Forum
FORUM Negotiating with Arafat Knowing the intentions of the Egyptians and Syrians on Yom Kippur 1973, Israel elected to forego striking the first blow in the hope of gaining the world's praise and...
...Mason's jokes rely on artificial and time-worn distinctions that have proven to be divisive between Jews and non-Jews and that impede our efforts towards mutual understanding...
...Avi Winokur Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Joseph Alpher's strong assertion that Israel should invite negotiations with the Palestine Liberation Organization gives credence to what many have come to feel...
...As one who favors a two-state solution, I found myself adding caveats throughout my reading of the article: But first Israel should . . . Or, what if Arafat calls Israel's bluff and agrees to . . . Of course, I realized that such panic stricken thinking is precisely the problem and not the solution...
...I would appreciate any information about this incident—whether it proves or disproves that the event really happened...
...If not for the magician's code of silence, I would tell Ms...
...Sure, Mason uses the Jewish henpecked husband, the Jewish wife's domineering nature, the Jewish hunger for food and financial success...
...Compromise is impossible and suggesting it is extremely dangerous...
...But it's too Jewish...
...Reisman how this great illusion is accomplished...
...Alpher dealt cogently with a subject on which most folks of both the right and left meander endlessly into the realm of "what ifs," theorizing on how one or another political move will lead to the fulfillment or frustration of their respective political ideologies...
...then as now, restraint and going the extra mile ultimately paid Israel no dividends...
...When that time comes, it will be in Israel's interest to be friends, or at least not the enemy of Arabs...
...As the population continues to increase, we will see further and more violent "uprisings" in the future...
...I have seen a copy of Chaya Feldman's letter about the incident in Mordechai Eliav's "Ani Ma'amin," and in Dov Rosen's "Shema Yisrael," and I have also read Hillel Bavli's poem based on her letter...
...Reisman that "Metamorphosis" is not done as she believes...
...His humor is inside, not outside...
...His jokes are not anti-religious, nor are they about the Holocaust—both of which would be painful and in extremely poor taste...
...Anybody wishing to refresh his or her memory can ask for a re-run of the CBS television tapes...
...The explosion was mild considering all the circumstances...
...The alternatives are shockingly simple: Either the Jews or the Arabs must get out of Palestine...
...If she ever gets the opportunity to see an illusionist perform "Metamorphosis," perhaps she can figure out the real method...
...That myth dies hard, but in fact when members of a group, in this case Jews, appear to agree with general cultural anti-Semitism, they give license for others to say the same...
...The parallel hardening of Israel's position that would follow could not fail to bring on the same storm of international ill will...
...It was dedicated during Hanukkah 1980 in the presence of the distinguished Israeli sculptor, the creator of the work, the late Natan Rapoport...
...Since I am precluded from doing so, I respectfully ask that she trust me and believe me on my word of honor as a gentleman that her explanation is ' 'way off the beam...
...some well-deserved warts lay open to exposure...
...Alpher's signal article is his refreshingly open pragmatism...
...God knows the Jews tried...
...He simply provides us with a well thought out series of likely possible consequences, all of which are more attractive than the status quo...
...In a modern Israel that has full trading relations with West Germany and in which Volkswagens are as common as Fords, it would indeed seem absurd to preclude anything in the category of rapprochement...
...Benjamin A. Kamm Former North American director, World Union for Progressive Judaism Associate Rabbi of The Temple Cleveland, Ohio I am herewith requesting the cancellation of my subscription...
...It is time for you to get out . . . "), then any show of moderation by Arafat will probably be rewarded by his assassination and repudiation, either formally or de facto, of whatever concessions he may offer...
...And he evinces a certain affection for his people, his religion, and does not join the outside world making fun of his inside world...
...And we love Israel as much as he does...
...Steam had been gathering underneath in the form of relentless increase in the population of the territories...
...Disguised in each other's clothes...
...He is on the inside looking out...
...First of all, unlike the others who, it is true, do not deny their Jewishness, Mason makes even the attempt to deny Jewishness a joke...
...Fast...
...Your article may be instrumental in weakening and confusing the will of the Jewish people to crush this evil...
...I like his approach better than my own...
...July/August 1988...
...But the clear additional implication of these "other" comics is that, of course, "we" do not belong to this group...
...Very clever...
...I have seen "Metamorphosis" done many, many times...
...However, there is no escape...
...It will take time for these truths to work themselves into the consciousness of the Israelis...
...FORUM Negotiating with Arafat Knowing the intentions of the Egyptians and Syrians on Yom Kippur 1973, Israel elected to forego striking the first blow in the hope of gaining the world's praise and good will...
...Arafat, as was Hitler, is unrelenting in his determination to injure the Jewish people, especially to destroy the Jewish state...
...Both have made it crystal clear that only the whole of Palestine would be acceptable as territory for any Arab state...
...To give self-rule to the Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza will not prevent further outbreaks of violence...
