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Annul *at« < Dollmr. Single C«|>py 1* O°W
New Year1* Edition—THE JEWISH PRESS—Ro»h Hathonah 5715—Friday, September 24, 1754
l'ubllthed every Friday, 101 N. 30th, Omaiin, Nebraska, Phone JA 1S6S
Vol. XXXIII—No. I
300 Years of S^ement in America the brawn. American historiography has generally been veering away from America's manifest destiny lay in if s exclusive glorification of the covthe main in its people's persistent pioered-wagon pioneer as solely rcsponneering along uncharted paths. Amerihiblc for opening up new frontiers. We can Jewry, too, has been engaged for realize more and more that the servthe last three centuries in a gigantic ices of the pioneers of the brain, the pioneering effort which has accrued to inventors and engineers, the scientists iU own benefit, and to that of the naand industrial managers, the efficiency tion and the world at large. experts and the educators, were even New Paths more significant in developing our great civilization, wliich now serves as From its inception, the Jewish peoa model for all other countries. ple-found itself in the extraordinary position of having to blaze new paths In all these lines Jews have played in the fields of religion and ethics. Its • prominent roles. From real estate ethical and historical monotheism ban builders and speculators who have indeed been its immortal contribution helped build up tho American metropto world civilization. After the loss of olises to those enterprising men who its national independence, it lived in an arc responsible for the more recent' increasingly vast dispersion amidst a growth of the suburban areas, a host tantalizing variety of civilizations, o£ Jewish entrepreneurs has helped races and creeds. As a minority, freshape American society in a way yet to quently viewed lyith hostility by its be told in full and illuminating detail. neighbors, it often had to carve for itThrough his contacts with banking self special "new niches in the economic firms abroad many a Jewish banker and social structures of the countries was able to attract much-needed capiin which it happened to live. By thus tal for the development of American being forced to detect ever new aveindustry in its mostjecishe stages benues of making a'living, in domains not fore the First World War. One need fully appropriated by existing vested but remember in this connection also interests, the Jews often unwittingly Haym Solomon's services during the pioneered along new lines of economic Eevolutionary War, or Jesse Scligand social coexistence. 'But nowhere man's assistance to Lincoln in financcould they -find a more congenial ating the Civil War. Even during the mosphere for their pioneering, spirit twentieth century the important Jewthan in the United States, an entire naish banking firms have greatly contion of pioneers and explorers. ' tributed to the development of the American credit system, the financing Lowliest Occupations of railroads, the evolution of depart- , , . Even in their lowliest occupation as ment and chain stores as well as mail peHdlers they contributed mightly to order houses, and the provision of risk the cementing of national unity, the capital especially for new enterprises broadening of the markets for new in the fields of film, radio, and televiproducts and inventions, and the musion, or industrial branches wholly detual understanding of country and city pendent on taste and fashion as the folk. Paradoxical as it may sound, it theatrical or clothing industries. was the humble peddler who. as late as the middle of the nineteenth century, The Theater brpught to the remotest hamlets the Speaking of the theater, ona can see most advanced merchandise, produced here most clearly the twofold character i bv American factories, as well ns the of the Jewish contribution to Amerilatest news of whnt was happening in can civilization. On the one hand, caterthe world at large. Being a Jew, moreing to their own needs, the Jewish iniover, he brought home to the most isomigiants first developed the magnifilated farmsteads a physical reminder cent Yiddish stage, whieh deeply imof the familiar Biblical story. To most pressed all connoisseurs in this country villagers he appeared as the living repand abroad. In time many of their resentative of that remote country with actors, p r o d u c e r s and playwrights its river Jordun mid its holy cities of found their way into the English stage Jerusalem, Bethlehem .and Nazareth, and film as well. It is a matter of recwliich were household names far closer ord that some^f the leading and jnost ,to the minds of the majority of Amerisuccessful American dramatists and cans than some rivers or townships producers have been Jews. 'The samp only 'thirty miles away. In the Puri-may be said of many other areas of tan areas," particularly, any Jew could artistic, scientific and scholarly enserve also as the heir of "Moses, His deavor^ One need but recall the extraJudicinls," or of that ancient Biblical ordinary services rendered by leading commonwealth whoso democratic patJewish atomic scientists to this country terns', based upon the worth of indiand humanity at large, to realize the vidual man and social justice*, many extent of the Jewish share in the deAmerican colonies had so strenuously velopment of modern culture in its tried to emulate. highest reaches. True, the splitting of . ', Worker's Contribution the atom will unfortunately always be •.