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THE CANADIAN JEWISH REVIEW
SEPTEMBER 23. 1966
the mistake of mistakes
High Holy Day Message of The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, in New York
It is a common mistake � indeed, the mistake of mistakes � to imagine we can influence anyone else to take the path of goodness, unless and until we travel it ourselves.
Do you want a good family? a better community? ... a greater nation? We all say we do. And who doesn't know the directions in which he would like to see his family, his conVfn unity, his nation, improve.
But to know the difference between what is good and bad is not enough. And to call on others to do what is right is not enough.
Out of a deep and important impulse, we often want those around us to behave even better than we do; setting higher standards for our children, and our neighbors, than we achieve for ourselves. Wc urge them to be better � and it is good to want them to be so. But this is never enough.
The mistake of mistakes is to imagine we can influence anyone else to take the path of goodness, unless and until we travel it ourselves.
A good family . . . The good family is one whose members find both strength and enjoyment in each other. But there is no doubt that the complexities and uncertainties of life in our time make it harder for almost any family to stay together, share together, develop together. How, then, can we best cope with the forces which tend to diffuse the familv-lifc today?
We must begin by understanding how much we must give of
ourselves to the task: of onr time, our energies, our patience � even as we do in any other area of life where we want to achieve success. For, while a family is given to everyone, a good family is something we must create. This is a never-ending process, as the family keeps growing and changing. Unique problems arise out of the uniqueness of each member of the family. And, being human, wc are bound to make mistakes. Yet � while recognizing that mistakes arc inevitable � wc can also know-that almost no mistake is final. Always, wc have the opportunity to learn and advance and grow from our mistakes.
Above all, wc must realize that our own behavior is the primary creative force in thc^devclopmcnt of our family. If wc want a child to listen to us, wc must learn to listen to him. If husband and wife want more concern and understanding from each other, each must show greater concern and understanding for the other's problems. If we want our family to follow the wisdom of our tradition, wc must truly try to live by this wisdom ourselves.
The mistake of mistakes is to imagine there is any other way to create a good family than by the example wc set by the continuing testimony of our daily acts.
A better community . . .To build a better community, wc must move in two directions at the same time: Increasingly to give every man, woman, and child, greater opportunities and encouragement to develop what is best in himself. Increasingly to get all
to understand that their security can be ultimately assured only by the security and welfare of everyone else.
This has been true throughout history � even in much smaller, simpler societies, whose people had the same origins, same traditions, same ways of life. And it is just as true today, in our swiftly-growing communities, where many millions of people of different origins, different traditions, different ways of life now live and work together. Such differences may sometimes make it difficult to sec how much wc arc all neighbors to one another. Yet wc are. And wc cannot foTget that a neighbor is someone for whom wc should have the concerns and understanding and love wc want for ourselves.
Moreover, without! accepting the obligations of being a good neighbor, wc cannot hope to achieve a better community for our own children. That is why for us to talk about the problems of our community � of better housing, of improved education, of higher standards of morality, of increased beauty � is not enough. Wc must, instead, directly involve ourselves: giving of our time and energies to the task of bettering our community.
The mistake of mistakes is to imagine we can achieve a better community by calling on others to do more than we arc ready to do ourselves.
A greater nation . . . How do wc measure the greatness of a nation? We have lived to see our na-
tion rise to leadership as world spokesman for the fundamental liberties of man, his rights of self-government, his equality before the law, the human dignities of freedom of religion, of reason, of responsibility. Certainly, it is by these anciently-rooted values of the American tradition that we measure our greatness � far more than by any physical power and wealth.
It is, therefore, not enough for us to help and protect other nations out of our great material resources. It is not enough for us to relieve the hungry and support the weak. Wc can fulfill the obligations of our leadership only by helping the people of the world to develop their own liberties. � But we can only become such a true leader of nations by being a greater nation � by the demon-1 stration of how we live up to our own best concepts of individual freedom and mutual responsibility, both at home and abroad.
