2 Friday, November 11, 1983
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
.
Purely Commentary
What Has Happened to the
Tradition of the Beth Din?
Several pertinent questions call for explanations in
relation to a strike in this community.
\ Teachers from one of the most respected Jewish day
schools have been on strike for two months and the
picketing is attracting attention and curiosity.
A major cause for concern has been and undoubtedly
continues to the availability of qualified teachers for
Jewish schools. Have we become so enriched culturally that
this is no longer a problem?
Even if the answer is in the affirmative, one would
have to be totally blind not to be forced to the realization
that the quality of teachers also is rooted in experience,
that the well-trained should not be shunned and should be
encouraged to continue their devotion to learning. Any
school falls under challenge if it juggles its teaching staff,
and the encouragement of teachers of Hebrew falls into an
especially demanding quality.
A strike inevitably raises the question of arbitration.
While negotiating and coming to terms applies to all dis-
putes between management and labor — and it would be
utterly foolish to ignore such identifications even if applied
reluctantly to Hebrew scholars — the arbitration resort is
especially relevant to Jewish thinking.
There is an old tradition that must be taken into con-
sideration. It is avoidance of disputes that threaten the
washing of community laundry in public. It is the placing of
confidence in responsible people who should be able to
resolve differences. It is the resort to the tradition of the
Beth Din, of the communally-inspired court of law that is
really arbitration.
In the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, M. Wasman
defines the Beth Din:
BETH DIN ("court of justice"), a tribunal with
power to decide questions of criminal and civil
law. In accordance with the Biblical precept,
"Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all
thy gates" (Deuteronomy 16:18), civil courts were
set up in every village.
Criminal courts were set up only in cities
where there were at least 120 males. In addition,
there was the great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem,
meeting in the "hall of hewn stone" in the Temple,
and acting as the final court of consultation on all
matters affecting the law.
Courts of the Beth Din type were instituted in
Europe in the early Middle Ages, and the judges,
who numbered from three to five as a rule, were
elected by the community. In smaller com-
munities, however, there was but a single qual-
ified "dayyan."
In Italy and Germany litigation was usually
settled by arbitration; sometimes the rabbi of the
community presided. The Beth Din courts which
wielded the greatest authority were those in
countries where there were large Jewish masses,
such as medieval Spain, and Poland up to the end
of the 18th Century.
Is there an abandonment of the basic ideals inherent in
these principles?
Is the teaching profession to be dabbled with in dis-
putes that demand solution?
Will the issues responsible for a long school strike and
resort to picketing be ignored?
Established traditions call for consideration of the
questions raised and for the obligation to strive for solu-
tions.
Political Aggravations:
Senator Percy Among Them
A political battle that is developing into immense
proportions is accompanied by many aggravations. Candi-
dates and their contests often cause doubts, frequently ac-
companied by embarrassments, in Jewish ranks.
The mails are stacked with appeals for funds, and in
many instances attitudes on Israel enter into the reasoning
over financial support and taking sides. Fund raising is not
limited to the candidates in areas immediately affected.
Illinois Senator Charles Percy is a candidate
exemplifying the appeals one way or another. Until now
there have been only attacks on the Illinois Senator. Now
his candidacy for re-election is reaching into wider spheres.
Former U.S. Senator Jacob R. Javits re-enters the
political arena with a defense of his former colleague. He
has issued a message to voters in many states urging strong
backing for the man who had been condemned and is
labeled anti-Israel.
In the Javits appeal for Percy it is important to note
that he condemns Percy's opponent. Without mentioning
him by name he states in his lengthy message:
The nature of the attack by his prospective
opponent is made very clear in the allegation that
Senator Percy once called Arafat a moderate. In
fact, I have heard Senator Percy for many years in
the Foreign Relations Committee in public and
private sessions, and his attitude toward the PLO
Is an Established Jewish Tradition of
Mediation, by Resorting to Beth Din,
Being Abandoned Here in Akiva Strike?
and Arafat has been fully in accord with the pol-
icy that the United States should not deal with
them until they acknowledge Israel as a state and
end their terrorist and military activities against
Israel and its people. In addition it is my under-
standing that this allegation was thoroughly in-
quired into and dismissed as unfounded eight
years ago.
