71,

LETTERS

Where's Proof
On Jennings?

Your article concerning the
alleged anti-Israel, pro-Arab
biases of ABC News anchor
Peter Jennings reads like a
college freshman's homework
assignment for Journalism
101.
While writer Arthur
Magida clearly would like to
indict the veteran journalist
as a dangerous national voice,
he actually gives the reader
every reason to see Jen-
nings as a consummate pro-
fessional.
The man is certainly not
biased; he's informed. He has
more direct exposure to the
region, and thus more in-
sight, than those Jews who sit
back in their comfortable
suburban easy chairs and bit-
terly point the anti-Israel
finger at prominent in-
dividuals.
It's puzzling when Magida
writes: "The charges against
him almost have a life of their

at the beginning of para-
graphs.
This entire article is racist,
since it suggests that anyone
who doesn't fall into lockstep
behind the state of Israel (and
it doesn't prove that Peter
Jennings has an opinion
either way) has a "Jewish
Problem." The foibles of your
"writer" are an added reason
for ridicule.

Howard Gofstein
Oak Park

Ethiopian
Background

Ethiopia's Jews probably
converted to Judaism in the
6th century BCE, not the 6th
century CE. The latter, com-
mon era figure, in your inter-
esting background article,
"From King Solomon to
Operation Solomon" (May
31), must have been a typo.
Thanks for running a cor-
rection. These amazing folks
have had enough problems
without anyone robbing them
now of more than 50 genera-
tions of their history.

Mike Dallen
Detroit

Poland And
Anti-Semitism

Peter Jennings:
Bias unproven.

own now." First, I wasn't
aware that anyone was charg-
ing Peter Jennings with
anything until I came to that
paragraph. And, second, does
Magida's use of the word
"now" imply that he would
like to send a lynch mob after
Jennings, since it is his arti-
cle that creates and lends
credence to these "charges?"
I thought it was the duty of
a journalist to report, not to
create, the news. And no-
where in this piece does he
give any solid evidence that
Peter Jennings has anything
against Israel. What Magida
does is to explain how a
viewer might come to the con-
clusion that Jennings is bias-
ed. There is a difference.
The article is also rife with
journalistic and stylistic er-
rors. The most prominent and
annoying of these is Magida's
use of long dependent clauses

Why did Poland's president,
Lech Walesa, ask forgiveness
for past behavior of Poles
against Jews? The answer is
simple, because he is a Pole
and a Christian.
As a Pole, he knows that he
lives in a land which has anti-
Semitism without Jews. He
recently observed how Prime
Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki
was politically destroyed by
the mere rumor that he had
Jewish ancestors.
President Walesa must
remember that in 1968 Polish
citizens who had Jewish fore-
fathers lost their jobs and
were driven out of the land.
Many of them did not even
know of their Jewish "taint."
The remembrance of Poles
murdering a few thousand
Holocaust survivors at the
end of World War II must be
a burden upon President
Walesa's conscience. During
World War II, the Polish
underground army heroically
fought against the German
occupiers and they also
sometimes killed Jews.
President Walesa is no
doubt familiar with the
history of Poland between
1919 and 1939. After more
than 100 years of foreign
domination the newly created
Poland actively persecuted
the Jewish minority.
As a Christian, President
Walesa knows that anti-
Semitism has been belatedly •

declared a sin by his church.
As a man of good judgment,
President Walesa decided to
break with the anti-Semitism
of his nation. As an astute
politician, he no doubt an-
ticipated that some anti-
Semitic Poles would take ex-
ception to his act of contrition
for Poland's anti-Semitic past.
An editorial in the popular
weekly Polish World, publish-
ed by the vice president of the
American Polish Congress,
predictably voiced disap-
proval for President Walesa's
sagacious statements. The
editorial demanded an
apology from "the other side"
for the evils committed by
Jews against Poles.
The unsigned piece entitled
"From the Editorial Staff:
Difficult Polish-Jewish Dia-
logue," invokes Jewish com-
munism, anti-Polish vilifi-
cation and other anti-Semitic
shibboleths. Two members of
the editorial staff of the
Polish World, Ewa Junczyk-
Ziomecka and Tadeusz Wit-
kowski, who objected to the
editorial, were summarily
fired by the publisher, Ewa
Matuszewska. Old habits die
hard.

