THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 4, 1995 TAG: 9510040567
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ESTHER DISKIN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 114 lines
When Rabbi Israel Zoberman telephones his parents in Haifa, Israel, they often wind up debating the process bringing Israel toward peace with its Arab neighbors.
Zoberman, who was raised in Israel and now leads the Beth Chaverim congregation in Virginia Beach, is enthusiastic about last week's peace accord between the PLO and Israel, which promises to end 28 years of Israeli occupation of major Arab cities and to expand Palestinian self-rule.
His parents, Polish Holocaust survivors, also want peace, but their memories of persecution make them reluctant to trust overtures from Arab leaders who have long sought the elimination of Israel.
Even the 49-year-old Zoberman, who served in the Israeli army before moving to the United States in 1966, balks when he thinks about forgiving Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization. ``I embrace him as a partner in the future without the need to forgive past atrocities,'' he said.
But forgiveness is precisely what Jews around the world are called to consider on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which began at sundown Tuesday and ends at sundown today.
On this holiest of days, Jews chant prayers, abstain from eating and drinking, and ask forgiveness for sins committed during the past year. They also are commanded to seek out people whom they have wronged and apologize, as part of the spiritual work of creating shalom - the Hebrew word for peace.
Last week's peace accord - and the image of Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin sitting shoulder to shoulder at the White House - brings a practical immediacy to the holiday's purpose. Jews around the world, including the 18,000 Jews in Hampton Roads, face difficult questions about the role of forgiveness in creating a lasting peace.
Some say it may be too soon to talk about true forgiveness, since terrorism and armed conflict remain so much a part of daily life in Israel. Muslim militants opposed to the Israel-PLO autonomy deal have warned that they are planning suicide attacks during the Jewish holidays this year.
``I don't know if forgiveness is exactly the right term. When the U.S. and Russia were de-escalating the Cold War, they talked about peaceful coexistence,'' said Michael Panitz, rabbi at Temple Israel in Norfolk. ``The real question is: Must I live with you? If I must live with you, what must I do to make that possible?''
Mark Tabakin, a member of Temple Israel, says his personal experience shapes his belief that Arab and Jewish families will someday live side-by-side in neighborhoods in Israel.
When Tabakin was an engineering student at Columbia University in New York City during the 1960s, he became friends with students from Egypt, Iran and Jordan. They shared dinners, worked side by side in the lab, and debated politics into the night - including the hostile relations between Israel and their native countries.
Tabakin has never been to Israel, but his memory of those friendships gives him an optimistic belief in the ability of people to forgive atrocities, while not forgetting the past.
``If left alone and given some chance at a stable life, I have to believe that ordinary citizens would opt for peace,'' he said. ``The peace process becomes very elemental, when children are simply playing together.''
The links between forgiveness and peace in the Middle East were captured in a meeting between two ordinary citizens a few weeks ago - though few American newspapers gave it big headlines, said Arthur Ruberg, rabbi at Beth El Temple in Norfolk.
Last year, Nachshon Waxman, a 19-year-old Israeli corporal, was kidnapped and killed by three members of the Islamic group known as Hamas. A few weeks ago, Nachson's father, Yehuda, agreed to meet with the father of one of the Palestinian terrorists - whose son also was killed in the event.
At the meeting, the two bereaved fathers decided to establish an educational center to teach tolerance and understanding between Palestinians and Jews. But before Waxman agreed to the meeting, Ruberg noted, he made a request that fits into the Jewish tradition requiring acknowledgment of wrongdoing, before forgiveness can be granted.
``He asked that the father of the Arab kidnapper decry that kind of violence,'' Ruberg said. ``He did so to ask, `Is there sincere regret?' Once he did (decry terrorism), then the two men could meet.''
Forgiving a terrorist act requires a belief in people's ability to change - even transform - their thinking, which is part of the message of the Yom Kippur holiday, local Jewish leaders said. The holiday emphasizes universal peace - not only for Israel, but for all nations.
``The prayers are idealistic, utopian,'' said Panitz at Temple Israel. ``To what extent can we accept how far short of ideal our reality will fall? We recognize that's the best we can get for now, but we can never be complacent, we should always hold out for more.''
``We become the agents for positive change,'' said Zoberman. ``This season calls upon Jews to make giant leaps.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Virginia Beach Rabbi Israel Zoberman differs with his parents,
Holocaust survivors, on the peace accord .
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ISRAEL'S NEIGHBORS
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WHAT IS YOM KIPPUR?
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the most solemn and holy day
in the Jewish calendar. The holiday, which began at sundown Tuesday
and concludes at sundown tonight, marks the close of a 10-day period
of remembrance and repentance translated from the Hebrew as the Days
of Awe.
On Yom Kippur, Jews abstain from eating or drinking and spend
most of the day in prayer at synagogue. The fast is broken with a
meal after sundown. Jews are also commanded to seek out people they
have wronged during the past year and ask for forgiveness.
KEYWORDS: MIDDLE EAST by CNB