2 Friday, June 7, 1985 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS PURELY COMMENTARY PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Redemption Of Captives And Dangers Courted By Prisoner Exchange A sensational military act, related to the urgency of assuring security for Is- rael, with an emphasis on a sacred Jewish principle of the redemption of captives, has unleashed a serious ideological debate both in Israel and among world Jewry. The act: the ex- change of 1,150 Arab prisoners, more than half of them convicted for terrorism and many for actual murders, for three Israeli war prisoners. The dispute is over the wisdom of an act that created the renewed danger of increased terrorism, with the released Arabs returning to their "home bases" for more attacks on Israel. The perplexity of the developing concerns as analyzed in the New York Times by Anthony Lewis, describing the exchange as "arising from the deepest instincts of the state (Israel) but in its results, menacing to the state," draws upon conflicting views of leading Is- raelis. He quoted Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres who said that "the rede- mption of prisoners is a cardinal princi- ple," justifying the exchange. Lewis pro- ceeded to indicate the other "strong emo- tions" arising from feared new dangers from the released criminals. Here are the differing views additionally outlined in the Times: The dilemma divided even former Israeli chiefs of military intelligence. Shlomo Gazit told Thomas L. Friedman of the New York Times that he was disgusted — "Never again will Israel be able to condemn any other coun- try which will be blackmailed into freeing terrorists who have killed Jews." But Aharon Yariv said Israel had in fact been negotiating with terrorists for years despite a proclaimed policy against doing so: "This case only takes it an increment farther." Yehoshafat Harkabi, a third former intelligence chief, called the exchange "a big mistake" when I spoke with him. "We have made ourselves targets for squeezing," he said. But Prof. Harkabi had a de- eper political reason for concern. It was that bitterness at the re- lease of convicted terrorists would feed the forces in Israel that want to annex the occupied territories and even expel their Arab inhabitants ... Right-wing figures in Israel, in reaction to the prisoner ex- change, demanded a pardon for Jews convicted of anti-Arab ter- rorism or now on trial. They are charged with grave terrorist acts: explosions that maimed West Bank mayors, the indiscriminate murder of Arab students in Heb- ron, a plot to blow up the holiest mosques in Jerusalem. Prof. Harkabi's fear, in short, is that the prisoner exchange will help extremists on both sides. Ahmed Jabril may be seen by Palestinians as a man who gets things done. And more Israelis may be encouraged to believe that security lies only in force, not in political resolution of the conflict with the Arabs. Extremism seems to me a suicidal policy for Israel. That can be seen in the very action that led to the capture of the three soldiers: the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Ariel Sharon's hub- ris, his belief that military force could crush Palestinian nationalism, cost Israel 650 lives and fearful psychological wounds. Israel's path to long-term se- curity can lie only in accommo- dation with the Palestinians, who are mostly moderate people of bourgeois instincts. They too, in their diaspora, want the protec- tion of a state, however small and tied to others. Israel's aim, dif- ficult as it is to achieve, should be to give Palestinians a stake in some political order. "I want moderation on both sides," Prof. Harkabi said. Did he Is Consistency Expected From USSR? An Associated Press item, dated May 21, introduces the puzzling ques- tion whether consistency is to be ex- pected from the Soviet Union. The AP story, which quoted from the Wash- ington Post, reveals: "Without explanation, the Krem- lin has denied visas to an American linguist and a leading expert on the Soviet criminal justice system, prompting the United States to cancel planned visits to Moscow by two dele- gations involving a total of 16 schol- ars." "Joshua Fishman, 59, a professor of social sciences at Yeshiva Univer- sity in New York, received word in London that his application for a visa had not been granted. He was given no reason. "As a result, seven other scholars who were to participate with Fishman in a ten-day colloquium on language in contemporary society, sponsored by the Soviet Academy of Sciences, did not attend even though their visas had been approved. "Soviet authorities also rejected a visa application by Louise Shelley, 33, an associate professor at The Ameri- can University's School of Justice (in Washington). Shelley is the author of three books and numerous scholarly articles analyzing crime in the Soviet Union and other countries." Dr.. Allan Kagedan, director of the American Jewish Committee's In- stitute of Human Relations who spe- cializes in research on USSR problems relating to Jewry, asks, "If the Soviets are 'friends' of Yiddish, as their press releases claim, then why do they deny a visa to a Yiddish language scholar?" Indeed,' consistency is hardly to be expectedl in an area that incarcer- ates for Hebre*, boasts about Yid- dish, prosecutes teachers who are Jews and whose /topics are Jewish. Is there much hope for some sort of rationalism from the Kremlin, especially since so much propaganda is spread about the Russian liber- tarianism toward Yiddish, and the emphasis it gives to its inflated claim of a Yiddish language state in Birobidjan and its touring chorus and Yiddish musical groups? The possibility of Russia resum- ing diplomatic relations with Israel