve J . Zipperstein DISPERSAL OF THE JEWISH FAMILY Si Wakesberg Nahum Guttman Editor Books 29 THE STERN GANG Morton J. by Joseph Heller Merowitz NOTE TO SUBSCRIBERS BEARING WITNESS Nahum Guttman If you plan to move please notify by Henry L. Feingold us six weeks in advance. Histadrut 30 FOREIGN WORKERS RIGHTS NEWS BRIEFS 31 Contributors 31 JEWISH FRONTIER JEWISH FRONTIER ISSN-0021-6453 is published bi-monthly by Labor Zionist Letters Inc . Editorial and advertising offices at 275 Seventh Avenue New York NY 275 Seventh Avenue 10001 . Second- class postage paid at New York NY. POSTMASTER : Send address changes to Circulation Jewish Frontier 275 Seventh Avenue 17th Floor New York 17th Floor NY 10001 . New York NY 10001 Subscription rates for U .S . and possessions 15 .00 per year for 6 issues 25 .00 for two years for 12 issues . Add 2 .50 for Canada . All other countries - 20 .00 per year ; All foreign subscribers - remit in U .S . dollars drawn on a U .S . bank . Back issues- Telephone: 212 229-2280 payable in advance at 5 .00 each . Editorial / article contributions should be sent to the editorial office and be accom- 212 366-1194 panied by return postage . Editorial and advertising rates available on request. All material unless otherwise noted © 1996 Jewish Frontier. Signed articles do not Fax: 212 675-7685 necessarily reflect the official position of JEWISH FRONTIER . JEWISH FRONTIER is available on microfilm from : University Microfilm 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor MI 48106 . Distributed by Bernhard De Boer Inc . 113 East Centre St . Nutley NJ 07110 . EDITORIAL

On the Horizon

his is war. This is psychological warfare faith in the righteousness of its path and to Ton the deepest level. The four suicide bomb- bolster its ability to meet challenges." ings - in Jerusalem Ashkelon and Tel Aviv - Herzog adds : "For some 50 years I have were not aimed only at destroying innocent observed Shimon Peres in periods of crisis and Israeli lives but to demolish the peace process seeming hopelessness . He was always capable that was step by step realigning Israel and of standing up to the most trying challenges the Palestinians in the direction of mutual calmly sensibly and with courage under the acceptance and non-violent co-existence. most difficult and frustrating circumstances." The bombings took a horrible toll - 58 And finally: "In 1929 we did not give in innocent men women and children mostly when the Jews of Hebron were massacred; nor Israelis including sabras and recent olim from in 1947 when Arab mobs attacked Jews in Russia; two American students; several Arabs Aleppo in Aden and Jerusalem Haifa and and a half dozen Rumanian workers imported Jaffa . We buried our dead rolled up our to help the country s economy. Yes there were sleeves and created the Jewish State . We did also four other Arabs dupes of Hamas who not yield in 1948 when Arab forces besieged carried the deadly explosives and thus took a Jerusalem and prevented the arrival of food short cut to the Islamic heaven for martyrs. water and equipment to the city. Following World Jewry and millions of non-Jews will every attack we emerged stronger. . . I am con- long remember these unspeakable events. But vinced we shall prevail." the scars will heal and the people will gradu- ally resume their normal pace as they have for rime Minister Shimon Peres has mobilized decades in the past after comparable trials. Israel s security and political forces to Pcounter the evil designs of Hamas. While there Israeli former President Chaim Herzog is no foolproof protection against future suicide emembers: bombings much can be done to destroy the A"These tragic events recall many others. At the source of these attacks. First in line is the very onset of the War of Independence as we liter- clear and unequivocal pressure on Yasir Arafat ally struggled for our existence we faced many to eradicate the Hamas network in his domain. harrowing trials and tribulations . We had Not only must the terrorist network itself be endured a siege in Jerusalem without water torn to shreds but the entire infrastructure and food as 100 000 shells landed in the city. that feeds it must be dismantled. Hamas boasts But we survived it with determination and in of its humanitarian services to the Palestinian most cases succeeded in brushing off the feel- public - schools hospitals etc. Given his man- ing of danger both national and personal. date by the recent elections which handed him "Today our capabilities are more extensive a popularly elected "parliament" of 88 members and our situation bears no relation to that Arafat could move swiftly to nationalize those which we experienced then. But much can be institutions and pull the rug from under the done to lift the nation s spirit to strengthen its Hamas financial structure.

4 JEWISH FRONTIER

Also high on the agenda of the Palestinan Prime Minister Shimon Peres greets Authority is the repeal of PLO s covenant LZA President Daniel Mann whose declared goal is to destroy the State of February 27 1996 Israel . Such a move which is dictated by the Dear Daniel ; Oslo agreements would effectively improve I like to for dynamic lead- the atmosphere and abate the political hostil- would commend you your ity that nourishes terrorism. ership of the Labor Zionist Alliance in the United States . ut that is not enough. Terrorism is a Your determination to strengthen the membership B world problem. The specific terrorist ranks ofthe L.Z.A. while becoming public advocates `peace master scheme is fed by Iran. See: Lebanon . To ofthe process is a wise and helpful course. help Israel cope with its current crisis and to focus attention on the universal evil of terror- No doubt the dramatic developments in our region new meaning to Labor s historic message of ism President Bill Clinton initiated a gather- give ing at Sharm-El-Sheik on the coast of Sinai in peace social justice and economic well-being. Egyptian territory hosted by President L.Z.A. s work in support of the Jewish Zionist edu- Mubarak . cation of youth and its efforts to help strengthen The very presence of leaders of 27 nations the Israel-Diaspora relationship are also greatly was a powerful indication that the curse of ter- appreciated . I share these values with you. rorism was not only an Israeli affliction. The May and colleagues from strength to one-day meeting attended by the president of you your grow Russia the king of Jordan and high-ranking strength . representatives of Saudi Arabia Japan and Sincerely many European nations was a rare phenome- non. The fact that 14 Arab nations from North Africa to the Persian Gulfsat in the same room Shimon Peres with an Israeli Prime Minister was a harbing- Jerusalem Israel ger of favorable developments in the region . The absence of Syria and Lebanon was noted but not unexpected . The fact that the Saudi The Labor Zionist Movement delegate shook hands with Shimon Peres was extends heartfelt condolences by far a more significant gesture. to its long-time active chaver Critics aver that the entire conclave was a mere photo opportunity to enhance the pres- tige of President Clinton and to strengthen the political standing of Prime Minister Peres and SAMUEL DUKER Chairman Arafat. Be that as it may those nar- row considerations are outweighed by the very On the tragic death of his beloved fact that the gathering took place . Sharm El- granddaughter Sheik which was the staging area for Egypt s blockade of the Straits of Tiran in 1967 that SARA DUKER triggered the Six-Day War may well be the staging area of a massive offensive against ter- A victim of the Hamas terrorist rorism the bane of all nations not only in the bombing of Bus 18 in Jerusalem . Middle East. These are indeed days of trauma but in the long view of history Israel will survive. It will proceed to deliver its promise of becoming the Jewish homeland that is not only a dream but a May the Duker family continue their permanent feature of the globe . Israel knows tradition of Zionist devotion and the that peace and security are within reach that upholding of a meaningful Judaism costly as it may be the struggle will ultimately for ages to come . pay off. Ultimately a brighter day will dawn. Just keep your eye on the horizon. 0

MARCH/APRIL 1996 5 PEACE PROCESS

PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH By Ehud Barak From an address delivered at the NJCRAC Plenum in St. Louis February 11 1996

stand here before you today a privileged Our power is predicated on the military man. Privileged to be here privileged to be the might of the Israel defense forces a robust Foreign Minister of Israel and privileged to economy a vibrant society our unique rela- represent a strong vibrant and self-confident tionship with the UnitedStates - the only Israel. global superpower - the absorption of seven I was appointed Foreign Minister under the hundred thousand Jews the elite of a collaps- most tragic circumstances . Yitzhak Rabin ing empire and the common perception in the assassinated just 99 days ago was for a gener- Arab world that we have a nuclear capability. ation my commander my leader my mentor These are the tenets of our edge. and my friend . 99 agonizing days and not one Others may tell you that peace cannot be has passed without the thought of "what if?" achieved until the Arab world radically crossing my mind. Yitzhak s legacy of Zionism changes its attitudes and begs us for peace . nation building security and peace is and That is a fallacy. It will never happen by itself must be the shining path along which we and it is in fact a code word and a recipe for march forward. sanctifying the status quo and forever living In two years time the state of Israel will on our swords . Our approach is to pursue mark the 50th anniversary of its indepen- peace from a position of strength and self-con- dence. fidence . As we approach the threshold of the next This peace by virtue of the reality it would millennium many challenges lie ahead and create will gradually lead the Arab peoples to clearly some obstacles too. But we may look come to terms with Israel as a peaceful neigh- back at almost a half century of remarkable bor. We will continue to be strong and enhance accomplishments and draw from it confidence this strength to ensure that agreements are for an even brighter future. Standing at this kept and that we are never outmaneuvered. juncture in our history we are engaged in a This posture will serve us deep into the future. process that is designed to shift us into an We have no illusions . The dreams and aspi- entirely different and somewhat unfamiliar rations of many in the Arab world have not sphere of national social economic and cul- changed. We still live in a modern and pros- tural existence: peace . perous villa in the middle ofthe jungle a place where different laws prevail. No hope for those ur ultimate objective to put it in political- who cannot defend themselves and no mercy maritime terms is to create "the pacific for the weak. But we are now at an unprece- Mediterranean"O . To pacify the region to render dented advantageous position from which we war a horror of the distant past to bid farewell can attain lasting and durable peace and take to the use of arms. We are doing so from a posi- the necessary yet calculated risks attached to tion of strength self-confidence and superiority it. Moreover in many quarters of the Arab vis-a-vis our immediate surroundings. world attitudes are in fact changing.

