THE JEWISH NEWS Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951 Member American Associaton of Englsh•Jewlsh 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 Manager CHARLOTTE DUBIN City Editor Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the 30th day of Siren, 5730—Rosh Hodesh Thum:. the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portions, Num. 16:1-18:32. 28:9-15. Prc2betical portion. Isaiah 66:1-24. Num. 28:1-15. Second day Rosh Hodesh Tamil: Torah reading, Candle lighting, Friday, July 3, 7:53 p.m. VOL. LVII. No. 16 Page Four July 3, 1970 USSR: Either Culprit or Peace-Maker Speculations about another war in the Middle East emerge as unrealistic in view of the undeniable fact that the Six-Day War has grown into a 37-month war, that the battles not only have not subsided but have escalated and only the firmest positions by the two great powers—the United States and the Soviet Union—can possibly end the strug- gle with decisions to force direct negotia- tions between the two contending forces. - Secret diplomacy often works splendidly, and it may well be that the talks between our and the USSR leaders could bring good re- sults. It is to be conceded that often plan- ning, especially involving the serious dangers in the Middle East, must be conducted with- out publicity. So many wild guesses have been offered by political analysts and com- mentators that the only way to avoid them is for the big powers first to arrive at atti- tudes that would be acceptable to both sides. Furthermore, it is possible that indirect talks between Israel and he Arab states might be preferable at the outset because they could, as they should, eventually lead to direct talks. Because a workable peace must be reached on the basis of neighbors meeting in harmony and effecting their solu- tions in amity through cooperative means. * * * There have been charges and counter- charges relating to U. S. support for Israel. On this score there are exaggerations so vast that they cloud the issues. On June 5, 1967, there was that extreme fabrication in the charge that the U. S. was direcly involv- ed in the war. A taped record of the Nasser- Hussein telephone con"ersation revealed how the two masters of the Arab peoples had plotted to place blame for the war upon this country. That fable continues, and its fan- tasies emerge in all their ridiculous claims to this day, with the Ara: 4--T rorists making the United States the chief culprit. This goes on in spite of the established fact that the Soviet Union direcly supports Egypt, Syria and possiwy also the other Arab states with planes, pilots, technicians. The U. S. aid to Israel is in the form of planes sold to Israel as an assurance that the public- ly-recognized Jewish state should not be de- stroyed. Extermination of Israelis is threat- ened in the Arab offensive, and this country is committed to the basic obligation to pre- arms to their customers in that area. It is the emphasis on customers rather than the basic principle of preventing another Holo- caust that is so aggravating in that respect. Perhaps we are getting much closer to a solution than we realize. While Israel is not receiving the arms that are so vital for the country's defense, there is the more serious need of assuring the cooperation between the Big Two without which peace will not be speeded. But an agreement between the two great powers may also involve situations in Southeast Asia and relationships with Red China, and on these scores the world—not Israel alone—faces dangers that can be avert- ed if and when a sense of realism enters into the discussion and the world powers accept responsibility for the protection of the three million people in Israel without equivocation. As long as there are conflicting fears and political considerations, there is certain to be postponement of any possible solution to the pending issues. * * * This country has a serious stake in the Middle East and certainly in the considera- tion of every need to avert another world war. But this can not be attained by so- called evenhandedness, which asserts that both sides should be given equal considera- tion. Contrary to the Arab threats, Israel's spokesmen have indicated a willingness to meet on the basis of the 1967 United Nations resolution, but only if there are guarantees to prevent a Holocaust. Neither Israel nor the elements throughout the world who stand for fair play will permit withdrawals which would revert to conditions prior to June 4 to enable Arab terrorists to destroy Israel. Therefore, there has to be firmness in sup- port of the party that needs justice so urgent- ly—the embattled Jewish state that stands in danger of destruction once it abandons the right to self-defense. Once Russia were to lay down the law to the Arabs that they must speak to their neighbors, that they must assure Israel's right to a spot on earth, the war could end overnight. Once Russia were to reaffirm its recognition of Israel's soverignty which was expressed in the USSR's role as the second (to the U.S.) nation to have recognized Israel. we could see an approach to peace. There is no denying a basic fact: the fate vent the destruction of a state that has been of the Middle East is in the hands of the established with the endorsement both of Russians. They can either be the culprits who continue to encourage annihilation of the United States and the Soviet Union. * * a nation or they can act in accordance with These facts are elementary to the discus- their May 15, 1948, acknowledgement of sion of Israel's status in the Middle East and Israel's statehood. By this test we can be witness either to 4 in the world today. Yet they must be re- viewed because it becomes apparent day by lasting peace or to another Holocaust. We day, hour by