higc 4- The Canadian Jewisli News, l-'riday. February 13, 1^70 THE CANADIAN JEWISH NEWS PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY by North American Press Ltd. MAIN EDITORIAL AND BUSINESS OFFICES: 3433 Bathurst St.. Toronto 19. Ont. Telephone: 789-1895 MONTREAL OFFICE: 6338 Victoria Avenue. Montreal (252). Que. Telephone: 739-3630 M.J. NURENBERGER Editor and Publisher DOROTHY C.NURENBERGER Associate Editor ELI OVADYA, General Manager VOL. XI: No, 7 (578) Subscriptions $5.00 per year, $12 - 3 years; U.S.A. $7.50 per year. $liB.OO-3.years; All other countries $10 per year, $24 - 3 years. Second Glass ^1ail Registration Number 1683 . CANADA'S LEADING JEWISH NEWSPAPER IN ENGLISH The Canadian Jewish News cannot be held responsible for the Kashrut of products advertised as kosher, nor will it be held accountable forjf^^nanclal losses due to __ printing errors in advertisements. HEBREW CALENDAR Friday. Febriuuy 13. 1^)70. The 7lh darol" -Adar Porlioii of the Week: Teruinah Caiidlelighting: Toronto 5:27; Montreal 5:00 An Historic Address TRUDEAU Those who believe that the citizens of Quebec can never be segregated according to race, religious allegiance, ethnic descent, or mother tongue - and who believe that all who live in Quebec are Quebeckers and Canadians ~ will welcome the historic address made by a prominent French-Canadian, the Prime Minister of this country. We in The Canadian Jewish News have maintained for years that the Jews of Montreal are not running away. Montreal is their home and they are not going to become hysterical because of a misunderstanding of the true aims of French Canada's cultural renascence. Having stated this position on numerous occasions we are especially pleased with Mr. Trudeau's statement at the Anti-Defamation League Dinner in Montreal on Sunday; when he told the Jewish community: "... Stick with it! " Prime Minister Trudeau meant exactly what he said. And we want to assure him that the majority of Jews in the province of Quebec agree with him - whether they entirely share his opinions on the linguistic problem or not. The Jews of Montreal are Montrealers just as much as those people of German, French, English, Scottish or Italian descent who have made that city one of the most charming and fascinating places in our modern Worlds Montreal is a fantastic city, a wonderful place to live and to enjoy life. It is a city where the people, whether French or English by linguistic preference, are tolerant, humane and absolutely free of racialism. Despite some vociferous propaganda frorn the lunatic fringe, French Canadians, whether liberal or conservative, federalist or separatist, would never accept a situation in which a minority would become the scapegoat in the rapidly changing social order. French Canadians are vvarm, profoundly artistic people who say yes to life and who, because of this, have felt very close to their Jewish compatriots, despite foreign inspired agitators. This was true of Quebec when the Nazis and the Italian fascists made an effort, during World War II, to indite the people against Jew:; and other minorities -- and against English Canadians. Such nonsensical tactics will never find a response ; within a group which for generations has felt oppriessed by a dom-ihant cultural jpoyver. - It) fak:t Mr. Triicleiau's api^^ ance at the Ahti^befamatioh League Dinner is, in itself.^a dempristratibn of French-Canadian deterrrlination to create Ji just society. Fbr isn't--Mr. TrudMu himself a product of French Canada's progre^ towards more stronger; cultural expression by FrehchCanadians^ /Progress, : one might add; vvhich is largely devoid of racial overtones. We do riot hesitate to add that such anti-racial istattitud(>s are ong all responsible Quebec leaders^ those who agree with Mr. Trudeau on other issues, and those who differ with him. There is an atmosphere in Quebec, an ambiance, to use a French term, which is permeated by true love of freedom for all and which no Algerian trained agitators could ever poison. The Anti-Defamation League, in our opinion, has established its importance by providing a forum for the Prime Minister to make this pertinent statement which we know is shared by most Canadians regardless of political persuasion or philosophy. In fact the Anti-Defamation League is closest to our ideal of a movement which fights bigotry and racial hatred because of its character as a non-sectarian and nonpartisan organization. We have never believed that the struggle a-gainst antisemitism is solely the task of the Jewish community. Antisemitism may affect or threaten Jews first, but in the long run, it aims at undermining ^ciety and destroying any just social order. Thus no Jew could have made a stronger point against the racial hatred which menaces the peoples of the free world, than the Prime Minister, iii his Montreal