O pinion
THE VIEW FROM HERE
Always Keep Moving, and Appreciate the Journey
BY JOSHUA RUNYAN
WHEN I WAS in college, if you
had suggested — as many did —
that I go to law school, I would
have told you that I was soon to
be done with academics.

Several years later, when I
was the news editor of this
publication, I was told by the
then-executive editor that I
could go as far in this industry
as I wanted, even one day suc-
ceeding him on the masthead
of the Jewish Exponent. Six
months later, I stunned both
my friends from college and
the mentor who gave me my
first post-university job when
my wife and I — with three
kids in tow — left Philadelphia
and the Exponent to establish a
new life in Israel.

Life has a funny way of
coming full circle.

Just nine years after making
aliyah, I was back in my native
Philly to lead the Exponent as
its editor-in-chief. Four years
after that, I am leaving the
Exponent yet again … to prac-
tice law. (I will graduate from
Temple University’s Beasley
School of Law in May, and sit
for the bar exam in July.)
I’ve always told my chil-
dren, who now number 10,
that far from being something
to fear, change is something
that should be embraced —
even to the point of seeking
it out when necessary. Since
my wife and I got married as
students at the University of
Pennsylvania, we’ve moved six
times, calling University City,
Bala Cynwyd, Beit Shemesh,
Florida, Baltimore
and Overbrook Farms home. And
even as I embark on a new
career as an attorney — hav-
ing previously spent more than
two decades as a journalist and
several years as a commercial
pilot and flight instructor —
my wife is pursuing her doc-
torate in psychology.

Each step of the way, the twists
and turns of our path around
the North Atlantic have seen
our family grow, the challenges
quickly giving way to opportu-
nities, thereby producing more
challenges and continuing the
cycle of life. I can only hope our
children, for whom resilience
isn’t so much a notion as it is an
animating principle, have been
as blessed by us and our journey
as we are by them and their ener-
getic spirit.

But while opportunity offers
the promise of a better tomor-
row, change is often bittersweet.

Two years ago, I dedicated this
column to my son Sefi’s Bar
Mitzvah. I had dreamed of
being able to do that for my son
Mendel’s this June, but as so fre-
quently happens, the Almighty
had other plans.

So I shall use what little
space I have left here to speak
directly to my son, whose
Torah portion is the meaty sec-
tion known as Shelach. In that
parshah, Moses sends spies to
the land of Israel to scope out
its breadth, the quality of its
produce and the strength of its
inhabitants before the Jewish
people, on the precipice of their
conquering it, cross into it.

Unpredictably, a majority of
the spies give a factually accu-
rate but improper report, fool-
ishly concluding that the same
people who had been delivered
from Egypt would not be able to
settle the Holy Land. Those who
heard the report were whipped
into such a frenzy that they
refused to go; their punishment
was to die in the desert, leav-
ing their children to inherit the
land of milk and honey.

What were the people, who
witnessed with their own eyes
the miracles of the plagues
and the splitting of the sea,
afraid of? One explanation is
that given the choice between
divine revelation in the desert
and the demands of physical
toil in the agricultural society
planned in the land of Israel,
they preferred effortlessly
receiving their spirituality
rather than working for it.

To be sure, it was a ratio-
nal choice, but according to
the Torah, it was a completely
wrong one.

Too often in life, the promise
of comfort confounds us; we
tend to confuse the reality of
what we have for the reality of
what can be. A person should
always be happy with what he
has, of course, but he should
also not be afraid to embrace
the potential for change.

Change is not a good in and
of itself, though. And it needn’t
— some might say shouldn’t —
be radical. For the generation in
the desert, settling the land was
a categorical shift in their expe-
rience. But for the person who
is used to reviewing a piece of
knowledge 100 times, the 101st
time is a completely new reality.

Sometimes, moderation is rad-
ical enough, and so in a world
bounded by two extremes, be a
radical moderate.

As you go through life, you
will be faced with choices.

Always know that the changes
you are presented with are not
the entire realm of available
paths. Moving ever so slightly
to the left or to the right, mod-
erate though it is, might just be
the change necessary to open
the door to a new opportunity.

And when that opportunity
comes, don’t be like the spies.

Seize it with the knowledge
that Divine Providence has
placed it there.

If it doesn’t work out — or
even if it does — there’s always
law school. l
Joshua Runyan has been the
editor-in-chief of the Jewish
Exponent for the past four years.

He has loved every minute of it, and
wishes the incoming editor,
Liz Spikol, the best of luck.

Trump Repeats Mistake of Obama’s “Peace Processors”
BY STEPHEN M. FLATOW
PAST U.S. administrations
invested so heavily in fruit-
less attempts to facilitate
Arab-Israel negotiations that
American envoys came to be
known as “peace processors”
— that is, they were so focused
on maintaining the appear-
ance of a “process” that they
couldn’t face up to the obvious
fact that the Palestinian Arabs
just don’t want peace.

In other words, for the
16 FEBRUARY 28, 2019
Obama administration and its
predecessors, process was more
important than peace.

Is the Trump adminis-
tration repeating Obama’s
mistake? U.S. envoys Jason
Greenblatt and Jared Kushner
have announced that they will
soon be heading back to the
Mideast for yet another round
of diplomacy concerning their
not-yet-revealed “peace plan.”
The administration’s
persistent courtship of the
Palestinian Authority is puz-
zling precisely because it seems
to be odd with the statements
of senior U.S. officials and
envoys. After the murder of Israeli
Rabbi Raziel Shevach a year
ago, the U.S. ambassador to
Israel, David Friedman, rightly
pointed out that Palestinian
Authority “laws will provide
[the killers] financial rewards.

