Jewish Life June 1955

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Sivoit June

Albert Einstein — Scientist and Jew —

Elmer L . Offenbacher

Meaning of The Dead Sea Scrolls It Happened In 2005 Are Israeli Arabs Free?

Maimonidesln Modern Perspective Where David Encamped

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• EDITORIALS S aul B ernstein , Editor M. Morton R ubenstein D r. E ric Ofpenbacher R euben E. Gross R abbi S. J. S harpm an

Editorial Associates

ISRAEL AT BANDUNG A BATTLE IMPLICATIONS OF THE KNESSETH ELECTIONS

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M. J udah M etchik

Assistant Editor Cover by P aul H ausdorpp

Inside Illustration by N orman N odel

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Published by U nion of Orthodox J ew ish Congregations op A mérica Moses I. F euerstein

President Rabbi H. S. Goldstein, William Weiss, Samuel Nirenstein, William B. Herlands, Max J. Etra, Honorary Presidents; Samuel L. Brennglass, Nathan K. Gross, Benjamin Koenigsberg, Ben­ jamin Mandelker, Vice P res­ idents; Edward A. Teplow, Treasurer; Reuben E. Gross, Secretary.

• ARTICLES THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS Joseph Bcrumgarten ALBERT EINSTEIN—SCIENTIST AND JEW Elmer L. Offenbacher

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JAPAN'S FIRST MIKVAH 24 Israel Poleyoff A SONG OF DEGREES 26 A. A. Davidson ISRAEL AND THE ISRAELI ARABS ........ 39 I. Halevy-Levin MAIMONIDES 48 Meyer Waxman

• SHORT STORY SEATING ARRANGEMENTS ......................31 J. J. Yoshor

• FEATURES AMONG OUR CONTRIBUTORS

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ..MWMMff-. 59

• SERVICES KÄSHRUTH DIRECTORY

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Photo Credits: Pgs. 8, 10, 11, 13, 16, American Friends of the Hebrew University; Pg. 19, Wide World Photo; PgS; 42, 46, 50, H. Sonnenfeld ; Pg. 44, Picow, Three Lions; Pg. 55, Israel Speaks.

Among

Our

DR. ELMER L. OFFENBACHER is an"assistant professor of physics at Temple University. A graduate of Brooklyn College and the University of Pennsylvania, he served three years in the United States Navy. He was- a founder of the Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists and is active in religious communal affairs in Philadelphia.

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J. J. YOSHOR is an instructor of English at Abraham Lincoln High School and is on the staff of the Hebrew Educational Society in Brooklyn. He is a graduate of Yeshiva University.

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JOSEPH BAUMGARTEN is a graduatej^of Mesifta Torah Vodaath, where he received Semichah. A summa cum laude graduate of Brooklyn College,’ h |||e ceived his doctorate in Semitics from Johns Hopkins University. He has authored several monograms on that subject and is currently engaged in research work at the University.

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A. A. DAVIDSON needs no introduction to JEWISH LIFE readers, who have enjoyed his articles and stories over the past several years. One of the most promising young Jewish writers on the American sclene, hi s'"works have been published in leading periodicals. Yonkers born and bred, he served in the United States Navy during World War II and in the Israel Defense Army during the War of Liberation. *

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CHAPLAIN (1st Lt.) ISRAEL POLEYOFF is stationed in Yokohama, Japan, with the United States Army. He received Semichah from Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and is a graduate of Yeshiva College. He served as rabbi of Congregation Bikur Cholim in Olyphant, Pennsylvania, prior to his entrance into the chaplaincy.

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Jewish LIFE

ISRAEL AT BANDUNG

T\RAMATICALLY expressive of the sweep of human history has been the Conference of Asiatic and African Nations held recently ^at Bandung, Indonesia. The significance of the event lies in the gathering itself, rather than in any decisions taken there. Civilization, we are reminded, was born in the lands of the East, and flourished there for long ages while Europe remained barbaric. Hellenes and Romans ac­ quired from Egypt and the Orient the techniques of civilized life, and from the Jews the awareness of the Lord of the Universe. This they transmitted, in turn, to lands to the west and north. Roman power decayed and Europe sank back into semi-savagery, ultimately to be awakened anew by contact with the brief flowering of Arab culture.

It was from the interplay of Oriental and Mediterannean cultures with Jewish teaching that modern civilization, centered in the Western world, received its basic content. Now, after four centuries of Western global conquest — how brief a span of time in the perspective of history! — the people^ of the East again assert themselves, joining with peoples newly emerged from primeval paths.to seek fulfillment of their awakened national aspirations and a role in the governance of the modern world.

15 AND UN G was thus the scene of a drama of historic fruition. The broad array of nations represented, however, did not include the one which, by supreme irony, expressed in its own reborn existence the higher message of Bandung. By insistence of her In Arab neighbors, Israel was excluded from the ConAbsentia ference. No Israeli delegate, therefore, participated in any of the deliberations, no Israeli voice was heard there. Yet this very exclusion served to illuminate the importance of Israel to the interests represented at Bandung. Israel, absent from Bandung;' somehow occupied a central role there.

With1none 16 speak in her behalf, it' was a foregone conclusion that Arab insistence upon a resolution directed against Israel would be successful. Even so, however, it was apparent that the Conference adoptef the resolution reluctantly and only after the original text had been greatly modified. Of greater moral effect than the resolution was the ta c it; recognition of Israel, even in her absence, as a force in Eastern affairs. Behind this lies the dawning realization of Israel's great potential value for the strengthening and progress of that vast area. ** y N ^ J ^ J As a result of Communist and Arab propaganda over the years, May-June, 1955

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Israel has been looked upon by that part of the East which is aware of her existence as an instrument of Western colonialism. At Bandung it became apparent that the untruth of this preposterous stereotype is becoming recognized. The limited success of Arab anti-Israel moves at jthe Conference is indicative of the fact that the former attitude is being replaced by one of acceptance of Israel not only as a fact, but as a necessary, yes a welcome fact. ...

7j^ND THIS is as it should be and must be. Jews have come back to Israel because the country needs them and they need the country.

They bring with them thè best of Western skills and culture but above all they bring a motivating purpose at the farthest Serving extreme from colonialism. Colonialism is marked by A Mutual the material exploitation of one land for the benefit Need of another, but the Jewish redemption of the Land of Israel serves a spiritual need centered in the land itself. The Israeli, identifying himself completely with his land, must necessarily, in the context of the modern world, identify himself with the area of which his land is a part. He is inevitably concerned with the welfare of the Middle East, whose fortunes he shares. Occurring at a time when the Ancient East is struggling to be re-born as the Modern East and needs every asset which can be utilized for the purpose, at a time when the world so critically requires the bridging of the gap be­ tween East and West by a natural rather than a forced means, the re­ turn of the Jewish people to the Holy Land must be recognized not only by the Jews but by their neighbors as a boon and blessing given from on High.

A BATTLE W ON

TTNDER the leadership of orthodox forces, Jewry has won a notable ' victory in the battle against the Blank Day Calendar Reform device.

India, viewing the certainty of present defeat for the proposal, has arranged that the United Nations Economic and Social Council defer action on it until next year. While an immediate vote would have been more welcome to opponents of the Blank Day device, it appears probable that the deferment will not change the ultimate decision.

The fate of the proposal was determined, to all intents and pur­ poses, by the position taken by the U. S. State Department. Following a conference in Washington at which a delegation of the League for Safeguarding the Fixity of the Sabbath submitted to Assistant Secre­ tary of State Herbert Hoover Jr. Jewish objections to the Blank Day device, the State Department issued a statement declaring our Govern­ ment's opposition to the plan. The statement noted that while there is no evidence of substantial support in the United States for calendar re4 Jewish LIFE

form, large numbers of United States citizens oppose the plan on reli­ gious grounds. Other countries followed suit, or had already registered their negative view of the plan. The final lineup found that of the 30 nations which responded to the U. N. questionnaire, 28 were opposed to the Blank Day Calendar Reform plan.

Tribute should be paid to the League for Safeguarding the Fixity of the Sabbath, which effectively led the battle. Credit must be given also to the many congregations which, responding to a call from the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, sent communica­ tions to the State Department which brought home the intensity of re­ ligious Jewry's concern with the issue.

T H IS SUCCESS story offers one example, among several recent ones, of orthodox Jewish synagogues, under the guidance of the UOJCA, asserting themselves effectively in the field of public affairs. For much too long have non-orthodox and religious forces gone unchallenged as spokesmen of the Jewish community. Alike on the local, national and international scenes, Orthodoxy — constituting the majority of Jews — has permitted itself to be brushed aside in the representation of Jewish interests. In the recent period, the Orthodox Union has ad­ dressed itself to the correction of this situation, with results that are already markedly apparent.

"DE IT noted that the movement against the Blank Day Calendar Reform plan enlisted practically all of the major Jewish agencies; and here lies another lesson. Heretofore, it has been a common experience to see orthodox Jews drawn into activities organized and The dominated by the non-orthodox. Supposedly serving Better to protect the interests of orthodox Jewry, too often Alternative has such participation served only to camouflage by an “inter-Jewish” label policies incompatible with the interests of the traditional Jew. A maturing Orthodoxy is learning that where participation in collective endeavor is legitimately called for wand there can be no doubt that in some areas of communal relations it is called f o r t h e Orthodox representation must be disciplined, authori­ tative and properly schooled and must be permitted only in circumstances which assure no question of religious compromise, no atmosphere of indifferentism in religious principle and a positive compatibility with the aims and belièfs of orthodox Judaism. The fight against Calendar Re­ form shows us that this can be best achieved by Orthodoxy itself exer­ cising the initiative in marshalling the diverse elements of the communi­ ty for common Jewish ends. In short, traditional Jewry is obliged either to give leadership to the over-all Jewish community or to follow where others lead. We must lead.

5 May-June, 1955

IMPLICATIONS OF THE KNESSETH ELECTIONS

TSRAEL’S religious forces view the forthcoming Knesseth elections with foreboding. The two leading parties, Mapai and the General Zionists, equally “non-religious,” are equally determined to secure a majority large enough to enable them to goverp free of dependence upon the re­ ligious parties. Towards this end, they are straining every effort to capture votes which might otherwise go to the Torah parties. Mapai, controlling the many-faceted Histadruth empire, and the General Zion­ ists, linked with powerful business interests and with elements in the Goluth such as the Zionist Organization of America and Hadassah, bring to bear portentious material and strategic advantages for which the re­ ligious groups can offer no competition.

If either of the two leading contenders achieve the victory they seek, the religious character of Israel will be gravely imperilled. While the overwhelming majority of Israelis adhere to the Jewish religion, the parties which dominate Israel’s political life, and in turn ité economic life, are governed by philosophies which view the relationship of the Jewish religion to the Jewish land in terms similar to the “church and state” definitions of the non-Jewish world. In this circumstance, reli­ gious forces have had no option but to create their own political parties to defend basic Jewish interests, which otherwise would be trampled underfoot. Unfortunately, the religious electorate, in the grip of the economic needs which the non-religious parties so firmly control, has not yet learned to give mass backing to the parties which more properly represent their interests.

TT IS rumored that Mapai has organized an election campaign fund of well over $4,000,000, while the General Zionist fund is said to exceed $3,000,000. With these huge sums and other material advantages S derived to some extent from American sources — at their disposal, these parties may secure the victory A *S*rl they seek.

A t Stake Needless to say, the Torah parties canñot sum­ mon means on any comparable scale. Religious Jews in America must all the more recognize, therefore, thát they owe to the Torah parties in Israel the utmost moral and material support. The ability of Hapoel Hamizrachi, Agudath Israel, Mizrachi and Poale Agudath Israel to bring their message to the Israeli electorate will deter­ mine not only the future of these parties but the future of the Holy Land and that of the entire Jewish people. The importance of unity among them in approaching the electorate need hardly be stressed. May they rise above their manifold differences and their burdensome handi­ caps in waging their electoral battle for a Torah-dedicated Israel.

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Jewish LIFE

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Earliest Biblical Manuscripts in Existence Are in “Striking Agreement” With Traditional Massoretic Text

^ H E GOVERNMENT of Israel recently announced the pur­ chase of four ancient scrolls for a quarter of a million dollars. These scrolls were discovered near the Dead Sea in 1947 and until this year were in the possession of a Syrian Archbishop. They have since been transferred to Israel for pub­ lic display. The huge sum involved in the transaction, made available by two Jewish patrons in this coun­ try, served to focus public attention once again on the historical impor­ tance of the Dear Sea Scrolls.

Since 1947 a wealth of new and equally sensational material has been found by archaeologists in other caves of the same area. This includes a letter written by Bar Kochba at the time of the Second Revolt, several legal contracts, May-June, 1955

numerous apocryphal texts and fragments of practically every book in the Bible. It may be half a century before this material is fully published and assimilated by schol­ ars. In the meantime, the study of the first find, although only in its initial stages, has already wrought a revolution in the field of Biblical scholarship and ancient Jewish history. In addition it throws new light on. the background of one of the most interesting Jewish sects in existence at the time of the Second Temple. p L IN Y THE ELDER, the fa­ mous geographer, toured the Judaean countryside in 70 C.E., amidst the havoc left by the Roman legions in Palestine. On the barren shores of the Dead Sea he came 7

The Thanksgiving Scroll, one of the non-Biblieai texts uncovered on the western shores of the Dead Sea.

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upon a settlement which aroused his interest. It was a religious, society of men without families, living in almost complete isolation and practicing a form of pure com­ munism. The ranks of this society, which had its beginnings in the second century B.C.E., were con­ stantly replenished by new recruits who were “tired of life.” They were known as the Essenes.

Although few in number com­ pared with the contemporary Phari­ sees and Sadducees, the Essenes nevertheless figured as a signifi­ cant “third party” during the latter days of the Second Temple. While the Other two groups took an active part in the political affairs of the nation, the Essenes were more con­ cerned with inner piety. Their com­ munal settlements were distin­ guished by an atmosphere of aus­ terity and asceticism much like that of a medieval monastery. They em­ phasized ritual purity. Each daily meal was eaten in solemn commu­ nion after elaborate ablutions. The virtues cultivated were simplicity, modesty and a renunciation of all worldly desires. The majority of Essenes rejected marriage and pre­ ferred to live in celibate purity, sharing all their belongings.

JOSEPHUS, who is the main ^ soprce for the history of the Second Temple, reports that the numbeij of Essenes reached over four thousand and that branches of their brotherhood were found all over Palestine. However, while Rabbinic literature is replete with references to the doctrinal strug­ gles of the Pharisees against "the May - June, 1955

Sadducees, no mention is made of the Essenes. The Talmud, of course, represents the point of view of the Pharisees. It is interesting to know, therefore, in what respect these sectarians departed from Pharisaic tradition.

The fact that a good many Essenes deliberately chose celibacy would obviously . not meet with favor in the eyes of the Rabbis, who considered the rearing of a family a prime Jewish duty. More­ over, the Pharisaic ideal was the sanctification of life from within.

The Essenes shunned the contami­ nations of the market-place and could find peace only in monastic isolation. For this reason they ceased to send offerings to the Temple although they respected its sanctity.

A more fundamental question, however, is whether the Essenes ac­ cepted the authority of the Oral Law as interpreted by Pharisaic teaching. Josephus intimates that their observance of the Sabbath was more strict than that of other Jews, but gives no details. His­ torians have been hampered by the lack of even a single remnant of original Essene literature. It has been impossible to determine to what extent Philo and Josephus had colored their accounts for Hellenis­ tic readers. With the discovery of the Dead Sea* Scrolls, forming one of the most important chapters in the history of modern archaeology, it may finally become possible to solve some of these problems.

JJESTLED IN the rocky slopes of ' the eastern Judaean plateau 9

overlooking the barren shores of the Dead Sea, lies an ancient ruin called Khirbet Qumran. The region around this Khirbe, which now lies in the Arab portion of Palestine, consists of dry plateaus and cliffs parched by the hot sun and in­ habited by Bedouin tribesmen. Un­ til recently, no one paid much at­ tention to the ruin, which was be­ lieved to be the remnant of some Roman military camp. Now, how­ ever, the archaeological signifi­ cance of Qumran has suddenly skyrocketed.

In the spring of 1947 a Bedouin shepherd was searching for a stray goat near Qumran when he noticed an opening in the steep side of a cliff. He threw a rock into the hole and fled in terror when he heard the shattering of a jar. He returned the following day with reinforce­ ments from his tribe, and thus the first of the Qumran caves was found. Within the cave were several Roman jars containing old and wrinkled scrolls wrapped in linen.

The most widely known text of those discovered is the now famous Isaiah scroll. On the basis of the paleography of the manuscript leading authorities determined that it was at least two thousand years old. It was by far the oldest major manuscript of the Bible, antedating by a thousand years the known medieval codices. The Isaiah Scroll immediately created a world-wide sensation. Its text was in striking agreement with the Massorah, the authoritative text of Jewish tradi­ A fragment of the Isaiah scroll be­ tion. Allowing for peculiarities in spelling, such as the wider use of fore it was unravelled. Authorities esti­ mate that it is at least 2,000 years old. vowel letters (which was apparentJewish LIFE 10

ly in vogue during the post-Maccabean period), the Isaiah Scroll gives eloquent testimony to the re­ liability of the Hebrew text which had been painstakingly transmitted from generation to generation.

The Massorah had indeed been the “protective fence about the Torah” (Pirke Ovoth III, 13). It remains to be seen, of course, whether the new discoveries will serve in any way to dampen the enthusiasm of textual critics who are wont to substitute fanciful emendations for reliable Massoretic readings.

