Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1967-12-21

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21,1967-19 KBLEV
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Worldwide Chanukah Plans Mad^
In its worldwide Hanuk- Itah arrangements for Jewisti militaiy personnel, the Nat¬ ional Jewish Wel&re Board (IWB) has given special at¬ tention to brighteningthe festival celebrations of Jew¬ ish men and women serving in- Vietnam and of the Viet¬ nam wounded win are in militaiy hospitals through¬ out the FaclQc area.
As gifts, the men in Viet¬ nam will receive books, rec¬ ords, religious, items, toi¬ letry Idts, games, decks of playing cards, paints and canvas, and other items which were sent to tliem by the JWB Women's Organt-
. zations' Services. Numerous requests for cameras, flash- Ii{^, battery-operated ftas and even a television set for a small installation near the demilitarized zone were filled. For the Jewishnurses and other Jewish women on
'' duty tn Vietnam, there will be Kits containing cosmetics, t V ' soap and' other toiletries. >V -.-JEWISH chatAains in Viet-
The World's Week
NEW YORK (WNS) - A spokesman for a group of Manhattan garment malcers, most of them Jewish, confirmed that they had dropped plans for a unified protest against statements made last month by Presi¬ dent Charles de Gaulle of France, .which were widely denounced as anti-Israel, anti-Jewish and antl-Ameri¬ can.
WASHINGTON (WNS) — President Johnson's per¬ sonal adviser oa international'security affairs, Walt W. Rostow, met with Congressmen of the Jewish fiiith in response to complaints that the Administra¬ tion was ignoring Israel's request for military sup- jjlles. Meeting with the Cmgressmen at the Capitol, Mr. Rostow declined to make any commitment on the new Israeli needs that were dramatized by the French suspension of contracted plane deliveries to Israel. He Indicated that the matter might be considered in due course. ^^
NEW YORK (WNS) — A noted French author, Manes Sperber, who came to New York to accept an inter¬ national Utetary^award, attacked French President Charles' de Gaulle for giving "a new prestige and ap¬ pearance of decency to anti-Semitism."
TEL AVIV (WNS) — An Israeli soldier was kUled vdien the jeep he was di'iving was struck by a bazooka shell fired from ambush along a road south of Tlrat Zvi in the Beisan Valley, about a mile and a half from the banks of the Jorilan River. A second soldier in the jeep was not injured. The attackers evaded a search begun immediately after the incident, and ap¬ parently succeeded In escaping across the Jordan.
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Israel  Proposes Refugees Plan
other overseas and domestic 1%       areas whereJewishservice- men are stationed will con-, duct candlelighting services during Hanukkah, the eight- , day Festival of Lig^ which ¦" begins at sundown on Tues¬ day, Dec. 26.   ,
Israeli composer. The performance wiU take place Dec. 22'at'regidar Friday night services. The com¬ poser is Isaachar Mir^n, a former deputy director of music in the Israeli Education Ministry. It calls for two choirs, two orchestral ensembles and an electronic music synthesizer. The ensembles are a group of musicians of the New Haven Symphony and the New York Rock n' Roll Studio Combo.
, UNITED NATIONS (JTA) —Israel proposed atthe Uni- - ted'Nations a five-year plan for the economic develop¬ ment of the Middle East to rehaUlitate the Arab re¬ fugees and integrate them into the economic life of the region. The plan was pro¬ posed as the first phase of an overall Arab-Israeli agreement to end the Mid¬ dle East deadlock.
Soon after the proposal was placed, before the UN Social Political Commit¬ tee, the United States intro¬ duced a draft resolution which warned that "no sub¬ stantial progress'' had been made on the reintegration or resettlement <tf the refugees. The draft urged that the lAiited Nations Relief and Works Agency "continue" its efforts to rectus its re¬ lief rolls to assure "the most equitable distribution" of relief based on need, for which the United States con¬ tributes the largest amount
In'.tbe^iresentatlon' by 'Am¬ bassador Michael Comay of Israel was a sharp disagre¬ ement with UNRWA statis¬ tics on the'refugees, call¬ ing many of the figures "in¬ flated."
Comay said Israel wel¬ comed the Security Coun¬ cil's November 22 resolu¬
tion which placed solution of the Arab refugee prob¬ lem "in the broad context of peace." That resolution also authorized Secre¬ tary GeneralUThanttoname a special emissary to the Middle East to seektomain- tahi contacts with the Ak-abs and Israel for a peaceful settlement. The envoy, Swedish diplomat Gunnar Jarring, came to Israel on his mission this week.
COMAY said the Israel Government had been work", ing m detailed proposals on the reftigee question on the pledge to work fUlly in any
that it had been "effective." He said Israel had provided UNRWA with services val¬ ued at a mil It on Israeli pounds during the last six months of thls'year, in addi¬ tion to a similar sum given directiy to UNRWA. He said Israel was considering anot¬ her contribution .to UNRWA for job training for Arab refugee youth.
Office Moves To
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international and regional JerUSQlem plan and'he appealed to all UN members,particularlyto the Arab states, to give ser¬ ious consideration to Israel's proposal "on sim¬ ple humanitarian grounds." He said the June war had been costly to Arabs and Jews alike and that the time had ,come to "forego ran¬ cor and reproach" and to.
