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HEBREW CALENDAR
FRIDAY, AUGUST 1,1969. The 17th day of Av 5729 Sidra: Ekev Candlelighting: Toro^^
Menorify tcinplex
The Russian "Package Deal'
by Mendel Kohdh
A representative^ of a national Jewish organization in Canada is re ported to have approached some Negro leaders here to support the move to make sure that the antihate amendment to the Criminal Code receives final approval in Ottawa.
This organization ^ms to be inspired by the plhiiost Sickening flattery of certain extreme minority-groups south of the border. In fact, one should not forget that most of the movements among colored people in the United States originally were sponsored by a cotain Jewish "defense" organization and other Jewish groups who took upon themselves the task of fighting for justice the wrong way. We know today where these organizations in the United States have led us as well as those whom they allegedly were supposed to help as a result of an inferiority-obsession so characteristic of assimilated and semiassimilat-ed Jews.
Here in Canada, vvhen representatives of a national Jewish organization approached some Negroes for ftipport in securing the antihatred bill, they were turned down.
Of course, all these negotiations
are being kept secret. They are being reported to a few hundred naive "delegates" of groups who elect themselves to represent the community.
At a time when Negro leader Cleaver tells the Algerians in the name of the American Negroes that Israel is a colonialist base of the United States, vvhen other Negro organizations are controled virtually by the'most extreme Arab propa-gahdiits, what business has a Canadian Jewish organization to bend oh its khees to an unimportant Negro organization here?
Jews the world over are engaged in a tremendous mobilization-effort in defense of Israel. But the busy-bodies who have no connection with the true aspirations of Jews who wish to remain Jews are involved in preparing here a situation similar to that which threatens many Jewish communities in the United States.
The trouble with some of our Jewish organizations is they are not beholden to report to the Jewish publie nor are they responsible to public opinion. They are busy. Busy with what?
WHERE IT HURTS
A JCNS eXCUJSIVE
By Major-Genercd CHAIM HERZOG
14. It W-Vt
.. r. -M ..i. ..Ai
ASKTBB RABBI
■■ KNS fHlirelta-
LAST ' week's military opera-lions by the Israeli Army ' and Air Force along the Sue/ Canal were designed to serve notice on the Egyptian high command that the flouting by Egypt of the ceasefire arrangeiuents would have seri-ou.s consequences for her. Israel feels completely free to play the game as it sees fit and not according to Egyptian rules.
The Egyptian reaction to the Israeli oiierations. complauiing that they were "without regard to world opinion." is evidence of the fact that the casualties and damage inflicted on Egypt's forces were much ihore serious than they are prepared to admiti But while Israel is determined to use all the force necessary to prevail in the canal area, it does not mean that the region is on the verge of another all-oiil war.
Tlie present static war along a clearly defined line between the two contending armies in • Maginot style " should not be confused with all-out mobile war. On I he coolran-. paradoxically enough. Israel's foravs-r-lliough subject to the interpretation that they are an cscalaUon—are possibly the best
guarantee liiat no major War will develop. For they are desigqed to remind the enemy of his weaknesses, to retain Israel's strategic initiative and to create a deterrent, both real and psychological, which will damp down Egyptian eagerness for a new war, and lessen the enthusiasm of her Arab allies to join in another Egyptian-led adventure.
Eg y pti a n _£omeback
President Nasser recently enumerated the three phases of his projected military comeback. (Like many dictators he is predisposed to set forth his intentions in advaiice, and such pronouncements are equally wont to be ignored by world opinion.) The first, or defensive, phase was concluded in September, 1968.
This was followed by phase two, that of retribution, and entails sniping and heavy artillery barrages, escalating up to commando raids. This phase is designed to lead to the final phase, when Egypt is supposed to go over to the ofTensive.
During the second phase. Ihe aim is to wear Israel (town econ-
Over the past several years a veritable Itzik Manger cult has developed Ui Israel. The Hebrew translation of his. Yiddish poems which anpeared hi book form earlier this year was widely acclaimed; by the press and two theaters are now considering produchig plays based OD his work. In ad-' dition, there was a recent exhibition of pahitlngs and bas-relief on motifs from .Manger poems in Tel Aviv, while expressions from his "Megillah" have been appropriated eh masse by the sophisticated set.
"The Megillan" isa collection of Yiddish poems based on the Book of Esther, but set in the shtetl which Manger knew so well. Presented hi the form of the traditional Purimsplel with overtones of the Italian com-media dell'arte, the results; were enthusiastically received by/critics and public alike. Not only was the show a great success but a recording of it sold ten thousand copies, phenomenal for Israel.
