THE JEWISH NEWS
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Incorporating The Detroit d•t•ish Chronicle twin 'nearing nigh
20. 1951
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Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield. Mich. 48075
Po..4agi• Paid at Southfield. Michigan and .Xdditional
Suli.cription 912 a sear
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
ALAN HITSKY
News Editor
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
DREW LIEBERWITZ
HEIDI PRESS
Advertising Manager
Assistant News Editor
NOr SO LOUD
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Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath. the ninth day of Av, 5738, the following scriptural selection..: will he read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22. Prophetical portion. Isaiah 1:1-27.
Sunday, Fast of Av
Lamentations is read Saturday evening. Sunday morning: Pentateuchal portion, Deuteronomy 4:25-40. Prophetical portion. Jeremiah
8..13-9:23. Sunday afternoon: Pentateuchal portion, Exodus 32:11-14: 34:1-10. Prophetical portion, Isaiah 55:6-56:8.
Candle lighting, Friday, Aug. 11, 8:20 p.m.
VOL. LXXIII, No. 23
Page Four
Friday, August 11, 1978
Bigots on the Rampage
Bigots are running loose in many areas.
There is no denying the mounting evidence that
prejudice is not vanishing, that dislike of the
unlike keeps creating hatreds, that anti-
Semites are virulent.
In a sense, the menace of anti-Semitism is in
greater evidence than it has been in some years.
The shame of anti-Semitism had driven the
haters into seclusion for some time. Now they
are on a rampage again.
There is no doubt that the Arab pressures
provide a major cause for the hatreds in Latin
America and in other areas.
Then there is the Communist virus, the influ-
ence of the Kremlin which had embarked on a
campaign of hatreds against Israel and, there-
fore, also against Jews supporting Israel, as
well as the non-Jewish friends of Israel.
New avenues have opened up for bigotry. The
Kremlin is pursuing the dissidents and many of
them are Jews who are denied visas to emigrate
to Israel. Then there are the Olympics, paths to
which are being blocked for athletes, and the
failure of the Russian hierarchy to assure just
rights for them has created problems which
challenge the democratic countries to action
against the prejudiced policies of the Com-
munist regime.
Will the free world react against the threats
in the Soviet Union? What are the hopes for a
re-awakening of vigilance aimed at preventing
the spread of bias in the free world?
The Latin American conditions are not so
happy and there and in many other areas it is
the pressure from Arab anti-Israel forces and
the mounting boycott agitations that are caus-
ing concern over impending dangers for the
Jewish communities in many lands.
There is added cause for distress in the report
that was brought to Israel by a Keren Hayesod
emissary that Arab propaganda is affecting the
peace of Jews in Sweden and Finland. The re-
spective Jewish populations of 16,000 and 1,200
in these two countries is described as a new
element of anxiety in areas where anti-
Semitism was believed to have been subdued
since World War II.
American Jewry is not immune from ill feel-
ings. Here, too, Arab propaganda and a spread-
ing animostiy towards Jewry and Israel are
apparent. Anti-Semitic publications are fre-
quently in evidence.
University professors have been in the ranks
of the neo-Nazi publicists and some have issued
very virulent attacks on Jews and especially
distressing is this report from the National
Jewish Post about an anti-Jewish professor at
New York University College, New Paltz, N.Y.
"Last month a controversy developed
when students learned that a professor in
the History Department had suggested that
a course on the history of anti-Semitism be
renamed 'The Killers of Christ.' At a later
History Department meeting called to dis-
cuss growing anger at the professor's re-
mark the departmental minutes of the orig-
inal meeting were examined and shown to
confirm that the professor had indeed
made that proposal.
"New Paltz's Jewish students have also
complained about the repeated painting of
swastikas in various places on the campus,
and have reported that obscene anti-
Semitic graffitti is scrawled on the walls of
nearly every campus restroom.
"The New Paltz Administration has so far
failed to take any action to protect its
Jewish students."
Is the clock being turned back to pre-World
War II bigotries? Have the vigilant realized
their energies in the battle to uproot hatreds? It
is clear that the war on the lunatic fringe must
begin anew.
