Moving in Well Equipped
THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951
Member American Association of English—Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, National Editorial
Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit 48235 Mich.,
VE 8-9364. Subscription $6 a year. Foreign $7.
Second Class Postage Paid at Detroit, Michigan
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
SIDNEY SHMARAK
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Advertising Manager
Business Manager
CHARLOTTE HYAMS
City Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 9th day of Av, 5725, the following scriptural selections will
be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchan portion: Deut. 1.:1-3-22; prophetical portion: Isa. 1:1-27.
Fast of the 9th of Av Selections
(Read Sunday because the 9th falls on the Sabbath)
Pentateuchal portions: Morning, Deut. 4:25-40: Afternoon, Exod. 32:11-14; 34:1-10;
prophetical portions: Jere?n. 8:13-9:23, Isa. 55:6-56:8.
Licht benshen, Friday, Aug. 6, 7:26 p.m.
VOL. XLVII, No. 24
Page 4
Aug. 6, 1965
Obstacles on Road to Middle East Peace
The aftermath of Arthur J. Goldberg's
selection for the high post as the U.S. Ambas-
sador to the United Nations was accom-
panied by numerous disappointments. Assis-
tant Secretary of State G. Mennen Williams'
meetings with African nations to assure them
of the good intentions of our government, the
subsequent conference between the Egyptian
ambassador and Secretary of State Rusk, were
indications of a fear in the hearts of Ameri-
can spokesmen that does not spell too much
confidence and certainly does not reflect
courage.
It was to be expected that in an internal
matter like the selection of an American
spokesman at the world organization of 114
nations it should not have been necessary to
get the consent of those who have caused so
much trouble to our own government and
who are the cause of threats to peace.
If Ambassador Goldberg will face serious
problems in his handling of the Middle East
situation, it may well be assumed, now that
the State Department has entered the arena
with apologies for the selection of our nation's
spokesman, that a cringing attitude will not
be helpful in assuring justice or in guarantee-
ing the peace.
Why was it necessary for Secretary of
State Rusk to assure the Egyptian ambassador
that the American delegate to the UN will
give fair and objective consideration to the
Arab case in issues involving Israel? Have
such guarantees ever been secured from Arab
spokesmen that, being in the UN, they will
deal justly with their neighbors?
There is a charge pending against Egypt
that food our government has sent to that
country for distribution among its poor was
sold for profit by the Nasser regime. The
State Department is minimizing the charges
that are based on findings reported by the
U. S. General Accounting Office. Does this
help uphold the hands of our UN Ambassador
while there are apologies for his selection as
our spokesman?
Every time Nasser gets into trouble, our
State Department steps in to rescue him. He
is in real difficulty now, and he is losing
friends even among the Arab nations. Only
the Soviet Union seems to be his major ben-
efactor, as indicated by the fact that during
the military parade in Cairo a few days ago
only Russian-made tanks and other military
vehicles were in evidence. Yet our govern-
ment, in spite of abuses hurled at us, seems
eager to give him all-out assistance.
The transcript of the interview that was
conducted with Gamal Abdel Nasser on July
11, over the CBS Radio Network, on the "Face
the Nation," program, records Nasser as hav-
ing said in reply to a question by Winston
Burdett of CBS News whether "war is inevit-
able": "Yes. It may not be today. It may be
five years after, ten years, but the Arabs
during the time of the days when they occu-
pied a part of the Arab countries, they waited
for 70 years."
It is to the man who threatens war that
our State Department has offered expla-
nations for the selection of a man of peace to
represent our nation. It is with this man and
his representatives that Ambassador Gold-
berg will have to deal in the United Nations.
Yet we must entertain hope that the
better side of valor will succeed, that the
humane elements will conquer, that the UN
will act justly in response to Ambassador
Goldberg's assertion: "I go to New York to
curse no one but in my own way to help keep
the candle of peace burning."
The nations of the world may therefore
well pray and hope that he who wants peace
to triumph will succeed, even if he must face
one who threatens war — five or ten or sev-
enty years from now.
In the "Face the Nation" interview, Nas-
ser, made the statement taken from trans-
cript, that: "There is no opportunity for a
peace settlement with Israel. Whatever the
Israelis say is only propaganda. I remember
what happened in 1956 when Mr. Ben-Gurion,
the Prime Minister of Israel, said, 'I want
to meet Nasser at any time and any day,' and
this was only seven days before the aggression
against our country by the Israeli army. It
was proven after that there was a plot and
there was agreement between Israel, France
and the United Kingdom to attack us."
But there is another side to this story.
A Reuters report from Munich, Germany,
dated March 21, 1965, stated:
Former Premier David Ben-Gurion of
Israel, in an interview to be published
here tomorrow, said President Gamal
Abdel Nasser of the United Arab Republic
had once told him that they could reach
agreement in two hours in Jerusalem, but
that then he could never return to Cairo.
Asked about Israeli efforts for settle-
ment of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Mr. Ben-
Gurion told the independent Munich news-
paper Sueddeutsche Zeitung:
"Nasser is the only politician in the
Arab world who has the capacity and auth-
ority to negotiate with us. But he does
not want to.
"I earlier sounded him out twice
through the Americans. Once I got a clear
rejection. The second time I let Nasser
know I was prepared to meet him in Cairo
but feared my safety was not guaranteed
there. I offered that he should come to Jer-
usalem, where he would certainly be safe.
My mediator later told me Nasser had said
to him he knew his safety was not endang-
ered in Jerusalem.
"He also knew that he could reach
agreement with Ben-Gurion in two hours.