Look no further to why there
is no peace.” The Palestinian
Authority responded by calling
the American ambassador a
JEWISH EXPONENT
“son of a dog” and demanding
that he be added to the U.S.

“global terror list.”
In an address last September,
Friedman remarked that “since
1994, the United States has
thrown more than $10 billion
in humanitarian aid to the
Palestinians,” yet “we found
that these expenditures were
bringing the region no closer
to peace or stability, not even
by a millimeter.”
In December, the ambas-
sador tweeted: “The Pal
Authority maintains laws that
will compensate these terror-
ists and their families for their
heinous acts. The PA can be a
political body OR a sponsor
of terror, not both.” It’s pretty
obvious which one of those
the Palestinian Authority has
chosen. White House envoy Jason
Greenblatt likewise has shared
some blunt words about the
Palestinian Authority. In a
See Flatow, Page 18
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



O pinion
A Time of Transition, and Continuity
BY NAOMI ADLER
IN 2015, after the Jewish
Exponent went through a series
of significant changes, Joshua
Runyan was appointed editor-
in-chief. For Runyan, the job
was a natural fit, as he began
his journalism career years
before with the Exponent upon
his graduation from college.

the vibrancy and diversity of
our region’s Jewish life to the
Exponent’s pages.

Under his guidance, the edi-
torial section deeply engaged
our readership and encour-
aged passionate responses,
with fresh commentary that
tackled everything from the
U.S.-Israel relationship to the
opioid epidemic to local zon-
ing laws. During his tenure,
Runyan made sure readers
were up to speed on issues
affecting their day-to-day lives,
always capturing the unique
intersection between Jewish
and Philadelphia life.

The Exponent is the sec-
ond-oldest continuously pub-
lished Jewish weekly in the
United States, and in its 131
years of existence it has not
as publisher, while the editorial
team will continue to report on
pertinent Jewish Federation and
community news and events
to keep the audience engaged
and informed.

As we wish Runyan well as he
prepares for the next step in his
career, we are incredibly grate-
ful that two years ago he hired
reporter and editor Liz Spikol.

Spikol, a lifelong Phila-
delphian with an extensive
and estimable local journalism
career, will take over as editor-
in-chief beginning with next
week’s issue. We expect she will
bring a new perspective, energy
and excitement while maintain-
ing the fresh and original con-
tent that Exponent readers are
now accustomed to.

I encourage everyone to
Whether you enjoy opinion pieces or news features, or recipes or
engagement announcements, the Exponent will remain your go-to place
for “what it means to be Jewish in Philadelphia.”
A native Philadelphian,
Runyan had a great perspective
and impeccable credentials to
spearhead the Exponent’s next
editorial chapter.

Over the last four years,
with Runyan’s leadership and a
renewed focus on reader input,
we have seen our cherished
community paper flourish and
prosper. Through thought-
ful crafting of breaking news
coverage and local commu-
nity profiles, Runyan brought
missed delivery of a single
issue. The changing of an edi-
tor will not deter the Exponent
from remaining the essential
source for Jewish news source
in our region.

Whether you enjoy opin-
ion pieces or news features,
or recipes or engagement
announcements, the Exponent
will remain your go-to place
for “what it means to be Jewish
in Philadelphia.” The Jewish
Federation will continue to serve
continue to read the paper
each week and engage with
the Exponent online at jew-
ishexponent.com, while also
following the paper on social
media for the most up-to-date
content. Josh, thank you for your
time and dedication, and Liz,
welcome to your new role. l
Naomi Adler is the president and
CEO of the Jewish Federation of
Greater Philadelphia.

KVETCH ’N KVELL
Agreeing to Agree, and Disagree
I AGREE WITH the authors of a recent article that tikkun
olamism, the exclusive focus by liberal Jews on repairing the
world via social justice as the totality of their Judaism, evinces an
existential threat to the Jewish people (“Tikkun Olam: A Return
to Our True Mission,” Jan. 31). I also agree with the authors that
those congregants of Beit Tikkun Olam should recognize the
state of Israel for what it is — a not-perfect-but-much-better-
than-average country when it comes to their secular religion’s
core tenets: free speech, free press, religious freedom, women’s
rights, gay rights, minority rights, an independent judiciary,
public education, economic freedom and on and on.

But for us Jews who believe that there is no creator of the
universe, and for our fellow Jews who at least do not believe that
the God of Moses commanded the Jewish people to obey His
commandments, the challenge is to figure out what in Judaism is
the baby and what is the bathwater.

Unfortunately, for some of us, the closer we look, the more
bathwater we see. As a result, my fellow liberal Jews have grasped
onto tikkun olam as a lifesaver thrown to someone who has fallen
overboard into the Sea of Reasonable Doubt.

Tikkun olamism is just a symptom of the real existential
threat to the Jewish people: disbelief.

Steve Mendelsohn | Penn Valley
Searching for Jewish View
I don’t get it (“Listen Now, Rather Than Planning for the Future,”
Feb. 14).

Your publication is the Jewish Exponent. But Dave Anderson’s
opinion piece could easily have appeared in a general circulation
publication. It possessed no distinctive Jewish angle or content.

Why devote your precious/limited print space to information
which could easily appear elsewhere? l
Jesse H. Wohlberg | Philadelphia
Statement From the Publisher
We are a diverse community. The views expressed in the opinion columns and letters
published in the Jewish Exponent are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect
the views of the officers and boards of the Jewish Publishing Group and/or the Jewish
Federation of Greater Philadelphia. Send letters to letters@jewishexponent.com or fax to
215-569-3389. Letters should be a maximum of 200 words and may be edited for clarity
and brevity. Unsigned letters will not be published.

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