2 Friday, Septa,ier 4r J9H1 i THE paRolis: JEA?Sll ItyS Purely Commentary James Parkes, His Role Among Hasidei Umot HaOlam and the Admonishing 'Sin of Silence' People of eminence are tragically often forgotten too soon. This is true on a global scale. It became evident in the case of James Parkes. He died in London on Aug. 7 and it was not until Aug. 16 that this commentator learned of it, becoming aware of his passing in the columns of the Jerusalem Post. the Fortunately, noted American Jewish leader, Dr. Mark Tan- nenbaum, devoted one of his columns appear- ing in this newspaper as a tribute to the de- vout Christfan who was inspired by a sense of justice and who was a leader in the battle for a Jewish state and against anti-Semitism. James Parkes earned a place of honor among the Hasidei Umot HaOlam, the saintly among the nations of the world. Dr. Tannen- baum defined his place JAMES PARKES in human ranks ap- preciatively. Among the columns recalling Dr. Parkes' human gifts, in the Jerusalem Post, was a noteworthy one by Shmuel Katz, the former South African who settled in Israel and who is one of the leading interpreters of Israeli affairs in the Israel press. Appropriately, his article was entitled "The Sin of Silence." The subhead reads: "The future historian will ponder why Israeli governments fail to establish adequate machinery to counter the flood of Arab mendacity." Because Dr. Parkes rejected and exposed such sins, Mr. Katz's tribute to the eminent Christian has a place in current considerations. In his article, Mr. Katz stated: Dr. James Parkes, who died this week in England, deserves his niche in Jewish history. He labored most of his life to improve relations be- tween Christians and Jews, and was naturally found in the forefront of the battles against anti- Semitism. In his works, which included a comprehensive history of Palestine, he wrote extensively on the Land and his attachment to it flowed both from his Christian faith and from his empathy with the Jewish people. Out of that concern, and in his pursuit of truth, he did not hesitate to criticize his friends. Thus, he wrote in his book "Whose Land": "The Zionists' real title-deeds were written by the ... heroic endurance of those who had main- tained a Jewish presence in the land all through the centuries, and in spite of every discourage. ment. This page of history found no place in the constant flow of Zionist propaganda ... The omis- sion allowed the anti-Zionist ... to paint an entirely false picture of the wickedness of Jewry trying to establish a 2,000-year-old claim to the country." He was being kind, or maybe he did not realize how far latter-day Zionists — and, more particu- larly, the information services of the Jewish state — by withholding Zionist truths, helped the Arabs build their monstrous mythology of an his- toric national relationship to the Land of Israel. He himself emphasized the mendacity of one central element in Arab propaganda: He called his readers' attention to the fact that Palestine is not a land "holy to three faiths." It is holy only to two, to Judaism and to Christianity. This applies most clearly to'Jerusalem, which played no part in Moslem theology and remained an unconsid- ered political backwater through centuries of Moslem imperial rule. If, however, Israeli official spokesmen — whether out of ignorance or diplomatic coziness — did nothing to expose the hollowness of Arab claims, one cannot expect the average Western statesman, unversed in history and incessantly importuned by Saudi princes about their agoniz- ing passion for Jerusalem (in which they did not set foot while it was under`Moslem rule) not to voice the same absurdities. Thus Alexander Haig, in one of his early speeches as secretary of state, even placed Islam first in the trio of faiths to which Jerusalem is holy. The future historian will ponder the strange sin of Israeli governments who failed to mobilize friends, non-Jewish as well as Jewish, and to es- Legacy of Noble Christian, Dr. James Parkes, Guides Generations Never to Suffer the 'Sin of Silence' ... Kamtza bar Kamtza Legend Rebukes Splitters of Jews tablish adequate machinery to counter the flood of Arab mendacities, propagated by a powerful and ubiquitous propaganda machine. He will dis- cover that the Arabs, determined to put an end to the restoration of the Jewish people to its home- land, achieved considerable respectability in the world for their inversion of the truth — for the claim that it was the Arabs who were being de- prived of a homeland. He will be astounded to learn that in the next phase of the conflict Israeli leaders, having mum- bled and fumbled over Arab untruths, were now failing to expose the Arabs' truth: that their dis- pute with the Jews arises from their utter refusal to permit the existence of Jewish statehood in the heart of the Arab world, and their vision of Israel — at best — as a religious minority under Arab sovereignty. Indeed, for the sake of Zion Dr. Parkes was not silent. Dr. Parkes has left a legacy. It calls for action. It does not condone submission to fear. It demands firmness in asserting the right of Israel to live and to prosper. It is this appeal for justice that gives emphasis to the validity of such tasks as a Chair in Communications planned at Bar-Ilan University. Silence cannot be condoned..lt is sinful. This is the message of James Parkes who has earned a place among the saintliest in human ranks. Kamtza bar Kamtza Resurrected: Israel l§ Indestructible, Unless Jews Themselves Do Her Harm Frequently uttered nonsensically, there has been the question, "Can Israel Survive?", and half-a-century ago there were those who wrote about a mythical "Vanishing Jew." Both terms are sheer stupidities. The Psalmist's pro- calamation "lo omuth ki ekhye" — "I shall not die, but live . ." became historic reality. This is applicable to Israel. Yet, there are dangers, and they are within the Jewish fold, not from the external ranks. There is cause for deep concern when one hears that the graves of Theodor Herzl, Itzhak Ben-Zvi and Vladimir Jabotinsky were desecrated, that these occurred