The Columbus Ledger from Columbus, Georgia • 10

A 10 THE SUNDAY LlDGlR INQUIRER COLUMBUS GA JULY 15 173 Efforts of 4000 years failed to eliminate Jews or The Longest SEE US ously They dmilil if there is any social unit in the world where women command more real power than they do in a Jewish lamiiy Next Week trrians PAINTING INTIRIOR IXTBRIOR 'it WiiMW lii Ciiv Paint gjj DccorutiiiK Co 1365 ULhStt I Nat lo Town fc Country 1 Hwna 1241 BY LOUIS CASSELS PI Senior Editor or more than 4000 years a variety of enemies with a variety of motives have tried to exterminate the remarks people who call them selves Jews A stubborn pharaoh tried it and a man named Moses led the Jews out of slavery in Egypt with the aid of "mighty acts of God'' Hitler tried it In Nazi Ger hut even though his lew point a Jew is an adher ent of the religion of Juda ism Ils tenets arc Inmiliar to any ChriMian who has read the Old Testament of the Bible for it is these scriptures that describe the ancient history of the Jews and the conviction that emerged from that history that they were a people cho sen by God for 3 special mis sion iti the world Their mission was to be faithful to God and obedient America gas chambers snuffed out more than 6 million Jewish lives he crushed neither the spirit nor the group fidelity of the surviving Jews of the world In recent years Arab na tions surrounding the tiny Jewish state of Israel have vowed repeatedly to drive its inhabitants into the sea They have not been able to do so Today in spite of 40 centu ries of wars and persecu tions there are more than 14 million Jews in the world About 2632000 live in their ancestral homeland Israel More than twice as many live in the United Slates The first hurdle lo be crossed in any report on the Jews is dedining Jewishness Is it an elhnic or religious designation? The only worka ble answer is: both After stormy debate in 1970 Is rael's parliament the Knes set enacted a bill that de fines a Jew as one born oi a Jewish mother or a convert The definition clearly implies that Jewishness may be a matter of birth (therefore lo His laws no matter how little earthly reward they might receive or how much suffering they might undergo for so doing By stubborn fi delity to their calling as "God's people" they would forever challenge the consci ence of the rest of mankind It would be difficult even for a rabid anti Semite to deny (hat Jews have done this and are still doing it under the most trying circumstances But a Jews no longer have a conscious religious motivation for remaining faithful to their Jewish identity They remain Jews and seize opportunities to assert their Jewishness without believing in the God who called them apart Recent surveys indicate a substantial majority of Jews in both the United States and Israel have little or no per sonal identification with the religion of Judaism They are culturally Jewish but reli giously agnostic or atheist Even among the minority who maintain synagogue affil iations religious beliefs vary Orthodox Jews continue to worship the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and faithfully observe all de tails of the Mosaic law in cluding its rules about did and sabbath observance At the other extreme Re form Jews arc so permissive in their attitudes toward theo logical doctrine and observ ance of the Mosaic law that it is impossible to dctinc any particular "Rclorm position" A survey conducted among Reform rabbis by their own central conference last year showed that only 10 per cent believed in God "in the more or less traditional Jewish sense" Thirteen per cent of the Reform rabbis rated themselves as agnostics and one per cent said they were athciiXS The remaining 76 per cent said they had their own I "non tradilional" concepts of God Between Orthodox and lie form Judaism stands Con servative Judaism a compro mise which is neither as far 1 oul as Reform in permissive ncss nor as strict as Ortho 1 dox Jewry in adherence to Mosaic law The greatest common bond which exists today among Or thodox Conservative Ke I form and secular Jews is loy ally lo the cause of Israel I Since the new Jewish stale I came into existence in 1948 1 American Jews have given about $15 billion lo keep it economically viable and mili tarily strong' Supporting Is I rael has become for many contemporary Jews the preme Jewish duty Another concern shared by many American Jews re gardlcss of religious orient a 1 lion is the lear that inter marriage and cultural assimi 1 lalion in a predominantly i Christian society may gradu ally do what persecution has never been able to do namely eradicate the selfconscious identity' of Jews as a separate people marriage sensitivity brought home to the CBS tel evision network when Jewish protests lorccd it to cancel "Bridget Loves Bernie" a situation comedy which de picted in a favorable light a marriage between a Jewish man and a Roman Catholic girl "Bridget Loves Bernie" was sociologically accurate however in the main thesis of its situation: opposition to intermarriage is much great er among older Jews than in the contemporary generation of young Jews A survey made only eight years ago showed 83 per cent of adult US Jews were opposed Jo marriage to non Jcvvs But a more recent survey showed opposition to intermarriage had dropped to 41 per cent over and two thirds of the negative votes came from people over 13 years yf age Two other notable changes appear to be taking place In American Jewish altitudes In politics tho overwhelming majority ol American Jews for many years have been identified with the liberal wing of the Democratic par ty But In the 1972 campaign many sw itched to the Repub lican parly to