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All Ismel IsResponsible, One for the Other By MICHELE ZISKIND Michaele Jacqueline Ziskin, a 17-year-old Alexandria, Va., student, has been named the winner of the United Jewish Appteal First Teenage Essay Contest. Miss Ziskin, whose essay was selected from over 2,500 entries, will receive an BII expense-paid two-week trip to Israel. Her winning essay follows: * + * A man fasts at the Isaiah Wall of the United Nations so that his family in Russia might bo free— And we arc responsible . . . Three million others living under Soviet oppression wait for a sign of hope— ...... _ And we arc responsible . . . In our own cities, millions are packed into ghettos, deprived of the means to live decently And we are concerned . . . People the world over are hungry, homeless and persecuted— • And we are concerned . . . WHY? What Is it that makes us, as Jews, responsible for every other J e w ? Why is it that wherever injustice and Indignity exist in the world, the Jew is concerned? For Uie answer, .we return to the foot of a wilderness mountain. As the earth shook and'the shofar sounded, wo accepted our responsibility as a people. We.were no longer as a blind man who cannot help it if he walks in a crooked path. We lost our innocence, but in the process wo gained the ability to see. . Because he could now distinguish right from wrong, the Jew could no longer say that he is uncommitted to his fellow man.
Since that moment at Sinai, there is no such thing as a solitary Jew. There exists a kinship" deeper than heredity— a bond of history, spirit and mutual commitment to each other and to God. A Jew is responsible—not only for his own actions but. for those of Ills fellow Jews as we" for we all stand judgment together. Tiie sage Simeon Ben Yohai tells of t h i ^ , . . ' ; a boat who began, to bore a hole under .' seat A fellow passenger protested, and 1
for When the water enters, the whole boat sinks. So it is with Jews. We are constantly on trial, and the verdict applies to all of us. - > Because we are in the same boat, the well-" *"•' f even a single Russian family is defi-' Sur business." \ •h greater, then, must be our responsi-' 'he thousands of others in the world r for freedom! f .-uid the Jew carry this burden of conv "lern, not only for his fellow Jews but for all • men as well? • : J WHY!
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Because the Jew, of all people, should k n W best;..
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—We have been slaves, so we know what op-' pression is. |' —We have been convicted at the Inquisition, I so we know the meaning of injustice. | —We have been forced into ghettos and de-' * prlved of opportunities, so we know the pangs of humiliation. • • i" —We have been starved in prisons where hunger is real, and we know the terror of the • pogrom. >—We have died in drainless shower stalls so we know how great Is the scourge of hate. I —We have experienced the rebirth of our home-! '•.. land.after 2,000 years, so we know, the mean* I " i n g of hope and the power of faith. /*' Out of a covenant of morality at Sinai and the anguish of our past ' . comes the compassion and understanding that each Human is responsible, One for the Other. . To shirk this responsibility is to deny the real meaning of being a Jew.
Serving Council gfofite, JSes MoineSt Lincoln, Omaha Publication Office 101 No. 20th St. Omatiu, Neb. P81O2, Phono S42-1S6O
OMAHA, NEBRASKA, FRIDAV, JUNE 20, 1070
Second Class Postage Single Copy IS Centf Paid at Omaha, Neb. Annual Rate 5 Dollar*
Mayor Leahy to Speak Jewish Arrests Follow of Soviet Plane On Tourism in Israel Omaha, ElLTtf. Zalkin will host a cocktail reception on behalf of the Tourist Industry Development Corporation, an undertaking, of Capital for Israel. The guest speaker Tuesday evening, June 30th, 8 p.m., at too Highland Country Club will be Mayor Eugene Leahy who has just returned from a tour of Israel sponsored by the Tourist Industry and El Al. Reservations may be made by calling 341-117 7or 340-4894. I In tlie'entire spectrum of Israel's notable economic growth, one of the brightest aspects has been the rapid strides of the tourist industry. During the past eighteen months the tourist trade in Israel has come into full bloom as a factor of major proportions for the country's economic future. " In the rate Of growth, tourism 'has far.outstripped practically every other export industry in Israel. For example, in 1904, Israel had a total of 251,628 tourists and tourist income for that year amounted to $50 million. In 1968 the number of visitors jumped to 432,316, and the 'income from tourism rose to , $95 million. - .:. | Tourism means capital for i Israel. Tourism means jnoro I foreign exchange for Israel and more export income to improve the country's balance of trade. As a result, Capital for Israel has undertaken the distribution Of a new issue of $20,000,000 in preferred shares of tho Tourist Industry Development Corporation which has slnco its establishment in late 1957 played tho central role in tho development of the tourist industry. •
Tourist Industry Development Corporation was organized by the Government bf Israel, which supplied the original capital for tho company and owns all of its outstanding shares. The new preferred shares of TIDC are. being offered at par at $100, with a minimum purchase of 10 dividend of 7% a year, cumulativo and in dollars.
