THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating The Detroit eIeteish Chronicle commencing with the 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
Postmaster: Send address changes to The Jewish News, 17515 W. 9 Mile Rd., Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075
Second-Class Postage Paid at Southfield, Michigan and Additional Mailing Offices. Subscription $12 a year.
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
Editor and Publisher
DREW LIEBERWITZ
ALAN HITSKY
HEIDI PRESS
Advertising Manager
News Editor
Assistant News Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 13th day of Tishri, 5739, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
,
Pentateuchal portion, Deuteronomy 32:1-52. Prophetical portion, II/Samuel 22:1-51.
Monday, Sukkot..
Pentateuchal portion, Leviticus 22:26-23:44; Numbers 29:12-16.
Tuesday, Sukkot
Pentateuchal portion, Leviticus 22:26-23:44; Numbers 29:12-16. Prophetical portion, I Kings 8:2-21.
Hol HaMoed Sukkot
Wednesday, Numbers 29:17-25; Thursday, Number,; 29:20,28; Oct. 20, Numbers 29:23-31.
Candle lighting, Friday, Oct. 13, 6:26 p.m.
VOL. LXXIV, No. 6
Page Four
Friday, October 13, 1978
Not Without Responsible Allies
So much of the occurrences on the interna-
tional scene often appear slanted to be anti-
Israeli that the positive side of the evolving
issues must not be ignored.
Israel has an important function in Lebanon
where she is determined to defend the position
of the Christian community and to intercede
against the spread of Syrian and PLO influence.
This has resulted in accusations that Israel is
intervening unlawfully in a foreign country.
The Lebanese Christians feel otherwise.
In an interview at Thurmont, Md., during the
Camp David summit discussions, the president
of the 2,000,000-member American-Lebanese
League, Robert Basil, welcomed Israel's activi-
ties inlebanon and showed a sense of gratitude
for the help given thereby to assure the survival
of the Lebanese Christian community.
President Jimmy Carter, Egypt's President
Anwar Sadat and Israel Prime Minister
Menahem Begin, on their way to the White
House, in the helicopter that took them on that
historic night after the Camp David summit
negotiations, agreed to make the Lebanon
tragedy a matter of their joint concerns. Are
they able to solve it so that there will be an end
to terrorism by the PLO forces stationed in.
Lebanon? Will the Syrian aims to engulf Leba-
non be curbed? This continues to plague the
Middle East as one of its most serious agonies.
Libertarians will not overlook the basic fact of
the justice inherent in the Israel position vis-a-
vis Lebanon. The failure of the Vat; can and of
most other religious denominationE to come to
the aid of the threatened Christians ri Lebanon
has been a puzzle to many.
Now it becomes clear that the i sue is not
one-sided, that there is a Christian a )preciation
of what Israel is doing in defense o the people
threatened by Syria and the PLO.
Thus, the Lebanese Christians _ire not with-
out friends and Israel is not lacking in apprecia-
tion from those who receive her aid and all who
endorse an effort to prevent the total submis-
sion of a people that had built a progressive
country in the Middle East.
The assurance given by the Shah of Iran that
he will not cut off petroleum sales to Israel is
another indication that in spite of the many
pressures from enemy ranks Israel is not with-
out friends in the Middle East.
Drawing Youth Into the Ranks
In the process of planning the program of ac-
tivities for the year ahead, as 5738 draws to a
close, the most pressing question will be, again:
will our youth be with us to face the obligations
confronting Jewry?
Wherever Jews gather, whenever an assem-
bly is convened, the inevitable question is:
where is the youth? The elders respond, the
youth all-too-often are invisible.
Yet, it would be uncomplimentary to the pre-
sent generatio'n to say that young Jews are to-
tally absent from Jewish life. There are more
enrollees in Jewish courses at American uni-
versities than ever before. The pilgrimages to
Israel during the summer vacation months are
drawing more young people year by year. Many
of them remain for a year of study and a share in
kibutz life.
But the public assemblies, the social, philan-
thropic and congregational sessions that build
communal life are usually-devoid of youth par-
ticipation.
It is hardly to be expected that youth, over-
whelmingly in student ranks, will be able to
give the time expected for affiliations which will
tax their time. But partial participation and
evidence of identification is what the average
community craves for.
Admittedly, youth responds when social is-
sues are at stake. They have shown a deep
interest in the fate of Russian Jewry. They have
displayed an interest in politics when there are
challenges involving all peoples, every element
in American life.
One element has already displayed great
ability in assuming leadership and in affirming
responsibility. The Young Leadership element
of the United Jewish Appeal has become so ef-
fective that it is the most heartening factor in
American Jewish experience.
