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News Briefs
Human rights v.p. was Nazi
GENEVA (JTA)—The election of Herman Klenner, a Nazi
party member during World War 11, as vice president of the United
Nations Human Rights Commission headquartered here, was
forcefully denounced by Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N. in
Geneva, Efraim Dubek. Klenner heads the East German delegation
to the Human Rights Commission annual conference which
opened Feb. 3.
Dubek called Klenner’s election by the conference a demon
stration of the “political cynicism and moral degradation prevailing
in this international body.”
Histadrut calls two-hour strike
JERUSALEM (JTA)—A two-hour general strike called by
Histadrut Feb. 4 shut down all government offices and most public
services in a protest against what the trade union federation called
the deteriorating economic situation. The private sector was not
affected, however. A labor court ruled yesterday that private
employees could “assemble” for “protest meetings” during work
hours but could not strike.
Nevertheless, airports were closed, docks were idle, and there
was no train or bus service for the duration of the strike.
Paris bomb set off by Arabs?
PARIS (JTA)—A group calling itself the Solidarity Committee
with the Arab Political Prisoners in the Middle East claimed
responsibility Tuesday for setting off the bomb which exploded in
the busy Claridge Hotel shopping arcade off the Champs-Elysees
at 9:30 p.m. Feb. 3, injuring seven people, three seriously.
The committee’s communication to a French news agency here
called for the release of three terrorists imprisoned in France:
Georges Ibrahim Abdullah, believed to be the head of the Lebanese
Revolutionary Armed Factions; Anis Naccache, who tried to
murder former Iranian Premier Shapour Bakhtiar; and Waroujan
Garbijian, an Armenian who set off a bomb at Orly Airport in the
summer of 1983, killing seven people and wounding 55.
Refusnik makes it to Tel Aviv
TEL AVI V (JTA) — Yasha Gorodetzky, a Leningrad mathema
tician and a leading aliyah activist for the past six years, arrived
here Feb. 2 from Vienna with his wife and family. He is the second
prominent Jewish activist allowed to leave the Soviet Union in less
than two weeks.
Gorodetzky, 40, accompanied by his wife, Pauline, 37, their
four-year-old daughter and his wife’s mother, told reporters he did
not know why he was suddenly granted an exit visa after years of
being denied one. He said it could herald a change of Soviet policy
toward Jewish emigration, or it could be a “miracle.”
Israeli envoy meets with pope
ROME (JTA) — Pope John Paul 11 had a 15-minute private
audience Jan. 31 with Nathan Ben Horin, a minister at the Israel
Embassy here who, since 1980, has been liaison to the Holy See.
The Vatican does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
Ben Horin was accompanied by his Italian-born wife, Miriam
Ben Horin, who has been active in interreligious affairs here.
Beate offers herself as hostage
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Paris-based Nazi-hunter Serge Klarsfeld,
on a 24-hour visit here, said Tuesday that Israel should make some
gesture to facilitate the release of Jews held hostage by extremists
in Lebanon. But he cautioned against giving in to blackmail
demands of the kidnappers.
Kiarsfeld’s wife, Beate, is now in Beirut engaged in efforts to
obtain the release of the Lebanese Jewish hostages. She recently
informed him that she had made contact with the kidnappers and
had offered herself as a substitute for the Jewish hostages.
Soviets to honor two astronauts
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Soviet cartographers mapping the
surface of Venus will name tw o craters in honor of Judith Resnick,
the Jewish astronaut, and Sharon Christa McAuliffe, the New
Hampshire schoolteacher, who were among the seven who died in
the Challenger explosion, Tass, the official Soviet news agency,
reported.
Jewish Studies Center seeks papers
Editor:
Where do you find Jews? The
old saw is that you find them
everywhere—usually studying or
teaching! The newest affirmation
of that age-old axiom is the Jewish
Studies Center at the University of
North Carolina at Asheville.
This state-sponsored center has
been gestating for about two years
and has now come into its own. It
is offering a course entitled “Civiliza
tion and the Jews” based on the Abba
Eban television series—with an
interesting educational twist. Each
course meeting is two hours in
length: the students see an Eban
television film and then receive
additional instruction from one of
a series of distinguished experts on
the segment which Eban covers.
In March 1986, the Center will
conduct its fourth annual Holocaust
seminar for middle and high school
teachers. In the summer of 1986 a
full week of Judaic studies for
adults is contemplated.
In April the University Center
will host a national conference on
“The Jewish Experience in the South”
and is interested in receiving papers
for inclusion in the conference. If
any of your readers have a paper
on any aspect of the Southern
Jewish experience, or contemplate
writing one, the UNC-A Jewish
Studies Center would be delighted
to hear them. Address your inquiry
to me at UNC-A Jewish Studies
Center, 1 University Heights,
Asheville, N.C. 28804.
There are approximately 1200
Jews in the Asheville area. Henry
W. Meyers is chairman of the
Center board.