6 JEWISH FRONTIER he Arab political leadership excluding ister of Israel responsible for the peace talks countries like Iraq Libya and Iran has in but as a former chief of the general staff who factTrecognized Israel . spent almost thirty-five years in uniform Our military might and Israel s overall defending Israel against terror and external strength compelled the Arabs to negotiate aggression . peace agreements with us . This is the truth. Take a close look at the fruits this peace n regards to our Palestinian neighbors process brought us . We now have relations Yasser Arafat was elected a leader. Con- with one hundred and seventy countries sequentlyI he gained more legitimacy but in including a promising beginning of ties with our judgment also a heavier burden of respon- Tunisia Oman and Qatar. sibility. Our economic growth is astounding as a He now has to live up to his commitment to direct result of the impact of the contribution forcefully combat terror and nullify the Pales- of the new aliyah and the peace process as a tinian covenant in a straightforward manner. whole. We now have McDonald s in Israel not If the Palestinian authority fails to deliver on just McDonnell-Douglas. Yet we do not delude these promises then I see no way to proceed ourselves and pretend that the risks are over. with the permanent status negotiations as There are serious threats ominously looming planned. over the horizon. In these talks our position will be that The possibility of radical Islamic fundamen- greater Jerusalem should remain undivided talism guiding global terror and acquiring the under our sovereignty the eternal capital of bomb is not merely a menacing prospect but it Israel . may prove to be a real threat not only to Israel There are no compromises here. No "ifs" but to the stability of the region and to the "ands" or "buts" . world order as a whole. The international com- We will not go back to the 1967 borders; munity has a responsibility to do everything in most Israeli settlements will remain under the realm of the possible to foil that threat. Israeli control and no army other than the Back to the present situation . Our basic I.D .F. will be deployed between the Mediter- approach to the negotiations with Syria as ranean and the Jordan River. with the Palestinians is to determinedly pur- sue peace while insisting on our vital security his peace process has enormous benefits and water interests. for all peoples a quantum leap from the With Syria our goals are to devise an array ruinsT and despair of wars to the promise of of security arrangements that are designed to hope and prosperity. Not without risks not achieve three aims : without concessions but with clear-sighted 1 . To render a surprise attack practically determination . impossible . In the words of a great American President 2 . To significantly reduce the temptation to John F. Kennedy in his inaugural address : launch a full-scale war. "Let us never negotiate out of fear but let us 3 . To prevent daily border clashes from dete- never fear to negotiate". riorating into full-scale collision. On the verge of the year 2000 we are a These arrangements will be combined with transformed nation . Five and a half million full normalization open borders and regional Israelis produce eighty-five billion dollars a economic cooperation that would create a pow- year more than the output of 75 million peo- erful disincentive to resort to armed conflict. ple in Egypt Jordan Syria Lebanon and the The agreement if and when reached will be Palestinian authority combined . I wish the accomplished by solutions to the problems of Arabs too reach such a figure once their water terror and the "hizbollah" in southern resources are diverted from offensive weapons Lebanon . It will also leave the door wide open systems into the markets . We supported by and invite North African countries Saudi Ara- you are successfully absorbing the new waves bia and the Gulf States to join this process . of immigration . The kind of peace we seek means more rather We have more doctors pianists and engi- than less overall security. neers per capita than any other country in the And I say this not only as the Foreign Min- world and we print more books per capita

MARCH/APRIL 1996 7 than anyone else although I must admit that . We as a young state still defining our many are cookbooks. We are Jewish after all . national identity must and wish to gain from Yet with all that one thing is conspicuously the input created by the American democratic absent in our national experience : a new experience. agenda concerning our relations with the Dias- Yet friends do not be misled . The fateful pora. decisions regarding the state of Israel will and should continue to be made solely by the demo- Israel addresses fundamental questions cratically elected government of Israel. egarding its identity its borders its rela- The strategic alliance I see between us tions with its neighbors its social fabric and reaches also to the depth ofour shared culture economic development - fundamental also is and heritage. the question of its relations with the Diaspora. Let me make an example : for generations There is a clear and pressing need to define for your grandparents and mine shared a common ourselves for all of us the direction we wish culture and a common language. Israel-Diaspora relations to take. Today in Israel our youth continue to learn Strong leadership is needed to ensure that Hebrew. They can read and understand the we can create a vibrant relationship capable of very sources ofour tradition yet their brothers rising to the challenges and opportunities the and sisters in the Diaspora remain largely cut new era presents . off from the rich national fountain of this civi- Our identity is critical; how we each see and lization the civilization that gave birth to the define ourselves. For Israel the question is do morals and values ofwestern societies . we or should we define ourselves as a nation completely separate unto ourselves or do we e must recommit ourselves and our or should we define and see ourselves as a resources to Jewish education in the part of a larger Jewish whole. DiasporaW to the teaching of Hebrew to our For the Diaspora the question revolves youth elsewhere and to the continued renais- around the place of Israel and Jewish expres- sance ofour heritage. Ifwe do not take steps in sion within the family and the communal this direction we face the prospect of losing frameworks you build and nurture . our common reference points and in the long Clearly the traditional relationship run the Diaspora sense of identity. between us must be adapted to the new reali- We need to increase the exposure of our ties of Israel s maturing identity and the grow- youth to each other best achieved through ing communal focus of many communities in organized programs in Israel . In this way the Diaspora. American Jewish youth can renew their emo- To put it in a nutshell we must move beyond tional bond to the land and the modern state of charity to partnership . Although many may Israel while at the same time conveying the not yet see it this way we are strategic part- full cultural richness oftheir own Jewish iden- ners . And we must learn to act as true part- tity to their Israeli friends . ners . Such exchanges are vital to our continued As befits such a partnership on the political mutual understanding. level Israel must involve the Diaspora Jewish A complete convergence of interests and leadership as never before through improved concerns between Israel and the Diaspora is dialogue regular consultations and genuine neither possible nor desirable. openness . We each have our own priorities and con- cerns dictated by our different challenges and he support and involvement of your lead- responsibilities . We must use this diversity ership is important as a value in itself but positively to draw on the sustenance it pro- Talso for the crucial contribution it makes to vides to build our future together. Israel s political security and economic stand- ing in the international arena. It is also wel- he present Israeli government embarked come for the less tangible benefits it brings . on an ambitious road to peace . The long You live in a society - free and democratic journeyT stemmed from strength and is fueled embedded in a two-hundred-year tradition of by poise and conviction. pluralism and tolerance. continued on page 13

8 JEWISH FRONTIER ISRAEL

NINE DAYS OF TERROR By Susan Hattis Rolef

our months after the murder of Prime assassination followed by the preparations for FMinister Yitzhak Rabin shook the Israeli pub- elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip lic and resulted in a swing in public opinion in and there was a respite in the terrorist activi- favor of the Labor Party and its candidate for ties of the Hamas. Most observers in Israel Prime Minister a succession of terrorist regarded this respite as a temporary tactical attacks resulting in the deaths of 62 persons move which would last until after the general several of them foreign workers from Rouma- elections in Israel. But then came the liquida- nia and Ethiopia and a couple of Palestinian tion ofYihya Ayash - "the engineer" - by the passers-by has led to a swing in the opposite Israeli General Security Services the Shabak . direction. Famous for his expertise in the field of explo- In the midst of this cocktail of traumatic sives Ayash was a central figure in the mili- and politically loaded events it is sometimes tary arm of the Hamas and following his difficult to think straight. One feels as if one is death there were growing demands among in the middle of an emotional hurricane and Hamas supporters for revenge. Though both that after the hurricane subsides one will find the Israeli security forces and those of the oneself at the mad hatter s tea party inAlice in Palestinian authority managed to stop several Wonderland trying to make sense out of a planned terrorist attacks it was clear that it totally insane reality. was only a matter of time before something Especially after the second human bomb would happen. went off in a number 18 bus in Jerusalem on March 3 - exactly one week after the first one ~nce again the political right could argue went off - there was a feeling of general that "this is not peace - this is terror". despair and signs ofpanic. The dreadful sights 0Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu adopted a of the previous week repeated themselves : the moderate and responsible public stance but charred bodies the scant remains of an Egged other members of his party started accusing bus the wounded the weeping relatives eye- Peres and his government of being directly witnesses suffering from shock and those responsible for the total collapse of personal saintly religious men collecting the dismem- security in Israel. "The whole concept behind bered parts of human bodies into plastic bags Labor s policy has proven false " they argued in order to bring them to burial. Then came the adding that cooperation with the Palestinian attack near Dizengoff Center. authority in fighting the terrorists was a That there was to be a political reaction was sham and that all the Oslo Agreements had obvious. Soon after the Declaration of Princi- achieved was to tie the hands of the IDF and ples was signed in September 1993 Hamas prevent it from doing what it ought to do in embarked on an open war against the agree- order to fight the terror effectively. ment between the PLO and Israel. The politi- cal Right in Israel started to argue that "this is he new situation immediately affected the not peace - this is terror". Then came Rabin s Tpublic opinion polls. After the first bomb

MARCH/APRIL 1996 9 attack the 12 percent gap between Peres and sures taken by the Palestinian authority at Netanyahu in favor of Peres went down to nil Israel s express request to detain the leaders and the following week Netanyahu was of the military arm of the Hamas to outlaw already ahead of Peres. The change was not the Hamas and Islamic Jihad and to take just the result of the terrorist attacks . The effective measures against the organizational decision of David Levy several days after reg- infrastructures of these organizations have istering his new party "Gesher" to join the also started to bear fruit though Israeli com- Likud-Tsomet alignment towards the elections mentators argue that Arafat could do much to the 14th Knesset apparently also had an more and that he appears to prefer letting the effect. Even without the terrorist attacks the leaders of the Hamas leave the country than gap between Peres and Netanyahu would have have them arrested. started to close. Will all this help restore the public s confi- Soon after the first attack various personal- dence in the government s ability to deal with ities started calling for a national unity gov- the security problem inside the country and ernment for a limited period "in order to join reduce its feelings of insecurity and even forces in the war against the terror." Such a panic? To a large extent this will depend on call came from President Ezer Weizman and whether the battle against the terrorists will even from certain personalities within the bearfruit. The wave of sympathy which Israel Likud including Ariel Sharon who already has been receiving from abroad and promises saw himself in the role of Minister of Defense of support especially from the United States in such a government. But neither Peres nor are undoubtedly reassuring but are unlikely to Netanyahu were enthusiastic about the idea. affect public opinion at home. One of the major The last thing Peres wants is to seem to be benefits Israel has derived in the last few admitting that he cannot deal with the situa- years from the government s peace policy has tion himself. He wouldn t even consider giving been a major improvement in Israel s interna- up the Defense portfolio which he decided to tional status both politically and economi- assume together with the premiership after cally. Unfortunately this does not impress the Rabin s assassination in favor of one ofLabor s average Israeli who seems more comfortable in recent recruits - former Chief of Staff Ehud the role of little David standing up to the Barak. Peres also understood that forming a whole wicked anti-Semitic world than in that coalition with the Likud would serve as a of teacher s pet being constantly patted on the death warrant for the peace process with the head for doing exactly what teacher expects Palestinians . Though he has decided to freeze him to do. this process for the time being he is still will- And there is another complication. Though ing to give Arafat another chance to act deci- the majority of Israeli Arabs have condemned sively against the Hamas and other rejection- the terrorist attacks and organized several ist organizations . As to Netanyahu from his demonstrations to that effect the fact that it perspective entering into a coalition with was an Israeli Arab truckdriver who gave the Labor at this juncture would be political folly. young terrorist from Gaza a lift from the Karni Why should he help Peres save his skin at a checkpost on the border between Israel and time when public opinion seems to be moving the Gaza Strip to DizengoffCenter on March 3 rapidly in his own direction? he was apparently paid 1 100 for this deadly service and that certain activities in the bough the new situation has had a pro- Islamic Movement in Israel were involved in foundly negative effect on Peres mood and handing over money to the families of Hamas spiritsT he is determined to proceed without terrorists killed in action has had a negative panic. He immediately announced the estab- effect on Jewish public opinion . Peres Weiz- lishment of a new apparatus to fight the terror man and others have been stating publicly and instructed the IDP to take decisive steps that one should not condemn a whole commu- in those areas in the West Bank in which it is nity because of the actions of a few but not all still free to act. Minister of Internal Security the Israeli public is receptive to their message . Moshe Shahal has also started to implement a The fact that the Arab Deputy Minister of policy of complete separation between Israel Agriculture Walid Sadek of Mapam was proper and the territories fences and all. Mea- continued on page 17

