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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE November 14, 1986 Page 5 Letters Is abortion ‘silent holocaust’? Editor: On Oct. 11, 1986, I was privi leged to attend a conference sponsored by Georgia Nurses for Life titled “Are We Accounta ble? The Medical Profession Looks at Abortion in the’80s.” It was not an easy conference to participate in—no challenge to accountability ever is. When 1 returned home that evening, I read Rabbi Alvin Sugarman’s beautifully moving New Year’s prayer (TSI, Oct. 10) in which he wrote of our need to live so that the memory of our Holocaust victims “remains as sacred as sacred can be.” As 1 read this, 1 had to con front the fact that I, as an Ameri can, am living in the midst of another holocaust—a “silent” holocaust in which the “quality” of a woman’s life—her reproduc tive freedom, if you will—now takes legal precedence over the sanctity of the unborn human life within her. Can we—Jews and Chris tians—who are bound up in the covenants of Life with theGod of Israel (TSI, Oct. 10, page 15) stand silently in the midst of this holocaust—as so many others did in the generations that pre ceded ours? We have vowed “never again” and yet, here it is, albeit in subtle disguise: tiny, helpless, innocent victims who will have no Second Generation—Children of Holocaust Survivors (TSI, Oct. 10, page 10) to ensure that others will never forget them and the evil that was perpetrated upon them in the name of legality. The question we must grapple with: It is legal, but in the eyes of the Lord—and therefore, of man cre ated in His image—is it moral? I believe the choice is clear. The Lord G-d Himself set it forth in Torah, Deuteronomy 30: 19, 20: “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descend ants, by loving the Lord your G-d, by obeying His voice and by holding fast to Him... .” May G-d grant us the courage in this New Year 5747 to make His will our will—no matter the cost to our personal comfort or reputation. Barbara Freid Jewish alumni directory in making Editor: This letter is addressed to all the professionals in your com munity who have once worked on college campuses serving Jew ish college students. Although many of you have gone on to other fields and other interests, your interest in college life and the events on the campuses remains strong. A natural connection exists between those of you who were formerly involved in cam pus activities and those of us who are now currently involved in such endeavors. Therefore, the Association of Hillel and Jewish Campus Pro fessionals, the organization of all the directors, assistant directors, directors of students activities, etc. on the campuses, is putting together an alumni directory. We would like you to join us in this effort and to become a part of this project. We feel that this directory can greatly benefit all of us. You will receive all the mailings, bulletins and updates concerning events on the cam pus, trends among Jewish college students and other important in formation. The directory would include all former directors, all former directors of students acti vities or program assistants, all former staff members of any kind who once worked in a Jewish campus setting with Hillel or with other organizations. Please send your name, cur rent mailing address and current position to the following address: Rabbi Sally Finestone B’nai B'rith Hillel Foundation University of Houston Religion Center 3801 Cullen Boulevard Houston, Texas 77004 A call for help Editor: A group of academicians in Atlanta area colleges and univer sities have signed an open letter protesting the treatment of Soviet Jewish academicians and scient ists. This letter will appear in a newspaper ad in the Atlanta Journal/Constitution around mid-December. We believe this ad can have an impact on the plight of those persecuted. • the ad will read by many pol iticians in the Southeast and will be sent to politicians all over the United States; • the ad will be sent to Soviet officials in the U.S. as well as to many officials in the Soviet Union; • the ad will be sent to Soviet Jewish scientists/academicians as an encouragement to continue their struggles; • the ad will be sent to other media in Atlanta and other U.S. cities in the hope that they will pick this up as a news story; • the ad will be sent to Jewish leaders in other U.S. cities to serve as a model for similar ads elsewhere. To fund the ad, we have been collecting $10 from each acade mician. We currently have over 120 signatories and hope to even tually obtain more than 200. We believe that the impact of this ad will be directly propor tional to its size. As the cost of Journal/Constitution ads are very expensive, we are asking that each of your readers also con tribute $10 (or more) to make this ad as successful as possible. As this project is under the aus pices of the World Wide Jewish Affairs Committee of the Atlanta Jewish Federation, please send your