The congressman, Senator Percy's possible
primary opponent, wants the Jewish community
to support him at Senator Percy's expense. Yet
the record shows that this congressman voted
against economic aid authorizations to Israel in
1977 and 1978; against military and economic aid
authorizations to Israel in 1979 and 1980. He voted
against the foreign aid appropriations for Israel
in 1977, 1978, and 1979. And, even in 1982, he voted
against the continuing resolution which con-
tained nearly $2.5 billion in military and economic
assistance for Israel.
That's the record of the congressman who
suddenly appoints himself as a champion of Israel
and seeks to denigrate Senator Percy's 35-year
record of solid support for causes of importance
to the Jewish community.
This is presented here as an initial quotation from the
Javits letter because, in testing the man under attack, it is
relevant and valuable to know the merits of the opposition.
Vote-seeking is a tricky business, and where there is criti-
cism there should be presentation of facts not only justify-
ing the attacks but also judging the attacker.
So much for one of the candidates who strives to unseat
Senator Percy.
About Percy himself, Javits has this to say:
As a Senate colleague of Senator Charles
Percy for many years, I am very familiar with his
outstanding record of support for causes of par-
By Philip
Slomovitz
titular concern to the Jewish community. Senator
Percy has distinguished himself by his consistent
support for massive economic and military assis-
tance for Israel, by his early and active opposition
to the Arab boycott, by his leadership in the effort
to redeem Soviet and Ethiopian Jewry, and by his
opposition to actions hostile to Israel in interna-
tional organizations. He is now chairman of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, one of the
most powerful posts in the United States Con-
gress.
Because of my personal experience with Sen-
ator Percy for the last 25 years, even before he
came to the Senate, and the quality of his service
to Illinois and the nation, I am appalled by the
outrageous attack being made against him by the
man who may oppose him in the primary next
year . . .
I have seen Senator Percy at work over the
years in the Foreign Relations Committee and
know the quality of his service. One does not have
to agree with all his views to know that Senator
Percy represents the very best in American polit-
ical life. He is a man worthy of our respect and
support. He is a humanitarian much honored for
his dedicated support for human rights, civil
rights and civil liberties.
I urge you to reject the hostile contentions of
his prospective primary opponent.
Senator Percy has my support for renomina-
tion and re-election. And I firmly believe he de-
serves yours.
In the testing of attacks, as well as judgements, both
sides of a vital issue must be considered. Facts must speak
loudly. Serious blunders can ,be committed if anger and
exaggerations are to be the basis for evau,lating candidates
for the most important official positions in the land. This is
a time to avoid and 'prevent blundering.
Jews of Berlin: 2 Communities
By MILTON JACOBY
WEST BERLIN (JTA) —
More than a wall separates
the Jewish communities of
West and East Berlin; they
seem poles apart in terms of
beliefs and objectives, atti-
tudes and communication.
Perhaps nowhere else in the
Diaspora are the differences
so striking in contiguous
Jewish groups, a conclusion
reached by this reporter
after a 12-day visit to this
pivotal region.
Of the 28,000 Jews in
West Germany, 6,500 live
in West Berlin. However,
almost half of the Jewish
West Berliners have emi-
grated from the Soviet
Union within the past five
or 10 years and "they play
no great role in the commu-
nity becauSe they were
alienated for so many
years," according to Heinz
Galinski, director of the
Gemeinde (Jewish commu-
nity).
Galinski and his East Be-
rlin counterpart, Dr. Peter
Kirchner, never communi-
cate.
It seems quite evident
that West Berlin Jewry
may be in a sound finan-
cial and political condi-
tion, but its moral and
psychological well-being
is open to question. At the
same time, East Berlin
Jewry, now a pitiful rem-
nant of some 200 "de-
clared" Jews, is manag-
ing bravely, but will in-
evitably decline to 100
within the next five to
eight years, and probably
be extinct before the turn
of the century.
