t7 - 1 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 Editorial Associa- tion. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075. Second-Class Postage Paid at Southfield, Michigan and Additional Mailing Offices. Subscription $10 a year. PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ CHARLOTTE DUBIN City Editor Business Manager DREW LIEBERWITZ Advertising Manager Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the 17th day of Shevat, 5734, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Exodus 18:1-20:23. Prophetical portion, Isaiah 6:1-7:6: 9:5-6. Candle lighting, Friday, Feb. 8, 6:38 p.m. VOL. LXIV. No. 22 Page Four February 8, 1974 Energy Crisis: Israel as Scapegoat Many of the predictions regarding solu- tions for the energy crisis claim a period as long as 10 years or more to find solutions. Meanwhile Israel and Zionism are being touted as causes for the Arab embargo, while the actual facts militate against using the Jewish angle as a scapegoat. An important analysis provided by the Institute of Human Relations of the American Jewish Committee demands more thorough study of the facts. The AJC-Institute elabora- tion on the subject, assessing the blame, states in part: vationist Paul Ehrlich made it clear that the corn- ing crunch had been predictable since the late 40s and 50s. "It was a case of simple multiplica- tion—the number of people times what we were doing," he explained. Twenty years ago, the Paley Report, commis- sioned by President Eisenhower, warned of a corn- ing shortage of oil and coal. In the 1960s, conser- There are many reasons why this country and other industrialized nations are running out of fuel, but they all add up to the fact that consumption of energy has grown much faster than the sources of supply. Stephen Wakefield, assistant secretary of the interior for energy and materials, summarized this situation in an address to the Independent Petroleum Association of America on October 22, 1973. The great economic boom which followed World War II, he pointed out, with its sharp rise in industrial production, created a great demand for oil in this country. A few years later, the same thing happened in Europe and Japan as their war- torn economies recovered and they began their unprecedented economic expansion. Operation B-G: Israel's Concern Israel's newest problems, the seriousness of the disengagement, the negotiations that may enlist a response from Arab states that have hitherto ignored every approach to amity, have combined to create more urgent concerns about the future than ever before. The citizens of Israel are in a state of un- certainty relative to possibilities for a future that will assure them living room and secur- ity It is no wonder, therefore, that a group of concerned Israelis should have organized a project they call "Operation Ben-Gurion," "to perpetuate the immortality" of the late founding prime minister of the Jewish state. The purpose is to overcome the damage caused by propaganda which : "Constantly repeats certain misconceptions about Israel and its people, broadcasts crude lies about Zionism; spreads distortions about the Jewish people and its history, defames the Jewish national character and weaves fanciful no- tions about the Palestinian Arabs." The sharing of such concerns in this country by Christians as well as Jews has been demonstrated in the numerous letters to editors of American newspapers, and the increasing amount of space given to these correspondents by editors who recognize the validity of the writers' views and the justice of keeping Israel protected against a mount- ing tide of dangers stemming from many enemy sources. Because the attacks on Israel also rep- resent a menace to world Jewry, it is inter- esting to note that as a slogan on the first of the brochures issued by "Operation Ben- Gurion" appears this quotation from "Anti- Semite and Jew" by Jean-Paul Sartre: "The cause of the Jews would be half won if only their friends brought to their defense a little of the passion and the perseverance their enemies use to bring them down." • This is a powerful admonition to Jews and to all libertarians, to all who seek to prevent anything approaching holocaustian proportions. What "Operation Ben-Gurion" does is part of an obligation resting upon all who recognize the urgent need of being on the alert, of never permitting a lie to attain roots among the unknowing. Let the facts be known and there will be greater chances for freedom to survive. The storm signals continued loud and clear. By 1970, Federal Power Commission member John A. Carver, Jr. cautioned: "A crisis exists right now; for the next three decades we will be in a race for our lives to meet our energy needs." And in the summer of 1973, a Federal commission looking into the problem concluded that "an energy short- age of severely disruptive and damaging propor- tions is a distinct possibility in the immediate future." For two decades, America exploited its own oil, coal and gas resources, while Western Europe and Japan leaned increasingly on the new and plentiful supply discovered and developed in the Middle East. But as the energy demands in the U.S. in- crease, the cheap, readily available sources of fuel began to disappear, and the cost of exploring for, and developing, less accessible sources made those finds uncompetitive with import oil. In the late 1960s the nation changed from an oil-exporting country to an oil-importing one. And while most of its imports came from Venezuela, Canada and Iran, about six to eight per cent of its foreign oil came from the Middle East. As the demand for Arab oil grew, Wakefield explained, and particularly, beginning in 1970, as the United States began to compete with Europe and Japan for that oil, the economic clout of