THE JEWISH NEWS tusps275 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 each Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, MI 48075-4491 Postmaster: Send address changes to The Jewish News, 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, MI 48075-4491 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 22nd day of Adar I, 5744, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Exodus 35:1-38:20. Prophetical portion, I Kings 7:40-50. Candlelighting, Friday, Feb. 24, 6 p.m. VOL. LXXXIV, No. 26 Page Four Friday, February 24, 1984 THE TERRORIZED WORLD Whatever the result of the state of horror in scene. That's what happened with Mubarak in Lebanon, no matter what the effects on futu re Washington and he served as one of the poison- international developments, however the m is- spreading evil-doers in a nasty situation. eries affect Israel, situations change so rapid ly, This is not a major factor. It looms in impor- so frequently, that prophecy assumes naive te. tance because a person who could have helped An old Yiddish saying that "a Novi is a Nar — a create a peaceful atmosphere added bitterness prophet is a fool," summarizes the current pr e- in a disruptive atmosphere. dicaments. Prophets emerge as people wi th * * * visions fulfilled — when they guess right the re So many factors are involved in what is is real fulfillment. But only then! happening that it is impossible to separate the Therefore the realism is not judging t many evils. quickly, not prejudging when the situation is oo so There is a suicidal diplomacy in the Middle grave. East that is no help. It may lead to many wars, Therefore recognition of an indisputab logic uttered by Secretary of State George le some already raging. It would be calamitous if it at . forced Israel into additional conflicts. Shultz: "I can't resist using that old image th P the light you see at the end of the tunnel may be There is -no avoiding horrible confronta- the train coming toward you." tions in which Syria proceeds to acquire the That horrendous threat has been comin g power and the territory that is its aim. The toward Jews through the centuries, with nev er Syrian record of mass murders and indifference an era without a crisis. Therefore, the Je w to world public opinion is so horrifying. should consider himself well-prepared for th e Who can predict the result of the Iranian- oncoming calamities. The regrettable fact is Iraqi war and its effects on the entire Middle that the world hasn't learned that lesson. East, with the additional danger of a Khomei- Therefore, the lack of preparedness. Ther e _ nian domination in Lebanon? fore, the disrespect for agreements and treatie The entire world is in danger, in the admon- and approaches to peace. Only the quest fo ✓ ition of Secretary Shultz, of a train coming power dominates. Only the selfish motives ar e toward it at the end of a tunnel. It can be applied paramount in what should be an adherence t O to the entire Middle East most effectively. It is highest principles in human relations but in experienced by Israel. Addressing the Confer- stead becomes a predominance of fratricide an d ence of Presidents of Major American. Jewish terror. Organizations in Jerusalem last week, Israel It is not an exaggeration: the entire world i s Minister of Defense Moshe Arens warned the terrorized. Else, why would an aim for peace b e Druze and Shiite communities in Lebanon sacrificed in the brutalized Lebanon where against an alliance with the PLO and that it every effort at creating good will would lead to was "bound to bring us (Israel) into conflict with benefits for the Islamic as well as Christian two communities with whom we had no conflicts communities? whatsoever." An even more serious question leads to That's what's happening: unnecessary con- Cairo. No other people has benefited as much flicts are being created and trouble spreads from from a Jewish emphasis on good will and the need for peace than Egypt. Many lives were lost such sources. That's the contributing Mubarak evil. That's the comfort given to the PLO and on her borders prior to 1977. Then came a man Arafat. Perhaps that's what panics Hussein who himself was all-too-often brutalized in the media under a portrayal of terrorism — even if he meets and fraternizes with Mubarak and the President of the United States. Menahem Begin — and together with another man, who had continually spoken of downgrad- That's why it is so difficult to emphasize ing Israel — Anwar el Sadat — they succeeded accusations of failures at the United States. In in ending warfare between two nations: Israel the accumulating guilt there is a multiplicity of gained from it because it prohibited slaughter. identifications. Because the democratic powers Egypt