editorials
Self-censorship on Campus
F irst, there were Jewish space lasers. Now there
are Jew-free zones. Neither exists. But both
urban myths are signs of our hyperbolic times.

Jewish space lasers came from the fevered
mind of Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
of Georgia. Jew-free zones refer to nine student
groups at the UC Berkeley Law School (out of
more than 100) that signed on to a statement
pledging not to invite speakers to their events that
support “Zionism, the apartheid state of Israel,
and the occupation of Palestine.” For good mea-
sure, the nine groups reiterated support for BDS.

The school’s dean condemned the pledge. So did
Jewish groups from coast to coast. Even Barbra
Streisand expressed concern.

While there are no Jew-free zones, there is fear
that there are. And this fear feeds vigilance — and
hyperbole — that can make it easier to declare
certain speech or actions antisemitic when a
more nuanced view might lead to a different
conclusion. That fear can also cause intimidated
students to not speak up at all.

Berkeley is an extreme example. But there are
others. Many college campuses are feeling the
heat of hostility to its Jewish students and their
guilt by association to Israel. What’s needed is
college leadership, including teachers, to take on
a mediating role and to encourage constructive,
respectful discussion and debate. That may not
change anyone’s mind, but it will empower those
being vilified to feel less put upon by a disturb-
ingly increasing college campus culture of exclu-
sion and derision.

Unfortunately, many of the nonstudent campus
leaders lack the interest or the skill to help ana-
lyze and critique both sides of the debate. And
worse, it is often members of the college faculty
who lead the accusatory and demeaning chal-
lenges that generate the tension and conflict.

It’s not just Jewish students who feel intimidated
and reluctant to speak up. A recent survey by the
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
found that 83% of college students reported
engaging in self-censorship, up from 60% in 2020.

And according to a recent op-ed in The Boston
Globe, “The primary reason students say they
don’t express their authentic views, according
to a Heterodox Academy survey, is fear of peers
taking offense. Many even worry that sharing their
thoughts will cause others ‘harm.’”
But fear of speaking up is different from fear
of being victimized or attacked. An ADL survey
from 2021 found that one in three Jewish stu-
dents experienced antisemitic hate directed at
them in the previous academic year. The most
common incidents were offensive comments
online or in person, and damage or defacement
of property. Jewish students on campus report
that they keep their kippot in their pockets and
hide their Stars of David under their sweaters.

These concerns are real. And reports of these
problems frighten other students who may not
have actually experienced antisemitism them-
selves. This leads to a feeling of alienation on
campus. We hope wise professionals will step forward
to help shift the mood on our college campuses.

And we encourage everyone involved to work to
lower the temperature. The situation at Berkeley
is upsetting and deserves to be called out and
should be corrected. But there are no “Jew-free
zones.” JE
The Promise and Uncertainty of the
Lebanon Gas Deal
E arly last week, Israel gave a preliminary nod
of approval to a U.S.-brokered draft deal with
Lebanon to address a years-long dispute regarding
a Mediterranean gas project. The maritime border
dispute is an ongoing territorial and natural gas
dispute between Lebanon and Israel over the Qana
and Karish gas fields, which are believed to contain
significant gas reserves.

Israel is reportedly poised to start extracting
gas from the area, and Hezbollah — the powerful
Lebanese Shiite militia and party — is threatening
all-out war if Israel proceeds without first resolv-
ing the territorial dispute.

At the time U.S. mediator and the State
Department’s senior adviser for energy security
Amos Hochstein presented the confidential draft
proposal for resolution to the parties, there was
hope that the deal might be accepted by both
sides. But, just a few days later, after Lebanon
presented proposed amendments to the plan
and other clarifications to Hochstein, the message
from Israel became much more pessimistic.

According to reports, Israel rejected the
12 OCTOBER 13, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
Lebanese amendments, which were deemed by
Israel to be a threat to the Jewish state’s security
and economic interests. That action was immedi-
ately followed by Israel’s defense minister, Benny
Gantz, reportedly instructing Israel’s defense
establishment to prepare for a rise in tension
with Lebanon overreaction to Israel’s rejection of
Lebanon’s demands.

In today’s Middle East environment of endorse-
ment and expansion of the Abraham Accords,
more cooperative engagement with Egypt, pos-
sible opportunities for expanded exchanges with
Jordan and even potential positive steps in rela-
tions with Saudi Arabia, the Israel-Lebanon nego-
tiations are a clear outlier.

While all of the other regional accords, treaties
and discussions are focused on rapprochement,
with an eye toward growing interdependence,
engagement and peaceful coexistence, the Israel-
Lebanon negotiations are much different. All par-
ticipants agree that the objective of the bilateral,
indirect negotiations is not for Israel and Lebanon
to be friends, and all agree that the possible gas
deal is not a normalization agreement or a peace
agreement. What is being proposed is a business
deal between two very hostile parties.

