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Jewish Journal

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November 20, 1997

Honor Thy Father

Leave a Comment / Entertainment, Old Stories /

Top, a scene from “Countess Maritza;” Above, YvonneSylva Maritza Josephine Kálmán as a child, with herfather Emmerich Kálmán.


Yvonne Sylva Maritza Josephine Kálmán, sixtyish,blond and glamorous, is named for all her father’s favorite operettaheroines. So perhaps not surprisingly, she has dedicated much of herlife to seeing that her father’s operettas have been performed allover the world.

She has many memories of him, but, mostly, she remembers thestories of how the Nazi came calling at the family villa on theAvenue Foch in Paris. It was 1939, not long after EmmerichKálmán had fled Vienna for France, and he wasashen-faced as he received the general. But the general’s message wascordial: “The Führer loves your music, and he misses yourpresence in Austria. He would very much like you to return,” he toldthe composer. Hitler would make Kálmán an “honoraryAryan,” and no one would know he was Jewish.

The musician shakily declined. By March 1940, he was forced toescape with his family to Los Angeles. His music was bannedthroughout the Reich, and most of his extended family perished in theconcentration camps. Kálmán never recovered from theshock and died, brokenhearted, in 1953.

Yvonne, his youngest child, was only 16 when he died. Over theyears, she has tenaciously telephoned and written to opera directorsall over the world, prompting revivals of her father’s works.

Beginning on Saturday, Nov. 22, and running through Dec. 7, theLos Angeles Opera will present Kálmán’s “CountessMaritza,” in perhaps the most lavish production of an operetta seenanywhere. Last week, Yvonne Kálmán could hardly containher excitement as she spoke of the production, jumping upintermittently to play excerpts from the operetta on the stereo.

Emmerich Kálmán was born in 1882 to a musical familyin the Hungarian resort town of Siofok. He attended Budapest’s RoyalAcademy of Music with Béla Bartók, and, by the 1920s,he had become renowned all over Europe. His fiery works, such as “TheGipsy Princess” and “Sari,” combined Hungarian folk themes withstrains of the Viennese waltz.

In Vienna, Kálmán first eyed Yvonne’s mother, VeraMakinska, at the famed Cafe Sacher; she was a lovely Russian dancer,30 years his junior, who asked if she could have a part in his nextshow. George Gershwin later visited the couple at their elegant villaand serenaded them with his “Rhapsody in Blue.”

But when the Nazis forced Kálmán to flee to LosAngeles, the once-prominent composer suddenly found himself obscure,a stranger in a strange land. MGM’s Louis B. Mayer had bought themovie rights to his operettas, but they never made it to the screen.Austrian and Hungarian plots were taboo, impossible with the outbreakof war, Yvonne explains.

It was only when the family relocated to Park Avenue in New Yorkthat Kálmán found a real home amid the expatriatecommunity. He reunited with his old Viennese librettist, AlfredGruenwald, and Yvonne remembers how they shouted together in hiscluttered study while smoking myriad cigars and strewing sheet musiceverywhere. The daughter loved to sit under the Steinway as herfather played or scribbled musical notes on his shirt cuffs. At theage of 3, she first heard Kálmán conduct his work withthe NBC Radio Orchestra, and “thought it was the most beautiful musicI had ever heard.”

Vera Makinska, meanwhile, held court at her legendary Manhattansoirees, where the passing celebrity parade included Greta Garbo andpianist Artur Rubinstein. Salvador Dali, who could always be countedupon to behave outrageously, fascinated young Yvonne with his long,twisted mustache. Shy, sensitive Kálmán usually sat outthe parties in the kitchen with pals Marlene Dietrich and authorErich Maria Remarque.

The composer’s newfound happiness was short-lived, however. Uponlearning of the death of his family in the Holocaust, he suffered amassive heart attack. Three years later, he was virtually immobilizedby a stroke. To cheer him up, 12-year-old Yvonne once brought home asurprise guest she had met at a party. When her father groggilyemerged in his bathrobe, he discovered his film idol, Buster Keaton.

Yvonne remembers the long train ride with her father’s coffin toVienna, where he was buried on a gray, stormy day in an honorarygrave near the composer Johann Strauss. She was devastated by theloss of her father, but heartened by the revivals of his operettasall over Europe. Once, after a production in Leningrad, theperformers called Yvonne onstage and presented her with dozens ofwhite roses, to thunderous applause.

By the 1980s, promoting her father’s work had become a full-timejob for Yvonne, who persuaded the Vienna Volksoper to perform “TheGipsy Princess” at Lincoln Center in 1984. After the sold-out run,she prompted shows in Santa Fe, N.M., and Orange County.

But the upcoming Los Angeles production, she says, is perhaps themost meaningful of all. “My father lived in anonymity in this city,”says Yvonne, who maintains residences in the Southland high desert,Munich and Mexico. “If he could have seen the people lining up hereto buy tickets, it would have been one of the happiest moments of hislife.”

For information about “Countess Maritza,” call (213) 972-8001. Tobuy tickets, call (213) 365-3500.

Honor Thy Father Read More »

Making a Noise

Leave a Comment / Entertainment, Old Stories /

Above, Jill Hill and Geoff Elliott in a scene from A NoiseWithin’s production of “King Richard III.” Top, co-founder ArtManke.

In every other Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland movie, there came apoint when one or the other would pipe up with, “Hey, kids, let’s puton a show,” followed by a glitzy Hollywood production number.

A latter-day incarnation of that entrepreneurial spirit isrepresented by a trio of young producers/directors/actors — ArtManke and the husband-and-wife team of Geoff and Julia RodriguezElliott.

Against all odds and from a standing start six years ago, thethree have created one of the top repertory companies in SouthernCalifornia and, along the way, have built large and loyal audiencesfor the great stage classics and put Glendale on the theatrical map.

Manke and the Elliotts, all expatriate Angelenos, were fellowstudents and actors at San Francisco’s prestigious AmericanConservatory Theatre back in 1990. Restless and dissatisfied with thelimited opportunities to practice their craft, they decided to strikeout on their own.

In effect, said Julia Rodriguez Elliott, with a smile during ajoint interview with Manke, “we decided, ‘Hey, kids, let’s put on aclassic.'”

The Muses smiled on the rash enterprise and led the three artists,all in their early 30s at the time, to Glendale’s funky eight-storyMasonic Temple, built in 1928, which had fallen on hard times.

With a lot of elbow grease, the three founders converted one floorof the temple, which had most recently housed a rock ‘n’ roll revivalchurch, into a theater auditorium, and A Noise Within: Glendale’sClassical Theatre Company was born.

With the audaciousness of youth, the new company selected “Hamlet”for its first production, with Manke directing, Geoff Elliott in thetitle role, and Julia as Ophelia.

