King Solomon & Elian Gonzalez

A story is told of the wise King Solomon.  Once, two women came to the King each claiming a live baby as theirs.  Both women had given birth to baby boys, but one had died while the other lived.  The mother of the dead baby claimed that the mother holding the live baby was a fraud, that she had exchanged her dead baby for the live one.  The courts, not knowing what to do, brought to the wise King Solomon.

King Solomon listened to both women.  His response was "Cut the baby in half" - each mother would get a half!  When the real mother heard the judgment she said "Let the other woman keep the child. The baby's life is more important to me than the ownership."  Solomon, on hearing the woman's words, awarded her the baby.  For only a true mother would give up everything for the safety of her child.

Little Elián Gonzalez, the 6-year-old Cuban refugee, reminds me of the baby claimed by two mothers.  In this case one mother is the Castro government and the other, the Anti-Castro Movement in Miami.  Both claim ownership of the child.  However, there is a problem - both mothers may be willing to sacrifice the boy for selfish reasons. 

What do we do?  Elián is too young to really voice his opinion.  He is in effect held hostage by the Anti-Castro Movement and his great uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez.  New toys, a trip to Disney World and private schooling are dangled in front of the child.

If his great uncle has his way, Elián will not go back to his father, a security guard in Cuba, or his four grandparents and his great grandmother.  He will be deprived of seeing his baby half-brother grow up.  This troubles me a great deal. In the name of a Cuban-American Anti-Castro Movement Elián's childhood is threatened with a slow but sure death.

As a director of a day care center I know that an important ingredient needed to produce healthy children is family.  The continuous support of a father, younger brother, and caring grandparents is important to a child.  Ask anybody working for the Department of Children and Family Services.  They will tell you that keeping a child out of a family environment in the name of political opportunity is grounds for a child-abuse investigation.

All this talk of the mother fleeing a Communist country for freedom is great.  I say that Cuba is not Auschwitz and Miami isn't Utopia.

What we may have here is a child-abuse case of unprecedented proportions.  The public is misguided in its sentiments about the case.  Protests for the sake of "saving" Elián are hurting him.  Elián should not be the poster boy for the Anti-Castro Movement.  Many child psychiatrists agree that once the Disney World fever wears off Elián will find that shiny gifts and well-meaning friends are not going to make him happy.  He will need his family.  Distant relatives cannot fill that void.

As a young student living in a Jewish Chassidic community in Brooklyn, I remember the following episode: In 1956 the Hungarian people led an ill-fated revolt against their Communist rulers.  They wanted self-determination and freedom.  During the conflict many Jewish families fled to freedom.  Some went to Israel while others came to America.  The religious Jews settled in the Chassidic community in Williamsburg in Brooklyn.

One day a family living in Hungary contacted our Rabbi in Williamsburg asking if they could smuggle their little son out of Hungary.  They would remain and their son would live with a distant relative.  Ostensibly this was to give the little boy an opportunity live in a free country and go to a good Jewish school.

The Rabbi's answer was an unequivocal no.  "It would harm the boy," he said, adding that  when the boy was old enough, a second opportunity will arise and then he could make a decision.  And so it happened.

To have a healthy boy, freedom may have to wait a bit.

Another important point to remember is that Cuba is changing.  Just last year the Pope visited and received an enthusiastic welcome.  Trade restrictions have been eased.  Relationships between America and Cuba appear to have been improving.  We must not let this issue become a stumbling block to the complete normalization of relations between America and Cuba.  Cooperation is needed and expected by both countries.

Believe me, I disapprove of the Communists as much as the Cuban refugees do.  But I love children too much to allow Elián to be sacrificed. If we play our cards right we may have the opportunity to help millions of Eliáns.

Let's follow the recent ruling and save Elián.