Purely Commentary
Travesty on Faith . . . and Justice
A scandal over an outrageous advertisement in the
London Times (see Commentary, Jan. 3) is matched in
incredulity by even more shocking insults to common sense
in Arab-sponsored advertisements in American newspapers.
The prestigious Washington Post and the New York
Times accepted and published a pre-Christmas advertise-
ment submitted by the League of Arab States which can
only be judged as a desecration of the Christian faith.
Printed as "A Christmas Message," a salutation under
which appeared a crucifix, the advertisement read in full:
A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE
Text of Archibishop (sic) Capucci's Statement ad-
dressed to Jesus Christ before he was sentenced
to 12 years imprisonment in Jerusalem by an
Israeli Court.
"I will transmit to the court what comes into
my heart at the end of a long period of torment,"
he said.
"From the crest of the Mount of Olives, Jesus,
You once looked on Jerusalem and said the day
will come that you will be surrounded on all sides
and that they will destroy You and your children.
"If You look from heaven You will find your
land and Jerusalem exactly as You cried over it
and You will find your true son in chains and
You will cry.
"I am incarcerated in the torment of the con-
querors. I am the victim of the force of'the rulers.
"We are all humans, mortals on the bridge to
eternity. But your land is eternal and will remain
stronger than the power of the conquerors and
their laws, your ways are stronger than their
injustices.
"You have taught us to love your land, our
land, and defend it and we have done so. We have
obeyed because we are your soldiers.
"Jerusalem, the cradle of Christianity,. will re•
main free forever despite their deeds.
"My Lord and Master Jesus You are love and
they are oppression. You are light and they are
darkness.
"Your flag, my Master, is a symbol of love and
freedom. And your flag will remain on high.
"Shame and disgrace to those who defile the
Holy Land. My Master Jesus, I sanctify our land,
our precious land, whose name is Palestine."
The Archbishop started a hunger-strike on
December 17, 1974 just before Christmas.
THE LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES
747 Third Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017
What a sacrilege for Christians!
Free space the commentator gives to this message is
provided for the sake of posing several questions:
Are Christians reading such advertisements
without blinking an eye or blushing for shame
over such an abuse of truth and sheer decency?
Do the Washington Post and the Times' ad-
vertising departments sleep soundly after giving
a platform to blatant sanctimonial bigotry?
Why haven't readers of the Washington Post
expressed indignation and disgust over such copy?
And Pope Paul VI: Why had he given the
Arab smuggler of murderous weapons a blessing
by defending him, in a sense, when he was con-
victed for a crime of a would-be murderer?
Even in the wildest imagination it is difficult to believe
that a great newspaper could have given space to nonsense
that merges into an appeal to hatred.
That the Vatican should have been a defender, even
tacitly, of a cleric who was plotting murder is a disgrace
for the Church. Why haven't lay Catholics protested to
the Pope against such action? It's bad enough that Paul
VI keeps blundering on the Jerusalem question: did he
also have to defend a potential murderer?
(From the Vatican this week came another puzzling
attitude. A statement on relations with Jews effectively
rejects anti-Semitism. But it is again a conversionist dec-
laration; it fails to acknowledge the reality of Israel and
it avoids reference to the new conditions in Jerusalem
where, under Israeli rule, there is freedom for all faiths,
unlike the conditions that existed prior to 1967. A more
effective ecumenism was thereby avoided.)
Are anti-Semites gloating over pieces like the Christ-
mas message from the League of Arab States?
But there also are some Jews—thank Heaven there
are so few in that category!—who haven't learned com-
mon decency. Sirhan Sirhan has begun to deny that his
bullet killed Robert Kennedy. But two Jewish lawyers—.
are they seeking cheap publicity?—now declare him inno-
cent.
Just as the Christmas message quoted here is a trav-
esty on faith, so is the new act in the Sirhan crime a
travesty on justice.
And publication of the advertisement quoted here is
also a travesty on good journalism.