_Kirchner, 48, who works
as a doctor in a large hospi-
tal, has been head of the
East ...Berlin,, Gemeinde , for
the past 12 years. He is pes-
simistic about the future of
his 204-member group, but
he works steadily with the
84 younger people (those
under the age of 60). They
meet for services in a chapel
of the Peace Temple (Re-
form) in the Rykerstrasse,
built in 1904 for 2,000 Jews
and destroyed during the
Kristallnacht.
Kirchner calculates that
for every "registered Jew"
in East Germany, there are
10 others who are "closet
Jews" because of Com-
munist Party membership '
or careers in government
service. He estimates the
presence of another 200 "de-
clared Jews" in seven other
East German cities, includ-
ing Leipzig, Dresden and
Halle, all of whom are per-
mitted to observe their
faith.
The German Democratic
Republic (GDR) grants the
Jews of East Berlin 170,000
Marks to maintain the
synagogue, community cen-
ter, library and old-age
home. As for the Weissensee
Cemetery, with 115,000
graves, the state authorities
spend 100,000 Marks for
maintenance and dispense
millions of Marks to repair
the dilapidated walls
encircling the celebrated
cemetery. Classical Hebrew
is taught at Humboldt Uni-
versity as part of its Middle
Eastern studies, by Prof.
Heinrich Simon.
Kirchner has friendly
relations with the Secre-
tary of State for Religious
Affairs, a half-Jew who
ceased practicing
Judaism after 1939, and
he is also on most cordial
terms with the Magis-
trate of East Berlin, who
dispenses civic funds for
its handful of Jewish citi-
zens.
Some of the elderly Jews
are permitted by the GDR to
visit Israel, but the remain-
der are discouraged from
doing so. It seems apparent
that East Berlin Jews con-
sider themselves to be Ger-
man first. They are recon-
ciled to live out their lives in
the GDR, and thoughts, of
Israel can rarely be put into
practice, except through the
medium of prayer and ob-
servance.
Kirchner told this re-
porter that there is little
overt anti-Semitism, no de-
secration of temple or
cemetery, and that no secu-
rity is employed or needed.
One cannot but help ad-
mire the tenacity of Kir-
chner and his tiny brand of
members in struggling to
keep the torch of Judaism
alive and glowing in an
alien region that was but a
generation ago a strong bas-
tion of world Jewry.
On the other side of the
wall, Rabbi Ernest Stein,
who ministers to the reli-
gious needs of West Ber-
lin's Reform Jews — by
far the largest denomina-
tion, numbering at least
4,000 — insisted that "we
are not a community, but
an organization. We have
no inner vitality as a
group, we have no real
peace of mind. We are
stagnant, hovering as we
do between conviction
that it was right to return
to Berlin, and our feeling
of impermanence and in-
security.
"Our future as a viable
force. is still very, ,mach in
doubt. Most of our people
are elderly, with no possible
natural increase. Assimila-
tion and intermarriage are
reducing our numbers as
well. Unemployment and
economic problems aggra-
vate the situation, and the
thin veneer of good will on
the part of non-Jews cracks
when, as during the war in
Lebanon, a wave of anti-
Jewish sentiment came to
the fore, including obscene
telephone calls and dis-
torted reporting on TV and
in the press."
Stein, who Spent his first
years in Mannheim, Ger-
many, and left in 1940, has
lived in Israel, New York
and London. He is an in-
tense, charismatic figure,
and speaks out bluntly and
vigorously on all pertinent
issues, including Israel. A
severe critic of Israel's cur-
rent administration, he in-
sists that it is "my right and
duty to criticize Israel when
it does something wrong,
just as I would criticize a
member of my family for
some objectionable ac-
tivity." Unlike some of his
colleagues, he has excellent
relations with the East Be-
rlin Jewish community, and
gives it every support.
At least on the material
level, the West Berlin com-
munity is a great success.
Its 6,500 members enjoy ac-
cess to four synagogues.
There is a fine kindergarten
and a day center for older
children, an old-age home, a
senior citizen center, an in-
stitute for adult education,
all types of cultural activi-
ties, a youth center, an im-
posing community center in
the Fasanenstrasse housing
a fine library.