2 Friday, May 25, 1984 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS PURELY COMMENTARY PHILIP SLOMOVITZ The eminent Bayard Rustin answers the vocal critics of a Holocaust memorial The eminence of Bayard Rustin, a leading member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, who has the distinc- tion of being chairman of one of the leading black move- ments, the A. Philip Randolph Institute, provides the necessary defense for the urgent need of the proposed Holocaust Center in Washington. A doubt on that score which was quoted here as a criticism of the proposal is refuted by survivors from Nazism and in an especially impressive response to the critics by Bayard Rustin, who wrote to the New York Times: It is, of course, true that Israel serves as a kind of Holocaust memorial. Yad Vashem in Jerusalem is a splendid museum which never fails to move visitors from all nations and faiths. However, this does not mean that America, the leader of the free world, does not need a national Holocaust museum, archive and educational cen- ter. Most who visit Washington will never have an opportunity to be in Jerusalem. Be- sides, at the center of democracy, our citi- zens and visitors need dramatic reminders of the horrors of World War II, and especially a firm resolve to use our strength and wis- dom to assure that the outrages of the Nazi era are never repeated against any people. Bayard Rustin As the home of the largest number of Jewish citizens in the world, and as the leader of the Allied Forces that de- feated Hitler and liberated the death camps, it can hardly be said that America has no direct concern with the Holocaust. Considering our role in world culture and world geopolitics, it is very far from an "empty gesture" to memorialize the victims of what is perhaps mankind's worst tragedy. On several occasions, both President Carter and President Reagan as well as high personages in our country — Christian and Jew, black and white, survivor and liberator — have expressed their realization of the importance of an institu- tion on democracy's "sacred ground" to com- memorate and to remind. Expressing confidence that a Holocaust memorial museum would constantly attract attention from Ameri- cans of all faiths and races, the Rustin defense of the pro- posed memorial center is couched also in the following: A Holocaust memorial museum is not only for Jews. As Prof. Elie Wiesel has frequently stated: "Though all Jews were victims, not all victims were Jews." Blacks cannot forget Hitler's per- nicious doctrines of racial . superiority, or his treatment of Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Christians who forget his ultimate plans for all organized religions do so at their own peril. The museum will stand as a warning against hatred and dehumanization, whoever is the vic- tim. The eloquence in this defense of an important project which has gained official endorsement, from President Reagan and an overwhelming Congressional sentiment, contributes impressively toward continuing support of the similar Holocaust museum soon to be dedicated in this community. If the doubts about the need for the center have any substance, it is overwhelmed by the Bayard Rustin invitation for support of the projected memorials aimed at never forgetting" the horrors so that they may never be repeated. New York Times feature, appearing on the Washington Talk page, entitled "Briefing," a few days ago published this revealing item: The Congressional Record, the official daily transcript of the proceedings and debates in the House and the Senate, is thought by many to be a verbatim transcript of what takes place. In fact, members of Congress have long been allowed to revise their utterances in the interests of grammar and clarity before the Record goes to press. Representative Robert S. Walker, a Pennsylvania Republican who is known as a gadfly, even a carper, on the Hill, says the privilege of reviewing one's remarks is being mightly abused and the result is that the Congres- sional Record is not the reliable document it should be. In verbatim remarks in a recent issue of the Record that irritated more than a few of his peers, Mr. Walker said that revisions had become so ex- tensive that the Record has become "distorted in its content and quite often inaccurate." This whole process of alteration and distor- tion takes place under a cover of secrecy since no one is permitted access to legislative transcripts before the Record is printed," Mr. Walker said. "The result is disastrous. The public often is pro- vided deception rather than truth about Congres- sional proceedings: What we are talking about is truth. The U.S. House of Representatives hardly can be expected to be trusted if it has little regard for the truth and its records have little acquain- tance with the truth." If this can happen to the records of the chief legislative body of the United States, one can imagine how devastating to truth can be the right granted or assumed by legislators. Perhaps this can also happen in the judiciary. Then, woe unto the historic records of any government or nation! The factors regarding historic truths need to be studied, with an aim to their protection at all times. The current era is especially challenging. If hatemongers are permitted to distort the facts about the Holocaust, as some anti-Semites are still trying, in this country and in Great Britain, then accuracy in historical records can be doomed. Therefore, the need to protect truth rather than wait for the uncertainties of research. The movements are afoot at this time in many com- munities to encourage the gathering of records and chronicling them for the generations to come. Delays in compiling such data can lead to loss of dependable documentaries and also to factual distortions. This may serve as advice for historians in this community who are aiming to retain the facts about Jews who have made con- tributions here and who have given this community sub- stance. There is a fortunate relieving factor. Emer ging on the scene are academicians like Prof. Arnold Ages of Waterloo (Ontario) University, who dependably