Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1981-10-22

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VOL.59   NO.44
OCTOBER 22,1981-TISHREI24
Devoted- to American
and Jewish ideals.
ontreversy Is Test Of Strength
Israeli Factions
On Jewish W@m, ©efober 29,30
A first-of-a-kind academic
conference on the topic
"Tradition and Transformation: Women in Jewish
Culture" will be held on
Thursday, Oct. 29 and Friday, Oct. 30 at The,Ohio
State University. Nationally
acclaimed author Cynthia
Ozick will serve .as keynote
speaker, this major conference is being sponsored
by O.S.U.'s Melton Center
Cynthia Ozick
for Jewish Studies.in conjunction with the Center for
Women's Studies and -the
Division of Comparative
Studies.
The conference will bring
together scholars-from the
fields of history, religion,
folklore, philosophy and
literature to examine the
crucial role that * women
have played in Judaism
from Biblical times to the
present. Major emphasis
will be given to the modern
period. Conference participants will come from
.'around the country.
In announcing the two d_y
event, Prof. Gila JRamas-
Rauch, Conference Chairperson, stressed that the
O.S.U. conference -is "the
first major interdisciplinary
attempt to consider this key
topic. Women have had a
central role in Jewish tradition and thought from the
earliest days of our faith.
And the recent growllTSr*'
both feminism and women's
studies makes this- the
perfect time for this event."
Ramas-Rauch said that she
was "extremely pleased
with the outstanding
response to the conference
within the academic community," noting that more
than 80 scholarly papers
were submitted of which
"only the very best were
chosen to be delivered." At
the conference, sessions will
include those dealing with
the subjects "Orthodoxy and
Feminism," "Women arid.
Jewish Lpaw" and "Women
in Jewish Literature."
The highlight of the conference will be a keynote
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 17) ■
Should Jews
Be Recruited
BONN (WNS)-West
Germany's Jewish comroun-y
ity is in the midst of a highly
emotional controversy over
whether Jewish youths
should be recruited for the
army, the biggest in Western
Europe, it.was reported recently. Jews of military age
are exempt from the draft
for historical reasons and'
• there is a written agreement
to that effect between.the
Bonn authorities and the
Centra] Organization of Jewish communities in the
Federal Republic.
The agreement has not
been, questioned in recent
years and it is understood
that, especially in cases
where family members suffered under the Nazi regime,
.Germany
Army?
young -Jews should not be
recruited.
In the past.few months,
however, pressure has built,
up to subject Jews to conscription, the same as non-
Jews: It is argued in some
quarters, that a considerable
portion of the present Jewish
community came to West
Germany of its own free will
and was not a victim of Nazi
persecution. Meanwhile,
Jewish community leaders
are divided on the matter.
Many stress that the present
situation could not be maintained indefinitely and that.'
service with the military
would be an important factor
in the integration .and legitimization of German Jews'. ~'
NEW YORK (JTA)-For-
mer Undersecretary of State
George Ball has characterized the controversy over the
Reagan Administration's
proposed sale of AWACS
reconnaissance planes to
Saudi Arabia as "a test of
strength between the President and pro-Israeli factions" and warned that its
defeat "will mean the end of
an effective United States
policy toward the Middle
East."
Ball, who served in the
Kennedy and Johnson Administrations, made that assessment in a three-page letter addressed individually to
Senate opponents of the $8.5
billion AWACS weapons
sales package. A copy of the
letter, sent from Ball's Manhattan office, was obtained
by the Jewish Telegraphic
Agency. The former- State
Department official is senior
managing director of
Lehman Brothers Kuhn
Loeb  Inc.,  investment
Ball listed among the consequences of Congressional
rejection of the.AWACS sale
"humiliating the President,'" hobbling, his
diplomacy and engendering
mistrust of his commitments
on the part of the Arab
states. He predicted increased "subsidy demands"
from - Israel after having
"proved its clout with
Congress." -    ,
He also suggested that advanced American military
equipment provided to Israel
was more likely to fall into
Soviet hands than^AWACS
sold to Saudi Arabia because
Israel engages in "reckless
missions" such as its raid on
Iraq's nuclear reactor last
June. N
Ball urged the recipients
of his letter to "consider the
full implications" of Senate
action to., block the AWACS
sale. "If Congress
capitulates under pressure
and defeats the AWACS sale
it will mean the end of an effective United States policy
toward the Middle East; if
we should then go forward'
with the. reckless military
over-involvement with
Israel now proposed we may
well find ourselves in a war
that will tear, the American,
people apart."
Ball maintained that "A
proper concern for Israel's
security does not require us
to assure her a complete
monopoly of advanced military equipment without regard to our own larger interests in ,-the area."- He
stressed that none, of the
AWACS are scheduled for
delivery to the Saudis for
mmm
four years and do not "suddenly place Israel in mortal
danger."
The letter noted that some
opponents of the AWACS
sale contend that the U.S.
should not send advanced
weapons to the Middle East
because they might fall into
Soviet" hands. "But. such
weapons are already there,"
Ball wrote. "We have given
Israel almost ever}' conventional advanced weapon
in our own arsenal, (sometimes at the expense of our
own fighting capability),
and, in view of current, prac
tices, those weapons seem
far morejikely to fall into
Soviet hands than the Saudi
AWACS.
