r 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, Mich. 48235 VE 8-9364. Subscription Si a year. Foreign S7. Second Class Postage Paid at Detroit. Michigan PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher SIDNEY SHMARAK CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ Advertising Manager Business Manager CHARLOTTE DUBIN City Editor Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the fourth day of Elul, 5727, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuclial portion: Dent. 16:18-21:9. Prophetical portion: Isaiah 51:12-52:12. Candle lighting. VOL. I.I. No. 25 Friday, September 8, 7:36 p.m. Page Four September 8, 1967 World Jewry in Major Pro-Israel Role There are mounting possibilities that in spite of all the threats, regardless of the venom that has accumulated against Israel and world Jewry — and incidentally also against the United States—in Arab countries, there may be peace. An important area in the worldcannot be subjected to endless war- fare and tens of millions of peoples' destiny can not possibly be shrouded in endless dangers. It may take a long time. Arab spokesmen, many of them encouraged by the Kremlin, can be expected to shout,slogans coined with an aim at destruction, of-mass annihilation of Israelis and Jews. But some time in the near future there has to be u cessation of saber- rattling. If the present Arab leaders should be purged, there may, for a time, arise even more dangerous ruling elements. But even the most most wanton and most hateful must come to terms with reality in the course of time. In the interim, Israel must be protected, the embattled nation's sovereignty must be assured and her friends must stand united against the accumulating forces that are de- termined to portray Israelis in most unfavor- able postures. This is where American and other Jewries assume most challenging roles. During and immediately after the Six-Day War, there was a great deal of admiration for Israel and there were many expressions of friendship for the numerically- and territorially-small nation. Now there is evidence of an emerging bitterness in many quarters which threatens to divide the world anew in the relationship to Israel. Once again, therefore, the major dependable friend of Israel—world Jewry— becomes the chief factor to be counted upon in hopes to assure Israel's security. This status of world Jewry is, we believe, well recognized and properly understood. Such a role becomes even more obligatory both in the interim period before we can hope for peace and when, as all humankind hopes and prays for, there is to be an actual agreement for amity and for an end to the war between the Jews and their Arab "cousins." When the time comes to remove the mil- itary from the borders, to establish amicable relations, to open up the borders so that tourism may be possible in a wide expanse— in Israel and in the Arab countries on a safe basis—and to create a strong commercial tie among all the people in the Middle East, it will be necessary to build anew, to create the hoped-for cultural centers, to make certain that Israel — the state and the people — emerge in the proper light in which Israel functions as an historical entity, as the spiri- tual force in behalf of Jewry and the world at large. Our responsibilities will grow. There are hundreds of thousands of our kinsmen yet to be rescued and to be resettled in a re- deemed Zion. There are schools to be built and scholars to be encouraged to protect the heritage of our people. These are facts to be remembered and especially to he taken into consideration now, as we are about to plan for a new year of activity, much of which will be in the realm of philanthropy. In the course of such plan- ning it must never be forgotten that world Jewry is charged with the most serious re- sponsibilities in planning for Israel's security and sovereignty and programing for an appreciation of the historic role in which we are presently cast. Return to Sanity Calls for End to 'Power Pressures Hitler lost the military operations. Did he triumph with his inhuman appeals to hatred, in his advocacy of genocide and the destruction of everything that is sacred in life? One would imagine, judging by the out- bursts of passions and insanities that stem from "power" groups and bigoted elements, that we are back where we started in the mid-1930s, when the civilized peoples united to oppose the rising tides of Nazism and Fascism. In Washington a group of swastika-be- decked, depraved youths shouted the Hitler slogan. In Hanoi a "black power" spokes- man urged Negro American soldiers to shoot at their fellow-Americans, the com- manders of their troops. In Iron Curtain countries there is a revival of the atrocious "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" and the medieval ritual murder libel. All of which adds to the chaos in which we are enveloped, giving the impression that we are back in the jungle, that we are sinking in swamps of hatred and insanity. Nevertheless, there are signs of sanity from other quarters. It is not all black. It is always the person who shouts the loudest who gets the most attention, but he is sel- dom the last to rule over his fellow men. The American Nazi group may or may not have finished its song of hate, but the tactics of a depraved little gang of hoodlums wearing swastikas is now better known and is understood for what it is worth and for the menacing inanities it stands for. But even this little group can become more menacing, if the appeals to race hatred should become its dominant