TIKKUN Editor and Publisher: Michael Lerner Associate Editor: Peter Gabel Executive Editor Alice Chasan Book Editor: Michael Kazin Jewish Booze Editor: Michael Paley Fiction Editor: Anne Roiphe Poetry Editor: Marge Piercy Literary Editors: . Phillip Lopate, Leonard Michaels, Francine Prose, Mordechai Richler, Linda Zisquit Contributing Editors: James Atlas, Paul Berman, David Biale, E. M. Broner, Arnold Eisen, Christopher Lasch, Ruth Messinger, Gina Morantz-Sanchez, Ilene Philipson, Ruth Rosen, Lisa Rubens Production Manager: Jacqueline Maia Schwartz Editorial Michael Gillespie, Jonathan Graubart, Elliot Neaman,Jeanmarie Saltman Akiva Lerner Controller: Valerie Bach Vaz Letters Tikkun reserves the rig/9t to select, edit, and shorten all submissions to the Letters section. COERCIVE DEFERENCE To the Editor: I don?t know if you know this, but many African-American intellectuals read Tile/Eur: magazine very carefully. I?m one of them, and I?ve appreciated Debtor?s Careful and thoughtful atten- tion to the issues that confront our community. I was particularly delighted to read Peter Gabel?s response to Kimberle Crenshaw and Gary Peller. Peller and Ctenshaw are right to be concerned about what a Clinton administration will do for the problems facing many African-Americans. I share their con- cern. But as an African-American, I re- sist their attempts, like the attempts of many ?cultural nationalists,? to dictate a specific identity that I must follow in order to be ?kosher? as a Black man. Yet that is exactly what is implied when we are told there is a real Black identity and that it was suppressed at the Demo- cratic Convention. My identity was not suppressed, and I refuse the definition of my ?cultural particularity? that sister Ctenshaw and her white ally Peller are seeking to impose as normative. I have had these kinds of feelings for years, but until I read Gabel I didn?t feel I had a right to say anything like this in public; ifI did so I?d be betray- ing my Blackness and abandoning my African-American brothers and sisters. The fact is that I don?t want to do any betraying. I am very much committed to social transformation in America in a way that will eliminate. poverty and all forms of racism, not only against me and other Blacks, but also against Lati- nos, American-Indians, Asians, Jews, everybody. I?m not abandoning this de- sire for what amounts to deep struc- tural change in America when I say that some of the forms of ?cultural partic- ularity? that are supposed to be mine, because I was born Black, just don?t seem to fit me. Some I just don?t want to have fit me. I think that the cultural thought police in the African-Ameri- lsraetY O??ice: Aaron Back, Beth Sandweiss Editor-rial Consultants: Heather Ashley, Christina Biichmann, David Gewanter, David Green, Shifra Raffel, Josh Weiner Production.- Ernily Douglas Editorial Board Martha Rachel Adler, Eric Alrerman, Gar Alperovitz, Michael Butler, Michael Berenbaum, Rachel Biale, Norman Birnbaum, Heather Booth, Jay Cantor, David Cohen. Gerald Cromcr, Dorothy Dinnerstein, Elliot Dorff, Peter Edelman, Leslie Epstein, Sidra Ezrahi, Gordon Pellman, John Felsriner, Nan Fink, Saul Friedlander, Maurice Friedman, Amos Laura Geller, David Gordis, Arthur Green, Joshua Greene, Colin Greer, Robert Hcilbroner, Hal Jacobs, Burt Jacobson, Reuven Kimelman, Chana Kronfeld, Daniel Lancles. Hillel Levine, Tzvi Marx, Daniel Mart, Marshall Meyer, Jo Milgrom, Jo-Ann Mort, Ilana Parties, Victor Perera, Robert Pinsky, Judith Plaslcow, Letty Cottin l?ogrebin, Aviczcr Ravitsky, Lillian Rubin, John Ruskay, David Saperstein, Zalman Howard Schwartz, Chaim Scidlcr-Feller, Gerald Serotta, Drorah O?Donnell Setel, Stanley Sheinbaum, Uri Simon, Michael Steinlauf, Daniel Thursz, Milton Viorsr, Al Vorspan, Arthur Wasltow, Steve \VaSSerman, A. B. Yehoshua, Idith Zerral, Steve Zipperstein 2 TIKKUN VOL. 7, No. 6 Research and investigative journalism for several articles in this issue and in each of the last three issues of TIKKUN was supported in part by a grant from the Nathan Cummings Foundation. Taliban (Vol. 7, No. 5, ISSN 0887-9982) is published for $36 per year by the Institute for Labor and Mental Health, a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization, 5100 Leona St, Oakland. CA 94619-5002. 