EDITORIAL
Mitzvah Heroes
Meyer King has been a Jewish Family Service volunteer for many
years, driving men and women to doctors' appointments or to the
supermarket and helping out whenever he can. Max Sosin is one
of the Jewish community's favorite storytellers and masters of
ceremonies, but he also volunteers at nursing homes and the Jewish
Community Center, entertaining the sick and the elderly.
There are literally hundreds of Meyer Kings and Max Sosins in
the Detroit area — people who quietly volunteer their time to help,
never seeking thanks or recognition. We all know these people. They
are our friends, our neighbors, our relatives. They serve as a quiet
inspiration, unwittingly prodding us by their unsung actions to be
better people, to help one another, to make our world more humane.
The Jewish News — with your help — wants to recognize some
of these individuals through what we plan to be an annual project.
We hope our donation in their names will help some deserving chari-
ty, and the stories of their deeds will inspire similar acts of kindness.
Please take a moment to think about a Mitzvah Hero you may
know. Then complete and mail the nominating form on Page 23.
Together we can honor those members of our community who honor
us with their deeds.
What outraged the Jewish community was that Sawyer waited
five days to dismiss Cokely, and that black politicians were reluc-
tant to criticize the Cokely statements.
Among the politicians who have had little to say on this matter
is the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who lives in Chicago, and who has made
it clear that he feels Jews have unfairly portrayed him as an enemy.
After the Democratic convention, Jackson called A.M. Rosenthal of
the New York Times to tell him how hurt he was that Jews fail to
recognize that he has reached out to them repeatedly.
Why, then, has he refused to condemn the anti-Jewish statements
by Cokely and other black spokesmen? As Anthony Lewis noted in
his Times column last week, "Here is a chance — I would say an
obligation — to demonstrate his (Jackson's) conviction."
As Jackson's silence grows louder, we urge him to speak out
forcefully against_ anti-Semitism. If he fails to respond, many Jews
will be forced to conclude that his rhetoric against racism only argues
in one direction.
(
Simmering Silence
C
Reports of anti-Semitism in Chicago are disturbing, and whether
or not they have been exaggerated, the fact remains that at least
some elements of the black community are expressing strong anti-
Jewish sentiments. More disturbing, though, has been the silence
on the part of more responsible elements of the black community.
The tensions, as reported last week by Elizabeth Kaplan, came
to a boil this spring when it was learned that Steve Cokely, an aide
to Mayor Eugene Sawyer, had been making anti-Semitic speeches
for two years to the Rev. Louis Farrakhan's group, the Nation of Islam.
Among the charges Cokely made was that Jews were injecting the
AIDS virus into blacks and that Jews sought world supremacy.
1111011110D
LETTERS
Jackson's Foes
Vote Pocketbooks
I address myself to those in
the Jewish Community who
concern themselves over
Michael Dukakis, using as an
excuse some unknown com-
mitment he may have made
to Jesse Jackson .. .
This is the typical ra-
tionalization of conservatives
to vote what they intended to
vote anyway, namely, their
pocketbook, which is to say,
Republican.
One of your readers recent-
ly wrote expressing concern
about Jesse Jackson's in-
fluence on Dukakis regarding
Israel. Does anyone honestly
believe that he will have such
influence on a Michael
Dukakis who has consistent-
ly expressed strong support
for Israel and who has a
Jewish wife whose main in-
terest is the Holocaust?
If these same readers who
are worried about Dukakis'
interest in Israel were to read
6 . FRIDAY AUGUST 12..1988
Hedrick Smith's "The Power
Game," they would learn how
leading Jews, including some
from this area, went to
Washington to plead with
Reagan not to go to Bittburg
and to plead against the sale
of AWACS to Saudi Arabia.
We know the result.
Eve Garvin
Southfield
Where Are Real
Jewish Men On TV?
I have just finished reading
your article of July 29, "Men
on TV." Your quote from the
late Herschel Bernardi that
"there is the belief on the part
of Jewish producers and
writers not to make waves" in
the business, not to portray
"real" Jews, is certainly not
television of the '50s and '60s,
but is the television of today.
The television shows men-
tioned in the article do por-
tray Jewish men, but are we
expected to believe that all
Jewish men marry only non-
Jewish women? Going back to
the television show "Bridget
Loves Bernie," there have
been very few, if any, televi-
sion shows in which Jewish
men marry Jewish women. If
the producers and writers of
television shows are, as the
article states, "feeling secure
in their Jewishness" why,
then are they so insecure as
to feel that the only way these
men will be accepted in
television shows today is in
an inter-religious
relationship?
If writers and producers
want to "feel secure in their
Jewishness," why aren't there
Jewish , couples being por-
trayed in television series?
Esther Weitzman
Oak Park
Demjanjuk Convicted
With Solid Evidence
This is in response to the
letter of July 15 from William
J. Wolf regarding the Demjan-
juk case.
With due respect to his title
of lawyer, Mr. Wolf's
statements about Demjan-
juk's innocence and the claim
that the SS card in evidence
is a forgery, shows him to be
completely ignorant about
the case. As a Jew, he believes
so little in the Israeli
judiciary system.
He still repeats the tired
words of Demjanjuk's defense
laywer, Yoram Sheftel. He
conveniently omitted the fin-
dings of the dinstinguished"
panel of Israeli judges.
Demjanjuk's SS tattoo was
removed from his underarm.
He also lied about his ac-
tivities during the second
World War. There were sur-
vivors from the camp who
recognized him beyond a
shadow of a doubt.
From the many thousands
of Ukrainians who served in
the Nazi army mass-
murdering the Jews, not one
came forward to say he is not
"Ivan The Terrible." Any ex-
termination camp survivor,
can
myself included,
recognize the SS butchers
who tortured us.
The United States did not
deprive him of his citizenship
without solid evidence.
Henry Friedman
Oak Park
Jews, Christians
Denounce Film
The press informs us that
the "Last Temptation of
Christ" will be released Aug.
12 in order to get to the
theatres before the Christian
Continued on Page 10
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