Jewish Book Fair Opens This Weekend

Seventeen authors will highlight
the 19th annual Jewish Book Fair
at the Jewish Genter, beginning
8:15 p.m. Saturday, and continuing
through Nov. 15.: -
Mrs. Henry
Berris is general
chairman, a n d
Mrs. Harry Ober-
stein and Mrs.
Lawrence Went-
ber are co-chair-
men of the book
selection commit.
tee.
At the official
opening, the tone Mrs. Berris
will be set with the appearance
of novelists Charles Angoff and
Meyer Levin, co-editors of "The
Rise of American Jewish Litera-
ture," who will speak on "The
American Jewish Literary Scene."
Moshe Starkman, bibliographer,
essayist and journalist, has chosen
as his topic for 8:15 p.m. Monday
"100 Years of Yiddish Press and
Its Relevance to the Present."
On Tuesday evening, "Rebellious
Writing for the Rebellious Young"
will be discussed by Detroit-born
poet and author Esther Masserman
Broner in Shiffman Hall.
At the same time in Room 384,
Moshe Dor, journalist and poet,
will speak in Hebrew on "The New
Liteuature in Israel."

Wallace Markfield, author of
"Teitelbaum's Window," will lec-
ture on "The Writer as a Profes-
sional Jew" at a breakfast meet-
ing 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Youth will be the concern of
three authors at the fair. Charles
E. Silberman, author of "Crisis in
Black and White" and "Crisis in
the Classroom," will analyze
"Crisis in the Classroom: The
Jewish Perspective" 10 a.m. Tues-
day. Henia Karmel Wolfe, whose
first novel "The Baders of Jacob
Street" has just been released,
will discuss "Jewish Youth in
Times of Crisis," at a luncheon
meeting Thursday. The director of
the commission on social action
of the Union of American Hebrew
Congregations, Albert Vorspan, will
dramatize "The Kids Are Revolt.
ing," taken from his book Thurs-
day evening.
Three authors will bring their
expertise on Israel to Book Fair.
At 8:15 p.m. Sunday, Dan Kurz-
man, author of "Genesis: 1948:
The First Arab-Israeli War," will
speak. I. L. Kenen, editor of the
Near East Report and executive
vicce chairman of the American-
Israel Public Affairs Committee,
will present "The Reluctant Ally,
an Up-to-the-Minute Analysis of
the Arab-Israeli-American Involve-
ment," 1:15 p.m. Tuesday.

Leonard Slater, author of "The
Pledge," a documentary of the
1948 war, will speak on "Where
Are They Now?" 8:15 p.m. Wednes-
day.
Gunther Lawrence, whose "Three
Million More?" concerns the des-
tiny of the Russian Jews, has se-
lected as his topic "What Will Hap-
pen to the Soviet Jews - if There
Is Peace in the Middle East?"

12:30 •.m. Wednesday.

On Monday, sisterhoods of Met-
ropolitan Detroit will cosponsor a
session at the Book Fair. The 10
a.m. program will feature Philip
M. Stern, author of "Security on
Trial, the Case of J. Robert Oppen-
heimer," who will discuss "Se-
curity—?" After luncheon, Joel
Pomerantz, writer of "Jennie and
the Story of Grossinger's," will
discuss "How to Be Successful
and Famous Without Ever Intend-
ing It."
Dr. Joseph Gutmann, professor
of art history at Wayne State Uni-
versity, and author of "Beauty in
Holiness," will answer the question
"How Traditional Are Our Tradi-
tions?" 10 a.m. Thursday. Dr. Da-
vid Patterson, editor of the Bnai
Brith Jewish Heritage Classic
Series, will conclude the Book Fair
with "The Dilemma of Jewish Life
Today."
The two Sundays of Book Fair

will feature a number of children's
programs (See Youth Page).

