THE JEWISH NEWS
(USPS 275-520)
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
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PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor- and Publisher
ALAN HITSKY
News Editor
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
DREW LIEBERWITZ
HEIDI PRESS
Advertising Manager
Assistant News Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 17th day of Nisan, 5739, is Hol Hamoed Passover,
and the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Exodus 33:12-34:26, Numbers 28:19-25. Prophetical portion, Ezekiel 37:1-15.
Sunday through Tuesday, Hol Hamoed Passover
Pentateuchal portion, Sunday, Exodus 13:1-16, Numbers 28:19-25;
Monday, Exodus 22:24-23:19, Numbers 28:19-25;
Tuesday, Num bers 9:1-14, 28:19-25.
Prophetical portion each day, Ezekiel 37:1-15.
Wednesday, seventh day of Passover
Pentateuchal portion, Exodus 13:17-15:26, Numbers 28:19-25.
Prophetical portion, II Samuel 22:1-51.
Thursday, eighth day of Passover
Pentateuchal portion, Deuteronomy 15:19-16:17, Numbers 28:19-25.
Prophetical portion, Isaiah 10:32-12:6.
Candle lighting, Friday, April 13, 6:53 p.m.
VOL. LXXV, No. 6
Page Four
Friday, April 13, 1979
Hebrew in Peace Treaty
"Hebrew is our own flesh and
blood, and each encounter with
it is a fixture of our soil."
— Hayyim Nahman Bialik
Was a treaty of peace ever written and signed in Hebrew?
Many wars are recorded in the Bible and they ended in some sort of
pact. Were they written agreements? Even if they were, it was so long ago
Like a motto, sounded by economists and politicians, in the process of peace
that they were in eras when the resort to Hebrew was a normal process. In
planning,
the cost of peace has become a major topic of discussion. It might also
modern times it is among the sensational that developed simultaneously
become one of discord.
with the redemption and with the rebirth of the state of Israel.
Much has been said and issues will be raised over "the cost of peace." The billions
The peace pact signed on the White House lawn between Egypt and
involved
in the Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai, the creation of new homesteads for
Israel on March 26, was trilingual — English, Arabic and Hebrew. The
the
thousands
who must leave the settlements abandoned, will require American aid
former two were by representatives of nations whose existence was never
that
will
run
into
the billions. For Israel alone there will be an imposed expenditure of
interrupted by an Exile. In the instance of the Jew, the third language, the
and the resettlement plans and the
Hebrew, used as a text for-the historic treaty of-peace, was in the-language some $10 billion to accommodate the withdrawals -
substitution
of
air
bases
in
the
Negev
for
those
to
be vacated in the Sinai.
whose revival was as sensational as the redeemed statehood.
For
Israel,
the
mounting
obligations
are
immense.
An important study of the
Hebrew never died. It is to this day the oldest tongue in history. As the
language of the Jew's prayers it was always the powerful expression of the needs made by the authoritative American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)
spiritual that influenced not only the Jewish people everywhere but also lists the strategic implications as follows:
• Unlike the Arab states, Israel must rely heavily on its civilian reserve forces.
Christil'nity and to a degree perhaps also Islam. But it was never used in
The
Sinai
withdrawal will increase the burden on Israel's relatively small standing
the courts of the mighty. It was not the language of statesmen. It was
army
and
make its reserves' mobilization centers more vulnerable to attack.
unheard of in diplomacy. It was the spoken language of the Jew only in
• Israeli positions and installations in the Sinai now give Israel accurate
Eretz Yisrael among the remnants who had not abandoned the ancient
advanced-warning of actions on the western side of the Suez Canel and on the eastern
homeland.
