VIII.- Via nvf Soviet Anti-Semitism in Historic Perspective By SHARYN PERLMAN NEW YORK (JTA) — Modern day Soviet anti- Semitism is characterized by two basic factors: anti- Semitism is in the hands of the state and can therefore be turned on or off at will; it is now more racially oriented than before and this prevents Soviet Jewry from assimilating into the mainstream of society be- cause "according to reli- gious and cultural views today there is very little dif- ference between Russian Jews and Russian Rus- sians." his analysis was pre- ted by Ezra Men- delssohn, senior lecturer at the Institute of Contempor- ary Jewry and Russian Studies at the Hebrew Uni- versity and a visiting pro- fessor of history at the Uni- versity of Michigan. Mendelssohn was one of several guest speakers at the Conference of Problems of Soviet Ethnic policies examining the status of Jews in the USSR and the impact of anti-Semitism. The forum, held at New York's Columbia Univer- sity, was sponsored jointly by the Jacob Blaustein In- stitute for the Advancement . of Human Rights, Columbia University Program on General Education, Colum- bia University Program on Soviet Nationality, and the Greater New York Confer- ence on Soviet Jewry. pre- Mendelssohn sented an historical perspective of Czarist and Soviet anti-Semitism. Under the Czars, al- though conditions were favorable for "collective Jewish expression," tolerance for individual Jews was very low as they were perceived as an "alien element in backward peasant society," he said. Jews also found them- selves in the middle of in- tense nationalist competi- tion, especially in the Uk- raine, "the hotbed of anti- Semitism in the pre-World War I period," which led to both social and religious anti-Semitism. Also, Mendelssohn ob- served, during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, Russia was going through great political and social flux — a condition never considered conducive for minority advancement or acceptance. The Soviet period, Men- to be resented and the delssohn continued, re- Soviets feared a takeover flected a reversal in Czarist by these newly emanci- patterns. The new Soviet pated Jews. The peasant and middle regime was dominated by forces hostile to Judaism classes were not strong but friendly to Jews as indi- enough to resist Jewish viduals. A secular culture competition and the Jew based on Yiddish was once again found himself as allowed to flourish, and the alien to be feared. Since socially and cultur- Jews were in positions of authority. Class loyalty was ally the Jews were much the important factor, and like the rest of society, mod- anyone, regardless of reli- ern day Soviet anti- gion, who exemplified this Semitism had to add the loyalty was favored, he said. new racial dimension to its According to Men- policies, Mendelssohn ob- delssohn, this favorable served. The purges in the treatment of "loyal 1930s and World War II Jews," which allowed brought about accusations them to assume positions that Jews were responsible of influence and stature for the social and economic in the community, began ills in the USSR. imirti • on.ffiry I Nom, - 01111MW . .orp Wirer LOSE 17-25 POUNDS (Men Lose 28-35 Pounds) Quickly, Safely, Permanently in just 6. weeks No Shots No Drugs No Contracts Individual Daily Counseling because it's harder to lose weight alone . Call Today Southfield Troy 879-2222 642-5665 Sunset Plaza 81 E. long Lake Rd. at liretuois Cranbrook Centre 38233 Southfield Rd SUITE 102 Women Rabbis Number 29 NEW YORK (JTA) — The seven women scheduled to be ordained as Reform rabbis next month will bring to 29 the total number of women designated as rabbis under Reform and Reconstructionist auspices, according to a Jewish Tele- graphic Agency survey. The Reconstructionist Rabbini- cal College in Philadelphia named three men but no women as rabbis at gradua- tion exercises this month. Six men and five women will be ordained here as rabbis at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) cere- monies on June 1 at Temple Emanu-El. Thirteen men and two women will be or- - dained at the HUC-JIR in Cincinnati on June 7. However, there are 12 women studying for the rabbinate in the Recon- structionist college, accord- ing to Rabbi Ludwig Nadelmann, president of the Jewish Reconstruc- tionist Foundation — three in the first year, four in the second year, one in the third year and four in the fourth year. Conservative The movement continues to e embroiled in vigorous nd widespread debate, abbinical and lay, on hether to admit women to the Jewish Theological Seminary of America here as candidates for the rabbinate. Support for such action was endorsed at the 1977 convention of the Rabbini- cal Assembly, the associa- tion of Conservative rabbis, but action on the proposal was postponed indefinitely by a majority vote of the Seminary Faculty Senate last December. No Or- thodox organization, rab- binical or lay, has indicated the slightest interest in or- daining women as rabbis. The process of ordination of women rabbis in the United States began in 1972 when Sally Preisand was named by the HUC-JIR as the first woman rabbi in American history. Sub- sequently, 15 women were ordained under Reform au- spices and six under Recon- structionist auspices. ID Number to Clean Up Israeli Red Tape JERUSALEM (JTA) — A group - of senior Israeli offi- cials has been working quietly for the past few months under the direction of the prime minister's office, planning a war against one of the country's worst enemies — bureauc- ratic red tape. One reform, expected to be instituted be- fore the end of the year, is the issuance of a single identification number (ID) to every citizen. The one number will re- place the jungle of digits that every Israeli must now carry in his head or on his person: army number; tax number; national insurance number; driving license number and many more. All government departments will be plugged intea single national computer at the Interior Ministry which will use the ID number to simplify bureaucratic pro- cedures. The reforms represent the collective labors of a com- mittee comprised of the di- rectors general of all gov- ernment ministries. ULTRA TASTE! ONLY ONE ULTRA LOW TAR HAS IT. 20 CIGARETTE ---- Warning The Surgeon General Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous toYour Health. 6 frsti - tar", 0.6 mg. mow* ay. per tigawrie by FTC method. ---- '