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Purely Commentary

A Community in Action: Greater Detroit Jewry's Enviable
Record for Humanitarian Generosity ... A Catholic Prel-
ate's Latest Repudiation of the Accumulated Anti-Israel Bias

By Philip
Slomovitz

A Community With a Great Record of Re.siAnsibilitv to Humanitarianism and Justice

Greater Ddtroit's Jewiih community has an unusual record. Jt is rooted in responsi-
bility to fellow men and to the historical legacies with which these duties are interlinked.
Economic conditions have not always been the best. Even in periods of severe reces-
sions, the less affluent who needed help were not forgotten. During the years of inhuman
oppressions in many lands, primarily in Czarist Russia, in the destructive years of World
War I and during the World War II tragedies, this community displayed generosity. It
shared with the rest of American Jewry the tasks of battling for justice on the diplomatic
scenes and the philanthropic tasks were fulfilled in'-earnest.
In the earlier years the philanthropies were comparatively small. They grew with the
needs. They reached the stage of impressive demonstrations of kinship with the
distressed.
The current figure, reported this week as an inaugural to the most urgent drive that
includes support for the United Jewish Appeal, is an indication of continuity in assuring
this community's support for Israel and uninterruption in aiding the local and national
causes.
It is to be remembered that the Allied Jewish Campaign now in progress is being
conducted during a critical economic period. The sums raised may not match last year's
tremendously record-breaking achievement. But there is hope that a $20,000,000 figure
may be met by the time the drive ends and that's a repetitive compliment to Greater
Detroit Jewry.
The economic handicap can not be minimized. Detroit Jewry suffers from it to-
gether with the entire population of this city which depends so much on the automo-
tive industry. The interruptions in auto-making have their serious effects. One
agency especially is suffering miserably from it — the Jewish Vocational Service and

its Community Workshop are stymied in activities. The work-day so vital for the
handicapped who are provided with chores so important to keep them active and
contented has been reduced. There is a straining of energies to keep the services
functioning and any help given the JVS, by providing the important agency with
assigned labor tasks to substitute ro r what was previously provided by the auto man-
ufacturers, would be a blessing.
This is recorded here merely as an example of the victimization of one agency by the
economic recession. The entire- campaign is affected by the over-all conditions.
It is inconceivable that the $24,000,000 sum raised-in 1974 could be repeated. The last
campaign followed immediately upon the distress that was caused by the Yom Kippur
War. If the $20,000,000 total can be reached this year it will once again reconfirm that
Detroit there is a deep devotion that is unmatched. It is no wonder that the Jewish col
munities throughout the land look to Detroit for the examples to be set for generosity. A
renewed Detroit philanthropic triumph serves as an inspiration for fellow Jews through-
out the land.
-It is nOt to be inferred that all members of this community are fulfilling their duties
unstintingly. There are many hundreds, perhaps thousands, who are not reached at all.
Many are niggardly and lack in understanding of the full impact of a campaign marked by -
great urgency. Perhaps the dangerous situation in which,Jews in Israel find themselves,
and the urgency of needs elsewhere — including the importance of the educational, social,
health, vocational and recreational needs to be fulfilled here — will induce interest among
those yet to be inspired by the humanitarian appeals stemming from the Allied Jewish
Campaign and its affiliated agencies. To achieve this goal is a major duty during the
current campaigning.

,

A Challenge to the UN and a Factual Truth Elaboration on Israel and the Enemies

Endlessly; propagandists - keep distort-
ing facts. Any and every form of canard
seems to find 'a platform. An antagonistic
world judges the tiny Jewish state, over-
whelming numbers of enemies surround her
and keep threatening her existence, yet it is
Israel that is called intransigent. Her ene-
mies are the saints! They need a small area
to implement their territorial wealth.
An eminent Catholic scholar, Msgr.
John M. Oesterreicher, of South Orange,
N.J., has consistently exposed the fabrica-.
tions. He has summarized the truths in a ,
statement- to the New York Times in which
he declared:
"The United Nations has done it again.
Under Arab pressure it has slandered Israel.
On Feb. 21, 21 members of the Human
Rights Commission — none of them cham-
pions of these rights within their own bor-
ders (four Arab states, the Soviet Union, Yu-

