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Webmaster's Note: Viewers of this web page are probably
familiar of the activism of Howard Lenhoff on behalf of the
music abilities of people with Williams syndrome, activism
which had a major effect on the starting of the WS Music
Camp at Belvoir Terrace, and in the establishment of the
Berkshire Hills Music Academy. These are described by
author Teri Sforza in the book The Strangest Song.
You also might want to learn where Dr. Lenhoff's activism
started. That story has recently been published in the book
described in the following review. Book ReviewBLACK JEWS, JEWS AND OTHER HEROESBy Howard M. LenhoffGefen Publishing House, Jerusalem, New York
Review By: CHRIS LEPPEKIt has been more than a decade since the American Association for Ethiopian Jews did something virtually unheard of in the annals of organized American Jewry – it disbanded itself, declaring its primary goal successfully reached. Today, the whole struggle to save Ethiopian Jewry from the civil war that was racking its homeland tends to be remembered in the warm and comfortable glow of satisfied hindsight. And understandably so -- it was a titanic achievement, a proud milestone in the history of Israel and, even more so, American Jewry. The dramatic sagas with Biblical names -- Operations Moses, Solomon and Elijah – were iconic victories of perseverance over apathy, human rights over oppression, tolerance over racism. All undeniably true, but the amber glow of memory also allows us to forget just how difficult and controversial those battles really were. Thankfully, for the sake of historical honesty, the tumultuous dimensions of the story are provided by Howard M. Lenhoff, one of three people to serve as president of the AAEJ during its brief but busy existence. The years of Lenhoff’s tenure, 1978-82, were among the most eventful in the two-decades-plus effort to bring tens of thousands of Ethiopian Jews to Israel. The most obvious drama of the Ethiopian exodus was the complex process of physically getting the Jews out of Ethiopia as a fierce civil war raged around them. Indeed, the largely covert and tautly suspenseful Operation Solomon, in which some 14,000 Ethiopian Jews were rescued via airlift in one day, rivals any chapter in Israeli history for sheer human drama. But Lenhoff’s book also pays considerable attention to the abundant drama and trouble that bubbled beneath that photogenic surface. First was the debate whether Ethiopian Jews were Jews at all, and thus whether they were entitled to Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return. That was followed by an even more intense debate over the best way to get them to Israel, an argument that largely mirrored that surrounding another, and somewhat contemporaneous, immigration issue – that of Soviet Jewry. Should the task be undertaken with the resources and methods of the Jewish establishment, i.e., the federation and UJA system, or through the efforts of grassroots activist groups which sprung up at the periphery, and largely independent, of that establishment? The AAEJ, like the Union of Councils for Soviet Jewry, was firmly of the peripheral grassroots persuasion, and it waged a persistent, difficult and often discouraging battle of strategy and control over the complicated emigration process. That it ultimately won that battle and found vindication in the humanitarian results is largely taken for granted today, but this takes nothing away from the inherent interest of the story that the author tells. Characteristically, Lenhoff – who recently completed another compelling book, one about his daughter’s struggle with a genetic disorder – writes this story clearly, fairly and with passion. Although written from an openly partisan perspective, Lenhoff’s account provides a compelling history of a fascinating and important chapter in modern Jewish history. Importantly, however, Lenhoff is also wise enough to realize that the story of Ethiopian Jewry is not strictly historical; that it remains a current, dynamic and, to a large degree, still troubling phenomenon. Black Jews, Jews, and Other Heroes doesn’t shy away from discussing the daunting set of problems Ethiopian immigrants still face in being fully absorbed into Israeli society. After explaining why the AAEJ self-dissolved in 1993, Lenhoff concludes his preface on this ironic note: “Did we quit too soon?” |
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Please send mail to williamssyndrome@insightbb.com with questions or comments about this web site.For additional information about Williams syndrome, please send an e-mail to hlenhoff@uci.edu.For contact with other Williams syndrome families --In the USA: please send e-mail to info@williams-syndrome.orgOutside the USA:
please visit our
International Williams Syndrome Support Groups page for
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