...Sherry M Merfish Houston, Texas Why Mason's Humor Isn't Distasteful I enjoyed Alexander Wohl's article "Borscht Belt Humor Hits Broadway— Yea or Oy Vey...
...The Arabs have more manpower, more money, and one day they will become as learned and sophisticated as Israelis are...
...Bruce Egert New York, New York Doesn't Want Jackie Mason Staring at Her I am really perturbed at your July/ August cover featuring Jackie Mason...
...Author's Query I am writing about the 93 students at the Beth Jacob School in Crakow or Warsaw who poisoned themselves in the summer of 1943 or 1944, in order to avoid defilement by the Gestapo...
...The PLO—whatever it may or may not be—deserves the one concession the Jewish state can singularly endow it with: a little responsibility...
...I never met Houdini, but I met Bess Houdini many times at our society meetings and at magic conventions...
...Precisely because we love Israel we want to shout: Time is not on Israel's side...
...Zalman Gaibel Chicago, Illinois Joseph Alpher's article (July/August 1988) calling for Israel to unilaterally recognize the PLO and invite Arafat to Jerusalem was quite a challenge...
...I welcomed Ted Koppel's interviews with the Arabs...
...July/August 1988...
...Robert Ottemberg New York, New York Time Is Not on Israel's Side I am the wife of an Orthodox rabbi serving an Orthodox congregation...
...In this instance, Jewish humor performs in its time-honored vein as a healthy coping mechanism...
...We pray that cooler heads will lead Israel and attempt to find a way to peace...
...And Prime Minister Shamir is going the other way...
...It would be helpful if hawks and doves read his piece with some sort of self-consciousness of the golems that we create which serve only as an obstacle to a lasting peace...
...I am mailing it back to you, so he can stare at you and not at me...
...Reisman suggests, would make them the laughing-stock of the magic fraternity...
...Borscht Belt Humor Hits Broadway—Yea or Oy Vey...
...Indeed, unconditional recognition of the PLO puts Israel in the most benevolent light: the Jewish state has everything to gain from such practical magnanimity and can still maintain its options...
...Judah Nadich Rabbi Emeritus Park Avenue Synagogue New York, New York He Welcomes the Arab Uprising I welcome the [Arab] uprising...
...We are deeply offended by Oscar Grush-kow's letter ("American Jews Have a Conflict of Interest," Forum, June 1988, p. 7) suggesting that all American Jews are "de-Judaized" and therefore cannot speak out publicly in criticism of Israel...
...Definitely NO...
...Jackie Mason pokes fun at the ethnic and cultural factors of Jewish life in the United States...
...His treatment of Jewish women leaves much to be said against him...
...We can recognize and react to our enemies, but heaven help us from our friends...
...The others, in fact, need their Jewish identity to lend themselves credibility, and, more importantly, to remove any possibility of being accused of anti-Semitism: "Look, I'm Jewish, how can I be a Jew hater...
...Suppose Arafat proves as intransigent as ever...
...Joseph Alpher's proposal to make peace is balderdash...
...Instinctively, I felt there was a difference, although it took several weeks of reflection, and another listen or two to Mason's Broadway show on tape, to detect the difference...
...The Arabs' land lies east of the Jordan...
...In the annals of magic, this beautiful and wondrous illusion was never done as she describes it...
...From no other Jewish comedian have I ever heard something like this: ' T never hear Jews saying: too Spanish, or too Italian...
...Resorting to "disguises" as Ms...
...Soviet Jews talk about the humor that has been generated in their country as a means of dealing with the oppression of their daily lives and we can all partake in the levity...
...The school building is dedicated to the memory of the million and more Jewish children murdered by the Nazis...
...Rabbi Jacob Chmitz Halifax, Nova Scotia Jackie Mason's Humor Makes Us Appear to Accept Anti-Semitic Images The most disturbing aspect of the renaissance of Jackie Mason's humor ("Borscht Belt Humor Hits Broadway—Yea or Oy Vey...
...I can tell you that even if the Houdinis wanted to do "Metamorphosis" according to Ms...
...What the audience sees is what really happens...
...On the other hand, if the true mood of the Palestinians is expressed by the poet Darwish...
...is it not more likely that the world will then demand of Israel that it sweeten whatever offer he makes, and, upon Israel's refusal, respond with another flood of criticism and calls for an imposed solution...
...Without pounding it into our heads, Alpher makes it quite clear that we cannot know in advance the consequences of the invitation that he suggests...
...Bill Cosby has succeeded as a comedian without having to cast his people in a stereotypical light and in the process has provided positive role models...
...Hy Grober Teaneck, New Jersey MOMENT'S Editing Your magazine is so great that I enclose a small donation (as I have done two or three times before) in appreciation of a brilliant job of editing...
...Secondly, while Mason laughs at Jews, he also includes quite a positive attitude toward Jewish identity...
