41111141.1MISF
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Will to Survive, Israeli Drug
Help Save Leukemia Victim
NEW YORK—With the
help of an Israeli medicine
not on the American mar-
ket and the will to fight his
disease, attorney Morris
Berthold Abram is happy to
be alive to participate in
sports with his children.
About four years ago,
Abram's physician, Dr.
Hyman Ashman. broke the
news to his patient in a re-
- port on some blood tests,
that the former Brandeis
University president had
leukemia. With the aid of a
special treatment formu-
lated by a team of physi-
ciAns led by Dr. James F.
Holland of the Mount Sinai
School of Medicine of the
City University of New
York. Abram's condition
was treated so successfully
that it is now in remission
and if it continues, as the
doctors predict it will, they
will discontinue the treat-
ment.
The treatment consisted
of chemotherapy, in which
remission—a condition in
which evidence of the dis-
ease disappears—was in-
duced by the combination
of two drugs. cytosine ara-
binoside and daunorubicin,
and then was maintained
with anti-leukemic drugs.
In addition, billions of leu-
kemic cells were taken
from other sick patients
and treated with an enzyme
that is called neuramini-
dase and were then injected
into Abram to stimulate im-
munity against the disease.
The physicians also used
a drug called MER, meth-
anol extract residue, which
was used in his case with
special permission from the
federal government since it
was not an established drug
in the U.S. and had to be
imported from Israel.
Abram was among the
first persons in the U.S. to
be treated with MER and
the drug was discontinued
in his case some months
ago because his physicians
had determined that he had
reached a high level of satu-
ration. Abram is now on a
continued treatment pro-
gram involving chem-
otherapy and receiving the
.neuraminidase-treated
cells.
A senior partner in a
New York law firm, Abram
is a former chairman of the
Moreland Act Commission
on Nursing Homes, chair-
man of the board of the
United Negro College Fund,
chairman of the board of
Yeshiva University's Ben-
jamin N. Cardozo Law
School and was recently
among the Jewish leaders
invited to the White House
for consultation with Presi-
dent Carter prior to the
visit of Prime Minister Men-
ahem Begin of Israel.
He also is president of
the Field Foundation, hon-
orary president of the Amer-
ican Jewish Committee and
a trustee of the 20th Cen-
tury Fund.
Tree of Life
By JUDITH KESSLER
(Editor's note: The au-
thor of the following poem
is the daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Louis (Ruth) Cassel.
Mrs. Cassel was an early
city editor of The ,newish
News. Mrs. Kessler wrote
this poem as she and her
hush-and contemplated mak-
ing aliya. The/ Kesslers
moved to Israel in August.)
Last year it was only a twig I
had thrust in the earth.
Then I drew for it water,
Fed it what trees eat,
Hid it from thieves: wrathful
wind, raging sun.
Amw it is my tree.
Once I came to my homeland
a tourist.
Visiting forests I viewed as
my own, I searched
For some family trait—fra-
grant bread
Always baking in Aunt
Frieda's kitchen,
Perhaps a stray silver wisp of
Zayda's frail hair.
But there were only trees
firmly rootted in Galilee
Bearing green leaves, with
strong limbs, and an eastern
scent.
Mother did not understand.
She repeated
What I told myself once:
"We send them our coins,
and they plant, and our trees
grow,
and we stay here working, so
they can enjoy our trees."
The seventh day of the
Jewish month of Adar is
the anniversary of both
the "birth and death of
Moses according to tal-
mudic tradition. In orien-
tal communities it be- Mother, you too once gave
came a day of fasting and life to a
seed.
' ,)mmemoration for the
You
scorned
those who tried
ious because of the belief
that a spark of the soul of to raise saplings on money
Moses Is found in every Instead of on love, knowing
righteous person. In that someday
medieval Egypt there Your seedling would reach
were celebrations at the greater heights. You rejoiced
ancient synagogue in the . When its roots spanned an
village of Damwah near ocean to reach
Cairo which, according to A new land that had nour-
tradition, was erected. 40 ished you once
years before the destruc- From afar.
tion of the Firest Temple
on the spot where Moses Do not cry that youi- sapling
had prayed before going has severed its roots.
:Vow it chooses to drop its
to Pharaoh.
Later rabbis and mystics
said the sound of the Shofar
was intended to confuse Sa-
tan when he comes before
the throne of the Almighty
to bring his accusations
against the people of Israel.
own seeds
And to spread its limbs there
On the side of the ocean that
you
Have seen only through sil-
vered glass.
Do not cry.
.411 the roots are strong.
