64 Friday, January 14, 1983

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Weisel Criticizes Timerman, Reacts to Lebanon War

By ARNOLD AGES

MIAMI BEACH (JTA) —
Eli Wiesel, one of the
world's most widely read
Jewish novelist, essayist
and commentator, has had
some disquieting experi-
ences in recent months.
Wiesel revealed that he
had been in Israel when the
invasion of Lebanon oc-
curred. While he had some
reservations about the im-
plications of the war, Wiesel
has been disturbed by some
\ of the reactions to it, nota-
bly that of Jacobo Timer-
man, the former editor of a
newspaper in Buenos Aires
who was arrested by the
Argentine authorities and
who is now living in Israel.
"I was one of those people
who went to Argentina to
plead with the authorities
there to release Timerman,"
Wiesel said. "It was because
of the intervention of Israel
and its offer to accept
Timerman that he was fi-
nally able to leave his jail
cell."
Wiesel feels that
Timerman's new book on

JACOBO TIMER1VIAN

Israel, "The Longest War,
Israel in Lebanon"
(Knopf) and his recent
appearances on the
.CBS-TV "60 Minutes"
program are quite un-
savory: they display
both a lack of grateful-
ness on Timerman's part
and a certain "shallow-
ness" in his thinking.
Wiesel is exercised not
only by Timerman's state-
ments about the "wicked-
ness" of:Israel but about his

assertions of longtime
Zionist and Jewish com-
mitment. "That's not the
impression I got when I was
in Argentina trying to se-
cure Timerman's release,"
Wiesel stated. "Members of
the Jewish community
there asked me why I was
wasting my time on a per-
son who had never dis-
played any Jewish loyalties.
"When Timerman occu-
pied his position as editor of
one of Buenos Aires' best
newspapers, he had no time
for the Jewish people or for
Israel, that's what I was told
by Argentinian Jews."
If Wiesel has had- second
thoughts about Timerman
he has gone through a simi-
lar process with regard to
his own recent response to
the Beirut massacres. In the
wake of the Shatila and
Sabra murders, Wiesel had
rushed into print with some
strong articles about the
moral lapses of certain
Jews.
"I went so far as to
suggest that this calamit-
ous event meant that we

,

had failed as a people,
that there was something
wrong with our educa-
tional system. I could not
understand how such a
monstrous thing had
transpired."
When the reaction of the
world's press began to filter
through Wiesel's con-
sciousness he soon realized
that he had been precipitous
in his reaction. The orgy of
condemnation which was
visited upon Israel was too
much for Wiesel.
"The condemnation was
not inspired by a sincere
search for truth but by a
hidden agenda, to wipe
clean the Holocaust slate.
The world seemed to be say-
ing to us: 'Now that you
too have been involved in
human brutality, however
indirect, we can now close
the chapter on the
Holocaust.' The relish that
accompanied the world con-
demnation of Israel was-
transparent."
While Wiesel was in Is-
rael during the war he is not
prepared to offer analysis of

ELIE WIESEL

the political or military as-
pects of the conflict. "I am
not a political person and
am therefore unable to
comment on whether the
invasion was justifiable or
not. When it comes to mat-
ters of security I do not
presume to tell the people
on the scene what is appro-
priate or not."
Wiesel was, however,
ready to make some obser-
vations on the war as he
witnessed it from his
perspective.
"My general impres-

sion is that this was a
war, the first one in Is-
rael, that was waged
without a general con-
sensus. I felt a corporate
sense of sadness. The
people were split and you
could feel it clearly."
While Wiesel is hesitant
to comment on the moral
issue of the war itself he is
not reticent to speak to
specific aspects of its con-
duct.
"I was horrified when,
during the bombing of Be-
irut, organized 'missions'
and tours went to the city to
view the spectacle. Here
was a city in the process of
being mutilated; people
were dying and tour buses
were bringing people to
gawk."
Wiesel's moral position is
a simple one. "I do believe in
the double standard when it
comes to Israel. I am not
embarrassed by it. I believe
that the state of Israel
should 4f)e better than other
states. What is Israel's pur-
pose if it is only to become
another Levantine entity?"

Shrinking Jewish Population for One-Time Haven from Holocaust

By SHELDON KIRSHNER

SOSUA, Dominican Re-
public (JTA) — This Jewish
colony established in the
Dominican Republic during
the Holocaust will soon be-
come an historical relic as a
result of attrition and emig-
ration.
Sosua, on the northern
coast of this lush, pro-
American, Caribbean is-
land, was a sleepy town of
100 inhabitants when
European Jews fleeing Nazi
terror began to arrive in
1940. Today, Sosua has a
population of some 7,000.
But only an estimated 35 of
its families are Jewish. At
one point, just before the
end of World War II, about
600 Jews lived there. The
community has been deci-
mated by deaths (about 150
Jews are buried in the
Jewish cemetery) and by
emigration.
The history of Jewish set-
tlement in Sosua began in
the late 1930s, when Rafael
Trujillo, the dictator of the
Dominican. Republic, an-
nounced he would accept up
to 100,000 Jewish refugees.
Because of wartime condi-
tions in Europe, no more
than a handful ever got to
its shores.
Trujillo's generosity
was probably prompted
by hope that he 'could
"whiten" his population
if Jewish settlers married
Dominicans. He thought
he could improve his im-
age, tarnished by his
slaughter of 20,000 mem-
bers of the black, Haitian

