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CANDLELIGHTING AT 8:24 P.M.
VOL. LXXX1X, NO. 24
Russian Ifs'
The long Russian winter may . be coming to an end for Soviet Jewry
and Soviet-Israel relations. A very cautious note of optimism might be
gleaned from the latest Soviet overtures toward bilateral, pre-summit
talks with the United States and this week's announcement of talks to
consider consular relations between the Soviet Union and Israel.
But that optimism must be tempered with the Soviet Union's dismal
record on Soviet Jewry — whose emigration from Mother Russia has
slowed to the Merest trickle — and the Soviets' penchant for stirring the
Middle East cauldron.
Anatoly Shcharansky, the most famous example of the miscarriage of
Soviet "justice," argues that Israel should not talk with the Soviets until
the trickle of emigration becomes a flood. Shcharansky seems to have
taken a page out of his Soviet captors' book. Other pages must also be
remembered: Aug. 2 marked the second wedding anniversary of Keith
and Svetlana Braun. He waits in Southfield and she waits in Moscow for
the Iron Curtain. to open. Aug. 12 marks the 34th anniversary of the
"Night of Murdered Poets" when Stalin executed leading Jewish writers,
poets and artists. Can the Soviet record since that time be called an
improvement?
If the Soviets under Gorbachev, as some analysts believe, sincerely
wish to end their decades of foreign adventures because of domestic
problems at home, then world Jewry, Soviet minorities and most
non-Communist governments can breath a long-awaited sigh of relief.
Shcharansky and other Soviet Jewry activists believe, however, that
now is the time — when the Soviets want something — to keep the
pressure on.
OP-ED
Balancing Gramm-Rudman
Has Unbalanced Priorities
ices — such as housing, employment
counseling and senior citizens activi-
ties — to their Jewish and non-Jewish
constituents. There is also a fear that
Gramm-Rudman's reductions in fed-
eral aid to localities would deprive
communities of their ability to im-
plement much needed local programs.
This, in turn, would likely exacerbate
intergroup conflicts, pitting group
against group, each fighting to
preserve narrow self-interests.
Clearly, our government must in-
itiate appropriate efforts to cut the
DR. MARTIN HOCHBAUM
hen the American Jewish
Congress filed a brief in
the United States Supreme
Court last April challenging the con-
stitutionality of Gramm-Rudman,
some Jewish leaders questioned why
a Jewish organization should be
concerned with a law to balance the
national budget. To those of us at
AJCongress who had analyzed
Gramm-Rudman in detail the answer
was quite clear: Aside from our
interest as Americans in the financial
health of our nation, the legislation
was having an impact on some very
special concerns of the Jewish
community. •
Gramm-Rudman had led to a di-
rect cut of $77.4 million in American
foreign military assistance to Israel.
Concomitantly, Israel, to ease the
hardships imposed on the foreign aid
recipients by Gramm-Rudman, volun-
tarily agreed to return to the United
States $51.6 million in foreign eco-
nomic aid.
To place this reduced American
assistance in a clearer perspective:
the United Jewish Appeal raises
roughly $500 million in aid for Israel.
It is highly unlikely that the $129
million reduction in American aid
will be made up by an increase in
United Jewish Appeal contributions
of over 25 percent. This situation is
further complicated by the prohibi-
tion against using UJA funds for mili-
tary purposes.
Gramm-Rudman could also cost
Jewish federations, which are heavily
dependent on public funds, millions of
dollars in government assistance,
thus weakening their ability to pro-
vide much needed social welfare serv-
W
AcrOss-the-board cuts hurt
meritorius programs and
ignore the need for
increased federal
revenues.
federal deficit which this year will be
over $200 billion. AJCongress op-
posed Gramm-Rudman not only be-
cause of its unconstitutional delega-
tion of powers but because, by artifi-
cially and inflexibly mandating
across-the-board cuts of a uniform
percentage, the legislation failed to
provide for particular meritorious
programs and the needs of various
groups. At the same time, the
Gramm-Rudman approach to budget
balancing was unbdlanced because it
ignored the need for increased federal
revenues.
For these reasons we at AJCon-
gress welcomed the Supreme Court's
July 7 decision striking down a key
provision of the Gramm-Rudman law.
The ruling provides an unusual
opportunity for the United States
Congress to repeal- Gramm-Rudman
altogether and to enact a far more
balanced and comprehensive ap-
proach to reducing the federal deficit.
The most equitable strategy would
involve a combination of expenditure
Dr. Hochbaum is director of the
Commission on National Affairs of the
American Jewish Congress.
9t6
: : : : : : : : •
• : • : : : : :
Here Comes The Judge?
The nomination of William Rehnquist as Chief Justice of the U.S.
Supreme Court seems to be in abeyance for now — and that's exactly
where it should be.
Much in Rehnquist's past needs to be carefully reviewed, sifted and
analyzed before the final nod is given for him to head the court. His
record on desegregating public schools, civil rights legislation, women's
rights and aid to the poor.needs to be cleared up. For now, it is murky,
subject to the claims that he has been "insensitive."
Rehnquist himself has given the very criteria by which his
nomination should be judged: Have I fairly construed the Constitution in
my 15 years as an associate justice?" Such criteria is neither easy — nor
exactly apolitical — for the Senate committee that will decide who will be
the next Chief Justice. But it is just.
And it is also just that the committee look beyond Rehnquist's 15
years on the bench to his alleged obstruction of black voters in Phoenix
over two decades ago. Such activity, if true, would indicate that
Rehnquist's sense of "fairness" of the Constitution is not as broad as he
contends.
4 Friday, August 8, 1986
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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