Beginnings

This is moment's eighteenth— chai—issue, and the first that is wholly devoted to one theme. In the normal course of events, I would have used this space to say some appropriate things about both...

...He has now become the repository of our hopes for Israel's safety and welfare, and we wish him every good wish in his pursuit of that goal—even as we confess to being disconcerted by his initial approach to its attainment...
...All leadership is ephemeral...
...This is Bill Novak's last issue as moment's Executive Editor...
...In the normal course of events, I would have used this space to say some appropriate things about both landmarks, and about the pages that follow...
...It is also the case that Mr...
...As of our next issue, Bill becomes a Contributing Editor, having chosen to devote more of his time to his own writing...
...It is likely the case that Likud, which has never held power, lacks the trained personnel to fill all the posts now up for grabs with "its own...
...New magazines, as I've said in this space on other occasions, are inherently precarious, and we've had our share of bumps along the way to this milestone...
...hence this may be a rare time for breaking the grip of party on second and third echelon jobs...
...But none can afford to say that because the Israeli electorate has finally opted for change, and deserted Labor, with all its uninspired familiarity, we are no longer partners in the enterprise...
...Our editorial plans for the coming months include some interesting new departures—more interviews, more extensive coverage of the efforts of people, organizations and communities to cope successfully with the challenge of Jewish creativity, more specific information on dealing with the assorted day-to-day problems we face...
...Almost every arena of Jewish organization in this country will feel the effects, and it will not be easy to bear in mind that our relationship and commitment to the State of Israel has always been to its people and to the land, never to its ephemeral leadership...
...His skill and his devotion, considerable though they were, have meant less than his friendship, which, happily, will survive his change in priorities and titles...
...Your subscriptions will, of course, be automatically extended by one month, and we'll be back in your mailbox in time to wish you a shanah tovah—early September...
...It is far too early to tell just what the next weeks and months will bring, and, having been so very far wrong in our own predictions of the election's outcome, I won't tempt fate a second time...
...By the time these words are read, the papers will have been full of learned and not so learned analysis of the event and its implications...
...Back to the anniversary: it will come as no surprise to those of our readers who have been with us since we started that there were times we weren't sure we'd make it to an 18th issue...
...Begin has some marvelous opportunities before him: in the normal course of Israeli behavior, very many important positions depend upon party affiliation...
...Few will lament the passing of an Israeli leadership gone stale, even if its replacement is unsettling...
...In the meantime, a happy summer to all...
...he waited a very long time, and fought very hard, and there were surely long years when he imagined his efforts futile...
...For all of us, there will now be major adjustments...
...It will be interesting to watch how he tries to reassure—if he does—those of us who tremble when he insists on Israel's absolute rights to retention of the occupied territories, and how, more generally, he seeks to develop a healthy working relationship with this Jewish community...
...No free society in the world is so tied to the concept of party...
...Begin has no close ties to the established leadership of the American Jewish community...
...But I write in the immediate aftermath of Labor's stunning defeat in Israel's elections, and that is very much on all our minds just now...
...The American Jewish community has never known an Israeli leadership other than Labor, and there will now be a new cast of characters and a new style to get used to...
...Instead, I want to call attention to some "parochial" concerns that arise out of the Likud victory...
...Begin is, of course, to be congratulated...
...Special thanks are owed various people for their help in putting together the pieces of this issue: to S. Pete Goldberg and Lawrence Williams, to the staff of U.J.A., and to many nameless others who provided bits and pieces of helpful information along the way...
...But the road has been getting smoother of late, owing largely to our readers' support, and we look forward with hope and a measure of confidence to steady times ahead...
...It will be a time of testing for us all, and the way to approach that test is with the hope that all of us will pass it, and with flying colors...
...Bill has been with us since almost the very beginning, back when moment was still a hope, through all the ups and downs since then...
...Having said that, I now add a technical note: in order to provide our staff with a much deserved rest, to get ourselves back onto a schedule that gets the magazine to you nearer the beginning of the month, and to find the time to implement some of our plans, we'll be skipping the July/August issue...

Vol. 2 • June 1977 • No. 8


 
Developed by
Kanda Sofware
  Kanda Software, Inc.