while mobs were interfering with the normal activities of ar- cheologists. These concerns apply to the battles between the reli- gious and the non-religious, when the former, objecting to the desecration of the Sabbath, throw stones at automobiles on the Shabat. There is an historic lesson in these experiences and it contains a warning to those who would destroy the unity of the Jewish people. It is contained in a story in the Talmud about two Jerusalem citizens whose names are connected in tradition with the outbreak of the insurrection against the Romans in 66 CE. The tale is recorded in the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia as follows: A man once_ prepared a banquet to which was invited, by mistake, Bar Karat:Ea, an enemy of his, instead of Kamtza, a friend. Bar Kamtza arrived at the feast, but the host refused to admit him. In spite of Bar Kamtza's offer to defray all the ex- penses of the feast rather than suffer humiliation, his host turned him out. Thereupon Bar Kamtza, bent on revenge, went to the Roman emperor (whose name is not given) and denounced the Jews as rebellious. As proof he asserted that they would refuse to accept an offering which the empeior would send to the Temple. A young calf was sent, which Bar Kamtza managed to mutilate on the way in a manner not offensive to Roman sacrificial law, but violating that of the Jews. Aiken then the Jews were willing to offer it as a sncTifice, for the sake of peace; but Zechariah ben Abkilas, fearing that such an action would seta dangerous precedent, intervened to stop it. The emperor was notified by Bar Kamtza of the rejec- tion, and immediately proceeded to send against the Jews first Nero ( who is conceived of as a Roman general), and afterwards Vespasian (Git. 55b; cf. Midrash Lam. 4:3; edit. Buber, p. 142). Talmudic tradition warns against brotherly insurrec- tions. Kamtza bar Kamtza admonishes Jews not to disrupt the existing social structure. -Yet, it is being ignored. Discussions of anti-Semitism always relate to Xenophobia, dislike of the unlike. Is there a term for dislike of the like? It is being coined tragically by the religious fanatics in Israel. Would that this could be re- paired speedily! `Best Boy' as Medium of Comforting the. Retarded Fund-raising campaigns will be "a dime a dozen" in the coming weeks. Contrasted with the Allied Jewish Cam- paign, soon also to be inaugurated for 1982, all of the combined efforts to support many causes will be trivial. In By Philip Slomovitz each instance, however, the need is compelling. The Israeli causes, even in the supplementary nature of their appeals, will always retain a measure of importance and great need. There is one specific cause which stands on its own and is not related to supplements or competitiveness in the sense of overlapping of appeals for Israeli causes. It is the aim to raise the necessary funds for the objectives of the Jewish Association for Retarded Citizens. The JARC already supervises four Haverim Homes for the retarded. It is in the process of establishing a fifth. Then there surely will be a sixth and a seventh, plus! The first homes were made possible with the encouragement of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Frankel, Irving L. Goldman and Richard Smitt. The newest of the concerned citizens showing an inter- est in these tasks is Louis Blumberg, who has expressed an interest in the expansion program of the JARC. Mr. Blum- berg has a record of communal devotion and leadership in the Allied Jewish Campaigns, and is aiding the JARC as a tribute to his late wife, Edith. It fits well for the JARC to sponsor the showing of a most appropriate film as means of raising funds for the cause: "Best Boy" is an Academy Award winner. Wherever it was presented it drew record audiences. It is a deeply- moving story and its appeal was described when reviewed in this column in The Jewish News on May 23. To give strength tathe JARC appeal, that review is presented here again, and it follows: Show mercy and compassion every man to his brother. —Zechariah 7:9 More7telpful than all wisdom is one draught of sim- ple human pity that will not forsake us. —George Eliot in "Mill on the Floss." Mercy and truth are met together. —Psalms 85:11 It is one of the Lord's mercies that we are not con- sumed, because his compassion fail not. —Lamentations 3:22 The merciful man does good to his own soul. —Proverbs 11:17 Philly, Philip, Faivel, Faivele symbolizes an appeal to the heart — and to the mind — in a documentary film that merits top rating for this year and for decades to come. It is a story that emphasizes common sense in planning huritan contact and security for a retarded man who is truly a mere boy, who is provided with comfort thanks to the interest taken in him by a cousin who sees the need for a home for the Best Boy Philly and helps to attain it. Ira Wohl is the producing genius who saw the need to help Philly-Faivel, who spent several years compiling the experiences and finding the home for his cousin. He pro- duced a documentary so immense in scope, so human, that his name must be recorded among the moskcreative in the documentary arts. So valuable is "Best Boy" in the tasks to aid the re- tarded that the Detroit Institute of Arts must be credited with a notable contribution for introducing the documen- tary film to this city and state. So valuable is the theme in "Best Boy" that its lesson should be translated into a challenge. It lends significance to the work of Metropolitan Detroit's Jewish Association for Retarded Citizens which has already established four homes of the type of which Philly-Faivel is now domiciled. The question now arises: how soon a fifth, a sixth, a seventh such home here for the scores on the waiting list to be admitted into a Jewish, human, dignified, well- supervised\housing project for the retarded? Are there enough people who can give a thousand, thousands, per- haps a million, to advance this human cause? That's the appeal of "Best Boy," and its theme to this community. How many will respond to this appeal? ' The "Best Boy," Philly Wohl, with his mother Pearl.