The mistake of mistakes is to imagine wc can hope to influence other nations and people to do what is right, unless and until they see us do what is right.
Each of us is part of a family, a community, a nation- And we all want to increase the goodness of our family, our community, our nation. To do so, surely requires all the wisdom we can garner and share with others. It surely demands all the concern we can generate and communicate. But finally � beyond wisdom and beyond concern � there must be the eloquence of our own right behavior.
Changes In West German Law May Entitle Nazi Victims To Additional Restitution
Victims of Hitlerite persecution in the Second World War living in Canada have been advised that, under changes in the'West German Federal Indemnification Law, they may be entitled to additional restitution.
The office of the German Consulate General placed a notice in Canadian daily newspapers, advising that the deadline for submitting further claims is September 30.
The consulate notice says the Second Law, passed in September, 1965, has brought considerable improvements and makes it advisable ^that all claimants reappraise decisions, agreements, and court judgments in view of possible further or higher claims.
The first indemnification law did not cover refugees who remained in Soviet-bloc countries after October. 1953. The> were barred from seeking restitution. The new law covers them. They include Poles, Ukrainians, and Czechoslovaks.
Under the wider provisions in the 1965 statute, all persons who have claims may make additional claims based on the latest improvements.
For example, a person who made a
claim on the ground that he is suffering from illness caused by persecution, was required to submit proof that the sickness was linked to the persecution. Under the new law, he does not have to prove this connection if he spent a minimum of one year in a concentration camp.
Another change removes the time limit affecting pension claims by widows. Formerly, such claims were accepted if the husbands died before 1953.
Dr. Eugene Vcrny, a spokesman for the United Restitution 0/fice, an arm of the Canadian Jewish Congress, said that his organization has given wide publicity to the changes in the West German law and thousands of additional claims had been, and were being, made. Processing of these claims by the West German authorities might take more than three years to complete.
The Canadian Jewish Congress is the member for Canada of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany, the. international body which has been periodically dealing with the West German Government on restitution matters.
YOM KIPPUR IN VALPARAISO
By Ruth Ariella Broyde, in American Judaism, publication of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, after a seventeen-month tour through Latin Americo, where she studied Jewish life in fifty cities in nineteen countries
Canadian Jewish Congress Investigator Says Five Toronto Business Men And Some German Immigrants Support Nazi Party
At least five prominent Toronto businessmen and a number of German immigrants give financial and moral support to John Bcattie, leader of the Canadian Na2i Party, a private investigator said, reports the Toronto Globe And Mail.
John Garrity, 3~. a tough, efficient-looking man. was hired by the Canadian Jewish Congress to infiltrate the Nazi Party and became Beattie's Scc-ority Chief.
He would not name the five business men. but said Ihey were hvo Germans, two native Canadians and a Hungarian.
Mr. Garrity yid in a press conference that Bcattie and his Na7is have the support of 600 persons across Canada. Most of them, he said, are Germans who came to Canada after ,the Second World War. He said most of the Nazis are in Saskatchewan � be named Uo>dminster. on the Saskatchewan Albert a border � Toronto, Oshawa, aod Cnjebec.
During the year that he spied on the Nazis. Mr. Garrity said, he obtained party membership files and the names of supporters, communications with George Lincoln Rockwell, the U.S. Nazi leader, and financial records, which he has turned over to the Congress. As a result, he said, he fears an attempt will be made on his life or the lives of his wife and three children.
He infiltrated the party when a lawyer representing members of N-3, a militant anti-Na/i Jewish group, employed him to subpoena Bcattie as a witness at their trial. Thev had been charged with causing a disturbance in Allan Gardens when Bcattie tried to speak there.
