THE JEWISH NEWS

Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951

Member American Associaton of Englsb-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.

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Editor and Publisher

CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ

Business M

CHARLOTTE DUBIN .

City Editor

Sabbath Scriptural Selections

This Sabbath, the 16th day of Sivan, 5730, the following scriptural selections
wilt be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Num. 8:1-12:16. Prophetical portion, Zechariah 2:14-4:7.

Candle lighting, Friday. June 19, 7:53 p.m.

VOL. LVII. No. 14

Page Four

•

June 19, 1970

Confusion Over Asia and Middle East

The hawk-dove issue that has divided
Americans has been equated with attitudes
in Jewish ranks relating to Vietnam and
Cambodia as contrasted with the urgency
of the situation in the Middle East.
It is rightfully asked how a dove who
condemns the President's stand on Vietnam
and the military action in Cambodia can
possibly insist upon military aid to Israel.
The answer is too simple to cause unneces-
sary concern or to inject confusion into the
issue.
There is no doubt that Russia is responsi-
ble both for the Southeast Asian conflict
and the Middle East tragedies. If it had not
been for Russian military aid to the North
Vietnamese and to the Arab states—primari-
ly Egypt and Syria—there would have been
a cease fire firmly adhered to. In the Asian
conflict and in the Middle East, it is the
weapons that come from Communist quar-
ters that keep the pots boiling, the guns
aflame, the peace deferred.
Yet there is a difference in the two situ-
ations. In the Vietnamese-Cambodian issue
American troops are directly involved in a
tragic involvement that meets with opposi-
tion from many of us. We would like to
see our troops withdrawn, an end to our
being a party to an unpopular war, a return
to normalcy in diplomatic relations as a way
')f solving internal problems.
It is entirely different in the Middle East.
There it is mainly the threat to the very
existence of the small Jewish state that is
denied the basic right to sovereignty by the
14 or more antagonistic Moslem countries.
Israel rejects any suggestion for the sending
of American manpower to the Middle East.
All that is asked is that this country should
provide the planes that are so vital for Israel's
defense.
In every battle that has been conducted
by the Arabs against Israel, Russian and Red
Chinese weapons were the means used to
inflict damage upon Israel's cities and its
defenders. Arguments to the contrary not-
withstanding an El Fatah or the deluded
small Jewish group of Matzpen, or the Arab

rulers, the credos of the combined groups of
Israel's enemies are not merely to establish
peace with Israel on the basis of a with-
The 0M7 of the
drawal from occupied territories but on the
revolutio7 is lo
repeated threats for Israel's destruction.
rid Egypt from
What Israel's enemies wish is not merely
withdrawal from every nook and corner of
foreign role''
the land that has been called holy but the
denial of Jewish sanctity to the Jewish
people.
Under a peace agreement there will no
doubt be a withdrawal from some areas. But
any territorial adjustment must be arrived at
in face-to-face confrontations between those
who must eventually be friendly neighbors.
In the meantime Israel must be protected,
and American arms are means for some de- 0
fense, since the American-Israel friendship Ou
is based on the acknowledgement that Israel
Two authorities on the subject of food and animal anatomy have
must live, that Israel must survive,
combined their research skills to produce a most valuable work deal-
There is a basic difference between the ing with the subject of dietary laws.
In "The Kashrut Code of the Orthodox Jew," S. I. Levin, who is
hawk and dove roles in relation to South-
Minneapolis, and Dr.
east Asia and the Middle East. That is why identified on the title page as senior rabbi at of the
University of min-
Edward A. Boyden, professor of anatomy
76 senators have spoken in defense of Israel nesota, provide "a literal translation of that portion of the 16th Century
while there are 54 senators—many of them codification of the Babylonian Talmud which describes such deficien-
from the pro-Israel group—who demand with
as render animals unfit for food (Hilkot Terefot, in the light of the
drawal of American troops from Cambodia . cies
1 science of its day and of the present time."
and soon also from Vietnam.
Published by Hermon Press, this volume takes into account Vi e
serlonod k eil
To avoid confusion, these differences
contributions to medicine of Heti; % scholars of ancient
ssonsha
lle
o ave
n been overlooked.
dicates how such valuable anatomical
must be clearly understood. At the same
Dr.
Boyden
states
in
a
preface
that:
"It
may
be
said
that
although
time there must be a strengthening of Israel's
, the Mishnaic portion of the Talmud, when redated, was contemporary
defensive position.
with Galen, and the commentaries of the Gemara were post-Galenic,
There are doves among us, and all of us
and the stage of development of talmudic medicine is nearer that of
who ask for unstinted support for Israel also
the Hippocratic school—perhaps a consequence of the fact that resist-
are doves in relation to the Arabs: we seek
ance to Roman rule and the subsequent dispersion of the Jews early
peace with them. But there can be no yield-
segregated rabbinical from contemporary secular learning. Accord-
in g to threats of destruction and annihilation.
h ingly, one cannot say that the history of anatomical science would
And we must warn against the deluded Matz-
acve been much changed had the original observations in the Talmud
pen and their ilk who fail to recognize reali-
become known to the contemporary world."
ties and whose unconditional withdrawal de-
Attacking animals is described as forbidden, and Rabbi Levin
mands could mean a wholesale massacre of deals at length with the question of trefa. He draws upon the teachings
Israelis and the end of their national status. of Maimonides, the Mishna as well a the Bible, and all available auth:
An enforced cease fire — to which all orities on the question of kashrut.
Laws regarding perforations, injuries to animals, swellings and
parties must return if there is to be an end to
the horror under which Israel suffers — and adhesions and other factors which make food trefa are described
great detail, and while this volume emerges as a great textbook for
face-to-face negotiations can lead to a speedy in
rabbinical students, it is equally as valuable for the lay reader who
peace. Why not emphasize these points in- wishes to become fully informed on the problems related to kashrut
stead of rebuking those who seek means to and the significance of the laws promulgated and steeped in deep study.
protect lives in Israel?
Splendidly annotated, this volume has the added interest of con-

