64 Friday, May 20, 1977
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Israel Must Cultivate Emerging Countries With UN Votes
BY ROBERT ST. JOHN
Special to the Jewish News
(Copyright, 1977 JTA, Inc.)
7:71
(Editor's note: The follow-
ing article by Robert St.
John is the first of three by
the famous correspondent
about his recent South Pa-
cific trip.)
Several months ago,
when a vote was being
taken in the General Assem-
bly on a partiqularly
vicious anti-Israel resolu-
tion, the Amb of
Papua New Gtf , ea sat with
the index finger of his right
hand close to the yellow but-
ton which, then pressed,
would record his country as
abstaining. As he later ex-
plained:
"I did not ask my govern-
ment back home for instruc-
tions because I had been
told to use my own judg-
ement, so I listened to the
arguments of both sides, A
spokesman for the Israelis
gave me their story. Then
the representatives of 10 or
a dozen Arab countries one
after another gave me the
Arab argUment. Of course
it's difficult to weigh such
presentations fairly, be-
cause of the numerical in-
balance, but I tried. Papua
New Guinea is not a mem-
ber of any bloc and we wish
to vote on the side of jus-
tice. However, I could not
make up my mind in this
case, so I decided to vote
`abstain'.
When the tally was an-
nounced, only one country
besides Israel — the United
States — had voted "no"
and Papua New Guinea
was the only country except
Costa Rica to have ab-
stained.
Not many Israelis and
certainly not many Ameri-
cans know much about this
remote, small, isolated, po-
litieally =important, South
Pacific country, except
those old enough to remem-
ber what happened at
Wewak, Rabaul and Port
Moresby, and on Bougain
ville, in World War II. Yet
here is a potential friend
that could easily be culti
vated, if Israel had the dip
lomatic manpower to try to
win over the small coun
tries not directly involved
in the Middle East con
flict of which there are
many.
Papau New Guinea, like
Israel, although struggling
with many survival prob-
lems. has consistently since
independence spent a siz-
eable amount of her nation-
al income on culture.
One of the most impor-
tant unifying forces in Is-
rael is Hebrew, a language
spoken by no other nation-
ality group in the world. In
like manner, Papua New
Guinea, with hundreds of
tribal languages, is unified
When the Jerusalem
by Pidgin, also a unique Ian-
Museum, the Mann Audito-
guage.
rium, the Billy Rose Sculp-
Geographically Israel and
lure Garden and other cul- Papua New Guinea have
Papua New Guinea has
tural projects were being
little in common. Israel is
only three million-
built in Israel some people
7,992 square miles, much of
inhabitants, yet it needs to
argued these were luxuries
it reclaimed swamps and
be remembered that it has
a small country could ill af-
desert.
Papau New Guinea
the same one vote in the
ford.
is 22 times as large, greater
UN as does India with her
Outsiders at may
level New
such
in area than Ohio, Virginia,
six or seven hundred mil- criticism
Papua
Pennsylvania and New -
lion, or China with her 845
Guinea, but inside the coun-
York State combined.
million.
try there is such intense
Israel's river, the Jordan,
An almost identical popu-
pride in the national culture
is world-famous, although
lation total is not all that
that there were no corn-
at some points, in some sea-
Papua New Guinea has in
plaints when several mis-
sons, it is such a piddling
common with Israel. Ex-
sion dollars was appropri-
stream that an agile person
ploring the country recent-
ated for the building of a
can jump from one bank to
ly, we were constantly re- new museum and art gal-
the other.
minded of Israel.
lery, even though a short
Until recently Papau New distance away from the site
Papua New Guinea has a
of this handsome structure
Guinea like Israel in 1948,
river, the Sepik, which is
was a British trusteeship- • people still live in primi-_
half a mile wide at some
mandate.
tive thatch-covered huts.
points and rises as much as
-
-
-
-
—
-
-
21 feet at floodtide. Houses
at water level in the spring
stand like ostriches, on 21-
foot poles, in the dry sea-
son, reachable only by lad-
ders.
Israel is striding rapidly
into the 21st Century;
Papua New Guinea is still
struggling through the In-
dustrial Revolution and in
many ways is not yet out of
the 19th.
