THE JEWISH NEWS

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.Nleinlier American Association of English-Jmvish

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Sabbath Scriptural Selections

This Sabbath, the sixth day of Shevat, 57:38, the following scriptural selection will be read h' our synagogues:
Pentateu•hal portion, Exodus 10:1-13:16. Prophetical portion, Jeremiah

Candle lighting. Friday. Jan. 13. 5:05

VOL. LXXII, No. 19

Page Four

Friday, January 13, 1978

Happier Tidings in the Offing

Conflicting reports covering the Middle East
scene during the historic negotiations which
began with Anwar Sadat and Menahem Begin
and continue with the participation of President
Jimmy Carter and officials of the U.S.- State
Department caused so much unfortunate con-
fusion that euphoria was clouded with renewed
fears.
Had the interpretive temptations been resist-
ed until after President Carter's -visit with the
Arab chieftains, perhaps the media would have
been less pessimistic about developments. Nev-
ertheless, it is recognizable that peace under
the most cooperative circumstances can not be
achieved speedily, and in the instance of the
Middle East it is more difficult than anywhere
else.
There is much more cause for euphoria than
for despair and the -progress in evidence thus
far must be viewed optimistically. On this score
it is well to call to witness one of the most
knowledgeable diplomats, the man who more
than anyone else had much to do with pre-
paring the ground for an end of hostilities
between Israel and Egypt.

Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, who had befriended
Egypt's President - Anwar Sadat in the process
of his negotiations for an accord after the Yom
Kippur War, in an evaluative essay on current
developments, expressed confidence that the
approach to amity is promising and he went so
far as to state in his Time magane article:
"The day will come when Arab leaders who
now denounce the Sadat initiative will be grate-
ful that the largest of Arab nations took on its
own shoulders the burden of the first and most
difficult decision for peace. By solving the
psychological problem, Egypt has now made it
possible to- overcome the other obstacles to
peace everywhere in the Middle East. This is
why coupling the Egyptian negotiations with the
Palestinian issue is - important both sub-
stantively and symbolically. At the same time,
on this issue where distrust and hatred have
gone so deep, it may be best to set a general
course and leave details for later negotiations."
No better source, no one _more reliable, could
possibly be drawn upon for encouragement that
the euphoria now experienced is justified, that
hdpes for peace are based on pragmatic nego-
tiations and that even the bitterest of enemies
can come to terms. • • • . -
Even the role of the Soviet Union is viewed by
Dr. Kissinger with a measure of hope for a
proper accommodation. On that score, Dr.
Kissinger stated in his Time article:
"The current negotiations will be a test of
Soviet policy. If the Soviet Union genuinely
favors a relaxation of tensions throughout the
world, it will in the Middle East allow the
processes toward peace to occur and not press
for formal participation in negotiations which
are already under way and to which it can
make no contribution. The Soviet Union has
nothing to lose from a peaceful solution; indeed,
a normalized Middle East should enable all
countries to pursue their global policies on the
basis of equality. If the Soviet Union encourages

intransigence, the motive must---be either hurt
vanity or an attempt to foster tensions and to
improve the opportunities for Soviet pene-
tration. -There is no reason to assuage the
former, and it is in the interests of all nations to
resist the latter. -
Those who are inclined to speculate on the
present occurrences will surely be impressed by
Dr. Kissinger's view that a return to Geneva for
another conference on the Middle East now is a
dead issue, with the new conferences super-
seding the earlier unproductive tasks. Dr. Kissi-
nger stated on this score:
"There is no alternative to the Sadat-Begin
negotiations. Geneva as a negotiating forum is
dead. This is just as welt, It could only have led
to a deadlock or to an imposed settlement, and
in either case to an enlarged Soviet influence.
Were Sadat and Begin somehow to fail to find
solutions, lower-level diplomats meeting around
a conference table in Switzerland later could
scarcely be expected to succeed. In short,
failure now would make conflict later inevi-
table. Israel would return to its ghetto exist-
ence; Egypt would face a war its people dread.
"The absence of alternatives clears the mind
'marvelously. Major progress is therefore likely.
Geneva could be useful later in ratifying what
has been negotiated and to provide a forum for
- other parties to join the negotiating process.
"An Egyptian-Israeli agreement should in-
volve principles applicable to the other parties.
Sadat and Begin, are too -wise not to base
progress between Egypt and Israel on prin-
ciples that have wider application. They know
from history that to be lasting a peace must in
time reach out to all principal parties and that
those parties will support it only if they partici-
pate in making it...

