The Canadian Jewish News, May 25, 1973-Page 5
Opinion
Leajrnmg lesscms Jii^I^^
ByRON ATKEY TORONTO-
Ganadians can learn from Israel's experience with strikes in essential services. Rather than ban the strike, Israel has allowed its trade union movement to adopt an institutional structure which is by itself more capable of determining whether a proposed disruption to an essential service is in the national interest. This has militated against many work stoppages which might otherwise have taken place.
Contrary to popular opinion, Israel, despite the dynamic nature of her economy, has had a good record of avoiding large-scale strikes in such essential industries as water, hydro, communications, air travel and shipping. While Canadians would never approve of a single monolithic trade federation wielding the sort of political and economic power which the Histadrut which under Secretary General Kuzhak Ben Aharon, it is significant that the leaders of that organization appear to be able to engage in meaningful consultations with government policy makers on the health of the national economy without having-selfish demands for wages and other benefits over-ride these broader issues.
In Canada it would be almost unheard of for the president of the Canadian La-
Ron Atkey
hour Congress to sit down with ministers of labor, finance and industry, trade and cominerce together with their advisers, to determine whether the proposed strike of, say, dockworkers should be overborne by the necessity of keeping Canadian ports open at a time when it is in the national interest to promote easy access to foreign markets for Canadian exports and to coun--~teract high consumer prices through low-price imports.
Even more noteworthy is the fact that the Histadrut is able to co-ordinate and rationalize member unions' demands for work stoppages to a greater extent than the CLC, thus preventing the situation of each union attempting to "keep up with the Jones" by making its demands equal to or gi"eater than those successfully put forward by other unions. As a result, strikes authorized by the Histadrut are , rare.
The pig labor problem in Israel has been wildcat strikes by workers who defy not only their employer or thef government, but also their own union. But here again Israel would seem to be ahead of Canada. There is a specialized labor court presided over by highly respected judges who are all very experienced in the field.
Injunctions are the principal sanction of those courts and they are issued to either limit or prohibit illegal activities of workers against employers or the unions. Often the union is a party to the injunction application, arguing in the interest of the employer against the defiant worker group.
Another feature of the Israeli lawis that it is impossible to send union leaders to jail when an injunction is disobeyed. Court-imposed fines or firing have usually been found to be sufficient to curb the illegal activity. Perhaps there is a lesson in this for Canadian law reformers concerned with the permanent raiartyrdoms handed to Messrs. Pepin, Laberge and Charbonneau in Quebec with their much publicized jail sentences last year.
Mr. Atkey is the member of Parliament for the St Paul's riding irt Toronto and a member of the standing committee on labor, manpower and immigration. Recently in Jerusalem, he met with officials in the Israeli ministry of labor and with labor law specialists at Hebrew University.
Israel sells silk ties to Japan,' sales of textiles on the increase
By NECHEMIA MEYERS JERUSALEM-
Local.manufacturers are now producing special-sized clothing for sale in Japan, a promising new market for Israeli textiles. Japanese buyers provided the firms with detailed charts and specifications, as the average Japanese woman is far slighter in build than. hei^'Canadian, European or Israeli counterpart.
Sales to Japan have been stimulated by special fashion exhibitions, another one of which is to be held this autumn in Tokyo, and by visits to. Israel by Japanese buyers. Hir'okazu Ishio, who was here recently, said he found Israeli styles and designs comparable to those in Europe and cheaper.'
Israeli manufacturers, Ishio believes, must emphasize original designs if they are to penetrate the Japanese market, for "the Japanese hate copies. The things they want for themselves must be authen-. tic.-"
Sales of Israeli textiles are increasing not only in Japan but also in Europe and the United States. The industry exported $130 million worth of goods last year, thus accounting for 24 per cent of all industrial exports. Fashion goods did particularly well, with sales up 46.6 per cent over 1971.
