2 Friday, September 16, 1983
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
The Dance on Yom Kippur
and Respectful Traditions
There is nothing new about the disrespectful on tradi-
tional holy days.
There was an era on the East Side of New York when
extreme radicals, rejecting the heritage of religious prac-
tices upon coming to this country, boastfully arranged for
Kol Nidre night dances as means of irking their fellow Jews
who were introducing the most sacred day on their calen-
dar.
It should be said in respect to the old time socialists
who resorted to such practices that they soon abandoned
the abusive which were intended to mock and to resort to
ridicule of their own past.
In this community many years ago, the late Julian
Krolik always protested the practice in limited quarters of
sponsoring Yom Kippur night dances. His contention was
that even at the end of the Day of Atonement it was a
sacrilege to have public functions of that nature. His con-
tention was that a sacred day must be treated with.dignity
even unto the very final hours of the day and after the Great
Fast.
There had been discussions about baseball players who
found it necessary to participate in World Series games on
the afternoon of Yom Kippur.
. Noted entertainers in the main refrained from appear-
ing on stage on the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.
Hershel Bernardi feels differently. He has announced
he will appear in "Fiddler on the Roof' tonight in San
Antonio, despite being offered different dates.
It should be said to the credit of even the most irreligi-
ous that they did not wave flags of contempt at their fellow
Jews who observe periods designated for religious loyalties.
Will Bernardi have Jewish attendees at his Kol Nidre
night performance? That's doubtful. Perhaps non-Jews will
make it a necessity to rebuke him for separating himself
from the Jewish community.
Patience Serves Israel Well,
as Symbolized in Africa
So constant are the tensions affecting Israel, so repeti-
tive the threatening elements, that the calm often dis-
played by its diplomatic service is amazing.
Especially in the United Nations, the temptations to
anger are always present. Yet, there is a self-control in
their ranks that is both amazing and heartening. Temper is
often lost, but not on a damaging scale.
The value of patience in overcoming many of the obsta-
cles is now apparent, in the hopeful renewal by Israel of
diplomatic relations with African countries. There was an
admirable closeness of relations until 15 years ago. Then
oil began to play a part and the need for it caused ruptures.
The pressures from Arab and Soviet blocs was appalling
and friendships were interrupted. There is a new feeling of
comradeship, made especially evident in the Liberian atti-
tude now on the record. The New York Times best sum-
marized the background and the new approach in an Aug.
26 editorial, "Israel Reconnects in Africa":
It makes political and economic sense for
black Africa to renew a once-valued connection
with Israel. Many Africans say as much in private,
and more than 20 African states now benefit from
unofficial Israeli development aid. But the dog-
mas of Third World diplomacy, coupled with
hopes of Arab largesse, have kept black Africa's
leaders from renewing a beneficial partnership.
That has begun to change. A year ago, Zaire
restored diplomatic ties with Israel. Now
Liberia's Samuel Doe has become the first African
president to visit Israel in 12 years, a gesture that
may well encourage others.
After the 1973 Middle East war, 26 African
nations severed their ties to protest Israel's occu-
pation of the Sinai Peninsula, a sandy slice of
Africa. Black African leaders also hoped that
Arab oil producers would reward them with aid
and cheaper prices for isolating Israel. Sinai is no
longer occupied, and Egypt and Israel are at
peace. Meanwhile, the Arab oil producers have
yet to deliver the level of help black Africa needs
to offset the surge in prices.
Africans have also talked of isolating Israel as
a way to punish it for its dealings with South Af-
rica. But Israeli ties with Pretoria are more exten-
sive than before because a friendless Israel has
had little to lose. That attitude could change in a
hurry if Israel believes that black Africa is pre-
pared to exchange ambassadors.
The eagerness with which Israel has re-
sponded to Zaire and Liberia shows the value it
places on ending its isolation. Both are conserva-
tive countries, but Israel has as eagerly cultivated
unofficial relations with leftist African regimes,
including Marxist Ethiopia.
