2 Friday, September 17, 1976

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Purely Commentary

The Socio-Religious Addenda
to Political Year's Dilemmas

Presidential political years have their special as-
pects. The great arbiter, the Voter, isuddenly becomes
the Judge over all men, and the candidates bow to him
enough to account for another four years of pigeonhol-
ing processes, especially if they deal with party plat-
forms. There is lots of patronizing prior to that crucial
first Tuesday in November quadrennially. While
generalizing can be ugly, reality is the final arbiter in
human relations. It is especially true in politics.
Noble lessons are being learned in that respect
when national Jewish organizations convene during
these ell-lies-shattering political campaigns. Bnai
Brith and the Zionist Organization of America met
last week and both were hosts to the candidates for
President and their running mates. Seldom are par-
ticipants in such sessions treated to as many de-
licacies. The candidates converse with the Almighty,
they treat the voter to the social sciences, they preach
ethics, and on occasion they even. overcoin e the skepti-
cism, especially when they are held to the vows con-
tained in party planks.
These are compulsory random thoughts in view of
the emphasis given to Israel at gatherings attended
by Jews.
Everybody talks about the bipartisanship, the
two-party commitment to Jewry for a secure Jewish
state of Israel. Yet Jews are advised not to blow cau-
tion to the winds and to remain on guard lest some
thing go wrong and danger keep confronting the
Jewish state.
Since vigilance remains the price of liberty,
whether it is the freedom that could be at stake for
Americans or for Jews or both, this plea for caution
sounds pragmatic. Yet, if the American-Israel friend-
ship is to be kept strong and indestructible, with Con-
gress so overwhelmingly determined never to sell Is-
rael down the river, isn't the mere suspicion of a possi-
ble abandonment of Israel suggestive of hypocrisy in
some ranks?
The subject called "pledges to the voter is a .very
serious matter. Yet, it is marked by so much satire

Tribute to a Dedicated Activist: Community Delights
to Honor Lawrence Gubow . . . Some Comments on the
Political Views Relating to Need for Caution, Vigilance

that a Will Rogers or Mark Twain in the American
ranks, a Sholem Aleichem in the Jewish team, can do a
great deal to prevent overconfidence and to inject
much realism in democratic circles. Let it be remem-
bered that the normal audience is kind to the politi-
cian, especially when he tells a political gathering
what it wishes to hear.
Isn't this the case with a Bnai Brith or a Zionist
audience. When the candidate unfurls the starred.
Red, White and Blue, he is a hero. If he dares to review
existing conditions in the Middle East tinged with
realities in a dynamite-filled situation, he becomes
suspect. -
Take the case of Dr. Joseph J. Sisco, former assis-
tant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, who
spoke at a ZOA convention session last week. He made
an interesting point: that while Russia can supply lots
of arms to the Arab states, the U.S. is in the best role to
be the peace-maker. Why? Because the U.S. now has
the confidence of both the Arab states and Israel and
therefore, strives to bring both together for peace
planning.
It is to be deduced from this that America is to be
applauded for peace aims. But the administration in
power, and especially the State Department, are being
condemned for providing as much, if not more, arms to
the Arabs than Israel's enemies receive from the
USSR. So, where is the consistency, who is to be
trusted, and is realism possible?
Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Walter
"Fritz" Mondale gets a big hand from a Zionist audi-
ence because he criticizes the President for not having
spoken firmly sagainst any form of Arab boycott. By
the time he had spoken the President had already
affirmed a position of opposition to the Arab boycott.
Now the guy who talks down to the audience with the
most promises gets the biggest applause.
By the same token, how does an audience judge
Republican Vice Presidential candidate Robert Dole
who affirms what he had done throughout his Con-
gressional career: give his sincerest support to Israel;
yet he choses to speak, in a sense, as Sisco did, with an
aura of statesmanship, reviewing the problems and •
indicating that Jews and Israelis must be confronted