Jews have traditionally been prominent in the clothing trade, starting as poverty-stricken tailors in Polish ghettos and moving on to head multi-million dollar textile companies m Western Europe and North America. But it still required considerable courage 15 years ago for Pm-; has Sapir—then minister of commerce and industry and now minister of finance —to. subsidize the construction of dozens of textile plants, particularly in outlying development areas, where manpower was plentiful and jobs were scarce.
Many millions of dollars were invested and, as doubting economists predicted, some of them went down the drain with bankruptcy. But, overall, the program was a success. There are now 65,000 workers in textiles and they are responsible for 15 per cent of Israel's industrial production. In development towns Uke Kiryat Shmoneh and Beit She'an ip^ the north, as, well as Ofakim and Dimona in the south, half of all industrial jobs are in texUles.
Israeli manufacturers have gradually gone over from the production of fibres to turning out fabrics, and more cecently have been concentrating on fashion goods, 'where profits are highest. Calculated in terms of price per pound of cotton pro-cessedj ICHimesTrsTnucTrmoney is earn- . ed from^^tlie sale of apparel .as from the sale of yarn. x 1 :
The Export Instituw, for its part; has established-a. quality control unit, to ensure that-Israeli products are as good as those turned out.by the most.advanced
North American and European factories, since they certainly can't be as cheap as clothing manufactured in Korea, Hong Kong or India.
An American buyer at the recent Israeli Fashion Week in Tel Aviv put the problem clearly: "We come here for individuality and styling, for clothing which is well cut and finished." Despite the fact, that he himself is Jewish and works foi a Jewish-owned emporium, he added: "As far as we are concerned, there are no sentiments involved in buying in Israel; she is a foreign supplier just like any other and must.compete on an equal footing'" ■ , Since Israel now sells her knitwear, leather coats and even silk ties in Japan, where Jewish sentiment is presumably rather limited, she should be able to compete almost anywhere on an equal footing;
This is the 1123 Westwind business jet, assembly line of Israel Aircraft Industries Limited. The seven-seater executive jet is being tested by the U.S. coastguard.
Snazzy, seven-seater executive jet plane from Israel goes on six-month U5. trial
By ROYSTON ALLEN
CJN Tel Aviv Correspondent
LOD AIRPORT-
There's a West Wind hitting the United States these days and there is a strong chance it will sweep through Canada. Israel would be very happy, if it did.
Not the West Wind of John Masefield's poem but a snazzy seven-seater executive j.et, produced by Israel Aircraft Industries (lAI).
The U.S. coast guard has taken one oi these planes for a six month trial along with a Cessna Citation, and will order 40 of the model most suited to their needs.
"If we get the order, we will probably undertake to supply the jets on a five-year plan," said an lAI executive. "We now turn out two Westwinds a month and could easily increase our production to
four but we have other customers to supply."
The American company "Executive Jet Aviation" has just bought three of the planes for a dual purpose—ferrying top-grade passengers by day and the U.S. mails by night. The Westwinds EJA ordered can be converted from mail-carriers to passenger planes within an hour.
Atlantic Aviation has the franchise for the Westwind and they are now starting ah active sales campaign in Canada.
Cost of the executive jet is .SI.050.000 l':S. plus local taxes. "For this price, more plane and better capability than any other aircraft on the market," said Sy Samech. who heads the Westwind marketing program.
Its twin General Electric turbojet engines are mounted near the tail minimizing cabin noise and giving the plane
a fast, sleek look.
Flight speed is in the 500 mph region and the Westwind has a range of 2,100 miles without refuelling (using reserve tanks).
Originally the Westwind—known in the trade as 1123—was born in the U.S., Lockheed aviation produced the 1121 before they merged a few years ago with another company. The rights for production were taken over by lAI and the 1121 was pinned back on the drawing board for over a year and a half. It re-emerged —over 150 modifications later—as the 1132, fully certified by the U.S. Federal Aviation Agency. Along the modification line it grew nearly two feet in length.
