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32 Friday, April 29, 1983
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Searching for
SYLVIA AyGUSTA
granddaughter of A GUST FRUHNER
of Milwaukee.
Call 545-7475, evenings and weekends
SF Holocaust Memorial Planned
NEW YORK (JTA) —
One of the few memorials to
the six million victims of the
Nazis on public propei-ty in
the United States is._
scheduled to be built in a
public park in San Fran-
cisco. It will consist of
George Segal's sculpture,
"The Holocaust," currently
on display in the Jewish
Museum in Manhattan.
(Copyright 1983, JTA, Inc.)
DEFENSE DISPUTE: Significant differences of
opinion are now being faced by the leadership of the Ameri-
can Jewish Committee concerning national defense, limi-
tation of armaments, proliferation of nuclear weapons, and
the mounting Pentagon budget. There is a majority and
minority opinion on these issues within a special unit of the
AJCommittee appointed for the purpose of framing a policy
for the organization on defense and arms limitation.
The differences will find their expression at,a plenary
session on May 13 of the American Jewish Committee's
five-day annual meeting in New York. Policy recom-
mendations will be presented by both the majority and
minority to the meeting for debate. U.S. Secretary of De-
fense Caspar Weinberger will address a plenary luncheon..
The question whether the AJCommittee should in-
volve itself with recommending policies on defense was
discussed by the board of governors of the organization.
After several months of study and discussion, the appointed
special committee emphatically concluded that the issues
warrant a high place on the AJC's agenda.
DISAGREEMENT IN AJC: A substantial majority
in the AJC special committee believes that a credible deter-
rent is the primary road to national security and the most
effective way to minimize the risk of war. It asserts that the
maintenance of an "adequate" defense is government's
primary responsibility. "Adequate military capability" is
defined by the majority as the necessary military and
geopolitical balance that does not tempt aggression against
the United States — or its allies — and which also deters
political pressures against American • vital interests and
those of its allies.
The minority believes that arms limitation is the pri-
mary road to peace and national security. It argues that
marginal Soviet advantage in nuclear of conventional
weaponry is irrelevant because each side has the power to
detroy the other. It also Advances the-argument that. any_
increase in armament, especially new nuclear systems,
increases the risk of war breaking out by miscalculation,
misapplied strategy or accident.
THE JEWISH CONCEPT: The committee also con-
sidered the relationship between American defense policies
and Israel in the context of America's broader concerns.
Two viewpoints emerged in the discussions. .
Most argued that the U.S. commitment to Israel is
neither credible nor enforceable without strong American
defense cap-abilities. They argued that if the Soviets
achieve superiority in land-based missiles, the American
nuclear strength is no longer a credible deterrent against
Moscow's adventures in the Middle East. If the U.S. adopts
policies which will lessen the reliance on American nuclear
forces to deter Soviet intervention in the Middle East, the
Soviet's clear superiority in conventional forces must be
countered by an increase of conventional forces, otherwise
the U.S. cannot maintain the ability to protect its vital
interests in the Middle East, they opine.
A few members of the committee argue that our con-
cern for Israel should not be used to justify support for a
strengthened American defense effort. They claim that the
U.S. defense capability is adequate and that U.S. support
for Israel is derived from shared interests and values, not
from strategic considerations. They also contend that there
may be a competitive relationship between programs advo-
cated by the Pentagon and those helpfiil to Israel.
The committee as a whole advocates support by the
Administration for a nuclear free zone in the Middle East.
The committee sought to integrate Jewish religious
concepts with the complex issues of defense. It came to the
conclusion that no clear Jewish doctrine can decide be-
tween SALT and a freeze on the one hand, and the crucial
importance of maintaining a deterrent to war and building
American defenses on the other. The committee's judge-.
ment is that the Jewish principle of "choose life" and the
rescue of life takes precedence over all other precepts that
could be used to argue for the unilateral elimination of
nuclear weapons. It points out that Judaism is not pacifism;
that it recogriizes the,primary need to defend one's self and
teaches that lives can be risked to save lives — which is the
essence of a strong defense and assured deterrence.
In explaining the reasons that motivated its recom-
mending the involvements of the American Jewish Corn-
mittee in defense and arms limitations issues, the special
committee foresees that just as other groups are split on
these issues, so Jews of conscience will be. It emphasizes
that human survival is at stake, but moral people can and
do differ on how best to ensure survival. .
II
DETROIT SALUTES
YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE
SUNDAY MAY 1, 1983
THE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER
OF METROPOLITAN DETROIT
660 WEST MAPLE RD., WEST BLOOMFIELD, MI 48033
BOOTHS OPEN 10 A.M., PARADE 1 P.M.
co
.`c
`Between You
. . . and Me'
Editor-in-Chief
Emeritus, JTA .
LET'S DO IT AGAIN .
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Boris Smolar's
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FUN FOR YOUR FAMILY
SPONSORED BY ISRAEL 35 INDEPENDENCE DAY
FOR INFORMATION CALL 661-1000, EXT. 250
.
The 15th of Av was ob-
served during the time of
the Second Temple as a joy-
ous festival. Jews brought
kindling wood for the whole
year to the Temple and the
young girls, dressed in
white, went to the vine-
yards to meet young men
looking for brides.