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Southern Israelite Respect and Suspect:
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Deadline is 5 p.ns. Friday, but material received earlier will have a much
better chance of publication.
Adolph Rosenberg, Editor and Publisher
Vida Goldgar, Assistant Editor
Kathleen Nease, Edward M Kahn, Kathy Wood
Gertrude Burnham, Alva Englehard, Vivian Kaplan, Hazel Blackburn
The Root Of Israel’s Reaction
To Powers Not To Be Trusted
By Philip Slotnovitz
Philip Slomovitz, visiting Israel, deals in this article with one
facet of how Israelis view the impact of world diplomacy on their
nation and lives.
mum
L Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Georgia Press Assn.
Association ■
PER
Founded 1885
Seven Arts Features
World Union Press
Secretory of Stale Henry A.
Kissinger's wetted eyes, upon his
departure from Israel in a slate of
helplessness, were the transplant of
tears, tears that fail to dry on the
faces of millions of Israelis. Once
again, Israel is the last rampart,
akin to Masada, compelling the
resharpening of the sword every
into a plowshare. From all
quarters comes the echo of "Jihad
. . Jihad ..." holy war. and Israel
begs for peace.
The faithful sang the Passover
hymns at the Seder. Many recalled
the horrors of the death camps
whence they escaped into freedom
in Israel. It gave courage in the
faith that a people with so many
memories, so much multiple
N
Who's in the Congregation?
{The following is Rabbi Harry H. F.pstein's column which appeared
recently in the Ahavath Achim Bulletin. — EDITOR)
they would disgrace them if they
didn't attend. «,
3. The Non-Jews - they come
Call Me Rabbi
The dramatic and influential 75th annual meeting of the Rab
binical Assembly, the international association of Conservative Israeli has hoped to keep breaking
rabbis, in New York, was addressed, among others, by the RA’s
dynamic executive vice president. Rabbi Wolfe Kelman. He
reminded the 1000 rabbis attending of their congregation’s desire
for a ‘more personalized synagogue’ and a rabbi ‘to help them
fthdTheir way toward a more intensive personalized religious life.'
At an academic convocation which opened the Assembly, three
Twin City rabbis who beautifully exemplify the attributes
suggested by Rabbi Kelman were awarded the degree of Doctor
of Divinity, honoris causa, by the Jewish Theological Seminary:
Rabbi Kassel Abelson of Beth El Synagogue; Rabbi Bernard
Raskas of Temple of Aaron; and Rabbi Louis Milgrom of the dangers, will not succumb because
University of Minnesota Hillel Foundation. All were honored for ' l has the will to live. Yet there was
their service to their congregations, their community and to the the 8 loom comes from living
in a hemmed-in sphere, in a land
Perhaps you are wondering if you should call these honorecs wo^amIdst^roundhigs
“Rabbi" or “Doctor”? Rabbi Abelson has anticipated your ques- of (error and , he threat of destruc .
tion. In his touching, warm response to his congregation s con- [jon by an enemy the imperiled
gratulations he stated simply, ‘I’d rather you called me Rabbi.’ wou |d like to embrace in
— AMERICAN JEWISH WORLD friendship.
Is Israel becoming the medium
for the conservatives who seek an
end to one of the chief hopes for
greater liberalism in international
affairs that emerged from World
War I? During the peace con
siderations after World War I at
Versailles, President Woodrow
Wilson placed high on the agenda
of his proposals for greater world
peace efforts the adoption of the
principle “open covenants, openly
arrived at.” Is this now a dead
letter in diplomacy?
But Israelis must know their
fate. They seek the facts.
Something must leak, someone
must express concern or anger —
or hope. Therefore complete
secrecy is a myth, and in the Mid
dle East it is a mirage. President
Ford may have blundered. That’s
not altogether rational or realistic.
Shortly after he became President,
Gerald Ford, who, as a
Congressman from Grand Rapids,
Mich., demanded recognition of
Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,
back watered and suggested he be
granted time to consider the
Jerusalem issue anew.
Once again, it is the State
Department that dominates, and
while the Kissinger sincerity is not
questioned the oil magnates and
their billions are in evidence in all
quarter. Is Israel totally isolated in
an unfriendly world'’ Once again,
two basic guidelines dominate the
average Israeli mind. One is, in
reference to the world's
diplomacy: “Kabdehu
v'chashdehu" — respect him. and
suspect him. The other is from
Psalms: "Al tivtekhu b’nedivim"
— trust not in princes.
Israel apparently is being made
a testing ground for diplomatic ex
perimentation and expediency.
This became evident when the
Kissinger mission collapsed on
March 22. That’s when President
Ford again became a dilemma to
Jewry and Israel. That's when Ron
Nessen expressed annoyance with
Israel because of a report that the
President had used “a strong
word" in criticism of Israel. The
only word quoted at that time was
A rabbi’s comments about the
composition of a congregation on
a Shabbat is quite instructive. I
want to share it with you.
