Unqualified Chutzpah
Lately when looking at what the best seller book list has to offer, one begins to wonder. On the top of the list is a book, Final Exit. This book, published by the Hemlock Society reveals, in its close to 200 pages, the various methods for suicide. The book is something of a guide for those who wish to end their lives or for those who wish to help their loved ones end their lives.
On the other side of the coin we have a new best seller, Chutzpah, written by the Harvard professor, Alan Dershowitz. Dershowitz sees himself as a provocative observer of the way Jews behave in this quickly changing society and he criticizes weak leadership. He bemoans our acceptance of second-class citizenship. Dershowitz then proceeds with methods for correction he considers necessary regardless of the social norms.
There is a saying that people are known by the friends they keep and society's intellects are known by the books they read. As the literary world is supporting these two books, I decided to invest some time to see what all the excitement was about. After reading Final Exit I realized how sick and perverse are the minds of those who support the Hemlock Society. I couldn't believe that the author of the book felt he was doing justice to the world. However, the brisk sale of the book proves me wrong.
When reading Chutzpah, I wondered how an author who claims to be a creative writer can misrepresent so many important facts. As a fourth generation American Jew I totally related to Mr. Dershowitz's personal odyssey. I realize that Mr. Dershowitz was rudely awakened to the world of reality when the radical activist, Abbie Hoffman, came to address the public at Harvard University. During the famous Chicago Seven trial Abbie Hoffman had been defended by Dershowitz on a pro bono basis. During the delivery of his lecture Abbie said that in honor of his defense lawyer he was considering donating a probable defense fee of $10,000 to the Palestinian Liberation Army.
A little later in life Mr. Dershowitz worked as an unpaid consultant for the Angela Davis case, a black leader for the American Communist Party. He found out that she, too, had no great love for the Jews. She was asked by Dershowitz if she would speak on behalf of Russian political prisoners; Ms. Davis said, "They are all the Zionist fascists and opponents to Socialism," and, if anything, Davis would have liked them to stay in prison. So, Mr. Dershowitz began to wake up to a new reality. Causes like the above mentioned and defending the infamous porno star, Mr. Harry Reems, were really not the "in" thing for people who want to do things to support the Jewish causes.
However, the most puzzling part of the book is where a full tirade of hatred and disrespect is directed to the Chassidic Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi M. M. Schneerson and the world Lubavitcher movement. Dershowitz writes, "I suspect that support for the Lubavitcher movement is more psychological than it is political; that it reflects nostalgia for and guilt over abandoning of the old ways. It also seems to reflect a sense that the Lubavitch way is the authentically Jewish way and that secular Jews are not authentic Jews." In the same paragraph he continues, "That Lubavitcher movement with its right wing agenda is breaking down the wall of separation between religion and government and it is dangerous for the status of Jews in America. It is bad for Jews and bad for America."
Remarkable! Here we have a person who speaks about self-esteem and coming out of the closet; speaking up for our Jewish rights and then is guilty of the sin himself; accusing Jews of not respecting other Jews and that a public menorah would generate a fear of more Christian inroads into our American freedom. To top it all off, to denigrate the Rebbe and all secular Jews who support him takes a lot of chutzpah.
Years ago I ran across a debate between Noam Chomsky, a Jewish detractor of Israel, and Dershowitz. I asked a student if he knew anything about Mr. Dershowitz. He told me that Dershowitz had come from Boro Park, New York and "a rachmonos of da Mama er is chometz gevorun, a shanda" (a pity on his mother that he became so bad - a shame). As of late, Dershowitz's great feat is spending time defending television evangelists, Mr. Baker and his wife, Tammy. He considers that to be something of great importance. I, for one, don't feel that is in the best interest of the Jewish people. If anything, this may cause more bad feelings between the Christians and Jews.
A long time ago Rabbi Meir Kahane debated Mr. Dershowitz. As the debate went on, it seemed that Rabbi Kahane said that Dershowitz has religious standards according to his likes and he practices "Dershowitzism." How true Rabbi Kahane was.
If it is true a person is known by his friends and if Elie Wiesel is such a good friend of Mr. Dershowitz, why don't they take the time to discuss the Lubavitcher Rebbe? After all, Elie Wiesel loves the Rebbe, lectures for his Chassidim and takes great pride in belonging to the movement of people who support Chabad.
True, the Dershowitz patriarch, Reb Zecharia, was a great person. He was able to blend the secular and Jewish world, and bring up a family sensitive to Judaism. However, neither he nor any of the religious part of the family would discount people who support Yiddishkeit (Judaism) as giving money out of guilt, commonly called, "kofer gelt" - Kaporah money.
Paradoxically, it is the Chabad Lubavitch people who are the ones trying to live the American dream and are maintaining their communities and neighborhoods. They are not running out to Long Island or the suburbs and debating racial equality; they live it! It's the Chabad Lubavitch movement that lives racial equality on an hourly and daily basis.
At this time the little neighborhood of Lubavitch, situated in the racial tension filled community of Crown Heights, could use a Dershowitz to put things right. Instead of wasting valuable time and energies worrying about a Polish cardinal in Europe he ought to worry about the Jewish people who are frightened to go out in the streets and who only want to live peacefully with their children. It takes lots of chutzpah to speak up for the rights of the poor and oppressed Jews of Crown Heights and other racially diversified communities.
If Alan Dershowitz is an active defender of civil liberties and he believes that American Jews should not be second class citizens and that anything less than equality is intolerable, then let him step forward and help those in need.
In summary, by reviewing the two best sellers, I decided to return to the best seller of all times, The Bible. It's been printed in almost every language of the world. It has stayed a best seller and has never been discounted. Let's hope that our society wakes up to the ethics and beauty of our bible and stays away from books that espouse suicide or misplaced chutzpah.