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The Canadian Jewish News, Thursday, August 15. 1991-Page 9
By,:
YESHAYAHU ANUG
In the cdnf^^ontatiohbet^yeen Israel and its enemies, the ablehce oPdemocra-cy in the Arab world was occasionally mentioned as a major obstacle to peace. Well, as Arab democracies are unlikely to emerge in our days, waiting for that would take some time. Besides, given a free choice, the frustrated Arab masses may well choose fanatical Islamic leaders, who would probably prefer to put the whole region on fire i"ather than make peace with the Jews, h is th0 presient senip inthe Middle East and no other, which will either opt for continued warfare, or be pushed to try some accommodation, starting, hopefully, in October.
Ordinary politicians tend to be parochial. Only now and then, men widi global perspectives appear on the scene. These are the statesmen; who try to steer their nations through the difficult waters of world polii-ips. Israelhas so far had only one such leader. Ben Gurion built Israel ^^^^^^ military strength, but also knew its limits. He succeeded when he understood the interplay between national interests and international complexities (1947/48) and did less well when he misread them (1956). But more than any other Israeli leadeir. it was Menachem Begin who came close to statesmanship. He will be remembered as the leader who brought about'the only peace agreement with an Arab country and who — don't forget — delayed Saddam Hussein's atomic schemes. But when helet himself be drawn into the Lebanese war and recognized Its failure, he opted out. leaving a perplexed
migrants, for whom this country hasjioi^i social and economic solutions and whose numbers are likely to increase regardless of the present hardship. And besides this, Israel's stagnating infrastructure is long overdue for update. Accommodation in the Middle East must therefore include regional development schemes. The increasingly dangerous water crisis, to mention just one such issue, must be regionally addressed and internationally financed.
- But what can Assad and ^ Shamir do for each other? Before
improving his gloomy record Yeshayahu Anug saying yes to Baker, Shamir
nation guessmg. Egypt's Anwar Sadat earned statesmanship for changing the course of confrontation ¥nd his abrupt disappearance allows for no revision of his achievement^
During the last few weeks, two leaders, Yitzhak Shamir of Israel and even Hafez Assad of Syria, became candidates for statesmanship. Can they niake it? Both are strong person^ities and practically unchallenged in their own political environments; Assad, whii can now expect little or-hothing from his former ally, the Soviet Union, is working hard at
wiUi the Unitfed States. Shamir too can hardly afford to endahger Israel's vital ties with the American-admjriistration.
Both are conscious of the changes in the wider world arena, of the new U.S.A.-Li.S.S.R. relationship aind of the increasing political clout of the European Community and Japan. These two financial entities, whose prospering economies depend on a
calmer Middle East, seem ready to help the area to recover, not for altruistic reasons, but in their own best interests. The Arab regimes must do something for the milliohs displaced by the Gulf War and for the Palestinian refugees, many of whom are still living in sub-human conditions in their squalid camps. If they won't, the rhiseries of these two communities will remain a constant threat to their host countries' relative stability. Israel too must urgently address the problems created by the heavy: influx of ini-
declared that he would prefer to go down in history as a spoiler, rather than relinquish parts of the Land oflsrael. He does not want to discuss the status of Jerusalem at all and opposes the very participation of a repfeselT-tation of its Arab residents at the peace talks. He certainly means what he says. Assad keeps repeating that peace must be preceded by Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 lines on allfronls. The collective Arab position on East Jerusalem is also firm: They want . it to be the capital of a Palestinian state. So how can all these ends meet? They can not, if yoii take public .statements at their face value and if you believe that the choice is now between a full solution or no progress at all. But wait. Extreme preliminary state-ments are often es.sential preludes to painful compromises.
The Americans have shown remarkable patience and determination and have easily mobilized Soviet co-operation, At this point
it is unlikely that they will abandon the players to their own helplessness. If, as it now seems, the game will begin in October, playing time will not be limited. There will be incidents, setbacks, interruption and Teyen violence. More than once will we-hold our breath or worse. But, as a comprehensive settlement is only the declared objective and not a realistic one for now, step-by-step tactics and temporary half-solutions could well pave the way for more comprehensive and lasting ones in the future. It may work, but it is too early to say whether it will.
