Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 22 January 2003 — Page 14

Jewish Post & Opinion Looking Back We are all fellow Jews mat happened ,0 us Jews?

By RABBI LEO E. TURITZ I begin with purpose to tell a true story from my early years as the rabbi of the only synagogue in a small city. The first temple in Decatur, 111. was small, but it hosted not only the Reform Jews but also the few Orthodox who, for lack of an Orthodox place of worship, attended the Reform services. Who were these Orthodox Jews? For the most part, they were the parents of members of the Reform congregation. The time came for the need of a larger building. The plans included space for the few Orthodox so that they could worship for the Holy Days in their own style. It was in this manner that space was provided: The Orthodox could use two classrooms that could be formed into a temporary chapel. They had a portable ark and borrowed a spare Torah from the Reform ark. Thus, on the Holy Days, there was simultaneous worship of Orthodox and Reform character in the same house of worship. In stark and bitter contrast, a recent issue of Post & Opinion printed a page item in which the Council of Torah Sages (Orthodox) is quoted as saying: "A distressing development has occurred in our community, the publication of a book that presents a debate between, on the one hand, a faithful Jew and talmid cliacham and, on the other, a Reform leader whose premises reflect his denial of the very basis of our faith." It continues: the debate "represents a blurring of boundaries between darkness and light and an undermining of the Jewish religious tradition." All of this was in reference to the fact that Rabbi Yosef Reinman (Orthodox) and Rabbi Amiel Hirsch (Reform) had gotten into friendly debate. They published a book titled One People, Two Worlds. In addition, they became popular debaters in the presence of many audiences. The Orthodox Council called for a cessation of both the debates and the distribution of the book. I am troubled by this for, no matter the denomination, we Jews must be friends. We have much the same history, the same past and current literature and, truly, the same destiny. Although we differ in some ways, we can and should get along. I am a retired rabbi with love not only for my lifetime career as a Reform rabbi but also for my Orthodox beginnings. For one thing, my parents were Orthodox, and our home atmosphere was lovingly beautiful. Secondly, I am grateful to this day to Rebbie Rosenfeld, our inelatned at the shul in Hebrew studies which, eventually, formed a good basis for my study at the Reform yeshivah, which, in those days, right out of high school, I attended for eight years. Even now, I treasure the 78 rpm and 33 rpm records which I inherited from my father, z'tsl, of the great chazzanim of an early era. So I write not in the spirit of challenge but rather in the spirit of friendliness and in the hope of comradeship and fellowship between Jews of all aspects of Jewish faith and teaching. The essence lies in the Yiddish saying: Vos inir seinen seinen mir ober Yidden sinen mir. No matter what but we are all fellow Jews. Let us not forget that, in the course of Jewish history, there were the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Zealots, the Essenes, the Karaites, the people of the Dead Sea Scrolls, later the Chassidim, etc. All of them were of the Jewish faith. All of them were proclaimers of the Sh'ma. Why not in our day Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstructionist, and Reform? Times change. Our Reform prayer books contain both Hebrew and English. Please remember that the Babylonian Talmud was written not in biblical Hebrew but in Aramaic, the vernacular of the people of Babylon. If Rabbi Joshua ben Chananya and Hillel of the Talmud lived today, 1 would venture to say that they would be Reform Jews. Furthermore, the Tanach, the Talmud, the Midrash, etc. are definitely part of studies at the Reform yeshivas. We live, however, in modern times. Hence, in many ways, we adapt to modern needs. Nevertheless, Reform prayer books still carry much of the essence of the siddur and the nmchzor; slwclwris is recognizable as shacharis. Consider this: Did it matter to Hitler's henchmen when they slaughtered Jews whether they were Orthodox, Conservative, Continued on next page

(Editorial by Gabriel M. Cohen, Dec. 13, 1963) All over the United States, temples and synagogues were crowded on that fateful Friday night that saw the life of President Kennedy snuffed out. There had been no time to make announcements; no special services had been arranged; the sermons had all been written; all that those who thronged the houses of worship knew was that this was Sabbath evening when religious services were being held. What was the significance that made for this outpouring of Jews who felt that they needed something when tragedy struck? Was it because at a time when divine intervention could have averted a national calamity, that intervention was not forthcoming? Obviously not, for why head for the place that epitomizes that divine intervention, when the inter-

vention had failed us. What mystique operated here so that Jews who normally have no use for prayer suddenly and spontaneously all over the United States, as if all were driven by one unknown master, repaired to their houses of worship? The worshippers were not the old who long had passed their prime. These were young and middle aged, all drawn by the same attraction - not to community centers, not to a B'nai B'rith or a Hadassah meeting, not to a lecture, but to sit in silence together with fellow Jews and hear a word of comfort, to contemplate and somehow get the needed assurance. All is not lost, the religionists may say. This may be foxhole religion, but it also is a manifestation of something more. This lesson should not be dismissed so easily. Where there is a need, religion still is one answer that can serve.

Maybe You’ll Agree Too few choices? We've all heard the saying about two Jews, three opinions. In Israel it seems more like: two Jews, multiple opinions. Maybe Americans have it too easy. There are Republicans and Democrats. Sometimes known as the Ins and the Outs. We literally can flip a coin before entering the voting booth. In Israel to leave it to chance, you'd have to spin several dreidels. They have the Green party and the Green Leaf (legalize marijuana) party. There are Arab parties, Russian parties, parties for ultra-Ortho-dox from Europe and for ultra-Orthodox from Arab countries. And Shinui, an anti-religious party — which is against the ultra-Orthodox,

not against religion. The New York Times reports that there is even a Men's Rights in the Family and Support for Taxi Drivers party. Diversity is great. We could use more of it in America. Of course, the country might have to change its name to the Formerly United States of America if the fragmentation paralleled what's happened in Israel. But for all our joshing about the situation, Israel has survived with a functioning government. A few more choices in this country might be welcome. Maybe you'll agree. Ed Stattmann

How To Kill A Business In Ten Easy Steps

L Don’t advertise. Just pretend everytyxly knows what you have to offer. 2. Don’t advertise. Tell yourself you just don’t have the time to spend thinking about promoting your business. 3. Don’t advertise. Just assume everybody knows what you sell. 4. Don’t advertise. Convince yourself that you’ve been in business so long customers will automatically come to you. 5. Don’t advertise. Forget that there are new potential customers who would do business with you if they were urged to do so.

6. Don’t advertise. Forget that you have competition trying to attract your customers away from you. 7. Don’t advertise. Tell yourself it costs too much to advertise and that you don’t get enough out of it. 8. Don’t advertise. Overlook the fact that advertising is an investment in selling — not an expense. 9. Don’t advertise. Be sure not provide an adequate advertising budget for business. 10. Don’t advertise. Forget that you have to keep reminding your established customers that you appreciate their business.

You decide... it's your business in good times or bad.