THE JEWISH NEWS
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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 25th day of Tevet, 5744, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Exodus 6:2-9:35.
Prophetical portion, Ezekiel 28:25-29:21.
Thursday, Rosh Hodesh Shevat, Numbers 28:1-15.
Candlelighting, Friday, Dec. 30, 4:55 p.m.
VOL. LXXXIV, No. 18
Page Four
SHANA TOVA
Friday, December 30, 1983
1984
No matter how miserable some of the recol- promise-making. While nearly all the candi-
lections of the passing, violence-filled 1983, for dates already campaigning for the highest posi-
1984 there is the traditional Happy New Year tion in the land are committed in principle to
— Shana Tova! — exchange of greetings. There Israel's needs, the blacks, women and others,
is always hope for improvement, confidence there will be accusations of vote-seeking tactics
that mankind will not sink into either despair and sincerities will be questioned. Often, under
or despotism.
such conditions, issues are muddied and ideals
The welcome to the new year nevertheless confused. More often than not, pledges are ex-
is marked by concern lest what had occurred in pected to be broken, and that's the vilest of polit-
the previous twelve-month will not repeat, in ical judging.
the hope that the new year will not be as terror-
Perhaps the campaigners need to be ad-
stricken. It was all of that, and the hopes with vised that he who casts the ballot is as shrewd as
which a crucial year is being welcomed is that the person being elected.
this nation and mankind, all the peoples of the
The Lebanese crisis is far from ended and in
earth, will have learned from experience.
1984 it may emerge as a challenge not merely to
There is so much to be learned that the the United States but more especially to Israel,
lessons of the past can not, must not, be spurned. in relation to the PLO threats and the Syrian
Humanity as such does not crave for wars, yet support of the terrorist anti-Israel intentions.
there is no end to them. Peoples of good faith Statesmanship will surely be under challenge
plead for peace, and there hasn't been much of in such processes and there is a prayerful an-
it. Therefore, the obligation for a measure of ticipation that those acting in behalf of the
understanding, of aspiration for an attainment Jewish people in the partnership with Israel
of respect and mutual understanding among will be wise and properly able to confront the
nations.
issues as they emerge.
A new year always carries with it the an-
Terrorism on a global scale was a major
anxiety in recent years. Will it remain so? Will ticipations regarding continuity of Jewish
the menace be tackled on an international spiritual and cultural commitments. How will
basis? There have been demands for action and youth react in the months and years ahead?
they were ignored, and it is on this score that the Will the involvement be positive? Will there be
world organization, the United Nations, stands a reduction in the indifference to Jewish needs,
condemned for bigoted approaches to human evident in so many ranks, and threatened by
and worldwide needs. Suffering from the domi- youth abnegations?
That's the major anxiety in the oncoming
nation of prejudiced groups which tragically
embrace the overwhelming majority of UN years and 1984 may be a crucial one in that
membership, every attempt to act in efforts to regard. Jewish movements are being put to the
stem terrorism has been negated and the horror test and their leaders are being eyes for the
results expected in behalf of the functioning
persists.
traditional needs, in support of Jewish educa-
Therein also is incorporated the misery of tion, in the quest for improved cultural aims.
Israel's role as the target for almost daily attack
Will the Jewish school and its teaching
by a combined force seeking the state's destruc- staffs be on the highest levels of the Jewish
tion. Therefore, the Israelis must remain cultural needs? Is there an anticipation of
strongly defensive.
multiplied identifications? Will American
Fortunately, there is the friendship with Jewish leadership rise up fully to the tasks im-
the United States that provides the encourage- plied in the Israel-U.S. friendship pacts?
ment so vitally needed by Israel in the confron-
The questions posed are not new. The an-
tation with so many enemies. The retention of swers may be in the routine functions. Never-
this friendship will surely continue one of the
theless, they exist, and if they are repetitive and
basic obligations, seriously involving American merely duplicate those of the year now ending,
Jewry.
then the demand for positive action is all the
As a Presidential election year, 1984 will be greater. The challenges can not be ignored.
