THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorpordting The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951
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PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
.
ALAN HITSKY
News Editor
JUDAISM SATS AT
THE DOOkSTEP
DREW LIEBERWITZ
Advertising Manager
HEIDI PRESS
Assistant News Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 25th day of Heshvan, 5739, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Genesis 23:1-25:18. Prophetical portion, I Kings 1:1-31.
Thursday and Dec. 1, Rosh Hodesh Kislev, Numbers 28:1-15.
Candle lighting, Friday, Nov. 24, 4:47 p.m.
VOL. LXXIV, No 12
Friday, Novemter 24, 1978
Page Four
Thanksgiying: Battling Poverty
A very human act gives special significance to
this year's observance of Thanksgiving.
Joining with Church World Service and the
Catholic Relief Service, the American Jewish
Joint Distribution Committee is co-sponsoring
a movement to relieve want and eliminate
hunger in a special campaign occasioned by
Thanksgiving.
In what has been described as "an ecumenical
coalition," the three groups are asking Ameri-
cans to contribute $10 to the newly-launched
Thanksgiving Hunger Fund.
It is pointed out that nearly 30 percent of the
world's population is starving. The new fund is
aimed at reducing the effects of such a deplora-,
ble state of affairs affecting mankind.
As president of the 60-year-old Joint Distri-
bution Committee, Donald Robinson is able to
point to a notable experience by a great
worldwide movement in tackling want. JDC's
examples have long been used as inspirations in
aiding the hungry and is assisting them to rise
to a state of self-support and human dignity.
Thanksgiving thus marks renewal of a long
tradition in Jewish life, which had made Sukkot
the first of all thanksgiving tasks, and in striv-
ing for dignity in attaining human values.
No Games With Israel's Security
There remains the danger stemming from
Arafatism. The PLO leader now wants a holy
war to "liberate" Jerusalem. The City of Peace,
as the name of the city interprets from the He-
brew, has already been liberated from a domi-
nation by Jordan that caused so much misery. It
is now an undivided city that unites Jewry in
The Egyptian ruler is too shrewd to be forced . her defense. Nothing can possibly interfere with
into a negation of the decisions which resulted that historic decision. •
from President Jimmy Carter's appeals to his
conscience. But there is hig need to play the
Perhaps even the divided Arab ranks will
game of loyalty to the many Arab states which recognize the urgency of pursuing the peace ar-
often unite in their threats to Israel's existence. rangements. Several Arab nations have already
The dividing line is clear but it cannot be the given their endorsement to the Sadat role in a
ruling factor in a situation that demands, in the new era leading to an , accord. Peace is in the
best interests of the entire area, that there interest of all peoples. Only those insane by a
desire for warfare can think otherwise.
should be an end to saber-rattling.
Perhaps it is well that the negotiations for
peace in the Middle East should have dragged a
bit. The confusions made it possible for a puz-
zled world to realize that the threats from
Anwar Sadat's co-religionists contributed to his
vacillations.
Quest for Youth Identification
Difficulties encountered in efforts to encour-
age college youth involvement in Jewish
movements brought interesting reactions from
noted academicians at the American Jewish
Committee's national executive council meet-
ing in Cambridge, Mass., last month
the emerging attitudes of youth towards the
Jewish community.
Dr. Jerrold S. Auerbach, associate professor
of history at Wellesley, advanced this view-
point:
How do Jewish students react to the Middle
East problems and Israel's role, as well as to
other Jewish issues?
•
An existing indifference was indicated in the
view of Dr. Harriette L. Chandler, director of
the Brandeis University Women's Di-
vision."Today," she declared, "Many Jewish
students show little or no interest in Jewish life
or in Israel. It is much more difficult today to
find knowledgeable Jews among both students
and faculty members. Faculty members tend to
demonstrate' a somewhat greater re-awakening
of their Jewish identities, but undergraduates
are almost exclusively concerned with their in-
dividual achievements, both on campus and
later in the economic world."