contributions to: Soviet Jewry Newspaper Ad, Atlanta Jewish Federation, 1753 Peach tree Road, N.E., Atlanta, Ga. 30309. For more information, contact Noah Levine of the Federation, 873-1661. A rnie Schneider Assistant professor Georgia Tech Mainstream Continued from page 4 director of the Metropolitan At lanta Recovery Residences, i.e. half-way houses, called the rabbi and told him that he had 10 Jews in his program and would he like to talk to them. The rabbi’s group averages around 15 people with both sexes represented equally. Ages range from 18 to 65, and the partici pants come from all walks of life and professions. They also run the gamut of religious observance and beliefs. Some who come to the group are hostile, because they believe the Jewish commun ity hasn’t helped them. One par ticipant expressed the feeling that the community deceives itself by denying that a problem exists. Others are afraid that God is angry with them. All are curious to learn how Judaism addresses and deals with their problems. Feldman stresses that he does not try to push Orthodoxy on the group, but clearly does not deny that this is his orientation. They study the Torah and Jewish texts, and he explains how they relate to drug and alcohol addiction. The rabbi defines addiction as a “disease of denial.” He does not view it as a social malady. Drug addicts and alcoholics have lost a perspective on living, which evolves into spiritual and psy chological issues and questions. His program considers the 12 steps to recovery, which is the technique used in Alcoholics Anonymous. The first step is to acknowledge that one is out of control. The second is recogni tion that a power greater than one’s self can restore one to san ity. Another step is to repair the damage that has been done such as asking for forgiveness from a spouse. Humility is another step in which one recognizes his place in the world. During sessions the members determine for themselves the agenda. In addition to the Torah, they may discuss the concept of free will and such basic questions as how to pray. “No question asked at a meeting is stupid,” a member of the group noted. Learn ing about Judaism has helped bring structure to his life. Not only has he been able to discover faith, but he has learned to have faith. He emphasized that the Rabbi’s group is not a substitute for Alcoholics Anonymous, which he also attends. While A. A. deals with everyday problems, this group provides him and others a “handbook for living.” A Christian’s advice to Zionists by Dr. Eugene J. Fisher National Conference of Catholic Bishops When Zionists seek my advice on how to promote their views among Christians, 1 first stress that the Christian community, no less than the Jewish commu nity, is pluralistc. This is true not only among denominations, but within dominations. So no single approach is apt to be suc cessful. Having said that, 1 do have some suggestions. First, Chris tian individuals or institutions sometimes are alleged to have views that they do not actually hold. For example, people keep trying to tell me that the Vatican advocates “internationalizing” the city of Jerusalem, when it doesn’t or that the pope refuses to recog nize the existence of Israel, which he does. 1 have also noticed that the posture of Zionist organizations and Jewish agencies in general tends to be less critical of Israel in public than in their own internal discussions. Criticism conducted within the context of unequivocal sup port for the existence and secur ity of Israel should include ongo ing discussion about resolving the needs of Palestinian Arabs. Responsible criticism also de mands careful consideration of all the actors in the Middle East, not just Israel. It is more than a little hypocritcal, for example, for Christians to continually cri ticize Israeli policy on the West Bank as “pushing out" Palestini ans from their homes and yet to ignore, as we mostly have, the Judenrein (not to mention “Christianrein”) official policy of our “moderate” ally, Saudi Ara bia. It is hypocritical for Chris tians to condemn Israel’s incur sion into Lebanon and yet acqui esce, by silence, in Syria’s occu pation of that tragic land. One can, it seems, be anti-Zionist simply by the selectivity of what one chooses to criticize. The line between anti-Zionism and anti- Semitism is a notoriously thin one. Christian theologians need to remind their co-religionists that the Jews are Jews. For centuries, with often tragic results, we Christians have claimed to be “the New Israel,” a phrase no where found in the New Testa ment. To see Christian theolo gians now declaringthe Palestini ans to be “the true Israel" is frighteningly reminiscent of cer tain elements of the ancient teach ing of contempt. It needs to be challenged theologically as well as factually. Denying that Zion ism is racism, as most Christian denominations have done, is only the first step. A dapted from a talk before the Jacob Goodman Institute of the ZOA. »Ji^J Vftii J*