Jewish Life April 1950

n tj n i And thou shalt tell thy son in that day. . . . — Shemoth 13:8

NISAN APRIL

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5710 1950

Van Camp's Beans in Tomato Sauce bear the official seal of approv­ al (y ) of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Con­ gregations of America

S aul B ernstein , Editor Karri I srael M iller M. M orton R ubenstein

C O N T E N T S

Editorial Associates

Editorials

P a u l - H a u s -D orff,

Brothers and Keepers

Art Director E velyn Mars

Editorial Assistant

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A. Leo Levin ^

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Thoughts on Jewish History

C ecil Roth

.. r B K M H B W f f i S 12

How Can I Leave Thee (a poem)

Avraham Abendavid

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The Lubavitcher

Gershon Kranzler Editorial and Publication Office : 305 Broadway New York 7, N. Y. B E e k m a n 3-2220

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The Last Jew in Komarowo (a story)

J. J. Yoshor

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Passover Laws in Dental Practice

Abraham Walker

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Jewish Culture on Second Avenue

David Mirsky

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Zionism and the State

I. Halevy Levin

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The M essage oi Maimonides

Gershon A. Churgin JEWISH LIFE (Successor to the “Orthodox Union” ) is published bi-monthly ex­ cept August (five times a year). Subscription $1.25 one year; $2.25—2 years; $3.00—3 years. Published by the Union of Orthodox Jew­ ish Congregations of Ameri­ ca, 305 Broadway, New York 7, N.Y. Officers: William B. Herlands, President; Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein, Wil­ liam* Weiss, Dr. Samuel N irenstein, Honorary Presidents; Benjamin Koenigsberg, M. M o r t o n Rubenstein, V icePresidents; Joseph Schlang, Secretary; N. Kenneth Gross, Treasurer; Saul Bernstein, Administrator.

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The Jews of Australia

David J. Benjamin Ride to the Seder? (a story)

A. A. Davidson

,63

Passover Meals for Today

Gella A. Bl ockf A Re-statement of Fundamentals

(book review) Alexander S. Rosenberg Kashruth Directory.. .............................92

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EDITORIAL A GOOD STEP FORWARD

■pHE ACTION taken by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America in establishing liew service departments and appointing men of outstanding qualifications to lead the new units, is receiving nation-wide acclaim. Orthodox adherents—and many others not counted within the orthodox ranks—have voiced enthusiastic approval of these far-reaching steps, taken under the leadership of William B. Herlands, the Union’s President. With the launching of a new Division of Community Activities, under the direction of Rabbi Irwin Gordon, aided by Victor Geller, the Union, as the spokesman of American Orthodoxy, will supply many sorely-needed services in addition to its present community and syna­ gogue functions. An expanded Kashruth Division, to be directed by Samuel Spar, with Rabbi Alexander S. Rosenberg as Rabbinic Admin­ istrator, will guide with top efficiency the farflung activities of the Union ’s Kashruth service. This extension of the Union’s structure and personnel gives rec­ ognition to the great increase in the volume and scope of its work dur­ ing recent years. It is an extension made imperative by the vast area of need which UOJC is now called upon to serve. American Jewry has come to regard the Union as the representative national organization of Torah Judaism. In this capacity, the organization has been called upon to perform a staggering array of tasks. Our people look to the Union to save and rebuild American Judaism—in their homes, in their congregations, in the great cities and smaller centers and in the distant outposts. The challenge of these tasks will now be met by a greater Union.

T H IS WELCOME development is the product of practical coopera­ t i o n between the Union and other orthodox agencies. The Division of Community Activities has been organized with the aid of Yeshiva University, whose Office of Community Program has now been merged with the new unit. This Division will carry on the community and synagogue service activities previously undertaken by both organiza­ tions and will also conduct planned field work, develop the Men ’s Club and Youth Group fields, sponsor educational projects, build up Regions, provide new publications, program materials and manuals, establish a 2 Jewish LIFE

national Speakers Bureau and otherwise service a wide area of com­ munal life. The Kashruth Division carries forward that teamwork between the Union and the Rabbinical Council of America which has proven in­ creasingly fruitful during past years. With both Rabbinic and admin­ istrative arms of the Kashruth Division functioning from the same of­ fice, under a unified staff exclusively to this work, the celebrated © insignia of the Union’s Kashruth supervision and endorsement will be made available to all qualified food and kindred products, food and re­ sort establishments, necessary for modern living. This Division will strike out boldly toward its ultimate goal of freeing, once and for all, the American Jewish community from the sinister shadows of commer­ cial exploitation of a sacred institution and of -inadequate or dubious supervision. In addition, observant Jews will be given a greater choice in the selection of food products which modern industry creates. *

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^ H E RESPONSIBILITIES of the Union are the responsibilities of leadership, which American Orthodoxy must fulfill. American Ortho­ doxy, with over 2,500 congregations, scores of Yeshivoth and Yeshivoth Ketanoth, and an abundance of communal institutions, forms a constitu­ ency of at least 2,750,000 individuals. This array of strength has been achieved in the face of 75 years of Reform and 50!years of Conservative agitation. The UOJC recognizes that the time has come for Torah Ju d ­ aism to mobilize this strength, to exert to the full the powerful influence which it in fact possesses but which it has scarcely tapped. Unified by and through the Union, the Torah forces can give American Israel a communal structure worthy of its high destiny. *

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■JjHE UNION’S expanded program and increased personnel, added to its present experienced staff, represent a long step forward toward the goal of Orthodox leadership in American Jewish life. The new col­ leagues of the organization are picked men, professionally expert in their respective fields and devoted heart and soul to the principles and practices of Torah Judaism. Rabbi Irwin Gordon, the new Director of the Community Activities Division, has already achieved a distinguished record as Director of Yeshiva University ’s Office of Community Program. In that role, he has created practical services, program materials and publications which have proven a boon to lay and Rabbinic leaders in many communities. April, 1950 3

Now his constructive abilities will have the broadest scope. Working to a large extent in uncharted fields, we can look to him to forge new pat­ terns and to achieve, with the strength of purpose which he has mani­ fested, far-reaching plans. Victor Geller, who has served as Executive Secretary of the Na­ tional Council of Young Israel, brings a background of experience and personal qualifications which make him an invaluable asset to the ortho­ dox cause. Yeshivah, university and army training, together with an abiding devotion to the upbuilding of Jewish life, have brought him keen understanding of the needs of the present generation of American Jews. He will be called upon to be the Union’s spokesman m the field, torgmg à personal link with communities near and far. All will welcome his mis­ sion and will find in him a stalwart aid. Samuel Spar, as Director of the Kashruth Division, undertakes a task which has no parallel on the American Jewish scene. The unique product of modern conditions, the Union’s Kashruth service poses unique problems. Their solution calls for the direction of one equipped with the right combination of Jewish training and conviction¿executive ability and creative power. Samuel Spar is that man. His association in a former period with the New York State Kosher Law Enforcement Bureau has given him an indispensable understanding of the field of Kashruth, while his record of the past several years as a major executive of the Mizrachi Organization of America demonstrates his ability as a builder of Jewish life. We can look to Samuel Spar to serve with distinction. Rabbi Alexander S. Rosenberg. Rabbinic Administrator of the Kash­ ruth Division, too has a heavy responsibility.“Serving as liaison between the Rabbinical Council of America, (which, as religious authority of the Union, undertakes all Rabbinic functions of the Kashruth Division) , its member Rabbis who serve as supervisors, and the Union, Rabbi Rosen­ berg’s task is crucial. His record, as the Rav for almost twenty-five years of Congregation Ohav Zedek of Yonkers, N. Y., as Religious Director during 1945-46 for the Joint Distribution Committee in Austria and Germany, followed by a period as liasion representatrv e for the Syna­ gogue Council of America with the U. S. .Military Government in Ger­ many has given him a wealth of experience in translating spiritual needs’into practical achievements. This experience includes particularly appropriate successes in developing Kashruth supervisory structures un­ der diverse conditions. Accordingly, we are indeed fortunate to have one so equipped in charge of this responsibility and can anticipate the most beneficial results from his efforts. These men now join in a great program. Theirs is the opportunity to write noble chapters in the record of American Jewish history. With G ’d ’s help, they will write these chapters truly and well. Jewish LIFE 4

May non-IsraeU Jews claim a voice in policies of the Jewish State? The recent controversy on the in­ doctrination of religious children in the immigrant camps brings a basic issue to the forefront. By A. LEO LEVIN T H E PRIME MINISTER of Israel in his recent retort to the protest of the American Religious Bloc, used some plain words which, translated into the vernacular, told the latter to mind its own business. The prestige of his office didn't allow David Ben Gurion to indulge in the vernacular, but no doubt was left in anyone's mind when he cabled; “If it is your wish to exert direct influence on the path taken by the State of Israel and to strengthen a particular movement in our state, then the most effec­ tive means is to join us and settle in Israel." The immediate occasion for the outburst was a protest on the im­ position of seculafistic education on the children in the immigrant camps. The problem was difficult The author is Assistarit Professor of Law at the Tjiiiversity of Pennsylvania Law School. He is actively associated with Hapoel Hamizrachi of America and is on the Editorial Board of Jew ish Horizori.

April, 1950

and important. Eventually it led to a cabinet crisis and to a victory for Israel's religious parties, de­ tails of which need not detain us here. The primary issue was re­ solved; what remained unresolved was the right of Galuth Jewry to influence affairs in the State of Israel. The problem is of no mean importance. On the one hand it is causing rifts among Zionists of long standing; on the other it fur­ nishes a constant basis for attack and confusion by the American Council for Judaism. More signi­ ficantly, it is a facet of the broad­ er question of the relationship of World Jewry to Israel which is expected to occupy a central place at the coming Zionist Congress. It is not surprising that the issue is unresolved and that it has caus­ ed both consternation and confu­ sion. Recollect for a moment the situation prior to the historic UN Resolution of November, 1947 when 5i

Abba Hillel Silver, an American with no standing other than his position as a Zionist, presented the Jewish side before the international body. With victory achieved, what would be the position of men like Silver and bodies such as the Agency? ' " - . ■'■. ■. '.* £JERTAINLY it was reasonable to conclude that the running of Israel should be left to the Israeli. That was the context of the Actions Committee decision of 1948 and the background for many statements issued by Israel since. It does not governf >it cannot be thought to govern, the kind of problem presented when nine of the leading religious bodies in this country, including the Rabbinical Council of America, the Agudath Horabbonim, Young Israel, Hapoel Hamizrachi, Agudath Israel and others, feel impelled to “plead” with the Prime Minister of Israel and “to demand that the entire problem of children’s absorption in Israel be reconsidered in order to prevent injustice to traditional reli­ gious Judaism.” By such reconsid­ eration their cable added, “world­ wide scandal with tragic farreached results will be avoided. Immediate action is essential.” Is such a protest unseemly and improper, coming as it does from the nationals of one country who are attempting to influence the course of an independent state? Ben Gurion met the issue head on. In unequivocal language he stated his positions;—all three of them. First, he recognized “the right of any Jew to express his opinion and 6

also to criticize the affairs of the State of Israel.” Then he promptly characterized the protest of the religious bloc as “singular threats.” Threats^gof course, are improper because a democracy must act in accord with the wishes of the majority of its citizens. Inasmuch as the sole basis for characterizing the action of the American Bloc as “singular threats” must be found in the portions quoted ear­ lier, it «is difficult to see what re­ mains of the conceded right to ex­ press opinions and to criticize. Did the Prime Minister intend that the right to criticize be a matter of formal record® something which can always be pointed to with pride, but which in practice in­ variably becomes a matter of “sing­ ular threats?” Ben Gurion himself made the tone of his note clear and reached for the headlines when he concluded that immigration to Is­ rael was the course to be followed if one wished to exert “direct in­ fluence” most effectively. TH ER E IS nothing wrong in reaching for the headlines. I do not mean to imply that the Prime Minister, for all his careful wording* < understood thoroughly the impact his note would have in his country and in this country; understood thoroughly that his con­ cession of a right to criticize would be treated as so much pious ver­ biage by astute city editors and political commentators. Further­ more, it is significant that as long ago as last fall, Ben Gurion made substantially similar statements, for which he was roundly criticized Jewish LIFE

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After ages of oppression, almost the entire Jewish population of Yemen has been removed to Israel. Trekking across hundreds of miles of desert, most of them found their way to Aden, from whence they were flown by airplane to Israel. Here a group of new arrivals is shown being received and registered at Hashid Camp in Aden. .

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at that time. Here then was no chance reaching for phrases. Here was a considered attempt to ex­ pound a philosophy. Its significance demands that it be analyzed. First of all, it must be obvious that, no one in Israel, least of all Ben Gurion, wants American in­ fluence on Israeli affairs to cease forthwith. In the nature of things such a course would be disastrous for the new state, and it is even doubtful whether our ^friends” on the American Council for Judaism would favor a position so extreme. April, 1950

(Photo courtesy o f U .P .A .)

This is true, of course, because America's most direct influence to­ day is in the form of dollars. Fur­ thermore, it should be made equally clear that so long as the Histadruth, Hadassah, and the various religious movements continue to run their individual fund raising campaigns, it is impossible for an American to grant, withhold or apportion his donation without thereby strengthening or weaken­ ing a political party in Israel. In­ deed, the basic appeal of the Histadruth and the religious Zionists 7

in this country is on the basis of the type of life they foster in Israel as distinguished from that which some other group sponsors. And if, as is clearly the case, reli­ gious children are lost to tradi­ tional Jewry because we in this country have not provided the fin­ ancial wherewithal for enough reli­ gious children's homes in Israel, then no American Jew who has given a dollar less than he could have given can absolve himself of direct responsibility for the ensu­ ing tragedy. Similarly if votes and voters are lost to the religious bloc because others can offer economic benefits. In short, the very struc­ ture of current fund-raising de­ mands of us that we influence the course of activity in Israel. ■PHAT AMERICAN JEWS are forced to take sides on Israeli political issues is evidenced equally well in the investment area. No­ thing could be clearer than the news dispatches which have come from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem dis­ cussing the economic policies of the recent administration. Taxes, cus­ tom levies, blocked accounts—all these are constantly evaluated in terms of making things attractive for the American investor. Had the left-wing groups been successful in attracting sufficient capital from those of their own ideological per­ suasion, capital volunteered without attached strings, the situation might have been different. And by the same token, the various invest­ ment corporations organized by Mizrachi, Hapoel Hamizrachi and others, make their appeal not so

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much in terms of the efficient man­ agement which they offer, but more significantly in terms of the partic­ ular groups in Israel which such investments are intended primarily to benefit. This is the current state of facts. It demonstrates that Mr. Cohen, man of the American Jewish Street has decisions to make, does wield an influence whether he knows it or naively supposes the contrary. However, it does not yet demon­ strate that Mr. Cohen's rightful sphere of influence should be ex­ tended to the kind of activity in­ volved in the sending of protests and cables such as we have under consideration. There are limits to dollar diplomacy, limits imposed by morality and limits imposed equally by practical consequences. History has shown that dollar diplomacy can boomerang. This is the inherent weakness of the position taken by those who feel that the man who can pay should be the man with the say. True, a Yiddish aphorism will sup­ port the view that since our money is good enough for Ben Gurion our opinions must rank likewise. But there are many situations where the man who pays must be limited in his control, and there are infinitely stronger bases for supporting the “intervention" of non-Israeli than that sdrdid ticket of admission, the dollar. By the same logic, there is d e fin ite ly a basic weakness in the argu­ ments of those who favor in­ tervention by American Jews be­ cause Israeli have mixed in very direct, and somewhat unsavory, Jewish LIFE

fashion in local Zionist affairs— down to the level of personalities. Two wrongs will not form the basis of a correct conclusion, and unless one probes deeper than talk­ ing about sauce for goose and gand­ er, one-way streets, and you-too charges, a basically helpful analysis will not result.

know a title however, is not yet to understand the book. One of the important things about utilizing the One World concept in this connection is the fact that it gives a right of speech, of criticism and of influence not alone to the wealthy Jew with a coin in his pocket, but equally to the poor brother who has ideas without ^ H A T LEGITIMATE interest money, and who may well be more do we Americans have which directly concerned with the actions should allow our interfering in the of Israel. It grants a franchise free internal affairs of another country? of poll taxes. It is democratic in What sanctions our trying to tell the truly Jewish sense. the State of Israel how it shall There are many, however, who deal with its nationals, what things are disturbed by attempts to rely shall or shall not be taught in such on what they term the Wilkie ap­ schools ? Has not international law long proach. They find it too secular and recognized that matters pertaining object to its implicit assumption to the .“inside operations” of a that the Galuth Jew vis-a-vis Israel government or country are for its is in a position no different from the citizenry alone to determine? Hit­ American vis-a-vis Italy. They pre­ ler thought so, and for that reason fer to justify the intervention of the told the world that it was none of religious group, for example, on the its business what he did to German ground that Israel after all belongs Jews. There were many statesmen to all Jewry, or as Chaim Chano■-perhaps officials is a more accu­ witz has phrased it in an incisive rate term—who agreed. But there article (“Agency, Government and were others who recognized that People,” Jewish Horizon, Novem­ we no longer live, if ever we did, ber, 1949) the “Government of Is­ in insulated chambers marked off rael is the trustee . > . for many by political boundaries. We Jews, who are yet to come.” This argument would be more from the Ben Gurion level down to Messrs. Cohen, were among the appealing by yfar \i f it jyere ad­ first to understand that what oc­ vanced on behalf of Jews who want curs on one area of the earth's to go to Israel, but cannot. It would surface must inevitably have its ring truer, if Zionists would sub­ effect on the rest of us. And Wen­ scribe to the impossible position dell Wilkie came along and told us that an American Jew has Israel we lived in One World. He picked for his country, too. Is it still avail­ the appealing phrase, the choice able for those who, invited to im­ word; we echoed him and thought migrate, reject that course and the world had learned a lesson. To determine to remain Americans ? In April, 1950 9

short, does Israel also belong to those Jews who can go there, but refuse ?

trustee for Jews yet to come, and we choose to remain outside the category of - those who want to come, we still have rights and obli­ JT WOULD seem clear, I respect­ gations to protect the interest of fully submit, that Jews the world those who are coming, for they are over cannot have the same right to our brethren. We have not lost speak on all matters concerning Is­ status as our brothers' keepers be­ rael as the Israeli themselves. If cause the Israeli are also Keepers. American Jewry has long since they would claim that Israel is their country because they are recognized a unique responsibility Jews, they must effectively act for the welfare of our brethren upon that premise while they are wher$ÿer they may be and by able or lose their rights there­ whomever they may be wronged. under. This does not yet mean that Unique, I say, because we have they lose all claim to influence. If been blessed in the recent past the Government of Israel serves as with a position which can make inEmaciated from their grim sufferings, 137 Tews from Yemen are crowded into an Israel-bound plane which usually holds 40 passengers. Many thousands oi the Yemenite Jews have thus been flown via “the Magic Carpet" to the Land of Israel. ^ (Photo courtesy of U .P .A .)

tervention comparatively more ef­ mulation, say that in this One fective. That responsibility, with Small World of ours religious prac­ its concomitant right of protest and tices and development between the of direct influence, exists as much Jordan and the Great Sea will where Yemenite Jews are factually have direct and immediate impact denied freedom of religion by un­ between the Atlantic and the Hud­ sympathetic Israeli functionaries son, by the side of the Great Lakes as when they are oppressed by and on the Pacific coast. Or, if Iraqi, Iranians or Syrians. Thanks your tastes run that way, say only be to Providence that the Israeli, that as regards matters of religion whatever his religious persuasion, it has been part of the American need not be suspected of the same pattern for scores upon scores of type of offense as Iraqi or Syrian. years to send forth missionaries to But who can question the serious influence in most direct fashion the implications of denying to a tradi­ internal affairs of other peoples on tional Jew, directly or by subter­ a variety of continents. fuge, a religious education for his It will be a long time before the child. Who can deny that this, too, final word has been spoken on this is an oppression which threatens problem. One may expect the San­ the very soul of the Jew? Who can hedrin question to raise it soon doubt our duty to help here too, again. As each issue arises, fresh when help is needed. analysis and study anew will be re­ quired. And always there will be MUST NOT, however, limit the question whether good tactics v ourselves to the negative. The call for golden Galuth silence, re­ Jew has ever looked to Zion for gardless of right and privilege. For spiritual nourishment and there the present suffice it to say that can be little doubt that the Torah religious Jewry in this country which shall emanate from Jerusa­ must recognize a dual role. The lem will be one of the most impor­ Yemenites are our brothers and we tant factors in determining the cannot shirk the responsibility of complexion of Judaism we shall see being in some degree their keepers. in this country. Choose your own We must understand further that phraseology. Say, if you like, that traditional Judaism will lean heav­ the Jew occupies a unique position ily on what shall transpire in Is­ vis-a-vis Israel because, political rael. To the chosen of Jerusalem considerations of statehood and we can therefore say: We are your government aside, he looks to the brothers, and you our keepers. We Promised Land for the Promised will never hesitate to act, to the Word. If you prefer another for­ end that you keep us well.