By Philip
Slomovitz

with the dangers with which the White House and the
State Department must be concerned in a task for a
Middle East peace. If it is right for Jewish speakers to
tackle the Arab danger to Israel, why can't the politi-
cians who are running for office? Now that's trading
with horses of different colors.
In fairness, it must be asserted as the Voter pre-
pares to be Judge over the candidates come Nov. 2,
that Congress has emerged as a great force in ascer-
taining friendship for Israel. Take Mondale and Dole
as examples: in neither of their states, Minnesota and
Kansas, is the Jewish population sufficient to elect
anyone in a statewide election, perhaps in not even a
single Congressional district. Yet both candidates for
Vice President have consistently voted to aid and to
protect Israel.
What about the chiefs of the two major part: -
Both are pro-Israel. They are among the Wise
politics. They know that they had better register as
defenders of Zion and for justice to the Jewish people,
else history will damn them to perdition.

The Boycott: The Immorality of It •
A longer than usual New York Times editorial on
"The Arab Boycott - makes a plea against legislation
to combat the boycott because of the inconsistencies
involved, the fact that this country condones a boycott
of people doing business with Cuba and similar ac-
tualities.
The fact stated by the NYTimes is not disputable.
Yet the prefatory NYTimes comment about the injus-
tice to those dealing with Israel in the Arab boycott
which has been extended from Israel herself to all
Americans favorable to Israel in business transac-
tions retains its effectiveness. There is an immorality
in the Arab actions and Americans condoning it be-
come the negators of every principle of decency in the
American way of life. Therefore, the legislation now
confronting President Ford must be approved, and if
there are inequities elsewhere they, too, should be
corrected. But the Arab-sponsored prejudices must be
relegated where they belong: to the contemptuous
dungheap where bigotries are relegated by justice lov-
ing AMericans.

1

Lawrence Gubow the Man the Community Delighted to Honor

How is the community judging leadership?
What really is leadership, and how does a person merit recognition?
The Men's Club of Shaarey Zedek rose to commendable. heights with a tes-
timonial now on record as a genuine appreciation for services and dedication by a
man of dignity and well earned respect from fellow men.
Lawrence Gubow was always with courage. A
wounded warrior in the tragic years of the last world
conflict when he was a prisoner of the Germans, he was
as strongly linked with the Jewish War Veterans of the
United States, as the most devoted of patriots.
He could have risen to the highest positions in the
JWV, but he worked in the ranks and was a factor for
good in the veterans' ranks as he was in all other
labors he had undertaken.
Therefore, as head of the Detroit Jewish Commun-
ity Council, he was able to transmit to his fellow work-
ers a sense of realism in public affairs and a firmness of
action unmatched in leadership.
As in all of his services, Judge Gubow devoted
himself conscientiously to court duties, emerging as a
just and capable arbiter.
He is as fearless as he is just and thereby gains the
LAWRENCE GUBOW

pride the community enjoys in him. I
That's only a partial way of his having gained a following that stems from
dynamic direction. He held important legal positions before becoming federal
judge. It was thanks primarily to a great friend, Philip A. Hart, who is retiring
soon as U. S. Senator from Michigan, that President Johnson accepted good advice
to name a good man to a federal judgeship.
In that role, too, he had an interesting lesson to teach his fellow men. When it
was necessary to picket the French Consulate in Detroit in protest against indig-
nities to Israel, Judge Lawrence Gubow was in the lead. His judgment was
questioned by Detroit newspapers. The Jewish News advocated and commended
him editorially, and the incident was forgotten. But it was not erased from his
record. It stands as one of the monuments to his career.
The glory of the Gubow name is enhanced by a family loyalty and respect
which counts for much more than the honors from others. That's whence the
greatest satisfaction stems.
He is no longer a well man, but he labors on, and when a son helps him without
flippancies he can count his glories. When parents, wife and children know how to
respect and treat with compassion his present needs, he has again earned admira-
tion.
And the Men's Club of Shaarey Zedek was responsible for giving glory to a
good man. Glory to it for it.