address. In our new era there is a definite generation gap discernible between the old fashioned approach to combating bigots, which makes Jewish groups appear to be the. only ones opposed to discrimination on grounds of race and religion ~ and the modern approach, as expressed by Prime Minister Trudeau, that the diestruction of bigotry is necessary in the building of a just society. Therefore, this newspaper, which since its inception almost eleven years ago, has demanded legislative steps against the dissemination of racial hatred, salutes the Prime Minister for so valiantly and courageously accepting this chaK lenge and for stating W the record that the dissemination of racial and religious prejudice will become a criminal offense in Canada. There was a time when some Jewish groups disagreed with The Canadian Jewish News about the niecessity of amending the o'jminal code in order to ban Nazi-like propaganda in this country. It is immensely satisfying to us to note that these same organizations are now sCippprting this step, vvhich will inevitably iKid to the progress of dempcracy in Canada. Last but not least. Prime M isterTrudeau'v words at the Mori^ treat Antl-Defamatipn League meet-iiig; demonstrateis that the majority of Caiiadiaris are sick and tired of being haiTipered-4n their rnarch towards equality and justice by pr^^ fessioriai hate rherchants. To us this Montr^l meeting is the beginning of a new era in Canada which vvill give all of us; more faith and a stronger belief in the effectiveness of our democratic ,' system. ": ASK THE RABBi -■ KNS hilwtit*-- Due to the emergency in the Middle East the French government is sending a special messenger to the Big Four meeting. Le Figaro, Paris WHAT IS A JEW? Until quite receiu times, the queistion hardly arose. Jews liyed largely in closed religious communities, and anyone born of Jewish parents or who was "received'' into Judaism according to Jewish religious law (in the relatively rare cases when this liappened) was a Jew. With- Jewish emancipation, which started about 200 years ago, the phenonTenon of mixed Jewish-Gentile marriages began to arise. But in general a Jew or Jewess only contracted to the outside community and had lost the wish to live or bring his or iier children up as Jews. The religious status of the children of mixed marriages has become an important issue only in this century, largely in Anglo-Saxon countries where it was easier to merge into society at large without giving' up one's Jewish affiliations^. It also became a problein after the Second World War inthe destroyed comrnuhities of Europe, where small isolated pockets of Jews remained. Traditionally, the rule as to the religious status of children of mixed marriages has been quite clear, at least since Talmudic times: "The child follows the mother" (Kiddushin 68b), and so it is codified in the Shulchan A-ruch (Eben Ha'ezer 8,5) and Maimonides (Yad, Hilchot I-surei Bi'ah 19,6). The reason for this rule is nowhere explicity stated and is not very clear, particularly as in other respects the child follows the father; for instance in regard to the status of Cohen. The Canadian Jewish News interviews Barlev By MOSHE RON (TEL AVIV) The present Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Army is the eighth man to occupy that post. Before him Jacob Dori, Yigal Yadin, Morde-cai Maklef, Moshe Dayan, Chaim Laskov, Zvi Zur and Yishak Rabin, served in this capacity. When the editors of the Israeli press arranged a reception for Chaim Barlev recently, chairman Jacob Amit stressed that Barlev is very popular among soldiers and civilians alike. He is a pacifist by nature and were it not for the war situation it is most probable that Bar-lev would be a professor in the humanities. He likes people. He personally takes part in nearly every military action, bidding farewell to the soldiers. He visits each Israeli settlement, that has been shelled by enemy guns, or attached by terror-• ists and makes it a point to see wounded soldiers and civilians in the hospitals. It is a pleasure to talk to the Israeli Chief of Staff. General Biarlev speaks slowly, modestly and with deli-l)eration. He never gets excited or nervous, and scrupulously avoids polemics and personal attacks. He always succeeds in convincing people with his logical nrtan-ner and good humor. He always praises soldiers returning from military actions with straight talk. In the course of his duty as Chief of Staff during the last two years, there has been no regular war other thancom-mando attacks on the borders. Nasser has not succeeded in his efforts to weak- en the Israeli Army or the moral of the civilianpopula-tion by his massive shelling of Israeli positions on the Suez Canal. The building of the fortified Barlev line on the Eastern shore of the Canal and the fierce Israeli counterattacks have foiled