The Charlotte Jewish News - August, 1997 ■ Page 2
My Voice
By Susan Kramer
I never realized what an
education was in store for me
when I took over the editorship of
the Charlotte Jewish News. Now, I
thought I was an educated Jew —
after all, as a Jew by choice, I have
done an enormous amount of
reading and studying to catch up
with my "bom Jew" brethren. Ha!
There is so much Jewish
information out there about things
that I didn't know I didn't know
about — well, these last four
months have been an humbling
experience.
An enormous amount of
information comes across my desk
each month, and I read it all,
looking for important stories,
thought-provoking op-ed pieces
and engaging feature articles that
will interest my readers. I see a
little bit of everything, from
Mendy comic books ("the only
kosher comic book published in
the US") to books for review. (The
most intriguing offering recently.
The Harlot By The Side of the
Road: Forbidden Tales of the
Bible, will be reviewed as soon as
I clean the steam from my
glasses.)
I get press releases from left and
right-wing groups (everyone has
an agenda!) as well as from the
mainstream organizations that
keep me posted on the (newest)
crisis to confront the Jews — and
it seems as if there is a new crisis
weekly.
I receive heartwarming stories
like the one about the (non-
Jewish) teacher in the rural
Georgia town who has created
an award-winning Holocaust
curriculum for her school, even
though there were no Jews in the
community, the mildly ridiculous
(see "Mendy" above) and the
downright funny, like the handout
I got in my mailbox detailing how
to be a good wife, circa a 1952
High School Economics textbook.
(When “he” comes home, "have
his dinner ready, touch up your
makeup, wash the children's faces,
minimize the noise of the washer,
dryer, dishwasher and vacuum,
have a cool drink ready for him
and take off his shoes ..." My
only question is where can / get a
wife like that?)
One of my favorite weekly
submissions is the Shabbat
Shalom J^ax, published by Aish
HaTorah, an Orthodox outreach
organization. Founded by Rabbi
Noah Weinberg of Jerusalem, Aish
claims it can teach you the Torah
in an hour, Hebrew in five lessons
and 3,300 years of Jewish history
in three hours. Although I am
somewhat skeptical of those
claims, I do fmd the idea on which
his organization is founded, that
"every individual Jew is part of the
overall destiny of the Jewish
People," and the "importance of
loving every Jew," to be very
appe^ing. Each week, the Shabbat
Shalom Fax, in addition to a D'var
Torah on the weekly parsha,
publishes interesting essays on
current Jewish events. At their
invitation to "pass it along," I am
reproducing a recent essay here. It
spoke to me — perhaps it will
speak to you. (By the way, if you
are interested in receiving the
Shabbat Shalom Fax, you may
contact Aish HaTorah at (305)
535-2474.)
And so, my Jewish education
continues. I look forward to
sharing it all with you, and even
more importantly, learning from
you as well. >>
Committee seeks compromise on conversion issue
JERUSALEM — Tne committee
named to find a compromise on
Jewish conversion has begun its
awesome task.
Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, speaking at the opening
of the committee's first meeting
June 30, urged the sides to
demonstrate tolerance and
flexibility in trying to find a
solution. The prime minister "gave
us his hearty blessing," said Uri
Regev, director of the Israel
Religious Action Center and the
Reform movement's representative
on the seven-member committee.
The Conservative representative
is Rabbi Reuven Hammer, who is
head of the Masorti rabbinic Court
for conversions. The other five
members, including the
committee's chair, former Justice
Minister Ya'acov Ne'eman, are
Orthodox. The committee was
The Charlotte Jewish News
5007 Providence Road - Charlotte, NC 28226
Office Hours
Tuesdays & Thursdays 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Phone
(voice man after office hours)
Office 366-5007 ext 268
FAX 704 365-4507
E-Mail: skramer@vnetnet
Internet access is provided to the CJN by Vnet Internet Access, Inc.
A Publication of the
Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte
Marvin Goldberg-Executive Director
Susan Kramer-Editor
Advertising Coordinator: Rita Mond, 366-6632
Advertising Sales Rep: Shari Naman, 841-1674
CJN Executive Board
CoChairs - Bob Abel • Bob Davis
Members: Evelyn Berger, Suzanne Cannon, Ann Langnian, Linda Levy,
Dr. Selwyn Spangenthal
The CJN does not assume responsit)iHty for the quality or kasnjth of any jaroduct or
service advertised. Publishing df a paid political advertisement does not constitute an
endorsement of any candMate, poNticat party or position t>y this newspaper, the
Federation or any employees.
Layout Design by Erin H. Bronkar
Published nruMithly except July
Copy deadline i« the 5th of the month preceding month of issue
created as part of a compromise
negotiated between the Israeli
government and Reform and
Conservative movements to find a
consensus on the conversion issue.
