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PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
ALAN HITSKY
News Editor
Business Manager
HEIDI PRESS
DREW LIEBERWITZ
Advertising Manager
Associate News Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the ninth day of Sivan, 5743,
the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Numbers 4:21-7:89.
Prophetical portion, Judges 13:2-25.
Candlelighting, Friday, May 20, 8:33 p.m.
VOL. LXXXIII, No. 12
Page Four
Friday, May 20, 1983
CAULDRONS OF UNCERTAINTY
At long last, Israel is treated as the "nice
guy." The agreements finally attained jointly
with Lebanon and the United States are mar-
kedly acclaimed. Their effectiveness in practice
may not be attained. The aims and the diplom-
catic niceties accompanying them were judged
of major importance.
Basic experiences must not be ignored. It is
undeniable that much of what had been at-
tained had been agreed upon by Israel and
Lebanon, with the U.S. Secretary of State
George Shultz benefiting from an inevitably
applicable accord.
The continuing Arab antagonism also is
understandable. The fact is that whatever
occurrences may have led to status-quo condi-
tions in post-war fashions is equally attributa-
ble to the current situation. Precious lives are
lost and the aftermath of war is something that
was attainable without bloodshed. Such are
conditions that are more repetitive in the Mid-
dle East than anywhere else. What can change
it is anyone's guess.
* * *
Will the U.S. be able to knock sense into
the heads of the Arabs who are fostering
enmities for Israel? Perhaps the latest de-
velopments will serve to induce such an-
tagonists as the Saudi and Jordanian rulers to
stop financing and providing comfort for ter-
rorists and to deal with realities.
There is more of the unpredictable in the
constant embattlements in the Middle East.
Even the American approach is not always con-
sistent. While Secretary of State Shultz
emerges as a positive manipulator of American
foreign policies with cordiality toward Israel,
Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger has
been portrayed as the chief enemy of the Jewish
state. But in his speeches at Jewish assemblies,
notably the most recent one before the Ameri-
can Jewish Committee last week, Weinberger
affirmed that he was a defender of Israel and he
maintained that his statement was a reaffirma-
tion of such sentiments. It is much better this
way, and hopefully the application of his de-
partment's activities to Israel will reflect these
sentiments.
* * *
Meanwhile, the speculations often emerge
as puzzling, and the experiences on the dip-
lomatic scene are enigmatic at best.
Exemplary in the puzzlement is the status
of Jerusalem. The accepted feeling is that the
Holy City will never be abandoned by Israel,
that she must remain the capital of the Jewish
state. Is a quietude on the subject of Jerusalem
possible? How is the future of Jerusalem to be
judged?
The Jerusalem subject was discussed in an
important article entitled, "Mideast Peace is
the Most Elusive Catch," in the Wall Street
Journal. In it, Irving Kristol, professor of social
thought at New York University's Graduate
School of Business, recalled discussion of the
subject with Shimon Peres, leader of the opposi-
tion to the Begin government in the Israel
Knesset. Prof. Kristol recalls:
"The questioning (and answering) pro-
ceeded along familiar lines until one of the jour-
nalists asked:
" 'Mr. Minister, what about the problem of
East Jerusalem — the Old City — now annexed
by Israel but still claimed by the Arabs as a
territory sacred to Islam?"
"Mr. Peres thought for a moment and re-
plied:
" 'East Jerusalem? No problem.'
"He stopped there, and the ensuing silence
expressed all of our bafflement, since the ex-
ceedingly controversial status of East
Jerusalem was common knowledge.
"Pressed, Mr. Peres slowly shrugged his
shoulders. 'In politics, if you don't have a solu-
tion you don't have a problem.'
"He went on to explain that East Jerusalem
was a condition, not a problem. Problems are to
be solved whereas conditions are to be coped
with patiently, allowing time and changing cir-
cumstance to shape your policies."
This is "light treatment" of an important
aspect in the Arab-Israel conflict. Could most
issues involving the controversies emerge as
glibly?
Such are the uncertainties which develop
into puzzles in one of the most troubled areas in
the world.
If it were not for the fact that the hatreds
generated against Israel are not easily erasable,
the swivel-chair philosopher might offer
greater assurances for an accord between an-
tagonists with a measure of hope that Israel's
rights will soon be recognized. But the hatreds
are too deep-rooted to offer early solutions.