An embassy closed in anger is always hard to
reopen. In Africa's case, Israel was rejected less in
By Philip
Slomovitz
The Kol Nidre Night Dance as an Old Legacy for
Disrespectful Against Established Traditions ...
Evenhandedness in Mideast and Tragedy of a Nation
anger than out of Third World solidarity. Ten
years of solidarity have won no political or eco-
nomic benefits. Black Africans who prize their
independence now have an excellent way to af-
firm it.
The lessons of this revived friendship are rooted in
patience. Israel did not lose self-control, did not resort to
name-calling, waited for time to solve a serious problem.
The test was lengthy and painful. It proved the value of
proper diplomatic patience.
Evenhandedness Under
Editorial Judgment
"Evenhandedness" is often used as an excuse for cer-
tain methods of prejudicing sentiments' and of making
foreign policy a sort of hypocrisy.
The Lebanese situation caused many anxieties and
aroused numerous hatreds.
Chief among the prejudicial approaches has been the
attitude toward Menahem Begin. The latest developments
are altering many viewpoints. There are new tragedies and
this nation is deeply involved in the sorrowful event. In the
process, evenhandedness is exposed in all its faultiness.
The Wall Street Journal, editorially, "Holding the Center,"
Sept. 7, makes the following observations on the subject:
Menahem Begin is another one of those Is-
raeli figures whom respectable American
opinion-makers love to hate. They have been em-
barrassed by his unyielding quality and his per-
sistence in standing against the evenhanded
Mideast consensus. He has resigned now. Rela-
tive instability will follow him, and his successor
will have nowhere near his authority. Just wait
until the United States asks the next Israeli prime
minister to put off bringing Israeli boys home, and
you'll see how much we can find outselves missing
Mr. Begin's stubbornness.
There are some constructive things the U.S.
can do in the face of the present Lebanese and
Israeli instability. We can refrain from using the
legalisms of the War Powers Resolution to force
the Marines home, even while we grieve for the
dead. We should do whatever is possible and pro-
per to strengthen those Israeli politicians who
understand and value the American relationship.
Finally we can see to it that our Israeli con-
nection — equipment, finances, and diplomatic
and military understandings — is in as good -a
shape as it can be, because we are going to be
depending on each other a great deal during the
coming disorders. Fooling around with evenhan-
dedness is all well and good.
It often takes a great tragedy to resolve the most seri-
ous issues. Lebanon is a tragedy. It is an increasing cause
for concern over the fate of a divided nation. There is little
hope of an early solution of that nation's problems which
have their effects on the entire world. The policies of the
Reagan Administration are to seek a solution. It will take
an end to inner hatreds, to rejection of the fanning of
bigotries and venom by Lebanon's neighboring countries
and co-religionists to resolve the horrors.
The Sad Loss of
Henry 'Scoop' Jackson
Henry "Scoop" Jackson wrote his name into American
Jewish experience with dignity. He was unfailing in his
support of Israel's right to live as a sovereign state. He was
among the strongest supporters of efforts to protect Russian
Jewry from the onslaught of anti-Semitism and for their
right to emigrate.
He was a courageous man and a great American. He
will be remembered with appreciation by all who cherish
democratic ideals.
Fifty Years Marked Since Assassination
of Noted Zionist Leader Chaim Arlosoroff
By DR. DAVID GEFFEN
World Zionist Press Service
JERUSALEM — Nor-
mally, the assassination of a
political leader tends to fade
from the national memory
after half-a-century, even if
the pain remains in the
hearts of family and close
associates. However, when
the victim in question is the
late Chaim Arlosoroff,
whose death brought to a
head the major confronta-
tion between the Labor and
Revisionist streams in pre-
state Israel, it is somewhat
easier to understand why
Prime Minister Begin re-
cently established a state
commission of inquiry to
re-study the case.
Fifty years ago (in June
1933) Arlosoroff was killed
by unknown assassins as he
walked along the beach in
Tel Aviv with his wife. The
shock waves of that tragic
event are still very much
felt in Israel.