0 r Ú Jr • "The Jew in fact tried to save European civilization from itself. . . . "

By CECIL ROTH TT IS NOW I suppose about a picturesque: though I imagine that quarter of a century since I be­ this is in fact a subjective quality, gan a more or less intensive study and that what appears a dramatic of Jewish history. I was brought to episode in one person’s hands is it in the most natural way, but one deadly dull in another—and vice which I fear is not at all usual. As versa. By now, I have published (I a student of history, I was of course say it with shame rather than interested above all, in the his­ boasting) upwards of a score of tory of my own people; and from volumes, dealing with the Jews the history of the Jews in England, all over the world—some detailed, my native country, I came to the some general-S-as well as (I fear) history of the Jews in Italy, in con­ many hundreds of so-called “scien­ nection with my general work on tific” articles on which my more that lovely land in which I had extensive publications are based. In lived, and to the history of the Jews consequence, people persist in re­ in Spain, which I had visited, and garding me as a Jewish historian, so, in the end, to the History of instead of being—as I regard my­ the Jews generally; though indeed self—a student of Jewish history I always did my best to keep my­ (or perhaps I should term it, a self from the pitfall often fatal to Jewish student of history). And students of things Jewish, the im­ they persist in asking me, what are pression, that is, that because they the lessons that I derive from my can speak with authority on one study. It is more than time that I thing they are justified in being tried to formulate some of my ideas on the subject. dogmatic about all. Quite frankly, I was always—I am still—most attracted by the T HAVE SAID that I study Jewish Dr. Cecil Roth, one of the most eminent Jewish historians of the present day, is the history in part for its pictur­ author of “The Jews of Venice”, A History esqueness: and indeed I get a good of the Marranos”, “A Short History of the Jewish People” and many other works. He deal of satisfaction out of it for lives in England.

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Jewish LIFE

that reason. But I get more, I think, because of the nature of my sub­ ject-matter. For every now and again, even the hardened cynic comes across something in the rec­ ord of a Jewish past which makes a thrill of pride run thrjough him. It is perfectly true that we have had in recent centuries* uhtil a very short while ago, no battle-scenes. My ancestors did not fighjt at Crecy and Agincourt — those murderous encounters at which an ineffectual attempt was made to interrupt a marauding march through another people’s country, with no object other than illicit gain—or for that matter at Lexington and ¡Saratoga. Our “medieval” history was some­ thing different; it was the history of a resistance, none the less glori­ ous because it was passive. What is so striking is, that this dad not, as it might have done, warpi the Jew­ ish character. Superficial vices were perhaps emphasized I(it would be wrong to overlook t^is fa c t); basic virtues remained.

they had set free in happier days should be allowed to retain their liberty. At the culmination of their own agony, they thus thought of the misery of others. I know that this attitude, and the glorification of it, is against the neo-Maccabaean current of the present time; but I would rather belong to the people whose profound humanity could have led to this petition than to the conquerors of the globe. For, after all, by such a gesture did not they become the victors?

II GREAT DEAL of my work has dealt with the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In my books on Italy and on England, and more generally (as well as in great de­ tail) in my “Jewish Contribution to Civilization.” I have described the integration of the Jews in Eur­ opean life in the period of Emanci­ pation and the whole-hearted man­ ner in which that generation colla­ borated in the cultural development of their environment, in almost I want to give a Mhgle lifflc^ every aspect. I have written of the known exampte"^to illustrate my period sometimes enthusiastically, meaning. Iii 1492, King Ferdinand sometimes nostalgically: and I am of Aragori expelled the Jews from often asked whether I do not regret his subject-kingdom of Sicily, As he it. had done with his Queen, Isabella Frankly, I do not. The integra­ from Sp^in. Before they k it, the tion of Jews in Western society local Jewish communities presented seems to me to have been a natural a petition to^the government ask­ consequence of Emancipation. The ing for certain concessions, some of results were brilliantly successful, them pitifully small. They asked, a disproportionate degree of Euro­ for example, to be allowed to take pean culture of the last few genera­ with them the tallith used in pray­ tions being due to it. But I feel er; this -being refused. And they that there is rather more to it than asked also (which was granted) this. I think that it is possible to that those, of their slaves whom affirm that the essential Jewish April, 1950 rs

contribution to western culture in the nineteenth century (as distinct from the incidental contribution of individual Jews) was in fact based upon certain Jewish values—the in­ sistence on the dignity of the indi­ vidual, a basic humanitariqnism, and a realization of the one-ness of the world, resulting from the Bibli­ cal heritage on the one hand and historical experience on the other. A great part of the contribution of the Jews to European culture in the nineteenth and twentieth cen­ turies, in the field of politics, learn­ ing, science, medicine, art, charit­ able organizations, even perhaps economics, may be traced to these basic conceptions. The Jew in fact tried to save European civilization from itself; and from that point of view Hitler as the representative of European civilization at its worst was justi­ fied in attempting to eliminate them. He very nearly achieved suc­ cess, as we are so bitterly aware. And that success—the annihilation of the Jewish spirit in European life—may prove to be, in the long run, the crisis in Europe's own his­ tory and the prelude to its disaster. From the Jewish point of view of course there is another aspect to be taken into account, for in so many cases, as a corollary to the Jewish absorption in the life of the en­ vironment, Judaism itself vanished or was reduced to the vanishing point. That however was our worry : and to some extent it is still. Indeed, one of the most re­ markable, and most regrettable, aspects of the study of modern Jew14

ish history is the realization of how rapid assimilation can be, how com­ pletely the Jewish heritage can be overwhelmed, how utterly the tradi­ tion of ages can be forgotten. g U T FOR the Nazis, this process would have been carried even further; and indeed, it was not so long since one of the primary argu­ ments in favor of Zionism was the provision of an area where Judaism could survive, safe from these spiri­ tual onslaughts. But, in ten years, this entire structure was destroyed. European Jewry was first disassimilated, then degraded, finally annihilated. To say that this was the result of inevitable social and economic forces, as is fashionable to say today, seems to me exagge­ rated. These factors might have normally led to the reaction, but not to the annihilation, which was the result of a mass-frenzy and the collapse of all moral values. But, however that may be, the conse­ quence is unmistakable. A house may be constructed on perfectly sound lines, but that will not save it from being overwhelmed by a salvo of artillery; and whether the solution of the difficulties of the position of European Jewry by integration was logical or not, it has failed. Moreover, the Nazi maniacal outburst has now become part of the normal currency of European politics; and no man in his senses is henceforth likely to attempt deliberately the assimilationist solution, however, advisable it may be in purely logical grounds, (This does not of course affect the fact that tens of thousands of perJewish LIFE

sons will certainly try to do so). As it seems to me, the Age of Emancipation’s most baneful legacy to future generations so far as Jew­ ish life is concerned was its com­ plete Transvaluation of Values. In the Middle Ages, the most import­ ant thing for a Jew was to be a Jew. There was no contemning the good things of this world, and the wealthy man was respected, I sup­ pose, more than the poor one. But this was on the assumption of a mutual standard in matters of the spirit and the mind; and the wealthy considered it to be their privilege to share the same re­ sponsibilities to Judaism as their neighbours. It was not because of his position as Physician to the Sultan, but of his intellectual pow­ ers, that Moses Maimonides was recognized as the head of Egyptian Jewry; Isaac Abrabanel was the outstanding scholar as well as the outstanding financier of Castile; and the Baale haTosaphoth were not only Talmudists, but also pros­ perous men of business. T H IS tradition continued until the 17th century and the beginning of a new type of Jewish leader—the wealthy Hofjuden of Germany, the Marrano merchants of Amsterdam and London (with their offshoots in New York!) Some of these con­ tinued in the old tradition, like the scholar-patron Samson Wertheim of Vienna. But it was only incidental. The new standards were those of the outside world; and just as in the outside world the lead was now taken by merchants who had risen to affluence, without any consideraApril, 1950

fion of other qualification, so in the Jewish community the same stand­ ards now prevailed. And, since that time, (though increasingly in later generations) this has been the atti­ tude of the Jewish world at large. The ultimate excellence has been purely financial; the ultimate well­ being has been physical; and we have come to use as our touch-stone for Judaism the degree of pros­ perity and comfort which is en­ joyed. Hence the American com­ munity is now considered, by virtue of its five million Jews, the great­ est in the world; and the success of the Palestinian revival is judged not by the idealism (I do not refer to the economic success) of the Kibbutz or the piety of Meah Shearim, but the bricks and mortar of Tel Aviv. Unfortunately, the physical, in­ sistent necessities of the state of Israel are tending to perpetuate this state of affairs, just when the corrective might have been antici­ pated. It is obvious that at a mo­ ment like this everything has to be done to cajole and enlist the sympathies of the man whose hun­ dred thousand dollars may relieve human suffering in the new state; and no less obvious that the Jewish intellectual seldom has a hundred thousand dollars at his disposal. Nevertheless, it is pitiful to see the noble regenerative force of Zionism measuring human values by the same sordid yard-stick as was used by occidental Jewry at its lowest pitch of self-abasement. From this point of view, our triumph carries within it the seeds of its own de­ feat. 15

JT IS in fact difficult to look at * Jewish history from a coldly ra­ tional point of view. A generation ago, moralists used to say that the very fact of the preservation of the Jews for so many centuries, not­ withstanding all their vicissitudes, was a proof of a higher immanence in their history. Today, there is more point in such an attitude. The sufferings of our people between 1939 and 1945 were such as no other people has ever been through, since recorded history began. The losses in our numbers were prob­ ably proportionately greater than any other people has ever known in so short a time. And yet (notwith­ standing this, or because of it? One can hardly say) this was immedi­ ately followed by the miracle of 1948: and it is possible to say that this decimated, broken Jewry, so near to extinction less than ten years ago, counts for more in the world than at any time during the past twenty centuries. Has prophecy been fulfilled? Or have we determined to fulfill pro­ phecy? It is impossible to say: and it is impossible to say where the one process begins, and where the

other ends, for we are not such free agents as we imagine, and after all in the Hebraic idea prophecy is essentially inspiration, rather than meticulous forecast. We willed it; so it was no dream. Many cynics on the one hand, some men of simple piety on the other, doubt whether what has hap­ pened in these years in Palestine has any relation with the Messianic deliverance, the great culmination foretold by prophecy. That depends surely on them, and on us. The re­ mark of the Rabbis, that if all Is­ rael kept a single Sabbath properly the Messiah would come forthwith, was not the piece of puerility that it sounds to a sceptic, but a pro­ found truth; for they realized that if all Jews could for twenty-four hours attain a sufficient degree of discipline, devotion and self-sacri­ fice, the Redemption would be with­ in the bounds of possibility. The discipline, devotion and selfsacrifice were available to achieve the recreation of a Jewish state in our day. Will they still be? If it is to be the state foretold by prophecy, where Righteousness is supreme, depends, simply, on us.

THE TRULY FREE A free man, truly free, w ill not endure the grip of the shackle for even a moment. A free man, truly free, will struggle for independence without cessation. A man who knows what he has, who knows what he wants to get, wiU not permit himself to stand idle between an ideal and its realization, not so long as he has an inch of manliness and strength left. —DR. LEO JUNG

16

Jewish LIFE

By AVRAHAM ABENDAVID Yehudah, how can I leave thee? Yisrael, how can I depart? F ar better is it to be a hewer of wood And a drawer of water in the Land of Promise than to sleep On ivory couches in the Exile. Thy very stones are sweet, Ephraim, And the red poppies of Carmel Refresh my soul; my heart, My heart is grieved for thee, Yerushalayim. Righteousness lodged there, But now wickedness. Men of violence, unyoked sons Of Belial, profane thy Sabbath In the Hundred Gates. Mine eyes weep for thee, Zion’s daughter, thou field Which many men despoil. I am in agony for thee, Ariel, City where David encamped. Scoundrels seize hold of the hem Of thy garment. How then May I go forth when thou Art so sore afflicted? Kinnereth, The hills that hold thee Are rounded like a woman’s limbs, And thou the jewel that She holds on her bosom. Yisrael, how can I leave thee? Yehudah, how can I depart?

8 Grades of Charity •

There are eight degrees in charity, one higher than the other: Supreme above all is to give assistance to the one who has fallen on evil times by presenting him with a gift or loan, or entering into a partnership with him, or pro­ curing him work, thereby helping him to become selfsupporting. Inferior to this is giving charity to the poor in such a way that the giver and recipient are unknown to each other. This is, indeed, the performance of a commandment from disinterested motives; and it is exemplified by the Institu­ tion of the Chamber of the Silent which existed in the Temple, where the righteous secretly deposited their alms and the respectable poor were secretly assisted. Next in order is the donation of money to the charitable fund of the Community, to which no contribution should be made without the donors feeling confident that the admin­ istration is honest, prudent and capable of proper manage­ ment. Below this degree is the instance where the donor is aware to whom he is giving the alms but the recipient is unaware from whom he received them; as e. g. the great Sages who used to go about secretly throwing money through the doors of the poor. This is quite a proper course to adopt and a great virtue where the administrators of a charitable fund are not acting fairly. Inferior to this degree is the case where the recipient knows the identity of the donor, but not vice versa; as e. g. the great Sages who used to tie sums of money in linen bundles and throw them behind their backs for poor men to pijck up, so that they should not feel shame. The next four degrees in their order are: the man who gives money to the poor before he is asked; the man who gives money to the poor after he is asked; the man who gives less than he should, but does it with good grace; and lastly, he who gives grudgingly. MOSES MAIMONIDES, (1135-1204)

18

Jewish LI^B

Tribute to the late Lubavitcher Rabbi Joseph /. Schneersohn By GERSHON KRANZLER ^H E R E WERE no speeches, no * public! show of lam ent and tears, nor heartrending eulogies, at the funeral of Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn^ the late Lubavitcher Rabbi, who died of heart attack on January 28th, Shabbath Parshath Bo. Mute mourning gripped the thousands op Jews from all walks of life who crowded into the large area between the residence and the Yeshivah of the leader of Chabad Chassidism w h o had suddenly passed away. Massed there were famed figures and “plain Jews,” Chassidim a n d non - Chassidim; there were Rabbis, Rebbes, yeshi­ vah bachurim, college students, workers and professionals. They had come in sleek Cadillacs and dilapidated Fords, by subway or trolley, by railroad, b u s s e s or planes, the rich and poor, men, wo­ men and children, all had come to pay their last respects to the man Gershon Kranzler is the author of several Jewish textbooks and of numerous articles, short stories and poems which have appeared in Anglo-Jewish magazines. He is the prin­ cipal of the Beth Jecob High School and Teachers Seminary, Brooklyn.

April, 1950

who had stood out in our days as a veritable giant of another, a greater generation of leaders of whom none is left. On March 19 it would have been ten years since Rabbi Joseph I. Schneersohn had come to the Uni­ ted States to help prepare the ground for a new home of Torah and Yiddishkeit, while the old one was going up in fire, flames and blood. He was then already close to sixty years old and suffering from an illness that had incapacitated part of his physical movements. Most other men in his condition would gladly have settled for a life of peaceful withdrawal and dedica­ tion to his broken health. But not so the Lubavitcher Rabbi, who had faced Czarist oppression, Bolshevik prisons, death sentences and de­ portation, who had just escaped from the annihilation of Warsaw's Jews and the bombings and terror of the Nazis, To Rabbi Schneer­ sohn this last phase of his life was just another chapter in his long pilgrimage of dedication to the 19

spread of Torah, that had started while he was yet a child. DABBI JOSEPH ISAAC Schneer** sohn was born in Lubavitch, Russia, on the twelfth day of Tammuz 5640 (1880 c. e.). He was a scion of the Schneersohn dynasty, founded two hundred years before by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Ladi, the founder of Chabad Chassidism, whose descendants formed an un­ broken chain of great leaders, scho­ lars and thinkers. Joseph Isaac was barely fifteen years old when his illustrious father, Rabbi Sholom D o v-B e r Schneersohn, appointed him his personal secretary and in­ itiated him into the vortex of relig­ ious, communal, political and scho­ larly activities that revolve around the world leader of the Chabad movement. For, ever since the inva­ sion of Russia by Napoleon, when Rabbi Schneur Zalman and his fol­ lowers had rendered valuable sup­ port to the Russian cause, the Lubavitcher Rabbis had enjoyed the status of privileged citizens. Each in his own generation had been able to use this extraordinary relationship to the Czarist court for the benefit of the oppressed Jewish masses in Russia. Thus they had been given grants of land for large Jewish agricultural settle­ ments and they had been able to better the lot of the Jewish arti­ sans who till then both officially and socially had been treated as pariahs. In true Chassidic tradi­ tion, which is concerned with the physical and spiritual welfare of the worker as well as the scholar, 20

the Lubavitcher Rabbis organized trade schools, developed new occu­ pations and fostered economic and social equality for the masses, besides providing them with a thorough religious training and communal standing. When the brilliant young son of Rabbi Sholom Dov-Ber Schneer­ sohn entered Jewish public life as his father’s secretary, he had ample opportunity to watch from the in­ side the tremendous organizational tasks facing the leader of all of these religious, communal and dip­ lomatic activities. Soon he gradu­ ated from the role of observer to an active part in important proj­ ects. Immediately after his mar­ riage to Nechamah Dinah Schneer­ sohn, a relative, at the age of sev­ enteen, his^ father put h im in charge of his most important enter­ prise, the newly founded Lubaviteher Yeshivah Tomchei Tmimim. TT WAS perhaps here, in his ap­ prenticeship, while still under the guidance of his great father, that the young Rabbi Joseph Isaac became imbued with the central idea and theme of his lifework, the need of spreading the light and knowledge of Torah as the very basis of all other Jewish activities. The teachings of the “Chabad” ideology came to full bloom in the curriculum of the first Tomchei Tmimim Yeshivah which, in con­ trast to other lines of Chasidic tradition, combined Talmudic with Chassidic learning. Soon its fame spread and it attracted students from all of Eastern Europe. EnJewish LIFE

couraged by the success of this par­ nancially he was generously sup­ ent institute, Rabbi Schneersohn ported by such outstanding phil­ was instrumental in establishing a anthropists as the brothers Jacob network of Tomchei Tmimim Yesh- and Eliezer Poliakoff. ivoth throughout the main Jewish The success of the establishment centers of Russia. In due time sim­ of this industrial centre for ortho­ ilar institutions o f Torah a n d dox Jews was of far-reaching im­ Chassidic learning, modeled on the portance. The Dubrovna factory set first Yeshivah of L u b a v i t c h, the pattern for many similar enter­ sprang up in other countries of prises and removed the stigma of Eastern Europe, in Poland, Lithu­ social inferiority from those who ania, Latvia, and ultimately all worked in factories or in skilled over the world. Under the guidance trades. There was thus established of the Lubavitcher Rabbi they flou­ a new social vista for the masses rished and developed, their center of Russian-Polish Jewry, who, long moving along with Rabbi Joseph I. the victim of an economic and reli­ Schneersohn wherever he went, gious oppression which aimed at from Russia to Latvia, to Poland their ultimate extinction, were thus enabled to find a place in the in­ and then to the United States. Another pet project that Rabbi dustrial economy which belatedly Sholom Dov-Ber Schneersohn en­ took rise in the Czarist realm. This trusted into the hands of his in­ was of particular value later on, spired and gifted son, one which when the Soviet regime demanded was to become symbolic of the out­ that everyone turn into a produc­ look and direction of his social and tive worker, either in agriculture economic activities, was the estab­ or in industry. It was then that lishment of a large textile factory many hundreds of trained religious in the industrial center of Dubrov- Jews were able to stay together and na, exclusively run and worked by to work together, thereby checking orthodox Jews. To carry out this the Bolshevik attack upon their vast enterprise that was to provide spiritual existence. Even now, in over two thousand people with a Ezetz Israel, large colonies of Chalivelihood and with a skilled trade, bad Chassidim flourish, where the Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn farming and industrial skills and» had to enlist the support and active experience which they had gained help of outstanding spiritual leaders in the agricultural and textile cen­ from all camps of the Jewish com­ ters organized by the late Lubav­ munity, Mitnagdim as well as Chas­ itcher Rabbi and his predecessors^ sidim. Among them were such im­ are put to good use and produce mortals as Rabbi Chaim of Brisk astonishing results. and Rabbi Chaim Ozer of Vilna, and his constant collaborators, the ANOTHER ACTIVITY in which venerable Rabbi David of Karlin ^ Rabbi Joseph I. Schneersohn and Rabbi Elia Chaim of Lodz. Fi- became engaged while yet under the April, 1950 211

direction of his father, one that was to recur throughout his life, was the supplying of Jewish sol­ diers at the war fronts or in garri­ sons far from Jewish centers, with matzoth and wine for the Seder. When he was twenty-four years old, he organized the shipping of Passover provisions to the Jewish soldiers who fought in the RussoJapanese war in the Far East. Less than ten years later he did the same for Jews who fought in World War I; and thirty-five years later, safe in the United States, he shipped kosher food, as well as pe­ riodic messages of encouragement, pamphlets, brochures and reading material, all in all over 50,000 pieces of literature, highly appre­ ciated spiritual food, together with the physical necessities, through “Maehaneh Israel,” one of his large organizations. Of a more difficult nature were the frequent diplomatic missions which carried the young scion of the Schneersohn family, to the Czar­ ist court. Persecution and discri­ mination brought untold misery to Russia’s Jews. The Czarist regime or its underlings, the governors of the various districts, indulged in anti-semitic policies and acts, as often without as with legal pretext. Time and again Rabbi Joseph Isaac was called upon to travel to the cap­ ital or to the seat of district gov­ ernments to intercede on behalf of his Jewish brethren. Whereas the good standing of his family with the court helped him at first to gain his objectives, his constant at­ tempts to alleviate local or national