Therefore, the urgent need for continuing pa-
tience, without abandoning hope for early solu-
tions of the grave issues, for an early end to the
Lebanese military involvements and an end to
bloodshed and unnecessary loss of innocent
lives.
M - M AN HOAX
A profit motive failed. It was scuttled when
the responsible West German government pro-
ved that the sensationalized "Hitler Diaries"
were forgeries.
In quarters with a sense of honor the em-
phasis was on the tragic reality that no matter
what other references to or quotation from the
Mad Man of this century may be offered for
print, his true position has been tragically noted
in history. His was the insane mind that gener-
ated the mass murder of more than 11 million
people, the six million Jews among them having
been his major targets.
Even the most respected historians have
often made reference to Hitler as having been
sort of a genius. If anything like the forged Hit-
ler Diaries ever aims to give credence to such a
claim, it must be accompanied by the expose of
his sick mind which left the bloodiest mark on
history.
A Mesorah Volume
Aleph to Tav: Alphabet
Replete With Wisdom
Aleph is acclaimed as "The Symbol of God's Oneness and Mas-
tery."
Tav is "The Symbol of Truth and Perfection."
Every letter in the Jewish alphabet, from Aleph to Tav, has a
message, an inspiration, filled with the legendary and historic.
This is what is taught in "The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet"
(Mesorah Publications), in which Rabbi Michael L. Munk defines the
fascinating roots of a thrilling subject.
There is an addendum, "an overview" by Rabbi Nosson Scher-
man, on the subject "Protoclasm of Creation," in which the author
proclaims that "the Letters are Eternal." This additional treatment of .
the subject concludes with:
"The study of the Aleph-Beis can serve as our inspiration to -
return to the roots of our mission on earth. We were created with
primal forces of sanctity and we are called upon to preserve them in
their pure form. We fall short, as people always do, but we dare not
give up the struggle as we long for the day, may it be soon, when a
Temple will be built and a people reunited."
The subtitle of this impressive work, is in itself explanatory of the
text. It defines the book: "The sacred letters as a guide to Jewish deed
and thought." It is the basis for a deeply-researched subject which
combines legend with history.
The author takes the reader back to childhood and the com-
mencement of Jewish studies, as the introduction to Jewish learning
and the foundation of Jewish knowledge.
There remains much to learn and a Kabalistic dictum is drawn
upon to indicate, "Likens the letters to human beings, as it were,
saying that every letter has body, spirit and soul." It is in proof of this
that Rabbi Munk proceeds to show that "the Aleph-Beis can serve as a I
manual for human conduct and guide man in his thoughts and deeds."
The treatment accorded every letter in the Hebrew alphabet that
gives credence to this approach. Regarding the Aleph, for example,
Rabbi Munk explains:
The small aleph also calls us to teshuva (repentence). In the
phrase Viyirra el Moshe, He called to Moses, the subject is not
specified. They subject is really the Aluph of the World, Who is
denoted by the small aleph. God makes Himself 'small,' as it were, so
that His holiness can be found everywhere, even in the heart of the
most wicked person. In everyone's heart the Divine spark flickers,
always ready to blaze into a flame of repentence.
'Not every person responds to the call of the small aleph — the
Godly spark within himself. But whoever heeds the call and returns to
God binds himself to holiness, and God's influence on him steadily
increases and becomes more obvious, as the verse continues: 'and
Hashem spoke to him.'
"Thus the small aleph symbolizes God's accessibility to every
Jew, no matter how low he may have fallen, and, simultaneously, to
man's duty to heed God's call to repentance (Meor Einayim)."
The author declares that the entire Aleph-Beis "is a single unit in
which all the letters are inter-related." And Rabbi Munk symbolically
concludes:
"The Aleph-Beis is a ladder and a link. It binds us to the spiritual
origin of creation and life. It enables us to aspire to heights and to
infuse all areas of existence with the celestial summit. It illuminates
us with renewed aspiration for new life and redemption. It teaches us
to pull ourselves from the aleph of potential to the tav of achievement
and then to begin again to attain ever new levels of accomplishment
until our aspirations for the Messianic times will be fulfilled."
—