minority in 1937. He fig-
ured that Jewish
entrepreneurial drive
could be an asset in his
underdeveloped nation.
His calculations were not
unrealistic. However, in-
termarriages occurred,
especially in the second,
generation and the settlers,
the majority of whom were
from Germany and Austria,
contributed to the economic
well-being of the Dominican
Republic by building what
is now the biggest butter
and cheese factory in the
country and a processed
meat plant as well.
The settlers, who were
trained on the spot as dairy
farmers, supply the raw
milk and meat for the two
factories. As a result of their
enterprise, Sosua grew,
leaving the Jews here as a
tiny minority.
The American Jewish
Joint Distribution Commit-
tee, which helped establish
the colony in cooperation
with the Dominican Repub-
lic government, originally
hoped that the settlers could
earn a livelihood with veg-
etable crops. The land, how-
ever, was dry, suitable only
for cattle herds.
The JDC also at-
tempted to set up an ag-
ricultural cooperative,
but it failed, and indi-
vidual initiative won the
day. "We weren't
idealists, as in Palestine,"
says Kurt Luis Hess, a
veteran settler who is 74.
Hess himself was born in
Erfurt, Germany, and ar-

rived in the Dominican Re-
public, via Spain and
France, in 1939. It was by
sheer chance that he
applied for a visa, he says.
He did so after various
Latin American nations,
and the U.S., rejected his
applications.
Like all the Jews who
came to Sosua, Hess re-
ceived a plot of land, cows
and a house on credit. He
also taught his fellow
settlers Spanish— which he
had learried as a youth —
and did administrative
work for the JDC. He mar-
ried a Protestant Domini-
can woman, Ana Julia, and
they had two sons, one of
whom considers himself
Jewish.
After World War II, many
of the settlers immigrated
to the U.S. "Some were un-
happy as farmers, having
come from big cities, and not
being used to farming,"
Hess explains. "Others saw
better opportunities for
themselves and their chil-
dren."
Hess' two sons live in
Los Angeles and West
Berlin, but this is in keep-
ing with the pattern of
emigration, the young
people having left. Judy
Neumann Kaiser, 39, is an
example of the phenom-
enon. Her parents, who
moved here from Israel
felt that she could obtain
a superior education in
the U.S. And, perhaps
more important, they
thought she could meet
an eligible Jewish man

there. Kaiser married an
American and today lives
in Phoenix, Arizona. She
visits her family reg=
ularly.

Because so many Jews
have left Sosua, the rabbi
who died eight years ago,
has not been replaced. An
Israeli settler, who is a can-
tor by profession, leads Jews

in prayer in Sosua's small
clapboard synagogue near
the sea.
Despite the drastic de-
cline of the Jewish commu-
nity, Hess has no regrets he
stayed. His share in the but-
ter and cheese factory has
made him comfortable, and
he has had a good marriage.
He claims he has never ex-
perienced anti-Semitism in

the Dominican Republic.
"The Domicans are such a
racially mixed people, with-
out racial pride," he says.

He says he never accus-
tomed himself to the tropi-
cal weather, but this is a
minor complaint." I visit my
sons in Los Angeles and
West Berlin, but I'm always
glad to be back in Sosua."

American Indian Boy Became
Lubavitcher Rabbi in Israel

• By MOSHE RON

The Jewish News Special
Israel Correspondent

Jewish community. The
local rabbi converted him to
Judaism. When James re-
vealed to the rabbi that he
intended to go to Israel, the
rabbi pointed out the diffi-
culties for a converted Jew
in Israel and advised him to
say that he was a Jew.

TEL AVIV— "I am in fact
only 'one-quarter American
Indian. My whole family is
living in a small village in
California," said
Lubavitcher Rabbi Israel
Oren, who has a beard and
sidelocks. It is hard to be-
James came to Israel
lieve that he is an offspring after the Yom Kippur War.
of a Protestant family.
He joined Kibutz Maagan
Ten years ago he served Michael, where he. worked
in the American Marines. and learned Hebrew. But he
He had an interest in the was not satisfied. He
Jewish faith. He came to wanted to study traditional
Jerusalem and converted to Judaism. He decided to go to
Judaism.
Jerusalem.
Rabbi Oren's story is ripe
He met Moshe Segal a
for a Hollywood film. He Lubavitcher. Segal took
was born 30 years ago in a James under his care —
small village in California food, living quarters — and
with the name James Ray. his religious conversion.
As a boy of nine he saw on
James became Israel
TV picutres of the Jewish Oren. He married a girl
state. He read the Bible and called Mazal. The
came to the conclusion that Lubavitcher Rebbe sent his
the prophecy of a Jewish blessing to the wedding.
state had become a reality.
Mazal is a teacher in pri-
As a boy he felt a strong mary schools in Jerusalem.
desire to go. to Israel and The couple have three chil-
to live there as a Jew. dren.
When he was 17, he
Rabbi Israel Oren
enlisted for the war in dedicates his life to Bible
Vietnam, but even on the study. He keeps constant
front about Israel.
contact with rabbis in
After two years' service Jerusalem and corre-
he started to work with sponds with the
computers and studied phi-
Lubavitcher Rebbe.
losophy. He visited a
A year ago Oren and his
synagogue and took part in wife went to New York to
several celebrations of the
visit the Rebbe. Oren did

not inform his parents in
California about his visit to
the U.S., in order not to
cause them pain.
In Israel, Oren joined the
army and is spreading the
Lubavitch message among
the soldiers. The soldiers
like him and even consult
him in personal matters.
When one talks to Rabbi
Oren, one imagines that he
was born and raised in a
Polish or Lithuanian town
and not by parents in
California; who have hardly
seen a Jew in their life. He is
learning Yiddish, in order
to be able to have closer con-
tact with his friends.
He preaches love between
the Jewish people and
shares their fate.

MOSHE RON

