SMU Hosts 9Th Annual Judaic Institute Christian Response to Riots
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- ....,, ****~*******************5-DIGI- 02906 2:3g _1/30128 ** ~L R.I. ~EW!SH HIS-ORICA~ ASSJCIATJON :3C SESSIO!"S ST. Inside: Local News, pages 2-3 ~~CVIDENC~ ;r )i906 Opinion, page 4 Around Town, page 8 THE O.\L Y E.'\'GUSH-JEWISH WEEKLY IN R.I. AND SOCTHEAST MASS VOLUME LXXV, NUMBER 30 THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 1988 SMU Hosts 9th Annual Judaic Institute by David DeBlois expressed com.. ern over the restric ou r sanity in the world. Sometimes t ion of fr ee speech in academia im we tend l o take ourselves tuo seri On .June H). the 9th Annual .Ju plied by the incident. However. he ously.'' cb i(· Instit ute at Southeastern dow nplayed its significa nce in na- However, t he Rabbi's eloquence Massachusett s Univt>rsit y wrapped 1i onal black/.Jewish relations. say wa s never more evident than when up its !'"1-day examination of the inK it did '" li ttle harm, but little he re lated a story to illustrate how quest inn " \Vhat Is A ,Jew'!" at the help, either." wo rking to become a better indi Co ll ege of Liberal Arts and Bus i (;Jassman praised Lester's ad vi dual helps not only one's fe llow ness. Hahhi Bernard Glassman. dress and thanked him for his con -Jews, but all of mankind: Co-Direl'tor of the SMU Center for tribution to I he conference, and "A father cuts up a picture of the ,Jewish Culture. dosed the µrogram added. ··.Judaism is not. part o f any world and shuflles the pieces. He with a summation of the confer ral'e- a conve rt must be consid instructs his child to reassemble ence's central themes. (;Jassman ered as equal t.o any other .J ew.'' the map correc tly. He figures the a nd fell ow Co-Director Dr. Hobert Classman also expressed his task will take quite a few hours. at P. \Vaxler succeeded in assembling gratitude to Dr. Evelyn Bec k. who least. to complete. After a few min quite an impressive array of fea addressed the Institute on ".Ju utes, the child comes back with the lures and speakers for the event. daism and Feminism. " Heck map all back together. The fat her Hahhi Glassman, a personable, blasted the anti-Semitic ,JAP(.Jew is amazed. and he asks the child, t>ffec t ive, a·nd eloquent speaker ish American Princess) stereotype, ' How did you fin ish so quickly?' !ouched on the highlights o f the In and ex pressed hope fo r a greater The child responds, 'Father. on the stitute in his closing address. acceptance of the contributions of other side of the map was a picture (;!assman's humor and enthusi wo men in .Judaism. Glassman of a man. When lhe man came Lo . asm, however. allowed the speech ei.: hoed her fee lings, saying:. "A .Jew gelher, so did the whole wo rld."' to transcend it s summation rol e. is a person who sees halacha as ele In addition lo t he events men het:oming an t>\"€111 in and of itself. va ting both men and women in the t inned above, the Institute also The Hahbi began by praising the service of God and the world.'' held a number of classes. panel dis appearan<.:e of Cantor David The summation also included <'Ussions, and fi lm screenings. The Bagley. recognized around the some we ll -c hosen messages from SMU Gall ery played host to Dr. wo rld as a leader in his field. It was the Rabbi himself. Speaking on the Peter London's ex hibition, " Mir only appropriate, opined Glass dangers of materialism in today's rors of the Word." These paintings man, that the Cantor should open society. Glassman said, " \Ve give of Biblical heroes and heroines the program ...The {'a ntor." he our kids everyt hing. And some were inspired by courses offered in said, "can convey the essen<.:e of times I think we end up giving SMU's ,Judaic Studies Minor Pro people through song." them nothing." He also empha gram. The artist appeared before Black activist Dr ..Julius Lester. sized the importance of a sense of the conference on ,June 13 to dis who addressed the conference .June <·ommunity among ,Jews: "A ,Jew cuss his works. 