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| March 11 - March 24, 2005 | |||||||||||||||
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Local StoriesDealing with Drugs: No Clear Course Gary
Band For parents who have or had a teenage son or daughter addicted to drugs like cocaine, heroin, and OxyContin, the ordeal for all involved is excruciating. Authorities agree that in addition to the dozens of North Shore teens and young adults who die each year of OxyContin and heroin overdoses, many more use and abuse these drugs with varying degrees of consequence. Local newspapers have recently spotlighted two illuminating cases: the OxyContin addiction of Jeff Allison, the former Peabody High School athlete drafted by the Florida Marlins, and Joel Levine, son of Salem Schools Superintendent Herb Levine. They shared the same addiction, attended Peabody High and also played baseball. Yet most people seem both perplexed and powerless to understand why young people fall into the trap of doing dangerous drugs and what can be done about it. It’s been nine months since Joel Levine completed treatment for his three-year addiction. Now as a freshman sports fitness major at Salem State College, the 20-year old says he feels great. “I no longer have an obsession to drink or use drugs,” he said. “I can live my life like a normal kid without my first thought every morning being about how to get high.” Levine says he began drinking and smoking pot at 14. That led to trying drugs like Percacete, Vicodin and cocaine. Someone he knew told him that OxyContin was “100 times better” than anything else; Levine tried it and got hooked. At first, Levine said he was just experimenting and wanted to see what was out there. “I planned on trying some then stopping, but that one drug took hold of me and I couldn’t let go for very long time.” Taken regularly, the $80 pill has a time-release mechanism. But the danger is in mashing the pill and inhaling it in powder form, releasing all the painkilling power at once. When using, Levine said he felt like he was 6’5, 250 lbs. and could rule the world. “I was invincible and thought nothing could go wrong.” He says drug addicts always tell themselves they need help, but only when they’re high. “But when I wasn’t high I felt sick, and spent my energy trying to find more.” Asked about peer pressure, depression or other reasons for using these drugs, Levine says, “It was just something I was into. It was my choice to do it, and I can’t blame anybody but myself.” Having successfully concealed his addiction for three years, Joel got help only after two friends told his parents about his habit. “My father called me into the living room to talk one day,” Joel said about the day in June 2004. “I denied it at first, then just broke down and told him everything.” On June 15, Levine was admitted into a detoxification program at McLean Hospital in Belmont, and with the help of the withdrawal drug Suboxin, said it wasn’t so bad. But the next stage — when Levine was off all substances and began experiencing leg and back pains, sweating, vomiting and diarrhea — was much more difficult. He said that the treatment he received at Plymouth House in New Hampshire and sticking to the 12-step program was by far the most helpful. “Everywhere I went I saw the chart and one by one checked off the steps,” Levine said. “By the fourth step, I didn’t learn who I was yet, but who I wasn’t. I didn’t want to be selfish, dishonest or fearful anymore. I realized I wasn’t only hurting myself, but hurting and pushing away everyone who loved me.” Levine says his parents and friends were also a huge help. “The biggest thing is having a support system. If no one’s backing you, it’s really hard to make it.” With the availability and prevalence of OxyContin, Levine strongly urges others not to try it. “It’s not one of those drugs you can do once in a while. You will love it, love the way it makes you feel, and you will get addicted.” Levine does think there should be drug testing in schools for kids in extracurricular activities and those suspected of abuse. “If I was a freshman and knew that if I was going to do drugs I couldn’t do sports, I definitely would have chosen sports. But if I was a senior and got caught using, testing is not a cure but at least parents could be notified and that’s what’s important. Those two kids who told my parents, they were my real friends.” Can addicts ever really shed their craving? Levine says he feels he will “always be an addict, always have the allergy, but the mental obsession is gone. As long as I go through the steps, pray, write down the things that bother me, I consider myself recovered.” Joel attends a weekly 12-step meeting in Lynn where he talks about his struggle and tries to help other former drug addicts and their parents. “The big thing that parents have to realize is that it’s not their fault,” Joel says. Dr. Herb Levine was devastated to learn of his son’s addiction. Although unaware Joel was using, looking back Levine says he noticed that his always warm, funny and family-oriented son began to become more irritable and solitary. He just attributed that to being a 16-year old. “Maybe the most profound change was that he lost his sense of humor,” Levine said. “He lost the ability to laugh.” While he was fortunate to have the resources to get Joel the help he needed, Dr. Levine said many parents don’t. “Parents have re-mortgaged their houses to get their kids the help they need. But beyond the financial cost, it causes tremendous pain and anguish. It tears at the fabric of the family, causing a physical and emotional strain that cannot be described.” Levine is disturbed by and faults the pharmaceutical industry for the overproduction, availability and promotion of drugs like OxyContin. He calls on doctors to limit the number of prescriptions they write, law enforcement officials to get mid-level pushers off the street, and the state of Massachusetts to stem the flood of these drugs and allocate funding to support drug counselors in high schools. At an editors’ roundtable meeting with Governor Mitt Romney and Lt. Governor Kerry Healy on January 28, Healy said “We have a serious problem in Massachusetts with heroin and other opiate abuse because of the low price and purity of the drugs. There is a new awareness that this is a problem for youth and we are looking for new approaches to deal with it.” Levine gives Lt. Governor Healy high marks for being a good listener, and believes that she and Governor Romney are committed to doing something positive. With regard to drug testing of students suspected of abuse, Levine said a task force comprised of parents, teachers, students and members of his administration are at work debating how such a policy would work. But with regard to the ACLU’s postion that such testing would infringe on individual freedom, Levine says, “They haven’t gotten it right yet. How much privacy does a 14-year old need? Is it worth invading someone’s privacy to save a life? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. We have to do something different and help kids who need it before it’s too late.” Levine contends that the cost of hiring regional drug counselors who work with a number of schools would be miniscule compared to what is spent on rehabilitation and jail time for adult offenders who started using drugs in high school. “Schools are one of the few remaining government institutions that intervene on behalf of the safety of kids.” While the state, law enforcement officials and schools continue to address this issue, Levine’s advice for parents is to not allow any privacy rules in the home. “If you suspect your kid of doing drugs, look under the mattress, in drawers. Look for changes in personality, or a change in who your kid is hanging out with. These are prime indicators.” Nadine Binkley is the superintendent of the Peabody school system. While she believes drug testing has “pluses and minuses,” and discussions have been held with the Peabody High School athletic director, principal Pat Larkin, and Calloway Drug Testing of Wakefield, she says the city is “nowhere near ready to make a commitment. “The
discussion would have to be a much larger one,” she said, “extending
to teachers, students and parents. But the more help we can get for our
students, the better. Many students don’t have an adult they can
talk to about drugs. A school counselor can play that role and catch a
problem before it gets more serious.” “Kids
being kids, they think they’re invincible. But when they turn to
drugs, they find out differently.” Only the most serious cases require the last of the three prongs, usually when kids are caught with large quantities of a particular substance with intent to distribute. The
attention drawn to this issue by the revelation that bad things could
happen to good kids like Levine and Allison, has some Salem High School
students retreating from the focus on them. (See Sidebar) He was impressed with how Joel spoke about his addiction at the January 18 assembly at Salem High. “Here’s a kid who admitted he had a problem. It was a very emotional moment. It’s okay to say I have a problem, and there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. We need to teach our kids how to recover from their mistakes.” Larkin says that like any public high school, Peabody High has a certain number of kids who use drugs. But despite all the media attention, it’s not excessive. “From the mayor on down, we are committed to doing everything we can to help those who need it. The more we can get kids who have a problem to say so, not to get them in trouble but to save lives, the better off we are.” In addition to their updated health classes that address drug use and guest lecturers, like Ginger Katz whose son Ian died from a drug overdose in 1996, the school also has adjustment and guidance counselors students can speak with confidentially, and a helpline. “We have to create as many opportunities as we can for students who need help,” Larkin said. “As adults, we have lots of ideas, but we need students to be part of the solution. Like DA Blodgett said, we need to keep up momentum on this. This isn’t a problem that’s going away. Whether it’s bringing in more people who have been through a serious drug problem, or creating more after-school programs to keep kids active, we cannot let this issue be put on the back burner.” Neshama Carlebach Presents Jewish Soul Music Mark
Arnold MEDFORD — Singer-songwriter Neshama Carlebach and her trio made beautiful Jewish music here the other night, using her songs and stories from the Torah and her late father to spread her philosophy of love and hope. It’s what she does best — and what she’ll be doing in our own community on Sunday evening, April 17, when Ms. Carlebach and her band give a benefit concert for the Jewish Journal at Temple Beth El in Swampscott. In
appearances around the world, Neshama Carlebach is extending the legacy
of the legendary Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, who put hundreds of traditional
Jewish prayers to music and drew a global following in a concert career
that spanned more than 30 years. With his curly white hair and beard,
his trademark white shirt and vest, the charismatic guitar-strumming “singing
Rabbi” used music and religious teachings to inspire his audiences.
