THE JEWISH NEWS

(USPS 275-520)

Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951

c

Copyright (a) The Jewish News Publishing Co.

Member of American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, National Editorial Association and
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Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075
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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 27th day of Heshvan, 5743, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Genesis 23:1-25:18. Prophetical portion, I Kings 1:1-31.

Tuesday and Wednesday, Rosh Hodesh Kislev, Numbers 28:1-15.

Candlelighting, Friday, Nov. 12, 4:55 p.m.

TOL. LXXXII, No. 11

Page Four

Friday, Nov. 12, 1982

BOOK FAIR: A FESTIVAL

Valuable opportunities for study of American
as well as world occurrences as they affect
Jewish life are provided in the subject matter
covered in the more than a score of lectures to be
heard during Book Fair, which commences at
the Jewish Community Center this Saturday
wening.
As the opening address by Alan M. Der-
3howitz• indicates, the discussions will com-
nence with a review of efforts for vigilance
igainst anti-Semitism, a movement in which
he guest speaker plays an important part.
Subsequent lectures will deal with the chal-
enges inherent in the Middle East struggles as
4,01 as the political and social issues involved in
• he American way of life as it is confronted by
the Jewish communities.
Because of the extent of the contents of an
mportant undertaking, revolving around
)ooks and their authors, Book Fair retains its

-

cultural status. And because of the impressive
cooperative spirit, as indicated in the long list of
participating organizations, Book Fair has be-
come a festival for Metropolitan Detroit Jewry.
With more than 20 visiting authors and some
80 cooperating organizations popularizing the
period of more than a week of dedication to a
major communal undertaking, Book Fair re-
tains its cultural significance. It is at the same
time a significant event with social impressive-
ness.
Perhaps the ingathering of so many authors
is overpowering. Some of the visiting writers
could have addressed more than a single event
and might have covered a larger area of partici-
pation with a reduced staff. Nevertheless, the
totality of it is impressive and evidences a
wholesome approach to cultural needs in this
community. Book Fair is a festival to be
cherished.

AN INQUIRY'S HUMILIATORS

As in many other developing factors in a crisis
like the one that affected Israel and the entire
Middle East since the early June military ac-
tion to end the PLO menace to the people of
Israel, the search for the sensational caused
havoc. What Israel does through investigating
)rocesses is primarily that nation's responsibil-
ity, with a world's interest watching the results
which may prove to be a guidance for actions by
other nations.
Previous Israeli concerns with moral issues, •
with human conduct, with responsibilities for
the advancement of democratic ideals, remain a
compact tribute to a new nation whose ideals
are as old as mankind itself as a legacy from
valued traditions. It is the handicap that comes
from judging and prejudging- from the outside
that is menacing to good-will among all peoples.
From every available source in the Middle
East there now emerges a single impressive fact
which must be viewed as a collective indictment
of irresponsible judging aimed at a vituperative
attitude toward Israel. It is the revealing fact of
a guilt charged to Israel that is attributable
only to the vengeful in a tragically-divided
Lebanese community.
The very attitude of the new president of
Lebanon, who now demands dictatorial power,
may be at the root of a situation marked by

prejudices which may prove hard to erase.
Lebanon itself is exemplary. A peace pact be-
tween Israel and Lebanon, the aspiration of Is-
rael Prime Minister Menahem Begin, would
have been the beginning of a roadway toward
amity which might induce the participation of
King Hussein of Jordan. But the new leadership
•of Lebanon appears to be courting anew Arab
League devotions, and that must prolong the
wait for possibilities for peace.
Israel will surely emerge vindicated, in most
of the recent acts, in the marshalling of facts by
the commission of inquiry. But the hope for an
immediate peace between Israel and her
neighbors appears as remote as ever. The con-
fusing of data, especially attributable to the
media, is not helpful. An American Jewish
Committee analysis contends that there was
less prejudices editorially in newspapers than
on radio and TV. That's a bit of an encourage-
ment, but not enough. The hatred for Begin is
more harmful than all the military actions, and
that's hard to erase.
In many respects, there is humiliation of the
truthful in what has occurred. The hope for
peace is paramount in Israel. The aspiration is
for an elimination of hatreds between peoples.
World public opinion could, as it must, contrib-
ute pragmatically toward that end. It doesn't.

