THE JEWISH NEWS

Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with Vw issue of July 20. 1951

Member American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers. Michigan Press Association, National Editorial Association
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
Editor and Publisher

CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager

DREW LIEBERWITZ
Advertising Manager

ALAN HITSKY, News Editor...HEIDI PRESS. Assistant News Editor

Sabbath Scriptural Selections

This Sabbath. the second day of Adar II. 5738, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Exodus 38:21-40:38. Prophetical portion. I Kings 7:51-8.-21.

Candle lighting, Friday. March 10, 6:10 p.m.

VOL. LXXIII, No. 1

Page Four

Friday, March 10, 1978

A Time for Action

A Time of Affirmation

In this time of crisis for Israel the formal
openirig of the Allied Jewish Campaign, set for
March 21, is an occasion for reckoning.
Obstacles that have appeared on the road of
the builders and defenders of Zion seemed to
point to threats to the unity of the Jewish
people. Both the Egyptian leader, whose talks of
peace have become so illusory, and U.S. gov-
ernment officials were accused of efforts to di-
vide Jewish ranks.
The opening of the annual Greater Detroit
philanthropic campaign repudiates fear and es-
tablishes a new sense of pride that in matters
affecting the security of her people, Jewry
stands united in the great task of providing
comfort for the needy and help in providing sec-
urity for the entire people involved in the, cur-
rent struggle for justice to those constantly
under threat.
When the volunteer force of workers meets on
March 21 for formal opening of the Allied
Jewish Campaign it be an army of dedi-
cated people who will meet with a will and de-

termination not to abandon the threatened
people who are in an island surrounded by an-
tagonists who have not given up hatred.
The hopes for peace continue to inspire the
masses of the Jewish people. Amity in Israel
will also lend faith to Jews everywhere that
justice has not vanished from the earth. In the
process there is the obligation never to abandon
the targets of hatred.
The Campaign about to commence will start
with a sense of confidence in Jewish devotions to
the less secure. The Allied Jewish Campaign
has already had a good start. Pre-Campaign
solicitations are reportedly met with a great
sense of duty.
It is heartening to know that the major fund-
raising effort here will bring the desired results
for the local agencies, the social services, educa-
tional and recreational, as well as for Israel.
This is how a responsible community acts to
affirm the unity of the Jewish people and its
sense of compassion for all who depend upon
communal aid for continuity in Jewish
spiritual-cultural-philanthropic expressions.

Prejudiced Pre-Judgments

A deplorable mark of unfairness has been
stamped on the records of the Detroit City
Council with the adoption of a resolution calling
for an investigation of charges that Israeli au-
thorities had tortured a Michigan State Univer-
sity student who is charged with plotting ter-
rorist activities against the Jewish state.
As in all matters involving criminalities,
there are facts that are often accompanied by
negations from defenders. In the instance of the
MSU student, a case that has been drummed up
into a national sensation in this country, the
Arab's defending attorney is known to be a
Communist tool in Israel who keeps drumming
up accusations against Israel; and in Israel's
behalf a member of that country's consular staff
had participated in a press conference in Lans-
ing denying the accusations in behalf of the
MSU student. The U.S. State Department is
looking into the case, the FBI has a role in it and

a member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Michigan is pressing for a truthful expose
of the charges.
Under these circumstances, the duty of the
Detroit City Council is to ask for facts and not to
rely upon the efforts of a lawyer who is a Com-
munist agent, in Israel and those whose pre-
judices are aimed at Israel's destruction.
If there is a weakening of public affairs and
activities in Israel's protection in Jewish com-
munities, it should be corrected. The MSU stu-
dent incident, already exposed at a press confer-
ence in Lansing by a member of the Israel con-
sulate in this country, should be corrected.
There is trouble enough for Israel without per-
mitting an antagonist here to spread the non-
sense that Israelis and Jews are aiming to pre-
vent discussion of the "Palestinian case." The
media are seeing to that, and not necessarily
with concern for kindness towards Israel.