Most of the new compositions represent a collaboration between Ms. Carlebach and her long-time pianist-producer Dave Morgan, a consummate musician who studied in New Orleans with Ellis Marsalis. Guitarist Ben Butler makes up the third regular member of the group. The band here will also include one or two additional musicians. At Tufts’ Granoff Family Hillel Center Saturday night, March 5, the group played some 20 songs in the space of a 90-minute set, to the delight of 75 students from Tufts, Brandeis, Boston University and other area colleges. “They’re awesome, she’s awesome,” commented a Brandeis student who came because he had “heard good things” about her father. Ms. Carlebach says her father’s mission in life was “to bring love and light to the world, to show that God is beautiful.” He sought “to teach people to love what really matters.” She is following in his footsteps in a career that, she believes, has been somehow ordained by God. With her younger sister Dari — now a kindergarten teacher and photographer who took the photos for Journey, her latest album — Neshama grew up in Toronto, with time also in Brooklyn, and in Moshav Or Modiin, Israel, where her father was a folk hero. Her mother, Neila, still lives in Toronto, where Neshama attended Jewish day school, Jewish high school, then the Ryerson Theater School. “I grew up wanting to be the biggest Broadway star that ever lived. I took singing, acting and dancing lessons from the age of five. My father was always away. I saw him maybe once a month or during Jewish holidays. But we talked every day, several times. I knew every moment of the day where he was. “At 15, he gave me the gift of singing and traveling with him, and I came to see him as a person with great drive and a clear mission, the most inspired human being I’ve ever known. At first, when he shlepped me on stage to sing with him, I was embarrassed. I wasn’t that great.” Neshama returned to Toronto and acting school. Then, after a year and a half, she says, “I woke up one day and said, ‘I need to be with my father.’ I dropped out. My teacher said, “You can’t leave in the middle of your training.’ But I felt I had to. I traveled and sang with him for nine months. And then he died.” Two weeks earlier, she had completed a CD with him, one of five CDs that now bear her name. She and her band begin recording a sixth, a mainstream album entirely in English, March 30. When her father died suddenly, in 1994 at age 69, he left a year’s worth of unfilled concert dates. After her 30-day mourning period, Neshama picked up his schedule. She was 20 years old. “I cried for two years, every show. It was so hard, but the world needed someone, and he wasn’t there. He had taught me how to do it. So I did it. I was very fragile. I knew God was with me but there was a time when I didn’t feel it….Then I started getting calls and taking shows on my own.” Ms. Carlebach has been doing her own shows for 10 years now and though she’s a mature performer, she hasn’t lost her youthful sweetness and sense of awe. An Orthodox Jew, recently married, she lives in Manhattan, where she serves as her own agent, booking an expanding schedule of concerts. Last month, she performed in Britain, South Africa, and Israel. In June, she goes to Brazil and Argentina. In between, the band does concerts for North American Jewish organizations, interfaith groups, women’s and student groups. The group did a fundraiser in Vancouver last June for Congregation Or Shalom, which is affiliated with the Jewish Renewal movement. Says Rory Richards, chair of fund raising there: “People loved them. She’s more contemporary than Shlomo. She inspires people with that flawless voice and her open and loving manner. She tells her beautiful stories that relate to people’s lives, and she projects an energy that’s quite enchanting. Everyone was dancing in the aisles at the end.” Neshama herself is modest about her effect on people. “It’s not about getting attention. I feel almost shy. My identity isn’t built on the fact that I sing but that I can open people’s hearts, like my father. Through song, we bring people together to feel love, to find meaning. Music is a healing thing and the world needs a lot of healing.” Neshama Carlebach in Concert will take place at Temple Beth El, 55 Atlantic Avenue, Swampscott, on Sunday, April 17, at 7:30 p.m.. Sponsorships are available at $250-$1000. Tickets are $25, Students with ID, $10. Tickets may be purchased from the Jewish Journal (978-745-4111x120), the Israel Book Shop (617-566-7113), Kolbo’s Fine Judaica (617-731-8743) and Hebrew College (617-559-3624).
