Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1977-12-29

              J" " '
wkmUm
OfflOJE^
E=^
HROMCLE
  w  _y
2iA\yy^rvlnfl Columbifs and Central Ohio Jewish Community tor Over 50 Years \uA\K
LIBRARY, OHIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1983  VELM,.   AVE.
COLS.   0,     43E11 K      EXCH
VOL. 55 NO. 53
DECEMBER 29,1977-TEVET19
Soviet Emigration
Figures Surpass 76
NEW YORK, (JTA* - The
Soviet   Jewry    Research
Bureaivot the National Con¬
ference on Soviet Jewry re¬
ported Dec. 6 that the num-
" ber of Soviet Jews emigrat¬
ing from the USSR from
January-November 1977 sur¬
passes the number of Jews
allowed to leave in  1976.
Charlotte Jacobson, bureau
chairperson, announced that
from   January-November
1977,14,798 Soviet Jews have
emigrated to Israel and else¬
where while the total al¬
lowed to leave in 1976 was
14,213. "We welcome the in¬
crease," Ms. Jacobson said,
"and hope that it will con¬
tinue throughout the coming
months. Analysts have sug¬
gested that the increase in
those being allowed to emi¬
grate in the last few months
is due to discussions in Bel¬
grade  by  those  countries
signing the Helsinki Final
Act, which includes provi¬
sions for the free emigration
of^ all people." Continuing,
she pointed out:   "Though
1977 figures will surpass last
year's total, they do not ap¬
proach - the ~peak^~years -of-
1972-1973 when more than
66,000 Soviet Jews left the
USSR. Soviet authorities are
continuing      harassment
against thousands of Soviet
Jewish activists who wish to
leave, many of whom ap¬
plied for exit visa more than
five years ago. At the same
time anti-Semitic remarks
are carried in „the Soviet
media and Soviet Jewish ac¬
tivist Anatoly Shcharansky
is still being held in Mos¬
cow's Lefortovo prison pend¬
ing completion of the Soviet
authorities' investigation."
Mellowing Of Hard-Liner Begin
May Bring Peace To Middle-East
Pictured from left to right are: Barton Schachter,
Executive Director of the Center; Dr. James Tennen¬
baum, President of the Center; and Robert Aronson,
Past President of the Center and a JWB Board Mem¬
ber.
i
Center Receives JWB Award
The Jewish Center Re¬
ceived a Jewish Welfare
Board affiliation plaque re¬
presenting the Center ^and
Board's relationship. Both
agencies, working together,
are involved with the quality
of Jewish life.
Robert Aronson, a past
Center President and a
member of the J.W.B. Board
~-of~4-Directorsf-. made . the
presentation. Dr. James
Tennenbaum, President of
the Center, and Barton
Schachter, Executive Direc¬
tor of The Jewish Center of
Columbus, accepted the
award.
The Jewish Welfare Board
is the Association of Jewish
Community Centers, YM
and YWCAs, and Camps in
the U.S. and Canada, as well
as the U.S. Government-ac¬
credited agency for serving
the religious, Jewish educa¬
tional, and morale needs of
Jewish military personnel,
their families, and hos¬
pitalized veterans. It servies
the entire North American
Jewish community through
the JWB Lecture Bureau,
Jewish Book and Music
Councils, Israel-related and
other projects, and publica¬
tions. JWB is supported by
hundreds of Jewish Federa¬
tions throughout the country.
By David Landau
CAIRO (JTA) - If Mena¬
chem Begin brings peace to
Israel he will become a hero
of Jewish history. He will
share the nobel Peace Prize
with President Anwar Sadat
of Egypt. He will be hailed
and feted as a statesman of
giant stature — and deserv¬
edly so. He will receive the
accolades of his country¬
men, and the honest apolo¬
gies of those who questioned
the wisdom of his policies
and actions. And deservedly
so. How will he have done it?
How does one explain the
evident paradox of the died-
in-the-wool hard-liner com¬
ing to terms with the enemy
when for 30 years the osten¬
sible moderates who led
Israel failed to do so?' Of
course, the "deGaulle syn¬
drome" is readily available
as a suitable scientific ex¬
planation, complete with his¬
torical precedents to prove
its pertinence/validity. In¬
deed, it was this thesis —
that only a hard-line opposi¬
tion leader of unimpeacha¬
ble moral authority can ulti¬
mately push through an un¬
popular, even humiliating,
withdrawal — that com-'
forted some of us in Israel
and some of Israel's friends
around the world when
Begin was swept to power
last May. And, indeed, cur¬
rent political events inside
Israel show there is much
truth in it.
Bui the "deGaulle syn¬
drome" alone is too facile,
too pat to provide a genuine¬
ly comprehensive and inci¬
sive explanation of what has
happened in Israeli policy¬
making. It is useful as a
shorthand lor describing the
internal political situation.
But il does not deal with the
essence of the Begin-Sadat
equation. That essence is
that   Begin  regards  Sadat
(CONTINUEDON PAGE 121
Merom Brachman To
Chair Overseas Group
Merom Brachman has
been appointed chairman of
the Overseas Jewry Com¬
mittee of the Community Re¬
lations Committee, it was
announced today by Marvin
L. Glassman, chairman of
the Community Relations
Committee, and Ernest
Stern president of the Co-
JTA Correspondent Polakoff to Speak On
Hadassah Education Day January 22
The Columbus Chapter of
Hadassah, Women's Zionist
Organization of America an¬
nounces plans for Education
Day, Sunday, Jan. 22, 1978.
The program, "Washington,
Israel and You," will be held
at the Jewish Center, 1125
College Ave. at 12:30 p.m.
Featured speaker is Mr.
Joseph Polakoff, Washing¬
ton Bureau Chief for the
Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
We are fortunate to have
such a well informed
speaker for this program.
