`Solidarity With Israel' Rally Is Planned for Aug. 1
A rally demonstrating the Detroit Jewish community's solidarity with Israel will be
held 3:30 p.m. Aug. 1 at Oak Park's Shepherd Park. Sponsor of the rally is the Leadership
Task Force, a newly-established ad hoc body consisting of 14 local Jewish organizations.
David Lebenbom, president of the Jewish Community Council, and Avern Cohn,
president of the Jewish Welfare Federation, served as convenors of the Leadership Task
Force. The task force has developed a variety of informational and education projects
designed to better inform the entire community about developments in Lebanon. In last
week's "declaration of.solidarity," the task force strongly endorsed President Reagan's
proposals calling for the removal of all foreign forces from Lebanon, a secure northern
border for Israel and the restoration of Lebanese sovereignty.
The Leadership Task Force has developed an information kit which is avail-
A Serious Duty
to Obviate
Confusion
and Expose
Villifications
able to interested groups for distribution within their organizations. The kits can
be obtained by calling the Jewish Community Council, 962-1880. Groups can also
receive guidance on how they can assist in the current effort.
In addition to the Council and Federation, the following organizations currently
comprise the membership of the Leadership Task Force: American Jewish Committee,
Detroit Chapter; Americans for Progressive Israel, Hashomer Hatzair; American Jewish
Congress, Michigan Region; Anti-Defamation League of Bnai Brith, Michigan Region;
Detroit Zionist Federation; Israel Histadrut Campaign; Jewish War Veterans, Depart-
ment of Michigan; Jewish Labor Committee, Michigan Region; Labor Zionist Alliance;
Metropolitan Detroit Council of Bnai Brith; Rabbinical Commission of Detroit; and the
Zionist Organization of America, Detroit District. _
THE JEWISH NEWS
A Weekly Review
of Jewish Events
Solidarity
in the Interest
of Truth
and Emphasis
on Communal
Dignity
Editorial, Page 4
Commentary, Page 2
Copyright © The Jewish News Publishing Co.
VOL. LXXXI, No. 21
17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 424-8833
$15 Per Year: This Issue 35c
July 23, 1982
Mobil Oil Gift to JDC Affirms
Israel Relief Aid for Lebanon
Thatcher's Govt. Most
Anti-Israel Since Bevin,
London Chronicle Says
The London Jewish Chronicle, in
a lengthy editorial July 9 under
the title "Bevin's Mantle," charges
that the British government
headed by Prime Minister Mar-
garet Thatcher is "bent upon ac-
quiring the dubious reputation of
being the most anti-Israel adminis-
tration this country has known
since that in which Ernest Bevin
was Foreign Secretary."
The editorial continues:
"The decision to disinvite the Is-
raelis from the recent display of MARGARET THATCHER
British weapons, to which were invited representatives of some of
the world's most notorious dictatorships, and the decision to
suspend the minimal sale of military spares, which is all that the
Israelis have been allowed to buy in this country for years, were
freely acknowledged as political gestures intended to demon-
(Continued on Page 6)
WASHINGTON — In response to a letter sent by National Commander Robert M. Zweiman of
the Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A., Mobil Oil is donating $15,000 to the American Jewish Joint
Distribution Committee (JDC), the Jewish-sponsored international relief organization.
Jack Hayes, manager of Middle East Public Affairs for Mobil Oil Corp., telephoned the national
headquarters ofJWV last Friday to advise that Mobil will donate the money to JDC to help the people
of Lebanon.
Hayes said this donation was a consequence of Zweiman's July 6 letter to W.P. Tavoulareas,
president of Mobil Oil. In the letter, Zweiman questioned the omission of the JDC in Mobil's widely
circulated ad, "Who's Listening to the People of Lebanon?" The text of the ad expressedconcern for the
Lebanese and urged Americans to join Mobil Oil Corp. in contributing humanitarian aid for "medical
supplies, food and clothing." It asked people to contribute "to one of the many groups now seeking such
funds," and listed six charitable organizations: American Friends Service Committee, American Red
Cross, CARE, Church World Services of the National Council of Churches, Save the Children
Federation, U.S. Committee for UNICEF and Catholic Relief Services.
Zweiman observed in his letter that "the failure to mention JDC reflects negatively on
the integrity of the ad." In response, Hayes explained that the July 2 ad used only the
agencies that Mobil was aware of at the time; the omission was unintentional. Although
Mobil would not be running the ad again, Hayes stated that Mobil would contribute $15,000
to JDC in line with contributions already given to charities listed in
the ad.
Meanwhile, the JDC has issued an updated report on its relief efforts
in Lebanon. A third shipment of JDC-provided relief supplies was deliv-
ered to Lebanese authorites in Tyre and Sidon July 12. Two hundred
cartons of kitchen and eating utensils were delivered to Tyre. Also deliv-
Story on Page 3
(Continued on Page 3)
Lebanon
Update
Tisha b'Av: Commemorating Temple's Destruction
By DVORA WAYSMAN
—
World Zionist Press Service
JERUSALEM — Apart from the Day of Atonement, there is no more solemn day than the ninth of Av in the Jewish
calendar. The only reason it is termed a minor fast is because it is not ordained in Mosaic law but was instituted later, at
the time of the Babylonian exile. Commemorating the destruction of the Temple, it is imbued with great solemnity and
sadness.
On the ninth of Av in 586 BCE, the Babylonians broke in to Solomon's Temple and sacked it. Some 656 years later, on
the identical date, the Romans destroyed the Second Temple. It was a fatal coincidence from which the scars have not
healed to this day. Indeed many people believe that all subsequent calamities which have befallen the Jews have been a
direct consequence of the destruction of the two Temples. Many disasters to the Jewish people over the centuries also
occurred on this date.
Mourning and fasting symbolize Tisha b'Av, with readings of dirges from the Book of Lamentations. The ruined city
of Jerusalem is personified as "the daughter of Zion," a woman bemoaning her fate. She weeps at night and receives no
comfort; her friends and lovers have betrayed her, and she is exhorted to "let tears run down like a river day and night"
( 2:18).
The literary style and content of the Book of Lamentations bear some surprising similarities to other Near
eastern literature discovered during the past century. From the ruins of the ancient city of Nippur, in
,:esopotamia, clay tablets were unearthed in the Sumerian language, inscribed with a long text lamenting the
destruction of Ur (Abraham's home-town) during the second millenium BCE.
The similarities in style seem to indicate that the Hebrew author, believed to be the prophet Jeremiah, was following
a literary tradition taken up during the Babylonian exile. The Book of Lamentations declares that God "has broken down
his booth like that of a garden" (2:6).
The Sumerian tablets translate: "My house, like a booth in a garden, has caved in on its side."
Even if the Hebrew prophet followed a long-standing tradition, Judaism offers special notes of its own. In the
Babylonian dirges, the disaster befalling the city is attributed to rivalry between the gods. The biblical lament places the
blame on the sins of the people. In the pagan version, the local goddess is defeated and her shrine defiled, whereas
Jeremiah names God as the agent of destruction, with the hostile nations just agents of His will.
The value of the Fast of Ninth of Av lies not only in remembering the past and applying its lessons to the present, but,
at the same time, in recognizing the continuity of our existence, which is itself miraculous, and the unity of the Jewish
people, whose divine destiny still awaits fulfillment.
The Temple's Western Wall on Tisha b'Av.