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 Editol ial Association
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit, Mich. 48235,
VF: 8 9364. Subscription $7 a year. Foreign $41.
Second Class Postage Paid at Detroit, Michigan

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Editor and Publisher

CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ

Business Manager

SIDNEY SHMARAK

Advertising Manager

CHARLOTTE DUBIN

City Editor

Shavuot Scriptural Selections

The following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues on Sharimt:
Pentateuchal portions: Friday, Erod. 19:1-20:23, Num. 28:26-31. Saturday. Petit.
15:19-16:17, Num. 28:26-31.
Prophetical portions: Friday, Ezekiel 1:1.28, 3:12; Saturday, Habakkuk 3:1-19.

Candle lighting, Friday, May 23, 7:33 p.m.
Saturday, May 24, 7:35 p m.

VOL. LV. No. 10

Page Four

May 23. 1969

Shavuot's Lesson in Hope and Confidence

There is a rabbinic admonition. "Woe
In this era of lawlessness, fear, threat to
the social structure and the struggle against unto man whose hope is gone." Shavuot's in-
the undermining of the solidity of demo- spiration is one of faith—and it is also a time
cratic humanism, the festival of Shavuot for hope and for confidence that whatever
again emerges as a hope for a better life and difficulties may arise, the world is not built
a better future and as an inspiration not to for despair.
When one observes a Festival of the Giv-
lose faith in man.
ing of the Law he must ask himself: how
"Zman rizattan Toratenu"—the "Season of do
react to lawlessness? We speak of
the Giving of the Law" on Sinai — is the the we
Law on Shavuot while we are affected
term especially applied to Shavuot. And be- by
fears stemming from lawlessness acts and
cause the Giving of the Law directly denotes
the emergence of the great set of moral violence.
Yet the very hope that is proferred. the
and spiritual principles, those incorporated
in the Decalogue, the holiday we are observ- observance of a festival that speaks of faith
ing today and tomorrow retains the highest and of retention of aspirations for good days
for all men, provide the spirit of confidence
role of ethical teachings for mankind.
that as long as man is above beast, the \ ∎ orld's
Because it is the Tora festival it is a status in amity is never lost.
Jewish holiday, but its principles are appli-
Because the Decalogue has become uni-
cable to all mankind. and its lessons in law
observance are the great factors in human versal, the message of the festival which
marks the reception of that set of laws is
relations.
significant for all mankind.
Shavuot's message stems from Tora. It
Therefore, Shavuot emerges as a symbol
is rooted in Tora. Therefore it is imbedded
the highest aims in life in defiance of
in the basics of the Decalogue and in the of
commentaries which have emerged—in the whatever negative aspects may plague the
teachings of our rabbis who have handed world today.
It is because it inspires hope and con- '
down to us the guidance for a hopeful life
and for faith in a future to be marked by fidence and calls for renewed faith that
Shavuot is so vital for all of us today.
peace among men.

Neo-Nazi Menace in West Germany

On Sept. 28 there will be another crucial
election in West Germany, and the danger

emerging at this time is that the National
Democratic Party headed by Adolf von Thad-

den may gain the objective of winning the
partv's entrance into the Bonn federal parlia-
ment.
NPD claims a party membership of 43.000,
although the official enrollment shows that
only 30.000 pay dues. While it failed to get

the required 5 per cent of the vote cast in
1965, it has since then won 62 seats in seven
of the 10 state parliaments, and the former
Nazi, von Thadden, now claims NPD can win
8 to 12 per cent of the vote next September,
giving his party 50 of the 317 parliamentary
seats.
The situation in Bonn vis-a-vis the emerg-
ence of a stronger neo-Nazi vote becomes
more serious in view of the concessions re-
portedly made by Chancellor Kurt Georg

Kiesinger to ease penalties on certain Nazi
war criminals and perhaps also to limit in-
demnifications for the damage sustained dur-
ing the war.
A new stage seems to have 'been reached
in Germany with politicA ' considerations
superseding the moral issue of compensa-
tion for crimes committed under the Hitler
era, and that may seriously affect the think-
ing and the action of voters who go to the '
polls in Germany within a few months. It
may well be that hope to encourage forget-

ting may succeed even though there can,
never be forgiving.
There is no doubt that the political cam-
paign in Germany in the months ahead may
erupt into demonstrations reminiscent of the
pre-Hitler era. There is cause for concern. and
the anti-Nazi elements will surely have to be
supported in their efforts to prevent the emer-
gence of an even stronger neo-Nazi movement
than already exists in West Germany.

