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THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating The Detroit ,Jewish 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.
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
ALAN HITSKY
News Editor
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
HEIDI PRESS
Assistant News Editor
DREW LIEBERWITZ
Advertising Manager
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 20th day of Tishri, 5739, is Ho1 HaMoed Sukkot, and the following scriptural selections will be read in our
synagogues:
Pentateuch.al portion, Exodus 33:12-34:26: Numbers 29:29-34. Prophetical portion, Ezekiel 38:18-39:16.
Sunday, Hoshana Rabba, Numbers 29:26-34.
Monday, Shemini Azeret
Pentateuchal portion, Deuteronomy 14:22-16:17; Numbers 29:35-30:1. Prophetical portion, I Kings 8:54-66.
Tuesday, Simhat Torah
Pentateuchal portion, Deuteronomy 33:1-35:12; Genesis 1:1-2:3; Numbers 29:35-30:1. Prophetical portion, Joshua 1:1-18.
Candle lighting, Friday, Oct. 20, 6:25 p.m.
VOL. LXXIV, No. 7
Page Four
Friday, October 20, 1978
The Sukka — Symbol of Unity
Fragile, temporary, a vital means of observ-
ing a major festival on the Jewish calendar, the
sukka nevertheless serves as a symbol ofJewish
unity.
Observers of Sukkot represent many factions
in Jewish ranks. They may differ in many re-
spects, in observance, in attitudes on Jewish
obligations, yet the booth, a shanty for prayer
and for feasting, serves to unify Jewry into a
coordinated peoplehood.
There is great, great significance in the
reality that a mere booth, a construction in-
tended for a week's observance, should serve to
hold Jews together in a common interest in a
legacy from the past that retains its power for
all time..
Fragile as it may be, the sukka is indestructi-
ble. This is its significance. That in spite of its
being held together weakly, a few boards held
together to last a few days becomes a means of
creating universal dedication, symbolizing the
aspect of an am ehad, one people worshipping
together wherever they may, in whatever lan-
guage they may best express their fealty one
with another. The prayers are mainly in He-
brew, but the supplementary identifications
can be in many languages. .
The symbol of the sukka is one of unity. It is of
indivisibility.
Therefore, the rejoicing that there can be, in
this symbol, the shalom bayit, the peace of the
Jewish household. And the household is univer-
sal. Whatever the blessings recited in the
sukka, they spell the unity of the Jewish people.
Obligatory 'Project Renewal
More than 200 delegates from four states,
meeting here last weekend for a review of
Jewish obligations philanthropically through
the United Jewish Appeal, overwhelmingly
endorsed the special undertaking planned for
the coming year as Project Renewal.
By this action these delegated representa-
tives from dozens of Jewish communities have
assumed an added duty in behalf of the many
whose living conditions must be improved and
whose standards must be elevated in the best
interests of a progressive Israel.
No matter how generous they may be, the
American Jewish communities cannot ignore
the established truth: that tens of thousands in
Israel continue to suffer from substandard liv-
ing conditions, that there is a dire need to in-
crease availability of housing, that youth in the
ranks of immigrants from countries of oppres-
sion and insecurity should b _ e assured oppor-
tunities for higher learning.
A nation that is being built on the principles
Of justice cannot permit a population living in
slums, their children turning into dropouts
from schools and thereby contributing to illiter-
acy, t state of poverty among them causing de-
linquency.
Is it any wonder that there has been an in-
crease in crime in Israel?
The sub-standards alluded to are responsible
for the increased number of delinquents. The
problems that have arisen must be solved speed-
ily, and if it is only a matter of the dollars added
to the Project Renewal then the compassionate
in Jewry must accept the new obligation with
even greater generosity than has already been
recorded in Jewish ranks.
A vital factor not to be ignored in the current
situation involving Israel is the need for a
strong and confident community of Jews in the
throes of peace.