But he also knew that he could then never
go back. Well, I do not know myself how
serious this is."
But the millions who listened to Nasser
over the vast radio network on July 11 could
not have been aware that there is another
side to the story, that there is a desire for
peace in Israel and among responsible Israeli
leaders, whereas there is an element of fear
that prevents amity.
Yet, peace should not and could not be
made impossible, even by the saber-rattling
of Nasser, provided there is a will for it. That
will was expressed by Arthur Goldberg. It
should have been upheld by the State Depart-
ment. There ought to be an end to apologies
for seeking peace in the Middle East.
An Era Without Panic
President Johnson's three important ap-
pointments made in the past month went to
Jews: Arthur J. Goldberg has been assigned
to the United Nations, Abe Fortas succeeds
him on the United States Supreme Court and
Leonard Marks heads the United States In-
formation Agency.
There was a time, especially in the Hitler
era, when the selection of a Jew for a high
post inspired panic among those who feared
they might be accused of exerting undue in-
fluence on government.
Fortunately for our country and for the
best human relations, that period of fear and
panic has ended. Now a courageous Presi-
dent feels free to select men and women who
can best serve our nation. This is as it should
be—appointees being chosen as Americans
on their merits. This is as it should be.
We are grateful that this is as it is.
—
,
t5t;
-a,
Story of Meir of Rothenburg.
Tribute to 13th Century Rabbi
Lillian S. Freehof, the wife of the eminent Rabbi Solomon Freehof
of Pittsburgh, has produced for the Jewish Publication Society another
noteworthy Covenant Book. Under the title "The Captive Rabbi," the
new Freehof JPS book deals with the life story of the famous Rabbi
Meir ben Baruch of Rothenburg whose heroic struggle in defense of
Jewish rights in the 13th Century elevated him to a role of greatness
in Jewish history. Indeed, this story deals with Meir of Rothenburg
as a spiritual hero.
Mrs. Freehof commences her biographical work by introducing
R. Meir as having just come from Worms to Paris, there to witness -
the burning of the Talmud. She describes "the book on trial," the
bigotry of Pope Gregory IX, the manner in which the weak King
Louis IX concurred in the mass burning of the sacred books. Later,
Pope Gregory X acted to remove the restrictive acts on Jews, but
it was then that Emperor Rudolph refused to accept it and imprisoned
R. Meir with whom he had a running battle over the latter's insistence
upon retaining Jewish principles and his refusal to compromise with
Jewish rights.
It was a Jewish renegade who lied, in an effort to get ven-
geance on his former brethren who angered him, who brought
false evidence about the Talmud to the bigoted Catholics of that
time. It was another apostate who informed on R. Meir when he
had fled from Rothenburg and caused his arrest.
There were tolerant Christians and one especially, the Archbishop
of Mayence, who befriended R. Meir, but they were helpless against
Rudolph.
R. Meir had been called to become the rabbi of Rothenburg after
his experiences in Paris. He was born in Worms, Germany, in 1215,
but another man, Rudolph, who was born in 1218 in Limburg, Germany,
who was destined to become the Emperor of the German principalities
of the time, was the enemy of the great rabbi who caused the
tragedies that afflicted the famed scholar.
Amshel Oppenheimer, who assisted Rudolph, plays his role in this
story. The names of famous rabbis of that era are included in this
account.
R. Meir would not make compromises. When Rudolph wanted
financial assistance from him and Amshel, R. Meir said that the
king first must confirm the Gregory X edicts that remove
the restrictions on Jews. There was partial success at the outset,
but later, when Rudolph insisted upon imposing on Jews the
servi camerae decree which would turn all Jews into mass slaves,
R. Meir refused to yield.
R. Meir refused to be rescued from jail by an escape. He refused
to be freed by the community's payment of the imposed tax, unless
the money would be accepted as a ransom. He rejected anything
that would make possible the servi camerae decree being used to
make Jews the Kemmerknechte.
"Don't you realize what will happen if the Jews ransom me?",
It. Meir warned his family. "Every month or so the Emperor will
kidnap another prominent Jew and hold him for ransom. He will
bleed us white and there will be no end to this. They must not
ransom me !"
Thus, R. Meir rejected ransom. He insisted upon retaining the
rights of Jews as individuals. He remained in prison and he died in
the Ensisheim cell in 1288. For 14 years his body was imprisoned in
the Ensisheim fortress. It was finally released for Jewish buriar
Worms next to his father in 1308.
R. Meir of Rothenburg was one of the great authors of RespoT
He continued to write his Responsa while in prison. He establish__--,
noteworthy principles and adhered to them, and thereby uplifted the
dignity of Jewry. The Freehof biography is excellent testimony to
the genius of a great rabbi of the 13th Century.
'The Best of Ten Years'
By BORIS SMOLAR
(Copyright, 1965, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
The Jewish Digest, monthly pocket-book size magazine modeled
after the Reader's Digest, has always been one of my . favorite Jewish
publications . • . It carries well-selected material froth other publica-
tions with an eye to making the magazine a journal in which every
member of a Jewish family should find something interesting to read
. . . The selections are either educational or of human interest and
always well chosen . . Now Bernard Postal and David H. White,
the magazine's editor and publisher, have selected the best stories
and articles which appeared in the Jewish Digest since 1955 and
published them in a volume entitled "The Best of Ten Years" . . .
It is clear that a book of this kind—a selection of selections—is
worthwhile having in your library . . . Not only does this anthology
make excellent summer reading: it is also of permanent value for
the Jewish home . . One finds there about 60 entertaining and
enlightening stories and articles which enrich Jewish knowledge.