C Right. Wing Rise The Battle of Israel's Chief Rabbis By MOSHE RON with in the Chief Rabbinate, Jewish News Special Israel Correspondent but Rabbi Goren rejected this demand. The legal ad- viser of the government, Prof. Aharon Barak, ruled that the Chief Rabbinate could deal with any matter, without approval of the two chief rabbis. The last conflict between the two chief rabbis stemmed from the nomina- tion of new religious judges. Rabbi Yosef vetoed one of Rabbi Goren's candidates. There were counter-charges against. Rabbi Yosef's son- in-law. Rabbi Yosef demanded new elections for the Chief Rabbinate, accusing mem- JERUSALEM — The "open war" between the two Chief Rabbis of Israel, the Ashkenazi and Sephardi, has split the Orthodox popu- lation into two camps and strengthened the anti-reli- gious feelings of a great part of the Israeli population. Israel has two dynamic chief rabbis, who know how make use of the mass-media ;- "heir sharp controversy clashes. Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren was born in Eretz Israel of pioneers and founders of Kfar Hassidim near Haifa. He was chief army rabbi and reached the rank of brigadier general and was even a parachutist. He is stubborn, strong- minded, and belives that Israel is an integral part of the redemption of the Jew- ish people and continues the visions of the prophets. The extreme Orthodox circles in Israel reject this, and do not recognize Rabbi Goren. Rabbi Goren is a Zionist and member of the Mizrachi movement, which creates friction be- tween him and the extreme Aguda circles. Sephardi Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef was born and educated in Iraq. When Is- rael was established Rabbi Yosef was vice chief rabbi of Cairo. He came to Israel in 1951. He thinks himself superior in rank to the Ashkenazi chief rabbi because Se- phardi chief rabbis have been active in Eretz Israel since 400 C.E. A major conflict be- tween them is Rabbi Goren advocating abolition of the two chief rabbi posts and election of one chief rabbi by the Israeli popu- lation. Two extreme rabbis of Jerusalem, Bezalel Zalty and Eliezer Goldschmidt, who were not members of the Chief Rabbinate, organ- ized rabbinical oppostion against the ruling of Rabbi Goren regarding "Mamzerim" (illegal chil- dren). They gained the sup- port of Rabbi Yosef in this case. Also, Rabbi Goren, has an absolute majority of sup- port in the Chief Rabbinate. Rabbi Yosef demanded that only matters which are agreed upon between the I chief rabbis be dealt Coming in Israel? NEW YORK — Israeli frustration over the Middle East situation and the domestic economy has en- couraged the growth of the country's right wing, which now holds slightly more than one-third of the 120 seats in Israel's parliament. Writing in the current is- sue of Present Tense: The Magazine of World Jewish Affairs, Naomi Shepherd, Israel correspondent for the New Statesman (London), points out that the Likud bloc (the right wing), "polled nearly half-a-million votes in the last elections in 1973 and theoretically there is no reason why, with slightly better luck in the next elec- tions and a new political alignment of parties in ac- cordance with present be-' liefs rather than past tradi- tions, the Likud should not form a government." Present Tense, whose edi- tor is Murray Polner, is pub- lished by the American Jew- ish Committee and is sponsored by the Bergreen Institute of Foreign Policy Studies and Publications. It is quite possible, Ms. Shepherd writes, that the Israeli political right wing, and the nationalist groups on its fringe, may influence Israeli policy in the near future. bers of blind support for Rabbi Goren in exchange for religious judgeships. One of the members of the Chief Rabbinate, Rabbi Eliezer Shapira, sued Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef on this allegation. "Peace-angels" from both sides went into action in order to seek a compromise for peaceful co-existence. Rabbi Yosef restrained two Knesset members of Agudat Israel from making a formal Knesset proposal to abolish, the Chief Rabbinate. Experts believe, that if a compromise between the two chief rabbis is ar- ranged, it will last only a very short time. `Women in the Pulpit' Renews Women's Role in Ritual Issue Women are slowly mak- ing gains in professional fields traditionally domi- nated by men, but in the re- ligious realm, establishing a presence may be slower still. In "Women in the Pulpit: Is God an Equal Opportu- nity Employer?" (Dou- bleday) Priscilla and Wil- liam Proctor take an objective look into the