Then came two mammoth Manger evenings in Tel Aviv's MannAuditorium, arranged by a group of Manger admirers, in which some of the best performing artists of Israel gave their services free.
The evenings were hi Yid-
dish, with the masjter vOf ceremonies occaslouUiljr in-terspershig Hebrew phrases for the benefit of those h) the audience who did hot understand mammalosheh*
For the tiiatriarchal HHUJi-na Rovina, queen of Isr^e'ls theater, who recited Mah-^ ger's poem "Ich hab yohren gevalgert in der fremd'''iIt was a movhig, if belated, debut hi a language she had known in her childhoods She was shortly thereafter to recite the same poem at the poet's funeral.
The great Yiddishpo^t hiid for years been the vlctinl of a disease which robbed him of all faculties, hiciuding speech. Only his niind re-mahied clear until the very end, which came on February 20, 1969.
But by the time he died, everyone in Israel with some interest hi literature knew that the greatest contemporary Yiddish poet was resident in the country, and on October 31 last year the President of Israel announced the Itzik Manger J>rize for Yiddish Literature.
The establishment of the prize was an act of redress for a great wrong. This wa£ stressed by President Sha-zar who spdce with; much emotion alraut the shicotii-mitted by the pe<¥le of Israel agahistYiddishandYid-dish culhire. Though this t^l-
t<i redogijllloii ;of ^ the value IbfYi^litibdm^ fit the end afa protrlcted struggle, it\was m WJtis^fee: Ih. Israel of tlie greatest coatem-porarf Yiddish poet which finally ^righted th^ historic wtong,- ■; .
.Oiafe:; can fix the turnhig i^hit at an 6veiUng hi 1965 when the Hatiihiam cabaret^ a tiopmar gatherhig place of sophisticated youth, pre-setited.Itzik Monger's "Me-tmah'^hithe-origtaal Yiddish. WbUe. there is nothhig .lihusui^ about Yiddish shows id IsrAel,: this. was a re-markftble eyeht, hi that it was presentejl before apre-ddminj^tly youthful Hebrew-speaking audience. ' These same young Is-raeils; who imtil a short time ago sheered when they heard Yiddish spoken, considering the language one of the iiglier excrescences of life in the ghetto, were enraptured by the novel experience, ;
Manger's beautiful poem, brimming with the wit and wisdom bred hi the ghettoes, became the catalyst hi a transition which, waa long overdue.
The young generation of Israel had fhially come to reilise the presence of a rich flowering culture which must Ihevitably become part of the <!ulture of the new Israel. ;
omically and, more important, psychologically through inflicting on Israel's close knit population a steadily increasing stream of casualties.
The Egyptian plan is designed to isolate the mihtary front from its civilian population. The home front is restless, discontented and openly critical of Nasser's government and the constant state of emergency generates the necessary tension and war-like atmosphere the dictator needs to relieve the pressures on his regime.
Also, the process of isolating or insulating the civilian population from the harsh realities of war—by such measures as the forcible evacuation of hundreds of thousands of civilians from the canal zone—enables the Egyptian propaganda machine to camouflage the true state of affairs unhindered by eye-witness observers not subject to military discipline. , Egyptian military policy, as of this writinji, continues to ;be a static war of -attrition limited (Eg\'Dt ho|)es» to the immediate
canal area. Israel's reply has been to ignore the local character of the conflict and to refuse to dance to the Egyptian tune. She has seized the strategic initiative, striking at Egypt's most vulnerable installations. In doing so Israel has demonstrated that Egypt is'wide open to opefa^ tions ul along her coasts, deep within her territory along the Nile and, most important, in the air over Cairo and any other part of the country.
Striking an apologetic note in his public Speeches, Nasser has reiterated his refusal to rise to Israel's bait and affirmed that he would not disperse his forces from their concentration along the canal.
Commando raid
Sunday's air action by Israel which was directed mainly at anti-aircraft gun emplacements, missile sites and artillery bases was equally aimed at proving . j[«raer&^ continii^d air shpeiHb-rity. This followed a'successful commando raid which destroyed:
anti-aii;craft positions and a radar base,on Giieeh Isknd in the Gulf of: Suez, lirotecting the air approaches to Suez town.
Israel's aerial presence in the Sky ovei: Egypt uiichallenged fbr over two and a half hourS before the Egyptian Air Force intervened cannot have gone completely unnoticed in Egypt despite the fantastic Egyptian claims heavy Isiraeii losses.
