THE JEWISH NEWS USPS 275-520) Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951 Copyright ,;c7; The Jewish News Publishing 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. 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 11th day of Adar, 5742, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Exodus 27:20-30:10, Deuteronomy 25:17-19. Prophetical portion, I Samuel 15:2-34. Monday, Fast of Esther Pentateuchal portion, Exodus 32:11-14, 34:1-10. Prophetical portion (afternoon only), Isaiah 55:6-56:8. Evening, Book of Esther. Tuesday, Purim Pentateuchal po'rtion, Exodus 17:8-16. Prophetical portion, Book of Esther. Wednesday, Shushan Purim Candlelighting, Friday, March 5, 6:09 p.m. VOL. LXXXI, No. 1 Page Four Friday, March 5, 1982 PURIM AND VIGILANCE Even if it is only for a single day, the rejoicing that is related to Purim, is a blessing. Appreciating the spirit engendered by the festival, even in defining it as among the minor on the Jewish calendar, the event is treated as a full-scale holiday and its observance spreads over many days when it becomes necessary to observe it in the schools and on the social basis it assumes. Therefore, the time restriction doesn't count here. This applies also to a primary lesson accorded for Purim. It is one that teaches vigilance, and also the obligation to speak out whenever there is evidence of prejudice. Purim is based on the lesson of extreme bias. The Jews in the 70 provinces ruled by Ahasuerus were endangered by a threat engineered by the prime minister of the then Persian empire. It became necessary to act, to register a protest, to resist the impending menace. That's when Mordecai _admonished Esther, when she became the Queen, that silence is dangerous, that her own life could be imperiled if Ahasuerus were not warned of Haman's man- ipulations. -- It was a lesson in vigilance. It carries over to this day. It was the eternal admonition that if prej- udice is permitted to take root, it can destroy all, even the prejudiced being endangered when the atmosphere is permitted to retain the poisons of hatred. Let it be treated as a lesson of Purim: that there is need for vigilance, that silence is im- moral, that acting in time can prevent the in- humanities that stem from bigotry. Let Purim, therefore, be treated as a great teacher for vigilance against all forms of tyranny. , Us SR-PIA 0 DIVI SIVENESS Close relationships between the PLO and the Soviet Union have long been in evidence. Mili- tary support for the by the Kremlin, mas- sive arms supplies and the training of terrorists have been on that agenda, with the USSR thus becoming a chief supporter of the Arab ex- tremists who are seeking Israel's destruction. An analysis of the Russian role in these re- spects, by the Media Analysis Center in Jerusalem, reveals efforts by the PLO to ad- vance Soviet policies toward the Persian Gulf generally, and especially toward Saudi Arabia. They are expressed by Arafat and Abu Mazen, the senior member of the PLO executive. An important portion of the Media Analysis Center's expose of the USSR's contributions towards the campaign to obliterate Israel is con- tained in a statement made Nov. 22, 1981, by Farouk Kaddoumi, who heads the PLO's politi- cal division. Kaddoumi stated: "We welcome any move by any Arab state to deal with our friend, the Soviet Union. The arms deal provides evidence that the Soviet Union is prepared to offer arms to the Arabs, regardless of their social system to help them defend their national rights. "It's not a question of mediation. No one has asked us to mediate. But, we play a role, because we are interested in the development of good relations between our friend, the Soviet Union and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Good rela- tions beetween these two countries would prove beyond doubt that the imaginary Soviet threat which the U.S. is trying to create in the region does not exist. "No matter how close the Soviet Union is to the oil sources, it is the friend of the Arabs and a supporter of their rights and their struggle. It is necessary for Saudi Arabia, the greatest eco- nomic power in the Arab world, to be on good terms with the Soviet Union, and the state- ments that were issued from Riyadh about the Soviet Union recently are positive. "What we want to do now is to create mutual confidence between them, so that there will no longer be any Arab party -- with special refer- ence to Saudi Arabia on bad terms with the Soviet Union, which firmly and strongly sup- ports our causes." There is emphasis in these revelations that the "PLO thus serves as a means in Moscow's attempts to deepen the credibility rift which has developed between Riyadh and Washington fol- lowing the developments in Iran, Angola, Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen and Taiwan." One of Arafat's confidantes, Issam Sartawi, has stated that accentuating the economic- political strategic split between the B.S. and Western Europe is a central tactic of the PLO's public relations campaign in Western Europe. Such is the maneuverability of the PLO in striving for divisiveness among the nations, with Russia eventually assuming powerful, major gains for itself and in the process serving as provider of credibility for the PLO. These are facts to be taken into serious con- sideration. They must not be ignored. While in the U.S.-USSR disputes a "cold war" is experi- enced, it is a hot war that is being waged against Israel, outwardly by the PLO, with the USSR providing major strength to Israel's chief enemy. The chief exponents of the effort to undermine Israel's existence thus emerge in their full scope, with Russia as the major backer of the PLO. These realities must always be in view in' the vigilance exercized in Israel's de- fense. Moshe Ron's Thrilling Role as Leader in 7th Estate Moshe Ron has a variety of messages for his readers in the Hebrew, English and Yiddish newspapers. As a leading special Israel correspondent for The Detroit Jewish News, he has covered a vast field of activities. They serve as emphases on the interest in Israel in his book "Darki b'Mamleha ha-Shvi'it" — "My Role (Path) in the Seventh Estate." The "Darki" in the title is worth defining both as role and as path, because the eminent Israeli journalist Moshe Ron has not only a role as an active newspaperman and correspondent but also as an or- ganizer and leader. As secretary general of the Israel Journalists' Association he had managerial records in behalf of the Hebrew press. As a leader in the World Confederation of Jewish Journalists, he contributed towards the formation of links between newsmen of many lands with those in Israel. Especially noteworthy in the title to Ron's book is the reference to the Seventh Estate. In the Anglo-Saxon sphere, and it includes a majority of world Jewry, it is the Fourth Estate. Lord Macaulay, in his essay written in 1928, reportedly said there were three Estates in Parliament — he re- ferred to Kings, Lords and Commons — but, he said, in the Reporters' Gal- lery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate, more important by far than all. In Israel apparently it is the seventh estate that is applied to the press, and it denotes a role in the arts and sciences, alongside music, art and literature, thus giving it the cultural status. Moshe Ron, who is among the very distinguished personalities in Israel's literary and journalistic circles, offers an interesting view of his adopted country in the many portraitures he MOSHE RON depicts in his interesting book. a - sense, it is an autobiography. He had come to Israel in 1935 at the of 24, after a career in journalism in Poland. His first assignment was as correspondent for the Hanjt daily newspaper of Warsaw which had gained world recognition in the Yiddish press. He retains his love for Yiddish, and he writes for Yiddish news- papers in Latin America and in this country. His interest in Latin America was marked by many trips there, including another in 1981. Ron's travels, his leadership in journalistic ranks, have made him an authority on the countries he has visited as well as Israel. Ron is a lover of the theater and his special interest is music and the Yiddish stage. He seldom misses an Israel Symphony concert or a Yiddish stage performance. As a result, he has become the leading propagator of the arts, in Israel. These factors are in evidence in everything he had recorded in his "Darki b'Mamleha ha-Shvi'it." The photographs trace the decades of journalistic experiences in Israel. The text provides a history of the Jewish press not only in Israel but globally, in view of the conferences he directed with newsmen throughout the world. His book is a notable account of the most significant events in the advancement of jour- nalism in Israel and in Jewish communities who had come to share experiences with fellow journalists in Israel.