71S SOON AS scholars turned their attention from the Bibli­ cal texts to the other scrolls it became evident "that the origin of the whole find would have to be

Two of the clay jars in which the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. The manuscripts were wrapped in linen.

May-June, 1955

traced to one sectarian group. Dis­ tinctive terminology and literary style were common to all the extraBiblical documents. Since hardly anything had previously been found of Hebrew apocryphal writings from the Hasmonean period, great interest was naturally centered up­ on every word of these scrolls. This interest was only heightened when Solomon Zeitlin, a professor at Dropsie College, launched a vehe­ ment assault against the antiquity of the scrolls and called the whole discovery a hoax. His continued opposition in the face of the over­ whelming weight of archaeological, paleographic, linguistic and literary evidence in favor of the early date is a dramatic illustration of the impact of the scrolls on views long held by scholars. Biblical scholar­ ship, of course, is a field from which subjectivity has by no means been excluded.

The major non-Biblical texts un­ covered include the following: (1) The Apocalypse of Lantech— an important scroll which has yet to be unrolled. The title is based on an Aramaic inscription on the ex­ terior. Professor W. F. Albright, famed authority on Biblical archae­ ology, believes that it is one of the lost works of the apocryphal litera­ ture dealing with the figure of the Biblical Lernech.

(2) The Habakkuk Commentary, This is a form of Midrosh on the book of the prophet Habakkuk.

Each verse is followed by an ex­ planation called pesher, in which the words of the prophet are homiletically interpreted as *allusions to certain events in the history of 11

the sect. The comments indicate members of the sect were to be that a sharp conflict existed be­ governed. From it scholars were tween the sectarians and the later ablp to get a glimpse into the inner Hasmonean priests of the Temple life of the Dead Sea community. in Jerusalem.

They immediately found a striking (3) The Psalms of Thanksgiving resemblance to the Essenes. Not —a collection of Hebrew hymns all only are both groups similar in beginning with the words “I praise their general organization and dis­ Thee, 0 G-d.” The full text of these cipline, but this similarity extends psalms has just been published by even to minute details. We find the Hebrew University, and the here the same hierarchy, the same writer is now preparing a full process of apprenticeship, the com­ translatipn and commentary, in munal ownership of property, the collaboration with M. Mansoor of authority of an overseer and the Johns Hopkins University. The lan­ emphasis on order and decorum. guage and content of these hymns There is a regulation which for­ are similar to those of the Biblical bids expectorating in the midst of Psalter, and the text often reads an assembly, paralleled by an al­ virtually like a mosaic of Scriptural most identical Essene rule. Like the wording. Its unidentified author Essenes, the Dead Sea sectarians expresses his utter reliance on Di­ placed great emphasis on ritual vine providence and favor. purity; the communal meal, with its (4) The War Between the Chil­ blessings, was for both an , institu­ dren of Light and Darkness. This tion of prime importance. Both scroll is perhaps the most enigmatic groups had separated themselves of them all. It speaks of a battle from the sacrificial worship of the between the righteous Sons of Temple and preferred prayer and Light and the wicked adherents to study as forms of worship, al­ the evil angel Belial (the Sons of though the Zadokite ypriests main­ Darkness). On the surface it ap­ tained a ' position of leadership. pears to be a vision of an apocalyp­ Similarly, we find in the Scroll of tic battle, much like the conflict of Discipline a renunciation of mate­ Gog and Magog. The details of rial desires i which fits perfectly military tactics, however, give the into the pattern , of JEssene asceti­ impression of a real battle in which cism. the author participated. General In view of these facts, it is now Yigal Yadin of the Israeli Army, widely recognized that the Dead who is an expert on ancient as well Sea sect was at the*very least inti­ as on modern warfare, will soon mately related to the Essenes and publish an analysis of this scroll, was moré likely an actual branch of which may throw new light on its the Essene order. This means that nature. we are now in the possession of (5) The Scroll of Discipline. This original “Essene” literature with invaluable text describes the princi­ which the secondary accounts in ples and regulations by which the classical sources may be compared.

13 Jewish LIFE

■fJKTHAT ABOUT the sectarian Halochah? Although the Scroll of Discipline is primarily concerned with the internal regulations of the sect, it also enables us to study its attitude to the Oral Law in general. This is due to an extremely fortunate link of discovery between the cave at Qumran and the famous Cairo Genizah.

In 1910 Solomon Schechter pub­ lished an obscure Genizah text which he called the “Zadokite Docu­ ment.” The mysterious nature of this work has for decades been the object of scholarly debate. It was clearly sectarian in nature, but no conclusion could be reached las to its date. With the publishing of the

Scroll of Discipline we now see that both texts were written in the same style and contained numerous di­ rect parallels. They obviously *de­ rived from the sanie E ssene back­ ground. Unlike the Scroll of Disci­ pline, however, the Zadokite Docu­ ment contains an entire section dealing with general Halochah.

It appears Trom this evidence that the Dead Sea ^sectarians fol­ lowed Scriptural interpretations clearly at variance with Rabbinic tradition. Thus, they considered polygamy to be Biblically prohi­ bited on the basis of Bereyshith 5:2 (male and female created He them) and the fact that Noah’s family came into the Ark in pairs.

The late Professor E. L. Sukenik, head archaeologist of the Hebrew University, as he examined a section of the scrolls in 1947. After his initial inspection he wrote in his pérsonal diary: "Today I have been shown a piece of a scroll. I do not dare to write down what I think of it."

May-June, 1955

13

The circumstance that David had more than one wife is oddly ex­ plained by his ignorance of the Law, which was supposedly hidden in the Ark since the days of Joshua.

The Damascus text also assails the opponents of the sect for permit­ ting marriage with a niece, which they considered incestuous by anal­ ogy to marriage with an aunt. In Rabbinic literature such a union is not only sanctioned but is consid­ ered a Mitzvah. ^CONSIDERABLE interest has been aroused in the possible connection between the legal tradi­ tions of the Dead Sea sect and other schismatic Jewish move­ ments. It is significant, for exam­ ple, that the priests of the sect were called the "Sons of Zadok,” thus tracing their lineage back to the same priestly family from which the Sadducees derived their name. There are also several in­ dications that some of the early Karaite authors were acquainted with and influenced by the Dead Sea literature. These questions, as well as the influence on Christian^ ity, must still be explored.

The Qumran literature’s sharp dualistic terminology is another distinguishing feature. The strug­ gle between good and evil is pro­

jected on a cosmic scale as a battle between the "Prince of Light” and the "Prince of Darkness.” The earthly counterpart of this strug­ gle is found in the perpetual con­ flict between the Children of Light and the Children of Darkness. These conceptions are saliently reminis­ cent of the theological dualism found in Iranian religion. They add significance to the vigorous efforts of the Rabbis to prevent the infil­ tration of dualism into the public prayers (cf. Berachoth 33b). More­ over, the scrolls contain traces of the fatalistic doctrine of predesti­ nation which we know was held by the Essenes. Rabbinic doctrine, on the other hand, tenaciously stressed the absolute freedom of moral choice.

The wide interest generated by the revelation of the contents of the new scrolls is well-grounded. Here are texts stemming from the preTannaitic period, perhaps reaching down to the days of Hillel and Shammai. Although their sectarian nature separates them from the main current of Pharisaic tradi­ tion, they can add greatly to our understanding of Rabbinic thought and the transmission of the Oral Law in one of the most turbulent periods of Jewish history.

BAR MITZVAH (Bereyshith 25): And the boys grew up; Rabbi Levi said this was like a myrtle and a thorn growing together. As they grew, one gave of its aroma and the other its thistle. So too, for the first thirteen years both Jacob and Esau went to study.

After that, one went to the Beth Hamidrosh and the other to the house of the heathen.

— Bereyshith Rabbah 63

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Jewish LIFE

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Did Judaism Influence the Life and Thought Of the Father of the Atomic Age?

Albert Ein Scientist and (few V / X - .x

By ELMER L. OFFENBACHER

TJEIN E'S SAYING, “Keinen Rad­ ish wird man sagen,” is in its literal sense applicable to Albert Einstein. But perhaps by, a broader interpretation, Einstein's work it­ self may emerge as the “Radish Zoger” proclaiming throughout the world an ever greater sanctifica­ tion of G-d's glory. Many of us wonder where this fabulously fa­ mous world personality will rank in the annals of world history and, in particular, of Jewish history.

Will he stand with Ptolemy, Galileo and Newton as one of the architects of our universe, or will his creative imagination be blamed for perhaps the most bizarre destruction of civilization? Will he be remembered in the same breath with Moses (as has been boldly suggested by some), or will his name be added to the list of condemned apikorsim of our generation ?

These questions can be answered only after our atomic clocks have ticked long enough so that their swing has forgotten the twist of May-June, 1955

the winder. No contemporary eval­ uation could conceivably take into account all the consequences and ramifications of Einstein's contri­ butions. Rather, we will just point up a few characteristics of this great man so that the Jewish reader may be stimulated ultimately to form his own judgment.

Einstein's greatness as a scien­ tist stems from his remarkable ability to get to the root of a ques­ tion — to grasp the essence of an argument, foresee its consequences and to tackle the unresolved prob­ lem. Whether at the Bern patent office, where he enjoyed unearthing the tricks of patent disclosures, or at the Berlin Colloquia where his “naive" questions phrased the fun­ damental problems that nobody dared to raise, his penetrating in­ sight and clarity of thought con­ sistently came to grips with the real issues.

Although a deeply penetrating mind was a necessity for his ac­ complishments, his fame really 15

stems from another unusual quali­ ty : his ability to tear himself loose from the prevailing thought of the times and to originate ideas which did not build on philosophic

structures of previous generations.

The special theory of relativity which catapulted Einstein into fame almost overnight succeeded only because of this detachment.

Relativity

T7VER SINCE Maxwell’s success“ ful theory of electro-magnetic waves in the middle of the 19th century, there existed an irreconcil­ able paradox in physics. Strong experimental support had been given to two propositions.; (1) The velocity of light in a vacuum is constant (irrespective of the motion of the source of light through space) and (2) every law of nature (such as the law govern­ ing motion) which holds good with respect to one coordinate system,* also holds good for any other sys­ tem which is in constant relative

motion with respect to the first system.

These two principles seem to be logically incompatible. Intuition leads one to guess that the meas­ ured velocity of light should depend on the motion of the observer. One would expect the apparent velocity to increase when the light is going toward the observer, and decrease when receding from him. However, the famous experiment by A. A. Michelson, an outstanding expert on precise optical measurements, disproved this predicted result. Al­ though the apparatus he designed was easily capable of measuring the expected change in velocity, he observed no change at all. Attempts were made to explain away this result by various ad hoc assump­ tions. But at best these could only serve the limited purposes for which they were arbitrarily in­ vented. Einstein took a much bolder step. He accepted the zero result as a postulate, and, on the basis of this, plus postulate 2, he re­ formulated the very elements of our space-time description. *Since the time of ancient Greeks it has been well-known that in describing the motion of a body we must refer to another body. The motion of a railway train is described with reference to the ground, of a planet with reference to the total assemblage of visible fixed stars. In physics the bodies tp which motions are spatially referred are: termed systems p f co-ordinates. The law of mechan­ ics of Galileo and Newton c&n be formu­ lated only by using a system of co-ordinates.

Jewish LIFE

TTE FOUND that it was always necessary to specify both the position and the time of an occur­ rence in order to have a com­ plete description of the event. If our senses were sufficiently re­ fined to perceive the effects of relativity, our universe would take on an entirely different appear­ ance. We would see the length of objects shorten and the rate of clocks slow down after they were set in motion. Imagine what would happen to the sales appeal of a Cadillac if it appeared to shrink in size as the chauffeur pressed on the accelerator! Or think of our amazement at being late with licht benschen as we watched a clock attached to an electron in our tele­ vision tube!

In reality, these effects are ap­ preciable only when the moving ob­ jects approach the speed of light.

Significant as these phenomena are to the physicist, it is the third re­ sult of the special theory which is familiar to everyone: the equiva­ lence of mass and energy. It was this that later led others to de­ velop the atomic bomb.

To appreciate Einstein’s scienti* fic genius, popular books will be of no help. Rather, one has to follow for oneself the individual steps which ultimately lead to the frame­ work of relativity theory. These steps are simple enough for the special theory (the first story of

this framework according to Ein­ stein), so that almost every gradu­ ate student is expected to learn them in his first year of training. jQ^LTHOUGH the invention of rel­ ativity, a new branch of phys­ ics, assured Einstein a place among the great scientists of the world, his direct contributions to the other branches of physics are no less im­ pressive. Just in this one famous year, 1905, he published four other important papers.

By 1916 Einstein generalized his relativity theory to include accele­ rated frames of reference. This resulted in a very unexpected dis­ covery: space-time and gravitation were bound together irrevocably.

Three experiments were proposed to test the validity of the general theory of - relativity. One experi­ ment was to observe whether a light ray bends as it passes close to a heavy body. The sun provided such a body; but the light pass­ ing it could be observed only when the sun’s direct light was blocked by the moonv^ a solar eclipse. In 1919, a British Expedition was sent to West Africa to observe the solar eclipse and photograph the stars in the neighborhood of the darkened area. Their observations confirmed the predicted curvature of the light coming from these stars and thereby established the success of Einstein’s theories.

Limitations of Science

PHYSICAL principles form the basis of our understanding of the operation of the universe, it is no wonder that so many other May - June, 1955

fields of knowledge have been in­ fluenced by the revolutionary con­ cepts of Einstein. These range all the way from cosmology and its 17

giant objects to the quantum the­ ory with its submicroscopic ele­ ments. Even some philosophers and clergymen have been drawn to the concepts underlying relativity.

However, Einstein was always quick to draw the line between nat­ ural philosophy and theology. Dur­ ing a visit to London in 1919, the Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Anglican Church, managed to corner Einstein as his table com­ panion. The Archbishop inquired: “Dr. Einstein, what effect will rela­ tivity have on religion?” The ans­ wer came in one cryptic word.

“Nòne.” Then Einstein elaborated.

“Relativity is a purely scientific matter and has nothing to do with religion.”

Occasionally, he was more ex­ plicit in defining the boundary be­ tween science and religion.

“Science is a century-old en­ deavor to bring together all means of systematic thought, the perceptible phenomena of this world, into as thorough-going an association as possible. Scientists ask how but not why .”

He repeatedly pointed out the lim itations of the scientific m ethod: “ . . . the scientific method can teach us nothing else beyond how facts are related to and condi­ tioned by each other . . . Objec­ t i v e knowledge provides us with powerful instruments for the achievements of certain ends, but the ultimate goal itself and the longing to reach it must come from another source.”

Although Einstein emphasized the separation of the domains of sci­ ence and religion, he considered each to have “strong reciprocal re­ lationships and dependencies.” . “Though religion may be that which determines the goal, it has, nevertheless, learned from science in the purest sense what means will contribute to the attainment of the goals it has set up. But science can only be created by those who are thoroughly imbued with the aspiration toward truth and understanding. This source of feeling, however, springs from the sphere of religion.”

Einstein's Religion

TT WOULD be foolhardy and, in* deed, presumptuous, to describe and analyze, to defend or attack, Einstein’s thoughts on religion.

Certainly it would be impossible to do so here in any detail.

On the one hand, there will be those who refuse to grant Einstein any Jewish status at all because he was not a religious Jew in the traditional sense, maintaining that he has done more harm than good 18

by giving prestige to anti-Torah Judaism. On the other hand, there will be those who consider him a martyr and a great asset to the Jewish people because of his re­ lentless search for truth and his self-sacrificing effort on behalf of Jewish causes. Yet, by drawing at­ tention to a selection of Einstein’s remarks on religion, perhaps we can provide a more objective foun­ dation for our appraisal.

Jewish LIFE

authenticity of the Jewish tradi­ tion. Similarly, when in 1939, Ein­ stein addressed a theological semi­ nar in Princeton, he said: “The function of religion is the setting up of fundamental goals.

If one should ask whence these fundamental goals receive their authority, since they are not set up by reason and cannot be founded upon it, one can only answer that they do not come in­ to existence as a result of argu­ ment and proof, but instead by revelation and through the ac­ tions of strong personalities.”

But here the kinship between Einstein and traditional religion ends.

One might say that Einstein in­ cluded in his religious concepts as­ pects of both beyn odom lemokom (“between man and G-d”) and Utoeyn odom Lechayeyro (“between man and his fellow-man”);; The former he expressed as a mys­ tical feeling towards the laws of the universe and the latter as a feeling of moral obligation towards his fellow-man. But be­ cause the source for these concepts reached him only via his own feel­ ings, their authority remained un­ defined, while for the religious Jew, however, both the authority and the specific content stem from the Torah.

Yet in one respect his attitude was not far amiss from that of a traditional Jew. The Torah MiSinai Jew, the believer in G-d-s reve­ lation at Mt. Sinai, takes the his­ toricity of the Jewish people as one of the incontrovertible signs of the May-June, 1955

TJTE DIVIDED the Creator into a * A G-d who reveals himself in na­ ture and into a personal G-d, ac­ cepting the former and rejecting the latter. He did not believe in a G-d who punishes and rewards, nor in a G-d who gives and takes life.

He built an expanding universe in which there was “no room for a personal G-d,” “The rules of nature must be generally valid,” he said, “there is no room for the laws of cause and effect to be violated for this or that personal reason.” Fur­ thermore, he was troubled by the question,» painfully felt since the beginning of history, of reconciling the omnipotence of G-d with the free will of man H- the free will which makes man responsible for his actions to his Creator.