CONSCIENCE BLOTTED
An opportunity to erase a blot on the con-
science of a great state was dismissed by the
Georgia Board of Pardons. For nearly seven de-
cades evidence had been gathered to call atten-
tion to the crime that was committed in that
state on demand with a crazed mob. A witness
who cleared his own conscience by confessing
after a long silence which had hidden the true
murderer from justice was denied attention.
The Ku Klux Klan regained power in the South
because its adherents had succeeded with their
cries of "Kill the Jew" (many shouted "Kill the
Jews!") and "Hang the Jew." The Anti-
Defamation League was created by the Bnai
Brith as a protest to this bigotry.
The world was reminded in the course of the
pardons commission's hearings that Jews had
fled from Georgia during that horrible misuse of
decency and justice. Yet Leo Frank's name has
not been cleared.
There is a new indictment — of a state
commission that lacked judgment and gave
comfort to bigotry! The failure to act honorably
abuses the memory of a great governor, John
Slaton, who was compelled to run from Georgia
because he recognized Frank's innocence.
"'EAU
Archeological Triumphs
in 'Discovering Jerusalem'
For more than 50 years Nahman Avigad devoted himself to
archeology and architecture and his major attainment was his recent
discovery of the Upper City ofJerusalem. This notable achievement is
depicted in an impressive record of archeological fascination in his
"Discovering Jerusalem" (Nelson Publishers).
Invited in 1969 to do the excavating of the Jerusalem Upper City,
the already widely-acclaimed archeologist Avigad was himself
amazed at the massive wealth of historical data that became avail-
able as a result of his immense task.
The current Avigad volume is the result of his and his team's
efforts in a most accurate history of the Holy City. The unearthing of
the Israelite Wall provides the data that is such a vast enrichment of
the newly made available historic records.
The many scores of photographs in this volume add to the thrills
in acquiring knowledge about the Holy City from the now emerging
authoritative source provided by the Avigad volume.
For more than a decade the Avigad-directed archeologists dug
and recovered the facts that were made available in the report pub-
lished in 1980 and now made available in translation from the He-
brew.
The manner in which Avigad describes the discovery of the
Jerusalem hidden treasures is related in an explanatory fashion
suitable for specialized studies as well as acquisition of the knowledge
made available for the average reader. The illuminating photo-
graphs, many in color, are of great assistance in attaining an under-
standing of the subjects depicted and the history related to them.
Covered in this volume are the periods of the First and Second
Temples, Byzantine Jerusalem and the Holy City in the Middle Ages.
From 70 CE, irrefutable evidence of the destruction ofJerusalem
is shown in the discovery of the "Burnt House," one of the evidentially
fascinating facts resulting from the Avigad archeological mission.
Among the discoveries related in "Discovering Jerusalem" are:
refuse from a Jewish glass factory, hailed as a discovery of revolution-
ary significance for technological research; the Cardio Maximus, the
magnificent colonnaded, portico-lined north/south street from the
Byzantine era; the Nea Church, one of the most significant buildings
of its age, built by the emperor Justinian in 543 CE; a rare Greek
inscription commemorating a structure built by Justinian (its patron
and donor) under the direction of Constantine (abbot of the Nea
monastery) 549-550 CE.
As the author-excavator states in summarizing the theme of this
volume, the Upper City ofJerusalem has been brought by Avigad and
his associates "out of the realm of oblivion and into the light of day,
adding new dimensions to the history of the city and its material
culture."
There is an assurance from the eminent archeologist that "future
excavations will continue to reveal the hidden treasures of the Holy
City."
The detailed experiences in acquiring the hidden facts add to the
thrills of sharing the labors conducted in excavations that have
yielded a wealth of records and historic knowledge.
Pointing to the many periods in history during which Jerusalem
witnessed wars and destruction, Avigad comments on the damage
imposed on the Jerusalem Jewish quarter during the Arab-Israel
wars of 1948 and thereafter, when sacred Jewish areas were de-
molished, and he rejoiced in the current reconstruction by quoting
Isaiah 52:9 as an emphasis on the redemption aspired to by Israel and
world Jewry.