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THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951
Member American Associaton of Englsh-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, National Editorial Association
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield. Mich. 48075.
Phone 356.8400
Subscription $7 a year. Foreign $8.
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Business M
licilfor and Publisher
—114.M6NDErg Clfi NOP Ng
Pt/M:1115f, 1W4.4111?
CHARLOTTE DUBIN
City Edttor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 22nd day of Adar I, 5730, the following scriptural selections
will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion. Erod. 30:11 - 34:35. Prophetical portion, 1 Kings 18:1-39.
Candle lighting, Friday, Feb. 27, 6:01 p.m.
Page Four
VOL. LVI. No. 24
February 27, 1970
Crime of Consent in Silence
From an old canonical law, a favorite maxim of Pope Boniface VIII (1235-1303), there
developed an oft-quoted phrase: "Silence givesconsent." Might it now be quoted by the
Christian world as an affirmation of some of the crimes that should have aroused anger
but have left world leadership mum?
Planes are sabotaged, innocent people of all faiths are murdered, civilians are bru-
talized, a state of terror has been created by insane Arab gangs. Yet the world is silent!
It is evident that the Arab world is ashamed of what had happened last Saturday.
Because it was certain to bring condemnation, even in silence, the Arab nations that have
thus far condoned terrorism now disclaim guilt for what happened to the Swissair plane.
Is the Christian world so naive as to believe what emanates from Amman and Beirut and
Cairo?
The developing scene seems dark for Israel — and for Jewry! It is not Israel alone
that is the target but the entire Jewish people
And because the Jewish people is totally affected by the crimes perpertrated by Arab
gangsters, there will be a reassertion of Jewry's determination stemming from the Prophets:
'L'maahn Tzion lo ekhsheh"—"for the sake of Zion I shall not be silent." (Isa. 62:1). There
may be a perpetuated silence in a world that should be shocked by what is happening. But
in Jewry there will not be silence.
And in Jewry there must never be a capitulation to terror! The work for Israel's
Security and upbuilding goes on! If there is a sense of honor anywhere, there should be
a partnership between Israel and the world at large for these purposes.
There is a warning against those who are mum in John Milton's "Paradise Lost":
"Eternal silence be their doom." If there is to be a continuation of silence it will contribute
to the doom and humiliation of the civilized society. And to that society we say in the light
of what has happened: Beware of silence in this period of crisis for Israel !
,i1==r
igaZINMINI ■
Rarity of Chagall's rt Works
Described in Werner Biography
Marc Chagall has an excellent biographer in Alfred Werner, the
art critic whose expertise in this field has gained him wide fame.
Werner's "Chagall," published by McGraw Hill as part of the Cob!
Slide Program of the Great Masters, proves the point. Heri we have
a splendid biography, a noteworthy critical work and the slides of 20
of Chagall's masterpieces—in color—that provide additional value to
the master work and great enjoyment for the reader.
A commentary on the slides is appended as a special sectkes to
this impressive work which is also extensively illustrated with many
of Chagall's paintings and drawings. In addition to the 20 slides whit*
also are reproduced in the commentary we have here 18 figures fray
Chagall. Included among them is the Tribe of Levi from the Hebrew
University Medical Center Synagogue windows, Solitude, Exodus,
Ceramic Vase, David and Bathsheba, Self-Portrait and My Family.
and others that have won acclaim.
Chagall's life, his native city of Vitebsk, his experiences in Russfa,
his rich background, are lengthily evaluated. To Werner, Chagall's
attitude is described as one in which, "while he disapproves any attempt
to confine him to a particular ethnic or religious group, he has never
denied the important role that Vitebsk, and especially its Jewish
section, has played in his life and work."
In fact, Werner makes this point: "One may perhaps say that Jew.
ish traditions have played a greater role in Chagall's oeuvre than Spain
and the Mediterranean culture occupy in Picasso."
There is an impressive tribute to Chagall in Werner's evaluation:
"Chagall has often been accused of repeating himself too much
in his long career, and of having used the same details over and
over: a particular rooster, a specific candlestick, a sad clown, a
human with an animal's head. But, to a degree, this is true of every
artist: no one has berated Renoir for having painted too many reel-
cheeked, bare-bosomed girls. Chagall's iconography may appear
limited, yet in reality none of the details is twice used in exactly the
same way. There is a new twist, a different coloration, or a certain
facet changed by a new context or constellation.
"But Marc Chagall is not only an inventor, he is also one of those
rare beings who spread their light of goodness wherever -they go.
`Our whole inner world is reality—perhaps even more real than the
apparent world,' Chagall once declared. Thus, his poetic works are
an antidote to the mechanism of the computer age, to mere Mate•
ianism, to the unhealthy side effects of technical progress."
The influence of the Bible upon which Chagall drew extensively
is noted in Werner's analyses of the great artist's works, and in com-
ment upon the "Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law" slide the
author of this attractive work states:
"In the 1930s, while carrying out his project of Bible etchings com-
missioned by Ambroise Vollard, Chagall had already dealt with this
theme, taken from Exodus 32:15-19. But in that particular etching, only
Moses and, on the ground, the Tablets are seen in the wilderness- of
Mount Sinai.
