xt7z610vtx07 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7z610vtx07/data/mets.xml Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass Kentucky Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass 2005-11 Newspaper of the Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass, previously named the Central Kentucky Jewish Association and Central Kentucky Jewish Federation. Published ten times annually. The Federation seeks to bring Jewish community members together through holiday parties, lectures, Yiddish courses, meals, and other celebrations of Jewish heritage and culture. They also host fundraisers and provide financial assistance for Jews in need, both locally and around the world. This collection is part of the Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass records, 2016ms010. newsletters 2016ms010 English Central Kentucky Jewish Federation Inc Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass records Jews -- Kentucky -- Lexington Jews -- History Shalom, November 2005 text image Shalom, November 2005 2005 2005-11 2025 true xt7z610vtx07 section xt7z610vtx07

NEWSPAPER OF THE CENTRAL KENTUCKY JEWISH FEDERATION

NOVEMBER 2005

Rabbi remembers Simon Wiesenthal:
A man of the generations

By Rabbi Marvin Hier

(Simon Wiesenthal Center, Oct. 5) - As soon as the news
spread that Simon Wiesenthal had passed away, it was
the lead story in every major newspaper and television
station around the world. The New York Times had it on
its front page and the los Angeles Times devoted four full
pages in the front section of its newspaper to tell his
remarkable story. But who was Simon Wiesenthal, the
man l had the privilege of working closely with since July
1977, when I began the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los
Angeles?

In the Talmud, there is a debate regarding the most
important verse in the Bible. The sage Rabbi Akiva said
41th iv tlw - nrsv ”l on th\ neighbor as tliyseil," while
another sage, Ben Azzai suggests another verse: "These
are the generations of man on the day G—d created him."

see Wiesenthal, page 12

Simon and Cyla Mueller Wiesenthal, 1936
(Photo courtesy Simon Wiesenthal Center)

— CAMPAIGN NEWS —

What is the Community Campaign?

On October 9, Alina Gerlovin Spaulding addressed a
group of community members and shared her story of
coming to the United States from the Soviet Union with
the support of the Federation system. Listening to her
brought home to me how often we take it for granted
that people do indeed understand the meaning of our
Community Campaign, and how wrong we are to do so.

What is the Community Campaign really for? It can be
summarized in simple words: community needs. These
needs can take the form of social services, financial help,
or helping the community work together to do what no

individual organization could do on
its own. Federation work is not about
an ideology or about politics, it is
about needs.’

Locally, we address those needs
through the work of our Jewish
Family Service, and we facilitate the
working together of the community
through our Community Activities,

see Campaign, page 20
Central Kentucky Jewish Federation "ﬁt’toilit
1050 (hinoe Road 0 Suite 203 0 Lexington, KY 40502 RAI D
Lexi ton, KY
Change Service Requested Penzii it 719

. Fed
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39:9 Q [/0

C O
L'=-_l s
60%! Keni‘td.

TISHREI - HESHVAN 5766

Symposium on
Kentucky’s Holocaust
survivors focuses on
civil rights

Features poetry and Jewish cuisine

996

By AVZUL’IZ Donahue

On November 10 and 11, the Kentucky Historical Society
will host "This Is Home Now: A Symposium on
Kentucky's Holocaust Survivors” at the Lexington
History Museum. The symposium focuses on the post-
\’Vorld War ll experiences oi several oi the Holocaust

L‘:'\ Mail’s pawl“ .1. “i. are \“-.ii.i“'.' '.
Kentucky’s Holocaust Survivors,” which is on View at
the Lexington History Museum through January 12.

* wi‘u'tiik‘ Rwi‘A'

The events scheduled for Thursday, November 10 are a
celebration of Jewish life and a meditation on the losses
that the world suffered in the Shoah and other 20th
century atrocities. The poet Carolyn Forché will present
an afternoon lecture and discussion on writing poetry of
witness in relation to historic events, and in the evening
will read a selection of poems. Before the reading, an
opening reception at the Lexington History Museum will
feature Jewish delicacies created by chef Ouita Michel of
the Holly Hill Inn.

