Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 16, 1994 TAG: 9406290096
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By MELANIE S. HATTER SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
- ``No people can live forever on its sword,'' David Barzilai said, sitting in his small office in McBryde Hall on the Virginia Tech campus.
``We have to reach for peace,'' said the political science professor, referring to the peace talks between the Arabs and the Israelis.
Barzilai, who moved to Blacksburg from Israel three years ago, sees the conflict as having three layers: political, cultural and religious.
The most difficult layer to resolve is the last. Extremists on both sides use religion to further divide the two nations, he said. The Hebron massacre of Muslim worshipers in February was a prime example, he said. An attack on a holy place is emotionally more difficult to overcome.
The road to peace, in Barzilai's experience, begins with dialogue through which people can begin to understand each other.
About seven months ago, Barzilai began pushing for a Judaic Studies program at Virginia Tech. The classes would be taught not only for Jewish students who want to study their own heritage, but also as a dialogue to emphasize the human bonds and diversity among all cultures, Barzilai said.
Shortly before the academic year ended, he received permission and funding to begin two classes in the fall and two in the spring.
A course on Hebrew language and culture and an honors class on the historical, psychological and philosophical aspects of the Holocaust will be the first two courses offered and the foundation of a Judaic Studies program.
There are more than 450 Judaic programs in schools nationwide and there is a need for such a program at Tech, Barzilai said.
``It is clear that there is a responsibility [by Tech] not only because of the magnitude, the number of the students, but because ... it is a state university.'' Approximately 700 Jewish students attend Virginia Tech.
Barzilai views the Arab-Israeli conflict not only as a political science professor, but also as an Israeli whose 18-year-old daughter, Naama, recently joined the Israeli army. Barzilai served four years in the same army.
He is cautiously optimistic that long-term peace will come in his homeland. But it will happen only when each side creates order within its own ranks and reins in its extremists, said Barzilai, who now lives in Blacksburg with his wife, Naomi, and 5-year-old son, Yaniv.
When he lived in Israel, Barzilai fought for co-existence between Israelis and Arabs. He took every opportunity to express his views in peace demonstrations, lectures and newspapers.
But it was a particular incident that taught him true peace comes from dialogue between conflicting sides, he said.
Barzilai has dedicated much of his life to studying German Jewish philosopher Martin Buber and part of his research took him on a two-year fellowship to Germany in the early 1980s. He was the only Israeli living among German students in a student apartment.
At a social gathering one evening there was a lull in the party and ``a very young person asked, `What do you think of us?' I was shocked.''
In Barzilai's mind, his people were the victims and the Germans were guilty. He had entered their country as an accuser, refusing even to purchase a German car when he lived in Israel.
``But this was a young person,'' Barzilai said. ``He had ... experienced nothing. He was tormenting himself and suffering for his being a German ... I saw in this minute we were actually on the same side and fighting the same things.''
Barzilai understood, then, Buber's philosophy of bringing different peoples together through dialogue and since has integrated the philosopher's reasoning into his own life.
There are two sayings by which Barzilai tries to live. One is ``Carpe Diem,'' which means ``seize the day.''
``For me to seize the day is to meet people. To talk with people, have a conversation with a human being,'' he says.
Barzilai, who was born in Egypt and raised in Israel, seized the moment in February when he was invited to talk about the Arab-Israeli dispute at Blacksburg's YMCA. Instead of giving a speech, he invited a Palestinian and an Egyptian to discuss the issue with him and present their views.
``I think that conversation, the give-and-take between peoples, is most important.''
The other saying is written in gold on a chain around his neck. It is ``Shalom'' - ``Peace.''
``The idea of peace is the most central notion in Judaism. For example, in our tradition there are stories that even God can lie to keep the peace,'' he said. Peace is ``an idea that all your life you are looking for ... it's just a way of life. That's something that I want to emphasize in my approach to Judaism and my approach as being part of the Jewish people.''
In starting the Judaic Studies program at Virginia Tech during a time of budget cuts, he was told that money would be scarce. But with the university's approval and a supportive community, Barzilai is beginning to build the program.
He has received money from Jewish organizations across the state, including those in Blacksburg, Roanoke, Virginia Beach and Washington, D.C. The money will begin a library and lecture series, Barzilai said.
Rebecca Scheckler, president of the Blacksburg Jewish Community Center, is more than pleased at the prospect of a Jewish program.
``I think certainly that students at Tech could use the program and [it could be] enriching for the community at large,'' she said.
Because the Jewish community in the New River Valley is small, it is difficult to maintain the culture, she said. Instead of attending a nearby college, Scheckler's daughter chose Brandeis University, a private Jewish school in Waltham, Mass., because she ``wanted a more Jewish community. She felt tired of being a minority and having to explain herself'' to people who did not understand her culture.
A complete Judaic Studies program would provide students with the basis of the culture, including its history, philosophy, religion, political science, sociology and language.
Barzilai's dream includes organizing a trip, perhaps once a semester, to the Holocaust Memorial in Washington, D.C., establishing an exchange program with a university in Israel and eventually organizing a library.
``It will be a service for the Jewish people to learn about their own history [but] that's not enough,'' he said. As other people should learn about Judaism, Jews should learn about other cultures, he said.
He also wants people to realize that Judaism is not always about religion.
Secular Jews, as Barzilai describes himself, are especially vulnerable to losing touch with their traditions. It is a culture that can easily be lost without a supportive environment.
Barzilai occasionally attends religious services at the synagogue to feel connected with his own people. But he and others like him want another avenue that allows them to feel part of a community with its own values and traditions, he said.
He envisions the Judaic Studies program eventually reaching into the community and offering a sense of place for Jews and greater understanding for all people.
``We just want to inform and educate people,'' Barzilai said, ``give them access to the information.''
by CNB