THE JEWISH NEWS Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue cif July 20, 1951 Member American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, National Editorial Associatidn. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075. Second-Class Postage Paid at Southfield, Michigan and Additional Mailing Offices. Subscription $12 a year. PHILIP SLOMOVITZ CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ DREW LIEBERWITZ Editor and Publisher Business Manager Advertising Manager- ALAN HITSKY, News Editor...HEIDI PRESS, Assistant News Editor Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the 26th day of Tishri, 5738, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Genesis 1:1-6:8 Prophetical portion, Isaiah 42:5-43:10. Rosh Hodesh Heshvan Tuesday and Wednesday, Numbers 28:1 15 - Candle lighting, Friday, Oct. 7, 6:46 p.m. VOL. LXXII, No. 5 Page Four Friday, October 7, 1977 Community Council at 40 Forty years of service as the civic-protective community agency provides a platform for a re- counting of experiences that have been filled with many stirring events, with experiences that were tragic in many ways, happy ones being interspersed to some degree. It is unforgetable that the Jewish Community Council came into being during the early years of Hitlerism, in an era when a Father Coughlin spouted anti-Semitism over the airways and scores of haters of his ilk appeared on the scene to threaten the very existence of the Jew- ish people. Many duties were thus imposed upon the movement that was charged with confornting the threats to Jewry that were in many re- spects also dangers for the entire country and for many lands in addition to the United States. It was necessary during those trying years to mobilize sentiment not only within-the Jewish ranks but also in the non-Jewish community, in government circles, among all peoples who make up the conglomerate of this nation. The occurrences of the past required courage in speaking out defensively. Often there was need for offensive approaches. A review of what had occurred, of the failure, even by the spokesmen for this nation to come forth justly with assistance to those who were either threat- ened or were being condemned to destruction by the beasts who arose on the world scene, are now the recollections with regret that re- Reason Challenged The poison that keeps emanating from the United Nations General Assembly doesn't sur- prise anyone who has watched the devel- opments on the banks of the East River in the last two decades. What is surprising is that only Israel speaks in refutation of the distortions that have united the Arabs when Israel is the target. Even more surprising is the vacillation in American ranks. One would imagine from some of the occurrences that Arab diplomats have a mandate to speak for the United States. When a Syrian delegate interpreted a White House meeting on the Middle East as denoting an approach to recognition of the PLO there was no denial by anyone in authority to speak for this country. Then there is the at random selection of Israeli statements for emphasis by news com- mentators. Israel Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan was asked on the NBC Today broadcast regarding the Egyptian delegate's assertion that Israel is fomenting war. Dayan explained that there is a desire and a need for peace by all parties but that if the Arab states were to start a war Israel was ready. to • confront the atta- ckers. The resume next analyzed by the pro- gram monitor was that "Dayan said Israel was ready for war." Even such minor, undoubtedly unintentional slips of the tongue can cause trouble, let alone ambarrassment. It's unfortunate that many of the diplomatic declarations vacillate between sessions with for- eign emissaries. sistance was not thorough, that there was si- lence when it was imperative for people bent upon justice to demand action against tyranny and to ask for aid in relieving the sufferings of the victims of Nazism abroad and of those sub- jected to anti-Semitism at home. There were periods when genuine courage was in evidence. The years of the late Boris Joffe's directorial skills of the Jewish Commu- nity Council are not forgotten. There came a need afterward to assure a partnership with the state of Israel which emerged out of the determination of the buil- ders of Zion to end the homelessness of Jews, whether they were Hitler's victims, the re- jected by the British Mandatory Power in Pa- lestine or by the Moslem world. Let it be re- corded to the credit of the responsible lead- ership that it cooperated fully with the Zionist forces in assuring support for mass immigra- tion into Israel, the protectors of the state, the creators of a new society which to this very day is confronted by many obstacles and suf- fers from the Arab-Communist bloc, the pre- judices of the Third World and the bias of a United Naitons under domination of anti-Israel forces. The idea of community