$3.00 Frontier

MY ALIYA Was It Worth It?

Bizarre Case o HISTADRUT Lord Gordon ELECTS AMIR PERETZ

HERSEY'S "WALL" REVIS TED LIONHEARTS Heroes of Israe

AWA

Tisha B Av LZA CONVENTION Ashes and Hope HIGHLIGHTS

S I N C E 1 9 3 4 • A LABOR ZIONIST JOURNAL

National Committee for Labor Israel congratulates Amir Peretz on his election as chairman of Israel's General Federation of Labor H istad rut PMV 57 President Executive ~~~Director 275 Seventh Avenue • New York, New York 10001 Laborlsrael@jon .cjfny.org • www.laborlsrael .org JEWISH CONTENTSVol. LXV, No. 4 (633) JULY/AUGUST 1998

Frontier Israel 4 SINCE 1934 NETANYAHU'S DILEMMAS Susan Hattis Rolef 7 A LABOR ZIONIST JOURNAL PRESIDENT AND PREMIER Misha Louvish Histadrut 9 Founders ISRAEL'S WORKERS VOTE Jerry Goodman Hayim Greenberg Marie Syrkin Tribute 12 GOLDA AT 100 Editorial Board Essay 15 Henry Feingold, Chairman WAS IT WORTH IT? Yosef Criden Saul B. Cohen Hyman Faine American Scene 16 Jonathan J. Goldberg FROM OPEN ENROLLMENT Emanuel S . Goldsmith TO REMEDIATION Henry L. Feingold Jerry Goodman Rabbi Mark W. Kiel Review Essay 19 Chava Lapin HERSEY'S WALL REVISITED David Rosenthal Jeffry V. Mallow Daniel Mann History 21 Mordecai Newman LORD GEORGE GORDON Joseph Adler Samuel Norich Michael S . Perry Days of Sorrow 25 Mark Raider TISHA B'AV and YOM HASHOAH Amnon Hadary Eduardo Rauch Ezra Spicehandler Notebook 27 Phyllis Sutker BETWEEN ASHES AND HOPE Nahum Guttman David Twersky In the Movement 28 THE LZA CONVENTION - HIGHLIGHTS Nahum Guttman Reinventing Labor Zionism Bennett Lovett-Graff Editor The Seventh "C" Fradie Kramer Books 24 LIONHEARTS : Heroes of Israel NOTE TO SUBSCRIBERS ed. by Michael Bar-Zohar If you plan to move, please notify Contributors 18 us six weeks in advance . Letters 23

JEWISH FRONTIER (ISSN-0021-6453) is published bi-monthly by Labor Zionist JEWISH FRONTIER Letters, Inc . Editorial and advertising offices at 275 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001 . Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY . POSTMASTER : Send address changes to Circulation, Jewish Frontier, 275 Seventh Avenue, 17th Floor, New York, 275 Seventh Avenue NY 10001 . Subscription rates for U .S . and possessions, $15 .00 per year for 6 issues, $25 .00 for 17th Floor two years for 12 issues . Add $2 .50 for Canada. All other countries - $20 .00 per year ; New York, NY 10001 All foreign subscribers - remit in U .S . dollars drawn on a U.S . bank . Back issues- payable in advance at $5 .00 each . Telephone: (212) 229-2280 Editorial / article contributions should be sent to the editorial office and be accom- panied by return postage. Editorial and advertising rates available on request . (212) 366-1194 All material (unless otherwise noted) © 1998 Jewish Frontier . Signed articles do not necessarily reflect the official position of JEWISH FRONTIER . Fax: (212) 675-7685 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,

3 ISRAEL

Netanyahu's Dilemmas By Susan Hattis Rolef

n recent weeks Prime Minister Binyamin cused by Israel of having been involved in acts NetanyahuI has time and again informed the of terror, etc. Since there is nothing new in world that very soon an agreement will be these demands, and even though Israel has signed regarding a second redeployment of the right - even an obligation - to insist that Israeli forces on the basis of the Hebron Agree- the Palestinians fulfill their part in previous ment of January 1997, which he himself signed agreements between the two sides, one gets with the Palestinians . And yet the agreement, the sneaking feeling that the insistence on all the details of which appear (with emphasis their immediate fulfillment at this juncture is on `appear') to have been worked out by Israel little more than just another delaying tactic on and the Americans, and accepted by the Pales- Netanyahu's part . tinians (though nobody seems completely sure The same applies to the proposal made by who agreed to what), has failed to materialize . the Prime Minister - apparently without At first the excuse for the delay was that the much forethought - that since the issue of Israeli Cabinet had not agreed to the extent of further Israeli withdrawals from territories in the territory to be handed over to the Palestini- the West Bank is controversial, the Israeli ans. Some ministers, including Minister of public ought to be asked for its opinion in a ref- Defense Itzik Mordechai (Likud) appear to erendum before anything is done . Immediately have accepted the figure of 13% of the area of the idea was picked up by several Government the West Bank and the Gaza Strip . Others, ministers - especially Minister of Justice like Minister for Infrastructures Ariel Sharon Tsahi Hanegbi (Likud) and Minister of Com- (Likud) argued that anything above 9% consti- munications Limor Livnat (Likud) - and both tuted a real security risk . Still others, like Min- the Knesset and Ministry of Justice went into ister of Education Rabbi Yitzhak Levy (Na- a flurry of activity to decide what sort of refer- tional Religious Party) continued to argue that endum this should be: binding or advisory, any withdrawal was dangerous, and threat- whether a decision in favor of a 13% with- ened to leave the Government if an agreement drawal should require a majority of 60% (a were reached on a second redeployment . way to ensure that there is a Jewish majority But finally Netanyahu appeared to succumb in favor) and how the referendum should be to American pressure and agreed to 13% . How- carried out (in secret ballots, over the phone, ever, then everything got stuck again . The by means of magnetic cards, etc .) A binding Prime Minister started arguing that before referendum would require the passage of a Israel would agree to a further withdrawal, special Basic Law . An advisory referendum the Palestinians had to start implementing can apparently be held on the basis of existing previous agreements, like the cancellation of legislation. However, either way, a referendum offensive articles in the Palestine National would cost the Government treasury several Covenant by the Palestine National Council hundreds of millions of shekels . After a week (PNC) and willingness by the Palestinian in the headlines, the idea seemed to vanish Authority to hand over to Israel persons ac- into thin air (even though Netanyahu has con-

JEWISH FRONTIER tinned to declare that it is still being exam- was implemented in 1980, and which is cur- ined), which once again leads one to the con- rently placing great obstacles on the road of clusion that the name of the game is "stalling ." the much overdue privatization of the national What exactly is going on? Nobody really airline), and implement an economic policy knows. The Opposition has been arguing that which will seriously deal with the ongoing re- even if Netanyahu himself has understood cession (the number of unemployed is fast ap- that there is no way Israel can avoid the sec- proaching 200,000, while the number of busi- ond redeployment, his real concern is to keep nesses that have failed in the past year or are his very problematic coalition together, and he likely to fail in the course of 1998, is well over is clumsily maneuvering between those who the 10,000 figure). are saying that unless the redeployment takes There are two main problems with this op- place very soon they are going to leave the tion. The first is that in the Labor Party no Government (especially Avigdor Kalahani's one, except MK Shimon Peres (who has a lot of Third Way), which commands 4 Members of international prestige but no power at home), Knesset) and those who are threatening to is willing to enter a national unity government leave the Government if any sort of redeploy- in the current situation . Labor Party chairman ment takes place (part of the National Reli- Ehud Barak says that he is not opposed to a gious Party, which commands 9 Members of national unity government but only after new Knesset). As long as Netanyahu stalls, he has general elections . In other words, if he is elec- got his Government . The moment he takes a ted as Prime Minister, he will be willing to dis- decision, his Government (which currently cuss the option with Netanyahu (assuming commands the support of a mere 61 out of the that Netanyahu remains leader of the Likud), 120 Members of Knesset) is liable to fall . and if worse comes to worse and he (Barak) In many respects a referendum looked like a loses, he will be willing to go into a new gov- perfect solution from the Prime Minister's ernment formed by Netanyahu, or whoever point of view, in so far as he can tell both the wins the election . The second problem is that a Third Way and the National Religious Party to national unity government is apparently the be patient, and let another two or three months last thing in the world that Netanyahu wants . go by. But even if a referendum takes place, He has enough problems with President Ezer and assuming that there is a 60% majority Weizman (See article in this issue by Misha in favor of the second redeployment (though Louvish), and his relations with Barak are un- this depends on how the question is worded, likely to be any simpler. and how the question is worded depends on The second option is to hold early elections whether Netanyahu really and truly wants the - possibly in the Autumn . The problem with redeployment - something to which nobody this option is that while the opinion polls are has a clear answer) Netanyahu is still liable to somewhat problematic from Barak's point of lose his Government . view - especially since Tel Aviv mayor Ronnie The bottom line is that finally Netanyahu Milo announced several weeks ago that he has - at least in theory - three alternatives . plans to run for the Premiership on a liberal- The first is to try and form a national unity secular ticket - Netanyahu's position isn't at government with the Labor Party. Such a gov- all brilliant, and it is doubtful whether at this ernment could see the second redeployment juncture he could muster the absolute major- through and start working out the parameters ity he requires to be reelected . On the other of a permanent settlement with the Palestini- hand, if Netanyahu waits too long, the oppo- ans agreeable to both the Likud and the Labor nents of the direct election of the Prime Minis- Party - something along the lines of the ter in the Knesset might actually manage to agreement reached between MKs Michael Ei- get the Basic Law : the Government amended tan (Likud) and Yossi. Beilin (Labor) back in and cancel the direct election . Already MKs January 1997. At least in theory a national Uzi Landau (Likud) and Yossi Beilin have unity government could also ward off religious managed to get the amendment past prelimi- demands for a change in the religious status nary reading, and it now depends on the good quo (e.g. the so-called "Conversion Law"), re- will of the chairman of the Knesset Constitu- verse past changes in the status quo (e .g. the tion, Law and Justice Committee, Hannan Po- stoppage of El Al flights on Saturday, which rath (National Religious Party), whether the

JULY/AUGUST 1998 5

legislation process will or will not progress right in refusing to consider the idea of a na- rapidly. tional unity government now, or at least prom- The third option is to wait for a miracle . It is ising to support Netanyahu in the Knesset if amazing (perhaps shocking) how many Israelis and when he brings the redeployment for the (especially religious Israelis) really and truly approval of the Knesset? He is right from at believe in miracles . I recently overheard a con- least one perspective : Netanyahu has neither versation between two well-educated religious raised the possibility of a national unity gov- co-workers, in which one very seriously said to ernment (unless both Netanyahu and Barak the other: "I find it difficult to understand peo- have lied about the content of recent talks be- ple who do not believe in miracles ." For these tween them) nor . requested Labor to provide people the establishment of the State of Israel him with a safety net in the Knesset . If Barak was a miracle, as were the results of the War of were to express Labor's acceptance of either Independence, the Six-Day War and Yom Kip- idea before even being asked, this would place pur War. If all those events were miracles (in them in the idiotic position of a woman who ac- other words, Israel's political leaders and the cepts a marriage proposal which has not been IDF had little if anything to do with their oc- made by the prospective bridegroom, but is currence), expecting something to happen merely a speculation made by the media (with which will absolve Israel from the need to go all due respect to the media . . .) . through with the second redeployment seems But even if Netanyahu would "pop the ques- a very minor miracle to expect . tion", it is not at all certain that Barak should But seriously, there are all sorts of events respond positively. It is not because the situa- which could occur which could get Israel "off the tion in Israel isn't very dangerous, but because hook" regarding the second redeployment : the nothing short of a real change (i.e. an electoral overthrow or sudden demise of Yasir Arafat ; victory) can open real prospects for change, outbreak of a new intifada; a Palestinian de- and the change required is a leader who knows nunciation of the Oslo Agreements . Unfor- what he wants and is determined to doggedly tunately, none of these scenarios can be dis- pursue the policy he has outlined for himself counted as totally unlikely . On the contrary, - not one who zigzags from indecision to inde- the longer Netanyahu stalls, the more likely cision, from one dead end to the next, and from their occurrence becomes . Some in Israel one hollow statement to another . Barak him- might refer to them (if they occur) as miracles self is undoubtedly such a man, and Labor's - others (including Netanyahu?) might regard only dilemma is whether Barak has what it them as strokes of good luck . For anyone with takes to win an election. The recent statement any sanity left they cannot be viewed as any- made by the chairman of the World Zionist Or- thing short of a catastrophe - proof that after ganization and Jewish Agency, Avrum Burg, all, the Oslo Agreements are reversible, and that if Barak doesn't "take off' he will consider that more than just Yitzhak Rabin's life was running for the Labor Party chairmanship be- lost on November 4, 1995. fore the next general elections, should be seen Under the circumstances, is Ehud Barak within that context. 11

