THE JEWISH NEWS
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Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951
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PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
ALAN HITSKY
News Editor
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
HEIDI PRESS
Associate News Editor
DREW LIEBERWITZ
Advertising Manager
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 30th day of Sivan, 5740, is the first day of Rosh Hodesh Tammuz,
and the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Numbers 16:1-18:32, 28:9-15. Prophetical portion, Isaiah 66:1-24, I Samuel 20:18-42.
Sunday, second day, Rosh Hodesh Tammuz, Numbers 28:9-15.
Candle lighting, Friday, June 13, 8:50 p.m.
VOL. LXXVII, No. 15
Page Four
Friday, June 13, 1980
THE 'PRESSURE THREATS'
Swivel chair philosophers and political
analysts are pursuing an analytical course in
the process of speculating on the aftermath of
the approaching Presidential election. Con-
stant reference is made to the American policies
vis-a-vis Israel and almost without exception
there is repetition of an augury that there will
be a lull in commitments to Israel in the coming
five months. But commencing with mid-
November — so goes the warning — Jimmy
Carter, if re-elected, will be tough. They say,
these prognosticators, that is when "pressure"
will commence.
It is almost like saying: If the President is
re-elected he'll "take care of Israel." Some go so
far as to say he'll "react" to the Jews.
The assumption nestling in these specula-
tions is that the Jewish vote"_— now it is taken
for granted — will be rebukable to the
President, especially after the shocking March
1 experience at the UN Security Council.
In the course of juggling with these theories,
the speculative analysts overlook one impor-
tant fact. Jews, like other citizens, do not always
vote for or against a party or its platforms. The
party platforms do not mean anything much
anyway. Yet there are the social and economic
conditions that also play their roles in choosing
a President, and in judging the candidates the
voter is concerned with the economic conditions,
with attitudes towards educational and cultural
needs, with the problems of the elderly; and
there is never the foretelling whether a race
issue might become a factor in choosing a
President.
Of major concern, however, to those con-
cerned with Israel's plight — and the term
"plight" is used understandably — are those
affected by threats, present and future.
Is there a real danger of pressures to be so
serious, after the November election, as to cause
genuine concerns over Israel's security?
Realism should teach the electorate, the vot-
ers of all faiths and races, that the very em-
phasis now being given the Middle East prob-
lemg, the predictions of political dangers in
preparation for Israel, almost obviate the fears
themselves. The fact is that the very discussions
about them indicate that the pressures already
exist, that dangers are not in the making but in
the continuity.
Editorials in many newspapers which seek
emphasis on Israeli obligations are packed full
of pressures. They keep pointing accusatory
fingers at Israel, implying that there is only one
villain, the Israeli ,who wants settlements and
would not grant equality and the right of au-
tonomy to the Arabs.
What could better
as a mandate to any
President to resort to
to pressure than such a pol-
lution of sentiments which fail to take into ac-
count a total refusal by Arabs to welcome Israel
as a neighbor? Only the. demands made upon
Israel seem to count. The "enemy" has a free
road to attack and threaten. Only Israel is por-
trayed as the intransigent.
Doesn't this prepare the road for any adminis-
tration to be tough on Israel?
Therefore, the defender of Israel does not wait
for a new administration, or for the lame duck if
he remains in power to be "tough."
The obligation for those seeking justice is
clear. There must be a demand for an American
policy that will not be repeated in blunders like
that of March 1. There must be an American
policy of fair play, and that must be instituted, if
it does not exist, NOW. Else all candidates will
be under suspicion.
All candidates, those who will run and the
also-rans who are now off the ballots, committed
themselves to defense of Israel. Let there be a
formulation of policies that will obviate fears
and suspicions. Let there be an avoidance of
betrayals of trust. Else it will be the good name
of America that will be stained in the process.
INTOLERABLE TERRORISM
Israel had reason to be proud of having
avoided resort to the type of barbarism which
had motivated her enemies' resort to bes-
tialities.
Now an element in Israel that approves of
what had occurred in Hebron two weeks ago is
responsible for having sullied a noble record.
Acts of terror call for punishment. 'When Is-
rael's armed forces sought to destroy enemy
camps whence stemmed the terrorism that took
the lives of children and aged people, it was a
natural act of warfare. To resort to bomb-
planting in one's own midst, even if directed at
enemies who preach hatred for Israel and Jews,
took on the form of inciting to a reign of terror
that is difficult to terminate.
