Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 29 January 2003 — Page 22

NAT 14 Mnjarx29 J _2003

Friedman

Continual from page 9 doing something wrong. Q. Not being a newcomer to the neighborhood helps? A. I've been writing about this story since 1979. They know I care about this story, that I have an interest in their society, that I've always written about it respectfully outside of the Arab-lsraeli context. Most of all, there's a kind of ethnic identification that I'm part of this family story. I'm not like a non-Jew who was just in Vietnam and then in Buenos Aires and now is here. Because I care about this story. I've always felt they related to me a little bit differently. When Crown Prince Abdullah wanted to put this idea out - whether it was pure PR or the most serious diplomatic initiative in his life - he didn't choose one of his trained seals, and they've got plenty of them. He chose someone who has been writing critically about Saudi Arabia before and since. They believe I ‘will handle my reporting in a professional way and that people will take it seriously. Q. And, personally, how does being a conscious Jew affect your work and your life? A. My daughters were both born in Hadassah Hospital in Pin Karem. I got interested in the Middle East through interest in and identification with Israel. 1 was in high school when my parents first took me to Israel, which changed my life. Israel is hugely important to me. My oldest daughter has an Israeli name. Being Jewish is very much part of my cultural and political and religious identity. I'm deeply involved in my new synagogue, where I'm a trustee. It's something I'm very proud of. Q. Has today's violence also affected you personally? A. It's very sad. I don't feel as comfortable taking my family [to Israel] as my parents felt taking me. That is a great tragedy and another reason I long to see this conflict resolved so that, God forbid, another generation of American Jews does not grow up feeling distant from Israel. I lived in Israel on a kibbutz all three summers of high school. I did my sophomore year abroad at the Hebrew University on Young Judaea's program, which I found in the back of Hadassah Magazine. My kibbutz-until today is Hachotrim, just south of Haifa. These were my formative years, and it pains me that a whole generation might go

through their formative years without Israel. Q. Tourism is more important than terrorism? A. There's a mantra in the news business, and it's true in the culture business as well. If you don't go, you don't know. If young Jews don't go to Israel, they're not going to know. That's one more reason I'm so passionate about generating ideas, wanting a solution, wanting peace. I'm not naive about this. No one needs to tell me what the neighborhood is like; I lived in Beirut. 1 am that guy who knows what world he's living in [and] also wants to make it better. That's what my journalism is about. If people say, "You are on a crusade, you crossed the line from journalism to diplomacy," I say, I don't believe I have crossed any lines, but if by accident I did, if in any way my columns from Saudi Arabia contributed one iota to bridging the gap between Arabs and Israelis and bringing the day closer that there might be peace between an Israeli state and a Palestinian state, then I will feel very good, and the critics can call me any names they want. Reprinted with permission from the February 2003 issue of Hadassah Magazine; 2003 Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, all rights reserved.

Gold Continued from page 72 tion sing a few tunes or even as a device to give the cantor an occasional breather. I say bring back the organ for its color as well, its grandeur and versatility. No instrument can contribute to the craft of music, the musicality of cantor and choir as well as the communal aspects of worship as an organ played by someone who knows how! Last and even first and foremost, let us have real honest-to-goodness cantors, and let us allow' them the time as well as the kovod to sing as well as lead the congregation in worship. As I once wrote, it is CANTORS who lead services (or used to) and not anyone else. Why should anyone even want to be a hazzan today? He, more often she, is nothing more than

a glorified bar mitzvah tutor and/or an entertainer. In the time to come we will have cantors, and we, the congregation, will know and understand something about their art. We will participate by listening. We will know something about prayer and be able to pray all by ourselves. We will have genuine temple musicians and we w'ill encourage them to pursue their sacred calling. 1 only hope I live long enough to see that day. Dr. Gold may best be reached by snail mail at: 72 Avenue B, Rutland, VT 050701-4503 or eventually by e-mail at: [email protected].

form Jewish parents are, in some areas, founding day schools. There are already signs that there is student pressure for first-rate Jewish college programs, with Jewish spiritual content, at our first-rate colleges. It will be interesting to see if that movement grows in power. Rabbi Podet welcomes readers' comments at [email protected].