Religious Pluralism Politicized

A serious issue involving the prejudicial at-
titudes towards non-Orthodox Jewish elements
irr Israel is on the agenda for action. The over-
whelming sentiment of the Zionist spokesmen
at the World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem was
for equality of treatment of the Conservative
and Reform groups which have been established
there. There is justice for all faiths in Israel but
the non-Orthodox Jews suffer discriminations.
The resolution for religious pluralism in Is-
rael falls into a state of pigeonholing for politi-
cal reasons. The dominant Likud faction sup-
ports the National Religious Party's policies for

political reasons. Likud needs NRP support in
the coalition government, and all hopes for re-
ligious pluralism are hopeless under such cir-
cumstances. But the groundwork has been laid
for the equality of all Jewish elements, without
religious obstructions.

It is unfortunate that politicization should
stand in the way of justice in Israel. The battle
for equality for all groupings, with assurances
that basic traditions are not to be offended, is
now on in full force. Perhaps politics will yield to
justice.

History of Jewish Names
in Informative Dictionary

Rabbi Benzion Kaganoff of Chicago's Congregation Ezras Israel
and Mrs. Kagnoff were in search of names for their daughters. They
are Aleta, Yarona (Roni) and Penny. In the process of naming them
the rabbi was intrigued by the name-choosing among Jews. The result
is his informative book, "A Dictionary of Jewish Names and Their
History" (Schocken Books).
As the title indicates, in treating his subject the author went into
historical bases for many of the names.
There is good reason for his having turned to this subject, besides
the personal. Of the 50,000 people who applied ftir name changing last
year, 80 percent are Jews. Therefore, names are important, but there
also are many who now are searching for Hebrew names. On this score
the Kaganoff volume has extra merit.
A book about Jewish names would be incomplete without the apoc-
ryphal story of a Bostonian Kabakoff who applied to have his name
changed to Cabot. Petition was granted after some protests by the
court and the apocryphal story caused the wags to recite:

"And this is good old Boston
The home of the bean and the cod,
Where the Lowells speak only to the Cabots
And the Cabots speak Yiddish — by God!"

The history of Jewish names takes the reader through traditional
experiences and traces monikers of the Bible and Talmud, then going
through the many periods when Jews adapted themselves to the
mores of the lands where they resided.
The patronymics derived from places of residence, and the incidents
when names were imposed by rulers upon Jewish families, form an
interesting portion of a dictionary that will provide fascinating read-
ing as well as information about a vital subject affecting families. -
The manner of determining names and their application to the
nations among whom the Jews lived has a notable definition in
Kaganoffs book. Here is an exemplary quotation from his sections
devoted to the dictionary of names:
"The meaning of your particular family name depends upon a
number of factors. The place of residence of the ancestor who assumed
it makes a great deal of difference in the derivation of its meaning.
Suppose the name is Lefkowitz (Lewkowitz). If your forebears came
from Poland or Russia, the name is a patronymic, derived from Lev or
Levke, which means "lion," and is a translation of Layb or Laybel
("lion," in Yiddish), the kinnui of Judah. The Slavic suffix -with or
-wicz indicates "son of," and the name means "son of Yehuda (Judah).
Laybel." But if your forebears are Hungarian Jews, then the name
Lefkowitz is derived from the town Lewocza (Locse), formerly in
Hungary but now in Slovakia, and the name therefore is geographic
in origin.
"A family name derived from a place is not always an indication
that, at the time when the name was assumed, the family actually
lived in that place. Sometimes, such names reflect the vicissitudes
and changing fortunes of the Jews in other ways. Thus, for example,
the Chmielnicki pogroms of 1648-1649 caused many Polish Jews to
flee to Silesia and Moravia, and among the communities of refuge was
Leipnik, Moravia. Later, some returned to Poland and recalled the
community that had given them refuge by assuming the name
Leitner."
The uniqueness of this volume is notable and fullest appreciation is
possible only by a full reading of details, historiography and anec-
dotes. The success of such a book seems guaranteed.