Nasser's plans completely. Up till now the Israeli Air Force has carried out 2800 sorties into Egypt and has enlarged the radius of its actions to include the outskirts of Cairo. These actions have upset Nasser's plan to open another war against Israel. This is one of the greatest achievements of the Israeli Army under- the command of General Barlev. The situation on the Suez front has improved very much sinceJune 1969. The Israeli soldiers are today much more secure and safe in their entrenched positions and the number of dead and wounded has decreased considerable. Barlev explains to us that the frequent attacks of the Israeli Air Force on military targets in Egypt are due tb 'the breach'.of the ceasefire ' agreementNasser. For a long time Israel has hesitated to use its Air Force against Egyptian tar gets, because it had hoped that Nasser would keep this agreement until a peace-settlement was reached. Israel is still ready to cease the air attacks, if Egypt would agree to peace talks, because Israel is not interested in an escalation on the Egyptian front. General Bar lev told us that the Egyptian commandoes are well trained, but they are Mideast War WEST Dear Editor^ ■ In the January 30th issue of your newspaper you reJ ported aboit possible changes with'^r^gard-to-'lk-rael and the polidy of the present WestGerman socialist government. You menr. tion the niaime of Hans Juer- gen Wischnewski,, Willy Brandt's pro-Arab trouble shooter..;r May I add some very iiii-portant" facts to your infor-mation. I recently read in the West German newspapers:that; the socialist-Bonn government has now signed an agreement with Jordan under the terms of which Bonn will provide Hussein a. l^ah of twenty- five million German marks.^ This agreement was^ighed in Bonn between Bahjat Tal-houni, the Prime ;I^inister of Jordan and/West German Foreign Mihisier Walter :Scheel;■:■('■•;^ ; Is the West German^ov-' ernment no^, j6inih| the Brit-, ish socialists -in>its_policy_ towards the Middle Easl^ Nachman Mandel Montreal. London - The present Middle East crisis, iis niore serious that at any time since the Arab-Israeli war of June 1967, reports the London Sunday Telegraph. The paper goes on, "But the situatioh is still by no means desperate and ] the chances of a renewal of all-out hostilities between the Israelis -iaind Arabs in the near future reinain limited. "Behind their smokescreen of bellicose propaganda the jiai-sh fact is that the Arabs are far from ready to . challenge Israel.: Their leaders know it. ; '■Today the situation is ra-dically different from that prevailing in the iseeks bk-fore the 1967 conflict.: At that time short-lived lihity of effort among Arab States had been achieved. "Arab Armies were fully mobilized arid had a sketchy degree of staff cooperation, the Arab world believed the boasts-of^ gyptian military commandersAthat Egypt had aiir superiority over Israel vand^that Egypt-built rockets "could^evastate any target in Israel {within seconds. "Today the Arab armies ariB notmobilized. The Egyp-tial forces, the larges in the Middle East, ire'geared tor defense. There is lid combined Arab General Statf. •'Egypt and Iraq may offer to kend air squadrons toSyria and Jbrdan.v At this stage Jordan's small Air .^Force can offer practically no air cover to/Arab ground forces on the east bank of the Jor-dian River. "Other Arab States may propose sendiiig troops or strengthening their contingents on the eastern front and in Egypt, But for the Arab numbers in men or equipmentare not the immediate pfoblerh as they already have large numerical superiority.'' The, Sunday Telegraph Report ends by stating that if more Arab contingents are sent to the military front they woiild likely hamper efficient cooperation among Arab military commands. not capable of carrying out their actions and prefer to flee immediately when they meet Israeli soldiers. The Egyptian fighter-pilots are eager to get rid of their bombs as quickly as possible. The Egyptians are preparing for a thrust through the Suez Canal and have the necessary means for it, but they know quite well, that they have no chance of succeeding. They are trying to learn fighting methods from the Israelis but they are bad pupils . .. They tried without success to imitate the action of Israeli helicopters. Barlev stated that the Egyptian attempt to weaken the Israel Army by massive shelling has had a reverse effect on Cairo. Heavy losses were inflicted upon the Egyptians by the attacks of the Israeli Air Force during the last months. The Commander of the Egyptian Air Force was removed and there are strong forces in Egypt working against the continuation of the so-called "War of Weakening" against Israel. One of these was the voice of the Eg\-ptian Vice President, Anwar Sadat. Wti&t troubles Israel most are the losses caused by Egyptian shelling in the