2 Friday, April 18, 1980

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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Purely Commentary

By Philip
Slomovitz

Facts and Figures Indicate How the Russian Jews
Integrate in Israel .. . The Matter of Resistance
to Tyranny Dealt With in Many Jewish Traditions

Resistance to Injustice: Ethical Teachings on Following Orders and Acting Inhumanly

Purely Commentary dated March 21 dealt with the
serious problems of submitting to orders that compromise
human decency and the conscience of humankind. Under
the heading "When Submissive Order-Taking Turns Into
Crimes Against Humanity" this commentator quoted the
views of an eminent Catholic dignitary, Patrick J. Ryan,
who was the chief army chaplain in the last war. He re-
jected submission to dictation that would compromise de-
cency and condemned submission to such orders.
In "Voices of Wisdom" (Pantheon Books), Francine
Klagsbrun devotes a chapter to "Civil Disobedience and
Protests." As in other chapters in this most valuable guide
to Jewish living, Mrs. Klagsbrun defines the issue, declar-
ing:
Although Jews have assimilated and adapted to
the cultures in which they have found themselves,
there also has been a strong tradition of speaking
out against wrongdoing and, when necessary, re-
fusing to obey laws considered a violation of con-
science.
The right to disobey unjust orders — more
accurately, a mandate to do so — is derived from a
concept in Jewish law. In civil matters, a person
may appoint another to serve as his or her agent.
The agent then substitutes for the principal, who
remains liable for the actions of the agent; as the
rabbis put it: "A man's agent is as himself."
In criminal matters, however, the sages ruled
that "there is no agent for wrongdoing" — that is,
people who commit crimes may not defend them-

selves on the grounds that they served as agents
for others and only carried out orders.
The lesson often falls short of acceptance. Adolf
Eichmann defended himself on the grounds that he was a
loyal German and was following orders.
Didn't the U.S. delegate to the UN Donald McHenry
also say he voted for the outrageous resolution because he
was following orders?
Therefore the necessity to bring to light again the view
of Maj. Gen. Patrick J. Ryan, the Catholic army chaplain, to
turn to the wisdom of the ages collected in Mrs. Klagsbrun's
"Voices of Wisdom."
Included in the latter are these classical excerpts:
If a man says to his agent, "Go and kill so-and-
so," and he does it, the agent is guilty .. .
—Babylonian Talmud, tractate
Kiddushin, page 43a
Whoever disregards a royal order because he is
busy with God's commandments — even the
slightest commandment — is exempt (from
blame). If the master's orders conflict with the
servant's, the master's take precedence.
And it goes without saying that if a king ordered
a violation of God's commandments; he is not to
be obeyed.
—Maimonides, Code, "Laws
Concerning Kings and Wars,"
chapter 3, section 9

The Roman government issued a decree for-

bidding Jews to read or practice the Torah. Rabbi
Akiva ignored the decree, and continued to
gather and teach students Torah. Pappus ben-
Judah asked him: "Are you not afraid of the gov-
ernment?"
"I will explain to you with a parable," Akiva
answered. "A fox was once walking alongside a
river and he saw fishes swimming in schools from
one place to another. 'What are you running away
from?' asked the fox. 'From the nets men cast to
catch us,' they answered. 'Why don't you
come up to dry land' said the fox, 'so that you and I
can live together the way our ancestors lived?'
'They answered !Are you the animal known aF
the cleverest of all? You are not clever, but foolish.
If we're afraid in the element in which we live,
how -much more fearful we would be in the ele-
ment in which we would die!'
"So it is with us," said Rabbi Akiva. If this is
our situation when we sit and study Torah, of
which it is written: 'For that is your life and the
length of your days' (Deuteronomy 30:20), how
much worse off we would be if we were to go and
neglect it."
—Babylonian Talmud, tactate
B-erakhot, page 61b

These are magnificent lessons for humankind. They
are admonitionS to be adhered to. They do not incite to
rebellion: they call for resistance to injustice to assure a
clear conscience in human relations.

The Russian Jew in Israel: His Remarkable Integration

Jewish emigres from Russia are not all defectors.
There is a fair percentage adhering to the basic principle of
going in the direction of the visas issued for emigration —
to Israel.
Anyone facing the issue of a changed environment
must tackle many problems. This is the case with the Rus-
sian who must be helped to settle in this country. The new
immigrant arriving in Israel has many obstacles to over-
come.
There is a great lesson for those on the way to Israel in
the manner in which the Russian Jew has become inte-
grated into Israel's society. The United Israel Appeal has
just made public the results of a study, conducted by the
Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, the Ministry ofImmig-
rant Absorption and the Aliya Department of the Jewish
Agency, showing the effects of absorbing Russian immig-
rants in Israel. Here is a list of basic facts about the Rus-
sians, five years after making aliya:

HOUSING

• 96 percent live in permanent accommoda-
tions;
• 40 percent own their own homes (compared
with two percent one year following aliya);
• 80 percent are satisfied with their accommo-
dations and most are not planning any change of
address.

