THE JEWISH NEWS iUSPS 275 520. ISETWEEN TWO Fibs incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951 Copyright ,c. The Jernsh News Publishing Cc. - Member of American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, National Editorial Association and National Newspaper Association and its Capital Club. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 48075 Postmaster: Send address changes to The Jewish News, 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield. Mich. Second-Class Postage Paid at Southfield, Michigan and Additional Mailing Offices. Subscription $15 a year. CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ Business Manager PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher ALAN HITSKY News Editor HEIDI PRESS Associate News Editor DREW LIEBERWITZ Advertising Manager Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath. the 26th day of Tishri. 5742. the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion. Genesis 1:1-6:8. Prophetical portion. Isaiah 42:5-43!10. Wednesday and Thursday, Rosh Hodesh Heshvan Numbers 28:1-15. Candle lighting, Friday, October 23, &19 p.m. VOL. WOOL No. 8 Page Four Friday, October 23, 1981 COMFORT IN JUDGMENT Many a Daniel has come to judgment in these turbulent times for the world, for the United States as a major factor drawn into the Middle East disputes, for Israel as a target and for Jew- ry's cousins in the Islamic world who make the target the scapegoat. Any wonder, therefore, that former Presi- dents of the United States should Inive provided comfort for Israel's enemies in an issue which is only partially Jewish-affected but which could be a major concern for the peace of an area whence often have developed world conflicts? The Wall Street Journal had a definition for the manner in which three ex-Presidents utilized a tragic moment in history during which to encourage credibility, even if it is done without intent of malice, for Israel's mortal enemies. In its issue of Oct. 13, the Wall Street Journal stated under the title "Funeral Post- script": "Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter were riding back from Cairo on the same plane Saturday, when they loosened their shirt collars and cal- led in the reporters. Before you knew it, they came out in favor of the U.S. talking with the Palestine Liberation Organization, one of the outfits that cheered the assassination of the man whose funeral the two had just attended. Being out of office must be more dulling to polit- ical instincts, and the sense of appropriateness, than we had imagined." In a matter of such vast seriousness, under conditions when the nation is told that a Presi- dent's pledge cannot be broken, the administra- tive judgment therefore being that a President can't be wrong, it is most distressing that those adhering to the right to differ must keep on drawing for supporting opinions. It is under such compulsions, therefore, that the New York Times, surely not a propagandist for Israel, must be quoted again. The Times said on Oct. 11: "The Reagan Administration demeans its tribute by making the contest over AWACS a posthumous referendum on Mr. Sadat — a fran- tic effort to court the Saudis, who disown e d him and denounced his noblest act. Other Ameri- cans have run past the bier with equal haste to exploit the murder for their denunciations of Israeli intransigence or Soviet-sponsored ter- rorism. "The death of large men should have mean- ing. But it will not be found in the familiar - political preocupations of the day. This slain Egyptian leader defied the conventions of his time. He merits a higher place in memory." Such assertions are not as comforting as the composition of the Congressional opposition to the AWACS proposals. Congress did not sub- scribe to the theory that a President and his Administration can do no wrong. They over- whelmed such a viewpoint. And since those who lack either vision or good feelings introduced the Jewish issue into a seri- ous matter affecting the peace of a vital area, the factor to be called comforting is the mem- bership of Congress and its actions. Taking into account the fact that perhaps 85 percent of those who voted on the issue in the U.S. House of Representatives come from states with practi- cally no Jewish population to speak of, some with Jews numbering less than two percent of the citizens, there is comfort in the judgment being pronounced. The vote in the House was indicative of a conviction of the injustice of the AWACS prop- osal. A majority of Republicans disagreed with President Reagan with 108 against and 78 sup- porting the President. In the Democratic