The Cultural-Sp iritual Priorities
After Tisha b'Av the oncoming year's ac-
tivities become obligatory for Jewish com-
munities, and the wise planners know how best
to prepare for actions that are so vital in keep-
ing people together and in assuring the success
of the functions so vital to a people's existence.
The routine duties will be repetitive. The
fund-raising tasks will be in evidence again.
The most important challenges will be in the
sphere of the cultural-spiritual. The
synagogue's functions are basic to Jewish exis-
tence. Having gained a place on the agenda for
more serious consideration than ever, the day
schools need encouragement while the weekday,
programs are strengthened.
Fund raising will not be ignored and the devo-
tion to the needs of Jewry and Israel will no
doubt be unfailing. The efforts for many causes
will be on schedule and will not be ignored.
Adult education programs, an assurance that
the best teaching staffs will be made available
for all school systems, the programming that
gains vitality through the Jewish Community
Centers must be provided with the devotions
that keep them functioning progressively.
Community movements would do well to plan
encouragement to student movements on the
campuses now, before it is too late to win the
support and identification of collegians.
The cultural aspects of a community are more
vital than the material. Fund raising will be a
success only when there is understanding and
devotion. To attain it there must be a spiritual
devotion, a cultural interest, the linking of
forces that are united by tradition and
strengthened by the historic legacies of the
people. To possess and retain the strength-
giving cultural inheritance there is need for
planning programs properly with an assurance
that there will be no yielding to pressures or
abandonment of loyalties. Therefore, com-
munities must get into action as an old year
ends and a new one begins.
New Ktav Volume
Christian Beliefs Queried
in `Jewish Christianity'
A Jewish view of Christianity and disagreement with some Christ-
ian beliefs is expressed in "Jews and Jewish Christianity" by David
Berger and Michael Wyschogrod (Ktav).
It is especially an appeal to reason by Jews who have been attracted
to Christianity and those who have become infatuated with the "Jews
for Jesus" theme.
An interesting analysis of the issue concludes with this statement:
"In a decision of this magnitude, however, there are emotional
factors involved as well — and there is nothing wrong with that. You
may have felt them in the form of a sense of fellowship and genuine
religious concern on the part of your Christian friends. But you have
also felt the instinctive opposition of many Jews to the prospect of
your conversion, and it is worth considering the reasons for that
opposition.
"You were born a Jew because your ancestors clung to their faith.
Often, they had to give their very lives when misguided Christians
forced the choice of baptism or death on them. You were born a Jew
because your ancestors had thesupreme courage to choose death. Had
they chosen baptism, you would not have been born a Jew. Their
readiness to make the ultimate sacrifice creates a special obligation
for their descendants not to render that sacrifice meaningless. Before
abandoning the Judaism of your ancestors, you must make an all-out
effort to study it, to know it, to live it."
'How We Live'
New Borowitz Volume
in Reform Judaism Series
With "How We Live" as its title, Behrman House has issued the
third volume in the series "Reform Judaism Today" by Dr. Eugene B.
Borowitz.
A new definition on the Reform "Mission of Israel" is offered in this
paperback. Dr. Borowitz writes:
"Judaism emphasizes action rather than-greed as the primary ex-
pression of a religious life, the means by which we strive to achieve
universal justice and peace. Reform Judaism shares this emphasis on
duty and obligation. Our founders stressed that the Jew's ethical
responsibilities, personal and social, are enjoined by God. The past
century has taught us that the claims made upon us may begin with
our ethical obligations but they extend to many other aspects of
Jewish living, including: creating a Jewish home centered on family
devotion; life-long study; private prayer and public worship; daily
religious observance; keeping the Sabbath and the holy days; celeb-
rating the major events of life; involvement with the synagogue and
community; and other activities which promote the survival of the
Jewish people and enhance its existence. Within each area of Jewish
observance Reform Jews are called upon to confront the claims of
Jewish tradition, however differently perceived, and to exercise their
individual autonomy, choosing and creating on the basis of commit-
ment and knowledge."