EDITORIAL
Exodus Miracles:
Today's Passover
As we celebrate the ancient holiday of
Passover, marking the birth of the Jewish
nation and the freedom to worship our One
God, we reflect on the startling parallels
between the original Exodus from Egypt
and the current exodus to Israel.
Each is a miracle in its own right, and
the words of the Haggadah are as compell-
ing, and relevant, today as in days of old.
"This is the bread of affliction," we
recite, "which our ancestors ate in the land
of Egypt. All who are hungry, let them
enter and eat; all who are in need, let them
come and celebrate Pesach. Now we are
here. Next year in the land of Israel. Now
we are enslaved. Next year we will be
free."
Those words have resonance for us as we
struggle to deal with the poor and
homeless, even in the United States, and
even among our Jewish brethren. And our
feelings of historical identity are stirred by
the miracle that is taking place each day at
Ben-Gurion Airport, where the huge influx
of Soviet Jews to Israel continues. Last
year, a record 200,000 Soviet Jews, fearing
economic, political and religious persecu-
tion, emigrated to Israel. This year, despite
the Gulf war and dozens of Iraqi missile at-
tacks on Israel, they continue to come, with
between 300,000 and 400,000 Soviet Jews
expected to arrive in 1991.
We have been asked to respond, as Jews
have always responded to brethren in need,
by opening our homes and our hearts —
"let them enter and eat, all who are in
need." And, through campaigns like
Operation Exodus, we as a community
have much to be proud of, contributing
funds in record numbers for the reset-
tlement of Soviet Jews. But the need is still
great and we will continue to be called
upon for several years.
On a deeper, and perhaps more difficult,
level, though, we need to re-dedicate
ourselves to the true theme of Passover.
Most of us tend to think of the message of
the holiday as one of freedom. But God did
not bring about a series of miracles and
rescue the Israelite slaves simply to free
them. That was only half of the story. The
other half is that our sages teach that God
freed the Jewish people so that they could
worship Him.
Passover, the most celebrated of all Jew-
ish holidays, is a time for family, food and
memory. But the key to its survival, and
indeed the survival of the Jewish people, is
its religious underpinning and experiential
component. The seder is observed because
God commanded us to Remember. The
seder is meaningful because we actually
taste the bread of affliction, the bitterness
of slavery.
Judaism that is merely recalled is empty
and cannot endure. Only when we live it,
when we transmit it to others — be they
our own children or hundreds of thousands
of Soviet Jews who have not had the oppor-
tunity to practice their religion — can its
survival be assured.
As we celebrate God's miracles, ancient
and current, from the splitting of the Red
Sea to the low casualty rate from hostile
missiles, we recall that God chose the Jews
to be His witnesses, then and now.
Mindful of His blessings, we join together
to express gratitude and praise, to tell the
story of the Exodus and maintain the link
of Jewish continuity.
Happy Passover.
Matzah-gate
For The Holiday
It doesn't take a great business mind to
understand why the price of matzah rises
just before Passover — supply and demand.
It's no different than what happens to the
price of sun visors on a hot summer day.
But matzah is not just another product; it
is the very symbol of Passover and an utter
necessity for Jews who observe the holi-
day's prohibition against eating chametz,
or leavened bread.
That's why the current price-gouging
case against Manischewitz seems par-
ticularly offensive. The company, which
controls 90 percent of all Passover matzah
sales, is accused of having conspired to
raise the price of matzah to cash in on the
holiday.
The case is expected to go to trial in a
New Jersey federal court later this year.
And, for the second time the company has
asked to be allowed to enter a plea of no
contest, which is basically an admission
that the facts of the government's case are
accurate. (The first such request was re-
6 FRIDAY MARCH 29. 1991
LETTERS
Fat Will Still
Make You Fat
After reading Leslye Mich-
lin Borden's nutrition/recipe
column, I feel that it is about
time that she get her nutri-
tion facts straight:
It is not as much the choles-
terol from foods that can raise
one's blood cholesterol as it is
the saturated fat.
Although monounsaturated
fats in canola, olive and pea-
nut oils as well as polyunsa-
turated fats in safflower, corn,
soybean and sesame oils may
help lower blood cholesterol
levels, they are just as fatten-
ing as fats that are saturated.
So, the bottom line is:
If a food item contains "no
cholesterol," who cares?
Saturated fats may be present
in that food to raise blood
cholesterol.
Fat makes you fat.
Beverly Price
Registered dietitian,
Huntington Woods
jected by the judge, who said it would not
be in the public's interest to accept the
plea.)
The temptation is to dismiss the case as
just another fact of Jewish life. But it's a
serious matter for those trying to live on
meager incomes.
Judaism's ethical teachings make it clear
that tsedek, fairness and justice, is to be the
guiding principle in all business dealings.
Keep in mind that, technically,
Manischewitz's intent has yet to be proven.
But the evidence, and the company's re-
sponse, suggests that Manischewitz has
acted less than fairly or justly.
Given the Manichewitz monopoly — they
also control Horowitz - Margareten and the
A. Goodman & Sons matzah brands — there
is not much the consumer can do about this,
except, perhaps, to hope the company is
justly dealt with in court.
But given alternatives, a boycott would
be appetizing.
Myths And Fables
Of Middle East
One by one, like autumn
leaves, all the myths and
fables about the Arab-Israeli
conflict have fallen away. The
demographic bugaboo has
been washed away by a flood
of Soviet olim. The much
touted Jordanian option now
even eludes the Jordanians.
As for the PLO, they have
slumped beneath their nadir.
And so, with the PLO discred-
ited and the Palestinians
shouting, "Chemicals! Chem-
icals!" from every rooftop, it
was clear that the Palesti-
nians would have to assume
a "low profile."
And so, voila, we have the
two track approach. Needless
to say, both tracks have the
same end points. Moreover,
they both presume that the
Palestinian problem is solely
an Israeli problem.
Of course, the advocates of
this approach know that it is
beyond Israel's capacity to
singularly address the Pal-
estinian issue. But that may
very well explain their
advocacy.
Those very same states —
Saudi Arabia, Egypt and
Syria — who only yesterday
were saying that Israel's in-
clusion would fracture the
allied coalition are now
signaling that they might be
prepared to negotiate with
the Jewish state. Incredible!
Mitc hell Finkel
Silver Spring, Md.
Paying Lip Service
To State Of Israel
During the discussions of
the crisis in the Persian Gulf
prior to the entry of the Coali-
tion into the war, the most
common talk was the change
in the relationship between
Israel and the world. How-
ever, there is a Jewish
wrinkle to the situation that
is more important.
During the months before
the war in the Gulf, unlike
earlier periods when
American Jews rushed to
volunteer to help the state in
great numbers, only young
Orthodox Jews arrived in
Israel to show their solidari-
ty with the Jewish state.
It is curious. Over the last
few years American Jewish
leaders repeatedly dicussed
the vital link between Jews in
America and Jews in Israel,
and the right of American
Jews to speak out concerning
what happens in Israel. In
these hard times it seems
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