ISRAEL BONDS OBJECTIVES

Consistent support for Israel, in the
encouragement given to tasks for the advance-
ment of Israel's economic development, was in
evidence again at a dinner meeting at which
national and local leaders recognized the con-
tributions to the labor movement by Harry Les-
ter. The interracial and interreligious sponsor-
ship of the event added credence to the spirit
that animates tasks for the encouragement of
democratic principles abroad as well as here.
Israel, as a democratic nation, keeps receiving
cooperation from the labor movements in all
categories.

The labor alliance with Israel gave emphasis
to the basic aims of the Israel Bonds projects.
They are directed towards involving workers of
all faiths in a mutual record for economic de-
velopment to aid Jews and non-Jews in Israel.
They are strictly separated from the military
objectives of Israel and they typify the amity
that must lead to peaceful accords among all
peoples. It is this respect that an American
labor continuity of friendship for and with Is-
rael registers a universal acclaim for liberty
and peace, wherever it may be advocated in a
world craving for peace.

JTA

Edited by Neugroschel

The Shtetl' Universality
Is Anthologically Depicted

Shtetl- life and shtetl literature, the personalities involved, the
difficulties that marked the experiences of a people that rose spiritu-
ally to great heights despite oppressive conditions — these combine
into symbols that have elevated the Jewries who represented the era
into humanity's high ranks.
Because the shtetl is a symbol of the past, it has become a subject
of deep interest. Whatever is written about it becomes a matter of
historic significance. Therefore, a volume specifically devoted to it
assumes a role of special value.
"The Shtetl" (G.P. Putnam's Sons) is a compilation of essays by
authoritative writers. The book, "A Creative Anthology of Jewish
Life in Eastern Europe," was translated and edited by Joachim Neug-
roschel.
Thorough is this collective, effort that includes all aspects in the
life of Jews in what is described as the Yiddish term for a small town,
as the editor also notes in defining shtetl as "a word that has passed
sentimentally into English, describing the small towns in which Jews
lived in Eastern Europe for centuries."
Neugroschel states at the outset that there is more than one type
of shtetl, that they differ in many respects. This is how he explains the
differing conditions:
"But despite the features common to all Eastern European Jews,
no two shtetls were truly alike. The personal and public dynamics, the
interrelations with non-Jews, the climate, the economics, the politics,
even the dialect of Yiddish and the pronunciation of Hebrew varied
sufficiently to form sharp differences, often contraditions — a crazy
quilt through time and space. For we are speaking of an enormous
geographical area, and we are speaking of centuries of Jewish his-
tory."
In this volume the compilers dealt with the religious life, with the
two languages in use — Yiddish for the vernacular, Hebrew for
prayers, the literary wealth, the relations with non-Jews.
Because of the personal experiences of many of the authors of the
essays included in "The Shtetl," they are especially noteworthy.
There is a defined universality in shtetl life and the editor's evalua-
tive concluding comment declares:
"The 19th Century brought the disruption of shtetl life. The 20th
Century brought its destruction and the end of a civilization. The
people of the shtetl took up permanent abode in the literature created
about them. They were like Rilke's flamingos: They entered one by
one into imagination."
The influence of the Hasidic movement and the role of the Baal
Shem Tov; the works of Mendele Mocher Seforim and their portrayal
of the life of Jews in the shtetl, all add invaluably to the value of this
collective effort.
Included are excerpts from the writings of Sholom Aleichem,
Avrom Reyzen, Jacob Ben-Isaac Ashkenazi, Rabbi Nachman of
Bratslav, Yisroel Aksenfeld, Isaac Leib Peretz, Mendele, Dovid
Bergelson, Lamed Shapiro, Y. M. Weissenberg, Peretz Markish,
Fishel Bimko, Moyshe Isulbak and Der Nister.
There is a totality of this anthology that will enlighten those
introduced to the shtetl as well as those well-versed in its historic
importance.

J