Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 29 January 1986 — Page 9

War crimes trials fight Holocaust revisionists

NEW YORK — War crimes trials not only seek to bring Nazis to justice but help combat the Holocaust revisionists who deny the reality of Hitler's mass murder of Jews, according to a leading scholar of the Holocaust period. Prof. Henry Friedlander, professor of Judaic studies at Brooklyn College, made the assertion in the lead article of the cuirent issue of "Dimensions: A Journal of Holocaust Studies," published by the International Center for Holocaust Studies of the AntiDefamation League of B'nai B'rith.

The need for continuation of these trials, Prof. Friedlander said, goes beyond retribution and justice. They are necessary not only for the survival of law

and civilization, he asserted, but to provide a body of documentation and a primary source of knowledge about the Holocaust Declaring that there are "men of ill-will" who deny that these crimes took place, Prof. Friedlander said "they will not prevail because the massive record of these crimes compiled in the post-war trials, will reveal the truth to future generations." Prof. Friedlander, who conducted a survey of judicial proceedings over the last 40 years, said the Allies initially faced problems of defining the nature of the Nazi crimes because until 1945 racial persecution was not recognized as a crime under international law.

40 percent of LA. Reform Rabbis do intermarriages

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — Whether an indication that the number of Reform rabbis who perform intermarriages is growing or that the objection of the Reform rabbinical association is losing its force, a regional Reform executive said here that about 40 percent of Reform rabbis in the Los Angeles and Orange counties will officiate at a wedding of a Jew and a nonJew. Rabbi Lennard R. Thai, director of the Pacific Southwest Council, composed of 64 Reform congregations, said the rabbis do require certain commitments such as studying Judaism and raising the children as Jews. In a report in The Los Angeles Times by its Religion

Writer, John Dart, Rabbi Joseph B. Glaser, executive vice president of the Central Confer-ence of American Rabbis, is quoted as confirming the figures. "I was very much surprised when I began to hear who was doing it (performing mixed marriages) in California, because many of them were very traditional in other ways." Thai commented that those who do officiate tend to be older rabbis, some of whom once consistently declined such requests. Dart quoted one unnamed rabbi who said that "the demand for mixed marriage ceremonies is so great that I would be overrun with requests." In all cases, it seems that die rabbis who will perform

concert with a clergyman of a Christian faith. One of the rabbis who will conduct intermarriages and was willing to be quoted was Rabbi Henri Front, of Temple Beth David, Westminster. He conceded that he was once opposed to conducting mixed-marriage wedding ceremonies, but that about 15 years ago he took his turn conducting Reform Introduction to Judaism classes for people about to be married. "After a year's experience with hundreds of these people, I realized my former position was in error," he said. "We live in an age of romantic love — people are going to get married regardless of who marries them. Continued on page 10

QPINION

Schindler: Jews,Christians agree to disagree

By RABBI ALEXANDER M. SCHINDLER

The recently concluded synod of bishops has confirmed that the Roman Catholic Church will not halt the progress made during the Second Vatican Council, which changed the way the church regards itself and the world around it. As a rabbi, I had been particularly concerned that the Vatican might be retreating horn one of the historic achievements of Vatican II — "Nostra Aetate," which repudiated the ancient charge of deicide against the Jews, and thus created the basis for a new and positive relationship between Catholics and Jews. My fears had been aroused by recent guidelines issued by the Vatican's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, which appeared to introduce a note of religious triumphalism, suggesting that non-Christians are denied the means of salvation. The guidelines also gave scant attention

Rabbi Alexander Schindler to the Holocaust, and ignored the religious significance to Jews of the rebirth of the State of Israel. It was gratifying, then, to read diat the bishops had voiced confidence in the results of Vatican II and had voted to promote wider knowledge and understanding of its teachings. Deepening the dialogue The increasing number of Catholics and Jews who have begun the process of interfaith

dialogue aimed at deepening our understanding of each other will take heart at the Pope's declaration In these interfaith conversations, Jews and Catholics have been learning much about each other — and not holding back. On the Jewish side, disappointment has been expressed that the Vatican has failed to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, whose security in peace and dignity is a central issue for Jews everywhere. Certainly the Pope cordially welcomes many Israeli dignitaries. But then the Vatican balances the ledger, as it were, by receiving and embracing Yasser Arafat, and this deeply aggrieves the Jewish community. Catholics have grievances, too. Many are offended that Jews do not sufficiently support them on the issue of abortion. Generally speaking, Jews hold to the proposition that a woman

has the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. It is not a right granted casually by Jewish tradition; reverence for life is central to Judaism, no less than to Christianity. So Judaism regrets abortion in many circumstances, but almost all Jew-

ish groups support free choice. Beyond these contemporary issues, there is a more fundamental difference that cannot be resolved, and that provides a theoretical limit to our dialogue: the role of Jesus. Continued on page 14

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