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r News Briefs "N ‘ARTisrael’comes to New York NEW YORK (JTA)—“ARTisrael, the 1980s," an exhibit com prising the works of 50 contemporary Israeli artists, is under way in 18 galleries here. The exhibit of paintings, sculpture and photo graphy was timed to coincide with the “Treasure of the Holy Land: Ancient Art from the Israel Museum” exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York art historian and consultant Mary Evangelista spent six years putting together the show, the first exposure in the U.S. for many of the artists. Hapoel wins Korach Cup ATHENS (JTA)—Israel’s Hapoel Tel Aviv basketball team defeated the Greek team of Apolon Patra 88-71 recently to win the Korach Cup. Playing before 1,500 spectators, the Israeli team never was really threatened. The Greek team included no foreign players, while Hapoel Tel Aviv, like all top Israeli teams, fielded two Americans. Menuhin, Gershwin honored WASHINGTON (Polakoff)—Violinist Yehudi Menuhin and the late composer George Gershwin received prominent attention recently in West Germany. Menuhin was presented with the Moses Mendelssohn Prize in Berlin; presented every two years by the Berlin state government for the “promotion of tolerance toward those of differing views and between peoples, races and religions.” The former director of the Berlin Philharmonic, Wolfgang Strese- mann, referred to Menuhin’s concerts in 1946 and 1947 in Berlin and noted Menuhin was the “first Jewish musician who offered Berlin the hand of reconciliation.” The award is named after the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. An enthusiastic audience at the Staatsoper in Hamburg greeted John Neumeier’s Gershwin revue “Shall We Dance,” the German Infor mation Center reported. IACO approves Israeli practice MONTREAL (JTA)—The General Assembly of the Interna tional Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) approved by acclama tion last Thursday a Canadian proposal to extend existing criminal provisions against airplane hijacking to acts of violence against airports and air terminals. The Canadian proposal is almost identical to one formulated by Israel and was strongly supported by the Israeli delegation and many other countries. It gives top priority to preparation of a draft instrument to apply criminal penalties to airport attackers. No sign of sunken sub JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel and the U.S. have announced that a month-long search for the missing Israel submarine Dakar in Egyptian coastal waters failed to find any trace of the undersea craft and has been called off. The search was financed by Israel from U.S. aid funds and was approved by Egypt after lengthy negotiations. It began on Sept. 4 and was abandoned on Oct. 4. Although the Egyptians had allowed 70 days for the undertaking, the U.S. Navy, with Israel’s concurrence, decided there was no point to continue. Nazi records discovered WARSAW (JTA)—Nearly 800 books from 54 registries of the former German district of Swidnica in southwest Poland, contain ing records on the deaths of prisoners murdered in the former Nazi Gross Rosen death camp in the locality of Rogoznica, have been discovered. The records were believed to have been destroyed by the Nazis during their retreat from the camp but were recently found in the attic of a house in Swidnica currently being converted to a health V. center. Specialists have begun examining the documents. The analysts say the records are incomplete and the regional militia office in Swidnica has appealed to local inhabitants asking them to turn in any documents in their possession. J A Judaic principle by M.C. Gettinger The New York Times of October 9, had as its leading news story the resignation of Bernard Kalb as spokesman for the State Depart ment in protest of the government’s disinformation regarding Qadaffi and Libyan terrorism. The same New York Times issue contains a full-page message spon sored by the Jewish Theological Seminary conveying “the essence of our developing religious tradi tion,” which touches on the misuse of words in another context: “Our words are a footprint we leave for the world.” Just a year ago, Elie Wiesel spoke courageously to President Reagan—what many called a mes sage of truth and morality—not to participate in the Bitburg cemetery memorial where Nazi soldiers are buried. Is it a mere coincidence that Kalb, a Jew, should refuse to be associated with the dissemination of an untruth which leads to a gen eral breakdown of credibility? Is there something in Judaic precepts which values truth above most all considerations? There are many references in rabbinic writings stressing the im portance of speaking the truth. A beautiful story is told of the Ber- ditchever Rabbi, the noted defender of the Jewish people, who came across a Jew eating on Yom Kip- pur. Surely, he said to him, you are not aware that today is Yom Kip- pur and that it is prohibited to eat. To which came the answer that he was aware of both situations. Then, the rabbi continued, un doubtedly your doctor advised you to eat because your health required it. Again came a reply that he was perfectly healthy and had no doc tor’s permission. Whereupon the Berditchever Rabbi turned to G-d: “Look at your wonderful Jews, even when they sin they tell the truth.” What is there in our Jewish tra dition which puts such emphasis on truth. There is a Midrash which states: G-d’s name is Shalom (peace), and the seal of G-d is Ernes (truth). This play on words in trigued a commentator. Peace, he pointed out, is a