4 Friday, June 22, 1984 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS THE JEWISH NEWS Serving Detroit's Metropolitan Jewish Community with distinction for four decades. Editorial and Sales offices at 17515 West Nine Mile Road, Suite 865 Southfield, Michigan 48075-4491 TELEPHONE 424-8833 PUBLISHER: Charles A. Buerger EDITOR EMERITUS: Philip Slomovitz EDITOR: Gary Rosenblatt — BUSINESS MANAGER: Carmi M. Slomovitz ART DIRECTOR: Kim Muller-Thym NEWS EDITOR: Alan Hitsky LOCAL NEWS EDITOR: Heidi Press EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Tedd Schneider OFFICE STAFF: Marlene Miller Dharlene Norris Phyllis Tyner Pauline Weiss Ellen Wolfe ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Drew Lieberwitz Rick Nessel Danny Raskin Seymour Schwartz PRODUCTION: Donald Cheshure Cathy Ciccone Curtis Deloye Ralph Orme (c) 1984 by The Detroit Jewish News (US PS 275-520) Second Class postage paid at Southfield, Michigan and additional mailing offices. Subscription $18 a year. CANDLELIGHTING AT 8:53 P.M. VOL. LXXXV, No. 17 Year of Maimonides An historic date, marking the anniversary of one of the very great savants in the records of Jewish experience, is an event for worldwide recognition. The 850th anniversary of Moses Maimonides, the great codifier ofJewish law whose views and interpretations continue to dominate Jewish studies, makes the current year an occasion for observance in Jewish communities everywhere. Moses Maimonides was born in 1135 in Cordoba, Spain, on the eve of Passover, and the celebration of the 850th year since his birth commenced on the Passover of this year and will continue until the Passover of 1985. Some communities have already begunto observe the event, and it is to the credit of the Chabad Lubavitch movement in this community that it was among the initiators of the observances. . On the local scene, the daily Chabad radio programs — with the exception of the Sabbaths and holidays — emphasize the philosophic teachings of Maimonides and inspire questions on the many subjects covered in the Maimonidean scholarly legacies. Thus, a very important purpose is served both in retaining the interest in interpretative scholarship, in the guidance provided in confrontations with commandments that need authoritative defining. It is not only in benefiting from Maimonides' Guide to the Perplexed but also in the perpetuated commentaries On vital Jewish matters as well as on the status of Jews throughout the world in the time of Maimonides — as in hisLetter to the Jews of Yemen — that the great scholar of more than eight centuries ago now draws renewed inspiration from the celebrants who give emphasis to his name. The role played by the Detroit Lubavitch movement ,in this inspiring celebration merits commendation. • Pride in fair play Interpretation of the latest developments in American political activities as an experience in moral pollution, especially in relation to ethnic and racial aspects, is cause for concern and a compulsion to render deeper study to the continuing activities. Especially disturbing is the prevailing view that anti-Semitism has become a major issue in the Presidential election and the repetitive references to the bigoted aspects of an embittered campaign therefore adds to the mounting aggravations. It is undeniable that the sensationalized prejudicial elements in an American political contest assume a role of ugliness. There is, however, a much more repulsive factor that needs to be considered. A supporter of one of the candidates for the Democratic Presidential nomination stooped to warning that in two years there will be a racial war in this land. That resort to prophecy did not state that such calamitous events "may" occur. It was stated as inevitability. Since it was predicted on a racial basis, condemnation of it must come from racially affected elements in the population. Anyone, black or white, uttering such a prediction, must be relegated to the irrational in the American society. There is such a blessing as fair play that always dominates the American spirit. This principle is applicable to all Americans. The indestructible principle remains a guiding code for all Americans. Therefore, the fears injected by the intrOduced prejudices must be judged as intolerable. Their very injection in a political campaign is inexcusable. Fair play remains. the guiding spirit for this nation. 00. V. 0 .• Argentina elections may trigger revolution in Jewish community BY DR. JUDITH LAIKIN ELKIN Special to The Jewish News The democratization of Argen- tina, which has produced a tremen- dous explosion of political and artis- tic energy on the national scene, has provided the context for possible democratization of the Jewish com- munity of Buenos Aires as well. For the first time in decades, there has been a serious challenge to the exist- ing leadership of the AMIA (Associa- tion Mutual Israelita Argentina). Call it a confrontation, call it a rebellion, call it a demand for re- newal, it is a political opening long AMIA is the most venerable, the most comprehensive, and certainly the most visible of Jewish organizations. desired, too long postponed, and one not likely to close up before positive results have been achieved. AMIA, successor to the Khevra Kadishe Ashkenazi of this city, has been the "address" of the Jewish Community of Buenos Aires for close to a century. Although it holds itself to be modelled on the acient kehillah of Poland, it is nowhere near as all- encompassing. It never included the Sephardim, and congregations other than the Orthodox have had no say in its governance. In the 1950's AMIA excluded the communists, and in the seventies, a new generatimi of leftists and activists abandoned the kehillah in order to plunge into national poli- tics. Still, at 90 years of age, and 28,000 members, AMIA is the most venerable, the most comprehensive, and certainly the most visible of Jewish organizations. In one of the stranger quirks of Dr. Judith Laihin Elkin is a professor of history at the University of Michigan and president of the Latin American Jewish Studies Associa- tion. At present, she is in Buenos Aires as a Fulbright scholar, where she observed last month's elections first hand. contemporary Jewish politics, elec- tions to office in AMIA are conducted along Israeli party lines. That is, the voter in Buenos Aires faces the choice of the same parties as does his coun- terpart in Tel Aviv. The system of lists prevails, with the voter choosing between List "A" and List "B", but he (almost all the voting members are men, since one must be "head of a household" in order to vote) cannot choose among candidates, which are pre-selected by the parties. Hard on the heels of the October 1983 victory of the Union Civica Rad- ical party, bringing Raul Alfonsin to the presidency and democracy to the country, AMIA announced its own elections. None had been held since 1978, as those scheduled for 1981 were never held, in conformity with conditions prevailing under the dic- tatorship. Six parties submitted lists of candidates. Of these, the front runner and obvious winner was Av- oda, an amalgam of Mapam, Hashomer Hatzair, the Jewish school system, and Fraie Shtime, a Yiddish-socialist newspaper. Avoda has dominated AMIA for years, gar- nering 44 percent of the vote in the last election. The other parties this time round included Likud-Herut, Agudat Israel, Mizrachi, and a grouping of General Zionists. But the real news was the appearance of a new party, called Brera (Alternative). Brera was born of a coalition- of Comunidad Bet El, the Conservative congregation led by Rabbi Marshall Meyer, the American-born human rights advo- cate; and supported by Neuva Presencia, a Spanish language weekly of Jewish content with a modern editorial outlook. Brera ran full-page ads in community news- papers and bombarded Jewish as- sembly halls with leaflets. Having organized itself just 60 days before the May 13 election, Brera hoped to win at least one-quarter of the vote. They won just 17 percent. Only one- quarter of AMIA members voted: Continued on Page 10