Friday, September 9, 1977 93
Markish Kin Promotes Book; Death of Jewish Writer Noted
By DAVID FRIEDMAN
(Copyright 1977. JTA, Inc.)
NEW YORK—When
David Markish was a child
in Moscow his non-Jewish
classmates taunted him
with the demand that he go
to Israel.
But when Markish, the
son of the martyred Soviet
Yiddish writer Peretz Mark-
ish, grew up and sought to
emigrate to Israel, Soviet
authorities denied his wish
for 14 years until 1972.
Markish, who is himself a
writer and author of a
novel recently published in
the United States called "A
New World for Simon Ash-
kenazy," which is about his
family, was interviewed in
the office of the National
Conference on Soviety
Jewry under those auspices
he is in the United States.
He is here to mark the
25th anniversary of the mur-
der of his father and 23
other Soviet Yiddish writers
and poets on Aug. 12, 1952
on Stalin's orders.
The 39-year-old Markish
said that in Israel where he
lives in Neve-Monoson, a
suburb of Tel Aviv, "I feel
like a sabra." He said be-
cause of the anti-Semitism
of his classmates in the So-
viet Union he always felt Is-
rael was his real home
even before his father was
arrested.
He remembers seeing the
Israeli flag flying from the
Israeli Embassy in Moscow
in 1948 and saying -that is
my flag."
Markish said his non-Jew-
ish friends in the Soviet
Union called him "the Kha-
zak from Jerusalem."
(After his father's arrest,
Markish, his mother, his
brother and a cousin were
exiled, to Khazakistan
where they stayed until
after Stalin's death. They
did not know of Peretz
Markish's death until the
government informed them
in 1955.)
Speaking mostly in Hebr-
ew and a little English,
Markish said in 1958 he
went to Warsaw in an un-
successful attempt to emi-
grate. He returned to Mos-
cow but the KGB knew he
had visited the Israeli Em-
bassy and from then on he
was watched.
He noted that when he
tried to go to Mongolia to
do research he was denied
permission because of his
Warsaw trip even though he
pointed out the only place
he could go was to China or
back to the USSR. His
brother, Shimon, got out of
the USSR in 1960 through
Hungary and went to Israel
before accepting a univer-
sity post in Geneva.
David Markish applied
for an exit visa in 1971. His
wife, Irena, was allowed to
emigrate that year and
Markish and his mother
were given visas in Novem-
ber 1972.
Markish said he believes
that there is no future for
Jews who want to remain
Jews in the Soviet Union.
He said a Russian on a bus
or subway will say he
smells something, meaning
a Jew. With this type of
anti-Semitism prevalent
throughout the society
many Jews who want to re-
main in the USSR decide to
no longer be Jews, he said.
Markish said that the So-
viet Union wants to stamp
out Jewish culture. He said
Hebrew is outlawed and be-
cause many young Jews
want to learn Hebrew the
Soviet authorities have
been increasing Yiddish
classes as a measure
against Hebrew.
But Markish stressed that
although Stalin himself was
anti-Semitic, the arrest of
his father and other Yiddish
writers and the later "doc-
tors' plot" was more a polit-
ical act than anything else.
He explained that in the
1930s Stalin's purges were
aimed at wiping out the na-
tionalist movements
throughout the Soviet Union
which were seen as a dan-
ger to Russia. By killing
the intelligentsia, Stalin de-
stroyed the "tongue" of the
various nationalities in the
USSR, he said.
Markish said after World
War II a new generation of
intelligentsia had arisen
and there was a "new
wind" of nationalism sweep-
ing through the various peo-
ples in the USSR. He said
Stalin aimed to wipe this
out, too.
After the arrest of the
Jewish writers and particu-
larly during the "doctors'
plot" period, there was
great fear among the Jew-
ish people, Markish said.
He said the propaganda
against Jewish doctors and
engineers affected the ordi-
nary people and some Jew-
ish doctors and engineers
were "lynched."
In 1955-56, things got bet-
ter, Markish said. He noted
that this period was a "gold-
en time" for all people in
the USSR. Markish believes
the present regime is again
in fear of nationalistic feel-
ings and while he said he
didn't know whether it will
lead to terror and killings
again, he did say it is
always a "possibility."
A Woman Struggling for Change
By JONATHAN SCHENKER
(Copyright 1977. Jewish Telegraphic
Agency. Inc.)
Upon being named the
new Secretary General of
Na'amat. Israel's largest
women's organization, and
sister organization of Pio-
neer Women in the United
States, Nava Arad, remark-
ed, "Things can be changed
and I am prepartd to
struggle towards that
change."
