Page 4-The Canadian Jewish News, Friday, June 21, 1974
Editorial
An independent Community Newspaper serving as a forum for diverse viewpoints.
Directors: Donald Carr, Q.p., Murray B. Koffler, Albert J- Latner. Ray D.Wolfe.
Editor, Ralph Hyman Associate Editor. Lewis Levendel Director, Quebec Bureau, H/1arl< Medicoff-AdverTising Manager, Douglas G. Gibson Production Manager, Gary Laforet Office Manager;.Candace Carroll -
VOL. IX. NO. 76 (801)
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No instant solutions
Confess Assembly comes to grips with some very difficult problems
The 17th Assembly of the Canadian Jewish Congress was held at a crucial ■ period in the history of the organization... The retirement of. what may be called the Old Guard and their replacement bv new and younger men is indicative of the times and the infevitabilitv of change. .
The retirement of Saul Haves after long, and distinguished service heralds the end of one era and the start of another. His departure is not a complete severance from the bodv he has served so well. He will be- available for consultation and he plans to involve himself in Jewish archives.
The Assemblv dealt with numerous questions dealing with problems that have arisen since thelast plenary session three years ago. It was apparent that one major consideration in the minds of most delegates concerned, the. possibility of.developing new structures for^ local. com -munities. New structures aimed at making the CJC more democraticallv effective on a national scale will come: the question that so far remains unanswered IS how. this IS to.be accomplished. .
The new Congress president. Toi'onto lawyer Sydney Hams, who succeeds Sol Kanee. of Winnipeg, is a capable andde-voted. member, of the Jewish community who faces . a. difficult ..and. perhaps, a thankless task. Just-as Mr. Kanee was involved in; the Winnipeg-CJC-Welfare Fund merger more than a year ago. so will. Mr. Harris find himself called upon to exert similar leadership in determining'final outcomes to the growing demand for new. community structures. He has promised Congress delegates that thev will have access to. the decision-making, process should new structures be created.. As predicted, merger was the question uppermost in the minds of the: men and women from all parts of Canada who came together to debate new programs for Canada's Jewish parliament.
There was some fears voiced over the future of- Congress, and here again the question of creating, a new structure to make the national bodv more than just : an -umbrella organization, but- a more, dynamic and representative one.intruded. Itself in formal and informal discussions. . This newspaper believes that the small Jewish communities must be rescued from the isolation which envelopes them and which to a regrettable degree keeps them from the mainstreamof Jewish life. The need to establish trulv representa-; tive community councils with Congress as the senior partner, should, have top prior^ itv on the program of Mr. Harris and his
national executive.
■ It IS obvious that manv small Jewish communities eventuallv will pass out of ' existence as more and more young people are attracted to the big urban centres.. There are others, however, that need basic Jewish.services that only the urban communities can provide. If there is to be Jewish continuity, then Congress must, be the instrument whereby the needs of the small communities aresatisfied.
This was a satisfying gathering of the tribe. The numerous sessions were well attended, debate: was keen. and often strenuous which happens when people of diverse views come together. There were no instant solutions, but plans were formulated that have encouraging implications for the days ahead. One of the highlights was the presence of Prime Minister Trudeau. He came to honor his old friend. Saul Haves, and he did so. with grace and wit. .But the Prime Minister went bevond paying a sincere compliment to a man witli whom he worked in the field of human rights: he made a wide-ranging speech in which he touched upon Middle East issues and Canada's attitude-' toward them. Canadians, he said, seek for themselves and for others, lives of decencv and dignity. Canadian foreign policy would be meaningless if it were not caring, for it would not reflect the character of Canadians, he said. Mr. Trudeau said there must be respect for and acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of Israel and everv other state m the Middle ■■ East. He paid tribute to External Affairs Minister Mitchell Sharp as ■•'a-dedicated human being and a skiHed negotiator." . ■ -
Press coverage of the three-dav Assembly 'was disappointing as far as the-dailv press was.concerned. The Trudeau visit, of course, attracted the usual horde of reporters and photographers, but the working sessions at which important issues affecting Canada s more than 250,000-citizens of the Jewish f^ith. were debated, were virtually ignored. The Montreal Star assigned a young reporter tO: the gather-. ing. but the Toronto daily press appeared to have more pressing- assignments for their reporters to cover. .Perhaps the time has come for Congress leadership to consider holding itsplenary sessions more frequently than once every three years. A national body such as the. CJC needs to report on its-stewardship at more, frequent intervals. A get-together every two years, ifnot every year, would result in a- less-crowded agenda and consequently more time, in which to deal with • important issues.