Forché’s anthology Against Forgetting: Twentieth-Century
Poetry of Witness collects the work of 145 poets who
experienced conditions of extremity such as warfare,
military occupation, imprisonment, torture, forced exile,
and house arrest. Forché is also the author of The Angel of
History and other poetry collections.

Chef Ouita’s recipes for the event are inspired by the
cookbook In Memory’s Kitchen: A Legacy from the Women of
Terezin. The recipes in the book were compiled by Jewish
women imprisoned in Terezin, the Nazi concentration
camp.

The day-long symposium begins on Friday, November 11,
with a panel discussion on how anti-Nazi sentiments led,
in 1960s America, to civil rights activism for many Jews.
Panelists include John Rosenberg, a Holocaust survivor,
civil rights lawyer, and eastern Kentucky resident;
Lawrence N. Powell, author of Troubled Memory: Anne
Levy, the Holocaust, and David Duke’s Louisiana; and Debra
L. Schultz, author of Going South: Jewish Women in the Civil
Rights Movement.

see Symposium, page 19

Wi-

IN THIS ISSUE: _ .
Shalom Spotlight: Edie Frankel ................. 3 GomMUﬂlty Classgﬂeds RATES FOR
A prelude to Hanukkah ...................... 3 , ‘ ‘ L L f L CLASS'HED ADS ARE E
President's Message ......................... 4 SOUTH FLORIDA CONDO FOR RENT $18 FOR A MAXIMUM
Family helped on journey to a New identity ........ 5 Beautiful apt just renovated. Spacious two bedroom 3rd OF 60 WORDS.
Newcomers found warm welcome . ‘ 5 floor corner apartment available for season on Lake EACH ADDITIONAL
, , """""" Worth, North Palm Beach. Beautiful water view. Within WORD IS 1 CENTS
From the Executive Director ----------------- 6 walking distance to golf, tennis, and marina. Beach, 0 '
Third Opinion ............................. 7 restaurants, and shopping nearby. EMAIL YOUR AD To
Rabbi's Corner ............... L ............ 8 Contact Susan Goldstein at (359) 259-0908_ shalom@jewishlexington.org
Ask JFS .................................. 9 ?
Alzheimer's Association offers help, programs ..... 10 Ed'
1
Day of Giving set for December 23 ............. 10 - wil
Just for kids .............................. i i Shawn" Deadlme for December Klammry mi
Stewart Home visits provide family fun .......... i4 Please note that December/January is a double issue of a h'
Social action help needed . . . ............... t 5 Shalom; there is no separate January issue. This means if you Tog
History of the lsraeii-Palestinian conflict — Part lii . . .i6 want to promote something that will take place in January, Lex
lsraeli Society: Presidential forum launched to the deadline for that material is November 10. 38C
recommend changes in lsraeli government structure 17 Please be thinking ahead so you aren’t disappointed. :3:
U S r-lsraeli technology aids Katrina recovery _ .i7 tha
B‘tayavon ............................... 18 N”
0
Book Review The Po rver of Kabba/ah . , . . . .i9 " ”M W ,
’ ‘ Have a question? a 1m
Ports of entry ............................ 20 110,,
lsrael keeps iii TOUClJ ------- ~ , ------------ 20 We will be changing the format of the monthly Rabbi’s Corner column K61
Around the Community .................... 21 beginning with the December/January issue of Shalom. We are asking “l"
Lexington Hadassah ______________________ 21 members of the community to submit questions that can be answered by ‘I‘V"
one of the rabbis. As each rabbi’s turn comes up in the rotation WT
TAl .................................... 22 . . . this
, she or he Will refer to the list of questions and choose one for a response.
LeXington Havurah ......................... 22 1
E .
025 ----------------------------------- 23 If you have a question you would like to see addressed by one of our mi:
Community Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . _ . I ....... 24 community's rabbis, please email it to di-ifr@bardstown.com. Jisi
(it may take quite a while until your question is answered—or it may ”A wa
never be answered, if no rabbi selects it.) You will not be identified as fesi

the writer of the question to either rabbis or readers, nor will you be yes
I 0 ‘ asked to specify which rabbi should answer. Please choose questions of
general interest to the community. ‘-
Published ten times per year by the Central Kentucky Jewish Federation, Inc. A

1050 Chinoe Rd, Suite 203, Lexington, KY 40502
Phone (859) 268-0672 - Fax (859) 268-0775 I

ema‘““a‘°m@ieW““'e*‘“9‘°“‘°'9 $4 Central Kentucky Jewish Federation

c R
entrai “we?