1-t on his conversion to .Judaism, has bonds. commitments to his As the ,Judaic Institute drew to a also spoke hrielly about his recent people, and therefore his people close with Rabbi Glassman's ad hreak with the Afro-American should be welcomed as a part of his dress, both organizers and those After accepting the Israel 40th Anniversary Gold Medal at the Studies Department at the Univer· life." attending seemed greatly pleased International Israel Bond Dinner in New York (on June 5th) sity of Massachusetts at Amherst. Near the end of his address, with what had been accomplished Sylvia Hassenfeld of Providence, R.I. expressed her As previously reported in the Her Rabbi Glassman emphasized the in the .5-day event. Along with that achievements in behalf of Israel and the Jewish community. Mrs. ald , Lester's difficulties stemmed ability of humor to see ,Jews pleasure. however. there seemed to Hassenfeld was one of 16 U.S. snd world Jewish leaders who from his criticism of ,James Bald through difficult times. " Humor," he a touch of sadness that it all had were honored at the gala Israel Bond dinner held in the Grand win in his recent autobiography. he said. "should arouse us. help us to come to an end so soon. But Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and attended by 1,000 l.m'<'Stm;:: B,•co minJ.! a J,,w . Lester to laugh at ourselves, and to keep there's always next. year. Jewish leaders from three continents. Christian Response To Riots-------------- US Displays More Restraint Than Europe Christian church reaction in the and Christian leadership" on unequivocally affirm the right of Israel in the March 9 issue of the lack historical context and hold United States to events in the Middle East issues. the State of Israel to exist and Jesuit magazine La Civilta Israel solely responsible for West Bank and toe Gaza Strip "These 20 years of exchanges," prosper" and "understand why Cattolica, published in Rome. Palestinian frustrations." over the past few months has been the report said, "have made the ,Jews equate the State of Israel's · In that article, Israeli policy in In an editorial published in its "more rest rained and sensitive to critical difference in sensitizing survival with .Jewish survival." the territories was described as "a February 19 issue, the U.S. the complex nature of the American Christian leaders to the The Protestant theologian also vendetta, comparable to the Catholic weekly Commonwealth Israel-Arab conflict" than that of historical context of Palestinian wrote that "it follows from the Holocaust." Msgr. Higgins wrote argued for the application of U.S. European Christian groups, the frustration. prophetic tradition that ,Jews that the author "may have "pressure on Israel, the Arab Union of American Hebrew "Official responses to the should speak critically of Israel's compounded the harm done by his countries and the PLO," to current Palestinian-Israeli clashes political parties, if injustice is article by asserting that the article Congregations reported this week negotiate a settlement. "It needs to (,June I~). by American Christian leadership, being done. Let us note with was approved by the Vatican become clear," the editorial went gratitude, then," he wrote, "that in Secretariat of State, presumably in A study of Christian responses appreciative of the anguish on, '.'that our $3 billion annual expressed by the American ,Jewish these past weeks many ,Jewish advance of publication. to the events in Judea, Samaria package of aid [to Israel] and community, have been much more voices have been raised, some for and Gaza was issued at the close of "With all due respect," Msgr. subsidies could be reassessed." the semi-annual meeting of the restrained, more sensitive to the the first time, to deplore t.he recent Higgins wrote, "the Secretariat ... board of trustees of the UAHC, complex nature of the conflict and heatings and killings of ought to move without delay to In an editorial titled "Israel's central body of Reform ,Judaism in much more balanced than that of Palestinians." He continued: clarify the record in this regard." Lost Identity," the National the United States and Canada. their European counterparts." "Let not any of our words, in Another American Catholic who Catholic Reporter blamed Israel for Some 12/i UAHC trustees from all On the international scene, the tone or content, bring aid and took issue with t he article in La not allowing the Palestinians "the sections of the country took part in UAHC report said, "inflammatory comfort to those who deny Israel's Civilta Cattolica was Dr. Eugene chance to govern themselves." It the meeting at the New York's rhetoric and outrageous analogies right to exist. Let our critique of Fisher, director of the Secretariat also described Israel as a Vista Hotel. are used to denounce Israeli Israel spring from our love for for Catholic-Jewish Relations of ''slave-turned-oppressor." All an B. Goldman of Los ri ot-control tactics. European Israel, from our desire that Israel 1 he National Conference of Responding to the editorial in a Angeles, chai rman of the hoard, Christi an communities have close be all that it is destined to he, both Catholi c Bishops." He called t he subsequent issue (March 4, 1988), made puhlic the report, which was ties to Palestinians and tend to for it s sake and our own, so that magazine's comparison of Israel's publisher William L.