t 3111!3', '1311 THE JEWISH NEWS ( USPS 275-520) 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 and Affiliate Member of National Newspaper Association and Capital Club. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 Postmaster: Send address changes to The Jewish News, 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 Second-Class Postage Paid at Southfield, Michigan and Additional Mailing Offices. Subscription $15 a year. 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 28th day ofKisleu, 5741, is the fourth day of Hanuka and the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Genesis 41:1-44:17, Numbers 7:30-41. Prophetical portion, Zechriah 2:14-4:7. Hanuka Scriptural Selections • Sunday (fifth day, 7:36-47; Monday, Rosh Hodesh Teuet, Numbers 28:1-15, 7:42-47; Tuesday, Rosh Hodesh, Numbers 28:1-15, 7:48-53; Wednesday, Numbers 7:54-8:4. Candle lighting, Friday, Dec. 5, 4:43 p.m. VOL. LXXVIII, No. 14 Friday, Dec. 5. 1980 ISRAEL-DIASPORA TIES A change in Israel's government leadership in less than a year now appears inevitable. The ruling party is united mainly by the desire of the slim majority to remain in power. The division in Labor ranks may soon be healed. The eco- nomic pressures are causing havoc. Delays in reaching an accord with Egypt are contributing to whatever discord may be an element in the critical views of Israel abroad. In the long run, under the trying circum- stances affecting Israel as a sovereign country always under attack by her neighbors and con- stantly challenged by the Western world, the relationship of Israel with the Diaspora, the ties between Israelis and Jews in democratic coun- tries, primarily the United States, become espe- cially vital in this era of tension. However the approaching political controver- sies may end, regardless of the changes that are certain to be effected as a result of the forthcom- ing election, the Israel-Diaspora ties are so necessary that neither the Israelis nor Jewish leadership throughout the world dare ignore them. Two obstacles are frequently in evidence in the concerns of world Jewry for Israel's welfare. Whenever dangers emerge, especially those generated in the United Nations, there is al- ways an element that panics. Whenever the PLO gains notoriety in the press or in govern- ment circles, there are the negations that stem from the misinformed or uninformed who are ready to make concessions to Israel's enemies. This is a matter for serious concern and it needs the ablest in the areas of public relations to stem the tide of ignorance that affects Israel's status. Perhaps this accounts for the ultra-critical element who ignore the negotiable but insist on mobilizing forces to condemn Israel. It could be the result of a hatred for the present ruling powers in Israel. Regardless, at a time when criticism is necessary and should be encouraged, it is the submission to the destruct- ive factors that is deplorable. Perhaps the Israel government has a large share of blame for such conditions. A more effec- tive public relations policy could obviate such negative conditions. The damaging and threatening developments must be watched from both areas and the menacing propaganda infiltrating in the news media and in government circles must be fought at all costs. On this score joint effort is urgent. Another most important aspect in Israel- Diaspora relations is the repetitive proposal that representatives of American and other Jewries should have a greater role in supervis- ing activities towards which Diaspora Jewry makes monetary contributions. This is a de- mand that could be fraught with obstructions for Israelis supervi ising the agencies under con- sideration. Nevertheless, the proposals are valid in many instances. In supervision of Proj- ect Renewal, in administering work for the el- derly in Joint Distribution Committee homes, qualified assistance should be welcomed. In his important policy speech in Detroit, Is- rael Prime Minister Menahem Begin highly commended Project Renewal objectives, and the United Israel Appeal executives endorsed it at their meeting here. But in Israel there are criti- cisms, and if these are to be either avoided or corrected it is important that an American presence should be felt in the matter in Israel. The response to Project Renewal continues to be heartening, and the objective must be fool- proof. Therefore- the need for an American role in this respect. Israel-Diaspora relations need strengthening and protecting. This applies to the social- economic and philanthropic and to public rela- tions. They are matters of grave concern and should be treated in all seriousness. POLITICS AND RELIGION Religiously politicized elements, enthused by the notoriety they attained during the Presidential election, are