NOVEMBER 2005, VOLUME Xll, ISSUE 9
Marty Barr, President

Daniel Cheifec, Executive Director CKJF President; CKJF Board;
Jana LaZur, Activities Director
Stacey Heisler, JFS Director Marty Barr Ray Archer Mimi Kaufman
Tanuara Ohavon Offite Administratc Judy Baumarﬁﬁ Steve Kesteri
Executive Committee. Rec“! Be“. LOWQHIMQH
SHALOM COMMITTEES .. . . MarCia Blacker Angie Urnsteir
Ed't _ ‘ B d Gerald Dubilier, ist Vice PreSident Cory Erdmann Ziggy Rivkin—Eish It’
i oria oar . . . g . _ 5
Ruth Poley,Editor-in1Chief :Aichael Grossman, VICE PreSident Robert Grossman Ricki Rosenberg Th
Mary Helene Rosenbaum, Editor/Administrator ' at Shraberg, Secretary- _ Stanley lsenstein Walter Salomon Wi
Marcia Blacker, Editorial Board . Dawd Femberg. Immediate Past PreSident Odette Kaplan Lisa Satin b
Judy Levine, Editorial Board Ruth Poley, Member At-Large Doug Katz Carole Wilson JY
Advisory Board a
Elissa Brown, Gail Cohen, Angie Ornstein, ﬁn
Janet Scheeline, Rose Rita Wurmser, o I a
and Heidi Zimmerman Shalom Deadllne DON T MISS OUT! dis
we
P a ot the December Janu is Get this a er delivered
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS 'ed seb" .9 t f h I _ [h ary a p p f0<
David Brinn, Arwen Donahue, Wendy Elliman, Barbara Grossman, ou le ISSUE 0 S. a om, t. ere '5 n? F R E E
Bob Grossman, Rabbi Marvin Hier, William Leffler, Janet Scheeline, separate January issue. This means it '
Boris Shur, Jerome Wurmser, and Beth Yelowitz - you want to promote something that to your home ten times per year. .,Q
will take place in January, the deadline M31130” name and address ‘03 R
Production Services by Direct Response, Inc. for that material is November 10_
The editorial staff has the right to edit all articles submitted _ , . _ Shalom / CKJF Ch
for publication in Sha/om. The appearance of any advertising in this ema" artides t0: di-ifr@bardstown.com Q ‘ , V ‘ 7 th‘
publication does not represent a kashruth endorsement on the part of 10‘0 Chinoe, Rd" SUIte ‘03 no
, - - ~ . . . Lexin ton. KY 405 2
CKJF or any other agency or organization.- Shalom is supported by the Articles submitted "1 hard copy 23 . 0 eg
advertisements appearing in the paper. h 'd b d bl d or emall at
S 00 e 9" e-SPace ' ckjf@jewishlexingt0n.0rg

2 0 November 2005 Shalom

Shalom Spotlight

At 98, local resident still vital

O O O
By William Lefﬂer

Edie Frankel is the “Grande Dame” of Lexington. She
will be 99 on January 2 and has played a significant role
in Lexington and its Jewish community for more than

a half century.

Together with her late husband, Jimmy, she founded the
Lexington Hearing and Speech Center more than 40 years
ago. It was first called the Lexington School for the Deaf,

Edie was the chair and majordomo of
the Temple’s house committee for
many years. If something needed to
be done to or for the building, it
needed Edie’s approval, and then she
saw to it that it was taken care of.
She oversaw the kitchen in a
masterful fashion, often cleaning it
herself (with Richard Garner’s help)
when it appeared to need it.

Edie was on the board of the Old

and was initially housed in the back of the religious
school wing of Temple Adath Israel. It quickly outgrew
that space and moved to its present location further down

North Ashla nd Avenue.