For the second production, William Congreve’s “The Way of theWorld,” the trio lured their respected former mentor in SanFrancisco, Sabin Epstein, to direct the play. An integral part of thecompany ever since, he recalls the early days, when audiencesalternately sweltered in the summer and froze in the winter.

Over the next few seasons, as the company expanded its repertoryto seven productions a year, A Noise Within attracted growingaudiences, critical praise from the Los Angeles media, and solidsupport from the city and business communities of Glendale.

This season, the company is taking a major leap forward. It hasexpanded its original 99-seat theater to 145 seats, but that’s onlythe beginning. Buttressed by a $2.5 million grant from the city ofGlendale, a 250-seat auditorium will take shape two floors above thepresent auditorium over the next two years.

The third phase, which will take an additional two years, callsfor the construction of a 500-seat facility within the MasonicTemple, with both orchestra and balcony seating.

Artistically, A Noise Within has stuck to its basic formula. Itsannual fall and spring seasons are anchored by at least oneShakespeare play, traverse the following centuries with aMolière, Congreve or Richard Brinsley Sheridan drama, and thenby way of Charles Dickens, Henrik Ibsen or Oscar Wilde, reach aGeorge Bernard Shaw, Eugene O’Neill, Luigi Pirandello, John Steinbeckor Arthur Miller play.

In the coming spring season, the company will mount its mostcontemporary production yet — Sam Shepard’s “Buried Child,” whichpremièred 20 years ago.

When does a play qualify as a classic? One definition, said Manke,quoting Tyrone Guthrie, is “a classic is whatever I say it is.” On aless subjective note, he added that “a play becomes a classic bydealing with universal themes and archetypical human relationships.”

Sometimes, a classic’s relevance to current concerns is underlinedin a way that astonishes Elliott and her colleagues, who must planthe season’s bill far in advance.

Currently playing is Shakespeare’s “Richard III.” Suddenly, withthe death of Princess Diana, “the world is focused on the lives ofthe royal family and questions of royal succession,” said Elliott.”So the audience can look at the play from a new perspective.”

The same applies to another current fare, Noel Coward’s “Designfor Living.” “What could be more relevant than the issue of being acelebrity and how to deal with the media?” asked Elliott.

Epstein, who is directing “Design for Living,” said that he isparticularly attracted to “comedies of style,” also known as “teacupand corset” plays.

A Noise Within’s success is reflected both in numbers and criticalrecognition.

Last season, audience attendance was at 97 percent of capacity,and “if we had more space, we could fill it now,” said Manke.

While the core of subscribers comes from the Glendale-Pasadenaarea, half of the audiences are drawn from other parts of theSouthland.

As for critical plaudits, two years ago, the production ofDickens’ “Great Expectations” (to be reprised in December) washonored with four awards by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle.Last year, the same group conferred on the still young company itsMargaret Harford Award for sustained excellence.

A Noise Within is located at 234 S. Brand Blvd. in Glendale. Forinformation and tickets, call (818) 546-1924.

Making a Noise Read More »

Netanyahu’s Day in L.A.

Leave a Comment / California, Cover Story, Old Stories /

Netanayu and Kirk Douglas. Photo by Peter Halmagyi

Netanyahu’s Day in L.A.

The Israeli prime minister crams in meetings, a pressconference and a gala dinner before shuttling off to London

By Tom Tugend, Contributing Editor

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu arrived at Los AngelesInternational Airport at 2 a.m. on Monday, met with business leadersat 8 a.m., and kept going until 11 p.m., when his plane left forLondon and a meeting with King Hussein of Jordan.

Telescoping a planned two-day visit into one day to keep his datewith the Jordanian monarch, Netanyahu displayed unflagging stamina, aquick sense of humor, and considerable deftness in turning asideunpleasant questions from polite but generally undemonstrativeaudiences.

More dramatic than the scheduled events were two overseas phonecalls. In the midst of a morning press conference, Netanyahu excusedhimself for 15 minutes to speak with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarakand to express his sympathy concerning the killing of more than 60tourists in a terrorist attack in Luxor.

The second call, in midafternoon, reached Netanyahu while he wastouring the Simon Wiesenthal Center. It was from Hussein, and duringa seven-minute conversation, the two leaders apparently nailed downdetails of their Tuesday meeting in Hussein’s London home. Up to thatpoint, Netanyahu maintained publicly that he was merely landing inLondon for a refueling stop.

As expected, Netanyahu was repeatedly confronted with questionsabout the conversion bill — now on hold while the Neeman Commissionwrestles with the thorny issue — and the Orthodox hegemony ofIsrael’s religious life.

The issue was brought into sharpest focus by Jewish FederationCouncil of Greater Los Angeles President Herbert Gelfand, whointroduced the prime minister at a joint meeting of some 350Federation, AIPAC and Israel Bonds leaders.

While declaring the community’s unswerving support of Israel,Gelfand stated that the proposed conversion bill meant considerablymore than just the codification of the status quo and “may bedestructive of Jewish unity.”

To this and similar statements raised following Netanyahu’s mainaddress of the day before the World Affairs Council, he responded inone typical instance:

“I have done what no prime minister has done before by creating acommission to bring all streams of Judaism together. This may be themost important question in Jewish history since Napoleon asked FrenchJewry 200 years ago to define its identity. With patience, toleranceand goodwill on all sides, we can solve this problem and set thepattern of Jewish unity for the 21st century.”

Netanyahu repeatedly pointed to Iran as the greatest threat facingthe world at the end of the 20th century.

“The world has one year before Iran will have ballistic missilestipped with chemical or biological weapons, that will be aimed firstat Israel, then at Europe, and then at Manhattan,” he said. “WhileSaddam Hussein has regional ambitions, Iran’s ideology encompassesthe whole world.”

Following are comments Netanyahu had on other topics, raisedmainly at the press conference:

* President Clinton’s apparent snub in not meeting with Netanyahu,even though both men were within a few miles of each other in LosAngeles on Monday morning: “We will meet at a suitable time, and ameeting has been set for Dec. 8.”

* Major dissension within the Likud Party and among governmentministers over cancellation of the party’s primaries: “It’s no secretthat some people dislike me,” said Netanyahu, but when he returns toIsrael, “I’ll fix what needs to be fixed.”

* Possible Scud attacks on Israel if renewed hostilities betweenIraq and the United States break out: “Israel is prepared and quietlyconfident.”

* On Israel’s economy: “Israel is rapidly becoming one of theworld’s most advanced technological countries; we’re becoming thePeople of the Disc. Hold on to your seats, but we’re making Israel aplace where you can actually make money.”

The visit did not pass without a few complaints and irritations.There was some astonishment that the Netanyahu entourage reserved 100bedrooms at hotels in both Indianapolis and Los Angeles, aconsiderable figure, even including space for 20 Israeli journalistsin the party.