A New Prospering Industrial' Village in the Gush Etzion Area

By MOSHE RON

Jewish News Special
Israel Correspondent

TEL AVIV— One is full
of enthusiasm, pride and
optimism when one
leaves Tel Aviv, which is
bristling with commercial
and political activity and
visits the new village,
Elazar, in the Gush Ezion
area.
The first 14 families
came to this village only
in October, 1975. Now,
after 10 months, one can-
not recognize this place
owing to its rapid de-
velopment. The settle-
ment department of the
Jewish Agency, which is
in general skeptical about
the tempo of development
of new villages, faces in
this case a miracle. Its
members have the prob-
lem of how to induce the
inhabitants of the village
to refrain from dealing
with too many develop-

ment projects at the same
time.
Elazar is the fourth
settlement in the Gush
Ezion area. It is a collec-
tive industrial village,
whereas the other three
villages in the area are
engaged in agricultural
work. Most of the in-
habitants of the other
three villages are people
who have lived in this
area and fought for it, be-
fore the Jewish villages
were destroyed by the
Jordanian Arab Legion
during the War of Inde-
pendence in 1948. The in-
habitants of Elazar are
new immigrants who
came to this village im-
mediately after their ar-
rival in Israel.
The village is named
after the hero Elazar from
the ancient times of the
Hashmonaim, who was kil-
led by an elephant in the
fight against the Greek
army commander, Lysios.

The mountain on which
this fight took place is near
the village.
The young secretary of
the village, Shlomo Es-
tereicher, told us that the
idea of establishing the
village dates back seven
years to New York, when
a group of youngsters
with the "Yakndav" (To-
gether) had decided to
immigrate to Israel. They
negotiated with the
Jewish Agency and gov-
ernment departments in
Israel. At last they de-
cided to establish a vil-
lage in Gush Etzion.
Today there are 21
families — 90 people, in-
cluding two children — in
the village. The average
age of the settlers is 35
years. They are mostly
immigrants from the
U.S., England, Canada
and Switzerland. The
language among them-
selves is still English, but
they learn Hebrew

quickly. There are 40
houses in the villages and
58 additional housing
units are being prepared.
Several Israelis have an-
nounced their prepared-
ness to join the village.
The inhabitants of the
village are very satisfied
with their work. "We
came to fulfill a pioneer
ideal. We feel that we
have succeeded in it,"
Shlomo Estereicher told
us. "We already have
three enterprises: com-
puters, a chemical -
laboratory and
wallpaper. The men of the
village work all day, the
women halfdays."
The main branch of the
village is the computer en-
terprise, in which 50 per-
cent of the inhabitants are
employed. The ultra mod-
ern, factory is headed by
Ronnie Horowich, an ex-
pert in this line, who came
from England five years
ago. There are good pros-

pects that even U.S. firms
will order computers made
in Elazar, as they are
cheaper than in other
countries.
The chemical laborat-
ory is named after the
late Israeli Minister for
Social Welfare, Michael
Hazani. It is headed by
Dr. Yehuda Shekel, who
finished his studies in the
Haifa Technion. The
laboratory is only oc-
cupied with research
work, but soon it will start
to work also for practical
purposes, like producing
chemical food for animals
and chickens. His wife,
Anda Shekel, is produc-
ing wooden educational
toys for children, which
resemble -the apartments
in Elazar. Children learn
easier and quicker with
materials which relate to
their environment.
Anda Shekel came from
Switzerland to study in
the Technion. She is a

child psychologist. Her
wooden educational toys
are also sold commer-
cially and there are plans
for the factory in Elazar
to export the toys as well.
Mrs. Estereicher, who
is working in the
wallpaper factory told us
that theirwallpapers„P ,- .e
of special modern
She said the facti:
would also work for ex-
port.
Elazar is ready to ab-
sorb new immigrants
even before they have
learned the professions
which are needed in the
village. They start to
teach the immigrants
through practical work
immediately after coming
into the village. Elazar
has become a model vil-
lage. If the experiment to
establish a successful in-
dustrial village succeeds,
similar industrial vil-
lages will be set up all
over the country.

K

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