After presenting these ideas to the 1940 Conference on Science, Philosophy and Religion, he was bitterly attacked for trying to de19

prive the American people of their personal G-d — but perhaps on false grounds. On the same occa­ sion he acknowledged “that a perl sonal G-d is able to accord man solace, help and kindness,” But he was not such a man. Moreover, he realized the value of church and religious services as a means of indoctrinating fundamental values.

His personal list of these funda­ mental values remains undisclosed.

While we are thus tempted to condemn his concept of G-d, we might upon further reflection still find in his ideas some aspects of Yirath Ha-Shem. Is Einstein’s be­ lief in the possibility of complete unification (as embodied in his search for a unified field theory) a search for the One proclaimed by Judaism?

Although one may argue that he was religious in this sense, in the same breath one may wonder why this believer in unification dichotomizes the traditional G-d.

No wonder he has been labeled both a religious man and an atheist.

What made him object to anthro­

pomorphism in religion, and yet deify the human quality of reason by making “Supernatural Reason­ ing Power” his G-d?

However, Einstein himself real­ ized the possible limitation in his thinking in this area when he stated the following in his autobio­ graphical notes: “If an individual enjoys wellordered thoughts, it is quite pos­ sible that this side of his nature may grow more pronounced at the cost of other sides, and this may determine his mentality in increasing degrees.”

One could speculate what might have been produced if Einstein had rid himself of his entrenched ideas in the area of religion and accepted free will and an omnipotent, per­ sonal G-d as postulates. Perhaps in the attempt to explain the ex­ periments of history and human re­ lations, he might have discovered a social equivalence principle for the better understanding among people and nations. But this was not his mission.

Jewish Background

^ ^ H E R E DID Einstein acquire his knowledge of Jewish re­ ligion? There was no trace of Jew­ ish custom in his father’s house.

Instead of reading the Torah, they read Schiller and Heine. The die­ tary laws were considered mere­ ly an ancient superstition. Jewish hospitality was relegated to Thurs­ day, with a dinner invitation to a university student. For a young­ ster who, at the age of five, mar­ 20

veled at the workings of a compass, or at twelve experienced “the worn der of Euclidean geometry,” it is a pity that the religious stimulus was completely absent.

In his most impressionable years Einstein was the only Jewish stu­ dent in a Catholic elementary school.

However, he did receive some Hebrew instruction from ten to fourteen years of age. But the stringent, autocratic methods of Jewish LIFE

his teachers quickly alienated him; Thus, at fourteen* he decided to abandon the Jewish community. It was not until appointed a profes­ sor at Prague at the age of thirtyone that he resumed at least for­ mal contacts with organized Jewry.

Another eleven years elapsed be­ fore he worked actively for Jewish causes. From that time on, his writings reflect his great concern for the Jewish people. piN S T E IN was far too clever to talk on any subject without first familiarizing himself with it. From his own writings it is clear that he never learned much about the To­ rah or Talmud. And it was only of recent date that he began to study the elements of Hebrew at his home in Princeton. He was always most reluctant to reveal facts about his personal life, particularly in this area. When sometime ago he was asked to express his ideas on the Jewish religion for publication, he answered with his characteristic cryptic, but good-natured, humor : “I would say, ‘may the Jewish devil get you if it were to exist/ but seriously it is impossible for me to fulfill your wish because it is my principle never to assist in publi­ cizing things about my person. You will readily understand this if you will take the trouble to put your­ self just a little bit into my place.”

But from tidbits like these, glimpses of Einstein the Jew be­ gan to emerge. At the Prague police station, he told a pious man inquiring whether a certain res­ taurant was really strictly kosher, “Only an ox eats strictly kosher.”

May-June, 1955

Einstein intended no offense with this retort, but simply meant to say that an ox eats grass ~rr strict­ ly kosher because nothing had been done to it. What a misconception of Kashruth!

He saw merit in the Sabbath law because inclusion of bond-servants demonstrated the high degree of so­ cial justice inherent in Judaism.

Furthermore, he thought that the rest for the animals on that day proved the sanctity of animal life in Judaism. Obviously, he never learned enough of the laws of the Sabbath to grasp the all-encom­ passing principle which unifies these laws 3 the cessation of ma­ terial creativity in commemoration of the creation of the world.

Nevertheless, he had come a long way when he agreed to the use of his name by an orthodox institu­ tion, Yeshiva University. Although this by no means indicates that his own beliefs were in agreement with that of Yeshiva, it did show that he was not opposed to the principle which is Yeshiva. Indeed, he never actively supported any cause which would be in conflict with his con­ science. His attraction to our spir­ itual heritage, and perhaps even his regret for not knowing more about it, may also be apparent from Einstein’s reverence for Rambam.

Not only did he suggest Rambam’s name for the Yeshiva Medi­ cal School, but twenty years ago he sent a statement to the Maimonides Jubilee celebration laud­ ing Rambam. His message apolo­ gized for his limited acquaintance with the life work of Maimonides.

21

Proud to be a Jew

TN CONTRAST with his atheistic * and irreligious contemporaries, Einstein was proud to belong to the Jewish people. At the last U.J.A. dinner in Princeton, he phrased it very simply by saying: “I am glad to be among my own.” He added: “The pursuit of knowledge for

its own sake, an almost fanatical love of justice and the desire for personal independence — these are the features of the Jewish tradition which make me thank my stars that I belong to it.”

His outspoken “Semitism” was regarded as a stab in the back by anti-Zionist, pro-assimilationist German Jewry. That they con­ sidered Zionism a mortal enemy only encouraged him. To him this “was the beginning of the educa­ tional process at which he was aim­ ing!” His positive desire to help the Jewish people led him as early as 1921 to tour the U.S. on behalf of the Hebrew University. Said Einstein: “Palestine is not primarily a place of refuge for the Jews of Eastern Europe but the embodi­ ment of the re-awakening corpo­ rate spirit of the whole Jewish nation.”

While he encouraged free inter­ course with the non-Jewish world, he earned the title of “black sheep” among German-Jewish scholars for this bit of advice to Jewish stu­ dents : “We must have our own stu­ dents’ societies and adopt an atti­ 22

tude of courteous but consistent reserve to the Gentiles. And let us live after our own fashion there and not ape duelling and drinking customs which are for­ eign to our nature. It is possible to be a civilized European and a good citizen and at the same time a faithful Jew who loves his race and honors his fathers. If we re­ member this and act accordingly, the problem of Antisemitism, in so far as it is of a social nature, is solved for us.”

ALBERT EINSTEIN, man and scientist, has made an indel­ ible mark on the history of man­ kind — of that let there be no doubt. In the sphere of human re­ lations alone, controversy will con­ tinue to rage for years to come.

On the credit side of the ledger is the passion for freedom and the kindliness of this man who, busier than most, in a generation of busy men, always had time for the prob­ lems of his fellows. The fruits of his dedication to Jewish causes live on in institutions of learning which he helped establish with vigor and devotion.

Esteem for him as a humani­ tarian combined with awe for him as a scientist has led many of us to make him a sort of idol. Cer­ tainly there is no doubt that Ein­ stein’s abilities were above and be­ yond the capacities of most of us.

But to assume, therefore, that all his words, political, ethical, or phiJewish LIFE

losophical, are endowed with wis­ dom is pure non sequitur. To the religious Jew, his crudeness in so­ cial relations and his dissociation from ordinary family and commu­ nity life are far from admirable qualities. In these respects he can never rank as a Jew to be emu­ lated. How chutzpadik to compare him with Moses, this man who desired that his body be cremated.

One might add, in his defense, that his Titus-like end* may have been less a demonstration against belief *Gemorah Gittin, Daf 56, Amud 2.

in resurrection than a wish not to be idolized in his grave. But this does not make this action less of­ fensive. Yet in evaluating Einstein as a Jew, his selfless and contin­ uous efforts on behalf of the Jew­ ish people cannot be ignored.

Still, Einstein remains a giant — a scientific giant. He will surely rank among the legendary great.

His legacy is to pursue tenaciously those questions about nature which contemporary scientists consider unanswerable.

A n Arm y Chaplain Discovers A n Observant Community in the Far East

BY ISRAEL POLEYOFF ■pRIOR to my departure for Japan to take up the duties as an army chaplain in the southern half of that country, I was informed that a Jewish community flourished in the city of Kobe. Soon after my arrival at my post near Kyoto, I headed for Kobe to check on this in­ formation. I was not disappointed, and when I made the acquaintance of its various members, I found them to be a cordial group, truly machnisey orach — ideal hosts.

They boast of a beautiful school with a meeting hall and a kitchen in the rear. Services are held every Shabboth and Yom Tov, both in the mornings and evenings. The com­ munity is small, however, arid therefore it has no rabbi or shochet.

Although they are far from the main-stream of western Jewry, 24

many are doing their best to adhere to Torah-true Judaism. A number of men, for example, because of the lack of a regular shochet, have re­ ceived kabalah — certificate of qualification as ritual slaughterer prior to their coming here, in order to shecht their own chickens. *%ie of the religious facilities tl^yt ^was missing, however, was a idikvah. Not entirely missing, though, for I soon discovered that a large ' '‘bath” existed in one of the homes that was used by gome as a Mikvahv ft was, however— and they 'w^jjjj^he first to admit it—not a kòfhlr Mikvah. This re­ sulted not from their unwillingness to have one according to din, but rather to the fact that they did not know how to correct it, and had no one to ask. An inspection of it Jewish LIFE

revealed that the only major cor­ rection that was necessary was the construction of an Otzar Hamaim— special water-storage room. When I offered to get them all the facts and figures in meters—the scale of measurement used in Japan—B they were quick to accept.

QONSTRUCTION began last No­ vember and the Mikvah was ready for use by early December.

The bewilderment of the Japanese who built it (“Are you sure you want no drain in this half of the bath ?” ) was exceeded only by the deeply puzzled Japanese workers who delivered the large quantity of ice for the Otzar Hamaim; what use, they wondered, could one pos­ sibly have with seven “kan” (ap­ proximately 200 pounds) of ice in freezing weather?

With their usual sense of modesty, no ceremonies or parties took place at the opening of the Kobe Mikvah.

Rather, an announcement was made to the effect that the Mikvah was now available to all who needed it, Whether the person was a perma­ nent resident of Kobe, just passirig through, or a member of the t J. S. military forces. This is truly a credit to Mrv Victor Moche, the civilian: in whose home the Mikvah was built, and who paid for most of its costs. : t asked Mr. Moche if this was the first l\|ikvah in Kobe, and he re­ plied tfiat as far as he could re­ member—and he has been in Japan over 2Cj years—it is the first in all bf Japan. The closest they came to having one built was when the rabbit l^nd students of the Mirrer May - June, 1955

Yeshivah, fleeing Nazism in Europe, came across the Asian con­ tinent and remained for a while in Kobe.

At that time, he said, one Rabbi of the group inquired as to the existence of a Mikvah in Kobe.

When he was told that there was none, he said, in a manner indi­ cative of his supreme confidence in Divine Providence: “Now I know one reason why G-d has heaped so much trouble on the Jewish people in Europe and has caused them to uproot their homes and their families and travel abroad. It was done so that they could travel across complete continents and fill the needs of far-flung Jewish com­ munities all over the world. In our case, it was to come to Kob,e and find that they needed a Mikvah and to build it for them.”

But the Mikvah was never built, said Mr. Moche, because they left too hurriedly to their next tempor­ ary home in Shanghai.

W H A T WAS used for a Mikvah ¥ all these years? Either the large “bath” or the nearby ocean when the weather was not too cold.

But all • this has now ended.

Kobeites are no longer worrying about the advent of cold weather.

Neither do they have to justify their religious consciences any more as they did when they were forced to use the large bath. For, thanks primarily to Mr. Moche and to the efforts of other members of the community, Kobe now boasts of a clean, attractive and kosher Mik­ vah, available to anyone and every­ one who needs it.

25

•

“I Walked the Tree-Lined Streets Seeking the Peace of Jerusalem ”

BY A. A, DAVIDSON TF I mention, to my friends, that * such-andrsuch a thing happened when I was living in Jerusalem, they laugh, and then they ask: Was that when you were staying at the place that had the carp in the bath­ tub? By this time I have grown rather tired of the story, almost sorry I ever told it; so my smile is brief and weak. Yes, I say, it was at that time. That was the place where I was staying.

It was cheap. It was quaint, for the hotel was in one of the oldest buildings in Meah Shearim, which is the second oldest part of the New City of Jerusalem. Concrete blocks had, I suppose, not been invented when it was built—fortunately—so it was erected of the beautiful tawny stone used locally. There was 26

a shop on the street level, and you entered the hotel from the side, by a flight of stairs which pierced the thick masonry. There was no drawbridge nor portcullis, but neither would have seemed out of place.

At the head of the steps you emerged into open air onto a sort of patio-courtyard effect. To the right was a series of storerooms whose doors would have given seri­ ous resistance to any of Mr. DeMille’s battering-rams; over them (reached by wooden steps) were several apartments, on the commu­ nal veranda of which were such useful implements as three-quar­ ters of a bicycle, a pile of used bricks, some tin tubs with holes rusted in them, a horse-collar, a Jewish LIFE

windmill-vane and a large detached sign (upside-down) whose faded letters read: Sjnqsja^aj #$guioj^; jojiuj , snouifc^

iC^SAaqsuuiox ’H T H E HOTEL proper was a series of rooms in L-shaped sequence.

The fourth side of the square had a parapet which looked over the neighboring backyards. In the square was a chicken-coop, a dove­ cote (both provided with live­ stock), a lavatory and a shed con­ taining a bath-tub. In the bath-tub was a large carp, swimming slowly back and forth.

“Live fish are scarce,” said my host, in answer to my questioning look. “You think this is America?

Ha! Ha! Ah fragge!” His grey beard, when he sat down, reached the table. “So we save them for yom-tov. Next yom-tom, if the Name wills, you'll have with us a pretty piece of sweet-and-sour fish.”

The next yom-tov was a month o ff; I might do without fresh fish, but I didn't feel I could do without a bath all that time. I asked if there was another bath-tub in the hotel. “Ha! Ha! Ah fragge!” chuckled Mr. Karapapakh. He rose and beckoned. The belt at the back of his snuff-brown kapotte hung, swinging buttonless. I followed.

There was, indeed, a second bath­ tub. In the bath-tub, though, was a large carp swimming slowly back and forth.

“Live fish must be very scarce,” I said. Mr. Karapapakh demanded to know if I thought this was May-June, 1955

America. “Ha! Ha,” I said, “Ah fragge!” ' Quaint. Also, cheap. Also, clean.

(For those not desiring to share a bath-tub with a carp there was always the public ambatya a few blocks away.) My room—that is, one of the four beds in it was mine -^-was large and airy. The plastered walls were tinted a cool blue in the Arab fashion and on the one near my bed was a calendar picture of a light-heavyweight Turkish lady whose veil had slipped its moorings, revealing a fin-de-siecle leer which might conceivably have been very exciting to the hepcats at the Court of Abdul Hamid.

T HAD no money to speak of; Sab­ baths I fed upon the bounty of the most generous of friends; week-" days I ate—when I was on duty, at the hospital where I was employedjpwhen not on duty, in a tiny restaurant in Rechov Meah Shearim: The Street of the Hun­ dred Gates, and was glad to have the bread and margarine and sar­ dines the menu afforded. (Once, on a day when I was affluent and asked if there was anything else to eat, the proprietress called me “f einshmecker.” ) Just to be in Jerusalem was paradise now—“pray for the peace of Jerusalem”—and it was very peaceful there at that time. It was like lying or floating at ease in a sun-warmed pool. Days, I walked the tree-lined streets and breathed the clear, sweet air. Nights, parti­ cularly Sabbath nights, I wandered through the maze of courts and yards and lanes of Meah Shearim, 27

lost in the intoxication of a life I never before knew still existed. I gazed, unashamed, in windows where every family group was like a Szyck painting come to life, where time stood still and might still have been the time of Luria, Alkabetz or Azulai—-scenes in which no modern note intruded, where candle-light or oil lamps illu­ minated antique synagogues or Sabbath tables where bearded pat­ riarchs in robes sat with kerchiefed wives and children who had the faces of angels (if angels wore( peyoth).

I listened in joy to the songs sung everywhere to the Sovereign Lady, Queen Sabbath. The same songs woke me the next day and I went to my window to watch the groups of people singing on their way to the synagogue; people in fur hats, in velvet hats trimmed with fur, people in knee breeches and white hose and low pumps, people in colored robes-^blue or gold or rose or green—and long striped waistcoats, people carrying tallithoth in velvet bags, or wearing them across their shoulders. I listened. I followed. I sought the peace of Jerusalem.

Not all who dwelt in Jerusalem sought or prayed for that peace.

JN HAIFA or Tel Aviv one learned to tolerate the traffic of auto­ mobiles in the streets. In Jeru­ salem it was much, much rarer to see a car profaning the Sabbath —and thus much more noticeable, more painful. There were the autojmobiles of the Corps Diplomatique, representatives of all those foreign 28

nations which did not lift a single finger to help Jerusalem in her hour of agony. There were govern­ ment vehicles, military and civil, bound on such errands of necessity and emergency as picnics, doveshoots or shopping expeditions to the Arab town of Abu Gosh.

They were brave, these drivers: if someone shouted, “Shabbos!” (or “Shabbat!”) at them, they cried— with scorn and contempt—'“Nu, ‘ShabbosP Mah, ‘Shabbos’?” and sped on their way. There were tourists, some of whom visited the Russian or Ethiopean cathedrals, where they courteously removed their hats. Later, returning through the Jewish streets, they lit their cigarettes and pretended—what fun!-||to snap pictures of the pic­ turesque old-style Jews, who hid Jewish LIFE

their faces or sometimes—ha! ha!

