THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 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 805, 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
Hol Hamoed Passover Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 17th day of Nisan, 5786, is the first intermediate day of Passover.
Scriptural selections for the week are: Saturday, Exodus 13:1-16; Numbers 28:19-25. Sunday, Exodus 22:24-23:19;
Numbers 28:19-25. Monday, Exodus 84:1-26; Numbers 28:19-25. Tuesday, Numbers 9:1-14; 28:19-25.
Seventh day of Passover, Wednesday, Pentateuchal portion, Exodus 18:17 715:26; Numbers 28:19-25. Prophetical portion,
II Samuel 22:1-51.
Eighth day of Passover, Thursday, Pentateuchal portion, Deuteronomy 15:19-16:17; Numbers 28:19-25. Prophetical
portion, Isaiah 10:32-12:6.
Candle lighting, Friday, April 16, 6:56 p.m.
VOL. LXIX, No. 6
Page Four
Friday, April 16, 1976
Festival's Hope for Olive Branch
Israel of old attained peace with Egypt by
farce of Almighty powers. The plagues and the
Miracles were essential to the consummation of
the Exodus.
Thus Egypt was a mighty force that stood
in the way of Israel's redemption from slavery.
The current conditions, the present conflict,
the experiences of the past two decades once
again witness Egypt as a mighty force that
stood in the way of a lasting peace.
Relative calm in the Sinai marks a cessation
of military confrontations. But it is a temporary
solution, with armies still poised for action and
the Arab partners in the war proclaimed against
Israel continuing to threaten not only peace but
also the cease fire.
How are the links between past and present
to be judged?
Is there even the .remotest hope for an end
to warfare in the boiling cauldron of the Middle
East?
As Jews prepare for the traditional Seder
on Wednesday evening, Egypt again is a symbol
of a renewing concern lest the enemy of old, Is-
rael's antagonist in the strife that is related in
the story of the Exodus, might weaken again
from a status of calm to become a leader against
Israel's struggle for security as an amicable
neighbor to all Arabs as well as the Egyptians.
That is why, in this period of celebration of
the Exodus from Egypt, all Jews pray for an ol-
ive branch, for fulfillment of the Prophecy of Is-
aiah which emphasizes this great aspiration for
justice and universal peace:
And it shall come to pass in the end of days,
That the mountain of the Lord's house shall be
established as the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow unto it.
And many peoples shall go - and say:
'Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of
the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
And He will teach us of His ways,
And we will walk in His paths.'
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
And He shall judge between the nations,
And shall decide for many peoples;
And they shall beat their swords into
plowshares,
And their spears into pruning-hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war any more.
0 house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk
In the light of the Lord.
— Isaiah 2:2-5
Israel Remains the Scapegoat
Lebanon's tragedy should have been a les-
son for all that bigotry and intolerance always
prove detrimental to the parties concerned. In -
the instance of a nation or a group of nations, an
unjust cause can result in detriment to an entire
area, with dire consequences for the entire
world.
In Lebanon it was different. While Chris-
tians were and still are battling Moslems, reli-
gious and political leaders of both sides continue
to malign Israel and to imply that Israel seeks
gains from such a sad conflict.
Lebanon's President Suleiman Franjieh,
the Maronite Christian, may, deep down in his
heart, hope for an Israeli triumph in the battle
with her Moselm enemies — because the Maron-
ite church leaders have consistently defended Is
rael. But for political reasons and for public con-
sumption he has joined in making Israel the
scapegoat, and while suffering from Moslem
and PLO enemies he kept expressing fears for
an Israeli invasion, one of those fantastic inven-
tions of the desert minds.
Proof that Israel was a target of all embat-
tled groups came when Yasir Arafat joined
hands with the extremist Communist and fellow
Moslem Dr. George Habash and the Moslem
army rebel Ahmed Khatib in threats to Israel.
True, they also threatened to sink the U.S. 6th
Fleet if it helped rescue survivors from the new
Christian-Moslem holocaust in Lebanon, but Is-
rael was the target.
That's how the kinsmen, the historic
"cousins" of the Arabs, remain the scapegoats.
When such a victim is sought it doesn't matter
whether the hater is of one religion or another.
The Jew is an available scapegoat and it's a role
hard to dismantle.