London (JTA)—Eight Leningrad Jews were among 21 .persons who have been arrested, and 50 homes of Jews in several Soviet cities have been raided and searched according to reports from Moscow. The reports said the arrests and searches may or not have been In. connection with the attempt to hijack a Soviet plane at Leningrad1 Airport on June 15 by a group said to include some Jews who wanted to go to Isl
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Dr. Cecil Roth,, p i c t u r e d above, regarded as the outstanding* contemporary, authority on J e w i s h history, died here of cancer at the age of 71. At the time of Ws death Prof, Roth was engaged in the publication of a new Encyclopedia Judaica of which he became cdltor-ln-' chief in 1065, Ho said then that it would encompass "tho totality of Jewish knowledgo and scholarship," Tho ency. clopedla w i l l bo released jhortly.. • ,
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The hijacking attempt came to light when correspondents found,a.brief account on the back page of tho newspaper Leningradskaya Pravda in the Moscow public, library. The . newspaper is not sold in Moscow and does'not accept subscriptions-from foreigners. According to the a c c o u n t - " a group of criminals trying to seize a scheduled airplane, was' apprehended." They were not identified. New York Times correspondent Bernard Gwertzman in a cabled report from Moscow quoting Soviet " d i s s i d e n t sources" said one of the alleged hijackers was Mfs. Silva Kuznetsov, Jewish, and her husband, Edward, described as "half Jewish." Mr. Gwertzman's sources said Mrs. Kuznetsov was active in Riga in trying, to get permission for Jews, to leave for Israel. U. S. Groups Protest Two American organizations working on behalf of Soviet Jewry condemned _ tho arrest of eight-Jews in connection, with an "alleged" Leningrad
plane hijacking as a "pretext" for repressing emigration demands. .-.. • R a b b i Herschel Schacter, chairman of the A m e r i c a n Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry, said the incident has been used "as a pretext for terrorizing and harassing Sov>
iet Jews who are known to have petitioned the United lions as well as Soviet authorities to leave for Israel." Ono . of the eight arrested, he said, "has had the audacity and courage to petition Soviet au« thorities on • 32 separate occasions to leave for Israel.".
$75001 Reported in JCampaign Des Moines—Results of tlie 1970 Campaign of the Jewish Wel« faro Federation, and 1971 Campaign leadership, were announced at tho Federation's Campaign closing dinner held Wednesdayg June 24, at Tifereth Israel Clubhouse. -• • The estimated total giving for the Regular Campaign is $391,« 877, and for the Israel Emergency Fund, $358,164, making an, estimated Campaign final total of $750,041. '_ : Appointment of Marvin Pomerantz as General Chairman for the 1971 Campaign was announced.' Mrs; Stanley Isaacson will be general chairman for the Women's Division of the Campaign in 1971.
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Included In the program was the presentation of awards to all division chairmen. Special mention was made of the outstanding work done by Sam Winick in the Campaign, , Following is the breakdown of 1970 giving by divisions: Division Regular IEF Pace Setter . actual $298,250 $287,523 . estimated. 307,850 -292,273Special Gifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . actual 24,987 21,393 estimated 29,987 26,120 General Gifts . . . . . . . . , . . ; . , . . . . . actual 8,990 6,718 estimated 9,490 : 7,218 Young Adult ............. actual 4,189 3,604 ; estimated 4,194 3,60d Women's D i v i s i o n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , actual 39,908 25,972 ' estimated 40,356 26(197 Metro actual 2.14J .. , ; estimated 2,745 The actual total to date is $723,681, which Includes $376,328 given to the Regular Campaign and $347,359 given to the Israel Emergency Fund, Gifts not actually in yet are expected to add significantly to the total.
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