goslavia and a number of truckling African
as well as Asian nations) — censured Israel
for systematically oppressing Arabs in the
occupied territories and for desecrating
Christian and Moslem shrines. [Editorial
Feb." 24.]
"From personal observation I can affirm
that these accusations are lies. The Human
Rights Commission has raped justice and
wronged Israel. In several conversations
with Arabs living in the occupied territories
I have never heard more alarming com-
plaints than these:-"Israel's taxes are much
too high" or "We lack complete freedom to be
politically active." Yet no such witness of
mine is necessary to show that the commis-
sion reached its "verdict" in bad faith or un-
der duress. The commission not only cen-
sured Israel, it also demanded that
Archbishop Capucci, a convicted gunrunner
and accomplice in the killing of innocent peo-
ple, be released from prison — immediately.

Exclusive to The ,Jewish News

"No such instant demand was ever made
of an Arab government, nor has any U.N.
agency ever devunced an Arab state in a
similar vein. It is now several years that/the
Arab Sudanese of the north shed the blood of
black Sudanese of the south to "bring them
into line." Again, not so long ago right-wing
and left-wing Yemenites, with the assistance
of the major Arab powers, fought a brutal
war against each other. Does my memory-
fail me when I cannot recall any protest-by
the U.N. against these massacres? Iraq, one
of the current members of the Human ,
Rights Commission, has for years sup-
pressed most ruthlessly the will of its Kur-
dish minority to gain independence. Still, the
U.N. has been mute on the plight of Kurds.
"Further, whenever the delegates to the,
U.N. hear of the mistreatment of the Jewish
citizens of Syria or Iraq, they sink into sil-
ence. Similarly, when during its rule of East
Jerusalem (1949-1967) Jcirdan's army will-

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fully destroyed the synagogues and dese-
crated Jewish cemeteries, no Human Rights
Commission raised its voice. NoT.N. agency
has ever inquired into the number of Jews
living in Saudi Arabia or of Christian houses
of worship there. The answer would be
embarrassing.
"It is baffling that the United Nations
should apply a double standard toward Jews
and Arabs and the height of irony that the
Human Rights Commission, of all things,
would tighten the chain of Arab imperialism
around the United Nations' neck."

These incontrovertible facts need re-
peating. Unless the facts are emphasized and
repeated there will be no end to the misre-
presentations and to the multiplication of
danger to Israel's 'security and to Jewry's
peace of mind. The Oesterreicher statement
provides a bit of comfort for the seekers of
truth. _

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The Treasure of Cairo's Karaite Jews

By ROBERT ST. JOHN
Editor's Note: This is the third in a series of articles by
the noted author, following his recent visit to Egypt with
his wife Ruth.

CAIRO — In few places in the world are Jews in such a
minority as in Cairo — approximately 200 in a city of some
seven million — one Jew to every 35,000 Cairenes. But even
these Jews have their own minority, the Karaites, 60 men
and women, most of them too old to work and too poor to
live much above the bare subsistence level.
During a week-long investigation we uncovered a
strange paradox: while the Karaites fret and worry, in this
time of cruel inflation that besets Egypt even more than
most other plACes, about how to make their meager funds
supply the essentials of food and medicine, they have locked
in a five-foot safe in their synagogue a treasure worth at
least $1 million, maybe more.
Scholars and theologians know about the Karaites, but
even in Cairo, once the worldwide hub of this splinter reli-
gious group, we found some members of the Jewish commu-
nity who knew little about them.
The Karaites are members of a Jewish sect similar
to the early Sadducees who split off from the main body
of Judaism in the 9th• Century. They reject the Talmud,
considering the Hebrew Bible their only authority and
believe it should be obeyed literally. They forbid levirate
marriages (marriages with a brother's childless wife)
and all Sabbath illumination.
The sect originated in and around Persia, but preachers
traveled as far as Egypt to make converts. Attacked by lead-
ers of the Jewish world, they produced during the Middle
Ages an entire literature of polemic-works, Bible commen-
k,aries and religious codes. In the 10th Century Karaite com-
munities sprang up in southeastern Europe. Syria, Cyprus,
Palestine and Egypt.
In Jerusalem they spent their time mourning the loss