Educators Encourage Action for Post Soviet Jewry Gary
Band Despite an enormous exodus over the past 25 years, there are still nearly one million Jews living in the Former Soviet Union. To call attention to the many Jewish people, mostly elderly women and some kids, who live in poverty without proper clothing, food or medical care in small cities and villages, Lynn Rubenstein and Reva Stickler, co-directors of the Ner Shalom program at Temple Ner Tamid in Peabody, recently invited Judy Patkin, director of Action for Post-Soviet Jewry in Waltham, to speak about the organization’s work to a class of post-confirmation students. Afterwards, the teens packaged hundreds of packets of Tylenol to send to the seniors in a few cities where APSJ is active, and are now trying to organize a collection of coats, shoes and clothing. Rubenstein was told about the work of APSJ by her friend Gary Kaplan of Peabody, and thought inviting Patkin to speak would complement Ner Shalom’s social action component. “She told the students about the Jews in Russia who had been left behind and that no one was taking care of them,” Rubenstein said. “As many of our ancestors came from Russia, It is our responsibility to help people there who need it. Judy Patkin was one of the founding members of Action for Post Soviet Jewry in 1975. With an active dues-paying membership of 1200 mostly from New England, the group receives a stipend from the Jewish Community Relations Council, some additional funding from grants and foundations, and serves the needs of approximately 1500 people in 22 cities and small villages in Ukraine. Last year the group distributed between $25-30,000 worth of food and $100,000 in medicine. “There is no social infrastructure for these people,” Patkin said. “Now at least pensions are paid on a regular basis. When the Soviet Union fell, nothing was happening.” In Ukraine, where there are an estimated 400,000 Jews, the pensions were raised before the recent election, and those eligible receive 284 hryvnas, or about $50 a month. “Many are still making the decision to eat or buy medicine,” Patkin said. “Many of these people worked their whole lives, some fought in war, now they have nothing. They were told better times were coming, but it never happened for this generation.” Through the Adopt-a-Bubbe program, contributors can help support those most in need. There are also zaydes, but most of the isolated people are women. Patkin says some people get help once or twice a year, some everyday. “The volunteers’ job is to find most needy, determine what they need and supply it for them. Some it’s eyeglasses, a hearing aid, coal to get through the winter, shoes or blankets. The Joint Distribution Committee distributes a lot of food, but we work by going family to family, person to person, often supplying a small but necessary thing.” Because of the Holocaust, many of these people have no living relatives in Russia, America, or Israel and cannot leave their small city or village. Although 10-12,000 Jews are still leaving every year, some simply cannot go anywhere else. “We’re just trying to keep them as comfortable as they can be,” Patkin says. “If we could raise more money, we could take on more communities.” An estimated one million Russian Jews now live in Israel and another million in America; 25,000 in Greater Boston. Approximately three-quarters of American Jews’ ancestors came from Russia. “We’re just lucky so many made the choice to come here.” Patkin says she usually visits some of the Ukrainian cities and villages APSJ serves once a year. APSJ also sponsors a program called Warm House, where funds for a holiday or birthday meal are allocated and prepared in someone’s house. Gary Kaplan of Peabody is a APSJ volunteer. A retired social worker, Kaplan was involved with the organization during the “refusenik” era when Russian Jews were not allowed to immigrate to America and Israel. “It’s a wonderful agency,” he said. “Their one fault is humility, but they do some wonderful things in a very quiet way. I would love to see some temple groups adopt this cause.” For more information, and to make a donation, call Judy Patkin at 781-893-2331, write to Action for Post Soviet Jewry, 24 Crescent Street, Suite 306, Waltham, MA 02453, or visit actionpsj.org. A klezmer concert to raise money for APSJ will be held at Hebrew College on May 8 (Mother’s Day) at 4 p.m..
Malden Shul Increases Community Outreach Gary
Band Congregation Beth Israel on Dexter Street in Malden’s West End, a 20,000 square foot Orthodox shul, was built on its current location in 1966. But the congregation, founded over on the east end in 1904, will continue to celebrate its centennial anniversary into its 101st year by offering a series of incentives the shul’s leadership hope will increase membership and grow the community. A contribution in the six figures by the Ruderman Family Charitable Foundation will allow the shul to offer individuals or families interested in joining the shul funds for a down payment on a home in the area, scholarships for day school and summer camp, trips to Israel and a speakers series. Set
across the road from a large stone church and an elementary school, the
shul is surrounded by an eruv, a designated area that allows shomer shabbat
families to carry items or push their children in strollers on the sabbath.
Beth Israel also has a nursery school and offers transportation to day
schools in the Boston area. Her father-in-law Mort grew up in Malden, and though he lives in Gloucester, is still a shul member. “This community is very important to him and believes in it very much,” Shira said. “We hope that more people will learn about this area and it will continue to grow.” Larry Weiner, whose father helped build the old community center, has been heavily involved with the shul for 25 years and served on its board for the past seven. “We think that with all we have to offer, we can attract a large number of exuberant people committed to traditional Judaism to our community,” he said. Rabbi Yitzhak Rabinowitz leads the congregation. “These are programs that will definitely enhance our community,” he said. “We are a viable and attractive choice for observant families.” To find out more about the shul and its programs, call 781-322-5686.
BocaYente Offers Readers a Slice of Jewish Life Susan
Jacobs Jewish Journal readers may have fond memories of Phyllis Dinerman, a former Marbleheader who published humorous columns in the paper after she and her husband Jerry retired and began wintering in Boca Raton, Florida, in 1999. Dinerman, a.k.a. the BocaYente, has self-published 85 of her essays in a new book entitled The BocaYente’s Slice of Life. Readers will recognize many of the short stories, which premiered in the Journal when she was a regular contributor from 2002-2004. Like fellow columnist Erma Bombeck, who made frank observations about the everyday occurrences that (primarily) pre-occupy women, Dinerman writes about the challenges of squeezing into a dress, threading a needle and keeping white tile floors clean. Yet Dinerman adds a Jewish slant, remarking on the difficulty of finding a good Chinese restaurant open on Christmas Eve, deciding what to wear to shul on Rosh Hashanah, and figuring out where to buy good Kosher-for-Passover pastries. Like Florida itself, the 193-page book is light and breezy. There is no in-depth analysis of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and Dinerman carefully avoids controversial subjects. Most stories revolve around a typical Jewish mother’s concerns — eating, shopping, going on vacation, and the family. Since the chapters are just two or three pages each, it is perfect reading material for lounging by a pool or sitting on an airplane. On her website, www.bocayente.com, (where the homepage contains a mezzuzah) Dinerman, an active woman in her early sixties writes, “This BocaYente is not yet ready for assisted living; I’m ready to assist those who want to go on living…with a smile on their face.” Some stories (like the one about her colonoscopy) will certainly cause readers to chuckle, if not laugh out loud. Dinerman says many of the essays began as chatty emails to her friends, who thought they were funny and circulated them on the Internet. When a friend unknowingly forwarded Dinerman an email that Dinerman herself had originally written, she knew her influence was growing. One of her best stories, ‘The Lost Tribes of Israel’ (which can be read on her website), still circulates in cyberspace. Although Dinerman no longer lives in Boca (she resides in Cascade Lakes, west of Boynton Beach), she has retained the BocaYente name because she says the Cascade Lakes Yente, or even Boynton Yente, doesn’t have the same ring to it. She is the features editor of her community’s magazine, Cascade Lakes News & Views, and she speaks regularly at local temples and community centers in Florida. The $15 book is for sale locally at Grossman’s and Spirit of ‘76 Bookstore and Card Shop in Marblehead, and at the Temple Beth El Gift Shop in Swampscott. It can be purchased online at www.buybooksontheweb.com, and will be available at Amazon.com and Barnes and Nobles bookstores in August 2005.