Canada should give permission
.... . . . , , ■ • ■ 1. . ■,' ■ ......
for El Al flights from Toronto
. . Extension of El Al service to Toronto International. Airport is a long; overdue step in the commercial relations between Canada and Israel. Mordechai. Ben-Ari, the president of the airline,, told an inter-• viewerm Montreal recently that the future of commercial air transport depends on "fair and sensible" route agreements and the-creation of a new lowrcost category of air travel for the mass public.
Mr. Ben-Ari was guarded in his comments on the question of an extension of ElAl: service in Canada, contenting him--self-with observing that "we are hoping . for.the best of r-elations within the context pf-am extension of our service." The
— ...large§r"volume of traffic carried by El Al from Canada is gener-a^ed.in the Toronto area, yet. passengers from the Toronto region are denied a non-stop flight— from Malton. They must go via Montreal or New York after, changing planes. . : The president of El Al favors abolition ■ . of the charter flight system. In its place he would like to see what he calls a holiday-class service to accommodate . pnce-conscious consumers for whom the Boeing 707's capacity would be increased by 20%. He sees a possible saving of $50 to $60 from the present economy class
. travel. ^ ..
. ^0 provide this holiday-class service, ythere woulXbe no free meals, a costly /item in any .'airline's overhead. Instead, passengers would be able to purchase pre-boarding lunch boxes for $2 or $3. This sounds like a sensible idea; people eat " .too much on international flights, anyway.
In the Ben-Ari plan, the ubperdeck of a 747 would be used for first class pas-
■ sengers, the front would be a business class section for passengers willing to pay more for-drinks, meals and the like, while the rest of the aircraft would be for . the holiday class. •
Israel's national airhnehas a distinguished record of success and it has been called upon time and again, to meet. the. challenge of war and its crippling.effects. With the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War last October, all foreign airlines stopped operations to the Middle East, asdidlocal
• airlines.. As it had functioned in the past,. El Al was the only link between Israel and, the outside .world. Yet the airline
.^.never missed a scheduled flijhj^r- - -
• It IS noteworthy that El iAl.'s traffic ac-tually'increased during the most critical. days of thenvar, and this can be attributed ■ in large, measure to Israelisjibroad rushing home"to serve, and non-Israelis by the thousandsflockmg to. fill civilian jobs left vacant by those called up to fight on the;, Sinai and Syrian fronts.
El Al's fleet — three 747's and 10 Boeing 707"s >- is fully employed now that
• the airline "is back to beyond normal;" Which means, in the convoluted Israeli logic, ..that the: state of the airline's normalcy involves maximum use of the entire fleet to accommodate the tourist traffic which has bounced hack dramatically'since the October war. _;^-;,,^>^
Reflecting El.-i^f's current acli^vity, was the comment of Joram Kagan,! general manager for/Canada, who.said that within minutes afterl word came through of Mr. Kissinger's disengagement c^tip, the phones began \ringing._"aj)d haven't stopped." .
• Aba VaiJ, a Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care resident; examines linen shown by Phyl Goldner, a group service representative for the centre. They participated at its recent annual family fair, which saluted Denmark and Holland. (Photo by Jacob EI-Baz)
'Our children's delicate souls must be nurtured in summer'
By RABBI MEIR GOTTESMAN
Parshat Korach . Vatiftach ho'oretz et piha ... And the
earth opened up its mouth . : . '
. Who can measure what a human beins^ is? Our. Rabbis taught . . ;a mountain is strong, but iron can-level it . . ;.iron is strong, but fire can melt it . . . fire is, strong, water can quench It . . .water is strong, but a; cloud can carry it... ; a cloud IS strong, but wind can scatter it . . ..wind IS strong, but a human-being can withstand it ... .(Baba Basra 10a)
But sometimes we human beings are our own worst enemies --we can't withstand our own impulses. Take poor Korach. for example; Korach had everything going ..for him .. . .. he was a millionaire,:a great scholar and a big yachsan-r from the finest family in Israel. He was even: •a bitof a. prophet.
