THE JEWISH NEWS
(USPS 275-520i
Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951
Member of American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers and National Editorial Association.
Affiliate Member of Michigan Press Association, National Newspaper Association and Capital Club.
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 eighth day of Heshvan, 5741, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Genesis 12:1-17:27. Prophetical portion, Isaiah 40:27-41:16.
Candle lighting, Friday, Oct. 17, 6:30 p.m.
VOL. LXXVIII, No. 7
Page Four
Friday, October 17, 1980
PROTESTING PARIS OUTRAGES
World public opinion was aroused on many
occasions in this century against pogroms and
anti-Jewish outrages. The Voice of America"
was a loud one in the aftermath of the Kishinev
pogrom. The prejudices in Romania, the Mendel
Beilis blood libel, scores of other outrages,
aroused deep feelings and the Christian com-
munities in progressive countries, especially in
the United States and in Canada, were heard in
condemnation of anti-Semitism.
The inhumanities in evidence in Paris are
calling forth similar protests.
The mere fact that it has become necessary for
communities outside France to call forth such
expressions of outrage over organized anti-
Semitism is in itself an indictment of elements
that have permitted the spreading terror in one
of the freest countries in the world. The land
that has proclaimed Liberte, Egalite, Frater-
nite as a slogan for humanism arouses the in-
dignation that is felt over uncalled-for occur-
rences.
Wherever such symptoms of hatred are per-
mitted to occur would call for similar protests.
Because they were repetitive, and were per-
mitted to recur_ without government action to
protect the Jewish community of Paris and to
detect the sources of the terror, without waiting
for excessive barbarities that resulted in loss of
several lives, the condemnations are justified.
In this era of a hoped-for One World based on
humanism, it is understandable why the pro-
tests should not be limited to the people of
France and have spread worldwide.
The voice of humankind against the outrages
needed to be heard. It is important that the
condemnations should be sounded, so that the
murderous acts should not be tolerated.
There is no doubt that what is called a neo-
Nazi series of murderous acts is linked with the
damnable intrusions into decent society by the
PLO and Israel's enemies stemming from Arab
quarters. For this conceivable reason, the pro-
tests must remain vigorous.
The repudiation of anti-Semitism in official
statements offers a measure of relief that the
recurring hatreds will not be tolerated. Never-
theless, it is important that the protestations
should not be halted, lest the bigots reassume
their posture.
'RENEWAL: CALL TO YOUTH
Demonstrating in protest against the ter-
rorist activities leveled at the Jewish commu-
nity, the youth of Paris organized under the
slogan "Jewish Renewal."
In this capacity, they have enlisted the sup-
port of large numbers of Jews and tens of
thousands of Christian s- mpathizers who
would not tolerate the re-emergence of Nazism.
In the realization that what was described as
a neo-Nazi movement war- in truth operating
with the enco-uragemr - _ of the PLO, it became
necessary to rise 14 condemnation of efforts
to destroy Israel ant c,o undermine the security
of the Jewish community.
Therefore, 7ewish Renewal" comes to mean
a serious effe:t on the part of the youth to defy
dangers, to proclaim an effort to protect their
people, to encourage every available effort to
counteract the anti-Semitic venom.
The slogan "Jewish Renewal" has a specific
appeal to Jewish youth everywhere. It pro-
claims the dignity of man in rejecting terrorism
and dangers to the peace of existing com-
munities which happen to be different in their
thinking, their religious beliefs, their historic
roots.
The danger from anti-Semitic terrorism is not
limited to France or to the Middle East. The
venom that takes hold of unthinking and back-
ward people today makes resort to terror and to
religious and racial hatred a possibility
everywhere. For young Jews there is, therefore,
the duty to be on the alert, to be vigilant in
resisting dangers. To symbolize such efforts,
"Jevcsh Renewal" becomes obligatory as a
movement to be encourag 3d everywhere.
The problem of you' identification is not
minimal by any means.
m
It is serious and keeps
repeating. It calls for strengthening the func-
tioning movements and lending the support
that is so urgent to the spiritual-cultural nee Is
wherever youth can be reached.
Therefore, the organized communities musi
give all the assistance possible to the educa-
tional media, to the departments for Jewish
studies in the universities, to adult education
studies which must be made available for the
young adults.