Big Questions Over Democracy in Mideast Ron
Kampeas WASHINGTON — President Bush’s jubilant predictions may be right and democracy may be coming to the Middle East — but the road ahead is not without its dangers. “Don’t start uncorking the arak,” David Makovsky, a top analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, quipped, referring to a popular Middle Eastern liqueur. “We don’t know yet how this plays out.” Bush made burgeoning anti-Syrian protests in Lebanon and progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks the centerpiece of a major policy speech March 8 to the National Defense University in Washington. “For the sake of our long-term security, all free nations must stand with the forces of democracy and justice that have begun to transform the Middle East,” Bush said. But experts cautioned that democracy could produce militant leaders, who would not serve American, Israeli or international interests. In his speech, Bush went further than ever in demanding a Syrian withdrawal from its 29-year occupation of Lebanon, saying that unless the Syrians are gone by May, he would not consider the Lebanese elections scheduled for then as being free and fair. He also called for international observers. “Today I have a message for the people of Lebanon,” he said. “All the world is witnessing your great movement of conscience. Lebanon’s future belongs in your hands, and by your courage, Lebanon’s future will be in your hands. The American people are on your side.” Bush has led international support for the popular Lebanese anti-Syrian movement that burgeoned after last month’s assassination of Rafik Hariri, a former Lebanese prime minister who was leading efforts to end the Syrian occupation. Many in Lebanon blamed Syrian agents for the attack, although the Syrians have said they have nothing to do with it and insist that it has been counterproductive to their interests. Still, under pressure, Syrian President Bashar Assad this week pledged a limited withdrawal by the end of this month. News reports said that a partial redeployment into eastern Lebanon had begun on March 8. It is not clear if the redeployment simply will be toward the Syrian border, or if any of the 14,000 occupying troops actually will cross back into Syria. Imad Moustapha, the Syrian ambassador to the United States, told CNN that all Syrian troops would be gone from Lebanon. Syria was central to Bush’s appeal, but he sees events there as the bulwark of regional change. He
noted Saudi Arabia’s recent municipal elections, but said next time
they should allow women to vote as well. He also commended Egypt for its
plans to open up its presidential elections to opposition candidates. “The people of the Palestinian territories cast their ballots against violence and corruption of the past,” he said. The problem, though, is that democracy is often messy, and experts warned that the consequences of recent events are not yet clear. “Democracy can produce militants,” said Moshe Maoz, Israel’s leading Syria expert, who is on leave this year with the U.S. Institute for Peace. “Look at Algeria in 1993. With militants, it’s hard to make peace, but you can make peace with autocrats, like in Jordan and Egypt.” David Mack, a former assistant deputy secretary of state for Near East affairs who also served at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, was appalled at the prospect of an electoral victory in Lebanon for Hezbollah, the Shi’ite terrorist group that brought tens of thousands of pro-Syrian protesters into the streets on March 8. “Hezbollah will likely be returned as the largest group in parliament,” said Mack, the vice president of the Middle East Institute, a think tank. “Call me an old fashioned Arabist, but the question is: Are we, in Washington and Jerusalem, going to be able to celebrate results of that? I wouldn’t want to bet on it.” Silvan Shalom, the Israeli foreign minister, who was in Washington March 8 to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, praised Bush’s speech as outstanding, especially when Bush noted Syria’s role in harboring the terrorists behind last month’s suicide bomb attack in Tel Aviv. But he acknowledged fears that a Shi’ite ascendancy in Lebanon could bring similar results in more moderate Arab states, including Jordan. The threats inherent in democracy resonated closer to home, too, Shalom suggested. In recent days, he was spending much energy explaining to his Western counterparts that any victory by Hamas in forthcoming Palestinian legislative elections should not give legitimacy to the terrorist group. “We’re worried about Hamas being seen as a legitimate political party,” Shalom said. Tom Neumann, the executive director of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, acknowledged the serious short-term risks of democratization, but said that in the case of Lebanon, they were outweighed by the reality of Syria’s negative influence there. “Anything anti-Syrian right now is good,” Neumann said. “Syria is a cause for lots of problems in Israel, in Iraq, in Lebanon.” In any case, Assad may not be ready to fold. Syria has too much at stake in Lebanon. It is an outlet that bypasses existing and potential sanctions and provides jobs for about a million Syrian workers. Even if Syria does remove all its troops, experts say, it will still keep its broad network of proxies and intelligence agents in Lebanon — and maintain its toxic influence. A negotiated withdrawal could avert that possibility, as opposed to the forced pullout that reportedly began on March 8, Maoz said. “One should use carrots and not just sticks,” he said. Yet sticks were all that legislation proposed in the U.S. Congress on March 8 promised. The Lebanon and Syria Liber-ation Act, introduced in the House of Representatives by U.S. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), would expand the sanctions made available in the Syria Accountability Act, an Engel-Ros-Lehtinen bill that overwhelmingly passed in 2003 and was implemented by Bush last year. The prospects of the new legislation passing were not clear. Bush did not appear eager to mimic its tough language, which goes further than the Accountability Act because it would sanction third parties that deal with Syria. In his speech, the President stopped short of threatening further sanctions or any other action and emphasized the international unanimity in calls on Syria to leave Lebanon, citing the support of France, Russia and Saudi Arabia. He’s trying for the multilateral, diplomatic press,” said Makovsky of the Washington Institute. “We have to be very careful,” he said. “This is not 1989,’’ when pro-democracy movements in Eastern Europe had much clearer, more widespread support. In
the Big Inning Rabbi
Steven J. Rubenstein
Rather, each ethnicity established their own neighborhoods, crowding themselves into apartments meant for one family, not two or three extended families. Kids roamed the streets in gangs for protection from the other ethnic groups that shared the neighborhoods. One of the activities that brought the kids together was baseball, and the one common denominator among the various groups was the singular dream of becoming a big leaguer. Many
a Jewish kid hoped of making it big one day in America’s national
sport. Although time has obscured the names of those who fulfilled
their dreams by playing baseball during the 1920s and 1930s, they deserve
some recognition. The year was 1923. At one end of the city of New York, Babe Ruth, the Sultan of Swat, was tearing up the American League, hitting home runs out of Yankee Stadium at an unbelievable rate. Fans flocked to the ballpark to watch him play. Across
town, at Ebbetts Field, despite being in a close race to the finish in
their own league, was the New York Giants. Jealous of the attendance
filling the stands, the ownership of the Giants was looking for a way
to fill the seats in their own ball park at the Polo Grounds. Solomon, a minor league player, had been tearing up the Southwestern conference with 49 home runs in only 108 games at the Class C level. Only Babe Ruth had more home runs in a single season. McGraw bought out his contract from the Hutchinson, Kansas franchise in September 1923. Solomon was born on December 8, 1900 on Hester Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. As a young boy, his family moved from the ghettos of New York to Columbus, Ohio where Moses took up sports as a hobby. Even though the family was observant, his brother established a name for himself in boxing while Moses pursued baseball. Even though his first love was football, where he achieved notoriety in Ohio for his talents as a drop-kicker, he excelled at both sports. But baseball won out in 1921 when he was picked up by Vancouver in the Pacific Coast International League. While in the minors he played first base and outfield, while batting lefty with relative success, hitting .313 that first year, matching his life time minor league average. By the time that he had been called up to the big leagues, Moses Solomon had already developed a reputation for himself on two fronts. On the day that he left the club, he was batting .421 for the season, and was leading the league in runs, hits, and doubles as well as breaking the previous minor league home run record established in 1895. The press gave him the nickname “The Rabbi of Swat” establishing him as “the Jewish Babe Ruth.” But he had another reputation as well. As was common for players of ethnic origin, other than Irish or German ancestry, Solomon was forced to earn the respect of the other players. Word soon went around to “lay off the big Jew”. Upon meeting Moses Solomon in heaven, I would ask him is how his reputation as “the Big Jew” had an effect in the way in which other players saw him as their equal. I wonder what would have happened to his rise to stardom if he had chosen to pursue football.
