THE JEWISH NEWS
LSPS 275 520
Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951
Copyrtght s The Jewish News Publestvng Co
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
Postmaster: Send address changes to The Jewish News, 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075
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
Th. Sabbath, the 17th day of Heshvan, 5742, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Genesis 18:1-22:24. Prophetical portion, II Kings 4:1.37.
Candlelighting, Friday, Nov. 13, 4:54 p.m.
VOL. LXXX, No. 11
Page Four
Friday, November 13, 1981
BOOKS FOR ALL AG E S
For 30 years, during the exciting Book Fairs
co-sponsored by the Jewish Community Center
and the leading organizations, including nearly
all the congregations in the area, there were the
dedications to books. They were books fotjall
seasons, and on the 30th anniversary the
acclaim is for books of all ages.
It is the adherence to the cultural appeals
represented in the Book Fairs that makes the
events so dramatic, so appealing to all.
The significance of the events is that there is
respect for authors and publishers, and that
those who write the books that have value for
Jews as an organized community, as well as
individuals, spell the dignity in Jewish experi-
ence, and the identification with the people's
legacies.
The 30th anniversary of the Book Fairs is a
special event occasioning stocktaking in Jewish
spiritual-cultural obligations, as a time for re-
evaluation of the duties first to The Book, serv-
ing as a heritage that will always be a guideline
for Jews; and then as a continuity of research
and studies which make possible the vastness of
Jewish literdry creativity as it will again be
represented in the current Book Fair.
The 30th" anniversary of Book Fair invites
interest in the progress that has been made in
the Jewish publishing field. It also denotes the
positive approaches to Jewishly-evaluated cur-
rent needs, as they are emphasized in the im-
pressive works to be reviewed by their authors
during the coming 10 days.
This is a time for celebration of the cultural
attainments, as the community expresses
appreciation for the achievements marked by
the 30th anniversary Jewish Book Fair.
TIME FOR A COALITION
Repeatedly accumulating threats to Israel's
sovereignty may prove this the proper time to
urge the Israeli political forces to unite into a
coalition government to assure the unity neces-
sary to resist damaging pressures.
The repeated Saudi proposal that has been
misjudged as a "peace plan" has again revealed
that in matters involving the very life of the
Jewish state there are no divisions of opinion.
The people of Israel, except for the Communist
element which has representation in the demo-
cratic Knesset, and possibly an Arab element
that could easily become a Fifth Column in Is-
rael, there is complete accord in the matter of
defending the state. The proposal for a Palesti-
nian state with Jerusalem as the capital, which
is the gist of the Saudi plan, means exactly what
Menahem Begin has said in his interpretation:
that it aims at the piecemeal dissolution of Is-
rael. It would start by reducing the state to a
fraction and eventually lead to its total destruc-
tion.
Shimon Peres, leader of the opposition to Be-
gin's Likud coalition in the Israel parliament,
was quick to concur with his arch political an-
tagonist in rejecting the devilish Saudi scheme.
So were the other opposition party leaders.
Nevertheless, as in the struggle against send-
ing massive arms to Saudi Arabia, it was the
antagonism to Begin which was used as a
cover-up in the debates over the need for a
realistic peace. Thus, Prince Fand, the framer of
the Saudi "peace plan," called Prime Minister
Begin "a fanatic Zionist," whose narrow margin
in parliament "will make him depend on theat-
rical military operations to preserve his posi-
tion." Israel Defense Minister Ariel Sharon also
was referred to by Prince Fand as "a solitary
adventurer. - The unanimous Israeli response to
the Fand scheme, the unity of opposition to it in
all Jewish ranks and in friendly government
circles where its menace is understood, re-
pudiate utilizing Menahem Begin as a
scapegoat in the Middle East issues.
Indeed, therefore, the urgent need of solidify-
ing unity in Israel's defense by establishing the
coalition necessary to conduct a battle for jus-
tice and security.
It must be recognized that a war is in pro-
gress. Fortunately, the White House and State
Department recognize the evils imputed in the
Fand-engineered Saudi scheme. It must not be
permitted to reach first base.