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HE RECALLED that Lau¬ rence Michelmore, UNRWA commissioner-general, had said in his annual report that Israel's cooperation with UN RWA in carrying out its work on the occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip was offered last June 14 and
Acknowledgement of the increasii)^ important role of Jerusalem in the lives of Jews both in Israel ahdelse- where came today vidian the American JewishConunlttee announced that its Israel of¬ fice would be moved early in 1968 from Tel Aviv to
ageni^s Committee dt li- rael, made the prospective change known at the final session ot the American Jewish Committers annual National Executive Board— Western Reglcmal Confiet-- ence meeting, held at the Fairmont Hotel in SanFran- cisca
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chanukah:
An Important Date And Decision
BY RABBI SAMUEL UMEN
The year 168B.C.K. isotie ot the most memorable in Jewish Ustory. The fate of Judaism depended on the de¬ cision made by a smaU bank of Jews in that year.
At no time previously did Judaism, confront i a force irtilch delibrateiy; set out to destroy it, as vriben it faced Hellenlsmi brougbi intot,tlK|« land iQr the successors/l^ conqueror Alex{ajnderid|B^ Great. s (•' ¦ ¦ jM ij '
JEWS WERE never affm of new i^as, re^p^es^jof^t their source. Every nowl Idea wddch appealed to tl^m, and which they borrowed from their nelgh^s, they assimilated, as a blood transfusion, only fo|: the re¬ fining, and re-inforcing of their own.
First, Hellenism was not being discriminately absorb¬ ed by Jews for the enhance¬ ment of their outiook, but was rather, imitated inevery detail. This process of imi¬ tation led to the weakening of Judaism and tlie gradual emergence of a new but nd:
improved pattern of be¬ havior.
SEqOND, whUe HeUenlsm was at first left to displace Judaism by its own appeal and penetration, howe.ver, because of Antiochus' desire to ha^n the program of Helleo^^ation, it was declar¬ ed a culture by decree, the oCSciali culture of the land, •'Hence: Judaism was tried in two^^cibles. One, which l^as ,fiB|shioned by the Jews tliemmves, and the other which came from the out- ;side. j:^ the ppe hand, Jews in aqbstant|l,al numbers weakened th^ ,faith of their fathers, by adcMing Hellen¬ ism as their mode of life, and on, the other hand, the conqueror imposed this cul¬ ture fay force on the entire dtizeniy.
Even though it must be said in all falmess that Hellenism had mucli to offer in enrich¬ ing Judaismbyitsphilos o- plVr drama, poetry, archi¬ tecture, and sports, it at the same time lacked much to make it completely desir¬ able.
OBSERVING the amphith¬ eater where human beings were done to death for the tunusement of blood thlrsly mobs, the Jew concluded, as Walter Pater did centur¬ ies later, "what was needed was the he art that would make it impossible to wit¬ ness all this; and the future would be with the forces that could beget a heart like that."
Jewish cul^ire, developed such a heart and itjis this heart that made itself felt through the heroic c^ejcision of tlie Hasmonean family and a small group of staunch supporters of the Torah. to free Israel from its Hellen¬ istic enslavement.  ..
WAR TO the end was de¬ clared on Hellenism. The battie lasted three years. Judea regained her souL Ju¬ daism trlmphed.Thraue^ttBr ages, the Hasmonean yictin^' is commemorated in the home and the Synagogue for eight days as a festival of Ught and gladness, afestival which doesnotespeciallypay homage to the leaders of the
battie, although their heroic feats of courage are notfor- gotten, but rather one which stresses the value of light and freedom of the souL Like our ancestors under the impact of Hellenism, Jew6 today find themselves living in Jtwo cultures, thefr own and that of their envfr- onment. They have a choice to make. They can either turn to the majority culture for their pattem of behavior and therelty completely lose their identity, individuality i and self-respect, or, they can ' absorb -the finest elements ' of the majority culture for the enhancement  of thefr own spiritual treasures, andthus remain true to themselves. THE CHANUKAH lights speak softly and confidently the promise of victoiy tothe brave, ftee, independent ,'souls, who under test and frial, choose to remain true to themselves, and thereby prove to the world that life can be rich and meaningful only when it stands for some¬ thing that is even more pre¬ cious than life itself.
NEVER TOO YOOTG TO LEARN ABOUT CHANUKAH
Candle-lighting during IHanukkah is a family event at mlUtaiy installations where wives andchildrenlive with Jewish men hi uniform. Festival of Lights ob¬ servances such as this one conducted by a Jewish chaplain take place throu^ttjurangements made by the Commisslcni on Jewish'Chaplaincy of the National' Jewish Welfare Board (JWB). Holiday gifts and sup¬ plies, sent to miUtaiy personnel by JWB Women's Organizations' Services on behalf of the American Jewish community, iwlp bring the fraditional Hanukkah flavor to those who are separated frran thefr home communities.
Best Wishes For A Joyous And Happy Chanukah
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