Yet;he was still not satisfied. When he didn't get the top job he wanted, hestarted a. whole .rebellion against Moses and Aaron. He organized a committee, and tried to discredit their word . . .What.
happened in the end?-The earth suddenly opened up. and swallowed Korach and his followers.
Ifs a strange thing, though : . : True, Korach committed a transgression in rebelling against G-d's word. But we find many others in.the Torah who also sinned and were punished — even killed — but never did the earth open for them ... Why especially for Korach?
But the Almighty wanted to teach us an important lesson. Korach was truly a brilliant person. If he just had been patient, in time he would have received the recognition he wanted. But the lust for honor, and jealousy of others pushed him . to move before his time. Therefore, the earth ^- which, after 120 years anvway claims- every human being to itself — also claimed Korach before his time : . . A lot of p.eople would lead longer, healthier and happier lives if the desire for fame, wealth; and the need to.keep up with the Cohens would not drive them beyond their limits . . , (Al Hatarah)
But there is one area where a person is^ allowed to envy another r-^ in regards to a mitzvah. A person can say, "I wish.I could, perform as manv. good deeds as so and so." We adults have a right to be jealous of our children. What do I mean? The summer IS here. We adults have to go about our regular tasks— but for the children who go to school the whole year, this IS free time ... : Yet IS time ever free? When a person has little seedlings, can he ever let them go uncared for two or three months? The most precious resource we Jews have are
Colloquium craze on horizon
By J.B. SALSBERG
Mv good uncle Eliezer pleaded with me to warn theJ.ewish community of the
. mounting danger.of beingengulfedbvan insufferable colloquium wave; ;
What caused his alarm and why does he want me to become the Paul Revere of the. children of Israel in. our fair
•:. Dominion? . . As he explains It, he had a premonition, for some time now, that thepre-cincts occupied by the heirs of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in North America were due; for some new. meshugaas (meaning craze).'Then'he saw positive-signs of its imminence in a papirus issued. by.- so authoritative a body as the Canadian Jewish Congress and concluded that .the shofar of alarm must be
-sounded. As usual he wants me to do the alarming. • .""T" - ■
"'"Uncle Eliezer placed the evidence of the colloquium menace ..before me, 1 examined it carefully and came to the. same conclusion; The signs are clear
•and' the'danger is greati (Diligent students or. doubting Thomases can find the evidence in the May 10 issue of thelOI Bulletin of the Canadian Jewish Congress -r National Office, Montreal--which appears from time to time and in which is usually given an abbreviated chronicle of what.happenedand what was said by our people of status across the land )'
"You know how Jews are," he said to me, "they are .addicted to the mama of keeping, up withthe Joneses. Let a single'' conspicuous Jewish institution adopKne latest fad of the Joneses vaM atf the rest will stampede to imipitate.y''
Uncle and I had a hilaipous time recalling some of the staijipedes of the
• past., Some day we may share the ex^ perience with you. But for now we must stick to the colloquium business.
What's a colloquium? On the surface It looks quite an innocent matter. It
■. could mean a conversation,, a talk, a verbal exchange of views and opinions, a shmues, a gabfest, etc. etc. etc. In other wordsi people talking to people. Good, no? Good! What could be bad? But if you begin referring to every talk, as a colloquiuni, whenyou'refaced with
. the danger of a husband insisting on. having a colloquium with his wife, or of irate mothers colloquising with their
- children or. neighbors, then it becomes a threat to our sanity.
It seems that some "learned societies" either because of their love of Latin, or becaus.e they felt that a Latinized name for an .international conference of scientists wiU be more .appropriate, labeled their gathering. as -a-colloquium. But then someone
. scratchmg for a new angle was struck, by the colloquium idea and he used it.
j_It was spotted by one of'our people and look what happened!
