20 Friday, October 14, 1983

• THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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NEW YORK — The Na-
tional Council of Young Is-
rael has issued statements
challenging the claim of the
Synagogue Council of
America (SCA) that it rep-
resents Orthodox congrega-
tions and labeling a state-
' ment by the Jewish
Theological Seminary of
America (Conservative) as
a distortion of the Bible and
Talmud.
Harold M. Jacobs, presi-
dent of the National Council
of Young Israel, and Rabbi
Moshe Sherer, president of
Agudath Israel of America,
challenged the authority of
the SCA reacting to the
SCA's claim to speak for the
"Orthodox, Conservative
and Reform synagogues in
the U.S.A."
Rabbi Sherer and Jacobs
declared: "The vast major-
ity of the old and new Or-
thodox congregations,
which are an outgrowth of
the renaissance of the
American Orthodox com-
munity, as well as those
stemming from the yeshiva
movement and the congre-
gations of the Hasidic com-
munity, are not affiliated
with any group which be-

longs to the Synagogue
Council.
"They object, on fun-
damental religious prin-
ciple, to an 'interdenomi-
national religious group'
such as the Synagogue
Council of America pur-
porting to speak for their
synagogues or the
Jewish community as a
whole. Furthermore, the
total number of Orthodox
synagogues and their
members which are not
represented by the
Synagogue Council of
America by far exceeds
those which identify with
this group.
"Therefore, we wish to
caution responsible com-
munal leaders and the gen-
eral public not to accept the
statements or viewpoints
expressed by the Synagogue
Council of America as rep-
resentative of the views of
the general Orthodox
synagogue community.
"We fulther renew our
call to those Orthodox
groups which do participate
in the Synagogue Council of
America to withdraw, and
put an end to the implicit
recognition and religious

status which they thus
grant to the Reform and
Conservative rabbis. The
time has come for these Or-
thodox groups to obey the
halakhic ruling of the most
eminent Torah scholars of
our generation. . ."
The High Holy Days mes-
sage of the Jewish Theologi-
cal Seminary of America,
the official academy of the
Conservative Jewish
movement, which stated
that "revelation builds" and
that the Jewish people take
"new m- itzvot upon ourse-
lves," was condemned by
Jacobs as "dangerous non-
sense, reflecting both the
ignorance and arrogance of
its authors, and violating
one of Maimonides' 13 basic
principles of Jewish faith."
He accused the drafters of
the statement with "delib-
erately distorting the mean-
ing of the biblical and tal-
mudic sources quoted in the
message, claiming credit for
themselves for laws and
practices which have al-
ways been part and parcel of
the Jewish tradition, and
misleading an ignorant
public as to the fundamen-
tal nature of the Torah trad-
ition."

Israel Improves
Tank, Missile

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TEL AVIV (JTA) — Ad-
vanced weaponry claimed
public attention in Israel
last week. A new, improved
model of the Israel-made
Merkava tank — the Mark
II — was unveiled at a pub-
lic ceremony at Latrun,
scene of a bitter battle dur-
ing Israel's war for inde-
pendence. And Israel Tele-
vision disclosed that an
Israel-manned American
Hawk missile downed a
Soviet-built MIG-25 fighter
over Beirut in August 1982.
The original version of
the Merkava (Chariot) tank
proved itself in action in
Lebanon according to Maj.
Gen .(res.) Israel Tal, the
man most responsible for
the design and production of
the tank. He said that new
model has a 30-50 percent
improved capability over
the old. It is more maneuv-
erable, better protected and
more accurate in its fire
power, Tal said.
According to Israel Tele-
vision, modifications and
special tactics worked out
by an Israeli technician
manning the Hawk battery
were responsible for the
MIG-25 kill.

.Israeli Hotel
Rates Lowered

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JERUSALEM (JNI) —
For the first time in 25
years, Israel's hotels have
lowered their prices.
Hotel Association Direc-
tor Moshe Amir told repor-
ters last month that 82 per-
cent of the country's hotels
had either reduced their
prices by 15-20 percent or •
kept the same prices as last
year. Amir said that the
new rates would be effective
from March 1984 to Feb-
ruary 1985.