Israel must have, learned one thing: it can go on, uncomfortably, without a formal peace, but not without an ongoing peace-process. When this country has in the past led itself into believing that peace is either unobtainable or too risky and has abandoned the search for it. it brought upon itself wars, for which it was inadequately prepared. It would be tragic if history were to repeat itself again. Hopefully, it won't. Shamir was persuaded or forced to start a process which could ultimately result in the territorial compromise he so abhors. He will not have to preside over the distant finish, but may have nevertheless earned statesmanship for having agreed to start. And Assad? It would be wrong to suspect that he has undergone a major personality change, but he too must have lately learnt something about the "art of the possible" and found it useful. And then, he risks much less than Shamir.
Newsweek asks whether the moment of truth has come. Not yet; But if October will not disappoint and really come, something like it may slowly follow.
OPINION
By
MARC TANENBAUM
'ore than a decade ago. a young woman came to my office asking . if 1 would preside over her conver-L siori to Judaism. The woman, a magazine writer, was a foriher" Catholic nun who, under the impact of Vatican Council II, had become intrigued by Judaism and had begun a serious study of the Jewish religion and Jewish culture. - , •
After determining over several meetings that her interest in becoming Jewish was genuine, 1 arranged for an Orthodox and a Conservative rabbi to prepare her intellectually and spiritually for conversion, clima.xed by immersion in a mikvah (ritual bath).
(She had asked for an Orthodox rabbi, saying that should she ever make aliyah to Israel, she
did not want to have problems being accepted as a Jew.)
She subsequently married a young Jewish man who was a "cultural" or secular Jew. She set up a kosher home, "took" her husband to shul service on Shabbat and Yom Tov and, later, had her two children educated in an Orthodox day .school.-
As told to me, the husband in time felt pressured by all this unexpected Jewishness coming from his former-nun wife. He complained to his mother, also a "cultural" Jew. Her response was, "That's what happens when you marry a shiksa." ■
That is an intermarriage experience with ■'a happy Jewish ending."
Unfortunately, national Jewish itudies on the rising rate of intermarriage provide little basis for any nachas. According to a major study by
the Council of Jewish Federations, 52 per cent of the Jewish men and women who have married since 1985 married nort-Jewish spouses, " Some five per cent of these marriages involve one partner who is a convert to Judaism. The survey found that Jews by choice (converts) number 185,000, while converts from Judaism number 210,000. ; j
More significantly, neariy three of every four - children of intermarriages are being raised either as Christians or with no religion at all.
That grim picture is deepened by the low Jewish birthrate (lower than Catholics and Protestants), the rising tide of divorce and-broken-families and the very limited immigration rate, mainly of Soviet Jews.
There is some consolation to be found in the irsing numbers of children receiving a Jewish education, a high percentage of Bar Mitzvahs and increasing Jewish education among many adults.
The dramatic rise in Orthodox Jewish commitment is an important balancing whfeel.
Nevertheless, if present trends cointinue — and there is little sign of their abating — the American Jewish community is facing an unprecedented challenge to its continuity and survival. ;.
There are serious people in the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform movements who are worrying deeply over these trends, and are trying to carry out "outreach" or "keruv" programs to lessen the hemorrhaging of the Jewish people.
If ever there was a challenge which cries out for a coherent, cooperative mobilization of Jewish wisdom and energies, it is the intermarriage time-bomb> Our very^-liature^as^^^ American Jewish community is at stake.— 77/1
(Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum. for 30 years the director of the international relations department of the American Jewish Committee, is now a lecturer, writer and consultant.) ; ~"
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By 'i-r, ARNOLD AGES
In the last half century Jewish publishing has been dominated by a few prominent houses — the Jewish Publication Society, Bloch Publishing; Schocken Books and several university presses. The books they have published, although modest in numbers, have generally been significant contributions to Jewish scholarship,
A little more than five years ago, however, a new publishing firm burst on to Jewish turf and surprisingly, in what is a very difficult market, has already established itself as the "Rolls Royce" of Jewish publishing with'a backlist of almost lOO books since it entered the field.
Jason Aronson is both the name of the publisher in question as well as the psychiatrist and author who founds it. Aronson actually began his publishing career 25 years ago in the non-Jewish area with sophisticated self-help books directed primarily at health professionals — psychiatrists, counsellors and social workers.
Six years ago, Aronson, who also headed a book club which specialized in texts dealing with psychotherapy, decided to purchase the Jewish Book Club along with the 16,000-member subscription list that Commentary magazine had built up in sponsoring the club.
It wasn't long before Aronson and his associates decided that in addition to featuring Jewish books from different publishers, they would also publish their own list. Since Uiat decision Aronson has never looked back. "Ill six years the firm has pub^ lished more than ICQ books and is geared up now to publishing an average of one book every two weeks. Jewish bookstores all across the continent now feature Ardnson's smartly designed volumes prominently on their shelves. .
Cognoscenti in the book pub- Arnold lishing world have lavished praise on the firm's expertly wrought book jackets (produced by an art department staff of three peq)le), expensive bond paper (heavier than most) and strong binding. The visual attrac-Jiveness of the Aronson books, along with their solid subjectjnatter, have changed the buying habits of Jewish book piirchasers.
Arthur Kurzwell, vice-president of Jason Aronson, indicaites that design ideas for the book jacket art are initiated by him and then developed and . implemented by Nancy D'Arrigo and her colleagues in the art department. The book jackets explain, in part, why the term "Rolls Royce" has been associated with the firm.
Prices for Aronson's books are hefty (in Canada sometimes more than $60) but they
Ages
have not inhibited sales. The firm accepts no subsidies from any Jewish organization towards._the-publicatipns of its books. The Aronson publishing house prides itself on its fiscal integrity.
Aronson's success in a field that poses many challenges are based on solid craftsmanship in the physical produciion-of its products and on the interesting variety of titles the firm has offered in its six years of operation.
Those titles range, from scho^ larly to semi-scholarly tomes on various aspects of Bible^; Talmud, Jewish history and philosophy, to anthologies of Jewish short storiesand Has-sidic lore. The firm also produces coffee table books and albunis such as the forthcoming Loving Companions: Our Jewish Wedding Album by Ron Isaacs.
The three best sellers that Aronson hW produced in the last six years are Penina Schram's Tales of Elijah the Prophet, Adm Steinsaltz's The Strife of the Spirit and Avra-ham Finkel's The Greaj Torah Commentators, the latter a chronicle of most distinguished Torah scholars in Jewish history. •
My personal favorite from the Aronson list is Norman_ Lamm's Torah Umada, a learned but highly readable treatise on the conflict between religion and worldly
knowledge.
Three Canadian citizens or residents of Canada have appeared on the Jason Aronson authors list: Rabbi Reuven Bulka of Ottawa, Dr. Allan Gould of Toronto and rabbi Ron Isaacs of Bridgewater, New Jersey.
While Aronson volumes are widely and extensively reviewed in Jewish newspapers and magazines,.the general press is still responding with a rather benign neglect to the books being published by Aronson in Northvale, New Jersey, a suburb of New York City. That will undoubtedly change in the years to come as the firm b«k»mes better known. - -
The current recession has had some effect on sales of Aronson volumes in bookstores but enrolment in the book club division has not suffered; in fact sales are up in this area. —-
A perusal of the Aronson titles in the last year or two suggests that the firm is embracing an Orthodox orientation. Vice-president Kurzweil aclaiowledges that this may be tnie in part but the observation requires some fine-mning. Many of the bcibks written by Orthodox scholars are not directed at any specific constituency and may be appreciated by people from diverse viewpoints.
In addition, several current volumes, notably Arguing With God by Anson Laytner and the forthcoming Talmud for Beginners by Judith Abraham were written by Reform rabbis.