0 0 0

Weekend for Lovers
of Yiddish Planned

The evening of Nov. 14 will be
devoted to nostalgic humor by
Chayele Ash's Yiddish Troupe.
Miss Ash, comedienne and singer,
receives star billing of the group,
which also features her husband,
Ari Fuhrman, brother-in-law, Abra-
ham Fuhrman, and Ayona Riz,
who sings and plays the guitar.
The quartet will present a pro-
gram of Yiddish folksongs and a
series of scenes based on Sholom
Aleichem's writings and a modern
humorous dialogue.
Miss Ash and her family came
from Israel about eight years ago
and now live in Philadelphia. They
have performed throughout the
United States and in Israel. One
of their four children is a soldier
with the Israel Army.
Mrs. Morris Friedman, chairman
of the Yiddish committee of the
Center, said scats are limited and
requests that tickets be purchased
as soon as possible at the Center.
An evening based on "Yiddish
Theater in America" by David
S. Lisson will be the theme of
the program presented by Jew-
ish Parents Institute, 8 p.m. Nov.

15 in Room 384 at the Jewish
Center. Admission is free.
Harry Weinberg will recount
highlights of the golden era of the
Yiddish theater. Ray Adler will
sing many songs of the Yiddish
theater and lead in community
singing at the end of the program.
For this occasion, Weinberg has
translated his presentation into
English for the first time.
Weinberg is
known to Detroit-
ers for his Yid-
dish Radio Hour,
which he con-
ducted on sta-
tions WJBK and
WJLB for 25
years.
He came to
America in 1910
as a professional
Yiddish actor and Weinberg
played the Yiddish stage in New
York and many other cities
throughout the United States in
association with the leading stars
of the time.
He is a founder of the Sholem
Aleichem Institute and was presi-
dent of the Federation of Polish
Jews branch in Detroit. Under his
leadership, large sums of money
were raised to help the Jews re-
maining in Poland after World
War I.

Mrs. Meir Begs UN's Hambro to Aid Soviet Jews

UNITED NATIONS (JTA) —
Israeli Premier Golda Meir be-
seeched General Assembly Presi-
dent Edvard I. Hambro to "use
your good offices with the govern-
ment of the Soviet Union and
urge it to respond with sympathy
and understanding to the applica-
tions of Jews who seek reunion
with their families and their peo-
ple in Israel."
United Nations sources said fol-
lowing their meeting that Dr.
Hambro, Norwegian ambassador
to the UN and a man with Jewish
ancestry, probably will bring up
the matter with Soviet authorities
but generally does not want to
rock the political boat over it
Mrs. Meir presented Dr. Ham-
bro with a copy of a recent letter
from 77 Moscow Jews to Secre-
tary General U Thant, the UN
Human Rights Commission, the
Israeli government and the So-
viet government. The letter ap-
pealed to them to "raise your
voices in protest against the
trampling of human rights and
justice" and to "take effective
steps for the implementation of
the rights of the Jewish people
to return to the land of Israel."
Mrs. Meir noted to Dr. Ham-
bro that 'The files of the United
Nations Secretariat are filled
with heart-rending appeals" sim-
ilar to that one. Soviet Jews'
pleas to Soviet authorities are
"of no avail," she said. "The ap-
plications are rejected, time and
time again, without explanation
or reason being given. Of the
innumerable applicants for exit
permits to Israel, only a few
have received favorable replies."
Mrs. Mar, who appealed to Dr.
Hambro by letter as well as in
person, concluded by saying: "I
hope and pray that your humani-
tarian efforts will bear fruit and
help bring redemption to the great
host of Jewish families who call
in despair for aid by the United
Nations."
The Israeli premier also issued
a plea for organized and respon-
sible efforts on behalf of Soviet
Jewry and criticized the "irre-
sponsible Jews who are harming
this cause by using tactics similar
to (Yasir) Arafat's (leader of El
Fatah )."
Mrs. Meir made this plea to a
meeting with 40 Jewish leaders
representing the Conference of
Presidents of Major American
Jewish Organizations.
. Although Mrs. Meir did not iden-