22

difficulties or illegal privations finally evoked the displeasure of the Russian government. Four times' during a period of ten years he was thrown into prison. Yet all the malevolent ingenuity of the Czarist forces could not find any legal incrimination or means of suppressing his work on behalf of the suffering Jewish masses. Rabbi Joseph I. Schneersohn even went outside of Russia, to fa­ mous statesmen of Germany and Holland, to induce them to inter­ vene with the Russian government, when widespread pogroms swept the “Pale of Settlement” in the wake of the October Revolution of 1905. Though then only twenty-five years old, Rabbi Joseph Isaac ac­ complished his mission beyond all expectation and proved thus his capacity of becoming a modern “Shtadlan” on the international Jewish scene. T H E CALL to take over the man­ tle of full leadership of the world Chabad movement and of the tremendous responsibilities c o nnected with the position of the Lubavitcher Rabbi, came to Rabbi Joseph I, Schneersohn in Nissan 5680 (1920 c.e.) after his father’s death, at a moment of utter crisis. Russia was in the throes of the aftermath of the Revolution. The world was suffering the conse­ quences of the bloodiest war history had known, and the Jews were, as usual, the victims of the clashing currents and cross-currents of world upheaval. In Russia itself the Bolshevik regime loosed its wrath Jewish LIFE

on the Jews. Seeing them as both the typical middle class and the personification of religious belief, the Communist government impov­ erished the Jews, deprived them of their means of livelihood to an even greater extent than had the Czarist rulers and beyond that set out to annihilate Judaism as a religion. Spearheaded by the ruthless “Yevsektzia,” the notorious “thought police”—comprised of Jewish rene­ gades, later on dissolved when its evil smell became unbearable even

countries, he himself remained in the U. S. S. R., facing death day in day out, battling the Soviets both on the economic and on the religi­ ous fronts. His own example of unyielding faith and fearlessness inspired the numerous emissaries whom Rabbi Joseph Issac sent to the centers of orthodox Jewish life, to the outly­ ing districts, cities and towns, to teach and preach and to counteract the Yevsektzia’s efforts to make Jewish youth forfeit their religion.

for the thick-skinned Soviet gov­ e r n m e n t—the Bolshevik’s con­ ducted merciless warfare against the strongest center of Tprah life and Torah study in the world. Rab­ bi Joseph I. Schneersohn, now the official head of Chabad, stood up fearlessly to combat the efforts of the Yevsektzia. While shifting some of his best leaders and scho­ lars to Poland and other countries to assure perpetuation of their work through new Yeshivoth and other centers of Chabad activity in Poland, the United States and other

To an official who threatened him at gun point, he remarked calmly: “This little toy can intimidate only the kind of man who has many gods—passions—and but one world —-this world. Because I have only one G-d and two worlds, I am not impressed by this toy.” In due time he was thrown into the worst prisons of the Soviets, was banished into exile in the Urals, and only the intervention of foreign statesmen saved him time and again from death. After seven years of harrowing fight against

April, 1950

23

the Bolsheviks, Rabbi Joseph I. vice, counsel, inspiration and guid­ Schneersohn left the country with ance. It was to be anticipated that his family and settled in Riga, Lat­ he would build a large central via, where he built a new fortress Yeshivah of Tomchei Tmimim as of Torah and Chassidism. In 1929 he had done every place he went, he set out on a journey through the and that this central Yeshivah Jewish world. He travelled to the would foster numerous other Yesh­ Holy Land and then to the United ivoth throughout the United States States, and was everywhere re­ and Canada, and schools and Tal­ ceived a n d honored by huge mud Torahs for boys and girls, throngs. whose registers would count in the thousands. But hardly anyone of K FTER his return the Lubavit- the huge crowd that greeted the cher Rabbi moved his residence Lubavitcher Rabbi at the New York to Warsaw. There his presence harbor ten years ago, could have further strengthened the Tomchei realized that this no longer young Tmimim Yeshivoth of Warsaw and and physically weakened man would Otwock and projected them into revolutionize and activate the views world prominence. Although he had and positive elements of Jewish life ample opportunity to escape the in this country to a degree never holocaust that broke in over Poland known heretofore. He, more than with the invasion of the Nazis, Rab­ any other man, led the battle for bi Schneersohn remained to take the recovery of the lost Jewish care of his Yeshivoth and to help youth in America, with the help of alleviate the plight of his suffer­ all methods and means of modern ing brethren even through the bom­ pedagogy, of formal and informal bardment and siege of Warsaw. education and social activities. He Then only, at the urgent request of dared to go out into the streets, in­ his followers the world over, he to the localities, towns and cities permitted himself to be taken to that had already abandoned hope the safety of the United States for a revival of Yiddishkeit, gather where he was welcomed by tens of the stray lost sons and daughters thousands of admirers and sup­ of Israel and lead them gently back porters of the Chabad movement. to the sources and fountainheads of A l t h o u g h Rabbi Schneersohn Torah life. was broken by years of suffering, Under his constant personal gui­ the ten years that have passed dance, organizations were built to since his arrival in this country to carry out his projects for a renais­ the moment of his death on Janu­ ary 28th, have seen remarkable sance of Torah-true Judaism. One has only to consider the accom­ accomplishments. It was to be expected that thou­ plishments of one of these, the sands of his followers would flock Merkos L’lnyonei Chinuch, the to him day and night to seek ad­ Central Bureau of Jewish Educa24

Jewish LIFE

the hundreds of his disciples and co-workers. It would, however, be wrong to K MONG THE manifold activities judge the great personality of the of the Merkos is the Publica­ late Lubavitcher Rabbi only by his tions Department, w h i c h has educational, religious and commu­ printed and distributed more than nal activities, by the light and en­ a million copies of books—text­ lightenment he provided in the form books and fiction, pamphlets, maga­ of Yeàhivoth of schools for boys ând zines, brochures, newspapers, and girls, of training centers, publica­ last but not least “Sefarim.” tions, colonies in Eretz Israel, and Translated into four languages, all the other projects too numerous everyone of these literary weapons to mention. helped to carry the spirit of Jewish tradition and learning to Jewish n N IMPORTANT, though less conspicuous, phase of his crea­ youth and adults everywhere. Start­ ing with an Aleph Beth chart and tivity is his work as a scholar and culminating in works of the most leader of the Chabad religious intricate Kabbalistic nature, they movement. The pen of the late Lu­ created and are still creating the bavitcher Rabbi never stopped pro­ total perspective which is vital for ducing works of elucidation, com­ the survival of the Jewish spirit. mentaries, letters of inspiration Other departments of the Merkos, and exhortation to the thousands of inspired and directed by Rabbi Jo­ his followers throughout the world. seph I. Schneersohn, are the Over­ Taken up day and night with his seas Department (Relief Work), activities on behalf of the physical the Mesivoth Shabboth, youth and spiritual welfare of his breth­ clubs, Farmers Division, Service­ ren in Russia, Poland and other men's Department, the Consulta­ European lands and in the United tion and Information Service, the States, and after the war in the Statistical and Research Depart­ war-torn countries, in DP camps ment, the Religious Release Hour and new settlements of their in­ organization, and numerous other mates, he still found the time to divisions, which in the past ten publish 741 works, amongst them years have carried the Lubavitcher such major works as his sixtyfour “Likutei Diburim,” selected Rabbi's offensive on the national speeches and sermons, his “Likutei and international front. Although Hamaamorim,” selected disserta­ copied by many other Jewish or­ tions, the “Sefer Hasichoth," his ganizations since, it will be diffi­ Talks, the “Sefer Hazichronoth,” cult to emulate the dynamic force the first volumes of his popular and intense, selfless devotion that Memoirs, and his “Kuntresim," his emanated from Rabbi Joseph I. commentaries on the various phases Schneersohn and carried over te of Chassiduth, as they apply to the April, 1950 m tion, to appreciate the scope of the Lubavitcher Rabbi's work.

Jewish year, the Jewish individual at all times and particularly in our oym days. Year in, year out, his writings provided thus enlighten­ ment and clarification of the Torah viewpoint, and Chabad teachings, bringing to bear a great erudition in all phases of Jewish learning. Besides several works, new vol­ umes of “Maamarim,” “Sichoth” and “Zichronoth” soon to be pub­ lished, there are still hundreds of

manuscripts that remain to be sifted and prepared for publication. It will take years until the literary heritage left by Rabbi Joseph Isaac SchneOrsohn, the great scholar and thinker, will be brought to light. One can only dimly envision the full extent of the deep loss that all Israel is now mourning with the passing of this giant of the spirit and master of religious, communal and educational organization.

THE SONG OF SONGS The Book portrays the guardianship of G-d over His people and the loyalty which Israel has displayed through­ out the ages towards his faith. Like the Shulammite in the Story, Israel has also been forcibly taken'from his home­ land. Many suitors clamoured for Israel's hand—Rome, the Church, Islam, who called with siren voices that he ex­ change his G-d for another, but the re ply yhas always been faith. Like the Shulammite, Israel suffered because of his refusal to be unfaithful, but in the end love and fidelity always emerge triumphant. Amor omnia vincit. . ■>*—DR. S. M. LEHRMAN. THE PASCHAL LAMB AND FREEDOM Sacrifice is the sine qua non of Freedom. Freedom is never easily won, nor benevolently bestowed. Neither is it inherited from our fathers. Each generation must bring its own sacrifices in hardship and struggles in order to win for itself the golden; blessing of freedom. —RABBI. CHARLES J. SHOULSON

26

Jewish LIFE

• For centuries# Jews had lived in this town. Now there remained but Yankel* Soreh and Dovid'l . . . and after them . . . only Turek.

THE LA ST JEW

(fit OWO KOMAR By J. J. YOSHOR TTASSILY RODE in the cart; the Y other three walked. They strove up the cobbled road into the teeth of the wind—the old man, the wife and the four year old grandchild. Vassily’s nag pulled the cart, a cart so rickety that as it creaked along, it excited more pity than the sickly nag. In the cart, at Vassily’s feet, were their bits of possessions— a worn-out blanket/, a moldy bread, & torn prayer4)oqk—the distilled treasure of the wanderers, the unbarterables of wandering. At the corner of Lenin Street, Yankel stopped before a sto n e house. Its door mottled with left­ over slivers of paint, it had been the possessor, unlike its neighbors, of a real shingle roof. But the shingles long ago had been torn off, leaving exposed the wooden underskin. “My dear wife, wait a moment! I’ll go in to davven Minchah with Dovid’l.” The author is a graduate of Yeshiva Uni­ versity, where he was on the editorial staff of the student paper “The Commentator’’. A Brooklynite, he has also lived in Mexico and now studies at the transplanted Mir Yeshiva.

April, 1950

Yankel nudged Soreh’s ribs as though he had made a huge and clevej* joke; himself he .giggled. She scowled. “Be still,” she said. Vassily scratched his chin in be­ wilderment. Why did he stop here? This was the house of Pan Gomulka. What did he the Jew want here,. in this : house? Then he re­ membered; this house, before the Russians — no, no earlier — before the Geripans had come in, this house, it had been a Jew-church— a little Jew-church where men with beards, like that one there, came and went with big books under their arms. What was then the house of the Jews is now the house of Pan Gomulka. * “T AM going too,” Dovid’l liroke in and he spoke in Polish. “I am going, too, with grandpa.” “Yes, yes, my dear Dovid’l. You’ll go in with me, too. I’ll present you to Reb Leib. But you must promise me to speak Yiddish. Or else Reb Leib will not like you. You are not to speak Polish, only Yiddish, and Reb Leib will pinch your cheek.” “No, I’ll speak Polish"’ 27

Yankel slapped his grandson and Dovid'l broke into quick tears, “I'll speak Polish, Polish . . ." Vassily grinned, “Too bad, you're taking him away to Palestine. He's quite a patriot . . . quite a patriot," Soreh picked up the boy and pressed his head to her bosom. She turned angrily on Yankel. “Why do you make such tricks, such tricks, such insane tricks?" Dovid'l cried louder. “Tricks?" he mumbled. “Noo, tricks! But this I tell you—this is the Beis Medrash and I will go in and dawen and speak to Reb Leib!" “Stop your tricks!" the woman screamed, beyond patience, and Dovid'l wailed louder, an accom­ paniment to the confusion. As the yelling and crying rose, some of the perverseness seeped out of Yan­ kel; the hankering after tricks left him. One hand he put on his wife's shoulder and patted her, with the other hand he stroked his beard.

28

“Evil spirit," he said to her. “My little evil spirit. Nooo! Now we will go. Another time I will speak to Reb Leib. Another time, another place."' She set Dovid'l down, and when he touched ground his whimpering ceased. She smiled to Yankel, smiled and sighed; to the driver she said, “We go on, Vassily. For the s ta tio n ." ^ ^ ;if§ With his whip Vassily gently nudged the horse, but gently. “No use hurrying," he muttered. “You are late. Of that no doubt!" “We cannot be late," Soreh whis­ pered to herself. “G'd, we cannot! For the sake of Dovid'l we cannot!" TH EY MOVED on ahead; the cart lumbered behind, its wheels squeaking, as though agonized by motion. Their boots squished in the mud and the mud stuck fiercely to their boots, as if it would bear them down—these, the last few— into its depths forever. Yankel, Sor­ eh and Dovid'l were Komarowo's only Jews. When these three went, there would be no more Jews left in Komarowo, that is no more avowed Jews. Two days after the difficult re­ turn from Russia, they had to re­ port to Turek, the People's district sub-Administrator. They stood be­ fore him: a blonde, husky person, not too old, whose ruddy face, pimpled here and there, seemed to suggest that this was a man who wielded the Upper Hand with ef­ ficacy and enjoyed wielding it. His power had nothing to do, directly speaking, with the crudities of fist Jewish LIFE

and gun, but rather with the deli­ cacies of manifesto and directive. Now as he scribbled busily, he held between his fingers the scepter of his authority-—a pencil (it was a brown pencil sharpened to a thin point, Yankel noted). The pencil danced across the page and Yankel’s eyes followed its course; for in times of terror it was his habit to fix his consciousness on a small object, as if to say, “Nothing can happen to me. I am innocent and unnoticeable as that small thing.” Tired of the pencil, Yankel shifted his eyes to the district sub­ administrator’s temples; he gaped at the pimples without purpose or thought. Then, as he became more and more aware of the face, a queer notion knocked at Yankel’s mind. twitched as if a mosquito had He gripped Soreh's arm. pricked it. “Jews!” “I know him,” he gasped in her “From the Soviet, sir. They are earf “The eyes, the hair, the pim­ repatriates. ples. I think it was in Lomza that “Yes, of course . . . of course,” I knew him, but his name I Turek growled. To Yankel it ap­ don’t . . | peared that he was eager to efface “Yankel!” she begged, frantically the forehead twitch, to efface it pulling his beard. “No tricks!” with a show of decisiveness. And “But I am sure! he insisted. Yankel knew why: this sub-district administrator with the good Polish “Just the name I do not . . .” “Cicho!” snapped the baldish as­ name was a Jew. The name he had sistant who stood at Turek’s elbow. now was not his true name, not his father’s name. In Lomza he was They shut up instantly. called . . . “. . . Documents! Your docu­ PRESENTLY, Turek turned to the assistant. “What are they?” ments!” the man of the Upper Hand demanded. “Do I have to re­ he asked. The assistant bent his head, and peat myself ten times, old man?” Yankel stumbled forward, dazed with a fierce eye on those of whom he spoke, gurgled respectfully, with remembrance, and laid his documents on the desk. “They are Jews.” “Jew s!” Turek’s fo reh ead “He is going to make his tricks,” April, 1950

29

Soreh said to Dovid’l, very fright­ ened, and the b?(bj^^.dugh he did not understand, begSh to cry. f Sha, Dovid’l, Sha!” •. Turek scanned the documents, ruffling them crisply. ^They^* in order, old man.” He looked tip at Yankel. “I t, says you’re' a tailor. Now we’ll put you in the clothing cooperative. You’ll be informed of details. As to habitation, like­ ly get you three a room, 'though naturally you!ll have to share it.” he hesitated, as does a man who sews when he approaches a diffi­ cult stitch. “You’re Jewish,” he said finally. “You’ll have that to worry about. You must know that there are still fascist dogs slinking about in Komarowo. Constantly we hunt them out,' but . . .” He pointed tto Dovid’l. “Your grandson, old naan. Your grandson. He, I assure you, is altogether safe from fear. He will grow up in the new Poland, and will be as Polish ds . . .‘as | . .” Turek groped1for" a comparlsbfi: “As you, honored sub-adminis­ trator ?” ,offered Yankel. “As I,” Turek nodded, staring hard at the b e a r d e d .. “Honored sub - adhiinistrator 1•* Yankel blurted. “Have you evei* been to . . . to Lomza?” : “I have never been in Lomza,” pronounced Turek. He stood up and walked over to Yankel. “Gome, old man, I’ll help you to the door.” “Allow me to, sir,” hastened; the assistant. > : irp “No, no! Come to think of it, bring me that file on potato crpps.” m

The assistant bowed and flut­ tered out of t ^ room. “Q L D , MAN,” said Turek, pyeing . ^ Yankel intently, “I %ve never been m Loniza.” “Assuredly not, sir,” Soreh gulped, “assuredly not. It is his tricks, his tricks of memory.” “Indeed, tricks of memory. Take care, little mother, that his tricks Of memory don’t bring you to dis­ tress. For your kind especially needs good luck. It is riot5always easy? to contain the fascists . “He meant only a joke, a trick, honored sub-adhiinistrator,” Soreh repeated nervously. “That’s all he meant . . . He merely riieant . . .” : Tiirek motioned for her to be quiet. He " sat .down at his desk again and toyed with h is . wellsharpened pendi. “Good day !” he declared, with 'a gesture of disiriièsal. Soreh curtsied, and holding Do­ vid’l tightly in her arms, she went out, indicating with her shoulder that Yankel should f òllow. Buh lie lingered, tossing in his mind^this man’s secret: whether to speak it or:• isilenh on it, whether to spit it. out or swallow it up. Then he stopped thinking and blurted it. v “Morgenstern ! I knew your father well!” Thè' reaction ’Pii the district sub­ administrator was as marked and swift: as on a piece of cloth that one dips into a basin of dye. His face flushed 5 his cheeks quivered like bubbles. The pimples on Ms fore­ head seemed to; sink into othe rest Jewish LIFE

of his skin and merge with it. He Dovid'l. Sonia lay in her dirty gulped as if he wanted to make- a straw cot—it smelled of decay— reply, but just then his assistant coughing violently, lo sin g her entered and he hastened to dis^ breath, spitting out blood. Yankel semble. bent over her and touched the hand Yankel closed .¡the door and of his dead son's dying wife. “Sonia," he said, “we—Soreh and caught up with Soreh. For the next three years, he did not forget the I—rWe will be father and mother to district sub-administrator's expres­ Dovid'l. He will be a good man . . . sion, though to conjure it up made a /good Jew*" him shiver. na? V “You're old," Sonia gasped. “So we are," Yankel smiled. JF IT HAH not been, for Dovid'l, “When we die, our friends in Kom­ Yankel and Soreh would probably arowo will take him." not have taken it^ on themselves to “Komarowo? . . . Jews gone." leave their village and journey to “What! No JeWs in Komarowo? the Jewish, state. Strangely,, the There have been for hundreds of townspeople left them in peace, and in their old age they were loath to years. There will always be—Jews squander tranquility. Blit here was in Komarowo. I know this must be Dovid'l, growing up into a world so. The Nazis could not have Where Yiddish was not spoken, changed this." “Much . . . they have . . . changed. where Jewishness was not lived; where there was: no longer any one This too!" to speak it or live it. . “We will find Jews in Koma­ And" Yankel made “tricks" as rowo," he assured her. “If not, we Soreh called them. They were his will take Dovid'l where there are senile recoil against the Change: Jews—to Warsaw." the non-presence of those who used She was wheezing badly; her lips to be, the non-existence of that quivered, unable to summon the which was. Of a sudden, he would wind to speak, but they managed say to Soreh, “I will go to Kaplan's to form one word before she died: for some "new thread." Or, “I think, “Pal . . . es . . . tine." I will play some chess with Yablonchewed the end of his beard, sky." Soreh, a woman who never hisHeeyes on hers. He nodded. She appreciated her husband's whimsi­ saw him nod, but it is not likely calities, alternately pitied him and that she heard him murmur, “Pal­ raged at him; mostly she raged? estine. If not Kamarowo, Pal­ During these years, Y a n k e l estine." thought of the promise he had And for three years they had made in -Russia to Sofiia, to his tried Komarowo. daughter-in-law. MS'M-k b/Jitufi M K H S i l g g j H 1 n H He'd been alone With Sonia. T H E rMPART stopped before the Soreh was I in another hut with x narrow gage track. They emptied ApHi; 1950 • W

out their belongings and laid them you were Bar-Mitzvah . . . That out in a little pile. They gave Vas­ was years ago . . . ” sily his money. He grinned at them “It was just before the war,” as he rattled off. snapped Turek. “To me now these “The train will come soon,” said are hazy memories. It is as though Soreh. “Now nothing will stop us. I have a few tea leaves, only a few. We're going.” In answer, Yapkel Time is the scalding kettle, always tilted his head toward the station being poured on my tea leaves. The color and the flavor have long gone shanty. A knot of gray-overcoated men out of them. Soon -even the residue —one would guess by their attire will crumble. Soon I will have no that they were of the Party—were tea leaves . . . ho memories.” “And your father!” Yankel de­ whispering to themselves and in­ termittently glancing at them. One manded. “Your Jewish father!” of the men detached himself from “He is dead. And with him all the group and approached them. It my Jewishness. You see, no one was Turek. but you knows. To everyone, I am Soreh caught at DovidTs hand. Polish.” He started to cry. She bent down. “And for your Judaism you will “There's nothing to cry about.” not risk?” Seeing Turek, she straightened up “I risk enough now,” he growled. and curtsied weakly. “Good day, “I talk to you and my comrades honored d is tr ic t sub-admini­ there (he wriggled his shoulder to­ strator.” ward the grey-coated men) suspect The official smiled, patting the me. But this is all. When you go, I dimple in his cheek with his fur- purge even my colorless-, tasteless mittened hand. “I am more than tea leaves. I shall be pure party. I that now, but no matter. You're go­ have to be if I am to ascend the ranks and generally, if one does not ing so you won't need to know.” ascend, one sinks. I will not sink.” “We are going,” said Soreh. He turned to Yahkel, and stared QUDDENLY Turek roared, “Let at him. Yankel said nothing. In the me see your papers!” In low distance, a train whistle screamed. tones, he added, “Doh't worry! Then Turek spoke, and now he That was for my comrades. Make spoke to Yankel in Yiddish: a a show of handing me your papers.” hesitating, shaky Yiddish, an outYankel gave Turek his docu­ of-practice Yiddish. ments. The train whistle wailed at “Nu, old man. We haven't much them, coming closer. time.” “Why don't you come with us ?” ’ “Yes, Morgenstern, I knew your Yankel asked. father. We went to the same rebbi “To Palestine? Oddly, I some­ in Lomza. You ... . I saw you when times half-wish I could.” IJnsmil32