A well-placed source complained that a Peace Now dinner plannedfor Monday evening with producer Arnon Milchan and director SidneyPollack had been canceled under pressure from Netanyahu’s associatesso as not to interfere with the gala sponsored by theOrthodox-founded Aish HaTorah College and outreach program, the laststop on the prime minister’s visit.

That event was held on the tented tennis court at the home of MervAdelson, one of Hollywood’s financial and political power hitters.Some 220 guests attended, of whom the paying portion contributed from$10,000 to $25,000 per couple to provide student scholarships throughthe Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah.

Netanyahu conferred the fund’s King David Award on veteran screenactor Kirk Douglas. The guest list included such Hollywood studiochiefs as Lew Wasserman, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Frank Biondi and RonMeyer, business leaders Michael and Lowell Milken, and Haim Saban,and California Gov. Pete Wilson.

Brand-name television and movie actors, though not in thesuperstar category some guests might have anticipated, included FranDrescher, Mike Connors, Richard Crenna, Elliott Gould, Suzanne Somersand Florence Henderson.

Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, met up with one certified mega-starwhen Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, accompaniedIsrael’s first couple on the tour of the Wiesenthal Center’s Museumof Tolerance.

Rabbi Hier: Diplomatic Middleman

An intriguing sidelight of the unorthodox arrangements underlyingPrime Minister Netanyahu’s meeting with King Hussein of Jordan wasrevealed by Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the SimonWiesenthal Center.

While driving to a doctor’s appointment last Thursday morning,Hier received a call on his cell phone from Hussein, then inWashington, saying that he was sending his personal aide to LosAngeles on an important mission.

The next morning, the aide, Gen. Ali Shukri, arrived at theWiesenthal Center. He carried a message that the king wanted torestore his country’s relationship with Israel at the highest leveland wanted to know if Netanyahu could meet him at his London home onTuesday.

According to Hier, Shukri stressed four points that motivatedHussein: re-establishing intelligence exchanges at the top level, theissue of Palestinian air and seaport facilities, a possiblemoratorium on Hamas terrorist activities, and cementing the personalrelationship between Hussein and Netanyahu.

Hier said that he immediately got in touch with Yoram Ben Ze’ev,the Israel consul general in Los Angeles, who conveyed the invitationdirectly to Netanyahu.

The final details were put into place on Monday, when Husseinphoned Netanyahu while the prime minister was touring the WiesenthalCenter’s Museum of Tolerance.

Hier said that he and the king had established a warm personalrelationship when the Jordanian monarch toured the Wiesenthal Centerlast year, and that the king had invited the rabbi to visit him atthe hospital during his recent illness. –Tom Tugend

Netanyahu’s Day in L.A. Read More »

Mission Accomplished

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Above, the site of Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination has beenturned into a public memorial. Left, Rabin’s son, Yuval, listening toa mission speaker.

Photos by Ruth Stroud

The largest Israeli mission ever launched by the Jewish FederationCouncil of Greater Los Angeles, and the biggest North Americancontingent this year, returned home last week, with organizers in astate bordering on euphoria and participants exhausted but mostlypleased with their experience.

“It was everything I hoped it would be and more,” said FederationExecutive Vice President John Fishel.

From opening ceremonies at the site of Yitzhak Rabin’sassassination in Tel Aviv to a closing that brought the 430 Americanvisitors together with hundreds of young soldiers at a rock concerton a military air base, participants — more than half visitingIsrael for the first time — took few breathers from the tightlypacked schedule.

For most, it was more than mere sightseeing; it was an educationin the complex politics, history and social issues of this youngstate. Perhaps the most compelling issue for the Los Angeles Jewishcontingent was the so-called conversion bill, currently pending inthe Knesset.

The measure would, among other things, invalidate conversions toJudaism performed in Israel by Reform and Conservative rabbis, butwouldn’t affect non-Orthodox conversions performed abroad.Ironically, the effect of the law would be to maintain the status quothat has existed since the founding of the Jewish state in 1948.Still, it has earned the ire of many Jews throughout the UnitedStates, where the vast majority of those who are affiliated are notOrthodox.

It has also become a major fund-raising issue for organizations,such as the Federation, that raise substantial amounts of money forIsrael (the Federation spends most of its funds in Los Angeles andsays money spent in Israel goes mostly toward social-serviceprojects, refugee resettlement and similar nonpolitical efforts).Although the majority of Israeli Jews consider themselves secular,the Reform and Conservative movements are still insignificant in thestate, and most Israelis have difficulty understanding why AmericanJews are so upset by the bill.

In speeches that were widely covered by the local andinternational media, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and EhudBarak, the leader of the Labor opposition, addressed members of themission. And about 20 Federation lay and staff leaders met withseveral Knesset members representing Labor, Likud, the NationalReligious Party, Moledet and Yisrael Ba’Aliyah. Most favored someform of compromise. Barak, for the first time, stated his intentionto oppose the conversion bill if it came up for a vote.

Netanyahu turned somewhat pale when the entire Los Angelesdelegation rose to applaud Federation President Herb Gelfand’sstatement that the group had come to Israel not only to celebrate thecountry’s 50th anniversary but to ask him to oppose the conversionlaw.

“Non-Orthodox Jews find it difficult to accept that Israel can bethe spiritual homeland of the Jews, yet tell them that a particulartype of Jew is inauthentic,” Gelfand said. “It makes us feel we arein some way delegitimized, as are our children and grandchildren. Itgives us a great deal of pain.”

“All Jews, to me, are legitimate,” the prime minister said to theLos Angeles group, stressing his support for a committee that iscurrently seeking to find a compromise between the three majorreligious streams in Israel. “All members of my coalition, fromSharansky to Shas, said [they] want to do this.”

“I think it made a difference that we came, because Netanyahu saidwhat we all wanted to hear,” said Larry Scharf, a member of theConservative Temple Beth Am group. “In today’s divisive climate inIsrael, this is a big issue.” Scharf, 76, said that his concern overthe conversion bill, and the Who is a Jew? issue it raises, was amajor reason he wanted to come on the mission.

In addition to Netanyahu and Barak, mission members heard fromYuval Rabin, the son of Yitzhak Rabin, in a first-day ceremony thatmarked both the beginning of the trip and the eve of the secondanniversary of his father’s murder. Thanking the Americans for comingto Israel at a time when many had canceled trips there because offears of terrorism, Rabin told the somber assembly gathered at theopen-air plaza (renamed in honor of the fallen prime minister) thatassassin Yigal Amir “not only killed my father; he also killed thepeace process.”

While politics and Israel are inextricably linked, most missionparticipants came for personal reasons. Phyllis Sklar traveled fromNew York state and joined her friend Dr. Nayereh Khankhanian ofBeverly Hills because she had never been to Israel and wanted to seethe sights and learn more. “In general, I’m impressed,” said Sklar,who toured with the Valley Beth Shalom contingent. “I can’t get overwhat the Israelis have done in 50 years.”

