1968_4_arabisraelwar

216 / AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK, 1968
A 22-year-old law student, without Jewish education:
I am not religious, but quite aware of my Jewish identity. I became very upset
when Nasser closed the Gulf of Aqaba. As soon as the fighting broke out, I
tried to go to Israel. But then the travel ban was on. I would go to Israel now
for six months, but draft and school obligations are in the way.
A 31-year-old married man, with no Jewish education:
At the time of Israel's crisis I felt, with a passion that I had previously not believed
existed within me, the desire to help Israel in her time of peril.
However, I now feel that my obligation here in this country is more important
to me than whatever contributions I can now make by volunteering for service
in Israel.
A 20-year-old pre-medical college student, who had attended an all-day Jewish
school and was active in the peace and civil-rights movements:
Just felt the need to volunteer—an impulse based on some knowledge and a
great deal of passion.
An 18-year-old high-school girl, without any Jewish background:
As you can see I have not been active in any kind of a group. Now that I am
older I realize I would like to do something for my people. Going to Israel to
help and work there would mean a great deal to me.
A 20-year-old college student, with Sunday school education and Reform
affiliation:
I desire to make a contribution to the nation of my people. This is perhaps the
one great chance of doing something really important in my life, something
big and vital. Only a fool would turn such an opportunity down. My heart
is with Israel and I want to be there.
A 27-year-old college graduate, with ten years of Sunday school and Reform
temple membership:
The decision to go to Israel's aid was among the most important events in my
life. In so doing, I was able both to discover and to affirm many aspects of
myself.
The Academics
Though alienation from Judaism, the synagogue, and the Jewish community
has been most prevalent among academics and intellectuals on college
campuses, they responded to the crisis in much the same way as Jews with
strong, or stronger, communal ties. At Yale University, for example, Rabbi
Richard I. Israel, director of the B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation, reported
that the response of the Jewish faculty to a simple fund-raising appeal was
so "incredible" that the experience was difficult to assimilate:
Our Jewish faculty, which in a good year gives between $200 and $400 to the
Yale Jewish Appeal, three days after the letter was out had given over $10,000.