Fear, Internet, and the Jewish future

I recently attended the funeral of a major rabbi and educator from the Haredi, "black hat" sector of our community. The street was closed to traffic due to the impressive turnout, and a diverse succession of leading rabbis delivered emotional eulogy after eulogy.

Eulogy after eulogy repeated the same two memes. First, this was a man completely devoted to ensuring the transmission of Torah Judaism. Second, he was even more remarkable in his unwavering determination to oppose any change, hewing rather to the rigid traditions of previous generations. This can be a true strength, and we will always need teachers and guides who do not waver, but we also need leaders who can empower us to engage the world and repair it, and assimilate it -- not to assimilate INTO it.

"Assimilation" can refer to what we as Jews glean from the outside world -- language and literary meter, reasoning, science, manners, history. The dangerous side of assimilation has been the hemorrhaging of Jews and the dilution of Jewish identity. Our mission in this world is to assimilate, in the BEST meaning of the word: To integrate the richness of all knowledge into our dynamic and constantly evolving sense of identity and choices, as we face the ever-changing and constant challenges of life and the universe; and to get our questions and conclusions out to the widest possible audience, Jewish and otherwise, in order to make a positive impact on humanity. 

The destructive form of assimilation is very real, but it should not eclipse what has always been one of our strengths -- engaging the world in a constructive way, running the risks of diminution in order to remain relevant in the cause of expanding holiness where it would otherwise be lacking or undiscovered.

Every society and culture needs an ivory tower, and there are sectors of yeshiva life that should focus on what is immutable and unchanging. But an equally real test and mission of Judaism, as I see it, is to walk humbly with the Lord -- to walk, not just to sit. 

There will always be a facile case for demonizing and even banning interaction with the world beyond our own four cubits -- how can I get hit by a car if I stay in bed all day? The reaction to Internet is only the latest example. But effectively shutting off the Internet is also a control mechanism. And discouraging proper enforcement against sex-abusers can "protect" the community only in some perverse way, an example of how rigid control can harm the community and its members. 

On day school advocacy, follow the money.

I was intrigued to learn that my colleagues at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs are holding a panel discussion on vouchers, tax credits and other forms of government aid to non-public (i.e., private) schools. The panel is scheduled for this week's annual JCPA Plenum, where community activists from around the country gather to coordinate national and local approaches to pressing issues.

As was pointed out in the latest New York Jewish Week, this is a big deal for a national umbrella that's typically left-of-center when it comes to social policy and domestic politics. Part of JCPA's strength has been its affinity with labor unions and liberal church groups, which has come in handy over the years especially in protecting Israel from would-be boycotts. Some years back, JCPA ran afoul of some of the more monied interests in the Jewish community by opposing the Bush-era tax cuts.

Could this be a sea change? Government assistance to private schools -- even yeshivas -- is usually perceived by teachers' unions as undercutting their bottom line on the public school side. Many liberal Jews have lingering concerns over separation of church and state -- even for financing of secular aspects of Jewish day school education.

According to The Jewish Week, the three panelists for the session will be two academics -- including the leading historian of American Jewry -- and the head of a major teachers' union. It's a nice "get" to have a major skeptic of government funding, and two thoughtful scholars... but no sea change yet. Hopefully, sometime soon, JCPA will be in a position to give a platform to those in the community who are actively engaging in political advocacy for this cause, at the national, state and city levels;  a constitutional law expert; and possibly, one of the many community leaders who are also on board.

For now, it may be up to the Jewish Federations to lead the way, since that's where the donors are. Who better to appreciate what it costs to fund Jewish continuity?

Piling on 60 Minutes beats Yom Ha'atzmaut

Here's a sad consideration on the eve of Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israeli Independence Day: Hasbara (Israel advocacy) is beginning to contradict the business plan for American Jewry and for Aliyah (immigration to Israel). American Jewry's calculated over-reaction to last Sunday's "60 Minutes" story -- following on Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren's own MIS-calculated over-reaction -- is just the latest example. (I posted the interview clip yesterday, along with my own readout).