For some, visits to the Western Wall and Yad Vashem were emotionalhigh points. At a Yiskor service at Yad Vashem, Saul Goldfarb foundhimself remembering all those he had lost, including his father, whohad seen his own parents killed by the Cossacks as he hid under atable. “I didn’t realize until then that I am the child of asurvivor, although not of the Holocaust,” said Goldfarb, a first-timevisitor to Israel and chief executive officer of Gateways Hospitaland Mental Health Centers.

For Irving and Eleanor Garvin of Westlake Village, who were makingtheir 17th trip to Israel, it was important to show support for theJewish state during a difficult time and not to be dissuaded by thethreat of terrorism. “We don’t live frightened,” Irving Garvin said.

Several participants had second thoughts in the months leading upto the trip, after suicide bombings shattered lives and confidence inthe streets of Jerusalem. But, once in Israel, safety concerns seemedto evaporate — except for well-founded fears of erratic localdrivers.

The Nov. 1-10 trip brought participants from the modern city ofTel Aviv, to the ancient cities of Caesarea and Safed, to the bordersof three Arab states (and, for some, an excursion into Jordanitself), to East and West Jerusalem, and, finally, to the surpriseconcert at a military air base south of Tel Aviv. They met with highschool students, dined in private homes in Tel Aviv, danced onkibbutzim, visited the Western Wall, the controversial Hasmoneantunnel and Yad Vashem. Some visited a kibbutz that had served ascover for a secret ammunition factory between 1945 and 1948.

Each of the 11 touring groups (separated by bus) had its own dailyitinerary, with individual groups visiting a Golan winery, an Arabtown in East Jerusalem, the Christian quarter in the Old City and anOrthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem. One bus headed south to Beershebaand Gaza. Five state legislators and two members of Los Angeles MayorRichard Riordan’s office joined the Jewish Community RelationsCommittee group.

The mission, more than a year in the planning, was chaired by Evyand Marty Lutin, directed by Fredi Rembaum, coordinated by MaxineMeyer, and overseen in Israel by Marty Karp, director of theFederation’s Jerusalem-based Israel Office. Mission participants, whowere asked to make at least a small contribution in addition to feesfor the trip, pledged more than $1.5 million, a figure that farexceeded expectations, said 1998 Campaign Chair Sandy Gage.

Mission Accomplished Read More »

Diminished Returns

Leave a Comment / Community, Old Stories /

Matt Fong
California Treasurer Matt Fong is having second thoughts aboutthe sanctions he imposed on Swiss banks, partly due to what he saysare “mixed signals” from the Jewish community.

Since July, Fong has liquidated some $2 billion worth ofCalifornia funds in Swiss banks by not renewing short-terminvestments, and he has declared a moratorium on future deposits.

Fong took the publicly unannounced action after reading newspaperreports on the slow pace by Swiss banks in settling the accounts ofvictims and survivors of the Holocaust.

“As a banker, I questioned whether I could retain confidence in(Swiss) banks to handle my money, if they failed to identify theseaccounts and return the money,” Fong said in an interview in his LosAngeles office.

However, to his surprise and chagrin, he received little feedbackfrom the Jewish community on his action, after it was finally madepublic in October. He even received some criticism.

“Because the Jewish community is active in so many other issues, Iwas surprised that I received very little input, pro or con, on this,so it doesn’t seem to be as important to them as I had expected,” hesaid.

The initial objections came from U.S. Under Secretary Stuart E.Eizenstat, who told Fong that the Swiss were taking a number ofinitiatives to rectify past mistakes and that the Californiasanctions would antagonize the Swiss people and provecounterproductive.

What seemed to upset Fong the most, though, was a letter from theAnti-Defamation League, signed by its national director, Abraham H.Foxman, along the same lines as the Eizenstat communication.

“That letter took me by surprise, coming from ADL, a respectedorganization,” said Fong. “There were no phone calls, they didn’t askfor a meeting, they just sent me this letter saying, ‘butt out.'”

Commenting on Fong’s remarks, David A. Lehrer, the local regionalADL director, said that, “This is a very complicated issue. While wemay differ on the best tactics, we applaud Mr. Fong’s efforts andintentions.”

The state treasurer had earlier received strong verbal supportfrom the World Jewish Congress and individual Jewish leaders, and,like many outside observers, he seemed baffled that the Jewishcommunity was not speaking in one, monolithic voice.

Fong, a leader in the Chinese-American community and son of formerCalifornia Secretary of State March Fong Eu, is a declared Republicancandidate for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Barbara Boxer.The question was put to him whether his action against the Swissbanks was linked to the hope of attracting Jewish votes in nextyear’s election.

He denied any ulterior motive. “I never even told anyone (aboutimposing the sanctions), because I believe in quiet diplomacy. If Ihad wanted attention, I would have stood in front of a synagogue andmade a big public announcement,” he said.

As things stand now, Fong is reassessing his position but willmake no decision until he attends a Dec. 8 meeting in New York,convened by New York City Comptroller Alan Hevesi.

The meeting will bring together state and city officials who haveinitiated sanctions against Swiss banks, representatives of majorSwiss banks, and leaders of various Jewish organizations to explorefuture courses of action.

“I will be satisfied with a process in which we can ‘trust’ theSwiss bankers, but at the same time enable us to verify and monitortheir promises,” said Fong.

Diminished Returns Read More »

Madonna, Motherhood and Judaism

Leave a Comment / Old Stories /

Dear Madonna:

Is it possible that I saw you at Sinai? The Jewish mysticaltradition, which you have been exploring, teaches that the souls ofall Jews for all generations — including converts to Judaism –stood at Mount Sinai when our covenant with God was affirmed. Couldthe Jewish soul of Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone be trapped in thebody of a rebellious Catholic?

Inside my Madonna file is a collection of little-known Jewishfacts. You have been a paid member of Hadassah, the Zionist women’sorganization, for nearly a decade, thanks to Sandra Bernhard. Yourdancing debut in New York was “I Never Saw Another Butterfly,” anadaptation of children’s Holocaust poetry. You learned to play guitarin a converted, old Bronx synagogue.

Unlike most American Jews, you have been to Israel. And like manyAmerican Jewish women who visit Jerusalem, you were barred frompraying at the Western Wall by the fervently Orthodox. You haveattended several Passover seders where the spirit of freedom andliberation perhaps were the inspiration for you to speak up againstthe despicable living conditions of Palestinians in Gaza. And youhave been regularly attending Sabbath services with your daughter inLos Angeles, including recently for the Jewish New Year.

Beneath these factoids is an even more compelling picture of anintelligent woman who has been on a spiritual journey, muchaccelerated with the birth of your daughter, Lourdes. The miracle ofchildbirth, coupled with the desire to rear a child within a systemof morals and values that makes sense, often leads new parents toreconsider their religious allegiances. You feel attachedsentimentally to the rich rituals of Catholicism, yet you rejectCatholic dogma.