1 0 JEWISH FRON Elections Under Fire By Misha Louvish

he entire picture of the Israeli elections mented the mandate it received in 1992: the Tas it appeared only two weeks ago has been great majority of the Palestinians now have transformed by the two terrorist outrages in self-government under their elected authority the center ofJerusalem : one in front of the cen- and since three years beginning in May are tral bus station and the other opposite the cen- scheduled for the permanent settlement nego- tral post office. Both were perpetrated by the tiations the long-term decisions will be taken Islamic fundamentalists of the Hamas organi- after this year s elections . zation for the obvious purpose of derailing the Peres might have held on until October if peace process but they have also had the there was any prospect that he could have pre- immediate effect of dealing a heavy blow to the sented to the electorate a peace agreement prospects of Prime Minister Shimon Peres and with Syria but there seems to be no likelihood the Labor Party in the forthcoming elections. of a speedy breakthrough on the Syrian track. There was a time when terrorism was The opposition parties charge that he is regarded as a phenomenon of no more than merely taking advantage of the emotional tactical importance though painful but the reaction to the assassination of Rabin and the repeated suicidal bomb attacks with their fact that the public opinion polls gave him a heavy casualties bid fair to make it a strategic comfortable lead over Netanyahu the candi- threat and Prime Minister Peres has declared date of the Likud and parties further to the that despite the peace process Israel is at war right. Having repeatedly called for immediate with Hamas. elections however the opposition could only At the moment of writing the overwhelm- haggle about the date which has been set for ing consideration in the minds of the people is May 29th. the question of personal security and the These elections are likely to be of outstand- undeniable fact that at this time Labor policy ing significance in the history of Israeli democ- has not ensured that security has suddenly racy. The nation is being called upon to choose closed the wide gap between public support for between two opposing visions of the country s Peres and Likud leader Binyamin "Bibi" future. Netanyahu who has also achieved an impor- tant coup by sealing an electoral alliance with he Labor Party and its left-wing allies "Raful" Eitan of the Tsomet list on condition believe that it is possible at the cost of sig- the latter withdraw from the race to the pre- Tnificant territorial and other concessions to miership and offering similar terms to David reach agreements with the Palestinians and Levi and his newly formed"Gesher" party. the Syrians which will in effect put an end to The decision to hold early elections in Israel the century-old Arab-Israel conflict. was part of the aftermath of the assassination The Likud and its right-wing allies also of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin which had a want peace but they insist on having it on profound effect on public life and the mood of their own terms and they believe the conces- the people . sions made and contemplated by Labor would In Israel unlike the United States the par- endanger the country s security: for this rea- liamentary term is not fixed but only the son they oppose for example the return of the Knesset itself can decide on early elections. Golan Heights to Syria. According to the law as it stands the elections With the withdrawal of the Israeli armed were due to be held in October but Prime Min- forces from the Gaza Strip and a considerable ister Shimon Peres felt that he now needs a part of the West Bank including the Arab- renewed mandate. inhabited cities and the election of a Palestin- Besides the Government has largely imple- ian Authority with Yasser Arafat as its head a

MARCH/APRIL 1996 11 new era has opened in the annals of the Pales- violation of the spirit and the letter of the Oslo tinians . For the first time in history the great agreement which was signed by the Govern- majority now enjoy self-government under ment of Israel and ratified by the Knesset. their own freely elected leaders. There is another distinctive feature about The very existence of a "Palestinian people" these elections. For the first time they will be is a comparatively modern phenomenon. No held in a new form: not only will the people be such nationality was recognized by the electing the 120 members of the Knesset but Ottoman Turks and under the Mandate it was they will also be choosing directly between mainly the Jews who called themselves "Pales- candidates for the post of Prime Minister. tinians" ; the Arabs in Palestine were repre- This compromise between the presidential sented by the Arab Higher Committee headed and parliamentary systems of democracy is I by the notorious Mufti ofJerusalem Haj Amin believe unprecedented . It has been introduced el-Husseini. in Israel because of general disgust at the With the establishment of independent sometimes squalid bargaining that used to Israel the Jews threw the term "Palestinian" take place in which small parties - and even into the dustbin of history and the Arabs individuals - might hold the balance between picked it up. Ironically the first Israeli leader rival candidates for the post. to recognize "the Palestinian people" and their There have been some misgivings about this "legitimate rights" was the late Menahem fundamental constitutional reform although Begin in the Camp David Accords. it was worked out in the previous Knesset by a Begin evaded the logical consequences of group of jurists from the major parties. Some this admission by translating the term in the are afraid that the dubious bargaining will Hebrew version as "the Arabs of the Land of take place before the elections instead ofafter Israel " and his movement denied the very giving much power to the religious parties existence of a Palestinian national entity. who it is feared may extort major concessions The hymn of Herut the predecessor of the as the price of their support and the candi- Likud and its dominant component went fur- dates will go to great lengths to get their votes. ther than "the whole Land of Israel"; it pro- Another objection is that electors will feel claimed: free to support small parties . What will hap- "Two banks to the Jordan; pen it is asked if the prime minister belongs to This is ours and so is that " - one party and the majority in the Knesset to but history has overtaken the Israeli right. parties of another color? When Rabin s government signed a peace treaty with Jordan the former Transjordan t is known that Prime Minister Peres was they applauded. previously opposed to the reform but was unwillingI to appear to take advantage of the ith the implementation of the agree- assassination of Yitzhak Rabin to impose his ments with the Palestinians the dream point of view. The general view is that the pop- ofWEretz Yisrael Hashlemah dissipated as it ularly elected prime minister will have such were in smoke. The Likud leaders admit that prestige that the parties that hold the balance the new situation is irreversible : they would will be only too anxious to get their places not send in the army to reconquer Hebron round the cabinet table . Nablus and the other Arab cities - to say In any case there are precedents for what nothing of the Gaza Strip of which the great the French called in the last phase of the Mit- majority ofIsraelis would say "Good riddance " terand presidency "co-habitation" between a They propose however to try to contain the chief executive and a parliament of different newly-born Palestinian entity by restricting it political coloration. In the United States this to a few Arab islands in an area swamped by has been the case I believe during most of the more Israeli settlements and firmly held by last generation. Israeli power. That is a sure prescription for A notable feature of the post-Rabin era has further outbreaks ofviolence. been the enhanced prestige of Shimon Peres. Netanyahu can promise peace with all his Part of the popular reaction to the assassina- Robert Redford charm but the Palestinians tion was a renewed dedication to the quest for would not sit down quietly in the face of such a peace and a renewed respect for the man who

12 JEWISH FRONTII

embodied it together with the late leader. It is unprecedented to find a test poll of younger A DAY IN SPRING voters giving a sixty-percent support to Peres. The Likud has correctly identified one of its By Menahem Stern major problems by starting its campaign with a direct attack on Peres s credibility in the con- text ofthe highly sensitive issue of Jerusalem. With no talith on my shoulders "Peres will partition Jerusalem " is a difficult Nor sidur in hand slogan to refute : how can you disprove the Delighted I walk in Spring s land future? The Hamas outrages have signifi- and with trees flowers and grassblades cantly strengthened Netanyahu s position. Like with brethren I pray . . . As I walk farther from my abode n the run-up to the elections Netanyahu To the woods and fields I shout: has taken a hazardous step by allying him- "Halleluyah Praised be the Lord " selfI with former army chief of staff "Raful" and instantly Eitan s Tsomet "Crossroads" list. This group The Elms Acacias Chestnuts Firs disintegrated during the life of this Knesset and their children - bushes and the polls did not give it much hope of get- Stir like birds from sleep ting the eight seats it won in 1992. By threat- and as their branches swing ening to run against Netanyahu for prime They shout and sing: minister Eitan got the Likud to promise his "Halleluyah Halleluyah " nominees eight good positions in a joint list although past experience shows that in Israeli Like a spiritually handsome rebbe elections unity generally means weakness: the Surrounded by pious devoted Hasidim - Likud and Tsomet would probably have won a tall multibranched Elm more seats separately than they will get In the midst oftrees and bushes together. Bows graciously in the wind and says: Another candidate for the political center is "You are all dear to me: the "Third Way" list which favors compromise Whether you are a man a tree with the Palestinians but opposes withdrawal a bird a lamb butterfly or rose from the Golan Heights and is headed by a for- like the Baal Shem and Reb Nahman mer Labor member of the Knesset Avigdor to God you are close." Kahalani brigadier in the reserves and holder of a medal for valor. At the time of writing it is not yet clear whether Natan Sharansky will enter the lists PEACE PROCESS at the head ofa party mainly representing new continued from page 8 olim especially from the former Soviet Union. Another group which is hesitating on the brink We are on the eve of our critical early elec- is Meimad representing moderate religious tions and since we are in St. Louis I want to opinion which unlike the pronouncedly right- paraphrase a famous Missourian President wing National Religious Party supports the Harry Truman and tell all Israelis : "I don t peace process and backs Peres for prime min- want you to vote for us I want you to get out ister. There have also been hints of a new reli- on Election Day and vote for yourselves - for gious list headed by a former member of the your own interests" . orthodox Sephardi party Shas. And to you our extended family in America Since the minimum required for representa- I want to say that whichever way Israelis tion in the Knesset is 1%% ofthe total vote it is choose to define their interests your support far from certain that all the new lists will and partnership is vital. make it to the Knesset. At least we will know You have stood firmly behind us in time of very soon after the election who will be the war and conflict. prime minister. 0 I ask you now to lend us your unmitigated support in this historic moment of peace- making. 0

MARCH/APRIL 1996 13

Dedicated to Y I T Z H A K R A B I N A man who loved the Jewish people and eschewed hatred

oixwai x5i nwixa jnrt Aor A MEDITATION Birth is a beginning AFTER MY DEATH and death a destination. Chaim N. Bialik And life is a journey: From childhood to maturity - 5 n:: rTDt? mn nnT And youth to age; : Tlv 1 PN : 1M ll - Y >x - f" From innocence to awareness V Mfl Iml O- And ignorance to knowing; nmn nn r17 From foolishness to discretion 117t vNnrQ 1»n m W And then perhaps to wisdom; 15 i1 i1 `TnN 11Yor "ilk . lsl From weakness to strength `rv5 -llnui n -rlrc n rr Or strength to weakness - Tv5 -r~rt And often back again; From health to sickness And back we pray to health again; From offense to forgiveness Zt 11 -TIN : -nxn 51`w From loneliness to love IN- I - N i1•f1 From joy to gratitude i17Dm J 3?U l sn Sl 1 t11 From pain to compassion 15 TD 1 ?n1 t -min ` V -r y And grief to understanding - -Tv5 `11wrait -72N From fear to faith; 11 .1Y5 TJ2 From defeat to defeat to defeat - Until looking backward or ahead We see that victory lies Not at some high place along the way But in having made the journey stage by stage A sacred pilgrimage. Birth is a beginning And death a destination And life is a journey A sacred pilgrimage - To life everlasting.

5°i rni pnN1 l fl Xf -iw1 n}vmnn w 1 1922 -1995

5rciw 5D 5 ~ >>5v o15y fWv NIf 3 l r3 t 5w nv1v

Reprinted from AACI SENIORS SPECTATOR Jerusalem

1 4 JEWISH FRONTIE TRIBUTE

YITZHAK RABIN IN THE SERVICE OF HIS PEOPLE .

