gories regarding Israel as the "old church" are Unfortunately, middle class America sees little too entrenched for the resurrection of Jewish wrong with the "economic" lie — and middle sovereignty in Israel today to be seen as part of class Jews earnestly endorse the practice. God's scheme for the Jewish people. I also be- Some argue that were it not for the lie the family lieve that Christians divide the political sphere would have to cancel the activity, thereby "rob- and the religious sphere sharply — and cannot bing" the businessman of income from other see Israel as a meeting ground of the two spheres members in the family. More say, "Everybody or as a testing ground for the merging of the uni- does it!" versal and the particular in Jewish experience. That people lie, is surely nothing new. What is I was disheartened that the Christians always new, however, is that people feel no guilt, no seemed to want to look backward into the history shame. of the Holocaust and had great trouble looking forward into the future of its implications. Inter- To the contrary. For many such a "lie" is no religious dialogue for me has always broken down transgression at all. It is simply a way of "beating j where the Christians have seen themselves as a the system," a system which most Americans I community of hope, and they have seen the Jews (Jews and non-Jews alike) have learned to con- as a community of memory. My experience in front with cynicism and mistrust. this course was that the Christians reversed this Yet "beating the system" is merely a euphemism | — most of their discussion dealt with memory, for cheating. \ the past, and trying to understand history — and they found great trouble in extrapolating from By cheating another we devalue our sense of hu- the past, building upon it, or theologizing about manity — that is the real cost of the "economic" the future. lie. I am not suggesting that Israel is the option for Sheldon E. Kier finding redemptive purpose in Jewish history after the Holocaust. I am suggesting that the We Talk Without Considering Consequences Christian and Jewish communities both ought to The major sin of a significant number of mem- be able to debate that point intelligently, and I bers of the American Jewish community in 5738 feel that Christian education mitigates against was the rushing into action and/or making state- the possibility of considering the arguments ments before carefully considering the effect of analytically. such statements and/or actions on the physical and/or spiritual well-being of: a) the State of The most overlooked sin of 5738, part III Israel, b) Israeli Jews, c) Soviet Jews, d) the Jew- ish aged, e) Jewish youth, and f) Jews living in, Mark S. Golub and Jewish institutions serving, neighborhoods The Economic Lie is Still a Lie that are undergoing ethnic transition (e.g. be- Lying about the age of a child to save the cost coming increasingly black &/or Hispanic). of a fare, or a room may seem like a small trans- Each Jewish community leader and Jewish local gression. But: kizavnu — we have spoken falsely; and national organization has the responsibility tafalnu sheker — we have framed lies; gazalnu — to carefully estimate the probable consequences we have robbed. of his/its statements, programs and policies be- Worst of all, ti'ta'nu — we have led others astray! fore he/it determines the content, style, timing and method of publicity of his/its statements on The parents' lie has taught their child that there issues affecting even a portion of the American is nothing wrong in telling lies when they serve Jewish community. one's economic advantage. Of course, if telling a lie is permissible in eco- Annette Labovitz nomic matters, then lies become increasingly ac- We Are Ignoring Our Ignorance ceptable in all matters. The one sin which encompasses all the apathy It should not surprise the father and mother who and ignorance in Jewish life is the neglect of Jew- lie about their child's age, therefore, if one day ish education. We have created a vicious circle of their child is found lying to them or if, one day, self destruction which begins with: "I don't they start lying to each other. know, so how can I do, because I don't care!" We 180 j are so far from understanding Jewish values that crime. More, one even hears attempts at a "de- I th£ Orange Bowl Bar Mitzvah fiasco was O.K. by fense" of perpetrators of Chillul Hashem. Open , most people's standards, and we can no longer your ears and raise your antennas to catch the give credence to the opening line of a Bar Mitzvah talk in the community and you will be amazed to invitation which reads: "As my grandfather stood hear the most bizarre defense arguments. It is before the Holy Ark, and my father before me, so not only the old cry "everyone is doing it." Now I will also stand to chant a portion of G-d's law." you can hear "But he is really a charitable Jew who gives toyeshivot!" or "a survivor of the Holo- We, the Jewish peoplfe, have always taken pride in caust went through so much" or "they were being the People of the Holy Book, ever since trained to regard the government as the natural Moses received the Holy Book from G-d and be- enemy" or "they are nice/rum Jews. Business is gan transmitting it to future generations. Know- another matter!" With a few exceptions, the re- ledge is the one thing which keeps the Jewish ligious community which should be vigorously arti- j people together because knowing what G-d ex- culate and activist in defense of Jewish ethics i pects, helps us know what to do. Today we don't has remained painfully silent in the face of the • j know what G-d expects and so we don't know ugly and menacing problem of Chillul Hashem. ' what to do. Ignorance is a disaster and it is des- The same apparent lack of concern is evident in troying us from within, not enabling this genera- the general Jewish community. We campaign, tion to add another link in the chain of Jewish rally, demonstrate and picket for everything that tradition. touches upon the safety of the Jew — for Israel, for Soviet Jewry and for non-discrimination Chaim Pearl against Jews in this community. We have be- come full time aggressive defenders of Jewish The Public Sin is Doubly Shameful rights. In the long run Chillul Hashem may cause The major sin of the community in 5738 was the more harm to Judaism and the Jews than many same as in 5737 and before. It was the sin of other problems which attract mass protest Chillul Hashem — new style. rallies. The old style of Chillul Hashem was pretty much understood. It was the case of a rogue who hap- James B. Rosenberg h pened to be a Jew who was guilty of some hein- We Need American Jewish Self-Assertion ! ous offense bringing shame on himself and his 1 Rather than striving to achieve the maturity of family but also upon the name of Jew. But the im- which we are capable, American Jews docilely »' portant thing was that the Jewish community gener- permit our Israeli brethren to supply us with a ally recognized the offense as a Chillul Hashem. surrogate Jewish identity. We thrill to the ac- Jewish ethics sensitized us all to be aware of the complishment of the Israelis on the battlefield two polarities in the behavior of a Jew. Kiddush and on the cotton field; but we do not thrill to Hashem is the ultimate mitzvah, and it doesn't what we have accomplished and can continue to necessarily mean dying for God, Jews and accomplish here on our own soil. We fix our gaze Judaism. It means living for those values. So on a land six thousand miles away in a desperate every deed which is recognizably ethical can be attempt to avoid looking into our own Jewish an act of Kiddush Hashem. The life of the Jew con- souls. tains no higher goal than that. The opposite is also true. Chillul Hashem is an antisocial, unethical act which insults the God who chose Israel, The truth is that nobody can be Jewish for us. If brings ridicule to the Torah-ethic which is we are to fulfill our potential as American Jews, !: Israel's chosen directive and endangers the Jews we must stop apologizing for the fact that we do as a whole when its membership includes crimi- not happen to live in Israel. Our vague feelings of nals and rogues who have callously and selfishly guilt must yield to bold, proud, positive move- gone about their nefarious ways. The significant ment towards true Jewish maturity. Once we free thing about Chillul Hashem old style, was that the ourselves from the self-imposed constraints of community recognized it as the most outrageous this self-negation, all Jews will benefit — both crime against the Jew and his faith. here and in Israel.

But Chillul Hashem — new style, differs in that Jewish life in the United States should be and can there is a general unconcern among Jews to the be the qualitative equal of Jewish life in Israel. By I 181 the same token, however, the nature of Jewish whether we are speaking of the close entangle- life on these shores must be radically different ments of marriage and family, or our more de- from that of our Israeli co-religionists. I am not tached dealings with friends and associates, or less of a Jew for living in Barrington, Rhode even the theoretical considerations that in- Island, rather than Jerusalem; but my Jewish fluence the way we vote to have our country run. tasks are certainly not the same as those of a Self-help and self-improvement books (with titles Rosenberg in Jerusalem. The Kotel (the Wall) is like "Winning Through Intimidation" and "Look- not in my backyard; consequently, I must work ing Out for #1") have strayed into the "Me First" all the harder to create sacred Jewish moments. Because I live in profane space, I must concern category. They are blatant rejections of the pre- myself with making time holy. While only Israeli cept that, since God regards all men as equal, hu- Jews can experience what it means to live in daily mans should do the same. physical contact with our ancient past, we Jews We would all like to have our egos pampered a in the diaspora ought to remind our brethren in little. It's an attractive prospect. Our sin is in not Israel of the lesson Abraham Joshua Heschel considering that when the bonds of community taught us: Judaism must be a religion which are loosened, the community can crumble. sanctifies time more than space. The golems we are creating Ethelyn K Simon Bernard S. Raskas Observance is Considered Abnormal The most overlooked sin of the American Jewish A golem is a creature, particularly a human community in 5738 is the belief that all but the being, made in an artificial way by virtue of a most routine Jewish religious behavior is aber- magic act, through the use of holy names or rant behavior. If a member of the community be- other formulas. The golem is man made and be- comes turned on to the needs of Israel and spends comes a servant of the human creator. Are there endless hours trying to raise money to teach golems alive today? children in Israel, the Jewish community ap- The theme of the Master Lecture Series at the plauds. If one tries to smuggle religious materials 1976 convention of the American Psychological into the Soviet Union, he is a hero. But let some- Association in Washington was behavior control, one be turned on by the services in one of our own including: manipulating genes, programming be- synagogues, spend endless hours trying to and havior, controlling people by radio, stimulating learning to pray, or add a real religious dedica- and modifying the brain, manufacturing hearts tion to his/her life, we all wonder what is wrong and other organs, and marrying man to animal with that person. Though it isn't yet an over- and man to machine. whelming trend, here and there and now and then Several years ago Charles Manson, not a scien- we begin to see signs of Jewish religious revival. tist, apparently had the ability to induce zombie- The real sin will be if we the American Jewish like behavior in his followers, mostly girls. community of 5739 will not encourage these be- ginnings because we fail to recognize the legiti- When touring the People's Republic of China I macy of religious behavior. observed that the Chinese had made many ad- vances in health and welfare. I also observed Lois Sorkin 900 million people thinking alike, reacting alike and living alike, I would guess as a result of skill- - Egotism Loosens the Bonds of Community ful manipulation through the media and mass Prophets of the supremacy of the self proclaim it psychological techniques. not only acceptable but healthy, a fashionable, Jose Delgado, has implanted a radio triggered practical necessity. Such pretty things as con- electrical device in a bull's head and showed that cern for fellowman, consideration of others, co- when he pushed a button, a charging bull came operation and compromise are embarrassingly to a stop and walked away from him. demode. They suggest weakness, insecurity, im- maturity, and diminished worth. At the very In El Paso, Texas, admission of city residents to least, they are regarded as hypocritical non- neuropsychiatry hospitals is extremely low. sense. Interdependency is un-chic. Putting some- Some say that is because the well water in that one else's needs above our own is demeaning, city contains a high level of lithium. 182