Opinions

This is deeply personal. But what I have experienced should resonate with the entire Jewish community — the one we know and the one to come. In the whirlwind that seizes me and all who are communally aware, I have reached a new and stunning personal location, wedged between the searing past and the uncertain future.

My story begins before I was born, when my grandmother Fanya seized her slender teenaged daughter — my mother-to-be — Edyka, and pushed her out of the small vent at the top of a suffocating boxcar rumbling inexorably from Bialystok, Poland, toward the Treblinka deathcamp. Together, they made the split-second decision that at least one person should escape. My mother became a “jumper.” That day, she jumped into a hostile and dangerous Polish forest, was shot by local forces, and then buried in a hastily-arranged mass grave in the snow. Buried, yet one nearly lifeless limb protruded.

Teenaged Herschel, an audacious forest fighter, came upon the area. Spying Edyka’s leg moving. He pulled her out of the pile. For two years, under cloak of night and by raw courage, they lived in the woods as brave partisans. They survived. After the war, believing millions of Jews had been killed, they decided to continue living as Jews, precisely because so many tried to kill our people. After two years in a displaced persons camp, they found their U.S. home in Chicago. Their courage and determination allowed me to be born.

Growing up, I eagerly inhaled my Jewish heritage and love of Israel. With imbued purpose, I devoted my life to unmasking and addressing the hidden players and hidden hands behind the darkest evils and injustices. I adopted the identity of a Second Generation author long before the larger Second Generation movement developed its own national identity.

Among the disparate generation of unique survivors that came to America, many parsed themselves into two types. One group was determined to boldly keep the memory of Nazi crimes intensely illuminated as a warning beacon to all humanity — that was my family’s group. This group robustly fought for commemoration, investigation and compensation. They demanded unending X-rays and dissection of the sick international body politic that perpetrated, facilitated and tolerated the Holocaust. My eye was focused on corporate complicity by those too big to be exposed, such as IBM, Ford, GM, Carnegie and Rockefeller.

A second group of survivors preferred not to talk about the unspeakable experience except among themselves — the so-called “sha-sha” survivors. Perhaps, while some were proud to survive somehow they also felt shamed by the degradation they had overcome. Some felt guilty that they lived while their loved ones had perished by gas, gunshot or other gruesome means. Each had deeply personal reasons for their reticence. But all were protective of their American-born children. Many wanted to shield their sons and daughters from their traumatic experiences as a further act of conquest over their anguish. Even so, by this century, many “sha-sha” survivors had found their voices and sought rooftops to climb and vociferously proclaim their identity. But by now, a new generation had grown up with far fewer nightmares.

During those post-war decades, the “sha-sha” mindset among survivors was accompanied by the nonchalance of comfortable, non-refugee Jews who felt no threat to their safety in fortress America, the land of equality, freedom and personal protections. Too many saw the bond with Israel to be a cultural encumbrance to their assimilated American existence. Family traditions were replaced with internet communities.

Commentary

Like many in the corridors of the communally aware, I have been repeatedly shocked by the eruption of open anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish violence in Europe, the mainstreaming of anti-Semitism in the United States, and the eroded position of Israel within certain flanks of the Jewish community. Like many who worry about such matters, my outlook was bleak.

Then two things happened to me.

Last year, my operatically-trained, rock-pop singer/songwriter and cantorial soloist daughter Rachel Black — with no advance notice to me — wrote a haunting Holocaust ballad. It is among the first songs of the Holocaust written in contemporary musical style. I was astonished to learn that it was titled “Edyka,” named for my mother. In piercing rhythms and searing lyrics, “Edyka” retold the story of my grandmother in that ghastly boxcar, saving my mother, which made it possible for me to exist and for my daughter to also exist, thereby keeping the memory alive. When we live beyond our days, it is only because we live in memory. My mother has passed, but her inspiring struggle lives on. I have repeatedly written about my parents’ story, and now my daughter has ignited a new vector of remembrance in song.