By David Rosenthal

here is an old saying: Only a good person devise new methods of reaching and educat- can be a good doctor. This applies also to com- ing our public and that we set new goals munal and national leaders with the under- which will capture the imagination of Jews around the world that will motivate them to standing of course that this is not the sole join with us in our venture and help them qualification for the position. exploit their talents to the maximum. . . As In his essay "Protect and Belief " Aaron one who had led the country s struggle both on Zeitlin has something to say about the "adden- the battlefield and in political negotiations dum" which elevates this sort of person. The who has been privileged to amass a unique combination of experience as a soldier a diplo- poet-thinker talks about those"who beat their mat and head of government there is no heads against the doors of the unknown doubt whatever in my mind that the risks of future." Attempting to characterize those who peace are preferable by far to the grim cer- are chosen for this mission he cites two lines tainties that await every nation in war." of Mieckewicz s Ode to the Youth: "They fulfill Yitzhak Rabin s entire life was a prepara- the `royal decree : Reach for that which the eye tion for a time of peace a time of dreams and cannot see. Break that which the understand- accomplishments . The consciousness of long- ing cannot break " lasting endeavor the foundations of his basic Yitzhak Rabin lived with the present with idea of life are to be found in the home of his the actual reality but at the same time he parents. dared to think about and to prepare for "the "I was raised in the spirit of national mis- threshold of the future." In his memoirs he sion " he says. When he gave up active service wrote: in the army someone asked his father "In the near future we shall have to decide Nehemiah what sort ofhabits he had inherited what will make our Jewish state a unique place in which to live and nurture future gen- from his parents. Nehemiah replied: From his erations; what forces other than the threat mother Yitzhak inherited diligence and from beyond our borders will keep our people endurance ; not to be a flatterer not to bow his united in their vision and purpose; and what head but also not to overestimate himself. kind of relationship we wish to foster with the Jewish communities abroad." The Rabin Memoirs 1979 p. 336 ehemiah himself came to Eretz Israel with the soldiers of the Jewish Legion duringN World War I. Prior to that he was active itzhak Rabin s memoirs reveal the depth in the International Ladies Garment Workers and daring of his way of thinking the Union in Chicago. They settled in Jerusalem essenceY of his pursuit. The State of Israel now where Yitzhak was born in 1922. People there has the long-awaited possibility of breaking knew Rabin s mother Rosa who during the down the walls of isolation and of thinking riots in 1920 went from house to house bring- about of the future. ing help as well as weapons to the needy. The "Peace will demand that we change certain of Rabin family believed in Ha-Avoda Hi our basic attitudes and philosophies; that we Khayenu - labor is our life - as the most

MARCH/APRIL 1996 15 essential doctrine of Zionism labor as the fac- xcerpts of Rabin s speeches - primarily tor which purifies and fulfills human exis- E those made in connection with the Six- tence . Day War - contain the most important of his Coupled with this attitude was the habit of national and universal beliefs. The Jewish modesty. When Yitzhak Rabin was honored by People does not want any wars and does not the Hebrew University after the Six-Day War chase after military victories he declared. The the Israeli press related how his father sat tradition of our people is based on the striving modestly in the audience at the end of the for peace and on a heritage of honor and of front row. And Yitzhak Rabin was dressed in recognition of other peoples and religions. his plain khaki uniform. He accepted the hon- And by what is the spiritual personality of orary title of Doctor of Philosophy as an the Israeli soldier represented? Rabin s reply "the " expression of profound recognition of the to that was: he is a soldier who fights not out uniqueness of Israel s armed forces which of hatred of the enemy but out of love for his express the uniqueness of the entire Jewish own people and its values ; a soldier who people." defends his home and his country against those who would destroy it; a soldier who is he halutz movement upon whose teach- distinguished by spiritual exaltation and high Tings the personality of Yitzhak Rabin was morale . Our army was victorious in the last fashioned rebelled against living in a world of war primarily because the soldiers were words which replace deeds. Joseph Trumpel- moved not by a feeling of hatred but by a dor the teacher and guide of the movement sense that they were carrying out a great his- "We characterized it this way: shall work qui- toric mission . They knew they were fighting etly without fuss so that our healthy vital for the very existence of our Third Temple." "A idea will not be killed by clangorous phrases." excerpts from State Which Is Seeking Its The heart of this teaching which had already People " by General Yitzhak Rabin Goldene been implanted within Yitzhak Rabin in the Keyt 62/63 p. 28 home of his parents was later nurtured in the As far back as March 1967 Yitzhak Rabin agricultural school Kadoori in the Valley of discussed with Levi Eshkol the question of his Jezreel . From here the road led to his further own personal future after he completed his career of halutzic duty and self-realization . In duty as Chiefof Staff. "When I told Eshkol that 1944 he headed a bold action in which Pal- I wanted to be Israel s ambassador to the machniks broke into the camp at Atlit and United States it took him several minutes to freed the illegal immigrants imprisoned there . get over the shock . . . That s the last thing I would have expected you to want he said. Are In the War of Independence Yitzhak Rabin you going to stand around at tedious cocktail took part in battles to open a road to parties sit through boring banquets and play Jerusalem as well as in various battles in all all those other diplomatic games? Are you sections of the city itself. He had already really up to it? Well I told him I am up to become known as a man who makes quick what I consider to be the task of Israel s decisions analytical and to the point. Thanks ambassador to Washington . Cocktail parties to these qualities he continued to rise up the don t worry me. What did concern me was our ladder of military recognition. In 1964 he was future place in the scheme of global politics . . . named head of the General Staff. I appreciated the role that the United States played in our region and the need to coordinate His briefings were clear concise and persua- our policies with the Americans . It seemed to sive. The Israeli press reported that when the me that strengthening our links with the Six-Day War began he met with the pilots United States was our greatest political chal- before they went forth to do battle and said to lenge not to mention a vital condition for "I them: have so many things to say to you but maintaining the power ofthe I .D.F." Memoirs my dictionary is too poor. Permit me therefore p . 122 to paraphrase Churchill s remark: Never was Yitzhak Rabin was Israel s ambassador in the fate of so many dependent on the skill and Washington for five years . He occupied the courage of so few The fate ofthe people and the post during the terms of Presidents Johnson state will be decided by how you do battle. . ." and Nixon . He played a critical role as Prime

16 JEWISH FRONTIEI

Minister during the shuttle diplomacy of tion in the State of Israel demands the maxi- Henry Kissinger which ended with the 1975 mum unity and the maximum discipline we Israel-Egypt pact the treaty that laid the must have the strength to "recognize the ser- foundation for President Sadat s historic visit pent in its embryo" Berl Katznelson s words to Jerusalem. during conditions which threatened civil war and to limit the bombast to stop the poisonous enry Kissinger described Yitzhak Rabin relations and to keep the disputes between the in his memoirs published in 1975 : "He various camps to a level of national unity and wasHan unlikely ambassador. Taciturn shy civilized personal behavior. El reflective almost resentful of small talk . Rabin possessed few of the attributes com- NINE DAYS OF TERROR monly associated with diplomacy. Repetitious people bored him . . . He hated ambiguity continued from page 10 which is the stuff of diplomacy. I grew accused by his hosts of sexual harassment dur- extremely fond of him though he did little to ing a recent visit to Denmark won t make the encourage affection. His integrity and his ana- situation any simpler. lytical brilliance in cutting to the core of a problem were awesome . I valued his judgment t is difficult to be optimistic in the current often even on matters unconnected with the situation and at the same time it is difficult Middle East and trusted his motives even toI blame the Israeli public for feeling as it when his country s positions were not always does. It would be totally unnatural for people identical with our own . We became good to react with a "business as usual" attitude friends and remained so through all the vicis- after viewing the sights of the last two weeks situdes and squabbles that our duties occa- brought straight into their living rooms in full sionally imposed on us." p. 355 "White House color by the TV networks . How can one remain Years " by Henry Kissinger indifferent? Thus passed the self-sacrificing life of But then one sees the Kahanists and other Yitzhak Rabin for over half a century until - extreme-Right-wing fanatics demonstrating like a lightning-bolt in a dark sky - the shat- and calling for the death ofall the Arabs and of tering news came of his assassination on Shimon Peres and attacking the policemen November 4th which threw us into a state of trying to maintain order. It is difficult not to be deep grief and confusion. During those first reminded of the bloody atmosphere that few minutes the mind refused to accept the existed in the weeks before Rabin s assassina- terrible news but the reality was not to be tion and wonder where we are all heading . denied: Fratricide What will happen if God forbid the peace Several days later more details became process breaks down and we lose all hope for a available. The number of those involved in the brighter future? Was it all just a dream and murderous deed includes several individuals the reality a nightmare or will we wake up the most extreme group and even "rabbis" and from the nightmare and continue our march "mystics" who took upon themselves the towards a "new Middle East" in which swords monopoly of speaking in the name of Torah are beaten into plowshares and spears into but who are actually "disciples of the devil." pruning-hooks and in which "nation shall not Shimon Peres phrase lift up sword against nation / and shall not learn war" any more? F1 uilty of this political crime is the criminal himself but in this situation the responsi- G Nave an urgentdocument or package to/from ISRAEL? bility belongs not only to the individual who Send it with us for guaranteed delivery within perpetrated the murder but also to those who 36 hours. gave him ideological sanction . The murder could have been committed only by one whose shiggur cosell couriers Inc. mentality was fundamentally influenced by the 147-40 184th Street. Jamaica . NY 11413 preachers of hate by those who tear down the Call 718 .244 . 7356 or 800 695-1213 Fax 718 . 244 . 7870 authority of the democratically elected govern- In Israel call Avi at 03-512-6649 ment. Precisely now when the political situa- The fastest courier service for all your shipments to/from Israel

MARCH/APRIL 1996 17 I N T E R N A T I O N A L

GULF WAR IN RETROSPECT Right War - Wrong Reason

By Ralph Seliger

aving experienced 1995 s outpouring of p.c .-Village Voice writer recounted attending 50-yearH commemorations for the liberation of one of the "anti-war" rallies in Washington; the death camps and the end of World War II she reported on the anti- Semitic tenor by we ve recently been reminded by the news describing how the word "Jewish " as in New media of but another historic anniversary - Jewish Agenda was booed when a representa- the five-year mark since the 1991 Gulf War. tive of this well-meaning but often foolish Memories rush back of acrimonious debates organization now defunct rose to voice oppo- among Jews and people of liberal or left per- sition to the war. Ms. Solomon acknowledged suasion during that less distant time. the bitter irony in the telling but concluded In the summer and fall of 1990 I uncom- with the declaration that she would not allow fortably found myself more in agreement with such bigotry to chase her from the "peace George Bush and James Baker on the build-up movement" God bless her I recall also the and use of military force in the Persian Gulf tautological observation of an accomplished than with the liberal and left elements of the Harvard-educated member of my chavurah as Democratic party to which I was otherwise Israel was being attacked by SCUD missiles: if closer. For example I remember feeling quite the U.S .-led coalition had not attacked Iraq alone in my perspective while attending the the SCUDs would not be falling on Israel "Renewing Shalom" conference under the sponsorship of Arthur Waskow s Shalom Cen- t was unassailable that Saddam Hussein s ter held in New York on the eve of that war. conquest of Kuwait and his threat against Only one anonymous soul amidst the plenary ISaudi Arabia and the other Arab states of the assemblage of hundreds had the courage and Gulf - notwithstanding their dubious pedi- good sense to emerge from the audience to gen- gree as progressive or democratic in any true tly suggest that there was no alternative to sense - had to be nullified . It also seemed military action . All the luminaries whom I clear to me that Saddam s regime had to be recall at this event inveighed against the overthrown that it was not good enough to pending use of force e.g. Rita Hauser Michael force or negotiate a withdrawal from Kuwait. Lerner the late Marshall Meyer ; both Arthur Why? Although not truly a "Hitler" - as Hertzberg and Arthur Waskow backed the propagandistically characterized by the Bush- defensive deployment of troops in Saudi Ara- Baker team then - in the extent of his power bia but not their offensive use to disgorge thankfully or his absolute threat to the Kuwait from Iraqi control. world he was Hitlerian in his ambitions his Some of the reflexively "left" arguments repeated acts of aggression having attacked against countering Saddam s aggression which Iran to begin the first bloody Persian GulfWar I heard that day and during those weeks and ten years prior to ingesting Kuwait and his months before during and after the war were genocidal deeds toward the Kurds even both artful and tortured in their logic . For before the 1991 war and against both the example Alisa Solomon the talented but very Shiites and Kurds after. He was more like a