2—Friday, January 10, 1975 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Inconceivable and Intolerable Condoning of Intermarriage
by Dissident Rabbis . . . Communal Responsibility for
Programming . . . Criminal Cleric's Sacrilege to His Church
In Memoriam: Dr. Joseph J. Schwartz
Dr. Joseph J. Schwartz was a creator of major insti-
tutions in American Jewish philanthropic efforts. He was
an institution unto himself . . . American Jewish Joint
Distribution tasks, in the early years preceding World War
II, and during the Nazi era, owed their high standards
for relief of want among the survivors from Nazism to
his genius as an organizer.
He knew the displaced persons camps and the DPs
on a personal basis, having visited the survivors immedi-
ately after the Holocaust.
He was a scholar whose knowledge of Jewish life was
applied with deep dedication to his activities as a mobi-
lizer of philanthropic support for the homeless and for
the settlers in Israel during the struggles with the British
and upon the rebirth of Israel.
Much of what had been achieved in defying British
perfidy when hundreds of thousands of survivors from
Nazism were seeking homes in Israel was due to his
brilliant leadership.
World Jewry loses a great man in his passing. Blessed
be his memory.
*
Rebellion in Rabbinic Ranks
Many changes have taken place in Reform Jewish
practices. Some of the movement's pioneers abandoned
circumcision, frowned on Hebrew, were not concerned with
Bar Mitzva. Kashrut certainly was out of the question.
Zionism and the upbuilding of the Jewish National
Home was anathema to them.
A return to traditionalism is in evidence in Reform
congregations, and many of the youth are deeply involved
in Zionism and Israel. Their elders are leaders in the
major philanthropic tasks which include Hebrew education
and give priority to Israel's defensive measures for secur-
ity and an open door to new settlers, wherever they may
come from.
Therefore, the belief spread that Reform was getting
closer to Conservatism. By the same token, Conservatism
-.had gone quite a bit to the left. Out of these developments
grew the view that Conservative and Reform Jews will one
day merge into a more solid community.
What's wrong with that—except for the adamant oppo-
sition of extreme Orthodoxy to both these elements whose
numbers are predominant in Jewry?
A new group has emerged, however, to embrace anew
some of the principles of old Reformism. Inter- and mixed
marriage problems are partly at the root of the differ-
ences that have arisen. On the question of marriage there
are no differences between Orthodox and Conservative
Jews and the overwhelming majority of Reform rabbis.
No other factor is as damaging to Jewish existence as
intermarriage. Yielding on this score is menacing to the
very existence of the Jewish people and there can be no
concessions on that score.
The dissident group of Reform rabbis who have be-
come so concerned with love factors may grow in number.
Many more than the 42 who issued their proclamation on
so-called humanism are already performing mixed mar-
riages, and even the Conservative ranks have been affected
By Philip
Slomovitz
—two of the rabbis in that group having been expelled
for officiating at such services. But even if those who are
adamant in their insistence upon observing the basic tra-
ditions on marriage should become a minority among all
rabbis, the principle can not and must not be abandoned.
The dissident rabbis' rejection of traditionalism is
another bit of irony. Judging the situation by the new
trend for traditional loyalties in the ranks of Reform youth,
such a conflict over Reform flirting with Conservatism
may be reduced to a rabbinic rather than a laymet
struggle. Doesn't the small group of Battling Rabbis havb
anything else to worry about in these critical times foL
Jewry and mankind?
(Since 42 is definitely a minority in the ranks of the
hundreds of Reform rabbis, this commentator has chosen
to consider them dissidents. When the group's formation
was originally announced some months ago, its creators
didn't seem to mind the designation. So be it).
*
*
Total Communal Responsibility
to Assure Dignified Programming
Stage comedians had been a pain for Jewish audiences
for many years. It was believed that the resentments
expressed and the organized effort to eliminate abuses
of privilege were successful in ending the disgrace that
resulted from indignities and from resort to banalities
when guest artists addressed Jewish audiences.
When such repulsive tactics were evidenced by enter-
tainers in synagogues, the abuses were all the more
outrageous.
Is it possible that there is a revival of such descent
into the filthy resort to the lowest forms of banal
indignities?
The protest expressed in our columns by an outraged
reader who disgustedly condemned an entertainer's abuse
of privilege calls for a renewal of warnings to those
planning communal programs to be especially careful
when selecting notorious entertainers.
Once a door is opened to such comedians, the danger
exists that they will insult the audience with abusive
language.
