THE JEWISH NEWS (USPS 275-5201 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 Assn. 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. Nine Mile, 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 Associate News Editor DREW LIEBERWITZ Advertising Manager Rosh Hashana Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the first day of Tishri, 5740, is the New Year and the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Genesis 21:1-34 and Numbers 29:1-6. Prophetical portion, I Samuel 1:1-2:10. Sunday, second day of Rosh Hashana Pentateuchal portion, Genesis 22:1-24 and Numbers 29:1-6. Prophetical portion, Jeremiah 31:1-9. Monday, Fast of Gedaliah Pentateuchal portion, Exodus 32:11-14 and 34:1-10. Prophetical portion (afternoon only), Isaiah 55:6-56:8. Candle lighting, Friday, Sept. 21, 7:14 p.m. VOL. LXXVI, No. 3 Page Four Friday, September 21, 1979 RENEWED FAITH Tensions kept mounting during the year now closing to open the path to a new era in Jewish experience. The lessons of the past keep admonishing the people that has been attuned to obstacles not to be surprised by repeated obstructions to a peace of mind that would obviate uneasiness. The lessons of the past also have the additional reminder that the records of past agonies have one basic test for the people that has been under duress most of the time: that the only serious danger is a yielding to fear. The faith of an Am Yisrael Chai, the people Israel lives, and the acceptance of the Psalmist's assertion "lo omut ki I shall not die but hold on to life — retain their power for ekhye" Jewry. This is not whistling in the dark. It is an acclamation of confidence inspired by the ages. The centuries of misery and oppression have found echoes even in areas where freedom was touted as a great ideal: The agonies that accompanied the distress linked with intolerance never survived the challenge of justice. Even when the persecutions were long in diminish- ing, when they embraced the universe, except for several oases like the United States, Holland and possibly Great Britain and some sections of the Scandinavian countries, the resistance was firm and Jews were relentless in their faith that sustains. This is the lesson in a period when there suddenly emerged a new type of anti-Semitism, a bigotry clothed in the falsehoods that created anti-Zionism. It is under such guise that a generation that is being reminded of previous ones tested by time must prepare for the inevitable. A terrorist threat headquartered in Beirut, with support given it in Damascus, has found cohorts in lands of freedom. Because oil has become so vital and a craving for energy makes many lands dependent upon the vast sources of oil, whatever is said against Israel is accepted sanctimoniously. Therefore, whatever the terminology, the hatred spewn is anti-Semitic, even from those quarters still squirming from the admonition of Pope Pius XI about the sin of anti-Semitism." They are hiding under differ- ent cloaks, yet remain accused by that curse. Therefore, the call to Jewry to be prepared for the inevitable, to know that historic experiences never vanish and are repetitive, to be assured that a people that has withstood persecutions can confront even the most miserable products of bigotry. If the venom that has become the poison for humanity in recent months and years could not be erased by refutations from Jews and from the most venerable in Christianity, then similar confrontations may be expected in the months, possibly years, ahead. If the right of Israel to exist still is denied in many quarters, then every effort by Anwar Sadat will prove temporary. The battle for justice will continue because the venom still is in- spired by the very existence of those represented by the Jew and Israel. This is where it becomes necessary to reaffirm the conviction that the faith of the Jew, his confidence in his own and Israel's survival, will remain uppermost on the record of world events. Under existing conditions, with the United Nations a forum for hatred, with the nations of the world subjected to the fears generated by threats from the dominant oil producers, with terrorists gaining ground wherever there are media to provide platforms for them, the people under attack may as well be ready for the attacks. Therefore the cure for the year ahead: The people that was the target of the bigots does not submit to defeat, will not yield to the suicidal, and will be gathered anew to reassert the unity of the People Israel. That demonstration will be in evidence again this Rosh Hashana as it has been through the ages. The Shofar will be sounded again! Its message to mankind, in the call for justice and for freedom, will not be hidden or obscured. More than that: the Jew will not knuckle under and submit to threats. The neonle Israel lives! L' Shana Tovah! — NEW YEAR PRIORITIES A new year does not necessarily mean that people's habits and activities will be revolutionized, that conditions will change, that human relations will be altered. Nor- mally, there are continuities that are not abandoned. Life goes on, and on, and on .. . Nevertheless, there are occasions when new challenges emerge, when it becomes necessary for the introduction of new methods of confronting needs, in families as well as communities. This is such a time. Priorities become vital when the challenges to the responsible in a community are from outside forces which impose added duties upon a generation that could become indifferent to responsibilities out of sluggishness. And in the instance of the Jewish people everywhere the evolutionary developments relating to the peace of the Middle East make the imposition of new duties all the more serious. Globally, assuming the duties that have been imposed by the energy crisis, accept- ing the burdens that come with negotiations for peace, Diaspora Jewry must increase every effort made until now to strengthen the hands of the Jewish partners to the peace deal. This is not new, yet it emphasizes a priority. The Israeli partner to the peace arrangements must be kept strong. There must be no weakening of the dedication to security and to the freedoms attained by the Jewish partner to the amity being estab- lished with the assistance of the Egyptian leader who has emerged as- a man to be admired for his courage. President Anwar Sadat has helped make real the partnership being assured through his contacts with Prime Minister Menahem Begin. Pragmatism demands that the friendship thus introduced should be assured by retaining the virility of Israel, while hoping for an economically stabilized Egypt. Meanwhile, on the Diaspora front, every effort must be exerted to obviate influence of the blackmailing elements whose entrance upon the American scene must be resisted. It is on the domestic scene that priorities become evident. Primarily they are in the field of education. Never before has there been so great a need for a well-informed community. So many distortions have crept into the media that they must be tackled with courage and with practical knowledge of the truth. The Jewish school must include the best in educational facilities for the youth, and there is need for an expanded adult education program. Collectively, the school becomes the very vital instrument for Jewish dignity. It is the school that trains the young and the adult to face up to issues when the media show bias in describing the Palestinian as if he was an Arab that the Jews will not confer with. This is not true. Jews and Arabs must live together as blacks and Jews must live together in this country and elsewhere. The Palestinian Arab is not the terrorist headquartered in Beirut. Therefore, misrepresentations like the one that was imposed on Moshe Dayan as if he conferred with the murderers must not be dignified. This only scratches the surface. The truth needs emphasis and for it there is the need for better schooling. Therein lies priority. This must be accepted and fulfilled in the best interests of most practical planning for the new year.