In this weeks Jewish Week Publisher Gary Rosenblatt emulates Tevya, but in his case it arises from a passive aggressive desire to sell out Jerusalem without taking a real stand. In the key paragraphs he says:
But now is a good time for diaspora Jews to start thinking about the differences between the ideal Israel and the real Israel. The ideal Israel may indeed have the holy city of Jerusalem as its eternal and undivided capital. But if there is to be a peace agreement — at the end of next year or at the end of this century — it may well call for formalizing the kind of division within Jerusalem that we have seen for decades, with much of East Jerusalem under the sovereignty of a Palestinian government. Not the Western Wall or the Temple Mount, but those neighborhoods that are today overwhelmingly Arab.
That’s not what I’m calling for, only predicting. And we diaspora Jews who have listened so long to Israeli leaders tell us about the state’s absolute red lines must realize that the rhetoric and realities are changing. Otherwise we will be of little help in supporting our brothers and sisters in Israel, the majority of whom have come to believe that an end to wars and bloodshed is worth real sacrifice. They will have to decide if the risks are worthwhile because they already live in the real Israel. From If I Forget Thee, American Jews need to wake up to new Israeli realities.
Come on Mr. Rosenblatt, show some guts. Are you for dividing Jerusalem, or do you agree with most American and Israeli Jews that an undivided Jerusalem is the Capital of Israel? Either you don't have the chutzpa to show your true colors, or for a Yeshiva U graduate you have a poor idea of Jewish History.
Inevitable? The division of Jerusalem is no more inevitable than the Hellanists crushing the Maccabees, the Egyptians pushing the Jews into the Reed Sea, or Haman hanging Mordachai. As David Ben Gurion once said, "any Jew that does not believe in miracles is not a realist"
As the publisher of the largest NY directed Jewish Newspaper you have a responsibility to take a stand , especially in your editorials---either lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way. As I told you last week, the Jewish Week is consistently out of touch with the Jewish community. Last week Mr. Besser trashed the Save Jerusalem efforts, this week in your editorial you are trying to convince us to give up. Not only are you wrong, but worse you are operating on a stealth basis--come out of the closet and take a stand Gary, its hard to have a dialog in there.
6 comments:
The Jewish Week is not the largest or most read Jewish paper, in NY or elsewhere. Its circuation figures are deceptive, because if you donate to Federation, you automatically receive a subscription. But if you look at newsstands in any Jewish neighborhood in the NY area, stacks of Jewish Weeks remain unsold each week. Ask any of the newsstand vendors and they'll tell you the Jewish Press far outsells the Jewish Week.
Heshy
Not for nothing, but you read that entire post ripping the publisher of the Jewish Week for not taking a stand on Jerusalem and all you can do is give me a sales pitch on the Jewish Post's Circulation? Isn't Jerusalem more important than which paper has more legitimate Circulation?
First of all, I wrote "The Jewish Press." What's the Jewsih Post? And my point was that nobody cares about what Rosenblatt says.
That is certainly your opinion..do you work for the Press?
What is your opinion on Dividing Jerusalem?
I am a simply an informed Jew who looks at all the local Jewish papers in NY. Of course I'm against dividing Jerusalem.
Ah, Baruch Hashem !
So when the publisher of a Major (but not as big as the Jewish Press apparently) Jewish paper suggests that Dividing Jerusalem is inevitable--do you attack him or worry about circulation?
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