—scurried away. Sometimes they did not hide or retreat, sometimes there were angry words, blows were struck from both sides, stones flew in either direction. Next day the newspapers carried stories of the dispersal or arrest of “religious zealots.” Irreligious zealotry was, apparently, not illegal.

QUCH INCIDENTS made me ** very low in spirits. One Sabbath, sad at heart, I wandered through the streets and met a friend, whose invitation to walk with him to the Tomb of King David I accepted at once. It seems that half of Jeru­ salem had gotten the same idea.

For six hundred years no Jew had been allowed to enter the tomb-site.

Y ’f e h nofy m’sos kol haoretz, har tzion^-i“Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion” ; and even after that tiny corner of Mt. Zion passed into Jewish hands, general entrance had been forbidden “for security rea­ sons.” Now it was open to all.

We went along King George Street ¿ (“Rechov Ha-Melech KingGeorge,'5|f it was locally and re­ dundantly called); we went past the circular Yeshurun Synagogue and the Jewish Agency buildings, past Terra Sancta College, a huge gilded statue on its apex, where some of the Hebrew University classes were then meeting, past Beth Meir, the Mizrachi headquar­ ters. We were part of a stream of people . . . an old stone windmill and then another one, the last in a field entangled ip barbed wire— “No-Man's Land”— then a deep May - June, 1955

descent, a deep fold in the earth's surface. A thought: Was this per­ haps either the Vale of Jehoshephat (“The Lord Judgeth”—among the Judged doth He judge, too) or GeyHinnom—the Valley of the Sons of Hinnom—anciently, a place of burning—which name, Gehinnom, Gehenna, is given to the condition of the souls condemned. Some cite Ezekiel: Where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched; others say, it means “to be cut off, as the beasts are cut off” . . . Then down, into the sun-baked gaunt­ ness, and up . . . up . . . a steep hill, a line of people filing like ants, old men and women being assisted to ascend Mt. Zion, the joy of all the earth, the Navel of the World.

THOSE cigarettes which had remained so far were now thrown away, as we approached the en­ trance where young soldiers were on guard, with an eye on the walls of the Old City nearby—the walls so close we could see heads peering over, at us. Inside we went with the throng, through a series of cave-like rooms, dark and disord­ ered, containing as yet nothing much but scraps and rubbish . . .

We passed through a room with a court or large airshaft off to one side, with a well. . . into a chamber roughly fixed up as a synagogue.

Here there was a wait, a press of people, silent, or murmuring quiet­ ly. finally we were inside a small room, with tiles fitted halfway up the walls, a rather slip-shod and decadent-looking Arabic design, but who had eyes for it?

29

Over the tomb-site was a large wooden structure, and over this was a cloth cover. The Frenks and the Temanese were kissing it, pres­ sing their faces to it, murmuring, weeping, whispering . . . Back in the synagogue once more, we began to read psalms from the Siddur, the Songs of Degrees (or Ascents), the Pilgrimage Psalms . . . lights were flickering in glasses and oillamps . . . Suddenly, powerfully, for the first time in my life, I had the awareness of being in a Holy Place . . . It made no difference that some people said that David was not really buried there: If it was not his tomb, it was his cenotaph . . . The deep and pure feelings, the prayers, emotions, 30

sacrifices, of all those here now, had hallowed and sanctified the place. It seemed right, very right, that we should be reading the psalms David wrote about Jeru­ salem in Jerusalem, “city where David encamped” ; his love-letters to Jerusalem, loved by all the Jews, loved so much, so long, reading them in Jerusalem, at the site dedi­ cated to King David, to David the King, to the earthly David, the psalms of love and joy and praise dedicated by the earthly David, Elchanan, to the Heavenly David, Ruler and Creator and Savior, Ancient of Days . . . . . . And when, after a while, someone asked—no words: a look, a gesture, a thought, from heart to heart a prayer—for the Siddur, and I passed it over . . . it seemed that I could not endure not to be saying the psalms, the tehillim, praises; and I pressed close to the man, a dark Sephardi man with a stubble of beard, and the man made a brief glance, and with a smile of pure love he offered to share the book, and we each held it with a hand and we read the psalms to­ gether . . . people, place, praise, verse, reader, writer, G-d, for once, at last, together, joined, united, one. As it is said, by gematriya, echod equals ahavah . . . g U T THEN it was over, we were out in the World of Illusion once more, away from the World of Reality. In silence we returned to take up our lives once more in the world of barbed wire and tourists and jeeps and carps which lived in bath-tubs.

Jewish LIFE

B Y J MJ. YOSHOR

CjHE SLIPPED a small package into his overnight case. “Ham,” she said. “Pickled ham, Les dear, just as you like it with parmesan.

The sandwiches on these non-scheduled jets are darn awful, and I'm sure you'll be getting hungry.”

Lester was not charmed. “That's a laugh,” he snapped. “I'm afraid I'll be too nervous in my stomach.

These tryout sermons affect me strangely. Take this sermon about mental serenity through Judaism that I'm going to preach. It's got me so tensed up it isn’t funny. It'll be all right later. Meanwhile, your sandwiches are the last thing in the world I'll need.”

She pouted her carefully de­ fined red lips, and he quickly relented. He pecked her cheeks and then her lips. “Well, thanks. You're very thoughtful about these little things, Delphine, and darn sweet in general, but I confess I'm an ingrate. Take a tip. You shouldn't stick with me.”

She languidly smoothed the ta­ pered fingers of her gloves. “Dar­ ling, you're so right, I shouldn't,” she taunted playfully. Then her tone hardened. “I meant what I said last night, Les. This will really be the last time. After this tryout,

I'll have had it. Because ultimately you'll have to choose between me and your silly scruples about the modern seating arrangements in these Unifaith temples. You’ll have to choose.”

“My scruples happen not to be silly,” he exploded.

QOME OF the bored people in the waiting room of the terminal pricked up their ears and smiled.

They were seeing a lover's quarrel between a tall, personable young man of light complexion and an impeccably-dressed young lady.

They did not remotely guess that the basis of the quarrel was a point of Reform theology.

‘■Lower ¡your voice, dear, and please be rational. Tell me if it isn't true that nowadays most Re­ form rabbis accept pulpits which have these perfectly sensible seat­ ing arrangements that you're so prejudiced against. Now tell me if that isn't true!”

“What do you want from me ?

You know that it's true, lamentably true.”

“After all, dear, we're not in the twentieth century. Even if we're Reform, we should be just a little modern.”

“Fve told you, Delphine, it has nothing to do with being modern.

Our religious values are timeless."

“But you'll admit, Les darling, that the youth want these Unifaith changes. It's the only way to bring back the youth."

“Sure, you'll bring 'em to a freakish faith that's far, far re­ moved from Judaism."

“The point is, darling, that your own Dean Felsher said that it's all right to go into these Unifaith places in order to bring them back to Reform, because young rabbis like you have got to missionize for Reform. I'm only a silly girl and relatively untutored, but it seems to me, Les—at least for the sake of our happiness—that you shouldn't be more scrupulous than Rabbi Felsher."

T^ELPHINE was not “silly and relatively untutored." On her left wrist a Phi Beta Kappa key (inscribed “Class of the year 2002") dangled from a charm bracelet over the embroidered fold of her glove. When she deprecated herself it was an excursion into irony.

“With all respect, Rabbi Felsher has his mind mostly in books. He doesn't know what the situation is on the outside. Actually, a congre­ gation that goes Unifaith very rare­ ly returns to Reform."

“Les, if anyone can influence these people in Pleasantdale to re­ turn to Reform you're the one who can. You're the type of rabbi they'd listen to. You're cleancut and hand­ some and modern. They'd listen to you. I'm sure they would, Les." 32

“And suppose they don't? Sup­ pose, for instance, they keep the Unifaith seating arrangements."

“We'd still be married. That's What counts. They pay very well, Les." Lester shook his head gravely.

“Now listen to me. I probably won't take this position. So we'll just wait till I get an honest-to-goodness Reform pulpit, even if it's small.

That's the deal."

She clipped her purse open, and drew out a neatly-folded envelope.

“Les, you might as well know. I got a letter last week from Ronnie."

LTHOUGH he tried not to show it, the announcement had an impact. He disliked Ronnie, and was intensely jealous of his pro­ gress.

Pretending light concern, he re­ marked, “Ronnie's a big shot out there in that Topeka temple. I know all about it." Bitterness edged into his voice. “He'll make some girl a comfortable husband."

“Listen, it's you I want, Les. You're twice the guy he is. But I'm a practical girl. I can't wait anymore."

He turned away from her sharp­ ly. The blare of the public address system broke up his retort.

“Passengers to Heliojet 26.

Bournemouth, Vulcan, Pleasant­ dale . . . " “Look, I've got to go. I'll see you next week, I guess."

“Kiss me goodbye, Leg,” she ap­ pealed.

They embraced; his anger to­ ward her lessened. She was his girl, and Ronnie had no business Jewish LIFE

butting in, the idiot. She was his girl. But she didn’t understand the meaning of his religious principles. c To the onlookers on the mahog­ any benches of the waiting room it was a gratifying sight. The young lovers had patched up their quarrel.

Curiously enough, even in the era of solar energy, theology was still a stubborn determinant in human affairs. It could rock a love match even in 2005.

Seating arrangements. Seating arrangements.

T H E IfHRASE, a theological term, soifnded in his brain in dull refrainj The low hiss of the heliojet motor changed into the two words, and monotonously they repeated themselves in his mind. He wanted to sleep, but the two words nagged him and make him restless.

May - June, 1955

What, after all, was so important about the seating arrangements of the Hebrew Unifaith Temple of Pleasantdale ? Yes, let him think about this with an open mind.

It was true that the Hebrew Unifaith movement was an entirely new offshoot of Judaism. Indeed, in less than fifty years it had grown to be the branch with the greatest mass appeal. So what? It was still a religion of Jews. And didn’t the Jewish religion welcome a diversity of approaches? What * did his old teacher, Professor Katz call it ? “A broad ecumenical faith.” * And “ecumenical” meant universal. , Could you help it if the Unifaith i rabbis were a little too ecumenical? !

Anyhow, was the brass-tacks premise of Unifaith so badly out of line? All they did was teach that the religions of the world were 33

actually all trying to worship the same Divine Force, each in its own way. In the twenty-first century, they said, the only humanistic thing was for all religions “to form a confluence,” or, in plain language, to borrow some aspect or custom from another religion. This would dramatize that all religious people were subsumed under one faith (unifaith).

Naturally, it would be the mis­ sion of the Jews to lead the way.

As a matter of fact, out of all the religious groups, the Jews had the strongest Unifaith movement. In the other groups, the Unifaith movements were still rudimentary.

It was said that that was because of Jewish chosenness; the Jews had a prophetic mission to spread brotherhood. Thus, because of their chosenness the Jews would histori­ cally be the first to overcome sec­ tarian barriers.

Was that bad? So Hebrew Uni­ faith carried out its own philosophy through its own ministers — most of them trained at the movement’s seminary in Fort Worth — and established changes in its own tem­ ples, as in their seating arrange­ ments. Why get upset? They were still Jewish temples. The venerable founder of Unifaith, the late Rabbi Aptekar, was always supposed to have said that he came not to change Reform Judaism, but to ful­ fill it. In. ritual, Hebrew Unifaith resembled Reform Judaism a lot, in such basic matters, for instance, as the organ recitatives and the burial service.

So the seating arrangements in the Unifaith temples deviated from 34

correct practice, so they breached hallowed custom. Should he be more religious about it than Dean Felsher? It was merely a question of acculturation. Why give it the im­ portance of an ethical principle?

Seemingly, the Jews of America wanted Unifaith. It was considered highly modern, especially by the new communities of the outer sub­ urbs. If the Jews wanted these innovations, why should he be back­ ward?

Yet he harbored a revulsion fpr their seating arrangements. He could reason about it, but not stomach it.

The last Unifaith temple he’d been in was when he tried out for the position in Topeka, and even now it was distasteful to think about it. In his mind’s eye again he saw the seating arrangements, he saw the disgraceful manner in which the worshipers . . .

“W ILL YOU take some coffee, VV sir?”

“Huh . . . ” He surfaced from his reverie and focused on the stewardess. “Coffee? Yes, thanks, I think I’ll have some.”

She slipped the tray in between the arms of his chair, and placed a cup of steaming coffee on the tray. He leaned back and stirred the coffee.

Why had he permitted that job in Topeka to slip out of his grasp?

In pay and prestige it was a terrific plum. The trustees had liked him, too. His sermon had wowed them ; it was just the right mixture of earthiness and erudition. They’d loved his delivery; why not—he’d Jewish LIFE

always gotten “A’s” in speech and homiletics at Cincinnati.

But then he remembered how he’d felt at the end of that week­ end in Topeka; he’d felt that every­ thing was going his way too easily.

This unnerved him. Just as he was going to succeed, he decided that the success was tainted. All his pleasure at the prospect of gaining the position was soured by an acute sense of guilt. He was accused by his conscience of discarding his principles in exchange for the lucre of a rich pulpit.

Then came the interview with the temple’s board of trustees. If he’d kept, his mouth shut, or at least been less definite in his views, the trustees would have ratified him for the job.

“Rabbi, are you the old-fashioned, fanatic type of Reform or are you modern Reform ?” It was red-faced Kohler of the furniture store chain who asked that. Very amiably, too.

But Lester wanted to prove to himself that he hadn’t sold out. So he’d made his answer a gauntlet.

“Why, Mr. Kohler, the distinc­ tion is more apparent than real.

Reform, you know, is a self-con­ tained philosophy that doesn’t change importantly, say like fash­ ions in furniture.”

The recollection of his tactless­ ness made him wince. Then they really had had a go with him.

“Tell us, rabbi, you don’t have any objection to the fact that we are close to Unifaith, as for in­ stance in our seating arrange­ ments?” That was from the presi­ dent himself, and it was as cleaf an invitation as any to say no, of May-June, 1955

course not. So he’d answered, “It is contrary to Reform. There is no doubt about that, gentlemen. If I were your spiritual leader, I would try to influence you to go back to true Reform worship practices.”

TN THE end, they had thanked him, praised him effusively for his sincerity and sent him on his way.

So Ronnie was in Topeka instead.

Ronnie’s sermons were pretentious without a shred of intellectual sub­ stance. But he was very effective at gladhanding.

Even in Cincinnati the fellows had put him down as a calculating seeker after popularity ; so he’d had few friends. Lester had roomed with him for a semester, and had come to pity him, the more so when Ronnie had craftily tried to dis­ place him with Delphine, as though this were conceivable.

Now Ronnie was a big success.

What did he have? Discretion. He knew how to dispense platitudes, how to mewl before the sisterhood ; so now he was luminous in the firmament of the Unifaith minis­ try. And Lester was a nonehtity. \ After Topeka, Lester had gone through two more tryouts, in much smaller temples, and had fluffed both of them for the same reason: he’d :been too assertive in his Re­ form. It all went to show that it didn’t matter what you knew, but what you knew and didn’t let bother you.

TltTHY DID,it bother him? It was v a deplorable weakness which he’d inherited from his father. : “Son, if we’re going through the 35

trouble of having a worship service to the Divine Force, let's be decent­ ly consistent. We should stick to the ways of Reform even if they seem hard to understand. They have the sanctity of history. I don't hold with this new faddist seating arrangement. It's a perversion of Reform, and it has a theatrical ef­ fect. Frankly, it's an imitation of the Gentiles."

Thus his father, of blessed mem­ ory, had lectured him when he was a kid, just as Unifaith was gather­ ing strength, and Lester had never forgotten.

Later, in Cincinnati, Professor Katz had also influenced him great­ ly. The fellows called Katz “ex­ treme right wing Reform." Some whispered that he was not even Reform at all but worse. All con­ ceded that he was a tremendous scholar, even a genius. He knew the Pentateuch by heart and could quote verbatim passages from such early fathers of Reform as Montefiore and Liebman.

“Don't sell out, my boy. The others are doing it. They fail to understand that there can be no legitimate Reform worship where the seating arrangements are faul­ ty. It's a desecration. Rather than go to a Unifaith temple, I'd say go to a church! Tell your girl friend that you'll dig ditches before you demean yourself in a fake temple."

It was typical of Katz not to equivocate. He always spoke out.

Then Lester sprung the bromide about wanting to capture the Uni­ faith temple back to Reform. Katz came back with both barrels.

“Don't deceive yourself, Lester.

36

The probability is that they'll cap­ ture you before you capture them.

But even if you are able ultimately to persuade enough members to bring the temple back to Reform, how can you square yourself with the sin you will have to commit from Sabbath to Sabbath?"

It was characteristic of Katz's extremism to believe in the ancient concept of sin. He defined sin as “disarraying the Divine Order of the cosmos."

“What sin?"

“Surely the sin of worshipping in a temple that is given over to tawdry and borrowed practices. If these practices are allowed to sub­ sist, what will American Judaism look like a hundred years from now? In short, their seating ar­ rangements deform Judaism. For Unifaith is a retreat from Jewish identity. It is abominable." ; But was it a sin, or was it a tactical retreat? If he could only accept the Pleasantdale people as they were, and then slowly influ­ ence them back to Reform, would not the great end justify the com­ promised means. He asked himself these questions, and then he re­ membered his father's face, his father's integrity and, vengefully, his sense of guilt rushed back.

“Attention please. We shall land in Bournemouth in five minutes."

That meant that they were only an hour from Pleasantdale.

“I'd better start reviewing that darn sermon," Lester muttered.

