THE JEWISH NEWS (USPS 275 52°) Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951 TRIAL sALLoot4s... 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 addresschanges to,The Jewish News, 175.15 ..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 Editor and Publisher ALAN HITSKY News Editor HEIDI PRESS Assistant News Editor Business Manager DREW LIEBERWITZ Advertising Manager Sabbath Scriptural Selections This SabbU:th, the 13th day of Shevat, 5739, the following scriptural selections will he read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Exodus 13:17-17:16. Prophetical portion, Judges 4:4-5:31. Monday, Tu b'Shevat Candle lighting, Friday, Feb. 9, 5:39 p.m. VOL. LXXIV, No. 23 Page Four Friday, February 9, 1979 Argentina Challenged Oppression of citizenSholding opinions differ- ing with those in power in Argentina has be- come a matter of deep concern not only by those concerned for human rights in this country but by Argentinians as well. -‘ The persecution of Jacobo Timerman, the Jewish publisher, is a case in point. His house arrest is being aired in Buenos Aires as well as in New York, Detroit and Washington. It would be unfair to the sense of justice among many Argentinians to deny that there have been protests against this tragic situation and that the Timerman case was not exposed for public consideration. An editorial in the Spanish-language Buenos Aires Herald, under the title !:.A Sign of Weakness?" ("Un idicio de- bilidad?") expressed concern over the -occur- rences. In its English translation this editorial stated in part: "A recent flurry of reports that Mr. Jacobo Timerman, the founder of La Opinion and one of the most distinguished journalists in Latin America, would shortly be allowed to go to Is- rael were summarily squelched by a govern- ment spokesman who said the idea was not even being considered. Mr. Timerman has been in the hands of the authorities ever since being arrested in the early hours of April 15, 1977, and there have been many such reports, engen- dered • by a mixture of hope and the govern- inent's manifest embarrassment concerning his case, which have had to be officially denied. "But while the government insists it has no intention of letting Mr. Timerman go, it seems equally reluctant to say why he is still being held. This remains- a mystery, and it is causing the government's international reputation far more harm that it seems to realize. "Although Mr. Timerman was tried, con- demned, and executed by public opinion at the time of his arrest, he 'faces no legal charges whatsoever. A military tribunal decided, a year - -and a half sago, that he would not be charged of involvement with armed subversion. Later statements that he would be investigated with `economic subver§ion' never resulted in any concrete accusations being made. Timerman, in . fact, has not been charged with anything, and there is no indication at all that he ever will be. Nevertheless, it was announced on Nov. 10, 1977, that he had been stripped of control of his property -- including, needless to say, La Opin- ion and also of his civil rights, insofar as they can be said to exist for anyone today. "Since April- this year, Mr. Timerman has been held under house arrest. And, even though_ the Supreme Court ruled in July that even ac- cording to its own draconian rules the govern- ment had no cause to hold him, he is still there now. The government, in what is perhaps its most important omission to date, has not seen fit to make any public reply at all to a demand by the highest legal authority in the country. Mr. Timerman remains in captivity despite the law, not because of it. This makes nonsense of all government pledges to return the country to its proper legal bearings." What can possibly be done by concerned Jews and Americans to secure justice for at least one of the sufferers from the current Argentinian spate of prejudice? There is no intruding into the internal affairs of a foreign government. But there have been precedents of the U.S. State Department, and, even if rarely, of the White House, having ex- pressed concern over the fate of the oppressed in foreign lands. . Isn't this an occasion for such action? • Argentine Jewish leaders have, in the main, been complacent about the existing situation, but the latest restrictions imposed on the Timermans may awaken renewed concern over the fate of the country's 300,000 Jews. (The fig- ure generally given for Argentina is that she has 470,000 Jews. A demographic study re- ported in the. American Jewish Year Book in behalf of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University by Naomi F. Meyer sets the figure at 300,000.)) They