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of the Temple and praying for redemption. They were sup-
pressed by both the Turks and the Crusaders. In Russia
some of the czars granted them privileges denied to the
Rabbinates. Like other Jews in Eur613e, they suffered terri-
13ly during World War II, but today there are some 6,000 in
the USSR, mostly in the Crimea.
The surviving members of the Cairo community claim
that at one time there were 10,000 Karaites in Egypt. Many
went to Israel, where they now number between 8,000 and
9,000 and where they live apart from other Israelis. Others
went to the United States, where there are at least 2,000,
some of whom have been assimilated by the main body of
Judaism.
Once there were two Karaite • synagogues in Cairo;
now there is but one, an 80-foot-high stone building with
scores of carpets on the floor of the sanctuary. Those
who come to pray, as well as visitors, must take off their
shoes, as in a mosque. The ark contains half a dozen To-
rah scrolls of great value because of their considerable
age and beauty. Few tourists ever hear about this Ka-
raite synagogue. Those who do find their way to it are
treated with politeness but rarely is anyone told about
the Karaite secret: the multi-million dollar treasure.
Some of it is in the room called the genizah or hiding
place: immense books, scrolls and manuscripts, yellow with
age, some worm-eaten, some dating back 700 years, some on
paper, some on leather, some in Arabic with Arabic script,
some in Arabic in Hebrew script, some in Hebrew in He-
brew letters. On an average of about once a month some
visitor comes who is well enough introduced so that he is
shown into the treasure room. But much more rarely is the
real wealth of the community displayed.
We came with an introduction from a rabbi in Califor-
nia who had made at least one trip a year for many years
to Cairo to study the Karaite treasure, to photograph some
of it on microfilm and to advise custodians what might be
done with it. We came in the company of a rabbi from Bos-

ton who had recently spent a year in Cairo University stu-
dying Arabic And had developed a burning interest in these
documents. And we brought with us the cultural attache of
the American Embassy, who thought maybe the Smithson-
ian Institution might help. That' is how. we get to see the
Karaites' most important possessions:
The steel safe.is three or four feet square and reaches
almost to the ceiling. The leader of the Karaite community
opened it slowly, impressively. Inside were mayby 20 huge
books, about 24 by 36 inches. They were brought out one by
one.
Carefully the pages - were turned, so as not to leave
thumbprints. The lettering had all been by hand, on fine
parchment. We all agreed that never in any museum had
we seen such illumination — in gold, in silver, in bright
colors that the centuries had not faded; designs, r
tares, art work of stunning beauty.
As each page was turned we gasped, often aloud. There
was no time for those who knew Hebrew and Arabic to read
any of the text. But as each book was brought out of the
safe we would be given an approximate date and a few
words on the volume's importance. Some were commentar-
ies on the Bible, some were histories, others had been writ-
ten to answer the accusations of religious opponents.
Several dated back to the 12th Century and one, they
claimed, was believed to be 1,500 years old. They are pri-
marily important for the light they may throw on early
Cairo history and on the Karaite-Rabbinite controversy.
Someday the Karaite community may decide exactly
what it wishes to do with the treasure, but now it rests
secreted and secure in a dark closet and a safe. Properly
displayed the books could fill a sizeable museum.
Properly paid for they would bring, so the experts say,
Several million dollars Worth of comfort to a community
that before long will be extinct, as its members die off one
by one, but in a museum, at least, posterity would become
the heir to the Karaite beauty of the past.

