This week\’s Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets was intended to zero in on the rapidly growing list of stolen Jewish property and the governments that have balked at returning it.
About two weeks ago, I attended a three-day conference in Jerusalem along with more than 3,400 Americans and Canadians and 2,000 Israelis. We North Americans had all made the journey despite State Department warnings that travel in the area was unsafe, in part because of an expected confrontation with Iraq. But when we looked to see how Jerusalemites were reacting to our presence, we discovered that, in general, the Israeli world outside our convention center all but ignored us.
Rabbi Barnett Brickner sits, frowning in his study at Temple Judea of Massapequa, N.Y. He\’s been asked his opinion of the proposed new \”platform\” of Reform Judaism, which comes up for a vote next May at a national convention of Reform rabbis. The platform says that the Torah was revealed by God at Sinai and that its commandments \”call to us even though we live in modernity.\” It urges Reform Jews to pray daily, to make the Sabbath a holy day, to follow dietary laws, and more. Brickner is alarmed.
Don\’t call her the \”Jewel\” of Jewish preschool.
Sure, Pearl B. sings to the accompaniment of her acoustic six-string. And she does lean professionally on her gem-like first name. But that is where any similarity to the chirpy pop star ends.
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