Jimmy, who was born deaf, and Edie, who is hard of
hearing, recognized the need for such a school in Central
Kentucky to begin to teach infants and young children to
lipread and speak. (Jimmy, a highly regarded architect,
was outstanding in both.) Their dream became a reality
very quickly. The Jewish community supported them in

this wonderful community-wide effort.

Ladies Home (now Ashland Terrace)
on South Ashland Avenue for many
years, overseeing its daily
functioning in a similar fashion. She
was also active in a local garden
club, often displaying the many
flowers in her lovely back yard. And
she was an avid bridge player,
playing regularly until a few years
ago, when her weekly bridge group
had to disband because of health
issues among some of the other
members.

Edie is still on the board of the (, enter and remains

. , __ - z : ‘l
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able to be a~ l.-..‘

‘2‘ ‘.t't‘.l ~ iv :51

was the honored guest and center of attention at the
festivities for the 40th anniversary of its founding a few

years ago.

\c.\l

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Bernstein family. She graduated from
Wellesley College in 1928; at her 70th
reunion she carried the class banner

3 Edie Frankel keeps connected to community

in the reunion parade. Jimmy was her second husband.
Her first husband, Fred Weston, was killed in WW 11. She
has a daughter from that marriage, Duffy Brodsky, who
lives with her husband, Bill, in New Rochelle, New York,
as well as three granddaughters, each of whom is married
with children.

One of Edie's passions is fishing. She and Jimmy went to
Maine for many summers with friends in order to fish.
And for many years here in Lexington, she would go out
to Warren and Betty Rosenthal’s farm with Brenda Hines
(her companion) to fish in their private lake, throwing the
fish back to help keep it well stocked for her next visit.
More recently she has gone to Florida in early winter to
fish at Homosassa Springs. When her younger sister, Ro,
was alive, the two of them would go there together. Since
Ro’s death she has gone with Brenda. As of early
September she was already discussing going back

again this November.

Edie is as alert today as she ever was. A visitor to her
home and she seems to have many—~can sit for hours
chatting away with her. She wants to know everything
that is going on in that person’s life. Her TV passion is
sports: golf, tennis, baseball, but especially L’K basketball.
She stays up until ll‘i:(l() most every evening watching

thin: little is still \t-r\ alert and reads ‘t'.\'l\‘.v‘l‘il‘. , *ilit‘

I l .‘.~ ‘.".'=.i'.l‘«"'t t‘ l "\l) slit
. .:e . . .. . .m r. -...‘.:.\iti:1l".tt‘l1\ th‘i'aiybl'tt'ilitnxcs
sure that life should not pass her by. It is what keeps her
young at 98. a

A prelude to

Winter dinner will
return to Rossi’s on
December 18

9 0 0
By Ruth Paley

It’s coming! It’s coming!
The Eleventh Annual 0 .
Winter Dinner, sponsored _ r.
by the Central Kentucky

Jewish Federation, will be at Rossi’s
on December 18, and if you don’t
have a reservation you may be
disappointed. Last year at Rossi’s
was a sellout. And no wonder. The
food is terrific, the price is right, and
the location couldn’t be
better.

We’ll start the evening
with delicious hors
d'oeuvres served at your table. Then,
the dinner buffet will include (but is
not limited to) salad, a pesto pasta,
eggplant parmigiana, and latkes with

MMMOM

Q9
.2.

all the trimmings. All of this will be followed
by some sinfully delicious desserts.

The price for all this bounty is a mere $19 per

adult and $5 for children ages 6 to 12. For kids 5 and
under attendance is free. Children will have a separate
space where they can do craft projects and eat their pizzas
and ice cream sundaes. There is, however, an additional
cost for everyone attending; you must bring two n0n~
perishable food items for each person in your party (even
babes in arms) or pay $2 per person. The food and the
money will go to God’s Pantry. Folks, we’ve been kind of
lax about this requirement in the past few years; this year
there will be someone collecting your contributions.

Won’t you please join us on December 18?
(. Just send back the form on page 13 and we’ll
' look forward to seeing you at Rossi’s. ﬁ

IF YOU FEEL . . .

Dissatisfied with your relationships
Too often angry and frustrated
Disconnected and depressed
Stressed or Anxious

Displeased with your work situation

I can help you make changes that will
improve your relationships and allow you
the happiness you deserve. Please contact
my office to schedule an appointment.

