I keep pushing for an open argument inside the Jewish family, and I’m getting my wish. Yesterday I noted that at Brandeis, the campus Hillel voted to exclude a student chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace because the group is critical of Israel. (J Street has come out in support of JVP. So has Meretz. Great.) Well, Princeton is going thru similar torment. The Center for Jewish Life at Princeton held a meeting the other night of 25 concerned students, from which the press was excluded, to discuss the campus organization’s position on Israel.
Israel is a core political commitment of the center–one of six “pillars” of Jewish identity, says Rabbi Julie Roth, the head of the center, but evidently they are sweating the fact that many young Jews aren’t eating the dogfood. Teddy Schleifer in the Princetonian, on the process, emphasis mine:
“It is meant be to a guideline expressing where the CJL stands on Israel-related issues and how it will handle issues and events that arise on campus, including requests for co-sponsorship,” [student Sarah] Lux said in the e-mail.
The details of the Israel policy, however, could divide the campus’ Jewish community due to the community’s diverse opinions on the subject, Roth and [student Rafi] Abrahams said.
Abrahams said the CJL recognized this concern, but noted that “the entire idea … is to limit alienation as much as possible.”
The policy will not become a wedge in the campus Jewish community, Roth explained, saying that members of the CJL have an “umbrella of views.”
The CJL is “committed to fostering debate and conversation on campus about Israel,” she noted, adding that the group must preserve the “marketplace of ideas.”
I don’t know; Roth leaped into a student debate over the sale of Sabra hummus on campus last year, defending a product that sponsors the Israel Defense Forces.
Writes a friend:
We’re going to see Hillel organizations and their equivalents at universities around the country grappling with this question–of whether the fundamental criterion for being accepted as an organizationally affiliated Jew on campus is based on support for Israeli colonialism, silence about it, or at least not overstepping certain defined limits in criticizing it.
As the old Jewish establishment (including alumni) is losing control of the narrative in the face of challenges from (some) Jewish students on campuses, it will be interesting to see how many choose, as Brandeis Hillel did, to exclude the dissenters, preferring to close ranks with a smaller, purer cadre of believers in Netanyahu’s Israel. This is the world that Peter Beinart has described.
Dear annie,
You have chosen to not give me your gloss on “let’s cut to the chase.” I was chasing the possibility that you, a reader would ask for another of the archetypes to see if you/he/her could find this operating in their thinker. Ask anything, continue the dialect.
End of thread. I’ve seen this repeatedly on military .org. I’m happy that the cabal has not placed a censor in weiss’world who has “moderated” out our conversation. They could justify this by claiming I am attempting to inspire an emotional reaction in a reader. That’s true. I intended for a reader to feel like(emotional reaction) asking a question.
Yes it is immoderate to claim that there is intellectual value in old writings that are hidden by the cabal; that cabala is product of the cabal. If Madonna were a modatatoress….you might not defend her moderation so resolutely.
Annie, please ask a friend to recommend an open minded rabbi to consider the ideas I exposed; one who will give me his gloss on “bread.”
Love, John
john, i don’t really follow threads that are 6 months old which means if i don’t happen to see your post at the time you post it i don’t happen to see it at all.
Either you have a bible search program or a friend to find this stuff or…! Have you seen a bit of Torah?
no, just a regular computer. i googled the phrase you put in quotes “I came not to bring peace….” and then it led me to mathew 10:34 and i read the context.just common sense. i have not seen any torah.
john, i am not that interested in learning the glyphs or deeper religious meanings of this stuff beyond what my instincts inform me. it really is not my thing. i’m satisfied applying my own common sense wrt most symbolism but if the urge strikes me to consult a rabbi for religious instruction someday..i will. don’t go holding your breath tho. be well.
Dear annie,
Religious feelings and their nationalist origins are sickening planet. The Latin word re-ligion means reconnection. Between mind and body which is disconnected by vocal cords and their connection to mind. Buddhaism appears the only one that focusses on silence–stopping of internal dialogue. Others have been raped by nationalism.
This has taken so long cause had to go to Mexico and lost the thread. Found this by accident with search terms discussion, “carlo suares” If anyone is interested give them carlo-suares-cabala,weebly. com