SIGN 'EM UP!!! There are thousands of Jews in every community who share the Labor Zionist vision and should share in implementing our program here and in Israel . SIGN 'EM UP as members of the Labor Zionist Alliance . . . . The Time is NOW

6 JEWISH FRONTIER President and Premier By Misha Louvish

srael has been plunged into what might faithful to this relationship between President turnI out to be its gravest constitutional crisis and Prime Minister: whenever a new govern- by President Ezer Weizman's public decla- ment had to be formed they consulted the lead- ration that Prime Minister Binyamin Netan- ers of the political parties and nominated the yahu ought to call for the dissolution of the man most likely to command a majority in the Knesset and the holding of premature general Knesset, but it was the Knesset, not the Presi- elections. dent, that determined the legitimacy of the The relationship between President and Prime Minister. Prime Minister has been somewhat problem- There were a few instances in which the atic from the beginning. They share some of President expressed an opinion on public af- the prerogatives of the American leader : the fairs, but these were not binding on the Gov- President of Israel is the formal head of the ernment and did not arouse much controversy. nation, but the Prime Minister has almost all the executive powers . (Neither, by the way, can ome of the tension that has arisen between veto an act of the legislature .) Netanyahu and Weizman may be due to This situation is largely the result of the Sthe change that has recently taken place in the relationship that existed between the two fore- method of electing the Prime Minister and, most national leaders in the spring of 1948, consequently, in his status and prestige . when the State of Israel was being established . For nearly half a century, a candidate for the Professor Chaim Weizmann had been Presi- premiership had to obtain the support of suffi- dent of the World Zionist Organization since cient parties to give him a majority in the Knes- 1920 : there was no doubt of his towering pres- set. As no party was ever strong enough to have tige on both the national and international a majority of its own, every prime minister had scenes. The central figure in the practical lead- to haggle for the support of a coalition . ership, however, especially in the homeland, There was general disgust with the coali- was David Ben-Gurion, who was also the head tion negotiations, in which the parties often of Mapai, the Israel Labor Party, which was demanded concessions for the selfish interests the largest group in all the Zionist governing of their supporters rather than agreement on bodies. matters of principle . After much debate, the Accordingly, the leaders of the State-in-the- Knesset passed a law providing for the direct making adopted a constitution similar to that election of the prime minister separately from of the United Kingdom, with a monarch (the the election of the members of the Knesset . President) as the titular head and the execu- This change was imlemented for the first tive power in the hands of the Prime Minister, time in 1995, when Bibi Netanyahu was di- who is formally appointed by the President but rectly elected by a small majority over the vet- holds office only so long as he enjoys the confi- eran Shimon Peres, who had taken over the dence of the popularly elected legislature, the Labor leadership after the assassination of Knesset. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin . President Weizmann was not happy with Although Netanyahu opposed the Oslo this arrangement; the only thing he was enti- agreements, he accepted them as binding be- tled to stick his nose into, he complained, was cause they were signed by a legitimate Israeli his handkerchief; but there was nothing he government. Since 1996, he has been negoti- could do about it because Ben-Gurion held the ating with the Palestinians (with American electoral power. He and his successors were mediation) for the implementing of the Oslo

JULY/AUGUST 1 /51 7

agreement of 1993, which provided, inter alia, given the slightest indication that an agree- for three further redeployments (FRDs) in ment with the Palestinians is possible, given Judea and Samaria (the "West Bank") before his own attitude and that of his followers . the negotiations for a permament settlement, It is not only President Weizman who has which are due to be completed by May 1999 . been seriously disturbed at this deadlock . The In addition, since the Rabin-Peres Govern- atmosphere of hope and support which sur- ment, in withdrawing from the Arab cities in rounded Israel under the Rabin-Peres Govern- the "West Bank," had not yet come to an agree- ment, which extended even to Arab govern- ment on Hebron, in which there is a small ments which had never recognized the Jewish Jewish community, Netanyahu completed the State, has been dissipated . Egypt and Jor- agreement on that city, on much the same lines dan, which signed peace treaties with Israel, as the previous government had followed . now express distrust . The United States, once Why have the negotiations taken so long a tower of strength, now expresses serious and, apparently, ground to a halt? Because, dissatisfaction with the policy of the Israeli Government supporters explain, Netanyahu Government. has insisted that the Palestinians, on their What was the President to do? According to part, must fulfill their obligations under the precedent, he is not responsible for govern- agreements - such as the cessation of incite- ment policy : all the responsibility rests on the ment against Israel, the official abolition of shoulders of the directly elected Prime Minis- the genocidal Palestine National Covenant of ter. Ezer Weizman is not a doctrinaire leftist: 1954, and the extradition of terrorists . he was a member of the Herut movement when Begin called him to resign from the army hat, however, is not all . There is a strong and join his Government in 1977 . He has along right wing in Netanyahu's coalition, and record of activity in the quest for peace : he was someT of his supporters have declared that they Begin's right-hand man in the momentous will not tolerate any further transfer to the negotiations for peace with Egypt . Arabs of territory in the Land of Israel . The The present Israeli policy, he believes, is fact that the negotiations have been hanging dangerous ; it may lead to a fresh outbreak fire for some time, the Prime Minister's critics of terrorism, even war. He obviously decided, say, is due rather to the intransigence of the therefore, that, whatever the precedents, he Israeli right wing than the obstinacy of the must speak out. He did not, however, denounce Palestinians . Netanyahu or call for his resignation and his Whatever the reason, there are no signs replacement by the Opposition leader, Ehud that Prime Minister Netanyahu is prepared to Barak. He said, in effect: the situation is dan- honor Israel's commitment to carry out two gerous; we are getting nowhere . Let the people further FRDs, to be followed by negotiations decide whether they still have confidence in for a permanent settlement . He has often the leaders they elected in 1996 or whether hinted that it might be better, instead of try- they want a change . Legalists may rule that ing to reach further agreements on interim he has exceeded his powers : the latest surveys arrangements, to go straight on to the perma- indicate that the majority of the people sup- nent settlement negotiations, but he has not port him. EJ

We Salute Our Beloved Nave an urgent document or package to/irom ISRAEl ? ISRAEL Send it with us for guaranteed delivery within 36 hours . on its 50th Birthday shigur cosell and wish it Peace and couriers inc . Prosperity, with Justice 147-40 184th Street, Jamaica. NY 11413 Cali 718 . 244 . 7356 or 800 . 695 . 1213 for all its Citizens . Fax 718 244-7870 In Israel cell Avi at 03-512-6649 Los Angeles City Committee The fastest courier service for all your shipments to/from Israel LZA Bernard Weisberg, President

S JEWISH FRONTIER HISTADRUT

Israel's Workers Vote AMIR PERETZ HEADS "NEW" HISTADRUT

By Jerry Goodman

here was little surprise when Amir workers' organization" . Such a force, he main- TPeretz was elected Chairman of the Histadrut, tained, is "an important tool of modern so- Israel's General Federation of Labor, in this ciety." In the past Bloch had hoped that the past June's election . Having inherited the Histadrut would undertake dramatic and nec- leadership mantle when Haim Ramon resigned essary reforms, to liberate it from the past and to return to active political life, he had been adjust it to new realities, as had "most Labor the favorite going into the election . This, movements in the democratic world ." While despite an unexpected challenge by MK Maxim the Histadrut is certainly different from what Levy, the brother of MK David Levy, Israel's it was, even a decade ago, "dramatic reforms" former Foreign Minister and head of the pop- have yet to take place . ulist, right of center Gesher party. The uncer- It is true that most of its financial holdings, tainty was how close would be the results . created in part when Israel was still in the Peretz's defeat of Levy was more impressive process of becoming a state, have been priva- than most analysts had predicted . Having re- tized. The famed medical and health care sys- ceived nearly 78 percent of the votes cast, tem, Kupat Holim Clalit, had been severed against his opponent, whose Gesher-Meretz from the Histadrut by Haim Ramon . With it coalition attracted about 22 per cent of the vot- went the health group's members who were ers, Peretz emerged as a powerful force. Even automatically members of the Histadrut. Fur- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly thermore, an automatic taxation system has expressed his hopes that he could work "in been all but abolished, while the kibbutzim, cooperation with the Histadrut under your long a powerful element within the Histadrut, leadership" . are still going through their own radical trans- Until recently, the traditional and some- formation process, so necessary to remain what mythical image of the Histadrut was that economically viable . They are hardly a force of a powerful worker's organization, which within the labor federation. also served as a source of support for the Labor Party. If nothing else the election demon- he changes which have already taken place strated the actuality of today's Histadrut . No resulted in a drop in income as well as longer dominated by avowed Marxists, the membership,T and the Histadrut became an or- New Histadrut ("HaHistadrut Hahadasha"), ganization without a regular source of income . as it is called in some circles, came out of the As a result, when Amir Peretz replaced Ramon election reflecting a profound reshuffling of he set an aggressive course to increase mem- political life. bership . An enlarged membership would dem- Writing in the Jerusalem Post, on the eve of onstrate to the government and to industrial- the elections, Daniel Bloch, a veteran journal- ists that the Histadrut had to be considered ist who edited the now defunct Labor newspa- when financial and budgetary decisions were per, Davar, and a keen observer of Israel's to be made. Membership dues, just under 1 per labor sector, argued that Israel needs "a strong cent of salary, would help provide the neces-

JULY/AUGUST 1998 9 sary financial ballast. Attracting and retaining mitted to organizing more workers, and of en- new members, or bringing back the hundreds suring that they benefit from Histadrut mem- of thousands who fled when the health plan bership. It also resulted from the oddball coali- was privatized, meant that the labor federa- tion of Labor, Likud, the Orthodox Shas, the tion had to provide those members with mea- Russian emigre controlled Yisrael B'aliya, and surable and specific benefits and gains for the Arab Democratic Party. Peretz did not see their dues . this coalition as odd but, in fact, he hoped it In December of last year Peretz and his would "unify residents of the development trade union department succeeded in organiz- towns and the poor neighborhoods and the ing a nationwide strike over the issue of pen- Israel Arabs over issues of livelihood ." sion agreements . While it only lasted two days, The political marriage of the left-wing Mer- it demonstrated that the Histadrut was well etz, and David Levy's right-of-center Gesher on its way to becoming a true representative of party, did not seem out of place to Maxim Levy. the workers, and that, despite a weakened fed- He saw their ideological cooperation as one eration, worker solidarity had held fast . which placed them both in "the social camp" In the months before the election Peretz which would likely expand in light of the gov- understood the need to demonstrate that he ernment's economic policies . Kibbutz mem- had a social vision for the Histadrut and for bers, who had been allied with Meretz and the nation . In fact the impressive victory, de- voted in the election, had the greatest diffi- spite a low voter turnout, helped define Peretz culty in accepting the alliance, even if it were as a social leader in his own right and placed merely one of convenience. him in the top ranks of the Labor Party . Not The agreement had its origins in a decision close to party leader Ehud Barak, Peretz has by Meretz, after losing Knesset seats in the even hinted in the past that he might leave 1996 elections. In an effort to reach out to new Labor in order to organize a worker's party . voters, Meretz leaders decided to build a dia- While the victory strengthened that potential logue with Sephardi Jews . A few months ago threat, it also propelled Barak to quickly and the two parties found themselves working enthusiastically congratulate Peretz . together in the Knesset to block the govern- Peretz was concerned about predictions that ment's free-market policies which, they agreed, there would be a low voter turnout. He blamed would hurt Israel's economically deprived pop- the media "which is visible in the reserve they ulation groups. show toward social problems and toward the Histadrut elections ." His worst fears came true hen Peretz began to forge a wall-to-wall since only 40 per cent of eligible voters - about coalition of parties, Meretz insisted that 250,000 - actually went to a polling station to itW could not support him if he included the choose the federation's leadership . The voters ultra-Orthodox and doctrinaire Shas party . numbered about 12.5 per cent of the country's While waiting for a decision, Meretz agreed to salaried workers, including the unemployed . support Levy, whose Gesher party sought a How to account for the low turnout, and the high profile in the Histadrut as a means to pro- seeming indifference of Histadrut members, moting brother David's prime ministerial am- despite a recession and growing unemploy- bitions. The matter will become more complex ment? As has happened elsewhere, workers if Prime Minister Netanyahu attempts to become apprehensive during a period of un- bring Gesher back into the government, after employment, which decreases the bargain- many months in exile, in order to build sup- ing power of unions and workers' influence on port for any peace initiatives he might launch . economic or political events . Unions are in a Peretz used the campaign to criticize the stronger position when there is full employ- social and economic policies of the Netanyahu ment and a shortage of workers, clearly not government, accusing the governor of the the situation in Israel . Furthermore, the grow- Bank of Israel, Jacob Frenkel, as well as the ing presence of thousands off foreign workers, Minister of Finance, Yaakov Ne'eman of a legal and illegal, hovered as a fringe issue. "competition" to determine "who is the bigger enemy of the workers" . The attacks on minis- eretz's victory certainly reflected the image ters of a Likud-led government, from a man phe has begun to create of one who is com- whose own election success reflected a coali-