Rosten's Jewish Quotations
Emphasize Love for Yiddish

Leo Rosten could not possibly have produced his delightful Jewish
stories if he had not possessed a knowledge as well as a love for
Yiddish.
His "Treasury of Jewish Quotations," now issued by Bantam Books
as a paperback, gives new emphasis to the successful product that
was a best seller when first published by McGraw-Hill as a hard-cover
book.
It is in his 40-page preface, "The Story of This Book," that Rosten •
tells how he had learned from home and friends the stories he was re-
telling and how his affection fo- Yiddish gained stimulus.
While Rosten has drawn upon the Talmud and many noteworthy
Hebrew quotations, his Yiddish sources are especially unique.
That is why his prefatory essay is so valuable, in its review of the
Yiddish roots and the manner in which Yiddish became the popular
medium of expression for millions of Jews.
There are stories for all occasions in Rosten's quotations. Exem-
plary are the following excerpts:

The truth never dies—but it lives a wretched life._

Truth rests with God alone—and a little with me.

When you tell the truth you don't have to remember what you said.

If you add to truth, you enter the domain of lies.

Truth is heavy, so few men carry it.

Truth is neither alive nor dead: it just aggravates itself all the time.
"If the process now under way succeeds—as
is likely, even with occasional dis-
A truth, established by proof, does not gain in force from the sup-
appointments—Americans of every persuasion
and party will have reason to be proud. We port of scholars; nor does it lose its certainty because of popular dis-
contributed a military balance which foreclosed sent. — Maimonides
a military solution. Our nation, because it was
The words of the Torah are compared to water, wine, and milk
trusted by both sides, helped shape a negotiat-
(Isaiah 55:1), because just as these are kept only in the simplest of
ing process which culminated in the break- vessels, so the Holy Words are preserved in the humblest of men. —
through of Sadat's historic journey: President Talmud: Ta'anit, 7a
Carter has handled the sequence of events
He who fulfills the Torah amidst his poverty will in the end fulfill it
growing out of the Sadat initiative with wisdom amidst wealth; he who neglects the Torah amidst wealth will in the
and delicacy, offering assistance but not intrud- end neglect it amidst poverty. — Sayings of the Fathers
ing on the process of negotiations. -
Say what you will of the
the Middle Ages; call it narrow;
Former Secretary of State Kissinger's views deride it as superstitious... (but) for of sweetness
and spirituality of life,
are of great significance. He may even be the Jew of the Ghetto, the Jew of the Middle Ages, the Jew under the
called in for participation in future negotiations, yoke of the Talmud, challenges the world.—E.G. Hirsch
because of his knowledge of the situation and
due to the friendship he has established so
An unbeliever went into a synagogue, stared at the Ark, the Scrolls,
the Eternal Light, and declaimed: "-These are just superstitions ! If
firmly with President Sadat.
The respect Dr. Kissinger shows both for I'm wrong, let God correct me." And a great voice came down from
President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin are Heaven, saying "You're right."
indications that his confidence in the future is
Even the Bible itself did not come so close to the daily life of the
not limited.
Ghetto as the Talmud and the Mishna. The Bible was a thing eternal,
Thus, from a very important quarter comes a apart, unchanging. The Talmud was a daily companion, living,
measure of faith that what had begun with the breathing, contemporary, with a hundred remedies for a hundred
Sadat visit in Jerusalem and continued with the needs. A nation persecuted, lives through time of stress rather by its
geniality and cooperative response from Men- commentaries than by its Scriptures. In the Ghetto, the Talmud was a
ahem Begin, could well be the most historic door into the ideal, always open.
—A. aviary F. Robinson.
embrace by antagonists on their path to peace.

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