64 Friday, January 16, 1981 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Hofjude-Shtadlan Has Democratized Role in 1980s By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ (Copyright 1981, JTA, Inc.) President-Elect Ronald Reagan's position on Israel and the Middle East has been subjected to challenge. His critics maintain he has little knowledge about foreign af- fairs. Therefore, the contention that when he calls the PLO "terrorists" he portrays a posture of strong support for Israel as a strategic force that is vital for American inter- ests in the Middle East. Whereupon Maxwell E. Greenberg, national chairman of the Anti-Defamation League of the Bnai Brith, offered a dissent. In support of the Reagan role he wrote a defense in which he contended that authorities with experience are advising the President-elect. He presented a defensive list: Henry Kissinger, Henry Jackson, Richard Allen, Eugene Rostow, Rita Hauser and Richard Pipes. Are there new Shtadlanim in this list? There has al- ways been a Hofjude, a Shtadlan, interceding for Jews with heads of state. Max M. Fisher had that role in the adminis- trations of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. In the Green- berg list are two prominent Jews: Henry Kissinger and Eugene Rostow, and a half-Jew, Rita Hauser. In the Reagan ranks there were many prominent Jews, chief among them Theodore Cummings, Albert Spiegel and Max Fisher. They will be watched in the • coming months and years. The roles as Shtadlanim will be tested. What really is the traditional position of a Shtadlan, who, in the eras of monarchs and in periods of anti-Semitism, were labeled Hofjuden? At times a Shtadlan, a Hofjude, had been treated con- temptuously, and described derisively. It was because a Shtadlan always acted singly, often personally, when in- terceding for Jews and Jewry in an intimate manner with rulers, heads of governments and people of influence in the business and financial world. Thus Shtadlanim were not always treated respectfully. Yet there is nothing unaccept- able in this interpretation of the Shtadlan in the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia: "Shtadlan (advocate), a Jewish title in Central Europe and Poland dating from the 16th Century although the title Mishtadlim, denoting delegates elected to represent Jewish interests, was used in Spain as far back as 1354. At times a Shtadlan was the salaried business manager and the representative of the external affairs of the larger Jewish communities, appointed for a fixed period. At another epoch the title implied a dignified and honorary position, entered upon voluntarily. This post EUGENE ROSTOW RITA HAUSER could be held solely by someome who, by virtue of his wealth, his business connections, his eloquence and his personality, was influential with kings, princes and other authorities. He was the sentinel of the Jewish community or of all Jewry within the state which was always in con- stant fear of encroachment upon its meager existence, and he frequently averted threatening danger or harmful regu- lations against the Jews." The Court Jew has long played an important role in Jewish life. He has been a leading actor on the scene of Jewish self-defense and of intercession with the heads of governments for generations. Thus, therefore, the definition of the term in the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia: "COURT JEWS, agents of the rulers of a number of principalities in Central and Eastern Europe during the period from the close of the Thirty Years' War (1648) to the end of the 18th Century. Wealthy, clever and enterprising, they were of considerable aid to the petty rulers and the absolute monarchs in spanning the gap between the devas- tation that had followed the destructive religious wars, leaving wide stretches financially prostrate, and the de- velopment of the industrial economy that was to inaugu- rate a new era of prosperity at the end of the century-and- a-half of their activity. "Their duties embraced a variety of activities: they supplied bullion for the treasury and often supervised the mint, supplied the court with money and goods, undertook diplomatic and commercial missions, supplied the army in war and peace, and introduced and developed new indus- tries and agricultural products. "Because of their usefulness they enjoyed great privileges. They were not restricted in their movements (as were the Jews in general), were exempt from internal tolls, were under the direct jurisdiction of the court tribunal and enjoyed easy access to the prince. They often wielded great power, but if their plans miscarried or conditions in the realm were unpropitious, they ran the risk of dismissal, disgrace and even death. "Their occupation usually became hereditary, and a moneyed aristocracy of Court Jews arose. Oc- casionally, contending families vied with one another for the prince's favor, and they were not always scrupulous in their choice of means toward gaining this end." In the Who's Who of Shtadlan-ism or Hofjude-ism, if such terms are permissible, there is a record of Jewish financiers whose banking skills enabled them to assist monarchs and military dictators financially. Many of them possessed diplomatic shrewdness. Will the Jews with ac- cess to the White House be of the latter quality? Will they be the trained academicians, students of history with a knowledge of their people's needs as well as legacies, thus possessing qualifications for leadership? The sense of responsibility inherent in Shtadlanut in modern times is the caution needed not to misrepresent, to beware of false and arrogant pronouncement. This is where an old lesson, cautioning that the tongue is the most dangerous of a person's anatomy when the tongue's minor slips can spell ruination. The warning is contained in Dr. Louis Ginzberg's "Legends of the Jews," Volume 4, pages 173 to 175. Quoting Dr. Ginzberg: MAX FISHER HENRY KISSINGER "The king of Persia was very ill, and his physician„ told him he could be cured by nothing but the milk of a r- lioness. The king accordingly