Jewish LIFE

mg, he said, “You see I have very evil cosmopolitan tendencies. After you're gone I'll correct them. For my lot is with the new Poland. I love this land, this power-—perhaps both. (He handed Yankel back the papers.) You're probably the last person in Poland who knows of my origin. You go and the link to the ghetto breaks." The train came in, grinding as it slowed down. “I have to go, old man. But one more thing." “Your father?" “No, not of him. Only G'd can help him and that is not for a party member to speak of. But listen to this, old man. Do you know that that day when you called me Morgenstern, that you took your life into your hands?" | § ‘Yes." “Do you know that I thought to arrange your death? It would have been easy and I almost decided to." Yankel crumpled his beard. “Why didn't you?" “Because I realized in the end that if I killed you, I would brood over it for a lifetime, just as if I killed my father; that in this way you and my father and the ghetto would claim my thoughts, and this only the Party must do. Now you're going. Well, I win." ^■HE TRAIN chugged away from A the town—slowly as though it, too, were taking a last leave. And the red sun, listless with the emo­ tion of her daily goodbye, lingered as she fell into her slot off her

horizon. From the grey wooden huts at the side of the track, there billowed wisps of black smoke, and the smoke also seemed laden with departure. From the window of the train, Yankel saw these signs, and be­ cause of them his heart beat a song of sadness. Then the train flashed past the hill with the windmill. An expectation made Yankel tremble. The hill with the windmill! Of course? It would be after the hill with the windmill; he was sure it would. Gradually the hill leveled off until it converged into a potato field. Yankel nudged Soreh. He pointed excitedly to the potato field. “Look, Soreh!" he said. “Look! There is the cemetery, the cemetery of the Jews." Soreh did not look, nor did she speak But Dovid'l asked, in Polish. “Where are they?"

Yankel stared at his grandson. He brooded over that pointless, that irrelevant question. Would they never escape that question? How could he, Yankel, know the answer? Perhaps they were in Heaven,

perhaps they were in that tropical land on the Mediterranean—some of them. DovicTl gazed at him wide-eyed. And again he asked him, “Where are they?”

THE EGYPTIANS IN THE BED SEA The Egyptians said: ‘Let us deal cunningly with Israel and plan such a serfdom fof them that their G-d will not be able to punish us in the same coin. For if we persecute them with the sword, He can visit us with the sword, and if with fire, He can bring fire upon us. We know that He swore that He would no longer bring a flood on the world, let us, therefore, persecute them with water, which He can­ not bring upon us. 7 G-d then said to them: ‘Wretches! True I have sworn that I will not bring a flood into the world, but I will do this to you; I will drag each one of you to his own flood. 9 —SHEMOTH KABBAH, XXII, I.

PASSOVER

Passover is the antecedent of every striving of human freedom. It is the lineal progenitor of the British Magna Carta, and the American Declaration of Independence, and the brave documents of the French Revolution. It places the imprint of divinity on the aspiration of every people for liberty. It is the guarantee of religion, that man shall nurture his love of freedom, and that the Divine Provi­ dence blesses his effort. —RABBI MANUEL LADERMAN

34

Jewish LIFE

• A dentist sheds light on some relatively unknown aspects of Pesach observance.

K?k\ p t » c " c C By ABRAHAM WALKER JN THE COURSE of my experi­ This unusual experience evoked ence in dental practice, I have considerable thought and reflection been asked sincerely by some people concerning the possible relation­ and facetiously by others about ship between sound dental practice the necessity of having a separate and the profound laws associated set of dentures (dental plates) for with Passover observance. It was Pesach. Some ask about the possi­ heartening to know that there are bility of “hashering” their dentures some Torah-loyal Jews who have for Passover use, while others such love and reverence of the ridicule this extreme religiosity of beautiful laws associated with this their co-religionists. I considered opulently symbolic festival that the matter humorous until I re­ they go to any expense to observe ceived a sudden and rather urgent faithfully. But, I asked myself, was phone call from a prominent Rabbi all this expense necessary? Could two days before Pesach of 1947. He we not find means of observing had just reached the country from within the framework of the law France—where I first became ac­ yet at a lesser expense? This article quainted with him while serving in is a result of my investigations. the armed forces — and, knowing In my analysis of American Jew­ that I was a dentist he asked a ish society, I find that there are special favor of me. The Rabbi many Torah-true Jews who observe wanted to know if I could repair these laws relating to Pesach in a a denture that he uses solely for manner similar to that practiced by Passover—in time for Yom Tov. It their parents. They may or may not was a startling, although en­ supplement this observance with lightening, experience as I had additional knowledge and informa­ never thought seriously that any­ tion secured by careful study of one would go through the expense the Code of Laws, the “Shulchan involved in doing what many Rab­ Aruch.,> On the other hand, there binical authorities deemed unnec­ are many Jews who observe these essary. laws “k’chuth ha-saarah” (to the Dr. Abraham Walker is the president of minutest detail) and go far beyond Congregation Ahavath Sholom, Forest Hills, the usual average observance durNew York. April, 1950 35

in g Passover. To those in the latter category we are inclined to say in the words of the Haggadah, “V’chol hamarbeh — harey zeh meshubach” —and he who increases— (his ob­ servances)—the more is he to be praised. T H IS ARTICLE is directed to x both categories* of my observant co-religionists, with the primary purposes of shedding light on some aspects of the dental practice and dental care in conformance with Pesach observances. Let it be clear­ ly understood that, not being an ordained Rabbi, I write with no personal authority; but I do make observations and recommendations relative to religious practices of Pesach, after consultation with one of the foremost Rabbinical authori­ ties of New York City. It is for the reader to judge the merits of the following recommendations after consultation with his Rabbi. I write only as a Yeshiva-educated ortho­ dox Jew, and as a practicing dentist. It is almost general knowledge that alcohol is considered Ghometzdik. The technical names for this alcohol are Ethyl Alcohol, Ethanol Alcohol and Grain Alcohol. The latter, and most common name, is derived from the fact that grain, (and other starches) is one of the main sources for the production of alcohol that is used for many pur­ poses, including drinking and medi­ cinal. The process through which the alcohol is the end result, is a process of fermentation and distill­ ation. The starch present in grain 36

is changed into sugar by the addi­ tion of malt, which is a form of barley; and the sugar is fermented into alcohol with the aid of yeast. This 6/10% solution of alcohol is then fractionally distilled until a 95% alcohol is yielded. The final solution is then diluted to meet either personal, industrial, or medi­ cinal uses. Alcohol is considered as leaven because of this process of fermentation of the grain and the use of malt. Alcohol is used liberally in the practices of medicine and dentistry, and is a component of many medi­ cal compounds, such as tinctures, extracts, elixirs, etc. In dentistry, alcohol (70% by weight) is used for many purposes, and is an absolute necessity in the armamentarium of the dentist. It is primarily useful as a desiccant—a drying agent-— and an antiseptic in the prepara­ tion of cavities of teeth for recep­ tion of a filling material. As such, it has no substitute, (with the pos­ sible exception of chloroform, which is very, very rarely used) and is therefore used by 97% of the practitioners of general dentistry in a routine manner for all cavity preparations. Alcohol is also found in many medicines used in the dental office, such as tincture of iodine and tincture of metaphen used as antiseptics swabbed on gum tissue prior to injection of a local anesthetic, etc. J^URING my first year in private practice, I was somewhat ap­ prehensive and troubled as the Passover holiday approached beJewish LIFE

cause I knew that I'd be unable to use ordinary alcohol in routine cavity preparation — it being the Rabbinical opinion that undiluted alcohol was strictly forbidden for dental purposes. It was recom­ mended that wood alcohol, or some other denatured alcohol be used for this purpose, but this was not con­ sidered because its use was not in conformance with good dental prac­ tice due to its poisonous properties. After considerable thought and some experimentation I decided to use “Slivovitz,” the kosher Passover alcohol derived from prunes. Its use proved highly successful. Of course it is obvious that certain n ecessary metallic instruments were “kashered” in the routine manner. It is recommended that the Pesach observer refrain from hav­ ing routine dental care during the entire week, inasmuch as it is an unfortunate fact that the vast ma­ jority of Jewish dentists are either unaware of these aforementioned restrictions, or if aware, are un­ willing to go through the inconven­ ience of circumventing them by the use of the substitute mentioned. Now a word concerning the kashering of complete and partial dent­ ures. Complete dentures, that is, dental plates used by those who have lost their natural teeth, are made from two types of materials, first type in vogue many years ago is known as Vulcanite, a material made from the heat treatment of soft rubber. Acrylic, the more mod­ ern material, is a plastic resinous materialv more esthetic than the April, 1950

former. The teeth are made from fused porcelain. Both materials after use in the mouth for a period of time, may become porous if not cleansed carefully, thus absorbing food materials and pigments — especially on the tissue surface. In­ asmuch as the usual methods of “kashering” utensils, i.e. “Hagoloh” or (purging in hot water) and Libun (glowing of metals), are not applicable to the denture materials, a substitute method was devised and approved by the aforemen­ tioned Rabbinical authority. JT IS RECOMMENDED that the * dentures be repolished by the dentist a day or two before the hol­ iday, and then rinsed with warm water, after which it is put aside for holiday use. The process of polishing will redistribute the sur­ face molecules, and remove the por­ osity alluded to.

37

The same recommendation is made for partial dentures, which are made of acrylic attached to some metal such as gold or cobalt chrome, or entirely in gold or cobalt chrome—in any case the teeth are of the fused porcelain variety. A third problem relative to Pesach observance that is usually brought to the dentist’s attention is his recommendation for a dentrifice that may be used. A dentrifice is defined as a solid or semi­ solid tooth preparation—commonly known as a tooth pwder or tooth­ paste—used in conjunction with a tooth brush to clean teeth for pro­ phylactic and cosmetic purposes. Many orthodox Jews feel that the average dentrifice used throughout the year contains “chametzdik” substances, and, consequently, they use plain table salt, or a prepara­ tion sold as “kosher tooth powder” which some claim to be quite ex­ pensive. For fear lest my words be misconstrued, and for reasons mot­ ivated by professional ethics, I can­ not publicly discuss the components and relative merits of the various dentrifices on the market. I shall merely state that a dentrifice con­ taining the following components can be safely used for hygienic pur­

38

poses, and, with assurances from the Rabbinical authority consulted, contains no leavening; C alcium Carbonate (Precipitated Chalk) 50 parts Sodium Chloride (Table Salt)_20 parts Tri-calcium phosphate 5 parts Sodium Bicarbonate 25 parts

These substances can be pur­ chased in cleanly packaged con­ tainers—although the writer makes no assurances that special handling precautions were taken by the man­ ufacturer—and may be simply and inexpensively compounded. It is sincerely hoped that some light has been shed on this rela­ tively unknown aspect of Pesach observance ; that some of the afore­ mentioned recommendations be con­ sidered by Rabbis and laymen alike, and that further study be made in­ to these practical aspects of religi­ ous observance during the beauti­ ful festival of Passover. References:

Shulchah Aruch Mishna Brurah Orach Hashulchan Accepted Dental Remedies—13 Ed. Dental Materia Medica and Thera­ peutics—Prinz and Reckert—7th .Ed. Personal Communication and consul­ tation with well-known Rabbi

Jewish LIFE

® Is the Yiddish Theater out of step with present-day life?

By DAVID MIRSKY ■pHE FINEST King Lear I ever general, and their contribution was * saw” an old S h ak esp earean confined not only to the Yiddish scholar once remarked to me, “was stage but to the American theare Boris Tomoshevsky.” Sometime ago in general. Many of them were ac­ I had the pleasure of sitting for tors of the highest calibre. Their some two hours with Joseph Buloff productions were models for the as he poured forth glowing remin­ then rather backward American iscences of the famed Vilna Troupe. theatre, and many were those who More than once I have been re­ studied the techniques of the Yid­ galed, and I must admit occasion­ dish stage and applied them to the ally bored, by the glowing accounts American drama. This was the condition that pre­ of some of the older people concern­ ing the Second Avenue theatres as vailed in the first decades of the they remember them. Even making 20th century. Today the story un­ the necessary allowances for the f o rtu n a te ly has changed. The rosy glow which envelopes all back­ American Theatre with all its ward glances into “the good old shortcomings, admitted and attrib­ days,” there is no doubt that the uted, has kept pace with the times, Yiddish Theatre in New York had and despite the wailings and moanings of its supporters and critics a magnificent tradition. Many are the names which are is ^ vital and throbbing cultural still recalled with pleasure and form in this country. Its Yiddish warmth to this day. Tomoshevsky, counterpart, on the other hand, has Kessler, Adler, Schildkraut, to men­ remained stagnant over the many tion but a few, are names that are years, and is now but a shadowy well remembered not only by pa­ reminder of past glories and a trons of the Yiddish Theatre at shoddy imitator of the n a tiv e that time, but by theatre people in forms. The Broadway of the Yiddish Rabbi David Mirsky is a Lecturer in Bible Theatre is found in the first few at Yeshiva University. He was formerly the blocks of lower Manhattan’s Second managing editor of Jew ish Horizon and is the author of numerous articles which have ap­ Avenue. Its leading luminaries are peared in Anglo-Jewish magazines. April, 1950

39

Maurice Schwartz and his Yiddish Art Theatre group, Menashe Skulnik, who has retired for the cur­ rent season, and Molly Picon, who is taking his place in the Second Avenue Theatre. There are, of course, other Yiddish theatres both in the vicinity and in other parts of the city and in other cities 'too, but this short strip is the heart of the Yiddish Theatre. The three names mentioned above attest to the talent and ability to be found on the Yiddish stage. The interna­ tionally famous, and captivating, Miss Picon; the comic mastery which is Menashe Skulnik’s ; the forceful and highly imaginative acting of Mr. Schwartz, would add grace and lustre to any theatre in any language. The presence of these artists on Second Avenue, by choice, for they could easily have accepted offers made to them by Hollywood and Broadway, is a great tribute to them and to the ideal—the tradition of the Yiddish Theatre—to which they are de­ voted. At the same time, however, it also serves to underscore the failure of the Yiddish Theatre and the degeneration of that ideal. TPHE ANALOGY betw een th e * present state of the Yiddish Theatre and the neighborhood which houses it, is at once too ob­ vious and painful to bear belabor­ ing. A once magnificent section in the American Jewish cultural pan­ orama has deteriorated, perhaps one should say degenerated, into a cheap and tawdry mockery of its former glory. The productions on the Yiddish 40

stage are of two kinds. One is a recurrent imitation of itself, which, in turn is but a poor imitation of the Broadway musical comedy. The other is a rather desperate attempt to reshuffle past, even classical, tried and true formulae in an at­ tempt to come up with a successful drama. The former is the forte of Menashe Skulnik, the latter, the hope of Maurice Schwartz and the Yiddish Art Theatre troupe. Gen­ erally speaking one might regard the second type as the more desir­ able and more worthy effort, as in practice it is, but from a differed point of view, any kind of produc­ tion, so long as it has artistic in­ tegrity and good taste, is a valid theatrical undertaking. The Yiddish musical comedy is, however, but a sorry parody of it­ self. Built around the talent of a star, such as Menashe Skulnik, un­ deniable worthy talent, it lacks the above mentioned artistic integrity, and all too glaringly lacks good taste. There has sometimes been exhibited not merely bad taste but downright filth, on occasion linked with shameful, leering, sacrilegious mockery of cherished institutions. Only a short while ago, I was ap­ proached by some people who ran a theatre party at the Second Ave­ nue Theatre and was told, “What a good thing it was that you did not attend the show. We were shocked and disgusted at some of the things that were done and said. We could not have held our heads up had you been present.” It is perhaps for this reason that so many people are reluctant to attend such productions. The regJewish LIFE

ular Yiddish theatre-goer can pre­ dict well in advance, and with al­ most stop-watch precision, every stage development, from the en­ trance of the star to the love com­ plication, to the entrance of the villain, to the final denouement in which everyone reveals himself as being the long lost brother, father, mother or sister as the case may be, of each other. The audience for the most part has little interest in what is happening on the stage, and waits only for the star to ap­ pear, and truth to tell, there is nothing besides the star to interest them. The wonder is that they con­ tinue to come back year after year. T H E PRODUCTIONS of the Yidish Art Theatre are of a finer order and aim for a higher level. They too, however, despite the dif­ ferent trappings and higher artis­ tic standard, bear a strange resem­ blance to the first type. The melo­ drama is cut from the same cloth and the plots are woven on the same loom. The attempt to find once again the formula for a fine drama has occasionally been suc­ cessful and such productions as Yoshe Kalb and The Brothers Ashkenazi are still warmly remem­ bered. But it is rather futile to con­ tinue hoping that an imitative product will ever repeat their suc­ cess. And it is perhaps in this that the greatest failing of the Yiddish Theatre lies. The Yiddish Theatre instead of attempting to remain vital and dynamic is living in the shadow of a tradition which was once glorious, but which has passed with the times and, if continued, April, 1950

can only hope to be an empty shelf, echoing perhaps with past glories but in essence no more than an echo. The American Jewish scene is rich and complex in its manifesta­ tions and in the problems which arise because of its dynamics, and affords ample material for dramat­ ic treatment. Questions of orienta­ tion, identity, discrimination, and so on, which are common to Amer­ ican life are particularly pertinent to the Jewish community. The rise of the Jewish state, the radical dislocation of world Jewry, are grist for the dramatic mill. Yet the Yiddish Theatre has either failed completely to deal with such ques­ tions, or has treated them in the most shallow and occasionally most shameful method. The raising of the Jewish flag at a grand finale or the indiscrim­ inate insertion of a trite speech concerning the Medinah into a worn play is commercialism of the lowest form, capitalization on na­ tional emotion on the meanest level. Nor is a treatment of the life of a Zionist leader, or life in Israel, when it is no more than a repeti­ tion of hackneyed plots and mean­ ingless formulae, with only the names and locale changed, any bet^ ter. The problems which face the Jew today, whether treated on the national or the individual scale, and whether presented as. drama or comedy, are legitimate fare for dramatic treatment. Yet the Yid­ dish stage is almost, if not com­ pletely, barren of plays which deal honestly and sincerely with such problems. 41

Even Jewish observance and re­ ligious life has fallen victim to this shameless form of exploita­ tion and commercialism. I recall one production which made full use of a Bar Mitzvah for the pivotal point of the plot, yet the entire Bar Mitzvah ceremony was used only because of its emotional ap­ peal to the Jewish audience and presented in a manner that was galling to anyone to whom Jewish observance and tradition have any meaning whatsover. The sight of an actor chanting the kiddush or the kaddish, using the shem, simply in order to heighten the emotional pitch without the slightest regard for religious sensibility, or even at the very least, artistic integrity, is an uncondonable and unprincipled practice which unfortunately is one of the stand-bys of the Yiddish Theatre's stock in trade. ■PHIS THEN is my quarrel with the Yiddish Theatre, and it is not merely a quarrel for what it is, but for what it might and should be. The theatre is part of the cul­ ture of the people and the Yiddish Theatre in America should be at least ^ partly an expression of American Jewish culture. One cer­ tainly has a right to expect, if not demand, that the Yiddish Theatre serve as an expression of the con­ temporary Jewish scene. It should concern itself with the problems, the forms, the manifestations, of Jewish life in this country in par­ ticular, and throughout the world in general. This the Yiddish The­ atre fails to do. It is content to wallow and molder in outmoded 42

forms making use of things Jewish only in the outward forms and in the shallowest commercial ways. It is often pointed out that the present Yiddish Theatre serves to preserve a tradition in American Jewish culture and as such fills a necessary and important niche in the Jewish life of this country. No one will take issue with the view­ point that the preservation of tra­ dition is a commendable function,

but one must make a distinction between the perfectly valid and de­ sirable attempt to preserve a tra­ dition on the one hand, and the dangerous practise of attempting to live in an outmoded form of the past. To one who views Juda­ ism and the complete Jewish life as nothing more than an interesting cultural manifestation of a world long since gone, preservatives are Jewish LIFE

perhaps admirable and desirable. To which will preserve intact past those, however, to whom Judaism glories. The Habimah in Israel ful­ is the vital aspect of life and who fills such a purpose. But a theatre regard its teachings and its ways in a living dynamic community as the guides for individual and which attempts only that, is an ar­ national existence, as well as cul­ tificial contrivance culturally speak­ tural and religious directives, dyna­ ing and is bound to fail, as the mic development and directed pro­ Habimah has found out in recent gress are of prime importance. To years. And certainly a classical hy­ the “museum Jew” showcases brid, which attempts to refurbish which will preserve cultural mani­ outmoded forms and use them as a festations of the past in airtight framework for modernity, is to be strongly censured. The Yiddish Theatre must real­ ize that emotional exploitation and base commercialism are no substi­ tute for artistry, sincerity, and realism. It must deal realistically with the problems of the Jewish world and only by progress can it hope to maintain its glorious tra­ dition. There are many people like myself who would be more than happy to support a Yiddish Theatre but only if it deals with problems which are meaningful to me. On the other hand we are not willing to support an institution which is dying of its own weight, which makes a traversty of that which we hold dear, which refuses to come to grips with a reality which grips us. The talent, the ability, the compartments well protected from craftsmanship, the artistry, are the atmosphere of life are re­ there. Only vision and realism are quisites. To the Jew who lives by missing. We can accept a Second his Judaism such paraphernalia are Avenue which is a true reflection insidiously dangerous. of contemporary Judaism but we can neither accept nor support TH ER E IS no doubt that there “Second Avenue Judaism,” as it is is room for a classical theatre today.

