THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951
copynot c The Jewish News PilblishIng Co
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PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
ALAN HITSKY
News Editor
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
HEIDI PRESS
Associate News Editor
DREW LIEBERWITZ
Advertising Manager
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 10th day of Heshvan. 5742, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Genesis 12:1-17.27.
Prophetical portion, Isaiah 40:27 - 41:16.
Candlelighting, Friday, Nov. 6, 5:01 p.m.
VOL. LXXX, No. 10
Page Four
Friday, November 6, 1981
RESPONSIBILITY FOR PEACE
President Ronald Reagan and his associates
were unhesitant in their declarations that Is-
rael retains a role of friendship with the United
States, that this country is committed to Israel's
security, that the Jewish state will be provided
with the military means necessary for her pro-
tection.
In the President's letter, dated Oct. 28, 1981,
placed on the desk of all 100 members of the
United States Senate on the day the vote was
taken on the $8.5 billion arms sale to Saudi
Arabia, there was the specific assertion that
peace was the objective. In that letter, which
admittedly helped swing the vote in support of
Presidential policies and the arms sale, there
was this declaration:
In a broader sense, by enhancing the
perception of the United States as a re-
liable security partner, we improve
the prospects for closer cooperation be-
tween ourselves and the Saudi govern-
ment in working toward our common
goal of a just and lasting peace in the
region. Since assuming the respon-
sibilities of the Presidency, I have been
impressed by the increasingly con-
structive policy of Saudi Arabia in ad-
vancing the prospects for peace and
stability in the Middle East.
While a President must not be burdened
with unreasonable duties, this declaration,
primarily a hope, also must be treated as an
obligation.
This country had a major role in the Camp
David agreements. President Reagan is on the
record with declarations that he supports those
decisions which were reached by the late Egyp-
tian President Anwar Sadat and Israel Prime
Minister Menahem Begin, with American par-
ticipation. Now there is talk that the Camp
David peace accord is a dead issue, that it is
unworkable, that the abandonment of Sinai by
Israel cannot be fully accepted, that the massive
Arab opposition will destroy the Egyptian ac-
cord.
The United States has a role in this and it is
re-emphasized in the merchandising of arms for
Saudi Arabia. The President of the United
States speaks in terms of peace being enhanced
as a result of the concessions contained in the
latest arms deal, the $8.5 billion package, the
largest such sale on record anywhere on earth.
Therefore, there is a duty to be tested. It be-
comes the responsibility of those who opposed
the packaged military arms sale, because that
was the principle on which they based their
votes; and even more so of the slim majority who
favored the sale — because they accompanied
their action with a pledge to assure Israel's se-
curity:
In the process of what had just occurred, there
has been constant emphasis on the claim that
with the death of Anwar Sadat the Saudis now
assume major leadership in the Moslem world.
Accepting this as a reality, those who are now
embracing the Saudi Arabian partnership must
continue to ask basic questions.
If there is to be a lasting peace, when will the
Saudis stop shouting Jihad, Holy War, aimed
primarily as a threat to Israel?
If the Saudi role is as vital as portrayed, when
will the flow of hundreds of millions of dollars
from Riyadh to the PLO in Beirut be termi-
nated?
If the Saudis are now in the leadership role in
the Arab world, and if Salaam, Peace, is realis-
tic in their language, when will they apply it to
the Camp David accords and end the war
threats?
If there is any substance to what is thus being
questioned, to what length will the Reagan
Administration go to make the above quoted
pledge to enhance the peace be made a major
plank in the quest for peace in the Middle East?
The challenge is serious, the responsibilities
are grave. Tragically, the experiences until now
have been dominated by the three-letter word:
Oil! It is, must be, more than that. It is the
human value, the right to life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness for all, making it criminal
to exclude Israel from such basic rights.
AFTERMATH: THE HEALING
Israel's agonized population may now be in
the anxious state of searching for a healing.
So convincing was the proposal for massive —
American military assistance to an antagonis-
tic neighbor that there was a unity of feeling
that what had been proposed was endangering
the very life of the state; that the change of
strategic recognition from Egypt to Saudi
Arabia was in itself very menacing.
