THE
JEWISH NEWS (USPS 275 520)
Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951
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CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
ALAN HITSKY
News Editor
HEIDI PRESS
Associate News Editor
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Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 19th day of Tammuz, 5739, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Numbers 25:10-30:1. Prophetical portion, Jeremiah 1:1-2:3.
Candle lighting, Friday, July 13, 8:49 p.m.
VOL. LXXV, No. 19
Page Four
Friday, July 13, 1979
PUNISHMENT OF NAZIS
West German credibility would have been re- as those bearing blame for the horrors of- the
duced to a minimum had the statute of limita- 1930s and 1940s remain free there is a continu-
tions remained in force. The close vote of 255 to ing danger to the sense of decency. The fact that
222 to abolish the statute, which, if it had not Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and his associates
been scrapped, would have given Nazi criminals spoke out in support of the measure that retains
everywhere the right to roam the world freely, the search for and the eventual punishment of
gives Germany a sense of dignity. It sends forth the criminals is in itself heartening. It provides
a message to the civilized world that the sense of a measure of assurance that the ruling forces in
guilt remains and thereby gives assurance that Germany will not tolerate — an ideology akin to
the Germans of a new generation not only dis- the Hitlerism that engulfed a continent and
approve of what had occurred, but they are threatened the freedom of all mankind.
ready to exert their efforts to prevent repetition
The West German Bundestag vote should
of anything akin to Nazism.
encourage a more vigilant search for Nazis
Indeed, they are roaming everywhere. Their wherever they may be. They must be rounded
seed is in Germany. The escapees from punish- up, extradited and punished. There are many of
ment are in the United States. They are spread- them in the United States and they must be
ing their venom in Latin America. They are a denied the freedoms they now enjoy.
menace wherever they are and the punishments
Nazism has neither been forgotten nor has it
are already overdue.
The leniency proposed by those who voted for been forgiven. The punishments of the guilty
retention of the statute, in an effort of imposing must not end. Let the lessons that were learned
a forget-the-past attitude, is deplorable. As long froh. the past remain intact.
JUSTICE FOR 'BOAT PEOPLE'
They are called "boat people." They are the pledged their cooperation.
Among the first -to act in support of the refu-
oppressed from Vietnam. They form the large
army of refugees whose plight is reminiscent of gees and to offer refuge to the oppressed was
the Nazi terror. Jews in the Hitler era were Israel Prime Minsiter Menahem Begin. He was
helpless, and the lesson of the past now comes in the first to emphasize that what is happening
good stead in the great effort to assist these was the experience of hundreds of thousands of
"boat people," who must have refuge and who Jews who were barred from many lands. The
are being provided homes in many lands that United States was among the guilty, and the
have awakened to the new terror reminiscent of action now taken is like an atonement for what
the past. was done to the Jewish victims of Nazism.
Commending President Carter for increasing It has been indicated that the "boat people"
the facilities for refugees from 7,000 to 14,000 are like those who were on the ill-fated St.
and endorsing every effort in behalf of the refu- Louis, who were denied entrance to Cuba, who
gees, Dr. David Hyatt, president of the National • failed to get comfort from the U.S., most of
Conference of Christians and Jews, stated: whom eventually perished as victims of
"The plight of these refugees pushed out to Nazism.
Israel is admitting 200 of the "boa't people."
sea or marooned in camps is a horror that
dredges out memories of the Nazi Holocaust, Perhaps it is not as small a number, if viewed in
only this time the United States must not be contrast with the 14,000 who are to come to the
U.S., as it appears on the surface. The opening of
silent."
American Jewish organizations have unani- Israel's doors to these oppressed is the great
mously echoed this endorsement of the symbol of compassion for the needy, and serves
President's support for the refugees and have as a rebuke to the oppressors.