ThiiSi Israel hopes to bring home to the Egyptian people the tact of Egyprs bSsic vulnerability. : Indeed, the official Egyptian reaction indicates greater concern than usual and if it does nothing el^ it is perhaps cdn-vincihg the Israe is that its
golicy^ of making I the price of gyptiSn violations of the ceasefire prohibitive is paying off. . Nor has Israel within the framework of the. Egyptian static war reached the Ihnit of its deterrent capSbilities. But this does not yet mean escalation fo an aU-dHi,,yar.. Israelis don't | want one find thej.-Pgyptiaiis ; (during this, phase twoirannbt' vet wage one. ' '
Is there anything contrary to Jewish beUef in the Lord's I'ravcr. Is it In order for Jews to join Christians in reciting it 7
It has often been noted that this prayer has striking affinities with the Kaddish. At the lime of .lesus there seem to have been a number of such prayers for the (establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven. " Our Father which art in Heaven " is, of course, the in-lioductory formula found in a number of Jewish prayers— aviiiu she-bashamayivi.
•But whether Jews may join Christians in reciting tin* prayer is another mailer. It cannot be denied that tluv Lord's Prayer has become a Cliristian prayer , and tlie model of Christian devotion. To recite it logellicr wiih Christians is therefore to (li> something more than give assent to its sentiments, it is t" participate in an act of especi: ally Christian worslvip and this is hardly seemly lor a
. Jew ^
I hollovc I ain rifthl ill sayin:* that the Torah nowhere prc; scribed how meat is to be koshcrcd. \Vhat is the authority for these rules'?
The Torah roDCatodly forbids
' III • III' M-ii ■ • fi^r; m
m
. the partaking of blood »o.g., Leviliais 3. 13). The rabbis understand the prohibition as applying not only to drinking blood extracted from the animal but also to eating bloody meat. Consequently, the purpose of koshering the meal is to remove from it as much blood as possible before cooking. There are many complicated discussions in the sources as to whether koshering is required by Biblical or by rabbini(j law and as to the origin of the various details of the process. The classic summary ^f the whole subject is provided for the expert by Rabbi Joseph Teoniim U727-93) in his Peri Megadim (Yoreh Deah. Uilchol Melicha, introduction).
UTiat arc the rcifjulatiohs about sitUug shiva during festivals 7
Since public mourning is forbidden on the ic'sUvals it is forbidden to sit shiva during them. If a death occurs before a festival then shiva is observed until the festival, and the advent of the festival cancels out the lemainder. If the death took place during the festival shiva is to be ol)-.<erv('(| after the festival, Init in the diaspora-only lor six davs in.stoad of seven.
letters
opinions
Dear Editor:
I've been a regular reader of The Canadian JewisbNews for some time. Its concern for the State of Israel reflects the kmd of dedication that one can't help but ad-mhre.
For some discure reason too many of our fellow Jews have been guilty of hxlif-ference. That's an incredible thing to say when one recalls our tragic past
Too many of us fail to realize one b^ic truth: our fuhure as a distinct cuIhire is very much connected with IsraeL In addition to generous contributions to campaign funds, Israel needs a personal commitment of moral support. Thefhiancial assistance generously demonstrated time and again too often excludes this personal involvement
My hope is that The Cana-
dian Jewish News succeeds in awakening this dormant spirit, this lethargy of ours, to become acquainted with the real meaning of Israel
and its importance as the true common denominator of our people.
Your voice acting as the conscience of our community
and the message therein truly is as important as the voice of Old, of our Prophets.
.'- Harry Schiller Willowdale, Ont.
r WHY KENSINGTON GHETTO?
Dear Editor:
I read in a Toronto daily a very moving reportage about the beautiful Kensington area and a plea not to tear down the slums there. Someone spcdce about the beauty and color of these relics of a past.
However, those who would like to keep Kensington as it Is are for getthig that it recently has become a ghetto where two minority groups seem to l)e fighting each other. The most dangerous development in interracial relations here is the en-
couragement of separate ghettos for Portuguese, Negroes and others among the newcomers. I believe the clearing of slums and the buildmg of decent housing for all New Canadians are
more important than discoursing alwut the beauty of adistrict where no one among those who lament its passing would wish to live.
Albert Hoffer I ToroDt<y
HOW TO HELP
BOOKS OF THE WEEK
JEWISH RENEGADES
ISRAEL, ZIONISM AND THE NEW LEFT by Richard L. Rubenstein Zionist Organization of America 34pp.