Ina matter of minutes, there was comforting
from Washington to Jerusalem. Israel had the
assurance of none other than the President of
the United States that there would be sufficient
military provision for Israel to assure her
safety.
Does this suffice?
The mere admonition that Saudi Arabia now
assumes the position of leadership in the Arab
world ; resulting, as explained, primarily from
the death of Anwar Sadat, adds gravity to a very
abnormal situation. It is far from comforting.
Israelis always tighten their belts. Now they
must be ever more alert to a condition that com-
pels them to think in terms of unavoidable
threats.
On the very day of the pro-Saudi decision of
the U.S. Senate, albeit it was by a very narrow
margin, another menacing fact emerged. The
Libyan leader made it known that Hosni
Mubarak, Sadat's successor, is destined for the
same fate. This spells an increasing threat to
Israel in the process of peace-planning in which
Egypt plays a major role.
Therefore, mere comforting is not plausible.
Therefore the Jew, in behalf of Israel the embat-
tled, returns to the Prophetic: "Comfort, oh com-
fort My people, says your God . . ." — Isaiah
40:1.
Jonathan David Volume
Kolatch's `Why Provides
Multi-Topical Definitions
Jewish viewpoints on many subjects often arouse curiosity. For
example, the antagonism in Jewish ranks may be puzzling to many.
There is a reason for it.
The reasons for many Jewish ceremonials, for traditional prac-
tices, are often left unexplained and many are even practiced withotit
a knowledge about them.
The definitions for most of the major Jewish ceremonials are
provided in an authoritatively-compiled volume by a qualified
scholar. "The Jewish Book of WHY by . Alfred I. Kolatch (Jonathan
David Publishers) fills the need of providing the factual about the
Jewish life-style, the ceremonials, the observances, the traditional ;
the principled.
"Animals killed by hunters, even kosher animals (those that
have split hooves and chew the cud), are considered treife as desig-
nated in the Book of Exodus (22:30)- If a kosher animal, such as a deer,
is trapped but not injured, the flesh may be. eaten if the animal is
slaughtered by a shokhet in the prescribed ritual manner.
"Rabbi Akiba, one of the martyrs of Jewish history (killed in the
First Century at the hands of the Romans), ruled that it is even
forbidden to take the life of a wild animal without giving it a fair trial
before a court of 23 judges, the same as for a human being. Undoub-
tedly, this was not meant to be taken literally, but it did emphasize
the sanctity and importance of all•living creatures. The Talmud
(Chulin 60b) discourages hunting — especially for sport. It is placed in
the category of cruelty to animals, a practice condemned in the Bible."
This calls for an explanation of treife. To quote Rabbi Kolatch:
"The Hebfew word terayfa ( treife, or as some mispronounce it,
trayf) means 'torn.' The Book of Exodus (22:30) states: 'You shall not
eat any flesh that•is torn of beasts (beasts killed by other beasts in the
open field).' All animals killed in this manner are forbidden. The word
treife has been extended to include all forbidden foods and all foods
not prepared in accordance with the dietary laws."
The many questions tackled in "Why" with answers provided by
Dr. Kolatch include dietary laws, death and mourning, the
synagogue, prayer, the Sabbath, the holidays, dating of holidays,
Nisan as the first month in the Jewish calendar, lengthier celebra-
tions of holidays in the Diaspora than in Israel, derogratory definition
of Goy, the prohibition on proselytization, ritual bath for converts and
circumcision, and many more.
There are such question's as "Why did Jewish texts use BCE and
CE in place of BC and AD in the system of dating?" "Why are some
Jews adverse to using the designation New Testament?"
These questions attest to the exciting contents and approaches to
the need for information about Jews and Judaism in Kolatch's "Why."
Rabbi Kolatch, graduate of the Teacher's Institute of Yeshiva
University and its College of Liberal Arts, was ordained by the
Jewish Theological Seminary in 1941. He served in the ministry
from 1941 to 1948, and for three of those years he served as a U.S.
Army Chaplain. In 1948 he turned to publishing and organized
Jonathan David Publishers, Inc., of which he has been president
and editor-in-chief since its inception.
He has written a number of books compiling names for child-
ren and their origin and meaning.