researches into Jewish history in his commendable contributions to Jewish journalism and history. The shortcomings, therefore, are not a lost cause. The Chosen People terminology: Sidney Harris' interpretations invite authoritative comment Popular columnist Sidney Harris, who occasionally in- serts negatives and the ultra-controversial in relation to Jewish interpretations, was exceptionally positive in his recent columns which the Free Press entitled "Chosen People wear a yoke, not a superiority complex." That essay properly defined the idea of Jewish chosenness, which is so often misjudged with accusatory views that often lead to judging Jews as arrogant, as superiority-claimants. While Harris did well by his subject, there are the authoritatively traditional views which often need defin- ing the strictly Jewish way. That's how the "Attah Behar- tanu" — "Thou hast chosen us" — should be viewed. Dr. Philip Birnbaum, the eminent scholar, in his • widely-acclaimed A Book of Jewish Concepts, which con- tinues among the most important works issued by the He- brew Publishing Co., provides the desired definition. He Protection for historical explains at the outset: records ... protecting them from In the festival Amidah prayer, the contents of the abuses and distortions paragraph attah b'hartanu (thou hast chosen us) are History always needs protection from distortions as based on many biblical passages that keep re- well as from omissions which can destroy the very meaning minding the people of Israel that they have been of human experience. chosen by God to be his witnesses, his kingdom of Often even the most scrutinizing research can fail priests, a beacon of light and truth to the nations either to expose tampering with records or retaining the of the earth: "You are a people holy to the Lord truth that is vital to retention of facts. your God, who has chosen you from all the na- A very interesting and frequently fact-exposing daily " r unulri; rairi$ tions on the face of the earth to be his own posses- sion . ." (Deuteronomy 14:2). However much they may have fallen short of their duty, however much they may have neg- lected to remain fruitful to their sacred task, they have not been deposed from the office to which they were appointed. It is the election of Israel that enters into consideration as an ideal as it relates to the Chosenness leading to the goals of attaining the highest ethical codes and human values for all mankind. The Attah Behartanu essay by Rabbi Birnbaum reaches the high levels defined by Rabbi Birnbaum. ften As Birnbaum defines the election of Israel, m' referred to as The Chosen: Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook describes the af- fection for the people of Israel at sacred, derived from a high and divine source .. . The best thinking of various Jewish theolo- gians on the subject of the election of Israel may well be summed up as follows. Only in Israel did the ethical monotheism exist; and wherever else it is found later on, it has been derived directly or indirectly from Israel. The term election of Israel expresses merely a historical fact. Israel feels it- self chosen, not as a master but as a servant. It separates itself from others only for the purpose of uniting them. The people of Israel affirm not that they are better than others, but that they ought to be better. Judaism differs from all other religions in that it is neither the creation of one great moral teacher nor seeks to typify the moral and spiritual sublimity in a single person. The entire people must bear the stamp of holiness. God's selection of Israel does not imply any inequality or favoritism. Of the stars perhaps only one has planets. Of the planets, only one is at all likely to sustain organic life. Of the animals, only one species is rational. The same selective process appears also in operation in human history. The whole human history would seem to show that God prefers one person Wefore another. There are differences of mind, body, gifts. One man appears to be more favored than his fellow, more clever, more beautiful, more prosperous. Higher attain- ment means higher responsibility. So, this appar- ent inequality and favoritism which Israel's selec- tion implied was but designed to afford them greater opportunity for service. A Biblical expression similar in thought to the idea of a chosen Israel is to be found in I Chronicles 17:21, where King David declares: "There is none like thee, 0 Lord, and there is no God besides thee . . . What other nation on earth is like Thy people . .." In the passage "Thou art One," which forms part of the Amidah for Sabbath afternoon, David's utterance is quoted along with a reference to the prophecy: "On that day the Lord shall be the only One, and His name the only One" (Zechariah 14:9). This implies that mankind will at a certain future time understand the sig- nificance of universal unity and brotherhood and be free from past errors concerning the essence of God. The election of Israel and the Oneness of God are closely related concepts which blend into one aspiration and ideal for a united mankind. It is to the credit of Sidney Harris that he truly ad- vanced the historically realistic approach to this oft- debated theme when he stated in his column: This role of The Chosen People" has been so much misunderstood — willfully or not — that Gentiles ignorant of the Bible story have assumed it stood for a self-appointd "honor" the Jews to themselves, which conferr a sense of superiority, rather Sidney Harris than a yoke they were suffered to bear until the day of redemption. Ironically, the early Christians suffered much the same way — their Roman overlords found it incomprehensible that the Christian savior should,be born Jewish in an obscure village in a remote province of the empire, and apparently lacking the power to escape crucifixion. The one choice of Jehovah was as inscrutable as the other, but history has dictated that only the Jews have continued to pay the price. Due credit to Sidney Harris, therefore, for genuine_- ' scholarship. That's what makes his newspaper column so deservedly popular.