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Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the ninth day of Kislev, 5738, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Genesis 28:10-32:3. Prophetical portion, Hosea 12:13-14:10.
Candle lightin, Friday, Nov. 18, 4:51 p.m.
VOL. -LXXII, No. 11
Page Four
Friday, November 18, 1977
The Dissillusioned Doves
After a dozen meetings with representatives
of the PLO, the Israeli doves who functioned as
the Israeli Council for Peace have given up
hope of success in endeavors to facilitate mat-
ters with Israel's bitterest enemies.
Arye Eliav, the prominent Knesset member
who had been among the leaders in this move-
ment, has now admitted the futility of negotiat-
ing with the spokesmen for PLO. This could
well be considered not only an admission that
dealing with the terrorists is unwise. It-also has
the aspect of regret that there should not be a
way of strengthening peace hopes when confer-
ring with antagonists.
The PLO members the Israelis had met with
now also are described as an element that had
failed to influence its own ranks. It is not only
the divisiveness among Arabs that adds to dis-
comfort in negotiating for an accord. It all
points to a state of affairs hardly conducive to
an understanding that is as vital for the eco-
nomically and culturally underprivileged Arabs
as it is for the progressive state of Israel, peace
with whom would be of benefit for the entire
Middle East.
Eliav is one .of Israel's most respected
intellectuals, whose efforts were rooted in com-
mendable sincerity. But he was on the wrong
track in negotiating with PLO. Perhaps he'll
find that there may be a more amenable
approach with Arabs whose philosophy is not
based on genocidal aims to destroy Israel.
Always Fair Play as a Guide
While some statesmen and government
spokesmen may have been lax in doing their
home work in dealing with the Middle East, it is
reasonable to believe that in the long run the
American position will be the correct one. Ten-
sions can not be allayed and the concerns, in
their mounting stage, will not end quickly. But
the American friendship with -Israel cannot
diminish, if the student of foreign affairs judges
events realistically.
The reason for optimism is the confidence
one must place in the American sense of fair
play. Oil pressures and the power that comes
from Arab wealth influencing public opinion to
some degree are not matters to be ignored.
They are under serious consideration. But there
are more vital factors and chief among them is
a religious sentiment in support of Prophecy
and an ability by Americans to detect prejudice
the moment it becomes too flagrant. Therefore
the belief that in the long run the strong senti-
ment in support of Israel in this country will
grow rather than diminish.
Considerations of the Middle East. com-
plexities had taken an unfortunate turn leading
to misunderstanding and confusions. It is heart-
'ening to know that Israel's and Jewry's non-
Jewish friends are contributing towards a better
understanding of conditions, and hopefully the
combined efforts towards factual treatment of
the issues will assist in resolving what had
appeared as conflict into a common ground for
proper action towards the goal for amity
between the contending forces in the Middle
East.
Will there be a reconvened Geneva Confer-
ence? Israel endorses it wherever there is the
realization that only when two opposing forces
meet to review their differences can there be
adjustment of antogonisms. Borders, new settle-
ments, equal rights of residents in administered
territories can be dealt with only when the par-
ties at odds confer rationally.
The human rights issues are vital to the dis-
cussions. Such rights are not intended for
selected and privileged. Of course there must
and will be human rights for Arabs living with
Israelis. But that does not rule out human rights
for Jews 'who have the status of Israelis in a
territory functioning as their internationally
acknowledged statehood.
The evangelical community's statement of
endorsement of Jewish rights in Israel, based
on historical legacies, can not be negated. They
were the basis for interdenominational support
for Zionism and they remain at the root of the
Jewish position in Eretz Israel.
The blunders that were evident in diplomacy
have caused so much anger that the expecta-
tions must be the eventual elimination of misun-
derstandings. Perhaps the dismay that has been
generated now will result in serious efforts to
eliminate them through assurances of a cooper-
ative approach effecting common sense in a
striving for a common ground that will end sus-
picions and will assure the genuineness that has
never been questioned. What there has been of a
tongue-in-cheek vocabulary by diplomats must
end. Its cessation appears honorably
approachable.
