October 23, 2008

In the week just past, Jews everywhere had the opportunity to welcome a few guests into their sukkot. Tradition says these guests include Judaism’s founding figures — such as Jacob, Moses, David, and, of course, Abraham, whose greatest attribute was the hospitality he embodied and acted upon.

In the spirit of Abraham, a Jewish student group in Paris recently invited a few more guests into its sukka — namely Jews and non-Jews from the 19th arrondissement, an ethnically mixed neighborhood that has been the scene of Jewish-Muslim tension and hate crimes.

French-Jewish leaders and community activists attended the sukka party, although few non-Jewish or Muslim youth joined them. Undaunted, a young organizer said, “We have to start somewhere,” and pledged to keep reaching out to his neighbors.

Reaching out — and reaching back — seem in short supply wherever Jews and Arabs live side by side. In Israel, Jews and Arabs clashed violently in ancient Akko when an Arab driver’s foolish mistake — or provocation — fed the flames of rumor and retaliation. In Tel Aviv, police arrested six Jewish teens suspected of throwing Molotov cocktails at two Arab-owned apartments. On Oct. 18, Jewish and Arab youths scuffled throughout Jerusalem. Israeli authorities are investigating Palestinian claims that Jewish settlers have been targeting their olive crops.

It is up to the authorities to affix blame in these incidents and dole out punishments. But there is a sense that unless Israel and its friends move quickly in the spirit of Abraham and seek to prevent these kinds of incidents, localized skirmishes may prove a national crisis.

We American Jews can either wring our hands from afar, or do our small part by supporting one or more of the many organizations that aim to promote coexistence. In the words of an idealistic young French Jew, “We have to start somewhere.”

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