sent a deputatior ing rich presents to Solomon, the only being world who might in his wisdom discover means to obtain lion's milk. "Solomon charged Benaiah to fulfill the Persian king's wish. Benaiah took a number of kids, and repaired to the lion's den. Daily he threw a kid to the lioness, and after some time the beast became familiar with him, and finally he could approach the lioness close enough to draw milk from her udders. "On the way back to the Persian king the physician who had recommended the milk cure dreamed a dream. All the organs of his body, his hands, feet, eyes, mouth, and tongue, were quarrelling with one another, each claiming the greatest share of credit in procuring the remedy for the Persian monarch. "When the tongue set forth its own contribution to the cause of the king's service, the other organs rejected its claim as totally unfounded. The physician did not forget the dream, and when he appeared before the king, he spoke: `Here is the dog's milk which we went to fetch for you.' The king, enraged, ordered the physician to be hanged, because he had brought the milk of a bitch instead of a lion's dam. "During the preliminaries to the execution, all the limbs and organs of the physician began to tremble, whereupon the tongue said: 'Did I not tell you that all of you are no good? If you will acknowledge my superiority, I shall even now save you from death.' "They all made the admission it demanded, and the physician requested the executioner to take him to the king. Once in the presence of his master, he begged him as a special favor to drink of the milk he had brought. The king granted his wish, recovered from his sickness, and dis- missed the physician in peace. So it came that all the organs of the body acknowledge the supremacy of the tongue." Candidates for President and other offices often suf- fered from slips of the tongue. Jewish spokesmen have not been immune. With all due credit to those who may be the new Shtadlanim in the 1980s, another collective role must be acknowledged. Now it is a group action. The Shtadlanim act collectively. They are the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Thus, the new Shtadlan has gained a democratically - acceptable status. He is a collective factor in the diplomacy of this era. New Christian Right: Social Views vs. Support of Israel By YITZHAK RABI NEW YORK (JTA) — Participants in a panel dis- cussion on "The New Chris- tian Right and the Jews" in America agreed that the vehement support of Israel on the part of right-wing Christian fundamentalists on the one hand and their reactionary, anti-liberal political and social views on the other hand, pose a seri- ous dilemma for American Jews. But the panelists dis- agreed on how this dilemma should be approached. The panel was part of the 1980 National Editors Con- ference of the Jewish Stu- dent Press Service held at American Jewish Congress headquarters. The participants were Annette Daum, inter- religious affairs director of the Union of American He- brew Congregations (UAHC), and Kenneth Jacobson, Middle East af- fairs director of the Anti- Defamation League of Bnai Brith. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Henry Feingold, professor of American Jewish history at City University of New York. According to Jacob- son, the fundamentalist Christian right and espe- siah. Jacobson said that al- cially the Moral Majority movement headed by though this pro-Zionist Rev. Jerry Falwell stand should be cultivated, demonstrates an "ex- it poses a dilemma for tremely strong pro- American Jews because of Zionist position" that social policies that alienate American Jewry should supporters of Israel from cultivate and encourage. other segments of society. But at the same time, he As a case in point, he re- noted, the Jewish commu- called that outgoing Sen. nity should be aware that Frank Church (D-Idaho), a the motive of the Moral staunch supporter of Israel, Majority in supporting Is- refused to accept the rael "is not so pure from our Jabotinsky Award in No- point of view" because, he vember because it was also said, they see the ingather- bestowed on Falwell. Jacobson maintained ing of all the Jews in Israel as a precondition for the that the need to cultivate second coming of the Mes- the relationship between American Jewry and the funadmentalists is impor- tant in view of the little measure of support Israel enjoys in the rest of the world. He added, however, "American Jews have to examine on a mulitiplicity of levels their relations with the Moral Majority and not on the issue of support of Is- rael alone." He said Jews should con- - and economic issues. Feingold said the fun- sider the impact the views of the Moral Majority will damentalist Christians are have on Jewish life in "wonderfully Zionist" but they have a different ap- America in years to come. A different approach proach to power than the was advocated by Daum Jews who believe in com- who called on American plete separation of church Jews to come out in the and state. open" against the Moral Majority despite their support of Israel. She Inflation Leader warned that if the opin- NEW YORK — Israel ions and views of the now leads the world in infla- Moral Majority are trans- tion with an annual _ lated into political power, 131.5 percent, accordimeto America will face "a new a report by the Interna- repressive era" which, tional Monetary Fund. Is- she warned, would be rael's current rate of infla- "dangerous to the Jews." tion has surpassed the 118 Daum said, "We should percent rate in Turkey and appreciate the support (of Argentina's 112 percent the Moral Majority for Is- rate. rael) but yet we should not give them awards. We are By contrast, Israel's gross going to end with egg On our national product for 1980 faces. We have to fight them rose by less than one per-, in the open." She added that cent over the 1979 figure. the American Jewish corn- The 0.9 percent increase munity is against the was the worst- showing for agenda of the Moral Major- the country's GNP in more ity on social, educational than a decade.