Israel Aviation Industries also make the Arava, an extremely versatile STOL craft, capable of carrying 20 passengers or two tons of cargo. -For the military
minded, it can carry an assault team of recoiless rifle-mounted jeep with four troops. 16 armed paratroopers and one dispatcher, anti-submarine operators or electronic detection equipment or four MK 44 torpedos. The Arava is easily fitted with two guns fore and one aft as well as rocket-firing equipment.
This package sells for between $425,000 and S445,000 depending on the accessories.
Various foreign press reports state that lAl is also producing jet fighters for the Israeli air force but there has been no confirmation of this from the lAI officials.
lAI does however produce the highly-successfiil "Gabriel" sea-to-sea missile, which is mounted on Israel "Saar" and "Reshef" class vessels currently in service in Israel's navy. The "Gabriel'' is an important dollar-earner for the. Jewish state.
Another look at how to
con
By JAMES M. SENOR (First of two parts)
The recent article by Ralph Back, "How to Avoid Synagogue Disputes," contains several observations of interest and proposals of value, and at least one that causes/concern!
Essentially, Back's article dealt with role conflict in the rabbinate, some of its consequences, and possible role restructure as to effect conflict resolution
It.shoiild be noted that all of us occupy social rpies: as parents, children, synagogue .leaders, • organization leaders, breadwinners, etc. We "play out" differ-
ent roles simultaneously—usually in accordance with behavioral expectations which others have for us. These others are our role definers; a crucial groiip of role definers for a rabbi are congregation officers.
The .role of the rabbi presents special difliculties .— for at,least two reasons: firstly, the rabbi is a member of a profession and professionalis carry an additional dimension and potential for role conflict; secondly, the role of a rabbi has changed and has been expanded in modern times.
The more highly organized the institu-
tion and the more pi-oscribed, traditional, and value laden the role of the professional, the more there is. seed for conflict. And what institution in modern Jewish life is more highly organized than the synagogue? And what discipline is more influenced by tradition and has a greater set of values than tlie rabbinate? The wonder is that there isn't more conflict than now exists!
Because synagogues are a near classical model of formal organizations and because the rabbinate makes so many value demands.on its members, some of the proposals of Back are deserving of
By J.B. SALSBERG
It was the fall of the year 1947. The war was over, the long, dark night of Jewish martyrdom had ended and the sliver of light of the new dawn revealed the horrifying extent ~ of- our sufferrag and loss. The agonizing: reality of the figure 6,000,000-" began to sear the soul andTirain of every Jew.
It was then that I-left on a three-month journey into the rums of what was once a deep- rooted andflourish -mg Jewish civilization. My anxiety was heightened by the fact I had still managed to see and feel that civilization only two weeks before the Hitlerite barbarians descended upon It, desecrated It. and finally destroyed its root and branch.
What met my eyes was indeed crushing. It is hard to describe the numbing sight of the vast ruins of what had bfen the Jewish Ghetto of Warsaw. The utter desolation of the heart of Polish and of all Eastern European Jewry was enough to break the heart of the strongest man. Nazi purgatory had destroyed all life and then broughteverything down. ^to cover it a^.' j'^r
Only an odd child's shoe, a splinter of furniture or a bit' of rag por-truding from the rubble served as reminders that life had existed there
before. In the midst of this ruin even men who anticipated the woi-st broke down and wept over that vast grave of so much which was vibrant and noble in our immediate past.
