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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE November 7, 1986 Page 5 Letters Judaism TSI’s ‘pretty snazzy Editor: I have closely followed The Southern Israelite since 1 was about 13 years old and had to go down to its office in the Palmer Building to collect the old Atlanta Georgian newspaper bill from M. Stephen Schiffer, then owner and publisher of The Southern Israelite, who lived on my paper route. This was in the early ’30s. SDT gets 40 The Eta chapter of Sigma Delta Tau at the University of Georgia is having a very produc tive fall quarter. Rush this year went exception ally well. It was held Sept. 5-12 and SDT gained 40 new pledges. The Eta chapter also had a wild cat dinner in which seven addi tional pledges joined. Honoring the 47 new girls, SDT had its annual “Cattle Show” party. Pledge Initiation has also taken place. SDT has also elected five new “big brothers.” The new ones this year are: Brad Young, Sammy Tuck, Rich H askins, Mitch Moskovitz and Andy Tyber, who I even worked for The South ern Israelite for a few months around 1937-38, when their offi ces was in the 101 Marietta St. Building. So when I say the issue of Oct. 24 is pretty snazzy and looks like a real newspaper, I say it with a few years of observation and at pretty close hand. Joseph Lipsius new pledges is the pledge class big brother. Sigma Delta Tau has also been recently awarded three honors at the annual national convention. They are: the Chapter History award. Rush achievement and honorable mention for activities award. Debbie Spiller, executive vice president, and Laurie Fried- land, a Rush chairperson, attended the convention, which was held in June. SDT is looking ahead to Tin Kan Kidnap, which is an annual philanthropic event; Fall Party and an alumni brunch. Alise Weinstein Time for action Editor: The Atlanta Jewish commun ity had a fantastically, successful Soviet Jewry rally this year—and now it’s time for action. This Wednesday night, Nov. 12, the Russian national basket ball team will be playing Georgia Tech. It is up to the Atlanta Jew ish community to remind the Russians that meaningful cultu ral exchanges are incompatible with religious oppression. Let us live up to the spirit of our Soviet Jewry rally; let us actively show that we are truly one people with one destiny. For further infor mation, contact the Atlanta Jew ish Federation, 873-1663. Teddy Weinberger We’ve Moved Just a reminder that The Southern Israelite is now in its new offices at 300 Atlanta Technology Center, Suite 365, 1575 Northside Drive, N.W., Atlanta, GA 30318. The newspaper’s mailing address is P.O. Box 250287, Atlanta, GA 30325. The telephone number is (404) 355-6139. Oh No! Is Your Carpet Suffering From The Blahs? Call Us To Freshen It Up... 5 Reasons to call today. 4. We re experienced (8 years) and guarantee 100%satisfaction. 5. Free estimates. (Discounts available for offices, syna gogues and stores). CALL 923-4440 Larry Freudenberg, Owner 1. Free 6' sofa cleaned with whole house cleaning. (Offer expires No vember 30, 1986) 2. Free deodorizing. 3. Regular cleaning prolongs the life of your carpet. Continued from page 4 tional, Orthodox liberal, Liberal and any combination of the above. To add to the puzzle, we have Jews who are Unitarian, Jews for Jesus, Black Hebrews, Jews of patrilineal or matrilineal descent, committed or uncommitted Jews, Jews who are not so Jewish, Jews who wish they weren’t Jews, non-Jews who wish they were Jewish and Jews who perhaps ought to carry an I.D. card with “Jewish” printed on it. No wonder the question “Who is a Jew?” has become a very topical one. We also talk about “Religious Pluralism” and that the State of Israel should, like any democracy, accept this concept. I always thought that this concept was alive and well in Israel; after all, it is Israel tax money which pro vides for the security and at times the upkeep of holy places, be it Jewish, Moslem or Christian. It seems that we should add another dimension to this concept, and that we should also conceive of a Jewry composed of what is des cribed at best as different branches of Judaism and at worst as dif ferent religions altogether, with of course all the implications of such a definition. I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I cannot help thinking of Isaiah, Chapter 39, verse 17: “Thy children make haste; Thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth from thee” and wonder whether the prophet did not have more than one thought in mind when he uttered those words. One of Webster’s definitions of plural is: “relating to or con sisting of or containing more than one or more than one kind of class.” Pluralism 4a: “a state of society in which