4 S—FridaYs November 6, 1970

tify by name the "irresponsible
Jews," it was understood that she
referred to the Jewish Defense
League, whose excessive tactics
on behalf of Soviet Jewry has been
criticized by many Jewish organi-
zations.
A letter from six -Jews in the
Soviet Union who appealed for
help to President Nixon to leave
that country was broadcast in
the Soviet Union by the Voice
of America, the JTA learned
from the U.S. Information Agen-
cy. The broadcast which con-
sisted of a report on the letter
itself and an accompanying
statement by Seymour Graub-
ard, national chairman of the
Etta' Br i t h Anti-Defamation
League, was beamed to the So-
viet Union in the Russian and
Ukranian languages.
A 33-year-old Jew from Riga
has appealed to President Zal-
man Shazar for help in emigrat-
ing to Israel. The president's of-
fice disclosed the contents of a
later from Eisik Gamza, who said
that an application for exit per-
mits for himself, his mother and
his sister was rejected by Soviet
authorities in July 1969 on grounds
that they were "a united, well
settled family."
In Cambridge, Mass., a political
science professor said that "Given
the reign of fear under which they
live" a majority of Soviet Jews
would leave Russia within a few
years if the gates were open.
Prof. John A. Armstrong, of the
Univeristy of Wisconsin, who just
returned from a -trip to the USSR,
addressed the first Boston Re-
gional Conference of the Academic
Committee on Soviet Jewry, held
at Harvard University.
He described the plight of
Soviet Jewry as a "vicious cy-
cle." "Anti-Semitic policies lead
to the Jewish alienation from
the regime and emotional at-
tachment to Israel. This attach.
ment acts as a rationalization

future in the Soviet Union, Prof.
Armstrong said.
Another speaker, Prof. Richard
Pipes, director of the Russian Re-
search Center at Harvard, traced
the rise of Soviet anti-Semitism
to the "burgeoning nationalisms"
in the Soviet Union which are di-
rected against various minorities.
He said "There is no future for
the Jews in Soviet Russia" and
called their present situation
"dangerous."
Jews in Riga, in which condi-
tions are typical of the entire
country, fear that they will suffer
further repression in view of the
constant anti-Semitic atmosphere
there, it has been reported by the
American Jewish Committee in a
summary of the current status of
Jews in the capital of the Latvian
Soviet Socialist Republic.
The report indicates that the
30-to-35,000 Jews in Riga- feel
apprehensive over the recent ar-
rests of several Jews in connec-
tion with an alleged plot last
June to hijack a plane in Lenin-
grad. They are also concerned
about the frequent public sneers
to which they are subjected and
the almost constant anti-Semitic
expressions and actions in
everyday life.
The Jewish choir that once ex-
isted in the city has been forced
* a *

Arrested Days
Before Wedding

for further Soviet anti-Semitic
policies," he told the 500 stu-
dents and faculty members at-
tending the conference.
He said that Soviet propaganda

ostensibly limited to attacks on
"Zionism" and "Judaism," actual-
ly "caricature and demean Jews
as an historic ethnic entity."
Under these circumstances, it
is not surprising that a very large
portion of the close to 3,000,000
Soviet Jews no longer feel they
have an even minimally secure

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Ruth Alexandrovich, 24, of

Riga, is among the most re-
cently arrested Soviet Jews.
Miss Alexandrovich had repeat-
edly sought exit to Israel. Ar-
rested Oct. 7, days before her
planned wedding, Soviet author-
ities denied her permission to
hold the ceremony before im-
prisonment or in the jail itself.

out of existence by local officials
and the Yiddish-language con-
certs are no longer given.
The document indicates that
"virtually all of the Jews of Riga
now wish to leave for Israel. Only
very few, however, are actually
permitted to depart." The report
adds that persons in sensitive po-
sitions who apply for emigration
"are fired from their posts upon
making application." In addition,
the report states, "when the head
of a family applies, moreover,
this is immediately noted on his
children's school record. Such no-
tation cuts the youngsters off
from any further, more advanced
education."
As far as Jewish identity is
concerned, the report declares,
"Riga Jewish youth have little or
no Jewish education, or knowledge
of things Jewish, but this genera-
tion has been driven by circum-
stances to be strongly Zionist.
Here, as in Moscow and Lenin-
grad, Simhat Torah sees the sy-
nagogue jammed with crowds
overflowing into the streets."