STRAUSS: 'NO THREATS'
may thus have an assurance that this country
the
special U.S.
the Robert
Middle Strauss,
East, who
represents
this emissary
country in to has a policy of resisting terrorist annoyances.
the negotiations between Israel and Egypt on The toughness of Robert Strauss may have been
proposed autonomy decisions for Arabs in Judea needed at this time to uphold American dignity
and Samaria, had a prompt reply to threats by in such resistance to destructive pressures.
the PLO. He let it be known, to Yasir Arafat and
SOCIALISTS TESTED
his associates in the movement aimed at Israel's
Under
cover
of socialism,
Kreisky of
destruction, that he will not be intimidated by Austria and
Willy
Brnadt of Bruno
West Germany
threats
of terrorism
sabotage.
have given
comfort
the and
strivers
for Israel's
Arafat must
have had and
an idea
that by plotting
destruction,
the to PLO,
their leader
Yasir
to sink an oil supertanker, or two tankers, in the Arafat. It is under the guise of association with
Strait of Hormuz, he might pressure the United the Socialist International that such comfort
States to act against Israel in the negotiations. was extended to Israel's enemy in Vienna.
Strauss let it be known that a threat to block oil
Golda Meir, David Ben-Gurion, Moshe
routes would not force the U.S. into submission
Sharett and their
associates,
who
were Socialist
to the terrorists and, by that firmness, he had . International
leaders,
must be
turning
over in
indicated that his spokesmanship for this coun-
try will not be subject to pressures and menac- their graves over such betrayals.
The socialists of the world, more than Likus
ing Those
warnings.
Arafat
lesson.
interested
in should
the fate learn
of the the
Middle
East and Labor of Israel, should be the ones to protest.
Dr. Sandmel Defines Historic
Role of Philo of Alexandria
Knowledge about the Tannaitic period and about Christianity in
the First Century is incomplete without thorough information about
Philo of Alexandria, and similarly there is need of such knowledge by
students of philosophy, Dr. Samuel Sandmel admonishes in present-
ing his new book, "Philo of Alexandria" (Oxford University Press).
He was known as Philo Judaeus, Philo the JeW, and was born a
quarter of a century before the Christian Era, and died approximately
in the year 50 CE. Like the New Testament, his writings were in
Greek. The era in which he lived is alluded to by Dr. Sandmel as:
"His lifetime overlapped that of Herod the Great; the Rabbinic
sages Hillel, Shammai and Gamaliel (the latter mentioned in Acts of
the Apostles); Jesus and Paul. He was a native of Alexandria in
' Egypt, and hence he reflects Jewish life and experience outside Judea.
"These brief statements are the clues to the externals that make
Philo a figure of some importance. Since he died before the Romans
destroyed the Temple in 70 CE and thereby ended'he Temple cult, the
Temple had living significance for him. But in his life as a Jew remote
from that Temple, his writings reflect some ingredients of Synagogue
Judaism, the Judaism that flourished in local centers and which
survived after Temple Judaism ended."
Philo the Stoic, as "a legatee of both
'Jewish and Greek culture," as
philosopher who was either con-
demned or glorified, is scrutinized by
Sandmel in a work that evidences
thorough research. As a student of
Prof. Erwin R. Goodenough, who had
written extensively on the subject of
Philo, Dr. Sandmel clarifies, diag-
noses, evaluates the philosopher in a
work that serves invaluably for the
beginner who nevertheless must, if he
studies religious and philosophic his-
tory, be fully acquainted with the
Alexandrian scholar.
Dr. Sandmel quoted Prof. Harry
Wolfson as having ascribed to Philo a
profundity, putting Philo in a select
SAMUEL SANDMEL
circle of the great minds in the history
of philosophy. -
There have been, it is indicated, differing views, stemming f
Philo's unique presentation of a blending of Judaism and Hellenism-.
Philo was a Jew, a Greek Jew, or a Jewish Greek, and whether he
was a Greek Jew or a Jewish Greek is an interesting element in the
account given in this important book in which Dr. Sandmel gives a
full resume of the literary works by Philo.
Philo on Christianity and the New Testament, the statement by
Eusebius that Philo had met St. Peter, gives significance to the
account of "Philo and Christianity," as the chapter on the subject is
entitled. Dr. Sandmel states that "as Christian thought developed, it
seemed necessary to consult Philo, whether for clarification or for the
authority of his name."
Whether on Christianity or Philo and Palestinian Judaism,
Gnosticism and other aspects of philosophic thought, the Sandmel
study, presented as "an introduction" serves importantly to em-
phasize the significance of the man and enlightens the reader on early
Christianity, and on Judaism and Hellenism. In the analyses of Hel-
lenization and the charges of marginal Judaism directed at Philo, this
volume about a famous Jew of the First Century serves well in
contrasting conditions of the time with present-day challenges.