EDITORIAL

Self-Help

Members of the Detroit Jewish community have had the oppor-
tunity in recent weeks to become involved in "participatory Judaism"
— taking an active role in helping ourselves and our neighbors.
Detroiters have been asked several times, and have responded
in large numbers, to bone marrow blood testing drives. The difficult
search for the perfect match to help victims of leukemia and other
diseases faces great odds: 15,000 to 1. But hundreds of Detroit Jews
responded in an effort to help local victims and to have their results
placed in American and Israeli donor banks.
Another drive is about to take place with the coming of Passover
in April. Next week, a meeting will be held at Congregation Beth
Abraham Hillel Moses for Mazon—the Jewish response to hunger.
In just three years Mazon has funneled hundreds of thousands
of dollars to food banks that assist the homeless. The national
organization is funded through voluntary contributions of 3 percent
of the cost of weddings, b'nai mitzvah or other family celebrations.
Several area congregations have worked hard to promote the
Mazon concept within their memberships. But participation should
be widespread and next week's luncheon could be a catalyst.
The Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit is star-
ting a second effort to help the hungry. With the support of the com-
munity's rabbis, Jews are being asked to donate their chametz —
foods not kosher for Passover — to the hungry.
The ancient Passover requirement to symbolically sell one's
chametz before the holiday takes on new meaning with the Coun-
cil's project. (See Page 5.) It is a good deed in which everyone can
share.

the strains of Arab-Israel conflict and remains in place, but is in-
flexible because of Egypt's resistance to any meaningful cooperation.
Still, the message for us today — in light of the negative atten-
tion Israel receives daily in the media — is that the Jewish state
will, and always has sought to, negotiate with her Arab neighbors.
Since her creation more than 40 years ago, Israel has attempted to
sit down with any Arab state that would recognize her right right
to exist. The Arabs have steadfastly refused, choosing war and hostili-
ty over diplomacy and negotiations.
Anwar Sadat was the only exception, realizing that he could help
his country by coming to grips with reality. Unfortunately, his
courage may have cost him his life.
Today, the Middle East equation is being perceived, falsely, as
pitting Israel against the struggling Palestinians on the West Bank
and Gaza. This is only a piece of the puzzle, leaving out the respon-
sibility of some 20 Arab states to recognize Israel. And the Jewish
state is perceived, again falsely, as the party resistant to negotiation.
The Egyptian-Israeli treaty is proof that peace is possible. But
it also proves that there are no shortcuts. What is required is direct
negotiations between the parties. That is the legacy of the historic
peace treaty, reminding the Arab states that a solution to the dead-
ly conflict can only come when they end their policy of rejectionism.

Treaty's Legacy

Ten years have passed since that clear, blustery day in March
1979 when thousands gathered on the White House lawn to watch
history being made. The image of a smiling Jimmy Carter, Anwar
Sadat and Menachem Begin clasping hands is one that symbolized
the sense of joy and hope in the air that day when Israel and Egypt
made peace.
A decade later, much has changed. The three chief architects of
the peace treaty are gone from the scene, and the promise of a true
thawing of relations between the peoples of Israel and Egypt has
not been fulfilled. In fact, as foreign correspondent. Helen Davis
reports (page 20), what is left is a "cold peace" that has withstood

LETTERS

U.S. Has Failed
Its Commitments

Can Israel rely on
American assurances? The
U.S. has consistently failed to
honor its commitments:
• Before the Six-Day War,
the U.S. claimed it could not
honor its commitment to
Israel regarding free passage
(made after the Sinai Cam-
paign) because the documen-
tation of the agreement was
misplaced.
• When Egypt violated an
American-sponsored agree-
ment and installed missile
batteries, the U.S. response
was to deny the validity of
Israeli claims — even
photographic evidence. When
it was no longer possible

6

FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 1989

to ignore these violations
the U.S. response was to
supply electronic counter-
measures rather than push
for an Egyptian rollback.
• When Egypt violated the
terms and spirit of the Camp
David agreement by effective-
ly preventing Egyptians from
visiting Israel the U.S. re-
mained silent.
• When PLO terrorists
were stopped on their way to
attacking civilian targets in
Israel the U.S. responded by
taking the position that it
was not "enough" to justify
breaking off talks wit h the
PLO — this despite prior
assurances that just such ac-
tivity would end the
relationship.
If anything can be learned

_

from the past it is that if
things to wrong the U.S. can
be expected first to deny that
the situation has soured.
An additional consideration
is that even with the best of
intentions, the U.S. is not
equipped to back up security
assurances.

Aaron Lerner

Oak Park

Making Distinctions
For The Cantorate

Women in the clergy con-
tinue to make inroads in the
Jewish community in the
United States and Israel. It
was with particular interest,
however, that I read your ar-
ticle about "Israel's First
Female Cantor" (March 3).

Ms. Cash acknowledges
that she sings as a cantorial
soloist without particular
training. Writer Richard
Pearl gives short shrift to the
fact that cantorial students,
including women, are study-
ing at the Jerusalem campus
of Hebrew Union College
with the intent of making the
cantorate a lifetime
commitment.
Furthermore, if Mr. Pearl is
to ignore the technicality of
the investiture of cantors,
then Ms. Cash most certain-
ly is not the first female from
Oak Park to serve as a cantor
in Israel. I served in that
capacity at the synagogue of
Hebrew Union College in
Jerusalem in 1978.
The purpose in my letter is

twofold: to clarify the facts
and to suggest that the title
of cantor be used only when
earned either by formal train-
ing or years • of devoted
service.

Cantor Mane S. Katzew

Syosset, N.Y.

Jaffee Analysis
Is Questioned

For the past two years, the
American Jewish Congress
has been issuing statements
demanding that Israel make
more concessions to the
Arabs, criticizing Israel for
being too rough on Arab
rioters, and pressing Israel to
attend an international peace
conference — a conference

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