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. 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 Editor and Publisher ALAN HITSKY News Editor CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ Business Manager HEIDI PRESS Associate News Editor DREW LIEBERWITZ Advertising Manager Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the 13th day of Kislev, 5744, the following scriptural selection will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Genesis 32:4-36:43. Prophetical portion, Hosea 11:7-12:12. Candlelighting, Friday, Nov. 18, 4:49 p.m. VOL. LXXXIV, No. 12 Page Four Friday, November 18, 1983 THANKING FOR BLESSINGS Inhumanities capture the headlines more speedily than good news. Horrors have brought sorrow into many hearts, creating gloom in many homes. Therefore, approaching the Thanksgiving festival there is cause for much reasoning regarding the values of a day that has truly been sanctified on the American calendar. Whatever the reservations, Thanksgiving predominates as a day on which to express gratitude for all that is worthy in human exist- ence. There are sorrows, but they are not of the deliberate making by human toward human. The indignities and the tragedies, the crimes and the bestialities, incessantly arouse the call to action for a better world, for a decent life, for a civilized society. There are the political implications not to be ignored. There is name calling to be regret- ted. The freedoms enjoyed supersede the con- trary, deny whatever is ugly, assure a common ground for a commonality of interests rooted in the American way of life and in fair play by all and for all. The liberties to be grateful for are not min- imal. Exemplary are the reactions to social challenges. The President, acting for his duly chosen administration, is undoubtedly sincere in his legislative programs, and many of his constituents disagree. It is the right to speak out and to criticize that is so glorious about the symbol evidenced in Thanksgiving. This applies to the foreign affairs issues. The President pursues policies which are not always acceptable or commendable. The critics are not silent. There is the right to criticize and to condemn. Therein lies the cause for thank- fulness. These are ideals that are applicable to Is-. rael where the differing views may arouse bit- terness as well as appreciation, and the minor- ity viewpoint is never stifled. Such are the roots of true democratic prin- ciples. Therein lies the glory of the day to be devoted to Thanksgiving. ISRAEL MEETS THE CHALLENGE Israel is tightening belts — the govern- ment's as well as the citizens'. Reducing the immense budget of $21.5 bil- lion by $2 billion, the economically-oppressed government hopes to solve one of its major prob- lems. In the process, educational services will be affected, subsidies will be reduced, there is con- cern over an impending unemployment prob- lem. Nevertheless, authoritative economists view the new economic program as a necessity and there is widespread belief that the problem can be solved. Israel enjoyed prosperity in many spheres and many of its citizens took advantage of it. Even the inflation ofapproximately 130 percent did not destroy Israel's industrial capacities. But the situation began to assume severe seri- ousness and the government had to take drastic steps in search of cures in an ailing situation. A society that enjoyed so much progress that perhaps a million Israelis were able to travel widely for vacations must be expected to cooperate in belt-tightening and acceptance of such obligations as payment for higher educa- tion for their children. These are problems for the Israelis and will surely be met properly. If Israel can avert an increase in the yerida, the exodus from the country, there will be a lessening of concerns. It is Diaspora Jewry that is especially af- fected by the new economic program, in the de- mands to be made for cooperation in assuring continuing educational and social services. Whatever obligations have been met in the past in both spheres become infinitesimal corn- pared with the duties to be formed now, under the new system. World Jewry cannot afford a collapse for Israel's universities. The new budget spells drastic reductions in subsidies ur- gent for their survival and they now become the urgent duty of Jewry, especially the American communities. The social services in Israel embrace the consideration given to the new settlers, espe- cially the immigrants from Russia. They affect the support provided for the elderly, the Project Renewal of the United Jewish Appeal as an aid to the less fortunate Sephardic communities. These must not be abandoned. Therefore, a new condition demands an added responsibility by world Jewry. It is primarily an obligation upon the largest Jewish community in the world, American Jewry. It is a duty to be fulfilled. Let it be remembered when the Allied Jewish Campaigners approach the thousands here who are so vital to Israel and are so important in solving her economic ills. A LEGACY OF HATE The 500th anniversary of the Martin Luther revolt which gained fame as the Refor- mation movement in Church history is gaining modern acclaim. It receives recognition even at the Vatican which was the first victim of Luther's rebellion. Now it is hailed in East Germany where religion is mainly scorned in Communist fashion. In the process, the worst of Luther's ideologies is being ignored. His anti-Jewish teachings were the mainstay of Hitlerian anti- Semitism. When Jews refrained from support- ing Luther, he became the leader in the most virulent forms of hatred against Jews. Such is the legacy not to be forgotten. These are friendships between Jews and Lutherans. These do not erase the legacies of hatred and the Luther teachings cannot be for- gotten. `In the Land of Light Photography as an Inspiration Portraying People of Israel A photograph often speaks louder than words. An accumulation of photographs about a nation is certain to depict it as a family. Rodney Smith, who has taught photography at Yale College, provides the proof in an impressive collection of photos under the title, "In the Land of Light: Israel, a Portrait of Its People" (Houghton- Miflin). With an introduction by Elie Wiesel, and a definitive statement on photography by the creator of this volume, this collected effort is about all the people in Israel. The human element dominates the Smith photos. They are of Israelis and of the people of all faiths who live in the Holy Land. Shepherds and city dwellers are depicted here, and they include the Sabras, the children and their elders. Those who live beside them are here. They are the Druzes, Armenian seminarians, they and their churches, the Ethiopian monk, pilgrims and patriarchs. It is a manifold portrayal, people at work and engaged in prayers. It was as a guest of the Jerusalem Foundation, on invitation from Mayor Teddy Kollek, that Rodney Smith spent three months with his family at Mishkenot Sha'anaim. That's where visiting writers and artists are hosted by the Jerusalem Foundation. From there began and developed the glorious theme in Smith's "In the Land of Light." Wiesel's comment is on the people portrayed here and in his introduction he asserts: "These men and women, these boys and girls, thrust forward onto the stage of history — they are the ones who, without knowing it, provide us with the one human justification without which it would be impossible to raise ourselves above defeat and tears. "Let us look at them as they live: perhaps the light that is shed will enlighten us." For photographers especially, Smith's message is a credo, a defi- nition of the art, the result of which is this immense work. Rodney Smith proclaims: "It is by the bow of a man's back, the way a woman moves her body, holds a cup, looks at me, by the way people dance and sing and laugh, that I understand them. I have a passion to get below the surface of things, to find an enduring essence. I want each of my photographs to express the underlying forces in life, each frame to be able to stand on its own. When a photograph succeeds for me, I feel that every inch of space is necessary. For these reasons, although I may spend hours in a place, I often shoot very little film. "I find I am always drawn to a subject: I may see something far away that excites me, even if it is only a sense of light or space. I run directly toward it and look through the viewfinder. I move closer or farther away in order to harmonize my relationship to the subject and to what I feel. "My passion for clarity is particularly manifest in the way I use a camera. Many photographers feel that, because the world is unclear, they have no obligation to make their photographs sharp. I agree that the world is unclear. Yet it is my compulsion to make the world as sharp as possible. By doing so, I try to expose more than is readily apparent. Thus I have some means of controlling chaos, if only by describing it. However, the acuity of a photograph does not always define life for me; detail sometimes reveals mystery." The photos in this volume truly fulfill this mission. For photo- graphers and lovers of art, Smith's work therefore emerges as an inspiration.