TT WAS late Friday evening. The services would commence in a few minutes. The temple was nearly Jewish LIFE

full. They were sitting in their pews waiting for the new rabbi.

Lester paced the little room in the wing of the apse that served as the rabbi’s dressing room. He nervously rubbed the spine of the “Authorized Hebrew Unifaith Prayer Book.”

Matters were thickening beauti^ fully. As far as he could tell, they liked him. His little address to the Pleasantdale Sisterhood Lad been exemplary. He’d painted a glow­ ing canvas of platitudes around the three-and-a-half centuries of American Jewish achievement. Mrs. Hoffman, the sisterhood president, had thanked our “charming guest rabbi for his inspiring talk.” In the question period he had been gallant and monkish. He flattered them for their astute questions, spoke grave­ ly about the perils of the zinc bomb, and called for a resurgence of faith to meet the needs of the time.

They found him delightful. Lester could congratulate himself. If you had the ladies, the job was almost secure.

There was a knock at the door.

Lester rubbed the perspired palm of his right hand on his cassock.

“Come in.”

The door opened. “Sorry rabbi, I just wondered . . .”

“Gome in, sir. You’re Mr. . . ” “ . . . Jacobs, rabbi. I’m the sec­ retary of the temple.”

Lester extended his right hand, and they shook hands.

“I was just wondering, rabbi, aren’t you the same rabbi whom I heard speak in Topeka last year?”

“Yes, I guess I am.” i “I felt you were truly outstandMay - June, 1955

ing, rabbi. Confidentially, what was the difficulty? I mean, why didn’t you get the job?”

“To be frank, Mr. Jacobs, there were doctrinal differences.”

“Oh well, that’s something else.”

He cleared his throat. “Doctrinal, eh? They say that Rabbi Ronald Zuckerberg has made a big hit in Topeka. Well no matter. ’Course I liked you very much rabbi, but if it’s doctrinal . . . I mean we would not want you to be uncomfortable in your conscience.”

TJERE WAS the sticking point.

Here was where they always showed elaborate consideration. He would now have to make up his mind. Should he let the job fly from his grasp over an abstruse princi­ ple ? He was already getting a repu­ tation for throwing away promising jobs. If he gave up Pleasantdale, he might be hexed for good. There might be no more chances for good jobs. And Delphine would surely break off with him. She was a girl with a will.

“It will be all right, Mr. Jacobs, I assure you.”

“All right, you say. I’m glad. Say, rabbi, I think it’s time to begin the services.”

“Let us go in then.”

Why shouldn’t he compromise?

Maybe he could change them. At least he’d try. The point was why should a shallow opportunist like Ronnie get all the good things of the world: the best job and perhaps even the girl he loved. Lester hated the thought of giving it all to Ron­ nie. For what? If he threw his life away for a theological quibble, what 37

and how would it profit Judaism ?

They were in the temple now, between the Ark of the Holy Scrolls and the main altar. Lester looked down in the nave at the uplifted faces of the worshippers. Their expressions of expectancy were stimulating.

As usual he noticed the templet Unifaith seating arrangements. It gave him an inward twinge. But he kept on smiling. It did not bother him as much now. He was more accustomed to it.

QEATING arrangements. The pews were recessed about three in­ ches. This made sufficient allow­ ance for the cushions, which were colored a deep maroon and extended neatly parallel to the pews. It was comfortable to kneel on them.

“We shall inaugurate the services this evening with the Preliminary Adoration which may be found on Page 12.”

The pages rustled as they turned to the prayer. Already they reposed

an easy confidence in Lester’s leadership. Where might it not lead to in terms of community rapport?

The organ peeled forth into the hymn. The melody was from the traditional Reform liturgy. Its familiarity warmed Lester’s heart. “ . . . I will worship in gladness in thy holy temple of Unifaith . . .”

Soon would come the obeisance in the Unifaith fashion. He would re­ quire strength for his mission.

When they talked contract tomor­ row, he must hold out for a higher figure. He thought hard of Deb phine. She would give him the courage to act on his decision.

“Lord, I love the habitation of thy house, and the place where thy glory dwelleth. I will worship and bow down: I will bend the knee before the Lord, my Maker . . .”

Lester bent low with graceful poise. The kneeling cushion was stuffed with genuine goose down.

And as he descended, the cushion kissed his knees.

THE SYNAGOGUE This is a parable of a king who had but one daughter and of a neighboring king who claimed her for his wife. He then wanted to take his wife, to his own kingdom and her father said: 1% The daughter that I gave to you is my only child and I cannot bear to part with her. To tell you not to take her, I cannot say, since she is your wife; but do me this favor.

Every place that you go to, please reserve one room for me to sojourn with you."

So said the L-rd: “I have given you the Torah and to part with it I cannot, yet I cannot tell you not to take it. Rather would I say that wherever you shall go erect for me a special house wherein I may dwell, “as it is written: (Shemath 25)

And let them make for Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.

—Shemoth Rabbah 33

38

Jewish LIFE

•

Sharett Government is Faced With Dilemma in Desire To Grant Full Freedom to Arab Minority

By I. HALEVY-LEVIN J erusalem

P ^T THE END of 1954 there were 192,000 non-Jewish resi­ dents in Israel, constituting ap­ proximately eleven per cent of the total population. Of these, 160,000 were Arabs (Christians and Mos­ lems) and 17,500 Druze. Most of the Arabs are concentrated in two contiguous areas, Lower Galilee, centering about Nazareth, and the Little Triangle, a strip in the East­ ern Sharon bordering on Jordan and including five large villages -w Taiba, Tira Aleph, Kfar Kassam, Kalwansia and Juljulia.

Israel's minority problem is a direct outcome of the War of Lib­ eration. The mass exodus of the Arab inhabitants of that part of Mandatory Palestine now occupied

by Israel can be traced to two causes fear of massacre in the event of a Jewish victory and the orders issued by the Mufti to leave so as not to impede Arab military May-June, 1955

operations. Both the Jewish civil authorities and the Haganah High Command sought, at the time, to dissuade the Arabs from leaving the country, and promised full pro­ tection. It has been estimated that fully half a million Moslem Arabs (eighty per cent of the 630,000 then resident in what is now the State of Israel) and 35,000 Chris­ tian Arabs (out of 75,000) left the country during the War. TN 1948, after the conclusion of hostilities, it was estimated that there were 100,000 non-Jews in Is­ rael. This figure was augmented by 50,000 infiltrators, who man­ aged to legalize their residence in Israel, 6,500 persons permitted to return under the Israel-Jordan agreement to unite families sepa­ rated as a result of the fighting and 30,000 who were transferred to Israel with the cession by Jordan 39

of the Little Triangle strip in 1949.

IsraeFs non-Jewish minority is hot a homogeneous entity. Reli­ giously it is divided into Christians numbering 39,000 Arabs and more than 4,000 Armenians and Euro­ peans, about 17,500 Druze and 132,000 Moslems. The latter in­ clude 20,000 nomad Bedouin in the Negev. The Druze, though Arab in origin, regard themselves and are officially recognized as a dis­ tinct entity. The Bedouin, though Arab by race and Moslem by re­ ligion, cannot, for many purposes, be lumped together with the other Arabs. The heterogeneity of Is­ rael’s non-Jewish minority, and even of the Arab community, has aggravated the inherent difficulty besetting this highly complex prob­ lem.

This complexity from the Is­ raeli point of view is intensified by the diametrically contradictory nature of the two major considera­ tions governing it. Israel is a democratic republic. For that rea­ son alone it must recognize the equality of all its citizens. But its minority was created by war, which both legally and actually still con­ tinues and may be renewed — if we are to believe Arab leaders across the borders — at some not distant date in the future.

The fluctuations of Israel’s policy towards its Arab minority must be viewed against this background and developments both within and beyond its frontiers.

TN THE short period of Israel’s 4 statehood Judeo-Arab relations within the borders of this country 40

have undergone a number of vicis­ situdes. Immediately after the cessation of the fighting the Arabs were stricken with fear. As soon as it became clear that the prom­ ises of Jewish defeat made by the Arab Higher Committee (headed by the Mufti) and the invading armies would not be fulfilled, the Arabs who had remained waited apprehensively for the blow to fall. But the Military Governorate, established to administer vari­ ous strategically important areas, far from adopting any repressive measures, embarked upon a policy of reconstruction and restoration of normal civilian life. This totally unexpected reaction set in motion a backwash of infiltration which the Military Governors and the Is­ raeli forces checked only with con­ siderable difficulty. Nevertheless, some fifty thousand infiltrees suc­ ceeded in re-establishing them­ selves on Israeli territory. As one of the measures to normalize the situation, a census of the minori­ ties was taken in 1949.

The mass fear psychosis which underlay the attitude of the Is­ raeli Arabs towards the authori­ ties continued throughout this pe­ riod and, not infrequently, their efforts to demonstrate their loyal­ ty to the State took on forms that were ludicrous. In many Arab villages Israel Independence Day was celebrated with hardly less fervor than among the Jews. Be­ fore long, however, they adapted themselves to the actualities of their new situation. Their repre­ sentatives sat in the Knesseth and, as memories of the war receded, Jewish LIFE

the bitterness of defeat was dulled.

OF the havoc of war the Arab farms were reconstructed and soon began to make rapid progress as a result of the high prices and eager markets for their produce. This unwonted prosperity and growing feeling of economic security soon produced a less amen­ able and more demanding attitude.

The irksome nature of certain re­ strictions — mainly on freedom of movement — in the areas admin­ istered by the Military Governors, accentuated the feeling of being second-class citizens. Throughout these years, moreover, the propa­ ganda campaign of the Arab States over the air and through the me­ dium of the press, as well as by way of special material smuggled in over the border from Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and particularly from Jordan, revived hopes of an early change in their political fortunes.

In these hopes they were strength­ ened by the persistent court paid to the Arab States by the Western

Powers and, particularly, by the fall of the Truman Administration in the United States.

In this period, the principle un­ derlying Government relations with the Arabs inside this country ap­ pears to have been to treat them as fairly and as liberally as de­ fense considerations permitted — the only policy possible, in view of the belligerent statements made by Arab leaders and the state of sub­ war on the borders.

A new policy associated with the Sharett Government was adopted two years ago. It aims at in­ tegrating the Arabs as fully as possible into the Israeli economic, political and perhaps, in the near future, even in the social and cul­ tural fabric. In practice this policy calls for reducing restrictions to a bare minimum consistent with na­ tional security, and includes per­ sistent efforts to improve Arab standards of living, to develop lo­ cal government and to foster co­ operation between the two peoples.

Exploiting Liberal Atmosphere

TT IS not clear to what extent the Israeli authorities really hope that better living conditions for the Arabs will evoke, if not a sense of gratitude, at least a great­ er readiness, ^ motivated by en­ lightened self-interest, to cooper­ ate with the State of Israel. On the average these living conditions are already far beyond what paral­ lel social strata in the neighbor­ ing states can as yet dream of attaining.

May - June, 1955

Israeli leaders undoubtedly re­ call that a similar hope inspired Sir Herbert (now Lord) Samuel’s High Commissionership in the early years of the Mandate, with results that are notorious. The economic benefits which the Arabs reaped then from the influx of Jewish immigrants, far from les­ sening mutual tensions between the two peoples, if anything con­ tributed towards the exacerbation of Arab hostility towards the Jews, 41

I I

A Bedouin mother brings her baby to an Israeli doctor for a medical check-up.

Thousands of Bedouin, nomad Arabs of the desert, roam the Negev.

culminating in the war of 1948.

Gratitude pays a very small part in the relations between nations, especially where opposing interests are involved. Clearly, Israel's ad­ ministration is convinced that any other policy would be democrati­ cally impractical, and that the wisest course is to implement the tenets of equality of all citizens with a good grace.

As a result of these favorable economic and political conditions, the position of the minorities is changing out of all recognition.

42

Among the Arab peasants — and most of the Israeli Arabs still en­ gage in agriculture — prosperity is general. Mention has already been made of the five large Arab villages of the Little Triangle, whose population aggregates fifteen thousand, occupying an area of 87,330 dunams. The area actually under the plough in these villages has grown from 10,300 dunams in 1949 (26 per cent of the total) to 35,745 dunams (95 per cent of the total area) in 1954. But even more striking is the expansion of the Jewish LIFE

area under irrigation, from 2,500 dunams to 11,565 dunams in 1954 — the most reliable index of the intensification of cultivation. The new schools erected, including three high schools, the new roads con­ structed, new clinics established, the bulk of the cost borne by the Government, all speak eloquently of steady, even rapid progress.

Tl

CHARGE made against the Arabs is that their high prof­ its are not saved or spent within the country but are smuggled abroad or utilized for the illicit purchase of gold. However, in all fairness to the minorities and in order to get this alleged practice into better perspective, it is just as well to recall the propensity among Jews under conditions of insecurity in previous centuries to invest their savings in easily trans­ portable precious stones and gold.

But judging from the larger num­ ber of radios in use by the Arab populace it is certain that some of the money at least is being used to improve their standard of liv­ ing. What may be another yard­ stick is the growing number of boys and girls from these'villages studying at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

The position of the Little Tri­ angle villagers may not be fully representative. They are remark­ ably well-placed between the two largest markets for their produce, Haifa and Tel Aviv; they have ex­ cellent land, plenty of water, are diligent farmers, and possess the additional advantage of being able, with due care, of crossing over May-June, 1955

into Arab Legion-held Palestine, whenever they wish. But all Arab villages afford ample evidence of the advantages they have reaped under Israeli administration.

It is very pertinent to ask: What do the Arabs give the State in return? Voluntarily, very little.

Under the circumstances, it may be too soon, perhaps even too much, to expect. One must try and see the problem in an Arab perspective.

From the current Arab point of view they would be bad Arabs if they collaborated with the Jewish State, and bad Arabs cannot be good Israeli citizens. They are under the constant pressure of their compatriots and the Arab Governments across the border.

Leaders of the neighboring states have never made any secret of the fact that they regard Israel’s Arab minority as their fifth column when the day of revenge comes.

T5UT HOWEVER much one may try to understand the Arab point of view against so tragic and so complex a background, the conclusion is inescapable that they are exploiting the more liberal at­ mosphere in Israel to demonstrate and to foster hostility to the State.

An eloquent example has been pro­ vided by the Nazareth City Coun­ cil, which incidentally has shown itself more than usually inept in dealing with local municipal prob­ lems. The Government has pro­ claimed Nazareth as one of the six district capitals of the country, in keeping with its policy to decen­ tralize the administration and with the avowed object of introducing 43

Many signs in Israel are printed in both Hebrew and Arabic. Here a signpainter in the city of Acre touches up this warning: "Danger, Road Under Repair.

Drive Slowly."

44

Jewish LIFE

I I

a Jewish element into this Judenrein enclave. From the administra­ tive and geographical point of view Nazareth, which enjoyed a similar status under the Mandatory re­ gime, is ideally located. The au­ thorities have expropriated a spe­ cified area of land upon which the future administrative center is to be developed. Such acts of expro­ priation for public purposes, ac­ companied, as in the present case, by suitable compensation for landowners whose interests have been affected, are, it is almost super­ fluous to stress, normal in any country. The Nazareth City Coun­ cil, however, has adopted a de­ liberate policy of obstruction. It

has issued building permits whole­ sale to former owners of plots in the prescribed area in the hope of sabotaging Government plans. The Government, to avoid trouble, has resolved to embark upon the first phase of construction on a site just outside the municipal area.

The strong support the Commu| nist Party has enlisted among the Arabs can also be explained, partly at least, by its policy of unremit­ ting hostility to Israel. Here, of course, we must also take into ac­ count the considerable measure of support afforded the Communist Party by Christian Arabs through­ out the Middle East, especially in Lebanon.

Lack of Arab Leaders

JJN UNWILLINGNESS to pay taxes need not, of course, be explained on political grounds. But the Arab contribution is ridiculous by all standards, not the least of which is the very generous bene­ fits they receive from the State. In 1953-54, for instance, per capita in­ come tax collections among the Arabs averaged IL.l as compared with IL.40 among the Jews. It is true that there has recently been some progress, but the average still falls short of IL.3 per capita.

In its relations with the minori­ ties the Government is hampered by the absence of local Arab lead­ ers of minimum stature, command­ ing the respect of their compatri­ ots, as well as by the religious frag­ mentation and mutual hatreds as demonstrated in the Nazareth mu­ nicipal elections last year. Under May-June, 1955

the Israeli administration the last vestiges of semi-feudalism, which continued under the Mandate, have been swept away, and such members of the effendi class (which produced the leadership stratum in the past) who remain in Israel are less than ever capable of serving as spokes­ men for their community.

The Arabs maintain fairly dose and regular contacts with the neighboring countries. Infiltration in both directions is frequent, and smuggling, in which Jewish ac­ complices are sometimes involved, is a flourishing and lucrative occu­ pation. It is even stated that chil­ dren from Jordan go to high schools in Israel’s Little Triangle.

It is interesting to compare the status and conditions of another minority community in Israel, which also has interests across the 45

border in Lebanon and Syria, namely the Druze. There are 17,500 members of this little-known people in Israel. During the War of Liberation Druze units fought both for and against the Jews.

But since the war the loyalty of the Israel Druze has never for one moment been in doubt. A people of war-like peasants, they have volunteered in comparatively large numbers for the Israel Defense Army, the Police and the Frontier Force. Some months ago the City of Tel Aviv played host to a Druze Army unit, the members of which were its guests for three days. ^XTHAT DOES the future hold?

