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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

THE JEWISH NEWS

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CANDLELIGHTING AT 6:35 P.M.

VOL. LXXXIX, NO. 5

Where's The Rationale?

Several weeks ago the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee was
urging Congress to oppose the Administration's proposed $354 million
arms sale to Saudi Arabia on the grounds that it represented a threat to
Israel. Now AIPAC, the official pro-Israel lobby in this country, has
announced that it will not oppose the sale. What gives?
The official line is that AIPAC felt satisfied that it had whittled the
proposal down from an initial $4 billion package of a year ago to the
current $354 million and that the arms deal contains no weapons that the
Saudis don't already have. There was also the feeling that the
Administration has been extremely friendly in its dealings with Israel
'
and that since Jerusalem was not opposing this arms deal, it wasn't
worth "going to the wall" over it with the Administration.
All of which is well and good, except for the fact that AIPAC has
created a serious credibility problem for itself by initially coming out
against the deal, calling attention to the dangers of selling Sidewinder
air-to-air, Harpoon air-to-sea and Stinger ground-to-air missiles to the
Saudis and then turning around and saying, in effect, they're really not
so dangerous after all.
Good friends of Israel in Congress, who are committed to opposing
the sale, are upset at AIPAC for giving up the fight. They contend that if
AIPAC's own arguments against the sale were valid a week ago — that
the Saudis are already dangerously over-stocked with arms and far from
deserving of more — then nothing has changed to make the sale
acceptable.
An editorial entitled "Where's The Rationale?" in the March 17 issue
of the Near East Report, the weekly newsletter affiliated with AIPAC,
argued against the Saudi sale and concluded: "The Administration should
reconsider. It has an arms sale but it has no rationale for one. It just
won't work." Which leads one to wonder why AIPAC made such a
convincing case against the deal and then left Congress to do the dirty •
work alone.

Mourning Two leaders

The American Jewish community and the world of Torah has lost two
of its brightest lights in recent weeks with the deaths of Rabbi Jacob
Kamenetzky, who died March 10, and Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, who passed
•
away Sunday night. Each was a giant in Torah scholarship and
leadership, as evidenced by the fact that their funerals in New York were
attended by tens of thousands of mourners.
There were many other similarities in the lives of these two
rabbinical leaders, for both succeeded in transplanting a dedication to
Torah scholarship from pre-Holocaust Europe to the shores of America.
The founded and headed yeshivas in New York and became world famous
as authorities on Jewish law and practice.
Rabbi Kamenetzky was the dean of the Torah Vodaas•yeshiva and a
member of the Council of Torah Sages of the Agudath Israel of America.
Rabbi Feinstein headed the Tiferet Yerushalyim yeshiva and was
chairman of the Council. Each man lived a long life and was blessed not
only with children and grandchildren who are continuing the tradition of
Torah scholarship, but with thousands of students dedicated as well to
keeping the. fires of Torah burning from generation to generation. May
their memories be a source of blessing.

OP-ED

U.S. Jewry's Far-Reaching
Contributions To Judaism

BY BURTON A. ZIPSER
Special to The Jewish News

In a recent issue of The Jewish
News, Dr. Leonard Lachover raised a
question which has often appeared
in recent years: "What is the contri-
bution of American Jews to
Judaism?"
When one considers the situa-
tion of Jewish life in many countries
over the past 2,000 years, there have
always been two questions consid-
ered in each land in which Jews
have resided for any stable period of
time. The first question relates to
the manner in which Jews had con-
tributed to the country in which
they were residents (presuming that
the situation was not one in which
there were no opportunities). This is
'Jan easily answered question, since
one can always point to historical
figures which have been involved in,
or who had influenced the culture,
history, arts, sciences, or other as-
. pects of any country's culture. These
lists of contribution are well pre-
sented in many scholarly volumes.
The second question is equally
significant, since we now consider
Judaism to be a religion as well as a
people. This is the question of the
contribution to Judaism of people in
a specific culture. Such questions are
often easier to answer • after the cul-
ture has severed its relationship
with its Jewish population (usually
by eviction), since hindsight is al-
ways gifted with the ability to
evaluate objectively, especially as
time and distance place an historical
period into perspective.
It is considerably more difficult
to discuss contributions in the pre-
sent tense when one is living in a
culture which has permitted Jews to
exist both as Jews and as citizens on

Burton Zipser lives in Oak Park and
occasionally contributes articles to The
Jewish News.

a comparatively equal basis. How-
ever, it is possible to draw some con-
clusions about the contribution of
Jews to Judaism during their resi-
dency in the United States of
America.
The obvious answer requires us
to understand that a contribution
may take many forms. Judaism has

The greatest contribution
. . . is the creation of a
condition in a benevolent
society which has
permitted Jews to be
respected as individuals.

always had an ambivalent relation-
ship with the rest of humanity. We
are, by the very nature of our
unique approach to life, a group
which tends to want to be left alone
in order to pursue our endless
analysis of the relationship of hu-
manity to a higher power and to
each other. At the same time, our
desire to make the world a better
place for our children carries over
and affects those around us. This is
sometimes a benevolent activity, al-
though frequently we are in the
position of the gadfly (who does not
let you forget what ought to be) or
the devil's advocate (reminding you
that you are forgetting something
because it might be more comforta-
ble or easier to do so). Thus, we
champion social justice in a world
which does not treat all people
equally. We make waves by.remind-
ing people to be better by sometimes
being different or by disturbing the
status quo.
Contribution may also - take

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