2 Friday, October 30, 1981 ' S THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Purely Commentary The Chemistry of Nobel-ism: New Jewish Additions to Ranks and the Auto-Da-Fe Interpreter ( Some have credited the large percentage of Jewish Nobel Prize winners to the genes.Whatever the reason, and the cause, it is heartening to know that two more exceptionally-gifted Jews are among the current Nobel Prize winners. How interesting that both of the 1982 Jewish Nobelists are chemists! Only one is an active chemist, having shared in the Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded last week. He is Dr. Roald Hoffmann of Cornell University. The second, Elias Canetti, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature but he also studied and specialized in chemistry, even if he did not make it his life's work. Nevertheless, he is "the chemist - who defined an historic era. The Swedish Academy, choosing Canetti, credited his book - Auto-da-Fe" as "a great novel carrying the sense of the fantastic and the demonic, equating him with the great Russian masters Gogol and Dostoyevsky." It should he kept in mind that Canetti is a Sephardi and therefore must have been influenced by the history of the Spanish Inquisition, by the Auto-da-Fe which sym- b.dized .Jews burned at the stake. The honor accorded Canetti therefore serves as a re- minder for all who know the history of that tragic period ,l , out the Anusim, the role of the Marranos. In his oft-quoted - A Book of Jewish Concepts," Dr. Philip Birnbaum gave this definition of the Anusim and the Auto-WI-Fe: According to one theory, the ceremony of an- nulment of vows on the eve of Yom Kippur, known as the Kol Nidre service, was instituted for the benefit of Spanish crypto-Jews, or Aniisim, in order to absolve them from any promise for the i:bservance of another religion in the following '.ear .. The medieval Inquisition, which was instituted in Spain and Portugal to detect and punish crx pto-Jews as well as Christian heretics, reached its climax with the famous Auto-da-Fe an act of the faith), a ceremony at which the sen- tences of the Inquisition were announced or car- ried out. The Inquisitors burned their victims in keeping with the prohibition against shedding hind. The heretics were handed over to the seen- ;;sr arm for carrying into execution the sentences m posed. The day chosen was usually a Sunday. In the procession through the streets, the Dominican monks marched first; then the peni- tents, followed by those condemned to die, dres- sed in horrifying robes called Sanbenitos (from Saint Benedict) and with dunce-caps on their heads; and next black coffins containing the hones of those who had escaped sentence by dying in prison. The first Auto-da-Fe was conducted by Tor- quemada in 1481; the last was in 1826. Some 30,000 men and women were put to death by the Inquisi- tion in the course of the 3Y2 centuries of its exist- ence. Those who confessed that they had prac- ticed Judaism secretly were first strangled by the executioners; then their bodies were laid on the scaffold beside the living men and women already hound there. A prominent dignitary set fire to the faggots while the priests chanted praises to God from the hook of Psalms. Elias Canetti arises as the new bright star on the iterary horizon. His first language was Ladino. This, too, is of unusual Interest. Would that he and others who retain a knowledge of that dying Spanish-Jewish dialect could give it a new lease on life! There is fascination in the fact that a Swedish Academy selection should serve to arouse an historical interest. It was for Yiddish and the Yiddish language in the naming of Isaac Bashevis Singer for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Now it is in Ladino and as a reminder of the Spanish-.Jewish tragedy in the case of Elias Canetti. Basic Facts About the PLO Threats to Israel as Guidelines for the Diplomatic Corps • Ambassadorial status granted by the USSR to Israel's chief enemy in Arab ranks compels renewed emphasis on the need to prevent the hiding of basic facts about the threatened renewed holocaust for the Middle East. That's what the PLO and Arafat-led ranks seek to be enabled to carry on their devilish programs. There is nothing new in the Kremlin credibility for terrorists. It is discouraging, however, to learn that chiefs of democratic states are unaware of the facts. During her recent visit in Kuwait, at a press confer- ence leaving for a meeting of British