Dispelling Misunderstanding Regarding Israel

There is a regrettable spread of confusion
regarding American-Israeli relations that may
have added to the lack of understanding of
the defensive position of Israel.
Whenever Israel's need for assistance in
its struggle to repel aggression and to defy
the terrorists comes to the fore, there are
those who raise the question of possible mili-
tary aid from the United States. As a recent
Time-Harris poll indicated, one of the ques-
tions asked was regarding military action to
protect Israel. While 9 per cent of those
polled stated that they would favor such ac-
tion, the fact is that Israel has never asked
for it, that the prevailing sentiments within
Israel are that Americans should not be asked
to serve in military forces in the country's
defense, and American Jews oppose such ac-
tion.
What Israel asks is the provision of planes
for its air force to offset the heavy armaments
that are being poured into the Arab countries
by the Soviet Union.
In spite of all the emphasis that military
provisions for Israel must come from the
taxes upon Israel, there has been confusion

also regarding the American contributions,
and false charges have been leveled that our
philanthropic efforts are fused with the mili-
tary needs in Israel.
Apparently the American pledge to pro-
vide Israel with Phantom jets will be hon-
ored and the vitally needed warplanes will
be made available by the end of this year.
But on this score, too, there is need for ex-
planation. If Israel is not to be placed in
a defenseless position because of the vast
amount of armaments, planes, tanks and a
variety of other weapons that are being ship-
ped to all Arab countries not only by Russia
and Great Britain but also by the United
States, the 50 jets from this country become
a matter of great imporance in preventing
the Middle East from being turned into an
inferno in a one-sided privileged position for
the Arab states under Russian domination.
It is vital that it should be known that
philanthropic dollars go to philanthropies and
that the Israelis insist upon defending them-
selves and will not condone outside military
assistance. The two misunderstandings must
be dispelled in the best interest of good
American-Israeli relations.

Gonen Its Historic Struggles,
Heroism Told by Miss Samuels

—

Gertrude Samuels, New York Times staff writer and photographer,
ti hose report, from Israel have helped clarify many misunderstandings,
deals with a specific settlement—a crucial area of the Six-Day War—
and a stied group of settlers, in her latest work, the paperback "The
Secret of Gonen - published by Avon BOWLS (250 W. 55th, NY19).

account of a group of settlers who were the targets
never assured, who could have been
wiped out completely had it not been for the courage of its defenders
who have managed to repel intruders. to protect the lives of the in-
habitants, to guide the children towards eonfidence in themselves and
their people.
It is a small book of 144 pages and eight pages of photographs, but
it is tremendous in its impact. It is, as the subtitle stated. a "portrait
of a kibutz on the border in a time of war."
As President Avraham Harman of the Hebrew University
states in his foreword: "Israel is a small country but rich is
variety of topography and people. Gonen is one point on its map,
remote and tiny, but Israel cannot be understood without Gonen.
Gertrude Samuels' work on Gonen is a timely and significant coo-
tribution to the literature of Israel's struggle these past 20 years to
withstand assault. Not the least meaningful aspect of this story is
that the leading figures are not soldiers but shepherds, the tenders
of orchards and the tillers of the field. Here is a reminder, and a
needed reminder, that the course of mankind is ultimately deter-
mined by the forces of construction. Where this obsession with
construction is wedded, as it is in Gonen, to an unconditional de-
termination to defend the work of one's hands, it acquires the
character of a decisive historical force."
•
Miss Samuels description of Gonen and its heroes is valuable for
its explanation of the parent movement with which this border settle-
ment was associated—the Ihud Hakevutzot—as well as of the tasks of
Nahal—Nor Halutzi Lohem—the border kibutzim that served to
expand Israel's agricultural colonization and to serve as defense settle-
ments in the critical periods when all of Israel was threatened with
extinction by the warring neighbors.
Gonen—the Hebrew word for Defender—suffered from more inci-
dents than most border settlements. It became a symbol of determined
will of Israeli kibutzim not to submit to destruction, to resist invasions,
to repel attacks. It suffered much damage; until after the capture of
the Golan Heights by Israel in June of 1967, there was not a moment of
security. But the settlers tilled the soil, tended the flocks — and wel-
comed new settlers when the Romanian influx commenced.
Miss Samuels' story assumes special interest because of Its
evaluation of the heroes, of the defending commander (Yigal Gil)
and of several of its heroes. But especially moving is the experi-
ence of the children who would not be thrown into panic and of
their mothers who shared in defense while protecting the infants
who lived in the bunkers under duress. One of the author's photo-
graphs shows a child's drawing adorning his bedroom that was
punctured by shell boles.

It is a splendid

of the Syrians, w hose security was

Describing the view from the Syrian Heights after the Israeli tri-
umph in 1967, Miss Samuels quotes from Isaiah, "And they shall beat
their swords into plowshares," as a dream of Gonen and a hope of
Israel. That is why she concludes her story with the assertion: Now
one waits to see if Isaiah's dream—and that of Gonen—will come true."
Indeed, the "secret weapon"of Gonen, among other things is that
they knew what they were struggling for, a symbol "that saved Israel
again on this round."
There is a descriptive chronology that will prove most interesting.
It gives important dates in Israel and world history starting with 1945,
then introduces Gonen, which began Aug. 13, 1951, and from that time
on, the parallel dates are in three columns—Gonen, Israel, World.
From these dates alone, much is to be learned from Miss Samuels' book.

Gonen is the kibutz where the Women's Auxiliary of the Jewish
National Fund of Detroit established an important project.