EDITORIAL I
Nazi Headlines
The Deschenes Commission report made front-page headlines
in Canada last week when it was finally released by the Canadian
government. Suppressed for nearly a year because of allegations of
governmental complicity in allowing known Nazi war criminals to
enter Canada as late as 1983, the report was a sensation for our nor-
thern neighbors.
The Toronto Star continued the front-page coverage last Friday
with a story accusing U.S. officials of deceiving the Canadians after
World War II and in later years over the identity and history of
Canada's Nazi visitors.
Surprisingly, there has been very little media coverage in the
United States on the issue. Neither of Detroit's metropolitan
newspapers covered the story in any form; one of the local radio sta-
tions briefly mentioned it.
In defense of the media, the Deschenes report and its probable
findings have been rumored for some time. The fact that the Cana-
dian government chose to delay making its findings public, and con-
tinues to suppress some embarrasing passages, coupled with the con-
tinued allegations of U.S. involvement in harboring Nazis after the
war, should be of deeper concern.
The United States, and Canada, have major security concerns
which have led at times to breaking the rules — even the law — in
the name of national security. Free men must . question if there is
a difference between our governments and the Nazis at such a time.
After a decade of "powerful antiwar and protest art," painters
increasingly seek refuge in the abstract; film makers, "seem to be
focusing less on Arab-Israel relations . . . than on the often absurd
predicament of a people too long at war;" songwriters, "have
retreated from writing lyrics about the quest for peace . . . to [chur-
ning out] frivolous pop tunes" with such previously unthinkable
refrains as "hoopahoola, hoopahoola."
The mood among Israel's artists reflects the mood in their coun-
try — exhaustion with a situation, the Arab-Israeli mess, that seems
to have no answers and no end.
Protest requires optimism, it demands hope that a -gesture will
have an effect, that a statement will make a ripple. But apparently,
among Israel's artists these days, optimism is moot and cynicism
reigns. And if the artist, the barometer of society's undercurrent,
has such sentiments, then they are, in all likelihood, shared by other
Israelis.
As one Israel film director said, "It is like we are in a dark tun-
nel and when we look around the only light we see is the train com-
ing at us." It is the duty of the citizen — whether he be an artist
or not — to seek the light not of the oncoming train, but of the on-
coming exit. Answers and resolutions only come from the full glare
of such light; confusion, anger and self-absorption only come from
tunnels of endless darkness.
Artistic Exhaustion
The artist reflects the tone, the direction, the yearnings of the
society in which he lives. He is a barometer of the collective un-
conscious of his nation, an index of the quirks and aspirations of
his countrymen.
For years, Israeli artists — musicians, film makers, visual ar-
tists — reveled in the delights of their country. In their creations,
they celebrated the building of the nation and the beauty of the land.
Even when they disagreed with the course of their country, such as
their government's policies, they were sufficiently engaged to mount
protests through their artistry.
But now, according to journalist Thomas L. Friedman in last Sun-
day's New York Times, Israeli artists are in their "post Sidon" phase,
Sidon being the Lebanese port where many Israeli soldiers were kill-
ed during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. This phase, wrote Fried-
man, "is characterized by [Israel's] exhaustion . . . with what seems
to be an endless war and an overriding desire to escape, to shut out
the world and emotionally disengage."
LETTERS
Five Rabbis
Are Needed
Alan Hitsky failed to report
a necessary fact in reference
to the senior rabbi's duties at
Temple Beth El ("Dannel
Schwartz will Leave," July
31).
We are a large congregation
of over 1,600 families. Con-
sidering that an average of
five life cycle events occur per
family, each one requiring a
rabbi, one can surely conclude
that the demands placed
upon the senior rabbi are
numerous and diverse.
In overlooking this fact,
your readers cannot fairly
assess what has transpired at
Temple Beth El.
6
FRIDAY, AUG. 14, 1987
Commonly, in other such
large congregations, it is
necessary to employ five rab-
bis to meet the needs of each
congregant.
Terry L. Ellis
West Bloomfield
All Orthodox
Are Not Zionists
Reports on the World
Zionist Congress elections
have given vent to the view
that Conservative and
Reform successes in the
balloting represent gains over
Orthodoxy .. .
It is true that Reform and
Conservative Jewish leaders
committed their entire
religious movements behind
their effort to wrest political
control of the World Zionist
Organization (a body which,
incidentally, is essentially
secular).
However, they weren't com-
peting against Orthodoxy, but
against the narrow focus of a
limited group within Or-
thodoxy. The slate put for-
ward for the Zionist Congress
by those Orthodox who par-
ticipated in the elections, the
Religious Zionist groups,
represented only one segment
of a very broad and diverse
Orthodox Jewish world.
A major portion of the Or-
thodox community in the
U.S., while deeply committed
to Israel and its well-being,
does not — due to its own
religious perspectives — par-
ticipate in the World Zionist
Organization. This includes
the preponderance of the vast
yeshivah world, the Agudath
Yisrael movement and the
large number of Chasidic
gToups...
Granted, Reform and Con-
servative leaders, now that
they are taking it over, would
like to project the Zionist Con-
gress as some kind of
representative plenum of
Jewish opinions. But a large
mainstream of Orthodoxy
does not view it as such at all.
Rabbi Yitzchok Brandriss
Director of Public Affairs,
Agudath Yisrael of America
Less Than
Exemplary
It is an interesting debate
taking place in The Jewish
News
concerning the
Haredim (ultra-Orthodox).
While Phillip Slomovitz, in
his "Purely Commentary" of
July 17, may have overstated
his case in his harangue
against the Haredim, the
multi-authored resposne,
"Vilification of Haredim"
("Letters," July 31), sought to
palliate a deteriorating
situation.
When Haredim speak of
their contributions to Israel,
they use terms such as
"Jewish Yishuv" and "Eretz
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