Ileana Grams
Director
Rabbi welcomes religious vocabulary
Editor:
I am not an adherent of Rabbi Meir
Kahane, and feel that while he raises
significant issues which need to be
discussed—e.g., the Jewish character
of the Jewish state; the nature and
caliber of American Jewish leader
ship; secular vs. religious visions of
Israel and the Jewish people—
Kahane does great harm to his own
cause by signaling a message of
contempt and by stirring up fires of
violence and hatred which are better
left dormant. I also find it significant
that not a single world rabbinic
authority—not even those considered
most hawkish—supports Kahane.
But while Rabbi Kahane is accused
of bringing out the worst in people,
on his recent visit to Atlanta he
brought out, at least in one respect,
the best from 10 of Atlanta’s Jewish
organizations. For in a front-page
statement of non-welcome to Kahane
(TSI, Jan. 17) these organizations
utilized a religious vocabulary which
was as heartwarming as it was rare.
Cull the annals of these organizations
in the past decades and you will not
find terms like those used in their
anti-Kahane statement: “a mockery
of Jewish law and tradition. .
“alien to Judaism. . .’’“anathema
to traditional Torah teachings. . .”
“affront to our traditions and
beliefs. ...”
Such words are not normally
found in the lexicon of these organi
zations. Not even when Reform
Judaism adopted its radical patrilineal
resolution did we hear any protests
from them about its being “anathema
to traditional Jewish teachings.”
Not even when an American
Jewish leader referred to Israel’s
rabbis as “Ayatollas” because they
disagreed with his concept of who
is a convert, did these organizations
refer to that as “an affront to
Jewish teachings.” (On the contrary,
most of these organizations signed
a statement pressuring the Israel
government to accept the radical,
non-traditional view of who is a
convert.)
Not even when American rabbis
solemnize marriages between Jews
and Christians do we hear from
these organizations about “mockery
of Jewish law and Torah tradition.”
But somehow, the presence of
Rabbi Meir Kahane in Atlanta was
instrumental in bringing forth from
these organizations a veritable torrent
of religious language.
I pray that these words will
remain part of their lexicon, and
that all their decisions, actions,
disbursements, allocations and plan
ning will continue to be guided by
the new concepts which they have
now introduced into communal'
discourse. I would only hope that
they would remember that the terms
like “Jewish law,” “traditional Jewish
teaching,” “traditions and beliefs,”
“Torah,” are terms of weight, and
have specific meaning, focus and
definition. And whenever in Jewish
life they see things that are
“anathema,” or an “affront,” or
“alien,” to these ideas, 1 pray that
they will not hesitate to continue to
utilize this new vocabulary.
Rabbi Emanuel Feldman
Historian seeks
timeline events
Editor:
I am currently preparing an his
torical timeline on important events
in Atlanta Jewish history. If you are
familiar with an event, institution,
or an act of a particular individual
or individuals that you think is
significant enough to be placed on
such a timeline, please write down a
short statement and forward it to
me with your name and phone
number.
Dr. Mark K. Bauman
2517 Hartford Drive, Route 3
Ellenwood, GA 30049
Phone: 366-3306
Reader speaks out in Kahane’s defense
Editor:
The Greeks could not have de
veloped a better tragedy than we
observed during the past visit of
Rabbi Meir Kahane. The Jews that
in the past have stood for bleeding
heart liberalism have taken the
view that the suppression of the
humane right of free speech should
be advanced....
I am sure if Mr. Arafat were to
ask the Atlanta Jewish Establishment
to provide a forum for dialogue on
the issues of Palestinian rights there
would be a stampede to see who
would be the sponsoring agency.
Unfortunately when an Orthodox
rabbi elected to the Israeli Knesset
asks for a similar forum there are
front page advertisements to suppress
discussion.
It is no surprise that a flight
through assimilation and inter
marriage is endemic in our com
munity. The intermarriage rate is
approaching 50 percent with 30 to
40 percent of these unions leaving
their observance behind. When the
leadership lacks the moral fortitude
and personal convictions to address
sensitive issues, then the result is
self evident.
Hitler could have saved millions
of dollars by providing a pluralistic
society that would have absorbed
the Jews through assimilation. It is
apparent that since 1945 the loss of
Jewish souls has been greater than
the loss in the Holocaust. What
value has observance of religious
practices when it impedes the action
of the melting pot of society by
making Jews different. Rabbi Kahane
suggests that our differences have
kept us unique in a world of confusion
and distrust.
It should be noted that the front
page article is correct: “Kahane is
not representative of Israelis. He is
not representative of American
Jewry.” The article failed to mention
that Rabbi Kahane is representative
of authentic Jewish values and
learning as presented in the Talmud
and as advanced by the Jewish
leaders of the past. Those leaders
advanced pride of being a Jew and
learning of Torah as a prerequisite
of knowledge. There was not one
signator of the article that represents
knowledge of Torah or Torah values.
Rabbi Kahane has challenged
any representative of the Jewish
community to publicly discuss any
issue in any forum at any place,
Unfortunately when there is a lack
of knowledge there is a lack of
spirit and suppression of ideas will
prevail.
Barney Cortell
United WSay
PAGE 5 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE February 7, 1986