Whatever one may think of Richard Rubenstein as a theologian (he is one of those "Death of God" exponents), his recent contribution to the study of modern, anti-Semitism is a most welcome document. In.this short but extremely well written pamphlet Dr. Rubeilstein explores otie of the most curious aberrations of our time — the phenomenon of Jewish antipathy towards the state of IsraeL
As an introductibtitothis subject he fhrst describes the attitudes of Frenchand Russian Socialist, revolutionair-ies towards the Jews, In their Utopian dreams^ b( a fuhire communitarian society there would be noplace for Jews who wanted to preserve thehr ancestiral heritage. Everyone was supposed to be equal in the kreat now
proletarian enterprise. For this reason the early Socialist and Communist groups abominated the Z i o n i s t movement. This also included a significant portion of Jewish Communists who were ready to sacrifice thefr own people. Rubenstein records the painful fact thkt the Yiddish Communist daily Freiheit celebrated the massacre of Jews hi the Arab riots of 1929 just as Karl Kautsky, a Jewish Marxist, had praised the Russian pogromists hi 1891. But the supreme irony of history Is that, despite their efforts, the JewiSii radicals and rev> olutionaries hievitably wei'e consumed by the revolution they sought to hispire. "No political magic could iurh even a Jewish Communist into a brother Russian of Pole. The Jews remained -what they had always been^ outcasts . and aliens. And, the\ revolution consumed thefti: Trotsky, Anna P4u-
ker, Jakob
Herman - the is the
stor/V everywhere sajne. Undoubtedly. It will be the same of Daniel Cohn-
Bendit and the Jewish leaders of the American' New Left should theh- revolutionary dreams succeed,"
Rubenstein spends several pages in his paper hi analyzing the dishirbhig phenomenon of black anti-Semitism and showhig the double standards which animate this movement. "Ig-norhig the Arab's long history as slave traders." charges the author, "Indifferent to Nasser's violence agahist the black Sudanese, they regard the Israelis as white imperialists who had usurped a colored nation's territory and victimized its people." And what kind of constructive suggestions do the Blacks have to apply to the Arab-Israeli problem? -- naked extefmhiatlon of the Israeli populace.
Rubenstehi is ready to accept and even to understand the implaccable hostility of the Arabs and the pathological hatred of the Blacks but he cannot tolerate the spec-f tacle of the Jewish renegade. For over 100 years JewS in each generation have.wUl-
higly cooperated to violence against their own people to exchange for the empty promise that some day they would no longer be burdened with thehr mark of Cahi, their Jewish identity . . . Nowhere did the Diaspora Jewish community exhibit the abnormality of Its conditions more thoroughly than to the spaiwning of such a brood."
Checklist
mo ANNUAL OF JEWISH SOCIAL SCIENCE mo Institute 288pp.
This year's collection of essays maintains the customary high standards of the YlVO publications. The current volume contains a fine essay on Yiddish com-)ared with other Immigrant anguagesin theU.S.,astudy of ttie attitude of the Russian Communist party toward Zionism and Jewish survival and ^f asctoatlng glimpse toto the world of the JeWlsh Daily Forward and its editor, Abraham Cahah, In an essay
by Dr. Arnold Ages
written by Professor Ta-mara Hareven of Dalhousle University.
■' THEARTISTS ' OFTEREZIN by Gerald Green Hawthorn 191pp.
Terezto was the maincbn-centratlon camp to Czechoslovakia and was set up by the Germans to hoodwtokthe western press and the International Red Cross toto thtoktog that the Reich's treatment of the Jews was exemplary. It was nothing of (the sorli. Among the thousands of Jews that perished to Hitler's "model" camp were many gifted and sensitive artists. Gerald Green, author of The Last Angry Man, has gathered together/ some of the most poignant ( patottogs done to Terezto by artists such as OttoUngar, Bedrich Fritta, Leo Haas and Karel Felischmann. To read Green's text and examtoe the paintings is to( experience once again the riesilience of the human spirit to the face of death.
Dear Editor:
Just a short note to say how much I appreciate seeing articles from time to time to The Canadian Jewish News concerning the is-sutog of new Israeli stamps.
Very little public attention usually is focused on this aspect of Israeli life. Yet postage stamps are to
the top ten exports of the country, a valuiable contribution to the country's economic life.
Drawing attention to Israeli stamps to The Canadian JewisbNews also is an important contribution.
Once agato, thanks.
sid O. Antony Toronto
KEEP SMILING
IN PLAIN LANGUAGE
In a group of UJA delegates which visited a settlement to Israel, there was a young matron who sported a conspicuously large diamond ring. After showing the visitors around the stables a hardened farmer asked the young lady about the value of the ring.
