THE JEWISH NEWS
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Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July .20, 051
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PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
'"••••,.
DREW LIEBERWITZ
Business Manager
Advertising Manager
Alan tiitsky, News Editor . . . Heidi Press, Assistant News Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the fourth day of Tevet, 5737, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Genesis 41:1-44:17. Prophetical portion, Zechariah 2:14-4:7
Friday, Dec. 24, Fast of the Tenth of Tevet
Pentateuchal portion, Exodus 32:11-14; 34:1-10. Prophetical portion (afternoon only), Isaiah 55:6-56:8.
Candle lighting, Friday, Dec.
VOL. LXX, No. 16
Page Four
24, 4:47
p.m.
Friday, December 24, 1976
To the Synagogues, Ye Faithful
In a wholesome society, people of good
will respect the festivals of those who differ
religiously. The holiest day on the Christian
calendar is a time for Jews to greet their
Christian fellow citizens with best wishes
for merriment.
Christians exchange the compliment
and wish us a Shana Tova on Rosh Hashana
and a Happy Hanuka when we greet them
with a Merry Christmas.
These friendly and human spirits do not
affect synagogue or church. We go to the
former, they go to the latter, and when
there is a common spirit of genuine Good
Will it has emphasis in the houses of work-
ship when each faith respects itself. It is out
of such self-respect that there develops re-
spect for one another.
Therefore, when the neighbors go to
church, we go to the synagogue.
And in exchanging wishes for good will
and festival merriment we increase our re-
spect for those who observe faithfully.
In such a society it is necessary for
those who admire the faithfulness of others
also to be faithful to themselves.
Therefore, the clarion call to the Jewish
community on this Christmas Eve:
To the Synagogues, ye faithful!
Kissinger in a Blaze of Respect
Dr. Henry A. Kissinger's departure
from the highest post in the land next to the
presidency may not be in a blaze of glory,
but it certainly is in a role of great respect
for a very brilliant statesman.
Of course there are arid there will be
criticisms. Already there are assurances
that the incoming Secretary of State, Cyrus
Vance, will be different, that the powers
that had been attained by Dr. Kissinger will
under the new Administration revert to the
President. The implications are clear—that
the retiring head of the State Department
had dominated in the making of foreign
policies. Nevertheless, there is a record for
service by the retiring diplomat that should
not be ignored.
There are Jews iri Diaspora and Israelis
in Israel who are embittered over the Kis-
singer Middle East policies. There are many
others who have an appreciation for the
Kissinger efforts.
The fact is that the Kissinger shuttle
diplomacy which the incoming Administra-
tion promises to scrap has brought results
not to be ignored and greatly to be ap-
preciated. -
Israel made concessions to Egypt and
Syria, and the extremists don't like it. But
hostilities ended on both borders, warfare
has ceased and there is a measure of coop-
eration with both Egypt and Syria in assur-
ing an adherence to a workable armistice.
Will the truce last? It has survived
many criticisms, and Dr. Kissinger still is
the butt of many thrusts at him for not hav-
ing yielded in many anticipated special in-
clinations for Israel. The most recently
quoted Kissinger view that he believes
Sadat to be more amicable for diplomatic
agreements than the Israelis may create
resentment. But the retiring Secretary of
State did reach into previously closed quar-
ters in both Sadat and Assad camps, and the
ultimate result must be viewed as of benefit
to a hoped-for peace in an embattled area.
Dr. Kissinger has been blamed for the
U.S. support of the recent UN resolution
which was critical of the establishment of a
number of Jewish settlements in West Bank
areas. The contention is that this has been a
consistent U.S. policy and that support of
that resolution of rebuke to Israel averted
adoption of a much more serious condemna-
tion. There is cause for regret for many of
the State Department positions pursued in
the foreign policy programs relating to the
Middle East, but the long-range results
augur a good mark for the Kissinger pro-
gram. The ultimate aim, preventing more
bloodshed, aspiring to an accord for an end
to hostilities, is what is vital historically.
Naturally there is hope that the new
Secretary of State will be successful in br-
inging the contending Arab-Israel forces
closer, that there may be some form of
peace. Yet it must be admitted that the
hoped for successes by Secretary Vance will
be the result of preparatory labors by Secre-
tary Kissinger. Therefore, the Kissinger ef-
forts must be viewed as meriting glory and
certainly will be marked historically with
respect.
Auction Bloc Threat to a Nation
If it were not so serious it would be
humorous — the manner in which every
nonentity in the Middle East is speculating ,
over Israel's existence.
PLO and cohorts, Sadat under pressure,
Assad in a renewal of amity with Arafat
after the Lebanese civil war — all are en-
gaged in architectural ploys formulating a
new so-called Palestinian state. None asks
the Jordanian king for an opinion or Israel
for consent. The assumption is submission.
But to submit in the form proposed for the
peace used as a taunt would mean Israel's
suicide. The enemy hasn't learned that in
Jewish life suicide is anathema.
M EW P EAc(
- 7 - \ - ..
hv iriATIVES 4
are g jwing
aip
Atikk,
l‘ita,
Impressive 900-Page Volume
Sachar's 'History of Zionism'
Covers Total Zionist Experience
Jewish historical studies are greatly enriched and Israel's
history is monumentally presented in "A History of Israel:
From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time" by Howard M. Sachar
(Knopf).
So thorough is the summation of Zionist and Israeli history
in this impressive volume of more than 900 pages that it covers
every aspect of state-making and state-building, with a timeli-
ness in coverage and the most up-to-date facts yet published in a
single book.
Dr. Sachar traces Zionist history with a thorough study of
Jewish nationalism as it is affected by conditions in European
communities. The result of such a study is the emergence not
only of pre-Israel Jewish experiences but actually of the basic
historic events as they affected Jewish life, during the tragic
eras leading up to the Nazi period and the subsequent occur-
rences that were inherent in the struggle for statehood in the
troubled times of British mandatory rule in Palestine.
None of the important events in Zionism is ignored in the
voluminous work. The Weizmann-Jabotinsky conflict, the chal-
lenges of the Revisionists, the power of the Labor Party Mapai
Poale Zion as well as the American experiences all combine to
form a matrix of historic merit.
Equally significant is the
evaluative approach in most
scholarly fashion of the roles of the
Soviet Union as well as the British in
a struggle that resulted in fulfill-
ment of Jewish aspirations for an
end of homelessness despite
obstructions from the British
Foreign Office and the pro-Arab
manipulations of the Russians.
Prof. Sachar's notable work is
not limited to the political. It em-
braces every aspect of Zionist ex-
perience, including the inner Israeli
struggles and the conflict that arose
ideologically and temperamentally
between the Sephardic
Ashkenazic communities settle(
Israel. This, too, is a distinct con-
tribution in scholarship by a student
of the Middle East whose works on
the subject are now among the most
HOWARD M. SACHAR
definitive.
There is a clarity on many aspects of the subject, such as the
so-called Palestinians , and on the problems emerging from the
Arab antagonisms.
Another element of distinct merit in this volume is the
biographical, the fact that the reader becomes more intimately
acquainted with Zionist leadership, whether it is Chaim Weiz-
mann or Louis D. Brandeis or Vladimir Jabotinsky and all their
associates. --
It stands to reason that the American scene is not ignored,
and in this factor there is the quality of completeness that
enriches history. This is how the new Sachar volume is to be
judged: as an enrichment of Jewish historical studies.