1 8 JEWISH FRONTIER

Mussolini - a Hitler wannabe - in his bloody Again all this does not invalidate the but less than invincible use of military force important purposes served by the war of hav- and like a Stalin in his unbridled use of terror ing reversed the conquest of Kuwait and badly and starvation against his own citizenry. damaged Iraq s military machine. Further- The latter is substantiated by Saddam s more it should not be forgotten than an even cruel manipulation of the international sanc- more important goal for us as Zionists was tions which cause widespread suffering and served by this war: the initiation of the current disease among his impoverished people. He peace process - which we fervently hope will has long resisted the United Nations offer for conclude in a lasting and secure peace for Iraq to sell a substantial quota of oil to permit Israel and all its neighbors . the purchase offood and medicines - with the callous contention that this arrangement vio- ut the negative aspects of this war as lates national sovereignty. The material recounted above and the disarray unreal- scarcity he thereby created reinforces his abil- ityBand often isolationist even anti- Semitic ity to buy the continued loyalty of his party reactions of so much of what passes for the and security apparatus with special economic "left" in the U.S. points me toward a realiza- advantages and supplies an external target to tion . As Zionists we cannot be true adherents deflect his people s discontent . of a broader left. The same may also be true of His ultimate lack of strength vis-a-vis a right-wing Zionists with regard to a broader powerful international coalition did not render right - e.g. there s no home for them with Pat him less a force necessitating an effective Buchanan We may be more or less "liberal" response. It did however make it inexcusable in American terms but our home is with the that the coalition juggernaut prematurely moderate left progressive center or "near-left" withheld its hand while his regime was still to coin a term . able to muster the firepower mostly in the This is further illustrated by what we saw form of tanks to massacre Kurds Shiites and in Israel. At the time of the Gulf War and its other Iraqis who rose against Saddam at the lead-in period there was some debate within explicit behest ofGeorge Bush. We even heard the Israeli left as to what was a proper Bush making this exhortation response . But with very little exception at the time the late curmudgeon Yeshayahu t may also be true that the Western bombing Liebovitz comes to mind the "left"-meaning campaign caused excessive damage to civil primarily Peace Now and Meretz activists in infrastructureI which has resulted in unneces- this connection - found it inescapable to sup- sary civilian suffering. But ifso such an obser- port the Western cause against Saddam Hus- vation is a criticism of the war s conduct not sein. Recall the public statements of such its purpose. It s analogous to criticizing the prominent Israeli doves as Amos Oz Yael Allied destruction of Dresden or other aspects Dayan and A.B. Yehoshua for example. Con- of the air wars against Germany and Japan in trast this position as a consequence ofthe com- World War II as being of little or no military pellingly clear life-and-death issues facing value which in no way would have invalidated Israel in the form of Saddam s SCUDs and his the Allied cause as such. threat to "burn" Israel with chemical weapons With the initial dramatic success of the Gulf with the disgracefully facile response of the War I was seduced into believing the humane international "peace" movement possibilities of the "New World Order." James But as progressive Zionists we also must Baker s crude reductionist justification for the continue to seek in cooperation with others a U.S . armed involvement that it was "about truly humanistic "New World Order" which jobs " should have given me fair warning. In responds effectively to threats of aggression retrospect it is precisely the economic interest mass starvation and genocidal crimes . There as summed up in the one word - oil - which is no easy formula which fits all such possible explains the prompt and resolute U.S . and situations . In this post-Cold War era the inad- Western response in the Gulfin contrast to the equate and inhumane response in the end to tragically limp and exasperating slow reaction Saddam Hussein s aggression squandered a of the same powers to the quasi-genocidal golden opportunity to establish such vitally- slaughter in Bosnia. needed international resolve. El

MARCH/APRIL 1996 19

REPORT

JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM WJC Deals with Global Jewish Problems

he 10th Global Assembly of the World then in session made his speech and has- TJewish Congress held in Jerusalem January tened back to his parliamentary post. Other 22-24 had a dual purpose: to show solidarity speakers on the rostrum did likewise . The with the people of Israel who are celebrating chairperson Evelyn Sommer head of the the 3 000th anniversary of the national capi- American Section of the World Jewish Con- tal and to strengthen the bonds of Jews gress took umbrage at this seeming lack of around the globe. The 1 200 delegates from 70 respect for the guests who had come from the countries were indeed an impressive sample of four corners of the earth. However British Jewish leaders from countries large and small parliamentarian Greville Janner soothed feel- from the main centers ofAmerica and Europe ings by stating that his experience in the to the tiny community of400 Jews in Mongolia British Parliament paralleled that of the represented by one delegate . Knesset members who were torn by diverse The agenda combined topics of historic por- conflicting demands on their_ presence. tent and current topics of utmost urgency. Incidentally Meretz leader Shulamith Aloni Beginning with a tribute to the slain Prime crossed swords with Likud s Eliahu Bern Elis- Minister Yitzhak Rabin by President Ezer sar former ambassador to Egypt. Aloni who Weizman to sessions on present-day Israeli has since announced she would not run for the problems analyzed by Prime Minister Shimon Knesset in the forthcoming elections was in Peres and others the delegates received a full her best abrasive form. picture of the complexities of life in Israel the difficulties with the Arab world and especially he Assembly held a number of workshops the task of shoring up Jewish existence as a devoted to various subjects. The range of viable people in the Diaspora. interestsT is best summarized by the18 groups One presentation that stimulated heated of resolutions adopted at the closing session. discussion was by the noted writer A . B . In summary they are: Yehoshua who declared that the money sent • Support of the State of Israel and the aspi- to Israel by Diaspora Jewry might better be rations of the people of Israel to live in peace used for Jewish education in their respective with their neighbors. The WJC is concerned about the polarization of Jewish society in countries . This opinion was challenged by Israel and the Diaspora which it regards as many delegates who emphasized that Dias- a threat to Jewish unity and continuity . . . pora Jewry still had a vital responsibility for it calls upon upon Jewish communities to sustaining Israel s social and educational purge extremism and demagoguery from institutions and in the absorption ofnew olim. their public life . . . It was obvious that the answer was: bake a • WJC reaffirms centrality of Jerusalem in bigger pie so that there will be enough for Jewish life. Israel s needs and Diaspora s as well. • WJC commends the State of Israeli for its little side play occurred during the session heroic efforts in ingathering of the exiles t the Knesset. Labor and Likud MKs and pledges to assist it in the integration of newcomers into Israeli life. WJC calls upon addressed the delegates while the spokesman all communities to assist Jews who wish to scheduled to represent the Religious bloc settle in Israel. It calls upon the Knesset failed to appear. Knesset Speaker Shevach and government to resist efforts to change Weiss tearing himself away from the Knesset continued on page 24

2 0 JEWISH FRONTIER B I O G R A P H Y A CRUCIAL PARTNERSHIP Abba Hillel Silver And Labor Palestine

By Mark A. Raider

n the eve ofJewish statehood Abba Hil- Following a brief appointment in Wheeling lelOSilver 1893-1963 stood at the helm of the West Virginia Silver assumed the prestigious American Zionist movement. Silver rose to pulpit of The Temple in Cleveland Ohio . The national prominence at a time when the Jew- Temple s lay leaders were apparently uncon- ish people faced questions about its very sur- cerned about Silver s strong Zionist views . vival. Though not necessarily more important They were more interested in his oratorical than other American Zionist figures Silver s abilities and growing reputation. Silver did not leadership was arguably more crucial than disappoint his congregants and during his that of Louis D. Brandeis Stephen S. Wise tenure The Temple s membership skyrocketed. Louis Lipsky and Henrietta Szold. At a pivotal Meanwhile Silver became something of a local moment as this essay will explain he used his icon. He was the first president of the local authority to galvanize public opinion and Bureau of Jewish Education chairman of shape American Jewish policy vis- a-vis the Cleveland s Jewish Welfare Fund Appeal a Jewish National Home and post-war recon- leader in the campaign for unemployment struction . Silver s unique style of leadership insurance and until he resigned in protest over did not derive from profound philosophical the treatment of local labor unions a member expositions. Nor did it issue from his position of the Chamber of Commerce. as rabbi of one of America s largest Reform congregations . Even his oratorical prowess uring the 1920s at the insistence of does not fully explain his grasp on American Stephen S . Wise and other prominent Jewry. Where Silver s Zionist leadership dif- membersD of the so-called "Brandeis group " Sil- fered was his talent for independent political ver intensified his involvement in the activity action. of the Zionist Organization of America. In A few words about Silver s background . 1921 as a result of the Brandeis- Weizmann Born in Lithuania on January 28 1893 Abra- conflict he officially resigned along with the ham Silver as he was originally known immi- leadership of the ZOA. Nevertheless he con- grated to the United States at the age of nine. tinued to participate in national and interna- Growing up on New York s Lower East Side tional Zionist affairs. young Abraham was immersed in the fluid set- With the rise of Hitler Silver was one of ting of the Jewish immigrant milieu. He saw American Jewry s early voices to speak out no contradiction between attending public against the threat of Nazi aggression and anti- school yeshiva and Zvi Hirsch Masliansky s semitism. As early as 1933 he advocated a boy- sermons at the Educational Alliance . He was cott of German-made goods and helped found also active in Zionist youth activity. the League for Human Rights Against Nazism After graduating high school Silver enrolled an enterprise that foreshadowed his involve- in Hebrew Union College and the University of ment in the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League Cincinnati. On several occasions he arranged to Champion Human Rights . It was also at for prominent Zionists to speak at the then this time that Silver went head to head with predominantly anti- Zionist Hebrew Union the ZOA s local leadership. He subsequently College . In this period he also changed his withdrew from the Cleveland Zionist District name to Abba Hillel. He graduated from both and formed Cleveland Zionist District No. 2 . institutions in 1915 and was ordained a rabbi. The new group renamed the Cleveland Zionist