Mr. Garrity. formerly a sheriffs officer for York County, gradually gained Bertie's confidence, a process he said was speeded up with appropriate quantities of rum. He said he became Bcattie'i bcrt friend and that Beattie saw bim as a new respect-
One day in the year all the Jews of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar close their shops � the day of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Last year the 280 Ashkenazi families prayed and fasted in the gymnasium belonging to the local Jewish youth group. The fifty Sephar-dic families prayed and fasted in their own sanctuary, five blocks away.
Valparaiso is the principal port of Chile. Fifteen minutes away by car lies Vina del Mar, a famous ocean retreat with miles of beach, surf, and a story-book landscape. The two cities together house a Jewish community of 1,100, complete with an integral Hebrew school, a new synagogue in con-able element in the party and as a father figure.
He was made security officer of the party, and since Beattie saw himself as Hitler, he saw Mr. Garrity as Hein-rich Himmler, the Nazi SS chief.
Mr. Garrity said Beattie does most of his recruiting in restaurants and is introduced to potential party members, most of whom are GermaD, by persons already in the party. During these meeting Beattie talks of Hitler and asks for money, he said.
"He (Beattie) is a very dangerous person. He is willing to die for his belief, although he doesn't understand what it is. His hatred of Jews is central to his belief. But he isn't intelligent enough to be a threat unless he is taken over by right-wingers."
Mr. Garrity said he was paid from $75 to $200 a month by the Jewish Congress to gather information on the Nazis. This w-as confirmed by a spokesman for the Congress.
Mr. Garrity said legislation should be passed to outlaw Nazis in Canada.
Bcattie said his group knew all along that Mr. Garrity was an importer, but decided to make use of his legal talents and to get the maximum publicity from him.
Key documents and information were kept away from Mr. Garrity, he said.
"At a time like this wc have to make use of people who eventually we would be putting on trial." he said. "Our main aim at present is publicity."'
He said he had conferred with Mr. Garrity m recently � tke middle of September.
struction, and Rabbi Guenther Fricdlander.
The most interesting Yom Kippur I have ever spent was in Valparaiso, making the rounds between the two synagogues of the Ashkcnaziin and Scphardiin.
It's not that the Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews don't get along well, they assured me from both sides. "But our customs and manners of praying are so different that on High Holy Days we have to be separate."
The huge gymnasium where the Ashkenazim prayed had been convincingly disguised. In the front the Holy Ark was prominent on the stage; the rabbi and cantor dressed in ceremonial white, transformed a basketball court into a serious house of worship. During the services, however, the women and men in their separate sections indulged in. friendly conversations and frequent whispers. I mused to myself that the Jews of Valparaiso, Chile, were not much different from the Jews of the United States, except that in the synagogue they whispered in Spanish rather than English.
A general hum of subdued conversation continued except when the rabbi delivered his sermon. Then the buzzing halted abruptly and all the faces turned eagerly to listen.
Rabbi Friedlandcr, of German origin, addressed his congregation in a perfect, literary Spanish. The German accent was obvious, but he spoke clearly, forcefully, with an amazing richness of vocabulary. I was sorely reminded of my Rosh Hashanah in a German congregation in Santiago, Chile, where I had been subjected to a forty-five minute sermon in German, of which I understood nothing.
Rabbi Fricdlander spoke in the language of the country, in the language of the Jewish children of Chile, and in the adopted language of those parents who have lived in Chile for thirty to forty velars but still favor Yiddish or German.
Attendance in the early morning was sparse, but by noon at least 500 worshippers had arrived. During the yizkor (memorial) service for parents, I slipped out quietly, with the intention of visiting the Sephardic synagogue. David Maiar, a young Hebrew teacher
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1 wholly disapprove of what you say and will defend to the death your right to say it. � Voltaire to Helvetius.
