Page Two
JEWISH WESTERN BULLETIN
Friday, August 11, 196
rabian Nights^ revised edition
WHEN JAMES A. MiCHENER recently wrote his impressions of the Israel-Arab war for Look Magazine, he emphasized that Arab leaders and intellectuals had betrayed their people by distorting History. In our opinion the Toynbee variety of historian, which includes one such history professor at a local university, must also share in the responsibility for the betrayal.
By creating an enticing world of fantasy, as Michener put it, the Arabs had never succeeded in coming face to face with the reality that they had been beaten by a handful of Jews both in the Israeli War of Liberation in 1948 and in the Sinai Campaign of 1956. Such self-deluding bad habits led Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian leaders to the inevitable confrontation in June, 1967, and will continue to do so in the future, unless, Michener contends, "we dispel that fantasy".
IN CONTEMPLATING Michener»s opinions, this writer recalled a discussion of some months ago in New York. We were touring one of the antique little neighboring villages of the Big City when our host, an eminent scientist, volunteered his own definition of History as simply: "The Story of the Winners".
At the time this seemed to be a valid assertion, and as he developed his thesis, we also recalled that Michener too, had stated as much when he described the writing of the scribes of King David in "The Source". David's scribes you will irecall, were depicted as being particularly biased, and since David was a victorious king, it is his "winner's" version of Jewish history that has survived.
YET THE STORY OF DAVID was in itself a reason to challenge the definition: The great king had beaten his enemies and his royal writers had undoubtedly been moved to embellish the successes of their protector and benefactor. Yet they did not suppress the story of David's human weaknesses as might have been the case had there existed an external or self-imposed censorship such as we inevitably encounter in even the most beneficient contemporary dictatorships.
. Thus the one great exception to the "Story of the Winners" definition, has been Jewish History which for millenia has been transmitted from generation to generation, either through entire volumes being learned by heart, or painstakingly set down on parchment. That the early scribes endeavored always to tell both sides of the "story" — the journeys of the Israelites throughout The Book, their falling into the depths of utter tragedy and their rising to the loftiest Divinely-inspired heights — these are widely acknowledged by biblical scholars, attesting to the verity of the reports.
Perhaps it is this truthfulness of re-
porting that has also influenced the Toynbee variety of historian who was apparently confounded by the very existence of the Jew in the 20th Century. The Jews did not fit the scientific pattern to which every other nation and civilization Jiad conformed. Therefore they ought to have been extinct along with their former contemporaries, the Hitites, Moabites, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines.
THE PRESENCE of the Jewish people today deformed the symmetry and neat scientific graphs of such historians who, instead of changing their charts, set out to prove that the Jews of today were not really the true descendants of the original Israelites. Preferring to ink their pens in the semi-fantasy of ancient victories and defeats of non-existent empires, these historians could see nothing very glamorous in the 2,000-year-old wandering of a people who, though once defeated in battle, refused to lie down and die.
That these so-called students of history, at times, allowed personal bias to enter their work, marring their objectivity and impugning their veracity, seems indisputable For it seems that they possessed neither the stamina nor the integrity to report maltreatment and persecution perpetrated, for the most part, by those whom these historians must call compatriots or co-religionists.
IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS, it will be interesting to read the Toynbee version of the six-day 1967 war. Perhaps it will be ignored altogether, as though pretending that a thing did not happen makes it so. Or perhaps something like the Arab fantasy that the Israelis were helped by an American and British air umbrella, an assertion which the entire world knows to be false, will prevail.
HOW ELSE CAN ONE EXPLAIN the fact that the combined forces of Egjrpt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, assisted by Algeria, Morocco, the Siidan,' etc., met their Waterloo in the waterless Sinai.?
How can an historian explain it in rational terms, telling future generations that the Arab armed forces numbered 643,000 against Israel's armed forces of 300,000? That Arab tanks, superior in weight and firepower, numbered 2,700 against Israel's 800? That Arab aircraft including the most sophisticated jet fighters and bombers, numbered 2,700 against Israel's 800? That Arab warships numbered 217 against Israel's 27?
IS IT NOT TIME FOR THE WORLD to demand that Toynbee historians cease and desist from aiding and abetting the Arabs in what James Michener calls the perpetuation of the Arabian Nights? We can think of few in a better position to help the Arabs dispel their fantasy.