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US. newsstand and bookstore distribution by Eastern News Distributors, Inc., 1130 Cleveland Rd., Sandusky, OH 44870; (800) 221?3148. can world can be just as rigid and alien- ating as those whom you in are always complaining about in the Jew- ish world; those who tell you how you ought to be as Jews, how you aren?t ?real Jews? unless you support Israeli policy, or adopt religious orthodoxy, or something like that. I have always re- sented this in the Black world. In a funny way, all the contradictions came home to me when Clarence Thomas was defended by some Blacks who said that his way of talking to Anita Hill was merely a Black way of talking, that it had a different meaning in a Black con- text, and that in that context his way was normal and not a sign of harass- ment. I realized then that many people like to use ?cultural particularity? as their own weapon to justify their own specific political approaches. I?d rather debate out the approach explicitly rather than have it shoved down my throat under the guise of being ?cul? totally correct.? So, while I think I may have lots to criticize Clinton about, I don?t want to do it using this kind of cultural correctness that is suggested by the Crenshaw-Peller team. James New York, New York To the Editor: There is a big danger in Gabel?s concept of coercive deference: that he will let every unreeonstructed racist, sexist, and imperialist off the hook that we?ve been trying to put them on for the past two decades. I can see that happening in the administration Clin- ton is putting together. The moment we critique the choice of, say, a Cold Warrior of the Les Aspin variety for Secretary of Defense, or of other right- wing Democrats, we are going to be told that we are insisting that Clinton succumb to coercive deference. Gabel wants us to avoid the interest group politics of the past decade and Speak in the name of some larger com- munity. The problem is that no one has yet been able to mobilize such a larger community to fight for progressive values. All we have are the particular constituencies?Women, gays, Blacks, Jews, Latinos?~fighting for what they see as their particular needs. In general, these groups push for and help shape progressive political directions. But if Gabel succeeds, these groups will be demobilizod while the alternative com- munity of meaning has not yet been constituted. So then who will be around r: - Subscription order form in this issue between pages 48 and 49 INTERNS-AN VOLUNTEERS. NEEDED for Newao'rk .OffiCe at is a perfect way to make a real contribution to social change?and a perfect entry into the world of professional publishing. Unfortunately, we can't pay our interns, but we can offer you intellectual excitement and the opportunity to make a real difference in the world. in the past, some interns who have worked for us for nine months have been hired at New York publishing houses and major newspapers, and some have been hired We require a sixteen hours per week minimum time commitment. Interns read and assess incoming manuscripts, help with editing and proofreading, help plan and publicize-TIKKUN salons, conferences, and sum- met retreats. and do a wide variety of of?ce tasks'including mailings. answering phones and letters, leafletting and soliciting subscriptions and donations. They also work with Students for Judaism and Social Justice, which will sponsor an East Coast conferencein New York City on Februarle?El, 1993. Or, you can volunteer Forth: magazine. You can help us work unpress eontacLs,'fundraising, public rela- tions, legal matters, setting up speakers' engagements, helping plan our conference on jewish or our conference ofjewish -wrircrs.'or helping get new subscribers. I To apply: Write lotteritelling-us what turns-you on about describing your skills, and specifying what time you have available. Write-to TIKKUN. 251 W. 100111, 5th ?oor, New Yorl:1 NY. 10025. LETTERS 3 m?F?mm. . to counter the massive pull of the Right and its likely influence on Clinton et. al? I don?t fault Gabel for attributing to Clinton some real empathy for the struggle of Blacks, women and gays, and sensitivity to the environment. But how is that sympathy going to get translated into politics once he is in office? Only if there are real powerful forces push- ing him?and those will be the separate ethnic, sexual, and religious constituen- cies. And they will exercise influence precisely by insisting that Clinton show care and concern for their particular needs. At that point, they may be able to hook into Clinton?s (in Gabel?s terms) ?unquenched life force?