was defined jocularly •by a Wall Street Journal writer as a "pipe dream." So is the possibility of a gesture toward consistency. That's the policy one does not debate with in the USSR. despair? I asked. "It is a hard time for moderates," he said — "all over the world. But there are ups and downs." The recent tragic events in Israel that resulted in the emergence of an- other type of terrorism, a sort of self- emanating fanatical extremism therefore aggravated the serious traditional Jewish principle of pidyon shvuyim, the redemption of the captives, which gave substance to the Israeli aims of freeing the war prisoners at any and all costs. For a full understanding of the re- demption of the captives ideal, it is necessary to go to the root of it. It is bril- liantly defined in the chapter on the sub- ject in A Book of Jewish Concepts by Rabbi Philip Birnbaum. It is presented here for serious study and for renewed consideration by the many who have be- come interested in the current Israeli situation. The ransoming of captives is considered to be one of the most sacred obligations of a Jewish community. In Jewish law, it is placed above the important duty of feeding and clothing the poor. Special collections were made for extraordinary communal ex- penses, such as the support of orphan children and fitting out a poverty-stricken girl with clo- thing and a dowry (hakhnasath kallah), but particularly for the ransom of captives. The Jewish people of ancient and medieval times were fre- quently subjected to capture by enemies who extorted ransoms from the communities. In the 17th Century, the Jewish community of Venice organized a society for redeeming the captives (hevrath pidyon shvuyim), for the liberation of Jews incarcerated by pirates. Many other communities, follow- ing the example of Venice, ap- pointed special parnasim (com- munal wardens) to collect funds for the purpose of ransoming the captives. The community was ob- liged to pay ransom for any of its members who sold himself into slavery or was taken captive for debts he owed. It was not obliged to pay all that was demanded for the ransom of a scholar. According to a tannaitic statement, if a man and his father and his teacher were incarcer- ated, he takes precedence over his teacher in procuring ransom, while his teacher takes prece- dence over his father; that is, he must procure the ransom of his teacher before that of his father; but his mother takes precedence over all of them. A scholar takes precedence over a king, for if a scholar dies there is none to re- place him, while all are eligible for kingship (Horayot 13a). The Talmud relates that when Rabbi Joshua ben Hananya visited Rome, he was told that a handsome-looking boy with curly locks was in prison. He stationed himself at the doorway of the prison ... and said: "I will not budge from here until I ransom him, whatever price may be demanded." He ransomed him at a high figure, and it did not take long before the young man eventually be- came a great teacher in Israel, namely: Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha (Gittin 58a). In the tannaitic period it had been found necessary to enact a law against paying too high a ransom for Jewish captives, lest kidnapping might become a luc- rative trade. The Mishnah there- fore states: "Captives should not be ransomed for more than their value, as a precaution for the general good" (Gittin 4:6). The price might not exceed the value of the captive if sold as a slave. The talmudic sages forbade the assistance in their attempts to es- cape, for fear that the treatment of captives in general would be made more cruel. When Emperor Rudolph de- manded a large sum from the Jews for Rabbi Meir of Rothen- burg, who had been seized and committed to prison in 1281, and the Jews were ready to pay any Continued on Page 42 Lebanon: Blame and Realities Lebanon's tragedies are endless. There was hope they would end, espe- cially when there was a "peace agree- ment" with Israel which was broken nearly as speedily as it was promul- gated. They did not. Syria plays many roles in _the con- tinuing horrors, but this is less impor- tant morally in its relation to Israel than was and in some degree continues to be the part played by the media. When a massacre, of Moslems by Christians shocked the world, Israel was the target of endless criticisms. The attacks contin- ued — and now there is realization of an aspect that was ignored in making Israel and Israelis the scapegoats. A May 28 New York Times editorial entitled "The Heartbreak Called Leba- non" introduces a belated apology for serious damage that had been done to Is- rael, for unjustified attacks on the Jewish state and her leaders. The Detroit Free Press and other newspapers are, at long last, recognizing the error. The Times editorial commenced: Lebanon is less a country than a heartbreak. Its conflicts seem not only beyond cure but even beyond understanding. When last we read of Chris- tian militiamen slaughtering Palestinians there in 1982, Is- rael's occupying army was held responsibile, even by Israelis. Now Shiite Moslem militiamen are butchering Palestinians in the same camps, Sabra and Shatila, and the world just shrugs. The Christian-led Gov- ernment has all but evaporated. Lebanon's Syrian protectors ac- cuse a former ally, Yassir Arafat, of provoking the slaughter to get back at rival Palestinians. Lebanon is being cut by a hundred knives, rent by a thousand vendettas. Terror is random. Last week 50 people were killed ... No one is sure who did it, or why. Lebanon has ceased, by any plausible defini- tion, to be a nation. What else can be said about errors which did not help the Lebanese, did not glorify morality, only added to scapegoatism? Enough said!