Then, Rachel was invited to sing and deliver a keynote address at the state of Kansas’ official Yom HaShoah commemoration in Topeka in 2018. At the last minute, she received permission to sneak preview her song in a solo performance, evoking a rousing, emotional reception. Soon, Rachel performed “Edyka” elsewhere in Kansas, where she lives, now with accompanying musicians, attracting a following who connected with the message. Crowds teared up and stood in applause when she chanted the song’s pulsing injunction to survive. The Kansas City Star learned of the buzz and published an extended Mother’s Day feature about my daughter, her grandmother, her great-grandmother and the song linking them all. The newspaper also videoed a performance of the song for its website. Quickly, the Star’s coverage was syndicated, and then picked up by the Associated Press. Within days, the feature had been published by several dozen American newspapers including the Washington Times and Miami Herald. A few weeks later, Rachel and her group of accompanying musicians found themselves in a recording studio. Shortly after the CD was released, Amazon issued a big order, and it briskly sold as a single. In October 2018, Rachel flew to Washington, D.C., to perform her song at the National Press Club before a prestigious gathering at a Holocaust Legacy ceremony. A few weeks later, she rendered a house-chilling performance at a large commemoration of the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht held at Temple Israel of the City of New York, sponsored by the Suzanna Cohen Legacy Foundation.

I said two things happened to me. One was my daughter’s song about my mother and grandmother.

The second was learning that Rachel would be bringing into the world another descendant, made possible by my grandmother and mother, eternalized in song by my daughter, now giving birth to my granddaughter as the generation-to-generation slow-motion staccato trumpet ceaselessly blasts. Second Generation, Third Generation, now Fourth Generation.

The new 4G arrival is baby Cora Edyka. Korach gave rise to the original cantors who sang at the Ark of the Covenant. Edyka was in the boxcar. Thus comes Cora Edyka, fit and fighting to take her place in the legacy of survival. I received a video of Cora Edyka’s first moments in the world as her mother gently sang to her in Hebrew — Hinei Mah Tov. “How good it is … to dwell together.” Hence, the first sounds heard in Cora Edyka’s existence were not Sesame Street cheeps or baby doll squeaks, but the very sounds the Nazis worked so hard to extinguish.

Whether “sha-sha” or fiery activist, the generations of the Holocaust have been determined to fortify and protect the ones to follow. Quite soon, all the survivors will be gone. The Second Generation, including me, will also soon be gone. The Third Generation has the duty to ensure that the Fourth Generation will carry the torch. Sha-sha is no more. It will be the Third and Fourth Generation’s challenge that we “Never Forget,” for ourselves and for the world. This challenge will be immeasurably more difficult in the decades to come than it was for me over the past half century.

At issue is the question of whether the next generation of Jews will walk furtively looking over their shoulder, or boldly toward a gleaming horizon. I know Rachel and Cora will be among the bold. But they will need plenty of strength and help.

Edwin Black is the New York Times bestselling author of IBM and the Holocaust and many other books. He can be found at www.edwinblack.com. 

Yom HaShoah — Holocaust  Remembrance Day

Yom HaShoah, also known as Holocaust Remembrance Day, occurs on the 27th of Nisan and  is observed as Israel’s day of commemoration for the approximately 6 million Jews and 5 million others who perished in the Holocaust. In Israel, it is a national memorial day and public holiday. It was inaugurated on 1953, anchored by a law signed by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and the President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi. This year Yom HaShoah begins at sundown on Wednesday, May 1. 

The local Yom HaShoah service, commemorating the 76th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and the 56th anniversary of the dedication of Kansas City’s Memorial to the Six Million, will take place at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, May 5, at the Lewis and Shirley White Theatre.

I don’t get it. I need enlightenment. Some leaders of Jewish organizations are opposing Netanyahu’s promise to annex Jewish West Bank settlements. How dare they say that they speak for their organizations! Did they poll their members?  Of course not!

