ajc wire - blog of the american jewish committee

David Bernstein

The internet has given rise to a powerful but precarious rumor mill. From claims that plastic wrap in microwave ovens causes cancer (untrue) to stories of finding a human finger in a bowl of chili (also untrue), misinformation spreads through the internet at viral speed and infects the public consciousness.

We Jews, unfortunately, seem especially susceptible to “e-missives”: we are inter-connected through a web of interlocking networks; we are highly educated users of the internet; and we sometimes feel unfairly targeted and, in the spirit of self-defense, are motivated to call our detractors on the carpet.

Some urban legends are told so many times by so many people that they harden into conventional wisdom. Because lies are often more compelling than truth, rarely does setting the record straight undo the damage. I still receive urban legends that were disproved more than five years ago.

That’s why it’s so imperative that people of good will do some fact checking before they hit the send button.

The presidential race has only poured fuel on the fire, spreading such falsehoods as “Barack Obama grew up a radical Muslim.”

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The New York Times, AP and the Jerusalem Post quoted Rabbi David Rosen, AJC’s international director of interreligious affairs, about the Catholic Church’s new latin prayer for the Jews.

Rosen made the following statement regarding the new prayer, which still contains languague calling for Jews to recognize Jesus:

While we appreciate that the text avoids any derogatory language towards Jews, its regretful that the prayer explicitly calls for Jews to accept Christianity.

This differs greatly from the text in the current universal liturgy that prays for the salvation of the Jews in general terms.

We hope that through further dialogue, the full implications of the Second Vatican Council’s affirmation of the Jewish covenant might lead to a deeper understanding of the value of the Torah as the vehicle of salvation for the Jewish people.

Everyone wants to be called a “Comeback Kid.” John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and now, secular Judaism! The favorably reviewed PBS three-part documentary, The Jewish Americans, is characterized by the dean of American Jewish historians, Jonathan Sarna, as more evidence that, “now, like the proverbial phoenix, Jewish secularism is making a comeback.” What is Jewish secularism? Does The Jewish Americans take us back to a bygone era of Jewish secularism? Will Jewish secularism be the savior of 21st century American Judaism?

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According to the New York Times article, “Challenging tradition, young Jews worship on their own terms,” as well as anecdotal evidence, religion appears to play a stronger role in connecting American Jews in their 20’s and 30’s to Judaism than in previous generations.

American Jews like me whose commitment to the Jewish people stems from a cultural/nationalistic/ethical affiliation are a dying breed. I am concerned that this trend will adversely affect secular Jewish organizations. Can any strategic action be taken to postpone, much less prevent, this inevitable shift, thereby preserving the tradition of Jewish political advocacy as an attractive affiliation option?

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Friends, colleagues, even family members frequently admonish me that my universe of Jewish discourse consists primarily of active Jews. As a result, these well-wishers tell me, I am spending too much time addressing AJC leadership, where I work, the modern Orthodox community where I live, and the Jewish Theological Seminary, where I frequently teach. Rather than address the universe of committed Jews primarily, I am therefore urged to “get out of the bubble” and find out what is on the minds and hearts of Jews in the street.

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[audio:http://www.ajcarchives.org/ajchomepage/audio/tishabav072307.mp3]

Steven Bayme, AJC’s director of Contemporary Jewish Life, discusses Tisha B’Av, the holiday commemorating the destruction of the two temples in Jerusalem and other major tragedies in Jewish history. Bayme reviews the holiday’s origins, how it has been observed over the centuries, as well as how memory reinforces commitment to Jewish continuity. “Tisha B’Av is a permanent reminder to us of the centrality of Jerusalem to the Jewish people,” says Bayme.

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Tashbih Sayyed was a very special human being, a friend of the Jewish people, and my friend. I first met him seven years ago when my organization, the American Jewish Committee, was launching an interfaith effort to initiate dialogue with Muslims. In our conversations, Tashbih exuded a quiet intensity, and a determination to make the world a better place. Little by little, I began to learn more about his personal experiences in Pakistan and how those experiences had shaped him into a defender of human rights in the Muslim world.

Tashbih was not only dedicated to discussing his vision of how the Muslim world could change. He was a passionate believer in the power of the press to educate the public in order to make those changes happen. He lived and breathed journalism, and more than once described his newspapers as “my life.” For him, immigrating to the United States was the opening of a new door of opportunity to express himself through his journalism, and freedom of speech was a precious gift that should not be squandered.

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In Let Us Prove Strong: The American Jewish Committee, 1945-2006 (Brandeis University Press, 2007), Marianne Sanua describes a telling moment in AJC history. It was John Slawson’s “Aha!” moment in the early 1960’s. Slawson, AJC’s executive vice president, was reading the latest American Jewish Year Book study by Erich Rosenthal (“Jewish Fertility in the United States,” AJYB 1961) when he “was seized with virtual terror” as he contemplated the low Jewish birthrate and Jewish “extinction.” Slawson immediately telephoned the dean of Jewish sociologists, Marshall Sklare. At the Sklare home there was background noise that sounded like half a dozen babies. Slawson was both relieved and motivated. “I found out that there is some hope….We should be concerned about Jewish population policy.”

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When I was asking a group of underaffiliated Jewish academics what being Jewish meant to them, their responses were varied. What dominated, however, was that “terrible things happen to Jews.” Similarly, at an AJC conference in Los Angeles with network television executives, most commented that the Jewish experience signaled an endless tale of oppression.

The more I reflected on these responses, the more I came to realize that the overarching image of Jewishness in contemporary communal discourse today focuses on Jews as victims. All too often, Jews are cast on television and cinema as objects of prejudice or hatred. Rarely does popculture celebrate the joys of Jewish living.

One need not belabor the accuracy of these portraits. Truth is, Jewish history is quite diverse, encompassing a broad swath of experiences ranging from rejection to virtually complete integration. The American Jewish narrative in particular reflects a Diaspora society that has truly proven open and welcoming of Jewish participation. The language of persecution, no matter how loudly trumpeted in certain Jewish quarters, thankfully does not resonate with the reality of Jewish life in America today.

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AJC Executive Director David Harris blogs for the Jerusalem Post. From his latest entry:

In the first, Mordechai Eliyahu, a former chief rabbi, chose the commemoration of Holocaust Remembrance Day to reveal the “true” reason why so many perished in the Shoah – because of their embrace of Reform Judaism. This is so stunningly obtuse, so mind-bogglingly offensive, that it leaves me breathless.

That it was expressed by a former chief rabbi suggests it can’t be so easily dismissed as the ranting of one individual who may have fallen on his head that morning. To rebut it lends the outlandish allegation too much credibility, yet to ignore it means burying our heads in the sand to the way some Jews might actually think.

Our enemies see us as one people. Why can’t we? [JPost]

Complete list of Harris’s blogs [JPost]