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MEU/S BRIEFS
PLO-Sovlet link found
LONDON (JTA)—During their invasion of southern Lebanon,
Israeli forces captured documents proving the close links between
Palestinian terrorist groups and the Soviet Union. Also discovered
was an Arabic translation of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf" with a
foreword by Yasir Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation
Organization. The documents have been studied closely by Israeli
military intelligence and details of them are expected to be released
shortly.
Chinese eat kosher
NEW YORK, (JTA)—Nearly 200 visitors from the People’s
Republic of China, who were taken to Staten Island by the State
Department to see “typical America” on Independence Day, had
lunch at a kosher Jewish delicatessen.
Shelly Goldman, who operates Adelman’s Kosher Delicatessen
on Staten Island, said he hosted 180 members ot the Performing
Arts Company of the People’s Republic of China. The meal for the
Chinese visitors was free, although some of the overflow who went
to McDonald’s had to pay there.
Goldman said he served the Chinese the traditional chicken soup
prepared in the Chinese style. He said the Chinese are not meat
eaters but some tried hot dogs which are similar to a dish in China.
The usually taciturn Chinese maintained their image, saying only
the food was “very interesting," Goldman said.
Sale of Israeli beer bubbles
TEL AVIV—Sales of Israeli produced beer increased
substantially during the past year paced by skyrocketing exports to
five overseas markets.
National Brewery Ltd., manufacturers of four brands of beer as
well as a line of soft drinks, reported that its overall volume
increased from 3,501,574 cases of locally-made beer to 3.7 million
cases during the company’s fiscal year.
Maccabee, Israel’s fast-growing premium beer, shows an
increase of 60 percent in consumption over the previous 12 month
period, while sales of the company’s “O K." canned beer increased
by 26.6 percent. By far the most popular among visitors to the
country, it was noted that Maccabee outsells all imported beers in
Israel hotels and restaurants.
Lubavltch mad at Mayor Koch
NEW YORK, (JTA)—A spokesman for the Lubavitch
movement said Tuesday that the Hasidic group was “outraged" by
the decision of Mayor Edward Koch to end round-the-clock police
protection for the group’s world headquarters and its rebbe in the
Crown Heights section of Brooklyn.
Koch instructed Police Commissioner Robert McGuire to end
the practice, started in 1966, which in effect gave the locations the
same status as a foreign embassy, at an estimated cost of $4 million
to the city. Koch reportedly believes it has been overdone. The
mayor’s office said pplice can guard both buildings with routine
patrols.
California nixes Nazi uniform
LOS ANGELES, (JTA)—The California State Senate passed a
bill recently by a 21 to 15 vote prohibiting the wearing of a Nazi
uniform in a public place when wearing one is likely to cause a
disturbance. After a tough battle in the Assembly, the bill,
authored by Senators Alan Robbins and Nate Holden, fixed a $250
fine and a jail sentence for violations which include a swastika as
part of the uniform.
Exception for Mondales at Wall
JERUSALEM (JCNS)—There was nothing to show that
Washington and Jerusalem had nearly quarrelled over Vice
President Walter Mondale’s 15 minute visit to the Western Wall,
and the occasion went off without a hitch.
Contrary to normal tradition, both Mrs. Mondale and the
couple’s daughter, Elinore, were allowed to enter the area reserved
for men since 1967. They were followed by women journalists and
some city councillors. (The city’s Likud councillors boycotted the
occasion in protest against America’s refusal to make Mondale’s
visit official.)
Unexpectedly, there were no protests from the Chasidim and
other Orthodox people praying at the Wall
Jewish calendar available
NEW YORK—A pocket-sized calendar with the dates of Jewish
holidays from 1979 to 1999 has been published by the Union of
Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. The pamphlet
includes a condensed guide explaining the meaning and
observance of each Jewish holiday and a special quick reference by
academic year to holiday dates when Jewish students and
employees are not permitted to work or attend classes. The guide is
available from the UOJC National Office, 116 E. 27th St., New
York, N.Y. 10016 for 50 cents.
IPlctlerK to llieedilor
Cong. Fowler protests Soviet trials
Editor:
The beginning of the trials of
Anatoly Shcharansky and
Alexander Ginzberg are another
tragic reminder of the suppression
of fundamental human rights in
the Soviet Union.
Anatoly Shcharansky has been
incarcerated in a Soviet prison
since March 15, 1977. For over a
year he has been held
incommunicado, denied the
opportunity of hiring a lawyer of
his own choice, and prevented
from receiving visitors. He is
charged with high espionage and
treason but it is clear that his only
crime was in trying to make the
Soviet government live up to the
human rights pledges that it made
in the Helsinki Accords and in a
number of other international
covenants.
His case is particularly
important because of Mr.
Shcharanksy’s position both as a
Soviet Jew who was denied
permission to emigrate to Israel
and as one of the Soviet dissidents
who formed the Group of
Assistance to the Soviet
Implementation of the Helsinki
Accords to monitor Soviet
compliance with the terms of that
solemn intematibna) agreement.
He is thus a representative of the
two major groups that are being
subjected to particularly harsh
treatment by a Soviet government
that apparently views any form of
dissent as a grave threat to its own
survival.