Let’s look at the record. When these same liberal leaders opposed moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, they warned, sternly, that it would cause an Arab uprising. Nothing happened. When Netanyahu annexed the Golan, they warned, sternly, that it would cause an Arab uprising. Nothing happened. Now they warn, sternly, that annexing the Jewish settlements will “lead to greater conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.” So far, in the Arab world, nothing has happened, save for pro forma huffing from the Palestinian authority. The most vocal denunciations are coming from liberal Jews. They were wrong before, they are wrong now.

These pundits seem to have missed the fact that there is now detente among the Arab states and Israel. These states no longer care about the Palestinians. They care about Iran. This is a golden moment, and Netanyahu is taking advantage of it. Good for him. If these leaders have so much empathy for the Palestinians, let them try wandering into Hebron unguarded. Doubtless we would never hear from them again.

Ten years ago 70% of Israelis supported the two-state solution. That number now stands at 30%. These liberals obviously think they know, so much better than the Israelis themselves, what is good for Israel. Safe here in America, not under the daily threat of rocket attacks, they pity the poor Palestinians who, in three genocidal wars, tried to annihilate every Jew in Israel. Israel has once more made Netanyahu prime minister. They are the ones that are quite literally under the gun. Trust them. So far, they have been doing pretty well deciding what is in their own best interest.

Lee Levin

Overland Park, Kansas

“Spies of No Country: 

Secret Lives at Birth of Israel,” by Matti Friedman, Algonquin Books, 2019.

In 1948, the Palmach, a branch of the newly formed Israeli army, developed the Arab Section, a group of Jewish men born and raised in the Arab communities surrounding Israel. The intent of this group was to be able to pass as Arabs and to gather intelligence for the army without raising suspicion. All the men were in their early 20s and strong supporters of the potential Jewish state.

In his new book, Matti Friedman describes the trials and issues these men faced. He lists their accomplishments, their failures and their patience in waiting to be sent on missions.

Friedman particularly follows the adventures of four men: Gamaliel Cohen, Isaac Shoshan, Havakuk Cohen and Yakuba Cohen, all of whom survived the Israeli war of independence and went on to lead successful lives. He located Shoshan — still alive in his 80s — whom he interviewed at length for the book.

These men went on many successful missions to protect the nascent Jewish state. One such mission was the attempt to destroy Hitler’s yacht. They operated from a kiosk with a radio disguised as a clothesline. Some members of the Arab Section were discovered and executed, but the group Friedman describes was successful in their endeavors.

The book’s narrative is gripping and the reader will be unable to put it down.

Andrea Kempf is a retired librarian and award winning book reviewer who speaks throughout the community on various topics related to books and reading.

Friedman to discuss book May 2

Matti Friedman will be onstage with JFED CEO Helene Lotman at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 2, in the Social Hall of the Jewish Community Campus. Their discussion of his book and Israeli politics will be followed by a reception, book sale and signing. Tickets are $16; call 913-327-8054 or go to thejkc.org/spies to register.

This event is presented by the Jewish Community Center in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City and made possible by a grant from the Sam M. Schultz Jewish Book Fair Fund. 

Dr. Bedell, parents have been trying to talk with you for over three years about opening Southwest High School. On Friday, March 29, you announced you did not want to talk with them. 

I am the newly elected representative for the Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS) Board of Education Sub-District 5. Are you willing to talk with me about reopening Southwest High School? The Henry and Marion Bloch Foundation, Stowers Foundation, DeBruce Foundation and McDonnell Foundation have been willing to donate $20 million over five years to reopen Southwest. 

At the present time, 80% of students in Kansas City Public Schools are black and Latino and 20% are white. The system cannot honestly be called public education as it does not represent the population of the city accurately. The system cannot honestly be called integrated. The middle class has voted with their feet and have left KCPS for other educational avenues. 

Dr. Bedell, the students and their families are still living in our neighborhoods. We are taking their tax money to run a public-school system. Somehow, we are failing to offer the taxpayers what they want. 

The most underserved part of KCPS is Sub-District 1. During the past year, you have mentioned you want to raise $450 million to repair schools. Why should folks in the Southwest corridor participate in funding a system that does not operate in their part of town? The people are there; the schools are not.