DAVID L. FEINBERG, Ph.D.

Individual, Marital & Family Counseling
520 E. Maxwell St. 0 Lexington. KY 40502

(859) 233-3390

November 2005 Shalom - 3

President's Message

Moving mountains, one

individual at a time
+ + +

Recently, I had the opportunity to hear Alina Spaulding
relate the story of her family’s rescue from the former
Soviet Union for the second time.

Marty Barr

rough target of around five families for the first year. We
discussed all aspects of the move: providing lessons in
English, transportation, medical care, housing, furniture,
clothing and—most important—jobs. The number of
people involved from all segments of our community
kept multiplying as more people wanted to do something
that went beyond writing a check. Here was an effort
with a face and a name, a

She had previously talked to
members of the Lexington
community at the Major Gifts
event and, thanks to the efforts of
Ricki Rosenberg, we were able to
reprise this truly inspiring event.

Here was an effort with a face and
a name, a person you could invite
to dinner on the Sabbath,

person you could invite to
dinner on the Sabbath,
someone you would see and
talk to in Synagogue or
Temple or at a Hadassah
meeting.

someone you would see and talk

It took me back to the early 805
when a group of us met in Judy
Levine’s house and discussed how

to in Synagogue, 'fempte, or at a
Hadassah meeting.

From that start, the
community helped
approximately 25 families

the Lexington Jewish community
could help in absorbing the

increasing numbers of people leaving the USSR for the
United States and Israel. If my memory serves, we set a

" resettle in Lexington. Some of

them eventually moved on to
other cities and states as they took advantage of the
freedom we enjoy in our lives. Others continue to live in

Lexington and have become
integrated into the community,
buying homes, raising children, and
participating in its organizations. The
role of the Federation in this effort
was that of coordinator. Out of this
work, Jewish Family Services was
established and began to evolve into
the professionally staffed
organization we have today. While I
certainly hope that we never have to
respond to a situation like this again,
it stands as a period of time when
this community acted with one voice
and moved mountains. 3:3

Q.
3’

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at noon in

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The New Americans

In their own words

In the early 1990s 25 Russian Jewish families were settled in Lexington under
the auspices of the Central Kentucky Jewish Federation. It has been ten years
now since the lastfamily arrived and started its new life away from the
tyranny of the Soviets. We are presenting here some of their stories of what it
was like to leave everything they knew and start a new life, and where the

journey has taken them thus far.

Family helped on journey
to a new identity

Lexington community

support aided success
0 o o

By Boris Shur

Recently, when answering a set of
questions required to visit an FBI
facility with special access
constraints, 1 was asked about my
citizenship, I answered simply
"US,” while one of my colleagues
answered, “US. (by the grace of
God).” This made me think about my
own path, on which the grace of God
definitely was also involved, or I
would be still living in Kiev, Ukraine
and dealing with various shades of
orange. [Editor’s note: The color
adopted by Ukranian revolutionaries.l

lite path W‘as not sunple and
involved a lot of people over the
years. Some of our friends in
Lexington have told us about
demonstrating in their youth to
support us, the Soviet Jews, and
about more recent campaigns that,
after many years of suppression,
opened up the gates in the late 1980s
to “let our people go.” For our
family, the road to US. eitizenship
started around 1989, when the State
Department decided to close their
refugee camps outside of Rome and
started accepting applications for
immigration at the US. Embassy in
Moscow. It took a long time, but we
were finally invited for an interview
in October of 1990 and granted
refugee status. That was just the first
of the memorable steps in our journey.

The next one came on May 5, 1991
when, after several long days and
delays in travel, we landed at the
Bluegrass Airport and were met by
many people from the Lexington
Jewish community, led by rabbis Eric
Slaton and Jon Adland. It was late,
we had been flying on and off for
more than 24 hours, we were not
expecting any sort of reception, but
the atmosphere was so contagious,
so happy, so welcoming, that all our
anxiety over the unknown, all our

tiredness, suddenly let go and we at
once felt that everything would be
good, that we were home. I probably
would not remember everyone who
came that night, everyone who
welcomed us to Lexington or to the
Jewish community, or who helped in
those first, most difficult days and
months, but I will always be grateful
to the Lexington Jewish community
for everything.