Israel and Lebanon disagree over the land
border between the two countries, and there are
ongoing tensions and clashes between Israel and
Hezbollah, the Iranian terror proxy that plays a
decisive role in Lebanon’s domestic and interna-
tional affairs. But notwithstanding those funda-
mental disagreements and related deep mistrust,
both sides see the benefit of an economic deal
that enables Israel and Lebanon to extract gas
from the Mediterranean and provide much-
needed revenue for Lebanon and an element of
stability to an otherwise threatened border for
Israel. This is not an easy negotiation. And the U.S.

and Hochstein are to be commended for their
impressive efforts to broker a deal. While the fits
and starts will continue, as will the posturing on
both sides, there is a deal to be made that can
be of significant benefit to both sides. We remain
hopeful that a deal will be reached. JE



opinion
Surprised by Joy
BY RABBI RAYMOND APPLE
C .S. Lewis wrote a book about his early life titled
“Surprised by Joy.” The name is from a sonnet
by William Wordsworth mourning the death of his
daughter Catherine in 1812.

Lewis said that joy was “almost as unlike secu-
rity or prosperity as it is unlike agony. It jumps
under one’s ribs and tickles down one’s back and
makes one forget meals and keeps one (delight-
fully) sleepless o’ nights.”
Lewis is trying to say that joy is a deep pleasant
feeling that suffuses every part of your life, coming
upon you with a glowing feeling that things are
going well.

Joy surrounds you in the sukkah in a combina-
tion of aroma, food, company, song and gratitude
for one’s blessings. Judaism also believes in wel-
coming the joy-giving presence of God.

Symbolism of the sukkah
• A sukkah must not be too high. A person must
not be too high and mighty.

• A sukkah must not be too small. A person
must not belittle himself.

• The walls must be able to withstand ordinary
gusts of wind. A person must stand up for his
principles. • The stars must be visible through the foliage
on the roof. A person must always see and
strive for the Divine light.

ungvar / AdobeStock
Adventures of the etrog
• One of the Four Species used on Sukkot is the
etrog. It is the odd man out, the only plant that
is not bound together with the others.

• The etrog is called in the Torah “the fruit of
a goodly (beautiful) tree” (Leviticus 23:40).

Each of the four plants symbolizes a part of
the human body. The etrog is the heart, which
makes the body function. It also represents
the Jewish people, a small separate group
who exemplify ethics. The four plants symbol-
ize four Biblical figures: The etrog is Abraham.

• The name etrog is from a Persian root tarag
and the original name might be torange. The
etrog was known for its aroma and medicinal
properties. • In size, the etrog must not be smaller than an
egg, even though today’s eggs are regarded
as smaller than those of Talmudic times.

• Etrogim used to be rare and expensive. The
question arose: “If one has to choose between
visiting a town that has a sukkah and one that
has an etrog, which should be chosen?” The
answer: “The one with the etrog!”
• Can one use an etrog owned by the syna- the Kiddush-time sponge cake. That synagogue
gogue? The members of the shul are partners had its sukkah in an open area outside the shul,
who jointly own the appurtenances of the and nothing could rival it.

synagogue. Up until recent times, city dwelling was rather
rare. The Torah makes a special point of Cain
Each festival has its theme. Sometimes, it is building a city (Genesis 4:17). That “city,” however,
the individual and his soul. Sometimes, it is the was probably only an encampment of two or three
family and its future; sometimes, the nation and its houses. In the Biblical era, the only city with urban
quality; sometimes, the people and its ethos. With status was probably Jerusalem, though in mod-
Sukkot, it is nature and God’s bounty.

ern terms Jerusalem was not much more than a
Maybe if you live in a rural environment, you village. The Mishnah Megillah speaks of villages,
already have nature as your neighbor, but if you towns and cities, but none of them had any pre-
are a city-dweller, there is a special dimension tensions to city status in modern terms.

to be found when you build your annual sukkah,
Until quite recently, most people lived in rela-
however small it might have to be if its nook is tively small settlements, and indeed, up to 200
hemmed in and its corner is precious.

years ago, no more than one person in 50 lived in
So many of our streets are concrete jungles, so what we today would call a city. So it’s only recently
many houses are brick building blocks, so many that the sukkah was desperately needed as a fleet-
ing contact with nature. How they managed to build
apartments are anonymous pigeonholes.

Living in Jerusalem, I constantly wonder why the sukkot in Eastern Europe I have no idea.

Move on to today, and you see how hard it is
ubiquitous building projects seldom have sukkah
to find a nook that is open to the sky, and how
balconies. In our case, there is a sukkah balcony,
important it is to have a festival that gives us a
which is one of the jewels of our home. Having a
feeling for
branches, greenery and the fresh air.

sukkah makes sure that at least once in a while, you
Because of
the sukkah, the Jewish people always
encounter a bit of fresh air and greenery. Even if it’s
had a
feeling for nature and gave thanks to the
only for eight days you can get a tiny taste of nature.

Creator. And
thanks to the Arba’ah Minim (“Four
In the cramped conditions of urban living, we
Species” or
“Four Kinds”)
used on Sukkot, we
don’t all have the chance of building our own
Jews saw,
held and
celebrated samples of God’s
sukkah, so we try to make do by being invited
creation. to someone else’s or spending time in the syna-
JE gogue sukkah. Some of us can do both.

I well recall, even after many decades, the fra- Rabbi Raymond Apple served congregations in
grance of a certain synagogue sukkah I patronized London before becoming chief minister of the
as a child; I still vividly remember the greenery Great Synagogue of Sydney, Australia, for 32
around the walls, and I inhale the air and can taste years. Now retired, he lives in Jerusalem.

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