"The Saudis, it is
understood, will-keep their
AWACS at home in their own
airspace, but Mr. Begin
risks our most esoteric
American equipment on
reckless missions," Ball
wrote. In that connection, he
observed that had any of the
F-15s or F-16s used on the
Iraqi raid been shot down,
the Iraqis could not "have
resisted pressures to turn
the plane over to the Rus
sians, or at least let them examine it."
He warned that "So long
as Israel persists in misusing our high technology
weapons—as it will feel completely free to do if Congress
now de-fangs the President—we cannot cite the
risks to our technology
without encouraging the
Arabs to suspect that we are
trying to keep them
defenseless against future
Israeli attacks."
Ball argued that the
Saudis   "have  committed
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 8)
Sadat: My Peace Initiative Was Built On Love...
By Trude B, Feldman'
Chronicle White House
' Reporter
WASHINGTON,   D.C:
"The most difficult heritage
left me by Nasser is hatred."
This comment—uttered
with a sigh—came from
Nasser's -successor,* Anwar
Sadat, ih a recent exclusive
interview. The late President Sadat was seeking to
explain the situation in
which he found himself. "My
peace initiative was built on
love," Sadat told me. "And
I've been trying to abolish
hatred and mistrust in our
area."
The initiative was his historic arid electrifying trip to
Jerusalem in November,
1977. For that peace effort,
former Secretary of State
Henry A. Kissinger recommended Sadat for the Nobel
Peace Prize, which he
shared with Israeli Prime
' Minister Menachem Begin.
President Sadat said he
considered that trip to.be a
"sacred mission," adding,
"Even if it were my last act
as president, I'd be happy I
did it because that journey
made a difference and has
changed the world."
The Israelis received
Sadat with gratitude and
friendship; he had the
chance to meet Golda Meir a
year before she died; and he
had since returned to Israel
several times. Then, in the
summer of 1.978, President
Carter invited Sadat and
Begin to Camp David for 13
days of intense negotiations—resulting in the signing of a  historic  peace
-treaty:
"I've tried to use the cofn-
mon hefitage and common
faith I share with the Israelis
to break  the barriers of
' suspicion and mistrust that
has been builtup in the Middle East for such a long
time," he said. "I'm sure I
can replace love for hale and
compassion and understanding for bitterness. This has
always worked for me and I
hope the Israeli Government
will recognize that 1 want to
give, them my true spirit of'
love.''
I asked President Sadat:
After four wars in 33 years,
■ howcanlsfaerputitstrustin"'
Arab promises when' even
■ other Arabs are opposed to
what you're doing?
Sadat replied with a direct
gaze. "The decision of war
or peace comes from Cairo,
not from any other Arab
capital, and Israel knows
this."
When I told him that
Jerusalem's' King David'
Hotel had planted a "peace
forest" of 180 trees in his
name, Sadat appeared to be
touched. He even knew that
the Hebrew letters 'chet yud'
denote "life" and are used
both as letters and
numerical symbols equal-
' ling 18. Hence the number 28
and multiples, such as 180,
suggest "life" in Jewish
folklore.
Recalling his visit to Yad
Vashem, the Jerusalem
memorial to the Holocaust
victims, Sadat said, "I had
never thought what had hap--
pened during World War II
was that horrible. I thought
it was mere propaganda. But
when I visited Yad Vashem
and saw the documentation
and depictions and exhibits I
was deeply moved.
" * -"Whfeb1 \' left Israel, the
whole population hailed me
and at that moment. I felt we
must head in the right direction and achieve peace for
those people who have suffered this tragedy. The
Israelis yearn for peace.
1 "At Yad Vashem. I saw
with my own eyes how
Israelis and Jews everywhere must feel. That
memorial embodies all their
suffering. They are victims
of not only war. but of
politics and hatred. I was
criticized by charlatans of.
Arab politics for visiting the.
memorial to the millions
murdered by Hitler. But I
purposely went to. that
awesome place to prove I'm ,
serious about peace."
Sadat said he enjoyed his
various meetings with
Israeli Premier Begin, and
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 19)
Beth Jacob Talmud Class
Begins Sixth Year, Oct. 25
The Beth Jacob Talmud
class under the instruction of
Rabbi, David Stavsky will
begin its sixth year this Sunday morning, Oct. 25, 9:45
a.m.*, in the Board Room of
the Beth Jacob Synagogue.
The text for this year's ,
program will be the Tractate
of Brbchos, beginning with
the tenth chapter. This
chapter examines blessing
of life in joy or sorrow, i.e..
the blessings at a Bris Milah
or a blessing when seeing
lightning and hearing
thunder. * A  ,
Over the years the Talmud
—A
class represents one of the
most important and popular
programs within the Beth
Jacob calendar. Every class
is well attended by* men arid
women, young and old. Rabbi Stavsky allows a great
deal -of interaction and
dialogue between the
students and himself.
No previous knowledge is
necessary to understand and
comprehend the' Talmud
class. Beginners and intermediates to the Talmud
from the entire Jewish Community are invited to attend.
,<*"
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