Even though we now live away

from Lexington (Olga and l are in
Northern Virginia, just outside
Washington, DC; Maiya is in Boston),
we consider it home, the place where
we are from, even though we still get
surprised looks answering the
question “Where are you from?"
with “Lexington, Kentucky.” Then,
of course, we have to add, ”Oh, you
mean originally..." Still, it’s not a
pose, we do feel this way, and we are
from Lexington. That’s where our
American life started, and we could
not have picked a better place to start
it, or better people to help us start it.

Many happy days followed that May
5, 1991: the day we got our first jobs,
the day we moved into our first
house, the day we became US
citizens, the day when our daughter
was accepted to MIT. Maiya has i
finished MIT—twice (or three times,
depending how you Count)—as an
undergraduate with a double major
in mechanical engineering and
biology in 2002 and when she
received her Master's in mechanical
engineering last year. She works for a
Boston—based design consulting firm,
Design Continuum
(wwwdcontinuum.com). Olga
continues to work for the ACS
Government Systems, telecommuting
from home to their offices in
Lexington. I'm now a chief data
architect for the US. Department of
Justice, working on law enforcement
and counter-terrorism information
sharing programs. All of us have
come a long way; this country gave
us a chance we never had before and
we are happy here, personally and
professionally. 221

ZANTKER LECTURE

ANNOUNCED

“RETHINKING NAZISM AND RELIGION:
THE ROLE OF CHRISTIANITY
IN THE THIRD REICH”

RICHARD STEIGMAN-GALL
KENT STATE UNIVERSITY, OHIO
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7 AT 8:00 P.M.

PRESIDENT'S ROOM
SINGIETARY CENTER
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY

Newcomers found
warm welcome

Volunteers essential to effort

‘0‘

lil/ lemme W, Hitrmsi'r

Jerry Wurmser wrote this article in the early 905 when the Lexington Jewish
community was settling the Russian immigrantfamilies. We thought it would be
appropriate to publish it now that we are following up with some of those families.

It all starts with
the ringing of the
telephone. It’s
probably either
Linda Rayin or,
more recently,
Mollye Schwab
from the CKJF
office with the
news that a new
immigrant family
of five will arrive
on such-and-such
date, and we'll

get the key to the

Rose Rita Wurmser sorting goods for resettling Russian families.

apartment on

Tuesday, and so forth. This time
we’re lucky. We will have access to
the apartment several days before
the expected arrival. Rose Rita and l
are delighted. It appears to be either
feast or famine, as we haven’t had
any newcomers for some time. Either
we don’t have enough household
goods on hand or else we have more
than we have storage space for. Since
losing our large storeroom a year or

so ago, we’ve been crammed into
two small mini warehouses, each
10x30 feet, plus our garage at home.
W"re so jammed for space at present
that we're storing sofas on end so as
not to waste the cubic feet of space
near the ceiling!

Priority Number One is to line up
our volunteers to help us move the
furniture from the storage area to the

see Newcomers, page 14

November 2005 Shalom - 5

From the Executive Director

Daniel Chejfec

Evolution versus Revolution
+ + 4

As I read the papers lately, I get a sense of dcjn vu. In
many ways, it reminds me of the days I was living in
Argentina. Let me spell this out.

A purely emotional approach to
politics or leadership also has its
problems. People who take this
approach tend to put their goals
above everything else, even tacts.

While I was growing up, the main
characteristic of Argentinean politics
was the preeminence of emotion over
facts. It was more important to
support Peron or his heirs than to
determine whether the Peronist
political platform was one that would
help the country. One of the
consequences of this approach was a
total lack of long—term planning and a
tendency to make decision ”by the
seat of one’s pants” rather than

I see American society polarizing in
two camps: the one of “Bush can do
no wrong” and the one of “Bush can

do no right,” and much of the
discourse on both sides is essentially
emotional rather than intellectual.

through a serious analysis of the
situation. The direct effects of this approach were an
unstable economy, loss of credibility with foreign
investors, rampant corruption at the government level
because of the lack of controls, and total failure to
visualize a long-term plan for the country’s economy and
political structure. The immediate result was the chaos of
the years 1973-1975, which led to the military government
of 1976—1983 and its bloody repression of any kind of
political dissent, legal as well as illegal.