diffi- culties women have found in pursuing a profession in the church or synagogue. Carter Heyward, one of the 11 "irregularly" or- dained Episcopal priests, found that her male coun- terparts regard women who desire to enter the church hierarchy as lesbians. While in their respective seminaries, Reconstruc- tionist Rabbi Sally Sasso and Reform Rabbi Sally Priesand encountered a male chauvinist attitude by their fellow students and outsiders who felt they were at the seminaries to find a husband. Rabbi Sasso did find a husband at the seminary. However, she and her rabbi husband, Dennis, occupy separate pulpits, contrary to the opinion held by her co-religionists that she was going to teach in the Sunday school of her husband's con- gregation. Although not avowed feminists, Rabbis Sasso and Priesand have changed some of the male-oriented language used in the serv- ices to make it more human and less masculine. According to Rabbi Prie- sand: "In the prayer book when I come to the word Border Villages Honored Philatelic The Services division of the Israel Ministry of Communications will issue a new IL 1.50 multicolored ••• •• •••11•••••• •••••••••••••• ••••••• commemorative stamp this month to honor Israel's border V.rp tr`lan • 1J u.'1.1,no ► u'in) settlements. - . ind that thi:"," The stamp Psaims a4.9 shows a community in the distance with a strand of barbed-wire in the fore- ground, and states in Hebrew and English a passage from Psalms 104:9 . . . "Thou has set a bound that they may not pass over . . ." `mankind,' I say 'humanity,' . . . When I come to 'men,' I say 'people.' Instead of 'God of our fathers,' I insert 'God of our ancestors.' " Finding a job has been difficult for women who pursue the ministry as a vocation. Many have found that most congrega- tions don't want to be led by a woman for any num- ber of reasons, from the flimsiest to the ridiculous. One rabbi interviewing Rabbi Priesand said he wouldn't want a woman rabbi as his assistant to do things "like go to a ceme- tery on a cold day or visit someone at night." Rabbi Priesand found his atti- tude to be "ridiculous." The Proctors' book deals with the role of women in other major religious de- nominations, including the Catholic Church, where for the first time women are seeking greater roles in services and administration. "Women in the Pulpit" provides an important com- mentary on a controver- sial contemporary issue — acceptance of women into traditional male-dominated fields — and makes for thought-provoking reading for students of modern so- cial issues. —H.P. Ford's Rabin Dinner Firsts Bulk of Free Loans Aids Day Schools NEW YORK (JTA) — The Hebrew Free Loan Society in New York reported that it had become an important bulwark of support for hard-pressed Jewish day schools and yeshivot, re- sponding to a 400 percent in- crease in requests for loans since 1972. Milton Schwartz, presi- dent, said that while the society, which provides in- terest-free loans, has been making them to Jewish schools for more than 20 years, "the growth of de- mand for assistance by sup- porters of schools indicates the pressing problems they face." He said that in 1975, the society loaned a total of $1,050,000 to the schools, "primarily for cash flow purposes — meeting pay- rolls on time, pressing bills and other emergencies." . President and Mrs. Ford hosted a state dinner for Mr. and Mrs. Rabin last week which included several "firsts." Mrs. Ford joined a hora with enthusiastic pro-Is- raelis who were among the approximately 260 guests at the dinner and dance. The number of guests also was seen as a first. Usually, invitations for a Presiden- tial state dinner go to about 120 persons of whom about 100 attend. Last night 160 came to dinner and an addi- tional 100 joined in the en- tertainment and champagne later. Although the Rabins, Kis- singer and Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller retired early, the Fords stayed on the dance floor until early morning. Among Jewish commu- nity leaders attending were David Blumberg, Melvin Dubinsky, Max Fisher, Guilford Glazer, Rabbi Ar- thur Hertzberg, Frank R. Lautenberg, Mrs. Rose Matzkin, Rabbi Israel Miller, Sam Rothberg, Dr. Maurice Sage, Rabbi Alex- ander M. Schindler and El- mer L. Winter. Members of the U.S.