~?but they will need the club they get by being able to insist that Clinton pay attention to their past oppression and present needs. In fact, it may be precisely the ability of these groups to make those kinds of de- mands that will give Clinton the tools he needs to counter the demands of the right. So Gabel is really asking the Left for unilateral diszrmament, before they?ve won anything. I don't think that is very smart strategy. Al Gross Chicago, Illinois AND THE Jaws To the Editor: I find it bizarre that Mr. \Weisberg should hold me responsible for views which I had clearly attributed to Dr. Fox, to the point of accusing me of of- fering ?a shocking apology for the [Vichy] regime?s leaders.? This is very silly, as it would indeed be silly and bizarre to charge Dr. Fox, a m05t rep- utable scholar, with offering an apology for Vichy (which both he and I detest), even if his analysis were to be wrong. At any rate, I suggest that the Editors of Iii/(slum ask Dr. Fox to comment on Weisberg?s article. Abraham Brumberg Chevy Chase, Maryland GAYS AND Jaws To the Editor: How ignorant of the Conservative Movement policy can Mr. Lerner be? Ev- ery arm of the Movement has made clear its abhorrence of discrimination against homosexuals. As Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, the seminary?s chancellor, recently 4 VOL. 7, No. 6 stated, ?Judaism is as vital to the well- being of homosexuals as to heterosexu- als. Synagogues should extend to gays and lesbians a respectful welcome. Ban- ished from the larger society, discrimina- tion and intrusiveness should find no haven in our religious institutions.? Excluding homosexuals from the rabbinate or cantorate can hardly be construed as oppression. To again quote Rabbi Schorsch: ?KY/hat we deem an aVQWed homo- sexual unsuited for is religious leader- ship rabbi or cantor], on the grounds that the occupant of these posts should come as close as humanly possible to personifying the ideals of Judaism. But then, that is a standard that disqualifies many others, as well.? To ?come as close as humanly pos- sible to personify the ideals of Ju- daism" requires acknowledging the centrality of the heterosexual family in Jewish life. To achieve the status of ?ha?adam? requires the merging of man and woman into a single unit, so ?that they shall be one flesh,? capable of creating life in the image of their Creator. It would be hypocritical? and indeed cruel?to expect a homo- sexual rabbi to ascend a pulpit to preach on the immutable centrality of the heterosexual family in Judaism. Klal Yisrael (theJewish community) must also be considered. It is not yet ready to countenance such rab- binic leadership. (\Vhile Halacha is not decided by the public, its views must be considered.) Thus, the Talmud in Mefilla 23b suggests that the only rea- son women were not called for aliyot was because the congregation would not stand for it. The Conservative Movement continues to abide by that ruling today by allowing each congre- gation the right to decide for itself the extent to which egalitarianism will be observed during the services. The religious arguments aside, I find Mr. Lerner?s references to the Nazi concentration camps both insult- ing and ironic. What is about it is the flat- out statement that those camps [were] filled also with another persecuted mi? nority?gays.? Filled? Of the eleven million people who died in those camps, six million were killed because they Were Jews. Indeed, that was the whole point of the death camps: to kill all the Jews. Among the other five million were gays?and Gypsies, political dissidents, the emotionally and physically disabled, Poles, Russians, Serbs, etc. Except, perhaps, in the case of the Gypsies, there was no organized effort at a ?final solution? for any of these vic- tims. As for the Gypsies, whatever or- ganized effort existed was limited to Germany proper. Only the Jews were meant as Nazism?s universal victims. While I sympathize with the point Mr. Lerner sought to make, I resent the equality of status he seeks to create. The irony is to be found in the fact that the Shoah offers the most poignant argument for retaining the ideal of the heterosexual family and not opening the door to alternatives. We have yet to recover numerically from that tragedy. There are only about thirteen million of us worldwide, far below the twenty-six million Jews who liVed before the Shoah. The situation can only get worse because our low birth rate and escalating rate of inter- marriage traps us in a ruinous pattern of numerical attrition. This is not the time to remove the heterosexual fam- ily as the sole legitimate Jewish norm. Shammai Engelmayer Director of Communications The Jewish Theological Seminary of America New York, New York To the Editor: N?ehael Lerner acknowledges that the leaders of the Conservative Move- ment struggled with the issue of ho- mosexuality, but ?could not find a halaehic peg on which to hang their