In every community, and nationally,
graduates from Young Leadership ranks are
becoming the elders long before the age when
their parents had assumed administrative
roles. This is heartening and is exemplary of
what is to be expected in wholesome com-
munities.
The basic need is to apply the example of the
UJA's youth movement to all facets of Jewish
life. Every effort must be exerted to draw youth
into positions of importance in congregational,
Zionist and social service movements. Perhaps
there is a time for the elders gradually to step
aside while guiding the next generation to the
podia. This is a duty for every generation seek-
ing to prove the positive effects of its own efforts.
`
Pea ce in Washington
An historic counterpart must come from this
nation. The peace negotiations that commenced
in Washington, ,D.C., on Thursday will, hope-
fully, equate with the historic assertion in
Isaiah that; `Out of Zion shall come the Law, and
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."
This nation, under the leadership of
President Carter, has undertaken the compel-
ling task of ending the Egyptian-Israel conflict
and of inaugurating peace in the entire Middle
East. With all eyes on Washington, all hopes are
that this nation's capital indeed will emerge
with a peace„with blessings for all mankind.
Sukkot, Time of Rejoicing;
Symbolism of the Psalms
The series of pocketbook-sized pamphlets published by Burning
Bush Press under the title "Jewish Tract Series," dealing with the
festivals and Jewish traditional subjects, is enriched with the newest
24-page brochure devoted to "Sukkot, the Time of Our Rejoicing."
Authored by Evelyn Garfiel, notably annotated, this tract defines
the festival as the tradition-setting occasion for thanksgiving, as a
multi-faceted institution emphasizing values crystalizing God's love,
the chanting of the Hallel being rooted in the Psalms.
The emphasis on the Psalms gives special status to this booklet. The
Psalms are described as "the most quoted Book of the Bible" and Miss
Garfiel offers this fascinating definition of the Psalms:
"The Hallel consists of Psalms 113 and 118; it is known as the
Egyptian Hallel because Egypt and the Exodus are recalled there.
Essentially they are poems of praise of the Lord and appeals for His
help: `Hoshiah-na, Save, 0 Lord . . .' (118:25). But the variety and
magnificence of the Psalms in the whole book allow for choosing
among them expressions of almost every human need and mood.
Their themes run the •gamut from triumphant joy to utter despair,
from abject acknowledgment of sin to thanksgiving to the Lord for
successful achievement of personal aims, from awareness of God's
awesome justice to confidence in His compassion and goodness.
"It is no accident that the role of Psalms in the liturgy of the
Western world is so widespread. The Coptic Church assigns a special
Psalm for prayers each day of the week; the Anglican Book of Com-
mon Prayer consists almost entirely of Psalms. Far and wide this
inspired collection of Hebrew prayer-poems plays a vital role in the
spiritual life of many peoples and faiths.
13ut for a Jew, a Psalm is so very often the 'rod and (the) staff that
comfort him. When nothing else helped, he 'said Psalms.' In 1948
when Jerusalem was .besieged, without food and very little water,
when ammunition was running perilously low but the Jewish soldiers
persisted in continuing to fight, an old Jew rushed out into the streets
and shouted, `Yiden, Yiden (Jews), stop relying on miracles; say
Psalms!' Moreover, the individual could always find a Psalm to give
him solace and encouragement in every crisis of his personal life. Who
doesn't know the Twenty-third Psalm: The Lord is my shepherd
. .
"In the reading of Psalms, especially certain ones with a deeply
personal quality, the normal mystical experience of God's nearness
can often-be felt. It is a religious experience that is characteristic
Rabbinic Judaism; it entails no visions or 'voices,' no abnormal se
sory phenomena, but is a poignant awareness of God's presence. Th
introductory benediction before the Hallel and the Psalms themselves
are expressions of that experience, and to recite them may, in turn,
induce such a normal mystical experience of God."
Soviet-Yiddish Fiction
Schocken Books has re-issued, as a paperback, "Ashes Out of Hope:
Fiction by Soviet-Yiddish Writers."
In addition to presenting the writings of notable Russian Jews, in
commendable translations, this volume has the merit of the introduc-
tory essay by the editors of the book, Irving Howe and the late Eliezer
Greenberg. Their explanatory article traces the status of the Yiddish
writers in Russia and presents a historical analysis of Yiddish litera-
ture in the Soviet Union.
Three stories by David Bergelson and one each by Moshe Kulbak
and Der Mister appear in translations by Leonard Wolf, Seth L.
Wolitz, Nathan Helper, Seymour Levitan and Reuben Bercovitch.