Commonwealth leaders in Australia, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was questioned about the PLO. She was asked Jewish Prize Winner in Literature Elias Canetti Symbolizes Memories of Another Tragic Past: the Era of Inquisition . The Genocidal Aims of the Terrorist PLO Fully Documented why the British government was hesitant in pursuance of the EEC initiative on the Middle East. She replied: "We quite rightly do not recognize the PLO. We do not recognize organizations, only countries. But I do not wish to rest on that in my reply. The reason we do not go further and have ministerial meetings with the PLO is, first, because of its association with terrorism; and, secondly, because of the statements by parts of the PLO that their real objective is to drive Israel into the sea and wipe her off the face of the globe." Then she was challenged by an Arab journalist to iden- tify the occasion of the PLO threat to Israel's existence and she replied: "It was at one of the conferences of either a part of the PLO or the whole. I cannot remember whether it was the one in Damascus or the one in South America or both, but one thing is frequently quoted to me in the House of Com- mons, taken from a communique by a part of the PLO. I will see that it is sent to our Kuwaiti friends." Therefore, it is necessary to trace the sources of threats. Let it be noted, first of all, that Arafat himself, on his visit in Japan earlier this month, was asked by a Japanese reporter whether he recognized Israel's right to exist, and he replied: "Always you are looking from an angle, the Israeli angle. We are the victims." Therefore, it is also important that an interview with Farouk Kaddoumi, who is rated as the PLO foreign minis- ter, should be kept in mind. In his interview with the West German newspaper Stern, Kaddoumi states the basic PLO attitude, as indicated in the following: Stern: Why, when (your) isolated commando raids provoke such terrible Israeli pre-emptive or retaliatory strikes, do you go on with them? Kaddoumi: We must continue the military oper- ations in the occupied territories ... We shall never allow Israel to live in peace. We shall never allow it total security. Every Israeli will feel that "behind every well there might be a guerrilla who is aiming at me." Stern: You cannot expect Israel to put up with such behavior passively. Kaddoumi: Most important of all — it was Israel that started it. Israel has escalated the situation. Israel is responsible for the casualties on both sides. We have no choice — unless we capitulate. And the actions in the occupied territories are our signal that we do not yield. Stern: Another alternative would be to talk to each other. Kaddoumi: With a Zionist? No. Because Zionism means the colonization of Palestine. Stern: With whom, then, do you wish to talk? Kaddoumi: One cannot expect the Palestinians to talk to their enemy. Israel has occupied our country for 32 years, and the primary precondi- tion is that it retreat from the occupied territories. Stern: When you say "occupied territories," what do you mean? Kaddoumi: For the present, the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and the Gaza Strip. Stern: That means, first of all, the retreat, and afterwards you might talk? Kaddoumi: First of all, the unconditional re- treat. Stern: Provided you were now to get a state on the West Bank and in Gaza — and there are not a few who would wish you to have it with all their heart — what would then happen to the remain- der, to Israel in its 1948 boundaries? Kaddoumi: I shall make it perfectly clear to you. We shall never recognize Israel, never accept the usurper, the colonialist, the imperialist. Stern: But then what? Kaddoumi: We shall fight for our right to return to our country. Stern: Thereby you bind the hands of your friends. Kaddoumi: How? Stern: Your attitude means the destruction of the state of Israel. Kaddoumi: Yes, I want to destroy the enemy who keeps my homeland occupied, who has mur- dered my parents, my brothers and sisters. Stern: In your opening address to the current (Arab League) conference (in Tunis), you de- nounced the U.S. as an aggressor, and you stated that the Soviet Union is your most trustworthy friend. One of the arguments with which Menahem Begin seeks to withhold potential aid from you is his claim that a future Palestinian state would necessarily be a Soviet satellite. Kaddoumi: We are a national movement. Everyone who can help us is welcome. The