Jewish publications print numerous articles and reports dealing with the survival crisis faced by Jewish communities throughout the Diaspora. Noted social scientists, armed with substantial documentation and computerized statistical projections, express alarm at the results of their inquiry.
Ignoring these facts, our Jewish leadership, through its spokespersons and paid communal professionals, continues with essentially the same planning and programming despite the mounting evidence of failure. We are told by those who have assumed the responsibility for our future that current trends - zero population growth, intermarriage, assimilation, etc. - regardless of how threatening, will ultimately be corrected. They have also suggested that our adversities only strengthen our ability to adjust to change and that we as a people have always endured in spite of great peril.
Without dignifying these assurances, I would like them to know that their confidence in our survival offers no comfort to the perished millions, nor to the many who have become accessible Jews to the missionaries, nor to the parents and grandparents of thousands upon thousands of apathetic Jewish youth who, lacking in pride and self-respect, are in the process of phasing out their Jewishness completely.
I, for one, have lost faith in the ability of our "planners", whose efforts on behalf of their communities are too often predicated on not offending non-Jews. Nor am I personally interested in their yet unrevealed plans based on the studies of their "experts" and committee findings.
In light of the dismal performance of Jewish leadership, what is needed is an open forum that democratically permits and encourages full expression of all positions in the Jewish community. The moderates, the liberals and even the Left have access to community facilities and media; the conservative Right - never having had a significant voice of influence and consequently not responsible for the problems that confront us - is frequently maligned and discredited without being heard.
What would be heard if this excluded faction were permitted free access? In contrast to the standard position of accommodation and conciliation offered by some who represent the Jewish community, we would vigorously hear that we, the Jewish people, have earned the right to an expectation of the non-Jewish world; that gentiles too must demonstrate their worthiness for our acceptance, as Jews have historically been required to do for them.
To expect anything less, in light of our extraordinary accomplishments and contributions to mankind, makes a mockery of our magnificent Jewish heritage, suggesting a thinly disguised selfhatred that encourages only contempt, instead of respect.
Therefore, if the professed Jewish liberal tradition truly exists, and solutions are to be determined, the full spectrum of alternatives must be examined and fully considered. While a number of exceptional Jewish leaders have done this, many have not. Those Jewish leaders unwilling to do this (and divest themselves of their special interests in order to plan for the common good) must forfeit the authority and privilege of leadership they have appropriated for themselves and imposed upon us.
Ignoring these facts, our Jewish leadership, through its spokespersons and paid communal professionals, continues with essentially the same planning and programming despite the mounting evidence of failure. We are told by those who have assumed the responsibility for our future that current trends - zero population growth, intermarriage, assimilation, etc. - regardless of how threatening, will ultimately be corrected. They have also suggested that our adversities only strengthen our ability to adjust to change and that we as a people have always endured in spite of great peril.
Without dignifying these assurances, I would like them to know that their confidence in our survival offers no comfort to the perished millions, nor to the many who have become accessible Jews to the missionaries, nor to the parents and grandparents of thousands upon thousands of apathetic Jewish youth who, lacking in pride and self-respect, are in the process of phasing out their Jewishness completely.
I, for one, have lost faith in the ability of our "planners", whose efforts on behalf of their communities are too often predicated on not offending non-Jews. Nor am I personally interested in their yet unrevealed plans based on the studies of their "experts" and committee findings.
In light of the dismal performance of Jewish leadership, what is needed is an open forum that democratically permits and encourages full expression of all positions in the Jewish community. The moderates, the liberals and even the Left have access to community facilities and media; the conservative Right - never having had a significant voice of influence and consequently not responsible for the problems that confront us - is frequently maligned and discredited without being heard.
What would be heard if this excluded faction were permitted free access? In contrast to the standard position of accommodation and conciliation offered by some who represent the Jewish community, we would vigorously hear that we, the Jewish people, have earned the right to an expectation of the non-Jewish world; that gentiles too must demonstrate their worthiness for our acceptance, as Jews have historically been required to do for them.
To expect anything less, in light of our extraordinary accomplishments and contributions to mankind, makes a mockery of our magnificent Jewish heritage, suggesting a thinly disguised selfhatred that encourages only contempt, instead of respect.
Therefore, if the professed Jewish liberal tradition truly exists, and solutions are to be determined, the full spectrum of alternatives must be examined and fully considered. While a number of exceptional Jewish leaders have done this, many have not. Those Jewish leaders unwilling to do this (and divest themselves of their special interests in order to plan for the common good) must forfeit the authority and privilege of leadership they have appropriated for themselves and imposed upon us.