12 Friday, February 18, 1977 Big Discounts Off. Machs. Furniture Add 'n Type 342-7800 399-8333 342-1221 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Masada: Theme for Book, Insight to the Jewish People By DR. MILTON ST1INHARDT "The Masada Plan" by Leonard Harris (Crown), arouses many __mixed reactions in the reader, While the background of SMALL BEQUESTS BUILD A STRONG ISRAEL If the tradition of including the Jewish National Fund in the Will of every Jew were invariably followed, sufficient resources would be accumulated to-ensure the future of the young Jewish State on a sound basis of land development, social welfare, and justice. A bequest to the Jewish National Fund should be as traditional as having aBlue Box in one's home. You may want your bequest to be dedicated to afforestation, to a village, a Nachlah, to a children's play area, to perpetual yahrzeit or kaddish, or to some form of permanent tribute in the names of persons dear to you. Consult the Foundation for Jein.sh National Fund, 22100 Greenfield, 968 0820. They will gladly co-operate with you in working out plans to meet your special requirements, in strict privacy. - an Arab-Israeli war is senstive and engrossing, the style and plot leave something to be desired. Even resourceful Is- . rael, born out of miracles, off the could hardly incredible fantastic an f events with such finesse in a life and death strug- . gle. The plot begins in 1979 with an all-out, coordi- nated surprise Arab at- tack on Israel with the most sophisticated Rus- sian weaponry, three years after the Sinai agreement. A new el& ment in this conflict is the "even-handed" neutral- ity' of the. United States with an established em- bargo similar to the one during the Spanish Civil War in 1936, and to the one by France in 1967. The danger to Israel Of being driven into the sea is imminent, as the losses are beyond endurance. The Is- raeli cabinet decides to ac- tivate the Masada Plan if a cease-fire is not effected in 24 hours. The official Israeli note to the UN, U.S., Soviet Union, and Egypt ends with a declaration of "freedom of action" in the event of non-compliance. This is interpreted as a veiled threat of nuclear retaliation if the very existence of Israel is en- dangered. It is later determined that this plan, complete, with maps, spells out the nuclear destruction of half a dozen major cities in the U.S., Egypt, and Russia, if a cease-fire is not accomplished. This prompts the Sec- retary of State to work a whole night on the "hot line" to obtain the con- sent of the Soviets and Egypt to a cease-fire. However, the irony was that what was antici- pated to be a mere formal- ity — the U.S. approval — turned out to be most dif- ficult, because the "U.S. does not submit to blackmail". The President was fi- nally forced to yield under the threat of a press con- - ference which would ac- cuse him of possibly caus- ing world nuclear destruc- tion. A cease-fire is ef- fected. The climax of this drama is reached when it is • revealed that the Masada Plan was a hoax and deliberately planted as "top secret". was The • story punctuated by explicit love scenes, also the cloakand-dagger Arab attempts to kill the Is- raeli ambassador on three occasions. It is indeed a fantastic story. Perhaps this book camies one important message to those con- cerned with the security of-the Jewish state — that Israel can only de- pend on its own strength and that of world Jewry first, second, and last; and that in the world of politics there is no friend- ship or morality, only na- tional interests. However, despite the engrossing story and some clever repartee, it lackA the literary subtlety and strong characterization that would secure a dura- ble place for this book be- yond the seventies. "The Masada' Plan,' however, stirs many re- flections and focuses at- tention on the -age-old question of Jewish survi- val and how to cope,with destructive hostile, forces. - As is well known, the fortress Masada is a sym- bol of Jewish courage and resistance, but not of sur- vival. It is also known that many of the elite of the Israel Defense come to this fortress to vow "Masada will never fall again". It bdcomes a de- termination to fight for victory and survival. If this may be called the Masada Complex then we must refer to other types of defensive mechanisms such as the Maccabbean Complei which chooses the first alternative of "fight or flight" as an ul- timate national policy. One other historical - method of coping with strong enemy forces is the Samson Complex: This is the simultaneous destruction of the enemy with one's self, as Samson caused the death of the Philistines along with his own, and the Warsaw Ghetto fighters who val- iantly resolved to kill as Your are cordially invited to particip - ate in the AKIVA HEBREW DAY SCHOOL BAR MITZVA CELEBRATION BANQUET In commemoration of the school's 13th year anniversary SUNDAY, MARCH 6, 1977 CONGREGATION BETH ACHIM 21100 W. TWELVE MILE ROAD, SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN COCKTAILS AT 6:00 P.M. Morris Flatt Honoree Co-Chairmen of the-Dinner Committee are Dr. Harvey Sabota and Milton Duchan- The Honorary Chairman is Dr. Arnold Zuroff - Senator Morris Udall '6. Guest Speaker For Reservations and information, call the school at 354-4664 - many of their captors as they could before they were doomed. Another technique or complex is that of Kid- ush Hashem, best ex- emplified during the Inquisition by the mar- tyrs who offered no phys- ical resistance, but con- founded their enemies by their spiritual strength, conviction, and resolu- tion. A twin companion of this slient passive resis- tance may be called the Job Complex which is characterized by com- plaints to God, with .the query: "Why hast thou forsaken me, oh God"? . Another defensive nil, neuver is what may .be termed the Yavneh Com- plex. It was after the de- struction of the Temple that Rabbi Yohanan Ben Zakai was granted per- mission to establish a talmudic school of learn- ing to maintain the con- tinuity of Judaism. It is de- signed to accept tempor- ary setbacks with hopes to overcome and survive. The Zionism Defense Complex ,(if it may be called that) must become the reply of the Jews to their appressors: An in- dependent and secure land, a culture and a his- tory all in one. According to the Agada, Abraham muz- zled his animals that they should not graze in the fields of others.