The 101 referred to.above, reports: "A colloquium on 'Israel, Zionism and Anti-Semitism As Seen By Christians And By Jews' took place ..." etc; 'etc. "A colloquium on the works of A.M. Klein took place at the University of Ottawa," etc. etc. "Human Rights. McGill Colloquium . . took place April 21-23 . . ." etc. etc. All ..,this in one lOI! ^ - -
\lt requires little imagination to predict what will happen when this issue of lOI gets into the hands of our leadership! We will all be smothered by an avalanche of colloquiums from bro-
therhoods, sisterhoods, chapters, lodges, societies, fraternal bodies, lands-manshaften, good age, golden age, best age groups, etc; etc. etc. It's positively frightening to envisage the future when the colloquium craze really getsunder-way. ■
Exaggerating? Scaring our community? Not at all. Do you remember when a meeting was a meeting, was a meeting. Then when a group wanted education and enlightenment, it organized a "lecture", or a "talk" by someone knowledgeable.. If opposing views were desired, then it was a "debate" that was arranged. But when the craze wave began talks, lectures, debates etc. were finished.
Square tables in_Jewish halls became a dime a .dozen. Round tables _were bought at fabulous prices so as to arrange "round table-discussions." But-the_bottom soon fell out of the round table market. You could have collected truckloads of such tablesJrom Jewish institutions. ^
Panels took over and swept everything else out of the way. Panels need moderators so everyone who was anyone became, a moderator. Now the panel craze exhausted itself and all the moderators are snoozing their time away. But colloquium now comes to the rescue! Program chairpeople are already, scrounging for colloquium talent. They don't know; yet whether one, or more than one speaker is required for a half-decent colloquium.
Duck, my friends, duck before you'll be swamped by the colloquium wave! Or, perhaps, we should arrange a monster colloquium to deal with the colloquium danger?-Gevalt! .
the neshamas.. the souls of our children. Whether thev go to day school or evening school, how can they go a whole summer unless their delicate little souls are constantly refreshed with -ft-ords from the Siddur and Torah?
Summer was not meant for our children to take a vacation from G-d. Summer can change a whole life of a child. Summer a child comes into his own. He has time to think and to dream .-The child who re-' turns to school in September :is a different bne than the one who left in June. If a^"-voung soul goes more than one sixth of a year without opening a. Jewish book, on what will that soul feed . . .what will be. its dreams?
As this writer works with youngsters, I would suggest that an evening school student should review his Jewish studies — at least read from the siddur — 20 minutes each day: An elementary day school student should study from an hour to an hour and a half a dav; preferably with half the study in the morning, and half in the evening. But children are children . . . It is we adults' responsibility to see that they study . . . and toreward them from tune to time for their efforts.
Times are changing. It's, not the old days anymore. Torah is no longer on the defensive. We are going to raise a new generation of beautiful Jewish souls — and not one of them must be missed.
Shabbat Shalom.
The "Sparks From The Torah" television program can be seen on Willowdowns Cable. Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m., Keeble Cable, Thursdays at 8 p.m. and York Cable, Sundays at 12 noon.
Book defends
maligned
mother-in-law
" By MORRIS TURETSKY LONDON -
_ Whatever the jushfication it would seem~ ^ an incontestable fact that the most maligned person__within^ a family cirfjle is the _ mother-in-law, and within ttiat circle the most sensitive area IS her relaiionship with her daughter-in-law.
The mother-in-law, the butt of every music hall joke, was once described by a Jewish wit as the "leader ofthe oppo-sition"! Popular fancy has it that she rules her household with an iron hand and has the. last, word on all matters relating ■ to the family.: The success or failure of . marriages largely depends; upon her disposition to the newlyweds. Her remarks, no matter how guarded^ ■■ or innocently expressed, were, always ■adjudged to be directed against her daughter-in.-law. The Yiddish adage "zie zogt der tochter und maint der schnur." (she says her daughter but reallvmeans •
• her daughter-in-law) captures the. attitude admirably. The oft-repeated claim usually expressed in self-righteous tones ■ "that mine is different" is itself indicative of the widely held belief that mothers-in-law are best when humored and left .