members of di verse ethnic, racial, religious or social groups maintain an auto nomous participation in and de velopment of their traditional culture or special interest within the confines of a common civili zation.” “More than one kind”—“di verse.” Diverse = “Differing from one another: unlike.” To further illustrate this concept, it can be said that there are diverse or dif ferent kinds of American or French or British or any other nationalities, e.g., Jews, Chris tians, Moslems or people of dif ferent ethnic backgrounds. And so it can be said of Israeli society. But all these different people are American or French or Israeli citizens according to well-defined laws enacted by Congress, Parlia ment or any similar authorities. We may argue then that perhaps the Israeli government should enact laws which will define “Who is a Jew.” But, should the Israeli government involve itself in the question of “Who is a Jew” or should it deal only with laws regarding Israeli citizenship? On the other hand there is such a law as the “Law of Return” that states that every Jew is entitled to return to Israel—the Jewish Homeland—and the “Who is a Jew” issue does then require a definition. The fact is that when the state was born such a definition did and still does exist and for many years was hardly, if at all, questi oned. It is only in recent years that the Jews in the Diaspora have begun to question it, since Jews in the Diaspora, while talk ing of “Klal Israel” or the “Total Israel,” also accept the idea of different Jews. Today the Klal Israel is formed of communities totally different in worship, liturgy, laws, conver sions and beliefs. Does being Jewish mean being a member of one religious entity, or a member of one of many different “branches of Judaism?” A good example would be a person who considers himself a Christian, since he would have to define it by saying Protestant or Catholic (such as in Ireland) or Baptist, Southern Baptist, Luth eran, etc., or a Moslem: Sunni or Shiite, etc. But in spite of their many differences, what makes them Christians or Moslems is their belief in Christ, or Mo hammed and Allah, though some differences might exist even in these beliefs. What is the fact which unites the different kinds of Jews? It is not their practices, nor the way they worship, nor their common interpretation of the Torah, nor their common definition of “Who is a Jew,” nor even their beliefs. It is not even going to be a common heritage, since we can assume that what has been common to this day might appear to future generations as totally uncommon. Is it then the State of Israel which is the unifying factor? Can we for example state that anyone prepared to show love and com mitment to Israel is a Jew? Then the Israeli Druze are Jews. Or perhaps we should say that anyone who accepts the State of Israel as a Jewish state and wants to be a member of the Jewish people is a Jew. Perhaps being a Jew has no thing to do with religion but rather being part of a people (Am Israel). But then membership in a peoplehood should, I believe, be according to a definition adhered to by the total membership. Or perhaps we should be able to conceive of different Jewish peo ples. After all, there is a group of people who claim they are the true Hebrews and call themselves the Black Hebrews. Why not: Jewish Orthodox people, Jewish Conservative people, Jewish Re form people, Jewish Unitarian people, Jews for Jesus people, and so on. It sounds rather con fusing and so it should be. We speak of the Jewish people and the Jewish Religion. There can be only one Jewish people with one Jewish religion. Changes in the laws perhaps should take place and indeed throughout the ages some changes have taken place. But what we should not allow is to have our people, the people of Israel, split into different groups with each claiming to act in accordance with the true spirit of Judaism, while the differences get greater and the gaps wider. I do not have the answer, but 1 know that our people is blessed with many scholars and wise men and women and that hopefully they will find an answer before the situation gets out of hand with much more serious conse quences. Of course, the other solution would be for the Messiah to hasten His coming. Let’s all hope and pray for it. THE EPSTEIN SCHOOL Solomon Schechter School of Atlanta Presents Assertive Discipline for Parents Workshop take-charge approach for dealing effectively with your child’s behavior DATE: Monday, Nov. 17,1986 TIME: 7:30- 10:00 P.M. LOCATION: The Epstein School 600 Peachtree Battle Avenue COST: *15.00 per person, *18.00 per couple (includes *7.95 text) Make checks payable to and mail to: The Epstein School ★ 600 Peachtree Battle Avenue ★ Atlanta, GA 30327 ★ 404/351-7623