gained as much and more: an end to war kept bowing to an inhuman PLO and to those casualties and the attainment of territory — advocating Israel's destruction, they are now Sinai — and acquisition of oil wells. themselves victims of a world terror that causes casualties everywhere. Because, contrary to But a successor to Sadat added more to tur- warnings, the United States has given a meas- bulence than many other persons in the era of ure of influence to the Saudis, the oil-rich sul- horror. Hosni • Mubarak came to Washington tans contribute to a failure in cementing good and betrayed a great trust, a peace pact. He had will. already embraced the PLO's chief who was ousted only a short time ago from Syria. He Because of all such occurrences, Israel dined with the Jordanian king whose earlier would be joining in suicidal pacts if it did not relationships were solid irritations. He advo- utilize every means available for self-defense, cated, to the embarrassment of his hosts in this always having in view the admonition when nation's capital, negotiations with Arafat. Then dealing with possible antagonists: "kabdehu he rushed back to Cairo, apparently to continue v'hashdehu — respect and suspect." what may well be termed a betrayal of a great That's when divisiveness raises an ugly trust. head. In Jewish ranks it must be rejected. There There is another old Yiddish saying about has to be a unified effort constantly to be on evil, that an irresponsible person will spread guard lest the oncoming train in a tunnel prove disruptive gossip and then run away from the destructive. History of Conservative Judaism in Current Phase On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the United Synagogue of America, the Conservative congregational movement has issued an historical record of Conservative Judaism in this country. In a volume entitled "Conservative Judaism: A Contemporary History," Dr. Herbert Rosenblum, who was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary, points out that Conservative Judaism had its foundation in the Haskala movement in the latter part of the 10th Century with roots in Die Wissenschaft des Judentum. In this country it had its foundation in the reorganization of the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1902. From 22 congregations, the Conservative move- ment has grown to 800 congregations in the United States. Thus, this volume also has a share in the tracing of the history of the seminary commencing with the important role played by Dr. Solomon Schechter. The Rosenblum histdrical record deals with tendencies as well as personalities. It also utilizes figures regarding the affiliated, and in that respect there may be some disputes, especially from the Or- thodox. Dr. Rosenblum contends: "Having, by 1965, forged to the front ranks of national Jewish movements, with a membership in its 800-plus congregations of about 1,500,000 Jews, the Conservative movement now began to experience a distinct easing of its rate of growth, and of the success of its institu- tional programming. In that year, a typical demographic study showed that 44 percent of American Jews self-identified as Conserva- tive, compared with 27 percent Reform and 16 percent Orthodox. By 1970, the National Jewish Population Study showed this figure as being 40 percent, and by 1974, the above demographic study, in a 10-year follow-up, revealed that only 35 percent self-identified as Conservative, with Reform having climbed to 34 percent and Or- thodoxy having slipped to 5 percent. It should be noted that Dr. Rosenblum makes reference to an ear- lier book, "Architects of Conservative Judaism" by the former Detroiter Rabbi Herbert Parzen who, after a half-century in the rabbinate, has just resumed his residence in Detroit. Rabbi Parzen dealt extensively with the activities of three of the Jewish Theological Seminary presidents, Sabbato Morais, Solomon Schechter and Cyrus Adler. Dr. Rosenblum, describing the trends and tendencies of Conservative Judaism, deals extensively with the developing activities of the Rabbinical RABBI ADLER Assembly Committee on Jewish Law and Standards. The late Rabbi Morris Adler who, as chairman of that committee, made this statement at the Rabbinical Assembly conven- tion in 1948: "We must face the truth that we have been halting between fear and danger; fear of the Orthodox and dange -r of Reform. We have set our watches by their timepieces. The time has come for our emergence from the valley of indecision. We must move forward to a stage in which Conservative Judaism revolves about an axis of positive and unambiguous affirmations. This will require a measure of boldness and vision on our part which, as a movement, I am sorry to say we have not thus far manifested."