-'.. No less vital Was the contribution associated in human memory with Hiof the American Jewish worker. For roshima unfl Nagasaki. However, we the most part arriving in this country - must not abandon hope that the boundwith the deep conviction, that he was less atom and hydrogen energies will coming to a promised land of liberty soon be, put to extensive pacifio USPS and security, he doubly resented the and thereby open-a new era in human sweatshop and those other forms of inproductivity and well-being, Which will dustrial exploitation -which characterdwarf tlfc most daring dreams enterized the formative state of the Ameritained only a single generation ago. ' can industrial revolution after the Civil War. .Always mindful of his heritage Religious Life of social justice and democratic cooper"-Throughout, that period the Jew ation, he gradually evolved certain patwas forced to pioneer also along interterns of l a b o r organizatipn which nal lines. He had creatively to reshape proved extremely helpful during the his own religious and communal life, slow and painful progress of American. in order to> meet the exigencies of bislabor to its present condition of high new life in a country of religious freeachievement. Jewish unionism' will indom and separation of S t a t e and deed remain a memorable chapter in Church. Inured for many centuries to the saga of tho American worRingman. living in a community recognized and supported by the public law and govLess well known is the Jewish share ernment of each country, the new arin American agriculture. Coming fiom rivals found themselves obliged to do.countries where their ancestors hud velop here ever new patterns of combeen shut out from the possession of munal co-existence on a purely volunland and tillage of the soil, for many tary basis. Together with their fellowcenturies; most American Jewish immicitizens of other faiths, they succeeded grants settled in the rapidly expandindeed in evolving some vital new com- * ing metropolitan areas. However, many niiinnl institutions. In tho field of phiforin pioneering services even in this lanthropy nnd sociul welfare, particuJewish individuals were able to perlarly, Jewish agencies have set the pane domnin. From the colonial production for the country and the world in both of flic sugar beet uhd indigo, to the tho size of voluntary giving, and the nforc recent, cultivation of meat and methods employed in staving off human misery and disease. No less sigdairy products, of.tobacco or grapes, nificant were Jewish endeavors in deJewish farmers hnve left, their imprinf veloping fraternal organizations, the on both the mass production nnd marJewish Center movement, new ap. keting of some of these major American staples. One of the finest varieties . proaches to religious and cultural education, and in cultivating inter-faith of gladiolus still bears'the name of its amity and cooperation. Jewish grower, Spiegel. A Jew in Kansas, owning a thirty thousand acre All these achievements have often wheat farm, contributed so 'much to the exacted a very high price. Pioneers arc agriculture of thut entire region.that the Stntn once proclaimed a legal hoii-' rarely popular among their contain, poraries and neighbors. Hostility to day on the occiision of n, celebration in the Jewish people, moreover, has been his honor, an unbroken heritage of the non-JewPioneer ish world for many centuricB. AntiAll along, liowwer, the Jew was (Continucd on Pago 4, Section A) more of a pioneer of the brain than of By Salo W. Baron
Services For HigH Holy Days On the eve of this new year in which -we are celebrating 300 yeans of Jewish Settlement in America this prayer is offered in hope that it will bring peace to Israel and a fuller life to all. ". . . i\n I implore Thee to inscribe me in the book of life, help roe. to understand that life is to be measured in terms of character and usefulness, and . that more than mere length of days are breadth of sympathies, loftiness of Ideals and greatness of service. Aid me to utilize rightly whatever added span of time Thou, in Thy grace and good* ness, shalt accord to me. Slay the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us and establish Thou the work of our hands—' yea, the work of our hands esUblUh J Thou it. Amen. (From Services for the . New Year—Union Prayer Bopk).
Beth El Rosh Hashonah Monday, Sept. 27 Evening Service . . . . . . . . . 8:15 p. m. Tuesday, Sept. 28 Morning Service 8:00p.m. Children's Service . . . . ...ll.-QOa.m. lincha-Mnariv 6:00p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 29 Morning Servico Children's- Service Mincha-Mnariv
8:00a.m. ..11:00a.m. 6:00 p.m. . •
Yom Kippur -Wednesday, Ogt. 6' Kol Nidre
5:45 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 7 Morning Service . . . . . . . . Yizkor Service Children's Service Minclm-Neilah
8:00a.m. 10s30a.m, 1:00 p^'m. 3 4 5 p.m.
Beth Israel and Beth Hamedrosh Hagedol Rosh Hashonah Monday, Sept. 27 Evening Service Tuesday, Sept. 28 Morning Service Sermon.. Evening Sotvice Wednesday, Sept. 29 Morning Service Sermon Evening Scrvic
6:00p.m. 7i80n.m. 10:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m. 7:80«.m, 10i00».m. 6:00 p.m.
