EDITORIAL
Genocide Is No 'Gift'
The visit of Pope John Paul II to Austria has been an affront to
the Jewish people — and to all peoples.
First, the Pope met with Austrian president Kurt Waldheim,
whose record during World WarII as an officer in the German Army
has been exposed as shameful. This was the second of the Pope's
meetings with Waldheim since the Austrian's wartime record has
surfaced.
Then, during his visit to Mauthausen, Austria's most notorious
death camp, the Pope did not mention the thousands of Jews who
had been slaughtered there. Instead, he cited four Roman Catholic
concentration camp victims by name.
And finally, the Pope told 80,000 people at a prayer service in
the city of Lorch that the sufferings of Jews and Christians killed
by the Nazis was "a gift to the world."
Such a "gift" — one cringes at the use of that word in this con-
text — the world does not need. The Nazis' murder of approximately
11 million people — six million Jews, plus Christians, gypsies and
others — is no "gift." An abomination, a sacrilege, an unconscionable,
unimaginable horror, yes. But a "gift"! The mind reels at the Pope's
choice of a word to express genocide.
Interestingly, about a year ago, New York Archbishop John J.
O'Conner used this same word when referring to the Jews killed in
the Holocaust. According to an interfaith rabbi who has dealt with
the issue, the Catholic use of the word "gift" is similar to the Jewish
use of the Hebrew phrase kiddish haShem, "the sanctification of the
name of God." But the applications are universes apart.
Clearly, what is at work here are differences of theology and
perspective and semantics. The Pope's choice of words, while perhaps
explicable in terms of his theology, bring little comfort to those most
affected by the crimes of the Nazis. If the Pope wishes to continue
the rapprochement between Christian and Jews begun by Pope John
XXIII, he must acknowledge the suffering of the Jews in words that
Jews and the non-Catholic world can understand. To us, the terrors
perpetrated by the Nazis were surely not "gifts," but fearsome hor-
rors that should be labeled as such.
Even by a pope.
Last week's omission of Abba Eban from the Labor Party's list
of candidates for the Knesset was a humiliating end to a political
career that was long, graceful and, in the best sense of the words,
truly historic.
Eban was Labor's elder statesman. At the age of 33, he was a
member of the Jewish delegation to the United Nations that suc-
cessfully lobbied for the creation of Israel in 1948. A member of the
Knesset since 1959, he also served as Israel's Ambassador to the
4111111101111
Coverage
Appreciated
Drug Article,
Family Cheered
Congratulations on the in-
depth article (June 10) about
the Festival Dancers and
Hora Aviv, the two dance corn-
panies in residence at the
Jewish Community Center.
Your paper is doing an ex-
cellent job of focusing on the
important cultural assets of
our community .. .
As a member of the Jewish
community and the mother of
three of Dr. Nate Firestone's
patients, I would like to com-
mend Dr. and Mrs. Firestone
for "going public" with the
very personal and heart-
rending story of their son's
drug addiction.
As Mrs. Firestone stated in
your article (June 17), "If it
helps one child, we will be
6
FRIDAY,.JULY 1, 1988
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dEVISH REEFS
End of an Era
Harriet Berg
Detroit
United States and, later, to the U.N.. He was also the Jewish state's
deputy prime minister and the head, at different times, of its
ministries of education and culture, and foreign affairs.
Born in South Africa and educated at Cambridge, Eban's English
accent and his English-bred eloquence assured the West that Israel,
too, was a Western nation, steeped in similar values, dedicated to
the same traditions and virtues.
But domestically, especially in recent years, Eban was increas-
ingly perceived as someone alienated from Israel's political
mainstream. Since 1967, he has opposed any effort to make the oc-
cupied territories part of Israel. Almost alone of his party's leaders,
he has publicly criticized Defense Minister's Yitzhak Rabin's policy
of beating Palestinians. He has also criticized Rabin for not conferr-
ing with Cabinet colleagues before launching a brief invasion of
Lebanon in May. Israel, he has said, has never been stronger in
material terms and "never been more confused about structures and
values?'
With Eban's omission from his party's list of Knesset candidates,
a representative of an era has disappeared from Israeli politics, an
era in which those in power invariably tried to stress their nation's
links with the West, with Western values and with some sort of ac-
commodation with Palestinians and Arabs.
Eban may have been among the last of his kind, but he was not
the last link in the chain of political leaders who date back to Israel's
early, pioneering days: Many of those politicians who have survived
from those years are right-wing, former members of the Israeli
underground organization, the Irgun. They are eminent in Israel's
Likud Party. This is probably not coincidental. And it also very in-
dicative of the direction and sentiments of Abba Eban's compatriots.
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LETTERS
happy," I think this article
will help many kids and their
parents who are faced with
this problem, or may face it in
the future. To be able to relate
to a face and a name, a real
family grappling with this
very real problem, is a
wonderful aid for other
families living this
nightmare.
I personally have seen Dr.
Firestone extend himself in
his practice to kids with pro-
blems. I congratulate him on
the courage it took to equal-
ly extend himself under dif-
ficult and very personal cir-
cumstances to the Jewish
community as a whole. I ap-
plaud The Jewish News for
such an outstanding article.
Gail Leichtman
West Bloomfield
I would like to commend
The Jewish News for the ar-
ticle in your paper dealing
with drugs and our Jewish
children. it is a subject we as
a community need to be bet-
ter educated on.
More importantly, I think it
is very special that the
Firestone family were able to
Continued on Page 10
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