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March 18, 2005/Adar II 7 5765, Volume 57, No. 29
Cross-cultural conversations
Late journalist Daniel Pearl's father to speak in Scottsdale
VICKI CABOT
Contributing Editor
Rather than seek answers to the usual questions anguished parents often ask, Dr. Judea Pearl and his wife, Ruth, whose son, Daniel, was killed three years ago, are posing their own.
"It's important to ask questions," says Judea Pearl from the southern California headquarters of the Daniel Pearl Foundation, founded after the brutal murder of Daniel Pearl by Pakistani extremists.
"Asking questions brings ideas, ideas bring debate, debate brings clarity, and clarity brings strength and resilience," he says.
Through the work of the foundation, created in memory of their beloved son, an intrepid reporter on assignment in the Middle East, they are continuing his work, asking incisive questions and provoking debate. They have embarked on a series of cross-cultural conversations, the most recent one at Duke University, as part of their effort to bridge the vast cultural and religious divide between Muslims and Jews.
Judea Pearl will share their story and their vision of inter-religious understanding at a program sponsored by the Arizona Chapter of the American Jewish Committee on Sunday, April 3, at the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus.
Speaking by telephone and e-mail, the Pearls provided a picture of an accomplished young man whose untimely death spurred them to take action. They spoke of their son's Jewish roots and upbringing; what led him to tell his captors in a wrenching videotape made just before he died, "My mother is Jewish, my father is Jewish, I am Jewish."
Judea and Ruth Pearl are Israelis who came to the United States in 1960. Judea Pearl's grandfather, a Chasidic Jew, bought a plot of land in Palestine in 1924 and left his native Poland for Israel, where Hayim Pearl Street in B'nei B'rak is now named for him. He and his wife had four sons, one of whom is Judea Pearl's father, who, according to Judea Pearl, returned to Poland "to find a European princess" and brought back a wife. Judea Pearl was raised in Tel Aviv and attended Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, where he met his wife, who was born in Baghdad, Iraq. He is a professor in computer science at University of California at Los Angeles, the author of three books on artificial intelligence and president of the Pearl foundation. Ruth Pearl holds a master's degree in electrical engineering, has worked as a computer consultant and is chief financial officer and secretary of the foundation.
Daniel and his older sister, Tamara, were born in New Jersey; their younger sibling Michelle was born after the Pearls relocated to Southern California. Daniel graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University, where he co-founded a student newspaper, "The Stanford Commentary." He began his journalism career as a Pulliam Fellow at the Indianapolis Star and worked for several other papers before joining the Wall Street Journal in 1990.
Judea Pearl says his son considered careers in music (he was a classical violinist), journalism and computer science. He chose journalism because he liked to work with people.
"He saw in every person a potential author of an unfolded mystery," says his father.
Judea Pearl describes his own Jewishness as "historical" rather than religious. The family was not affiliated with a congregation, though they were connected with the Israeli community in Los Angeles. Judea Pearl directed the Los Angeles Hebrew Choir for many years.
Daniel Pearl became a bar mitzvah in Israel at the Kotel in 1976, when the family was on sabbatical.
Judea Pearl describes Daniel's Jewishness as "the language of his extended family - a source of strength, commitment and historical identity."
It sparked his compelling desire to make sense of the world - and the mission of the foundation to continue his work.
Among the foundation's many programs are its annual Daniel Pearl Music Day, a weeklong series of concerts that coincide with Daniel's birthday, Oct. 10, dedicated to tolerance and humanity.
"Music is a universal language," says Judea Pearl. "It transcends linguistic and cultural barriers. It is the perfect language to convey the oneness of mankind."
It also has sponsored programs with leading journalists on the issue of media bias and its continuing forums for intercultural discussion between Judea Pearl and Pakistani scholar Professor Akbar Ahmed, whom Judea Pearl met through Anti-Defamation League national director Abe Foxman.
"We talk about the role of religion in the (Mideast) conflict, the role of violence, about Islamaphobia."
The duo then fields questions from the audience.
"Sometimes they are pointed, sometimes they are intimidating," says Judea Pearl, "but most of the time they are just seeking information."
Judea Pearl says he prepares by reading extensively to familiarize himself with the issues.
"I know some of the answers," he says of the questions lobbed at him by the audience. "And when I don't, I say, 'I don't know.'"
He says the conversations have elicited a raft of e-mailed responses, some positive, some negative.
Summaries of the dialogues will be published in Karachi, Beirut and Bangladesh.
In addition, the Pearls are editors of a collection of essays, "I Am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl" (Jewish Lights Publishing, $18.99 paperback). Contributors run the gamut from rabbis to politicians to Jewish professionals in a host of fields.
Judea Pearl says his favorite essay is the one by Shimon Peres that tells the story of the Jewish people from his own experience. The most insightful piece comes from David Grossman. Judea Pearl paraphrases Grossman's sentiments: "He defines a Jew as the nervous passenger looking out the window to ensure that the train is on the right track."
In their own way, even after suffering an immeasurable loss, the Pearls are working to keep the train on the right track.
Their hope for their three grandchildren, including Daniel's son, Adam, born to his wife Mariane after Daniel's death, is that they will see that Daniel lives on.
"It is important for them to see that Danny's spirit continues to rally people to the protection of sanity and humanity," he says.
Contact the writer here
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