THE JEWISH NEWS CUSPS 275 - 5201 - Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951 Copyright © The Jewish News Publishing Co. \ .HANq IN THERE? Member of American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, National Editorial Association and National Newspaper Association and its Capital Club. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 Postmaster: Send address changes to The Jewish News, 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 Second-Class Postage Paid at Southfield, Michigan and Additional Mailing Offices. Subscription $18 a year. PHILIP SLOMOVITZ CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher ALAN HITSKY News Editor Business Manager HEIDI PRESS Associate News Editor DREW LIEBERWITZ Advertising Manager Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the 11th day of Elul, 5743, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19. Prophetical portion, Isaiah 54:1-10. Candlelighting, Friday, Aug. 19, 8:07 p.m. VOL. LXXXIII, No. 25 Page Four Friday, August 19, 1983 BIGOTRY ON TRIAL None other than a revered Israeli spiritual leader, Rabbi Zevi Judah ben Abraham Isaac Kook, the son of the late Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook who was Chief Rabbi of Eretz Israel, from 1921 to 1935, had this to say about bigotry in his "Commentary," written in 1954: "Sometimes I think that what we need in Israel is more belief for the 'believers' and more freedom for the 'free thinkers' and above all, love, a bit more love." This is repeatedly applicable to the present-day experiences in Israel. Tolerance is practiced in the Jewish state for all religions, but prejudice is heaped upon Conservative and Reform Jews. Furthermore, there have been abuses so intolerable that they placed all Jews who have an historic association with the Land of Israel in a state of embarrassment bordering on shame. Typical in that regard is a most recent news story in the New York Times described the re- curring violence that greets archeologists who are searching for historic data about the earliest periods in Jewish history. In an account of some of the incidents relating to the archeological disputes, Richard Bernstein commenced his ca- bled story from Jerusalem with the following: "Every morning on a brown and sunbaked hill just outside the walls of Jerusalem's Old City, teams of volunteers, bearing pickaxes and whisk brooms, labor in the dust and stone of the millenia. "Nearby are a few soldiers armed with automatic weapons whose job is to protect the diggers from possible violence. The soldiers' presence is made necessary by a continuing and sometimes violent conflict, now two years old, that the dig into Israel's past has stirred in this city of history. "On one side in the conflict are Israel's modern, secular scientists, aided by an interna- tional corps of volunteers. They dress in shorts, sandals and T-shirts as they examine the de- bris, the ancient shards of pottery, the inscrip- tions and the remains of floors and walls that date back to the period 3,000 years ago when King David conquered Jerusalem and made it the capital of the Israelites. "On the other side are several groups of deeply religious Jews, many of them wearing the long black coats, the felt hats and the long, curly sidelocks of the Orthodox. These Jews say they are not against archeology itself, but they say the archeologists are disturbing the bones of Israel's ancestors, a violation of Jewish law. "To stop them, the Orthodox groups have been demonstrating, holding vigils, formally cursing the archeologists, trying to enact new laws and even throwing stones and cinder blocks. And while a conflict over archeology in a country that has some 35 major excavations going on this summer is not new, the violence that the issue has aroused has resulted in about as many local headlines and made it as much a topic of discussion as the more normal Israeli crises, like wars and West Bank demonstra- tions." The dispute, the • debatable arguments on this issue, become insignificant in the context of the problem itself. The experiences of abusive tactics resorted to by the extreme elements in Israel, the permissiveness with which the inde- cencies are resorted to, is what matters. When people lose the ability to reason, to negotiate, to arrive at truth, they lose the right to judge. Unfortunately, these very abusers also assume the right to be the judges in most serious Israel situations. No one in the Diaspora has a right to dictate policy to Israel. it is only that government's business. But in matters involving religious treatments, the entire Jewish people has the right to opinion. It is indisputable that the most revered in Jewry are often antagonized, spiritually hurt by the prejudices rampant in Israel. The archeolog- ical experience is only one of them. Because world Jewry has a stake in Israel, a partnership that is undeniable, the relationship must be on