Jewish Book Fair Opens This. Weekend at the Center
Detailed stories on Pages 16-17.
Mediation
and Beth Din
Precedents:
Are They
Lost Causes?
I
Betrayals and
Deceptions
as Dominant
Forces in the
Middle East
THE JEWISH NEWS
A Weekly Review
of Jewish Events
Editorial, Page 4
Commentary, Page 2
Copyright © The Jewish News Publishing Co.
VOL. LXXXIV, No.. 11
17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 424-8833
$18 Per Year: This Issue 40c
November 11, 1983
Cabinet OKs Major Reforms
to Fix Ailing Israel Economy
Remembering the Terror
of Night of Broken Glass
By ERIC GUTWILLIG
—
World Zionist Press Service
There were two knocks on our door but knocks were heard at all
hours of the night and in towns and villages all over Germany, just 45
years ago. Ours wasn't a gentle knock. Rather it was a wild and furious
banging at our front door. Wherever Jews in Germany had the misfor-
tune to be found, the story was the same.
Two days previously, on Nov. 7, 1938, Hershl Grynszpan had killed
a German official, Ernst vom Rath, at the German Embassy in Paris.
The Germans had been waiting for just such an opportunity to serve as
a pretext to carry out pogroms and mass arrests all over Germany.
They set about their inhuman mission with relish and enthusiasm,
backed by thesorganizational ability and thoroughness for which they
were famous.
First rumors of the night arrests reached Jewish households
on the evening of Nov. 9. Some Jews had heeded the warning
signals of the years since the Nazis' rise to power and had left
Germany. Many others had deluded themselves that the mass
hooliganism perpetrated by the Nazis was a passing phase.
"How," they reasoned, "could a civilized people like the Ger-
mans tolerate this sort of barbarianism for any length of time?"
And now, suddenly, they were confronted by a new reality — a ring
at the front door would send a shudder of fear through the whole family.
When someone found the courage to open it they were likely to find a
(Contin'ued on Page 6)
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Israeli Cabinet on Monday approved a
sweeping program of economic reforms proposed by Finance Minister Yigal
Cohen-Orgad which includes sharp tax hikes for 'higher income brackets and
reductions in government expenditures.
The goal of the program, according to Cohen-Orgad, is to slash the
national budget by $2 billion and to brace the country for a period of high
unemployment and economic austerity.
Most of the measures will remain in force for 10-15 months but the
government has the option to extend them if the economic situation
warrants. Several of them will take effect immediately. Others must be
approved by the Knesset Finance Committee.
One of the most controversial among the latter is doubling the exit tax
_
Cohen Orgad
from $50 to $100 for Israelis who wish to travel abroad. That measure,
originally proposed by Cohen-Orgad's predecessor, Yoram Aridor, was blocked by the Finance
Committee at the time. •
Other changes announced after a lengthy special session of the Cabinet raise the income tax
rate from 60 to 66 percent for persons who
earn 250,000 Shekels a month $3,000) at
the September Shekel value. Cohen-
Orgad had asked for a 70 percent rate. The
one agreed to was a compromise. Govern-
ment officials said it would affect.only one
By ALAN HITSKY
percent of the population.
Striking teachers at Akiva Hebrew Day School
Broader areas of the population will
have stopped picketing the school and ended their
feel
the
bite of a new tax to be paid on child
strike with an unconditional offer to return to work.
allowances to families of up to three chil-
They admit that it is an effort to obtain unemploy
dren whose breadwinner is in the 50 per-
ment_ compensation and back pay in the event of
cent tax bracket. A tax has also been levied
rulings favorable to the teachers from the Michigan
Employment Relations Commission (MERC).
on the income of pensioners who take early
retirement.
Following last Thursday's negotiations, the
There will be a monthly 700
teachers announced that they were "collapsing" their
picket line officially after nine weeks. The teachers
Shekel fee ($10) for families with chil-
hope to obtain a favorable ruling from MERC on their
dren attending school and a cut in car
contention that Akiva has engaged in unfair labor
allowances for civil servants. A health
practices during the contract negotiations. A MERC
insurance tax was also approved but
hearing is scheduled to begin Dec. 5, but a spokesman
details were not immediately an-
for the school said it could be many months before
nounced.
MERC hands down a decision. If MERC's decision
favors the teachers, the strikers would have to be
Government officials no longer deny
re-hired, with back pay to last Friday.
that a rise in unemployment is imminent.
One of Cohen-Orgad's measures approved
Steve Cohen, a member of the school's
-
Teachers' Strike
Impasse at Akiva
(Continued on Page 5)
(Continued on Page 3)
50th Anniversary of Football Team
Detroit Lions' Golden Years Recalled
By AID KUSHNER
(Editor's note: This article coincides with the 50th season of the
Detroit Lions in the National Football League.)
Although my first name is really Aid, I was known as Abe during my
seven years as a trainer of the Detroit Lions, beginning with the first team
in 1934.
My responsibilities included the physical and mental condition of each
player, rookie or veteran, purchasing and maintaining the playing uni-
forms, training equipment, training camp, proper diet, travel ar-
rangements, attitudes, morale (comradeship they had), little brother, big
brother, father, etc.
It wasn't as difficult as it reads. The fellows wanted to be part of the
game. They were paid, most of them, $100 per game. If they started the
game, they expected to play the entire 60 minutes.
These photographs show the Fasanenstrasse Synagogue in
Berlin, before and after Kristallnacht — the Night of Broken
Glass — Nov. 10, 1938. Nazi gangs set fire to 191 German syna-
gogues, completely destroying 76, and the roving thugs killed
1,000 German Jews.
That first team won their first seven games by shutouts. They still
hold several league offensive and defensive records.
We traveled by train and thought it was great. It was!, especially when
we had our own train.
(Continued on Page 10)
AID KUSHNER