If we are going to talk about raising money for repairing buildings, let us talk about a firm timeline to open Southwest High School first. Give us an inclusive district so that black, white and Latino students can study and live together.

Mark Wasserstrom

Sub-District 5, KCPS

If you don’t know about ALYN Hospital in Jerusalem, I suggest you read all about it. ALYN is the only rehabilitation hospital for kids and teens in Israel. They create unique plans for each child depending on their individual needs, which often involve a variety of therapies and equipment. You can read all about the hospital and its amazing programs here: .https://www.alyn.org/

Last year my son and I raised a good deal of money for this fantastic organization. And all we needed to do was jump out of a plane! The experience was thrilling on so many levels. It was a blast being able to have that level of quality time with my son. Flying through the air was breathtaking. And being able to do all of this for such a great cause was possibly the best part.

Well, we’re back doing it again another time around. We’d love it if you could help. Last year we raised over $2,700 and this year we’re hoping to do even more. We’d love it if you’d help us make the world a better place. Please consider donating at: https://www.jgive.com/new/en/usd/donation-targets/15585/about.

My son Shlomo and I miss Kansas every day. I taught for two years at HBHA and I was a very active member of BIAV. Shlomo was HBHA’s 2014 first “Mensch of the Week.” I’ve lived in a lot of places throughout my years. Kansas City was the first place I ever left not wanting to. We miss you all a ton, and I’m truly happy to find any excuse to remind you all of how much you meant to us.

Yitchak Jaffe

Jerusalem, Israel

On April 15, I retire from Safehome. For the better part of my 19 years working at Safehome, Johnson County’s only domestic violence agency, I served as the Jewish outreach coordinator on domestic abuse. When I initially started, half my position involved this responsibility, due to Steve Israelite’s vision to fund this type of outreach and his collaboration with Sharon Katz, former executive director. The other half regarded my field of volunteer management. When the grant from Jewish Heritage Foundation ended, other places provided funding: Flo Harris Foundation, J-LEAD, and gracious anonymous donors. It remained a small but vital part of my professional life.

Like myself, the learning curve for our Jewish clergy was more straight than curved … how could this happen in the Jewish community when we believe in Shalom Bayit? No one talks about it, therefore it doesn’t exist. After a couple of years, and speaking to many groups who invited me to discuss the topic, I figured out how to explain this complex situation so it made sense, and allowed people to believe that yes, it does exist in our idyllic corner of the world.

You know what happened? As people learned about abuse, and the emergency cards started appearing in all the temples, synagogues and at The J (thank you, Marge!), people started calling, asking questions about abuse, the agency, and for resources, including names of rabbis who truly understood this horrible dynamic; i.e., someone spiritually s/he could talk with who would believe them. There were many successes with calls, some heartbreak, and definitely education. Education enables us to move forward with good decisions. As Rabbi (Vered) Harris wrote after she moved to Oklahoma, “Because of your advocacy and the educational programs you provided, I learned enough to at least help me know who to call and what questions to ask when I’m faced with a person living in an abusive relationship.”

Though I leave April 15, Safehome continues to serve the Jewish community. If you have any questions about the agency’s sensitivity to needs of people in our community, contact Babs Bradhurst, assistant finance director, who will serve as Safehome’s Jewish Outreach Resource (913-432-9300). She will answer questions involving kashrut, holidays and any other curiosity you have about the program or shelter service. Safehome’s volunteers will continue to distribute the emergency cards. Safehome’s hotline number is 913-262-2868.

Thank you to our community’s wonderful rabbis for your valuable support of Safehome’s program and learning along with me; thank you to all the wonderful groups who invited me to speak; and thank you to those volunteer groups who chose Safehome as their place to volunteer on Mitzvah Days these last 19 years.

Susan Lebovitz, CVM

Volunteer Manager

“Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity,” by Jamie Metzl, Sourcebooks (2019) $25.99

A dear physician colleague recently died. His death may well be attributable to a genetic anomaly. The rare nature of the cancer he had and its insidious development has his best friends and closest research associates wondering about the genetic connection. Me too.