Israel’s integration policy has been conceived upon a long-term basis, and a sincere attempt will be made to implement it despite the paradoxes and pitfalls it must inevitably encounter. But Israeli statesmen are not unrealistic in their assessments. Pinchas Lavon, former Minister of Defense, in a too-candid moment referred to the Arab minority as a potential fifth column, repeating only what has been reiterated time and again by Arab leaders. There is little doubt that the hatred and contempt which the Arabs have entertained for the Jews, as well as other foreigners, have been intensified by their de­ feat at the hands of the people they once called “Walad al mout” — children of death. In 1946, even in 1947, the State of Falastin seemed within their grasp. In 1948 they were a panic-stricken mob of refugees. Generations must pass 46

before the effects of that shock will fade.

Then Israel is a Jewish, a Zion­ ist, State, in whose ideals of Kib­ butz Goluyoth and the regenera­ tion of the Jewish people the Arabs cannot possibly share. Moreover, it must constantly be borne in mind that the Arab Moslems and Christians in Israel are fragments of far larger entities having in­ terests and ambitions of their own in this country.

T H E WOOLLY pacifism of the Ichud group is more hopeful.

They are the successors to Brith Shalom, which for many years be­ fore the State endeavored to bring about a rapprochement between the Jews and the Arabs in this counJewish LIFE

try, and failed because they could not elicit a minimum response among the latter. They call upon the Government to allow the return of 100,0V 00 refugees, a proposal to which Israel was some years ago prepared to agree. Even marginal land will be good for these return­ ing refugees, according to Profes­ sor Ernst Simon, leader of the group. In a recent article he said: These refugees are hard-work­ ing peasants, who can, with the aid of their traditional methods, bring their bread forth even from land unfit for modern agricul­ ture. And it is less important to have a reserve of immediately tillable land today than it was three years ago when we might have expected immediate mass immigration to continue an unlikely contingency in 1954.”

Professor Simon goes on to clas­ sify the infiltrees, which cause Is­ rael so much trouble, into three categories: those cut off from their lands by an arbitrary border, those who cross the border to appease their hunger and gangsters. But, he says: “If the 100,000 uprooted refu­ gees are turned again into settled peasants, the number and pres­ sure of the first category will de­ crease. The resettled refugees may even fight the second and third types of infiltration.”

These excerpts in themselves are sufficient to indicate the refusal of the Ichud group to face the facts of the situation. Israel has today no more than 900,000 acres of cul­ tivated land, while in 1955, ac­ cording to S. Z. Shragai, head of May-June, 1955

the Jewish Agency’s Immigration Department, more than fifty thou­ sand immigrants are expected, and this number might be increased in the event of a further deteriora­ tion of the situation in French North Africa. Finally, there has been little in the conduct of the Israeli Arabs up to the present to justify the hope that they will fight infiltration even of the second and third categories.

QOME ARAB leaders in this country are frankly pessimis­ tic. Sheikh Taher al Tabari, Kadi (Moslem religious judge) of Naza­ reth, and the outstanding spiritual leader of Israeli Moslems, is openly advocating mass emigration. Emil Koussa, a Haifa lawyer, who is in the public eye of late, is of the same opinion, if the Government does not see its way to admitting the Arabs to full equality. The meaning of this latter phrase ap­ parently is the abolition of the Military Governorate in Arab areas, the removal of all restric­ tions of the movement of Arabs, and the amendment of existing legislation with a view to restor­ ing their land to the Arabs.

The Jewish section of the popu­ lation is plainly in a quandary.

While there is much suspicion of the Arabs, there is little hatred, and democratic ideals are sincere­ ly cherished. Nevertheless, the task of reconciling the exigencies of national security with the tenets of democracy seems impossible as long as the neighboring countries persist in their threatening atti­ tude to Israel.

47

By M EYER W AXM AN The year 5715 marks the 750th anniversary of the death of the Rambam. Jewish communities throughout the world are marking uRambam Year” by specml exhibitions, memorial meetings and pub­ lication of his books. J ewish Life is happy to have the opportunity to feature, at this occasion, an evaluation of the life and work of this great sage by an eminent contemporary historian.

H S IS well known, the euphuistic title of “Golden Period” is us­ ually applied to a span of time in Jewish history which lasted for 300 years, from the end of the 9th to the end of the 12th centuries. Gen­ erally, too, the qualifying words “in the history of Spanish Jewry” are usually added to this designation.

But this addition, which is simul­ taneously a limitation, is not en­ tirely correct. If by this title we mean to point to the extensive and many-sided literary, scholarly, and Jewishly cultural activity, distin­ guished by depth of spirit and originality of contribution, this typical activity did not begin in Spain but in Babylonia. Nor was it limited to these two Jewries.

Franco-German Jewries shared in it. Men like Rabbi Gershom, “the Light of the Exile,” Rashi, the leading Tosafist Jacob Tam and a host of others produced by these Jewries during the time mentioned, fully justify their right to that share.

Any period in general, as well as 48

in Jewish history, must have a be­ ginning and an end, or we should rather say an acme when its con­ tributions reach its height. These two points are typified by two per­ sons. The first stands at the head of the period and his genius serves as the fountain from which spirit­ ual and cultural energy flows and gives the impetus to continual de­ velopment. The other acts as the seal whose works reflect the achieve­ ments and accomplishments of the period and are illuminated by the brilliance of his genius and en­ riched by the originality of his contributions. The Golden Period was no exception. Its head or be­ ginner was Saadia Gaon. The seal is represented by Rabbi Mosheh ben Maimon, known to the Jews as Rambam, and to the general world as Maimonides.

TT WAS Mosheh ben Maimon who, absorbing the totality of Jewish learning of the ages up to his time, as well as the trends of thought and science which were manifested Jewish LIFJE

in the three hundred-year period, presented them in his works and added his own share, which im­ parted to the stream of thought a special vitality and fruitfulness.

Crowning a great period, he was also the founder of another era three times as long as the Golden Period, which, though not as bril­ liant as the latter, still was very great. There is hardly a work writ­ ten during the centuries following Maimonides, in any branch of Jew-

ish learning or thought, which does not bear the stamp or influence of the genius of the master.

The greatness of a man mani­ fests itself in his personality and character and in the works which he produces. It is rare that both manifestations equal or even come close to each other. Maimonides is one of the few in whom both per­ sonality and literary activity mani­ fest greatness.

Vindieated His Brethren

JJAMBAM, together with his fa­ was young Moses who came to their ther, fled from Cordova in the rescue in the famous epistle called year 1148 C.E. when the Almo­ Iggereth HarShemad (i.e., an epis­ hades, a fanatical Moslem sect of tle on forced conversion).

In this letter Rambam vindicated North Africa, captured the city, and the Jews were threatened with his brethren from the charge of forced embracing of Islam. Yet, the rabbi, arguing first that Is­ after twelve years of wandering, lam is not an idolatrous religion, father and son heeded the call of for it insists on pure monotheism, Rabbi Judah Ha-Cohen to come to and second, proving from Halochic Fez and settle there — in the very sources that while it is preferable lion’s den where all JFews were for a Jew to undergo martyrdom when forced to embrace another re­ forced to accept Islam.

The heeding of this call, fraught ligion, he is by no means a sin­ with danger, permits no explana­ ner if he saved his life by openly tion other than that it was moti­ practicing that religion, provided vated by the great love which the he observed Judaism secretly. Mai­ two bore for their unfortunate monides urged his brethren to brethren. This impelled them to cling to their religion, even if in come to their help and strengthen secret. He thus saved tens of the hands of those who had en­ thousands of Jews from com­ couraged them to cling secretly to pletely abandoning Judaism. He Judaism and observe its precepts was quite aware that in writing at great risk to their lives. And this he was jeopardizing his own when, several years later, a rabbi life should a copy reach the au­ from a neighboring country re­ thorities, yet he was ready to risk proached the unfortunate Jews for the danger. In fact, he had to leave not accepting martyrdom instead of the country immediately after the bearing the mask of Islam in the publication of the epistle in order open and called them idolators, it to save his life or his religion and May-June, 1955

49

This reproduction of an etching of Maimonides was found in Goerz, Germany.

While it recently was “exposed" as spurious, the etching had never been con­ sidered genuine by historical authorities but, rather, an artist's conception of the Rambam. References to the portrait in scholarly sources range from “hypothetical likeness" to “traditional portrait."

together with his father departed for Palestine.

J1N0THER. characteristic trait of Maimonides was his love for Eretz Yisroel. When he left North Africa he thought of no other land for settlement but Palestine, though 50

he was aware that the situation there, due to the presence of the Crusaders, was far from ideal. Only after he was convinced, after a stay of five months, that it was im­ possible to settle did he leave for Egypt. Yet, throughout his life, he cherished his short stay there. He Jewish LIFE

says in one place that the two days, the seventh and the ninth of the month of Cheshvon of the year 4926, on which he visited Jerusalem and Hebron in order “to kiss the graves of our fathers,” he observed annually as days of prayer and re­ joicing. This love has also an echo in his Code.

Rambam was distinguished too by his modesty. In spite of the great fame he possessed in his own lifetime, throughout the Jewish world, his modesty and even hu^ mility in his relations with his fel­ low-men, and even with his critics and opponents, were manifested to an exceptional degree.

Finally, there is to be noted his insatiable desire for knowledge and wisdom. It would take books to describe the amount of knowledge he acquired. He absorbed all Jew­ ish learning of a millennium, as well as the philosophy and science of half a millennium. The amount of learning constantly extended be­ fore him and his insight became deeper and deeper. He expressed the unquenchable thirst for knowl­ edge in a short sentence: “The gates of inquiry are never closed.”

All these leading traits of char­ acter acted as factors in the crea­ tion of Maimonides’ outstanding works, the Commentary on the Mishnah, Mishneh Torah — the Code — and Moreh Nevuchim, the Guide for the Perplexed. Moved by his great love for his brethren and desiring to raise their standard of Jewish knowledge, which in the world in which he lived was low, he began at the age of twenty-three, during his wanderings, the writing May-June, 1955

of the Commentary on the Mishnah.

T H E JEWISH world of Maimonides differed greatly from that of the Franco-German Jewry in which Rashi and his followers lived.

While there was much interest among the Jews of the Moslem lands in scientific and philosophic studies, there was, on the whole, little Jewish learning among them.

A great fear seized the heart of the young scholar lest Torah be forgotten in Israel. He therefore launched upon the writing of a commentary on the Mishnah in the Arabic language spoken by Jews living in Oriental countries, includ­ ing Arabic Spain, so that all Jews should be able to master the Mishi nah if because of other reasons they would not be able to study the Gemora. It is with this aim in mind that he organized the Com* mentary in a manner entirely dif­ ferent from all other commentaries.

The Commentary of Rambam not only explains the Mishnah but gives the gist of the discussion regarding each Mishnah contained in the Ge­ mora so that the student might grasp the subjects of both the Mishnah and the Gemora and thus be prepared for the study of the Gemora if he so desires. Second, he gives the Halochic decision in every Mishnah. Third, Maimonides uti­ lizes in the Commentary his vast knowledge of the sources for the explanation of such Mishnoth where mathematics, astronomy, physics or medicine are touched upon, and such subjects are elucidated in the clearest manner. Nor did he fail to take advantage of his mastery 51

of philosophy for the sake of the student.

The student, by the study of the Mishnah with the Rambam’s commentary, gains not only a sound knowledge of the Mishnah itself, but a wide and deep conception of the Halochah as reflected in the Talmudic literature as well as a guide to decisions of the law, together with a survey of the religious and ethical views presented

in the Talmud. Not in vain did the Rambam spend ten years under the most trying circumstances in preparation of this work, and parts of it he wrote even on board ship. He felt the need to help his brethren to be at home in the great treasurehouse of Oral Torah, and no amount of work and difficulty of conditions under which he labored disturbed him from completing his undertaking.

The Code JT WAS the Rambam’s love for priests and Levites, as well as those his fellow-Jew and his strong de­ of purity and impurity, ceased to sire to raise their spiritual status be practiced after the destruction and to afford to every Jew who so of the Temple. Nor was criminal desires the means to attain knowl­ law practiced after the loss of the edge of Judaism in all its phases, State. legal, ethical and theological, which There was danger that a large urged him to compose the most part of the Torah would ultimately magnificent and the greatest of his be forgotten. Maimonides wanted works, the Code or Mishneh Torah. to obviate this danger and included It is well-known that these subjects all laws, as he says: are scattered in a millennial litera­ “In the years approaching old ture which contains numerous books age, I became zealous for the sake and thousands of pages. And what of G-d’s Torah, and when I saw is more, in both the Babylonian that our nation is without a com­ and Palestinian Talmudim, as well plete code which should have defi­ as in all other Tannaitic works, nite decisions without difference there is much discussion and dif­ of opinion and without error, it ference of opinion and few definite was then that I rose and wrote decisions. Under such circumstan­ this work, not for my honor but ces, unless oner spends a life-time for the honor of G-d, blessed be in study, he is lost and cannot find He.” his way in this uncharted sea.

This wide literature contains not Maimonides, a man of philosophic only laws, but also views of G-d, and scientific training, wanted to of the destiny of the nation, on life offer exact and definite statements, and on morality and also some for otherwise knowledge is not parts of the sciences. complete.

In addition, a large part of the ■pHE MISHNEH TORAH is based law, namely those precepts dealing on the 613 precepts contained with sacrifices, Temple worship, in the Torah. For that purpose he 52 Jewish LIFE

preceded the Code with his Sefer Ha-Mitzvoth (Book of Precepts) in which he determined exactly which commands constitute pre­ cepts. However, >unlike others, he did not arrange his book in the order they are stated in the Bible, but divided them into fourteen classes, each of which can logically be subsumed under a general con­ cept. As is well known, precepts are divided into affirmative and prohibitive, but Maimonides added another division — precepts re­ lating to the worship of G-d and precepts dealing with the relations to fellow-men. Such division is al­ so mentioned in the Talmud, but he imparted to these two large classes special meaning. The first embraces all precepts, both affirma­ tive and prohibitive, which aim at the spiritual improvement of the individual. The second includes all precepts relating entirely to laws

affecting life in society. It is be­ cause of this view that he includes such precepts regulating family life or the giving of charity under the first class, though they affect man’s relations with his neighbor.

But he says that the Divine pur­ pose is to perfect the conduct of the individual and bring him nearer to G-d; hence they are included in the first class.

His love of Eretz Yisroel is also greatly manifested in the Mishneh Torah. Not only are all state laws given as if the state is still in existence," but he also enunciates his belief in the gathering of the exiles there before the coming of the Messiah. He therefore says that the scholars of Eretz Yisroel can reestablish the Sanhedrin by unani­ mous agreement before the coming of the Messiah, for according to Isaiah its existence precedes his coming.* >

Philosophy

JSj^ SIMILAR desire to help his brethren to attain a higher standard of thought and forma­ tion of right views forms the mov­ ing factor in the repeated efforts of Rabbi Mosheh ben Maimon to make philosophic ideas and theories available to all who strove to at­ tain them. He believed and thought that the right purpose of man’s life is to rise to intellectual height in order to conceive G-d and the world in the highest way possible as well as to live ethically and re­ ligiously.

He therefore injected philosophic teachings in all his works. We have already noted such attempts ftiade May-June, 1955

by him in his commentary on the Mishnah and in the first book of the Code. But the complete presen­ tation of his philosophical and theo­ logical views in a most systematic and clear manner he left fpr his third great work, the Moreh Nevuchim, the Guide for the Per­ plexed. , %*gEL IE F,” says Rambam, “is not merely that which is uttered with the lips, but also that which is apprehended by the soul. It is a conviction that the object of belief is exactly as apprehended.” As such, the believer looks for no proof and ♦Code, Book of Sanhedrin, Ch. IV, 11

53

accepts his belief as true. This may satisfy simple people. He continues: “But if one is inclined to specu­ lation and possesses a belief of which he is convinced that the object of the belief is really so as he conceives it, he ought to probe it by reason. If reason does not disprove it, nor can it prove the opposite; then the belief is really true even if it is not fortified by proofs from reason.”

Now Maimonides as all other Jews was convinced of the truth of revelation, both on historical and moral grounds. He therefore set out to prove that all teachings of the Torah are true, for its prin­ ciple, the existence of one G-d, can be proved by reason. As for its other teachings, he endeavored to prove that they cannot be disproved by reason and are therefore true, independently of the proofs of rea­ son.

Writing for people who were ac­ quainted with philosophy and who knew current philosophical proofs for the existence of G-d, Rambam did not begin his Guide with such proofs but with the problems that troubled most of these people ?lif|the numerous Biblical anthro­ pomorphisms describing G-d and His relation to the world in a way which seems to oppose reason. With skill and insight into the Hebrew language, he shows that there is nothing in the inner meaning of all these expressions which is opposed to reason. The forms are only met­ aphors. But this was not enough to elicit the purity of the G-d-concept of Judaism to the highest de­ gree, for, like all other religions, 54

it posits attributes of G-d, for otherwise G-d has no personal re­ lation to man.

ATTRIBUTES form a difficult problem in religious philosophy.

When misunderstood they jeopar­ dize the complete simplicity and inner unity of G-d, as an attribute is an addition to the essence. Mai­ monides devotes a number of chap­ ters to the proper understanding of the attributes and teaches that they are to be understood nega­ tively, that they only remove all defects from G-d but tell nothing positive about the essence of G-d, for His essence cannot be fully conceived. The elucidation of the purity of the G-d-concept of Juda­ ism and the showing that reason cannot oppose it is the main task of the first part.

He then turns to the second part of the Guide, to the subject G-d and the world which forms the very hub of religious teachings. But before he discusses the particular phases of this wide subject, he proves the existence of G-d accord­ ing to reason and philosophy. This was done before by Jewish think­ ers, but these proofs had flaws.