humane concerns. He blames this on their lack of self-confidence. Dr. Lerner is correct in noting that these leaders could not find such a ?peg,? but that is because this peg does not exist. Rather than condemning the Conservative Movement for what he perceives as timidity, Dr. Lerner should be praising us for our staunch commitment to halacha. By definition, a system that estab? lishes standards of behavior and de- sired codes of conduct cannot be expected to please everyone. Indeed, changing halacha to accommodate one constituency may very well alienate an- other. Even more significant, the at- tempt to reinterpret halacha to equate all lifestyles threatens to negate the very purpose of this legal system, which has served us so well through- out our long history. Additionally, it is completely absurd to complain, as Lerner does, that Con- servativo rabbis are no longer creative and lack self-confidence. One has only to examine innovations in the Conser- vative Movement over the past ten or fifteen years to find significant deVel- opments not only in synagogue life, particularly related to questions of gen? der, but also in its willingness to con- front important social issues, such as divorce and abortion. Indeed, these positive developments have been praised in the pages of Tahitian itself. Although Dr. Lerner has the right to criticize the Conservative Movement for not upholding his beliefs regarding homosexuality, it is intellectually dis- honest to label the Movement noncre- ative and lacking in self-confidence when the contrary is clearly the case. I also find it hard to believe that Dr. Lerner truly feels that the entire Con- servative rabbinate is made up of indi- viduals ?whose central goal is to make comfortable suburbanites feel comfort- able.? Certainly, that description may apply to some rabbis in every denomi- nation. But there are also many rabbis in every denomination who challenge congregants and, in so doing, make them uncomfortable, while causing them to grow. Indeed, many Conserva- tive rabbis have actually put their jobs ?on the line? for the sake of principle. Finally, I was struck by Dr. Lerncr's comments on Conservative Jewish youth. Our experience with United Synagogue Youth (USY) is just the op- posite of what he describes. These young people have provided us with a cadre of leadership for the Movement. I am continually impressed by the num- ber of synagogue leaders {professional and lay) who have risen through the ranks of the youth programs of the Con? servative Movement. In part, this is be- cause they have been exposed to the dynamism of the Movement in the very areas criticized by Dr. Lerner (witness the successful Olam program, which involves thousands of youngsters each year in hands-on social action). Dr. Lerner concludes his editorial by suggesting that it is time for theJew- ish people to apologize to homosexu- als for the way they have been treated. If We, as individuals, have been insen- sitive in the way we have spoken to or interacted with homosexuals on a per- sonal basis, we certainly ought to apol- ogize. Further, if we have in any way deprived homosexuals of their civil rights, an apology is in order. However, We cannot apologize for adhering to our religious principles and for honor- ing the procesa by which Jewish law is made and changed. To do less would be to dishonor the sacred teachings of the Torah?and that, more than any- thing else, would warrant an apology. Rabbi Jerome M. Epstein Executive Vice-President, The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism New York, New York The Editor responds: A few years ago leaders of the Con- servative Movement were using these same kinds of arguments to explain why they prohibited women from be- coming rabbis or from receiving aliyot. When the pressure became great enough, they suddenly found halachic justifications for switching their posi- tion. Talmudic rabbis found just such a way to get around the Torah?s Sab- batical year requirements that freed debtors of responsibility for paying back loans. I have no doubt that within fifty years the Conservative Movement will find just such mechanisms to dis- cover that gays can indeed personify the ideals of Judaism, but in the mean- time a lot of people are going to be suf- fering unnecessarily.Just as in the case of women?s rights the key element was pressure from within the Movement, so in this case it will be internal pres- sure that will eventually give conser- vativo rabbis the courage that they currently lack to respond to the ha- lachic arguments that Rabbi Brad Art- son has already presented in these pages about why Judaism needs to change its approach to homosexuals. As to the impact of the Holocaust: discriminating against gays and les- bians will not help deal with our de- clining numbers (none of them are going to convert to heterosexualin in order to become rabbis) but it may in- crease the alienation from Judaism that is a primary cause of assimilation. To the Editor: As a gay activist in my community I want you to know how much I appre- ciate Ti'kkurr?s forthright statement in favor of gay and lesbian rights in the Jewish world. I?ve heard many people attempt to apologize for the Conserva- tive Movement?s exclusion of gay and lesbian rabbis on the grounds that even though we can?t have any rights, the Are Jews mere?or 'less?neurotic?_Dtawing on werks ranging from the Book of Ruth to the novels of Isaac Bashevis Singer, from the films of Woody Allen to theteachings of Hasidism, this'boolc shows that the contempOrary dilemmas of Jewishfdesire have their AND THE From Biblical Israel to Contemporary America DAVID BIALE analogues in the past. remarkably eyevopening tour through a moral world every bit as ironic, ambivalent and intellectual as Jewish life itse ~?Philadelphia_lnquirer ?Bide is about timeless and universal tenSions; seeing them here illuminated in historical context is deeply illuminating. ?San Francisco Chronicle . Ar bookstores orfrom Baschooks A Division of Har - Toll?free with credit card 800-331?3761 Lamas 5 - 4 urmAxmh?! Conservative Movement adopted a po- sition paper that said homosexuality should not be thought of as ?an abom- ination." \Well, thanks a lot. So now they will only discriminate against us, but not because we are absolutely dis- gusting! I don?t think that this amount of forward movement represents enough to require a great deal of celebration among any of our friends in the straight world who care about our rights as hu- man beings. And the prohibition they adopted making it illegal for Conserva- tive rabbis to perform ?commitment ceremonies? is the real abomination. I find it difficult to understand how any principled and sensitive Conservative Jew could agree to continue to pay the salary of a rabbi who thinks of himself as bound by the decisions of the Rab- binical Assembly?s Law Committee or who could continue to allow their con- gregation to pay dues to the United Syn- agogue of America. I must admit that when I first read I was worried about the way Michael Lerner emphasized the need for a progressive pro-family politics. De- spite the fact that he was careful to in- clude ?gay and lesbian families? among the families he wanted to support, I had a suspicion that he really didn?t care much about our issues. But the un- equivocal stand he took against the ConServative Movement?s decisions on this question reassures me in a way that previous pro-gay rights statements have not. Here is the tough case for Lerner?e a case where Jews who share his ap- proach to Judaism are moving in the wrong direction. 30 I?m mighty proud that Lerner and Ii'lelerm stood up and spoke out. I know you showed courage on Israel for all these many years, but to show courage on gay rights may be even tougher. I just hope other straight Jews will follow your leadership. Sol Harris New York, New York To the Editor: I am a graduate student at theJew? ish Theological Seminary (JTS). A ConservativeJew, I am devoted to this Movement. I am also an open lesbian, and as such I applaud your question- ing the Conservative Movement?s re- cent decision banning commitment ceremonies between homosexuals. However, the issues run deeper in our daily lives. Here at JTS, a handful of us gays and lesbians have formed a group 6 TIKKUN VOL. 7, No. 6 called the Incognito Club, so named because most of the other members have chosen to remain unknown. Re- gardless of official pronouncements of nondiscrimination in the graduate and undergraduate schools, their situation still feels somewhat precarious to many of them. I suspect people are waiting to see what happens next. The presence of open homosexuals here and the founding of the Incognito Club precipitated a tremendous strug- gle on the part of the administration to live up to their stated ideals. They have succeeded. There was a time, a couple of years ago, when I felt a cer- tain social ostracism, as ifI was dan? gerous to be seen with too often, but I perceive that we?ve moved past that stage. People are getting accustomed to the idea of homosexuals in their midst. That was a necessary first step. It should not be discounted, but neither can it be lauded as a final goal. All we are demon? strating, after all, is that we Conserva- tive Jews, homosexual and hetero- sexual, can study and Work together in an academic setting. The broader, Movement-wide problem of homosex- uals in religious life is yet before us. Our Movement leaders would have us believe that this, too, has been accom- plished, or at least the requisite provi- sions made. Declarations of nondis- crimination in the pews and in member- ship are indeed encouraging. As a homo- sexual Conservative Jew, however, it is evident to me that these declarations will profit us nothing, unless they are also un- derstood as just a necessary first step? the beginning, not the end, of a process. Centuries of prejudice and attendant dis- crimination cannot be eliminated with the flourish ofa pen. If these declarations are to have any meaning, an open dia- logue needs to begin with the very group most disempowered in this discussion, homosexuals. Without such a dialogue, all the debates now raging over our na- ture and our needs can only be specula- tion, rooted in that very same prejudice the Movement would condemn. Why is it, for example, that, for all my visibility and availability as a lesbian in this Movement, only three people, left and right of the debate, haVe asked me about my experience: Rabbis Elliot Dorff and Gordon TUCker, and you, Dr. Lerner? Why is it that a mere student, at risk of her career, must thrust herself into print in a publication outside of her community to make a point which, to any casual observer, would have been that, before the Movement decides our desciny, it ought to get to know us first, instead of relying so much on sensationalized media reports and the veritable tonnage of and biobabble available in print? Such ig- norance and misinformation can only lead to inadvertent cruelty. Last year, at the onset of the Rab- binical Assembly Law Committee Hearings on Homosexuality, my lover and I wrote a letter to all the members of that committee telling of the alien- ation and ostracism we had experi- enced here at JTS. Angered by the cruelty, Dr. Rabinowitz responded with a resound, a legal responsum, which forbade such community ne- glect. From that experience, I have come to understand and trust two things: One, I am not here among bad people, I am among good people grap- pling with a complex social evil no one fully understands; and two, that com- munication is the key to progress. I only beg that communication does not stop here, that we do not pretend the subject is closed. Ifno one knew of the ostracisrn before our letter, then there is so much more that no one but the homosexuals know. For example, a homosexual would know that the current policies of the Movement regarding synagogue mem- bership and participation contain the Seeds of continued discrimination. We may, it is said, be welcomed into the but access to synagogue honors, boards, and teaching positions in the Hebrew schools is contingent on the good will of the local rabbi. That may sound fine in theory, but in reality it means that we have been made a caste, vulnerable to synagogue and Movement politics and the brutal rule of cost effi- ciency. Given the state of synagogue fi- nances, what will happen to the rabbi's good judgment if our further participa- tion is opposed by a major contributor? Who will be sacrificed first? MoreOVer, once admitted, we have every reason to believe that our continued acceptance is contingent upon our continued good behavior. What will happen to us, if, in a moment's amnesia, we transgress someonc?s unarticulated boundary? Tiny gestures long allowed to hetero- sexuals and their spouses are still con- sidered parades for homosexuals. I speak from weary experience when I say that the burden of being the ?proper lesbian? in this community, like the onus of being the ?good Jew" in past (Continued on p. 75) LETTERS p. 6) times, is simply too nerve~racking and, I hesitate to admit, too demeaning, to be sustained permanently, no matter how great one?s devotion. I can?t live with always being afraid. That nowhere in this debate did the above objection arise is just further evidence of the patently heterosexual nature and bias of that debate. If the Conservative Movement is serious about its statement of nondiscrimination, then it must open up the floor for more dis- cussion, this time including their homo- sexual sons and daughters, colleagues and friends. Anything less will render their fine statements empty rhetoric. Dawn Rose Jewish Theological Seminary New York, New York RETHINKING SYRIA To the Editor, Larry Cohler misrepresents my po? sition on Syria. My argument in the New Yon?e Timer Op?ecl last July was