Letter from Jerusalem
_________________By Ira Sharkansky

Israel's policy-makers sort through
ambiguity of imperfect alternatives

JERUSALEM—Anthony Shadid is a correspondent of The Washington Post, with a surname that suggests an Arab background. He has written of the "nihilism" that pervades a poor neighborhood (still called a refugee camp) of Palestinians in Jordan.

Shadid describes the bankruptcy of conventional aspirations; the violence among Palestinians and among other Arabs, as in Iraq, who seem to strive for nothing more grandiose than personal gain. There is also the ascendance of Islam, seen as a refuge from a situation where political solutions offer no hope. The article is part of what we see more frequently in Arab media. Sadly, it is still a minority voice compared to traditional themes of Israel-bashing.

Whose fault is Arab despair? What should others do?

I am inclined to see it as the result of Arab politics that, over the course of 60 years and more, has offered dramatic but empty slogans rather than any concentrated effort to use enormous Arab wealth to advance the economy of the region and to provide a decent life for its residents. The fighting prominent among the Arabs of Palestine and Iraq comes at a time when energy prices have been high. Where are the politicians with vision who would use that wealth for social purposes?

Find me anything close to an Arab democracy, and we may begin to look for politicians with a social vision. It is easier to sell  a simplistic view of enemies, revenge, and religion. That similar traits also appear in the United States makes me wonder about the magic of democracy.

What should the non-Arab and non-American world do?

Try to maintain sanity and moderation.

Israel is arguably a good example. When faced with enemies that seem implacable it has responded with measured violence. It has absorbed continued rocket attacks against its citizens in Sderot and other southern towns.  Even Lebanon, despite the screams of humanitarians, was a measured and moderate response. Israel's government accepted the UN verdict of an imperfect cease fire, and has so far restrained from responding to the continued movement of armament across the Syrian-Lebanese borders to Hezbollah.

Moderation does not mean pacifism, or accepting the assurance of others that Israel must turn the other cheek. Those who accuse Israel of overreacting in Lebanon and occasionally in Gaza testify to the limits of its restraint. In the last couple of days there have been Israeli incursions and helicopter attacks against targets in Gaza. The one-sided "cease fire" may become more balanced in its lack of compliance. Some are calling for another massive invasion.  

It is not a situation that allows a black and white, or all or nothing, view of the world. We argue about threats and appropriate responses, as well as about how we did in the most recent rounds of fighting. The government is shaky in anticipation of what a committee will conclude about the management of the war in Lebanon. The guessing is that the committee will accuse key officials of not being decisive enough, rather than of being too aggressive. Our arguments will continue as we strive to see a way through the ambiguities of imperfect alternatives.

Shadid's article ends with a quotation from an Arab shopkeeper. It reflects a despair that also fits the Israeli condition:

He declared that the conflict was divinely ordained to end in their favor. But as his anger grew, he blurted out an alternative. "They're never going to solve it in my lifetime," he said. "There's no solution, absolutely."

At least some in the Arab street know the reality. They will get a chance at a better life when their leaders admit to the reality, turn from efforts to sell apocalyptic dreams, and begin using the region's wealth to help those whose misery they have exploited.

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The Jewish Citizen

As our Christian neighbors’ children search their lawns for brightly colored eggs left by the “Easter bunny,” it’s interesting to note that
animals also find their way into more and more Jewish parables, or medrashim if you prefer.

For example at a “family service” at Tifereth Israel Synagogue on Friday night, where we were joined by our five-year-old grandson Shor, Nancy and I heard Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal relate a fable about the dolphins
that were playing, flipping, and chirping in the Red Sea at the time that Moses and the Israelites were fleeing Pharaoh’s army.

In this story, God deputized the dolphins to protect fish and land
animals because the dolphins were sea inhabitants like the fish but
also mammals like the sheep, cows, goats and camels that accompanied
the Israelites. The dolphins swam along the boundaries on either side of the pathway through the Red Sea to keep the fish from falling out of the water.  At the same time, they warned the land animals from straying into the high curtains of water.