Shipley

Teicher Continued from page 12 offer collections of Jewish jokes. An excellent annotated bibliography that identifies some of these books is to be found in Joseph Telushkin's Jewish Humor, published in 1992. Among others, Telushkin mentions the ever popular works of Leo Rosten: The Joys of Yiddish and The Joys of Yinglish. Rosten now has a worthy companion. Dr. Morton 1. Teicher is the founding dean of the Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Yeshiva University, and Dean Emeritus, School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.'

Podet Continued from page 5 sented as if it were a competing alternative to religion, and religion was made out to be the loser in this false contest. Both the Jews and the Catholics invested in colleges, but for different reasons. The Catholics recognized a need for a higher education system that would not deprive their students of the spiritual. The Jews were worried about not being able to get into first-rate schools. In recent years religion has become an ever stronger force in American life. Believers 20 years ago were less than a quarter of my philosophy and religious studies classes. Today their percentages are in the 80s or low 90s. And Re-

Conlinued from page 6 city or on Ben Yehuda Street. Perhaps an artifact that you might have overlooked on your last trip. But whatever, do it. Every item in the Caravan is made in Israel. Every merchant is from Israel. It's not the same, couldn't be. But come in and suck up the atmosphere. When you carry the shopping bag home you will know that perhaps, just perhaps, you helped a Jewish family in Jerusalem stay in business at least a little longer until the world comes to its senses.

Peck Continued from page 7 the Jew-haters who are now crawling out of the woodwork and marching in the Palestinian marches. I will never buy anything French again, ever! No more Evian, wines, perfume, makeup or trips. Even French kisses don't appeal to me. I've been invited to Italy by their tourism ministry. They have assured me that there is no comparison between the two countries; Jewish visitors are welcomed there, and their citizens have no fear. I'll keep you posted. I do know Italian men are the closest I've ever found to the Israeli ones. In the interest of fair reporting. I'll do my research diligently. That's the beauty of being a columnist. I just have to give my opinion. Arlene Peck welcomes comments from readers, especially those of the Italian male persuasion, at best redhead@ea rthlink.net. www.arlenepeck.com.

Kenya Continued from page 7 ways will care about the Jews is the Jewish nation itself. Nobody should have to be the victim of a terror attack, but given the choice, if it had to happen all over again, I'd rather take my pigua here. In my homeland. (from The Jerusalem Post, 12/ 6/02)

Silver Continued from page 6 Aramaic work commenting on the Bible in esoteric fashion. Mysticism also produced hassidism (piety) in the 18 lh century, whose pioneer was Israel Ben Eliezer (1700-1760), known as the Master of the Good Name, Baal Shem Tov, in Poland. Mysticism was always present in Judaism, we are reminded by Rabbi Green in this masterful delineation of the movement. In the Bible the Book of Ezekiel records the prophet's vision of a divine chariot. Among Talmudic sages a number report visions and express views which later cam’e to be systematized by the Kabbalists. The stress in the movement is indeed the desire to commune with the Almighty. He has many names in the Bible, but the Kabbalists refer to him as Ayn Sof, the Endless One. His spirit descends from on high to earth in 10 stages, called sephirot (numbers). Each one reflects some aspect of His being. In the Bible the deity is known as Elohim (a plural name originally) and the tetragramaton Y-H-V-H, often interpreted as "He Shall Be." That accounts for this book's title, Ehyeh, meaning, as God addressed Moses, "I shall be." Kabbalah, which this author has served for 40 years, calls for its devotees to find ways to make contact with the Almighty. By so doing, one's life is refined and uplifted. Rabbi Green has created a havurah, a fellowship group, and he urges his readers to become adherents of the movement, providing a bibliography of other works both in English and Hebrew to effectuate that. High on the practices of Kabbalah is meditation. Intriguing are the views and beliefs of the Kabbalists. They find meaning in numerology. Every Hebrew letter is a numContiuued on next page