Publisher and Editor-in-Chief SAMUEL KAPLAN
Advertising Manager RONFBEEDMAN
\ Our S3rd Year
" Since 1930 the only weel<ly publication ;serving Jewry of the Pacific Northwest.
Managing Editor MICHAEL A. SOLMAN
. City Desic ROBERT MARKIN
Editorials — Page Four
Thursday, December 16,1982
• Published every Thursday by Anglo-Jewish Publishers Ltd: ' 3268 Heather St, Vancouver/British Columbia y5Z3KS .
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The response of the organized Jewish community to the pro-PLO vote taken recently by the Ontario Federation of Labor (sparked primarily by the electrical workers and the postal employees) has been predictable, understandable and just — but also misplaced.
TTie response has been to deplore the intervention of a labor organization into an international political arena. One sarcastic writer to a daily newspaper asked if the Ontario Federation of Labor was now going to be taking regular stands on behalf of the IRA, the Iranians and any number of other fractious issues.
Members of the Canadian Jewish community should reflect soberly on this unprecedented endorsement exercise and ask themselves what can be learned from the experience.
The flrst lesson is that Arab propagandists have been far more active than we have been aware of—to the point where they have infiltrated the labor movement.
In addition to their exertions, Arab propagandists have also develped some rather sophisticated and subtle skills, evidence of
Iran's
One of the most deplorable consequences of the Khomeini coup in Iran is the transformation of that country into one of the main bases for organized anti-Jewish and anti-Israel propaganda.
The return of' the Sh*ite Muslims to .political power in that nation should have triggered an alarm bell immediately. '
Histoncally the form of Islam which Iran practises has always been uncongenial to Jewish interests. Under the mullahs (Muslim priests), Iran has displayed an inevitable hostility towards Iranian Jews.
In the latter part of the 19th and early part of the 20th century, Iran's anti-Jewish posture was so severe that international Jewish groups had to make direct representations to the government in Teheran to cease its uncivil behavior towards Jews.
During that period, the Shi'ite rulers in Iran treated their Jewish citizens much the same way that the Bahais are being dealt with today.
With the coming to power of the Pahlevi dynasty in 1925 and the de-emphasis on the fundamentalist Shi'ite credo, the situation of Iranian Jews and minority groups in general improved.
which can be seen in their success with the OFL.
The propaganda victory which the PLO has achieved must not be discounted or dismissed but of hand. During a time of extreme economic crisis, when almost 12 percent of the Canadian work force is unemployed, PLO advbcates have convinced workers to supp^ort their political case against the State of Israel.
This is a case book example of the way people can be manipulated to release their frustrations by identifying a scapegoat and pouring out one*s wrath against it. The PLO provided the OFL with the peifect catharsis. . There is a final lesson to be learned from the PLO-OFL dance.
It shows, among other things that Canadian Jews, once the backbone of the working classes in this country, have lost touch with the proletarian element in Canadian society. The upward mobility which has characterized the Canadian Jewish experience has distanced us from the labor sector in this country.
We have paid for this in a way we never expected as a result of the OFL vote.
"Early rain'
Rcpttniedl from Ycdiot Admoof
Coortcqr WZPS
Our emphasis on
ancient priorities
With the resurgence of Islam and the reappearance of Shi'ite dominance, the old hostilities against Jews and Judaism have asserted themselves. -
With one difference.
Whereas before the campaign was confined to Iran's borders, it now crosses continents. Iran, has now become,.Jn alli§ince with her Muslim comrades, one of the chief purveyors of anti-Jewish propaganda in the world.
Iranian students on North American campuses are spearheadng virulent anti-Israel promotional exercises. Working in consort with their Arab allies, they are attempting to poison public opinion with regard to Israel's role in the Mideast.
The irrationality of the Iranian propaganda attack against Jews and Israel knows no bounds. Locked in mortal combat with Iraq in a war which has cost Iran more than 100,000 casualties, Iranian students in North America chose, nonetheless, to focus their hatred on Israel.
Their behavior seems to validate the aphorism of the Ancient Greeks: "those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first drive mad."
By REUBEN TURNER
The importance of education is paramount in Judaism. The building of sanctuary was certainly of great consequence to the Children of Israel, but the Talmud neverthelss rules, "Children who attend school are not to be removed from the study of the Torah even for the building of the sanctuary** (Shabbat 119).
So, throughout Jewish history, parents have niade sacrifices to ensure that their children have received a good education.
the signal for further study ina more serious vein, now that one is obliged to fulfil one's religious obligations with a fuller understanding and appreciation of their purpose.
The Hebrew word for education is chinuch ("consecration"), aimed at teaching a child not merely how to make a living, but how to live. Parents who see education only as a means to ensure a reasonable livelihood or a successful career for their children are providing but a fraction of the total educatioii called ior a
Reuben Turner Chronfele.
is a regular contributer tothe London Jewish
Russian-Jewish evening stunning success
The obligation to educate one's children is addressed in the Torah to the parent, as stated in the first passage of the Shema — v'shinan-tarn IS^anechOy "and you shall teach them diligently to your children" (Deuteronomy 6). But this was not always possible since sometimes the child was ah orphan, and the first-century Rabbi Yehoshua ben Gamla ordained that the education of children was to be a communal responsibility.
The Talmud discusses the question, which is of greater importance, study or action, and unanimously concludes that education and knowledge have priority, since they teach, a person the correct manner of action and observance (Kiddushin 40). Ignorance has always been frowned upon in Judaism: an am ha'aretz isL "person of the soil", an ignoramus) was considered the lowest category of individual in the community.
C^itainly^ the age of Bar-mitzvab or Bat-mitzvah is no time to finish one's Jewish education. It is, in fact.
Jewish tradition.
"Train a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not depart from it," declares JPro-, verbs.
The proper purpose of education is to instil into a child*s mind the ethical and moral values of Judaism; the active observance of the mitzvot through knowledge of the sources; a strong sense of identification with the Jewish people and Eretz Yisrael together with concern for all mankind..'; , ..
Jointly with these studies is that part of education which will later eniable the child V. to engage in a suitable trade profe^ion, so that reliance on charity is ruled out. The Talmudic sages in fact State that "a father is obliged to teach his son a skill" in orddr to earn a dignified livelihood^ J)ut it adds that "one should always teach one's son a clean and easy trade" (Berachot 63).
Parental example does much to mould the characiterof a child, who is tdld^ %y Sbloinofl,;^^^ the (Continued €MiP»ige6) See: PERSPJECTIVE
Dear Mr. Kaplan:
I was pleasantly surprised by the attendance on Saturday night, Nov. 27 at the concert/dance jointly hosted by the Young Leadership Group and JIFRA (Jewish Immigrants from Russia Association). We had expected 300 people and were thrilled when 500 arrived.
The goal of the evening was to
personally welcome all Russian-Jewish families into our community. It was a very special and important event for the )pntire Jewish community of Vancouver. The Jews, from Russia tend to be treated primarily as Russians^ but not as fellow Jews.
Our evening proved that it does not have to be so any more. I must
Seek information on wartime Lithuania
Dear Mr. Kaplan:
The National Holocaust Remembrance Committee, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice, is lookinjB- for persons who have knowledge of Jews wl)o were placed in the "Red Prison" in Siauliai, Lithuania after September 1941 or can identify the Lithuanian guards
of the Siauliai Ghetto.
Persons with this information should contact: Aba Beer, chairman. National Holocaust Remembrance Comniiittee, Canadian Jewish Congress, 1590 Ave. Dr. Penfield, Montreal. Quebec H3G1C5.
ABA BEER, Montreal, Quebec
say that the nyarm-hearted welcome will be long remeriibered and I would like to personally thank everyone whose participation made the evening a big success, and especially Schara Tzedeck congr^tion for their considerable support.
My involyement with the Young Leadership Group is giving me an opportunity to become an active member of this community. As a new face in^e^roupriwas^rusted^ immediately to take on the responsibility of planning an entire event. I thank the group for that.
Young Leadership has many plans for the future, one of which will be a Purim carnival competition in the nionth of February. The evening will be full of excitement and mystery and I urge the entire community to make plans to attend.
GALINA PISCHANITSKAYA
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