...Adelyn Raich Hampton, Virginia...
...Alpher expresses so eloquently, has the benefit of its experience...
...When, however, the "humor" begets all-encompassing generalities and the negation of individual characteristics, it is time for the laughter to end and for Jewish comics to evolve...
...So much for split-hair distinctions between one Jewish comedian and all the rest of whom we can be very slightly proud, and even ashamed...
...Jewish humorists are surely capable too of celebrating and satirizing the human condition while at the same time recognizing the diversity of our culture...
...He hides nothing uncomfortable, even shameful, in Jewish behavior, attitude and values...
...She was a slight and small lady...
...He analyzed both the resistance to his proposal and a whole host of possible consequences in a calm and balanced manner...
...I think I found it...
...So why do I bristle less at his Jewish jokes than at the real "shticking" of the others...
...For years things seemed static—on the surface...
...It is eminently possible to oppose Israel's present policy, not because of any concern about what our neighbors think, but because we are certain that the present policy will lead to disaster...
...Finally, even when Mason talks about his rabbinical background, and distances himself from it by explaining that he "did not feel comfortable about giving sermons, so I added some jokes," he does not make you feel that he has contempt for rabbis or synagogues...
...Part of the shticking it to us is not an accusation of too much pride, but not enough...
...Moreover, the entire thing is very small potatoes compared to the population exchange between India and Pakistan or between Poles and Germans after World War II...
...The same light bodes poorly for the PLO...
...We Jews should recognize the difference between a good-natured ethnic pun that could help break down the barriers of prejudice, as compared to an anti-religious quip which is quite another animal...
...Eileen Brenner Spring Valley, New York That's Not How Houdini Did It Myra Reisman's explanation ("Explaining a Houdini Deception," Forum, July/August 1988) of how the Houdinis performed the "Metamorphosis" is wrong...
...If Jews and Arabs cannot live together, they ought to be separated—Jews going to Israel (from Iran in the east to Morocco in the west) and Arabs going to Jordan...
...I do not think he is very funny...
...It didn't work out that way...
...There will have to be a compromise solution, if there is a solution at all...
...S.L Wisenberg 733 W. Buckingham Chicago, Illinois 60657 (312) 935-7573 Korczak's Statue in New York The moving article in your June 1988 issue by Betty Jean Lifton ("The Last March of Janusz Korczak's Children") impels me to write to inform your readers that a six-by-twelve-foot sculpture of Korczak and his children can be seen in New York...
...seems to be the implied shield of the typical comedian of Jewish origin...
...It is affixed to the front facade of the Park Avenue Synagogue school building at the corner of Madison Avenue and 87th Street...
...Also, magicians are most anxious to be thought of as "great" not only by their audiences, but by other magicians...
...I respectfully attest to Ms...
...Reisman's explanation, the difference in their sizes would have been a dead giveaway...
...I'll tell you...
...But what is particularly attractive about Mr...
...Israel Tumin Livingston, New Jersey (The writer is the author of a regular column that reviews magazines for the Jewish News, East Orange, New Jersey...
...There is no point in trying to live peacefully side-by-side west of the Jordan...
...I have been an amateur magician and a member of the Society of American Magicians for nearly 50 years...
...Land for peace," as envisaged by Shimon Peres is dead...
...Israel, as Mr...
...The Arabs, from the days of the earliest pioneers, have been militantly opposed to any Jewish presence...
...He cavils about Gentiles accepting his show, but Jews saying: "Too Jewish...
...I have known many of the great illusionists and magicians...
...For this reason I am highly skeptical of Joseph Alpher's assurance ("Why Israel Should Recognize the PLO and invite Arafat to Jerusalem," July/ August 1988) that offering to negotiate with Arafat will win Israel any advantage...
...He was also responsible for the Warsaw Ghetto monument, the Scrolls of Fire in the Judean Hills, Job in front of Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, and others...
...But when you lump Jackie Mason together with David Steinberg, Rodney Danger-field and Lenny Bruce, I protest...
...Alpher's tone of calm reflection showed none of the moral self-righteousness that my own thoughts sometimes take...
...Such mischief could only weaken the determination of the Jewish people to resist that gang of murderers who constitute a dangerous and potentially formidable enemy...
...July/August 1988) is that it revives the cliche that somehow a put-down uttered from the mouth of a person who belongs to the target group is not only acceptable but commendable, given the grand old tradition of being able to ' 'laugh at ourselves...
...This is true because of the ever greater number of people confined in the limited space of the "territories" and because of their expressed demand for the whole land of Israel...
...This population exchange is nearly completed on the Jewish side...
...Nathan Lavenda Skokie, Illinois Jackie Mason Is Different from Other Jewish Comedians I never thought I would be defending a so-called Jewish comedian (Jackie Mason) who makes his living using Jewish material (although he is not necessarily the most wholesome representative of Jewish culture in America...
Vol. 13 • October 1988 • No. 7
