Jewish organizations throughout the Diaspora, led by those in the US, are up to their eyeballs in programs and committees, discussions and conferences, and endless budgetary planning, over what they like to call Jewish Continuity. But the uproar within the Jewish Establishment over the recently unveiled Republican Platform belies all the talk of Continuity, and exposes a Jewish Establishment that is rather more concerned with its own continuity, and with the continued power of the left in domestic politics.
None of this is surprising. let us look back but a hundred years into history. The Jewish world then was split by two emerging movements: Zionism and Assimilationism. Over the twenty years between 1897 and 1917, Zionism gained immense popularity, while Assimilationism languished behind. A stunning blow against Assimilationism was dealt by the Holocaust, with hundreds of thousands of Jews finally realizing that no matter how advanced a society might be, assimilation eventually met with disaster.
Yet, with all that the past hundred years has taught us, much of the Jewish nation would still rather assimilate than go back to the basics of Judaism. Over the past thirty years, tens of thousands of Jews have regained their identity and their awareness through the Ba'al Teshuva movement. This return of assimilated Jews to the basics of their identity is unprecedented in Jewish history. Yet, even with this return, more Jews are intermarrying today than ever before. More Jews are in public schools today than ever before. For every Jew that returns to Judaism, there are likely three or four that leave through these avenues.
This problem is not restricted to North America or Europe either. It is very noticeable in Israel. In the past two months, the IDF, the Ministry of Education, and other national bodies have begun complaining quite loudly that there are disastrously low levels of morale among the general Israeli population. Delinquency in conscription and reserve duty in the army is at an all-time high. Israeli emigration is also at an all-time high. The Prime Minister, during a visit to the US in July, was moved enough by these disturbing trends to comment that more religion was necessary in Israel since without religion we have no history, and without history we have no identity. It goes without saying that without Jewish identity there is no purpose to a Jewish State in Israel.
Jewish Establishment groups outside of Israel have been quite obviously supportive of the left in Israel for quite a long time. That is no accident either. For it is the left in Israel that represents this loss of national identity, and with it, any reason to fight for the survival of Israel. Indeed, the leaders of the left, ministers all in the last government, spoke of a new movement they called "post-Zionism". I am still unsure of what this means, but surely it includes a rejection of Zionism as passe. The alternative of a century ago was assimilation, and this has not changed. many leading ministers of the last government, including the Religious Affairs minister, refused to meet with religious groups on principle, and with the exception of the first twelve and last four months of the government, there was no minister who was religious. This, for the first time in Israeli history. And the policies of the last government, in regard to the Arabs in Israel and to Syria, were more indicative of a government with no Jewish identity and no Jewish history than of a government with Zionist ideals at heart. Even Shimon Peres, as Foreign Minister, was quoted as saying, "I have become totally tired of history, because I feel history is a long misunderstanding."
It was this government to which most Jewish Establishment groups in the United States gave their support, and it is this side of the political spectrum which they continue to support despite the change in government. And it is these same groups that now raise rancor when discussion of the Republican Platform takes place. Never mind that the Vice-Presidential nominee is easily among the top three supporters of Zionism in Washington. Never mind that the Presidential nominee is the only person who had the guts to pass a bill in the Senate making it mandatory for the United States to moved their embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Never mind that the Democratic incumbent has placed three assimilationist Jews in high level positions to determine policy on Israel and the Middle East. The Republican Platform states that the party supports the return of voluntary prayer to the Public School system. This scares Jews.
The Platform speaks not a word about making such prayer mandatory, nor of whether any particular religion will be the one to determine what prayers are said and to what deity. it speaks of voluntary prayer. This policy, even though Bob Dole has now begun to distance himself from it, is a part of the Republicans' "Back to Basics" ideology, which, on the whole, is quite laudable. There is nothing wrong with instilling a little faith in public school students, who, after all, make up the vast majority of children in the United States. It is likely that this little faith will eventually lead to a reduction in the rates of crime, juvenile delinquency, truancy, and broken families. These reductions will, in turn, lead to a reduction of the welfare rolls, a rise in the rate of employment, and begin a return to a system of real values. Our currency has printed on it the words, "In God We Trust". Why does that trust need to be restricted to cash? Why can it not be translated to the family, education, and society as a whole?
I can understand how Jewish voters might be apprehensive about the return of prayer to the Public School system. After all, what are the chances that prayer will be geared toward Jewish students? Why should any Jewish child be subject to Christian prayer in School? I agree. There is no reason why any Jewish child should be made to take part in prayer that is not Jewish in content or ideology. But when one thinks one step deeper about it, there is no reason why any Jewish child, religious or secular, Orthodox or not, should be in a public school. There is a Jewish school system for all branches of Judaism, and it is one where if any prayer takes place, it is Jewish prayer to the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the Jews since.
The only reason any Jew has to send their children to a public school is financial. And quite often, this is a real problem. What is needed, therefore, is a drastic change in priorities in the Jewish community. First, Jewish families must decide that Jewish education is a top priority for their families, over a second car, a nicer house, or a cottage in the country. Next, and perhaps even more important, Jewish Establishment organizations must decide once and for all to get out of their comfortable offices, to abandon the committees and the programs and the discussions, and to devote real effort, and real money, to subsidize Jewish education for Jewish children. There should be no excuse for any Jewish child to be denied a Jewish education.
With Jewish children getting a Jewish education, no one need worry a wit about the return of prayer to the Public Schools. At the same time, while American children are re-learning their values and society as a whole is returning to its basics here, Jewish society will be undergoing a parallel transformation. No longer will Israel be seen as an inconvenience by all but the most hearty Zionists. No longer will assimilation be an alternative to Zionism. And no longer will Israel need to contend with the "post-Zionism" bred of ignorance of Jewish history and contempt of Jewish identity.
American Jews should not worry about how non-Jews educate their children. We should worry more about how we educate our own children. American Jews should not worry about the Republican plan to reform the Public School system. We should pay more attention to the Republican (and the Democratic) policy regarding Israel, regarding terrorism, and in other spheres that should more properly occupy the American Jewish concern.
Copyright 1996. Reproduction in electronic or print format by permission only.