A strange phenomenon of syn
agogue life today is that a rabbi
speaks to different congregations
each Shabbat. At a Bat or Bar
Mitzvah celebration, one looks at
a vast sea of people one hasn’t seen
since last Yom Kippur.
There are many types of
worshippers a rabbi notices from
the Bimah:
1. Die Spectators -they never
open a Siddur. They have come to
observe a performance. At a
responsive reading, they may chew
their gum a bit more vigorously.
2. The Farbissene - who come in
looking angry. They are still
rebelling against parents who forc
ed them to go to Shul, and now
they are adults forced to attend a
relative's Bar or Bat Mitzva. Or
the young High School or College
Student who left his Judaism after
Bar or Bat Mitzva and is now
stuck because parents insisted that
before the Service begins. It is as if
they knew that all Jews attend Ser
vices, so they must come early to
find seats. When the Service
begins, they help make-up the Mi-
nyan. They are interested and
when they tell the parents that they
enjoyed the Service, the parents
feel proud and wonder why they
themselves not pay more atten
tion so that they could Find beauty
in their own Service.
4. The Schmoozers - they have
not seen the mishpacha for a long
time and this is a great opportunity
to catch up on family happenings.
5. The Silent Majority - they
are friendly and sympathetic but
they can't read a word of Hebrew.
They sit quietly until at the end,
when the Eim Kelohaynu hymn
starts, then they join with gusto
and are happy at having recogniz
ed something that is familiar.
A rabbi’s wish? That you attend
and daien with me; that we daven
together, often.
Arab Propaganda Drive in Britain
LONDON (JTA) — The Arab
propaganda drive in Britain has
moved into the smart illustrated
weekly Field with the publication of
“The Middle East,” a magazine
styled on Newsweek.
It is reportedly funded by
Kuwaiti money and its publisher is
AFif Ben yedder. He is not known
in publishing but the editor of the
new magazine, Richard Purdy is a
notorious pro-Arab journalist.
In its introduction, the magazine
said “The Middle East is the First
international publication to be
written speciFically to satisfy the
interests and the information needs
of the top men in business and in
dustry, government and Finance
Middle East." Not unexpectedly,
the “twenty-five nations” do not
include Israel.
The magazine's message is
much more sophisticated than past
Arab propaganda material.
However, the message comes
through with such items as
“Whitehall has come to recognize
that Britain's economic stability is
widely dependent at present on
Arab goodwill.” This plush
magazine contains large adver
tisements from big companies.
There is a two-page center spread
from Fiat. Deutsche Bank,
Lufthansa. Caterpillar, Continen
tal Bank of Chicago and a number
“stubbornness" attributed to
Israel.
But earlier, perhaps two weeks
prior to the subjection of Israel to
indirect criticism, in a very crucial
moment in the era of peace
seeking, Kissinger had played a
role in emphasizing that Nessen
had pleaded for: ‘‘quiet
diplomacy." Kissinger pleaded
with newsmen who accompanied
him on his shuttle diplomacy mis
sion against “leaks.” This may
have been the First time in the
history of diplomatic negotiations
that the often-benefited “leaks”
from governmental deliberations
held in camera had become an
issue. “Leaks” were known but
•were not for discussion.
Kissinger pleaded for “quiet
diplomacy,"' Nessen was the
spokesman for President Ford in
an emphasis for secrecy and an old
Wilsonian principle was about to
be sent to its doom. It all began
with an Israeli rather than an
American statesman. Abba Eban,
during his guest professorship at
Columbia University, made it a
point to plead for “secret
diplomacy" as a way of treating
the Middle East issue.
Israelis are in great need of
gestures of comfort, of un
interrupted friendships. They need
the assurances that are so vital of
protection militarily and
economically by the United States.
Even greater is the need for
strengthened kinship by fellow
Jews from all over the world. They
hands of American, Canadian and
British Jews. Without the comfort
that comes from them the Israelis
will be less confident. They must
win their own battle for life, but
they need the word of .cheer that
comes when a tourist visits their
land
Robert St. - John’s report to The
Jewish News of Detroit, about the
immensity of the tourist trade in
Egypt is reminiscent of what had
occurred in Medinat Israel only
two years ago. Cairo is not
begrudged; the condition into
which the Egyptians have encircled
Israel is deplored. The panic that
has reduced tourism and has emp
tied some of the hotels is cause for
great distress. It is evidence that in
some measure the enemy is
succeeding — by depressing
Israel’s economy. The offsetting of
this menace is the chief hope in
Israel and the basis for the major
plea with fellow Jews not to aban-
doTf the distressed. The battle for
life is Israel’s; the duty to assist
the defenders of life, liberty and
the right to self-determination by
Jews is world Jewry’s.
COPYMQHT 78 — JTA
MIWR M/RROR....
need to see the faces, to shake the
fretwh Catoidat
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