April, 1950

43

ANCIENT AND MODERN IN ERETZ YISROEL

Top, right: Yeshurun Synagogue, Jerusalem. Center, left: Grave of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai; bottom: Remains of 2nd Century Synagogue at K’far Nachum (Capernaum). (Photos courtesy of Morris Rothm an)

Jewish LIFE

By L H ALEVY LEVIN Jerusalem: ^■HE LACONIC communiques is­ sued from the Plenary Session of the Jewish Agency, virtually our sole source of information, have given us hardly an inkling of the major questions discussed, despite the repeated statements made by leading members of the Executive. These statements indidicated that the present Session would constitute an overture to the forthcoming World Zionist Con­ gress, where an attempt at a radi­ cal solution of the problems ham­ pering the work of the Jewish Agency in Israel is promised. Almost two years of work under the new political conditions have proved that the vague hopes that somehow the State and the Zionist Organization would find a modus operandi, that after the jolts and jars of shunting, both would find themselves on the right sets of rails, have not been realized. Israeli intervention in the Silver-Montor dispute last year was a move to teach A m erican Zionists th e ir place. The move was less successApril, 1950

ful than its authors had hoped and less wise than they would be pre­ pared to admit. Meanwhile the Jewish Agency (to all intents and purposes the Executive of the World Zionist Organization, al­ though the wall of the National Institutions Building in Jerusalem still bears a brass plate bearing the legend “Palestine Zionist Ex­ ecutive”), far from restricting its activities has entered a number of new fields and has multiplied its staff manifold. The Departments it maintains parallel to certain Gov­ ernment Ministries at times work harmoniously with the latter and as frequently probably clash and haggle over spheres of influence. There is a Department of Immi­ gration, complete with representa­ tives abroad and a Ministry of Im­ migration engaged in the same sphere, as well as a network of Israeli Consulates to which, of course, prospective tourists and settlers must naturally apply. The authority of the Department of Settlement must impinge upon that of the .Ministry of Agriculture. The Agency still maintains a Political 45

Department headed by its Chair­ political appendage, completely un­ man, Berl Locker. The National der the control of the Agency Ex­ Funds, too, have extended their ecutive. One wonders whether a functions to meet the new situa­ similar fate does not await the tion. The Jewish National Fund in Jewish Agency. particular has for long not confined The stronger personalities on the itself to land purchase and im­ Agency Executive are aware of the provement, its original strictly cir­ dangers of the situation though cumscribed sphere, but is becoming they are at a loss to determine an increasingly important factor in how they can be averted. There settlement and housing. Both the has been some talk of a “Charter” JNF and the Keren Hayesod main­ for the World Zionist Organiza­ tain Departments which have their tion, but the term is rather a poli­ counterparts in the Jewish Agency tical slogan than a clear-cut plan, Administration. exploiting an inept association with the Charter which Herzl unsuc­ THE FUTURE OF THE JEWISH AGENCY cessfully sought. It indicates, at least a realization that some more R E S P IT E ALL this, however, the clearly defined status for the Zion­ Jewish Agency is only a shad­ ist Organization in its operations ow of its former self. Its offices and in Israel and abroad is necessary. corridors hum with busy activity, This in itself is progress but so perhaps more than ever before, but far nothing more tangible has been there is a haunting feeling that put forward. Two years of state­ the real decisions are taken else­ hood have proved that the demar­ where. The government has taken cation hitherto used—leaving the the best men. Although the Agency Zionist Organization ostensibly re­ still contains tried and capable sponsible for the new arrivals until leaders, it seems that it is only their settlement in Israel, thus a matter of time before it is left placing the organization, training, with superannuated statesmen, po­ transport, settlement and absorp­ liticians who have been outman­ tion of the immigrants under its oeuvred by their rivals, with a control—constitutes a serious incur­ sprinkling of younger men, jostling sion into the prerogatives of the their way towards higher positions State. Duplication, friction and in the State, for whom the Agency confusion are the inevitable result. is no more than a stage in their But the implications of any re­ progress. Inevitably one recalls the vision have not been worked out state of affairs under the Manda­ and are more far-reaching than ap­ tory regime, when the Agency en­ pears to be appreciated. joyed quasi-governmental status and wielded a very real authority, while the Vaad Leumi, the officially ■JWPICAL of the muddled think­ ing which further complicates recognized representative body of the Yishuv, was no more than a the problem is the statement made 46

Jewish LIFE

The Cabinet of Israel in session, with Prime Minister David Ben Gurion shown at head of table. At right of table are shown (reading right to left) Rabbi J. L. Fishman, Rabbi I. M. Levin and Moshe Shapiro, Ministers respectively of Re­ ligious Affairs, Social Welfare and Interior, who are the representatives of Israel's religious parties in the Cabinet. (Photo courtesy of U .P.A.)

by a responsible member of the Jewish Agency, who regretted that the Zionist Organization now en­ joyed less authority than it had under the Mandatory Regime, and that the official status of the Jew­ ish Agency did not even equal that of the Consul of a minor and even unfriendly state.. One factor, however, does facili­ tate a solution. The fear of dual loyalty has for the time being at least proved exaggerated. The Gen­ tiles among whom the Jews abroad live—and it is their reaction, of course, which makes or breaks the problem—do not consider the af­ fection and regard which their Jewish fellow-citizens have for the April, 1950

State of Israel as inconsistent with their loyalty to their country of birth or adoption. The very con­ siderable financial contributions the Jews are making are not regarded askance. In the U. S. A., the aid extended by American Jewry is looked upon as' an unofficial and voluntary counterpart to Marshall Aid. But even in the countries where currency restrictions are in force—the overwhelming majority in the world today—and the trans-’" fer of capital abroad might be re­ garded as running counter to the national interest, no negative re­ action has been registered. On the contrary, capital transfers of this nature have been the subject of 47

special arrangements in the trade and financial agreements concluded between Israel and certain foreign countries. The recent understand­ ing reached between Israel and Great Britain regarding the un­ freezing of sterling balances, for instance, provides for the transfer of two and a half million pounds* of Zionist funds. In addition to spheres of com­ petence .there are two other major aspects to the problem of the fu­ ture status of the World Zionist Organization-figfinanee and repre­ sentation. Any proposals for re­ form in this sphere will clash with a fifty year tradition. The Shekel provides an excellent illustration. ROLE OF THE SHEKEL

T H E SHEKEL has never been an efficient or satisfactory token of membership in the World Zionist Organization. No better proof is necessary than the vast disparity between the number of shekel buyers, which ran into millions, and the number of actual partici­ pants in Congress elections, which never rose above hundreds of thou­ sands. The Shekel was one of the most vulnerable targets of Revi­ sionist propaganda after their se­ cession from the Zionist Organiza­ tion. Its existence could only be justified by the difficulty in finding a suitable alternative, and more important, by the desire not to up­ set one of the most popular and traditional instruments of the Zionist Organization. A suggestion has been made by Daniel Frisch, president of the Zion­ ist Organization of America, that 48

the Shekel should be abolished. Mr. Frisch indeed, has drawn the logi­ cal conclusion and expressed his intransigent opposition to any Con­ gress elections. Organizations and not parties must be represented at Congress. Mr. Frisch’s attitude^ seems in part at least to stem from a desire to avoid the hurly-burly of electioneering and the unwel­ come attention it must arouse among the non-Jews. The demand for abolition of the double representation allowed the Yishuv—by which the number of voters required in Israel to elect a delegate to Congress was half that necessary in the Golah-Bis so logi­ cal as not to arouse any opposition. The suggestion that goes with it, however, that the Congress should be principally an organ of Jews outside Israel, and that the Jewish Agency be composed mainly of re­ presentatives of the Golah, will be less favorably received. One of the main functions of the Zionist Congress and General Coun­ cil (Actions Committee) in the past has been to decide the Zionist Budget. Can a body comprising, as is now proposed, not elected delegates but appointed representa­ tives, and meeting for a fortnight once every two years, continue to fulfill so responsible a task, espe­ cially when the various allocations must dovetail into the expenditure of the State? Would not such an arrangement, even if it were tech­ nically feasible prove intolerably irksome for the latter? It is sug­ gested that this function, in the f uture, come within the competence of the Jewish Agency, which as a Jewish LIFE

permanent body would be in con­ stant consultation with the Govern­ ment. That even such an arrange­ ment would leave room for over­ lapping and duplication is perhaps inevitable. It is more important that the Jewish Agency and Zion­ ist Funds be amalgamated, thus reducing the nuiiiber of national bodies to two—thl Jewish Agency and the Government of Israel. g U T ONE MUST appreciate the impact of such a reform upon the status and prestige of the Zionist Congress and all bodies which derive their authority from it. Hitherto Congress has been a quasi-parliamentary body. Its dele­ gates were democratically elected— albeit by a system of franchise that

left very much to be desired. It elected the executive organs of the Zionist Movement and determined the expenditure of its budget—the three major attributes of a demo­ cratic representative body. Depriv­ ed of two of these, and with the importance of the third, that of electing the Executive, shorn of most of its importance, it would degenerate into a typical Conven­ tion of a world fund-raising agency whose decisions would express as­ pirations rather than indicate a policy, and would become an item on a tourist's itinerary. But events in the Jewish world do not wait for the formulation of a pojicy and the reform of an organization. Moves are being made, conclusions drawn, with con-

Jewish Agency Executive in New York confers with Israeli representatives. Left to right: Arthur Lourie (Israeli Consul General in .ftew York), Mrs. Rose L. Hal­ perin, Chaim Greenberg, Gotlieb Hammer, Nahum Goldman (chairman), Israel Goldstein, David Horowitz (Director of Israel Treasury), Jacob Schectman, Baruch Zuckerman and Zvi Lurie. (Photo courtesy New York office of the Jew ish Agency)

sequences more weighty than we left behind and an arms race is can appreciate. rapidly developing. It may not be There is still current the notion the business of the Western Powers that with the achievement of State­ that Israel is being compelled to hood the Zionist Organization has expend on armaments immense consummated its task and its con4 sums of money it would far rather tinued existence is anachronistic. invest in more productive fields. But can, Israel so lightly forego But it is, or should be, their busi­ even the political support the Jews ness that such a race may end in overseas have to offer? (Econo­ catastrophe, not only for the Middle mically its need for financial aid East, but for the whole world. on a vast scale to absorb the in­ Israel has upon more than one flux of newcomers and to consoli­ occasion brought these facts to the date its position is not disputed). notice of the appropriate American Does not a great and vital task authorities — with no results. It still remain for them to mobilize would be naive indeed not to regard and organize a body of sympathy the call paid at the White House as for the State—a task which the inspired by Zionist sources, and as government, because of interna­ a move in the campaign by Jews tional law or etiquette, is unable overseas to bring pressure to bear to discharge through the normal in the right quarters to avert this official or diplomatic channels? new threat to the State. After all The recent intervention of the America has not, moved by similar two major American Labor Organ­ pacific motives, taken like action izations, the AFL and CIO, toward in regard to Britain’s arms supplies putting an end to the British arm to Pakistan, for obvious use against shipments to Middle Eastern coun­ India. tries, constitutes an instructive GOLAH INFLUENCE ON illustration. ISRAEL POLICY For some time Britain has been supplying large quantities of arma­ ■ piE DEVELOPMENTS leading ments, warships and aircraft to up to Israel’s first Cabinet crisis, various Arab countries, notably which has just been surmounted, Egypt, under the pretext that these illustrates another aspect of rela­ are required to maintain internal tions between the State and the order. The subsidiary arguments Golah. At one stage in the con­ that these shipments are made un­ troversy American religious and der existing treaties, and thg/t if Rabbinical organizations cabled the Britain does not supply them some­ Premifr, David Ben Gurion, expres­ one else will, is not relevant. The sing their concern in regard to edu­ State of Israel is naturally appre­ cation in the Camps. It is to be re­ hensive, particularly in view of the gretted that the, cable in question dark threats uttered by the Arab was not more carefully worded. press and statesmen of a “second The organizations called upon the round.” Israel cannot afford to be Israel Government “to prevent in50 Jewish LIFE

justice to children and parents and fundamental religious Judaism, so as to obviate a world scandal of far-reaching consequences,” the last passage of which could have been construed as a threat. Prime Minister Ben Gurion’s re­ ply, after reading the authors of the cable a lesson in Jewish laws of evidence and democracy, concluded: “If it is your wish to exert direct influence on the path taken by the State of Israel and to strengthen a particular movement in our midst then the most effective means which you and those for whom you speak may take is to join us and settle in Israel.” It is the implication that Israeli affairs (despite the fact that the Premier does recognize the right “of any Jew to express his opinion and to criticize the affairs of the State of Israel”) are solely Israel’s concern and that Jews overseas must either settle here or not meddle in other people’s business, that interests us here. Perhaps Mr. Ben Gurion’s pench­ ant for a pithy retort got the better of him. It is difficult otherwise to understand the brusqueness of his r e b u f f to important American bodies, which, in their way, have contributed towards the achieve­ ment of statehood and have after all only exercised a right which the Premier himself recognizes. How can their cable be regarded as un­

April, 1950

warranted interference in our affairs? The inconsistency is thrown into bolder relief against the back­ ground of the field in which it oc­ curred, that of education. The third clause of the Basle Program calls for strengthening Jewish national consciousness in the Diaspora. No more effective means for pursuing this object exists than fostering Hebrew edu­ cation. (The signatories to the cable, incidentally, have been singu­ larly successful in this sphere). Be­ tween education in Israel and the Golah a close and natural bond exists. In no way, therefore, can their intervention be regarded as unjustified. There are still circles in Israel which cherish illusions of a massaliyah from the Western countries, and especially from that vast reser­ voir of Jewry—the two Americas. There are those who are convinced that the present favorable condi­ tions there cannot last. It is ex­ tremely doubtful whether our lead­ ers and statesmen share that view. They know, probably, that in the foreseeable future the vast major­ ity will remain where they are. These Jews nevertheless love and are proud of Israel and want to help it. Must not some modus be found of allowing them to do so?

51

By GERSHON A. CHURGIN ■THE GREATNESS of Rabbi Mo**■ sheh ben Maimon, more fami­ liarly known to the Jews as Rambam and to the world at large as Maimonides, lies in two distinct fields: he is the creator of the philosophical formulation of Jud­ aism and the pioneer in the system­ atic study of the Talmud. In both of these fields he stands unrivalled to this day. There were many at­ tempts before him to construct Jud­ aism on a philosophic basis, and to systematize the study of the Tal­ mud. These were, however, frag­ mentary, and have not been as fundamental and all-embracing as were the works of Maimonides. The originality of Maimonides lies not only in wh^t he teaches but in the way of life he offers. His works therefore possess not only truth but practical value as well. This practical value is to be found in the message which Maimonides offers to posterity, a message of thought and a message of Torah. Let us consider the first. Dr. Churgin is Assistant Professor of He­ brew Literature at Yeshiva University, where he also gives courses in Jewish Philosophy. He is the author of several authoritative mon­ ographs on Jewish philosophies which have appeared in Hebrew publications.

52

Man exists on bread but he lives by ideas and ideals. Ideas originate in reason, in thought, reflection and doubt. Ideals spring from the heart. Ideas guide us in the affairs of the world we live in. Ideals lift us to a world wherein we wish to live and move and have our being. Man, then, lives in two worlds : the world as it is, and the world as it ought to be—an ideal world. The history of human thought is the history of the unceasing warfare between these two worlds. Ideas are the source of theories, hypotheses, conjectures and plans for trying and experimenting with things in our environment. They are based on doubt. When we theorize or ex­ periment, we are not certain of the outcome. Ideals, on the other hand, embody hopes, passions or aspira­ tions. Ideas may, sometimes, prove and convince. Ideals are rooted in faith. p A IT H AND REASON are the two poles of human life. From faith and reason there have sprung two different concepts of life which have evoked endless controversies. Faith, and the philosophies that emanated from it, is the contribuJewish LIFE

The fourteenth day of Nisan, 5710, (Shabboth Hagodol, April 1st, 1950), marks the 815th anniversary of the birth of one of the greatest figures which the Jewish people has ever pro­ duced—Rabbi Mosheh ben Maimon, the “ Rambam,” or Maimonides. Born in Cordova, in Spain, he was the very crown of the so-called *‘Golden Era” of Spanish Jewry. As a boy of thirteen, he with his family fled from Cordova when a fanatical Moslem sect seized the community and after wan­ dering for years in several parts of Spain, North Africa and Palestine settled in Postat, near Cairo. Even while mastering Jewish lore and com­ posing many gems of Jewish scholar­ ship Rambam mastered also philosophy, science and medicine. He became the most eminent physician of his time, wrote many important medical works and was appointed personal physician to the Sultan Saladin. Simultaneously, he became recognized as the leader of Egyptian Jewry and as the foremost Jewish authority of his day. Com­ munities and individuals from through­ out the Jewish world submitted their problems to this tireless genius. While Rambam produced many works of high importance, his fame rests above all on his - “ Mishneh Torah,” (The Repetition of the Torah,” also entitled ‘ ‘Yad Hakazah,” The Strong Hand) and ‘ ‘Moreh Nevuchim,” the Guide to the Perplexed. The former, a giant compendium of Jewish belief,

April, 1950

teaching, law and practice, summarizes and codifies the entire body of Biblical, Talmudic and Rabbinic lore handed down through the ages. So comprehen­ sive in scope is this work that some of his contemporaries, fearing that it might tend to become a substitute for first-hand study of religious sources, opposed its influence. Nevertheless, the Mishneh Torah soon became accepted, and has remained, as one of the most authoritative of all sources of Jewish learning. Throughout the centuries it has not ceased to exercise profound influence in Jewish life. The Guide for the Perplexed has had no less influence, and in even wider circles, for it has shaped the thinking of some of the greatest non-Jewish as well as Jewish scholars. This historic work, unique in concept and approach, harmonized Judaism with Aristotleian philosophy, wedded reason with religi­ ous faith. From that day to this, the Moreh Nevuchim has been a beacon of light to troubled spirits and baffled intellects. Testifying to the place which Ram­ bam occupies in Jewish life, his “ Sheloshah Osor Ikkorim” (Thirteen Arti­ cles of Faith) are incorporated in the Siddur, appended to the daily morning Service. This statement of fundamental Jewish principles has been woven also into the beloved hymn, “ Yigdal.” In his essay, Dr. Churgin aptly points to the timely importance of Rambam to Jewish thought of today.

