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Belgian leader slain
see page 3
Drug education i
see page 18 |
A V /. ■ <
I n.C '■•C J 1 M :■ :,: V i A
56 Pages
Thursday, October 12, 1989 TIshrl 13, 5750
Second Qass Mail Registration Number 1683 - Postage Paid at Toronto
60«
Ushpiziii engraved plaque of early 2(hh century design, used as a sukkaih decoration, listing the seven hor hored patriarchs who are invited into the sukkah, [Ex collection, Dr^Fred Weinb^^
Necessary to invite seven guests
DR. FRED WEINBERG
. Are yoii aware that you have seven distinguished VIP guests invited to your table during the week of the
;Sukkoi Holiday? ; V
But don't be alarnied because they Won't all come at once to join you in your sukkah booth. Oh the fifsT day your sukkah will be honored by the presence of the patriarch Abraham, the second day his son Isaac. . then Jacob. Joseph. Moses, Aaron^ and oh the final day. King David. This tradition sterns from the Zo-har. the text of kabbalistic customs and beliefs.
In spme communities it was popular to have hanging in the sukkah, an actual inscribed and illustrated invitation to the ancestral guests. This kind of plaque such as theone jn the illus-tratioKIises thiWord^ U pizin as the designation for Vguests". since the word Ushpizen is' an Aramaic word of Latin origin meaning guests. So it is during the seven day holiday of SucCQt that one of the seven patriarchs is invited daily to be a guest (ushpizin) in the "succah.
Hospitality has always been a Jewish "midah"' — a benevolent practice. Tradition has it tha_t in order to be worthy of the spiritual presence of these honored guests in one's sukkah, it is necessary to^ invite at least seven actual physical guests, the
poor of the community to sit at the table with the host during the family meals. Our Bible is full of examples of Jewish hospitality, as in the narrative about Abraham who entertained three strangers in his tent and showed them many kindnesses. Biblical hospit-"
"ality extended even to the "ger"—- the traveller who happened to live temporarily with a Hebrew family and was assured by biblical law of protection and ind(^d of love since the Bible demands that the stranger was to be loved even as one loves oneself.
He was invited to participate in the faiiiily and tribal festivals and received poiiions of crops that were distributed amongst the poor. This unusual treatment, applied equally, to theJ native born and to the stranger, is very different from thai of the customs of the times and is very Jewish in origin though
-popularly attributtd to Christianity.
Laws relating to this equality of treatment are scattered throughout the Bible and demonstrate a deep seated attitude of landness towards strangers amongst the ancient Hebrews. For example, in the Book of Job7jn which the issue of reward and punisiuhent is so deeply en-
-tered intOT-^Job, in comr -plaining about his misfortune, pleads that,
amongst his virtues he had always kept his door open to the stranger, One of his visiting accusers explains Job's misery ori the basii that he had not been hospitable/enough..
This early practice of hospitality continued tliroughout Jewish history ' and thrdughoiit changes in social conditions. In the first centuries of the Common Era there is a description of a leading scholar who ob-served the custom of opening ,the door of his house wheii he wis about to take his meal and he would say "anyone who is hungrv mav come in and ■'eat."': -
the rabbinic literature is full of tales, describing the appropriate etiquette for bothihe hosiand the giiest to take. For example, it is considered the diity of the , host to be cheierftil dui^ing meals and make his guests feel at hoine and comfortable at the table.
At the same time; the guest is instructed to sho\y his gratitude to the host by including a blessing for his benefactor in the grace after the meal. The guest was also expected to leavejsome of thejood on his dish to show that he had more than enough. ;
The tradition of hospitality . was very much present _^ong Jewish communities in the Middle Ages. Especially after the Crusades when so many Jews were mur-
dered and left homeless, hospitality became a necessity and wandering students or poor Jews in general had to be provided with meals and lodging. This system survived in many Jewish cohimu-nitiies particularly for the Sabbath meals.
Ultimately this developed into a whole network of self-help Jewish, welfare organizations that were present even in the smallest communities, the hachriasat orchim (guest welfare) institutions where: Jewish travellers could obtain lodging and food. A system of. meal tickets for travellers evolved as early as the J5th century and student hostels were established. .
Amongst the Jews of Poland it was the custom to billet students with different families for their daily meals. This custom known as "essen tayg" (eating days)iaterspread thrbughout central Europe.
In modem times community institutions have.taken over some of these personal hospitality practices. This extension resulted also in the establishrnent of mao^ospitals under Jewish auspices particularly in North America. All these developments gre\y out of-the age old tradition, of Jewish hospitality which during the harvest festival is symbolically represented . by welcoming the honored patriarchal • ushpizin into the sukkah.