Canal area and Israel does its utmost to prevent them. General Barlev does not tielieve that Egypt is capable of starting a "Blitzkrieg" against Israel. Israel is ready for such an eventuality. General Barlevdoesnot believe that the Russians will take part actively in a war between Israel and the Arabs. They have given them a great number of planes tanks and guns, but they do not wish to interfere themselves. It is not plausible for Arab counl-ries like Algeria, Yemen, Kuwait and Libya to give much help to Egypt in the, case of war with Israel. General Barlev said, it was unnecessary to reply to each Egyptian attack with a counterTattack. Israel is not interested in a general flare-up on the Siiez front nor can she use the same method as the Arab guerillas^ killing innocent people. Israel differentiates l)etwe:en fighting on the front and attacks on innocent civilians. It would be easy to explode boinbs in central squares swarming with people inthe Arab countries,-but Israel does not wish to use such methods. It does hot wish to create the image that Jews use terror-methods against innocent old .people, women and children. General Barlev does not think that the terrorists have : made much progress in their activities during the last few trionths. Israel at first lost some high ranking officers who took part in the pursuit . of_terrorists, ljut lately the Isiraeli Army has found the means to do this job without human losses. - Regarding the increase of terrorist activities from Lebanese territory against Israel, General Barlev warned that if the Lebanese authorities would not take stern measures against these terrorists, Israel would be compelled to safeguard its security by actions against the terrorists on Lebanese territory. The Lebanese should learn a lesson from events and developments in Jordan, General Barlev said. All the villages on the Jordanian border with Israel have been turned into ruins and it is up to the Lebanese authorities to avoid such occurrences on their border with Israel... General Barlev stressed there is relative calm on the Syrian-Israeli border. The Syrians do not forget that the distance between the present positions of the Israeli Army and their capital, Damascus, is quite short. Israel did well, when it refrained from an immediate reaction after the imprisonment of the two Israeli passengers on the kidnapped TWA plane in Damascus. Israel was interested ingettmg thern free, and if she had reacted immediately, who knows how long the two Israeli citizens would have remained in Damascus? The Syrians know quite well that Israel is capable of taking appropriate action against any of their attacks. General Barlev told us that the Israeli Army is today stronger than before the Six Day War and ready for any eventual attack by the enemy. The Israeli soldier does not like soldiering and war but he is ready to defend his country and even to sacrifice himself for it. The father of General Bar-lev, Menachem Barlev, is a descendant of the Gaon Ma-gen Abraham from Kalizz. He published a book, Likutim which is a commentary on the Bible. General Barley's wife, Tamar, is a teacher and is studying at the Bar llan University. His daughter is a parachutist and his son a sportsman. In 1967 General Barlev studied at the Fort Knox Military Academy and is an expert on tank formations. He is a flier and parachutist. When the Six Day War broke out, he was recalled urgently from the U.S. and appointed Vice Chief of Staff to General Yizliak Rabin. . After the Six Day War, when Rabin left the Army and took over the officeof Israeli Ambassador to Washington, General Barlev was appointed as Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army. He is now beginning his third year. His -most urgent desire is not victories on the front, but a stable peace; The State of Is- . i-ael and the Jewish people can be proud that the Chief of the Israeli Army is a grandson of the Magen Abraham. The grandson of the De-. fender Abraham is now defending the security of the State of Israel and its people. The rationale seems to be three-fold: in the first place, even where paternity is at aU in doubt, it is possible tostate with certainty who is the mother. But more importantly, the rule expresses the importance Judaism attaches to the role of the mothier in bringing up her child and giving it its early religious upbringing. And after all, it is the mother who gives birth to her child. Comirtications which have given rise to periodic "controversy in recent years e-merged with the establishment of the State of Israel, which is governed by tra-ditiorialreligious law only in certain fields (in matters of "personal status," i.e., marriage, divorce, inheritance). Every Israeli is i-dentified under three head-higs: nationality, community and religion. As 1 understand the Israeli Supreme Court ruling, an Israeli