10 JEWISH FRONTIER

tion between Labor and Likud within the His- ondary school teacher's association, the teach- tadrut, seemed odd. Even for Israel . Yet, no ers union, the medical union, and several sec- one blinked. tor-specific unions, such as engineers and aca- Peretz immediately proposed that the gov- demics, who had begun to assert their inde- ernment, the industrialists and the Histadrut pendence by setting their own professional should cooperate to battle unemployment, policies. As the Histadrut lost some of its influ- which he set as the major priority in the ence, workers' committees at large enterprises months ahead. While supporting a "free mar- have become more assertive, often setting ket", Peretz also stressed a readiness to battle their own agendas . These are matters which against the privatization of government com- Peretz cannot ignore as he attempts to expand panies sold to "too many American billionaires Histadrut membership, and to demonstrate (who) have made a fortune by buying Israel that the venerable federation is still relevant companies" but, he insisted, leave very little to a changing Israel . for the local economy. The Histadrut has completed only about Another issue with which the Histadrut will half of the process of reinventing itself . The contend is the role of private agencies who "ex- leadership will continue to face internal as ploit workers in Israel ." He was especially crit- well as external issues in the months ahead . It ical of those who "import foreign workers . . . to is not clear what long-range vision Peretz has exploit (them) and to rake in a fortune," calling for the federation, much less if he succeeds in such practices "slave trade" which must be getting there . stopped. Likely to be revisited is the issue of What is clear is that the Histadrut seems protecting pension rights, especially those of to be moving away from its role as a general municipal employees, an issue which precipi- trade union, and to becoming more narrow- tated last December's highly successful strike . ly defined . Will the New Histadrut be modeled on the labor movements in Germany and in Adding to Peretz's concern is the fact that a Scandinavia? Will it become a loose federation umber of unions have weak or non-exist- like our AFL-CIO? And who will provide the ing ties to the Histadrut . They include the sec- answers? 0 Eco Zionism took the bus into Tel Aviv today, and again I was Ancient Chinese wisdom tells us that one who wants to astounded at the amount of building and development plan for a year should plant rice, while one who wants to that is going on . Everywhere there are cranes, bulldoz- plan ten years ahead should plant trees : but one who Jers and cement mixers . Highways are being widened, new wants to plan for a hundred years ahead should work in ones constructed, bridges are arching over where sheep education. grazed a few months ago . Apartment blocks, office build- Kibbutz Gezer, a co-founder of the Green Kibbutz ings, high rise luxury hotels, pinnacles, towers, the skyline Group, is one example of the growing number of kibbutzim is fast becoming a backdrop for "City of the Future ." dedicated to improving their environmental track record . Signs of affluence are everywhere . Cellular phones, Gezer has an active environmental group, who have been satellite dishes, new cars on the road . We should be proud given a growing budget to carry out educational work of this, we have made enormous advances over the last within the kibbutz. We have begun an extensive program fifty years . The economic development of this country of restoration forestry on our land, and are expanding the since independence is a miracle of modernization . We have courses we run on environmental subjects . This year we a right to be proud to be Israelis. are looking at ways of reducing our sewage impact, and of But the real truth is that the sight of the bulldozers saving energy. Looking beyond the kibbutz, we are forging and the cranes and the shiny new buildings fill me with working partnerships with environmentalists in Israel fear and apprehension . My concern is about a lack of plan- and throughout the world . We believe that ecovill ages and ning on the part of the developers that will leave the next Green Kibbutz communities can create some of the ele- generation an even worse mess . A country without enough ments we need in the new civilization which must replace drinking water for its people, a country with large areas of the old one as resources get used up, and pollution exacts desert poisoned and uninhabitable, a diminishing number its inevitable toll . of wild species and natural habitats, unbreathable air, pol- Zionism set out to provide a country where Jewish cul- luted streams and rivers, unable to feed ourselves . Will we ture could find its national expression . Eco Zionism is con- again become a people without a land? cerned with looking after that country, with restoring it to a This was not my Zionist dream when I came here thir- sustainable condition so that we have something to be teen years ago. I was looking for a lifestyle which would proud of to hand on to the next generation. combine the best of the new with the best traditions in harmony with nature . An impossible utopian dream, but Jan Martin Bang Israel is a country built on dreams, and kibbutz is the fi•om Kibbutz 7}-ends most ambitious dream of all .

JULY/AUGUST 1998 11 Golda's Centennial

oldie Mabowitz - later known to the worldG as Golda Meir - was born on May 3, 1898 in Kiev in the Ukraine . At age 8 she ar- rived in the United States . The rest is history. On the occasion of the centennial of her birth, we present a brief excerpt from one of her most significant speeches . A fuller account of her life and words is contained in the volume Golda Meir Speaks Out (edited by Marie Syrkin) and in a biography by her son Menahem Meir, My Mother Golda Meir (Arbor House, 1983) . The following excerpt is from the former book . make this resolution of the United Nations a reality, not because we wanted to fight. Iff we In January, 1948, the fortunes of the had the choice, we would have chosen peace, to 600,000 Jews in Palestine were at low ebb build in peace. because of concerted Arab attacks and lack of Friends, we have no alternative in Pales- weapons. Mrs. Meir, then comparatively tine . The Mufti and his men have declared unknown outside of Palestine, flew to the United States to raise funds for needed arms. war upon us . We have to fight for our lives, She made an unscheduled appearance before for our safety, and for what we have accom- the Council ofJewish Federations in Chicago . plished in Palestine, and perhaps above all, Her extemporaneous statement electrified we must fight for Jewish honor and Jewish Jewry and altered its scale of giving. independence . Ben-Gurion described the result of her mission: "Someday when history will be writ- Without exaggeration, I can tell you that ten, it will be said that there was a Jewish the Jewish community in Palestine is doing woman who got the money which made the this well . Many of you have visited Palestine ; state possible ." all of you have read about our young people and have a notion as to what our youth are have had the privilege of representing Pal- like. I have known this generation for the last estine Jewry in this country and in other twenty-seven years . I thought I knew them . I countriesI when the problems that we faced realize now that even then I did not . were those of building more kibbutzim, of These young boys and girls, many in their bringing in more Jews in spite of political ob- teens, are bearing the burden of what is hap- stacles and Arab riots. We always had faith pening in the country with a spirit that no that in the end we would win, that everything words can describe . You see these youngsters we were doing in the country led to the inde- in open cars - not armored cars in convoys pendence of the Jewish people and to a Jewish going from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, knowing state. that every time they start out from Tel Aviv or Long before we had dared pronounce that from Jerusalem there are probably Arabs be- word, we knew what was in store for us . Today hind the orange groves or the hills, waiting to we have reached a point when the nations of ambush the convoy. Despite the danger the the world have given us their decision - the British government gives no military escort to establishment of a Jewish state in a part of the civilian convoys . These boys and girls have Palestine. Now in Palestine we are fighting to accepted the task of bringing Jews over these

12 JEWISH FRONTIER roads in safety as naturally as though they more Jews were in danger.. were going out to their daily work or to their That is not the issue . The issue is that if classes in the university. these 700,000 Jews in Palestine can remain We must ask the Jews the world over to see alive, then the Jewish people as such is alive us as the front line and do for us what the and Jewish independence is assured . If these United States did for England when England 700,000 people are killed off, then for many was in the front line in the World War . All we centuries, we are through with this dream of a ask of Jews the world over, and mainly of the Jewish people and a Jewish homeland . Jews in the United States, is to give us the pos- My friends, we are at war. There is no Jew sibility of going on with the struggle . in Palestine who does not believe that finally When the trouble started, we asked young we will be victorious. That is the spirit of the people from the age of seventeen to twenty-five country. We have known Arab riots since 1921 who were not members of Haganah, to volun- and '29 and '36 . We know what happened to teer. Up to the day that I left home on Thurs- the Jews of Europe during this last war. And day morning, when the registration of this age every Jew in the country also knows that group was still going on, over 20,000 young within a few months a Jewish state in Pales- men and women had signed up . As of now we tine will be established . We knew that the have about 9,000 people mobilized in the vari- price we would have to pay would be the best of ous parts of the country. We must triple this our people . There are over 300 killed by now . number within the next few days . There will be more. There is no doubt that We have to maintain these men . No govern- there will be more . But there is also no doubt ment sends its soldiers to the front and expects that the spirit of our young people is such that them to take along from their homes the most no matter how many Arabs invade the country, elementary requirements - blankets, bed- their spirit will not falter. ding, clothing. A people that is fighting for its However, this valiant spirit alone cannot very life knows how to supply the men they face rifles and machine guns. Rifles and ma- send to the front lines . We too must do the chine guns without spirit are not worth very same. much, but spirit without arms can in time be Thirty-five of our boys, unable to go by car broken with the body. on the road to besieged Kfar Etzion to bring Our problem is time . The time factor is now help, set out by foot through the hills ; they the most important. Millions of dollars that we knew the road, the Arab villages on that road, may get in three or four months will mean very and the danger they would have to face. Some little in deciding the present issue . The ques- of the finest youngsters we have in the country tion is what can we get immediately. And, my were in that group, and they were all killed, friends, when I say immediately, this does not every one of them. We have a description from mean next month . It does not mean two an Arab of how they fought to the end for over months from now. It means now. seven hours against hundreds of Arabs . Much must be prepared now so that we can According to this Arab, the last boy killed, with hold out . There are unlimited opportunities, no ammunition left, died with a stone in his but are we going to get the necessary means? hand. Considering myself not as a guest, but as one of you, I say that the question before each one want to say to you, friends, that the Jewish is simply whether the Yishuv, and the young- community in Palestine is going to fight to sters that are in the front line, will have to fail theI very end. If we have arms to fight with, we because money that should have reached will fight with those, and if not, we will fight Palestine today will reach it in a month or two with stones in our hands . months from now? I want you to believe me when I say that I Is it possible that time should decide the came on this special mission to the United issue not because Palestinian Jews are cow- States today not to save 700,000 Jews . During ards, not because they are incapable, but the last few years the Jewish people lost merely because they lack the material means 6,000,000 Jews, and it would be audacity on to carry on? our part to worry the Jewish people through- I have come to the United States, and I hope out the world because a few hundred thousand you will understand me if I say that it is not an

