THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Learning from the Holocaust
By RABBI BERNARD J.
MANDELBAUM
(Editor's note: Rabbi
Mandelbaum, executive
vice president of the
Synagogue Council of
America, will speak at a
May 21 reception at the
Michigan Inn honoring
Detroiters Benard Maas
and Jack Shenkman, and
Louis Kasle of Flint. This
article is written for
Holocaust Remembrance
Day.)
Trials and tribulation "in
-qch and every generation"
lstitute the saga of
ue-wish history. The fall of
the first and second Tem-
ples and the decline of the
first and second Jewish
commonwealths instructed
the history of mankind,
both from internal Jewish
failings and external op-
pressions.
In rabbinic commentary
sour loss of religious and
political autonomy is at-
tributed to the sins of
idolatry, materialism ; un-
bridled "evil talk" of Jew
against Jew and other
:breaches of personal moral-
ity.
history,
world
In
Babylonia and Rome are
examples of political
tyranny which were to be
repeated by Italian Fas-
cism, German Nazism and
Soviet Stalinism. Again, in
the extendedpath of his-
tory, it is the "strange his-
toric role of the Jews as the
bellwether victims of im-
pending doom."
The daily headlines of our
time about Russian pris-
oners of conscience, with the
central position of the Jew
in this struggle for freedom
and human rights, once
again point to Jewish de-
stiny as the continuing ral-
lying point, and call to the
conscince of mankind.
It is in the context of
world history and Jewish
suffering and creative sur-
vival that the Holocaust
yields flashes of meaning,
painful to consider, yet un-
avoidable. Like its highly
cultured, intellectually ad-
vanced predecessors —
Egypt, Babylonia, Rome,
Medieval Europe, France —
one of the most advanced,
(scientifically and cultur-
ally) nations of the 20th
Century, Germany, echoed
the venomous motif of mil-
lenia.
This was the soil which
nurtured the "Final Solu-
tion" of the "Jewish ques-
tion" and, with the benefit
of a more advanced technol-
ogy, gave reality to
enocide, barbarically de-
oying one-third of a
oer ople — the Jewish people.
If the combination of a
rich culture, progressive
science and advanced
technology — bereft of any
considerations of humanity,
morality, human rights —
can do this to one people,
what does it augur for the
future of all the peoples of
the world?
With what trepidation
does any finite mind and
human heart approach
the suggestion of what
follows: in all its anguish
and mystery, is not the
Holocaust of the Jewish
experience a more omin-
ous cloud and flash of
warning to mankind than
even the horrendous
combination of
Hiroshima, Nagasaki and
all the pictures of the de-
vastating mushrooms of
destruction created by
the mega-bombs of mod-
ern times?
And is not the lesson in
this: the Nazi poison started
with anti-Semitism then
spread to anti-trade union,
anti-Christian, anti-
humanity. There were those
who appeased and felt it
could be contained,
"limited."
Many years ago, Prof.
Louis Finkelstein posed
these horrendous questions
to a group of his students:
"What if one-third of
America were annihilated?
And what if that one-third
was the communities
around Harvard, Yale,
Columbia, UCLA, Lincoln
and JFK Cultural Centers?
Then," he continued, "we
begin to comprehend an-
other, over-looked aspect of
what happened in the
Holocaust which destroyed
one-third of European
Jewry."
Israel Changes
Rape Procedure
JERUSALEM (JTA) —
Victims of rape will be given
top priority in the emer-
gency rooms of Israel's hos-
pitals regardless of which
hospital's emergency room
is open, according to a new
regulation announced by
the Health Ministry. A
similar regulation was is-
sued two years ago but was
implemented only in some
of the hospitals.
The new regulation is in-
tended as another measure
to cope with the growing in-
cidents of rape by easing the
pressure on victims.
According to the new pro-
cedure, a victim will be im-
mediately checked by a
senior gynecologist whose
findings will serve as valid
testimony in court. At the
same time, the victim will
be treated by a psychiatrist
and a social worker.
Until now a rape victim
had to pass another checkup
at a Kupat-Holim (sick-
fund) clinic in order to ob-
tain medical documents
that would be valid in court
proceedings.
Finally, the demog-
raphers now estimate that
the Jewish population in
the United States is just
about six million — a
number with terrifying
meaning. It puts each
American Jew in the posi-
tion of the "first born" in
Jewish tradition who has to
redeem himself. How? By
deepening commitment to
Torah, by strengthening
Eretz Yisrael, by a deep
concern for people
everywhere, by finding in
the Holocaust a beckoning
to greater responsibility
and sacrifice on behalf of
those who stood in what
might have been our place
— and for the redemption of
our own souls.
Friday, May 8, 1981 7
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West
Polish Production
for 'Fiddler'?
NEW YORK — A War-
saw production of "Fiddler
on the Roof" has been pro-
posed by Polish playwright
Antoni Marianowicz. The
proposal came in the form of
a letter from Marianowicz
to Joseph Stein, who wrote
the libretto for the long-
running Broadway produc-
tion.
If the production comes
about, it would be the first
time that a performance
was staged anywhere near
the mythical Anatevka
which serves as the musi-
cal's setting.
Warning The Surgeon General Has Determined
That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous toYour Health.