About "60 Minutes": The security barrier that now runs along the West Bank may be both effective and justified, and relatively benign for the barbarous Middle East, but its negative impact on Palestinian daily life is unmistakable. The demographic shifts among Christian communities in the West Bank and Jerusalem are complex and yet equally unmistakable.

My guess is, had Ambassador Oren known that reporter Bob Simon was going to catch him out, he might have prepared more carefully for the "60 Minutes" interview. But it was just one network show, airing the same night HBO was premiering "Veep" and AMC unleashed yet another gripping episode of "Mad Men". In other words, it's a garden-variety negative story about Israel that can be pushed down the Google ladder by a whole slew of good news, and also by whatever other bad news inevitably comes our way.

This week offered a welcome opportunity to boost Israel. And yet, rather than focusing on the infinite range of positive Israel stories, American Jewish organizations have responded by doubling down on Ambassador Oren's stumbling block. 

Rather than trying to inspire confidence and move beyond the latest inevitable "bad" press, our Jewish establishment has chosen to inspire fear and resentment -- calling for a full frontal assault on CBS News. The premise seems to be that 60 Minutes needs to be censured, so that the next time Ambassador Oren won't even have to call CBS management -- they'll already be so scared, as will other media outlets -- that they won't dare to broadcast such an unfair story.

There are at least three problems with this approach. First, it won't work. Second, it will backfire by drawing further attention to the premise of the story -- that the Jewish State is causing the decline of Christians in the birthplace of Christianity. Third, galvanizing American Jewry behind such a cause will reinforce the siege mentality in our community, and bolster those who maintain that Israel's biggest problem is bad press. 

And here's a bonus question: Is anti-media frenzy all just to defend beleaguered Israel from unfair attack, or is it also a way to fill an otherwise boring public agenda? 

Telling young Jews that "60 Minutes" is the enemy seems like a bad way to encourage them to move to Israel.  If the goal of the Aliyah movement is to bring in new Israelis who otherwise aren't considering Aliyah -- who aren't already committed Zionists -- it might help to actually improve political conditions on the ground and demonstrate there's transparency and openness to criticism here in the States -- both fair and otherwise. 

But blaming CBS News? As we say on Twitter, #goodluckwiththat.

60 Minutes slaps Israel's ambassador? Not news to me.

In case you missed the original broadcast (I certainly did), here is the link to the 60 Minutes feature on the challenges facing Christians in the West Bank.

Yes, the security barrier along the West Bank, however justified (60 Minutes says it's reduced terrorist attacks by 90 percent), does not help the image of the State of Israel. Yes, the Ambassador of Israel probably over-reacted to the story by complaining preemptively to CBS management. Yes, Ambassador Oren was ambushed/manipulated by Bob Simon, since he obviously didn't expect that his phone call would become a subject of the interview.

Yes, Israeli policies are contributing and possibly primarily responsible for the climate in which the Palestinian Christian population is declining in the West Bank. And yes, the Ambassador has a fair point, that focusing on the relatively benign plight of Christians in Jerusalem and the West Bank now -- at the very moment when other Christians are being violently and systematically persecuted (i.e, killed) in across the Middle East -- carries with it a certain absurdity. And no, there was seemingly no effort by 60 Minutes to track down some of the emigre Christians to find out directly why they left and to which destinations.

And yes, Bob Simon obviously enjoys his job (and displaying the label on his Hermes tie).

If Iran is really so dangerous...

If Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu really considers Iran an "existential threat", why hasn't he acted to remove other items from Israel's strategic plate? He could stop expanding settlements and take the initiative to resume talks with the Palestinians, so at least he'll have some diplomatic capital to lose if Israel does strike Iran -- at the moment, he's barely treading water. He could act as though Israel is really waiting to see if sanctions work, so he might have a few friends (France, Croatia, USA?) if Israel ends up attacking.