BEQUiSTSm HUMANITY ARE
NOT LAST MINUTE DECISIO
INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL WORK
CONFAB TO PROBE SERVICES
JERUSALEM — Two hundred leading Jewish social workers from the United States and Canada are arriving in Israel this weekend for the International Conference of Jewish Communal Service, which convenes here Aug. 19 to 23. The Conference will be attended by 500 Jewish
communal workers from Israel, the U.S., Canada, Europe, Latin America, South Africa and Australia.
Conference theme is, "The responsibility of Jewish communal service for strengthening Jewish identification."
The Conference aims to pro-
VICTORY COIN DEPICTS WALL
THE BANK OF ISRAEL will mint a sterlingr silver "Victory Coin" which will bear a likeness of the Western Wall, Judaism's most sacred shrine, and the date on which it was restored to Jewish worship. The other side of the coin, to be valued at $3.33, will bear the emblem of Israel's defense forces. It will be distributed in North America in September.
vide information through which Jewish social workers throughout the world can share their knowledge and experience in order to enhance their individual and collective endeavors in their particular fields of work."
It will open in the Jerusalem Convention Centre with a keynote address by Dr. Ernest Akiba Simon, an internationally known educator, who is co-director of Hebrew University School of Education. At the opening session delegates will be welconied by Zalman Shazar, President of Israel, v/ho is honorary president of the Conference.
At the heart of the Conference will be deliberations and findings of four commissions which have been meeting or conferring by mail for more than a year. There will also be 17 workshops. Sessions of the commissions will be held on the campus of the Hebrew University.
— DEATHS —
MICHAEL MATOFF August 3, 1967
LILLIAN FREEMAN August 8, 1967
As another Bulletin community service feature. Deaths will be publlshel weekly as they are registered.—^THE PUBLISHER.
Dear Mr. Kaplan:
Very often we find in Canada and in the U.S. when a person writes his bequest, he leaves all his worldly possessions first and foremost to his immediate family and then to his distant relatives, barring the fact that they may be quite well-off. I cite this from my personal experience, i.e. upon death of a distant relative of mine, his estate of over half a million dollars was left almost entirely to his nieces and nephews, who were already quite well off, and only 3 percent was given to the blind, crippled, etc. Unfortunately, not a penny was given to Israel, or local Jewish charities!
Recently one of our people left $2 million to Columbia university and not a cent to Israel. A few weeks ago a Calif. Senator passed away and one million was left to his wife and nothing to needy ones. When inheritance is of a really important amount, why give it to rich relatives to make them richer, instead of distributing a good part of it to a worthy cause. Israel, for instance, badly needs ambulances, scholarships for high schools or university students, mentally deficient people, the blind, and other such institutions. Or the money could be given to local charities.
I have consulted with many dis-
JEWISH CALENDAR (LUACH)
Candle Lighting AUGUST 11, 8:16 AUGUST 18, 8:03
1367
Tisha B'ab ________________Aug. 15
Rosh Hashona ________Oct. 5
Yom Kippur_________Oct. 14
Succot _____________________Oct. 19
All holidays begin the preceding eVe at sundown.
tinguished personalities in U.S. Canada and Israel, who ha agreed with my idea .that frequently the last will is writ in the last hour, without thought to those who need f most.
My question is, can this id be practically implemented? P haps an organization should formed to provide free consult tion with respect to the right w of distribution to deservi causes. Such organization co contact as many rabbis and la yers as possible. The rabbis ocu spread the word from the pulp and attorneys can do their sh by advising their clients how th bequests should be distribut from a humanitarian point view.
Any ideas on this plan wou be greatly appreciated, and a suggestions along those lines w be most welcome.
William J. Zinune 1527, 37 Ave., San Francisco, Calif.
Endorsations Grmte
Talmud Torah
Campaign June 15 - Aug. 1 Hadassah Medical Aid to
Israel Coffee'Party ..Aug. 1 Schara Tzedeck National
Convention_______________Sept. 1-
B'nai B'rith Women
Yom Tov Seal
Campaign ____.... Sept. 4-Oct.
Pioneer Women
Adoption Lunch________Sept.
B'nai B'rith Women
Chapter 77 Tea ________Sept.l
Israel Bond
Campaign ____Sept. 15-Oct. 1
Schara Tzedeck Brunch
and Fashion Show ....Sept. 1 Beth Israel Sisterhood
Lunch _____________________Sept. 2
Talmud Torah Brunch-..Sep. 2
mSTERN BUIIETIN
Official Organ of the Vancouver / Jewish Community Council
Friday, August 11, 1967
Published weekly every Friday at 3285 Heather Street/ Vancouver 9, British Columbia.
SAM KAPLAN Editor and Publisher
WILLIAM GELMON President
ALEC BECKER Publications Chairman
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