Jamie Metzl — an incredibly gifted young writer, technologist and futurist — believes that genetic engineering may hold promise for preventing or eradicating such tragic deaths and, in doing so, save lives for generations to come.

It’s an optimistic view that many share.

But my dear deceased friend would be the first to ask: So when we start changing people’s DNA, are we getting a little close to playing God? Especially if in the repair we rewrite genetic code for future generations? And, if you change this part of my genetic code, should you be able to change other aspects of my makeup? Should we really go there, even if we can?

Like it or not, Metzl writes, we are there and — now that our genetic identity cannot only be read but hacked — it’s time to get serious about addressing a host of questions about the future of humanity.

“Hacking Darwin” is a fast paced and fascinating look into the history of gene exploration, from the early days of Charles Darwin and Augustinian friar Gregor Mendel to the latest advances in CRISPR and CAR T-cell therapy offered legitimately by advanced academic research, medical and cancer centers around the world (and some not so legitimate experimentation as well).

Metzl’s expansive grasp of the issues and tight knit way of weaving the development of plant, animal and human genetic science into a tapestry worthy of thoughtful reflection kept me wondering where we were going next on this journey. He describes with fluid ease the concepts and impact of synthetic biology, gene mapping and alphabet soups of GMO and IVF. I learned more than I ever wanted to know about naked mole rats, but was captured by his descriptions of the diverse cultural factors and religious convictions that affect perspectives on this science.

It’s an ambitious book, perhaps a bit much for some readers, but I found it accessible and downright essential if we are going to engage in the discussions he calls for within our families, communities and society about what we ought and ought not to be considering.

Metzl encourages us to be curious and open to this journey. To contemplate what’s possible on the one hand and contemptable on the other. We have a sordid history in this country of accepting the arguments of eugenicists, and we’ve experienced evils worldwide when such theories have been allowed to run amok.

As we conquer the genetic code, as Metzl confidently claims we will, how could we possibly say no to mitochondrial therapies, the eradication of sickle cell disease or the annihilation of mosquitos that carry malaria?

My dear deceased friend would encourage us to explore the path that leads to human flourishing and caution us on the trail of self-indulgence and aggrandizement. I think Metzl would welcome that challenge, but he suggests a deployment of our best values, a dialogue that will be difficult, painful and conflict ridden, for we will not easily agree on the goals or the path. He admonishes that conversation must begin with urgency. We can’t leave it to chance, nor to tomorrow.

Darwin’s been hacked and the future of humanity is entrusted to us in ways never before imagined.

This need not be a dystopian moment, but to avert disaster we must set ourselves on a path to respectful dialogue, thoughtful reflection and authentic discernment. Safe journey to all of us.

John G. Carney is president and CEO, Center for Practical Bioethics.

Metzl to present lectures

Jamie Metzl, author of “Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity,” will present free lectures titled “My Future, My Family: The Ethics of Engineering Ourselves” in Kansas City next week. The lectures will explore the genetics revolution and discuss the following questions: Will we use genetic engineering to expand or limit our humanity? How will genetic engineering affect diversity, equality and justice? Who will make decisions that could affect the entire human gene pool?

Metzl will speak at 4 p.m. Monday, April 1, at the Kansas City Public Library Plaza Branch, 4801 Main St., Kansas City, MO. On Tuesday, April 9, he will speak at 9 a.m. at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, 1750 Independence Ave., Kansas City, MO. Both lectures have limited seating, register at practicalbioethics.org/events-education/events-calendar.html. For more information, email or call 816-979-1357. Tuesday evening Metzl will also speak at the Center for Practical Bioethics’ annual fundraising dinner.

The lectures are presented by Center for Practical Bioethics and Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences and co-sponsored by BioNexus KC, KC Digital Drive, Linda Hall Library, The Barstow School and Young Friends of the Kansas City Public Library.

My mind is playing tricks on me.

Last week I spent three days in Washington, D.C., at the AIPAC Policy Conference, and I thought I heard speaker after speaker express support for the U.S.-Israel relationship.

I thought I saw 18,000 people, some Democrats and some Republicans, singing together.