JVibe Provides Alternative for Jewish Teens Jared
Pliner As told by Ben Wallen in the Journal’s January 28 issue, JVibe magazine, just beginning its circulation, is published bi-monthly and offers a “hip” alternative to today’s Teen People, fueled by topics for today’s Jewish teens. In the February issue, the colorful layout and design of the publication is laden with just about every aspect of interest to Jewish teens of today, featuring reactions from its subscribers on previous issues, an interview with high school students on the ever problematic social cliques, and even a personality quiz. The topics are abundant and surprisingly interesting. In a column similar to the nationally syndicated “Dear Abby,” Teen People’s professional astrologer Ophira Edut addresses questions from JVibe’s readers, ranging from dieting to relationships. In JVibe’s exclusive interview with “Survivor” winner Ethan Zohn, the million-dollar victor and Massachusetts native asserts that Jewish values helped him take home the big prize. “I was a good Jewish leader in that I lead by example, not by being the guy who would stand up and bark orders.” Zohn also mentioned that a portion of his winnings went towards fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa by starting up a non-profit soccer program. Says Zohn, “People were dying, and everyone knew it was because of AIDS, but no one dared to mutter a word...With Grassroot Soccer we have been able to save lives.” Even though there is an obvious imbalance between entertainment pieces and intellectually stimulating articles, the publishers managed to inject into the issue the story of a teenage girl bearing witness to the spread of anti-Semitism in France while she traveled abroad during an exchange program. Another eye-catching column was Israeli correspondent, who describes the tedious driver’s license application process Israeli teens must undergo before hitting the roads. At first, I was distressed, thinking that the focus should be on something less frivolous than a driver’s license and more focused on the current, and apparently volatile situation which threatens the core of Israel’s existence. However, I came to realize that JVibe’s intent is to enforce a feeling of normal living among the country’s young inhabitants, and temporarily stray away from the portrayal of a hostile war-zone. Although some of the features in the magazine are, forgive me, “cheesy” -— such as the column, “Top Ten Clues You’re At A Lame Bar Mitzvah” — JVibe does an excellent job of targeting its audience with a dual purpose: not only providing modern teens with decent reading material, but further enforcing feelings of Jewish pride, a goal which has become the essence of Jewish Federations projects here on the North Shore. I encourage all the Journal’s young readers to visit JVibe.com to become a 2005 subscriber. I believe you will thoroughly enjoy it. Jared Pliner, an intern at The Journal, is a sophmore at Marblehead High School. Subscriptions, at $18 a year are available at jvibe.com.
A Review of Bush’s Bible Len
Abram The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny & Terror, Natan Sharansky with Ron Dermer. Public Affairs, November 2004. 289 pages. $26.95. Not since the 1990s, when the Clintons invited Rabbi Michael Lerner to the White House and found in his The Politics of Meaning moral support for their policies, has a book by a Jewish writer had such influence as Natan Sharansky’s The Case for Democracy. A recent guest at the White House, Sharansky has found common cause with President Bush, who draws upon the Israeli’s central idea in speech after speech: the transformational power of freedom. All men and women, regardless of religion, culture or history, wish to live in free expression and tolerance, not in fear and tyranny. Even people in terrorist states, if given the chance, would become peaceful partners in a community of other democratic nations. Victory in the war on terror may begin with force of arms, but it will end with the ballot box. Reasonable and decent people, both on the Right and the Left, continue to doubt such idealism. They cite the history of the Middle East, the failures of idealists, such as President Woodrow Wilson, the catastrophe of Vietnam. The realists, as Sharansky calls them, may include Bush’s own father and certainly Ted Kennedy, among many others. The election in Iraq on January 30, however, whose symbol is an inked index finger, suggests that Bush and Sharansky may yet be proved right. Where did Sharansky get his hope? Prison taught him the transformational power of liberty, beginning with his own. Nine years a prisoner in the Russian Gulag, he recounts in the book the day he visited his old cell. When he was a “refusenik,” a dissenter who wished to immigrate to Israel, many told him that opposing the Soviet state was unrealistic. His own jailers taunted him with the futility of resistance. Sharansky, however, found other proponents of liberty. Andrei Sakharov had the “moral clarity” to protest Soviet policies. American legislator Henry “Scoop” Jackson linked Soviet human rights with favorable trade, which the Soviet Union desperately needed. President Ronald Reagan also took up Sharansky’s cause and told the Soviets to “let those Jews go.” Not that long after Sharansky was freed, the invincible Soviet Union collapsed. Sharansky’s hope also comes from nine years in Israeli governments struggling to make peace with the Palestinians. Consistently he has argued for Palestinian rights. The Israeli government once believed that only a Palestinian dictator and thug, such as Arafat, could control the terrorists and make peace. The results of this realism have been tragic. Sharansky believes that only a democratic society in Palestine, requiring no enemies, such as Israel, to maintain power, can be a partner in peace. The Bush administration is pursuing this goal. To skeptics who say it cannot be done, that fear and tyranny trump courage and freedom, that terror states cannot overcome their histories, that containment is better than risk, Sharansky offers examples of democratic successes (the book was published before the recent vote in Iraq) and a list of democratic activists in the Arab world. Whether Sharansky and American policy are right about the case for democracy will be decided in our time.