Judaism offers a comprehensive ritual framework for a progressivebelief system that is more in tune with your inner convictions;Judaism could be a natural ally in raising Lourdes to be thesensitive, politically conscious, happy and questioning young womaninto which you hope she blossoms.

According to the Pope, you have not exactly been a model Catholic.Yet you have the elements of being a good Jew and a great Jewishmother.

* Jews are commanded to have our values reflected in what we eat;you have been a vegetarian, keeping, de facto, the laws of kashrut.

* Jews are commanded to give tzedakah (righteous and obligatorygiving); you have championed AIDS, cancer and other causes.

* Jews are commanded to rebuke society when we see failures; youhave been a ceaseless critic of prejudice and censorship.

* Jews are commanded to delight in sex and to satisfy ourpartners; you have rejected Christianity’s puritanical linking of sinand sexuality.

* Jews are commanded not to make or worship images of God; youreject Christianity’s imaging of God as a white male.

A trademark of a Jewish worldview is to look critically at societyand to question, challenge and prod status quo ideas, usually to thechagrin of the powers that be. Our prophets are nonconformists; ourthinkers are trailblazers. Baruch Spinoza was first excommunicatedfor his heretical ideas and then later rehabilitated as a genius. Youhave perfected the art of pushing people’s buttons, partly out of funand partly out of a commitment to free thinking.

And you have done something Jewish in each step of your publiclife: You have reinvented yourself. The Jewish view of creation isthat we are not doomed to suffer our fate, but are empowered tochange the world and to change ourselves. Each year, we pledge torecreate ourselves, rejuvenating our quest to become closer torealizing the evolving Divinity in ourselves.

According to the Kabbalah, God, like the wisdom inherent in theTorah, has many faces. It is time to affirm that yours was one ofthem at Sinai. Make it official. Give Lourdes a new heritage thatwill bring meaning and a spiritual satisfaction for which her motherhas always longed.

Madonna, Motherhood and Judaism Read More »

An American Story

Leave a Comment / Entertainment, Old Stories /

A chassidic boy recites his prayers in “A Life Apart:Hasidism in America.”

An American Story

At the heart of ‘A Life Apart: Hasidism in America’ is aculture war that mirrors the conflict in today’s Jewish community

By Naomi Pfefferman, Senior Writer

First we had the AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival (Oct.23-Nov. 1), then the Israel Film Festival (Nov. 5-20), and now comesthe third annual Laemmle Theatres Jewish Cinema Series, Nov. 21through Dec. 24.

The opening film, “A Life Apart: Hasidism in America,” adocumentary by Menachem Daum and Oren Rudavsky, is both powerful andcontroversial. At its heart is a culture war that, in some ways,mirrors the conflict in today’s American Jewish community.

We are presented with some of the following scenes: Agirl’s-school principal says that her charges never watch television,and that the library books are censored to preserve “the purity oftheir nashumes, their souls.” Bearded men hide from the filmmakersbehind their hats or walk briskly by the camera.

Contradictory images depict Chassidim in shtreimels strolling pastrollerbladers and even triple-X pornography shops. A Manhattanelectronics-store worker helps a scantily clad female customer andconcludes, with that quintessentially American banality, “Have a niceday.”

The story of how the Chassidim came to America begins before WorldWar II, when the Rebbes of Ger, Bobov, Skver, Satmar and Belzdenounced the States as the “treifine medina.” In astonishingblack-and-white archival footage, the Lubavitcher Rebbe visits NewYork in 1929 to raise money for his underground yeshivas, but herefuses to leave the Soviet Union. America is an unholy place, whereeven rabbis shave their beards, he insists.

And, so, his followers suffered Stalin’s purges and also theHolocaust, which annihilated four-fifths of Chassidic Jewry. Only thebroken remnants arrived here in 1946 to rebuild their ravagedcommunities outside the melting pot.

While speaking in Yiddish, Mayer Horowitz wistfully examinesphotographs of his dead family and recalls how he came to New Yorkpenniless and alone after the concentration camps. He was lost untilthe Bobov Rebbe found him a job and a wife and taught him to live ashis parents once did in Europe. Horowitz blesses the Chanukah candleswith his small grandsons, who are named for his dead relatives. “Fromthe lights which survived, a great miracle occurred,” he chants, asthe camera zooms back to reveal the figures swaying in a brightly litwindow, framed by black night.

Many other moments depict the fervent, joyous singing and dancingthat has set Chassidism apart from mainstream Judaism since the BaalShem Tov preached his populist message in the 18th century. A3-year-old boy is ebulliently wrapped in a tallit and carried to hisfirst aleph-bet lesson, where every letter is covered with a candy toconvey the sweetness of learning.

The Bobov Rebbe, dapperly dressed in a black-and-gold robe,ecstatically dances at the wedding of his great-granddaughter. Anaffable, portly Satmar, wearing curly pais and a stained apron,speaks of spiritual joy as he chops carp. He’ll help the filmmakers,he says, but he will never see the documentary, because he stronglydisapproves of TV.

We also meet the unusual character of Ben Zion Horowitz, whohardly spoke to a girl before his mother chose him a wife. When hisrebbe tells him to follow his heart, he quits teaching yeshiva tobecome, of all things, an antiques appraiser.

“A Life Apart” also introduces individuals who are outspokenlycritical of Chassidim. Early in the film, we learn the sects “arousecontroversy among other Jews, no less than among Gentiles.”

A black Prospect Park employee complains of “spiritual arrogance,”of children who are taught not even to say “Hello.” A hospitalchaplain, a Reform rabbi, is forbidden from visiting a Chassidic boybecause she does not cover her hair. Pearl Gluck, a thoughtful youngwriter, says that she left the Chassidic fold because of its narrowconfines for women.

Zeldy Abromowitz, whose clothing shop sports only modest dress,offers a sharp retort. “A Chasidishe girl takes pride in being amother,” she says. “In 100 years, who’s going to remember who ranWestinghouse, and who cares? Your children will be alegacy…forever.”

The filmmakers, for their parts, say that they struggled to offera balanced view of the Chassidim. They achieved unprecedented accessto brises and other rituals because Daum, 51, is the son ofGer Chassids and part of the Borough Park community. Daum the insiderspoke to the Chassidim in Yiddish and “assured them I was not goingto trash them,” he says.

Rudavsky, 40, the son of a Reform rabbi, is assimilated, lives onthe Upper West Side, but has fond memories of his gentle Chassidicgrandfather.

Together, the filmmakers hoped to “humanize” the Chassidim, butthey say that they encountered bias along the way. A Manhattantheater owner refused to show the acclaimed movie because it was notan exposé of Chassidic wrongdoings; a film festival in Israeldeclined for similar reasons, Daum believes.