.JULY/AUGUST 1998 13 easy matter for any of us to leave home at pre- you. The Mufti has the Arab states - not all so sent - to my sorrow I am not in the front line . enthusiastic about helping him but states with I am not with my daughter in the Negev or government budgets. with other sons and daughters in the trenches . The Egyptian government can vote a budget But I have a job to do . to aid our antagonists. The Syrian government I have come here to try to impress Jews in can do the same . We have no governments . But the United States with the fact that within a we have millions of Jews in the Diaspora, and very short period, a couple of weeks, we must exactly as we have faith in our youngsters in have in cash between twenty-five and thirty Palestine I have faith in Jews in the United million dollars . In the next two or three weeks States; I believe that they will realize the peril we can establish ourselves . Of that we are con- of our situation and will do what they have vinced, and you must have faith ; we are sure to do. that we can carry on. I know that we are not asking for something I said before that the Yishuv will give, is giv- easy. I myself have sometimes been active in ing of its means . But please remember that various campaigns and fund collections, and I even while shooting is going on, we must carry know that collecting at once a sum such as I on so that our economy remains intact . Our ask is not simple . But I have seen our people at factories must go on . Our settlements must not home. I have seen them come from the offices be broken up. We know that this battle is being to the clinics when we called the community to waged for those not yet in the country. There give their blood for a blood bank to treat the are 30,000 Jews detained right next door to wounded. I have seen them lined up for hours, Palestine in Cyprus . I believe that within a waiting so that some of their blood can be very short period, within the next two or three added to this bank . It is blood plus money that months at most, these 30,000 will be with us, is being given in Palestine . among them thousands of infants and young I know that many of you would be as anx- children. We must now think of preparing ious as our people to be on the very front line . I means of absorbing them . do not doubt that there are many young people We know that within the very near future, among the Jewish community in the United hundreds of thousands more will be coming in. States who would do exactly what our young We must see that our economy is intact . Of people are doing in Palestine . course, security has priority . But I am certain We are not a better breed; we are not the that if you were asked whether we should de- best Jews of the Jewish people . It so happened stroy all that we have established in Palestine that we are there and you are here. I am cer- to put everything solely in security and then tain that if you were in Palestine and we were have to face the problem of building our econ- in the United States, you would be doing what momy anew, you would say "No." we are doing there, and you would ask us here I want you to understand that there is no to do what you will have to do. despair in the Yishuv. This is true not only of I want to close with paraphrasing one of the the young people . I have traveled the road greatest speeches that was made during the from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and other roads Second World War - the words of Churchill . quite a bit. I have seen these dangerous buses I am not exaggerating when I say that the Yi- filled not only with young Haganah men and shuv in Palestine will fight in the Negev and girls, but with old people traveling the roads as will fight in Galilee and will fight on the out- a matter of course . skirts of Jerusalem until the very end . When you go to Tel Aviv now, you will find You cannot decide whether we should fight the city full of life ; only the shooting that you or not. We will . The Jewish community in hear on the outskirts of Tel Aviv and Jaffa re- Palestine will raise no white flag for the Mufti . minds one that the situation in the country is That decision is taken . Nobody can change it. not normal . You can only decide one thing : whether we But it would be a crime on my part not to shall be victorious in this fight or whether describe the situation to you exactly as it is . the Mufti will be victorious . That decision Merely with our ten fingers and merely with American Jews can make. It has to be made spirit and sacrifice, we cannot carry on this quickly within hours, within days . battle, and the only hinterland that we have is And I beg of you - don't be too late

14 JEWISH FRONTIER ESSAY Qatar and Morocco had opened offices in Tel Aviv, there was hope. Today - Not a chance of continuing the Peace discussions on an opti- mistic level - Morocco refuses to accept our delegate, King Hussein questions our integrity. Was It Worth It?? Arafat is not interested in meeting us . Lebanon is a seething volcano, Egypt - hesitant, Syria By Yose f Criden adamant. And the morale of the people - The reli- gious elements against the laity, Sephardic Jews versus the Ashkenazi, North Tel Aviv n a few months, I shall celebrate my 60"' against Schunat Hatikva . Within the parties yearI in Israel! It was Palestine when we came . there is friction . Bibi against Dan Meridor, We joined the Kibbutz, my young bride and Begin against his party, Sharon goes his own I after spending an obligatory year in Haifa . merry way. David Levy and Gesher are either Our two sons were born here, and my grand- Likud or Meretz, one cannot be certain . The children . My grandchildren and great-grand- Russians are mistreated, the Ethiopians are children are all Sabras . My beloved wife, Ruth, victims of discrimination, Shas is against the lies in her grave on the banks of the Jordan . High Court. I am a "Vatik" - a veteran, an "Old Timer", if you will . Although the Kibbutz is my home, nd my own family - the Kibbutz! Mem- I have spent many years outside of Upper bership goes down as the age of the popu- Galilee - in the Army, in Tel Aviv - and can lation goes up. The younger generation is not safely say that I know the country quite well . interested in communal living. Once the Elite Often I ask myself - "Was it worth it?" The - we Kibbutzniks are now the subject of scorn struggles, the hardships, the battle for secu- and - frequently - hatred . We are at once - rity, for a safe place, for a better society . It is "Snobs, Millionaires, exploiters, living off the not a simple question to answer, especially in earnings and taxes of others, land specula- light of conditions today. tors". True - we have a State, a sovereign State, So, I ask once more - Was it worthwhile? our own Army, Police Force, and all the para- Did I live a useless, worthless life? Did I throw phernalia of independence . away the lives, the future, the hopes and hap- piness of my children and my wife and I? And BUT the answer is - NO. Economically - we are in bad shape . Unem- The Country offered me challenge and ex- ployment increases monthly . Investments are citement, interest and ideals . The Kibbutz down - way down . Exports have reached a gave me a variety of jobs - the chance to meet new low. The rich are richer but the poor are challenge, to do things and to feel part of an poorer and their numbers are growing. Agri- effort, part of a group . Who else can say that he culture - once the pride of Israel, is no longer participated in the establishment of a State - a paying proposition . There is a constant brain a Jewish Homeland? I fought in all the wars, drain. against Germany as one of the Jewish Brigade, Politically - on a world-wide scale - we in the War of Liberation, in 1956, 1967, 1973, have reached the nadir of unpopularity. The 1982 . I have voted in the elections, fought for present government has succeeded in alienat- my beliefs . And, too often, lost the battle . Still, ing almost all of our erstwhile friends . "It is better to have loved and lost, than never Politically - internally - never has the to have loved at all." I have striven to create a Knesset been so mistrusted, so scorned by the more equitable society, and if I haven't suc- masses, irrespective of party divisions . One ceeded completely, yet the Kibbutzim were the fiasco follows another - one debacle - anoth- single most important element in the creation er, one scandal outdoes its predecessor . of the Palmach, the Israel Defense Forces, the Our military position? One can only cry . absorption of the Youth Aliya, the establish- Just a few years ago we were euphoric, on the ment of the outlying borders of Israel. And if verge of signing peace treaties with neighbors . (continued on page 27)

JULY/AUGUST 1998 15 am aware that it is not necessary for Fron-

AMERICAN SCENE

From Open Enrollment to

Remediation:

Where Now the Quest for Social Justice?

By Henry L . Feingold

In New York City and previously in Califor- cause I am convinced that a factor in reener- nia the racial fires are burning hot again . The gizing the LZA is to address problems that face issue is access to higher education . It is us where we live. Perhaps the chaverim who through the nation's universities that its elites possess a similar social democratic sensibility are trained so that access is a crucial question . and wrestle with such dilemmas may have Open enrollment was designed to extend col- found answers that thus far have eluded me . lege admission for all high school graduates . 1. Whether innocently or otherwise, those Remediation is the problem that occurs once who deny that beyond a certain percentage, such access has been granted . Many students the admission of such poorly prepared stu- wanting to attend college are unprepared to do dents impacts on the quality of education are so as shown by nationwide testing, usually in a state of denial . The higher the proportion through the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) . In of unprepared students, the more severe the addition, colleges maintain their own admis- impact on the educational environment of the sion standards . CUNY (City University of college . The negative impact takes several dif- N.Y.), for example, administers its own battery ferent forms, ranging from a .general lowering of tests to the entering freshman class . Once of requirements in basic courses to grade infla- admitted, such students require help to tion. Within the school there can be a world of improve their reading comprehension, writing difference between teaching an honors semi- and mathematical skills . Current plans call for nar and a required basic survey course . A phasing out remediation over a three-year teacher, if he is alive and honest in his trans- period and limiting students to one-year reme- actions with students, naturally adjusts his diation elsewhere . Should limited fiscal re- expectations to a realistic level . When I began sources appropriated for public universities be teaching the basic American history survey expended for such an endeavor? Does it threat- course in 1969, I required that students read en the integrity of our public universities ten paperbacks. By 1979 the number had been which would bear the brunt of such a policy? lowered to five, and ten years later one paper- What follows are some thoughts I have had back was required for access to a grade of C, about these questions in my over three decades two for a grade of B and three for a grade of A . as a history professor in a public college . I was not aware that I was guilty of what my I am not at all certain of the path we should colleagues called "dumbing down." I simply follow, and part of my uncertainty stems from related to the students who sat before me. I an aspiration to do social justice that I share was trying to remain relevant . The standards with Labor Zionists . I submit to the readers of simply could not be applied to students who Frontier without claim to consistency. did not read rapidly enough and who often worked in taxing jobs which left them little time . For some the response was to enroll in "touchy feely" courses where demands are low I tier to concern itself with such "domestic" . problems but I submit them nevertheless be- Such courses are given in most colleges . Re-

16 JEWISH FRONTIEI peatedly, students beleaguered by sometimes Such proscriptive advantage generates a feel- heart-rending life problems ask me to break ing of unfairness, especially among that strata the contract in which requirements have been of average students who under the system are spelled out for them at the semester's outset . entitled to nothing . Of course, students soon The pressure to bend the rules is awesome and surmise who the favored students who receive perpetual . There has been a death in the fam- such special consideration are . They cannot ily, a good job has been lost, he or she must understand why a student from the Caribbean, return to his or her native land because of an who happens to have the right racial complex- emergency, an unforeseen pregnancy will re- ion but has never been victimized by American quire absence for much of the semester but she society, should be singled out for compensa- will, I am assured, submit all written work . tion . Moreover, such preferences are not easy The assumption that they are admitted pro- to implement fairly and there can be manipu- vided that they will meet the existing standard lation of the system . Everyone seems to know is not understood by those genuinely students . a Jewish student who happens to have a His- They appeal to the instructor to waive require- panic name, or a Ghanian with the right skin ments being met by others because of their color, who claims such preference . special need . Only a professor without a heart 4 . The penchant for blaming the unpre- can consistently deny their pleas . paredness of some students to do college work 2. In direct conflict with the first observa- on a failing high school system does not hold tion is my certainty that the investment of water. The fact is that for most immigrant public funds in such marginal students pays groups and native subcultures the secondary off for the community. I do not mean that it school has always been a failure. The dropout helps diffuse a potential explosion in the lower rates were very high for the first-generation classes or the concern, expressed recently by immigrants. In fact the use of the public high Nathan Glazer, that we risk a great deal if the school for college preparation before World War elites that manage this complex society stem II was confined largely to Jews and other highly from only one segment of the population . That motivated groups like Armenian and Greek may or may not be true . I mean that shaping Americans . Asian Americans followed that pat- by the college experience does not magically tern after World War II . The school failure has stop below a certain SAT score. It continues to nothing to do with a poor curriculum, the low occur on different terms and the social income quality of the teachers, or the bad physical that is related to having an educated citizenry plant of the school . The inability to use the also continues . I have repeatedly received for- school for social mobility rests almost entirely mer students who, by any standard, would not on cultural factors and related economic ones . have been considered good college material No matter how poor, Jews and Asians and other and am always amazed at how productive they "successful" groups use their resources to invest have become . They do not become the nation's in the human capital of themselves . They keep physicists or neurosurgeons but most become their children in school and place high value on taxpayers and some have become pillars of doing well there. It is a cultural thing. their communities . In some intangible way the 5. Finally, it is a great error and source of investment through our public colleges in what much personal unhappiness to process entire might be considered the average citizen-to-be generations of young people through the col- does yield considerable social income . It is hard leges because it is the only instrument of to imagine how that happens. Such students mobility available to realize the American may grow into the certification granted by the dream . Repeatedly I observe young people college diploma on the job. Or, once having whose intelligence does not lie in the direction been certified, they realize that in the open of abstraction or decoding ; they are not read- market an investment of time and a certain ers and writers, the primary skills needed for level of minimum competence is requisite for success in the liberal arts. I have encountered keeping the job . some who loath being cooped up indoors, espe- 3 . Whether based on race, gender or handi- cially when spring comes. Yet at the same cap ("challenge"), preferential treatment of time some of these failing youngsters possess any sort is not worth the social cost even when considerable skill in mechanical things . I have an element of social justice can be discerned . taught students who submit a paper that