Putting God on the Guest List at Your Simcha Susan
Jacobs
Putting God on the Guest List: How to Reclaim the Spiritual Meaning of Your Child’s Bar or Bat Mitzvah, (3rd ed.) Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin (Jewish Lights Publishing, 2005. 188 pages. $16.99) The spiritual element of a bar or bat mitzvah has been lost on many of today’s teens. Rather than focusing on the significance of the ritual, the youths (and often their parents) are more concerned with the glitzy celebration that follows the Jewish rite of passage. In his book Putting God on the Guest List: How to Reclaim the Spiritual Meaning of Your Child’s Bar or Bat Mitzvah, Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin offers suggestions on how to shift attention away from the party in order to embrace the core spiritual values. While Salkin does not condone festive celebrations, he yearns to put them in perspective. He hopes children and their parents will shy away from the presents, and focus instead on the spiritual potential present in the bar/bat mitzvah experience. Salkin maintains that after bar/bat mitzvah, a child crosses the threshold where he or she is now regarded as an adult in the Jewish community. The teen is permitted to read from the Torah, wear tefillin, participate in a minyan, and fast on Yom Kippur. Children younger than 13 can perform mitzvot as options. After bar or bat mitzvah, they become obligations. “Bar and bat mitzvah is more than simply a graduation, an affirmation of intellect, and an excuse for a party. It is the confirmation of character development, a window to the sacred,” writes Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso in the book’s foreward. “As they begin to put on deodorant, as their voices change and they menstruate or have wet dreams for the first time, it is not enough to teach our children how to make a blessing. We must also teach them how to be a blessing.” Rabbi Salkin, spiritual leader of The Temple in Atlanta, first published Putting God on the Guest List 13 years ago. More than 100,000 copies have been sold. This recently-released third edition has been revised, updated and expanded, and contains a valuable list of resources for parents. It would also make an inspirational gift for any teen preparing for his or her milestone. People in the News
Arts & EntertainmentThree Books To Tickle Young Jewish Hearts Izzi
Abrams Jewish books for children have changed since the days when K’Ton Ton slid down the potato grater at Chanukah time. Now there are many more choices — exciting, educational, creative books with a Jewish theme or written by Jewish authors, for children of all ages. Here are three good ones: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, by Mordicai Gerstein, is good enough to have won the 2004 Caldecott Award. That is the most prestigious award a picture book can receive. This powerful book by the well-known children’s author/illustrator recounts the amazing story of a young Frenchman, Philippe Petit, who in the early seventies strung a tightrope between New York City’s Twin Towers and safely walked across. The illustrations are dynamic, with Gerstein capturing the poetry and magic of this event. The text is simple, yet moving. The book is a lasting memorial to the former New York World Trade Center. It is hard not to be affected by this gem of a book as the last page is turned. Chicken Soup By Heart, by Esther Hershenhorn. Who doesn’t like a bowl of chicken soup and a touching story involving a young boy and his elderly Jewish babysitter? This book fills you with warmth and caring as Rudie Dinkins and his mother prepare chicken soup for Mrs. Gittel, the babysitter, who is sick with the flu. Rudie shares with his mom the delightful adventures he and Mrs. Gittel experienced while the mother and son make the soup. After the soup is served to the sitter, she feels better. But Rudie awakens next day with a stomachache and it becomes Mrs. Gittel’s turn to speed his recovery with soup elixir made by the “Chicken Soup Queen.” The language of the book is clear and simple, interspersed with some Yiddish words, which brings a special warmth to the book. There is a sense of inter-generational closeness throughout the story. If this isn’t enough, there is a great recipe for chicken soup on the last page. It’s a wonderful book for grandparents and grandchildren to share. The Mystery Bear — A Purim Story, by Leone Adelson. As a child, I looked forward with great anticipation to Purim each year with my special costume, hamantashen, and noisemakers. Leone Adelson has captured this excitement in her new book. Little Bear wakes up early from his hibernation and follows his nose to a small village where Purim is being celebrated with all the costumes and festivities. A little boy named Itzik, who is dressed like a bear, keeps insisting that there is a real bear attending the Purim Celebration but no one believes him. Right before the Purim play, Little Bear falls asleep after eating so many treats. When he awakes, he does so with a growl and frightens the townsfolk. They run off because now they know he is real, and Little Bear stumbles home to his mother to continue his long winter nap. The illustrations by Naomi Howland capture the flavor of the holiday, which this year falls on March 25. The last page includes an author’s note on Purim. Share this book with your kids before the holiday! The
Man Who Walked Between the Towers, by Mordicai Gerstein; Roaring
Brook Press, 40 pp., Ages 5-12. $17.95.
Editorial Democracy and Freedom in the Middle East Since the U.S. invaded Iraq in March 2003 for stated reasons that didn’t stand subsequent scrutiny, the Bush Administration has been criticized by most of the world’s nations for cowboy diplomacy and bullying tactics. Lately though, many of the critics have been eating humble pie. As President Bush noted in a speech to the National Defense University March 8, “Across the Middle East, a critical mass of events is taking that region in a hopeful new direction.” Libya is strengthening ties to the West, voters in the Palestinian territories and Iraq have cast ballots for new governments, Syria is bowing to pressures that may end its 30-year occupation of Lebanon. Regimes in Saudi Arabia and Egypt are talking about giving in to public pressures to reform. These are all positive developments. But a word of caution may be in order. In American eyes, democracy and freedom are irrevocably linked: Give people the vote, and you’ve expanded their freedom. In the Middle East, though, it’s not necessarily so. In Egypt, free elections — if they occur — would probably reward Islamist ideologues, in Lebanon the terrorist organization Hezbollah. Power-sharing arrangements that are the sine qua non of democratic government are an alien concept in the Arab Middle East. And as Bush pointed out in that same speech, women throughout the region are disenfranchised. As he put it, “No society can advance with only half of its talent and energy.” We’re pleased by the apparent progress we’re seeing in the Arab Middle East. But there is a long way to go before democracy and freedom take root there. Correction — Mark R. Arnold
A Nightmare Vacation I’ll Never Forget
(Editor’s note: Michael Levy is the 17-year-old Israeli grandson of regular columnist Dov Burt Levy. He gives his grandfather a short vacation.) A tradition for Israeli teenagers finishing 11th grade is to travel with close friends. The popular destinations are the southern Israeli resort city of Eilat, the Greek islands, or coastal resort cities on the Turkish Mediterranean or Cyprus. My friends and I chose to spend our vacation in Cyprus, having heard that Cypriots are warm people, and we were sure that the five days there would be great. It turned out to be a trip we will never forget. Before leaving, our teachers warned us not to wear Jewish or Israeli symbols, not to speak Hebrew loudly and not to tell everyone that we were Israeli, in order to avoid Arab terrorists. I’m sad to say that we are already used to hearing these instructions. However, I have been to many countries around the world and have never had any anti-Semitic experiences. The almost 100 Israeli teenagers on our flight arrived at Larnaca airport excited and ready to start an enjoyable vacation. However, our nightmare began immediately. We received rude and angry answers from clerks at the information and currency exchange booths as we sought help getting started. Not letting the incident get us down, we boarded a bus for Ayia Napa, a little town packed with tourists mainly from Western Europe and Israel. As we arrived at our hotel, we were greeted by swastika graffiti on one street wall. Settled in our hotel, we decided to check out the city’s teen nightlife. We tried getting into a club downtown but were turned away with the excuse, “The club is full!” The club was clearly not full as we saw the doormen continue to let others in after us. Another group of Israeli teens were beaten after saying that they wanted proof that there was no room. Shocked, we returned to the hotel. The following days were no better. While we enjoyed ourselves immensely while on our own, on the beach or touring the sites, anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic sentiments were evident time and time again. Stopping to get a cold drink one day, we asked the salesman for the price and he shouted: “Israelis! Either you buy something or get the **** out of my shop. Don’t ask too many questions!” Another day, an Arab tourist followed us shouting in Arabic: “Hathal yahud! Itbah el yahud, itbah el Israil!” (These are Jews! Kill the Jews, destroy Israel!). The following evenings we tried going to other clubs, but by now less surprised at the response, we were turned down every time. At least on the last evening the doorman didn’t bother making up lame excuses and told us to our faces, “You are not going in because you are Israeli.” For the most part, we kept to ourselves. It seemed to us that the local police, who did nothing, enjoyed watching it all. On several occasions we spoke to some Cypriots, trying to understand their hatred. Each person gave us a different reason, blaming us for our “murder” of Jesus or Palestinians or for Israel’s alliance with Turkey. Some simply told us that they just hate us. The only good experiences we had with other people were with British tourists and one very kind woman who worked in our hotel, the Bella Napa. Cyprus has joined the European Union and that makes me worry. Another country that will support the bad side of the EU. We were again full of excitement landing back in Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport. Happy to be back home, back to the country that accepts us no matter what. A good lesson about how important it is to protect our Jewish state. And at age 17, that lesson has even more meaning, as my friends and I will be entering the army this year. My advice: Do not visit Cyprus. I certainly will never go there again.