Sometimes, the Chassidim themselves were hostile: Dozens refusedto speak to the filmmakers, and one tried to knock Rudavsky off aladder while he was filming a Sukkot celebration.

Nevertheless, actors Leonard Nimoy and Sarah Jessica Parker likedthe movie so much that they agreed to narrate the documentary atunion scale. The National Endowment for the Humanities funded most ofthe $700,000 budget because it saw the movie as universal — anAmerican immigrant story. Mayer Horowitz, one of a few Chassidim whoactually saw the film, had tears in his eyes after the screening.

But if some believe the film glosses over the more controversialaspects of Chassidism, Daum staunchly disagrees. “I am tolerant oftheir intolerance,” he says, for the Chassidim have heroicallystruggled to survive without being swallowed up by American culture.They have had to live lives apart, to become our “urban Puritans.”

“So I give them slack,” Daum says.

Above, filmmakersOren Rudavsky (left) and Menachem Daum. Left,a Chassidic man prays for his sins to be absolved before YomKippur.

Photo by Yale Strom

Coming Attractions

“A Life Apart: Hasidism in America,” which screens from Nov. 21to 27 at the Music Hall Theatre in Beverly Hills, kicks off the 1997Laemmle Jewish Cinema Series.

“My Mother’s Courage” (Nov. 28-Dec. 4), the new film from MichaelVerhoeven (“The Nasty Girl”), confronts the Holocaust from an ironic,postmodern perspective — part absurdist comedy, part grotesquenightmare. The film is based on the true story of a day in the lifeof playwright George Tabori’s mother, for whom the atrocities of warremain an unimaginable reality.

“Dogs: The Rise and Fall of an All-Girl Bookie Joint” (Dec. 5-11)is Eve Annenberg’s quirky comedy about a woman who convinces herunderemployed roommates to join her in a life of disorganized crime.

For information about the more than 30 additional films that willscreen from Dec. 13 to 24 at Laemmle’s Music Hall and at the TownCenter 5 in Encino, call (310) 274-6869. — N.P.

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Talk to the Soldiers

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From left: Tsahi Levi and Inbal Adar
It’s a long way from an Israeli combat platoon to Newport Beach,but Inbal Adar and Tsahi Levi are trying to bridge the geographicaland cultural gap.

Both Adar, 20 years old, blond and in a miniskirt, and Levi, 22,ruggedly handsome and in jeans, are lieutenants in combat infantryunits of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

They were selected from among 20 candidates of similar rank for athree-week speaking tour, during which they would meet with highschool and college students in seven American cities. A little-knownprogram called Achva (Affinity) puts together the tour.

Achva aims to create better understanding between young Americansand Israelis by bringing them face to face to explore theirsimilarities and differences. The program is sponsored by theAmerican Friends of the IDF and the academic affairs offices of theIsraeli consulates in the United States.

First stop for the young lieutenants, in their first trip to theUnited States, was Los Angeles and a morning visit to Newport HarborHigh School, where they met with two 10th-grade classes enrolled in aspecial international-relations course.

Levi saw “certain gaps in their knowledge about Israel,” as hepolitely put it, among the teen-age public-school students, but alsokeen interest in the country’s human rights status, its equalitybetween the genders, the reasons for terrorists targeting Israel, andwhether only Jews lived in the country.

At the same time, the students were naturally curious about thelifestyles of young Israelis, from clothing, cars and dating, tosurfing, drug use and musical tastes, noted Adar.

The basic difference between American and Israeli youngsters isthat “every child in our country knows from day of birth that he orshe will go into the army, and their parents live with the sameknowledge,” Levi said.

Another aspect is the much closer-knit society characteristic ofIsrael, where every death, whether in a traffic accident or incombat, affects the entire country, said Levi.

Classroom teacher Michaela Burns was enthusiastic about theuniformed officers’ visit. Their presentation helped prepare herstudents for an upcoming model United Nations meeting, where theywill represent the State of Israel, Burns said.

“Our students were really impressed; you could see it in theirfaces,” she said. “I think they realized how much more serious lifeis in Israel and how lucky they are. Our individualistic kids wereimpressed by the willingness of young Israelis to go into themilitary.”

In a later interview, Adar and Levi agreed that despite mediareports and surveys to the contrary, most of their friends still seeit as a point of honor to serve in the armed forces and to volunteerfor elite combat units.

“There is a lot of motivation and a desire to go into action [inher unit],” said Adar, who is an instructor in mortars and antitankmissiles.

The two also warmly praised the work of the American Friends ofthe IDF for providing extensive recreational facilities, rest areasand off-base sleeping quarters for soldiers.

Asked for their first, quick impressions of America, Levi, whoseparents live in Herzliya, noted that “most cars are really clean, andeverything is bigger and wider.”

Adar, who calls Haifa home, struck a more serious tone. “InIsrael, you feel like a big family, where everyone knows everyoneelse. In America, people seem more like strangers.”

The duo’s local visit was organized by Mark Silberstein, head ofacademic affairs at the Israeli Consulate.

The rest of the itinerary is taking Adar and Levi to SanFrancisco, Chicago, Boston, New York, Miami and Atlanta.

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The City by

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Once-sleepy Haifa is now a tourist mecca, and MayorAmram Mitzna is spreading the word

By Diane Arieff Zaga, Arts Editor

It’s a long road from the West Bank to Beverly Hills, but ifthere’s anyone equipped to navigate it gracefully, it’s Amram Mitzna.

In 1987, near the end of an illustrious 30-year military career,the former major general was appointed commander of Israel’s Centralregion — where he found himself in the eye of the intifada. For thelast four years, he has enjoyed a second, undoubtedly calmer careeras mayor of Haifa. That’s where the Beverly Hills Hotel comes in.

Mitzna, 52, recently gathered with members of the local press atthe hotel for a “media breakfast” co-presented by Israel’s TourismOffice and the Haifa Foundation. The purpose was to get the word outabout the northern Israeli city’s renovation fever and newfoundtourist appeal. The mayor’s remarks were a combination of dry wit andgood, old fashioned civic boosterism.

Judging from the upbeat promotional video and slickly producedpress kit, Haifa does have a lot to crow about these days. Among thenew improvements are a lovely beach promenade for strolling and cafehopping, a la Tel Aviv; a sprawling, hyper-modern convention center;a thriving high-tech business park; eclectic restaurants; and a vastmarina.

Other projects currently under construction should enhance thecity’s appeal even further. The landmark Ba’hai Temple is investing$250 million in interior renovations and lavishly elaborate tieredgardens that will be free and open to the public. Two new, upscalehotels — a Holiday Inn and a Hilton — will also be completed soon.There are plans for a massive regentrification of the German Colony,the historic downtown village settled by German Templars in the early19th century. The Colony’s main boulevard will be widened toaccommodate art galleries, museums, shops and cafes, making it,according to Mitzna, “the Champs d’Elysees of the Middle East.”