JULY/AUGUST 1998 17

might have been written by a ten-year-old and life . I am reluctant to allow my colleagues to at the same time, while never having seen an run the world or even to determine value . If a overhead projector, can disassemble and fix man is happier as a trucker than a preacher, what is wrong without any trouble . They pos- who is to gainsay that? But then, that links sess a different kind of intelligence, one that the idea of social justice to personal happiness does not easily cope with the skills required by where it might not belong . That brings me the liberal arts. Yet it is through a version of to the profound insight of my father who, the liberal arts curriculum, which is now often when his children complained that they had watered down beyond all meaning, that they not achieved happiness, answered happily : must endure in order to receive the diploma. "Where is it written that you are supposed to Increasingly, everything is channeled through be happy?" Kibbutzniks were not necessarily it if one wants a college degree, the passport to happier than the denizens of Tel Aviv. Is it pos- the promise of America . What we need most of sible that the just society is not necessarily a all is alternate mobility channels that hold happy one? 11 out the possibility of realizing that dream in other ways . Such alternative paths of achieve- ment are rapidly disappearing from American life . Is it possible that the level of violence, especially among the older adolescent cohort, is related to the decline of the kind of work which contains a modicum of risk and sheer physical exertion? Before everyone was Susan Hattis Rolef, a political scientist, edit- required to become a white-collar worker we ed the Political Dictionary of the State of Israel used to have such employment on our piers (1993) and is our regular Israeli correspondent . and wharves and in our mines and mills . In a number of cases, no one knows the precise Misha Louvish, a Jerusalem historian and percentage, it is simply a waste of time and journalist, has just completed his autobiography . money to send a youngster to college . The con- stant signals of failure cannot but lead to Amnon Hadary, formerly of Chicago Habo- unhappiness and the college too is diminished nim, is a prominent Israeli journalist . He lived several years in Kibbutz Gesher Haziv by the failure . But how can we resolve the . problem of inappropriate placement when the Jerry Goodman is executive director of the rewards granted for those incapable of absorb- National Committee for Labor Israel . ing college training are so much lower? Yosef Criden, a native of Buffalo, New York, here are of course other factors to be con- made aliya in 1939 . He is a member of Kibbutz sidered. Can we afford to compromise and Kfar Blum . Totherwise diminish the elites who manage this complex society? Do you want a procedure David Rosenthal, of Philadelphia, is a fre- done by an affirmative action neurosurgeon? quent writer on the Shoah and related topics . On the other hand can we abide the risk of cre- ating two separate cultures : one which has it Joseph Adler, a historian of Jewish events, is all, money, power, health and another that has the author of The Herzl Paradox and ofRestoring none of these because there is no certification the Jews to Their Homeland . of academic skills? For readers of this journal the question of Henry L. Feingold, immediate past pres- ident of LZA, is professor of Jewish history at social justice is central . The way open enroll- Baruch College, CUNY ment and remediation have been implemented at the City University of New York has shown Murray Gordon writes from Seattle, Wash . me that the effort to achieve social justice can actually create new social injustices . What is Nahum Guttman is editor of Jewish Fron- most troubling is that we seem increasingly tier. He was the first mazkir (National secretary) to require that the world be made over to fit of Habonim (1935-37) . the college professor's image of the worthwhile

18 JEWISH FRONTIER REVIEW ESSAY Hersey's Wall Revisited By David Rosenthal

ohn Hersey, Pulitzer Prize novelist and au- rom the very first day of Hersey's appear- thor of 25 books, including The Wall, died in ance in the literary arena in 1942 he was J imbuedF with the idea that a writer's pen must Key West, Florida on March 24, 1993, at a time when the newspapers and television were serve moral-ethical ends . He called for a hu- full of publicity on the Washington "Monument manist view of life . His writings moved the to Memory" which "combines the functions of reader to look deeply into the situations he an architectural memorial to the Holocaust described, to share the temptations that life and a museum devoted to the history of the places before us. In brief, his works stirred the Holocaust." conscience of the reader. In Hersey's impressive literary legacy, The The clearest evidence of this is the reaction Wall occupies a special place . First published to his work Hiroshima (1946), in which he de- in 1950 by Alfred Knopf, it went through seven picts the life of six individuals who survived editions that same year, setting a record . In the atomic bombing of Japan in 1945 . He had this work Hersey attempted to immortalize originally conceived Hiroshima as a work of the martyrology of Jewish Warsaw under Nazi fiction in three parts, and that was the order in rule . And he undertook this daunting task which the New Yorker had planned to publish without any previous knowledge of Polish Jew- it. But then, under the strong impression of ry and its historical past . But after years of ex- the material itself, the editors decided to pub- tensive research and innumerable conver- lish the entire work on August 31, 1946 . The sations with Jewish survivors, he produced a response in the press was unanimously lauda- 632-page work dealing with material that had tory. The New York Herald-Tribune called the previously been absolutely foreign to him . series the "best war reporting." Albert Einstein In order to get some idea of the challenge supposedly ordered 1000 copies to distribute . that faced John Hersey it is necessary to know Can there be a greater expression of recogni- something about his biography and his envi- tion than that? ronment, about the internal and external processes of the world in which his creativity The Wall: Omissions and Intentions was rooted . The Yiddish word for wall is "moyer" - and John Hersey was born in 1914 in China, that is exactly what the Jews in Warsaw called where he spent the first twelve years of his life . the three-meter-high brick wall surrounding In 1926 his family moved to the United States . the ghetto . In 1936 he graduated from Yale University, Hersey managed to achieve results which then went to England to continue his studies at only writers with an ideological mission can Cambridge. During World War II his work as a produce . Generally speaking, his novel mirrors war correspondent took him to the Pacific in the bloody, afflicted Jewish reality of the war 1942, the Mediterranean in 1943, the Soviet years in Warsaw both in chronology and in Union in 1944-45 and China-Japan in 1945-46 . actuality. Immediately following the war he visited Nevertheless, there are accounts in the book Poland and Esthonia, witnessed the destroyed that are outside the framework of probability. ghettos in Warsaw and Lodz, and stood before Also, the author has not chronicled the suffer- the German gallows and crematoria in several ings of the tens of thousands of refugees who concentration camps . In this way the horror- were driven to Warsaw from other places ; the filled reality became the background for his starvation in the ghetto ; the smuggling of food; novel The Wall. the struggle of young children to stay alive after

JULY/AUGUST 1995 19 their parents had been taken from them; the .rimmed glasses whose lenses were so thick entire labyrinth of complex and interconnected that Levinson's eyes seemed, to one who social-psychological problems in the ghetto . looked into them, far larger than most human eyes." am not carping here . As the Yiddish critic Tsivion once said : one does not criticize a For a Jewish reader it is superfluous to writerI for what he has not written, but for j point out that this account of the Levinson something he did write. In the case of litera- archive, as well as the characterization of Lev- ture that attempts to describe the Holocaust, inson himself, is not only ridiculous but also a such aspects cannot be overlooked . After all, distortion of the truth . It contains not even a what was Hersey's intent and how did he wish morsel of historical veracity, if it is supposed to to arrive at his goal? On the inside of the book document the finding of the two milk cans in jacket you will find these passages : which the notes of the Oneg Shabbat group were hidden, or if it is supposed to represent a "To reveal the full stature of man in the face of realistic picture of the historic chronicler of the catastrophe, John Hersey has used a classical de- vice - the rediscovery of lost records . For even Warsaw ghetto, Emanuel Ringelblum . though The Wall is ostensibly culled from the The imaginary characters in The Wall, who Lewinson Archive, it is a novel . Its substance is his- are supposed to personify actual ghetto per- tory, but its details are invented . It transmutes the record of vast tragic events into a great work of sonalities, appear often in. situations quite dif- imagination. ferent from that, controlled by a fate totally "On the surface The Wall is the story of the sys- tematic piecemeal extermination of the Jews of the different from that of their prototypes . Thus, Warsaw ghetto, and of the heroic resistance of de- for example, Hersey describes Dr . Zadkin (in fenseless men and women against the full brute reality, Dr. Alfred Nosig) as a victim of a Com- force of Germans . But the real story is the growth in munist conspiracy. According to Hersey, Nosig spirit of a group of friends, so that they emerge un- dismayed and triumphant in the face of physical was one of those people who tried to influence annihilation . . ." the Germans to look favorably upon the Jews . The truth, however, is that Dr. Alfred Nosig - A s the reader will certainly surmise, the communal leader, writer, sculptor - sat in the "Levinson archive" in The Wall is a syn- Judenrat as an "inside man" for the Germans, Aonym for the Emanuel Ringelblum archive . with whom he cooperated fully . The Jewish This is Hersey's version : Fighting Organization, in fact, issued a death On a sunny day soon after the end of the sentence on him which was carried out after war, a search commission found the "Levinson the expulsion in January 1943 . archives" sealed in 17 metal boxes, plus a number of packages wrapped in rags and old n America The Wall was given a positive re- woolens . The "dig" took place beneath the ception, one would say an enthusiastic one . ruins at Nowolipki 68 and Swientojecska 34 . TheI book touched the hearts of its readers . The The archive consists mostly of personal notes, Jewish Book Council awarded it the Daroff but there are also a large number of Judenrat Memorial Fiction Prize . The Sidney Hillman documents. According to Hersey, Levinson was Foundation awarded the author its highest interested mainly in individuals, not in the distinction. The Wall was even dramatized for general history of the period. He must have the Billy Rose Theater in 1960 and filmed for been a lonely man . . . In a period of three years television in 1962 . he wrote more than four million words . . . An objective summation by "a person who Then Hersey gives us a description of Lev- was there" cannot remain indifferent to all the inson's outward apperance . "In appearance, errors and inaccuracies that are to be found in Noach Levinson was, it seems, not only unim- this book. It is undoubtedly a work of broad pressive ; most accounts agree that there was scope and contains many deeply moving mo- actually something repellent about his looks . ments. What it does not reflect, however, is the His stature was small. He had the face of an Jewish and human struggle that took place be- intellectual, narrow and drawn out forward, hind the walls of the Warsaw ghetto ; the Jew- and upon his unruly nose sat a pair of steel- ish ordeal, the Jewish dilemma and the Jewish historical consequences of the Holocaust. 0

20 JEWISH FRONTIER HISTORY

The Bizarre Case of Lord George Gordon By Joseph Adler

or all the ferocity of the attack upon reli- Riots, raged for six days. Roman Catholic gionF made by the advocates of the Age of En- chapels were destroyed ; the Bank of England lightenment, the eighteenth century remained and other public buildings were attacked ; the at heart a religious era . The "enlighteners" notorious Newgate Prison was set on fire, and who emphasized reason tried to remove reli- other prisons opened and criminals released by gious concerns from the center of life to its the unruly mob . Twenty thousand troops were periphery. Their efforts, however, were not al- required to quell the rioters . During the dis- ways successful as there were other forces and turbances three hundred persons were killed, individuals at work who preferred the status and one hundred ninety-two convicted of quo and fought to reverse any trend toward re- crimes (twenty-five would later be executed) . ligious toleration . In England, for example, the Gordon was arrested and charged with high attempt to remove religious disabilities took a treason for instigating the riots, but in the strange turn in the person and life of an eccen- trial that followed he was acquitted. His tric aristocrat named Lord George Gordon defense, headed by Thomas Erskine, argued (1751-1793) . that Gordon had not had any treasonable The youngest son of the 3rd Duke of Gordon, intentions . he was educated at Eton, and entered the British Navy as a midshipman, rising to the he trial of Gordon attracted the attention rank of lieutenant in 1772 . When the 4th Earl of many of England's most prominent per- of Sandwich, then at the head of the Admiralty, sonagesT . Edmund Burke considered Gordon a would not promise him a command, George romantic eccentric and described him as a Don Gordon resigned his commission shortly before Quixote. Horace Walpole called him "the luna- the onset of the American Revolution . In 1774 tic apostle", and Charles Dickens in his novel he entered Parliament, representing a pocket Barnaby Rudge referred to Gordon and the borough that was given him as a bribe to with- No-Popery Riots . draw from an election elsewhere . Lord George Gordon's popularity did not Gordon attracted little attention as a mem- wane after the trial, In 1781 he was nominated ber of Parliament until 1779, at which time he as a candidate for Parliament for the City of organized and led several Protestant associa- London, but declined the honor . His life there- tions formed to secure the repeal of the Cath- after was a succession of political and financial olic Relief Act of 1778 . On June 2, 1780, Gor- schemes. Three years after his refusal to run don, at the head of a mob estimated to have for Parliament he once again came forward as numbered 50,000, marched to the Houses of the Protestant champion in a quarrel between Parliament to present a petition urging the the Dutch and the Holy Roman Emperor Jo- restoration of Catholic disabilities. When Par- seph II. In 1786, Gordon was excommunicated liament rejected the petition the mob, inflamed from the Church of England by the Archbishop by Gordon's rhetoric, rioted. The disturbances, of Canterbury for refusing to bear witness in known to history as the No-Popery, or Gordon an ecclesiastical suit .

JULY/AUGUST 1998 21 ome time prior to his excommunication, the Judaism . On one prison wall hung the Ten former Protestant leader had become inter- Commandments in Hebrew, and every morn- estedS in Judaism and the Jewish people . He ing he donned his phylacteries ("tefillin") and initiated a correspondence with the heads of prayer shawl ("tallit"), and prayed . On Satur- the Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jewish communi- days he was usually joined by nine other Jews ties of London, indicating a desire to convert to (mostly foreigners) to make a prayer quorum Judaism. The letters, replete with Hebrew quo- ("minyan") . tations, seem to indicate that Gordon had some knowledge of Jewish Scripture and sources . lthough a prisoner, Gordon had a Jewish Although his application for conversion was abservant, and kept a magnificent table . rejected by the Chief Rabbi, David Schiff of the He never dined with fewer than six guests, and Great Synagogue of London, Gordon persisted often these repasts were followed by music and in his efforts to convert . Eventually, he was dancing. He ate only specially prepared (i.e., accepted into the covenant in 1786 (probably in "kosher") food, and refused to see any Jew who Holland or Birmingham, England) . He was cir- was not bearded . Occasionally he amused him- cumcised, and took the name Israel bar Abra- self by playing his violin, or bagpipes . ham . In addition, he grew a long beard, and The conversion of Lord George Gordon to dressed in the fashion of Orthodox Jews, and Judaism shocked London society and espe- began to live an observant Jewish life . Many of cially his former colleagues in the Protestant his critics at the time believed that the conver- associations, and he soon became the butt of sion was a ruse . His true objective, they felt, numerous jests and satirical ditties . Typical of was to gain adherents among Jews for his the latter genre is an excerpt from a contempo- financial schemes, with the hope that they rary ballad: would use their wealth to withhold loans from Ye Jews, Turks and Christians, I pray now the government for waging wars . draw near, The year following his conversion, Gordon When a comical ditty you quickly will hear . was accused of libeling the Queen of France, Concerning Lord George who for Protestant laws, Marie Antoinette, the French Ambassador to His life said he'd lose in so glorious a London, and the administration of justice in cause . . . England. Found guilty on all counts, he fled to To a Jew he turned, with a beard as long as Holland. After a brief exile he returned to Eng- a goat, What a glorious defender of Protestant laws. land (Birmingham), and was taken into cus- With pork or fat bacon I'd well rub his jaws, tody. In January of 1788 he was sentenced to So we wish them much joy of the new convert five years' imprisonment in Newgate Prison, Jew. and to pay a fine of five hundred pounds, and Tho' my tale is told, yet I'm sure it is true, to furnish two securities of 2,500 pounds each . So farewell my Lord since to Newgate you're Although lodged at first with the common taken, You may find it hard to save your own bacon . prisoners in damp and cold conditions, Gordon continued to write pamphlets and articles on The effect of Gordon's conversion upon Eng- political and social issues, in addition to carry- lish Jewry was equally electrifying . Dickens in ing on a correspondence with prominent per- his novel Barnaby Rudge captured the feelings sonalities . In time, thanks to the intervention among some of the Jews when he has one of his of his aristocratic friends, he was given more characters (Gashford) declare that the Jews comfortable quarters and privileges . Thus, the regarded the leader of the "No-Popery" riots as theologian John Wesley, one of his numerous a second Moses, and fondly hoped he was des- illustrious visitors, was able to report that ignated by Providence to lead them back to Gordon's quarters were more like the study of their fathers' land . However, the majority of a recluse in a private home than a prison . Jews, particularly the leaders of the Sephardic Other visitors included the Dukes of York and and Ashkenazi communities, were fearful that Clarence, the sons of King George III, as well the conversion might trigger off an anti-Jew- as a number of artists who came to paint the ish reaction . aristocratic prisoner's striking appearance . Throughout his incarceration in Newgate, ndeed, the situation of the Jews in England Gordon meticulously practiced the precepts of Iwas paradoxical . They enjoyed more freedom

22 JEWISH FRONTIER

in the economic sphere than in any other Euro- change of prisoners. He suggested that the pean country on the eve of the French Revolu- French send to England the popish Archbishop tion. Nevertheless they remained deprived of of Paris and the English would send them precisely that privilege to which they most their Protestant Rabbi . aspired, namely their formal recognition as cit- After serving five years in Newgate Prison, izens with equal rights - particularly the right Gordon was due to be released but could not of active participation in the nation's municipal obtain the heavy securities required by his sen- and national political life . In 1655, as a result tence. Accordingly, he was returned to his cell, of the pleas of Manasseh ben Israel, and Oliver and a few months later he caught a fever that Cromwell's desire to attract trade to British led to his death (1793) . The Jewish community, shores, the Jews were readmitted to England, still fearful of being too closely identified with from whence they had been expelled in 1290. the former Protestant leader, refused to bury Their official status, however, remained uncer- him. His own relatives interred him in a Prot- tain. A bill passed by Parliament in 1753, estant churchyard in Hampstead, London, and allowing Jews to become naturalized citizens, the site of his grave was soon forgotten . El created such an uproar that it was repealed the Sources following year. Jewish political rights would not make any progress until the age of parlia- 1. F. Colson. The Strange History of Lord George Gordon, 1937. mentary reforms in the 1840s . However, com- 2. C. Hilbert. King Mob : The Story ofLord George Gordon plete equality and freedom from all disabilities and the London Riots of1780, 1958 . would not be granted until 1890 . 3. Paul Johnson. A History of the Jews, 1987. Lord George Gordon's imprisonment paral- 4. Goodman Lipkin . "Lord George Gordon" . The Jewish leled the early stages of the French Revolu- Encyclopedia . Vol . 6, p. 47. 5. Cecil Roth . "Lord George Gordon" . Encyclopxdia- tion. He welcomed the event enthusiastically Judaica. Vol . 7, 1971, pp. 795-796. and noisily, playing dirges on his bagpipe and 6. Cecil Roth . Essays amd Portraits ofAnglo-Jewish His- entertaining political radicals such as John tory, 1962 . Horne Tooke . His radicalism so angered Ed- 7. I. Solomons .. Lord George Gordon's Conversion to Ju- mund Burke that the latter, in his great work daism. 1914. 8. Geoffrey Wigoder. "George Gordon" . Dictionary ofJew- Reflections on the Revolution in France, pro- ish Biography, 1991. pp. 180-181. posed to the Paris revolutionary regime an ex-

LETTERS

Dear Editor : made at the old Opera House . This is incorrect . I received the May/June issue of the Jewish The Independence was declared at the Tel Aviv Mu- Frontier and enjoyed reading it . For historic rea- seum on Friday at 4 :00 pin so as not to conflict with sons I want to bring to your attention a number of Shabbat. my reflections : 3 . In the fine article on Chaim Arlosoroff noth- 1. In the article "The Signing of Israel's Dec- ing is mentioned about his two missions to America . laration of Independence" the writer suggests that During the time that Arlosoroff was in America "There was strong opposition from Zionist leaders (a comprehensive article of this period by Shlomo in the U.S., who lobbied for postponement, partially Grodzensky appeared in Labor Palestine, a publi- due to pressure from the State Department ." I am cation of the movement) he had a great deal of in- not certain that this statement is correct . I was fluence on the Zionist Labor Party (Hitachdut) and a member of the Political Committee of the Poale the Avukah (American Student Zionist Federation) . Zion. We were informed that there was pressure I have in my possession a pamphlet entitled To the from the State Department to postpone the declara- Jewish Youth which appeared in 1928, a comprehen- tion of the state . In the discussion which followed sive booklet on Hechalutz which appeared in 1929, there was no one on the Political Committee who pamphlets of The Young Jew series which appeared even suggested a postponement . Two days before during that time and a letter to members of the the proclamation of statehood I met Hayim Green- Zionist World Executive which was sent on March berg who informed me that the state would be 1st, 1929 . This letter had a powerful influence on proclaimed and if necessary "a government in exile American Zionism . would be established." Shalom U'Vracha, 2. In the article "Before and After May 14th DAVID BRESLAU 1948" the writer states that the declaration was Jerusalem

JULY/AUGUST 1998 23

BOOKS 1915, Zvi came as a boy to Chicago, to join his divorced mother. In Chicago, he associated with the Labor Zionist youth, who were close to his earlier connection in Poland to Hecha- LIONHEARTS : Heroes of lutz Hatzair, which strongly advocated aliya to Israel. Eretz Israel. Pursuing this course, Zvi went to the Hechalutz training farm at Parkville, edited by Michael Bar-Zohar. Maryland. In 1934, he left America in a group May 1998 . $30 .00 (330p). of 40 young people, some of whom had trained Warner Hardcover at the Hechalutz farm in Minnesota . After some preliminary adjustment to their new country, they joined the young Kibbutz Afikim, whose nucleus had come from Russia . ®n the occasion of Israel's 50th anniver- In those days, settlement and self-defense sary, a large number of celebratory volumes were twin activities . Zvi Brenner immediately has appeared, this year. Many of them are lav- became a member of Hagana, and during the ishly illustrated ; all of them have interesting 1936 Arab riots, participated in the defense of texts covering the half century of the country's Ramat Hakovesh . He was to be on constant rebirth and development . One of the most ap- call, as a member of the auxiliary police force . pealing is appropriately named LION- In March 1938, Zvi was detached to the estab- HEARTS : Heroes of Israel. More than just a lishment and defense of a new kibbutz, Hanita, handsome coffee-table exhibit, Lionhearts in western Galilee . During that period he came gives the reader a rich gallery of 50 men and to the attention of the British officer, Captain women trailblazers, from the turn of the cen- Charles Orde Wingate, the yedid (staunch tury through the World Wars and the Holo- friend) whose special night squads made spe- caust to the fight against terrorism and the cial preventative sorties against known Arab military victories that assured Israel's sur- terrorist formations . The British mandatory vival in a hostile region . authorities did not look with favor on these The fifty sketches were written by leading Jewish maneuvers, and from time to time ar- political, military, literary and artistic figures, rested the participants . Once, Zvi was among including three Prime Ministers . the arrestees and thrown into Acre prison . Former President Haim Herzog writes on Among his fellow inmates was Moshe Dayan . the Six-Day War. Shimon Peres on Jonathan While Dayan was treated with relative kind- "Yoni" Netanyahu who died at Entebbe in ness by his jailors, Brenner was roughed up . 1976. The roster of heroes starts off properly with orld War II changed the scene radically . Joseph Trumpeldor, the Russian-Jewish army After much negotiation, the British final- captain who came to Palestine to join its pio- lyW agreed to the establishment of a Palestine neering stalwarts, and died in Galilee in the Jewish Brigade . In March 1945, the Brigade defense of Kibbutz Tel Hai in February 1920 . landed in Italy and engaged in combat with That stand against Arab marauders helped the Nazi foe. Zvi Brenner stepped on a land define the northeast borders of Palestine and mine and almost lost a foot . Only rapid action included a vital segment in the newborn Jew- and long-term care saved the limb, although ish State. Trumpeldor was also involved in the Zvi was to limp on it for many years . Only organization of the nascent labor movement, gradually was he able to assume some duties but was killed before he could participate in back in Afikim . the launching of Histadrut in December 1920 . Now, Zvi Brenner is one of Afikim's elder statesmen. With his wife Ruthie, his children, ome of the Lionhearts are still alive today. grandchildren and great-grandchildren he en- One of them is well known to the veterans joys the bounty of his life's work on the farm ofS the Labor Zionist youth movement of the and in the military ranks . It takes the heart of 1930s . He is Zvi Brenner, a vatik of Kibbutz a lion to do both in the land of Israel . 11 Afikim in the Jordan Valley. Born in Poland in Nahumn Guttman