are the con- cern of all Jews and whatever action can be taken in their behalf and at the same time to encourage firmness and vigilance on the part of Argentinian Jewish leadership will be contri- bution towards human obligations for the pro- tection of the highest principles of human rights everywhere. Since President Jimmy Carter has made human rights a major plank in his policies perhaps he can be induced to speak out in de- fense of Jacobo timerman and all who are suffer- ing from a state_ of terror in Argentina. It is encouraging to know that the situation in Argentina is not being silenced, that there are nationals in that country who cannot condone what has happened to thousands. — 1ftli /'" . MT, IT hi piX A. 19 F4 pal . • Abridgement of Maimonides' `Guide to the Perplexed' Maimonides — Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon — left the most im- pressive legacy upon the thinking of Jewry in the eight centuries after his death, and that aspect of the teachings of the greatest of Jewish philosophers remains for the ages. His "Guide to the Perplexed" remains as a treatise for Jewish philosophical reasoning. Sanhedrin Press of Hebrew Publishing Co. now makes available in paperback an abridged edition of the great work. "Maimonides' Guide to the Perplexed" in the new paperback edition was edited by the late Prof. Julius Guttmann and was translated by Prof. Chaim Rabin. Those troubled by faith and reason find in this immemorable work the true understanding of the Torah, explanations of the concept of God and dissertations on problems arising from Bible teachings. "Guide to the Perplexed" has always been viewed as in- dispensable to students of Judaism and has been used as a guide by students of religion and philosophy. The new paperback thus serves an invaluable pur- pose for the scholars of all faiths. MOSES MAIMONIDES - Curt Leviant's 'Yemenite Girl' Out as Paperback "The Yemenite Girl," the prize-winning love story by Curt Leviant, first published as a hard-cover book by Bobbs Merrill Co. in 1973, has just been reissued as a paperback by Avon Books. Leviant was awarded the 1977 Edward Lewis Wallant Award for this novel. The love story in "The Yemenite Girl" focuses on a middl writer's infatuation with a girl portrayed as both fictional and r Ezra Shultish, a New York-based teacher of Hebrew literature, idolizes the works of the famous Israeli author Yehiel Bar-Nun, winner of the Nobel Prize for his story "The Yemenite Girl." Shultish has written a definitive book on Bar-Nun's style and goes to Israel on sabbatical hoping to learn from the master. majority beneficiary, the United Jewish Ap- Bar-Nun repeatedly eludes him and makes appointments with peal, that the hands of the fighters for justice him only to break them. Shultish must be content to live in the master's shadow. Shultish has committed to memory every word of and security will be upheld. "The Yemenite Girl," and although he is a middle-aged man, he Through the Israel Bond Organization, which was represented a few days ago in Israel becomes infatuated with a young girl who embodies for him the by a representative delegation, encouragement fictional Yemenite girl. He is torn between his fantasies of the girl and his nerve- is given to economic planning for Israel. shattering dealings with Bar-Nun. It is only after he cuts his ties to The aid provided for Israel by the UJA and Bar-Nun that the facets of Shultish's life, love and literature merge in Israel Bonds is vital to the sense of confidence a moment of searing self-discovery. instilled in the Israelis in a determined will to Curt Leviant has published fiction in several magazines includ- live and to make progress for an historically ing The Quarterly Review. of Literature, North American Review, and The Literary Review. His short stories have been included in redeemed state. • This is a time to act in Israel's behalf. Slum- "Martha Foley's Best American Short Stories" and other anthologies. Leviant lives in New Jersey. bering at this time would be criminal. No Time to Slumber! Delays in making the Camp David decisions a reality, the rising tide-of Arab hatred in coun- tries differing with Egypt's steps in the direc- tion of peace and the emergence of a visible Fifth Column in Israel combine to increase American Jewry's obligations to the people of Israel. Thii is a time to send forth word to the embat- tled Israelis that the JeWs of the world will not abandon them. Greater Detroit Jewry is in • the process of fulfilling obligations to the Israeli social service and educational agencies which receive support' f rom the Allied Jewish Campaign, through its; vimi nun rmn 77,1mil