Maimonides wanted to show that as far as the very basis of all re­ ligions — existence of G-d — is concerned, it is consistent, without any doubt, with the highest phii losophy of the time, that of Aris­ totle, of whose teaching he was a follower.

But the G-d of Aristotle is not the G-d of religion, and certainly not that of Judaism. This G-d is merely a First Cause and has little Jewish LIFE

relation to the world and man. The world in its numerous phases is only a mechanical process emanat­ ing in some way from the First Cause. Such view offers no guid­ ance to man in life and conduct.

Rambam therefore devotes many chapters to show that Judaism’s view of G-d is true, for no phi­

losophy can disprove it. He shows that the proofs of Aristotle for the eternity of the world are not con­ vincing. Hence, the creation of the world by the will of G-d is fully true. Out of that fundamental view there follow most of the teachings of Judaism. G-d, as Creator of the world, and as the One who estab-

Rabbi Judah L. Maimon (left), former Israel Minister of Religions, presents a copy of the Rome, 1480 edition of the Rambam's Mishneh Torah to Israel s Presi­ dent, Yitzchak Ben Zvi, at ceremonies in Jerusalem. The volume was recently re­ published by the Mosad Harav Kook in commemoration of the 750th anniversary of the Rambam's death.

May-June, 1955

55

lished the order of nature, has a definite relation to nature and man.

He can also, if He will, change its order, hence Maimonides believes that at certain times, for a definite, purpose, miracles may take place by the will of G-d. G-d also has a definite relation to man and re­ veals to him His will. The means of revelation is, according to Juda­ ism, prophecy. It attains truth by divine inspiration without recur­ ring to the proofs of science and philosophy, and Maimonides then elucidates its character5in various degrees, of which that of Moses is of the highest degree. The Torah, therefore, contains the high­ est truth. Maimonides thus estab­ lished the veracity of the most im­ portant teaching of Judaism, G-d’s relation to the world and man, and His revelation to man.

The most important revelation of G-d to man, the giving of the Torah, aims, he says, to guide man in social and political life and also offers him true views concerning G-d and his relation to the world, the attainment of which conduces to the perfection of man’s soul.

Thus, every Jew can share in that perfection, though in degrees.

The intellectual and philosophically trained man attains a higher de­ gree of that perfection. That the precepts of the Torah have a ra­ tional basis follows from that view, and Maimonides proves the ration­ ality of most of them.

■

THE entire work there runs the thread of emphasizing the value of intellectual attainment and the cultivation of understanding . 56

and reason. Maimonides was aware of this ofie-sidedness which over­ looks many phases of human life.

He therefore ends the Guide with a statement which begins with a quotation from Jeremiah IX, 22, 23: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom; neither the mighty in his, might; nor the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that glorieth glory in this that he understandeth and knoweth Me. I am the Lord who exercises jus­ tice, mercy and righteousness on the earth, for in these things I delight.

To this passage Maimonides adds: “If G-d wants only understanding, the prophet should not have men­ tioned that mercy, justice and righteousness are the delight of G-d. He means to tell us, then, that man must live a moral life and conduct himself ethically.” It is only then that he will attain the right kind of understanding of G-d and His actions and thus attain perfection.

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Jewish LIFE

LABOR AND RELIGION

Bronx, N. Y. I take the liberty to write you in regard to your editorial, “Religious Crisis in Jerusalem,” which appeared in your Shevat issue.

After centuries of abnormal exist­ ence in Goluth lands, it is not sur­ prising to witness abnormal behavior from remnants of the extreme right and left of our people. Although we deplore the atheistic activities of cer­ tain anti-religious individuals, we know that most of the Israeli and American Histadruth leaders are tol­ erant and liberal-spirited and demo­ cratic in their respect for other peo­ ple’s convictions. Their lives have been devoted to the cause of justice for the down-trodden Jew. They have battled against the cruel system of man exploiting his fellow man. They fought against sweat shops, inequali­ ties and insecurity for the workers.

They crusaded for social and eco­ nomic justice and a decent standard of living for their fellow man. It was a long, tough, self-sacrificing, uphill struggle until they achieved success, recognition and prestige.

Unfortunately, neither here nor in

May-June, 1955

Israel, did the labor leaders receive active cooperation from our religious spokesmen. Religious authorities as­ sumed a neutral, detached, “non-par­ tisan” attitude. This has produced our critics and their belief that re­ ligion is indifferent towards the wel­ fare and rights of the worker. Hence, we have these spiteful defiances such as building a co-ed youth club center next to an ultra-orthodox community and other deliberate irreligious ac­ tivities which cause pain, shame and iiidignation.

Add to this pent-up resentment of the radical, the disgraceful conduct of certain ultra-orthodox elements who think that they have been ordained to burn automobiles on the Sabbath; who petition the Pope to assure the sanctity of the Sabbath ; who pro­ claim for the internationalization of Jerusalem; who proclaim Yom Haatzmauth a day of mourning; who carry on a vicious propaganda cam­ paign against the State of Israel, its Government and laws, and you get a picture of what produces the defiant, atheistic rebel.

It is imperative for the Histadruth to realize that its supreme function is to strengthen Israel’s economic

59

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60

Jewish LIFE

foundations. Religious leaders and their disciples must realize that it is their supreme duty to strengthen Is­ rael’s spiritual foundations and not permit their followers to engage in irreligious demonstrations that dese­ crate the Jewish Name.

Religious spokesmen must be hope­ ful, patient and tolerant with the remnant of our people who were tortured physically and spiritually for centuries by thousands of Amaleks and Hitlers. Our people must be inspired and encouraged towards the Torah way of life to assure their permanent safety, security and eman­ cipation. Our wise and learned must guide and council the people and plead to G-d for them, even as Abra­ ham and Moses did so eloquently.

What a golden, historic opportuni­ ty and challenge lies ahead for both our religious and labor heroes to in­ spire their followers to live together like brothers, to fight only the com­ mon enemies of our people and our faith, to show the broken, fearful, crazy world that we are a sane, sen­ sible people devoted to making Israel an ideal example of peace, progress and prosperity. This can be achieved if the Histadruth leaders devote all their energies to creating the finest social justice program and if the rabbis will devote all their time to guiding the perplexed towards the moral laws of Moses.

Charles Rubinstein

* * * SOCIAL LIFE

Bronx, N. Y. I wish to congratulate you on pub­ lishing the article entitled “The Pow­ der Blue Gown,” by Ursula Sitzmann M ay -Ju n e, 1955

in your Nisan issue. The need for stories of this type is greatly felt as one looks at the social life led by many young people whom we call orthodox Jewish youth.

Social dancing has become a stand­ ard feature for many synagogues and has entered three Yeshivoth as well.

The division of the Shulchan Oruch called the Even Ha-Ezer has been completely forgotten by many Jews who would give their life for Shabboth and Kashruth observances, A “Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Na­ tion” has become their just banner, except when it comes to social life where Torah morals are needed most urgently in the sex-crazy environ­ ment of today.

I hope you will publish more ar­ ticles on this subject in the future.

May we also be privileged to see a re-awakening among orthodox Jewry, which will safeguard Halochah, in the social life of our youth.

Arnold Rothkoff *

*

*

WANTS MORE % PEP TALK'

NevK York, N. Y. While I enjoy J ewish Life as a great enlightening source for ortho­ dox Jewry (as you see I am enclosing a money order for a three-year sub­ scription), I would like to make a brief comment on its contents. I find that there is a lack of the simple pep talk, better known as Musor Shmus, which we require so much to keep on going. In its place you publish ar­ ticles on the spheres of holiness, phi­ losophy etc. The latter are very ne­ cessary as they broaden our under­ standing and elevate our Judaism by bringing an awakening in our minds 61

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Jewish LIFE

and by thus bringing about a Jew with a deeper insight in the Divine.

In doing so, many Torah sources are brought into the articles, which only men who are in the Yeshivah all their lives knows how to treat and understand. To the uninformed it may sound abstract and above com­ prehension especially when compared with other source material.

David Mines *

*

*

JUDAISM'S UNIQUENESS

Bronx, N. Y. Your editorial (Shevat, 5715) on the proposed World Calendar was very stimulating and aroused within me a desire to evaluate the difference between the Jewish and secular con­ ceptions of Time. I suppose that my days at the Yeshivah were instru­ mental in my regarding the calendar in a philosophical light.

As a rabbi I have had countless questions posed to me about Judaism from many different individuals and groups. There seems to be a feeling that Judaism may be equated with Christianity, lehavdil, in its ethical and philosophical views. An intelli­ gent layman, uninformed about Juda­ ism, once asked me: “Aside from ritual, aren’t all religions alike?”

This fired me to prove that Judaism has a unique world-view and value system which cannot be deduced from any “humanitarian” condensation of religion.

In my talks and discussions I have always attempted to demonstrate how different are the attitudes of the gen­ tile religions from ours and how these differences, the shadings and nuances, engender a different style of life in

May-June, 1955

the traditional Jew. I was frequently able to convince some individuals that Judaism is more than a “Most An­ cient Masonic Order of Ritual” but represents a different conception of reality.

I believe that clarification of the unique value systems in Judaism helps the younger American Jew, in particular, to evaporate his hostility to the demands of Judaism.

Samuel A. Weiss * * * PRAISES PUBLICATION

Los Angeles, Calif.

Enclosed please find check for $4.00 for three years’ renewal of my sub­ scription.

I would like to take this opportuni­ ty to congratulate you for your fine publication. I believe that your mag­ azine is helping to promote the cause of traditional Judaism in America.

My best wishes for continued success.

Rabbi Michel B. Albagli Sephardic Hebrew Center

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64

Jewish LIFE

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May-June, 1955

65

UNION OF ORTHODOX JEWISH CONGREGATI ONS OF AME R I CA

n"n

Kosher commodities and establishments under official © supervision and en­ dorsement.

KASHRUTH DIRECTORY Issued Sivan, 5715 June, 1955 LOOK FOR THE (Q) SEAL - AND BE SURE!

The © seal is your guarantee of communallyresponsibly Kashruth supervision and endorsement, conducted as a public service by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America—UOJC All items in this Directory are ©, receive the con­ stant inspection of and are passed upon by the Rabbinical Council of America, Rabbinic body of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations.

CONSUMERS ARE CAUTIONED TO: • Make sure that the © seal is on the label of every food product.

• Make sure that the seal shown on the label is the © — beware of imitations!

• Read carefully the list of ingredients of each © product to ascertain whether it is a meat or dairy product. The © does not necessarily mean that the product is Pareve.

—

• —

Please note that the © seal of Kashruth supervision and endorsement is exclusively the symbol of: Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 305 Broadway, New York 7, N. Y. BEekman 3-2220

66

Jewish LIFE

UOJC KASHRUTH DIRECTORY All items listed below bear the © seal. items listed © P are Kosher for Passover when bearing this or other UOJC A Passover Hechsher on label.

Items listed • are Kosher for Passover without Passover lleehsher on label. * Indicates new © endorsement.^

pple Butter :!:Musselman’s

(The C, II. Musselman Co., Buflerville, Pa.)

j/e Sauce

dusselman’s

The C. II. Musselman Co., Biglerville, Pa.)

Heinz — with © label only Strained Vegetables & Salmon *Strained Bananas *Strained Creamed Spinach Strained Cream of Tuna Strained Vegetables Strained Fruits Chopped Mixed Vegetables Strained Puddings Strained Orange Juice Strained Tomato Soup Strained Vegetable Soup Pre-Cooked Cereals (Barley, Oat­ meal, ltice) Junior Creamed Carrots Junior Vegetables Junior Fruits Junior Vegetable Soups «junior Puddings (H. J. Heinz Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.) Beech-Nut — with © label only Strained Vegetables Strained Fruits Strained Vegetable Soup Strained Tomato Soup Strained Puddings Strained Fruit Dessert Strained Plums with Tapioca Cereals Junior Vegetables

May - «Tune, 1955

Jjmior Fruits Junior Vegetable Soup Junior Banana Dessert Junior;Puddings Junior Plums with Tapioca «Junior Fruit Dessert Junior Chocolate Pudding (Beech-Nut Packing Co., N.Y.C.)

Beans

Heinz Oven Baked Beans with mo­ lasses sauce Heinz Oven Baked Beans in tomato sauce (H. J. Heinz Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.)

*Freshpak Vegetarian Beans in Tomato Sauce

(Grand Union Food Markets, East Paterson, N.J.)

Beans & Frankfurters

*White Rose (Seeman Bros., Inc., N.Y., N.Y.)

KES, COOKIES CRACKERS @P Barton’s Bonbonniere (Barton, Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y.) Dromedary

Chocolate Nut Roll Date Nut Boll Orange Nut Boll (above contain milk) (The Hills Brothers Co., N. Y.C.) Golden Cracknel Egg Biscuits

(Golden Cracknel & Spec. Co^M Detroit, Mich.)

Ry-Krisp

(Ralston-Purina, St. Louis, Mo.) Continental Favourities Viennese Cookies

(ABC Baking Co., Inc., B’klyn, N.Y.)

67

UOJC KASHRUTH

DIRECTORY ©

,

Dromedary Date Muffin Mix Fudge Frosting Mix (above Contain milk) Corn Bread Mix Corn Muffin Mix Cup Cake Mix Devil’s Food Mix Fruit Cake Mix Gingerbread Mix White Cake Mix (The Hills Brothers Co., N.Y.C.)

Hot Dog Relish Worcestershire-Sauce Tomato Ketchup ^Barbecue Relish {H. J. Heinz Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.) Lawry’s Seasoned Salt {Lowry's Products Inc., Los Angeles, Cal.) Mother’s *©P Horse Radish *©P Red Horse Radish .with Beets {Mother's Food Prod/ucts^ Newark, N.J.) Pride of the Farm Catsup {Hunt Food Prod., Fullerton, Cal.)

Cranberry Sauce

,|)P April Orchards (Morris April Brothers, Bridgeton, N.J.) Camps (for childrenI Dromedary *Camp Ke-Yu-Ma {The Hills Brothers Co., N.Y.C.) (Grass Lake, Michigan¿Office • 3304 Webb Avenue, Detroit, Mich.) £©P Eatmor (Morris April Brothers, Camp Mohaph (Glen Spey, N.Y. — N.Y. office 4320 Bridgeton, N.J.) Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y.) Dessert Topping *Qwip { A voset Co., Sa.n Fran cisco, Col.)

Dietetic Foods ®P Barton’s Bonbonniere (Barton, Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y.)

©P Mother’s Low Calorie Borscht {Mother's Food Products) 4©P Sugarine Liquid Sweetener {Sugarine Co., ML Vernon., III.)

Cereals

Dishwashing Machine Detergents

Skinner’s Raisin-Bran Raisin Wheat {Skinner Mfg. Co., Omaha, Neb.) Ralston Instant Ralston Regular Ralston {Ralston Purina Co., St. Louis, Mo.)

Condiments, Seasonings

©P Gold’s Horseradish {Gold Pure Foods, B'klyn, N.Y.) Heinz Horse Radish 57 Sauce Chili Sauce 68

•

All *Dish-All {Monsanto Chemical Co,, St. Louis, Mo.) ^Finish {Economics Laboratory, Inc., St. Paul, Minn.)

• Spic & Span {Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, Ohio) *Ad *Super Suds Blue v(CbIgal e-Palmolive Co., Jersey Gity, N.J.)

Jewish LIFE

UOJC KASHRUTH DIRECTORY

i

All items listed below1? bear the © . seal.

Items listed ¿©P are Kosher for Passover when bearing this or other UOJC A Passover Hechsher on label.

Items listed • are Kosher for Passover without Passover ^Hechsher on label.., * Indicates new © endorsement.

Dressings

*Deming's Salmon

Garber's Misrochi Salad Dressing

(Garber’s Eagle Oil Corp., B’klyn.)

Heinz French Dressing

(H. J. Heinz Co., Pittsburgh. Pa.)

Mother's

*Mayonnaise *Salad Dressing (Mother’s Food Products, .

Newark, N.J.) * Wish-Bone Italian

©

Salad Dressing

(K. G> Wishbone $di(id' Dressing M^o. Inc., Kansas City, Mo.)

{Deming & Gould Co., Bellingham, Wash.)

Flavor Improver Ac'cent

{International Minerals and Chemical Co., Chicago, III.)

Food Packages

©P Care (New York, N.Y.)

Food Freezer Plan Yitzchok Goldberg & Sons

(New York, N.Y.)

Frozen Foods Milady's Royal Snack

Cream Herring Matjcs Fillets Spiced Herring Lunch Herring Herring Cocktail Tidbits Salmon (in wine sauce) (8. A. Haram Co., N.Y.C.) Mother's Old Fashioned

©P Gefilte Fish Sweet & Sour Fish {Mother’s Food Prod., Newark, N.J.) Breast O’Chicken Tuna

{Westgat e-California Tuna Packing Co., San Diego, Cal.)

*Eatwell Tuna

{Star-Kist Foods, Inc., Terminal Island, Cal.)

Star-Kist

*Frozen Fish Sticks *Tuna *Egg Noodles and Tuna Dinner *Frozen Tuna Pie {Star-Kist Foods, Inc., Terminal Island, Gal.) ^ *©P 1000 Springs Rainbow Trout {Snake River Trout Co., Buhl, Idaho)

May-June, 1955

Blintzes (blueberry, cherry, cheese potato-all are mil chi g) Waffles

(Milady Food Prod., B’klyn, N.Y.)

Associated

Waffles (Associated Food Stores Corp., N.Y.C.)

