PAGE 2A HERITAGE FLORIDA JEWISH NEWS, JUNE 6, 2014
Philip Roth, onetime 'enfant terrible,' gets seminary honor
Ellen Dubin Photography
Philip Roth receives an
honorary doctorate at the
Jewish Theological Semi-
nary's commencement in
New York on May 22, 2014.
By Beth Kissileff
(JTA)--"What is being
done to silence this man?"
an American rabbi asked
in a 1963 letter to the Anti-
Defamation League. He was
talking about the novelist
Philip Roth, whose early nov-
els and short stories cast his
fellow American Jews in what
some considered a none-too-
flattering light.
Fast-forward halfa century.
On Thursday, the writer
whose works were once
denounced as profane was
honored by one of American
Jewry's sacred citadels: The
Jewish Theological Semi-
nary, Conservative Juda-
ism's flagship educational
institution, awarded Roth
an honorary doctorate at its
commencement ceremony.
"From enfant terrible to
elder statesman. Time heals
all wounds," Rabbi David
Wolpe of Sinai Temple in Los
Angeles remarked to JTA via
email.
Early in his career, Roth
drew outrage with sometimes
stinging depictions of Jewish
life, as well as his graphic
portrayal in his 1969 novel
"Portnoy's Complaint" of the
protagonist's sexual desires.
Some worried that his work
would endanger American
Jews, providing fodder for
anti-Semites.
In one notorious incident,
Roth was shaken by a hostile
reception he received at a
1962 literary symposium at
New York's Yeshiva University.
Recalling being shouted at
by hostile students after the
event, Roth vowed to "never
write about Jews again"--a
promise, of course, that he
did not keep.
"There is a certain amount
of poetic justice, an aestheti-
cally satisfying irony, in Philip
Roth's beginning his career
with a brouhaha at Yeshiva
University and ending it with
an honorary doctorate from
the Jewish Theological Semi-
nary--an honor perhaps more
significant than the Nobel
Prize that eludes him," Mi-
chael Kramer, associate pro-
fessor of literature at Israel's
Bar-Ilan University, wrote in
an email. "Would Roth himself
have imagined such a plot? His
endings tend to the tragic."
Now the 81-year-old Roth's
own career is itself at an end.
In 2012, Roth announced that
he would not be writing more
books. Earlier this month,
he declared after a reading
at New York's 92nd Street Y
that he was done with public
appearances.
"This was absolutely the
last appearance I will make on
any public stage, anywhere,"
said Roth, although last
Wednesday news broke that
he will appear as an interview
guest on Come@ Central's
"Colbert Report" in July.
Roth, in his books, poked
fun at the wrath he incurred
from some in the Jewish com:
munity. One of his recurring
protagonists, Nathan Zucker-
man, is a novelist whose own
writings have similarly upset
many Jews.
But after decades as one
of America's leading literary
lights, the anger Roth once
evoked has been eclipsed by
acclaim.
In a phone interview, the
seminary's chancellor, Arnold
Eisen, a sociologist and the
only non-rabbi to lead JTS
since World War II, called
Roth the "greatest sociolo-
gist on American Jewish life,
without doubt."
Eisen said that in his
previous job at Stanford
University, he frequently
assigned Roth's books to
students in his classes on
Roth on page 15A
Making sense of Pope Francis's whirlwind Mideast trip
By Alex Traiman
JNS.org
After two intense days of re-
ligious ceremonies in Bethle-
hem and Jerusalem, meetings
with Israeli and Palestinian
officials, unscheduled photo
opportunities, and debilitat-
ing traffic arrangements, Is-
raelis and interfaith relations
experts are trying to attach
the appropriate symbolism
to Pope Francis's visit to the
region.
Nearly every stop made
by the pontiff was subjected
to simultaneous scrutiny
and praise. While long-term
tensions between the Jew-
ish people and the Catholic
Church were made apparent
by the trip, some experts
are acknowledging a thaw in
Israel-Vatican relations.
"The Jewish people and the
Catholic Church in recent
years have found that their
40 years of dialogue have paid
off and friendly relationships
have resulted," said Betty Eh-
renberg--executive director
of the North American branch
of the World Jewish Congress
and chairperson of the Inter-
national Jewish Committee on
Interreligious Consultations,
an umbrella organization rep-
resenting prominent Jewish
organizations in discussions
with leaders of other faiths.
Ehrenberg, who attended
a meeting between the pope
and Israeli President Shimon
Peres, told JNS.org that there
is "a friendship between the
Catholic Church and the
Jewish people that should
be nurtured" and that there
"certainly was a warmth to
this visit, and you can't deny
that."
"We have to realize that we
have problems in common,
and we have to work together
on these problems," she said.
Also important, in Eh-
renberg's estimation, is the
message that the visit sends
to Middle East Christians
who find themselves under
the constant threat of attack.
"There has been very little
outcry [on Christian suffer-
ing] by the United Nations;
there has been very little out-
cry by other international or-
ganizations," said Ehrenberg.
"We haven't heard enough of
an outcry, not from the Catho-
Friedman &
Friedman
Excellence in Real Estate
Jeffrey and Barbara Friedman
407-222-6059 - Direct
friedmanandfriedman@aol.com
One Team. Twice the Knowledge, Service and Experience
Serving the Central Florida Jewish
Community for over 12 years
lic Church and not from any of
the Christian denominations.
In fact, it has been the Jewish
people that have been decry-
ing this phenomenon."
But by visiting the Middle
East, the pope "has shown
that he is present and that
he cares, and gives Christians
here in the region strength,"
Ehrenberg said.