On the other hand, there seems to be a strong
upsurge of Orthodox Judaism on other college
campuses, including such major institutions as
Harvard. These seemingly contradictory
trends, going on simultaneously, may post -seri-
ous programming problems for Jewish institu-
tions and agencies which conduct activities on
campus designed to encourage the Jewish iden-
tity of participants, while stressing full partici-
pation in the American milieu."
~
While there is the growing obligation to study
the needs and reactions in the effort to assure
youth involvement, it is clear that it is neither
all positive or all distressing. There are re-
sponses that are heartening, but they seem to
come from a limited source, while the larger
_number show_an indifference. -These could be
While the view of other discussants was that the conclusions to be drawn from the views ex-
Israel has created a deepening interest in pressed by the academics at a session which had
Jewish needs, there seems to be agreement of an important place in deliberations on the
contradictory situations. Some pointed to a status of American Jewry. The American
growing tendency towards Orthodoxy, but in its Jewish Committee rendered a good service in
entirety there appeared to be a sense of realism the sponsorship of such an evaluative session on
that there is need for serious consideration of youth and the Jewish community.
Gilbert Documentary Reveals
Struggles for Statehood
Martin Gilbert has become a name of marked distinction in the
ranks ofJewish historians. His skill has made his compiled documen-
tation of immense value for students of Jewry's role in the world.
He has earned special appreciation for his studies of the facts he has
gathered regarding Jews in Arab lands. In the form of an atlas,
Gilbert's "The Jews of Arab Lands" traces the past and describes the
present sad state of affairs affecting Jews who were forced to escape
persecutions in Mosiem countries.
Similarly, Gilbert's "Jewish History Atlas" outlines the status of
Jews annotated, thus making the study of history effective and
speedy, since so many facts are incorporated by the author in a single
map.
'
In "Exile and Return" (J.B. Lippin-
cott Co.), Gilbert is the expert in
documentation. The Zionist and Israel
library shelf is enriched with a most
valuable addition to historical data
with the analyses offered in this book
and the immense amount of new
material provided in formulating
basic facts about the struggle for
statehood, obstructions of the British,
the role played by the United States,
the innor conflicts in Jewish ranks.
More than 400 documents, either
never before referred to or seldom
taken into account, serve as a basis for
the important historical record of the
struggle for and emergence of the state
MARTIN GILBERT
of Israel. The author goes back to early
periods ofJewish aspirations for redeemed statehood and the conflicts
within Jewish ranks, commencing in Russia with the opposition that
stemmed from the Bund.
- The problem of Arab opposition hnd the hatreds that developed are
fully accounted for and especially distressing is the expose of the
British appeasements and the outright animosity that aimed at the
destruction of the Jewish foundation for statehood in sortie British,
including official ranks.
The consequences of the Holocaust, the search for havens of refuge
by Jews during and after the last war, had their effects on American
attitudes which are thoroughly explored by Gilbert.
The documentations cover vast areas and their texts add to c'
1-
cation of many issues which may have remained somewhat cloud. in
the past.
Thus, his material on the Weizmann-Feisal negotiations for the
accord with the Arabs provide better understanding of an effort col-
lapsed in 1919.
Explaining the British treatment of the pledge for statehood con-
tained in the Balfour Declaration, Gilbert shows the manner in which
it was betrayed, the antagonism towards Zionists and Jews that arose
in official British ranks, thus creating serious crises for Jewry and
encouraging the Arab hatred toward Zionism and the mobilization of
4- heir-organized opposition-towards statehoo-d.
The documentations, so valuable for the total historical record,
reveal the manner in which Jewish settlement in Palestine was
denied in British regulations.
In more than one sense, Gilbert's "Exile and Return" is Jewish
history encompassing Jewish aims for statehood, struggles to assure
fulfillment of promises, search for American aid and aims at attaining
Jewish unity for the common purpose of the realization of the Zionist
ideal.