it 4' I '4 it it THE JEWISH NEWS (USPS 275-520) Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951 Copyright © 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. • CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher ALAN HITSKY News Editor Business Manager HEIDI PRESS Associate News Editor DREW LIEBERWITZ Advertising Manager Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the 25th day of Au, 5742, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17. Prophetical portion, Isaiah 54:11-55:5. Thursday and Aug. 20, Rosh Hodesh Elul, Numbers 28:1-15. Candlelighting, Friday, Aug. 13, 8:18 p.m. VOL. LXXXI, No. 24 Page Four Friday, Aug. 13, 1982 JUDGING THE PREJUDICES Bitterness and prejudice has invaded Jewish ranks. It is not among Jews alone, but in many areas in which the Lebanese crisis is having its effects there is a growing bitter feeling out of which bias is inevitably sounded. All wars are tragedies. Israel's massive oper- ation against its major enemies led to tragic events that continue to arouse ill feelings, deep hurt, resentment that the basic aims to prevent and certainly to reduce sufferings are collec- tively adding to feelings of resentment and con- demnations. There is no ignoring the facts. While the overwhelming sentiments in Israel are in de- fense of the government's action, there is a suf- ficient element of opposition to the operations to call for an accounting of a state of affairs af- fected by heavy loss of lives and vast numbers of injuries which include many maimed for life. Therefore the protests, the demonstrations for peace, the demands to an end to the events which must be conceded as an invasion into a foreign land by an Israel army. No matter how justified the protestations, however extensive the agonies over civilian casualties, the unpleasantness of an admittedly tragic situation is the exaggeration that is at the root of the experienced events. There is nothing to match the many tens of thousands of casualties within Lebanon which continued for nearly a decade upon the entrenchment there of the PLO and the divisive factions in that unhappy situation which links the ill effects of the Israeli invasion with the terror that dominated the country preceding it. That the emphasis by the media upon the sad- dest of incidents, thereby ignoring the Israeli policies of not condoning cruelties contribute to the horrible results stemming from exaggera- tions. The facts and figures attributed to the proc- esses of the war will undoubtedly be coun- teracted by truth when the complete details be- come available. Continued warfare interferes with the sifting of truth from distortions. Hope- fully, there will be an early end to the tragic warfare. Hopefully, a free and sovereign Leba- non will emerge from it. Hopefully, Lebanon will be added to the Israeli-Egyptian enforce- ment of a No More War decision. It is the bitterness and the prejudice that has developed which must be dealt with in all seri- ousness. It is to the credit of Israel that demonstrations for peace are not banned, that her army officials who desire to defect from their duties during a tragic war are not silenced. The sentiments rampant worldwide repre- sent the more serious challenge. It is the bitter- ness with which Israel is condemned that is a cause for so much deep hurt that calls for ra- tional reviews of the events. Not only must those who are the most outspoken critics con- cede that there are casualties irr all wars. They are expected to balance the blame, to double- check the regulations adhered to in the ensuing battles, to judge whether Israel the invader is truly as guilty as that nation's attackers want the world to believe. They seek to condemn a people whose sovereignty is so dependent upon defensive decisions. Differing views cannot, must not, will not be suppressed. Critics have a role in civilized society. When, however, condemnation and bit- terness leads to prejudice, the result is deplora- ble. This is what has truly developed in the current experience. The criticisms have been so distorted by exaggerations that it will take a long time to dispel the harm unleashed upon Israel and in the process upon her Jewish and Christian defenders. Truth cannot be suppressed and it must lead to an understanding based on justice. It is the prejudice that stems from bitterness born out of exaggerations that is so deplorable in the pre- sent crisis. A great responsibility rests upon the media, upon representatives of all _governments in- volved, primarily Israel and the United States,, and also the Arab factions in the conflict. The Christian community must play its role. Many, under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Franklin Littell, have already spoken in the interest of truth and of Israel's security. The war won't last forever and will, hopefully, come to an end in the days ahead. When the cessation takes