MARCF11APRIL 1996 2 1 Society rapidly outgrew its counterpart. Sub- Silver s attack on the policies of the Zionist sequently the ZOA leadership negotiated a Organization provoked tremendous consterna- settlement that brought Silver s group and tion . He was publicly chastised by the Labor their dues into the national organization . leader Berl Katznelson . In an unusual move These events viewed in retrospect are a the American delegates at the conclusion of a microcosm of Silver s later Zionist activity on a private meeting unanimously rejected Silver s national level. remarks and declared that he spoke in his In 1937 Silver reentered the arena of "personal capacity." national Zionist politics . At the Fortieth Annual ZOA Convention he and Stephen S. he Twenty-first Zionist Congress marked a Wise strenuously opposed the partition plan turning point for Silver. He had consis- for Palestine proposed by Britain s Royal Peel tentlyT sided with Chaim Weizmann s cautious Commission . Like many Zionist leaders how- policy of Zionist gradualism within the frame- ever though Silver publicly opposed the parti- work of restrictions imposed by the Manda- tion plan privately and sub rosa he worked tory. Ben- Gurion on the other hand insisted for its realization . Especially after 1938 as on a combative approach including the full president of the United Palestine Appeal and use ofAliyah Bet as a political instrument. In co-chairman of the United Jewish Appeal Sil- short between 1937 and 1939 Silver changed ver was well aware ofAmerican Jewry s grow- his position in the evolving Zionist debate over ing support for the Labor enterprise in Pales- Jewish dependence on the Mandatory. tine. The 1935 and 1937 elections to the Zion- After World War II erupted Silver aban- ist Congress in which the Labor bloc garnered doned all illusions about Great Britain s sup- a disproportionate share of American votes port for the Jewish National Home. The politi- alerted him to American Jewry s growing affin- cal playing field he explained was no longer ity for practical constructive Zionist policies . dominated by either the Palestine Administra- An analysis of Silver s UPA and UJA directives tion or the British government. The locus of reveals that his priorities were largely in keep- action and struggle had shifted from London to ing with those of the Labor-led Yishuv. Washington D .C . The United States had Yet Silver did not reach a public rapproche- become the new battleground for Zionism and ment with the Yishuv leadership until Hitler s he viewed himself a key player in the new con- forces overran Poland in September 1939. His stellation of political forces . lukewarm relations with the Labor leaders Silver now urged American Zionists to until then were due in part to his reluctance embrace the combative approach of Labor. He to withdraw his support of Chaim Weizmann . encouraged American Jews to unite behind a Nor did David Ben- Gurion s low estimation of common platform for Jewish statehood . At the Silver help matters. As late as August 1939 in Biltmore Conference of 1942 an American sharp contrast to the emerging American Jew- Zionist gathering held in New York City in lieu ish consensus Silver opposed the Zionist pro- of a wartime Zionist Congress Silver allied gram of so-called "illegal immigration" known himself with Ben- Gurion . The three chief as Aliyah Bet. At the Twenty-first Zionist Con- issues addressed by the Biltmore Conference gress Silver accused the Labor-led Jewish were the political future of Palestine the Arab Agency and its supporters of pursuing policies problem and the feasibility of creating an that resulted in the cancellation of legal immi- American Zionist alliance . The first two ques- gration . He urged the Zionist leaders to tions had also been central to the Twenty-first "refrain from desperate acts of opposition Zionist Congress of 1939. At Biltmore Silver from civil rebellion from non-cooperation ." Sil- planted himself firmly in the militant camp. ver correctly pointed out that Labor was behaving as though a Jewish state already he coalition grouped around Labor and the existed and that the Jewish Agency s policies General Zionists with Ben-Gurion and would lead to a clash with the Mandatory. In SilverT at the helm argued against whittling fact Labor dominated Zionist policy-making down Jewish claims to Palestine in order to and imposed its will on much of the world appease the Arabs or Britain. Silver declared movement ; it controlled the building blocks of that Jewish immigration to Palestine required the Jewish state-in-the-making. no consent - be it Arab or British. Despite

2 2 JEWISH FRONTIER intense opposition and the highly charged from relative obscurity to assume a position of nature of wartime Jewish politics the combat- primary importance . In all 501 delegates rep- ive Zionist camp prevailed. The conference resenting roughly 2 250 000 men and women adopted an eight-point resolution that came to from 64 national organizations and 375 com- be known as the Biltmore Program . The pro- munities comprised the democratic assembly. gram s operative political concepts were : An estimated eight percent of the Conference 1. That the Jews of Palestine be allowed to participants were avowed Zionists. create a military force under the Zionist flag. There was virtually unanimous agreement 2. That Palestine be established as a Jew- among the delegates concerning the rescue of ish commonwealth integrated into the struc- European Jewry the importance of postwar ture of the postwar democratic world. reconstruction and the restitution of minority Organizational and philosophical differ- political and civil rights in war torn Europe . ences notwithstanding the Biltmore program The Palestine proposal however proved to be epitomized the progress which American Zion- quite controversial. Although the conference ism as a whole had made since 1917. Estab- was predominantly Zionist there was no lishing a "Jewish Commonwealth" in Palestine assurance that the delegates would endorse became the new rallying call of the movement. the notion of an independent Jewish Common- This was a great advancement over the Bal- wealth. In fact Zionist leaders worried lest an four Declaration s ambiguous promise to sup- ambivalent resolution be adopted in the name port a "national home for the Jewish people." of communal unity. The scales were tipped by Until the summer of 1942 Silver like other Silver whose position cut across ideological American Jewish leaders believed that the and philosophical lines . "I am for unity in Allies would not completely abandon Euro- Israel " Silver declared "for the realization of pean Jewry. However the revelation of Nazi the total program of Jewish life relief rescue atrocities prompted him to completely alter his reconstruction and the national restoration in strategy as a national figure . He marshaled all Palestine." his political energies to revive the weary Silver carried the day because he articu- American Zionist movement and he assumed lated the attitude of mainstream American the co-chairmanship of the American Zionist Jews to Zionism. Acknowledging the essential Emergency Council. This period also wit- role ofthe Zionist enterprise in modern Jewish nessed an intensification of contact between life he argued the case for an immediate polit- Silver and the right-wing Revisionist Zionist ical solution based on wartime realities . "We party in the United States. In the end Silver s cannot truly rescue the Jews of Europe " he activist strategy and authoritarian style pro- proclaimed voked Stephen S. Wise and Nahum Goldmann "unless we have free immigration to Pales- both ofwhom also played chief leadership roles tine. We cannot have free immigration into in the American context. Palestine unless our political rights are recog- nized there. Our political rights cannot be rec- ere we come to the intriguing subject of ognized unless our historic connection with the the American Zionist Emergency Council country is acknowledged and our right to Hand Silver s pivotal leadership role in it both rebuild our national home is affirmed . The of which require greater attention than is pos- whole chain breaks if one of our links is miss- sible in this brief analysis . Suffice it to say ing." that the AZEC s political direction under Sil- ver was ultimately vindicated by the American ilver s dramatic speech represented the Jewish Conference ofAugust 1943. The confer- passing ofauthority from one generation of ence which was called by the president ofBnai ZionistS leaders to the next. He now decisively Brith Henry Monsky proposed to unite Ameri- supplanted Stephen S. Wise as American Zion- can Jewry behind a platform for the rescue of ism s foremost spokesman . The comprehensive European Jewry the removal ofrestrictions on program placed before the Conference opened Jewish immigration to Palestine and the the flood gates of American Jewish consensus. reconstruction of Jewish life in postwar The Palestine issue was carried with only four Europe . After a lengthy process of propagan- dissenting votes. The delegates resoundingly dizing and balloting the Conference emerged called for "the fulfillment of the Balfour Decla-

MARCH/APRIL 1996 23

ration" and the reconstitution of Palestine as realities over philosophical biases. As I have the Jewish Commonwealth . This event sig- argued here his leadership was upheld and naled a watershed for American Zionism his strategy was implemented so long as his which presently came into full view as the dri- goals and those ofthe Yishuv leaders were con- ving political force ofAmerican Jewish life. gruent . After the State of Israel was estab- Between 1945 and 1947 Silver embarked on lished a new American Jewish consensus took a controversial series of political initiatives. root and flourished . When this happened Sil- He lobbied the United States to pass a Pales- ver was swallowed up by the very revolution tine resolution favoring Jewish statehood and that originally propelled him to the fore of used his leverage to insure that pro-Zionist American Jewish life. 0 planks were adopted by both the Democratic and Republican parties during the 1944 presi- dential campaign. His insistence in this regard JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM caused a rift between himself and Stephen S. continued from page 20 Wise and Silver subsequently resigned from the AZEC . However after being recalled by his the Law of Return. That law represents not supporters Silver moved swiftly to consolidate only the vision of the ingathering of the exiles but stands as the most profound sym- his power base . In 1945 he was elected presi- bol of the Jewish character of Israel. dent of the ZOA and president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. In 1947 he • WJC encourages all efforts by theUnited was appointed chairman of the American sec- Nations to eliminate anti-semitism that for tion of the Jewish Agency for Palestine . In so long permeated that body. The repeal of the repugnant "Zionism = Racism" resolu- these years Silver reached the apex of his tion righted an historic wrong. influence. One of his great personal triumphs came on May 8 1947 when he delivered an Other resolutions dealt with Jewish Com- impassioned speech to the United Nations munities in Distress e.g. Syria ; assistance General Assembly in support of an indepen- tovery small communities; restitution of Jew- dent Jewish state. ish properties in Central and Eastern Europe as well as Western Europe e.g. Norway ; Com- ollowing the creation of the State ofIsrael memoration of the Holocaust; Anti-semitism; Silver became embroiled in the America- International terrorism ; the right to perform FIsraeli struggle for control of the Zionist Orga- Shechita; Relations with Christian Churches; nization . He subsequently resigned from his Interfaith relations; Youth and Students positions on the AZEC and the Jewish Agency including support for the World Union of Jew- executive . This time however he was not ish Students ; and call for a special commission recalled by a mass of followers . Indeed at the to study the restructuring and reforming of Twenty-third Zionist Congress in 1951 he and World Jewry institutions. 11 other diaspora Zionists were soundly defeated by the political machine of Israeli Prime Min- JEWISH FRONTIER ister David Ben- Gurion. Silver s remaining Welcomes years were devoted largely to Jewish scholar- ship and participation in social and cultural New Subscribers work on behalfofthe Zionist movement. your own or as a gift Had Silver immigrated the new to State of for someone you respect Israel he might have continued to play a cen- tral role in Zionist affairs. However he chose For US residents: to remain in the United States. Events quickly 15 per year; 25 for two years outpaced his authority as American Zionism s wartime tribune . Silver s Zionism had once dif- fered distinctively. He had been the maverick Send check or money order to: rabbinic leader in the United States: he offered JEWISH FRONTIER a compelling alternative to American Jewish 275 Seventh Avenue 17th Floor ambivalence; and he embraced a combative New York NY 10001 strategy that emphasized social and political