Yom Kippur Wednesday, Oct. 6 Kol.N'idre Sermon,......-. Thursday, Oct. 7 Morning Service . ; Sermon Yiskor Service Ne-i-Iah
5:45p.m. 6:15p.m. 7:30a.m. 10:00a.m. 11:00 a. m. 5:00p.m.
Temple Israel ' Rosh Hashonah Monday, Sept. 27 Evening Service 8:O0p.tn. Tuesday, Sept. 28 Morning Service 10:00 a. m. Children's Scrvico . . . . . . . 1 1 : 0 0 a . m . Friday, Oct. 1 Shabbas Bhuvnh 8:00p. m.
Yom Kippur Wednesday, Oct. 6 Evening Service 8:00p.tn. Thursday, Oct. 7 , Service 10:00 a. m. Children's Service . . . . . . . 1:15p.m.
1654"•- 4954 *mM$
-voum IN THE U.S.
High Holidays— A Search for a Soul By Herman Fotok In the harsh pain of bitter loneliness or the quiet brilliance of sudden insight, a many may find himself unexpectedly confronted by hyo strange questions: Who am 17 and What am 17 They will'come to him from nowhere, these questions, and after momenta of torment may recede into tlio nowhere from whence they came; but during those long, lingering moments when the questions nrc being grappled with the roots of existence will he violently shaken. For those are questions fundamentn) to the nature of man. Fundamental Questions There are not many overly interested in who or what they truly are. But there is this which cannot be denied: the totality of man has always and will always continue to search within himself for something more than himself. Man wants desperately to be more than man. Man is engaged in an eternal search for a glimpse of his own soul. We do not think much of this thing called soul in the turmoil of passing days. Wo may tnlk about it; we do not think about it. It is a word frequently used and as frequently misundorstood. Yet it is a word which contains the key to tho crux of human existence; . All through our history as a people we have been troubled by the inexplicable hunger of man to be more than man. Yet the Jew has felt, as he shall always fed, that the relentless urge
that drives /man to build, to create,-to constantly better both his physical and his spiritual being 'is the result of a God-given potential. It is this' potential,' this God in in an, which w e , call soul. And it is this thing called soul which is brought again and again to the foreground during the High Holiday period. Moment of 8ilence It is only in a moment of silent awe that we can better understand ourselves, our Ood and the ideals of our people. It is only in the saying of tho words of the High Holiday prayer — "Man's origin is dust, and lie rcturneth ' to dust . . . he is like a fragile potsherd . . . as a passing cloud . . . as a dream that vanishotli" — that we can fully understand what humility means to the Jew. It is only in the reading of the heartbreaking Martyrology that we can even begin to comprehend the heights to which man can ascend. It is only in the chanting of the Kol N'idrc that we can glimpsn I lie importance ascribed by the Jew to a verbal promise. For in all of this, the sensitive, thinking Jew, the Jew who deeply IOVCH bis Ood find his people and who wants with all his heart to innlce of himself a better hiuniin being, stands in rapt contemplation of bis own existence and asks himself repeatedly: Who am 1? — do 1 fulfill myself throughout the year, do 1 attempt adherence to the ideals of my people, do I bring to fruition thosii potentials granted me, or do 1 - lot it all go to waste as an uncared-for garden withers slowly in tho grasp of choking
weeds'—' and What am I? — in what way am. I better'than the cow which contentedly chews its cud or the cat which 'roams silently along the dark night streets, of a deserted cityT Personal Reckoning - It is a time of silence and honest thought, this High Holiday period. It is a meditative and fearful time, a time of personal reckoning and a time when the Jew searched for the soul within himself. It is a time of the love of God and the fear of God, it is a time of the praying for life nnd the acceptance of the responsibilities of life, and it is* a time of deep personal quest: am I mere man, or is there within me Godf In, praying for life and peacedurirtg these days, the Jew prays not only for himsejf but also for the entire world. For the Jew realizes full well that it is only in a .peaceful world that the potential in man will be realized in its fullest degree. The realization of the significance of each individual human being, of his acts and deeds, his hungers and hopes, his prayers and besecehinfrs, of the inexorable and unending search of man to better understand himself, bis world, bis God, and the never ending senreb for world peace, urn the very heart and soul of the Hoslt Hashonah and Yom Kippur service. And in this the Jew shares those days with all the world, for th6 prayers of the Jews are, on these duys, tho prayers of the world as well. These are prayers that very much need answering. It is- the hope of our tired world that they be answered taoon. —Seven Arts feature,