24 .JEWISH FRONTIER DAYS OF SORROW

TISHA B'AV and YOM HASHOAH By Amnon Hadary

any years ago - so `citizenship' classes close to You can't run a country this manyM that it was before the ad- their birthdays or the date of way. Now that we have our vent of TV in Israel - there their death. Herzl and Bialik own country again there are was a popular radio program died on khaf and khaf-aleph other urgent matters to attend emceed by Shmulik Rosen . (20 and 21) tammuz during the to beside memorials, rituals, Basically it was a round-robin summer break ; so there is a ceremonies and liturgies . quiz show pitting high-schools justifiable lacuna in the stu- There is such a sensory and from around the country dents' education." cognitive overload that the hol- against each other. The subject In America we pioneered in idays' educational thrust is matter was varied and the many aspects of Jewish camp- sacrificed - there are so many sharp intellects of the students ing . Exploiting the summers "postings" that the really im- kept audiences' interests . The davka, Habonim Camp-Kvut- portant messages get lost . We final match was between teams zot covered more ground in need to regroup if we want to that had been on the air a num- greater depth than a year's at- make a coherent statement of ber of times. Shmulik asked a tendance at a Sunday school or what Jewish history is all question about Bialik. Team A even at a three times weekly about. flubbed it. With a tie score Team Hebrew school. Exploiting the Not only in the school sys- B could have won the whole inherent advantages of in- tem; in the life of the country contest if they answered that formal education., we certainly as a whole . In a manner of really rudimentary question, inculcated a greater commit- speaking, those of us who grew but to everyone's surprise they ment to things Jewish, ener- up in a youth movement be- didn't know either. Good em- gized a stronger sense of be- lieved that adulthood (read liv- cees are the ones who don't longing to the Jewish people in ing in the Jewish State) would fluster and always have a fall- our hanikhim . For instance, be one uninterrupted educa- back question . So the next some of the most impressive tional peulah. question put to Team A was Tisha b'Av "celebrations" I've Menahem Begin had a good about some detail of Herzl's experienced were at lakes or idea - along with many I cate- life. Again the collective head- poolsides when, each year, the gorically rejected - why not scratching of the A's came up "temple" was ritually set afire integrate several holidays? with zilch. Next, the question on a raft to the recitation of Yom HaAtzmaut could go well was presented to the B's and highly emotive readings . By with Pesah as a combined again they didn't have a clue. the way, are Herzl-Bialik days spring liberation holiday and At a loss, Shmulik stopped the still held at Habonim camps? Tisha b'Av should be yoked program to ask : How is it that with Yom HaShoah by moving the two best teams in the coun- n Israel we celebrate too holocaust day to the summer try failed to answer relatively many holidays ; 13 a year as a catchment basin of cata- easy questions? A principal of (threeI of them at least a week strophes . Reflecting, I've come one of the high-schools pro- long) is an embarrassment of to the conclusion that the idea vided the denouement : "great riches. And that doesn't even has much to recommend it . personalities are taught in take 6 fast-days into account . Conceptually, Tisha b'Av and

JULY/AUGUST 1998 25

Yom HaShoah go together as destruction of the Second Tem- who encounters the reality of a bookends holding up a virtual ple, too, to the ninth day of Av. Jewish fate that no longer two-volume book of lament : And over the years other allows a believing response . call it "Galut from Beginning tragedies were added . But this Yet Bialik had to formulate a to End", (the era of the sigh, was only an overture in the national Jewish ethos that the groan and the whimper) . opera of tragedy . All along would enable a new response Tisha b'Av was in rehearsal - to the suffering of the nation . olume One is the Scroll of a paradigm for the holocaust . Bialik's infuriated reaction Lamentations, Eikhah, a The holocaust has not yet to the Kishinev massacre was heart-renderingV cry over the been canonized in a single articulated in "In the City of destruction of the nation, of work. But the missing com- Slaughter". It embodies the Jerusalem, the First Temple panion volume to Eikhah is at breakdown of meek acceptance and Jewish sovereignty - the hand in Bialik's prescient which was the traditional reac- beginning of exile . First and poems: "In the City of Slaugh- tion pattern to Jewish fate in foremost it is the painful moan ter", "Scroll of Fire", and "The exile, while the mytho-poetic of a mourner when conscious- Dead of the Desert". element in "The Dead of the ness of the magnitude of the The portents leading up to Desert" declares a rebellion disaster bursts through the the spiritual crisis of the holo- against the heavens . protective veil of initial shock . caust (Where was God?) began The catastrophe of exile Each memory occasions a re- as early as the end of the re- which began with the destruc- newed gush of tears . It seems naissance and burst into the tion of Jewish life in Eretz he cannot grasp what has hap- Jewish public sphere along Israel has come full circle with pened . He repeats the dirge- with the downfall of Shah- the end of Jewish acquiescence like question, "eikhah?" how? batean messianism when the to exile as a divine punish- How could such events possi- traditional believing world- ment. The Jew who had been bly have occurred? How could outlook fixed in the Middle encapsulated in the history non-Jews have acted in such a Ages by the Kabbalah no long- and geography of other nations way? Yet the very refusal to be- er adequately described real- has re-entered history. lieve is in itself an initial com- ity. Suddenly the believing Jew There is no exile any more . prehension of the facts . Even who directed all his intellec- Galut is kaput! As long as it as one recoils, reality pene- tual and emotional powers lasted, exile was an estate, a trates consciousness . The toward comunicating with the status, a presence and not mourner must come to grips spiritual spheres, hoping that merely a condition. As long as with actuality. Otherwise he by kavanah, devotion and pur- it had a rationale, galut was a remains in constant illusory pose in his prayers and the God-ordained reality, a correc- hallucination - and to know- performance of mitzvot, he tive hiatus en route to the re- ingly bring about illusory hal- could change the human condi- demptive goal in Eretz Israel. lucination as an escape is the tion and the situation of the Now there is only the goal beginning of madness . Jews among the nations . Sud- made real . Israel was realized Eikhah, which tradition at- denly he senses that there is by the grace of the Jewish peo- tributes to Jeremiah who wit- no connection between his ple's endeavors without the nessed the destruction of the efforts and the daily reality in connivance of God. Now that Temple, continues to fulfill its which he lives. Worse, as a the bipolar Tisha b'Av Yom primary role to this day, result, a terrible sense of isola- HaShoah exile has run its though it is an "ancient" tion attacks the believer as he course, Jews who remain not- anguish. If the determination fears that God averts His gaze ingathered, who elect to re- to retain a grievance against from him. main abroad do so as individu- the world "for what it did to us" Bialik stepped into this als practicing personal choice, is not worked through, it will breach. In his early "Facing as Jews who live merely in become fixated, cursing us the Bookcase" even as he diaspora . with an attitude problem . The describes an unbroken conti- Some light summer reading . pattern began when in their nuity from the Bible to Read it to the light of the Tisha anthologizing wisdom the hasidism, his poem reflects the b'Av fire at camp . 11 Sages assigned grief over the crisis in the heart of a believer

26 JEWISH FRONTIER NOTEBOOK first half of the prophecy had been fulfilled, the second half would surely follow . So, in the 1930s, we young Labor Zionists felt - we knew - that out of the ashes would come redemption . I know that many of my young charges in Accord (NY), Camp Tel Hai (New Buffalo, Michigan) and the California Between Ashes camp outside Los Angeles, have lived to see the rebirth of Israel and are now enjoying life in and Hope redeemed Jerusalem.

By Nahum Guttman carcely a decade later, in 1948, the State of Israel was proclaimed . Together with Isaac Hamlin,S head of the Histadrut Campaign in America, I flew to the new state, where we saw, literally, how the Zionist leaders had been transformed into members of a provisional yet s noted elsewhere in this issue, summer viable government . There was a gala outdoor Aon the Jewish calendar contains some of the party in Tel Aviv where civilian and military most somber dates in the annals of the Jewish personalities mingled and lifted a l'haim. people. The ninth of Av - Tisha B'Av - com- That week there was a Labor Party gather- memorates major calamities visited upon the ing in the city. It was the eve of Tisha B'Av and Jews during the millennia of their existence . some members were in a quandary : what to do, In 586 BCE, the first Temple in Jerusalem was to observe the historic fast day, or welcome the destroyed. In 70 CE, Romans sacked the sec- new era in some other manner . Zalman Ruba- ond Temple on Mount Zion and sent the people show, the always ebullient mentor and scholar, into Exile . Great as these traumatic shocks who was to become the country's first Minister were, they did not cause Jewry to disappear. of Education, and later, as Zalman Shazar, its On the contrary, fresh resources were devel- third President, rose to solve the dilemma : oped, a great Diaspora evolved, and the people "Yiddn - in shul arein!" I don't know how mustered strength to endure the pains of their many of the Laborites literally followed Sha- dispersion and strive for the Restoration of zar's directive to attend synagogue, but it was Zion "in our days. . . ." clear that full restitution of Israel's Nation- In the 1930s, when still active in the Labor hood was yet to be achieved . We are not Zionist youth movement, Habonim, I directed relieved of the obligation to remember the ugly several of their summer camps, and one of the moments of our collective path . highlights of the program was the observance This year, Tisha BAv occurs on August 1st, of Tisha BAv . It was truly a fast day, and the a Saturday. Hence the fasting is deferred one kids had to forego their meals . Only when day, to Sunday, August 2nd . some irate mothers complained at this "mis- "Yiddn - in shul arein!" treatment" of their offspring did we relent and excuse those under Bar Mitzvah age from the WAS IT WORTH IT? mitzva of abstinence . (continued from page 12) Another feature of the day was an address today they are no longer in the forefront - So on its significance . We told the story of Rabbi what? Without the Kibbutzim there would Akiva, who with his students were at the site very likely have been no Israel at all . And I - of the Temple ruins, where foxes ran among I have been part, an active part, of it all! the sacred remnants of the Holy of Holies . The It is good - there is a good feeling, that I students were taken aback when Rabbi Akiva am an actor in the grand drama - realizing broke out in laughter : how could their revered the dreams of Herzl, of Kallisher, of Brenner rabbi rejoice on this disastrous day? Rabbi Aki- and Berl. A story which is not ending - and va explained : it was written that the Temple will never end. would be destroyed, but it was also written that the Temple would be rebuilt . Since the Yes-It Was Worth It

JULY/AUGUST 1998 27 IN THE MOVEMENT

The LZA Convention - A Remarkable Experience

he 31st Biennial Convention of the Labor business on Shabbat and instead to have ZionistT Alliance, which took place in suburban events appropriate to the Sabbath yet leading Detroit June 5-8, was a remarkable experi- seamlessly into the more typical convention ence for all the participants as well as an session and deliberations beginning Saturday important milestone in the history of the LZA . night. A uniformly high level was maintained In addition to the aforementioned Friday throughout the extended weekend, combined night dinner, the convention joined forces with with eneregy, youthfulness, willingness to a local Reconstructionist congregation in serve, and the chavershaft (camaraderie) that which several LZA members are active for both defines and informs the movement . Shabbat services at the convention hotel, high- This convention differed from its predeces- lighted by a D'var Torah delivered by one of the sors in terms of both time and place . It was the founders of the congregration, Senator Carl first such gathering since the three-way merg- Levin (D-MI), who enunciated a progressive er that produced the LZA in 1971 to take place Jewish public-affairs agenda relating to both outside New York, and the host organization in America and Israel that resonated throughout Metropolitan Detroit more than lived up to the the convention . Jeffrey Rem served as liaison expectations of this move . Indeed, through between LZA and the congregation . their year-long voluntary endeavors, their fi- nancial generosity, and their attention to de- ollowing a stimulating presentation on the tail, the Detroit members established a model new era in Zionism by Prof. Michael Har- for all future conventions. Participants from ris,F the Shabbat program reached a high point across the country recognized the high stand- in a panel discussion on "Reinventing LZA," in ing of LZA in Detroit as expressed in greetings the form of an intergenerational dialogue in- by leaders of the community federation and volving the current leadership of our youth council. A debt of gratitude is due the Detroit movement, Habonim Dror, represented by its co-chairs, Dena Greenberg (1997) and Jeremy outgoing mazkira (general secretary), Esther Salinger (1998) ; Helen Neimark, president of Lederman ; two alumni active in Habonim the Labor Zionist Institute ; national officer camp committees in the East, Bennett Lovett- Norman Neimark; and the entire host commit- Graff and Esther Raymont (the latter also con- tee for their exemplary efforts . cluding four years as national LZA administra- Complementing the change in location was tor) ; and Judy Loebl, an alumna, parent, and a new format - a Friday-Monday schedule key supporter of the youth movement in beginning with a hosted supper and Oneg Detroit. Following breakout discussions led by Shabbat at the local headquarters of the move- Elyse Frymer of New York, Eileen Meddis of ment and ending three days later with the con- Los Angeles, and Arthur Slabosky of Detroit, cluding business session on Monday morning . and a greeting by the local shlicha (Israel The addition of a day to the program enabled emissary), Sara Canning, the plenary recon- the organization to avoid conducting regular vened for group reports and a final response by