A graduate of the London
School of Economics and a
former sergeant in the para-
troopers battalion of the Is-
rael army, she has served
on a number of national
and international commis-
sions in the fields of social
welfare, the society and the
individual.
Shortly
before
being
named acting Secretary
General of the Na'amat.
she said, "More awareness
and attention must be paid
to the particular problems
of the status of women."
Ms. Arad was named to of-
fice soon after former Sec-
retary General Tamar
Eshel relinquished her post
to better enable her to deal
with her new duties as an
elected member of Israel's
Knesset.
In deciding the future
Na'amat social causes and
programs, Ms. Arad noted
that activities should be
planned in a way so that
members would feel closer
to the movement. "I feel
closer ties should be made
with those women who are
active in agricultural settle-
ments. Closer and more
meaningful ties should be
made between city and
rural women.
"I think recent elections
have proven that we are
viewed not just as a
`women's organization,' but
as a social action move-
ment.
-``Women," she continued,
"are a pressure group who
we must activate, Because
there are so many women
who, because of education
and tradition, still look
upon the women's role in
the family and society in
the traditional way, we
must conduct educational
programs on both the
image and the potential of
women. UnderstAding the
problem," she emphasized,
"will change their expecta-
tions of themselves.
"I am in favor of safe-
guarding positions for
women in order to enable
their advancement. This is
important for women them-
selves. and for outside ap-
pearances. If women will
not fill decision-making posi-
tions, the necessary serv-
ices which enable them to
play a double role may not
exist.
"In addition," she pointed
out, "I am opposed to the
point of view that a
women's movement must
only deal with the status of
women. To be content with
only this would make us
weaker."
Born in Kvutzat Hulda in
1938, the wife and mother
brings a long list of creden-
tials to her new post. A
graduate of the Hebrew Uni-
versity of Jerusalem, she
formerly worked as a juve-
nile probation officer, was
a member of the Prime
Minister's Advisory Council
for Social Betterment, and
an executive in the Hista-
drut and Israeli Labor
Party.
Reflecting her attitude
for social programs for all
members of Israeli society,
Ms. Arad pointed out that
social welfare services
should be provided for all
those individuals living in Is-
rael, "with additional serv-
ices for certain group, in
accordance with preferen-
tial needs.
"I am in favor of consid-
ering the needs of such
groups as the gifted, re-
tarded and underprivileged,
and not in accord with their
economic level. Society
should participate accord-
ing to an individual's abili-
ty."
U.S. Energy Program Proposed
NEW YORK—The Ameri-
can Jewish Congress has
proposed what it terms "an
action program toward a na-
tional energy policy."
That "high-priced oil is
being bought with sophis-
ticated arms," the AJCon-
gress warns, "has brought
about not only an increas-
ing flow of arms to the
Arab nations of the Middle
East" but is "enhancing the
threat of war in that sensi-
tive area."
The AJCongress has pro-
posed:
• A national program of
conservation to reduce ex-
cessive and needless con-
sumption of oil. This should
include allocation of oil,
gas and gasoline and other
energy resources. We op-
pose increased taxes or
other devices designed to re-
duce consumption by in-
creasing costs to the con-
sumer.
Imposing high prices in
order to limit access to
scarce commodities without
some accompanying mecha-
nism that would make ad-
justments for need and abli-
lity to pay, would be inequi-
table and would not com-
mand the support of the
American people.
• Retention and imporved
enforcement of the highway
speed limits imposed dur-
ing the 1973-74 embargo.
• Federal funding of basic
research into energy con-
servation technology in
building construction, equip-
ment design and industrial
processing.
• Tax credits or govern-
ment loans to encourage im-
proved insulaiton of exist-
ing commercial buildings
and homes.
• Impostion of graduated
taxes on automobiles based
on weight or horse-power to
stimulate production and
purchase of smaller ve-
hicles, that use less gaso-
line.
• Development and en-
forcement of Federal ther-
mal efficiency standards
for all new buildings.
• Redesign of electricity
rates to discourage peak-
hour consumption and to
make rates higher rather
-than lower as use increas-
es.
• Increased Federal aid to
mass transit systems in
urban and suburban areas
and subsidies to intercity
railroads.
• Passage of a Truth-in-
Energy law which would re-
quire automobiles and appli-
ances—even homes—that
are offered for sale to list
their average energy use
and operating costs.
• Sharp restrictions on the
use of electricity for adver-
tising and other external
displays.
• Lower temperatures in
public and commercial
buildings not used by chil-
dren, the aged and the sick.
God has given more_un-
derstanding to a woman
than a man.
—The Talmud