The conversion crisis erupted a
year ago after religious political
parties secured a commitment from
a newly elected Netanyahu to seek
legislation that would set into law
the Orthodox establishment's sole
authority over Jewish conversions
conducted in Israel.
After the Knesset passed the first
reading of the bill in April, Reform
and Conservative Jews, both in
Israel and the United States, went to
work vigorously opposing the
measure, saying that it would
delegitimize the non-Orthodox
movements. The agreement to
establish the interdenominational
committee came after more than
two months of talks between
coalition representatives and
Reform and Conservative leaders,
including last-minute marathon
talks that involved Netanyahu
himself
As part of the compromise, the
coalition agreed to suspend
legislative woric on the bill and the
Conservative movements agreed to
suspend litigation pending before
Israel's High Court of Justice.
The committee was given until
August 15 to develop recom
mendations. If the coalition, which
includes the 23 Knesset members
from the religious parties, adopts
the recommendations, the Knesset
would likely pass legislation in
September.
We must stop this
family feud
Good morning! This week I
received the following letter
from Rabbi Yitz Greenman,
Director of the Aish HaTorah
New York Branch. It's a letter
that represents the feelings of
all of us involved with Aish and
probably many Jews world
wide. It's a letter that needs to
be read and passed on to others.
Last night I cried.
Last night I went to the
wedding of a close friend and
cried. My tears were not of joy,
but of sorrow and pain. Oh no,
don't misunderstand, it was a
beautiful wedding and they are
a lovely couple.
Now you may wonder, why
else would I cry at a wedding?
Perhaps it's the incident at the
Wall, where some of my Jewish
brothers acted in a despicable
way and undermined the very
outreach work that I do? That's
not it. Maybe it's the "Who Is A
Jew" issue that has Jews of all
stripes up in arms? No again.
What about the "religious"
Jews who are accused of
laundering money for drug
traffickers in NY? That’s not it
either. Well, then maybe it's the
fact that more than 50% of my
brothers and sisters are
intermarrying? Sorry. What
then could It be?
I sat next to a very nice
gentile man at this wedding
who was recently in Israel.
When sharing the highlights of
his trip with me he said, "You
Jews are in trouble — and it
isn't the Arabs, it's the fact that
you're not at peace with your
fellow Jews. You're at each
other's throats!" When I heard
that, I cried.
Yes, our dirty laundry is
hanging on the line for all to
see and we have no one to
blame, but ourselves. All of the
issues above bother me terribly,
but hearing this point from a
non-Jew was the straw that
broke the camel's back. It's
gotten so out of hand that the
non Jews are wagging their
fingers at us. It's hard to be a
light unto the nations when
you're not shining. We're not
and we should be ashamed.
You ask, 'What can 1 do?' A
lot. 1) Try to love all Jews,
especially the ones you
disagree with. Realize that
you're either part of the
solution or part of the problem.
If you don't learn to recognize
and appreciate the virtues in all
Jews, you're part of the
problem. Period. It's easier to
feel closer to other Jews when
you focus on the values that we
have in common. There are so
many. 2) Stop accusing. It
takes two to tango and the
blame lies on all sides. Try to
understand where "they" are
coming from. Ask yourself: "if
I were born into a non
observant/observant (or right
of center/left of center) home,
how would I feel about this
issue?" It's not necessary to
change your views, but it is
necessary to respect the rights
of other people to have their
own views. 3) Study Torah.
The Torah has been our guide
for over 3,000 years. As the
great philosopher, Rav Saadiah
Gaon, said: "Our nation is a
nation because of the Torah. If
you're not fluent in Torah study,
ask your rabbi to explain what
the Torah says about these
complex issues. If you don't
have a rabbi, now is a great
time to find one.
We've overcome so many
obstacles over the millennium
and accomplished so much, we
can't let ourselves self-destruct
now. We must stop this family
feud.
Reprinted from The Shabbat
Shalom Fax, published by Aish
Ha Torah, Rabbi Kalman
Packouz, editor. 0
Point of View wiii return next month.
The next issue of the CJN
will be published on September L
Deadline for
is 5.
The Charlotte
JEWISH
news
Here is my contribution to
demonstrate my support
of The Charlotte Jewish
News.
Name Rhone (
Address
City
.State
.Zip.
Enclosed in my check for $
$18.00 Basic Annual Subscription
$25.00
$50.00
Friend
Patron
$100.00 Grand Patron
Other
Mall to:
The Charlotte Jewish News
Voluntary Subscription App^
5007 ProvidMKe Road
Chsriotte, Nc 28226