The Chick Flick: Women & Orthodoxy
It’s a natural for a sitcom — or maybe a Jewish chick flick featuring two attractive young women, roommates in a graduate school apartment, slugging it out over men, food, and shabbes candles. We were 24, smart, living in Buffalo. (OK, not so smart.) My friend, Susie, who carried The New York Times under her arm and wore a pony jacket and hippie jeans, learned that my roommate was moving out at the end of the year. Susie was going away for a semester. But when she returned, how about if we share that nice, modern apartment I had so close to campus. Cool. Oh, but one thing. Would I mind if we tried keeping kosher? It was something that had appeal for both of us. We were young Jewish feminists, hot-headed Zionists, and rabid to take on the Jewish establishment about women’s issues. Any Jewish custom, particularly one so enmeshed in the Jewish psyche, would be interesting and rewarding, right? Wrong. Susie returned from her semester away dressing in long sleeves and long skirts and talking like my grandmother — she had a Yiddish inflection in her speech. When we went shopping, she bought the things on my grandmother’s grocery list: tam-tams, oranges and tea. Oh, and by the way, the kosher butchers in Buffalo weren’t really kosher, she told me. “Well, then why do they all have those big Hebrew signs that say “Basar Kasher,” I asked her. Did I want to be kosher or argue? Susie had a simple plan: we would fly our meat in from New York (where apparently it was kosher), 150 pounds at a time. “Susie, we’re graduate students living on a $3,000 teaching stipend, not jetsetting carnivores.” But Susie never heard me — at least that’s my side of the story. She always had her head stuck in some book of the Talmud. She went into a trance on Friday nights after scrubbing the house spick and span; and she didn’t come out of it until Havdallah. Dating, you ask? She had suspended the practice until, no doubt, another 150-pound shipment from New York. Kashrut? Our kitchen had the equivalent of the Berlin wall. I had lapsed into “kosher style” while Susie was on a mission from HaShem. I was no innocent in this war either. I was convinced she had abandoned Jewish feminism and taken up with a patriarchal, misogynistic dinosaur of a religion. And my disgust with Susie’s orthodoxy drove us both off the cliff on several occasions. Like the time I made bacon, for spite, on erev Yom Kippur; or the day I threatened to make the rabbi’s tefillin pasul by touching them while I was menstruating; or the day it all ended when I threw Susie out for unscrewing the light bulb from the fridge so it wouldn’t go on on shabbes. How, you may wonder, does the movie end? Susie and I have been friends for almost 30 years. We both became academics in Jewish studies and have maintained a dialogue about Judaism and feminism that has been funny and reflective, challenging and deeply meaningful. Even more unexpected, the entire Jewish world has been increasingly interested in our debate. It seems like the hottest issue in Jewish circles these days is the status of women in religious life. How do women balance their love and loyalty to tradition with their desire for individual determinism and self-expression? Are traditional gender roles inextricably linked to the survival of the Jewish people? This weekend, when the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute and the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance present a conference on that very subject, I will be glued to my chair in the Hassenfeld Conference Center at Brandeis. Susie lives in Israel and can’t attend, but I’ll be text messaging her all the news — and looking for a producer who wants to do a chick flick on pushing the envelope, Jewish style. Boynton Beach Buffet: Bring It On
When my in-laws decided to move to Florida year-round, we joined the flock of snow birds-in-training and flew south in search of sunshine, family reunions and the all-important early bird dinner. After an unexpected four-hour delay at the airport this February vacation, we arrived in Boynton Beach to be greeted by hugs, kisses and a smorgasbord of food capped by a dessert buffet with a three-to one-ratio. It was day one and Mitch was already in distress vowing not to spend the balance of the week, grazing like cattle in an open field. All I have to say is…moo. I don’t know what was more alarming: The prospect of my backside growing larger than the state of Montana in one week or the notion that Mitch may get the idea that women in their golden years spend time in the kitchen. I made a mental note to continue my daily work-out regime and remember only to socialize with couples who can hammer home the correlation between frequent golf rounds and take-out food. This year, at least, I got to work out in the gym at my in-laws’ condo, where ladies decked out in jewelry strolled on treadmills comparing whose cleaning woman did a worse job. A couple of folks commented that I shouldn’t work out so hard, and for a brief fleeting moment I was a young babe in the gym. Before saying farewell, everyone compared dinner plans, the general consensus being that relatives like myself were screwing up the dinner scene. Food is a theme in Florida that keeps its residents glued together like caramel and their relatives on high alert waiting to be beeped so they can be seated at a restaurant to await yet another meal. One of my favorite dinners was the one we ate at my in-laws before we left. We were taking an evening flight so my mother-in-law insisted that we have a nosh (acronym for now offering second helpings). When we commented that we were stuffed, she quickly retorted, ”You’ll wash it down with some cake!” I want to make it clear that I admire my mother in-law and her passion for cooking. I am just in awe of the sheer volume of food consumed in the Sunshine State and how everything is a reason to enjoy a mini-feast. When we boarded the plane to Boston, I was given a jumbo bag of biscotti cookies because who could survive for 3 1⁄2 hours without a little something? It was then I realized that this mass feeding is just an expression of love. I’ll have to admit that when the stewardess asked if I wanted to purchase an item off the menu, I quickly said no, and then reached in my bag for biscotti. It had been a full hour since I had a nosh and my tummy was rumbling.
