THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS,

A Tasty Solution for Jewish Ignorance

By DAVID FRIEDMAN

(Copyright 1980, JTA, Inc.)

When I was in Toronto for
the Rosh Hashana week I
came across a novel by I.J.
Singer, the late elder
brother of Nobel Prize win-
ner Isaac Bashevis Singer.
The book, "East of Eden,"
was placed in the movie sec-
tion of a store. Obviously,
the Yiddish novel "Chaver
Nachman," in its translated
form, had been confused
with John Steinbeck's book
of the same name which was
made into a film.
About the same time one
lanada's leading super-
ni-arket chains was
apologizing to its Jewish
customers for having
wished them a "Happy
Passover" instead of the
more appropriate "Happy
New Year." Perhaps the
confusion came about be-
cause of the practice of
supermarkets everywhere
to push the matzohs, unsold
since Passover, during the
High Holy Days.
Also while I was in To-
ronto, several persons
told me that for years a
major department store
had put out Hanuka
cards every year at this
time instead of New
Year's cards.
All three mistakes could
have been avoided with
more care. But they, espe-
cially the last two, demon-

strate how little non-Jews
know about Judaism.
Of course, there are many
Jews whose knowledge is
not much better. An editor
on a newspaper for which I
once worked said that if he
wanted to find out some-
thing about a Jewish holi-
day the last person to ask
was one of his Jewish re-
porters.
This lack of knowledge
often has no correlation to
observance. There are some
Jews who never step inside
a synagogue who can at
least explain what the var-
ious holidays mean. There
are others who attend more
than the three obligatory
days a year, who can't.
What happens is that
many of these people are
later embarrassed when
they are asked questions
by Christian friends or
even more disconcerting,
by their children.
There is of course no end
to the books in which one
can learn about Jewish
holidays which are, after
all, part of the heritage of
every Jew. "The Jewish
Catalogue" now about to
appear in its third edition,
and "The Jewish Almanac,"
are excellent, especially for
young adults. But there
seems to be one book after
another coming off the
presses explaining Jewish
practices and customs, writ-

ten on all levels of under-
standing.
But wait, another solu-
tion might be found — food.
After all, it has long been
the suspicion of many that
what holds Jews together is
Jewish food. -There are very
few so assimilated as not to
love Jewish food.
Here we have Passover as
a model. The seder, after all,
is a feast surrounded by a
lesson on the history and
meaning of the holiday.
Just imagine discussing
Hanuka over a plate of
latkes or Shavuot as you
pass the blintzes. We'll have
heavier stuff for the other
holidays.
This. is certainly food for
thought.

AJC, ACLU
Ask High Court
to Hear Case

NEW YORK — The
American Jewish Congress
and the American Civil
Liberties Union have asked
the United States Supreme
Court to hear a case which
challenges religious holiday
observances in public
schools as a violation of the
First Amendment's guaran-
tee of church-state separa-
tion.
The case, "Florey v. Sioux
Falls School 'District," in-
volves guidelines adopted
by the Sioux Falls (S.D.)
school board for conducting
Christmas religious obser-
vances in the public schools
under its jurisdiction.

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High Court to Make Decision
on Appeal by Alleged Nazi

WASHINGTON (JTA) —
The U.S. Supreme Court re-
served decision Wednesday,
after hearing for more than
an hour, arguments on an
appeal by an alleged Nazi
war criminal against de-
naturalization.
The appellant, Feodor
Federenki, faces loss of citi-
zenship on grounds that he
failed to disclose his Nazi
record when he arrived in
the U.S. in 1949 and later
when he applied for citizen-
ship which was granted to
him in 1970.
Federenko, who was born
in the Ukraine in 1907, was
charged by the U.S. gov-
ernment with having been
an armed guard at the Treb-
linka concentration camp in
1942-1943, where he par-
ticipated in beating and
shooting Jewish inmates.
The U.S. District Court
in Miami ruled against
depriving him of citizen-
ship on grounds that the
government had not pre-
sented adequate evi-
nce. The defense
ufgued that Federenko's
service at the camp was
involuntary.
The U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals overruled the dis-
trict court's opinion and or
dered Federenko's de-
naturalization, against
which he is not appealing to
the Supreme Court.
It is believed to be the
first time that a case involv-
ing an alleged Nazi war
criminal has reached the
nation's highest tribunal. It
also marks the first time a
U.S. Attorney General has
taken . part in such proceed-
ings. When 'Attorney Gen-

eral Benjamin Civiletti
argued the case for the gov-
ernment, it was the first
time for him as the nation's
chief law enforecement offi-
cer, to appear before the
Supreme Court.
Elizabeth
Rep.
(D-N.Y.),
Holtzman
chairman of the House
Judiciary Committee's
immigration subcommit-
tee which handles cases
involving war criminals
living in the U.S.,
applauded Civiletti's ap-
pearance.
"In many respects," she
said, "the Attorney Gener-
al's appearance in this case
represents the culmination
of my long standing efforts
to convince our government
to take action against war
criminals who have found
sanctuary in this country."

F

Emunah Women
Ask Carter
to Expel PLO

NEW YORK — Shirley
Billet, national president of
Emunah Women of
America and Toby Willig,
the organization's vice
president for public affairs,
recently called upon
President Carter to take the
initiative by asking for the
expulsion of the PLO from
all committees and all rec-
ognized bodies of the UN
where it has observers.
"The PLO is a notori-
ously, cowardly, murderous
organization," Ms. Billet
and Ms. Willig said. "It
never attacks military
targets but prides itself on
killing innocent people all
over the world."

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