"Hopefully we can work
together with the Catholic
Church to help ensure reli-
gious freedoms for everyone
around the world, and for
protection," she said.
Pope Francis planted roots
for improved interfaith re-
lations even before being
elected pontiff, said Giuseppe
Platania, founder of Italy's
Israel Allies Caucus, an alli-
ance that fosters cooperation
and dialogue between the
Italian Senate and the Israeli
Knesset.
"He is a friend of the Jewish
people, probably more than
others before him," Platania
told JNS.org. "He appears to
be very open to dialogue with
the Jewish community. Back
in Argentina, the pope had a
strong relationship with the
Jewish community. So he
grew up with a strong, positive
relationship with the Jewish
community from before he
became pope."
Platania said Francis made
a "significant" symbolic ges-
ture during his first week as
pope by making a phone call
to the chief rabbi of the Jewish
community in Rome.
"When you become a leader
of over a billion people, what
you do carries tremendous
weight," he said.
Appropriately, then, every
stop by Pope Francis on his
Israel trip--planned and
unplanned--was scrutinized
for its symbolism.
"His itinerary is very sig-
nificant," Platania said."What
he goes to visit first was very
well thought-out. The actual
order of the people he sees,
and shakes hands with, and
the sites he visits, is very
significant."
The pope referred to Pales-
tinian Authority-controlled
territory as the "Palestinian
State," a move that contra-
dicts the U.N. status of the
Palestinian Authority as a
"non-member observer state."
Francis also landed first in the
Palestinian city of Bethlehem,
a day before his official state
welcome by Israel at Ben-
Gurion InternationalAirport.
According to Platania,
Yonatan Sindel/Flash90
On May 26, Pope Francis seen with Israeli President Shi-
mon Peres at a ceremony held at the president's residence
in Jerusalem.
Francis was not the first pope
to visit Palestinian-controlled
territory before setting foot
in fully sovereign Jewish ter-
ritory, and the order of the
pope's itinerary may have had
more to do with religion than
politics. The New Testament
identifies Bethlehem as the
birthplace of Jesus.
"Maybe there is a stronger
Christian connection to start
[the trip] by going to Beth-
lehem than by going to the
Kotel," Platania said.
Ehrenberg said there is
nothing new about the Vati-
can's policy toward Palestin-
ian statehood.
"The Vatican recognized
a Palestinian state many
years ago already," she said.
"So anyone surprised by this
doesn't remember when this
first happened in the '80s."
The pope then surprised
many by making an unsched-
uled prayer stop at concrete
sections of a wall separating
Bethlehem from Jerusalem,
Pope on page 15A
Brussels shooting victims leave
By Dave Bender
The Algemeiner
behind two teen daughters
TEL AVIV--Miriam and
Emmanuel Riva were "the
cream of the crop," grieving
family and friends said of
the 50-year-old couple, slain
in May 24's shooting attack at
the Jewish Museum in Brus-
sels, Belgium.
Two employees of the center
were also killed, Israel Radio
said.
The couple, who lived in Tel
Aviv and leave behind a 15 - and
a 17-year-old daughter, were
Israeli Foreign Ministry em-
ployees for the last four years,
and were due to return to
Israel on May 29, friends said.
"Up until two years ago,
Emmanuel was the vice-
consul in Berlin; they were
cultured people of character
who loved Israel," said Josia
Porat, Emmanuel's cousin's
wife.
As horrified family mem-
bers in Israel and the United
States were notified, relatives
and school officials prepared
to look after the daughters,
Porat told Israeli daily Ma'ariv.
For the moment, "the fam-
ily has decided not to tell Em-
manuel's father, who is over
90 years old, of the murders,"
the Belgian-born Porat said.
"The anti-Semitism there is
shocking," she said. "It's not
what it once was."
Meanwhile, in Brussels,
local police and officials
speculated that "everything is
possible," as to the attacker's
motives.
"We know that the location,
the Jewish Museum in Brus-
sels, makes one think of it
being an anti-Semitic attack,
but we do not have enough
to confirm this is the case,"
a state Prosecutor's Office
spokesman said.
Police have launched a
manhunt for the gunman,
and, earlier, released an
individual initially detained
immediately after the shoot-
ings, according to Israel's
Walla news site.
"The entire Jewish commu-
nity is in shock," in the wake
of the killings, said one Jewish
community leader. Another
told Israel Army Radio that
Belgium's 45,000 Jews "were
in a state of panic."
"We have decided to imple-
ment deterrent measures,
said Belgian Interior Minister
Joelle Milquet, including beef-
ing up the police presence in
areas of Jewish concentration.
"This is the firstanti-Jewish
attack in Brussels since World
War II," said Dr. Maurice Sos-
nowski, the head of the Jew-
ish community of Belgium.
"The Jewish community
is in good standing with
everyone, even the Muslim
community," another Jewish
official told Israeli daily Yediot
Ahronot.
Senior Israeli officials
were in contact with Belgian
counterparts, and President
Shimon Peres called on Euro-
pean governments to combat
anti-Semitism.
"This act of murder is the
result of constant incite-
ment against Jews and their
state," Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu said in
a statement sent to reporters.
"I urge all the leaders of
Europe--do not take anti-
Semitic incidents lightly,"
Peres said in a statement.
"Each incident calls for a
powerful response. European
leaders must wage war against
anti-Semitism, as it rears
its head in many European
countries," Peres said.
In related news, two un-
known assailants badly hurt
two Jews in Paris on Satur-
day night, May 24, as they left
a synagogue. French police
are looking for the culprits in
the attack, which took place
several hours after the Brus-
sels killings.
It is unclear at this stage if
there was a direct connection
between the two attacks.
