Page 4-The Canadian Jewish News, Thursday, July 7, 1988
World-National
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MP comments on Claf k^s statement
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By
RABBI MOSES J. BURAK
QUESTION: Shouldn't a major Jewish community have a day school program, of Torah and secular learning, for children who are slow learners?
We don't always know what background will supply us with the next sage. 1 recall vividly the words of my master, the Gaon Rabbi Yaakov Yitzhak Halevy Ruder-man z.l. when he told me about a young man who studied in a Lithuanian yeshiva, and screamed the words of the Gernarra at the top of his lungs, all day long, ,
-His screams disturbed the other stu-
Rabbi Burak
dents, They turned to him and said: Why do you scream? Then they reminded him of the words of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 9:17: "The words of the wise are heard in quiet . : But, his answer was that he had a dull mind, and that only through his screaming would the words leave some imprint on his brain.
He screamed and he screamed his way through every word in the Talmud; and in the end, every word of the Shas was inscribed on his mind forever. He gave the world a brilliant volumeof his responsa. I leave out the name of his great work, for not having screamed that way I may have mixed up the name with that of another volume.
Children study Torah's words
The Torah is theiiiheritance of all Israel. When children study its words, the Almighty finds that more precious in His sight than the most brilliant expositions of the greatest sages. The Talmud, in Tractate Shabbas, 119B, tells us that the world exists only because of the merit of the breath of school children studying Torah.
When a great sage said to another: How about you and me and our.Torah studies? The answer was that there is no comparison-between their Torah studies and the "sinless breath of the school children:"
Maimonides tells us. in HilchosTalmud Torah, Chapter 1:8, that "Every Israelite is in duty bound to set aside a period every day and every evening for the study of Torah . . This includes everyone. Slow learners belong in the group and should be included.
When that is done there may be a pleasant surprise in store for all. as we are told in Psalms. Chapter 19:7:: "The Torah of Hashem is perfect, restoring the soul'; the testimony of Hashem is trustworthy, making wise the simple." This remedy should be tried. It should be available to every Jewish child. ;
The great sages of our faith were not happy with the way we pushed young children into advanced studies. The Maharal of Prague, famous for his miracles and wonders, was of the opinion that our educational system pushed children into studies for which the foundation had not been laid.
attention
should be given
Students who had not nriastered Holy Writ were pushed into talmudip studies who.se idiom they knew not. Five years are needed for the study of the Torah before one can move on to study Mis-hnah, according to the rubric of Ethics of the Fathers. According to the Maharal, children should study the Talmud, with the commentaries of If ash i and Asheri, before learning Tdsfos. '
We must be prepared to h?.ve our children whose pace is a little slower study in an atmosphere of warm Yiddishkeit. If they need extra attention, let it be given them. If they are developmentally or physically handicapped, they should be enabled to learn Torah at their speed. Large Jewish communities should take seriously the words of Isaiah, Chapter 54:13: "And all thy children shall be taughtof Hashem. /• " ; ^
I should like to hear from parents who want such a program. Every Jewish child deserves our concern to enable him to learn Torah. The Beth ha-Mikdash was destroyed because children didn't learn Torah (Shabbas, 119B). In the Three Weeks of our sorrow, let this be repaired.
By
JANICE ARNOLD
MONTREAL -
M u 11 icu 11 ura I ism Minister Gerry Weiner wants the Jewish community to know that it has in Brian Mulroney and the Progressive Conservative government a far greater friend than any previous government was.
Weiner offered reassurances in an interview that External Affairs Minister Joe Clark's stinging address to the Canada-Israel Committee conference did not represent a shift in this country's foreign policy. But he did appear to distance himself personally from the remarks and align himself squarely behind Mulroney's more conciliatory approach.
"I realize some members of the community found Clark's statement troublesome...But some of it was not shocking or sur- . prising. Much of it, was consistent with ongoing policy.
"Clark is a very moral person. He honestly felt he had to deliver a message.''
Weiner noted that Mulroney "immediately responded by reiterating government policy....Within days of the Clark speech the Prime Minister sent a 3-page letter to the
leaders of the three sponsoring organizations of the CIC-1t was fell there had to be a statement on Canadian foreign policy.
''In a way it was a blessing, because it gave the Prime Minister the opportunity to state and restate his position. It was not damage control at all."