precisely that in order to ?drive a hard bargain? the Syrian-American rap- prochement under the Bush adminis- tration must be slowed down through congressional pressure, and that one such form of pressure would be for Senator John Kerry to resume the (in- definitely postponed) hearings he had planned on Syrian involvement in nar- cotics and terrorism. Cohler, on the other hand, does not supply even one example in his Til?an article of how the United States should be more forceful in its dealings with Syria, save for a casual aside that the latter's refusal to abide by the last ac- cord requirement or redeploy forces from Beirut to the Bekaa should be more vigorously opposed. Cohler urges us to not look at As? sad as another Saddam. I fail to un- derstand what moral distinction Mr. Cohler finds between the two mass- murdering Ba?athist dictators. Mr. As? sad is arguably a shrewder political leader. His mass executions have been largely domestic. He has ventured be- yond his own borders into Lebanon and, in 1973, against Israel. He has a far better instinct for self-preservation and has, since 1973, usually adhered to the written and unwritten agreements he has made with Israel. Mr. Cohler is pleased with the As- sad regime?s new policy allowing Jews to emigrate. And he warns against Is- rael losing what might be a historic op- portunity. I have no disagreement. If the Rabin government reaches an agreement with Syria involving territo- rial conCessions on the Golan, that is fine with me. But Assad is playing an American game that Mr. Cohler refuses to see, or discuss. The rewards reaped by Assad include a virtually friction- less, de facto annexation of Lebanon; a massive rc-arming involving chemical weapons, Chinese and North Korean long-range and unconventional war- head-ready SCUD missiles, tanks and planes. The missile buildup, de- scribed by ultra-dove Matti Peled to me as a significant strategic danger for Israel, is dismissed by Mr. Cohler as a I ?serious current effort to achieve some measure of deterrence.? Mr. Cohler ignores assessments like the Washington Institute for Near East Policy?s report, written by, among oth- ers, Clinton campaign adviser Michael Mandelbaurn, that ?the hostile nature ofthe Syrian regime? including its sup- port for terrorism and its expansionist policies in Lebanon, ?make it, at best, a severely limited participant in the peace-making. The report recom- mends a U.S. policy not of ?rapproche- ment but rather containment, while his policies are tested. Only if Assad changes Syria?s behavior, in all these areas, will he be a serious candidate for peace?maker. Fortunately, if Bill Clinton wins, the next administration will be committed to opening the Syrian file in connec- tion with Pan Am 103; to backing a full Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon as well as to the peace talks. Arguing for a harder line toward Damascus from Washington is quite consistent with supporting a Syrian-Israeli deal based on UN resolution 242. It would be ironic if Risky?, which championed President Bush?s linkage of loan guar- antees to Likl-tud?s settlement policies, failed to support a similar two-track approach with regard to Syria, a regime which claims far fewer (if any] of its loyalties. U.S. policy should iso- late and oppose these elements of Syrian policy which contradict the peacemalting goal, while simultane- ously encouraging Damascus to stay at the table. David Twersl-ty W?ashington, D.C. HEARTLESS WILLIE (szn'nzredfrom p. 30) trip to the bathroom. ?There?s no time! but he was already on his way with- out his cane, bracing against the wall. Traffic downstairs had started and we heard the sound of motors. A convoy of trucks entered the Plaza, car- riages mounded with camouflage canvas. Trucks! She had thought we were going by tram like the Chernitzes. ?How will he manage in a truck?? We heard a crash in the toilet. ?Peter!? He came out and collapsed in a chair. He said noth? ing had happened, a slight accident but he was fine. He told her to sit down and listen. He promised to be brief. ?Admit what you know in your heart, Helen. There?s no relocation. Once we go downstairs we?re finished. ?Everyone?s downstairs. In seconds they?ll come for us. ?Let them come. You won?t be here. ?Where will I be?? ?You?ll be next door, at the Goldman?s.? ?How will I get there, you crazy man? You expect me to fly?? The Goldman apartment was across the airwell from ours, boarded up since the Goldmans were sent East. He had waited till the last moment to reveal his plan. Solomon, the custodian of the building next door, had TIKKUN VOL. 7, o. 6 75