THE JEWISH NEWS

Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of Jvly 20, 1951

Member American Association of English-Jewish 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.
Second-Class Postage Paid at Southfield, Michigan and Additional Mailing Offices. Subscription $10 a year.

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ

Editor and Publisher

Business Manager

DREW LIEBERWITZ

Advertising Manager

Alan Hitsky, News Editor . . . Heidi Press, Assistant News Editor

Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 13th day of Shevat, 5735, the following scriptural selections

will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Exod. 13:17-17:16. Prophetical portion, Judges 4:4-5:31.

Candle lighting, Friday, Jan. 24, 5:18 p.m.

VOL. LXVI, No. 20

Page Four

Friday, January 24, 1975

Right to Live and the Calloused World

A temporarily concerned society of nations difference a concession to the impending
was struck with horror over the mass murder dangers?
of more than 15,000,000 people, the chief
The shock that accompanies recognition
sufferers having been the Six Million Jews. of the developing threats to an entire people's
The term Genocide then became a subject existence is due to the failure by the great
for alarm. But the world seems to have been powers, by the peoples in free countries, to
struck with horror only temporarily. Now, realize that a very elementary factor is at
with an evidenced threat of a new Genocide stake: the mere desire by the affected state
emerging as a threat to the only organized of Israel to live and to survive.
strictly Jewish national community, both
The avalanche of devastating attitudes
Holocaust and Genocide seem to be ignored towards
Israel, the ganging up against the
and forgotten.
defenders of the tiny state, is the reason for
With a few exceptions, newspapers in the referring to the great powers of the world
so-called free communities of the world are as so called free communities. As long as
filled with warnings to Israel—and concur- there is concession to terror and to threat of
rently to Jewry—that a war is in the offing murder, .murder of a nation as well as indi-
and that Israel can be destroyed—unless! It viduals, those who fail to condemn threat of
is this unless that is vital to the discussion.
a new Holocaust, an impending Genocide, are
Israel and the Jewish people are told to not free. They are slaves to the terror that
make amends, to offer concessions, to give up! denies a nation the right to live.
Israel's leaders keep saying they will give up
Therefore, the caution within Israel, the
for peace! There have been requests for
refusal
by world Jewry to submit to threats.
pledges of non belligerence and the request
Therefore the insistence that assurance of a
is met with jeers. The jeers are understand- genuine peace must be firm and effective.
able on the Sadat lips, but what about the Therefore the determination not to submit to
civilized world which had only a few years another threat of destruction. And the hope
ago been horrified by the terror that was is that the handful of supporters of the coura-
inflicted on mankind and destroyed a third geous fighters for the right to live will never
of the Jewish people? Is the silence and in- abandon Israel.

-

-

—

Prophecies of Doom and Duties of Statesmen

Prophecies are a dime a dozen in this
period of uncertainties in mankind's experi-
ences. No one is immune from tensions in
this age of economic insecurity and of a grow-
ing trend to increase the manufacture of mil-
itary hardware. While nations, not excluding
our own, are struggling to find a way out of
recessions that are bordering on depressions,
there is no such thing as restriction on in-
creased armaments. American, French and
other munitions makers seem to be deluged
with orders for planes, tanks, tools of war.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are increasing their
arsenals and when Israel adds to defensive
mechanisms suspicions are immediately mag-
nified with an impression as if the tiniest of
the peoples of the world were a chief creator
of dangers in an area in which the Jewish
state is virtually isolated under the compulsion
of never being without threats on borders
encircled by enemies.
The conditions that have developed in the
Middle East, where the Holy Land has so
often been referred to as the battleground,
keep drawing international attention, and the
prophets have a heyday with auguries of im-
pending doom. The admonition to those most
seriously concerned with Israel's role must,
therefore, be to avoid falling prey to the
prophecies of destruction.
Shuttling diplomacy, the constant ex-
change of reports from behind the scenes that
keep flowing from many capitals, from Jeru-
salem and Cairo to Washington and from our
American and Arab spokesmen in the many
conflicting interviews in the press and the
airways, keep adding to the tensions.
While secret diplomacy often develops
into a scheme of open covenants evolving out
of rumors, many of the statements by diplo-
mats and heads of state serve to create fears.
A consistent friend of Israel, President Gerald
Ford, is among the targets of the prophets of
doom. When the President emphasizes Amer-
ican needs as being supreme in his thinking,
there is the inevitable interpretation that he