53

tion which the Jewish people have and his mind. It meant putting an made to the world. Philosophies of end to the wasteful and dangerous reason originated with the Greeks. conflicts between reason and faith. Thus, the poles of man's thoughts In this article we cannot follow are Judaism and Hellenism. These Maimonides in his intricate web of two concepts of life developed in­ thought and technique. The mes­ dependently of each other, flowing sage of this attempt is clear. It originally as two mighty rivers par -1 reads that a worthwhile life must allel to each other, but meeting* be a unified life. A broken life, nowhere. Beginning, however, with beset by conflicts, is as wasteful as the period of Alexander the Great, it is dangerous, productive of evils the two converged and met. There alike to the individual and to so­ ensued a conflict between faith and ciety as a whole. His message may reason, between Judaism and Hel­ be summarized as: Believe as men lenism. “Philo, the Jew" took up of reason, and reason as men of the challenge, and tried to resolve belief. this conflict in favor of faith, of Judaism. The scholastics followed J^AMBAM left us another mes­ him, and reechoed his philosophy. sage, which is as profound and The end result of Philoism and as significant as the first. In his scholasticism was that reason, or attempt to effect unity between Hellenism, was made the ostensible reason and faith, he exhibited a handmaid of faith. But the conflict rare degree of courage. Maimonides between reason and faith was not never, it seems, shrank from facing real ly settled; it was merely the facts. He was, in essence, an shelved. The ancient feud between explorer of thought and he braved the two rivals for the human spirit flared up in medieval Spain. It was Maimonides who took up the chal­ lenge this time. He did not en­ deavor to revive the way of Philo and his followers. Instead of sub­ duing one of the contestants to the rule of the other, he sought to unite them. This attempt by Maimonides was one of the most decisive moves ever taken in the history of ideas. No one had attempted it before him. This attempt to unite faith and reason meant the elimination, once and for all, of the conflict between religion and science, truth and value, idea and ideal. It meant a harmony between the heart of man 54

Jewish LIFE

the risky adventure of thinking. He recognized the ills that afflicted his^ age. He explored the minds of the' men of his generation and brought into the open their scepticism, their difficulties and their dilemma. He disclosed fearlessly the conflict be­ tween the Torah and philosophy and he recognized the difficult choice which those subject to this conflict must make. Maimonides was neither the pessimist who views with alarm the situation of religion in some quarter of his age, nor was he the optimist who sees no danger to religion and does not know of one. Maimonides, a realist, defined and diagnosed the per­ plexity of his age. It was this courage to face facts that enabled Maimonides to create that great Moreh Nevuehim, the “Guide of the Perplexed,” which brought light to his own generation and to all the generations which followed. These messages of Ram-

April, 1950

bam are not for Jews alone. They are, in essence, messagés to all mankind; messages of unity and courage— unity in thought and courage in times of crisis. His specific message to us as the people of Torah is as great and as profound as is his philosophic and universalista message. Just as Mai­ monides utilized Greek thought in his attempt to harmonize reason and religion, so he made use of logical methods in study ’ of the Talmud. Some scholars claim that system, method and order are Greek in origin. This may or may not be the case, but Maimonides intro­ duced system and method in the study of the Torah. His “Mishneh Torah” is a model of system, order, method, and clarity. It is a rare and monumental work never tried before him in the way hé achieved it. He is not only a master of the subject matter; he is thorough, comprehensive and exhaustive. The ideal that permeates this work is the age-old Jewish ideal to make all of Israel learned in ways of Torah. It may be said that Maimonides succeeded in humanizing the knowl­ edge of the Torah, and made that knowledge accessible to as many as possible. Other attempts to system­ atize the study of the Torah were made before him, but, as has been indicated above, these attempts were unspecific, fragmentary and not wholly systematic. As in the “Guide” so^m the “Mishneh Torah,^ Ran^bap^as not only the profound scholaybut he is also the teacher. The/message of the “Mishneh ToraJ}7 is plain. It i55 V

The vision of Judaism as a con­ reads: “spread the Torah as far as s c io u s ly creative and challenging the sea.” force in the world of ideas and T JIS OTHER great and far reach­ ideals has not been adequately ful­ ing message to posterity is the filled. Since the days of the “Golden ideal of Judaism as the creative Period of 'Spain,” Judaism, due to force in the culture of the world. inexhorable circumstances, has un­ Had he conceived of Judaism as dergone a large measure of intel­ isolated and out of contact with the. lectual as well as social isolation. rest of the world, he would not Although many of our subsequent have gone to the trouble of writing great figures have succeeded in the Moreh Nevuchim. It is in the elucidating a reasoned relationship “Guide” that Judaism emerges as between the Jewish concept of life a conscious factor in the general and that of the evolving society framework of man’s culture. Just which surrounds us, their work has as Maimonides wished to unite not had the conclusive scope or faith and reason, so he united Jud­ effect of that of Maimonides. To­ aism with what was then deemed day particularly, faced by the need great and noble in the world’s to '£©pe'"~with revolutionarysciem thoughts. This means, in terms of tific and cultural ideals, there exists our own times, that Judaism mqst a critical need to fashion a firm not stand by secluded within^ its bridge between the Torah and mod­ own sphere of thought and take no ern thought. These are account of the problems Ovt he world at large. Judaism m u s tn o t - - ^ ^ life. These ignore the cultural trends of the are indeed, days of transition. time. It must analyze, evaluate and Never before, perhaps, were there scrutinize every newcomer in the so many perplexed as in our days. world of culture. Judaism must be There is as yet no guide to lead a fighting, challenging force in modern men out of their perplexity. It is high time We fell back world culture. To ignore tendencies of culture or distinctive ideas and on the Rambam, that we pick up theories is not to overcome them. his message and reconstruct his Judaism should not hide from or thought. Again creative in mind shun controversy. It must fight in and spirit and alert Ito the needs the ever-enduring conflict of spirit and problems of the day, we may and put its own stamp decisively march under his banner, walk in his light and follow nis guidance. on human affairs.

56

Jewish LIFE

c*ne&<AA M8LBOUKNB.

By DAVID J. BENJAMIN ■HPHE HISTORY of Australian Jewry has proceeded on differ­ ent lines from that of the Jews of Europe. The emphasis has been on the building of communities and on the strengthening of Jewish organ­ izations in various cities rather than on efforts to ensure the con­ tinuation of Jewish life and tradi­ tion where they have existed for centuries. A comparison of Austra­ lian Jewish history with that of another country can best be made with that of the U. S., which simi­ larly has grown from a handful of Jews in one or two cities to a chain of strong communities studded over the country. Jews have been in Australia since its earliest years but little is known of their life before 1817 when a small number, perhaps twenty, organized a Chevra Kadisha in Sydney. Those men were English Jews coming from families which had spent at least some time, David J. Benjamin is a barrister living in Sidney, N.S.W., He plays an active role in the religious and communal life of Australian Jewry.

April, 1950

often some generations, in Eng­ land and they were imbued with vigorous loyalty both to Judaism and to British tradition. Their in­ fluence, coupled with the fact that the Australian environment is Brit­ ish, has made the Australian Jew­ ish community an integral part of Anglo-Jewry. From that beginning in 1817 the story has been one of continual growth of population and institutions a l t h o u g h organized communal life is the creation only of the last decade. In 1828 regular services were being held in Sydney in private' houses but it was not until 1833 that the first Synagogue was opened, by which time the popula­ tion was about 350. Difficulty was for long experienced in finding a suitable Minister and in arranging educational facilities for the chil­ dren. Eventually these problems were largely overcome, though to some extent they are still with us today for the distance from the main centres of Jewish life has constantly hindered development. 57

■J»HE EMPHASIS in these early and Adelaide in 1848. Brisbane, a * years was entirely on religious town of little importance until after matters. There was no thought of Queensland, became a separate col­ the complicated communal organi­ ony in 1859, had few Jews and no zation such as exists in all States Synagogue 'until 1866. Western today. Even the relationship of the Australia, to which Jews were not community to the secular authori­ attracted in the early years of the ties was governed by religious con­ .colony, had no congregation until siderations and for long centered Fremantle Jews organized them­ around such matters as land grants selves in 1887. for Synagogue buildings, Govern­ ment aid to Jewish Schools and ■J*HE JEWS did not confine themsubsidies twards Ministers’ sala­ x selves to the capital cities. Num­ ries. After the settlement of these bers took up land and many fami­ outstanding matters little contact lies assisted in the pioneering of was made or was necessary be­ country towns, especially in New tween the Jews as a body and the South Wales and Victoria, as own­ Government so that they were free ers of stores, hotels and other busi­ to concentrate upon their internal nesses. In some of the larger towns affairs. Growth in numbers and congregations developed and Syna­ prosperity soon came so that the gogues were built. Their names original Synagogues were too small. and dates of commencement give The Boards of Management of some indication of the wide-spread these early congregations con­ Jewish settlement of last century: trolled or guided all Jewish activity Ballarat 1855, Bendigo 1856, Gee­ with the result that their leaders long 1854, Goulburn 1871, Maitland were acknowledged as heads of the 1879, Toowoomba 1872, Coolgardie Jewish community both by Jews 1894, Kalgoorlie, 1896, Newcastle and Gentiles. 1901. Despite the existence of country Exactly similar principles gov­ erned the history of the Jews in all congregations the vast majority of the colonies (now called States). Australia Jewry lived, in the last Shortly after their several founda­ century as in this, in the two chief tions Jews arrived, busied them­ capitals, Sydney and Melbourne. By selves in establishing congregations 1871 there were 7.000 Jews scat­ and prospered. The most vigorous tered over the continent. The development was in the 1840,s, al­ Sydney and Melbourne Synagogues though the gold rushes of the fol­ were far too small, even though lowing decade gave a fillip to the off-shoots now existed, and in 1878 growth of Jewries in Victoria. The the present spacious Great Syna­ Synagogue in Hobart was founded gogue in Sydney was consecrated. in 1843, that of Launceston in 1844, Extensions to the Melbourne build­ Melbourne in 1841 (only four years ing were made in 1877. For many after the foundation of the city) years the Great Synagogue and the 58

Jewish LIFE

Melbourne Hebrew Congregation who are most imbued with the reli­ carried on as the central Jewish gious spirit are, all too often, un­ institutions, but the growth of able or unwilling to accept the bur­ population and the necessity for a den of leadership quite apart from greater number of organizations to the fact that, being in a minority, provide channels of activity re­ they will have little chance of sulted in the birth of a number of election. bodies all more or less connected with the Synagogues. Movement of ■FHERE ARE, especially in Sydney population within the cities led and Melbourne, orthodox con­ eventually to the growth of new gregations. They spring from the Synagogues, not all conforming to more recent arrivals, particularly the ideas of the parent bodies, and from those who came from Poland the diversity of origin of the mig­ in the years before the war. There rants assisted in the splitting of is in all these bodies a sprinkling of effort. Many were not happy in the German and, especially in Mel­ English environment and sought bourne, a virile group of Hungary other avenues in which they could ian Jews. Their numbers are small retain more of the habits of their and as yet their influence has to native land. Resulting from these make itself felt in the community trends we have the present position at large. One group in Sydney has in Sydney and Melbourne where recently built itself a beautiful there are a number of Synagogues little synagogue capable of seating and organizations catering for a some 300 people, and has estab­ wide diversity of opinions and acti­ lished shiurim each week-night in­ vities. The smaller capital cities cluding a course in Talmud Baba still have only one Synagogue each, Metzia in English given by a young conservative rather than orthodox Rabbi from London. In Melborune in tendency. orthodox strength is largely cen­ Orthodoxy, however, is still a tered in one suburb where the in­ live force. Even in the conserva­ fluence of Rabbi Gurewicz (who tive congregations there are many was recently in America) is out­ whose life is orthodox. It is these, standing. In the other capital cities a minority though they be, who Orthodoxy makes itself felt only to give the spiritual strength to their the extent that individuals can in­ congregations. It is a pity that fluence synagogue practice and more of them are not among the Jewish life and thought. In Perth, leaders. Leadership, however, is for instance, the orthodox element still the preserve of the successful retains sufficient strength to be rather than the religious, a fact able each year to out-vote a motion which has drawn severe criticism calling for a mixed choir, but in by certain of the Rabbis in recent the older established conservative months. It is probable that little congregations in Sydney and Mel­ alteration can be expected, for those bourne no group could do so. 59 April, 1950

The effect of the swamping of the orthodox has been most serious from one point of view. It has long been Anglo-Jewish tradition, in which Australia shares, that the Rabbi's position is not one of lead­ ership but rather one of communal service at the behest of his Board of Management. The result, all too often, is that the Rabbi's freedom to teach Judaism as he sees it is restricted. A preacher who, for in­ stance, constantly insisted on Kashruth would speedily find himself reprimanded by his Board. A relig­ ious leader who viewed with dis­ taste the action of the lay heads in themselves disregarding Jewish law would, at the least, be unwise to say so from his pulpit. All this tends to blunt the Jewish consci­ ousness of a community. Probably the only way in which this trend can be overcome is for more of the. orthodox to seek positions of lead­ ership and to bring their influence to bear so that the Rabbi becomes, free to undertake his task—the training of his community in Jew­ ish living. Australia probably is not alone in this unfortunate state of affairs. English and American newspapers prove that similar problems exist in those countries. TJO EXAMINATION of Jewish 1 life in Australia would be com­ plete without reference to the pres­ ent tragic position of Jewish edu­ cation, even though the communi­ ties elsewhere are suffering simi­ larly. Great hopes have been held out by the establishment of a Day School in Melbourne and by the 60

promise of one for Sydney. These schools will solve the problem for a number of children, but they can­ not cope with all those who need Jewish education. For them there are only the afternoon and Sunday Hebrew classes together with (in some States) brief religion lessons in the Government schools. It has been the practice in New South Wales and Victoria for over half a century for all denominations to have the right of entry for a stated period each week to those schools, but unfortunately the period is too short and difficulties of grading too great to allow of much useful work being done. Classes of the Talmud Torah type are carried on devotedly but the whole system needs reorganizing and the attitude of parents towards Jewish educa­ tion needs revitalizing. Many Jew­ ish leaders are at present actively concerned in attempting to improve educational facilities and, although the present position is bad, there are hopes for improvement over the next few years. The most striking manifestation of Jewish life in Australia in re­ cent years has, of course, been the growth of Zionism. If little is said of it here that is not because it is unimportant, but rather because Zionist development has proceeded in Australia along the same lines as those which it has followed in other countries of the Diaspora. The establishment of Israel has brought about a new spirit in many people, although the unhappy events which preceded it alienated many Australian Jews who comJewish LIFE

bined with their Jewishness a de­ voted loyalty to Britain. This phase is, however, passing with the im­ provement in relations between Britain and Israel. The majority of Australian Jewry is, one feels, wholeheartedly in sympathy with Israel although, of course, attach­ ment to it has infinite variations. J^OTHING MORE than a general view is here possible but closer examination will show that that at­ tempt to sum up Australian Jewish history and thought in a few words is not inaccurate. The story of all Jewries of the Commonwealth, large and small, has proceeded along the same way, differing in de­ tail rather than in effect. The main distinction which can be drawn be­ tween the large communities of Sydney and Melbourne on the one hand and the smaller communities on the other is one of size. As these smaller Jewries grow they will almost certainly find the dif­ ferences of approach and dissen­ sions . arising in the same way as they have in Sydney and Melbourne. Again the names of those partici­ pating in the communal growth have differed but their ideal, the building up of a Jewry in Australia, has been the same. There is no branch of Australian activity in which Jews have not shared. In politics, commerce, law, local government* the armed forces, medicine,. sport, Jews have been prominent. The variety of occupa­ tions has been as great as the di­ vergences between their interests April, 1950

in communal matters, One result of this spread of interest has been the necessity, Telt particularly for the last few years, for a large num­ ber of organizations within the community. Bodies have been cre­ ated in all States devoted to chari­ ty, education, worship, sport, social activities, Zionism, Jewish politics of various types and, in later years, communal organization and coor­ dination. These last-named groups have finally, after more than a cen­ tury of Jewish life, come together in one Executive Council of Aus­ tralian Jewry which acts in all mat­ ters affecting the community as a whole as its official spokesman. The earliest Jews of this coun­ try were, as has been said, English but there have always been con­ siderable migrations from countries other than Britain. It is not pos­ sible to say how many of the modern Jewish communities are British or non-British by birth but it is clear that the English element is still strong though its influence is weakening. The population trend of the last century shows that the community has grown by migration rather than by natural increase, with the result that much of the burden of maintaining the commun­ ity in existence has fallen on the migrants rather than on the native-born whose drift has become alarming. It has been said with considerable truth that Australian Jewry lives only because of migra­ tion. Large though the migration has been it has never swamped the British feeling of Australian Jew­ ry. Though the migrant himself 61

may retain much from the land of his birth his children become as other Australians. Many of the outstanding names of Australian Jewry have been the children of non-British parents, two outstanding among them being Sir Isaac Isaacs, who was the first Australian-born Governor General and a Chief Justice of the High Court, and General Sir John Mon­ ash, who commanded the Austral­ ian Armies in the First World War. The service which two men such as these gave is by far the best in­ dication of two trends which mark

Australian Jewish history: the com­ plete equality of the Jew with the non-Jew in Australia and the abil­ ity of the children of non-British parents to* assimilate themselves completely into Australian life without at the same time losing their Jewish identity. As long as Australian Jewry can produce men of this type the community here will continue to be honored both by its own members and by those outside it. That is the lesson of Australian Jewish history as it has for more than a century been the aim of Australian Jews.

THE EXODXJS FBOM EGYPT All agree that when Israel was redeemed from Egypt they were redeemed in the evening, for it is said: The Lord thy Gr-d brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. But they did not actually leave Egypt till the daytime, for it is said: On the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with a high hand.

—BEBAKOTH, 9a. THE COTJBT OF HEAVEN The Sages said: a man may in some cases not be liable in a court of men, but he will be liable in the Court of Hea­ ven. —BABA METZIA, 82b.

62

Jewish LIFE

By A . A. DAVIDSON JSjJjh RIGHT, yon can laugh at men like Barney Brettshneider i t ’s very easy to laugh; you should be ashamed. Who built up our American Jewish community, if it wasn’t men like Barney Brettshneider? And who was it organized the fund that put up our beautiful new Talmud Torah build­ ing here in Philipsburgh ? Barney Brettshneider—that’s who. Not like some of these other Jews. Some of these people, they haven’t even got a mezuzah on their house. Barney’s got one on his store. What do you think of that ? A wonderful family of children he and the Mrs. raised, let me tell you. The four boys and the girl—what’s her name? Flora. You remember—sure. Named after Barney’s wife’s mother, Bluma Ruchel, the old lady’s name was. A fine old*? type Jewish lady: never learned to speak English. I t ’s too bad about the girl. Never mind, “ You heard”—I know the whole story, I got it straight from Barney. He had practically tears in his eyes. The son-in-law, he’s an accountant over in Port Benja­ min. Makes a nice living, I understand. Didn’t cause any trouble before this business come up about Pesach. April, 1950

63

£ V E R Y YEAR Barney makes a Seder. Closes up the Store could be even Friday night, makes no difference,-— Barney closes up the Store and makes Seder. So last month the girl, Flora, that is, and her husband, they were visiting over here. Barney reminds them they got to come for Seder, bo you know what he says, the son-in-law % He says, No, he’sgoing to make Seder himself, in Port Benjamin. , Barney pleaded with him, Mrs. Brettshneider cried, the boys asked him, you’ve been married not even a year, why do you want to make trouble? What will people think, the whole family will be here, and you and Flora won’t be here? He says, No. A heart of stone. Makes no difference, he says, because i t ’s thirty miles from Port Benjamin to Philipsburgh, he says; and on Pesaeh, he says, you dasn’t ride. Now whoever heard ef such a thing? To go to a Seder, i t ’s a mitzvah, and he says No, and Flora says her husband is right. He must have her hypnotized or something, is the only thing I can think of. I tell you it s a shame. A religious fellow like Barney, and his only daughter won’t come to Seder. He had practi­ cally tears in his eyes when he was telling me. But the young people nowadays, they got no respect for tradition.

THE PIOTJS OP ALL GENERATIONS Rabbi Meier Shalom of Porissov said: Of those who put their faith in the pious men of former generations but mistrust the G-d fearing men of their own days, Scripture says, ‘The Lord will have war with Amalek from genera­ tion to generation.1 Those who differentiate generations and say that only up until a certain time in the ¿ast were there pious men but from that time on they have censed and are no more, Scripture calls ‘Amalek from generation to genera­ tion/ and Gr-d dislikes them and wages war against them. H -D ER EC H ZADIKIM, p.25.

64

Jewish LIFE

M A NISHTANAH halaylah hazAeh mikol haleyloth? Why is this night different from all other nights?” . . . Year after year is this ageless question asked, not only by the youngest but even unto the oldest member of the family. We gaze upon the Seder table with awe — and with reverence. The flickering rays of the candles proudly shed their light on the gleaming silver bechers set at each plate, on the exquisitely embroid­ ered satin matzoh cover, the beauti­ ful silver Seder plate with its Heb­ rew letters, '■<the special cup for Eliyohu Hanovi — all heirlooms, passed on from father to son and from mother to daughter. And with these material symbols our fathers and mothers give into our keeping the family traditions which binds one generation to the other—which keeps Judaism alive and flour­ ishing. Yet there is something more on Miss Block is associated With the New York State Food Marketing: Service, which is con­ ducted by Cornell University. During World War II she served with the New York State E m e r g e n c y F o o d Commission, where she founded the Kashruth Division, which pre­ pared low-cost Kosher food nvenus.