When 1 read the papers in this country today I get a sense
of a violent opposition to the federal administration that
overrules any kind of intellectual analysis of policies, as
well as the formation of a camp of administration
supporters as violent as its opponents. It is true that the
federal government has made mistakes, some of them
enormous, but that should not be used to justify a blanket
indictment of this administration. I see American society
polarizing in two camps: the one of “Bush can do no
wrong” and the one of “Bush can do no right,” and much
of the discourse on both sides is essentially emotional
rather than intellectual. While I could give you many
examples of this, it is not wheie I am going and I am sure
you have your own examples.

What I want to explore is the implications of emotion
over reason in political or organizational discourse.
Emotion and rationality are two poles in human
understanding. Each of them has a positive and negative
side, and neither of them functions well without the
other. There are, however, some issues to consider.

A purely rational approach to politics or leadership will
be able to come up with the rationally perfect structure or
plan to achieve goals. The problem with this approach is
that it ignores the human factor. People always need time
to get used to change, because change produces anxiety
by replacing that which we know with something we do
not know and, many times, do not understand. Ignoring
this source of anxiety creates obstacles in implementing
that ”perfect plan" and often it creates more problems
than it solves. As a perfect example of this you can check
my article in this Shalom about the Israeli—Palestinian
conﬂict. The laws of the Turkish government made
perfect sense, but the people affected by them did not
understand them, and the whole plan for modernization
of property laws in the Ottoman provinces was a
complete failure.

6 0 November 2005 Shalom

It is often the source of unique
interpretations of reality, in the form
of “since this is what it should be, if
it is not, it is wrong." It also leads to
the mixing of faith and Realpolitik, a
mixture often violent and rarely
useful. The purely emotional
approach denies the reality of human
imperfection, and replaces the real
humanity by an ideal one, shaped by
a specific belief or ideology.

Change is a necessary part of any
system or organization, but it comes
in many different packages. If we
believe that there is an ultimate ideal
and nothing but that ideal will do—a

purely emotional approach v
then we will consider it not
only justifiable but even
desirable to get rid of what

exists today and replace it

completely by what we believe it should be. This is a
change by revolution. If we believe that there is an
ultimately perfect model derived from rational analysis
to which people should adjust because it is the best for
them—a purely rational approach we will produce a
model that is impervious to change and therefore
doomed to fail for lack of flexibility.

Our tradition tells us however, that neither rationality
nor emotional by itself provides an answer, and that
the place to look at the world lies somewhere in
between.”

There is, indeed, a third approach that I consider very

Jewish and that is reflected in much Jewish humor:

both sides of the argument are right. As Jews, we
believe there is an ultimate model of conduct, codified in
the Torah. But we also understand that as human beings
we are liable to "miss the mark” once and again, and we
strive to learn from our mistakes. In fact, the whole
concept of t’slzuva is one of redemption of our own errors,
including recognition of our mistakes as well as course
correction in our behavior. In practical terms, this means
that the only 20/ 20 vision is the collective one, and while
we might keep the ultimate goals in mind, they are not
the only source that informs our doing.

In this context, change needs to exist to push the system

closer to the perfect model one step at a time while
educating those affected by the changes to allow them

see Evolution page 9

YOU

FEDERATION REACHES OUT TO OUR ELDERLY, ORGANIZES
COMMUNITY PROGRAMS, AND BRINGS US TOGETHER TO

CELEBRATE.
BECAUSE NOBODY SHOULD BE' ALONE. ‘

SUPPORT THE 2005 CKJF/UJC COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN

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Homage to

Mandelkern
§ 4 o

Although he rates a whole column
in the 1971 Encyclopedia Iudaica, you
probably never heard of Solomon
Mandelkern (1846—1902).
Nonetheless, he’s my culture hero
and he should be the patron saint of
all scholars who were born before the
computer age, that is, the generation
of the technologically challenged.
You see, he took twenty years of his
life—during which his. wife left him
and he became an alcoholic— and
organi