When she told him, he appeared thoughtful for a moment, then translating the value into, his own terms, he retorted: "Lady, you've got no less than four cows and a buU on your flngert"
logical
A Yemenite entered a bus ahd^sat down on a front seat. "Fare, please," said the conductorix"You want me to give money?" protested the senger. "Why, i came to Srael from Yemen for nothing, and you want me to pay to go from one street in Tel Aviv to anotherl'V
'one WAY I "The ybuoK man sat next to
the young girl on the bus skfrthig the suburbs late one night. He saw his chance. He leaned closer.
"What do I have togive you in order to receive one little kiss from you?" he asked.
"Chloroform!" snapped the girl, and moved to another seat'
OBSERVANT
A little girl was told to go to bed, but objected violently. "But, dear," said her mother, "it's long past your bedtime. All the lltUe chickens have gone to bed already."
"Yes, but the old hen always goes with them," protested the child.
NIMBLE
A rehigee professor, now a farm worker to Israel .was questioned regarding his experiences under the Nazis.
"And what did youdowhen you got that letter from the Gestapo?"
"I i;inishcd reading it on the train," replied the Professor.
SERMON FOR THE WEEK
FAILURE AND iUMN
And fhoi! shaii make tor thvs«l* on ork of >»ood _., Deuterortofry .X.l),
The Bible records the tragic failure of Israel at the dawn of itsihistorv. When Moses, descending the mcunf. became owore of Israel's sin in erecting a golden coif for worship ,he thrust the tablets of stone aside ond broke them. This breaking of the stones wos not the result of a mood of uncontrollable anger but a symbolic act declaring the failure of man to live up to the standard demanded by the Divine Low. The tablets of stone were no longer sacred if they hod'no relevance to human capacity Sanctify is o link between God and man. God does not require the attribute of sanctity for He is transcendent Man needs the sacred but it must be liu manly attainable There was failure but whose was It? . •■ • ■ , . ■ .
Moses noN* hod a lesson Jo learn; As the leader of the people it was his duty to analyse.this failure Did the low fail or was .it Israel that hod lapsed? Was the Law beyond human capability or hod Israel not lived up to its potentiality?
Moses prayed forty days and nights and his prp\er wQS one of meditation dh this problem of failure. During these dovs of devotion and reflection there carne to him the reatisotion that mpn l"K3d foiled and not the Law
After the prover of Moses came the messoge of God for the rehabilitation of Israel, The loblets of stone **ith the laws engraved thereon must be reconstructed. These tablets must be foshicned anew to indicate that God's Low is within the bounds of Human oossibility. There wds to be a lesioh in the T'dnner of fheir making. Whereas God had mode the first tablets of stone and .had .wntften the laws on t.hen-!, the second tablets were to be .mode h\ .\Aoses but the writing Was to be that of Gbid. This was to reveal the portnership betWeen Goid arid man «n the faith of Israel.
It IS no use moh pleading justificotloti for sin because of human, inadequacy. Had rnan no soul there could be no partnership between God and man. Because man has been endowed with the Divine spork this co-operotlon bietween God on<) man is possible. The human side of hfiah does riot Iniipede the .vision of God. For the humbri mdke-up is such ihbi mon i$ oblo to surposs himself.,Heidegger calls Villi tiic soH transcpmlence" of man fnoi man y>hc 1^ pQt\ of this world may enter into o portner. ship wiiH God whiv i> grcolC' H>on the world
N^i onh vvrrff the twr new loblot* of >tol1f pnxIc.i'mTn the Low »i> be plored in the /Srk but. ,ov, Hie UfibhiN frllxI,)- the; broken p|Cccs of thf first •uOlcU wCiic «;il.-r k* hod 0 sac'cd hbnic therein. 5urcK\|he'je broken picfcs icflf!Cting«t<(|ns failure /.Ih'uIcI hove botn IximpH .ond ob'sCiiredxtrprirslght. Why were Ihcy preserved 01^8 hphoiir^(^.* ,
Our faihires hove, their sacre<^ piirtJOse. We lenrn more from failure thoh sUCcess. The broken pieces of isfor^e 'stoel that must^riot
oscribe our fbilure to other* M-Ouriklvas. Fall-, lire IS not on occosion for despqir.betouM jf iinot ir><«\ iJnblr We can rise abo^tl fibl|un». ThtxHigh r«-•ipMi-.l of effort wprnn ochievoVtM With We-•i-rive'-U lo'led The broken stories can be rejaiaced >s m'^c'p ires fotlurft bv triumph ' ■ . ' •,
..^ ^ ^ ll^!^ :1
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