\”Back in my grandfather\’s time, the diamond business was almost entirely Jewish,\” Aaron Furlong said, as he graded small stones. \”Mazel was your word, and if you went against it, you were ostracized from the business.\”
Today, Jews are among the most educated and affluent minority groups in the United States. Attitudes toward them have evolved to such an extent that an Orthodox Jew, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), is considered a front-runner for the Democrat Party\’s presidential nomination.
\”We have always intended to go to Israel,\” said Rich Brownstein, an Orthodox Jew from Pico-Robertson. \”And in terms of the perceived danger, I don\’t think it is very different to any other time in Jewish history. They have always been shooting at us, there have always been wars and there have always been difficulties.\”
Raised Conservative and a member of a Reform temple in Seattle, Howard Schultz said it was his first trip to Israel. \”I was blown away. I had a sensory overload,\” he told me for a story in The Jerusalem Post.
Mark Karlan and other successful Jews in the business believe that realty\’s fealty to Jewish causes lies in factors unique to the nature of the business, which is driven by a generation profoundly connected to Jewish values and impacted by the Holocaust and the creation of Israel.
\”This was a really opinionated, obstinate guy,\” said Frank Maas, secretary of The Jewish Federation. \”And yet, he was the most generous man when he saw a person in trouble.\”
Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Wiesenthal Center, has known Nussbaum for seven years. He said the banker\’s efforts to coax Wells Fargo to pay the reparations reflect Nussbaum\’s deep commitment to Jewish values.
Work is one of the strongest Jewish values. God provides the ultimate example: He worked a six-day week to create the universe. And when the Tabernacle was built, every person contributed according to his skills and talents. The Talmud reminds us that, \”No labor, however humble, is dishonoring.\”
Rabbi doll sales are just one way that North American Jews are being encouraged to support Israel as the Palestinian intifada enters its third year.
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