the highest level. The treatments must be courteous. This has been lacking. It did not create respect in non-Jewish ranks, it caused deep hurt among Jews everywhere. Therefore, if there is power in the govern- ment of Israel, such abuses must be corrected. Freedom to violate the security of fellow Jews by the regrettable violence must be curtailed. It is on this score that world Jewry must exercise the right to express opinions and ask for action from Israel's governmental administrators. . CAN UN TERMINATE BIAS? So vile is the record of anti-Israelism at the United Nations that it always bordered on anti-Semitism. - It reached a new low with the latest exhibi- tion of anti-Semitic material and was -so pa- tently filled with hatred not only for Israel but for the entire Jewish people. It is no wonder, therefore, that UN Secre- tary General Javier Perez de Cuellar promptly dismantled the hate-filled exhibit of material aimed at fomenting the hatred that has been the policy of the combined Soviet and PLO-inspired Arab nations. The formal protest by Israel UN Ambas- sador Yehuda Blum at last secured the proper response in the form of the UN Secretary Gen- eral's order for an end to the current display of hatred in the world organizations's headquar- ters. Does the current action mean that future attempts at spreading hatred will be negated? Again it is a test for time as a possible element to end the insanities practiced in the name of the UN. 41• ■ ••••Mo Traditions of Rosh Hashana Talmudically Anthologized With the New Year approaching, Mesorah Publications couldn't have been timelier in releasing an anthological work on Rosh Hashana. "Rosh Hashana," dealing with "its significance, laws and prayers," is an anthologized work, using the Talmud as one of its sources, the wisdom of the Rabbis emphasized. Under the general editorship of Rabbis Nosson Scherman and Meir Zlotowitz who supervised production of this work as part of the Mesorah Artscroll Series, a group of rabbinic scholars dealt with these aspects of the Rosh Hashana volume: Laws, insights and prayers. The rabbis who gathered the commentaries and definitions on these subjects are Hersh Goldwurrn and Avi Gold. The Rosh Hashana message is complete in this collective effort. It not only contains definitions of the traditional practices, they are supplemented by the Hebrew prayers that have significance in the study of the subject relating to the Jewish New Year. They also include explanations of the culinary, emphasizing the traditional practice of dipping bread in honey, thus giving credence to the prayer that what is being welcomed is a sweet year. The Hebrew prayer is also appended to this explanatory factor in a massive collec- tion of traditional observances. In the analyses of significant Holy Day omens, with extensive emphasis on the blowing of the Shofar, the reader is provided with an understanding of the traditions relating to the Shofar and the special occasions for its use in addition to that of Rosh Hashana. Explanatory in every detail, in the treatment of the traditions thus defined, it is the halakhic that is the guide to these studies, and also the historic with the Talmud and discussants in their unique roles. Thus there is special interest in the explanation of the debate of which is the Jewish New Year date, is it Nisan or Tishri, is it the even of Passover or of Rosh HaShana. Here is the impressive definitive explanation in the Mesorah volume: "According to R' Eliezer, the universe was created in Tishri while according to R' Yehoshua it was created in Nisan (Rosh Hashana 10b-12a). This disagreement extends to many other events as well and each of these Sages offers numerous proofs from Sciprture to support his view. The Talmud's conclusion is in favor of R' Yehoshua's view that the world was created in Nisan and it is for this reason that halakhic astronomical calculations assume that the heavenly bodies came into existence in Nisan. "If so — the Talmud asks — how can our Rosh Hashana prayers include the declaration: 'This day was the beginning of your work,' a statement that seems to say clearly that creation took place in Tishri rather than Nisan? In explaining that passage, Rabbeinu Tam sets down two fundamental theses regarding the question of Nisan versus Tishrei: "The Halakha indeed assumes that the Creation took place in Nisan. The reference to Rosh Hashana as the 'beginning of (God's) work' refers to His work of judging the world and deciding upon its continuing survival. "In the case of disputes between the Sages of the Talmud, the rule is often stated that "these and those are the words of the Living God," meaning that every opinion of people of such lofty stature is solidly based on well-founded principles of Torah exegesis and principle." This and much more provides emphasis for the notable value, in the halakhic and historic aspects, of the Mesorah's impressive "Rosh Hashana" volume.