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THE JEWISH NEWS
:
Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951
Metnber American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, National Editorial Association.
published every Friday by The Jewish News Pi blishing 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.
-1i o`
-o:k.
Rev
d".
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
DREW LIEBERWITZ
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Advertising Manager
Business Manager
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the sixth day of Elul, 5734, the following scriptural selections
will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Deut. 16:18-29:9. Prophetical portion, Isaiah 51:12-52:12.
Candle lighting, Friday, Aug. 23, 8:03 p.m.
VOL. LXV. No. 24
Page Four
August 23, 1974
Greater Detroit's Synagogue Council
Formation of a. Synagogue Council in this is to retain its major position as the focus of
community is revolutionary in the sense that Jewish inspiration, it must enroll the unaffili-
its emergence has been delayed all too long. ated.
In cooperation with other major existing
The existence of the Synagogue Council of
America on a national scale has already estab- organizations, a Synagogue Council can add
lished the principle that unification of relig.- immensely to creativity; to growing knowl-
ious groups is practical, desirable and of equal edgeability of Jewish matters, without which
vital importance to individual cities. If such a people sinks into incapacity; to mobiliza-
a council can function nationally, counter- tion for greater self-protective functions that
parts on smaller scales are of equal impor- become imperative in crucial times like the
tance to all functioning communities in the present with so many enemies , converging
°upon Jewry.
land.
Complacency in Jewish ranks is perhaps
The idea Was• advocated in these editorial
columns 20 years ago. The late Dr. B. Bene- the greatest of all dangers. Jewry is well pre-
dict Glazer supported it, but differing views pared, in its historic experiences, to face all
prevented the fruition of the idea. Now it is outside dangers. The internal defections are
a reality, and should be supported and en- often more threatening and more difficult
to confront. The battle against such inade-
couraged.
The purpose of the local Synagogue Coun- quacies is vital, and a movement to counter-
cil, as outlined by its formulators, is com- act it is a duty not to be shirked.
The •sense of responsibility- that has in-
mendable in itself. It invites more extensive
affliation by individuals in functionng syna- spired and motivated the formation of the
gogues. It calls for educational programs and Synagogue --Council of Greater Detroit is an
activities among youth. It can -accomplish indication that the constant reference to the
much more.
maturing of American Jewry, and therefore
Understandably, the new Synagogue Coun- of all its integral units, is not a conjecture
cil places priority on its appeal for member- but a factuality. Leadership gains in stature
ships in local congregations. If the synagogue from such progressive actions.
Short End in Israel's Armaments
For those who believe that Israel is over-
whelmed with military arsenals, the Palestine
Liberation Organization leader, Yassir Arafat,
had a differing explanation.
He may have tried to hand out compli-
ments to his warmongering partners in the
Kremlin, but he did say, while in Moscow,
that the October war had shown "that the
Soviet weapons supplied to Arab countries
by their quality are not only up to but con-
siderably excel the -weapons given to Israel
by its imperialist patrons."
Those who seek blemishes on Israel's rec-
ord, without taking into consideration Israel's
plight, had better take this statment into con-
sideration. Whatever military aid Israel re-
ceives is always too little compared with the
massive support the Arabs receive from the
Soviet Union, in addition to provisions that
come to them from the United States, France,
Great Britain and other countries.
The strength of the Syrian and Egyptian
military power is indicated in these latest
estimates:
Eve of
October War Losses
Now
SYRIA
Manpower
Tanks
Planes
SAM-2,3,6 batteries
Artillery
(120-mm and up)
150,000 Unknown 150,000
2,000
1,100
2,000
330
400+
222
35
40+
17-20
1,300 Unknown
1,300
EGYPT
Manpower
Tanks
Planes
SAM batteries
Artillery
650,040 Unknown 650,000
1,000
2,500
2,500
650
263
560
150
40-50
150
2,000 Unknown
2,000
No matter how Israel's needs, are provided
for, it is clear that the power of the two most
threatening neighbors demands full recogni-
tion of impending dangers. U. S. and world
Jewry's duties to assure protection for- Israel
are apparent.