Laws of Kashrut and Trefa
tlined by Two Scholars

taining a lengthy glossary of terms related to the subject at hand.
For students, the long list of rabbinical authorities cited here adds
value as a guide to confirmation of the subject in pursuing further
research.
Rabbi Levin goes into great detail in tracing the authoritative
strong assertions of House Minority Leader studies on Kashrut and trefa, the works that were published through
Gerald P. Ford.
the canturies, and he describes the lawful and unlawful in Jewish tra-
While the list deals only with the Amer- dition on the subject of foods and the animals that are acceptable or
ican attitudes—and the ammunition provided rejectable.
for the Arabs is their reiterated complaint
Whether it is the lung or the liver or the brain, or other parts
that the U.S. friendship for Israel perpetuates of the animal's body, the analyses are complete here.
While dealing with the Shulhan Arukh, the authors refer frequently
the struggle—there are indications that pos-
sibly Great Britain, whose attitude has been to Christian authorities, and much historical data is imbeded in this
most discouraging, and even France, may do , work.
Thus, "The Kosher Code" emerges both as a study in foods, a
something about inducing the USSR to end
review of Kashrut, an account of what is termed trefa, and there is a
its animosity towards Israel.
great deal of the historical in a record so splendidly compiled by two
The Arab charges will, of course, be taken a abl e scholars.
into consideration by all concerned. While
First published by the University of Minnesota in 1940, this volume
their leaders accuse the U.S. of preferred retains its significance to this day.

Road to Peace Is Not Totally Blocked

Perhaps conditions must get to such a
tragic stage that an approach to peace will be
inevitable and even the most stubborn and
intransigent will reach the peace table in the
Middle East.
• The losses have been so heavy, Israel has
suffered so much in the past few months,
Arab casualties have mounted to such great
proportions and the world's great powers
have lost face to such a degree, that only get-
ting together in a round table discussion with
enemies meeting face to face will lead to an
end to the sad state of affairs that marks
the endless battle-1,000-day war after the
Six-Day War.
Conditions must be viewed as more en-
couraging for Israel than they have been for
some time. With 76 U.S. senators taking a
strong stand in their proposal-that President
Nixon contact the Soviet Union with a request
—which could well be termed a demand!—
that the USSR pilots and other military ex-
perts be withdrawn from the UAR, we are
on the road towards some basis for action.
Similarly, the seriousness of the concern
shown by members of the U.S. House of Rep-
resentatives in the vitally needed approaches
to action — including provisions for Israel's
self-defense — leads to hopeful attitudes re-
garding a possible early end to the fighting
and to the heavy casualties.
Not to be ignored is the positive state-
ment made by Secretary of State William P.
Rogers that "Israel must surviye," and the

treatment for Israel, Russia keeps loading
their arsenals with weapons. That, of course,
does not matter to Israel's enemies, since
their desire is that Israel should not get help
from any one and that there should be an end
to Israel. Because Americans reject a new
genocide, the Arab attitude is unworkable.
There remains the hope for peace and for
the face-to-face talks. In spite of the bitter-
ness that marks the Arab approach to the
entire situation, the possibility of an end to
strife must not be ruled out. The terrorists
will not concede to any peace agreement:
that is true. That is why the Arab struggle
is partly fratricidal, with official forces fight-
ing the guerrillas. If the governments in
power will take a firm stand against terror-
ism—as Lebanon and Jordan surely do al-
ready, without making it too evident, then
the road to peace can be viewed as not be-
ing totally blocked.

History of the Los Angeles Jews

As an addition to the Regional History Series of the American
Jewish History Center of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America,
the Jewish Publication Society has issued a "Hitsory of the Jews of
Los Angeles."
Co-edited by Dr. Max Vorspan, Prof. Lloyd P. Gartner, this
history commences with the era of the 1850.58 Gold Rush Days.
The. Los Angeles story is developed from the first experiences of
the settlers through the years that have led to the current immense
community that is population-wise the second largest in the country.
Its more than half a million souls mike it the third largest Jewish
center in the world, exceeded only by New York City and Tel Aviv.
The philanthropic, religious, cultural and other activities are
enumerated and the roles of branches of the Jewish Theological Sem-
inary and Hebrew Union College receive due attention.
The Los Angeles Federation story is of special interest here, and
it is noteworthy that its first full-time superintendent was a former
Detroiter, William R. Blumenthal, who was succeeded by another
famous man in American Jewry, Boris D. Bogen.
.
.