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loses out on tie vote
JERIJSALEM(CJN News Services) —
Right-wing cabinet ministers led by Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir have voted down proposals by their Labor coalition partners for talks with a Palestinian delegation in Cairo.
Likud Economics Minister Yitzhak Modai told reporters no written clarification of alternative American proposals arrived during the inner cabinet mieeting.
The six Labor and six Likud ministers split equally over an Egyptian invitation for Israelis and Palestinians to start peace, talks. Cabinetniles say that in a tied vote the proposal is considered defeated.
Labor's ..■. Energy Minister Moshe Shahal said last Thursday that rejection of the proposal could mc^n the breakup of the coaUtion government but political analysts doubted Labor would risk general elec^ tiohs likely to send it into opposition.
The rejection of the Egyptian proposal came af ter a marathon two-day inner cabinet meeting that lasted for five hours on Thursday, Oct. 5. and con- , tinued for three more hours on Friday. '
Foreign Minister Moshe Arens spoke Thursday night to U.S. Secretary of State James Baker and re;-v quested an official text of
his proposal for consultations among Israel, Egypt and the United States on the make-up of the Palestinian delegation. . Political sources said the ' U.S. suggestion could still avert a crisis between Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir's hardline Likud party, which fears that Egypt's invitation for
Israeli-Palestinian ialks is meant to trap Israel into negotiating with the PLO, and Labor, which supports the Egyptian initiative.
Shamir's media adviser, Avi Pazner, told Reuters: ' 'The prime minister is considering seriously this American proposal of consultation between Egypt, Israel and the United States oil the question of ^ Palestinian Delegation.
A senior official said Shamir was prepared to defy three rebel right-wing Likud ministiers — Ariel Sharon, David Levy and Yitzhak Modai — if necessary to advance Israel's initiative for Palestinian elections in the occupied territories.
"Of 11 Likud ministers, eight are willing to. go ■ahead with Shamir and I think that is a comfortable margin," the official said.
He noted that Sharon, Levy and Modai had opposed the Israeli initiative from the outset and sought to tie Shamir's hands in July by having the Likud
[Cont'd, on page 14]
David Levy
Ariel Sharon
- By-PHIL FINE
TORONTO- ^ ^
The publisher of a chap-book whose October issue contains - an anti-Semitic poem he him.self wrote has cance 1 led six f)oetry readings he had scheduled for Toronto/Public Library branches.
Tony Scavetta, publisher of The Plowman, cancelled the reading,s at the behest of the librai^. Assistant Chief Librarian Stephanie Hutcheson told The CJN. -
The October issue of The JPIowman contains a 60^stanza poem. The Jesus Killers, in which Jews : are descrihed as having ^betrayed Christ and as having "disgraced the human race. . "You disobeyed the Ten Commandments and crucified his son,"stanza. 38 reads. ''And now you must ■ pay."'; '
Other stanzas portray Hitler in soliloquy, justifying the murder of six million Jews. .,
Hutchpson said Scavetta was asked to cancel the six sessions because' sb few people turned out for his readings on Sept. 16 and . 23. There', is a grea_f de-mand_from other groups for library meeting rooms, she added. —
Reached at his home in Whitby, Ont. Scavetta said that the poem was meant to be ironic. Scavetta, who is Roman
Catholic and_ who was born in Italy, said he has studied the Torah and the '■Hebrew sciptures" in great detail. ,
Scavetta reportedly left copies of The Plowman's October issue at. eight different Toronto Library branches even.though he had not received the library's permission to do
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In a letter to the library.^ .Sol Littmari of the Toronto branch - of the Sirnon Wiesenthal Centre expressed shock that copies of The Plowman had been dropped off at Hbrary branches and that Scavetta had booked space for his readings. , ^'".. ,
Littman also expressed
shock that as of Sept. 25, the library had not yet cancelled the readings.
Manuel Prutschi, national director of community relations for the Canadian Jewish Congress, and Ka-,
• ren Mock, national.director for B'nai . Brith's League for Human" Rights, also expressed their opposition to Scavetta holding the readings. -The Plowman bills itself
, as an "international journal publishing all holocaust, religion, didactic, etht^ic, eclectic, Ipve. and other.
.(sic), v .
".We are interested' in work that deals with the important issues in our .^p-ciety/." the masthead states.
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Part of "The Jesus KUIers," in which Hitler broods over the Jews.