ranks, the vote was 193 to 33 on the question. Therefore the declaration, once again, that the AWACS conflagration was not entirely in- flamed by and for Jews and Israel, that it is a matter involving the security of an entire area and the role of the United States; that the dan- gers implicit in the situation cannot be glossed over by declaring that an administration in power can do no wrong. There is the right to differ and also the com- pulsion to judge properly. Hopefully, the faith in the good judgment of the Congress of the United States will be sustained. Therein lies genuine comfort. UNSULLIED HUMANITY A survivor from Nazism, whose family justice. Hopefully, his labors for decency will perished in the Holocaust, struck a victory over not be curtailed by the bigots. The occurence in Los Angeles, which necessi- the inhuman acts which could be perpetuated if tated court action in rejection of the lowest form the Hitler terror were not fully exposed. of bigotry, serves to retain concern over the gen- The tragic horror of the denial of the bar- erally recurring evidence of remaining symp- barities by people residing in this free land toms of hatred that was generated by Hitlerism. compelled Mel Mermelstein to seek justice in Even the few who keep clamoring for the the American courts. He found it. The ruling in right to demonstrate, to organize parades of Los Angeles may not end the trends in bigoted the brown-shirted and the Nazi-uniformed, minds, but it will encourage those seeking truth must be viewed as menacing because they stem not to yield to the unfortunate pressures which were exerted in an effort to prevent Mermels- from the supporters of the bestialties that counted some 12 million victims, including six tein from acting against the Nazi spirit en- million Jews. dorsed by misled, hard-hearted Americans. It is the rejection of anything aligned with It was not enough that mankind should have been submitted to the brutalities of Nazism. An such a resurgence of inhumanities that must'be taken into account in the applause for the cour- American group seeks support for the in- humanities. Mermelstein sought and secured age of Mel Mermelstein. 4 "6 .-IrAl f: 111 •111■ "ir „ Doubleday Volume `Jewish People's Almanac' Fulfills Encyclopedic Needs David C. Gross has to his credit many informative books which have merited acclaim as historical compendiums. His "The Jewish People's Almanac" (Doubleday) covers so much ground that its 600 pages, packed with facts, merits being described as encyclopedic. Gross will speak here during the annual Book Fair Nov. 16. Many of the most fascinating per- sonalities in Jewish ranks, heroes who have rescued Jews, those who have Made great discoveries that have benefited mankind, are in the ranks of the notables selected for accounting here. Robert Leydenfrost illustrated this unusual book, catching the spirit of the entertaining as well as the informative. Most of the items in this interesting collection are initialed by the contribut- ing writers. Many -important authors are credited with being contributors to this volume. In that list appear the names of Rabbi Mor- ris Adler, David Ben-Gurion, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Robert St. John, Ab- raham Katsh, Jacob R. Marcus, Albert DAVID GROSS Einstein, Leo Tolstoy, Mark Twain, Harry S. Truman, Philip Slomovitz, Allen Worsen and more than 100 others. Israel and America, Jewish laws and traditions, the Holocaust and its horrors and related Jewish tragedies, covering the world- scenes with unique accounts of historical experiences — this is just a brief glance at contents that are certain to enchant readers in all strata of life. That includes the non-Jew as well as the Jew. Although it is a Jewish almanac, it has an appeal of such fascination that every enlightened person seeking information and desiring to enjoy his reading will find this a very great collection of unusual facts and stories. The late Rabbi Morris Adler is rep- resented in this volume in his article "The Second Only to the Bible: The Story of the Mishna and Its Compiler." It is from Rabbi Adler's "The World of the Talmud." It is one of the lengthier articles in the impressive collection of essays. Allen Warsen's article in this vol- ume is entitled "Are the American In- dians a Lost Tribe of Israel?" excerpted from Michigan Jewish History. "The Man Behind Hatikva" by Philip Slomovitz is excerpted from The Jewish News. Thus, legend and history, facts and unusual items that read like fic- tion, heroism and martyrdom, corn- RABBI ADLER bine to make "The-Ye-wish People's Almanac- a work that will enchant and inform.