The existing movements, like those of youth
programs in Bnai Brith, the Hillel Foundations,
the synagogue youth, must all be given the
stimulus vital for action by the younger ele-
ments in the population and their identification
with their communities.
,
SUPPORT FOR TORCH DRIVE
Scores of social agencies, representing all
elements in the Metropolitan Detroit area, are
included in the Torch Drive. Benefiting from
the fund are Jewish agencies, including the fol-
lowing: Fresh Air Society, Jewish Community
Center, Jewish Family Service, Jewish Voca-
tional Service and Community Workshop and
the Shiffman Clinic of Sinai Hospital.
It is not only because of the $1,881,723 that is
to be allocated to these agencies that the Jewish
community's support to the Torch Drive should
be assured and increased. It is the total picture,
the many scores of agencies serving all ele-
ments, who should be considered as a serious
obligation for aid by all.
Support for. the Torch Drive is mandatory for
every citizen with a social sense, with a recogni-
tion of the obligation to assure that the aid
needed for the elderly and underprivileged, for
the social services that guide people towards
self-help and improvement of their family in-
volvement, must be generous towards the cur-
rent fund-raising campaign.
A successful Torch Drive will mean an ap-
proach to a better society to be shared by all
with a sense of obligation to fellow citizens.
From Behrman House
Jewish Observance Defined
in All-Inclusive Volume
"The Complete Book of Jewish Observance" by Rabbi Leo Trepp
(Behrman House Summit Books) compiles in 370 pages all aspects of
Jewish synagogue and home traditionalism. It is not a large book for
its purposes, yet it includes all aspects of Jewish religious duties.
Rabbi Trepp authored other books on Jewish theology and on
historic subjects. A survivor from Nazism, he returned to Germany
for visits there and was a visiting professor at the universities of
Hamburg and Oldenburg and was awarded the Great Seal of the City
of Oldenburg in 1971. He also won the George Washington Honor
Medal by the Freedoms Foundation in 1979.
He is professor of philosophy and humanities and chairman of the
Liberal Arts Division of Napa College in California.
Born in Mainz, Germany and ordained by the Yeshiva of
Frankfurt, Rabbi Trepp served as rabbi for the state of Oldenburg
from 1936 to 1938. In November 1938, during the infamous Kris-
tallnacht, all the synagogues under his supervision went up in flames.
Rabbi Trepp himself was arrested by the Nazis and taken to Sac-
hsenhausen. He was saved from the camp after three weeks, when the
Chief Rabbi of the British Empire obtained a visa for him to go to
England. He subsequently ca—c. ,,ne United States and served as
rabbi in several communities, finally settling in Napa, Calif. in 1951.
With this as a background, it is evident that the author of "The
Complete Book of Jewish Observance" approaches the subjects he has
included in his volume as a qualified authority.
He defines the basic elements in Jewish observances and at the
same time explains the essentials in the religious denominations in
Judaism: Orthodox, Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist.
All of the elements in synagogue life are defined, and at the same
time there are explanations for various historic occurrences, such as
the controversy over the status of Hanuka in Jewish observance.
Since the Books of the Maccabees were not included in the Holy
Scriptures but were part of the Apocrypha, there was opposition to
Hanuka observance in some rabbinic circles. But the people cele-
brated the feast. The reason given for the opposition was that the
rabbis did not like to celebrate military victories. Rabbi Trepp also
explains that Rabbi Judah the Prince may have disapproved of the
Hasmoneans who were not descendants of King David but
priests. They found themselves kings of Israel and combined
priesthood with power that eventually corrupted. There also was
opposition to introduction of Greek practices. The result of the con-
troversy is defined by Rabbi Trepp as follows:
"By the times of the Gemara, after Judah the Prince, Hanuka had
become so firmly anchored in folk custom that the rabbis could no
longer ignore it. But they gave it a new meaning: it was not a victory
celebration but a festival that made manifest the spirit of Judaism.
Pointedly, they chose as Haftarah for the Sabbath of Hanuka a selec-
tion from the prophet Zechariah (2:14-4:7), climaxing in the words:
`Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit (shall you prevail), says
the Lord of Hosts. (Zech. 4:6)'
This is one of the many interesting Jewish experiences defined in
this volume.
The Jewish symbolism, the observances, the traditions, the as-
pects of Jewish life receive impressive definitive treatment in the
Trepp volume.