16 Friday, August 12, 1983 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS (Readers Forum) Materials submitted to the Readers Forum must be brief. The writer's name will be withheld from publication upon request. No unsigned letters will be published. Materials will not he returned unless a stamped, self-addressed envelope is enclosed. Reader Replies to Critique . .. . . • . • CALL 646-8990 \3W... TO ARRANGE FOR YOUR COMPLIMENTARY VISIT. JJ - - Swim for a day in any of our three spacious pools. Dine, relax in a sauna, exercise on nautilus, attend an aerobic class. Try Hamilton Place FREE for a day, you'll love it. AMILTO P --4 Southfield's luxurious athletic and social club 30333 Southfield Road (between 12 & 13 Mile Rds.) ik • • •• • 1, , • Editor, The Jewish News: day of national celebration, My friend, Rabbi Jack which the prophets prom- Goldman, has misread my ised us some day it would article on Tisha b'Av. Ac- become? cording to him, the article Maybe if we have the implies, "It seems that the courage to begin that dis- whole message of Tisha cussion, we might be in- b`Av is archaic, obsolete, spired to overcome the divi- passe." I nowhere use such sive barriers between Jews, words. The whole first half the sins of senseless hatred, of the column showed the and the denial of others power of Tisha b`Av and the which threatened the very case for it as a superb redemption we are living spiritual expression of through. Jewish memory, preserva- Irving Greenberg tion of Jewish suffering and catastrophe. * * * It is suggestive that the Reader Defends mere expression of ambiva- lence is interpreted as a Talk Show Host total rejection of the day. I Editor, The Jewish News: have no quarrel with the During his talk show on entire case for the ongoing WXYZ-radio on Thursday validity of Tisha b'Av. The crucial point of my article is, morning, Aug. 4, 1983, however, that an equally Mark Scott stated categori- cogent case can be made cally, "Israel is the only ally that something is being that the U.S. has in the transformed in Jewish Middle East." He repeated that state- reality. -I freely concede that the ment and continued, "I am final redemption is not here. against foreign aid but I make an exception in the 'However, we begin to ap- proach mockery when we case of Israel. We should fail to deal with ther shift- support our allies and Israel is our ally." ing realities. Thus, I Wonder at the With all its imperfec- tions, is there any doubt self-appointed spokesper- that our ancestors would sons for the Jewish commu- have been delirious with nity who charged him with joy at the sight of being anti-Semitic only a present-day Israel? Are few weeks ago. Although Mark Scott is we so besotted with our dreams of perfection that forceful in his exposition of we cannot appreciate the his views, there appears to incredible, earthy, be no justification for the flawed yet miraculous opinion that he is not fair. Morton Hack redemption growing be- fore our very eyes? Must (Editor's note: Self- we wait for the Messiah appointed is an inappli- before we show in any cable term applied to way the remarkable duly elected representa- tives of civic protective reality of a reborn Israel? In the past the Halakha movements. The talk has taken the vital events of show moderator's our lifetime and turned applause for Israel is a them into ritual, into obser- welcome gesture. It does vance, into celebration. not in any sense erase the Formalistic repetition of week-long abuse of this words that deny the reality newspaper prior to the of the rebuilt Jerusalem is Aug. 4 quotation which no more halakhic than act- occasioned the protests ing as if these are purely against the talk show's secular developments that long record of discour- carry with them no reli- tesies. (Protests against un- gious significance or mes- sage. dignified and prejudiced The inability to confront talk shows came from a this need is ideological, and representative commu- that ideology leads to the nity, and they inspired implication that I totally leadership action.) repudiate Tisha b`Av. I made clear that I continue to observe it, even as I noted how the Jewish people, in AJCongress the absence of halakhic guidance, is "subverting" to Show 'Fixer' the day from within. The local American The least we can do is ar- Jewish Congress affiliate ticulate the ambivalence will show the film, "The and thus begin the process Fixer," at 7 p.m. Sunday at of halakhic consideration. the LaMed Auditorium of The least we can do is to the main United Hebrew commemorate Yom Schools building. HaShoa and celebrate There is an admission Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel In- charge. The public is in- dependence Day). I also ask: vited. For ticket informa- what is the least we should tion, call Ida Burstein, do to begin the process of 557-4228; or the AJCon- turning Tisha b'Av into a gress office, 357-2766. m)