In the fall of 1947 one encountered many Jewish children's homes m the outskirtsjof-Paris, They were the assembly points of young;^-phans_^as well as the marshalling centres for the transportation of groups to Jewish communities in the west but primarily for the illegal" routes to Palestine, to Eretz, to the historic Jewish ^homeland;
In Germany one wandered, with the aid of "Jt)INT" and VIP pri-viliges of the occupying forces, from •one refugee camp to another; There one was able to embrace the remnants of the once great multitude of our people. It was in the^main a world of adults with har^ly'a child among them. The appearance of^ handful of children at 4 Chariukah celebration in Belzen was enough , to bring the audience of\adilts to-"bitter ,tears—-each weeping\^Vpr his or her lost ones. ^\
There, as later in Poland;'bne travelled miles to visit physically v broken relatives of Canadian Jewish ■ families and to bring "a lebedigen grus"-'a live message—from their kin.in safety. There, as later in Poland, one also delivered not only
"lebedige gpsen" but writtenmesr sages and small gifts of money from their Canadian friends and relatives: and to be humbled by: the gratefulness of the recipients. And there, as in Poland, one had the unnerving task of addressing the survivors ingroups and in larger assemblies:
In Poland one found the remnants onSur people streaming, like frightened and shacked birds, acrossthe Polish borders. It was after the bloody-pogrom in Kielce. It was there,, in their birthplace, that the -tiny remnant of miraculously-saved Jews returned after the Hitlerite slaughter only to be killed by those among, whom they grew up. Why? Because of an evil rumor that "Jews, killed a Christian childv to secure their needed ritual blood." -^Yes, that started the bloody pogrom in Kielce not in the darkest period of thfe Middle Ages but after Hitler, after the slaughter of the vast ma-lority of Polish Jews.
In Poland one also saw town after town,\in which Jewish communities existed for centuries and in so,me cases nearer' to a thousand years,' without Jews and frequently without their cemeteries. In indecent haste the looters and occupiers of former \^ewish homes in many places carted tombstones from the graves to
use for. building purposes arid for covering sidewalks and then ploughed oyer the cemeteries so cattle could feed on them.
In Poland I couldn't resist the morbid urge to see again my place of birth, which I visited a fe\^-weeks before the war when hundreds of relatives still lived there. One found oneself in a mental fever on^entering the town with the aid and under the protection of the ruling Polish;political party and the Polish government.
The Jewish cemetery,that one had to pass on approaching the town
■ was no longer there—cattle found food over the centuries-old graves of my forefathers: Not a single Jew remained. All had been taken to the Hitler camps of destruction and native people^described in detail how and when^it happened and how my
.little, old grandmother in her 80s was also driven out] with the rest. The Shul remained as a nightmarish reminder of the past. The once white outside walls still bore the blackened signs of a fire. The roof had col lapsed in the very centre of the structure—as if Its back had been
. broken; and weeds and a tiny tree
i,grew from the caved-in portion of the/
'"roof.
' (More next week) .f
serious consideration. 1 refer especially to those which remove the rabbi from, his role of an employee of a particular synagogue, which water down or eliminate the role of synagogue officers as "employers "of the rabbi, and which lessen (but do not eliminate) the synagogue as .his framework of orgariizational behavior. In short, the rabbi.should be a rabbi in Israel (K'lolY'lsroel), hot necessarily or. only the rabbi of a particular institution. The former concept is much more broad, more in keeping with his "professional value system'' and more consistent with the traditional, rabbinic role.
The above would begin to evolve from Back's suggestions: a central body of clergy and lay leaders to work out and control contractual arrangements with rabbis; no individual synagogue to have a direct contract with any rabbi;' grievances and interpretation of duties would be decided by the central body; salary determinied by it on a standardized basis and using objective criteria, such as congregational size and years of service..
(This arrangement, incidentally, woiild return rabbi - synagogue and. rabbi -community relationships to whatthey were for many. generations in the European experience where the practice was for communities to hire rabbpnim.)
James Senor ■;:-:-':-\^:--.
Mr. Senor is a former professor of adrpin-/
istration and cqmrnuniiy^r:':^!''- ■' ■/
extensively on social role an$lyils- Mr. Senor executive director in Toronto for State .IsraelBonds. : ;■':;„,.■'■: ■ ■ V:/:;/\v: