64 Yean
Serving
Pacilic
Notthwext
Jewry
Our 64th Year
Since 1930 the only weekly publication serving Jewry of the Pacific Northwest
An Independent Newspaper
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief SAMUEL KAPLAN
Advertising Manager RON FREEDMAN
Editor ARIELA FRIEDMANN
City Desk LYNDA ROSENBERG
Thursday, May 26,1994
Published 47 times per year by Anglo-Jewish Publishers Ltd. 3268 Heather St., Vancouver, British Columbia V5Z 3K5 Subscription in Canada: $42.00 par year pius $2.94 G.S.T.
More than 500 years after the death of Martin Luther, the famous Protestant reformer, the church denomination which bears his name has decided officially to repudiate his teachings about Jews.
The New York Times reported that the Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has distanced itself from part of Martin Luther's legacy, namely, his anti-Judaic diatribes and "the violent recommendations of his later writings against the Jews."
It is well known that during the early part of his career Luther entertained great sympathy for the Jewish people and argued that their status in life had been poisoned by the Catholic Church. He argued that if the pure and straightfoward message of the Scriptures were communicated to Jews, their attitudes towards Christianity would change.
Accordingly, Luther set out to master the Hebrew Bible and a significant portion of the rabbinic literature. To this end he engaged a rabbi to help him navigate the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud. His exertions in this area did not, however, produce the desired results and Luther found himself unable to convince Jews of the truth of religion as he interpreted it.
Unsuccessful in converting Jews, Luther turned against them violently and wrote pamphlets, books and articles which excoriated Jews in language so vile it cannot bear repetition for fear of participating in his obscenities.
In 1543 Luther published "The Jews and Their Lies", a work of such demonic fury that it could be considered a prologue to Mein Kampf and SS primers on Nazi attitudes towards Jews. Yet the real
venom of Luther's paranoiac anti-Semitism is to be found mainly in his highly regarded (by Lutherans) multi-volume commentary on the Bible.
It is in the critical apparatus of this popular Ger-hian work on the Bible that Luther, almost on every page, ventilates his hatred of Jews, Judaism and the rabbinic tradition.
It is interesting to note that the Rev. Daniel Mar-tensen, associate director for the department of ecumenical affairs, said that Louis Farrakhan's recent quotations from Luther were one of the reasons the Luthern Church had decided to issue its statement recognizing "with pain", Luther's terrible statements about Jews.
It is appropriate at this time of ecumenical cooperation and rapprochement between Jews and Christians in general that the Lutheran Church is making a sincere effort to neutralize Luther's ungracious and misguided attacks against Jews and Judaism. It is, at the same time, rather unfortunate that the Lutheran Church had to wait until a rabble-rousing, anti-Semitic demagogue began using Luther's words before it sought to address them honestly as the digressions of an unsound individual.
Voltaire once said that "people who believe in absurdities will eventually commit atrocities." Luther is one of those most responsible for spreading absurdities about Jews and Judaism through his theological writings. His descendants, under the Nazis, proved the truth of Voltaire's dictum.
It has taken the Lutherans more than 500 years to recognize the damage done by the man who gave the church its name.
Better late than never.
Letters represent writers' opinions, not The Bulletin. Right of reply rectifies Inaccuracies. Letters must be signed, with day phone contact, and typed or printed, up to 250 words. VIEWPOINT exists for longer pieces, up to 750 words.
Since late November 1992, nine families and two singles have arrived in Vancouver from Bosnia. The most recent arrived mid-April.
The community has been most generous with assistance in settling these people, but the major task of locating jobs is still to be accomplished.
Only two people have full-time positions and two have part-time work. Needless to say, all are working hard at upgrading their English language skills.
The Montreal and Toronto Jewish communities, despite receiving more immigrants and contending with a poor economy, have provided full employment to
This article was written by the Jewish Vocational Support Committee.
PiCTUBEO ARE Jsist mm® of th© many former Bosnian J©m
Papo, hem P^vko^ic andBolm Pavkovlc. S®at@d, from l©ft: @®r-m?do Pbp@, Albl Papo md RmatB Baruh. Bottom photo, from i©ft: D^M Levi, Alma LmU Zman Djurjcic, Iris Unger and Zlatko Le^l.
all working adults.
Because the Vancouver community has not been able to do so, we are appealing to our community for assistance.
Although the Bosnians now living in Vancouver have expertise in a variety of fields, they are prepared to learn new skills and take jobs at the entry level in areas which differ from those in which they were previously employed.
There are three graduate electrical engineers who range in age from mid-20s to mid-40s.
Branko is a recent graduate in electronics and computers, while David and Zlatko have worked in Yugoslavia and abroad for the largest Yugoslavian engineering company in the field of power distribution networks.
All are presently becoming qualified under Canadian professional standards.
Three are lawyers in their early- to mid-40s.
Alma worked in landlord and tenant law and recently has been volunteering her services at the West Coast Legal Education Action Fund and the Law Courts Education Society of B.C.
Iris and Boris are the most recent arrivals and are still settling in.
Five are business people ranging in age from early 30s to mid-50s.
Zadik was a commercial property manager, Neda a bookkeeper in a large manufacturing plant, Zarko a small business owner, Bojan an executive trainee andTea an industrial food services accountant.
Bojan currently has a warehouse job and Neda is working in an office.
Two have worked in the sciences: Albi as a researcher with a PhD in inorganic chemistry; Melica has worked as a high school teacher.
Albi has been a consultant to industry in the use of solvents to separate metals, and
has been tutoring maths and chemistry at the high school level since arriving in Vancouver.
Both are presently gaining Canadian experience.
Four have training in the medical sciences. They range in age from late 20s to early 50s.
Jasna and Zoran have both MD and PhD degrees, specializing in pathophysiology and occupational medicine.
Jasna has already passed the TOEFL (English proficiency exam), and demonstrated a histology and anatomy lab at UBC.
Bernarda, a former teacher of dental radiology, has been developing her culinary skills and is interested in working for local caterers.
Irena was a pharmacist and is presently studying to pass the Canadian pharmacy exam.
Also looking for full-time employment is a physical education/fitness instructor and an actress/puppeteer. Both are in their mid-40s.
Zlatko taught at the high school level, and at the present time is offering personal fitness training at the JCC.
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AWARDS: Government of Israel Award of Excellence — 1968; Smolar Award for Excellence in North American Jewish Journalism — 1979 (Smolar Award Finalist, 1974 and 1982); B'nai B'rith Canada Media Human Rights Awards Honorable Mention' 1993.
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Renata is looking forward to establishing contacts with other puppeteers. She also needs professional puppets.
If you have any information, leads onjobs or ajob to offer, please call the Jewish Family Service Agency's Jewish Vocational Support Committee. Contact persons are Alberto Levitan, 874-4632, or Betty Nitkin, 731-0051.
BERKELEY, CA. — The eighth annual Anna Davidson Rosenberg Award for poems on the Jewish experience is seeking submissions.
Entry deadline for unpublished English-language poems is July 31.
Sponsored by Judah Magnes Museum, the Rosenberg Award was established to encourage poetry on Jewish themes and identity.
Those wishing to enter the contest should send a self-addressed stamped envelope for entry and guidelines to: Poetry Award. Judah Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St., Berkeley, CA. 94705.
MEMBER: Ethnic Press Association of British Columbia, Multilingual Press Association of Canada.
SERVED BY: Jewish Telegraphic Agency, World Zionist Press Service. Israel Sun Photos.
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