• alone. „-.- , ;
. As far as Jews are concerned, every conceivable relationship is delineated in the Scripture; husbands and wives, parents and children: brothers and sisters, often with the most profound insights ■into their moods, traits,, anomalies, and more loftv and .noble aspects. The. only study to be found m the Scripture of the mother-m.-law and daughter-in-law relationship IS the one .which existed between Naomi and Ruth, whose storv is - read in synagogues on the second day of Shavuot as ordained t)y the post rTalmudic rabbis. It is perhaps one of the most beautiful and moving relationships of all time. - '.
The Book of Ruth which consists of four chapters and only 85 verses has been widelv interpreted by scholars and expositors a's to its object and scope. All. however, are unanimous that it is a work of unsurpassmg beauty and majestic tenderness. Goethe once described It as the greatest product of the Hebrew mind.
In this small.volume there is neither dissension nor strife, an almost rustic-kke simplicity and charm permeates its pages. It is the story of the triumph of love, devotion -. and sincerity over the pangs of sorrowand adversity.
The central theme revolves-around the fortunes of the women-of the book, Naomi , and Ruth; both of whom have been over-, taken by tragedy, the former by the death of her husband and two sons, and the latter:. • by the loss,of her husljand and childlessness after a .marriage lasting 10 years. Both stand their tests with a. fine sense of equanimity. .
.Naomi demonstrates that she is far more, concerned for her daughter-in-law than for her. own.well being, while the ■ other prizes the human bonds-which bind . her to her mother-in-law. and/all that she stands for more than her own Moa-bite people. .
Though It IS not stated in so many words, one gets the feeling throughout that the character and integrity of Naomi IS such as to warrant the extraordinary : heights of affection which Ruth displays towards her. not. the least her acceptance of the ' religionvof her mother-in-law.
ask the rabbi
Engagements have only been
late development
I.Does Judaism recognise some form of of engagement as a preliminary to mar-riageandis an engagement ring recognised in Jewish tradition?
Betrothal in the Bible and Talmiid refers to something much more binding than our engagement. From the time of the2_ betrothal .the couple-were i'h fact married V except that thFbride stayed on for ajime"' in herTather^s house. Wtiile here and there in the-Jalmud there are references .to arrangements made before the marriage which have^^ strong resemblences to our'"''-engagement, the institution of Terinalm, f the name for engagement; is comparatively Jate in the development of Jewish law and is, as its name meaning ^ "conditions" - implies/a purely obliga-: tional contract.
Xhe sources do not know of.a special . engagement-ring, although there are re- : ferences to presents.or rings and other; objects of value excha'nged by the couple . before their marriage. It might also be ; noted that the Talmudic sources know ^ nothing of a wedding ring. In those days Vsorne object of value was used, not necessarily a ring,.which only began to be Used in the Middle Ages.
(Copyright, JCNS, 197.4) «
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: The crunch Israel -US i cause there is ( will no lontrer v the political: ai U.S. reuurdini' Jerusalem and the Palestinian Maslow of till Jewish Conures
Israel and t been onjovmg lations lor thol because - thtMr. terests ooinrid mer Conuress director, told audience of ah . sons at a pier on world Jowr\ convention. Wit ensiauemeiit. h< advico will h( extrernelv sens
Maslow poii; extreiuolv deli tion resardiuK xon. detente aiK rv. 'We can't tac()nize the p gardinu Israel, inrsh our posit Soviet Jewry 1 Jacksoii-Vanik to the U S -bills '
Jews HI the political clpul. leader emphas have: had it m ratic i)artv lur and were begir it in.the Repul:
Other speake gram painted gloomy picturi of: countries IT South America rael. :.
. Dr. Stephen; tor. European : World Je\MshC during,the :Yon and tliesubsequ
TORONTO -
: Part of the ot'gjnizinsj a ligious affairs the: considerab which existsbet religious factio Gunther Plant Congress, in hi chairman of the ligious affairs (
•it 1.S regrett; should be so." said. "It has be-tive during m
■minimize-these To m.v-sorrow. ed thev are d thought and that IS a great emei differences wil
: plav a niajorrc
"We will not same philosoph all see religiou the same light other words, fo four strongly di\ But at the same have to learn -we are essent for the same R( different ways.
In his report the Holly Bio rabbi said a f of meetings w( leadership of ^Church in an at ^the more and fulminations ol