I couldn’t help but comment that the dolphins had served a divine “porpoise,” prompting some groans, but honestly I couldn't help myself. One of my favorite shows to watch on television or video with Shor is The Magic School Bus, in which my favorite character is the pun-addicted Carlos.

Another video series that Shor and I are enjoying is called The Kids Ten Commandments in which Seth, a little fatherless Hebrew boy, and the animals that he tends while the Israelites cross the Sinai Desert, learn the lessons of The Ten Commandments.   In the first episode, a villain who wants to usurp the long absent Moses’ position persuades Aaron to fashion a golden calf. He tricks Seth and his talking calf Jacob (the animals talk to each other but not to humans) into becoming the model for the idol and then
The story of the Golden Calf is featured in the first of five videos in the Kids Ten Commandments series.  This cover features Seth and his vain pet calf Jacob.	starring in (really becoming the sacrifice  for) an upcoming festival.  Jacob is saved and the first two commandments are learned that the

Lord is God, and that the Israelites must not worship idols. 

Two commandments are taught in each of the five half-hour episodes
in this 2003 video series produced by Lions Gate Home Entertainment.
The series had a panel of advisors drawn from several religious movements.  Among these were Rabbi Nachum Braverman of Aish HaTorah and Rabbi Yoske Naparstek of the Marina Shul in Los Angeles. The talking animals include a goat, a lamb, a donkey,a wise camel and a comic-relief rat (who prefers to be called ‘a rodent.’)

The appeal of animals for teaching important lessons to children is
the reason that the Louis Rose Society for the Preservation of Jewish History is proposing that the outdoor sculpture planned to honor the
San Diego pioneer not be simply a statue of Rose, but rather be
sculptures of him with a Galapagos tortoise and a little dog on an
outing in the Roseville area.

Besides being a civic leader and important builder of San Diego’s
Jewish community, Rose was an animal lover of the first order. 
His pet Galapagos tortoise “Chili” was well known to everyone in
San Diego, and children loved to ride on its back. Rose also had a little dog of unidentified breed named “Pat” who would pretend to be brave and yip at people.  But when they came too close, the timorous “Pat” would take cover under “Chili.”  

Having seen how children love to climb on the Niki de Saint Phalle sculptures in Balboa Park, outside the Mingei Museum, the Louis Rose Society proposes that the sculptures to be built at Louis Rose Point be constructed of durable materials, especially for children to climb on. 
What better way for children and their families to have fun, while
learning a little bit about Jewish history?

Louis Rose Point is located in the former Naval Training Center area—now called Liberty Station—where Womble Road meets the Boat Channel that leads into San Diego Bay, tothe right of the green arrow indicating the location of High Tech High School in the accompanying illustration. Besides being in the area where Rose laid out the town of Roseville, the site is significant because Rose had been a principal advocate in the 1850s and 1860s for relocating San Diego’s commercial district to the bay in an effort to develop more trade.

What the society needs, besides contributions to build the sculpture,
are volunteered drawings of what the sculpture could look like, such drawings to be suitable for presentation to potential donors.  If anyone would care to send some drawings, the Louis Rose Society certainly
would appreciate it.  And, if you would like to get behind the financial effort to pay for those sculptures, please send a tax-deductible check
made out to the Jewish Community Foundation/ Louis Rose Fund to
the Jewish Community Foundation, 4950 Murphy Canyon Road, San Diego, CA 92123.

Jews in the News

*Alan Bersin is the subject of an interview with the Voice of San Diego about his new position with the Airport Authority.

*Bruce Kesler comments on Alger Hiss, John Kerry, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Holocaust denial in an article for The Democracy Project.

*Sam Zell is interviewed in the Los Angeles Times about his decision to take the Tribune Company private in an $8.2 billion deal.