vote for Rich ard Nixon Jewish leadersattribute their shill in part to the well known tendency of growing atllucncc lo make people more conservative pol itically and in part to rising anxiety of urban Jews about crime This anxiety also figures in the other change which has to do with Jewish commit n'ienl lo the cause of Negro rights Jews were early mi activists in the civil rights 0 But in recent years as blacks have moved "into predominantly Jewish neighborhoods in New York and other cities there have been mounting signs of mu tual alienation Jewish mer chants were prime targets of I ire bombers in the lack ghetto riots of lie late TiOs And Jews today are rarely found in the iorclronl of any power" activity Another current issue which is crcailng severe strain in some parts of Hie Jewish community is women's libera tion Pulling in one direction is traditional Jewish liberal ism iiml eiiiicern lor social justice Pulling in the olh direction Is equally tradition al Jewish male chauvinism which dictates for example that women may not be 1 al bs or cantors may not be counted toward a "miiiytm" ithe minimum group of 10 persons necessary for formal pray er services) and must sit apart horn men in syn agogue Those striclmes were long ago repudiated by Reform Jews but they re flect an assumption of male superiority which liberated Jewish women contend is still prevalent in Jewish cul ture Jewish all loo famil iar with the Portnoy's Mother sy find it very hard to take this complaint seri Z' EVERYTHING GOES! 5 MONDAY AND TUESDAY CLOSING OUT! Ayr HMIISE Sill ethnic) or a matter of belief (therefore religious) rom a strictly religious i de ly The most strict of Juda ism's three major branches This anxiety accounts for the exceptional sensitivity of Jews on the subject of inter AP WneDhulo Ipk 5 ffd si W1HI Krx A fl jjb' A A Ip I 1 May be Mrs Robert Brown 30 of New Ellenton SC says she was told she must be sterilized if she has her fifth child on Medicaid She is sterilized shown with Robert A Brown Jr II months The father is in jail for 18 months and Mrs Brown has had lo go on welfare Bowling advertisement upsets women 'Beat your wife tonight' sign says DETROIT Mich (UP1) "Have some fun beat your wife That billboard inscription used as part of an advertisement promoting bowling as a family activity has raised the ire of one or more women's libera tionists And Cass Sicilia executive secretary' of the Bowling Proprietors Association of Detroit which paid for the sign may never hear the end of it riday it was discovered that some body had painted out the word and spray painted over the entire sign in Large letters the word Sicilia said that incident followed a phone calls he has received regarding lhe sign located alongside the John Lodge reeway One telephone call came from a wom an who said continue to destroy our sign as long as we advertised beat ing your Sicilia said told her that's malicious destruc tion of properly" he said "She said she didn't carethat beat ing your wife is worse than being prose cuted for destruction of Above is a repeal to wire points upi 07 14 01:41 ped 2 1 Dabyl iy css odley 7 11 night Id By LOCATED REAR OUR ORMER STORE ON COMMERCE ST BEHIND TRAIC CIRCLE SHOPPING CENTER NEXT TO IRE STATION 10 subject to prior sale! All items BE EARLY 999 100 M9 7788 ea 4444 1977 4 Pc Bedroom 4466 777 9786 2517 2268 2222 Reg to 4450 S1O Bunk Bed Ladders Now 2490 reg 4995 16995 4999 3888 Reg 8995 4987 Econo vinyl Linoleum Bo only Reg 19995 Odd rame Mirrors Maple Winthrop Choirs 3 only reg 3995 Spanish Hexagon Tables 10 only lamp end cocktoil styles reg 6996 Bunting Aluminum Chaise Lounge rnsh ch ty ri ton reg 4995 'liodtlionol (ubtd) 9 12' reg 1 895 Kingsize Headboard as is 9 15' ig 3150 Panel Back Headboard Doubl Size 2 Pc Bunting Glider Set glider and rocking chair Cash A carry in carton reg 13490 Spanish Door Chest Dark oak finish Rg 18995 Queensize Headboard Spanish damaged Reg 6995 MODERN SOABED Green cover (used) 2 PC MODERN SOA CHAIR 68 88 Oak Corner Chest 3 drawers Reg 9995 2 Pc Sofa Chair CHROME END TABLE Glass missinq (as is) Req 4995 rench Prov Chair Pfint rover xposd fiutb wood arms Reg 11995 BASSETT TRADITIONAL SOA Scolchgard grern and beige a cover Reg 27995 I 26" Velvet Hassocks 4 only on rollers Reg 6995 Spanish Armoire Damaged as is Reg 18995 GREEN VELVET SOA 3 cushion with bolsters Traditional 1 AL Reg 29995 I 3 TRADITIONAL SOA 3 cushion loose pillow back with bolsters Gold Cover Reg 23995 SPANISH BAR With foot rail 12995 Spanish Triple Dresser 5777 MODERN SOA Green plaid cover (os is) Reg 14995 2 Pc SOA CHAIR Modern style reversible cush ft ions Reg 19995 I V7OO RE GROUPED AND LOWERED PRICES ON MANY PIECES TO MOVE OUT AST! EVERYTHING MUST GO REGARDLESS COST! DOORS OPEN 9 AM Spanish Console Stereo Motorola AM Radio Reg 1 4895 SOLID OAK CORNER DESK 3988 2 PC EARLY AMERICAN LIVINGROOM Solo and matching choir (used as is) was 7995 HIGH BACK SPANISH CHAIR Tutted back olive cover Reg 9995 JjOZ Triple dresser minor chest bookcase bed XW (used ci is flifl MAN SIZE RECLINER Good condition (used) 1 all items subject to prior sale! Chrome and Gloss Cocktail Table Metal Kitchen Cabinet reg 5995 8 Drower Triple Dresser Base only as it Walnut Bookcase 1 only reg 7495 Baby Bed Mattress Corner torn Pine Dry Sink by Young Hinckl reg 16450 This is only partial listing There are many more! Spanish Dinette Suite btnch reg a I 23995 2 Door Kitchen Cabinet 63" high 30" wide 1 deep os is Basset Early American Sofa 3 cushion winbgack bolsters in olive tweed cover reg 27995 22 1 1 Be Early! 7 rnnirs a JJJJ series of letters and threatening lele TEWART HENSLEY PAINTING INTIRIOR IXTBRIOR tiiiiiiiiiisi: sin.