citizen can belong to the Jewish "community" without being a Jew by religion, just as an Arab citizen of Israel belongs to the Arab "community" and by religion can be a Christian or a Moslem. Since we in the diaspora do not categorize Jews- by community as distinct from religion, 1 do not see that we are directly affected. Our Batei Din will continue to turn to the Israeli rabbinical courts rather than the civil authorities where the religious status of Israelis is concerned. KEEP SMILING CONFUSION ENOUGH Two of the brightest scholars in all Chelm, if not the whole world, were discussing the difficulties involved in learning to spell the modern as well as the biblical words that were part of their studies. "Let me ask you a question," said one. "Ask!" replied the other. "Who needs a gimmel in 'Noah'?" "But there is no gimmel in 'Noah'." "Tell me, why shouldn't there be a gimmel in 'Noah'?" "But who needs a gimmel in 'Noah'?" "Now just a minute,'"protested the first student. "That's the same question 1 asked you to begin with:" 'VVho needs a gimmel iff Noah?'" ORIGIN Television star Danny Thomas, a Lebanese who tells a Jewish joke better than most Jews, claimed he bought a parrot from an Israeli seaman. "Every morning,"swears Danny, "the parrot would shout, 'Polly wants a mat-zoh!'" TELLING HIM A gorilla walked into Goldman's delicatessen and ordered a pastrami sandwich on pumpernickel with a piece of pickle on the side — logo. "That'll be two dollars," said Goldman, handing the ape the sandwich. "And I must say, 1 never expected to see a gorilla in my store!'' "At two dollars for apa^i-trami sandwich," snapped the gorilla, "you neveriwiH again.'' CHIEF OF STAFF of the Israeli Defense Force Chalm Barlev (right) is interviewed by The Canadian Jewish,News Israeli correspondent Moshe Ron. , . • \ Sermon for the week APPEAL AND RESPONSE The current Sidra opens vnth a theme only too familiar to twentieth-century Jewhry, an "Appeal" to contribute wealth towards a worthy cause, an invitation by God Himself to the Israelites to participate in the building of His symbolic DweUing Place among our people, the Holy Mishcan. Most remarkable isthe reaction of Moses to the overwhelming response to the invitation. When he was confronted writh the tremendous offerings far in excess of the requirements of the building, he at once instructed that the ''appeal" be declared closed and that: ho further donations be accepted. How strange this must sound to those of us accustomed to the high pressure technique of the contemporary world. Is an appeal for communal requirements ever really over-subscribed? Furtherniore, were this unlikely contingency to arise, can we so easily imagine our energetic initiators so simply, admitting the fact, and issuing a public proclarriation that no more contributions be accepted? It is only too likely that ample use for the surplus offerings would be found. Surely Moses was not so much worried that too much wealth was being expended upon the house for God, but rather he was anxious lest too much energy be absorbed in its physical construction. The danger lay in the very deep satisfaction that derives from good works. When Moses cned out "Enough! " he had in mind the precious currency of spiritual enthusiasm, which was not to be utterly spent on the first work that caught the imagination of the grateful Israelites. Unfortunately our generation lacks leaders with such perspective and courage. Working for the synagogue is too of ten synonymous with toiling exclusively forits material welfare. Time, energy, and organization seem to stop short at this_point. Comparatively rarely do we have business-like meetings convened to discuss the most effective means to counter ignorance . and the laxity of religious observance.JJow often do we hear of dynamic campaigns against the profanation of Shabbat, or of a sustained drive to encourage attendance at synagogue, carried through with that vigor and efficiency which we normally associate with fund-raising drives? The sad consequences are all too evident. New edifices spring up on all sides while older buildings are modernized and extended. Yet we still await the resultant revival of Torah learning or any perceptible impact upon the religious spirit of congregants. Perhaps, after all, the presence of God was more apparent, in the humbler dwellings of our parents and grandparents. A commentator remarks that despite the pronounced modesty of this temporary-^Mishcan, as compared with the splendour of the subsequent magnificent Temples of God, these later edifices did not facilitate the earlier extrabrdinary spinluaj^ expert iences. The truest measure of spiritual potential is^ not merely quantitative, and thei^secrel of the superiority of the humbler effort might well be linked with the deliberate restraint exercised by the wise leader. ■ ■ •