American Aid for Israel Confirmed
Extensive aid, military and economic, in-
cluded for Israel, in the foreign appropri-
ations bill, confirmed the established Ameri-
can policy of _friendship for the embattled
state.
In spite of the drastic cuts by the Senate
committee on foreign aid, Israel was not
affected. In fact, the previous administration's
favorable recommendations seem to be ex-
ceeded in the Senate's concern that Israel
should not be abandoned in the hours of
Crises.
What the latest decisions affirm is that the
American-Israel friendship is not a sentiment
of an individual, but is part of a national
policy emphasizing the important role this
country plays in the Middle East.
Much remains to be done to strengthen the
traditional friendship 'between this country
and Israel. All too many provocative distor-
tions of truth, stemming from Jew-baiting
propaganda sources, create doubts and enmi-
ties. The military and industrial aid given
the -Israelis must be supplemented by truthful
dissemination of facts regarding the Middle
East. Only by insisting on realities and true
interpretations of conditions will it be possi-
ble to assure peace for that area.
Israel's security is a cause for serious con-
cern in diplomatic ranks, and the chief legis-
lative body of this country reaffirms support
for Israel constructively.
American reaction to Israel's needs re-
tains a heartening encouragement that there
will be protection for Israel and that, in the
process, every effort will be made for a con-
tinuation of the cease fire agreements as a
step towards an eventual peace.
The Yiddish Classicist
Classic Stories by Peretz
Edited by Howe, Greenberg
Stories from Yiddish literature appearing in English translations
have already become classics in world literature. I. L. Peretz, one of
the giants in Jewish literary ranks, who, with Sholem Aleichem and
Mendele Maher Seforim, is an
acknowledged architect of the
literature in Yiddish that has
matched the best in world writ-
ings, -is the unforgettable crea-
tor of works of great magnitude.
His "Bontsha the ' Silent,"
"If Not Higher," "The Magici-
an," "Three Gifts". and other
works, retain their fascination,
and serve as emphases in stud-
ies of Jewish life in the ghet-
toes of Poland and Russia.
A debt of gratitude is due,•
therefore, to Schocken Books
for another significant volume,
"Selected I. L. Peretz Stories."
Two masters, Irving Howe and
Eliezer Greenberg, who have
authored numerous works on
Yiddish literature and whose:
I. L. Peretz
translations have enriched the
Yiddish works in English texts, edited - this important book, and
their scholarly introduction additionally defines the importance of
the subject which had become one of their serious aims in popular-
izing Yiddish literature.
In addition to the very popular stories already mentionec
1e
-new Schocken collection includeS: "Berl the Tailor," "Thou b.ialt
Not Covet," "The Hermit and the Bear," "The Shabbes-Goy," "A
Pinch of Snuff," "Motl Prince," "Joy Beyond Measure," "Between
Two Peaks," "Ne'ilah in Gehenna," "Devotion Without End," "A
Musician Dies," "The Poor Boy,'" 'Travel Pictures" and "Venus
and Shulamith."
These works in large measure depict the religious fervor of the
heroes of a sad era who were conducting an heroic struggle for
existence. -
Appearing in new translations, by the two eminent editors of the
book, Howe and Greenberg, and by other able masters of Yiddish,
including Leonard Wolf, Marie Syrkin, Aaron Kramer, Etta Blum,
Reuben Bercovitch, Shlomo Katz, Hilde Abel, Nathan Halper, A. M.
Klein and Seth L. Wolitz.
Peretz was born in Zamosc, Poland, in 1851, at the time when
a modern secular influence was pervading Eastern Europe. His
stories embody his own personal conflict between tradition and con-
temporary thought; his moral ambivalance is apparent in a blending
of humor and irony, in a tone of critical detachment and in a min-
gling of the folk and the literary, the traditional and the modern in
a manner truly ahead of his time. More than any other Yiddish writer,
Peretz' stories bring 19th Century Jewish ghetto experiences alive
for the 20th Century reader.