SHOFAR Holocaust Day, 1978 268.00 THE BIG DEBAT 224.00 212.00 B'nai B'rith Youth Organization U.S.NAZIS. ALEPH ZADIK ALEPH (AZA) 101.00 150.00 148.21 B'NAI B'RITH GIRLS (BBG) HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS 105.00 100.00 100.00 April, 1978 100.00 101.79 100.00 115.00 100.00 They are scheduled to march in Skokie widows and orphans, the entire community 100.00 on April 20th. They call themselves the Na- incurred divine wrath if it did not rise up as tional Socialist Party of America, but are one body to protect and defend the victims. 100.00 145.70 Helping The Elderly generally known as American Nazis. They When the Hebrew Bible and later Jewish 100.00 are a small group of publicity-hungry mis- tradition speak of the widow and the orphan, 100.00 fits, hardly a threat to the American Jewish they speak broadly of particularly vulnerable 100.00 community. Then again, when Hitler and individuals whose prior suffering demands 430.98 123.07 by Michael Platt his gang started out they were hardly a that protection lest their wounds be re- 100.00 threat to German Jewry. Does the parallel opened. hold? We doubt it. And yet, the issue is real, Many people who experienced the Holo- 815.19 and the debate goes on. caust are still alive. They have lost their fami- 108.00 Do we all associate the word "new" with 171.43 read HATZILU, the Hebrew word for rescue, Should they be granted the right to lies; many have lost their mobility, their sex- the word "better?" Is it true that we must obviously an appropriate name. The floor march? Does the First Amendment to the uality and their ability to hope that life can be 100.00 keep up with the new and quickly forget the had been ripped up and the entire place United States Constitution apply to them? a good and positive thing because of the hor- 225.00 old? When we talk about material things, was filthy. Paper plates with roach poison Specifically, should they be allowed to ror they lived through in Europe a genera- 125.00 these thoughts are interesting but when were spread out on the floor. This is where march in such places as Skokie, Illinois, a tion ago. 100.00 we relate these ideas to people, the concept people were coming for help and food! We suburb of Chicago heavily populated with Those survivors are a unique group of is quite disturbing. Our society, one cen- put down a new floor and painted the walls. Jewish Holocaust survivors? The survivors people whose immeasurable suffering must 200.09 148.40 tered around youth, places little value in the Two old women came in while I was say no. Rabbi Stephen Fuchs, citing U.S. entwine itself inextricably into any discussion 120.00 wisdom and experience of it's old. working in the Hatzilu Center. They told us Supreme Court Justices as well as the Bible, of free speech as it applies to the rights of 140.00 Last year I received a call from the presi- that they hadn't eaten in two days and also says no. Ralph J. Temple, speaking for Nazis to march in full regalia and thereby 326.00 dent of my sponsoring lodge. He told me pleaded for our help, with tears in their the American Civil Liberties Union, says evoke memories of Hitler's policies and 410.00 204.00 that his lodge was working with the elderly, eyes and hunger on their faces. We felt the yes. Mr. Temple bases himself on the ex- practices. 175.00 poor Jewish people living in Brownsville, need to do something, and told them to take perience of the last thirty years where free- It is true, as The Post noted in a recent edi- New York and the South Bronx. He asked if what they needed and come back as often dom of speech for all parties proved crucial torial, that the Supreme Court has followed ng B'nai I, as Godol of Rocklyn A.Z.A., could get as they liked. The women took what they a zigzag path in applying the First Amend- issue of some of my fellow members together and needed and were very grateful. give the lodge a hand in rebuilding the little This sight convinced us that it was time to Should they be ment's guarantee of freedom of speech. It is not true, as the editorial contended, that such rves con- ember of center it was operating for these people. I bring the news to our Region and see what allowed to march? a zigzag path is unfortunate. had no idea of the consequences of our ef- BBYO could do. Nassau/Suffolk was going Freedoms are rarely absolute. Often one forts, but at eight o'clock on a Sunday to get involved. At our next regional dance, conflicts with another. When such clashes morning, we were on our way to Brownsville. we advertised that whoever brought a can for social betterment. Both Fuchs and Tem- occur, courts must decide which freedom Brownsville used to be called the "Jeru- of food to the dance would receive a 25c ple speak out of concern for human welfare should take precedence. salem of America." A thriving Jewish popu- discount to the dance. The response was in general and the welfare of Jews in par- As Felix Frankfurter wrote in his opinion in lation once frequented the many syna- fantastic! Some chapters even went out in ticular. Who is right? Dennis U. United States in 1951: "Not every On May 4th, the 27th of Nisan, Jews type of speech occupies the same position around the world will be celebrating Yom on the scale of values. There is no substantial HaShoa, the Holocaust Day, as a memorial public interest in permitting certain kinds of to six million of our fellow Jews who per- utterances those which by their very ut- ished in the hands of the Nazis in Europe 33 terance inflict injury or tend to incite an im- years ago. As Jews, we have vowed never mediate breach of the peace." to allow a Holocaust happen again. It is, In arguing for the primacy of free speech, therefore, important for us to be aware of the Post editorial quoted Oliver Wendell the fact that Nazism is once again rearing Holmes's famous statement: "If there is any its ugly head. The issue goes beyond the Skokie march. The real question is, Should The survivors are a Nazism be tolerated on the American scene? As you read Rabbi Fuchs's and Mr. Temple's views you may want to ask yourself where unique group you stand on the issue. Our thanks to the Washington Post for principle of the Constitution that more im- the permission to reprint Rabbi Fuchs's ar- peratively calls for attachment than any other ticle, and to the Washington Star for Mr. it is the principle of free thought-n free Temple's Letter to the Editor. thought for those who agree with us but free- dom for the thought that we hate." The argument there is not with hateful Rabbi Stephen thoughts but with the immediate conse- Fuchs says NO: quences wrought by the public expression of certain hateful thoughts. An equally famous taken by religious destroyed gogues that are now either or their own neighborhoods and collected quote from Justice Holmes's 1919 opinion over various sects. As we food door-to-door. That night we collected Jewish law and legend accord the victims in Schenk U. United States speaks to that drove down Pitkin Avenue into the heart of about 2,000 cans of food. Because of this of great suffering-t the widowed and the or- vital issue. He wrote: "The most stringent Brownsville, we couldn't believe our eyes. great success, we now collect food at all our Only thirteen miles from our homes, there phaned an extraordinary degree of com- protection of free speech would not protect a dances and fortunately we always do well. passion and protection. The Torah reflects man in falsely shouting fire in a theater and were drunks asleep in almost every other The storefront, or the HATZILU center, doorway. Where once beautiful buildings their special status: "You shall not mistreat a causing a panic. It does not even protect a is operated by the HATZILU Organization. widow or a fatherless child. If you afflict them man from an injunction against uttering stood now only burnt-out shells remain. The Nassau/Suffolk Region of BBYO is rep- in any way, I shall surely heed them when words that may have all the effect of force." When we arrived at our destination, the resented on their board. The original goal of they cry out to me." (Exodus 22:21-22) The justices differ over the magnitude a question of safety was of major concern. this organization was to obtain the names Abraham Ibn Ezra commented that even if Above the tiny storefront was a big sign that continued on page 8 only one individual added to the suffering of continued on page 2