Insofar as the people of Israel and their
friends are concerned, there is unity in defense
of Israel. Perhaps it would be strengthened
under a coalition government. Under any cir-
cumstance, the devilish intention will have no
chance for success as long as the imputed dan-
gers are known and fully understood.
HUSSEIN'S BEAR -HUG
White House and State Department may
have fallen prey to the desert delusions.
Conceivably with the best of intentions, there
was a fantastic gift to the Saudis of the largest
collection of armaments ever assigned to a
foreign country. The compensation was to the
American people — in the form of a Saudi in-
crease of three cents a gallon for that valuable
oily product that gives the desert folk domina-
tion over the Western world.
Then came the glory of an exchange of
niceties with the King of Jordan. There was
dancing and music and compliments galore,
with boasts of friendship. These also had com-
pensation. Hussein had no hesitation in reveal-
ing to his American hosts that he had become a
Russian customer for massive arms purchases.
That's how the flirtations with the Arab vis-
itors are building diplomacy with the Middle
East: Hussein hugging the Russian Bear and
urging his Saudi coreligionists to build dip-
lomatic bridges with the Kremlin.
As the American people watch these acroba-
tic stunts by statesmen claiming to be building
for the safety of the world, it must not be forgot-
ten that the arms for the Arab potentates were
intended as weapons to prevent Russian intru-
sions into the Middle East. But the Russian
Bear is meanwhile tempting those portrayed as
U.S. darlings to be cradled into the arms of the
Russians. It's something for the American
people to think about and to speak their minds
about before the zero hour in this nation's
foreign involvements.
Holocaust Diary
New Entries Supplement
Kaplan's Classic `Scroll'
A classic in Holocaust literature, "Scroll of Agony: The Warsaw
Diary of Chaim A. Kaplan" (Macmillan), first published in 1965, has
just been reissued with additional discoveries supplementing the
revealing documents.
Translated and edited by the noted scholar, Dr. Abraham I.
Katsh, president emeritus of Dropsie University and professor
emeritus of Hebrew culture and education at New York University,
the revised edition is an enrichment of testimonials about the
Holocaust and ragic experiences of the martyrs.
or a year-and-a-half to establish the identity
Dr. Katsh
of Chaim Kaplan. He established that the author of the diary was an
author and the principal of a Hebrew school in Warsaw. He is believed
to have died in 1942 or early 1943.
The Kaplan diary begins on Sept. 1,
1939, with an entry about the Nazi
invasion of Poland. In the original
book, translated and edited by Prof.
Katsh, the final entry was dated April
3, 1941, describing the chaotic suffer-
ings, equating them with the Exodus
from Egypt. There is a lapse in time
until the entry of Oct. 8, 1941, the be-
ginning of the new entries discovered
and included by Dr. Katsh -in the new
edition.
The additional entries commence
with Sukkot, as of Oct. 8, 1941, declar-
ing that "our suffering grows more
acute. Even those who anticipate the
end and hope for quick redemption are
ABRAHAM KATSH
now convinced that we will spend the
winter under the Nazis." Thus commences the heartbreaking story of
-
the horror depicted by the witness to the atrocities.
The establishment of the Warsaw Ghetto, the "Judaization" of
Aryan areas into oppressed section, with increasing impoverishment,
are detailed in the recorded tragedy.
The search for comfort, for courage is among the heartrending
evidences of an effort at resistance.
The impending doom, the rounding up of the Jews to be sent to the
ghetto and to eventual doom are recorded in the expressions of horror
in the concluding entries dated August 1942.
Every conceivable aspect of the terror is told, including the
Judenrat and the Jewish police who served the Nazi roles, assisting
them in the assignments that were given by the Nazi occupiers of
Poland to give the impression they were rendering justice.
The Kaplan diary concludes with the concern, "If I die what will
happen to my diary?"
Dr. Katsh states in his introduction that the diary was smuggled
out of the ghetto before the total liquidation. It was chronicled in
Hebrew, in small notebooks "Similar to the ones grade school children
in the U.S. use today."
-
The retention of the record is a valuable contribution to
Holocaust literature, and as an indictment of the murderers. The
translation and publication of this record earns gratitude to Editor
Katsh for an important creative achievement.