SEPTEMBER 23, 1966
Publication Office
VOL XLVDX No. 52
Card�ar*l�, Qm*�c
A Good Move Long Over Due
The Canadian Jewish Review, of Montreal and Toronto, which Is the only weekly publication In Canada of specific Jewish interest with circulation audited and verified by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, applauds the action of the Canadian Jewish Congress, in the following advertisement which appeared in Toronto daily newspapers and Is presented here without ch^j^j^- its news of a good move long over due. What about Montreal whereV tortile fifiW for flagrant fictitious claims exists? And the rest of Canada?
notice re jewish publications
It has been drawn to our attention that business and professional men have been approached In recent weeks by advertising solicitors purporting to represent a publication, or publications, serving the Jewish community.
The Canadian Jewish Congress wishes advertisers to know that there are a number of publications circulating in the Jewish community about whose borta fides there Is no question.
However, we are also aware that in certain Instances there have been approaches made by or on behalf of publications about Whose circulation in the Jewish community we have no knowledge. In part/c-ular, these approaches have Involved demands for Immediate payment in advance.
We urge Intending advertisers to exercise caution and If they are In any doubt we Invito them to ask the Canadian Jewish Congress office, EM. 3-7190, for further Information before signing any contracts or making any advance payments.
CANADIAN JEWISH CONGRESS 150 Beverley Street, Toronto*
A Major Landmark In Jewish-Christian Relations
By Rabbi Marc H. Tanenboum, director of inter-religious affairs department of the American Jewish Committee
In Holland, the Dutch Reformed Church and the Roman Catholic Church have abandoned their missionary societies to the Jews and, in their stead, have created new agencies for "dialogue" with the Jewish people, concentrating their missionary programs "to the gentiles."
In Paris, the Orthodox Chief Rabbi has designated three Jewish scholars to meet with three Catholic scholars to explore quietly religious and theological questions.
In Belgium's Louvain University, Roman Catholic sociologists and cate-chists have launched a comprehensive scientific study of French-language Catholic textbooks, biblical commentaries, and liturgical materials to ascertain the nature and degree of negative references to Jews and Judaism. In Brussels, a Jesuit scholar has undertaken a similar study of Portuguese language catechisms that have been noted for their strident anti-Semitism.
These are among some of the significant developments that were reported on during the recently held International Conference on Jewish-Christian Relations that took place at Cambridge University from August 7-14.
The Conference, the first of its kind to be held since the adoption of resolutions condemning aoti-Scmitism by the World Council of Churches in 1961 and Vatican Council II in 196>, brought together some ninety scholars and educators from Great Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, Israel, the United States, and Latin America. Regarded by the participants themselves as a major landmark in the advancement of Jewish Christian relations throughout the world, the Conference was distinguished by the following achievements:
Firrt, it brought together a distinguished group of key authorities from
international, national, and regional Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish bodies who have central responsibilities for implementing programs to advance Jewish-Christian relations.
Second, it faced head-on the thorniest issues outstanding between Christians and Jews, such as conversion, the Christian misconceptions about Rabbinic Judaism, the concept of the chosen people, and pointed toward constructive new possibilities.
i
Third, it created a consensus of concern on the part of Christians and Jews over the resurgence of neo-Na-zism and bigotry, especially in Europe and Latin America, and noted that "no law could substitute for the initiative of citizens to resist vigorously all attempts to undermine the democratic structure of society".
Fourth, it marked the first time, to my knowledge, that Catholic and Protestant leaders joined together in confessing publicly "the part played by Christians" in contributing to the anti-Semitic outrages of the 19th and 20th centuries, and called for "a more adequate expression by the Churches of penitence and contrition in the face of the sufferings inflicted upon the Jewish people." (The quotations are from the final Conference message that was adopted unanimously to stirring applause);
Fifth, it defined a common ground for "dialogue" that steered carefully txtween the extreme positions of some Orthodox Jewish leaders and Christian traditionalists;
Finally, it elaborated a variety of specific programs in education and social action to "overcome past misunderstandings" and "to increase inter-religious harmony."
One of the potentially most far-reaching proposals adopted by the Conference was that calling for "more effective liaboc between Christian aod
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