The unified position of American Jewry
okayed an important role leading to that goal.
This unity must not be marred by inner con-
flicts. A unified Jewry is the basis for a unified
Americanism in treatment of the Middle East
issues. This is the hope that gains strength from
the confidence that must be retained in the
power of the American adherence to fair play.
WJC Leadership
A new era commences for the World Jewish
Congress with the elevation of Philip Klutznick
to the presidency of the global movement.
Mr. Klutznick's training in Bnai Brith, which
he has served as international president, and in
Bnai Brith's youth movement, A-ZA; the roles
he had in American politics and in U.S. Federal
posts; his associations with Israeli and world
Jewish leaders, all add up to important pr6pa-
ratory steps for leadership of the most impor-
tant movement in world Jewish ranks. He is
certain to add immensely to the WJC efforts to
protect Jewish rights, to oppose every manifes-
tation of bigotry and to encourage the advance-
ment of Jewry's cultural aims.
Dr. Nahum Goldmann is assured of an able
successor in the person of Philip Klutznick.
`The Sunflower' Paperbacked
Quest for Absolution:
Wiesenthal's Dilemma
Simon Wiesenthal is more than a Nazi-hunter, as he is generally
described in his role as the authority on the history of the Holocuast.
He is a lecturer of note. He is an historian and an able researcher.
He has authored a book in which he gave his views on the Jewish
background of Christopher Columbus. In "The Sunflower" he reverts
to the subject of Nazi guilt and deals with the problem of Jewish reac-
tions to a challenging situation that brings back sad memories of the
Hitler era.
How very timely that "The Sunflower," ,which first appeared in
Paris and as a Schocken hard cover book in 1970, should be re-issued
by Schocken as a paperback at this time, when hels touring the
United States and will appear for a Sabbath weekend of lecturers at
Detroit's Shaarey Zedek tonight and tomorrow.
On his Detroit visit, "The Sunflower" will be - among the subjects
Dr. Wiesenthal will discuss with the congregants.
A former Nazi, repenting on his deathbed in a hospital, asks for
absolution. Wiesenthal himself is in &quandary. How does one react,
to one who was the murderer of his kinfolk?
"The Sunflower" is in two parts. The first gives the Wisenthal reac-
tion and quandary; the second is devoted to a symposium in which a
score of distinguished personalities participate. The answer is left to
each individual. Wiesenthal and the eminent personalities find it diffi-
cult to lay down a basic rule for vengeance. The Wiesenthal view is
significant. He states in part: _
When I recall the insolent replies and the mocking grins of many of
these accused, it is difficult for me to believe that my repentant young
SS man would also have behaved in that way... Yet ought I to have
forgiven him? Today the world demands that we forgive the heinous
crimes committed against us. It urges that we draw a line, and close
the account as if nothing had ever happened.
We who suffered in those dreadful days, we who cannot obilerate the
hell we endured, are forever being advised to keep silent.
Well, I kept silent when a young Nazi, on his deathbed, begged me
to be his confessor. And later when I met his mother I again kept
silent rather than shatter her illusions about her dead son's inher
goodness. And how many bystanders kept silent as they watched Je._- %"-
ish men, women, and children being led to the slaughterhouse of
Europe?
There are many kinds of silence. Indeed it can be more eloquent
than words, and it can be interpreted in many ways.
Was my silence at the bedside of the dying Nazi right or wrong?
This is a profound moral question that challenges the conscience of
the reader of this episode, just as much as -it once challenged my
heart and my mind. There are those who can appreciate my dilemma,
and so endorse my attitude, and there are others who will be ready to
condemn. me for refusing to ease the last moments of a repentant
murderer.
The crux of the matter is, of course, the question of forgiveness.
Forgetting is something that time alone takes care of, but forgiveness
is an act of volition, and only the suffered is qualified to make the
decision.
You, who have just read the sad and tragic episode in my life, can
mentally change places with me and ask yourself the crucial question,
"What would I have done?"
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