Despite the old Israeli adage — “Tel Aviv plays, Jerusalem praysand Haifa works” — even before the current boom, this scenic portcity of a quarter million people always had more charm and characterthan its industrious image implied. Along with its universities, itsbay and scenic Mount Carmel, part of Haifa’s uniqueness lies in therelative ease with which the Jewish majority coexists with a sizableand civically active Arab minority. One of Mitzna’s deputy mayors isArab, as are several members of Haifa’s city council. Locals shuttleregularly between Haifa and Amman, just a four-hour bus ride away.

The tolerant, laid-back atmosphere in Mitzna’s forward-lookingcity by the bay is a source of bemused pride. “I’m a big believer inpeople living together, working together,” he said. “Not just Araband Jew manage to get along in Haifa. Even Jews themselves — thesecular and the Orthodox — manage to live without conflict, and weknow how hard that is to accomplish.

“Haifa is the only Israeli city that has public transportation onSaturday, and there is no problem with it. In certain ways, we are avery abnormal city, and that abnormality in a place like Israel is, Ithink, a good thing. People don’t honk their horns at each otherevery minute. They wait for a green light before crossing thestreet…. Let’s put it this way: Compared to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem,Haifa is a very normal city. This is why Israelis have a saying: ‘Youcan travel to Europe without flying, just by visiting Haifa.'”

Several cultural events and celebrations are scheduled to takeplace in Haifa to mark Israel’s 50th anniversary and the year 2000.For a list of events, or for general information about travel andinvestment in Haifa, call the Israel Tourism Office at (800) 596-1199or the Haifa Foundation at (213) 935-3254.

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The Jewish Community: What To Do Next?

Leave a Comment / Community, Old Stories /

Two of America’s most admired mayors, Democrat Ed Rendell ofPhiladelphia and Republican Stephen Goldsmith of Indianapolis, cametogether on a stage at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolison Nov. 17 to talk with Jewish community leaders from across thecountry about how their two cities work and what Israel might learnfrom them.

Rendell and Goldsmith are known as America’s leading gurus ofdownsizing, privatizing and retooling big-city government. BothJewish, they had cleared their schedules for the morning so that theycould share their less-is-more gospel with the leaders of the Councilof Jewish Federations, who had gathered at the convention center fortheir annual General Assembly. The mayors’ frank hope was that theassembled heads of Jewish philanthropy might use their combined cloutto help bring the gospel to Israel.

The mayors might as well have stayed home. Only about 25 or 30delegates, out of 3,400 registered at the assembly, came to hearthem. The rest were hard at work, pursuing some downsizing andretooling of their own.

While the mayors talked to their tiny audience, hundreds ofdelegates were packed into an adjacent hall to hear a local professordiscuss creative ways that charities can raise money. Hundreds morewere at a nearby forum, learning how to enlist volunteers to do theJewish community’s work. Still others were attending a session on howto care for Jewish refugees in “the post-welfare reform era.”

The story was much the same throughout the three days of theassembly. Celebrity experts who came to launch big ideas and newprojects found themselves talking to empty rooms. The crowded hallswere the ones where delegates could get advice on how to keep theirinstitutions afloat in an age of shrinking resources.

To watch the CJF assembly unfold is to witness a psychodrama oforganized American Jewry’s inner life. A yearly gathering of NorthAmerica’s 200 Jewish welfare federations, the assembly is the annualmarket day of the Jewish institutional world, when anyone with ideascan come looking for someone with money, and everyone else gets towatch. It is the moment when the great and small crises in Jewishinstitutional life rise to the surface and get played out on a bigstage.

And as the Jewish community grows in clout and importance as aforce in American public life, assembly watching gains popularityamong journalists, scholars, and American and Israeli politicians.

This year, the drama reached a peak of intensity due to theappearance by Israel’s embattled prime minister. Speculation abouthow American Jewry would receive Binyamin Netanyahu turned the 1997assembly into a front-page news event in newspapers around the world.

But the fireworks over Israel masked the real drama at this year’sassembly. The big action there — the big drama in American Jewishlife today — is not about Orthodox rabbis or Reform conversions. Itis about the future of the American Jewish community as a force innational and international life.

Put bluntly, the problem is that the Jewish community hasaccomplished its great tasks of building Israel and saving SovietJewry, and it doesn’t know what to do next. In the course of carryingout the historic rescue missions of the last half century, AmericanJews built a mighty political and financial machine. Now, they don’tknow where to point it.

They aren’t even sure how much longer they’ll have a machine.Without a crisis, it’s not clear that donors will want to keep payingfor it. Solving this riddle is consuming the attention and passionsof nearly all the significant leaders in the $1.5 billion-a-yearAmerican Jewish philanthropic network these days.

The answers, so far, have been depressingly uninstructive. The twocentral bodies that coordinate the federations’ work — the CJF andthe United Jewish Appeal — recently completed a three-yearnegotiation over a merger by deciding to move in together and share amailroom. Now a drive is underway to end the UJA-federation system’sspecial relationship with the 75-year-old Jewish Agency for Israel,the social-service body that gets most of the UJA’s Israel-bounddollars. The big-city Jewish federations are demanding an end to theUJA’s exclusive contract with the Jewish Agency so that they canstart their own private social-service programs in Israel. A decisionis expected in 1998.

Both of the restructuring plans are taken straight from themayoral downsizing playbook. They’re aimed, ostensibly, ateliminating waste, creating leaner institutions and puttinginitiative back in the hands of individuals. But neither oneaddresses the question of why bother.

It may be that question cannot be answered yet. That, at least,was the message delivered to delegates during the assembly’s mostelectrifying session: back-to-back speeches by two fortyishfirebrands, both arguing that Jews are entering a new era in theirhistory, whose contours and meaning are not yet known.

“We’re entering the third era of Jewish history,” said Rabbi IrwinKula, newly elected president of the CLAL-the National Jewish Centerfor Learning and Leadership. “We’ve become powerful and affluent.We’ve become normal. It’s unfamiliar. We’re nervous. There’s nothingwrong with that.”

“We have to ask ourselves what it means to live as Jews in a timeof no emergencies,” said Avraham Burg, chairman of the Jewish Agency.”Give me enemies, and I’ll find you a solution. Give me peace, andI’m lost. This is the challenge of this generation.”

The danger of the new era, Burg said, is the temptation to thinkJews no longer need instruments of collective power. “We reached thepeak,” Burg said,” and, all of a sudden, everybody is making Shabbosfor himself, going his own way, promoting the local agenda. We justbecame the superpower of Jewish history, and by our own hands, we arebreaking that power down. We have penetrated fields we were forbiddento enter — military, scientific, political. And we did everythingtogether, through our collective responsibility. Those people who nowwant to do things on their own — do not let them win.”