The American Jewish Com-

mittee also has charged that the
Soviet Embassy in Washington,
in denying the existence of anti-
Semitism in the Soviet Union,
Ignored the "more than 200 pe-
titions from Soviet Jews which
have already been made public
outside of the Soviet Union."
(A petition signed by 49 mem-
bers of the House of Represen-
tatives protesting the treatment
of Jews in Russia was presented
at the Soviet Embassy last week.)
In London, a contingent rep-
resenting 27 Jewish organizations
marched to the Soviet Embassy
to deliver a letter to Soviet For-
eign Minister Andrei Gromyko.
The letter, from the Board of
Jewish Deputies, was refused by
the embassy.
The Student Struggle for So-
viet Jewry has issued an official
calf for the formation of Release
Committees for Russian Jews re-
cently arrested for seeking to
learn Hebrew and exit to Israel,
who now number over 30.
The establishment of such
groups was first proposed at the
SSSJ's Simhat Torah "Festival of
Redemption" at Hunter College by
Rabbis Herschel Schacter and Ste-
ven Riskin, chairmen respectively
of the American Jewish Confer-
ence on Soviet Jewry and the Stu-
dent Struggle for Soviet Jewry.
The opening phase of a Soviet
Jewry "hot line," operated in
New York by the American Jew-

ish Congress, went into effect
last weekend. Callers dialing a spe-
cial phone set up in the Stephen
Wise Congress House heard a mes-
sage recorded by Rabbi Arthur J.
Lelyveld, president of the AJ
Congress, discussing latest devel-
opments affecting the 3,000,000
Jews in the Soviet Union.
In Montreal, Canadian Pre-
mier Pierre Elliot Trudeau, re-
a f f ir min g his government's
pledge to do what it can to al-
leviate the plight of Soviet Jew-
ry, warned that efforts in that
direction by foreign governments
can sometimes be counter-pro-
ductive.
Premier Trudeau said that the
pressure of public opinion and rep-
resentations from other countries
"may sometimes help Soviet Jews
to preserve their religious and
cultural heritage." But, he cau-
tioned, "It can also have an op-
posite effect of causing the atti-
tude of Soviet authorities to
harden."
Rabbi_ Abraham Feinberg, rab-
bi emeritus of Toronto's Holy
Blossom Temple, _known for his
left-wing views, denounced the
Soviet Union as "a monolith ztf-
Meted with paranoia" in an ad-
dress to 500 youth and adults at
a Teach-In for the Liberation of
Soviet Jewry sponsored by the
'Montreal Jewish Youth Council
Rabbi Feinberg appealed to
Jews everywhere to come out "in
support of their Soviet brethren
before the roots of their Jewish
culture are erased forever."
Yevgeny Yevtushenko, t h e

Soviet poet whose "Sabi Tar"
commemorates the Jewish vic-
tims of the Stalin regime, has
written to a Denverite to praise

the opening there of a Bahl Tar

Park.

The 37-year-old poet, replying
to the chairman of the park com-
mittee, whoa had advised him of
the project, wrote in longhand:
"My dear Mrs. Harry Hoffman:
Thank you for your wonderful
letter and for the photo of the

.

Babi Yar Park. I hope to see your
children playing in the shadow of
the future trees—in the unforget-
table shadow of the victims killed
by the dirty hands of the leit (a

corruption of the German word
leute, meaning people). Come a
time, without a crime!"
The letter was authenticated by
Dr. Maurice Friedberg, a Rus-
sian literature expert of the Uni-

versity of Indiana, who noted that
the poet "has been lying low the
past two years or so."