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ATTENTION YOUNG ADULTS
Detroit Young Zionists, a chapter of the Zionist Organization of
America, invites you to meet and hear -
GENERAL AMIRA DOTAN,
The first Woman-General of the
Israel Defense Forces
NEWS
Martin Buber Criticized,
But Supported Israel
SIMON GRIVER
Special to The Jewish News
Sunday, November 16
7:30 p.m.
Home of Mr. & Mrs. Gerald Lederer
3263 Woodvievv, West Bloomfield
For reservations & directions:
Phone 968-5700 or 569-9946
This man is walking away
from a heart attack.
A heart attack he never had.
Because his doctor recog-
nized signs of his heart trouble
and sent him to Sinai Hospital,
one of the world's leading heart
centers.
It was the right first step.
The Sinai cardiac team spe-
cializes in helping patients stay
on their feet. And getting back
on their feet after a heart attack.
In fact, last year alone we
performed over 500 open heart
surgeries. We even pioneered
new techniques for angioplasty,
a procedure which helps many
patients avoid surgery.
In this case, we stepped in
with testing, therapy and indi-
vidualized treatment. So he can
walk away from his heart ail-
ment as fast as his feet will
carry him.
For doctor referral, call Sinai
at 1-800-248-DOCS.
©Sinai Hospital of Detroit 1986.
THIS IS SINAI.
USING ALL WE KNOW TO MAKE YOU WELL.
26
Friday, November 14, 1986 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
M
artin Buber, who died
20 years ago was a
man whose influence
and teaching touched all
spheres, ranging from theology
and philosophy to literature and
politics. He is best remembered
for his theological synthesis of
the Orthodox Jewish tradition
and modern philosophical
thought but it is often• forgotten
that he was one of the founding
fathers of modern Zionism.
Buber's aversion to party poli-
tics and the state bureaucracy,
combined with his attempt to
reconcile nationalism with uni-
versalist and humanist values
meant that he was always an
outsider once Jewish indepen-
dence had been achieved. Until
his death Buber remained a rad-
ical at heart, though he con-
demned those who advocated a
revolutionary overthrow of the
democratically elected Israeli
government. In retrospect Buber
was a man of his times. His
progressive temperment was
well suited to that tumultuous
era when the Jews of Europe
were emerging from the ghetto
and drastic re-evaluations were
vital for Jewish survival.
Indeed tumult and trauma
seemed to be Buber's destiny.
Born in Vienna, Austria in 1978
his mother disappeared without
a trace when he was just 3 years
old. He was moved to Lemberg
where he grew up in the home
of his grandfather, Solomon
Buber, the famous Midrash
scholar.
The young Buber went on to
study philosophy and art history
at the universities of Vienna
and Berlin. He also did post-
graduate research at Leipzig
and Zurich Universities. At the
same time he studied Hasidim,
translated the tales of Rabbi
Nachman Malik and wrote
many of his philosophical tracts.
Much of his energy during his
youth was channeled into the
nearly born Zionist movement.
He officially joined the move-
ment in 1898 and was a dele-
gate to the Third Zionist con-
gress. in 1899. In 1901 he be-
came editor of the Zionist
weekly Die Welt and after the
Fifth Zionist Congress in 1901
he established the Zionist
Democratic Faction and
emerged as a leader.
Meanwhile, Buber was gain-
ing fame as one of the world's
foremost philosophical thinkers.
By the time he was appointed
Professor of Religion at the
University of Frankfurt in 1925,
Buber had already penned the
fundamental outlines of his rad-
ical beliefs, in particular his 'I
and Thou' theory. Within this
framework, Buber asserted that
two types of relationship exist. I
- Thou relationships based on
mutuality, equality, openness
and directness and I - It rela-
tionships based on exploitation
and with the absence of the I -
Thou virtues. Finally, Buber de-
fined God as the Eternal Thou.
But Buber's theological explo-
rations were abruptly cut short
by the rise of Nazism. In 1933
as Hitler came to power he was
fired from the University of
Frankfurt and as his rights
were stripped from him he re-
solved to emigrate to Palestine.
He arrived in Jerusalem in 1938
and became Professor of Social
Philosophy at the Hebrew Uni-
versity until his retirement in
1951.
In retirement Buber remained
as active as ever. He wrote and
lectured all over the world. He
served as the first President of
the Israel Academy for Science
and Humanities. However, in
1952 he declined Ben-Gurion's
offer to become director-general
of the Ministry of Education.
Like his close friend, World
Jewish. Congress leader Nahum
Goldmann, Buber believed that
Ben-Gurion's attitude to the
Arab question was too hawkish.
Originally an adherent to the
Brit Shalom movement that ad-
vocated a bi-national Jewish/
Arab state in Palestine, Buber
amended his ideas in later years
to support a Middle East Feder-
ation, rather like the European
Economic Community in which
"the majority could not exercise
undue influence over the minor-
ity." Buber was a compulsive
critic of institutions and while
he lauded the virtues of the kib-
butz, he once told a gathering at
Kibbutz Afikim near Tiberias
that kibbutzim with 600 or 700
members were social monsters
that should be broken down into
smaller components.
Despite his anti-establishment
views he remained a close friend
of Ben-Gurion, who was one of
the first to pay tribute when
Buber died in 1965. Perhaps the
.most appropriate epitaph to
Buber came from his friend
Goldmann, who readied a con-
versation that bore testament to
Buber's modesty and humility.
"If admission to paradise de-
pends upon how one uses one's
talents you will be in the front
row," Goldmann had told Buber.
"God gave them to me as a
loan," retorted Buber, "therefore
I must use them."
World Zionist Press Service
Israel Picks
More Mayors
Jerusalem (JTA) — Israel's
new policy of appointing
Arab mayors in major West
Bank towns was completed
when the civil administration
for the territory installed
Taher Hijazi as mayor of
Anabta in the northern
Samaria district.
He replaces former mayor
Wahid Hamdallah who was
removed by the Israeli
authorities four years ago for
failure to cooperate. The
Anabta municipality was
shut down at the time. Its re-
vival under Hijazi was ac-
companied by a check for
$490,000 deposited with the
civil administration to cover
unpaid taxes.