Pure Dairy

Waffles (rService Frozen Food Corp.,* * B’klyn, N.Y.)

Indian Trail

t©P Cranberry Orange Relish (Cranberry Growers, Inc., Wisconsin Rapids, Wise.)

Fantails

Canapes Cocktail Frankfurters Codfish Puffs Kashe Knishes *Kashe Varnishkes *Noodle Pudding *Potato Pirogen *Potato Pudding (Chase Food Products Corp., B’klyn, N.Y.)

69

UOJC KASHRUTH DIRECTORY

cu;

Frozen Foods ICont’dl Home Town

Blintzes Fishcakes Pancalces {Home Town Foods, Inc., Harris, N .Y .)

*©P 1000 Springs Rainbow Trout (Snake River Trout Co., Buhl, Idaho) Star-Kist

*Fish Sticks *Tuna Pie (Star-Kist Foods, Inc., Terminal Island, Cal.)

Fruit —

f

— bulk d rie D

©P California Packing Corp.

(San Francisco, Cal.)

Fruits —

i

Dromedary

Package

Dates Fruits and Peels Moist Coconut Shredded Coconnt (The Hills Brothers Coij- N.Y.C.) Musselman’s

Cherries Sliced Apples (The C. II. Musselman Co., Biglerville, Pa.)

Gelatin Desserts — Vegetable Berish's Real Kosher

©P Gel Desserts (flavored) Unfavored Vegetable Gelatin (Orthodox Kosher Products, Brooklyn, N.Y.)

Glycerides Emcol MSVK

(The Emulsol Corp., Chicago, III.)

Glycerine — Synthetic *Shell Synthetic Glycerine

(Shell Chemical Corp., N.Y.C.)

Honey ©P Garbers Misrochi

(Garber Eagle Oil Corp., B’klyn N.Y:)

70

( (See also Scouring Powders) ©P Brillo Products (Brillo Mfg. Co., B’klyn, N.Y.) ^Bright Sail (A & P Food Stores, N.Y.C.) Cameo Copper Cleaner (Cameo CorpmChicago, III.) *Ad • Fab ° ICirknian Detergents *Super Suds Blue • Vel (Colgate-Palmolive Co., Jersey City, N.J.) |gi|Finish Spila xi j (Economics Laboratory Inc., St. Paul, Minn. ) Glim (B. T. Babbitt Inc., New York, N.Y.) My Pal (Pal Products Go., Brooklyn, N.Y.) • Cheer • Dreft • Oxydol Joy • Spie & Span • Tide

(Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, Ohio) *Sail (A & P Food Stores, N.Y.C.) • Sprite (Sinclair Mfg., Toledo, Ohio) • Trend (Purex Corp. Ltd., South Gate, Cal.) *Linco Liquid Detergent (Lineo Prod. Corp., Chicago, III.)

Jewish LIFE

UOJC KASHRUTH DIRECTORY All items listed below bear the © seal.

Items listed © P are Kosher for Passover when bearing this or other UOJC A Passover Hechsher on label.

Items listed ® are Kosher for Passover without Passover ^Hechsher on label. * Indicates new © endorsement. ^

ICE CREAM, SHERBET @P Barton’s Bonbonniere (Barton, Ihc:) Costa’s French Ice Cream

(Costa’s Ice Cream Co., Woodbridge, N.J.)

Met Tee-Vee

(Marchiony Ice Cream Co., N.Y.C. distributed by Metropolitan Food Co., Brooklyn, N. %) ;

Industrial Cleansers Artie Syntex M. Beads

MARGARINE Berish‘s Beal Kosher (milchig)

(Orthodox Kosher Products)

Crystal Brand (milchig)

{L. Daitch & Co., N.Y.C.)

Dilbro (milchig)

{Dilbert Bros., Glendale, N.Y.) Mar-Parv (pareve) Miolo (milching—bulk only) Nu-Maid (milchig) Table-King (milchig)

{Miami Margarine Co., Cincinnati, Ohio)

{Colgate-Palmolive Co., Jersey City, N.J.)

Mother’s (milchig) Mother’s Pareve

Institution X Orvus Extra Granules Orvus Hy-temp Granules Orvus Neutral Granules Cream Suds

New Yorker (milchig)

{Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, Ohio)

Jams and Jellies Berish’s Beal Kosher Pure Fruit Jams Marmalade Marmalade Butter

{Orthodox Kosher Products^ B’klyn, N.Y.)

{Mother’s Food Products, Newark, N.J.) {Roslyn Distributors, Middle Village, N.Y.)

Marshmallow Topping Marshmallow Fluff

{Durkee-Mower, Inc., Mast Lynn, Mass.)

Mayonnaise *Mother ’s

{Mother’s Food Products, Newdrk, N.J.)

Heinz Jellies

{H. J. Heinz Co.)

@P Barton’s Bonbonniere

{Barton, Inc.)

MEATS AN D PROVISIONS

Juices Heinz Tomato Juice

{H. J. Heinz Co.)

Musselman’s Apple Juice

Tomato Juice

(The C. H. Musselman Co., Biglerville, Pai)

May-June, 1955

Yitzchok Goldberg’s • Meats ®P Corned Beef ©P Tongue

{I. Goldberg & Sons, 220Delancey St., N.Y.C.)

71

©

©

UOJC KASHRUTH DIRECTORY

Meats and Provisions ICont'dl

©P Nutola

• Frozen Meats ©P Salami ©P Frankfurters Pastrami (I. Goldberg & Sons, 220 Delaney St., NJi.C.)

(Nutola Fat Products Co.)

Peanut Butter Beech-Nut

(Beech-Nut Packing Co.) Heinz

(H. J. Heinz Co.)

Oxford

©P Bologna ©P Corned Beef @P Frankfurters

Pie Fillings Musselman’s

(The C. H. Musselman Co., Biglervitte, Pa.)

P Salami P Tongue

§(Oxford Provisions, Inc.,

Popcorn TV Time Popcorn

549 E. 12th SI., N.Y.C.)

(B & B Enterprises, Inc., ; 1Chicago, III.)

Meat Tenderizer Adolph's

(Adolph’s Food Products, Burbank, Gal.) So-Ten

POTATO CHIPS

(So-Ten Co., Memphis, Tenn. )

Mustard Heinz

Brown Mustard Yellow Mustard (H. J. Heinz Co.)

Gordon’s

Potato Chips Potato Sticks Tater Sticks (Gordon Foods, Inc., Atlanta, Ga.)

Noodles 6 Macaroni Products *Buitoni Macaroni Products

(Buitoni Foods Corp., So. Hackensack, N.J.)

Kobey’s

^Greenfield’s Noodle Products

Potato Ohips Shoestring Potatoes (Tasty Foods Ino., Denver, Col.)

Heinz Macaroni Creole

Monarch Shoestring Potatoes

(Golden Cracknel & Spec. Co., Detroit, Mich.)

(Reid Murdock, Div. of Consolidated Foods, Chicago, III.)

(H. J. Heinz Co.)

^Pennsylvania Dutch Egg Noodles

Sunglo Potato Chips Shoestring Potatoes

(Megs Macaroni Co., Harrisburg, Pa.)

Skinner’s Macaroni Products

(Skinner Mfg. Co., Omaha, Neb.)

*Sophie Tucker’s Noodle & Macaroni Products

(Sophie Tucker’s Food Products Go., Inc., Baltimore, Md.)

Oil

©P Garber’s Misrochi (Garber Eagle Oil Corp.)

Mazola

(Corn Products Refining Corp., N.Y.C.)

72

(Tasty Foods Inc., Denver, Col.) *©P Warner’s Potato Chips (East Coast Food Gorp., Riverhead, N.Y.)

Poultry — Frozen • •

Yitzchok Goldberg & Sons

(New York, N.Y.) Menorah Farms

(Menorah Products, Inc,, Boston, Mass.)

Jewish LIFE

UOJC KASHRUTH DIRECTORY

©

All items listed below bear the @ peal.

Items listed © P are Kosher for Passover when bearing this or other TJOJCA Passover Hechsher on label.

Items listed • are Kosher for Passover without Passover ^Hechsher on label. * Indicates new (y) endorsement.

Prepared Salads Boyal Snack

Beet Salad, Cole Slaw, Cucumber Salad, Garden Salad, Potato Salad (S. A. Hnram Co,, N.Y.C.) Mother’s

Cucumber Salad Potato Salad (Mother's Food Products) Heinz

Vegetable Salad (JET. J. Heinz Co.)

Pudding ®P Berish’s Beal Kosher Chocolate Pudding (Orthodox Kosher Products, B’klyn,,N.Y.)

s

Mother’s

®P Pickles @P Gherkins ©P Sweet Bed Peppers ©P Pimentoes ©P Pickled Tomatoes ©P Sauerkraut Deluxe ©P Pickled Country Cabbage *Diced Sweet Pepper Belish *Corn Belish *Sweet Pickled Watermelon Bind *Sweet Diced Mustard Pickle *Grenadine Melon Balls *Mimt Melon Balls *Kosher New Spears *California Pimentoes *Hot Cherry Peppers (Mother's Food Products, Newark, N.J.) Carolina Beauty

Rice

Pickles (Mount Olive Pickle Co., Mt. Olive, N.O.)

Heinz Spanish Bice

(H. J. Heinz Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.)

Silver Lane

y p y

Pickles Sauerkraut (Silver Lane Pickle Co., East Hartford, Conn.)

RELISHES PICKLES, ETC.

Heinz

Pickles Dill Gherkins Dill Sandwich Chips India Belish Hot Dog Belish Pickled Onions Sweet Belish Sweet Cucumber Disks Sweet Cucumber Sticks Cocktail Sauce Southern Style Belish Hamburger Belish (H. J. Heinz Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.)

Resorts ©P Pine View Hotel (Fallsburg, N.Y.) ©P Washington Hotel : (Rockaway Park, N.Ÿ.) *Zimra Adult Camp

(Tolland, Mass.—N. Y. office 55 Liberty St.)

Salt •

Mogen David Kosher Salt

Dolly Madison

(Carey Salt Co., Hutchinson, Kansas) • Morton Coarse Kosher Salt • Morton Pine Table Salt • Morton Iodized Salt (Morton Salt Co., Chicago, III.)

May- June, 1955

73

Pickles (H. W. Madison Co., Cleveland, O.)

UOJC KASHRUTH DIRECTORY Salt (Cant'dI

*"©P Garber’s Misrochi Pareve Fat

• Red Cross Fine Table Salt • Sterling Fine Table Salt • Sterling Kosher Coarse Salt

: |u)P Nut-Ola Vegetable Shortening

(International Salt Co., Scranton, Pa.)

Sauces (H. J. Heinz Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.)

gp ^

SCOURING POWDER

(See also Household Cleansers) •

Bleach Bab-0

® Instanti^Liquid Dip *©P Lamco Silver Polish (Lamco Chemical Co., Inc Boston, Mass.)

Soap ©P Nutola Kosher Soap (Nutola F at P ro d u c ts B 'k ly n y N .Y .)

©P Brillo Kosher Soap {Brillo Mfg., Co., B ’lclyn, N .Y .)

Soups

Cameo Cleanser

©P Borscht Schav Russel (Gold Pure Food Prod.,

• Garber’s Misrochi Cleanser

(Garber Bugle Oil Co., New York)

Kitchen Klenzer

(Fitzpatrick Bros., Chicago, III.) Old Dutch Cleanser

(Cudahy Packing Co., Omaha, Neb.) • Lustro Polishing Powder May Pal • Palco Polish Powder Pal-Lo (Pal Prolucts Co., Brooklyn, N,Y.)

Shortening National Margarine Shortening

(National Yeast Corp., Belleville, N.J.—Bulk only)

Delmar Margarine Shortening

(Delmar Product# Corp., C#nn., O. -yBulk only)

74

Silver Cleaner

Babbitt Cleanser (B. T. Babbitt,lCo., N.Y., N.Y.)

(Cameo Corp.)

• Ajax Ben Hur (bulk only) • Kirkmari Cleanser • New Octagon Cleanser (Colgate-Palmolive Cojjip Jersey City, N.J.)

•

(N ut-Ola F at Prod., Brooklyn^ Tjl.) .)

(“Bewail Industries, N.

Heinz Savory Sauce

•

^¿(Garber Eagle Oil' V o^lN .Y .)

Gold’s

B ’klyn, N .Y .)

V

Heinz

Cream of Mushroom . Celery Cream?of Green Vegetable Crpam of Tomato Condensed Cream1of Mushroom " Condensed Cream of Green Pea .Condensed Gumbo Creole Condensed Cream of Tomato Condensed Vegetarian Vegetable (H. J. Heinz Co.) Mother’s

©P Borscht hOream Style Borscht Cream Style ^Schav Mushroom and Barley \ (Mother’s Food Products) Newark, N.J.)

Soup

Mix

Joyce Egg Noodle Soup Mix

(Joyce Food Products, Paterson, N.J.)

Jewish LIFE

*Cavern Canned Mushrooms

(K-B Products, Hudson, N.Y.)

Vegetables —

Dehydrated

©P Basic Vegetable Prod. — with (0) label only

(San Francisco, Cal.)

@P Garber’s Misrochi {Garber’s Eagle Oil Co.) @P Gentry Paprika {Gentry, 1n&.% Los Angeles, Cal.)

Vinegar

Sugar

©P Garber’s Misrochi (Garber Eagle Oil Co.)

:|})P Flo-Sweet Liquid Sugar @P Hudson Valley Refined Granulated Sugar

{Refined Syrups & Sugars, Inc., Yonkers, N.Y:) *©P Sugarine Liquid Sweetener (Sugarine Co., Mt. Vernon, III.)

@P Barton’s Bonbonniere

{Barton, Inc.)

Cider Malt Salad Vinegar Tarragon White Rex Amber (H. J. Heinz Co.) (The Q. H. Musselman Co., Biglermlle, Pa.)

Vitamins —

Bulk

Collett-Week-Nil»ecker Co.

(Ossining, N.Y.)

Kobee Kovite Vitalets

Woolen M. Wolozin & Co.

Rayon, for Rayon Taleythim .

M. Wolozin & Co. (36 Eldridge St., N.Y.C.)

May-June, 1955

Heinz

Vitamin Tablets

Tzitzith

(66 Allen St., N.Y.C.)

(Los Angeles, Cal.)

Musselman’s Cider Vinegar

Syrup

©P Berish’s Real Kosher Chocolate Syrup True Fruit Syrups Imitation Fruit Syrups {Orthodox Kosher Products)

Leon Vogel

©P Gentry, Inc. — with ® label only

(Freeda Agar Prod., N.Y.C.)

Wine ©P Hersh’s Kosher Wines

(Hungarian Qra/pe Products, Inc., N.Y.)

75

the G L O R Y a n d M A J E S T Y of the

SABBATH SERVICE a spiritual experience,.*a musical treasure..,as sung for you by

CANTOR SHOLOM KATZ and male choir conducted by

SEYMOUR SILBERMINTZ T h e sp iritu al exaltation and inspired m u si­ cian sh ip of C antor K atz and Mr. Silberm intz have w on unbounded praise from both reli­ giou s and m u sical au thorities. A nd th ese 12" double-face lon g-p layin g records, m ade sp e ­ c ia lly for us by W estm inster, w orld ’s forem ost producer o f h ig h fidelity record ings, bring the su b lim ity of the S abbath righ t into your hom e.

B ut w ords are to ta lly in ad eq u ate: here is in ­ deed a cu ltu ral treasure beyond d escription — one to w h ich you m ust listen . L isten, and thrill to a m atch less re-creation !

PLEASE USE THIS ORDER FORM

Jew ish M usic D ocum entary S ociety, Inc. 275 S eventh A venue, N ew York 1, N . Y.

Please send □ JMDS 101 @ $5.95 □ Album (all 3 records) □ JMDS 102 @ $5.95 complete with booklet □ JMDS 103 @ $5.95 @ $19.85 □ Descriptive literature on deluxe subscription album @ $25.00 Nam e

___________________________ _________ \__________

Address_________________ ___________________ City_____ ;_______ _____ Zone______ State_______ I may return records within 7 days for full ______refund, if I am dissatisfied for any reason.

SABBATH in the SYNAGOGUE

Contents JMDS 101 (Vol. I) L’chu N’ran’no; Shom’o Vatismach Tziyon; Kol Hashem; L’cho Dodi; Tzadik Katomor; Hashem Moloch; Hashkiveinu; V’shom’ru.

JMDS 102 (Vol. II) Mogein Ovos; R’tzei Vim’nuchoseinu; Kiddush; L’keil Boruch; A1 Horishonim; Mim’kom’cho (from K’dusho); R’tzei; Modim.

JMDS 103 (Vol. Ill) B’rich Sh’mei; Av Horachamim; Mussaf K’dusho: Na’aritz’cho, Kodosh, Mim’komo, Sh’ma Yisroeil; L’dor Vodor; Yism’chu; Sim Sholom.

Each of the above records: $5*95 Album com­ plete with booklet: $| 9*85 A deluxe album at $25.00 also available; please write for descriptive brochure.

a minute to

heat a midsummers

treat

m

No need to labor over a hot stove to prepare delicious Heinz Vege­ tarian Beans. Just heat them and eat them I They're ready in a jiffy! “A mechaya!”

Select either label. They're both the same beans!

HEINZ VEGETARIAN BEANS STRICTLY KOSHER "How About Heinz Beans Tonight?" ^ H E IIU COLPITTSBURGH-*

P

The Q )s e a l o f en* dorse ment o f the UNION OF ORTHO­ DOX JEWISH CO N ­ G R E G A T IO N S OF AMERICA is on the front o f the label.