Werner's is a beautiful book, attractively produced, enhanced by
the slides-and-photos adjunct to the biographical sketch. It is a work
about one of the greatest artists by an eminent authority on art and
artists.
U.S.-Israel Friendship Not a Myth
White House and Congressional interest
in Israel reaffirms a strong friendship be-
tween the United States and Israel, What-
ever criticisms have been heard from either
side have been and will no doubt continue to
be on a high plane of diplomatic dignity. For
an obvious reason: that the relationship is
between two civilized peoples.
Also: the relationship is a natural one be-
cause of more than a century of keenest
mutual concerns and interests between Amer-
icans and Jews, the United States government
and the Middle East where definite geograph-
ical interests are at stake.
Furthermore: there is a mutual concern
about the need for peace in the Middle East
because Israel's major antagonist is the Soviet
Union and because the United States can not
permit the USSR to invade that area and to
eliminate from it American interests.
*
*
*
Developments in recent weeks have em-
phasized the concerns we have enumerated,
and the interests we emphasize as a basis for
strengthening the amicable and commend-
able relations between Israel and the United
States. We are dealing with honor and self-
respect, not with the lies that have pene-
trated into some newspapers whose editors
have permitted their important media to sink
into the gutter by publishing accusations
against Israelis and Jews that have no basis,
accusations that have been refuted by the
Red Cross, by all impartial observers, by stu-
dents of Middle East affairs who are inter-
ested in truth and facts and realities and not
exaggerations and sensations and distor-
tions.
President Nixon's report to Congress on
this nation's foreign policy does not neces-
sarily pledge the government to all-out aid
for Israel but it certainly affirms a friend-
ship and does not cover up the issues in-
volved in the conflict with Russia. The Amer-
ican conflict with the USSR is the conflict
that affects and involves all Americans and
has a serious bearing on Israel. These are un-
deniable facts not to be glossed over in the
current serious situation that could well es-
calate into a world war. This is what needs
to be averted, and it can be assured only
when there is total rejection of the machina-
tions of the elements that aim at Israel's
destruction.
This is the basic issue: that Israel lives,
is here to stay, has been in existence as a rec-
ognized factor in international affairs for 22
years, and there is not a power on earth that
can negate it.
Realistically, it is acknowledged that the
major problem is created by the determina-
tion of the Arab antagonists to deny sover-
eignty to Israel. On that score we entertain
certainty that the United States will not per-
mit destruction of a national entity that has
arisen with the consent, approval, encourage-
ment and blessings of the United Nations.
Since sovereignty is the issue, there needs
to be considered the basic factor as to who is
qualified to strive for its assurance. There is
talk about the UN and the Big Four. It is
tragic to note that the UN's secretary general
has not been kind to Israel. He has often been
discourteous to Israel. It is regrettable that he
cannot be considered totally acceptable as a
mediator. Fortunately, Dr. Gunnar Jarring
can serve well as a UN spokesman, and it is
to be hoped that he will be able to exert his
influence to direct the Arabs toward nego-
tiations with Israel.
By the same.. token, it is difficult if not
impossible to speak of Big Four influences.
We know of the antagonism of the Soviet
Union and France's reversion to prejudices
that are reminiscent of the Dreyfus era.
Inevitably, there are just two powers,
Russia, the enemy of Israel, and the United
States, the avowed friend. Since Russia is the
cause for much more trouble to the U. S. than
in the Middble East alone, it is to be hoped
that the U. S. and the USSR will labor to-
gether to adjust matters, to reach accord, to
insist upon direct Israel-Arab negotiations.
Then we may hope for an end to the war
that has proceeded for more than 32 months,
with tragic losses for both sides.
In spite of the uncertainties that have
emerged after 22 years of endless strife and
an escalated 32-month war, the most af-
firmed fact is the U. S.-Israel friendship.
This is the ideal condition to be perpetuated,
to be assured of firmness to sustain it.
All that the President and Congress do to
refresh it even under most abnormal condi-
tions are causes for gratitude and for encour-
agement.
Meanwhile, it is also necessary that Amer-
ican Jewry, in this process of friendship,
should. not become tired of its kinship with
Israel. The assistance American Jews give to
Israel, through the various causes, by means
of investments in Bonds, gifts to UJA, is
pragmatic as well as obligatory in a critical
period in the history of the Jewish people.
Israel lives, and its life must be made
easier and less embattled. We pray for peace
to assure. We strive for the help that is need-
ed to bring an end to warfare. May that day
come- very soon ! • • • • • • • - ,,,,, • •
A Brief English-Jewish History
■
As a factual story of the Jews in the British Isles, "The Jews In
England," by Beth-Zion Abrahams," published in London by Valentina
Mitchell and distributed in this country by Hartmore House of Hartford.
Conn., serves a valuable purpose.
It is a history for young people and is quite thorough in its details
of outlining developments as they are recorded for students in a non-
controversial basis. But the conflict between the British and Zionism IN
glossed over.
Of course, the Balfour Declaration, the Mandate for Palestine, the
administration in the Holy Land, are mentioned. But the struggle that
made such shambles of good will during the rule of the British is en-
tirely ignored. Therefore this must,be viewed as only a partial history-
hrits, partiality•it is-good: • • • ••-‘