may be abandoning an established policy of
friendship between this nation and Israel.
These are similar to the rumor-mongering
about Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger
and other American spokesmen. Since such
interpretations never stick completely, incon-
sistency being as frequent as factuality, the
rumors must be taken with a grain of salt.
The disturbing factors are the growing
increases in the military supplies unendingly
arriving in the arsenals of the countries that
are so deeply involved in the threatening sit-
uation that affects Israel so ignominiously.
The arming of Israel's enemies should assure
an appreciation of the justification for Israel's
desire to be properly armed for defense. This
is hardly achievable in an atmosphere of
enmity in that embattled area.
The anxiety of those seeking security for
Israel is, therefore, understandable. The few
friends who remain staunchly dedicated to
the need to assure Israel's security are ex-
pected to refrain from adding to rumor-
mongering that spells panic in an embattled
area. If Dr: Nahum Goldmann is correct in
his view that prevention of more wars in the
Middle East depends upon the joint actions
of the two major world powers, then one
must hope that the prediction that Dr. Kis-
singer is approaching a Middle East detente
for peace is correct.
In the meantime it is urgent that false
prophets should not be given priority in the
analyses of world events as they affect the
Middle East and threaten to convert it anew
into a battleground. But if false prophecies
are to be exposed and rejected the heads of
nations must provide the basic encourage-
ments that peace is the aim rather than war.
And President Ford certainly has a major
role in striving for such an assurance to the
tiny Israeli nation that is in constant danger
of destruction and has few to look to for
succor other than the United States and the
Jewish kinsmen of the threatened nation.

'Polychrome Historical Haggada'
Richly Illustrated Annotated

,

Few Jewfsh traditional subjects lend themselves as much to artis-
tic interpretations as the Passover theme. Few library shelves are as
jammed with a variety of illustrated works as those containing Pass-
over Haggadot.
In the weeks preceding Passover, new Haggadot begin to appear,
offering interpretative material and producing new and impressive
texts.
Such Haggadot often utilize the older 14th and 15th Century illus-
trations, from the Darmstadt, Nuremberg and other works.
The newest such work is the "Polychrome Historical Haggada for
Passover" by Rabbi Jacob Freedman, published by Jacob Freedman
Liturgy Research Foundation, 68 Calhoun St., Springfield, Mass. 01107.
It can be purchased directly from the publisher.
Dr. Freedman provides here the traditional text, with his new
translation.
Supplementing it is a lengthy introduction in which the scholarly
compiler has outlined the important aspects of the Passover story, the
rabbinic discussions, the roles of the Four Sons and a score of other
related matters.
Drawing upon the views of authoritative writers, the forms that
the Passover celebrations had taken through the ages and noted
authorities who have dealt with the Haggada theme, Dr. Freedman
provides a summary that will enlighten students and teachers and
will enrich the available literature utilized by performers of the Seder
ceremony in their own interpretative efforts.
Dr. Freedman calls his translation of the Haggada text "con-
temporary, interpretative." The simplicity and the avoidance of con-
fusions is evident in all of the discussions. In the new translation the
narrative emerges as inspirational.
Besides, the appending of sources — Bible, Talmud, Psalms, the
Mishna — provides additional satisfaction in fullest use of the text for
the knowledgeable conductors of the Seder ritual.
A better understanding of the Tannaim and the great rabbis of
old who appear in the Haggada cast of characters is acquired from
this text.
The selections of illustrations, the extensive use of many multi-
colored old Haggada art works, the annotations — all add to the!
splendor of this "Polychrome Historical Haggada."
Dr. Freedman's life and career have been characterized as a
pioneer, innovator and organizer from his early teens in Springfield
through his years at college, the seminary and in the rabbinate.
He has written numerous articles on a variety of subjects, includ-
ing "Who Was the First Spaceman?" and "A Jew Who Saved a
Catholic Seminary from Foreclosure." In his more than 40 years in
the rabbinate he pioneered in developing Conservative congregations.
This "Polychrome Historical Haggada," together with the forth-
coming "Polychrome Historical Prayerbook," is the culmination re
o"
of research. The color-code system which Dr. Freedman ha,
introduced, has been widely acclaimed by scholars both here and
abroad as an important innovation and contribution in the field of
liturgy.

Kings Depart: Maccabee Saga

Alyn Brodsky has written a popular history about the drama
that unfolded in Palestine during the struggles of Judah Maccabee
and his heirs to secure political and religious independence for Judaea.
Actually, the author's narrative ranges from the post-exilic period
(586 BCE) after the Jewish peoples' return from Babylonian captivity,
to the destruction of the Temple (70 CE) and the Diaspora. But
the core of the story centers on the Hasmonaean dynasty until the
time of Herod (166 BCE-29 'BCE). Titled "The Kings Depart: The
Saga of the Empire Judah Maccabee Created & His Heirs Destroyed"
it is published by Harper and Row.