Joseph Polakoff's name is
familiar to Central Ohioans
as he .often has articles fea¬
tured on the front page of the
Ohio Jewish Chronicle.
As Chief of the Jewish
What The Egyptian Press Says.
By Dr. Yitscha'k Ben
Gad(Maeluf)
Jewish Exponent
Mideast Analyst ,
CAIRO — Speaking'with
the Eyptian officials and
journalists here in Cairo, one
can here their frank opinion
about Israel and about their
brethren in other Arab
states. They ask: "Why were
you Israelis unaware of our.
desire for peace and our ex¬
haustion from war? Why. peace. Those- who. never
didn't you feeLthat you were 'fought Israel, they say, have
as tired as we. were? Why   no moral right to, dictate to
However, the complaints
of these officials and
journalists are not only
against Israel. They point a
finger of accusation against
the Arab oil-rich states and
those on the rejection front,
such as Libya, Iraq and, to a
certain extent, Saudi Arabia.
They readily relate to you
that the ' Egyptians who
. sacrificed so much blood and
press you can find extremely
interesting articles unavail¬
able in foreign papers. The
recent edition of the Egyp¬
tian weekly magazine
October carried a revealing
interview with President
Sadat in which he openly de¬
clared that Syria's behavior
proved that it does not want
peace. He compared Syria
and the other Arab states in
didn't' you believe Sadat
when he said in February,
1971, that he would be pre¬
pared to sign a peace; treaty
with Israel? Why did you
first ask to start the October
war in order to- prove that
Israel cannot guarantee her
security by holding onto
Arab territory?
money, they and only they^-- relation to his'peace efforts
have 'the-* right  to  make   to mice and monkeys which'
dance to the tune of a Soviet
master. Sadat continued by
claiming that the factor unit-,
ing his rivals was their bit--
terness against the jealousy
of Egypt. This he believed is
due to their realization that
Egypt is the true power that
can influence the course of
events in the Middle East
-and the world.
The  interviewer  of  the
magazine   October   then
us not to strive tq achieve,
peace. If they indeed want to
fight Israel, then no one is
preventing them from doing
so.
lOne of-the advantages of
being here in Cairo is being
able to buy and read Egyp¬
tian papers on their day of
publication.   Here   in.  the
asked Sadat whether he is
disturbed by the fact that the
other Arab confrontation
states would not attend the
Cairo conference.-Sadat re¬
plied that he believed the
other Arab states have no al¬
ternative but to do what the
Egyptians have done. The
negotiations must be direct.
Egypt would go to the end
this time, even if all the oth¬
er Arab states and Russia
would be left behind. Then
Sadat added': "Anyone who.
wants to achieve more than
what I am. achieving for the
Arab side,' let him stand be¬
fore the Arab world and do
so. Then we would be thank¬
ful to him."
The Egyptian leader then
revealed that his daring ini¬
tiative to visit Israel came
about when he received a-
handwritten   letter   from
(CONTINUEDON PACE 13)
Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
Washington Bureau, Mr.
Polakoff's primary topics
are developments bearing on
Israel and Soviet Jewry.
Mr. Polakoff started his
career in Scranton, Pa. as a
copy boy. He spent 28 years
with U.S. foreign informa¬
tion organizations. Mr. Pola¬
koff joined JTA seven years
ago after retiring from the
U.S. Information Agency. He
covered the Suez Crisis soon
after starting with JTA and
has been involved with re¬
porting most major events of
Jewish concern since. When
asked why he devotes his
time and effort to Jewish
causes in late years he
replied:
"Jewish history is beset
with critical periods. This
happens to be among the
most critical. If Israel falls,
then Judaism may also van¬
ish. I want Jewry to live and
flourish. Most 'Jews with
understanding of Jewish his--
tory are.coerced'byfeelings
within them to help their
people.'! ■ ,;>
With the situation chang¬
ing day by day in the Near
East, The Columbus Chapter"
of Hadassah is anxious to
have you, the public there to
share Mr. Polakoff's exper¬
tise. He knows, he is there
where it is happening.
Admission for the event,
which is open to the Public,
(CONTINUED ON WAGE 8)
lumbus Jewish Federation.
Miriam Schwartz will
serve as co-chairperson of
the committee with Brach¬
man, and letters of invitation
have been sent to a cross-
section of members of the
Jewish community to- serve,
on this newly .reorganized
committee. '
. "When the Community Re-..
lations Committee chose
Overseas Jewry as one of its
top priorities this year, I was
particularly pleased that
Meom Brachman agreed to
serve as chairman of our
Overseas Jewry Commit¬
tee," said Glassman, "since
Merom's background and
understanding of world
events, and his distinguished
service in Washington over
the years before returning to
Columbus as vice-president
of Yenkin-Majestic Paint
Company, made. him an
ideal choice for the position.
"I'm gratified, too. that
Mrs. Stanley Schwartz, an
expert in the fiefd pf Soviet
studies, has agreet to serve
as Meom's co-chairman.
With this new Igijijership
team, I know "jjjat the
Overseas Jewry Co'jnmittee
will once again play a major
role inour community,"
The Overseas Jewry Com¬
mittee was restructured this
year from the former Soviet
Jewry Committee. The con¬
cerns of the Soviet Jewry
Committee had always dealt
with Jews from Eastern
Europe, in Arab countries,
and in other' parts of the
world whereVJewish fives
were in peril.  V •
In accordance "with the
usage in other'communities,
and with national usage, the
Soviet Jewry Committee has
how been re-named the
Overseas Jewry Committee,
although it will still perform
the same functions as in the
past: interpreting the plight
of Jews wherever they are
oppressed, and utilizing the
(CONTINUEDON PAGE 171
V '1
,1
'?.
i;