place there will be need to dispel bitterness. Prejudice must never be sanctioned. The road to just ac- tions by all the peoples involved must never be obstructed. MEDIA 4 013 S CENITIE S Scores of names of associates with the Inter- national Network of Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors are appended to an adver- tisement in the New York Times which declares in part: "While we deplore the bloodshed and human suffering inherent in all wars, we condemn as obscene any comparison between Israeli soldiers fighting to protect their homeland and the German murderers of one-third of our people; between the Jews who perished in the gas chambers of Majdanek and cowardly killers of the children of Maalot; or between the War- saw Ghetto and West Beirut. There are no similarites between Israel's struggle against terrorism and the Nazis' systematic slaughter of European Jewry. "We warn the contemporary anti-Semites of our society that we shall not allow them to de- secrate or exploit the memory of the Holocaust, and we reaffirm our solidarity with the state of Israel." How tragic that pandering to such obscenities are personalities who figure prominently in the media! Anthony Lewis has a long record of vit- riolic assault on Israel. I.F. Stone and Noam Chomsky are no surprises to the concerned in Jewish life. John Chancellor adds his poison in the chanting of what the survivors from the Holocaust call obscenities. Ancient, Modern Sources Tel Aviv University Issues Philosophical Sabbath Study Has the Sabbath lost step with the modern world and its ideas? Has its importance, its traditional value, declined? Tel Aviv University has introduced a series of studies to present "the philosophical background to the evolution of the unique aura which surrounds the Sabbath, especially its approach to time." The Sabbath concept is defined in a series of Tel Aviv University publications, the first of which, "The Sabbath: Time and Existence," provides an enrichingly evaluative study of the sanctity of the tradi- tional day of rest. Included in the first large-sized paperback are writings from several modern philosophers who have concerned themselves with the implications of the Sabbath. Sabbath observance, customs and ceremonials as expressed in early Jewish sources, viewed by latter day Jewish thinkers, supple- ment these studies. Then there is the integration of values and ideals of the Sabbath with practical action. To educate the Jewish reader and to re-create the values of the Sabbath the aim is to provide understanding, leading to acceptance, emphasizing a program of action. David Zisenwine and Karen Abramovitz are the compilers and authors of this volume which emerges as an unusual product offered by one of Israel's leading universities. Rashi's commentaries, the philosophical approaches in Maimonides, Halakhic regulations, the Shulhan Arukh, the Midrash and Agada are drawn upon as explanatory sources. Noteworthy in this impressively definitive work is the following, entitled "Definition of Terms": "The Sabbath is a `sabbath unto the Lord thy God, in it thou shalt not do any kind of work' (Exodus 20:10). P is also 'a sabbath of holy rest, holy to the Lord' (Deuteronomy 5:14). Halakhic discussion views these verses and asks: what is work? what is rest? "The discussions, also known as the Oral Law, include traditions, customs and biblical interpretations, and make the Written Torah the source of a viable way of life in all generations. The Oral Law includes the Halakha but is greater than it. "The Oral Law was written down in the the first five centuries of the Common Era. The Mishna, the Talmud and the Midrashic-Agadic literature are its classic expression. Mishna and Talmud deal primar- ily with Halakha — the laws, the obligations, the do's and don'ts. Midrash-Agada is the repository of Jewish ethical teaching, theology, history, legends and folk-wisdom. "The Sages dealt with the problem of the definition of work on the Sabbath in the Mishna and Talmud. Just what sort of activity qualified as work in the eyes of the Torah, and what was the yardstick by which any action — planting a field, cooking a meal, or (later) running a computer, using electricity — could be considered work? "We will first present the way in which the Sages determined thL categories of prohibited work. Then we will list the categories them- selves. Following that, we will offer several modern reflections on `work.' Finally we will turn to anthologies and halakhic codes for some details of Sabbath observance." Markedly enriched by illustrations of Sabbath lamps and kidush cups, breast plates, wine jugs and other photographs of objects relat- ing to the Sabbath, this introductory volume to a significant study is a significant literary contribution to the most impressive factor in Jewish tradition and is an enrichment in Tel Aviv University's crea- tive efforts. - " (