April, 1950

EDITOR'S NOTE: The commercially prepared ingredients mentioned in this article in the Menu Plan and Recipes must, of course, be proper for use on Passover and have the required reli­ able endorsement attesting to the fact that they have been prepared in ac­ cordance with the requirements of Jew­ ish law. One is permitted to use all green vegetables on Passover except rice, millet, peas and beans.

the Seder table—-a centerpiece of flower^iSof yellow jonquils per­ haps, and purple iris. For Pesach is celebrated not only to commemo­ rate our freedom from bondage of ancient years but it is also one of the Shalosh Regolim, our first spring festival, and with its flowers and greenery, it heralds in new life, new hope. And so do we see on one table a blending of the old and the new—? of the ancient traditions of past generations with the hopes and aspirations of each new generation. Such is Pesach—the one holiday of the year where ,so much cere­ mony takes place at home, right at the family table. It is fitting, there65

If f t

TO OUR READERS

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The firms whose products and services are advertised in 9 JEWISH LIFE are helping us to carry on our work. Please

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I ? patronize them. I PLEASE N O TE: Food and kindred products for yearI round use, not including Passover, as well as products for tt | Passover use, are among those advertised in the following % ? 1f pages. Products which are Kosher for Passover are so desig­ nated in these advertisements. f J ewish Life f T 1

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Jewish LIEB

fore, that many of the mitzvoth of this holiday are given to the mis­ tress of the house. To her is en­ trusted the very preparation of the Seder plate itself — in the upper tight-hand corner the shankbone to represent the paschal lamb; to)theleft of it, the roasted egg for the sacrifice offered in Temple days; in the center of the Vplate, tjhe ground horseradish pr “mpror” |o recall the bitterness of our” slavery in Egypt; in the lower right-hand forner, the mixture p f chopped wal­ nuts, apples and red wine, or “charOseth,” to rèsériiblë^thè mortar of the bricks our ancestors made for Pharaoh; and in the lower lefthand corner, sprigs of parsley or cither green vegetable—a symbol of spring and of hope. Each of these symbols the hostess carefully ar­ ranges on the special Seder piâte just as.did;her moth^&nd grand­ mother before her.

tomatoes and baked eggs in sour cream are worthy of being recorded for posterity. Thus the family rec-l ipe box also has a blending of the old and the new—the old, tradition­ al dishes of yesteryear and new ones made possible because of the many new products now permissible for Pesach. Therefore you can plan as nutri­ tious and well-balanced menus for this special week as for the rest of the year. Just as always; you will make siire that beach day's meals contain foods from each of the fol­ lowing seven food groups: (Notes: The Basic Seven Food Groups have been somewhat modified for use during Pesach), THE BASIC SEVEN FOOD GROUPS

Group I—Leafy, Green and Yel­ low Vegetables (One or more ser­ vings daily) Group II—Citrus Fruit, Toma-| TN LIKE MANNER she follows toes, Raw Cabbage, Other High * tradition too, in the preparation Vitamin-C Foods (One or more ser­ of the elaborate dinner whicli fol­ vings daily.) lows the Seder service; The old Group III—Potatoes and Other family recipe box holds the secrets to a myriad of wonderful dishes, Vegetables and Fruits (Two or such as gefilte fish, kneydelach, more servings daily). |>orshig, tzipwnis, gefilte helzel; #rier:§, Group IV—Milk, Cheese, Cream |>en pie, ^ potato latkes, stuffed^ .¿Two ’to three servings daily where kneydelacii" browned in honey, ing- possible.) . ber, noant and so many others. To­ Group V—Meat, Poultry, Fish, day's housewife also adds some of Eggs, Nuts (One serving daily.) : ■\ her own favorite recipes to the box Group VI — Matzoh (especially! before she passes it on to hef daughter. Surely such concoctions whole wheat) and Matzoh Prod­ as orange pudding, Pesachdig lem­ ucts (Some daily.) ” * Group VII — Butter (Some: on meringue pie, baked fish rollbps, matzoh cinnamon toast, grilled daily.) 67 1950 H

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68

Jewish L II'E

JDY REFERRING to the above Basic Seven Groups you will find no difficulty in planning attractive and appetizing meals for the week of Pesach, Let your meals be espe­ cially attractive during this time, for Pesach is a joyous holiday and the spirit of the beautiful Seder table should last through the entire week, not just the Seder nights. The following Pesach Menu Plan will, no doubt, suggest to you many of your own favorite menus: (Note: Kitchen-tested recipes for those items marked by * are given here.) SATURDAY Seder Dinner

Gefilte Fish on Escarole * Borsht Potted Chicken Honey-Apple Rings Steamed Asparagus Roast Potatoes Whole Wheat Matzos Celery and Carrot Curls Fresh Pineapple Sticks Tea or Demi-Tasse Walnut Cake *

Seder Dinner

Celery Sticks Stuffed with Chopped Liver Chicken Soup with Kneydelach * Boiled Chicken Gefilte Helzel Tzimmis Whole Wheat Matzoh Tossed Green Salad Tomato Wedges Pesachdig Lemon Meringue Pie* Tea

; '

MONDAY Breakfast

Stewed Pears Baked Eggs in Sour Cream * Whole Wheat Matzoh, Butter Milk or Coffee Lunch

Grapefruit Juice Sweetbread and Mushroom Casserole Sliced Tomato and Green Pepper Rings Cinnamon-Noodle Pudding Tea

SUNDAY Breakfast

Orange Wedges Matzoh Cinnamon Toast * Coffee or Milk Lunch

Grapefruit and Tangerine Fruit Cup Roast Tongue with Gravy Grieben Pie * Raw Vegetable Salad Bowl Apple Pudding Honey Cookies * Tea

April, 1950

69

DAIRYLEA

MILK and CREAM Kosher for Passover

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Buy DAIRYLEA MILK at your grocer's, or phone: MOtt Haven 9-3776 JUdson 6-3200 TRiangle 5-1800

i I I

Dinner ^

Toasted Nut Cake Milk or Coffee

Borsht Broiled Mackerel Parsley Butter Carrots Baked Potato Asparagus Spears Mixed Green1Salad Apf>le Fritters Milk or Coffee

Dinner

Broiled Grapefruit Swiss Steak Julienne Potatoes Shredded Cabbage and Carrot Salad Sponge Cake with Strawberry Whip Topping* Tea

TUESDAY Breakfast

THURSDAY

Strawberries and Cream Matzoh Meal Pancakes with Marmalade Milk or Coffee

Breakfast

Fresh Grapefruit Juice Matzoh Brei Cocoa

Lunch

Tomato Soup Baked Acorn Squash * Buttered String Beans Sliced Fresh Pineapple Honey Cake, ¿a . Milk or Coffee

Lunch

>

Dinner

Vegetable Soup Broiled Liver with Onion Rings Mashed Potato Steamed Broccoli Radish and Cucumber Salad SteWed Pears Walnut Cake * Tea or Demi-Tasse WEDNESDAY Breakfast

Orange Juice Poached Eggs on Matzoh Cocoa or Coffee Lunch

Baked Salmon Steak Beets filled with Horseradish * Escalloped Potatoes Brussels Sprouts Mixed Green Salad

April, 1950

Cheese Blintzes with Sour Cream Whole Tomato Stuffed with Celery Chopped Eggs, Green Pepper Apple Sauce Coffee Dinner

Fresh Vegetable Soup Baked Fish Roll-Ups * Potato Latkes Celery and Carrot Sticks Orange Pudding * Cookies Milk or Coffee FRIDAY Breakfast

Half Grapefruit Cheese Omelet Milk or Coffee Lunch

Eggplant Pancakes * Grilled Tomato Hearts of Lettuce with Sour Cream Stewed Pears Honey Cookies * Milk or Coffee

71

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Dinner

RECIPES

Gefilte Fish on Chicory * Borsht Pot Roast Mashed Potatoes Steamed Broccoli Sliced Tomatoes and Cucumbers Apple Sauce Lemon-Frosted Cup Cakes * Tea SATURDAY Breakfast

Baked Apple Sponge Cake Milk or Tea Lunch

Avocado and Grapefruit Salad Roast Veal Julienne Potatoes Parsley Potatoes Parsley Carrots Tomato Slices on Escarole Strawberry Whip Tea Dinner

Honeydew Melon Balls French Meat Loaf Stuffed Kneydelach Browned in Honey * Raw Vegetable Salad Bowl Sponge Cake Squares * Tea or Demi-Tasse SUNDAY Breakfast

Tangerine Sections Matzoh Cereal Cocoa Lunch

Tomato Soup Steamed Vegetable Plate of: Beets, Spinach, Cauliflower Matzoh Cheese Pudding Baked Apple Milk or Coffee

April, 1950

Gefilte Fish Serves 4-6

lb. yellow pike lb. white fish 1 lb. perch 3 eggs, separated % cup cold water ■ teaspoon sugar dissolved in the water cup matzoh meal 2 medium onions, grated 1 medium onion, sliced 1 carrot, grated Salt, pepper to taste Grind fish, add grated onions and carrot. Mix well, adding water gradu­ ally, alternately with matzoh meal. Add egg yolks and mix. Then fold in beaten egg whites. Add seasonings to taste. Wrap all fish bones in skins and place in bottom of fish pot. Add sliced onion (in bottom of pot). Wet hands and form fish mixture into large or small balls, as desired. Place in pot and fill with cold water enough to almost cover fish. Sim­ mer (using asbestos mat under pot) for 2 hours. After first hour, add a little cold water occasionally, as needed;,. If desired, add whole carrots about 10 minutes before fish is finished. Serve with beets, filled with horse­ radish or garnish with carrot rings. 14 4

I-V2

KNEYDELACH Serves 4-6

4 eggs, separated Yl cup cold water 1 cup matzoh meal .1 teaspoon salt Dash of pepper Beat egg whites, adding seasonings, until stiff. Fold in yolks and then cold water. Gradually add matzoh meal and blend well. Coyer. Place in refrigerator

73

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74

And the Entire Year Look for the name

t% k e a & tf o ? ie < k On every product

Jewish LIFE

and let stand for Yl hour. Form into large or small balls (as desired) and drop into boiling soup; or into \-Yl quarts of boiling water into which 1 tablespoon of salt has been added. Cook 20 minutes. STUFFED KNEYDELACH BROWNED IN HONEY Serves 4-6

4 eggs, separated 3 tablespoons chicken fat j/ 2 cup cold water 1 cup matzoh meal 1 teaspoon salt ¡ Dash of pepper Pitted prunes Yi cup honey Beat egg whites, adding salt and pepper, until stiff. Cream yolks with 1 tablespoon chicken fat. Add cold water, then matzoh meal and blend well. Form into balls, stuff each with a pitted prune. Drop into boiling water. Cook 20 minutes. Remove from water. Boil Yi cup honey with 2 tablespoons chicken fat in a deep casserole. Drop balls into boiling : honey, cover, bake in medium oven (350 °F.) about Yl hour dr until golden brown. Sprinkle with ground nuts, if desired. GRIEBEN PIE Serves 4-6

6 medium-sized potatoes 3 eggs I Grieben i Salt, pepper to taste Peel and boil potatoes. Mash or grate fine. Blend well with the eggs and seasonings. Melt 1 tablespoon chicken fat in an 8-inch or 9-inch pie plate and spread half thè potato mixture in bot­ tom. Add layer of grieben. Cover with remainder of potato mixture. Sprinkle top with paprika, if desired. Bake in

April, 1950

medium oven (350°F.) for about 15 min­ utes. Serve hot as side-dish with meat. BAKED EGGS IN SOUR CREAM Serves 4

4 eggs 4 tablespoons sour cream Drop an egg into each of 4 greased, individual baking cups. Top with 1 tablespoon of sour cream on each egg. Bake in moderate oven (325°F.) for about 15 minutes or until eggs "set.“ BAKED FISH ROLL-UPS Serves 4

4 flounder fillets Yi cup cooked spinach, strained 1 egg 4 tablespoons matzoh meal 4 slices tomato Salt, pepper to taste Mix spinach well with egg, matzoh meal and seasonings. Spread mixture on fillets and roll up each one like a "jelly roll.“ Fasten with toothpicks Place each fillet on its side in a small greased baking dish. Place slice of tomato on top of each, dot with butter and sprinkle lightly with some matzoh meal. Bake in moderate oven (325°F.) for about Yl hour. EGG PLANT PANCAKES

1 cup eggplant pulp, mashed 3 eggs, separated ¡4 cup matzoh meal salt, pepper to taste Bake a small eggplant as you would a potato. Peel off skin and mash pulp. Use 1 cup in recipe. Combine eggplant with egg yolks and matzoh meal. Mix well. Add stiffly beaten whites, to which has been added salt and pepper. Melt fat in frying pan and make very hot. Drop by tablespoonful into hot fat and fry only until crust begins to

75

This Passover enjoy the best

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FO R P A S S O V E R G O O D M A N ' S Delicious Matzos and Matzo Products

Baked under Supervision of RABBI MENDEL CHODROW

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Pareve pat : Oil : Honey Kosher Soap : Kosher Cleanser

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AND THIS PASSOVER Ask for

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Carmel Brand Wines are produced, bottled and seaied in the wine cel­ lars of Rishori le Zion and distri­ buted exclusively in the U. S. A. by the ,.

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I. M. Kowalsky, Pres. 8 WEST 28th ST. NEW YORK 1

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76

PALESTINE HOUSE, INC. Jewish LIFE

form. Turn and fry on other side. BEETS FILLED WITH HORSERADISH

Wash, boil and peel large beets— one per person to be served. With tea­ spoon, scoop out inside. Fill with salad dressing or horseradish and use" to garnish salads or fish plates. BAKED ACORN SQUASH Serves 4

2 acorn squash Salt Butter or other shortening 4 teaspoons honey Wash and cut squash in halves. Re­ move seeds and stringy portions. Dot inside of each half with butter or shortening, sprinkle with salt and 1 teaspoon honey. Place in shallow bak­ ing pan. Cover and bake in hot oven (400°F.) for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove cover and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes. Serve at once. MATZOH CINNAMON TOAST Serves 4

6 eggs Yl tablespoon salt 3 tablespoons shortening 6 matzos Mix eggs and salt. Break matzos in­ to large equal pieces. Dip each piece in egg mixture and fry in shortening until light brown on both sides. Serve hot, sprinkled with sugar and cinna­ mon mixture, HONEY COOKIES

1 cup sugar 1 cup honey • 3 tablespoons shortening 3 eggs 1 teaspoon cinnamon Yl orange, grated Yl cup chopped nuts 2-Yi cups sifted matzoh meal Mix everything together in above

April, 1950

order and blend well. Grease cookie sheets and dust with matzoh meal. Drop batter onto pans with teaspoon, keeping cookies far apart from each other. Bake in moderate oven (325°F.) about 12-15 minutes. INGBER (Carrot-Ginger Candy)

2 cups grated raw carrots (about 12 large carrots) 2 cups honey Yl cup sugar 2 to 2 -J/ 2 teaspoons ginger (depending on strength desired) Mix carrots, honey and sugar. Blend well. Cook on medium flame with asbestos mat under saucepan. When mixture begins to boil, stir occasionally and begin to time. Cook for 45-55 min­ utes or until all liquid is absorbed. Re­ move from fire, add ginger and cook 5 minutes longer. Put out Yl inch thick, onto a sugared board. Sprinkle sugar' on top and cut into small diamonds of squares. Let dry on board about Yl hour, remove with spatula. Makes about 65-75 \~Yi inch diamonds. BASIC SPONGE CAKE

8 eggs, separated 2 cups sugar 1 lemon, juice and rind Yi orange, juice ancf rind ¡4 teaspoon salt 14 cup potato starch % cup cake meal Beat egg whites until stiff, gradually adding sugar and salt. Fold in fruit juices and rinds (which have been grated). Add well-beaten egg yolks Sift potato starch and cake meal to­ gether three times and fold into egg mixture. Line a greased cake pan and bake in moderate oven (325°F.) for 1 hour.

77

T I f.

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Unprecedented Demand for Unparalleled Interest in tKe

LOON

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78

Jewish LIFE

WALNUT CAKE

Add Yl cup finely chopped walnuts and 1 teaspoon cinnamon to BASIC SPONGE CAKE recipe. LEMON FROSTED CUP CAKES

Fill muffin tins 3/4 full with BASIC SPONGE CAKE batter and bake about Yl hour. When cup cakes are cool, frost with LEMON FROSTING. PESACHDIG LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Fill 8-inch lined pie plate half full with Yl amount of BASIC SPONGE CAKE. Bake about Yl hour or until light gold in color." When cool, add LEMON FILLING and cover with meringue made by beating 3 egg whites and 6 tgblespoons sugar until stiff. Bake in hot oven (400 °F.) for 3 to 5 minutes or just until meringue turns light gold. LEMON FROSTING

2 egg whites l-J/2 cups sugar 3 tablespoons cold water 2 tablespoons lemon juice !4 teaspoon grated lemon rind Combine egg whites, sugar, water and lemon juice in top of double boiler. Beat thoroughly until mixed. Place over

April, 1950

boiling water, beating well, cooking 7 minutes or until frosting stands in peaks. Remove from fire, add lemon rind, beat until thick enough to spread. LEMON FILLING

7 tablespoons potato starch J| cup sugar Yl teaspoon salt Yl teaspoon shortening 1 tablespoon cold water 5 tablespoons lemon juice Grated rind of 1 lemon 4 egg yolks 2 cups boiling water Mix together potato starch, sugar, salt. Add cold water to make smooth paste. Add lemon juice and boiling water. Mix well. Cook 10 minutes, stir­ ring continually. Remove from fire. Add shortening. Mix, then add the egg yolks. Cook 2 minutes longer. Remove from fire. Add lemon rind. Cool before placing on sponge cake. ORANGE PUDDING

Substitute orange juice and rind of Yl orange for the lemon juice and rind in the above LEMON FILLING RECIPE.

79

Now! Sava time and work with these famous

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80

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Jewish LIFE

A Restatement o f Fundamentals By ALEXANDER S. ROSENBERG F U N D A M E N T A L S OF JUD­ AISM. Selections from the works of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch and outstanding Torah-true thinkers. Edi­ ted by Jacob Breuer. 282 pp. Pub­ lished by the Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch Society and Philipp Feldheim, New York, 1949. TN DEALING with fundamentals of * Judaism, we must draw the line be­ tween what is the minimal require­ ment to be considered a Jew and what are the requirements to attain the ideal of Judaism. The interchange of these two different concepts often causes a great deal of confusion. There are those who would take a statement of minimal requirement and present it as the sum total of Judaism. On the other hand, there are those who would take “the Midoth Chasiduth” or “Lifnim M’shurath Hadin” attitudes of ethical and reli­ gious paragons as the norm of Judaism. “Fundamentals of Judaism” treats both aspects without making any dis­ tinction between them. There is pres­ ented the concept of monotheism, the sine qua non of Judaism, the basic and undisputed minimum of Jewish belief, denial of which would exclude one from the fold. And then we have the picture of the “G-d intoxicated” Jew whose every waking moment is ruled by the consciousness of G-d’s presence, “whose G-d-set life-task is

April, 1950

to be man and Yisroel (sic), to solve his task in mankind as Yisroel,” clearly an ideal rarely attained by any mortal. Likewise the chapter, “Precepts of Jewish Living” deals with the ethical principles of Judaism, self-mastery, compassion, love and the avoidance of their opposites, all of which are ideals for a pattern of Jewish living, but conformance to which does not neces­ sarily make a person a Jew nor does disregard of them exclude a Jew from the fold. Total Jewish living, which in­ cludes the highest ethical ideals of humanity and the most scrupulous ob­ servance of the minutiae of the cere­ monial laws of Judaism, is the pat­ tern in front of every one of the authors whose essays appear in this book. Reading “Fundamentals of Jud­ aism” gives one the feeling of study­ ing an album of portrait's of the great of a previous generation. You read here with nostalgic appreciation the utterances of choice spirits whose like it is difficult to find today. 1X7RITTEN with profound earnest* * ness of spirit, with fervent faith and deep intellectual insight, these essays have none of the pretentious­ ness of the sociological vapidities and psychological vacuities in which con­ temporary dissertations on Judaism abound. Nor is there any attempt in

81

Spry withCake-Improver —e a s y w a y to BETTER CAKES Try this luscious Devil's Food Cake Richer flavor—moist, fender texture—stays fresh longer lY i c u p s sifte d

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1 c u p bu tterm ilk or s o u r m ilk * 1 teasp o o n v a n illa 2 e g g s , u n b e a te n

* / / sweet m ilk is used , add teaspoon cream of tartar when sifting dry in ­ grédients.

Mix S p r y ’s easy O ne-B ow l way: Sift flour, sugar, cocoa, soda, and salt into mixing bowl. Drop in Spry (no creaming needed). Add milk, then vanilla, and beat 200 strokes (2 minutes by hand or mixer at low speed). Scrape bowl and spoon or beater. Add eggs and beat 200 strokes. Bake in two deep 8-inch Sprycoated layer pans in moderate oven (350°F.) 25-35min­ utes. Cool. Put 7 Minute Frosting between layers and on top. Deco­ rate with chocolate sprinkles. {All Spry is Kosher and Par eve. S p ry is made only from pure vegetable oils in fu ll conformity with Jewish dietary laws. I t contains no anim al fa t.)