aim. Therefore, in battling against this danger it is vital that there should be no encourage- ment to race hatred and that the causes for such venom should be removed. Else we'll all be the victims of the craze that would be rejected even in the jungle. And if there is to be an elimination of the comfort that has been given to the hate-mongering and crazed dehumanized enemies of everything that is sacred to human life, then those who are advocating "black power" or any other appeals to violence must abandon their destructive tactics. If we are to have a return to sanity we must also have an abandonment of the in- sane factors in life. This applies to all "power" groups. To attain the goal of fair play and common decency, on all fronts, and certainly most especially on the Ameri- can scene, there will be need for wise as well as strong leadership that will be able to guide our people towards the basic goals of Americanism. At the moment we ap- pear weakened in our leadership. The at- tainment of proper guidance, the resumption of strength that is inherent in the American way of life, is the goal to be aimed at. Then we shall have a resumption of our proper democratic aims and the regaining of a status that will be steeped in courage and without fear. —ask Dr. Sandmel's 'Herod' Reviews Life of Tyrant and His Qualities Chiefly interested in the history of Christianity of the First Cen- tury, having specialized in works on Paul and paulism, Dr. Samuel Sandmel, professor of Bible and Hellenistic literature at Hebrew Union College, added to his biblical studies Virg' • Z.'s,' the era of Herod when he was invited to write about Herod "the Great" for the "Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible." That encouraged him to plan a book on Herod. This is realized in "Herod: Profile of a Tyrant," published by J. B. Lippin- cott Co., Philadelphia. It is a erevaling work in which Prof. Sandmel contends that "Herod is the re- current figure who, in the guise of a Napoleon, or a Mussolini, periodically arises." His contention is, on this score: "We hold such people properly in scorn, but we are often tempted to ridi- cule the diabolic qualities that they Dr. Sandmel possess and put to use. All too often a powerless or complacent populace consents to the seizure of power by such men, as if they are impossible to resist. It is only in extremely civilized states that the mores or the laws manage to impede the rise of such persons to power, but even high civilizations, such as that of Germany, have succumbed to such a person." This viewpoint is especially valuable for an understanding of Dr. Sandmel's interpretation of Herod's role and for his contention that Herod's "special eminence in wickedness is, to be sure, accidental, namely, the circumstance that the Gospel according to Matthew brings him into relationship with Jesus, and as a consequence Herod receives more attention in the western world than he really deserves." Is it possible that only the inclusion of Herod's name in Matthew accounts for the emphasis on his role in Jewish history? Dr. Sandmel is quite emphatic on this core, stating that Herod, "thoroughly wicked, is only a minor name in a list of the men of wickedness who have dotted the history of Europe from the ascendancy of Rome until our own days." In his impressive biography, Dr. Sandmel introduces Herod as the hated, the cruel, who "was also maligned." He states that "ambition led Herod to seek a throne not his, and be attained it. Having attained it, he needed to retain it; to retain it, he needed to be ruthless, merciless and despotic." But: "Even the maligners of Herod attribute great abilities to him. One need not admire the particular abilities he displayed. One need only recall that, dependent on Rome, detested by the populace, and harassed by intrigue in the palace, he managed to retain his throne for 33 years, and to bequeath it to his children. They had neither his abilities, nor his skill in retaining the throne, and some grand- children were virtually degenerates." But in reference to the Gospel story, Dr. Sandmel questions authen- ticity. Speaking of "the case in the Gospel according to Matthew, which attributes the birth of Jesus to the last year of the reign of Herod," Dr. Sandmel states: "It relates that Herod, informed that a child was born who was to become king of the Jews, gave orders to kill all babies (just as Pharaoh had ordered the slaughter of Hebrew children in the time of Moses). Joseph, the father of Jesus, thereupon fled to Egypt with the infant Jesus, and escaped Herod's slaughter. Not a word of this in Josephus." Prof. Sandmel draws extensively upon Josephus in his account of Herod's rule, of his cruelties, of the court intrigues. As an historical record Dr. Sandmel's "Herod" is a splendid revaluation of an important era in ancient Jewish history. It makes reference to the military objectives of Herod's time, to the relationship with Rome. There is an interesting comment, of interest now in view of the great attraction of Masada to tourists in Israel, to that fortress. He states that "Herod's first military objective was not Jerusalem, but the relief of Masada," that for his southward drive he needed to neutralize the coastal town of Joppa (Jaffa) and "he manag e d to take Joppa and he moved on to Masada, where he lifted the siege and freed his fugitive family." The schemes which marked Herod's rulerships, the court murders, the dominating role of the tyrant—scores of such events that marked the life of a tyrant are recorded in a biography well delineated.