These are hopeful times. The leader in the
ranks of the hitherto antagonistic neighbors
has taken the lead in propagating amity with an
assurance of sincerity in pursuing an accord
with the Jewish state. Soon there is to be an
anticipated exchange of ambassadors between
the two countries and therefore also the intro-
duction of cultural and industrial exchanges be-
tween Jews and Egyptians. To attain these
goals it is vital that both communities should be
wholesome and the introduction of Project Re-
newal will contribute towards it in Israel.
The Impossible Can Be Possible
It wasn't so long ago, only a matter of weeks,
that a negotiated peace between Egypt and Is-
rael was considered an impossibility.
Now the peace is being negotiated.
This is a time for the skeptics to be patient
and to bide their time.
Let there be an end to granting even one ear
to rumormongering! .
In a recent interview, shortly after the Camp
David summit,. Israel's Prime Minister
Menahem Begin made this important comment:
"What can be the outcome? We can't say what
kind of an agreement, but what we can stress is
that at Camp David we sometimes had prob-
lems that seemed to be insoluble and we still
resolved them, because this is the nature of
human brains. (If) there is an agreement be-
tween the parties negotiating — then every-
body will rejoice that there is an agreement.
And if there is no agreement, the (present) ar-
rangement for Palestinian autonomy and Is-
raeli security will continue. So in either case
nothing wrong can happen. Therefore, I am op-
timistic about the future."
It is too much to anticipate that the back-
ground , of the present sessions for a negotiated
peace between Israel and Egypt may once again
prove that the impossible may one day become a
possibility? .
Dr. Stitskin Annotates
`Letters of Maimonides'
Hitherto unpublished letters by the Ninth Century scholar and
physician, Moses Maimonides, annotations defining the backgrounds
and exchange of correspondence of the man considered the greatest of
Jewish classicists, are incorporated in "Letters of Maimonides,"
edited by Dr. Leon D. Stitskin (Yeshiva University Press).
While the texts of Maimonides' correspondence are in themselves
revelatory documentations serving as commentaries on Jewish law
and tradition, the explanatory notes by Dr.'Stitskin add immensely to
the importance of the compilation - edited by the American rabbi who
is professor of philosophy at
Yeshiva University Revel
School and director of the
university's special publica-
tions.
Especially noteworthy in
the collected documents is
"The Last Will and Testa-
ment of Maimonides," enti-
tled "Maimonides' Letter of
Moral Instruction to His
Son Abraham."
Maimonides was a re-
nowned philosopher,
halakhist and medical wri-
ter. Born in Spain and later
moving to Egypt, his works
include the "Mishneh To-
: rah, a Hebrew compendium
ofJewish law covered in the
MOSES MAIMONIDES
Talmud, and "Guide to the
Perplexed," an exposition of the Jewish faith.
The letters of Maimonides go a step beyond revealing personal
sensitivities and intimate insights, as the correspondence of eminent
men generally do, according to Dr. Stitskin. "They are crucial to an
understanding of the authentic world view of the classical
philosopher: They reflect an uncompromising - pm-suit of the life of
reason and a rejection of unsupported, dogmatic doctrinal formula-
tions. Judaism to Maimonides is an intellectually - grounded faith
and the advancement of learning is its highest commandment."
The letters also deal with such subjects as: "Historical Evidence and
Halakhic Principles," "The Advent of the Messiah and the Return to
Zion," and Maimonides' unbending opposition to astrology.
Dr. Stitskin based the translations of the 10 letters in the book on a
comparative study of each letter in the various versions of the corres-
pondence. He precedes each letter with an introduction and follows it
with notes embodying a critical analysis of the text and its content.
Jacobs' `Hasidic Prayer'
Defines High Rank of Piety
Hasidism in its highest ranks of piety is defined in a scholarly
evaluation of"Hasidic Prayer," by Dr. Louis Jacobs (Schocken Books),
re-issued as a paperback.
Not a Hasid himself, the noted author treats his subject "with a
degree of affection."
Role ofJewish prayer as a Hasidic pattern attains new significance
in the thoroughly researched essay by Rabbi Jacobs, the eminent
British Jewish scholar.
"Hasidic Prayer" serves to illustrate the Hasidic way of life and in
this paperback the reader will find a text that effectively defines a
major aspect of one of the most intriguing movements in Jewish life.