the producing nations, organized in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), grew apace. The price they exacted for each barrel of crude skyrocketed. And so much money poured into the treasuries of the Arab oil nations that they literally had no way to absorb it. Instead of increasing their production to keep up with rising demands, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Arab states agreed on precisely the opposite tactic. They decided to limit production sharply, thus slowing the rate at which their own oil reserves are depleted and at the same time, assuring that, as the competition be- came keener, the price per barrel would continue to rise. All that was left was to put a politically useful face on that decision. The worldwide energy shortage is clearly ines- capable. Cheap oil is unlikely ever to be enjoyed again. And the ultimate blame, if such it is, must rest with the insatiable appetite of all the world's people for the economic growth and easy living that energy makes possible. It is clear that if there were no Israel there still would be the "insatiable appetite" for "easy living," the developing industrial competitiveness, the pow- ers behind the scene and those on the ground floor of the oil producing countries. Congressional studies will undoubtedly expose much of the blame. Meanwhile there is a serious duty to enlighten the peoples who are victims of the energy crisis so that there should be an understanding that if there would be no Israel there would be the greed and the power control that has created a worldwide crisis. In the course of time the American people will undoubtedly learn not necessarily to live with the • crisis but to find a way for self-sustenance to eliminate the threats that accompany selfish motivations. 4am ‘jrAr 13th Century 'Sefer HaYashar' Issued in Bilingual Edition "Sefer HaYashar, The Book of the Righteous," believed to have been written in the 13th Century, a famous ethical text that has previously appeared in some 50 other editions, has been reissued b), Ktav in a volume containing the entire Hebrew text, with a new English translation by Rabbi Seymour J. Cohen of Cong. Anshe Eme' of Chicago. Authorship has been ascribed alternately to Rabbenu Tam, Zerahiah ah-Yevani and Jonah Gerondi, and it is believed to be the work of Kabalist and remains anonymous. Rabbi Cohen explains that it was influenced by the writings o the 11th Century scholar Bahya ibn Pakucla. In "Sefer HaYashar" the author or authors undertook to explai why God created the wicked among men as well as the righteou• Concern is shown for man's attitudes towards the Almighty. prayer. penitence and other ethical and religious matters. It was a volume ex- tensively used during the Musar Movement. Besides translating the work in a form suitable for the lay reader as well as the rabbinic scholars, Rabbi Cohen has annotated the ethical ideas. There are two important addenda in this volume: Prof. Jacob Guttmann's essay "The Ethical Work `Sefer HaYashar' and the Phil6 sophical Views Contained Therein" and G. Vakda's "The Love and thr Fear of God in 'Sefer HaYahshar." History of Jews of Poland Describes Joys, Miseries Polish Jewry, now nearly entirely defunct, with only 10,000 left from a population that numbered 3,500,000 prior to World War II, was rooted in traditions and great accomplishments. Its rich history dates back many centuries. Retention of historic facts regarding this im portant community is of extreme value for the Jewish records. Dr; Bernard D. Weinryb, a noted scholar now associated with the Russia Research Center at Harvard University, provides valuable data about the social and economic role of Polish Jews from 1100 to 1800 in "Th, Jews of Poland," published by the Jewish Publication Society of America. 9 Important movements in Jewish life, Hasidism. the Frankists and messianic trends and the many developments which affected the rela- tionships between Jews and Christians are fully described, and the many trials and tribulations the community had to overcome are furr) recorded. While there was a distinctive Jewish existence in Poland, ti_ relations they had with Jews in other lands taken into account ane the contrasts drawn are notable: Tracing the historic background of a people that developed intr a large and a great community, with economic and cultural stamina unparalleled in many other lands, Dr. Weinryb proceeds to outlinf a growth that parallels European transformations affect' wa! differing peoples. There was a rooting and an expansion' . - steady and impressive. The Weinryh history describes the triumphs and the miseries and it relates that dangers undergone in the process of retainin communal identity. There were programs in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, as well as in the eras closer to the present, and the means of defense utilized by the Polish Jews are among the mod interesting revelations in a history that assumes totality for analys of every aspect in the life of a people. A part of Poland, there we conditions that formulated the autonomy that marked the Jews Poland. Struggles between nobility and the kings affected the Jewis position, and the developing conditions were affected by the economi status of the people dominated by the evolutionary trends in the lan There were many catastrophes. There were the numerous sec the influence of the Shabatai Zevi upheaval, the emergenece of Hasidis mystician and Kabala — all their roles in the life that suffered well as thrived during the centuries under review. The tabulations and charts, the population studies and other fac add immeasurably to the importance of this history which serves a a very valuable contribution to the study of a great community tha i was doomed to extinction in our time.