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 48076-4136 Telephone (313, 354-6060 PUBLISHER: Charles A. Buerger ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Arthur M. Horwitz EDITOR EMERITUS: Philip Slomovitz EDITOR: Gary Rosenblatt CONSULTANT: Carmi M. Slomovitz ART DIRECTOR: Kim Muller-Thym NEWS EDITOR: Alan Hitsky LOCAL NEWS EDITOR: Heidi Press STAFF WRITER: David Holzel LOCAL COLUMNIST: Danny Raskin OFFICE STAFF: Lynn Fields Percy Kaplan Pauline Max Marlene Miller Dharlene Norris Phyllis Tyner Mary Lou Weiss Pauline Weiss Ellen Wolfe ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Lauri Biafore Randy Marcuson Judi Monblatt Rick Nessel Danny Raskin PRODUCTION: Donald Cheshure Cathy Ciccone Curtis Deloye Joy Gardin Ralph Orme C 1986 by The Detroit Jewish News (US PS 275-5201 Second Class postage paid al Southfield Michigan and additional mailing offices Subscriptions t year - S21 — 2 years - S39 — Out of State - S23 — Foreign - S35 CANDLELIGHTING AT 7:41 P.M. VOL. XC, NO. 2 Apartheid Action The Jewish community has long prided itself, and rightly so, for its leadership on issues of human rights and freedom. On the matter of apartheid, an issue that demands a forceful, moral stand, we are proud that the American Jewish Congress, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the National Council of Jewish Women and the Jewish Federation Council of Los Angeles are among the organizations that have voted to divest themselves of holdings in companies that do business with South Africa. In Detroit, the limited South African holdings in the endowment funds of the United Jewish Charities have not been debated. Certainly divestiture is not a simple issue and there are compelling arguments against such a move. Some say that economic sanctions would be ineffective and may hurt blacks more than the Pretoria government. Others worry about the effects of such a boycott on the 120,000 Jews living in South Africa. But the very fact that Jews in South Africa are, in a sense, held hostage, underscores a lesson we should have learned 40 years ago: When one group is vulnerable — marked, segregated, without legal protection — everyone is vulnerable. Or as Elie Wiesel noted in his August 22 column for The Jewish News, "once set loose, hate cannot be contained . . . Pushed to its limit, hate undermines and destroys not only its chosen adversary, but those who practice it. Hate kills humanity in man before it kills him." In looking back on the horrors of the Holocaust, the Jewish community has condemned not only the Nazi perpetrators but also the majority of nations that remained passive. The argument that economic sanctions against the German government would only harm European Jewry would be viewed as superficial at best. Today, we have an opportunity to act, to show our personal and collective support for sanctions to bring pressure on the South African government and to end the inhuman practices of apartheid. Bold Strokes It has been nearly ten years since Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt stunned the world by making his visit to Israel. It was the ultimate gesture of his career, and ultimately it cost him his life. Shimort Peres attempted a similar gesture this summer with his trip to Morocco. Peres has pledged to maintain his effort for peace, even after he leaves the pinnacle of Israeli power next month when he and Yitzhak Shamir are scheduled to change positions in the coalition government. However, the bold efforts also must come from the other side. King Hassan of Morocco invited Peres and was roundly criticized in the Arab world. King Hussein of Jordan has moved cautiously, and has stayed alive. The status quo will continue in the Middle East until the Arab world stops using Israel as a means of hiding, or ignoring, internal problems and peace is seen as a mutual benefit. OP-ED Factions Not A Threat To Jewish Continuity RABBI RONALD D. PRICE n recent months we have been warned of the imminent demise of the Jewish community due to the increased number of factions in our midst. We are told that Jewish unity is at stake and that unless we can erase our differences we are doomed to the fall of the divided. Of course, as a Jew and rabbi, I am very concerned about the future of the Jewish community. I. do - not believe, however, that our future de- pends on limiting the number of Jewish groups that exist. European Jewry, prior to the Holocaust, was as divided a community as we have known. Hassidim opposed Mitnag- dim, both opposed Maskilim, reli- gious Zionists opposed secular Zionists, the neo-Orthodox opposed the Reform and so on. The halakhic authority of the leader of one reli- gious community was rejected by another. Yet with all this, the future of European Jewry was not felt to be threatened until pure evil gained as- cension in the dominant society and physical destruction began. Why, then, do we fear for the fu- ture of our modern Jewish commu- nity? The answer lies in a thread of the Jewish fabric which nowadays is sadly wearing thin. Tradition teaches that the fringes of every tal- lit must include a thread of blue, tehelet, but in thg course of time the source of tehelet was lost. Our pre- sent situation demands that the tal- lit of every Jewish group include a thread of ahavat yisrael, love of the people Israel, but today we stand in danger of losing this precious thread. A tallit without tehelet is still a tal- lit. A Jewish community without I Rabbi Price is executive director of the Union for Traditional Conservative Judaism in New York. ahavat Yisrael, however, will dis- integrate. The well-known midrash on the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem does not say that it was the number of factions among the Jewish people that caused the calamity. Rather, it was sin'at hinam, groundless hatred among Jews, that was to blame. Strong beliefs are all too rare in our day. We live in a democratic, It was not factionalism that caused the Second Temple's destruction, rather groundless hatred among Jews. non-ideological, secular society. Nothing could be -more wonderful than to see Jews passionately com- mitted to their Judaism, be it Has- sidic, Orthodox, Conservative, Re- form, Reconstructioniat, or Havurah. Contrary to popular logic, this would be a sign of health, not sickness. It would indicate that our Jewish community is indeed pluralistic. No one group need accept the actions of another if this would require a breach of its own principles. Ahavat Yisrael demands, however, that every group accept the right of others to exist, even if their beliefs conflict. It is the dangerous dismis- sal of others which threatens us, not the number of committed groups amongst us. We must deal with this problem in our hearts and in the groups to which we are committed. We must take steps to open dialogue with those who differ with us. We may not agree in many areas, but the contact with one another will in it- self be of value. Agreeing to disagree is as important as convincing an- other to accept one's own position. The doors must be opened between