Joe Settler asks "
Has America Jewry Disengaged?":
For some reason, the expulsion of 10,000 Jews from their homes hasn’t rocked their lives or shifted their foundations. I would not be far off to say that it affected their lives almost indifferently. For many, it seems that Katrina, while an undeniably awful event, completely displaced something that should be much closer to their hearts.
Meanwhile Ze'ev observes that "
Money Talks & American Jewry Has Spoken...":
A little over a month ago, the OU (Orthodox Union) launched two fundraising campaigns, one was to assist those who were expelled from their homes as part of the "Disengagement" plan, and the 2nd was to help those who had been affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Well, the results are in. Here is how much money American Jewry contributed to each fund:
Drum roll please...
Gush Katif Fund: $170,000
Hurricane Katrina Fund: $600,000+
Amazing, isn't it? Actually, we have two bloggers blogging in very different styles but reaching the same conclusion. The question is, are they correct?
3 comments:
Cosmic... Thanks for the link.
When (and how) did I become a Prophet?
With great powers comes great responsibility...
If I'm a prophet, that means that either everyone will listen to me and repent, or totally reject my message while they ultimatley perish...
Doesn't seem like it's so fun to be a prophet.
CosmicX: My reply to your posting...
http://muqata.blogspot.com/2005/10/is-inter-dimensional-engagement.html
While I've been known to quote prophecies, and I’m usually not too far off in my analyses, this is the first time I have been called a Prophet of Israel.
What an enormous responsibility.
Jameel makes a valid point that American Jewry was never actually engaged, therefore technically speaking, they haven’t disengaged.
I find that American Jewry, like Americans in general, are products of the media envelope surrounding them. They were surrounded by Katrina on the news and that is what they talked about and where they donated to.
I’ve noticed that when a hit movie comes out about some esoteric subject (like a famous golfer, or some ancient war), suddenly Americans become instant experts on the subject and manage to interject it into nearly every conversation.
Perhaps it is a failure on our part to take advantage of their susceptibility to mass media marketing to engage them with Gush Katif, settlements, and Israel.
During their Sukkot holiday visits to IsraelLand, JerusalemWorld and KotelCenter, this is the opportunity to try to connect them.
I also want to clarify that individual US Jews privately and quietly donated money through other organizations (or directly)to Gush Katif.
But as one Jewish leader told me during the summer, after I made a request for an emergency appeal at his shul; his shul already gave to the settlements a few months ago, it’s too soon to ask again, everyone is away, and the board won’t be interested to talk about it during their vacation.
Post a Comment