While Israel looks on tour-
ism as one of its principal
sources of foreign ex-
change, Papua New Guinea
not only does almost noth-
ing to lure tourists but ac-
tually discourages them by
refusing to devalue her
money as Australia, New
Zealand and other Pacific
nations have done, making
it one of the most expensive
countries in the world for
outsiders. Why? She knows
she is ill equipped to re-
ceive tourists because of
the paucity of good roads,
hotels, other amenities.
Unlike Israel, Papua New
Guinea is not required for
her safety's sake to spend a
sizeable part of her gross
national product on de-
fense.
- While Israel has few natu-
ral resources except the re-
sourcefulness of her people,
Papua New Guinea's
wealth is based on three
c's: copper, cobra and cof-
fee.
But the one thing that
could and should pull the
three million Israelis and
the three million Papua
New Guineans together is
an obvious mutual need. Is-
rael is desperately irr
of friends around the
to offset the collusion of
Arabs, communists and cer
tain short-sighted Third
World countries. Papua
New Guinea, having so re-
cently cut herself loose
from the colonialism of the
Australians, is also seeking
friends. The two peoples
should be encouraged to un-
derstand and appreciate
each other.
In Search of `Sharashim': A Guide to Finding Jewish Roots-
By PHILLIP APPLEBALTM
The current genealogy
craze started by Alex
Haley's "Roots" may find
Jewish enthusiasts some-
what dismayed, since al-
most all of the current liter-
ature on ancestor-hunting
has dealt inadequately with
the special problems faced
by Jews in tracing their
forebearers.
In the four thousand
years of our people's wan-
derings, the chain of oral
transmittal of family his-
tories - has been broken, and
because Jews have the mis-
fortune of being the most
despised, persecuted nation
on earth, countless num-
bers of community ledgers
(pinkasim), family and
synagogue records have
been destroyed in innumer-
able book burnings, por-
goms, or lost in the con-
fusion of expulsions and
wars.
The best most American
Jews can do is track their
family trees back three or
four generations, and most
genealogical guides are not
much help, since they seem
to have been written with
the American of Anglo-
Saxon origin in mind.
However, Dan Rotten-
berg, author, journalist and
genealogy-hobbyist for 19
years, has compiled the
first guide for American
Jewish genealogy en-
thusiasts which extensively
covers the methods and
means of tracing one's
Jewish ancestors, entitled,
"Finding Our Fathers: A
Guidebook to Jewish Gene-
alogy," (Random House ).
Rottenberg begins with
the obvious, the questioning
of family members. He
then goes on, with de-
tailed, precise advice at ob-
taining information from of-
ficial records such as birth,
death and marriage certifi-
cates, federal census re-
cords, ships' passenger
lists, naturalization records,
newspaper obituaries, city
directories and probate re-
cords.
There is also a listing of
academic and research cen-
ters in America which can
yield useful information in
tracing specific family
trees. Among the obvious
such as the American Jew-
ish Archives, the American
Jewish Historical Society
and the YIVO Institute, is
the Mormon Genealogical
Society in Salt Lake City,
Utah, which Rottenberg
admits is probably the best
source for the Jewish ances-
tor hunter.
According to Mormon the-
ology, people bOrn before
the, - faith was founded in
1830 cannot enter heaven
unless they are baptised
posthumously, thus each
Mormon meticulously
searches out every ancestor
he can to ensure them sal-
vation. Since past possible
intermarriages may have in-
cluded members, of other na-
tions and faiths, the Mor-
mons are interested in
everyone's genealogy—in-
cluding Jews. They have
collected millions of docu-
ments and compiled thou-
sands of genealogies, all
computerized and available
at the push of a button. The
best point is, because the
Mormons are so zealous in
ancestor-hunting, they are
extremely helpful to anyone
seeking his forebearers.
To trace one's ancestors
across the ocean, Rotten-
berg has provided a guide
to seeking documentation in
lands of Europe, Asia and
the Americas. Half of the
book is taken up by a re-
markable index of some
8,000 Jewish family names,
giving sources and refer-
ences for further study. In-
cluded in the list are names
familiar to Detroiters, such
as Slomovitz and Chajes.
For all of its useful ad-
vice to offer, Rottenberg's
book has some glaring
faults. notably in the fourth
and fifth chapters. entitled
"A Quick Course in Ju-
daica" and "Tradition, His-
tory and the Bible." An ex-
pert in Jewish genealogy
Rottenberg is, a master of
Jewish history he is not,
and those not competent in
our history would do well to
avoid these two chapters.