-Is- raeli Joint Business Council present were John R. Bunt- ing, Raymond N. Carlen, James P. Horn, and William B. Nicholson. Among celebr- ities were actor Danny Kaye; author Herman Wouk; quarterback Terry Bradshaw of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team; Olympic skiing champion Suzy Chaffee; tennis player Christine Evert; and Carl- ton Fisk, Boston Red Sox baseball team catcher. THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, February 6, 1976 45 Late Pope John Israel Friend? (Editor's Note: Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum, na- tional director of interreli- gious affairs of the Ameri- can Jewish Committee, delivered the following statement in New York on the recent release of de- classified documents on the Vatican's role in the Holocaust, during his weekly commentary pro- gram.) The publication two weeks ago of declassified Vatican docments that deal with the role of the Holy See in relation to the Nazi slaughter of Europe's Jews and the rise of the state of Israel raises as many ques- tions as the documents were apparently intended to re- solve. What is surprising is the opposition attributed to Pope John to the rebirth of Israel. My sense of shock grows out of the fact that in March 1963 the Vatican's Augustin Cardinal Bea informed the late Rabbi Abraham J. Hes- POPE JOHN XXIII chel and myself on a confi- dential basis at a private meeting in the Boston Chan- cery that Pope John was planning to recognize the state of Israel during Vati- can Council II as a gesture of friendship to the Jewish people. Tragically, Pope John died shortly thereafter, and so apparently did that rever- sal of Vatican policy. Israel's Battle and the Bottle BY DAVID SCHWARTZ (Copyright 1976, JTA, Inc.) Chaim Herzog, the man who leads Israel's battle at the United Nations, has had a very interesting career. He fought alongside of the Bri- tish in World War II and was a general in Israel's war of independence, but he is not a combative person nat- urally. On the contrary, it is generally agreed that he is friendly and a bit easy- going. He comes of that kind of stock. His father was Chief Rabbi of Ireland. His fath- er's work on Jewish law was praised by the late Supreme Court Justice Cardozo as one of the best works on the philosophy of law he had ever read. Also being Chief Rabbi of Ireland, he was naturally something of a fighter. All Irish are fight- ers. Chief Rabbi Herzog also possessed a good sense of humor. We recall hearing him tell an Irish story about a priest who had refreshed himself with a bit of stimu- lant before administering last rites to a dying man. "Father, will you please re- peat that last prayer?" said the dying man. The priest obliged and then the daying man asked for another repe- tition. "But Pat," said the priest, "there is nothing to be gained by repeating the words." "It isn't the words," said Pat, "it is your breath." Chaim Herzog tells a dif- ferent kind of story about the subject of drinking. Her- zog had occasion to call on the Russian envoy to the UN, Yakov Malik, in the lat- ter's capacity as president of the Security Council. As he was received, Malik told Herzog he was sorry he could only offer him some water. "That was all," he said, "the UN had provided him." "Don't worry," replied Herzog, "I'll bring you a bot- tle of Israeli Vodka." At this, Malik said, "In my view, Scotch can only be made in Scotland, Pilsner in Czechoslovakia and Vodka in Russia." So Israel, according to Malik, has no right to make Vodka. It seems as wrong for Jews to make Vodka as for them to have a little state of their own. But if Malik was indig- nant at the thought of Israel daring to manufacture some Vodka of its own, he is ap- parently not as bad as some of the other envoys to the UN. He does condescend to recognize and talk with the Israeli envoy.Many of the delegates, according to Her- zog, even refuse to greet him. Others might be of- fended by this, but accord- ing to a story in the New York Times which reports the incident, Herzog feels that this non-recognition has its good side. "It reduces the amount of official drinking one has , to do," Mr. Herzog said. "I think it must be terrible to be the representative of a country that is recognized by everybody." Herzog is further quoted as saying that envoys lack guts. But after all, if as Malik says, only Russia has the right to make Vodka, what can you expect? And surely Israel has quite a problem fighting not only a battle but the bottle. Bar-Ilan U. Has Exhibit on U.S. TEL AVIV — Bar-Ilan University recently opened a special exhibition to honor the American Bicentennial. The display comprises of 1,500 books dealing with United States during the past 200 years. In conjunction with the Bicentennial, the depart- ment of general history at Bar-Ilan is organizing a se- ries of seminars dealing with various subjects con- cerning the U.S.