42 Friday, February 22, 1980 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS National Council of Churches to Tour M.E. NEW YORK — A group of National Council of Churches officers will de- part for a two-week "fact- f-mding" tour of the Middle East on Monday. The special panel is de- veloping a new NCC policy statement on the region. The tour will include stops in Beirut, Lebanon; Cairo, Egypt; Damascus, Syria; Amman, Jordan; and Jerusalem. The NCC governing board will see the new policy statement on the SAID SHOE REPAIR COME IN FOR QUALITY WORK Harvard Row Mall, 11 Mile & Lahser 355-3628 M-F 9-7, Sat. 9-6 Mee's Fell Soles (leather) & Ribber Heels Mee's Half Soles (leather) & Ribber Heels Men's Full Soles (rubber) & Rubber Heels Mee's Half . Soles (Rubber) & Rubber Heels Men's Rubber Heels Ladies' Rubber Heels ....$18.75 ....$14.50 $ 16.00 ....$12.15 - $3 50 9 75 with coupon good thru 3-8 10% Senior Citizen Discount We fix zippers, handbags, luggage, suitcases and leather jackets. Dependable HOME Nursing Care 557-8600 staif Health Care Services The nursing service hospitals nationwide use and trust. Mention this advertisement and receive first hour service FREE. "Special People's" Readers Forum Middle East for the first time in May. The state- ment, which is being written by members of the NCC's Middle East, International Concerns and Christian-Jewish Re- lations committees, will come up for a final vote in November. Materials submitted to the Readers Forum must be brief. The writer's name will be withheld from publication upon request. No unsigned letters will be published. Materials will not be returned unless a stamped, self-addressed envelope is enclosed. Several Jewish Abortion Views Editor, The Jewish News: Your Feb. 1 edition con- tained an article by Rabbi Samuel Fox entitled: "Bi- ble, Talmud Tell Jewish Prohibition Against Abor- tion." The article seeks to show the biblical and tal- inudic justification for pro- hibiting abortion among Jews. However, the article is misleading in that it pre- sents the position of Jewish law as being against abor- tion; the law is not as obvi- ous as the article would lead one to believe. Exodus 21:12 reads: "He who fatally strikes a man shall be put to death." How- ever, this verse was not applied to an aborted fetus, as it was not considered a viable human being. Exodus 21:22-23 states: "When men fight and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarraige results, but no other dam- age ensues the one respon- sible shall be fined ... but if other damage ensues (the woman dies), the penalty shall be life for life." We are all well aware of the high value the Bible places on human life, yet this example clearly shows that the legal status of the fetus is different than that of the mother. On Feb. 6 and 13 the NCC Middle East Panel held open hearings on the Middle East. Seventeen Jewish groups boycotted the hear- ings, charging that the NCC was prejudicial against Is- rael. Church, State Separation Topic of New Volume A strong appeal for adherence to the principle of Separation of Church and State and for enforcement of freedom of religions is con- tained in "Can Persecution Arise in America," a recent release of the Review and Herald Publishing Associa- tion for the Religious Lib- erty Association. In his preface to the book, author S.A. Kaplan warns the reader.: "The sun may well be about to set on minority rights in America. The di- viding line between Church and State is becoming in- creasingly blurred ... We are confident that the reader perusing these pages will sense that we care, and that he will seriously reflect on the warnings given, ever remembering that ostrich- like smugness and undue optimism can be perilous and can end in catastrophe." A free copy of the book can be obtained by writing to Document, Rt. One, Box 493, Roanoke, Va., 24012. The medieval commen- tator Rashi says that until a fetus has emerged into the world, it is not a life at all. This view is best illustrated by the case of a difficult birth, wherein the fetus may be extra- cted limb by limb in order to save the life of the mother. A fetus does not acquire the status of a Those who have earned a fortune are commonly more careful of it than those by whom it may have been in- herited. ' SPECIAL SALE fet t - 4 ie ) SUPER SAVINGS - ■ 75%0FF erkult : ots.4%-- • 10 • on our entire stock of aim ,.00 IP tillIE LI NV, , ,dsTo• Fall & Winter. Merchandise vje2 PIO Blouses, skirts, sweaters, corduroy pants, coats & dresses. CASH ONLY! 41111VBIlirso harnsirite _ -• ausions_ mrstosuill Pants 30-42 • Blouses 36-46 • Dresses 141/2-261/2 "Special sizes for Special People" "fiji~eles1. iritmopl" Northgate Plaza Oak Park, Greenfield, N. of 10 Mile • 968-3338 Hours: Monday — Saturday 10-5:30, Thursday 10-8:30 Jewish law does not explicitly prohibit nor con- done abortion. It is a dif- ficult issue, one which gen- The Talmud speaks of the erations of sages have fetus as the thigh of its grappled with without mother, not a living entity reaching a definitive ruling. unto itself. Until 40 days, it For those people in- is referred to as a bag of terested in a more extensive waters. Rabbinic literature look at what the Jewish tra- is filled with many more dition says concerning abor- statements of this sort. It is tion, I would suggest con- safe to say that a very sulting David Feldman's strong case can be made for "Birth Control in Jewish abortion, prior to the 15th- Law" (pp. 251-294) and 17th week of pregnancy, in "The Second Jewish Jewish law. Catalog" (pp. 140-147). I do not wish to present a Thank you for the opportu- one-sided picture. While nity to put this sensitive these cases are to be found issue in its proper Jewish in the literature, so are perspective. those mentioned by Rabbi Daniel Pernick, rabbinic student, Fox. My concern in writing Hebrew Union College this letter is to show that human being until is has passed more than half- way out of the birth canal. •* • Black History Effort Lauded, Similar Jewish Project Urged Editor, The Jewish News: It is of the utmost impor- tance that we know what our neighbors are doing to commemorate their heroes and historic personages. Thus, in recent years, the Detroit black community has been establishing shrines, naming streets and schools in honor of out- standing blacks. The Black Historic Sites Committee, among other memorials, erected an impressive monument at Riopell and Macomb in memory of Fan- nie M. Richards, Detroit's first black public school teacher, who taught at the Barstow School in the 1860s. The blacks, moreover, under the able and idealis- tic leadership of Dr. Charles GOP Considers Jewish Issues WASHINGTON — The Republican National Com- mittee has scheduled a series of 10 hearings throughout the U.S. in preparation for developing the 1980 Republican Plat- form at the national GOP convention in Detroit this summer. During the first three hearings, in Washington, Los Angeles and St. Petersburg, Fla., the Middle East and Soviet human rights violations_ were dis- cussed. Among Jewish organ- izations planning to tes- tify at later hearings are the America Israel Public Affairs Committee, the National Conference on Soviet Jewry and the Zionist Organization of America. The remaining hearings are scheduled for In- dianapolis, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Davenport, Iowa, Seattle, Chicago and New York. H. Wright, a former member of the Jewish His- torical Society of Michigan, have established the nationally-famous Afro- American Museum of De- troit that portrays the his- tory and achievements of Detroit blacks. Like the ancient Romans, I too maintain, "dum spiro, spero" ("while I breathe, I hope"). I hope that we also will remember and honor the Jewish builders of our cultural heritage and take pride in their achievements. Allen A. Warsen U.S. Frowns on Settlement Plan WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Carter Administration has hinted to the Israeli government to drop its plans to allocate IL 50 mil- lion (about $1.5 million) for settlements on the West Bank. The State Depart- ment's chief spokesman, Hodding Carter, said that "such activity is contrary to international law, pre- judges the outcome of negotiations and is an obs- tacle to the peace process." He added, "Therefore, we are obviously against any steps by the Knesset that are calculated to support the Israeli settlement pol- icy." Carter was alluding to the move by Israel's Knes- set Finance Committee in appropriating the money for the purchase-df land in the occupied territories from private Arab owners for Jewish settlement. Israel TV reported that Ariel Sharon, the Agricul- ture Minister, told the Committee that land pur- theses in the West Bank last year totalled 75 acres. To manage men one ought to have a sharp mind in a velvet sheath.