I thought I saw more than 4,000 students from every corner of the U.S. come together to secure the future of the pro-Israel movement.

I thought I had breakfast with three progressive Israeli activists.

I thought I saw six freshman members of Congress — three Democrats and three Republicans — standing together expressing their commitment to bipartisan support for the U.S.-Israel relationship at a time when such bipartisanship is in short supply.

I thought that’s what I did for those three days.

But I must be wrong.

I read Dana Milbank’s March 26 op-ed column in the Washington Post, “Netanyahu’s AIPAC speech is a knife in the heart of the U.S.-Israel Alliance,” and realized I must have been somewhere else.

Focusing on the speeches by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Vice President Mike Pence and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Milbank found only ugly, overt partisanship and concluded:

“As the AIPAC hard-liners condone such chutzpah, cheering the dishonest and partisan jabs of Netanyahu and the Republicans, do they not see that this destroys the American political consensus that has preserved the Jewish state for 70 years?”

And I was left confused. You see, here’s how I spent my weekend:

Sunday morning I went to the General Session that began with AIPAC’s Howard Kohr giving a rousing speech decrying the partisanship that has overtaken American politics and is threatening the bipartisanship that is the hallmark of the pro-Israel movement. I heard Muriel Bowser, the Democratic mayor of Washington, D.C., share the same message. That afternoon, I listened as House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer shared his love of Israel and his commitment, as a Democrat, to continued support for the relationship between the two countries. The next morning New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a proud progressive Democrat, took the stage and shared a similar message, as well as his commitment to fighting the growing scourge of anti-Semitism. Time and time again, Mayor de Blasio had to pause for extended standing ovations.

We heard from Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Rep. Eliot Engel, and Sen. Krysten Sinema. All of them are Democrats. We heard from Sen. Martha McSally, Ambassador Nikki Haley and Meghan McCain. All of them are Republicans. Sometimes the speakers from different political parties shared the stage. At other times they did not. But all of them spoke about their support for the U.S.-Israel relationship and the need to maintain bipartisan support for it, particularly at a time when bipartisanship is increasingly difficult to come by.

But none of those elements of my weekend made so much as an appearance in Milbank’s op-ed. Instead, Milbank writes:

“… the AIPAC crowd had ‘beyond a doubt’ become mostly pro-Trump conservatives, not the cross section of Israel supporters that AIPAC once drew.”

I must have been at a different conference.

During the conference I attended, I sat surrounded by Democrats AND Republicans. I had countless conversations with people who, despite our many differences in perspective, share my commitment to bipartisanship. I spent an hour speaking to Israeli students who wanted to learn more about being a progressive Zionist. I attended breakout sessions that addressed the challenges facing Israeli society and some of the ways in which people are working to address them. I lobbied a Democratic freshman member of Congress and was heartened to hear his commitment to the issues that brought me to Washington. The list goes on and on.

The AIPAC crowd has not “ ‘beyond a doubt’ become mostly pro-Trump conservative.” Yes, there are challenges, but these challenges are finding their way into every corner of discourse in the United States. AIPAC is one of the few organizations that is actively working to find common ground.

To be fair, Milbank is not entirely wrong.

Netanyahu was the divisive, bombastic individual we know him to be. But what do we expect from someone who used fear of “Arabs being bused in to vote” to gain support in the last election? His partisan rhetoric was disgusting but not surprising.

And Vice-President Pence and Sen. McConnell came to speak to an organization that is decidedly bipartisan and chose to use the time, in part, as an opportunity for partisan attacks on Democrats. (Pence even went so far as to quote the false narrative from MoveOn.org claiming that most Democratic candidates for president were boycotting the event.) Their words were divisive, rude and unhelpful in their partisanship.

But they weren’t the only speakers, and their divisive message was in stark contrast to the general tenor of the event. And what an event it was! Eighteen thousand people — Jewish and Christian, black and white, labor and management, and yes, Democrats and Republicans — came together to show their agreement that the values Israel and the U.S. share matter and strengthening our alliance makes the world a better place.

