6 Friday, December 31, 1982 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Visit to China A human being is not, in any proper sense, a human being till he .is educated. —H. Mann • FIRESTONE JEWELRY Wholesale Diamonds & Jewelry Remounting Jewelry & Watch Repair SUITE 318 ADVANCE BLDG. 23077 Greenfield at 9 Mile (313) 557-1860 U.S. Jews Shutting the Doors of Russia? WALTHAM, Mass. — A top-level Brandeis Univer- sity delegation led by President Marver H. Berns- tein has been invited to the People's Republic of China to meet with senior gov- ernment officials and lec- ture at universities on pol- icy issues in education, eco- nomics and social welfare. By CARL ALPERT HAIFA — The World Zionist Congress held in Jerusalem was not a very inspiring spectacle. To Is- raelis who followed the pro- ceedings from press and television it seemed that the major issues revolved around squabbles on dele- gates' credentials. There was a great deal of speech- making, but little to lift the spirits in a jaded organiza- tion. As a result, the Israeli observers had little but scorn for the congress. This reaction is perhaps unfair, based as it is on superficial reporting by the media, since there obvi- ously were moments of sig- nificance, which did not al- ways reach public atten- tion. One of these was on a sub- ject which was relegated to secondary importance. A day before the opening of the congress, the leading personalities who had come See "THE LEADER" Today Morris Buick IS THE GUY IS THE BUY OPEN MON. & THURS. MI. 9 P.M. LEASE AS LOW AS $125 PER MONTH w 7 Mile At Lodge X-Way 342-7100 • •••••••••1•••••••••••••••••••••••••••• • • I• IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE A SPECIALIST AT SOMETHING, THEN DO IT RIGHT! • We Are Specialists In Drapery Cleaning, And Whatever It Takes To • • Dolt Right — We Do. 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Since over two mil- lion Jews live in the Soviet Union today, they asked, "why is the subject of Soviet Jewry not high on the agenda of the Zionist Con- gress?" The chairman of the Zionist Executive, Arye Dulzin, did have words on the subject, and he was quite outspoken. First of all, he pointed out that in the past 11 years 260,000 Jews left the USSR, of whom 180,000 went to Israel, where they have adjusted and integrated well. Only three percent of them have chosen to leave Is- rael. It was only begin- ning in 1978-1979 that the dropout movement in Vienna began to swell. Why? The Chief Rabbi of Mos- cow, in a Pesach telephone call to Rabbi Goren last year, expressed bluntly what has been said here for several years: that the di- version of Russian Jewry to the United States has endangered the exit of others. This year only about 600 of the immigrants came to Israel, and the doors of the Soviet Union are clos- ing. Why? There is no love of Israel in Moscow. Objectively, the Communists could not care less where the Jews went, except that an important principle of Soviet pride is involved. The Russians maintain that their system is superior to that of the capitalist world, which is decadent and doomed to col- lapse. Hence the very act of leaving the Soviet Union is an expression of lack of con- fidence; an unpatriotic act. To be sure; if Jews are willing to leave the Com- munist paradise to take up their homes in Israel, that is another matter. As one CARL ALPERT Jewish intellectual recently arrived in Israel explained it: Domestic Soviet prop- aganda makes it clear that Israel is a tiny, backward, poverty-stricken state, con- stantly at war with its neighbors, and struggling to keep its head above water. Any Jew who leaves the powerful and comforta- ble Soviet Union to live in a country like Israel is obvi- ously not in his right mind, and Russia would be well rid of them. No bad example is thereby set for the bulk of the country's citizens, who would certainly not want to follow them. take the initiative in suggesting a change in di- rection; it only services _ those who come to Vienna with their minds already made up. The real criticism must be directed at the generous, warm-hearted Jews of the U.S. It is they who provide the welcome and the assis- tance and the physical ac- coutrements to help the Russian Jews adjust so quickly. This was all very well in the days of Czarist persecutions, when Jews had nowhere else to go. But today American Jews are in effect competing with Is- rael, and they have the wealth and facilities to do so successfully. From Boston and Chicago and Los Angeles, letters have gone back to relatives in Russia advising in effect: "Take your Israel visas — they will get you out of RUssia, but once you are in Vienna, opt for America. You will be treated like kings here. You will get jobs and fur- niture and cars and friendship. American Jews put themselves out to be nice to us. This is- truly a Garden of Eden compared to what we had in Russia." The result has been the drastic increase in dropouts, and the consequent reaction of the Soviet authorities. Put in very blunt terms, cruel though it may sound: Every Russian who went to America instead of to Israel helped slam the doors shut on his friends and relatives left behind. And every generous American Jew, who went out of his way to ease the path of the new immigrants, was likewise contributing to the shutting off of the exodus from the Soviet Union. On the other hand, if the Jews elect to go to the U.S., Russia's great competitor, they are betraying the Communist ideal and un- dermining confidence in its ultimate victory over the dark forces of capitalism. A stream of emigration to America could lead to a massive attempt on the part of others to "get out." And that is why every Jew leaving Russia has had to possess a visa to Israel. The diversion of Vienna, heading Jews in the other direction, has made Soviet leadership furious. Dulzin pointed an accusatory finger at the HIAS organ- Children bring out of the ization, which has been handling the dropouts. This nursery that which displays criticism is not altogether itself throughout their fair, since HIAS does not lives. ATTENTION!!! ATARI & INTELLIVISION The "best rent in town" has been expanded to Include Video Game Rentals. TRY BEFORE YOU BUY $ 35.00 Membership Fee video plus 19739 EVERGREEN ROAD (at 12 Mile) SOUTHFIELD, MI 569-2330 $ 1 0 Game Membership Only VIDEO PLUS AUDIO 6641 ORCHARD LAKE RD. (Old Orchard Mall) WEST BLOOMFIELD, MI 855-4070 Open 7 Days Gift Certificates Available! ii''. .4'at5 e.-;c, 4414.4itil (rat V 414 k