THE JEWISH NEWS Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chrimicle commencing with the issue Qt . .Inly 20. 19:51 Member!kmerican Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association. National Editorial Association. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Hike, Suite 865. Southfield, 1ich. -18075. Second-Class Postage Paid at Southfield, Michigan and Additional Mailing Offices. Suhscription $11) a year. PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ DREW LIEBERWITZ Business Manager Advertising Manager Editor Man Hitsk.. Nels.s Editor . . . Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the 23rd day of Elul, 5736, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20. Prophetical portion, Isaiah 61:10-63:9. Candle lighting, Friday, Sept. 17, 7:21 p.m. VOL. LXX, No. 2 Page Four Friday, September 17, 1976 Heartening Year-to-Year Transition Jewish life through the centuries has been marked by so many tragedies that a traditional greeting on the New Year has been in the form of "may the year with the curses end and a year begin with blessings." While it was a play on words because the Hebrew- for begin and end sounds_the same except for the spelling, and pronunciation, the experience dictating such a wish was based on tragedies and agonies. This is a transitional year-to-year week and, fortunately, the condition is better than the experience of the ages. The situation now is more hopeful than the conditions warranted in the past. The Arab threat is minimalized for the time be- ing. The horror stemming from Lebanon puts to shaMe the inhu- man elements., among those who would destroy Israel. They can not cement friendships and social decencies among themselves yet they would harm a peaceful neighbor. Will they learn the lesson taught in Lebanon? Perhaps the panaceal time is merely delayed, but for the present there is a modicum of peace. Also: there - seems to be mobilization against terrorism and in defense of human decencies in many lands. Noted academi- cians and honorable politicians who earn the right to be called statesmen are to meet soon to give battle to the anti-Zionist racist charge. This, too, is for the good. The anti-Semitic elements are never si- lent, but it can not be said that they have gained weight in civilized quarters. On the agenda remains the verdict of a Pontiff about "the sin of anti-Semitism." This speaks well for humankind, even if it is tem- porary. And if all these things are temporary, at least they affirm that for 5737 there is a transitional blessing.. May it continue through the years so that what is good as an offing for Jews should prove a blessing for all mankind. Community's Educational Processes One more transitional aspect in com- munal planning: the educational needs and policies. Actually, this is not a matter of transi- tion, rather of the Hebraic Hemshekh, con- tinuity. And this calls for an ongoing process of probing, of seeking for advancement and improvement. For some decades the Greater Detroit Jewish school system rated very high in the educational ranks of American Jewry. Both in the. congregational and communal schools the standards of teaching were —high, yet the results were not boastful. Too many of the children in the years after their Bar Mitzva, perhaps the Bat Mitzva girls should also be included, bemoaned the min- imal attainments they were left with. Maximal aims were always on the agenda, and if the results are less than had been hoped for then new approaches are needed. With lessening school enrollments, due mainly to a drop in the birth rate, there is even greater need today for stronger em- phasis on concentrated educational prog- rams. Fortunately, the emphases at present point to greater solidity in school instruc- tion and the demands that Bnai Mitva must have a minimum of five years of Jewish schooling is especially helpful in creating a foundation for a knowledgeable generation. Most effective is the progress that has been made by the Day Schools. That's where the youth get the type of training that as- sures continuous study, several hours a day, five days a week, without the reduc- tions of recent years that have made the afternoon schools only a bit more effective than the earlier, unproductive Sunday School. Recognition of these facts is vital to all advocates of priority for the Jewish school in communal planning. This is what is at the root of a search for continuity. As the New Year 5737 approaches, pa- rents must account for their interest in the best form of Jewish education for their chil- dren by giving their endorsement to the maximum needs. Even more important, however, is the urgency that the encour- agement for proper Jewish educational pro- cesses should be in the home and the -influ- ence upon the community that finances the schools, the teachers and the adminis- trators should come from the home. A strong home atmosphere and a firmness from parents perpetuating the ideal Jewish family spirit will do more to induce a deep interest in the school by the children than all else. 'NE •JEWRY Illustrated -Haym Salomon Biography Newly Documented "Send for Haym Salomon!" This is the title of a new book published by the Haym Salo- mon Foundation and the Borden Publishing Co. of Alhambra, Calif. Actually, they are the words ascribed to the General of the Army of the American Revolution, George Washington. The revolutionary forces were in great difficulty. It was in the year 1881. Washington's army was without means to carry on the war against the British. Haym Salomon was the great patriot who provided the wherewithal for the American revolu- tionary forces to proceed with the task of creating a new nation. Much has been written on the subject. Scores of books and special articles describe the dedication of a newcomer from Po- land who threw himself into the tasks of liberating this land from the domination of the British. Yet the new book by Vic Knight, Jr. appears as a distinct contribution to the amassed biographical data about the Polish Jew who earned the title of a financier of the Revolution. The data accumulated for this splendidly illustrated work offers a fascinating story that enriches the literature dealing with the Bicentennial of the American Revolution. Supplementing the thorough accounts of the Haym Salo- mon saga are the scores of illustrations collected by Joseph Henninger. The photos themselves.and the numerous drawings would fill a volume on Salomon. Like the text itself, they would be a story of the Revolution and its heroes. Collectively this work, so well researched, adds significantly to the story of heroism and devotion to the nation that arose from the efforts of the Sons of Liberty, who counted Salomon among its adherents, and the libertarians and nation-builders. Salomon's relationships with the pioneers, with Robert Morris, with other fellow patriots, his arrest by the British are part of history and in the Knight book the Polish Jewish immi- grant is a strong link in the Revolution. His private life, his marriage to Rachel Franks which gave him an added link to a famous Jewish family of Colonial times — all these recollections give added factors of eminence to a noted figure in early American history. The reproduced documents in a life story that is not easy to reconstruct, because so many historical facts have been lost, the inclusion among the photographs of the only one., in color, that is on display in the home for the aged in Brooklyn, new data never before used in Salomon biographies, combine to form a work so valuable foi all Americans seeking facts about this nation's formative years. Insanity Inspired by Insanity Hijacking was condoned in the interna- tional organization misnamed United Na- tions as a sport. Therefore, the ensuing hor- rors that emerged from the original acts of terrorisms and indecencies became a plague upon mankind. If the originators of the hijackings on an international scale, the Arab bandits, had been rebuked at the outset and the American proposals to make terrorism a crime had been adopted by the United Na- tions, the insanities might have been pre- vented. But the Soviets, the Third World blocs and their cohorts refused to condemn the brutalities. Now all suffer for it. New proposals are pending in the UN for, a Convention Against Terrorism. West Germany is co-sponsoring it with the United States. Only 18 nations presently are back- ing it, providing a warning that it may not be adopted. If there is no drastic action the world can expect a continuation of the in- sanities that were experienced from LaGuardia Airfield last weekend. 1 In Heald Square on Wacker Drive in Chicago, stands a larger-than-life statue portraying General George Washington, Robert Morris and Haym Salomon. The grouping is intended to honor the role that civilians played in supporting the successful military effort.