4 Friday, April 25, 1986
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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CANDLELIGHTING AT 7:06 P.M.
VOL. LXXXIX, NO. 9
Lessons From Libya
Israel's tough policy of retaliating against terrorist attacks has been
vindicated by the recent U.S. air strike against Libya. Although condemned
in the United Nations and by scores of countries, the U.S. has learned — as
Israel has known for years — that one cannot conquer terrorism through
appeasement but rather through action.
Among the other painful lessons learned from this most recent episode
is seeing who our true friends are and how hypocritical most nations of the
world are when it comes to issues of morality and money.
France, for example, refused even to allow the U.S. air space during the
raid on Tripoli. For the last decade, the French have cited a dependence on
Arab oil as a source for their pro-Arab positiois, but with a world oil glut
and little trade now between France and Libya, economic self-interest
simply doesn't hold as an excuse for refusing to cooperate with America.
The Arab states have rallied around Qaddafi, invoking "Arab
solidarity" as a rationale, though they fear and hate the Libyan dictator who
has waged war against his fellow Arabs. Their attempt to justify Qaddafi's
terrorist war against the U.S. as an understandable response to American
support for Israel simply makes no sense. As our columnist Ze'ev Chafets
has noted, the U.S., which once believed such logic, no longer does — "now
that cheap oil has apparently lubricated West,erii
In world affairs, priority should be given to international sanity,
civilized behavior and organized sanctions against any state leader who
refuses to comply. But as America is learning, and as Israel has known for
too long, that is not the way the nations of the world operate. President .1 # ,
Reagan has finally (and wisely) decided that the price of defending .
American interests sometimes involves speaking with one's fist.
Unfortunately, that's the only language that a leader like Qaddafi
understands.
.
And Now, The Next Step
Pope John Paul II, in an historic gesture toward healing the
2,00-year schism between Judaism and Christianity, last week paid the
'first recorded papal visit to a synagogue. He was greeted with what the
New York Times correspondent called "ringing applause" from
congregants and other witnesses to the event, packed into Rome's central
synagogue. In his speech, delivered in Italian and Hebrew, the Pope
called the Jews "our elder brothers" and "beloved of God," and condemned
persecution and anti-Semitism.
Elio Toaff, chief rabbi of the Rome• synagogue, responded in kind,
saying that "the heart opens itself to the hope that the misfortunes of the
past will be replaced by fruitful dialogue."
The present is full of promise. But behind the generous words and
the lavish cordiality and the demonstrations of accord, lurk bitter
memories; of papal decrees against Judaism, of humiliating annual
obeisances by the chief rabbi of Rome, of Vatican silence during the
Holocaust. And to introduce a worm of doubt into the apple offered by the
Pontiff: the Vatican's continuing refusal to recognize the State of Israel.
We, too, applaud the Pope's gesture and the courage he showed by
making it. Someone should bridge the gap, and what better personage is
there to take the first step ttn the head of the Catholic Church? Let
Pope John Paul now take the next step and officially reconnect Rome and
Jerusalem.
BY RABBI ERNST CONRAD
Special to The Jewish News
'There is much agitation in our
state to return the death penalty for
the commitment of heinous crimes,
like first degree murder, a punish-
ment abandoned in Michigan in 1846,
seven years after statehood was pro-
claimed. Raucous voices are heard
that the increase in violent crimes
demands such a step as a deterrent
to persons considering murder. It
would serve, we are told, as just retri-
bution for an innocent life and also
accords with the standards of Jewish
and Christian ethics.
Is it not written in the Good
Book? (Exodus 21:230 The penalty
shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth
for tooth, etc. The same injunction is
repeated in different form in the Book
of Leviticus (Chapter 24) and, in some
form in the Book of Deuteronomy. A
kidnapper shall be put to death, as
would be one who strikes his father or
mother or reviles and disobeys them.
Cursing God or desecrating the Sab-
bath are other "crimes" warranting,
in those ancient days, the death
punishment.
Stoning, burning, decapitation
and strangulation, depending on the
severity of the crime, were the
methods whereby local courts would
execute the stern decree. In Israel,
justice was to be meted out to all citi-
zens on an equal basis, in contrast to
the class distinctions found, for exam-
ple, in the Code of Hammurabi.
Our Torah itself suggeets alter-
natives to the Law of Retaliation. The
first murder, and it was premediated,
was the slaying of Abel by his own
brother, Cain. Once Cain confessed
and realized the consequences of his
foul act, which not only deprived Abel
of his own life, but precluded him
from founding a family and from rear-
Ernst Conrad is rabbi of Temple Kol Ami
in West Bloomfield.
ing offspring, God decreed permanent
exile and placed a special mark on his
face to prevent further vengeance and
bloodshed.
Ten generations later, the great
flood inundated civilization; its pur-
pose was to stamp out' violence and
lawlessness which had engulfed
human existence. Only Noah and his
family, together with innocent ani-
mals, escaped. God established a con-
Our Torah itself suggests
alternatives to the Law of
Retaliation.
venant with Noah and his descen-
dants considered applicable even in
our generation to all monotheists.
But even then God did not ac-
complish His goal. There was more
bloodshed and violence during the
generation that built the Tower of
Babel; it continued throughout an-
cient times. The death penalty was no
deterrent, when the Persians, later
the Greeks and Romans, were the
political masters of the Jewish people
and retained jurisdiction in criminal
cases.
Yet it is of great interest to note
how the rabbis, 2,000 years ago, re-
interpreted the laws of the written
Torah. A first step was to establish
rules for witnesses to violent crimes,
which were scrupulously observed. A
witness could not be related to either
perpetrator or victim. A witness had
to be at the scene and see the actual
crime. He was carefully questioned
about exact circumstances. Moreover,
they had to forewarn the suspected
culprit, usually a murderer, of the -
consequences resulting from the
crime.
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Continued on Page 30