Born in the Ukraine in
1899, Chaim was taken by
his parents to Germany in
1905 to escape further per-
secution and pogroms. Edu-
cated in his new homeland,
he was influenced by the
currents of Zionist thought
there. During the years just
before World War I there
was a great emphasis in
Germany on changing the
occupational patterns of
Jews from business to ag-
riculture as a means of
productivizing Jewish life.
A 'Zionist Association
for the Promotion of Ag-
riculture and Artisan-
shfp' translated this con-
cept for German Jews
into Palestine terminol-
ogy. The society num-
bered among its teenage
members Victor (Chaim)
Arlosoroff. His later
interest in agricultural
settlements in Eretz Is-
rael may have been
sparked through this af-
filiation.
An advocate of Dr.
Bodenheimer's position
CHAIM ARLOSOROFF
that "Palestine needs not
only pioneers of labor but
also pioneers of capital," at
the age of 20 Arlosoroff was
already suggesting novel
approaches to obtain the
funding for settlement
industrial programs in
Palestine. Having joined
HaPoel HaZair (later to be-
come part of Mapai in to-
day's Labor Party) while
studying at the University
of Berlin, his first Zionist
publication was entitled
"Jewish Popular
Socialism."
After graduating in 1924
with a degree in economics,
he made aliya. Quickly rec-
ognized for his agile mind
and his speaking ability, he
was selected in 1926 to be a
member of the Yishuv's
(Jewish population's) dele-
gation to the League of Na-
tions Permanent Mandates
Commission. In 1926 and in
1928-1929, as a part of his
work, he visited the United
States. His analysis of
American Jewish life and
the status of Zionism there
appeared in the Hebrew
volume "New York and
Jerusalem" published in
1929.
While Arlosoroff was in
the United States, he was
the key thinker in the bud-
ding Labor Zionist move-
ment there. His analysis of
American Zionism deliv-
ered at a collegiate Zionist
convention in 1929 is a mas-
terpiece of insight. He was
the moving spirit in many of
the early steps taken by the
Labor Zionists' interns of
aliya.
Brandeis struck up a
friendship with Ar-
losoroff because he saw
that this was an indi-
vidual who understood
both the pragmatic and
the programatic aspects
of the movement. In spite
of the Arlosoroff-Weiz-
mann connection Bran-
deis did not hesitate to
foster the friendship (his
relations with Weizmann
were strained).
With the establishment of
Mapai in 1930, (this was the
party associated with David
Ben-Gurion's leadership),
Arlosoroff became one of the
party's leaders and chief
spokesman. After election
to the Zionist and Jewish
Agency Executive, he was
chosen to head its Political
Department at the 17th
Zionist Congress in 1931.
Highly respected by all, Ar-
losoroff was considered to be
one of the key figures in the
Yishuv.
Thirteen years younger
than Ben-Gurion, Ar-
losoroff might well have
been the former's natural
successor had he lived
through the decades ahead.
An astute politician, Ar-
losoroff combined theoreti-
cal and practical ability,
never giving up his streak of
originality.
His analysis brought him
to the conclusion that the
Zionist goals could not be
fully realized under British
administration. On this
topic and on the question of
Jewish-Arab understand-
ing, he retreated from a
more optimistic position he
had held in the 1920s. The
clearest enunciation of his
new understanding of the
situation was to be found in
a confidential letter be sent
to Chaim Weizmann in
June 1932.
In the letter Arlosoroff
suggested the "possibil-
ity of an interim revolu-
tionary period in which a
Jewish minority develop
the country and save as
many Jews as possible,
as the approaching world
war and emerging Arab
naitonalism might
otherwise prevent the ul-
timate realization of
Zionism." In the spirit of
this letter Arlosoroff
worked tirelessly, in the
last few months of his life,
to organize a massive
emigration of Jews from
Germany. Tragically,
these efforts and his
whole budding career
were cut short by his
death in 1933.