J.J. Goldberg is author of “Jewish Power: Inside the AmericanJewish Establishment.” He writes regularly for The JewishJournal.

Excerpts from Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Speech to the Council ofJewish Federations

…Saddam Hussein is at it again. At this time, I call on all ofyou, as I call on all the citizens of Israel, to stand behindPresident Bill Clinton. He is not only the leader of the free world;he is one of Israel’s best friends. At this moment, when he is facingdown Saddam Hussein, President Clinton deserves to know that allthose who cherish peace and freedom support him.

Preserving Jewish Unity

We too are facing a crisis of our own inside our Jewish world. Ihave been invited to appear here as the prime minister of Israel. ButI would like to express myself also as a fellow Jew, as an Israeliwho has spent some years in America, as a friend who is deeply andacutely aware of your bewilderment and pain. I want to state at theoutset as emphatically as I can: No one, nobody, can deprive a Jew ofhis Jewishness. No power on earth can rob any Jew of his or heridentity. There can be no such thing as a second-class Jew. Every Jewis a legitimate Jew. Period….We are all brothers and sisters, allmembers of one Jewish people, all practitioners of the Jewish faith.My friends, this is not the first crisis in our history, and I amsure it is not the last. It is also, by no means, the worst crisis.But this does not ease the pain it inflicts, the anxiety it promotes,and the alienation it causes. We cannot, we must not allow thiscrisis to become a disaster. We cannot, we must not allow it to pullus apart….

We are determined to reach a consensus between us. It will have tobe a creative solution, allowing at once continuity and change,involvement and inclusion, alongside stability and purposefulevolution. But it is important that you know that whatever the shapeof this creative solution, there will be no change in the status ofconversions performed outsideIsrael. Every Reform, Conservative andOrthodox conversion done in the U.S will continue to be recognized inthe State of Israel. I will not allow this to change. We are going tobe able to achieve a historic agreement inside Israel only with yourhelp. And it is to seek your help that I have come here tonight. Youare not a third party looking in. You are partners at the table,partners in the common cause of Jewish unity. I will be coming to yousoon to seek your advice and counsel. I will be coming to you in ashort time to seek your support for a historic solution that we willfashion together. We will have embarked on a path of conciliation forthe Jewish people at the close of the 20th century, at the eve of the21st. Let us stop looking at each other as enemies. Let those whowould divide us go elsewhere. We are lifelong friends, brothers andsisters, one family, one people. We can overcome this crisis becausewe must overcome it, to secure the survival and unity of the Jewishpeople. We have a historic responsibility for future generations ofJews. Let us live up to that responsibility in kindred spirit offriendship and common purpose.

Combating Jewish Assimilation

The unity of the Jewish people is the most precious asset we have.It is urgent and vital that we maintain it. But I want to remind youthat unity between Israel and the Diaspora will have little meaningif there is no one left to unify. What has been happening in the past50 years is deeply disturbing. After the Holocaust, we numbered 12million. Natural growth should have almost doubled this number in thehalf century since then. But our number today is about the same. Wehave been ravaged by assimilation, and unless we stem thishemorrhage, it will have devastating effects. We must support Jewisheducation in the Diaspora and bring Jewish youth to Israel toexperience our nation in its homeland. We must impart Jewish valuesto our children. We must increase the teaching of Hebrew. We mustassert the centrality of Israel in our life. We will need your helpfor their future absorption.

Rabin Assassination

Why, if the picture I paint is so rosy, is the national moodreputed to be so low? One reason for our feeling of unease has to dowith the terrible event we commemorated only last week: the murder ofour prime minister, defense minister and chief of staff, YitzhakRabin. Only one individual committed this heinous crime, but theentire nation shuddered to the depths of its soul and cried out inanguish. As Americans know all too well, the assassination of aleader in a democracy is a national trauma, which takes a long timeto heal. The shock and emotional upheaval are still shared by theentire nation. We still ask ourselves how such a thing could happento us, the Jewish people. We hope that the wound will heal, that wewill learn the necessary lessons and extend a hand to each other. Iextend my hand, now and always. No issue, no controversy, no conflictcan be allowed to destroy the basic unity of our people.

Peace

Our hand is extended also to our Arab neighbors.

In the election campaign last year, I promised to bring peace withsecurity. None of us expected to be able to achieve this overnight oreven over a year. What we meant was that we would not sign agreementswhich would not bring us security.

Peace without security is meaningless, just as security withoutpeace is barren and sterile.

If our experience in the Middle East has taught us one thing, itis that peace cannot be achieved unless we see things as they are.This is often difficult. It is far more tempting to receive praisefrom all over by conceding more and more, by withdrawing more andmore and giving more and more without receiving any security inreturn. But we know that taking the easy route invites disaster. Ithas never brought peace, and it will never bring peace. That is whythe days of unilateral concessions by Israel are over.

This is the realistic approach, but it has its price. We areaccused of shattering the dream of peace, of destroying the hope forpeace. But the opposite is true. Only a realistic approach, onlysober policies, unclouded by illusions, will bring peace. I amconvinced we can achieve peace and that we will achieve it if thereis goodwill on the other side. I am convinced that only thisgovernment is capable of uniting the people of Israel behind apermanent peace settlement with the Palestinians and a peace treatywith Syria.

The realism I am talking about includes our recognition of thefact of the Palestinian entity. We accept this fact, and we have aclear, coherent and realistic plan to live in peace with thePalestinian entity. For many of us, this has meant substantialadjustment of expectations. What is missing is that the PalestinianAuthority also recognize reality.

The Palestinians must understand that there is no alternative toan all-out war against terrorism. They must disabuse themselves onceand for all of the delusion that they can destroy Israel — instages, or through an alliance with such regimes as Saddam Hussein’sor Iran.

The Shape of Peace

I have not drawn any precise maps to define what we have in mindfor an agreement with the Palestinians. But I know that I represent abroad national consensus when I declare that the Jordan Valley mustbe Israel’s strategic border; that Israel will not give up control ofairspace and water sources; that it must keep strategic zones itconsiders vital; that it will not allow a Palestinian army, equippedwith heavy weapons or nonconventional arms, to form west of theJordan; and, above all, that Jerusalem will stay the undividedcapital of Israel forever.

Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the embodiment of our aspiration to revive our lifein our ancient land. There has never been such an association betweena people and a city as that between the Jewish people and Jerusalem.It is the rock of ages, and it is our rock! It has never been thecapital of another people. It will never be the capital of anotherpeople. It will remain one city forever, a free city, open to allfaiths, united under Israel, indivisible under God…

Peace, security and prosperity are within our reach.

As a nation, we are 50 years old. In the life of a state, it is anage of budding maturity; it is an age when our nation’s vigor is atits peak. This vigor will enable us to achieve all our objectives,but only if we can first achieve unity among ourselves. Divided, weare an endangered species. United, we are invincible. *

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