His analysis in chapter
four of the origin of Sephar-
dic and Ashkenazic group-
ings is entirely wrong, and
Rottenberg gives too much
credence to the ridiculous
theory of the Khazar origin
of Ashkenazic Jewry. One
would do better to note the
chapter subheadings and
look up the subjects individ-
ually in the Jewish Encyclo-
pedia or the Encyclopaedia
Judaica.
In chapter five, Rotten-
berg would have the naive
Jew or those ignorant of
Jewish history believe they Burton Historical Collection
can actually trace their in the main branch of the
families back to Adam. Rot
Detroit Public Library. The
tenberg presumes too
Burton Collection is known
much; for instance, he
internationally as a prime
states that if one's name is
resource center for genea-
Cohen he should assume he logical study. Moreover, the
is a direct descendant of collection is the official re-
the first priest of Israel,
pository of the archives of
Aaron, brother of Moses. the Jewish Historical So-
Such fanciful explanations ciety of Michigan, thus it
may add color and ro
has much to offer the Jew-
mance to an ancestor
ish genealigist. It is hoped
search, but they detract
any future editions of Rot-
from the primary scholarly
tenberg's book will correct
purpose of genealogy—to
this oversight.
find one's true forebearers.
"Finding our Fathers"
Rottenberg's guide to
otherwise is impressive in
source places in the United
its thoroughness, and for
States is impressive, but he
the dogged sleuth of forgot-
has failed to include one of
ten forebearers, it will pro-
the best genealogical dr-
vide necessary guidance
chives in this country—the
and inspiration.
-
-
U.S. Jewish Women's Roots Spotlighted
At a time when redisco-
vering one's genealogy is in
vogue, a timely book, "The
Jewish Woman in America:
Two Female Immigrant
Generations 1820-1929," has
appeared.
Written by Rudolf Glanz
and co-published by . Ktav
and the National Council of
Jewish Women, the book
traces the arrival of the im-
migrant Jewish woman
from the first German Jew-
ish immigration through
the later Eastern European
Jewish immigration,
mainly of Russian Jews, to
the U.S.
The second of a series,
Glanz's book is com-
prehensive in its presenta-
tion and documentation. It
focuses, for the most part,
on the German Jewish
woman, covering her life
from all angles: family life,
social life, as style. fashion
and etiquette affect her. as
she is confronted by family
problems. marriage and di-
vorce. as she is educated
and seen by the public and
in her involvement in the
women's rights movement.
What one may find inter-
esting is the involvement of
Jewish women in social
work. For example, Glanz
shows a trend away from
women's advancement
groups and toward social
betterment -organizations.
The German Jewish immi-
grant woman had a major
role in this area, especially
in the founding of the Na-
tional Council of Jewish
Women. Glanz states:
"Great things usually
come about by combining a
society-need with an ideal.
The need to recruit the Jew-
ish woman for urgent social
work was obvious as the
century came to its end. To
combine it with the idea of
renewing American
Judaism by women's work
in Jewish society was the
happy deed of those who
founded the National Coun-
cil of Jewish Women in
1893. At that time Jewish
women's organizations had
long enough been under the
influence of the 'Association
for the Advancement of
Women' to achieve mature
judgements in organized
matters. .
**The participation of Jew-
ish women in the woman's
branch of the World's Con-
gress of Religion in that
year. where enthusiasm for
the idea of such a council
was overwhelming, precipi-
tated its establishment...
"The founding organiza-
tion, later a section in the
Council, had been in Chi-
cago, the place where the
women's congress had as-
sembled. Its mentor, Dr.
Emil Hirsch helped deli-
neate the task of the Coun-
cil in its first attempts to or-
ganize. It was his task to _
see to it that the Council
should not lose itself in a
vague program of world re-
forms instead of stepping
forward to achievementQ in
Judaism..."
With the Bicentennial still
fresh in the collective Amer-
ican mind, when every eth-
nic group's contributions to
the country were spot-
lighted and the search for
one's roots a recent U.S.
preoccupation, Jewish
women, specifically, and
historians in general will
find Glanz's "The Jewish
Woman in America" to be
a significant complement to
the wealth of information
available regarding the Jew-
ish immigrant's role in all
aspects of life in America.