What has Netanyahu actually done so far? He has been lobbying his own Cabinet and assorted Western leaders on the merits of a hypothetical Israeli attack. The result of this down-beat on the war drums has been to undermine credibility of the same crippling sanctions against Iran that Israel has been demanding, and which U.S. President Barack Obama and other allies have been pushing. In Netanyahu's narrative, any sanctions are either too little or too late -- so why bother at all? His policy on settlement expansion has been so defiant (or determined, if you prefer) that the Obama administration has given up on stopping settlements or promoting peace with the Palestinians, and is now indistinguishable from its immediate predecessor on the issue.

What has Netanyahu NOT been doing? He has NOT been preparing Israel for the consequences of any military confrontation with Iran. Even if such a strike were to become unavoidable -- and even if it could succeed in significantly derailing Iran's nuclear program -- the backlash and retaliation against Israel would be devastating. Is there a plan for that, or any urgency to prepare Israel's 8 million inhabitants, most of whom were born after the 1973 war that last brought Israel close to the brink of destruction, for what might easily escalate into a Total War?

Remembering the Struma, at 30 and 70 years

Seventy years ago, on February 24, the Struma sank with some 800 starving passengers and crew, deliberately cast adrift and probably torpedoed by a Russian or German submarine. Adding to the tragedy were the circumstances: The Struma had sailed from Constanta, Romania, with Jews escaping the Holocaust; Turkey refused them entry at Istanbul unless the British guaranteed their visas to continue on to Palestine; the ship lingered for days, then weeks, and was eventually towed back out into the Black Sea. Horrible. Unnecessary.

Thirty years after the Struma sank, we spent a long summer in Bucharest, getting to know the brutality of Communism -- and the daily luxuries of the Diplomatic Club -- firsthand. We also spent some wonderful days along the Black Sea resorts, including Constanta -- not yet aware of the dark association with the Struma. The closest friends we made there were Millie and Otto, who were spared the concentration camps of World War II, though Otto had endured the Russian Front and together they faced the darkest of Ceausescu's Marxist fantasies. As a young woman, before the war, Millie had managed to spend a year in the States, so her English was excellent and her regrets consuming.

I gradually absorbed Millie's story, over successive visits to Romania, as I grew old enough to comprehend. During the war, she was working for the telephone exchange and had saved enough money so that -- when one of her sisters booked passage aboard the Struma with her husband -- Millie was able to pay the fare for a younger sister to join them, presumably heading to safety. Later, as the ship sat in quarantine off of Istanbul, the husband's international firm was able to pull some strings and get landing cards for the married couple -- but not for Millie's second sister. All three stayed together aboard the Struma, and all three perished.

Auschwitz won't stop Iran

2009: Bibi proves the Holocaust was real...

I shouldn't have to say this, but: I take the Holocaust very seriously, and much of my schooling and my career has been devoted to studying and honoring the memory of the Holocaust.

Having said that, and setting aside my concerns with some of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's strategic and diplomatic behavior vis-a-vis Iran, he seems dangerously obsessed with applying Holocaust terminology to contemporary situations.

Sometimes, as I blogged last year, he has used the Holocaust to try and impress world leaders with the overwhelming evidence that the Holocaust is a historical fact, and that therefore Iranian President Ahmadinejad is lying... and that therefore Iran has no right to develop nuclear weapons. Right. The problem is, there are a few logical gaps there, beyond the fact that the United Nations -- where he delivered such a speech -- had already established a firm policy of Holocaust commemoration and condemning Holocaust denial. And Netanyahu played no part in that achievement (as reflected in his speech).

Evidently, the Prime Minister was looking to impress his voters back home, and it worked -- as usual. This is becoming a ritual for him, much like Rudy Giuliani trotting out 9/11 at every opportunity back when he was running for President.