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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CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
ALAN HITSKY
News Editor
HEIDI PRESS
Associate News Editor
DREW LIEBERWITZ
Advertising Manager
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the sixth day of Heshvan, 5740, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Genesis 6:19-11:32. Prophetical portion, Isaiah 54:1-55:5.
Candle lighting, Friday, Oct. 26, 6:17 p.m.
VOL. LXXVI, No. 8
Page Four
Friday, October 26, 1979
STOCK-TAKING IN CRISES
A new Yom Kippur is on the Jewish calendar.
The new developments involving and affecting
Israel, the American involvement, the chal-
lenges to Jewish leadership, these and many
other factors combine to create a stock-taking
period, as if it were an era for self-study and
evaluation of responsibilities.
Israel is not alone in the scrutinizing process
of world affairs. The United States is an ally in
the developments. The Jewish people are ex-
pected to assert themselves in matters relating
to the Middle East and to the occurrences which
have an effect on attitudes of kinsmen even in
their remoteness geographically.
Perhaps unavoidably, Israel's economic prob-
lems as well as the rumpus in the U.S. over a
regrettable black-Jewish issue have added to
the intensity with which the Jewish state's con-
cerns are being viewed at this time.
Economically depressed, burdened with a
budget requiring heavy defensive spending, Is-
rael's struggles to become more sound eco-
nomically has added to the difficulties of a small
state seeking to raise the standards of living for
a population that is always under the stress of
living amidst a war-mongering group of
neighbors surrounding her. The only _ray of
light in the hope for peace is limited to Egypt.
There is no doubt that all of the oppressive
developments have led to a situation that has
caused Abba Eban to say that the spirit has
gone out of Israel after 31 years." But this is too
much of a generalization opted only for Israel.
The historic factor cannot be diminished with
an effect on that nation's spirit without taking
into consideration the spirit of the Diaspora. It
is on this score that stock-taking becomes vital.
Perhaps as much a result of the black-Jewish
issue more than anything else, there is the
danger of an erosion in the unity which has
until now solidified Jewish ranks in support of
Israel. Because of a gesture by self-appointed
diplomats to legitimatize the PLO, and as a
result unquestionably of the hints from some
American sources that the PLO should be dealt
with, a responsible English-Jewish weekly, the
Denver Intermountain Jewish News, chose to
define the reaction to the fulminations of Jesse
Jackson as a "snub" as "indicative of the fairy-
land in which Israel's international policies are
conceived." Therefore that newspaper's respon-
sible editors, this newspaper admonished, con-
tended what could be termed a loss of American
interest in Israel.
Even more serious is the warning that
American Jews are abandoning their devotion
to Israel, and some go so far as to suggest that
Menahem Begin is the cause of trouble because
of his determination not to negotiate with the
PLO. •
It is on this score that greater seriousness is
demanded for an evaluation of the state of af-
fairs affecting American-Israel and Diaspora-
Israel relations.
At the outset it ought to be ascertained that
Mr. Begin should be given strongest support in
his policies of refusing to give legitimatization
to the PLO. The moment this position is aban-
doned would mark a submission to the worst
elements in the Middle East and would, at the
same time, serve to weaken the hands of Anwar
Sadat in his rejection of Arab terrorist threats
and his consistent relationship in negotiations
with Menahem Begin.
Then there is the matter of erosions of inter-
est in American ranks vis-a-vis the Israeli polit-
ical situation. It has become evident that a de-
cline in attention to Israel's needs in seriously
affecting relationships. But there remains the
reality of Israel's role in the Middle East which
compels adherence to basic policies. John Con-
nally may suggest submissions, but few of the
responsible leaders of both political parties
would go so far as to insist that the oil interests
should be given priority in planning the solu-
tions of Middle East controversies which could
lead to a diminution of Israel's defensive
strength and an eventual dissolution of Israel.
A Denver newspaper might embrace fear, a
Baltimore periodical sees danger in an Israeli
refusal of a dialogue with Jesse Jackson, some-
thing that could be construed as endorsing an
Israel-PLO chat. Rational Americans, suppor-
ters of Israel in black as well as many other
American ranks, already are rejecting such
attitudes. If there is an erosion towards Israel it
will not develop out of an Israeli determination
not to be subjected to humiliation and to an
embracing of suicidal propositions.