Weiner refused to say directly whether his personal view of the Arab-Israeli conflict differed from that of the government. He did say: "I am the government. There is no point in separating me from it. I haye participated in the decision-making process. If I felt the government did not represent my views, I would walk away from it. This government speaks for me, especially on the Jewish agenda."
As the only Jewish member of the cabinet and government, Weiner said he does have a distinct contribution to make but his public role is to "shed light, not throw heat."
Weiner said there is no question in his mind that Mulroney is a steadfast friend of the Jewish people and Israel, adding that it is a "myth" that Liberal governments had a better record in that area.
"I'm very comfortable where the Prime Minister: is (on the Middle East). His
policy is very clear. Clark's speech in Edmonton (to the Jewish community) confirms that he and the Prime Minister are on the same wavelength."
Weiner also mentioned Clark's consistent efforts on behalf of Soviet Jewry, as well as the Jews of Ethiopia and Syria, as an indication of his interest in the Jewish community concerns.
Weiner has strong personal ties to Israel. He had two cousins who died in defending the state in the Golan and Jerusalem, and another cousin is now serving in Gaza.
Weiner has been to Israel "many times," his most recent trip in March, 1984, months before his election to Parliament.
Weiner refused to make any comment on the April meeting in Montebello, Que., between members of the Jewish and Arab communities, under the auspices of the Canadian Institute for International Peace and Security, a Crown agency established by Parliament which may do research for or advise the Secretary of State for External Affairs.
"I was not invited (to Montebello) and have not been briefed on what happened . It appears to have been an initiative of the In-'
Gerry Weiner
stitute, but perhaps it was at the instigation of external affairs."
Weiner does believe that ''it is not for people 6,000 miles away to find a solution (to the conflict). They can only be helpful to the interlocutors."
In response to a question of whether there is a possibility. Canada will recognize the PLC, as some in the Jewish community fear, he .said:
"Is it the same people who feared (Canada would recognize the PLC) in 1983 after (then External Affairs Minister Alan) McEachen went to Damascus and Amman, or when Trudeau spoke in the Arab capitals?"
Weiner will be the PC candidate in the new Pierrefonds-Dollard riding on Montreal's West Island in the next election. Under the electoral
map revisions which come into effect in July, his former riding of Dol-lard was divided roughly In half, losing all of St. Laurent, which becomes a separate riding, and gaining more territory on the western tip of the Island of Montreal. His Liberal opponent will be Bernard Patry, a former mayor of He Bizard,
Weiner is not taking for granted his re-election; western Montreal voted overwhelmingly Liberal for generations before the PC's 1984 .sweep. He is confident a PC majority government will be elected, but made no. predictions on when the election will be called.
Weiner is thrilled with the multiculturalism portfolio, a job that allows him to fulfil a personal ambition of making all Canadians, regardless of background, feel an integral part of this country and its in.stitutions.
In reviewing his previous post as junior immigration minister, Weiner expressed some disappointment with the harsh criticism of the two refugee bills. :
"(CJC president) Dorothy Reitman doesn't speak for all the Jews of Canada. Her views do not represent the whole community. I didn't elect her to speak for me."
Maxwell invests in Ma'ariv
JERUSALEM (JPFS) -
British press magnate Robert Maxwell has become a "substantial inves- ; tor" in Ma'ariv, the country's second largest circulating newspaper.
Ma'ariv's managing director. Shimon Chiefetz, refused to confirm or deny . unsubstantiated reports that Maxwell had purchased one-third of the shares in the Modi'in Publishing House, Ma'ariv's-holding company, for $9 million. A Ma'ariv source said that Maxwell had insisted on obtaining more than 25% of the company's equity and that the investment amounted to "several million dollars." ,. ;
The .shares bought by . Maxwell include the 20% previously owned by one of Ma'ariv's founders, Oved Ben-Ami.
According to a press statement, Maxwell was "invited" to invest in Ma'ariv because of the newspaper's "wish to be associated : with a global communications and.information company." The new invesunent should also help the newspaper in its recent bid for cable TV contracts in Israel.
Maxwell, a Czechoslo-vakian-born Jew, owns the Mirror Newspaper Group, which includes the Daily Mirror, the Sunday Mirror, and The . People. In 1986, he launched the Engiisli language China Daily, which is printed, in both Beijing and London. He recently invested in a new Montreal daily newspaper.
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