Until the tragic occurrence, apparently in-
cited by fanatics, Israelis debated with the
enemy mayprs, sought their cooperation in
granting self-rule to the Arabs, gave them citi-
zenship privileges when these were acceptable.
It is to the credit of the Israeli authorities that
they did not, would not, encourage the type of
retaliation that maims Arab officials and trans-
forms the legless into even more violent advo-
cates of destruction for the Jewish state.
Jewish public opinion, like th a . t in Israel, was
outraged. There is cause for comfort in the
knowledge that what had occurred is not official
policy because it could be Jewish policy. It was
not the way of fighting for the right to live.
There will remain an adherence to the truly
ethical Jewish codes that brand terrorism as
intolerable.
PUBLIC OPINION
It is evident from Andrei Gromyko's reply to
intercession in support of Raoul Wallenberg
that the USSR adheres to a policy of ignoring
world public opinion demanding the release
from prison of the great war hero whose labors
rescued many thousands of Jews from Nazi
camps.
This is how public opinion is not only ignored
but is also damned. Therefore the worldwide
actions demanding succor for the heroic Raoul
Wallenberg must- continue unhindered.
Israel, Festivals, Humanities
Covered in 3 Rabbis' Books
Sermon is defined in the Random House Dictionary as "a dis-
course for the purpose of religious instruction or exhortation, espe-
cially one based on a text of Scripture . . . Any serious speech or
exhortation, especially on a moral issue as in personal conduct or
patriotic duty . ."
This provides a generalized explanation for ministers of all
faiths. The Jewish sermon almost always has the additional historic
value with the rabbi as a person who does research and links past with
present, emphasizing the legacies and dealing with the lessons that
affect congregations in an era of changing values.
Rabbis often publish their sermons. Their congregations fre-
quently encourage the spiritual leaders to collect their best pulpit
addresses, and to incorporate them into books.
Three such works have been issued simultaneously by Ktay.
They provide evidence of the universality of interest pursued by
rabbis, of the vast variety of themes which mark the Sabbath and
holiday discourses and the all-embracing interests with appeals
primarily for the Jewish congregants and with many appeals for
adherents to all faiths.
The three just-published collections of sermons and essays by
rabbis emphasize these appeals to public interests.
"A Piece of My Mind," by Rabbi Stanley M. Wagner of the
Denver Beth Hamidrash Hagadol, includes letters, epistles and mis-
sives, study guides for ruminations and rabbinic reflections.
Of special interest in these collected sermons and addresses and
the additional personal expressions, is the foreword by Philip
Klutznick, currently the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. Klutznick
utilizes his commendation of Dr. Wagner to refer to Denver as "a
substantial Jewish community which influences the surrounding
small pocket of Jews who are an important contributing force to our
strength today and form hopes for tomorrow in the American Jewish
community."
Ordained by Yeshiva University, Dr. Wagner holds five other
degrees from his alma mater, including a doctorate in history.
The Gift of Life" by Dr. Samuel Chiel contains sermons on how
to deal with campus problems as well as home problems and com-
ments on books that have attracted wide interest.
Especially noteworthy is his essay on the Adolf Eichmann trial
and the Nazi's defense on the ground that he followed orders. Entitl ,
"I Followed Orders," Dr. Chiel emphasizes that "our tradition insi
that society will only survive if there are enough of its citizens whc
refuse to abdicate their minds and their consciences, who will be a'
to disobey orders which are destructive of human life, regardless _
their source; who will recognize that above all human authority there
is a God in the world who demands justice, dignity and compassion for
each one of his children."
Dr. Chiel was ordained by Jewish Theological Seminary in New
York.
"From Heart to Heart" is the collection of sermons and essays
by Dr. Hillel E. Silverman, who also was ordained at the Jewish
Theological Seminary, having also graduated from Yale and Hebrew
University. Dr. Silverman gives emphasis to the Jewish festivals, to
Israel and her accumulating problems, to history and traditions.
The synagogues and the people who comprise communities re-
ceive special consideration in Dr. Silverman's analyses of eras and
events, of those who influence life and the Jewish aspects in human
experience.