Beware of Distortions of the Holocaust
In recent weeks, a U.S. Senator compared his opponents to the Nazis, the Pope compared abortion to the Holocaust, and an Egyptian government newspaper compared President Bush to Adolf Hitler. Such analogies pollute public discourse by trivializing the brutal horrors committed by Hitler’s henchmen and by grotesquely distorting the individuals or policies whom they target. The problem with the Nazi regime was not that it limited legislative debates, which is what West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd was accusing the Republicans of doing when he invoked the image of the Nazis. Whatever one may think of abortion, it is not comparable to the Nazi genocide of six million Jews. And no American president can be compared to a maniacal dictator who caused the deaths of more than forty million people in his campaign to conquer the world. It only worsens matters that these inappropriate Hitler analogies are sometimes used as partisan political cannon fodder. Senator Byrd is a Democrat. Republicans condemned his Hitler analogy. But if Democrats had condemned it, that would have been an important demonstration that such analogies are beyond the pale. Sadly, Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy called Byrd’s statement “excellent — well thought-out, reasoned, compelling, legitimate and persuasive.” Pope John Paul II’s new book compares democratically elected parliaments that have permitted abortion to the “legally elected parliament which allowed for the election of Hitler in Germany.” Imagine what a powerful message it would convey if a Catholic leader or organization had taken issue with that analogy. An especially dangerous aspect of this problem is the circulation of Hitler analogies in the Arab world. When Arab government-sponsored publications compare American or Israeli leaders to the Nazis, they help incite hatred and potentially even violence. Consider that when Time Magazine recently named President Bush its Man of the Year, the Egyptian government daily Al Akhbar responded by pointing out that Adolf Hitler was also once chosen as Time’s Man of the Year (in 1939). The government-controlled media in Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian Authority, and elsewhere in the Arab world also frequently compare American and Israeli leaders to Nazis. When was the last time U.S. officials publicly rebuked them? There was a brief ray of hope earlier this year, when the State Department’s new report on Global Anti-Semitism included Israel-Nazi analogies in its definition of anti-Semitism. The report stated that in addition to direct attacks on Jews or Judaism, “the demonization of Israel or vilification of Israeli leaders, sometimes through comparisons with Nazi leaders, and through the use of Nazi symbols to caricature them, indicates an anti-Semitic bias rather than a valid criticism of policy concerning a controversial issue.” But then the State Department’s report itself made little use of its own definition when analyzing antisemitism in Arab countries, where Israel-Nazi analogies, and much worse, are commonplace. The section about Iceland was 387 words long, even though the report noted only one instance of ant-Semitic harassment and one hostile cartoon there. By contrast, Saudi Arabia was given just 182 words, and only 86 words were devoted to the Palestinian Authority. Hitler analogies must be consistently and forcefully denounced. That means Republicans and Democrats alike speaking out, even when the offenders come from their own camps. It means being willing to take issue even with revered religious leaders when they make inappropriate statements. And it means U.S. officials speaking out, even when the offenders are governments with whom they are hoping to improve relations.
Syrian Pullback from Lebanon: How Real Is It?
For make no mistake, despite Assad’s announcement that the 14,000 Syrian troops now in Lebanon would withdraw first to the Bekaa Valley area and then to the Syrian-Lebanese border, Damascus intends to hold onto its influence in Beirut for as long as it can. Assad is a relatively decent fellow, particularly by comparison with his father, Hafez al-Assad, who ruled the country for 30 ruthless years. But the thugs and apparatchiks who hold most of the power in Syria need the money they get from their drug and money-counterfeiting operations in Bekaa. And the Assad regime would be profoundly destabilized should a withdrawal of troops be followed by the ouster of tens of thousands of Syrian workers who are earning a far better living in Lebanon than they could in their destitute homeland. Assad really has little choice about getting the troops more out of sight. The other Arab countries had approved their presence in 1973 as an “Arab defense force” that could pacify the increasingly violent relations between Palestinian refugees and competing Christian and Muslim factions in Lebanon. But France, the European power with the longest ties to Lebanon, said last week that the Syrian presence must end. Then Russia, a formerly consistent ally, said the same thing. And finally Saudi Arabia, speaking for the Arab League, announced bluntly that it was time to end the occupation. While the troop withdrawal is required, under both a United Nations Security Council resolution and under the 1989 Taif Accord that ended Lebanon’s 15 years of bloody civil war, it is far from clear that it will open the door for better relations between Israel and Lebanon or Israel and Syria. Watch
Hezbollah In a nice piece of political theater, Hezbollah chief Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said his group would not disarm “because Lebanon needs the resistance to defend it” against foreign intervention. Syria can be counted on to remain the conduit for Iranian arms to Hezbollah, a flow that can only increase over time as the turmoil in Iraq removes any Iranian fears of either Iraqi or American military action against the Islamic Republic. While American and Israeli leaders may hail the Syrian action, they need to remember that Lebanon has little history as an independent nation. Foreign powers — Egypt, Babylonia, the Greeks, Romans and Ottomans, to name a few — have occupied it almost continuously for most of its history. The French control over it, granted after World War I, continued until after World War II; then a series of national governments tried without success to share power among the competing religious groups. For all the culture and urbanity that marked Beirut as the Paris of the Middle East, it hasn’t had much luck at self-government. Thus, what may emerge as Syrian influence becomes less obvious is just as likely to be a renewal of civil war or a redirection of hostilities toward Israel as it is to be a bold step down the path of liberal democracy. A celebration of a decision that was forced on Damascus is, sadly, premature. Many Pitfalls Await Israel Now The present almost cessation of fighting in Israel is a valiant effort on both sides to save lives, be they soldiers or civilians. While we all may want peace, I cannot deny certain realities. Whether I believe in the compromises that will have to be made and while I will disagree with some of them, I know compromises will happen. Yet there are all levels of compromise. I see the most difficult task will be to insure that all of the Arab states recognize Israel’s right to the land, whatever land the parties may agree upon. If I take a long-range view, the Palestinians may be the least important party to that agreement. I believe that the Koran mandates Arabs join in a jihad when Arab land is occupied by a non-Muslim. Israel must insist that at least all countries composing the Arab League sign a basic proposition that Israel is not Arab land. Peace with the Palestinians alone is not sufficient. The latest bombing in Tel Aviv is proof enough. Given the kind of autocratic leadership that exists in almost all the Arab countries, I can foresee a present or future Arab leader berating the Muslim world that Israel is Arab land and nobody has the right to give it away. This argument is not far-fetched considering we are a long way from being able to determine if fundamentalism with its inherent terrorism or diversity will carry the day, given both the subject matter of what is being taught in many Muslim schools supported by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and other Muslim states plus the support Iran and Syria provide to terrorists. History has shown that many Muslim countries and others have not been able to accept the diversity of Christianity, Judaism and other religions and ethnic groups. I see little on the horizon that has changed my mind. A second point is that how will all Jews react to the removal of settlements, particularly if it causes Jews fighting and even killing other Jews while terrorism continues. Perhaps those living in the parts of the West Bank that become part of the Israeli-Palestinian discussion will eventually accept the compromises made by the politicians. Given the reaction of a number of the Israeli military, we all need to think about what a civil war will do to the state. I grant that the citizens of Israel live in a country where majority rule governs and as citizens they are bound by that rule. My own visits to West Bank settlements give me pause. I hear people saying, “Yes we live in a democracy and follow its laws, but if the orders are immoral, we have not only the right but the duty to resist an immoral order. Did not the Nuremberg trials establish that one should resist immoral orders?” Many people look on the issue in terms of morality. In fact I have heard much more of that talk than the argument that the land was given to the Jews by the Almighty and no Jew can break that covenant. There are issues that can be resolved and then there are touchstone matters that may go further than either side can accept. I know that the land of Israel is vital now and may be more so in the future to every Jew and many Christians. How much are you willing to gamble with the future of our people? My answer is “not much” when I see how many of the European powers and Russia act, and an unwillingness to take on Iran | |||||||||||||||