LETTERS
Group sees vigils as a call for reform
In a recent letter, a member of Beth Israel Congregation claimed that the group holding vigils was transgressing First Amendment rights by interfering with the congregation's Sabbath worship. But of course he was missing the point. Throughout past centuries when Jewish congregations got off the track, broke their covenant with God, they were reprimanded by one of a long string of prophets who warned them of the consequences of their actions and urged reform. Is not this the role of the Jewish group who vigil? Far from interfering with worship, these members of Jewish Witnesses for Peace are silently and politely calling attention to the very basic Jewish belief in justice, the bedrock of Judaic religion. It is a call to sincere worship. They believe that the American Jewish community has the power to stop the terrible injustice in Israel which has been taking place for years before a single suicide bombing occurred in retaliation. They want Beth Israel Congregation to take an active and vocal role.
Many Jewish leaders and groups in this country are speaking and working for a just peace in Israel/Palestine. What seems to be objectionable about the vigils at Beth Israel is their visibility, which provokes embarrassment by calling public attention to a private in-house problem. Those ancient prophets were also loud and challenging; every one of them a pain in the neck to their targeted audience. What would have been the course of history without them?
Carolyn Diem, Ann Arbor