Indeed, there is reason to believe that Ameri-
cans with a sense of fairness will bless Israel for
remaining determined to reject every threat
leading to her destruction.
What is primarily at stake in this rumored
loss of American Jewish support for Israel is a
realization of the historic truth that predomi-
nates in the problems affecting Israel. The re-
born Jewish state is either linked with the eter-
nity of Israel or it will redound disgracefully to a
defeatism not to be condoned. Israel's internal
affairs are her business and her political actions
are those of her citizens. When matters involv-
ing American-Jewish-Israel relations emerge
there is justification, there is a duty, to criticize,
to offer advice. But it must be creative. It must
be positive. When Israel's spirit diminishes,
there is a duty to uplift it. The Jewish state was
not re-created for erosive purposes. It was re-
born to provide an address for the Jewish
people, to create a home for the homeless, to
assure dignity for the Jewish spiritual heritage.
These are critical times for the world, and
Israel is not isolated from the crises. These are
times when the spirit of many peoples dims. In
such a time the need is to elevate the feelings.
Just as the Torah is carried with enthusiasm on
Simhat Torah, suggesting continuity for such
an identification with the heritage and the his-
tory of the people celebrating the festival, so
also must the people that was engaged in build-
ing Zion also make the spirit of the land being
redeemed a matter of dignity, devotion, con-
cern, identification and total support.
An ideal, a nation, a people's spirit, are not
being built to be subjected to erosions, to be
downgraded, to be destroyed. In time of crisis
there must be solidarity. This is a need not
merely for a people whose national sovereignty
has been redeemed, but also for the civilized
world in which the redeemed nation plays a
vital role. Let there be criticism of Israel when it
is constructive.
New Ktav Volume
Lookstein's Essays Serve
as His Posthumous Tribute
Dr. Joseph H. Lookstein left a legacy that gave him leadership as -
a rabbi and as a guide to teachers and students alike, as well as the
eminence in leadership in American and world Jewry. His many
qualities are evidenced in a series of 24 of his essays and sermons
published posthumously by Ktay.
At the time of his death, at the age of 76, on July 13, he was
professor of homiletics and practical rabbinics at Yeshiva University.
As chancellor of Israel's Bar-Ilan University he continued a career of
mobilizing Jewish forces in support of Jewish institutions of higher
learning. As founder and guide to the Ratnah school, he was the
creator of one of the most progressive traditional schools operating for
American Jewish children.
"Yesterday's Faith for Tomorrow" is
the title of the Ktav-published book that
contains his 24 essays which define his
role as leader and teacher and express
his views on the Jewish role and the
teachings of Judaism in modern society.
Having been raised in a Lubavitcher
atmosphere, his skill in relating
Hasidic tales and applying them to his
themes are especially impressive.
The title of his book derives from the
introductory essay which, like the
entire collection of his essays and ser-
mons, is an inspiration to the inherited
faith for the modern society. Dr. Looks-
tein affirmed his personal ideological
principles in this essay, asserting:
T
"Does, therefore, man, inher
unchanged through the ages, ne,.._ a
DR. LOOKSTEIN
new faith? He does need the new
medicine to heal him, the new science to serve him, the new psychol-
ogy to understand him, and the new psychiatry to adjust him. But he
dare not be deprived of the old faith. The god of some theologians may
be dead but not the God of man.
"Modern man, confused and perplexed, intellectually still grop-
ing, physically still plagued, emotionally still distressed, can still
turn to his old God for relief and salvation. With the tortured and
tormented Job, symbol of the eternal struggle of man against the
forces of life, modern man can still say, 'I know that my Redeemer
lives.' "
His leadership in Zionism is reflected in his writings. His reli-
gious philosophy has deep meaning, exposing the menace of irrational
hatred, attuning his readers to the perspectives of history and of
human relations.
Dr. Lookstein served as rabbi of Kehillat Jeshurun for more than
50 years and his many activities during that half century included
labors to assist in rescuing the oppressed and the persecuted and to
encourage the Zionist endeavors. The posthumously published essays
serve to pay him a literary tribute in recognition of a creative life that
was all-inclusive as leader of his people and as teacher of his congreg-
ants who flocked to him from many areas in American Jewry.