2 4 JEWISH FRONTIER M E M O I R

Michelangelo s Paul By Haim Chertok

enerally successfully our three oldest i.e . when neither of our outboarding motors youngstersG had gone the boarding school route was scheduled to skedaddle home replaying a when they arrived at the kilometerstone of silver pipe dream alacritously seizing the high school but after a mopey year of living days - seven of them - we I mean just we away from home at a girls school in Arad our two booked ourselves tickets and made exuberant sixteen year old daughter is again arrangements for a week together in Florence. embedded and emboarded in our midst. Were Scuza Firenze. Bus bus bus and then this not the situation like most of you my wife plane bus and train. Zappo: hardly half-a-day Marcia and I would scarcely have noticed that from raw Yeroham - Firenze: a transforma- "Free As A Bird " resurrected from the trashbin tive magnificent absorbing text well worth of one-time Beatles rejects recently balley- the effort to translate and master. Two even hooed to Number One on the pop music charts . three days in this place would have been Prior to Miri s departure the trove of LPs gauche even insolent. But in seven skimming we ourselves had purchased in the Sixties had its aesthetic ether like rounded oval pebbles been retrieved by our "baby" out of their mau- in the Arno we thought we could at least get a soleum lovingly dusted and reprieved from feel for the place. Perhaps even an intimation early technological retirement . For many of intimacy. months Miri had squealed brakes into our breakfasts and bit a din into our dinners . In ay and evening we trailed the narrow her absence once again they would get fur- streets into the broad piazzas of central loughed to our S.R.O. community of old by dis- FirenzeD to pay homage to the masterpieces in tinguished 33%s. Now they and she are back the Uffizi the Piazza della Signoria Bargello and we learned again that old sergeants never and the Loggia dei Lanzi. On Shabbat services never die but simply bide away. . . plotting a la Italianate rite resembling nothing so insurrections. much as Hebraized Gregorian chant under the A collateral effect of Miri s year away how- dome of Europe s most stunning sinagoga. ever had stunned us with its liberating impli- Inevitably such was the gorgeous stuff of our cations . After twenty-eight years of raising daily fare but what of its subtext? What recol- four children for days sometimes weeks on lections which obtuse tangents slanted new end the two of us were again alone i.e. just surprising motifs what our droll preoccupa- the two of us alone together . Free indeed as tions while crossing the Ponte Vecchio to birds . Vistas old and new flew open. "It s a new trapise through Palazzo Pitti and the Giar- world Golda." dano di Boboli up the hills and down the bank Upon realizing however that our new- to the Ponte San Niccolo? What of our daily found freedom would bubble forth only during window- gawking cafe-quaffing along Via that narrow belt of time until Shai then Miri Gioberti the main commercial artery of Piazza entered their years of army service when Beccaria close by ourpensione on tiny Via Fos- Israeli parents perforce stick close to home we sombroni? carefully laid plans to visit the home of In the way of such things playing insis- Michelangelo s David . Fixing upon a Shabbat tently and with surprising power on the black in mid-October when we wouldn t be missed keys of memory are three Florentine varia-

MARCH/APRIL 1996 25

tions on the theme of sensory frustration . . The next day it drizzled. "Great news " my These individualized cadenzas are as salient astute wife commented . "The rain should to our Firenze remembered in tranquility as loosen the glue. We ll get him now." the marvelous doors of Ghiberti and the awe- This time we headed for another cache of some proportions of the Cathedral of Santa unprotected Pauls we d stalked on the wall ofa Maria del Fiore in the Piazza del Duomo. First school on Via Tripoli . Never mind that it was though we inquired and we delved though we half-a-block from a police station. Failure had pursued each lead and transversed each dis- steeled our resolve. As I shielded her with an trict of the city it was fruitlessly legumeless umbrella Marcia brilliantly executed her art lugubrious : no where in this city of 450 000 liberating not only considerable lettering but souls and perfectly rounded pears might one chin mouth and nostrils when. . .oh it pains uncover a single bona fide gen-u-wine vege- me yet . . .Paul s dewy face shredded in her tarian or health food restaurant . No we did hands. Another failure . not starve but for Kosherized kishkes Firenze Yet nothing would do except that we fetch is a week of muddle. one back to Yeroham. First thing next morn- ing through a much heavier downpour I ur final Florentine quest was active shlepped myself to the address on Via Del intensive and rounding out the missing Frati Bigi which had been listed in the corner senses0 visual and tactile. On our second day poster. I found no office. When I called the ad in town Marcia spotted it rounding the corner agency I learned why: it was located in Viareg- of Via Botta . It could be no one else : a poster gio miles away from Florence on the coast. No displaying Miri s very idol. The very Saturday matter. Could I buy one poster. . .or a dozen? I d night after our departure for home who would pay almost anything. "Impossible sir. Our pol- be coming to town with his band and his wife icy is to sell them only on the day of the con- but looking strangely Italian pert-faced Paul cert." McCartney At once we divined the verdict of destiny. No e were deflated defeated . It would be a leathery accessory no beaded ornament one purse or necklace for Miri until on our and only one Italian remembrance would ren- Wfinal day in Firenze what did I see staring out der our daughter beatific . We simply had to ofthe window ofa barber shop on Via Pietrapi- swipe one of those McCartney posters for Miri. ana but a pristine Paul. In a flash Marcia The problem was although nearly all other trailing I entered the shop. "Prego signor performer s posters had been affixed to the uh...cuanta lira for. . .uh ...[wildly gesticulating] walls of buildings or more rarely kiosks and him . . . Paulo McCartnini? " I incoherently then left naked to brave the elements most of gasped. Paul s were hermetically sealed behind plastic "No money sir. Paulo is yours " the gracious shields rendering them impervious either to barber responded as he untaped the corners raindrops to infection and prying paws . Most and neatly rolled the poster handed over our I say...but not all. trophy beyond price. Tears in my eyes "grazi The following morning on Viale Della grazi " I moaned . Only Marcia s hand Giovine Italia we spotted six unsealed dim- restrained me from kissing his cheeks . pled Pauls cute as infant sextuplets all in a I love Italians. Calculating my desperation row. We loitered we dawdled we bided our any Frenchman would have clipped me for two chance but there was so much damned traffic haircuts . So that s how Israelis comport them- it seemed hopeless . Finally as I glanced first to selves when "overseas" does not mean New the left then furtively to the right just as York or Los Angeles . True we did not see the though I was barely acquainted with the Mad- original of Michelangelo s David but the lines woman Marcia outfacing the smirks of from Cole Porter came unbidden on the flight passersby began to strip first one Paul then a home to Israel and Miri was delighted beyond second. Ever so slowly and carefully first from measure with her pasteboard Paul . And - one corner and then another she carried on who knows? - perhaps that s the way peace but glued fast Paul after crucified Paul tore will come to the Middle East. 0 into strips. It was truly pathetic. Holding fast brittle Pauls would not unpeel.

26 JEWISH FRONTIER E S S A Y

DISPERSAL OF THE JEWISH FAMILY

By Si Wakesberg

ecently while in California visiting my Harvard MIT - some of them winning schol- daughterR s family my 16-year-old grandson Eli arships to these colleges others applying to introduced me to the Internet demonstrating smaller high-rated universities . It became how speedily a message could be sent to "faddish " almost obligatory to attend an out- upstate New York at the other end ofthe conti- of-town school. I recall with some amusement nent. It was a fascinating lesson in up-to-date exchanging information with a friend of mine communications but at the same time it also who lived in Syracuse telling her my daughter brought home to me how fragmented and dis- had enrolled at Syracuse University and being persed the modern Jewish family had become. told in return that her daughter was attending In the 1940s my parents lived two subway Columbia University in New York City stations away; my in-laws lived around the corner and most of my other relatives resided a ew York Jewish college students dispersed nickel s ride from our own home. It was not at to Oklahoma Wisconsin Indiana UCLA all strange to find an old uncle or an ailing andNeven unknown institutions in the South grandmother in residence with one s family for and Southwest. What happened to them far Jewish life then was homogenous and inte- away from home cut offfrom their families on grated. Mainstream Jewish families remained unfamiliar ground is another story but it cer- for the most part interconnected in the cities tainly led to a breakdown of the family unit as in which they had lived all their lives . Today we know it . parents are in Florida or Arizona; children Then came the flight to the suburbs a reside in California or Oregon; one s life has movement too-well documented to need expli- become more solitary less familial. cation . i t would be erroneous however to I don t know how historians will fix the date think that Jewish migration from the cities to for the beginning of the dispersal of the Jewish the suburbs differed in any way from its non- family in the United States but to me it seems Jewish counterpart . The move in the late that it all started after World War II when 1950s and early 1960s was an "American" Jewish youngsters in swarms sought entrance migration as Americans of different nationali- to out-of-town colleges . Growing up in New ties and religions pulled up their stakes and York it was one of life s unalterable and left cities beset with crime violence pollution inevitable expectations that college meant and poverty. Some recent studies have unfor- C .C.N.Y. College of the City of New York or tunately given an elitist touch to the Jewish Hunter College - the two most prestigious migration movement which was a segment of "free" public institutions in the city. I believe the American middle-class exodus an aban- that C.C.N.Y. in those days demanded an 85% donment of the cities for life in the hoped-for high school average for entrance and once you greener pastures of suburbia. managed to cross that barrier the competition However since the focus often is on New became even more intellectually challenging . York and New York s large Jewish population World War II with its GI Bill offering free the issue has been spotlighted as "Jews fleeing education in a variety of the nation s colleges to the suburbs " which becomes an exagger- changed all that. Suddenly new York Jewish ated reportage . But there is no doubt that young men and women who had been confined entire areas of traditional Jewish life were dis- to educational institutions in their backyard rupted as masses ofJews left the city blocks of could reach out and attend Princeton their youth for the more sanitized atmosphere

MARCHIAPRIL L~gr 2 7

of the suburbs . Entire Jewish neighborhoods the Jewish National Fund to the cause of Jew- vanished overnight . While these middle-class ish education in the United States? Jewish wanderers did not travel with packs on their organizations Jewish camps Jewish schools backs as their forefathers did in Europe their have all declined and there has certainly been move eventually would unsettle Jewish family a drift away from Yiddish even though there life bringing on new tensions anxieties and are valiant attempt being made to recapture intergenerational clashes. that vital language. Later in the 1960s and 1970s these family clashes would take on a special fury as the he question can therefore be asked younger generation ironically reached out for whether the Jewish family as a unit can goals their parents had abandoned in the surviveT in the post-dispersal period? Family cities . A movement back to the cities became organization in the United States had changed more pronounced and suburban parents were radically. It has become increasingly vulnera- faced with the strange sight of their children ble to modern technology to requirements of moving back into the old tenements or into job travel to attendance at colleges far from reconverted brownstones on those very mean home and it increasing intermarriage . The old streets they had left only a short while ago . days when families normally took in an unmar- ried aunt or a sick grandmother are gone for- at did all this do to the Jewish family? ever. Economics living space the intensities of t seriously changed the structure of the modern workplace all militate against Wfamily life creating a long-distance relation- that kind of family expansiveness . And not ship between parents and children. Yet in los- only that - older generations today are more ing an immediate tie to their families the independent and many stubbornly refuse to younger Jews began to feel a need for sustain- live with their children . ing values. It became commonplace to say that Yet we have seen the impact of "family val- these displaced young Jews were seeking their ues" as an American theme of the 1990s. This "heritage" . Many of them away from home in theme though politically motivated has res- distant and unfriendly places turned to the onated powerfully in the social discussions of synagogue to which their parents had paid the decade. Ifthe family structure is changing scant attention as a way of solidifying their there appears to be a need to reach out for lost Jewishness. The flourishing of a synagogue moral values no matter how thin their ratio- culture in cities across the United States may nale ina modern complex world. be attributed in some measure to a genuine If a real search for "family values" is on we homesickness deep in the Jewish soul. have our own Jewish traditional values In some ways younger Jews became more handed down for thousands of years and sus- Jewish - though not in their parents way of tained in the ethos of the Jewish people . As we secular Judaism. The older liberal even social- move toward the year 2000 the structure ofthe ist secular Judaism transported to the United family will be different the organization may States by European immigrants - including be looser the distance in geographical terms the speaking ofYiddish readingYiddish news- between family members may widen but those papers attending the Yiddish theatre devot- Jewish values which nurtured Jews in their ing oneselfto Jewish causes attending Jewish 2 000-year history can continue to guide the schools belonging to Jewish organizations - Jewish family no matter how dispersed or how all this was transformed into a Jewishness disconnected the family unit is. 11 that had a religious base whether it was syna- gogue-oriented or not. Have you read

he boomer generation therefore adopted a THE "OTHER" NEW YORK different kind of Jewishness than T that of JEWISH INTELLECTUALS their parents. Theirs was a more fragile rela- yet? tionship to the Jewish community a more American-style and therefore a more assimi- Send for your copy @ 15 lated way of life . One wonders how deep their to : JEWISH FRONTIER commitment is to the United Jewish Appeal to