Alexander Ginzberg has spent
seven years in Soviet prison camps.
He will be tried for helping to
channel financial assistance
donated by Alexander Solzhenit
syn to families of political
prisoners within the USSR.
The government of the USSR
claims that the interest and
concern of the international
community in its observance of
fundamental civil liberties
represents unwarranted inter
ference in its internal affairs. I
totally reject this charge, especially
in light of the human rights
commitments that the Soviet
government has made to other
nations in such documents as the
Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and the Helsinki Accords.
We, in this country, where we
often take the rights and liberties
we enjoy for granted, must speak
out on behalf of those people
around the world who are denied
even the most basic human rights.
The Soviet government must
know that the United States will
continue to call for the
establishment of human rights
throughout the world, whether in
South Africa, Uganda, or the
Soviet Union. The mistreatment of
Shcharansky and other Soviet
Jews and dissidents has already
seriously impaired relations
between our two countries. I urge
the Soviet government to honor its
international commitments to
promote human rights by
dismissing the charges against
Shcharansky and permitting him
to join his wife in Israel.
Wye he Fowler
Congressman
5th District, Georgia
Defense of Mondale 'mission’
Editor:
If Vice President Mondale’s
mission to the Mid East the
weekend of July 1st proves to
have moved Israeli-Egyptian
negotiations off dead center, I feel
more than amply rewarded for our
decision for the NCJW President
to participate.
I was invited to accompany the
mission, whose purpose was to
accept the invitation of Israel to
the Vice President of the United
States, to celebrate the 30th
anniversary of the State. It seemed
altogether appropriate for a
delegation of Americans to
accompany the Vice President to
reaffirm the traditional friendship
and solid support of the United
States for Israel.
Presidents of seven major
Jewish organizations accepted the
invitation as did a number of other
Jews and non-Jews including
Mayor Coleman Young of
Detroit, Robert Kinny, president
of General Mills; the Reverend
David Preus, president of
American Lutheran Church;
Glenn Watts, president of
Communications Workers of
America; and Edward Sanders,
newly appointed White House
liaison to the Jewish community.
As host to the Vice President and
Mrs. Mondale, Ambassador and
Mrs. Simcha Dinitz of Israel
accompanied the party.
The delegation participated in
all the ceremonies and took
advantage of some rather
extensive opportunities for
conversation with Assistant
Secretary of State Harold
Saunders, National Security
Council member William Clark,
United States Ambassador to
Israel Samuel Lewis, Stuart
Eizenstat and Robert Lipshutz of
the President’s staff, and several
members of the Vice President’s
own staff. Although there was
some murmuring that the group
was being “used" we felt on the
contrary that we were using these
rare opportunities for in-depth
dialogues.
Esther R. Landa
National President
National Council of Jewish Women
D’var Torah by 4th grader
Editor:
Enclosed is a copy of a d’var
Torah given by my son Philippe at
a class presentation last spring. (I
have, of course* edited it.) He was
then in the 4th grade and is now in
the 5th at the Hebrew Academy.
The ideas, however, are his.
David Blumenthal
Chalet A Gobet
1000 Lausanne 25
Switzerland
D’var Torah
"If you walk in my statutes, keep
my commandments, and do
them." (Lev. 26:3)
In this verse there are three
verbs: teilkhu. tishmeru, va-
'asitem and they mean: You shall
walk, you shall keep, and you shall
do them. The problem is: Why
does the Torah use these verbs to
describe the same thing? Or, why
does the Torah use three verbs
instead of one to describe how to
to do the mitzvot?
Ibn Ezra solved the problem by
saying that the three verbs mean
three different things: lilmod,
lelamed, and la'asot. to learn.'to
teach, and to do. So, teilkhu really
means lilmod, to learn; tishmeru
really means lelamed, to teach, and
va’asitem really means la’asot. to
do.
There are many ways of
understanding Ibn Ezra. I am only
choosing three although there are
many others: If one learns about
any mitzva and one does it but
does not teach it, then the mitzva
will die out with that person. If one
does a mitzva but does not learn
about it, then one really won’t
know why one is doing the mitzva.
If one teaches the mitzva and
learns about it but doesn't do the
mitzva, nobody after that person
will be able to know how to do that
mitzva exactly.
Let us take an example of
building a Sukka: If one learns
about building a Sukka and one
docs it but does not teach about
building a Sukka, then the mitzva
will die out with that person. If one
builds a Sukka but does not learn
about it, that person won’t know
why he is building a Sukka. If one
learns about building a Sukka and
teaches it but docs not build a
Sukka, nobody after him will be
able to know exactly how to do the
mitzva.
Therefore, one should
remember what one has learned in
school and do it at home whenever
one has a chance. And the parents
should teach it to their children so
the children can teach it to their
children so that the mitzva won’t
die out within any generation.
Jewish mother
is extolled
Editor:
Volumes upon volumes, articles
upon articles are written about
what can be said in 12 simple
words: Give me Jewish mothers—
and Judaism and the Jewish
People will flourish.
Dr. R. Borchard
(Who could argue with this note
which reached us from
Switzerland?— Editor.)
Pag* 5 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE July 14, 1978