pursuing policies which, they maintain, will give them power over many public fuffetions. Their activities are feared by many as threatening and a challenge to a basic Ameri- can ideal, the Separation of-Church and State. Encouraging, and encouraged by, the new campaign for mass circulation of the Bible in public schools, the issue over the escalating religious crusade is growing. As matters stand now, the highest court in the land does not condone tampering with the Separation principle. Changes are due in the Supreme Court during the next administration, and the kindnesses that were bestowed during the recent election campaign upon Ronald and Nancy Reagan by the groups favoring religious studies in the schools may well augur favoritism in highest quarters for tolerance to those advocating endorsement of prayers in American" institutions. The concern expressed by those holding firm to the Separation practices is encouragement \ that vigilance in that direction will not be abandoned. It is not even so certain that President-elect Reagan, although he followed a natural trend of accepting the votes of those threatening the Separation ideal, will, in practice as the man in power, give comfort to a change in a basic American ideal. Meanwhile there are those who, like former Michigan Governor George Romney, maintain that there was always religious focus in this country. While asserting this, the very devout former Michigan chief of state nevertheless does not favor abandoning Separation. This may well be an approving of religious fervor while protecting it through Separation adher- ence. In such a status, the fears for the politicized religionists may be exaggerated. Peter Hellman Volume Yad Vashem's Avenue of Righteous Honors Heroes In the aftermath of the bloodbath, of the mass murder of Jews and Christians, of the Holocaust engineered and operated by the Nazis, many important facts were revealed. They are not to be ignored. They included evidence of Jewish resistance to the outrages. There also is being recorded the heroism of Christians who are now rated as the Righteous. - --- Yad Vashem, where all the facts about the Holocaust are being recorded, has the record of the heroes in both categories. Righteous Christians surely are among the heroes. They risked their own lives and those of their families to rescue Jews, to protect those whose daring is now being recorded. In tribute to these heroes, the Avenue of the Righteous has been established and trees have been planted in honor of those whose deeds are now in the record. More than 700 trees have already been planted in the Avenue of the Righteous and the stories of a number of deeply moving accounts of the heroism of Christians is told in the book .by that name, "Avenue of the Righteous" (Atheneum), in which Peter Hellman has recorded the result of his research on the subject. Hellman traveled to Israel, Holland, Belgium, France, Poland, Canada, Italy, England, and has found subjects for his work in this country. There is a tree in the Avenue of the Righteous for a Hamtramck Polish woman who rescued Jews at the risk of the lives of her own family. In his four years research, Hellman uncovered data which showed' that in the process of rescuing there was mainly unselfish- ness, a desire to prevent the Nazis from getting hold of the intended Jewish victims. Hellman relates as examples: "To prevent a three-year-old boy from being recognized as a Jew by the Nazis, the chic, independent mistress of a prominent Bel - physician adopted him as her nephew and moved to a small where neither of them were known. In Holland a woman took into ner house as her 'cousin' a young girl, the first Jew she had ever seen. The French mayor/shopkeeper in a town just south of the Vichy line issued false identity cards to hundreds of Jews, and personally smuggled them across the border into the Free Zone, refusing payment of any sort. An abandoned 18-month-old girl was rescued by an im- poverished Polish worker who raised her as her own daughter with extraordinary devotion." Hellman renders an additional service in his book by defining the importance of Yad Vashem, its museum, the synagogue, the Hall of Remembrance. Described also are the 22 largest concentration camps and the Nazis' killing centers. The author points out that recorded here are 2,000,000 names of the victims of Hitlerism and the list "still grows." Thus research continues to expose the horrors and the Nazis crimes, as Hellman indicates in his deeply moving and descriptive work about heroes of another faith who rescued Jews. Hellman was born in Washington, D.C. in 1943 and received his BA degree from Duke University in 1964. He spent 21/2 years at sea as a naval officer and since that time he has been a freelance writer.