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Business Manager
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
, ALAN HITSKY
NewS Editor
HEIDI PRESS
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Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the fourth day of Adar, 5742, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Exodus 25:1-27:19. Prophetical portion, I Kings 5:26-6:13.
Candlelighting, Friday, February 26, 5:59 p.m.
VOL. LXXX, No. 26
Page Four
Friday, February 26, 1982
RON TO MENAHEM
When statesmen speak frankly, adhering to Alexander Haig, who is the positive in the Israel
the basic principles which dominate their na-
The new salutation, Ron to Menahem, does
tions' relationships, there is hope for amity and
appear
to lend renewed hope for improvements
for good will.
in
what
appeared on several occasions as
American-Israel relations serve as a test both relationships.
suggesting
rifts between the two nations. The
of diplomatic sincerity as well as the human
Chief
of
State
adheres to a deep-rooted friend-
factors involved in the process of establishing
ship.
The
Secretary
of State backs him up. Even
amity between nations so distantly situated and
the disputable Secretary of Defense also keeps
perhaps also markedly differentiated in the
reiterating kindliness, claiming consistency in
socio-cultural sense.
the relations with Israel.
There is, however, a commonality of interests But the friendships themselves are marked
in both countries. Their pioneers and fron- by suggested conditions. The reminder that the
tierspeople remain akin. The democratic spirit U.S. needs friends,among Arabs as well as Jews,
unifies them. Then there is the problem of the that such friendships will redound to the benefit
area, of the Middle East, where an outside force, of Israel, are understandable. But concession to
the USSR, is a threat to the peace not only of the such claims demand caution, lest there be secret
peoples living there but also to the world. Israel, agreements to arm Israel's enemy neighbors
as the single totally-democratic nation, has like Jordan, or to keep renewing proposals like
been and remains the chief defender of the the AWACS sale. It is on this score that
mutual interests in that part of the world. President Reagan erred miserably with the
Why, therefore, the conflicting occurrences, support of the State Department, and it is in
the disputes in the inner American government actions like it that the President must always be
circles, which often necessitate apologetics bor- reminded that "Ron to Menahem" must spell
dering on regrettable disputes? Perhaps Israel realization of errors committed and commit-
is not an exception to the existing rules. There ments to future actions that will rule out giving
are shocking discords over the Latin Americas, weapons to those who, like the Saudis, contend
and the economic issues on the home front do that Israel is the chief enemy.
The latter point negates the claim that Mid-
not add to total positiveness.
The troubled situation involving Israel may, dle East demands are an effort to be on the
however, be a bit more extreme. There is the look-out against Russian intrusions into the
usual conflict between White House and State Middle East.
In the sum total of such a situation, it is the
Department, a controversial matter never ad-
mitted in both quarters. From the State De- enmity to Israel that must serve as a guide
partment has come many obstructions to Is- against concessions to Israel's enemies. Only
rael's role in the U.S.-Israel friendship. Cur- under such policies will "Ron to Menahem" be a
rently, however, it is the Secretary of State, salutation of truest friendship.
JUDGING THE INHUMANITIES
A chapter marked by the most brutal in crime that was being judged, the guilt that was
human imagination during the era of bar- being assigned to the mass murderers.
barities and mass murders was flashed on tele-
Indeed, it was all shooting, continuous, unin-
vision screens for the world to witness again the terrupted, aimed primarily at the 3.5 million
worst of all crimes in world history.
Jews of Poland whose ranks have now been re-
Under the title "The Wall," the story of the duced to possibly 5,000, perhaps many less,
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising had an important nearly all of the age of 60 to 70, and older.
share in the recapitulation of the Nazi crimes in
They were murdered, the Jews of Poland,
Poland, with the millions of Jews in that coun- singly and en masse, in their homes or in con-
try as the major targets.
centration camps, shot down or burned in the
It is the judging of that era of bloodshed that Nazi fuelled ovens.
demands special consideration.