hour, that Russian encourage- pray that the United States, in its secret ment; to the Nasser regime and his allies diplomatic dealings, may induce Russia to has made it possible for the war to continue, assume the honorable position in world af- has enabled those who threaten Israel's de- fairs. struction, whose aspiration is the extermina- tion of free citizens who have acquired Israeli Poison for Democracy sovereignty, to conduct acts of terrorism. It appears incontrovertible that if Russia Surveys conducted of the relative strength were to assert a determination to bring the of reactionary and anti-Semitic forces in this two contending forces together the war could country indicate that so-called "respectabil- end and we might witness an emerging peace. ity" attaches to come elements while groups All the accumulating evidence is that Russia like the Ku Klux Klan may have declined is chiefly responsible for the tragic situation numerically. in the Middle East which could threaten a The appearance on the scene of such ele- third world war. ments as Statecraft whose aim was declared While there is much talk about the Big to be the extermination of Jews and Negroes Four, it is primarily the U.S. and the USSR —serve as warnings to the complacent that who are involved in peace negotiations. The there is no rest for liberalism, that the dem- French and British positions undoubtedly ocratic forces must be on guard against the carry some weight, but they may be very rise of new forces whose ideologies would minor in the long run, except for the dif- destroy the very fabric of our American way ficulties and embarrassments both may create of life. for Israel by their prejudiced attitudes and There is the constant need for vigilance, their insistence upon favoring the Arab without which the roots of our democratic states when they choose to provide defensive idealism would be poisoned. Prof. Finkelstein's 'The Jews' in Three Schocken Paperbacks Schocken Books is reissuing the monumental work, "The Jews," a compilation by Dr. Louis Finkelstein, chancellor of the Jewish Theo- logical Seminary of America, in three paperbacks. The first of the three volumes, "The Jews: Their History," has just appeared. Two companion books which will complete the series in paperbacks will be issued subsequently under the titles "The Jews: Their Religion and Culture" and "The Jews: Their Role in Civilization." In the first of the three books, in addi- tion to an explanatory introductory essay by Prof. Finkelstein, thre are essays by Elias J. Bickerman, Judah Goldin, Cecil Roth, Itzhak Ben-Zvi, Israel Halpern, Bernard D. Weinryb and Anita Libman Lebeson. The variety of tonics indicates the importance of the selections made by Dr. Finkelstein. The biblical and post- biblical periods, the Talmud, Western and East European Jewries and the par- tition of Poland are among the subjects covered. Dr. Finkelstein First published by Harper in 1949, with other additions printed through the years, Dr. Finkelstein's work retains its significance, and the authoritative authors selected for the studies provide valuable information to add to the knowledgeability of this generation. Dr. Forman's 'World's Greatest Quotations' Has 15,000 Sayings In the 720 pages of text, in "The World's Greatest Quotations," compiled by Rabbi Max L. Forman, there are more than 15,000 maxims. Every conceivable subject is covered, and the compiler has dis- played commendable judgment in selecting important sayings and the world-famous people who uttered them. There are more than 220 classifications, and in every instance the author has gathered most impressive definitions and wise comments on events, conditions, motivations, human influences—all of interest to people of all faiths and all forms of belief. There is a section on "Christian and Jew" in which Rabbi For- man has used sayings by Israel Zangwill, Benjamin Disraeli, Leo Pinsker, Theodor Herzl, Ahad Ha'Am, Abba Hillel Silver, Sholom Asch, Leo Tolstoy, Napoleon Bonaparte, Thomas G. Masaryk, Jac- ques Maritain, Frederick the Great, Mark Twain, Anatole France, Ileinrich Heine and others. Related subjects will be found in departments headed "Church and Synagogue," "Brotherhood and Good Will," "Bigotry and Prejudice," "Faith and Doubt," "Prayer and Worship," "Religion" and other topics dealing with human relations and interfaith activities. There is a collection on "Hatred and Enmity" in which the reader will find Solomon Ibn Gabirol's saying: "A needle's eye is not too nar- row for two lovers, but the whole world is not wide enough for two enemies." In the same section there is Ibn Gabirol's "Who sows hatred reaps remorse," and one from Moses Ibn Ezra: "Love blinds to faults, hat- reds to virtues." George Eliot is quoted here: "Hate is like fire; it makes even light rubbish deadly." Sigmund Freud is quoted: "Hatred for Judaism is at bottom hatred for Christianity." Rabbi Forman's book, published by Exposition Press, is especially valuable for researchers and public speakers. The compiler spent 30 years gathering the wise sayings. He has supplemented the material with many of his own aphorisms and comments, which are included among the many subjects into which the book is divided. He has trans- lated many of the words of wisdom from the Hebrew, Greek, French, German and Latin. A native of Albany, N.Y., Rabbi Forman grew up in Philadelphia. He was graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania, and at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America received his MHL in 1943, and his DD in 1966. Since 1955 he has been spiritual leader of Hollis Hills Jewish Center in Flushing, N.Y. He is the author of two previously published books, "Capsules of Wisdom" and "Ideas That Work," and is currently working on two more books.