EDITORIAL
Tightening The Belt
On An Individual Oasis
The Detroit Jewish community this year
collected — and allocated — more funds than
at any time in its history, yet local agencies
are being told to hold the line on programs
and services. This is happening because
Detroit and world Jewry are facing a
dilemma not unprecedented in Jewish histo-
ry, but unprecedented in scope.
The opportunity to rescue our fellow Jews
from the horrors of Soviet anti-Semitism is
stretching our dollars thin. Hundreds of
thousands of Soviet Jews are poised to leave
the prejudice and hatred of their homeland
for the freedoms of Israel and the West. While
the Iron Curtain is pushed open by the rod of
glasnost, Jews there have begun the process
leading to freedom.
But that freedom will cost money. Detroit
has raised $17.5 million to help Israel ac-
commodate the Soviet Jews. We will be asked
for more as long as the gates remain open. In
addition, our local agencies have been asked
to hold the line and national agencies will
receive less from Detroit despite an allocation
of $24 million this year. The reason is the
record numbers of Soviet Jews who arrived in
Detroit last fiscal year — nearly 800 — with
an additional 700 expected in the next 12
months.
Our local agencies have been strained to
the limit by the regular workload and the in-
creased demands brought on by the influx of
Soviet Jews. When they should be getting in-
creased funding to meet these needs, they
have been asked to do a bigger job with the
same dollars.
It will not be an easy task. All Jewish com-
munities in the Diaspora are trying to follow
the Israeli example: tighten the belt, bring
the Jews home, and worry later about the
bottom line.
Much has been made of the failure of world
Jewry to rescue the Jews of Europe from the
Holocaust. But the situation has changed
significantly in 50 years. Well organized,
wealthier and with the addition of the Jewish
homeland in Israel, we are better equipped
now to deal with a massive rescue effort.
We will continue to be asked for contribu-
tions to pay for this effort, and money is des-
perately needed to offset the costs both here
and in Israel. But contributions can also be
made by local Jews willing to give of their
time.
Volunteers are needed at numerous
Detroit-area agencies. Family-To-Family
needs American Jews to smooth the tran-
sition for newcomers to the United States.
Synagogues and organizations sponsoring ac-
culturation programs for the immigrants
always can use help.
The Jewish community needs a total com-
mitment to make this rescue effort suc-
cessful. In the end, the gains for world Jewry
will be enormous.
For Nelson Mandela,
A Cautious Welcome
Nelson Mandela has inspired millions of
people around the world with his dignified
bearing in the face of terrible hardship and
his lack of bitterness, at least in public, for
the many years he languished in prison. But
that does not mean that his political views
should be endorsed.
Mandela may be one of the heroes of the
20th century. It should be noted, though,
amidst the media excitement of his visit to
the United States, that many American Jews
have mixed feelings about the South African
leader, particularly in regard to his views on
the Mideast.
Since his release from prison after 27 years,
which foreign leader has Mandela met with
the most? Yassir Arafat, the leader of the
Palestine Liberation Organization. The two
men have met three times and Mandela said
of the PLO leader: "We are in the same tren-
ch, struggling against the same enemy: the
twin Tel Aviv and Pretoria regimes, apar-
theid, racism, colonialism and
neocolonialism."
Mandela went to Libya last month where
he condemned the 1986 United States raid on
Libya and told dictator Moammar Qaddafi
they were "comrades in arms." Visiting
Angola in April, Mandela said that Fidel
Castro's Cuba was an "inspiration" and
praised its "love for human rights and liber-
ty."
In our zeal to welcome Mandela to these
shores, let us not lose sight of the fact that his
international politics are not ours.
LETTERS
Peace Won't Come
By Appeasement
Andrew Levin's article
"U.S. Jews Should Join Peace
Process Debate" (June 8)
reminds me of Chamberlain
returning with his umbrella
and "peace in our time" to
England.
No mention is made of the
atrocities perpetrated against
the Jews in Israel by the
6
FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 1990
Palestinians in the past 42
years. He writes only about
the intifada and how badly
the Israelis are treating the
Palestinians. I guess it is all
right for the Palestinians to
throw rocks and Molotov
cocktails at the Israel Defense
Forces. Nor does Levin men-
tion the two milleniums of
pure hell the Jews endured
all over the world. He wants
equity for the Palestinians.
in Jordan (Palestine).
I know. Levin wants peace
in Israel, but he should come
down from his ivory tower
and support our people. We
will never get peace by
appeasement.
Morris Arnowitz
Oak Park
Federation Doesn't
'Pump' Money
The editorial "Alarm Bells
in School" (June 15) was
misleading and not up to your
usual standards. The Jewish
Welfare Federation does not
"pump" money into afternoon
programs any more than it
"pumps" money into the
Home for Aged or Camp
Tamarack. Federation sub-
sidizes programs. The phrase
"pumps" implies that it is a
waste of money.
You state that Federation
ignores family programs and
the growing needs of singles
and adult Jews. Nothing
could be further from the
truth. What do you think is
done with funding for the
Jewish Family Service,
Jewish Vocational Service,
Fresh Air Society and the
Jewish Community Center?
Federation devotes 6 per-
cent of its total budget, or 14
percent of its local budget, to
education. This is not
excessive.
All of us want the same
thing: quality education for
the most amount of people.
Let's stick to the facts.
Harvey Bronstein
Southfield
Why not equity for the Jewish
people?
We want a Jewish sate for
Jewish people. The anti-
Semites are crawling out
from under their rocks in
Europe and the Jews are go-
ing to need a safe haven. Let
those Arab nations who
started the wars with Israel
give the Arabs in Samaria,
Judea and the Gaza Strip
justice by giving them homes
Veterans' Group
Dates To 1896
In his article "Jewish Viet-
nam Hero Gives Lie To
Slander" (June 1), Rabbi
Leonard Winograd indicated
that the Jewish War
Veterans' Organization
originated when a Jewish
veteran overheard two people
saying, several years after the
Spanish-American War, that
Jews always managed to
avoid going into service. The
veteran wanted to let people
know that Jews did, indeed,
fight and die in our country's
wars and so started the JWV.
The Spanish-American War
was fought during the spring
and summer of 1898. The
JWV dates to 1896; as such,
it is the oldest active War
Veterans' Organization in the
United States. Our under-
standing is that it was begun
by veterans of the Civil War.
Bernard Gross
JWV, Charles Shapiro Post 510
Southfield Story
Was Not Balanced
I must take exception to
your article "Southfield: The
Center Of It All" (June 8)
since it does not present a
balanced perspective of life in
Southfield. The article seem-
ed to focus on people who
have ambivalent perceptions
and concerns about the com-
munity. Aside from the city
officials interviewed, only one
family was featured who ex-
pressed a positive viewpoint
about Southfield.
I believe Southfield will re-
main a strong community as
a result of its accessibility by
major expressways, superb ci-
ty services — including the
emergency medical life sup-
port unit, fire and police
departments, parks- and
recreation, library, special
events programs, as well as
Continued on Page 10
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