Dr. Emanuel Tanay
Detroit

Directing
Contributions

Regarding Gary Rosen-
blatt's article May 31:
If American Jews are in-
deed concerned about how the
Israeli government squanders
their contributions, they
should donate directly to the
charities and organizations
that they wish to support.
There is no point in decry-
ing excessive support for
yeshivot on the one hand
while pumping more money
directly into the process with
the other.

L.S. Forst
Southfield

Equal Funding
In Israel

Your article May 31, "Do
We Care How Israel Spends"
is terribly biased and even
suggests a hatred for
religious Jews.
Since Israel became a state
it has subsidized education.
The subsidies that are given
to college students and higher
institutions of learning have
always been much greater
than those given to rabbinical
students or yeshivot. The sub-
sidies to college students in-
clude Arabs who openly defy
and proclaim their hatred for
the state on the campuses.
If, after 40 years, the

government, for whatever
reason, is beginning to close
the gap and bring the Jewish
rabbinical student's subsidy
somewhat closer to that of the
Arab student, that bothers
you. It doesn't bother you that
American Jewish dollars are
given to support Arab
students on whom you dare
not turn your back for fear of
being knifed.
If you wanted to be honest
and fair you would gather
these statistics from Israeli
sources and show your
readers the true disparity
that exists even now with the
current increases you can't
seem to understand.
Your article is written in
such a manner that it pro-
vides fuel for the irreligious.

A.M. Silverstein
Southfield

Halachah, Tradition
At YI-W. Bloomfield?

With all due respect to Rab-
bi Bomzer ("Young Israel Pro-
hibits Woman from Presiden-
cy" — June 7), I don't think
that he is aware of what a
president's duties are accor-
ding to the constitution of
Young Israel of West Bloom-
field.
Firstly, the office of presi-
dent is not equal to the status
of a king (". . one should
elect a king — not a queen").
The president, like every
other member of the con-
gregation, has one vote and
there isn't the luxury of veto
power. Secondly, the office of
president is not considered a
religious post; the job is strict-
ly administrative. Our con-
stitution specifically states:
"The president shall be chief
executive and operating of-
ficer of this organization . . ."
According to Young Israel of
West Bloomfield's constitu-
tion, it is the gabbai who has
the authority over ritual prac-
tices in the absence of a rab-
bi. The constitution states:
"No person shall officiate or
conduct any part of the
religious services sponsored
by the congregation without
the express authority of the
gabbai."
These points plus consulta-

tions with local rabbis em-
phasized that this is not an
issue of Halachah. The issue
then, of a shul president's
gender is a question of tradi-
tion. I applaud our shul for
having the courage and
understanding to realize the
difference between Halachah
and tradition.
This controversy will not
hurt our shul. It has forced
each and every one of us to re-
evaluate the role of women in
the Young Israel movement.
We will continue to grow and
prosper because of the com-
mitment and dedication of
our membership to preserve
Halachah and to do what is
morally and ethically correct.

Lea Luger
Vice President,
Young Israel of West Bloomfield

Controversy Has
Helped Synagogue

Your article concerning the
issue of a female aspiring to
the position of president of
Young Israel of West Bloom-
field was, on balance, fair and
non-biased.
Apart from the basic issues
raised, which are at this point
non-debatable, your article is
erroneous in stating that one-
half of our congregation
would leave our shul no mat-
ter what the outcome. Noth-
ing could be further from the
truth. This type of misrepre-
sentation of fact does nothing
but further misconceptions
regarding Orthodoxy in
general and the Young Israel
movement in particular.
Our synagogue continues in
the tradition of mainstream
Orthodoxy. In our short ex-
istence we have shown
tremendous growth; we re-
main a cohesive congregation
committed to the ideals of
Halachah and menschlekeit.
This "controversy" has had
the paradoxical effect of
strengthening the further-
ance of these precepts and the
continued viability of our
congregation.

Dr. William M. Leuchter
West Bloomfield

Correcting Story
On Home For Aged

In Kimberly Litton's article,
"JHA Plans Move in Four
Years" (May 24) there are
several factual corrections
which are important to note.
The cost of the relocation is
still a truly speculative
number, and the components
driving the final cost are
many. Specifically, however,
the actual nursing home con-
struction costs will be well

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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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