Sabotage Not Always Workable
Solidarity among Israel's friends, Jews as
well as non-Jews, in defense of a beleaguered
state, is proving one basic fact: that sabotage
and hatred is not always workable.
Haters of Israel, Arabs who are terrorising
the world and their anti-Semitic cohorts, resort
to numerous weapons to harm Israel. Unable to
defeat Israel on the battlefield, they have turned
to the economic weapon. But the boycott is not
always potent. They have resorted to terror in
the hope of driving away the multitudes of tour-
ists from the Holy Land. This, too, has proven
unworkable.
The answer to the hatreds is additional sol-
idity in Israel's support; philanthrophic assist-
ance through the United Jewish Appeal, the ma-
jor beneficiary of the Detroit Allied Jewish
Campaign; purchase of Israel Bonds and, espe-
cially, continuing tourism to Israel. The latter is
vital as demonstration of kinship and friendship
and a determination by friends of Israel to meet
with Israelis, to encourage them face to face and
to warn the would-be destroyers that inhumani-
ties don't work when a just cause is involved.
Biblical Plants and Flowers
for American Gardens, Homes
Dover Publications has issued a most fascinating paperback.
In "Bible Plants for American Gardens," Eleanor Anthony King
lists numerous plants, trees, herbs and flowers that were grown in or
near the Holy Land, and shown in her extensively illustrated paper-
back, that have applicability to many climates in the United States.
More than 50 herbs and garden plants, 27 trees and 32 flowers are
described and discussed, in their biblical context and with references
to the conditions needed in the United States to grow them.
Mrs. King's work describes many commonly known fruits and
vegetables found in the U.S. today, such as cucumber, oranges, onions,
oak and pine trees, as well as the exotic. Entries include general plant-
ing instructions and requirements, descriptions, as well as such sto-
ries as the building of Solomon's Temple (cedar of Lebanon), Adam
and Eve (fig and apple), and the dispute between Jacob and Esau
(lentil).
Numerous biblical references are given as well as black-and-white
photographs of many of the plants themselves, in an ingenious volume
originally issued in 1941.
A sample of the depth and variety of information provided by
Mrs. King is her section on the lowly (and delicious) cucumber:
These juicy, watery vegetables are always delicious in
any climate, and their refreshing coolness was particularly
valued during the hot, dry season in Palestine and Egypt. In
Egypt, in the valley of the Nile, cucumbers grew luxuriantly
and were eaten and enjoyed by the Children of Israel.
When Moses led them out of Egypt and into the Arabian
desert, cucumbers and other vegetables were no longer avail-
able. The fruits and vegetables, "the fish and fowl of their
Egyptian days were but a memory. Food in the desert was
scarce; God sent them manna every day so that there was
bread, but they were discontented with such a diet.
They complained bitterly to Mosei: "We remember the
fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers; and the
melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: but
now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, besides this
manna, before our eyes" (Num. 11:5, 6).
Why have you brought us to this evil place, they said,
where there are no figs, grapes or pomegranates; there is no
water here to drink either! (Num. 20.5).
They had forgotten their unhappy days as bondsmen; now
they longed for Egypt as a land in which there was plenty to
eat.
The cucumbers for which they longed were of the sair.
species which we grow in America today. This plant has been
in cultivation since time immemorial, so long in fact that it is
not known as a wild plant. Its wild ancestors and the countill
in which they first grew are lost in the mists of time.
Cucumbers were cultivated by the Hebrews in the Prom-
ised Land, and Isaiah makes specific reference to a garden of .
cucumbers (Isa. 1:8).
Lest any reader with a green thumb believe he is being tantalized
too early with thoughts of summer and a wondrous vegetable garden,
Mrs. King follows the biblical references with complete planting in-
structions, including the admonition that cucumbers should be
planted as early as possible, "perhaps in April," but they will not toler-
ate cold, wet soils or frosts.
She also offers several tips on how to keep the young plants free of
frost-bite with little paper cones.
Cleverly and entertainingly written, "Bible Plants for American.
Gardens" offers not only advice on growing biblical plants and flowers
in the home and garden, but offers as well many Bible stories and
narratives that amply illustrate the long history of use of plants by
our forefathers.