28 JEWISH FRONTIER ' Fradie Kramer of Cincinnati, who stressed the dent concerning the political, communal, and need for renewing the intensive commitment organizational work of the LZA since the last that had pervaded both LZA and Habonim convention . Daniel Mann stressed the point Dror in the past. (The texts of several of these that the coming two years would constitute a presentations appear elsewhere in this issue .) period of major transition in many of the cen- Among the recurring themes of the afternoon tral institutions of American and World Jewry were the need to enhance the already strong and called on LZA leadership to build on the ties between the two organizations, the camp progress of the past two years in strengthen- committees, and the parents ; to maintain con- ing the human and fiscal resources of the orga- tract with alumni of Habonim Dror through nization . A highlight of the president's report their college and young-adult years ; and to was his announcement of the affiliation of new demonstrate the relevance of LZA as a political younger groups in various cities and the es- and social force worldwide . tablishment of several funds earmarked for On Saturday evening the opening business organizational and programmatic priorities . session was chaired by Jeffry Mallow of He also introduced the incoming administra- Chicago, national convention chair, who had tor, Stephane Acel . invested energy, creativity, and responsibility Much of the rest of the day was spent in throughout the preceding year as well as at workshops, coordinated by Martin Taft of Los the convention itself. Judi Widetzky of Jeru- Angeles. Three groups met in two separate salem, regional director of the Israel Aliyah sessions each: LZA on the local scene, led by Center in Washington and immediate past co- Helen Neimark of Detroit; LZA on the national chair of the World Labor Zionist Movement, scene, led by Daniel Greenberg of Chicago ; and gave a personal report from Israel, in which LZA in Israel, led by Steven Weinberg of she stressed the link between the movement in New Jersey. The workshops then reported the Diaspora and the Jewish state and called their recommendations to the plenary. A per- for a renewal of aliyah as a central principle of sistent theme was the need to translate what Labor Zionism. Dina Spector, national presi- LZA does nationally to the grassroots level. (A dent of NA'AMAT USA, gave a warm and in- full summary of the workshop deliberations formed greeting . The keynote address was will be published later this summer .) delivered by Samuel Norich, general manager Another Sunday session, chaired by Simon of the Forward and movement activist, who Golden of Chicago, was dedicated to reports of spelled out a full agenda of communal activity several city committees : Marilyn Golden for for LZA in the coming two years . Chicago, Jeremy Salinger for Detroit, Bernard After the opening business session, there Weisberg for Los Angeles, and Jechil Dobekirer was a special meeting of delegates, chaired by for New York; and to presentations concerning Ben Cohen of New York, which approved the the two national publications : Henry Feingold rules of the convention and the makeup of var- for the Jewish Frontier (in the absence, due to ious committees and ratified several amend- illness, of the editor, Nahum Guttman), and ments to the LZA constitution and by-laws in- Jechil Dobekirer for the Yiddisher Kern fer . The tended to rationalize and facilitate the opera- new editor of the Kemfer, Kobi Weitzner, was tions of the organization. The convention also introduced to the plenary. It should be noted voted unanimously for a one-time suspension that the high quality of the convention was of the two-term limit in the constitution, thus maintained in the entertainment program enabling the incumbent national president, Sunday evening, featuring Neil Alexander, an Daniel Mann of Washington, and most of the accomplished and knowledgeable interpreter other officers and members off the National of Jewish music in several languages . Executive Committee to continue in office two additional years. he central event open to the community took place Sunday afternoon : a public ost of Sunday was devoted to planning meetingT chaired by Prof. Henry Feingold of the programs and projects of LZA for the New York, on the theme of the labor movement nextM term. The day opened with a plenary ses- in Israel and in America . The speakers were sion chaired by Norman Naimark of Detroit, Yehiel Leket, former acting chair of the World focusing on the biennial report by the presi- Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency

JULY/AUGUST 1998 29

and now world co-chair of the Jewish National preclude special interests from holding the Fund; and Michael Perry, staff member of the balance of power ; Urging the government of Israel to declare, American Federation of State, County, and • legislate, and implement full religious free- Municipal Employees (AFSCME) in Chicago dom, equality, and pluralism for all Jews ; and Chair of the Jewish Labor Committee in • A strong request to President Clinton for the that city. Jared Mates, incoming mazkir of release of Jonathan Pollard . Habonim Dror, greeted the convention. Special thanks were offered to Detroit LZA The convention concluded with a business for "hosting a most productive, gracious, digni- session on Monday morning led by Louis Sen- fied, and successful convention and providing ensieb of Los Angeles, at which Reisle Gold- a standard for future conventions ." In a warm, stein of New York gave the report of the Cre- poignant moment the convention expressed its dentials Committee and Anne Goldman, also "appreciation for the extraordinary service giv- of New York, the Resolutions Committee . The en by Emma Raymont as administrator of the letter comprised a set of general resolutions, LZA for the past four years," and presented her some dealing with internal organizational mat- with a gift of candlesticks on the occasion of ters, with an emphasis on strategies for out- her impending wedding and for her new home reach to younger cadres, and others with pub- in Philadelphia . The convention closed with lic policies of LZA, including the following : remarks by the re-elected president, Daniel • Commendation of the Clinton Administra- Mann, who emphasized the need for following tion for its efforts on behalf of peace in the up the success of this event in Detroit with Middle East, and a concomitant program for stepping up LZA activities in support of the intensive activity on all level to assure a "rein- Oslo accords ; vigorated, replenished, and renewed Labor • A call on the Knesset to legislate a new and Zionist Alliance by the year 2000 ." rational election system in Israel that would 0 Reinventing Labor Zionism and others ; the recognition of the dignity in- henever I hear that an organization is herent in all forms of human labor - have yet Wabout to "reinvent" itself, I fear for its future . to be fully realized . Too often reinvention becomes an excuse for Their realization depends in part on our pretending to be something that one is not . Off ability to recognize their value, a recognition course, all organizations must redefine them- that comes from our education when we are selves or face the prospect of a slow extinction . young . Parents of Habonim-Dror campers, for But during this process of redefinition surely example, recognize and welcome these values we are justified in asking if we sacrifice too because they see them for what they are : essen- much just to appear sexy. tial steps in the healthy socialization of their Whatever transformation the LZA under- children . Human beings are social animals who goes in the next five years, its membership fare better overall when they struggle together ought not forget the basic philosophy upon rather than alone, and we learn how to strug- which the organization was raised . That phi- gle together best when we are young . losophy is Labor Zionism, and notwithstand- What parents need to learn - and what LZA ing the presence of a Jewish state, I do not branches need to teach them by reaching out to think the philosophical contribution of this the Habonim-Dror camps that educate the chil- form of Zionism is so easily discarded . dren of these parents - is the place LZA holds Labor Zionism, it must be remembered, as an adult organization in the furtherance of grew out of a nineteenth-century nationalistic the value of collective responsibility and re- notion that sought to restore the connection spect for labor. If LZA can show parents that between a homeless people to a patch of land the socialization process begun in Habonim that later became the state of Israel. That con- Dror does not end there, but continues in LZA nection has been restored, but the philosophi- itself, then surely LZA has a bright future . IL cal principles that made that connection possi- - Bennett Lovett-Graff, ble - the belief in responsibility for one's self Chair, Na'aleh Camp Committee

30 JEWISH FRONTIER

The Seventh `C' Continuity Fradie Kramer of Cincinnati, summed up one ofthe break-out sessions of the LZA Convention, fueled by the provocative essay The Survival and Success of Jewish Institutions by Steven Windmueller, in which the author listed six "C"s - Core members; Causes ; Credibility; Competition ; Capability and Cash . Chavera Kramer went on :

would suggest we add a seventh "C" - ing membership rolls . Rather, look at what ContinuityI . That unique element which in the already has taken place . Look at the re-emer- past sustained Labor Zionist organizational gence of groups in the 25-50 year old gen- life in a continuum from childhood through eration who want to be part of an ideological adulthood . Habonim was a natural feeder into movement that transcends time and age . the senior movement and Poale Zion chaverim But let us not leave this convention with the sent their children to the City Habonim ken, to idea that unless we duplicate the renaissance our summer camps, to Hebrew School and to experienced in Detroit or Chicago or New York folk-shule. They sat on Chai Commissions and in our own communities we have failed . It may gave of their time, support and financial assis- well be that our movement in smaller cities tance to nurture the growth of Habonim . The will not be able to continue in the foreseeable sine qua non for both age groups was a passion- future. That does not change the fact that we ate, all-consuming commitment to the ideology are a needed organization with an illustrious of Socialist Zionism . past and a promising future . Even after 1948, when Zionism was real- However, I add this proviso : Reinventing ized through the establishment of the State of LZA calls for more than innovative program- Israel, Labor Zionists could maintain a sense ming. It calls for passion . And passion must of special purpose through a vicarious iden- have an emotional outlet . Lectures, seminars, tity with Labor as the ruling political party in conventions, publications are ancillaries to a Israel . Our Socialist ideals were firmly group's sense of purpose. Today's modern com- anchored in our commitment to the kibbutz munication technologies of faxes and E-mail movement. and Internet lack the energy that coming to- However, for the last twenty-one years, gether as an identifiable group provides . When since the Likud victory in 1977, not only has Labor Zionist were out of the mainstream, we our special political relationship changed, but could act as a gadfly to arouse the community . Israel itself has changed from our dreams of an We debated the Anti-Zionist American Council idealistic society to a modern consumer nation . for Judaism. We picketed stores that sold non- Unfortunately, we could not seem to find a Union grapes and lettuce . We marched as way to accommodate to these changes and Labor Zionists in the Civil Rights march on still maintain the ardor that had fired us to ac- Washington . All of these activities were inte- tion in the past. We were not able, twenty-five gral to our ideology: Creation of a Jewish home- years ago, to anticipate the need to reinvent land; support of the union movement ; commit- ourselves in light of the changes so, with rare ment to social justice. exception, we lost a generation of Habonim and a generation of younger Labor Zionists. e cannot reinvent ourselves unless we clearly articulate an ideology that calls TA/That has come out of the panel discussion uponW us to act as Labor Zionists in our local V v and "buzz" groups in light of this dismal comunities . If we are committed to the recom- preamble is truly awesome . The message is mendations presented this afternoon, we must loud and clear: There is a place for a progres- develop directives for local branches to follow sive Labor Zionist movement that spans the to accomplish their implementation . I don't generations; that it is time we stop questioning know how much reinvention is really neces- and criticizing ourselves ; and, above all, there sary. We are a movement that for almost one is no cause for predicting our imminent demise . hundred years has transmitted the concept of We are not a mass movement . We never have a Jewish state as essential to Jewish existence been. So let us not look for quick fixes or soar- everywhere. 11

JULY/AUGUST 1998 31

Click Here to Help Israel Enter the 21st Century

www.israelbonds.com 6th Individual Variable Rate Jubilee (Series A) Issue Bond 6.20% Issue (IVRI) Bond Fixed annual interest rate for bonds purchased through 6 .75% Current annual interest rate for bonds purchased through July 24, 1998. Matures 5 years from issue date. October 1998 . Bonds purchased in November will receive Minimum Subscription $25,000 . the December 1 rate . Matures 12 years from issue date . Minimum Subscription $5,000 ($2,500 or $2,000 for IRAs only) .

Jubilee (Series B) Issue Bond { ~ Development Issue Current Income Bond Fixed annual interest rate for bonds purchased through 4 .00% annual interest rate . $500 and increments of $500 . July 24, 1998 . Matures 10 years from issue date. Matures 15 years from issue date . Minimum Subscription $25,000 .

Development Issue Savings Bond $500 and increments of $500 . Matures 15 years from issue date 5th Zero Coupon Bond (3 .65% at 180% of issue amount, resulting in an effective yield to maturity Effective yield to maturity and current purchase price of of approximately 4 .00% . $3,094 for bonds purchased through July 24, 1998 . Matures at $6,000.10 years from issue date (last day of Sales Period in which subscription is accepted by Fiscal Agent) . State of Israel $100 Certificate Non-interest-bearing Certificate . Matures 5 years from issue date.

This is not an offering, which can be made only by prospectus . Read it carefully before investing . Member NASD, SIPC Development Corporation for Israel / State of Israel Bonds 575 Lexington Avenue, Suite 600 • New York, NY 10022 LZA Division, 212-644-2663 • 800-229-9650, ext . 388

32 JEWISH FRONTIER