LANGUAGE

• 43 percent speak Hebrew freely (compared
with 20 percent one year after aliya) following
formal language training given the first year after
aliya when 50 percent of all new immigrants study
Hebrew;
• 50 percent listen to the news in Hebrew at
least once a week;
• 20 percent cannot speak Hebrew at all;
• 72 percent listen to Russian-language broad-
casts.

CAR OWNERSHIP

• 30 percent either own a private vehicle or
have the use of one (compared with 13 percent one
year after aliya and 29 percent of the general Is-
raeli population in 1977).

SOCIAL/CULTURAL

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• 80 percent re-affirm their decision to come to
Israel;
• 1-2 percent are unsure if they wilt remain in
Israel.

EMIGRANTS

• Nine percent leave Israel within five years of
their arrival (compared with 38 percent among
immigrants from other countries), a group com-
posed mostly of young singles (18-29) who arrived
in Israel as individuals, with the number of
females leaving exceeding the number of males.
These facts are so impressive that it is most regrettable
that they have been a secret to all the emigres from Russia.
Perhaps, had they been fully informed, the overwhelming
majority would have gone to their original destination,
Israel, rather than defect to Western countries upon their
arrival in Vienna.
In great measure, this achievement, of making the '
Russian Jew such a valuable element in Israel, is a tribute
to Israel's adherence to the basis principle of creating a
livable home in Israel for all Jews who wish to settle in the
Jewish. state. It is pioneering in the highest degree.

Israel Still Seeking Military Independence

The Technion

• 63 percent are in the work force (nearly all of
the relevant population) now as well as in the first
year after aliya;
• 77 percent are satisfied at work and do not
often change jobs;
• Most have worked at their present job for at
least three years;
• 50 percent of those employed are satisfied
with their salary;
• Four percent of the potential work force are
unemployed, a figure slightly higher than the re-
levant statistic for the entire Israeli population
(compared with 13 percent unemployed one year
after aliya).

•-• ■

ATTITUDE

• 60 percent consider themselves to be
thoroughly Israeli;

By HARVEY L. BROWN

EMPLOYMENT

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activities such as lecture, social clubs, or commu-
nity centers, nor do they engage in sporting
competition;
• 20 percent do not participate in social activi-
ties at all;
• Less than 40 percent go to the theatre or con-
certs, although 66 percent of all immigrants
attend movies, the most popular form of
entertainment, including those who go in-
frequently;
• 66 percent are satisfied witlitheir social lives;
• 50 percent are satisfied with their leisure ac-
tivities;
• 80 percent socialize with those of the same
origin and do not generally meet others from
different backgrounds (including Sabras);
• Most maintain correspondence with friends
and relatives in Russia, with employment and
housing being major topics of interest.

HAIFA — Not long ago,
when Israel attempted to
sell its Kfir fighter plane to
a foreign country, it
couldn't. The jet engine had
been manufactured here
under license from its
American designer and the
U.S. government wouldn't
permit its sale to a third
party. Israel could sell its jet
plane, but without the jet
- engine.
The situation caused Is-
raeli experts in many fields
to think twice. Hundreds of
millions of dollars had been
spent on research and de-
velopment to create an ex-
tremely complicated mod-
em flying machine that in
the true sense of the word
wasn't completely' "ours."
Forget the indignation of
the moment; what the U.S.
government did was legal
and correct in its execution.
But what of the implica-
tions for Israel?
In the first analysis it
meant Isarel had to design
its own turbo-jet engine

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need for a jet engine con-
ceived and made in Israel
and free from any foreign
restrictions became very
apparent.
But the need to develop
our own jet engine brings
with it no simple solution.
"As difficult as it was to
create the Kfir, the level
of advanced technology
to be demanded for the
independent design of its
engine would be many
times greater," says Prof.
Benjamin Gal-Or, head of
Technion's turbo-jet
engine laboratory. We
are speaking of a field
where the expertise and
infrastructure for ad-
vanced turbo-jet engines
can be found in only a
handful of the world's na-
tions."
Israel is one of these coun-
tries; and the turbo-jet
engine laboratory is an im-
portant part of all Israeli
work in this field. In re-
search and development, it
is a partner to half-a-dozen
industries throughout the
country who participate in

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engines and their compo-
nents.
To meet the challenge of
future turbo-jet engine
needs, the Technion labora-
tory is currently expanding
its quarters. The Chicago
and St. Louis Chapters of
the American Technion
Society are in-the process of

raising $2 million to finance
the building and the pur-
chasing of advanced equip-
ment.
The goal is independence
in aircraft manufacture.
Toward the end of the
1980s, Israel may become
independent in turbine
engine design.