councils, a chain of which now operates, all often cooperatively pur- suing civic-protective duties in this country, stems from the traditional kehillah, the organ- ized community that was representative of Jewry. The inheritance of the idea is in itself a unique contribution to the organized life of the JevIries in many American cities. While the new differ radically from the old, they carry with them a serious obligation to - meet the many challenges that call for defense of Jewish rights everywhere, and that includes the protective duty for Israel. On the 40th anniversary of the Jewish Com- munity Council there is cause for con- gratulations for recorded achievements. For practical purposes, stock-taking is a necessity. How does a community's civic-protective agency react to the dangers thatstem from the vicious _anti-Zionism which should necessitate the strengthening of the great Jewish liber- tarian cause? How effective are the efforts to assure unity in Jewish ranks in the best inter- ests of the self-respect of the American Jewish community and in defense of Israel and of just rights for Jews everywhere? Are the best minds being mobilized whenever problems arise, such as questions regarding American legislative processes, ethnicity, the racial and other issues? An agency like the Jewish Community Coun- cil is never without challenges. They will contin- ue long after the 40th anniversary. On this occa- sion, with the congratulatory spirit, goes the hope that sound judgment will prevail, that there will never arise the seriousness of divi- siveness, that the protective functions of an im- portant agency will not be marred by fears and hesitancies. In this spirit the movement's objec- tives can be elevated to a new level of dignity. A Zionist's Polemic Halkin's letters to An American Jewish Friend' Hillel Halkin is an American Jew who has immigrated to Israel. He would like us to do the same, and to that end presents some pow- erfully moving arguments in his first book, "Letters to an American Jewish Friend," subtitled "A Zionist's Polemic" (Jewish Publication Society). Halkin was born in New York in 1939, and moved to Israel in 1970. His "Letters to an American Jewish Friend" is a series of letters between himself and an imaginary American Jew, covering the board range of Jewishness, Jewish history and culture, Israel and Zionism. The "correspondence" is bound to make -the reader think, to re- examine his personal Judaism, his ties and commitment to the people and land of Israel and the People Israel. It would seem impossible to put down this well-written volume and not be affected personally. Israel is not just a "land of milk and honey" and Halkin does not try to hide her ills and problems. The beauty of his polemic is the realistic picture he paints, while at the same time examining the goals of the country and the role of Diaspora Jewry. He is, to say the least, opinionated. The reader may not always agree with his view or analysis of history, but through Halkin's eyes a realistic view of Israel, and American Jewry emerges. For example, in speakinig of two friends Halkin writes: As far as Jewishness is concerned they are about as "assimilated" as educated Israelis can be, which is to say, I'm afraid, that this correspondence between us would seem to them academic and abstruse. They do many of the things that most secular Israelis regularly or occa- sionally do—light candles and drink wine on Friday nights, take part in a family seder, light the menora on Hanuka before frying jelly doughnuts and latkes and giving out presents to the children, even build a little sukka on their back ter- race for Sukkot—but these things have no m, HILLEL HALKIN religious significance to them and I doubt \ whether either of them has ever attended a synagogue service. Needless to say, assimilated Jews in America do not do any of these things, since if they did they would by definition not be considered assimilated. When making comparisons between assimilated Jews in the Diaspora and "assimilated" Israelis, therefore, it is important to remember that one is talking about two totally different magnitudes of assimilation and that the most "assimilated" Jew in Israel remains in touch with numerous Jewish forms and customs whose observance in the-Diaspora would type him as a fairly tradition-minded Jew. When you ask then how many of the Israelis you see on the street are still Jews, the answer is, using your own Diaspora criteria, nearly all. Neatly, perhaps over-simply, but persuasively, Halkin has wrapped up Israelis and American Jews in his book. If his "Letters to An American Jewish Friend" is nothing less than a catalyst for self- examination then his polemic will have served a very useful purpose. Halkin lives in the village of Zichron Ya'akov with his wife and two daughters and has translated a number of works of modern Hebrew fiction into English. He has also contributed essays to Commentary magazine.