In spite of the powers that were exerted by the
Television
viewers
and of
critics
were
German
Giant few
Brute,
there
was the
Resistance.
tested
during that
resume
events
that being
were so
They were
in the
Warsaw
Ghetto
who se-
tragic that for many they became unbelievable. cured a few bottles to be gasolined into gre-
How could anything like it have occurred, was a nades, some guns, and mostly the courage that
question posed. '
said that
if one
is to die mob
a martyr's
death, brutes,
at the
And in some quarters, especially in the ranks 1° hands
of an
organized
of insaned
of a few of the critical reviewers, there was the the murderers are to pay a price for it. In the
comment, so much shooting! records of the Nazi occupation of Poland, that
Indeed,
much
Therein
lies the
is recorded for
with
acknowledgement
of
crux
of the so
issue,
the shooting!
root of the
occurrence,
the price
the spokesmen
the an
beasts
that they had met
guilt for which an entire nation, itself tradi-
their
tionally high-cultured, suffered from mankind's
ters. match physically in the courage of resis-
accusing finger.
This
is really
the test
of the
shooting.
Yet, failing to recognize realities, there were never
stopped
killing;
Jews
who
resisted, Nazis
with
viewers and critics who let it be known that they some assistance of the Polish resistance forces
were annoyed by too much shooting!
In their
way they provided a definition for what
had whence came some of their weapons, shot back.
Collectively, it was all horror, all shooting.
occurred, what was being reconstructed, the
`Who Knows One?'
A Wealth of Information
in a Children's Anthology
on Jewish Subjects
A book intended for children is filled with such a vast amount of
information about Jews and their many aspects that the slim,
album-sized volume could well be treated as an anthology.
Drawing upon the Passover hymn "Ehad Mi Yodea," which
means "Who Knows One?," Yaffa Ganz, utilized it as a title for his
book and subtitled it "A Book of Numbers" (Feldheim Publishers,
New York and Jerusalem).
"Who Knows One?" and "A Book of Numbers" are both important
in judging the book, which is extensively illustrated in full-page
drawings by Harvey Klineman.
The most practical way of defining this book is by excerpting
examples of the means used by Ganz to make numerology a method of
instruction.
Here is his list of examples applied to Number Four:
"Who knows FOUR? There are lots of things to tell about the
number FOUR!
"Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah are the FOUR imahos — the
Mothers of the Jewish people.
"At the seder we ask FOUR questions, drink FOUR cups of wine,
and talk about the FOUR sons.
"Tsitsit are put on clothes which have FOUR corners.
"There are FOUR directions in the world — tzafon is north;
darom is south; mizrach is east; and maarav is west. We face mizrach
when we pray because Eretz Yisrael is in the east.
"FOUR rivers flowed out of gan eden. Do you know their names?
The Pishon, the Gichon, the Chidekel and the Peras.
"On Sukkot, we make a blessing on the arba'ah minim — FOUR
types of plants — lulav, etrog, hadas and aravah."
Every number is treated in a researched fashion to indicate the
important experiences in Jewish life relating to it.
Another interesting example is the list applied to Number
Seven:
"Who knows SEVEN? Shabat is the SEVENTH day of the week.
"The menora in the beis hamikdash had SEVEN branches.
"In Eretz Yisrael, every SEVENTH year is a shmitta year — a
Sabbath year for the land.
"The Land of Israel is blessed with SEVEN types of fruits — shiva
minim — wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates - -
"We say sheva brachos — SEVEN blessings — for every bride ar_
groom.
"When SEVEN kohanim blew SEVEN shofarot and the Jews
marched SEVEN times round, the walls of the city of Jericho crum-
bled and fell."
There is a test quiz which will prove helpful in classes where the
book may be introduced.
Supplementing "Who Knows One? — A Book of Numbers" is a
page devoted to "Hebrew Numbers" and a glossary of all the Hebrew
words used in this large-sized book.
Ganz's book is informative, numerologically exciting, illus-
tratively as well as textually entertaining. It is a very valuable book
for young children, gaining added value when shared by the elders
who also have much to learn from it.