Another Fine Product o f Lever Brothers Company

82

Jewish LIFE

these essays to explain away Judaism into meaningless platitudes with cringing apologies to everything that is non-Jewish. Samson Raphael Hirsch, whose commentaries on Bereyshith open the book, is a spiritual giant by all stand­ ards of measurement. His prophetic spirit breaks through the barriers of contemporary problems to deal with the problem of man and the Jew in his eternal struggle for fulfillment of his highest self. Isaac Breuer, a grandson of Samson Raphael Hirsch, whose essay appears towards the end of the book, rightly appraises Hirsch’s program of uniting “Torah with Derech Eretz,” the synthesis of Torah with contemporary culture, to apply to the cultural pattern of every gen­ eration. Thus he sees in the program of Hirsch a challenge to reconcile aspirations for a Jewish state with Torah-true Judaism. The book is divided into two parts. The first part contains selections from the writings of Samson Raphael Hirsch while the second includes es­ says by Rabbi Dr. Salomon Breuer, Dr. Mendel Hirsch, Rabbis Dr. David Hoffman, Dr. Joseph Wohlgemuth,

Rabbi Dr. Joseph Carlebach, Dr. Raphael Breuer, Dr. Isaac Breuer and Prof. Elias Fink. Positive in its Jewishness, courage­ ous and edifying in presentation, “Fundamental of Judaism” ought to be read and re-read by Rabbi and lay­ men alike for inspiration and guid­ ance. The translators, Dr. I. Sossnitz, Dr. Gershon Kranzler, J. Gilbert and Paul Forchheimer, have done an excellent job of translating the dif­ ficult German style into smooth Eng­ lish. Always a difficult task, this is particularly so in the case of the German of Samson Raphael Hirsch, known for his intricate, classic style. A few Germanisms have crept into the English here and there, but not enough to mar the smooth beauty of its language. Jacob Breuer, grandson of Samson Raprael Hirsch and editor of this book, ,has manifested fine judgement in the portions selected. He and the Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch So­ ciety, of which Rabbi Dr. Joseph Breuer is chairman, may be com­ mended for presenting to the English reading public the works of such emi­ nent spokesmen of genuine Judaism.

THE UNWED A man without a wife lives without good, without help, without joy, without blessing, and without forgiveness. —KOHELETH RABBAH, IX, 9.

April, 1950

83

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PUBLIC WORSHIP Judaism's greatest contribution to humanity is in the domain of public worship, where alone man develops the wings and the capacity to soar into an

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Dreft Washes Dishes C LEANER — FASTER — BETTER than any soap ! Use it confidently! This marvelous suds discovery — Dreft—leaves no dishwater film—washes dishes cleaner than soap. What’s more, Dreft complies with the most rigid Jewish dietary laws.

KOSHER and PARVE Approved for meat and dairy dishes by Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.

84

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D reft washes dishes so clean they S H IN E — even without wiping !

Jewish LIFE

$ ^

Best wishes fo r a

I

| (|||oyous | Passover ^

loft Candy shops

a

^ j| ¥ f f f $

are always ready to serve you with Candy gifts of good taste.

I ENDORSED BY LEADING ORTHODOX RABBIS

April, 1950

loft chocolates*as fine as you can give

85

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THE HEBREW BIBLE The Hebrew Bible is the greatest treasure the world possesses—the price­ less treasure of all mankind, of which the Jews have been the faithful cus­ todians. —Moses Gaster

FINEST HUMAN HAIR The most trustworthy source for au­ thentic, approved wigs . . . serving orthodox American and European wives for more than 40 years. Write or telephone for TREE informa­ tion. Or come in for a personal con­ sultation without obligation.

ZAUDER BROS. 75 West 45th Street New York 19, N. Y.

PAUL'S INN MONTICELLO, N. Y.

OPEN YEAR ROUND Under Rabbinical Supervision • Cozy Atmosphere - Television Finest Kosher Meals Entertainment • ENJOY LOW RATES NOW • Your Country Hotel in Town ^ Tel. Monticello 444 N. Y. (Eve.) PR 2-8066

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KIDDUSH LOU G. SIEGEL, Inc. America’s Largest Kosher Restaurant

209 WEST 38th STREET New York, N. Y.

WINE

ISRAELI HUNGARIAN AMERICAN • WINES • BRANDY • SLIVOVITZ S tric tly K osh er fo r P a sso v er

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This Kosher establishment is sanctioned by members of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada and is under the constant personal supervision of Rabbi H. H. Orenstein.

86

M. FLATOW, Pres. 2648 BROADWAY at 100th ST. EAST SIDE OF BROADWAY We Deliver Tel. ACademy 2-7770

Jewish LIFE

@ KOSHER

A t A ll Stores Carrying Frozen Foods

Milady Food Products# Inc. B'klyn, N.Y.

KING DAVID HOTEL HURLEYVILLE, N. Y. Hurleyville 320 Remember our Day Camp — under supervision of experienced counsellors. M anagement ownership MAX REIFMAN and MAYER ZIEGLER For city information and reservations CALL PLaza 7-8693 HYacinth 8-8401 DEwey 9-8962

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A COMPLETE LINE of Beech-Nut Strained and Junior Foods—Veg­ etable Soups, Vegetables, Fruits and Desserts

“A C C E P T E D ” Beech-Nut high standards o f baby food production and all Beech-Nut baby food advertising have been ac­ cepted by the Council on Foods and N utrition o f the American M edical Association .

April, 1950

87

AIDS FOR THE STUDY OF HEBREW THE HEBREW TEACHER A Practical Grammar for Schools and SelfInstruction by Hyman E. Goldin, Grade I ....P r ic e .50 Grade I I ___ Price .60 MODERN HEBREW A text book for Adults. Compiled by Dr. Harry Blumberg and Rabbi H. Lewittes. Pric e

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$ 2 .2 5

SIPPURIM KALIM, HEBREW SHORT STORIES for High School by Dr. Edward Horowitz Price $1.25 MISIFRUTH HADOROTH Select Readings in Hebrew Literature. Edi­ ted by Dr. Harry Blumberg and Rabbi M. H. Lewittes ......... ..P rice $1.25 A VOCABULARY OF JEWISH LIFE Essential Hebrew Idioms, Translated and Transliterated into English by Rabbi A. M. H e lle r ..................................... Price $1.50 PRACTICAL HEBREW-ENGLISH DICTIONARY By Dr. Menahem G. Glenn........... Price $3.50 MODERN HEBREW LITERATURE Selection with Concise Biographical Notes, Exercises and Vocabularies. For 4th year High School or 3rd year College. Edited by George L. Epstein, M.S. and Max Zeldner, M.A. ............ ........I ............. . . . . . . . . P r i c e $2.25 STUDENTS’ HEBREW AND CHALDAIC DICTIONARY To the Old Testament by Alexander Harkavy .......... .......... ............................. Price $4.00

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SPARE-WAY Manufacturers of

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Supervised and endorsed by Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America

HEBREW

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77 Delancey St.________ New York

BLUE RIBBON POTATO CHIPS

Always Fresh, Crisp, Delicious Because They’re Triple-Sealed AND GOLD’S BORSCHT

88

Preferred Since 1900

Jewish L IFE

HOTEL BORENSTEIN 350 WEST BROADWAY Long Beach, L. I., New York

Now accepting reservations for Passover and the summer season Phone: Long Beach 6-2200 N. Y. Phone: ESplanade 2-4929

Kashruth Strictly Observed

L m A, New York’s Oldest Strictly Kosher Winery

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April, 1950

BROOKLYN. N. Y.

89

Tel. BElle Harbor 5—5771-1934-1834

" Your P a rty T o d a y — T h e T a lk o f T o m o r r o w "

W ASHINGTON HOTEL

Weddings - Confirmations - Dances

Catering for All Occasions

Conventions - Theatricals

Open All Year

HOTEL RIVERSIDE PLAZA 253 West 73rd Street New York City

Dietary Laws Strictly Observed Under Orth\>do:: Rabbinical Super v!sion Bernard

SUsquehanna 7-3000 LOUIS T. ROSENBAUM, Banquet Manager julius h . hirsch ; ; Promotion Manager DAVID'S. LÈISTNER, Managing Director

Management

124-05 Boulevard Rcckaway Park, N. Y.

J. Edward Saltzrnan THE WELL-KNOWN

KOSHER CATERER Announces that the Kosher Catering at the

HOTEL

D I P L O M A T

108 WEST 43rd STREET, NEW YORK

is under the supervision of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America Excellent accommodations for Banquets — Weddings — Bar Mitzvah Parties for groups of 50 to 1,000 people Kashruth is supervised by a representative of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations who is present in person at each function. Telephotie : BRyant 9-2487 - 8 - 9

90

Jewish LIFE

THE BRAVEST HERO Who is the bravest of 'the biav®? He who turns his enomyjinto a friend. SjfcA V O TH de-RABBI NATHAN, 28,

Kosher and ((Parve L O O K F O R T H E (0) O N EACH P A C K A G E AS THE SYM BOL OF RAB B IN IC AL SUPERVISION B A K E D IN T H E K O S H E R P R O D U C T S D I V I S I O N OF T H E T H O U S A N D WIN DOW B A K E R Y 0 F

April, 1950

Sutis/litie B tS C U ttS ,\wc. N EW V

91

UNION OF ORTHODOX JEWISH CONGREGATIONS OF AMERICA

KASHRUTH DIRECTORY List of Kosher commodities and services under the direct supervision and endorsement of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. WATCH FOR THIS SEAL: ® It is your guarantee that the product has been thoroughly investigated and every ingredient found to conform in every w ay with the Jewish Dietary Laws. Only such items are included in this directory as are directly endorsed and supervised by UOJC, which are marked by @. All products and services listed are passed upon by and receive the constant inspection of the Rab­ binical Council of America, Rabbinic body of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations. Consumers are cautioned to: 1. MAKE SURE THAT THE © SEAL IS ON THE LABEL OF EVERY FOOD PRODUCT. 2. READ CAREFULLY THE LIST OF INGREDIENTS OF EACH © PRODUCT TO ASCERTAIN WHETHER IT IS A MEAT OR DAIRY PRODUCT. THE ©T DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN THAT THE PRODUCT IS PAREVE.

ONLY PRODUCTS MARKED ©P HAVE THE DIRECT SUPERVISION AND ENDORSE­ MENT AS KOSHER FOR PASSOVER OF THE UNION OF ORTHODOX JEWISH CONGREGATIONS.

Please note that the © seal of Kashruth endorsement is exclusively the symbol of:

Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 305 BROADWAY, NEW YORK 7, N. Y.

Valid to May 31, 1950

92

BEekman 3-2213

Jewish LIFE

UOJC KASHRUTH DIRECTORY Items listed are for year-round use; not including Passover, except those marked P in addition to @. Baby Foods

© Heinz—with © label only. (H. J.

Heinz Co.) Strained Food Junior Food Cereal @ Beech-Nut Co. (with © label only)

C o ffe e

®P Beech-Nut Packing Co. (endorsed for Passover only) C o n d im e n ts

© P Gold's Horseradish (Gold Pure

Foods, Bklyn, N.Y.) ® Heinz (H.J. Heinz Co.)

Horse Radish 57 Sauce Worcestershire Sauce Chili Sauce Ketchup

Baked Beans

© Heinz Oven Baked Beans in mo­ lasses sauce (H.J. Heinz Co.) © Heinz Oven Baked Beans in toma­ to sauce (H.J. Heinz Co.) @ Van Camp's (Stokely Van-Camp) (with © label only) B u t te r

©P Ocoma Foods Co., N.Y.C. C a k e s , C o o k ie s a n d C r a c k e r s

© Golden Cracknel Egg Biscuits

(Golden Cracknel & Spec. Co., Detroit) © Ry-Crisp (Ralston-Purina, St. Louis) © Sunshine Krispy Crackers (with © label only) (Sunshine Biscuit Co. L.I.C., N.Y.) C a m p s — C h ild r e n

© Camp Mohaph, Glen Spey, N.Y. C a n d ie s

© Loft, Inc. C a te re rs

108 W. 43 St., N.Y.C. (Delano Caterers)

© Hotel Diplomat,

Chewing G u m © Wrigley's (Except Pepsin)

April, 1950

C o n v a le s c e n t H o m e s

® Dayton Nursing Home, 1884 Mar­

ion Ave., Bronx, N.Y. D e sse rts

© Kosher Gelatin Desserts (bulk on­

ly) (Van Dutch Prod., Bronx, N.Y.) D re s s in g s

© Cascade Salad Dressing (Table

Prod. Co. San Francisco) © Duchess Salad Dressing

(Table

Prod. Co.) © Garber's Misrochi Salad Dressing

(Garber Eagle Oil Corp., Bklyn) © Gold Crest Mayonnaise (Spare­

way Foods, Bklyn) © Gold Crest Melomaise (Spareway

way Foods) © Heinz Mayonnaise

(H. J. Heinz

Co.) © Nu

Made

Mayonnaise

(Table

Prod. Co.) © Piedmont Mayonnaise (Table Prod.

Co.)

93

UOJC KASHRUTH DIRECTORY

©

Items listed are for year-round use, not including Passover, except those marked P in addition to ©.

Eggs— F ro z e n IW h o le s a le i

© Milady Food Products, Brooklyn,

N. Y. Blintzes (blueberry, cherry, cheese, potato)

@P Ocoma Foods Co. F ish P r o d u c t s

© Haram (S. A. Haram Co., N.Y.C.)

Cream Herring Herring Cocktail Lunch Herring Matjes Fillets Salmon (in wine sauce) Spiced Herring Tidbits

H oney

*®P Garber Eagle Oil Co. H o u s e h o ld C le a n s e r s

(See also Scouring Powders) © Arctic Syntex M beads (bulk only)

©P Mother's Old Fashioned (Mother's Food Prod., Newark, N.J.) Gefilte Fish Sweet and Sour Fish © Westag Lemon (7/ar>le Prod. Co.) @ Westag Vanilla (Table Prod. Co.) Foo d P acka ges

© CARE, 50 Broad St., N.Y.C. F ro z e n F o o d s

Co.,

Brooklyn, N.' Y. Blintzes (cheese, potato) Cocktail Knishes Kashe Varnishkes Pancakes Pirogen ® Home Town Foods, Harris, N. Y. Blintzes (cheese) © I Declare Delicacies (Perth Amboy, ■ n . ' j .):

Gefilte Fish Knishes (Kashe, Potato) Kishke Noodle Pudding *

94

(Colgate- Palmolive-Peet) © Dreft (Procter <& Gamble) © Dif (Dif Co., Garwood, N.J.) © DuEv Household Degreaser (Du-

Ev Prod. Co., Bklyn, N.Y.)

F la v o r in g s

© Family Frozen Food Prod.

,

© Fab (Colgate-Palmolive-Peet) ® Glim (B. T. Babbitt, Inc.) © Hum (Theobald Industries) ©Kirkman Cleanser (Kirkman &

Sons Diy. of Colgate-PalmolivePeet) © Mel'O (Hygienic Prod. Co., Canton Ohio © Puro (Puro Co., Chicago) © Scoop (F.R. Corp., N.Y.) © Swerl (Allied Chem. & Dye Corp., N .Y .)

© Tide (Procter & Gamble © Vel (Colgate-Palmolive-Peet) Je lly

® Heinz (H.J. Heinz Co.) J u ic e

© Tomato (H.J. Heinz Co.)

Jewish LIFE

UOJC KASHRUTH DIRECTORY Items listed are for year-round use, not including Passover, except those marked P in addition to ©. M u s ta r d

© Heinz (H.J. Heinz Co.) O il— P e a n u t

©P Sterling Kosher Coarse Salt (International Salt Co.,) S a n d w ic h S p r e a d

©P Garber's Misrochi {Garber Eagle Oil Co.)

© Lunch Box (Table Prod. Co.) S c o u r in g P o w d e r

P o ta to C h ip s

© Blue Ribbon

(see also Household Cleansers)

(A. A. Walter Co.,

Albany, N.Y.) P e a n u t B u t te r

© Beech-Nut Pack. Co. © Beverly (Table Prod. Co.) © Heinz (H. J. Heinz Co.) © Real Roast (Table Prod. Co.) P re p a re d Fo o d s

© Kosher-Pak Sandwiches, 488 Al­

bany Ave., Bklyn, N.Y. © Rice Dinner (Mother's Food Prod.) R e lish e s, P ic k le s , e t c .

© Heinz (H. J. Heinz Co.) ® Mount Olive Pickle Co., Mt. Olive

N.C. Carolina Beauty Mopico Pick of Carolina Little Rebel Way Pack Play Mates © Spareway (Spareway Foods,

Bklyn, N.Y.) R e s o r ts

©P Pine View Hotel, Fallsburg, N.Y. S a lt

© Morton Coarse Kosher Salt

(Morton Salt Co., Chicago)

April, 1950

© Ajax (Colgate-Palmolive-Peet) © Bab-O (B. T. Babbitt Co.) © Ben Hur (bulk only) (Colgate-

Palmolive- Peet) © Babbitt's Cleanser (B. T. Babbitt

Co.) ©P Brillo Products (Brillo Mfg. Co., Bklyn, N.Y. ®P Garber's Misrochi Cleanser (Garber Eagle Oil Co.) © Lustro Polishing Powder (Pal Prod., Bklyn, N.Y.) @ Palco Polish Powder (Pal Prod.) © Pal-Lo (Pal Prod.) © My Pal (Pal Prod.) @ Sunbrite Cleanser (Swift & Co.) © Swift's Cleanser (Swift & Co.) S i l v e r P olish

© Edmur Silver Polish (Edmur Labor-

tories, Newark, NJ.) Soups

©P Gold's (Gold Pure Food Prod., Bklyn, N. Y.) Borscht; Russel © Heinz (H. J. Heinz Co.) Cream of Mushroom

95

UOJC KASHRUTH DIRECTORY Items listed are for year-round use, not including Passover, except those marked P in addition to ®. Condensed Cream of Mushroom Condensed Cream of Green Pea Condensed Gumbo Creole _ Condensed Cream of Tomato Condensed Vegetarian Vegetable ®P Mother's (Mother's Food Prod.) Borscht; Cream Style Borscht; Cream Style Schav © Mother's Mushroom and Barley © Old Mill (Table Prod. Co.)

Sy ru p

© Sleepy Hollow (Table Prod. Co.) T zitzis

(Rayon, for rayon taleythim) © Leon Vogel, 66 Allen St., N. Y. C. © M. Wolozin & Co., 36 Eldrige St.,

N. Y. C. © Zion Talis C., 48 Eldridge St.,

N. Y. C. V e g e t a b le S h o r te n in g

® Garber's Misrochi Pareve Fat

(Garber Eagle Oil Co.)

Spices ©P Kritz Spice Mills, Bklyn., N. Y. (endorsed for Passover only) ®P B. Fisher & Co., N. Y. C. En­ dorsed for Passover only) @P Garber's Misrochi (Garber Eagle Oil Co.)

® Humko (The Humkô Co., Memphis,

Term.) V in e g a r

©P Garber's Misrochi (Garber Eagle Oilv Co.) © Heinz (H.J. Heinz Co.)

---------------------------------------------Ï

Your standard of quality . . . for real chewing enjoyment

96

Jewish LIFE

Wétdieé

S e^m cB fab A/eu* (Religious Functionary Services)

United Service For New Americans is the only a g e n c y in A m er­ ica w hich provides all types of Religious Functionaries to A m er­ ican com m unities.

United Service For New Americans is the only a g e n cy th at trains prospective Religious F unctionary ap p lican ts in such courses a s Practical 'Rabbinics, Keriah-Tefilah, Shechitah, H ebrew te a c h i ing, canforate, etc., to b e tte r p re p a re them for A m erican-Jew ish com m unity life.

United Service For New Americans h a s served over 400 com m un­ ities in the p a st 4 years. United Service For New Americans helps thè "N ew A m ericans" b y serving y o u r needs.

United Service For New Americans invites you to a v a il yourself of their free services w h en in n e e d of Religious Functionaries.

m P lease telephone or write:

Rabbi Isaac N. Trainin, Director Religious F unctionary Services U nited Service for New A m ericans 15 Park Row, New York 7, N. Y. C O rtlandt 7-9700, ext. 470-471

mC o n)tenmted

iMUSHROOMi ISOUPI m

cream of

iGREENPEAJ

SOUP i

m

G m d ejited

CREAM OP I

Veg^ able/ i\ SOUP !

tomato

ISOUPI

| \ Without meat ll

m jm

CoruictiA&L

mean "KOSHER

GUMBO c r e o l e

FOR PASSOVER

lso up

HEINZ

®

FOODS ARE KOSHEROUT 0 KOSHER FOR PASSOVER

mm G m d en ted

. cream or

|SPARAGUSl

We are proud to carry on the labels of so many of the 57 Varieties the © seal of en­ dorsement of the UNION OF ORTHODOX JEWISH CONUREfATIONS OF AMER­ ICA. The © is your assurance that the Jewish Dietary Laws have been observed to ¿he last detail. In view of our extensive advertising of the © seal of endorsement, we feel it our duty to cleanup any misconception that may arise at this time of the year. Hence our annual pre-Passover statement! The © does not apply to Passover. To One and AU, at this Season of Liberation, GOOD “ Y O M T O Y 9

H. J. HEINZ COMPANY •4-

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA MAKERS OF THE 57 VARIETIES