Sy- rians are helping us, as well as the Iraqis, the Libyans and the Chinese. Stern: Does this aid take the form of arms? Kaddoumi: The Chinese were first. They pro- vided us with arms. The Soviets, as well as the By Philip Slomoyitz other socialist countries, provide us with both political and military aid. Stern: Your Arab friends in the region are somewhat more reserved toward the Soviet Union. Kaddoumi: That might apply to Saudi Arabia. But King Hussein of Jordan has quite recently visited Moscow, and, judging by the joint com- munique, understanding between him and his hosts was excellent. You see, there has been some change. Stern: But it does not seem likely at present that, in an emergency, he would side with the Soviet Union. Kaddoumi: In case all-out war actually broke out, we would be the allies of the Soviet Union — for we prefer to be the friends of Communists, rather than to be the victims of the Zionist and imperialist occupation forces. For a proper understanding of the Arab extremists' attitudes in the current Middle East situation, it is neces- sary also that the reactions to the assassination of Anwar Sadat should be known. Here are some of the declarations of joy that were uttered in Arab quarters over the tragic occurrence: Yasir Arafat: Sadat was killed by the Egypt- tian Army, in the name of the courageous Palesti- nian people that bears the yoke of the Zionist oc- cupation. This operation proves that the Palesti- nian struggle lives on in the conscience of-the great Egyptian people, which has not forgiven its president for having neglected Jerusalem, traded in the Palestinian cause and signed the treacher- ous plot of Camp David ... —(upon arrival in China, Agence Press Francaise, Oct. 6, 1981) With the downfall of one of the symbols of Camp David, we see the beginning of the downfall of Camp David itself ... We believe that the Egyp- tian people is filled with courage and that it is faithful to its national cause, of which Palestine is the heart. The heroic Egyptian Army and the heroic Egyptian people will not forgive those who neglect Jerusalem, the cause of our people and its revolution, and the cause of the Arab nation as a whole. —(Arafat, at a dinner given in his honor by the Prime Minister of China, "Voice of Palestine," Beirut, Oct. 8, 1981) Farouk Kaddoumi: This is the best news we have had in many years. It is the Egyptian people that has got rid of Sadat. The Egyptian people has also rid itself of the shame and the dishonor that Sadat had imposed upon the grand history of Egypt. The death,of Sadat marks the beginning of the collapse of the conspiracy represented by the triumvirate Begin-Sadat-USA. Yankee im- perialism has lost another pillar of America's foreign policy. —(Agence Press Francaise, Havana, Cuba, Oct. 6, 1981) From communique issued by PLO's PFLP Gen- eral Command: The agent Sadat was executed by the heroic Egyptian soldiers, in front of his American and Zionist guests — witnesses both of his treachery and of his execution." —(Beirut, Oct. 7, 1981) . All of the unpleasant details about Arab viewpoints and threatened intentions toward Israel, and the hatreds for whoever expressed even a modicum of friendship for Israel, are displayed in these disheartening statements. But the situation is too serious to permit the hiding of truth. The Younger Rabbis Who Assume Communal Roles The Jewish calendar is filled with anniversaries. The record of Jewish experience is marked by so many occur- rences of unusual interest that there is hardly a week without an anniversary. Dr. Jacob R. Marcus indicated it in a special listing of anniversaries published in The Jewish News Rosh Hashana edition. Therefore, a local anniversary involving an individual is not of great moment, yet, in a present instance, it denotes an important trend. The 10th anniversary of Rabbi David Nelson's services here merit recognition. The event is of special importance in the fact that it emphasizes the services here of the younger Conservative rabbis. They began with Rabbi Irwin Groner who is still a very young man. Rabbi Spectre, Rabbi Stanley Rosenbaun and Rabbi Morton Yolkut belong in this group of rabbinic leadership that contributes im- mensely towards inspiring the youth in this community. Rabbi Nelson, who has just been honored for 10 years for service here is like Rabbis Groner, Spectre, Yolkut and Rosenbaum, a seeker of strength among all, ranks, espe- cially the youth. For such labors, he merited being honored.