relative concept and is hardly ever complete, whether in relation to nations or between individuals. Just as a name can be abbreviated, so too, can peace be limited and compromised. When it comes to a seal, however, it can have no fault or impairment. Sim ilarly, truth cannot be negated or compromised. Nor is our tradition so naive to call for truth-telling when it may cause harm. There is a Yiddish expression that one may not tell a lie but one is not compelled to tell a truth when it is harmful to do so. Our rabbis also point to the one exception. One may tell a lie for the sake of peace in the home. Legend also identifies Aaron, the brother of Moses, for his peace-seeking quality. Whether the disinformation in the Libyan affair was justified for the intended larger good, as some insist, is questionable. Qadaffi and the Libyans could have been given disinformation without involving our own American public in the process. For in efforts to fool our own people, and through innocent government officials, there is the more serious danger that further untruths will be rationalized and justified for a perceived ultimate good. M.C. Gettinger is executive di rector emeritus of the A tlanta Jew ish Federation. Message of the sukka by Rabbi Ezra Boyarsky Seven Arts Feature Syndicate, Inc. “ You shall dwell in booths seven days; that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel abide in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt." (Leviticus 23:42, 43) The ultimate purpose of redeem ing the Jewish people from Egyp tian bondage was to turn their heretofore abnormal, insufferable and demeaned existence into a normal, dignified, sovereign na tional religious life. And this goal was achieved only when they finally entered the Promised Land and became a self-sufficient, produc tive nation with agriculture as the main economic under pinning. It is for this reason that the three pilgrimage festivals (Passover, Sha- vuot and Sukkot) are, in addition to their historical point of origin, also intimately connected with the economy of the Land of Israel. Therefore, these holidays carry a dual significance, one a historical and the other that of a mundane and pragmatic nature. And it was in no small measure due to the fusion of the religious and national aspects of these festi vals that the Jewish people har bored the hope and sustained the faith that an independent Jewish state will once again be founded in their ancestral homeland. It was this treasured hope that led to the political Zionist movement at the turn of the century and ultimately culminated with the establishment of the state of Israel in our own time. While each festival delivers its own timely message, the manda tory requirement to dwell in booths on Sukkot carries an especially momentous message to contempo rary Jewry who have witnessed the extermination of one-third of their brethren but also experienced their grandest moment of exultation— the founding of Medinat Yisroel. This message of the sukka, the stark symbol of temporary shelter, transcience and instability, calls on Jews outside of Israel to negate the Diaspora which, not unlike the sukka itself, offers them, in the long run, only a touch and go existence... So as we usher in the joyful and symbolism-rich Sukkot festival, our hearts and minds focus on the vibrant Jewish state which, after a two millenial-long hiatus, has re sumed her role as the nerve center of Jewish life. We pray that peace and tranquility reign within her borders and that she soon bounce back to a healthy and vigorous Continued from page 4. The final test was bagels, cream cheese and lox with four varieties of drinks. When none of these sat isfied the testers, the company de cided to add sliced onions. This resulted in a slight increase among those who said that if nothing else was available, they’d drink a fruit- flavored soft drink with a bagel, cream cheese, lox and onions. A few suggested that the company consider producing an egg cream. At the conclusion of the testing a significant majority indicated they would just as soon stick with coffee except for gefilte fish with which they preferred a sweet red wine. They also expressed a preference for decaffeinated coffee if it was brewed and not instant. economy. “On that day will I raise up the tabernacle (sukka) of David which is fallen and its ruins will I raise up and I will rebuild it as in the days of old” (Amos 9:1). Amos’ vision has been vindicated before our eyes; the land of Israel has indeed risen from its ruins and the sukka-like existence of the Jew ish people is diminishing in direct proportion to the state’s growth and development. But the restorative work is far from being completed. Contempo rary Jewry has been entrusted with the historic mission to hasten this process; to pull its collective weight that this privileged assignment be fulfilled at any cost. In essence, this is the sukka’s message to us at this crucial and challenge-ridden unc tion in our history. Although the company was dis appointed with the survey, the report concluded by suggesting that a new group with a much smaller percentage from the New York area be tested and that this time chopped liver and rye bread be added to the list. Effective Oct. 20, The South ern Israelite’s offices will be located at 300 Atlanta Tech nology Center, Suite 365, 1575 Northside Drive, N. W., Atlanta, GA 30318. The newspaper’s mailing ad dress will be P.O. Box 250287, Atlanta, GA 30325. The new telephone number is (404) 355-6139. Caper PAGE 5 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE October 17, 1986