Just because a comic gets a platform in a night
club does not justify his being given a platform at a
Jewish public function.
Is there such an impoverishment in able and re-
spected participants in public events that the night club
talent becomes a necessity for Jews seeking entertain-
ment provided at events intended for worthy causes?
One entertainer, who happens to be on a higher
level, recently even resorted to a law suit—which he
lost—to gain a fee he apparently was not entitled to.
The price is high for such abominations, and the
loss of respect in sponsoring abusive entertainers is even
more distressing.
It should not have been necessary to reach the
stage of reviving a campaign against abusive entertainers.
Some are compelling resumption of warnings to program
planners to be doubly cautious in their selection of par-
ticipants. Even speakers' lists often have to be screened
cautiously. Responsibility in judging the merits of
comedians is all the greater.
Reform Genesis Commentary Has Modern View
.
NEW YORK—The Reform
commentary on the Book of
Genesis, the first in a series
of commentaries on the five
books of the Bible, are ex-
pected to be markedly dif-
ferent than present works.
Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut
authored the Genesis com-
mentary with a committee
under the auspices of the
Union of American Hebrew
Congregations.
According to Rabbi Plaut,
"The Orthodox say that the
Torah is the word of God. A
similar assertion is made by
doctrinaire Christians—some-
thing that God said and asked
Moses to set down in writ-
ing."
He said that there were
some doubts some centuries
ago concerning this theory,
but it was not until the 19th
Century that intensive inves-
tigations made the study of
the biblical text a highly
specialized discipline.
"Scholars analyzed the text
so that they could discern
many authors and several
editors," Rabbi Plaut stated.
"Our position in the com-
mentary is that the Torah is
essentially the repository of
centuries of traditions which
became one tradition and one
book and must not be ap-
proached as a paste-up amal-
gam.
"This commentary takes
the religious approach. It
recognizes the touch of the
Divine, but it also takes cog-
nizance of the latest scientific
research. It represents the
teaching traditions of Israel."
In other words, "our com-
mentary disagrees with tra-
ditional interpreters over di-
vine origin and Mosaic . au-
thorship, but it does agree
with them on treating the
text as it is, a unified whole,
for it was approached this
way by many generations
and, in this way, it has made
its impact on history.
"To us, the Bible is pri-
marily the living textbook of
the Jew and, with differing
emphasis, of the Christian.
"It is different from most
Christian commentaries since
the majority of them have
not had access to the vast
storehouse of Jewish tradition
and writings.
"It is not the last word in
commentaries, but it pro-
ceeds from the idea that the
Bible is a prism of our gen-
eration which produces re-
fractions not seen before. It
should do much for the North
American Jew who is in
search of his self-identity."
Rabbi Plaut added that
there have been many scien-
tific commentaries, but they
are usually addressed to
scholars and limit themselves
to a discussion of what the
text says, or is believed to
have said, but pay little at-
tention to what it had to say
over the past several thou-
sand years.
"The irony of such a com-
mentary," Rabbi Plaut said,
"is that it has one meaning
for a fundamentalist like
Billy Graham and other
meanings for the more liberal
people. Frequently, what peo-
ple have done with it is not
what was intended."
He gave as an example
the Cain and Abel story.
"This deals with man's so-
cial history which starts with
murder. It deals with the con-
flict of two cultures — the
farmer and the nomad—and
the life-and-death struggle
between them which ends
with the farmer killing the
nomad and flinging a ques-
tion to God, 'Am I my
brother's keeper? Aren't You,
God, also responsible?' he
appears to say.
"God does not reply, and
the question remains unan-
swered and has remained so
despite questions of succer
ing generations."
Rabbi Plaut in his com-
mentary on the Cain-Abel
story asks, "Why is God
silent when men kill each
other? Where does His power
begin and where does it end?
God asks man to account for
his deeds. Man in turn asks
God to account for His. Am
I alone my brother's keeper?
Are You not as well? If my
brother's blood cries out
against me, does it not cry
out against You, also?
"This interpretation is ap-
pealing not only because it
asks questions of great urg-
ency today but also allows
for a direct continuation of
the Eden story. There, man's
choice was essentially be-
tween life and death; now, in
the post-Eden world, God
offers man a new choice, the
choice between good and
evil."