4 Friday, October 4, 1985 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS THE JEWISH NEWS Serving Detroit's Metropolitan Jewish Community with distinction for four decades. Editorial and Sales offices at 20300 Civic Center Dr., Suite 240, Southfield, Michigan 48076-4138 Telephone (313) 354-6060 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 LOCAL COLUMNIST: Danny Raskin OFFICE STAFF: Marlene Miller Dharlene Norris Phyllis Tyner Pauline Weiss Ellen Wolfe PRODUCTION: Donald Cheshure Cathy Ciccone Curtis Deloye Ralph Orme ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Lauri Biafore Allan Craig Rick Nessel Danny Raskin © 1985 by The Detroit Jewish News (US PS 275-520) Second Class postage paid at Southfield, Michigan and additional mailing offices. Subscriptions: 1 year - $21 — 2 years '- $39 — Out of State - $23 — Foreign - $35 CANDLELIGHTING AT 6:49 P.M. VOL: LXXXVII, NO. 6 No One Is Immune For years now, it has become increasingly obvious that a good share of the Middle East has been heading toward virtual anarchy: Lebanon has been parceled into cantons and provinces headed by robbers, thieves and cut-throats; Libya is led by a certifiable lunatic; the PLO has split into myriad factions, each of which claims to be the "true" spokesman for the Palestinian people; neither Iran nor Iraq have yet said "uncle" in their never-ending war; and Syria, it seems, is always off on a new adventure into one of its neighboring countries. As if this wasn't enough, there are constant rumors of someone, somewhere in the Middle East having access to nuclear weapons. To Western eyes, the Soviet Union has been the spoiler in the Middle East, for too long. It backs troublemakers and insurrectionists. Stability for the region seems to be the last goal on the Soviets' minds. But now, at long last, the shoe is on the other foot. Four SoViet diplomats have been kidnapped at gunpoint in Beirut. For Americans, kidnapping has become almost a norm in Lebanon. For Russians, this is not only the exception, but possibly a case of the proverbial chickens coming home to roost. Having encouraged violence and instability in the Middle East for so long, the Soviets are now its target. We don't mean to gloat that four Russians have been kidnapped. Such an act is reprehensible regardless of who is the victim. But perhaps the incident will convince the Soviets that the Middle East is a major disaster waiting to happen — and that any of us can be its victims. How 'Direct the Talks? Media reportets didn't delve closely enough into the Hussein speech at the United Nations General Assembly when they called his remarks a concession to "direct talks" with Israel. Such an approach is what Israel, with the concurrence of the United States, has been demanding for many years. They have not developed and certainly are not the offering in Hus- sein's latest speech. The mis-interpreted Hussein speech was a repetition of diplomatic maneuvering to induce Soviet participation in "peace talks," and this has ' continually been ruled out by Israel and the U.S. Hussein specifically stated he wanted "international" influence on peace considerations. Rus- sia then would predominate, and the Soviet influence in anti-Israel quar- ters certainly rules it out "Direct Talks" are simple terms and plain language. They mean that Hussein and his associates must confront Peres and Shamir and Israeli associates for face-to-face recognition and discussion of the common needs. That's the way to understand and adjust differing views and COnflicts. That's how it was when Menachem Begin met with Anwar Sadat: they came to terms, reached an accord and the military conflict between Israel and Egypt ended with the signing of the Camp David agreement ' with the collaboration,of President Jimmy Carter on behalf of the United States. That's the way to understand and adhere to direct talks, There is no other way. , OP-ED `Survivalism' Has Replaced Israel's 'Exemplary Society' BY DR. ARYE CARMON Special to The Jewish News Recent polls and surveys indi- cating the growing support for Rabbi Meir Kahane and his fanatic racial views are but an external revelation of a deeper problem: Israel is in the midst of a grave moral and political crisis, the gravest since its founda- tion. This crisis arose from an ideological vacuum which was filled by a combination of political and religious messianism characterized by de-legitimization of equity among a variety of world views with a feel- ing of "end of days" which encouraged fanaticism. Kahane is at one end of a continuum of fanatic bigotry. This bigotry — religious, political, messianic — believed in by a vociferous minority, is like a can- cerous tumor in what has become the dominant ethos of Israel in the 1980s — survival. This ethos of sur- vival is the concrete expression of the ideological vacuum. Indeed, Is- rael's collective consciousness has, in recent years, been dominated by survival (in Hebrew — hisardut — bare physical existence). The ethos of survival epitimizes the imposed need to deal with the physical di- mension of existence. The trauma of annihilation and murder during the Holocaust, so fresh in the nation's memory, coupled with the anxiety accumu- lated because of the continuing threat to Israel's existence, fostered the ethos of survival. Hence, survi val characterizes today's collective consciousness. It has become a key word in Israel's political vocabulary and the code reflecting the only con- tent in the relationship between Is- rael and Diaspora Jewry. Survival replaced another ethos which had occupied a central place Dr. Carmon is professor at Tel Aviv University and director of the Israel Diaspora Relations Institute. in the writings of almost all Zionist thinkers and which was reinforced through their deeds: the ethos of an exemplary society. This ethos arose, in part, from one of the central ideas of the Jewish heritage: the idea of chosenness based on the, universal foundations of ethics. It was given a clear secular meaning by the found- ing fathers of Zionism. When they Survivalism opens the door to fanaticism, to messianism and to simplistic solutions to complex problems. spoke of "exemplary society" they meant' a new kind of nationalism based on values such as tolerance and equality of men. Two basic problems were left open and unresolved and, retrospec- tively, can be seen to have been neg lected. The first was the link tween Zionism and the Jewish hen tage or, in other words, the questio -of what the traits of Israeli Judah; should be. The second problem w the unfinished formulation of th universalistic duty of the Zionis Jewish State. The establishment of a Jewi state following generations of th experience of statelessness in th Diaspora has engendered two promi vent challenges to Israeli Jews Firstly, the challenge of coping wi the responsibility of might an ethics in an autonomous soverei state. Secondly, the challenge of d veloping democratic culture amo Jews 90 percent of whom come ,fro countries without a democratic hen tage. These challenges were me and they were met in almost im Coniinued on Page 18