Otherwise, they had their dialects. The Jews created a great literature coast of the Red Sea and Gulf of Eilat. The early warning stations now situated atop
in Yiddish, notable works especially musical creations, in Ladino. It was high ground cannot be duplicated in the Negev which lacks such topographical
characteristics.
with the rebirth of the state of Israel that Hebrew became a diplomatic
• Israel will no longer have the same capability to patrol the Red Sea and Gulf of
language. Career members of the State Department who go to Israel are
Eilat
straits. The naval base at Sharm-el-Sheikh gives the Israeli navy the ability to
expected to know some Hebrew. The language is the acknowledged spoken
tongue of the Jewish people. Now its revival as a language among the guarantee free passage for its commerce to and from its southern port of Eilat. These
international waterways have been illegally blockaded twice by the Arab states.
nations is shown in its use in a peace treaty. Such is the glory that was
added to the day of peace making — that the world witnessed Hebrew as After withdrawal, Israeli naval craft will have to operate from the congested Eilat
civilian port — an area with less than five miles of coastline.
part of the revival that is the privilege of the Jews of this generation.
• The Israeli air force will withdraw not only from two of the most modern
tactical airbases in the world — Eitam and Etzion — but also from eight additional
airfields in the Sinai. The Sinai also gave the air force large areas for training which
will be lost, diminishing the effectiveness of Israel's highly trained pilots — always
Increasing responsibilities to retain Israel's image accompany the cited as the qualitative reason for Israeli air superiority. Simulator training or
peace pact with Egypt. In spite of the controversies that emerge whenever training missions over the Mediterranean Sea cannot duplicate the actual conditions
there is mention of settlements, new ones will be established and some will the Israeli air force must prepare for.
be vitally needed. Those who will be evacuated from the oases created in
• Similarly, the Israeli ground forces will be handicapped by the loss of training
the Sinai by the Israelis will need to be settled elsewhere and their new areas in Sinai. The carrying out of coordinated armored maneuvers in the more
densely populated and much smaller Negev will be extremely difficult.
homes will be in new settlements.
Conscious of the accumulating commitments and award of the
• Israel's ammunition dumps, logistic centers, and military distribution instal-
lations can no longer be dispersed over a large geographic region. Instead, they will
urgency that arose with the new era of partial peace in the Middle East, the
Jewish National Fund, the agency that pursues the task of redeeming the have to be concentrated in smaller numbers and area, increasing their vulnerability.
soil, now is faced with two tasks: the settlement of Jews from abroad as well
• Many of the bases and defenses in the eastern Sinai are vital to defend Israel
not against Egypt but from an eastern front attack by Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Saudi
as Israelis participating in such pioneering not only on the borders of Israel
Arabia. The recent rapprochement between Syria and Iraq poses new challenges for
but especially in the Negev and the Galil.
Moshe Rivlin, the world chairman of the Keren Kayemet le Yisrael, Israeli defense planners.
the Jewish National Fund, proposing new programs on behalf of the land
It is clear that American aid is vital to the adherence to the obligations indicated
redemption movement, brought to American Jewry the message from the
here. but the attainment of the goals of peace will be difficult without the aid of the
Negev and its call for settlers and for builders. It was like the echo of the
people obligated to Israel's progress and security.
voice of David Ben-Gurion who always emphasized the importance of the
This is where world Jewry, notably the Jews of the United States, become
Negev, southern Israel, for the state. Of equal importance is the call for partners in efforts to make peace workable.
speedy action in settling the unpopulated area of the Galil. Mr. Rivlin
Tax-wise, Israel will bear the brunt of the responsibilities involved. To ease
placed emphasis on the sparsity of Jewish settlers in northern Israel, Israel's obligations, her social service and educational projects will need outside help.
where more than 200,000 Arabs, residents and nomads, could overpopu- This is where American and other Jewries can step in to assist through the United
late the area and create a serious problem for Jews turned into a minority.
Jewish Appeal and the Zionist organizations, and industrially and economically with
Tens of millions of dollars will be required to solve the problem of the Galil investments through the Israel Bond Organization. Duties to these must not be
and to fulfill the duties in the Negev, and the message from the world JNF
shirked.
chairman is therefore of the utmost urgency.
Cost of Peace and Jewry's Duty
Role for JNF Under Peace