Religious Spirit, Voice on Air in Israel
By CARL ALPERT
HAIFA — The circumstances
surrounding the winning of the
Six-Day War were responsible for
a profound religious stirring on the
part of almost the entire population
of Israel. The spiritual impact of
the events was enormus. Libera-
tion of old Jerusalem andlthe Tem-
ple Wall, as well as the sensation-
ally miraculous nature of the mili-
tary victory in the South, could not
easily be explained in any rational
manner. Men who had considered
themselves anti-religious shed tears
at the old Wall, and felt themselves
enveloped in an indescribable
Shechina. The very word religion
suddenly took on new meaning. It
was no longer a referance to things
ancient and obsolete; it had rele-
vance to this day and this hour, to
our very lives.
The wide scale participation by
Orthodox Jewry in the struggle of
defence had a share in elevating
respect for religion as such. It had
no longer seemed strange to see
bearded Yeshiva students, guns in
hand, leap onto their military
trucks on the Shabbat. Rabbi Mor-
decai Stern of Meron was acting
in Jewish tradition, like many
others in Israel, when he led his
congregation from synagogue ser-
vices Saturday morning direct to
a defense line where they all dug
trenches. Many recalled the now
famous battle of the tractors last
summer, when the devout farmers
of religious kibbutz Shaalvim kept
their tractors moving all through
Shabbat at the urging of their Rab-
bi Meir Shlesinger, lest the Arabs
on the other side of the line think
the Jews were abandoning a vital
post under Jordanian pressure.
The religious influence was
purvasive. An editor of the Jeru-
salem Post, the talented and ar-
ticulate Lea Ben Dor, reacted
critically when an Agudath Israel
member of the Knesseth arose
in that august body to defend
certain of the orthodox traditions.
In time of war she found much
of what he said irrational and un-
reasonable — but she hastened
to add thoughtfully that what he
spoke was "the real irrational
thing, of which victories and
walls and faith are made . . . ."
The sounding of the Shofar at the
Wall on the day of its liberation, as
heard throughout the nation on the
radio sent a great tingling thrill
through the people. In all likelihood
the reaction was a passing one. It
will not last, but at the moment
it was mystical, unexplainable,
spiritual electronic message which
struck to the very heart and soul.
To all this must be added a foot-
note about a fringe reaction. One
of the top leaders of the so-called
League for the Abolishment of
Religious Coercion, Dr. Uzi Oran,
wrote to the press deploring that
Chaplain Goren had dared to be
the first Israeli officer to enter the
Wailing Wall area and arrange a
prayer service there. He dared to
broadcast to the army from Mt.
Sinai. Why, wrote Onran, this might
give some one the wrong impres-
sion -- as if religion had something
to do with the war. This is far from
the truth, he said. The Israel Army
"did not fight for the Jewish re-
ligion, nor would the people of
Israel have gone to battle for such
an aim. The Jewish faith could be
observed well before our war, and
not necessarily in Israel . . ."
Polish-Born Jew Seized in Israel as Spy for Syria
TEL AVIV (JTA)—J. Dabani, a
their houses as token of their de-'
sire for peace. Immediately a 42-year-old, Polish-born Jew who
number of homes in the Arab sec- had fought in the Israel army dur-
tion of Jaffa are said to have blos- ing the war of liberation in 194849,
somed out with flapping white has been arrested here on charges
of having acted as a- spy for Syria.
sheets.
According to police, Dabani left
Whether true or not, the story is
an illustration of the influence of Israel three years ago, going to
Daar el Izaat el Israilia, the Israel Paris, where he had contacted the
Broadcasting Center. When I drove Syrian Embassy. He was allegedly
through the cities and villages of offered $5,000 if he would serve
the West Bank shortly after the • as a spy, but on condition that he
cessation of hostilities, and again would go first to Damascus for in-
through the Gaza Strip, practically structions. The police authorities
every home displayed a white ban- said he had refused to go to Da-
ner of some kind. The Voice had mascus but, nevertheless, received
payments from the Syrian Embas-
been heard.
Prior to the war, Israel's voice in sy from time to time .
Arabic had been on the air for
Last year, he returned to Israel.
seven and a half hours daily. It He had been shadowed by Israeli
had an amazing audience in the authorities for the last few months,
Arab world. The prevalence of in- and was arrested last month on
expensive transistors had made it
possible even for illiterates or
peasants in the most remote vill-
ages to be reached over the air.
From the beginning Israel made it
a point to stick to the truth. Its
reputation was based on veracity
and reliability. In 1966, of some
85,000 letters received by the Voice
of Israel from abroad, the great
majority were from Arab lands.
Since there is no direct mail con-
nection, all these letters had to be
smuggled out by travelers or sent
via other addresses in Europe for
forwarding.