And so I read Milbank’s op-ed and so many of the other articles that were written about the conference and I am confused. The event they describe wasn’t my experience. And I am left trying to figure out where I was those few days. One thing is for certain: I wasn’t at the same AIPAC Policy Conference that Dana Milbank wrote about.

This article was originally published by The Times of Israel. Rabbi Daniel Cohen was ordained in 1993 by the HUC-JIR and has served Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel since 1993.

Last week, President Trump and Secretary Pompeo took the bold step to affirm Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights region. I support this administration and our longtime friend and ally, Israel, in this fight to protect their homeland.

I’ve stood on the mountains in the Golan where Abraham and his nephew Lot parted ways some 4,000 years ago. I could hear the cannons, missiles and tanks just miles away in war-stricken Syria. We learned how in a matter of hours, during the Yom Kippur War of 1973, Syrian forces overran the Golan, jeopardizing both Israeli and American security. But Syria’s attempt to reclaim the territory failed. 

This small range of mountains, less than 125 miles from Jerusalem, serves as a buffer between Israel and its many foes who desire nothing more than to wipe them off the face of the earth. There is nothing, militarily speaking, to stop any force from overrunning Israel once the Golan Heights are lost. This is especially important since Israel is America’s eyes and ears in the Middle East. America cannot stand by idly and allow Israel’s enemies to seize this important land.

From the 3rd millennium B.C.E., the occupants of the Golan Heights have included the Amorites, Arameans, Israelites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Alexander the Great, four centuries of no-name nomads and the Roman Empire. In the later centuries, Christians crusaded, Mongols ruled and the Ottomans conquered the land.

Starting in 1885, Jewish families bought and lived on land in the Golan Heights and stayed there until 1920 when riots drove them out. From 1920-1949, the boundaries of this area were defined by the French and the British, who debated who controlled what. At the center of this controversy? Water rights issues — something Kansans are quite familiar with.

In the 1940s, the French Mandate ended, and the Golan Heights became part of the newly independent state of Syria. The Golan Heights were then demilitarized by the Israel-Syria Armistice Agreement, which was great in theory, but it made the land dangerous, and the constant site of raids and loss of life for decades. 

The Golan Heights were given to France’s Syrian colony by the British in 1923. Syria then attacked Israel in 1967 and lost the territory. Israel’s liberation of the Golan Heights has lasted over 50 years. Now you must consider who truly does have the longest historic, and most vital strategic attachment to the land?

This is where most leftist naysayers will begin their history, and their faulty revisions matter to America for a variety of reasons.

I thank the president and Secretary Pompeo for their bold action and will continue to assure them that Kansans stand with them.

Rep. Roger Marshall represents the 1st district of the state of Kansas, which encompasses Western Kansas, in Congress. He visited with members of the Kansas delegation attending the AIPAC Policy Conference on Tuesday, March 26. 

It was a delight to attend the program by the JCRB|AJC, which featured Seffi Kogen, the global director of youth leadership for the AJC. He spoke about the challenges and opportunities for Jewish students and Jewish advocacy on campuses around the country. Although there were quite a few parents and teens at the event, we only wish that every family with college-age students attended.

What struck us as most important is that he did not just preach doom and gloom, rather he also focused on the positive events happening on college campuses for Jewish students. Not to say there is no anti-Semitism, but we were impressed at the work being done to bring about change in the messages that are currently being heard.

As he outlined the anti-Semitism of both the far right and the far left, he also stressed that it is an incredible time to be a Jewish student on college campuses today. Besides these anti-Semitic fringe groups, there are many more right- and left- wing groups, as well as others, that are pro-Israel.

Yes, students need to be prepared for what they might encounter. And they must understand that criticism of Israel is not wrong. What crosses the line is the chant to disenfranchise Israel as a state.

We are glad to know that our local AJC is soon to be part of the Global LFT program (Leaders for Tomorrow) that helps to empower our teens for global and national advocacy for Israel and the Jewish people.

Kol hakavod to the local AJC for bringing Seffi Kogen to Kansas. 

Ellen and Jay Portnoy,

Overland Park, Kansas