A Soviet Party
sity, said that in discussing the proposed menu changes with about
300 students last spring, none objected to serving pork and shellfish.
Natan Sharansky captivated nearly 3,000 Jews in Detroit and
Ann Arbor last Sunday. Described as one of the few Jewish heroes
of modern times, the former Soviet refusenik has been unswerving
in his purpose since he was released from the Gulag nearly two years
ago.
The freedom of Soviet Jewry has been his holy mission, his only
duty. Sharansky has been fairly successful at avoiding entrapment
in Israeli politics or any side issue while maintaining a steady focus
on his goal: human rights for the two million Jews of the Soviet Union
and exit visas for the 400,000 who have requested them.
Unfortunately, world Jewry has not been as single-minded as
we debate our effectiveness and our powerlessness to aid our Soviet
brethren caught up in super power politics. But with a shift in those
politics, with the U.S.-Soviet summit, American Jewry has been hand-
ed an opportunity to signal its position again when it can make a
difference.
Sharansky and Soviet Jewish activists are staging a mass
mobilization in Washington on Dec. 6. It is an open invitation to
Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev to let our people go. Seven hun-
dred Michigan Jews have signed up to attend the party, but even
more are needed to ensure that Gorbachev gets the message. Dec.
6 appears to be one of those days when the collective actions of in-
dividuals will truly make a difference.
She and other officials are concerned about the findings of a
trustees committee report that concluded that "perhaps the most
serious handicap in attracting qualified students, Jewish as well as
non-Jewish, is the mistaken impression that the university is not
only sponsored by the Jewish community but also intended mainly
for the use of the Jewish community."
There have also been reports that Brandeis is considering chang-
ing its Hebrew motto.
What it all boils down to is how Jewish is Brandeis supposed
to be? Can it maintain a Jewish character as opposed to a religious
character? It would seem that the well-respected institution is risk-
ing its Jewish soul to pacify a student who may not exist — a stu-
dent who would base his enrollment decision on whether the menu
offers a ham sandwich. --
Brandeis should be proud of its Jewish character and continue
to build its reputation on the merit of its academic offerings rather
than its international cuisine.
The Brandeis U. Image
Brandeis University seems to have an image problem. The
Jewish-sponsored secular university in Waltham, Massachusetts is
concerned about attracting more non-Jewish students and has in-
stituted several controversial policies to downplay its Jewish
character.
For instance, this past semester the university menu added ham
steak with pineapple and shrimp tetrazzini. It marked the first time
since the school began in 1948 that pork and shellfish, forbidden
in the Torah, were part of the Brandeis menu. In addition, the univer-
sity calendar lists four days on which school will be closed but does
not cite the fact that they are Jewish holidays as the reason.
Although the Brandeis student population is about two-thirds
Jewish, only 300 of the 2,800 undergraduates eat in the kosher sec-
tion of the cafeteria. And Dr. Evelyn Handler, president of the univer-
LETTERS
Glasnost Is
Questionable
Gorbachev's "glasnost" is
highly questionable. In his re-
cent speech on the 70th an-
niversary of the Bolshevik
Revolution, Gorbachev offered
notable insights into the ex-
tent of his new "openness." In
this speech Gorbachev said
some peculiar things about
Stalin's "excesses" and
"losses" when referring to the
millions of Ukrainians
murdered in the famine of
1932-1933.
The artificial famine in
Ukraine was imposed by
Stalin to force the collec-
tivization of argiculture.
Seven million Ukrainians
died as a result of this famine.
Gorbachev said that
Stalin's policy produced a
R
FRIDAY NOV 27 1987
"transformation of fun-
damental importance." He
also said that the policy was
"basically correct."
This is where we must ques-
tion Gorbachev's "glasnost?'
Gorbachev's statement about
the basic correctness of
Stalin's policy of atrocity
bears a chilling resemblence
to someone trying to validate
Hitler's destruction of
millions of Jews during - the
Holocaust. I am sure Hitler
and his henchmen felt they
were "basically correct" in
their policy of genocide which
produced a "transformation
of fundamental importance."
The heinous deeds of Stalin
and Hitler cannot be so easi-
ly forgotten nor forgiven. For
this reason we must educate
ourselves and our children
about the horrors they com-
mitted. The better educated
I
we are, the better prepared we
will be to question those that
try to falsely validate the hor-
rors of the past.
Roman Skypakewych
Warren
Who Helps
Israel's Cause?
How and when did the ra-
tional become extreme?
Americans For a Safe Israel
and the Detroit Zionist
Federation and — yes — some
of Rabbi Kahane's supporters,
demonstrated at the Jewish
Center Nov. 15 to make two
points:
• that our Jewish Com-
munity Center had no
business sponsoring and pro-
moting PLO-spokesman
James Abourezk, and pro-
moting his book;
• that the PLO's claims
against Israel are a hoax.
Given Jewish history,
geography and the apparent
eternal nature of the Jewish
mission, a "safe Israel" may
be one of the great oxymorons
of the ages .. .
Ludicrous or not, that was
the cause that brought
together the Center
demonstrators. Israelis have
the right to live peacefully
under their own laws. Is that
now a "rightist" platform?
Abourezk and the PLO deny
Israel's right to exist. Is that
"leftist", or just inimical and
wrong?
Regardless of organiza-
tional affiliations, the Center
demonstrators would be judg-
ed, I think, by whether their
actions might more probably
help than hinder the cause of
Israel's security. The Center
staff who sponsored Abourezk
however worthy their
desire to promote "dialogue"
— should be judged by the
same measure.
Mike Dallen
Detroit
Practicing
Democracy
After Mr. James Abourezk's
speech at the Jewish Com-
munity Center, I really
wonder about the special kind
of censorship practiced by the
Jewish leaders in the Detroit
area. They let Mr. Abourezk
talk at the Center but they
did not allow Mr. Meir
Kahane to talk there. How
come?
Richard Balon
Southfield