Many of the Arab listeners
used to ask questions which they
wanted answered over the air.
Orman found it necessary to
They
sometimes asked for medi-
send his provocative words to
cal advice. They asked political
more than one paper. It is dif-
questions. They requested fa-
ficult to understand why some
vorite songs. One of the hit pro-
otherwise reasonable and intelli-
grams was a Koran Quiz, parallel
gent American Jewish religious
to the Bible Quiz, the first of its
leaders continue to give their ap-
kind in any Arab land. It drew
proval and support to this kind
an enormus listening audience.
of League.
The best publicity for the pro-
During the height of the war
was given by the Arab radio
gram
Israel's Arab broadcasts repeat-
edly called upon all Arabs in the and press which often found it
areas into which Israel troops were necessary to reply to the political
moving to hang white flags outside commentaries and news interpre-
tations aired by Israel. The results,
of course, merely sharpened the
interest of the Arab auditors.
With the bursting of the crisis
toward the end of May, the seven
and a half hours were quickly ex-
panded to 22 hours daily. A small,
faithful and conscientious staff
around the clock so that
NEW YORK — On the 15th an pounded by the fact that Yiddish labored
Voice should not fall be-
niversary of the execution of 24 is the officially recognized mother- Israel's
hind
Israel's
Indeed, the
Yiddish writers, actors and intel- tongue of the Soviet Jewish na- Voice usually Army.
preceeded the con-
lectuals by the Soviet Union on tionality," Rabbi Miller said.
The publication also includes an quests of the soldiers.
Aug. 12, 1952, Rabbi Israel Miller,
Purpose was to sap the moral of
chairman of the American Jewish article originally published in 1959
`Lift Death Sentence Imposed
on Jewish Culture,' Conference
on Soviet Jewry Demands
Conference on Soviet Jewry, called in "Yiddishe Kultur," an Ameri-
upon the Soviet Union to "lift the can publication sympathetic to the
death sentence the regime has im- Soviet system, by Chaim Sloves, a
leading member of the French
posed upon Jewish culture."
As a memorial to those execut- Communist Party, who was sent to
ed, the conference, composed of the Soviet Union by his party
25 major national Jewish organi- leadership to investigate the situa-
zations, issued a special publica- tion of Soviet Jews. Rabbi Miller
tion tracing the strangulation of commented that "Sloves' descrip-
Jewish culture by successive tion of the plight of Soviet culture
Soviet regimes and called for an is as true today as it was in 1959
when it was written."
end to "forcible assimilation."
•
In issuing the appeal, Rabbi
Miller recalled that those who were Tisha b'Av 'Fast-In'
executed included the "great Yid- Protests USSR Bias
dish writers David Bergelson, Itsik
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
Feffer, Peretz Markish, and the
to The Jewish News)
leading actor of the Moscow Jew-
NEW YORK—About 200 Jewish
ish State Theater, Benyamin Zus- youths conducted a Tisha b'Av
kin. They and their colleagues "fast-in" Tuesday on the sidewalks
were convicted on trumped-up across the street from the head-
charges that included planned quarters of the Soviet mission to
armed rebellion to separate the the United Nations.
Crimea from the USSR to estab-
Most of the time the participants
lish there a 'Jewish national bour- —organized by the Student Strug-
geois Zionist republic;" acting as gle for Soviet Jewry—sat silently
agents of American imperialism; on low "shiva" stools while a few
and being enemies of the Soviet of them picketed with placards
Union. What happened to their denouncing Soviet anti-Semitism.
bodies remains a mystery to this Part of the demonstration was the
very day," Rabbi Miller said.
display of a 10-panel exhibit de-
Rabbi Miller pointed out that picting the plight of Soviet Jewry.
the status of Jewish culture in the
USSR remains "depressing." He
said that the Polish-Yiddish news-
JOIN THE
paper, Warsaw Folkshtirr.e, de-
STAR-SPANGLED
10,
1966,
that
of
Dec.
clared on
750 Yiddish books that appeared
FREEDOM PLAN
in the world in the preceding five
year period, the United States pub-
lished 240, as contrasted to seven
published in the Soviet Union.
"The USSR has proportionately
by far the largest population of
Jews whose mother-tongue is Yid-
dish, and the situation is com-
Friday, August 18, 1967-7
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
charges of spying for Syria and
"maintaining contact with t h e
enemy." His arrest was kept se-
cret until Aug. 10.
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the enemy by telling the truth
about the progress of the war and
by demonstrating such truth. To
the repeated charges that Ameri-
can and British planes were taking
part in the war, Radio Israel
taunted: Show us, on your TV
screens, a picture of even one of
the American planes which you say
you are shooting down by the hun-
dreds. Show just one!
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