28 JEWISH FRONTIER

Did F.D.R. Fail Us? B O O K S BEARING WITNESS: How America and Its Jews Responded to the Holocaust by Henry L. Feingold. 322 pages. The Jewish Volkists Cloth 39.95 Paper 16.95 1995. Syracuse University Press. The Stern Gang: Ideology Politics and Terror: 1940-1949 More than half a century has elapsed since the war against London: Frank Cass [1995]. 358 pp. Hitler ended and the enormity of by Joseph Heller his crimes against humanity has sunken deeply into the already ehi "Lohamei herut Yis- Jerusalem : Mercaz Zalman consciousness of mankind . His rael" was the name given in Shazar and Keter 1989 . It is not super-atrocity - the Holocaust L September 1940 to a Jewish pre- a narrative history of the Stern - has become a permanent topic State resistance movement group which was reorganized in of research debate and contro- devoted to daring guerrilla tac- 1943 and finally dissolved in versy. One of the most tenacious tics by Abraham Stern 1907- the tor- 1949. Rather it is an analysis of questions even now is 1942 . Stern was a poet and a the ideological underpinnings : did America menting question political militarist personally and convolutions of a fascinating the giant world power do enough devoted to civil behavior but evi- but increasingly unpopular twi- to stop the fiendish Nazi plot or dently an incorrigible outsider. A light organization which found at least rescue whatever was res- mystic as well as a militarist he itself at loggerheads with the cuable? adopted the name "ben Yair" Jewish Agency the British and Professor Feingold who him- identifying with Elazar ben Yair even the Revisionists. self was saved by providence the last commander of Masada. A carefully when his family left Mannheim researched study Fiercely anti-British Stern and Heller early enough to escape the Nazi s book provides the reader his cohorts helped expedite with an introduction hellfire has spent decades trying to the vast Aliyah bet the immigration of literature concerning Yair and to piece together the many facets refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied America the Canaanite movement which of s relationship to the Europe by coming to Palestine Holocaust aside from its massive sought to see Jewish history in governed by the British while involvement in the military purely nationalist and volkish defying Zionist policy and author- destruction of the Nazi regime. terms. At a time when current ity - particularly that of havlaga In discussing the uniqueness Israeli history is changing and or self-restraint. Even the fairly of the Holocaust the author sug- past political relations are being radical approach of Zev Jabotin- dramatically revamped a work gests that "rather than the scale sky 1880-1940 and his New of the slaughter or which holds up Israeli political its intention- Zionist Organization was too qui- ality it was the fact that Euro- and ideological antecedents to escent for Stern. Stern inevitably pean Jewry was producing uni- examination is most welcome. An a was a hunted man killed in early versalizing elite in the historian of diplomacy Dr. Heller sciences 1942 by a British police officer political theory communications teaches international relations who found him hiding in a closet. literature theater philosophy and Jewish history at the Hebrew The Stern Gang... is a transla- and commerce that was reshap- University of Jerusalem. 0 tion of the author s Lehi: ideol- ing European life and pushing it Reviewed by ogy and politics 1940-1949 to beyond the confines of the MORTON J. MEROWITZ nation-state that gives the Holo- caust its historical weight. It is the destruction of the population that the Jews allowed themselves in those days is presented in base that produced that small to be led "like sheep to the slaugh- detail with special reference to universalizing elite that makes ter" and the role of the much- President Franklin D. Roosevelt the Holocaust a turning point in maligned Judenrat. It was not a who has been idolized and demo- European history. . ." simple life for those in "author- nized by American citizens and Feingold deals with the charge ity" in the Ghettos. by American Jews of various tem- The complexity of the situation continued on page 31

MARCH/APRIL 1996 29

Foreign Workers Rights HISTADRUT RESOLVES in Israel Secured STRONGER PEACE EFFORT In a letter to Jay Mazur president of the new pattern of employment of foreign National Committee for Labor Israel His- Aworkers has been created with the endorsement tadrut chairman Amir Peretz M.K. stated: of a new collective agreement between the His- "On behalf of the Histadrut and all the tadrut and a private employment agency. This workers of Israel I would like to express my new agreement is seen as an effort to improve appreciation for your message of sympathy the conditions ofworkers brought to Israel from received after the recent wave of terrorist other countries. attacks on innocent men women and small The special areement enumerates the condi- children in the streets of Israel. tions ofemployment offoreign workers employed "Your sympathy and encouragement are a by the Shadmot Lev Hasharon employment source of support at this anxious time and you agency. Among other things it specifies criteria can be assured that we will pass on your con- for subjects which have not been regulated dolences and good wishes to the families of the before and addresses serious problems regard- victims and to the injured. ing employment offoreign workers. "While mourning the casualties we are res- According to the agreement each foreign olute about two subjects. First the security of worker will receive a copy of the employment our fellow citizens is paramount and the ter- contract in a language which he understands. rorist organizations must be severely dealt He will be in possession ofhis passport and his with and second the best method to achieve salary will be calculated according to the Wage lasting security is to continue with the peace Protection Law. Every case of dismissal will be process until all the Middle East countries are The will examined by a joint committee. worker part ofit thus showing that such foul acts only have the right receive an advance on his to make our resolve stronger." El salary in Israeli shekels and be able to receive a loan at reduced rates ofinterest. The working week is fixed at 44 hours with extra pay for overtime. Shadmot Lev Hasharon is committed to assisting the workers in provid- The National Committee for ing reasonable housing including electrical Labor Israel equipment and domestic appliances . Each • Advocates the Middle East Peace Process month the employer and the employees will • Promotes projects in Israel to strengthen Jewish- contribute 0.1% of the workers salary to a wel- Arab relations fare fund to be used in emergencies . • Works with local Jewish Community Relations The workers will receive payment for feast Councils days or days of mourning and will have the • Sponsors educational seminars and right to two trips on the Holy Days of Easter conferences and Christmas. They will also receive a festive • Conducts the Israel Histadrut Campaign gift once a year and also holiday pay according • Helps fund a network of social educational to the norm in Israel . Every worker has the youth and religious services in Israel right to twenty days sick leave according to • Supports Israel s labor sector Israel s labor law only 18 sick days are obliga- • Sponsors national and local labor union missions to tory which can be accumulated to a maximum Israel . of 100 days in five years and will be insured by You can be part of this dynamic program through your membership contributions. the National Insurance Institute. Write or call: In addition workers will be insured in a National Committee for Labor Israel health fund 50% participation by the workers 275 Seventh Avenue including hospitalization surgery and emer- New York New York 10001 gency treatment. Life and accident insurance 212 647-0300 including flight expenses for emergencies and Jay Mazur President a provision for injuries or death are also Jerry Goodman Executive Director included . LI

3 0 JEWISH FRONTIER

NEWS BRIEFS Bearing Witness continued from page 29

Over 90 000 Olim and Returnees Arrive peraments . As Professor Feingold reminds us "The Jewish voting bloc had moved closer to About 77 000 new immigrants arrived in him after 1936 while other hyphenates had Israel last year bringing the total number in 1989 710 cooled their ardor. The Jewish `love affair with the current wave since to about 500. remained from the former Roosevelt unrequited ." Approximately 610 000 came "Politically like giant of emigra- Furthermore Roosevelt - Soviet Union when the wave Stalin - wanted to avoid making World War II for 1996 stood at tion began . Projections a war to save the Jews. That was true despite the reduced reservoir of 62 500 because of the fact that the Nazi cosmology pictured it in Jews there. precisely those terms." Feingold gives us much represents a drop of 3 .5% The 1995 figure more insight into the FDR phenomenon his with 1994 though it is slightly compared political considerations and his failure to ade- larger than the 1993 figure. Fully 85% of this quately respond to the "human crisis." He con- year s immigrants about 65 000 people tends that "with only a few distinct exceptions arrived from the Commonwealth of Indepen- American Jewry seems never to have under- dent States CIS . In real terms there has not stood that it was being manipulated." been a fall-off from the CIS since there has So the riddle remains unsolved: did FDR been a 10% annual drop in the number of fail the Jewish people? Or did he within obvi- potential immigrants from that area. ous limitations his the. Over the past year there was an increase in do utmost to lessen tragedy of the centuries? 11 the percentage of those coming from the Reviewed by NAHUM GUTTMAN Ukraine while the proportion from Russia fell. The number of Israeli residents returning after more than two years abroad was about 14 000 roughly the same number who CONTRIBUTORS returned in each of the previous two years. Momentum Grows for Quitting Golan GEN . EHUD BARAK is Israel s new Foreign Minister. SUSAN HATTIS ROLEF is our regular Israel correspon- According to survey data published by the dent . She is working on a book dealing with Israel-PLO Steinmetz Institute at Tel Aviv University relations before Oslo. when faced with the option of full withdrawal MISHA LOUVISH is a veteran Israeli journalist . from the Golan Heights in exchange for a full CHAIM NACHMAN BIALIK is the poet laureate of He- peace agreement or continued retention of the brew literature . Golan without a peace agreement 46 .6% of DAVID ROSENTHAL has written widely on Zionist and respondents chose the first option while 43 .4% general topics . He resides in Philadelphia . selected the second. RALPH SELIGER is former editor of Israel Horizons This was the first time that the number of quarterly journal of Americans for Progressive Israel/ Hashomer Hatzair and currently contributing editor to respondents preferring full withdrawal from PS: The Intelligent Guide to Jewish Affairs. the Golan was larger than those favoring MARK A. RAIDER is professor of modern Jewish history retention. By comparison in June of 1995 only in the Department of Judaic Studies University at 34 .4% supported a full withdrawal while a Albany; he recently completed his PhD. dissertation at majority were opposed. Brandeis University entitled "From the Margins to the A majority of 52 .9% ofrespondents said they Mainstream : Labor Zionism and American Jews 1919-45". favored Prime Minister Shimon Peres policy HAIM CHERTOK is an American transplanted to Yero- regarding negotiations with Syria as compared ham the Negev. Among his books is Stealing Home. to 39 .2% who opposed it. SI WAKESBERG is a longtime Labor Zionist chaver in The survey found that a decisive majority of New York. 75 .4% of those polled believe peace with Syria MENAHEM STERN recently published a collection of his should be approved by a public referendum. work in 100 POEMS PLUS .

MARCH/APRIL 1996 31

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