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Vol. 2, No. 4

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, 1963 — ELLUL, 5723

2 s. 6d,

CONTENTS E ditorial.......................................................................

Chief Rabbi’s Message .....................................

The Months of Prayer, by Dayan Dr. M. Krausz Guiding Youth, by Rabbi J. E. Ehrentreu ...

Musar—Science of Correct Living,

by Rabbi Dr. H. Medalie A Time for Prayer, by Rabbi Z. P litnick..............

Significance of Rosh Hashana, by Rabbi J. Heschel Man and Life, by Dayan Z. J. Alony ..............

A Week in a Minister’s Life, by Rabbi S. Rapoport The Yeshiva—III, by B. Halevi ..........................

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2-3

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5-6 6-7 ■ •

8

8-9

10 11

12-13

Chassidic Rabbis in Poland—III, by Rabbi Dr. Rabinowicz .................................................

Torah Life, by Rabbi I. Rudnick ..........................

Kelmer Talmud Torah, by Rabbi O. Feuchtwanger The Balance, by B rim .................................................

J.F.S. Secondary School, by Nathan Rubin, F.C.IS. Williamsburg in Decline, by E. Krausz, M.Sc. A Talmud Torah Teacher's Reflections, by S. K. ...

Divine Judgement, by Rabbi Dr. I. Cohen

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m ,h Best wishes to al1 Readers of "H AM AO R” for a very Happy and Prosperous New Year

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SEPTEMBER. 1963 — ELLUL, 5723

Page Two

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ELLUL 5723—TISHRI 5724 HE months of Ellul and Tishri are closely related to each other. "All's well that ends well" runs the well-known proverb, and this sentiment applies most appropriately to our subject; that is to say a good Ellul augurs well for Tishri and the following year. It is of interest to note that the chapter in the Shulchan Aruch concerned with the laws of Rosh Hashana actually begins with a section devoted to the laws for the months of Ellul. In this respect the Jewish New Year differs from the New Years of other peoples.

Some nations celebrate their New Year with great parades and carnivals. It is a time for gay parties and entertainments, delightful music, dancing and drama, but without any cultural or spiritual content. Other nations do not observe their New Year's Day as a holiday at all.

For these the New Year is merely a special day in the calendar, singled out as a practical necessity for the purpose of historical records, national decrees, interna­ tional arrangements, trading requirements, routine or non-routine judicial purposes and generally, as a con­ venient date to mark the passage of time in economics, politics, law and administration.

The day preceding New Year's Day would thus have no special significance whatsoever. The only reason for having a New Year's Day at all is that it is necessary to have one particular day to mark the commencement of a new period. Thus, the actual day will vary from place to place and country to country, each according to its history or tradition.

Rosh Hashana, on the other hand, has an entirely different meaning. The date, of course, can never be changed, for it commemorates the world's birthday—the ^ creation of the universe. As the ancient prayer puts it.

“This day was the beginning of Thy works; it is a memorial of the very first day.” In fact, the whole of •

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the year’s calendar has for us a religious as well as a secular significance, as many laws in the Torah are dependent upon the date.

We are told in the Sedra Bereshit that, at the very beginning of creation the sun and the moon were to be a for signs, for appointed seasons”—meaning festivals— for days and for years. The laws of Shemitah, Yovel, Orlah, Maa’aser are all subject to annual regulation, as are the set periods of a lifetime as analysed by the Mishna (Abot V, 24).

The Torah decrees that the first day of the seventh month, which we celebrate as Rosh Hashana, should be a day of “sounding the Shofar” and although the Torah describes it only as a day of sounding the Shofar, in con­ trast to Yom Kippur which we are clearly told will be a Day of Atonement, the Talmud in Tractate Rosh Hashana explains that this day is a Day of Judgement of the individual and the community, for Jew and Gentile alike, the only difference being that the Jew is judged first (Rosh Hashana, 58). The non-Jews are judged in their absence. Whether they are aware of the judgement or not, whether they wish to be judged or not, their fate is determined on this day, as the solemn prayer states and on this day the future of the Nation is decided.” a

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The Jewish people are present at the judgement. They come to fill the synagogues to present their case and their plea in their own defence. Naturally, before being arraigned in judgement, the right and proper thing to do is to prepare one's brief—in this case, the previous year s balance-sheet and the resolutions for the following year.

It is for this reason that the Shofar is sounded during the month of Ellul, warning us to prepare our submissions durine the forthcoming month in readiness for the Day of Judgement, so that our welfare during the following year may be assured.

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A GLANCE AT OUR PRAYERS LL our prayers on the Day of Judgement, whether in the nature of penitence or plea, have one point in common, ho ^9 17ns in pat —that the Kingdom of Heaven should be accepted by the whole world lam and thus, iay5 naa in.give honour to Thy people. For as long as there is no revelation of G-d’s rule; as long as evil retains control, the glory of the Jewish people remains hidden.

The Jewish people’s complaint against humanity is well founded—a weak and broken nation subjected to bestial atrocities and senseless suffering by many tyrants, often in the name of “justice,” “religion” or “economic necessity.” There is hardly a corner of the world where

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we have not wandered and everywhere we have been plundered and robbed, suffered inquisition, slaughter and innumerable pogroms, culminating in the frightful holo­ caust of the wild Nazi jungle. There is no terrestrial court before whom we can present our case; the rest of the world, indeed, can no longer keep silent. Perhaps because they feel a sense of shame? Or perhaps because the evil has now fallen upon their own shoulders. Here and there, at last, we have heard a word of condemnation and regret for the centuries-old persecution Some Jews have felt some comfort and have thought that there has been a change of heart. What in fact has happened? We are as one who has fallen asleep in great

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hunger and has dreamt that he is partaking of food and drink. When he awakes, the pangs of hunger return with greater urgency. We witness again the rise of fascist hatred, precisely in those countries which fought against and suffered from the onslaughts of Nazi Germany, those democratic countries on whom we thought we could rely.

Rosh Hashana, the Day of Judgement, when the Jew is the first to enter the Divine Court, represents our only opportunity. In our prayers we do not seek revenge, for we know that revenge is no help for us. Vengeance upon the wicked will not prevent new tyrants arising. All that we pray for, is that “evil shall disappear like smoke when the rule of arrogance will pass from the earth and Thou

1963 — ELLUL,

Page Three

5723

O Lord will reign alone,” and “all the inhabitants of the world will acknowledge and know.”

But before we pray that the world shall acknowledge the Dominion of G-d, we must understand that we our­ selves have been influenced by the world’s godlessness.

We ourselves lack profound faith. We must return to our source. If we pray that the Lord shall give honour to His people, we must ourselves accept the responsibilities involved and solemnly undertake not to bring dishonour rn to the People of Israel. May our actions here on earth lead only to nun wnp and w m nw TDD. “And may they all form a single band to do Thy will with a perfect heart.”

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* " * » '• * .u k and although the Torah sounding the Shofar, in» 1we are Nearly told will be Talmud in Tractate Rosh u lay is a Day of Judgement of » i t y , for Jew and Gentile eing that the Jew is judged rhe non-Jews are judged in are aware of the judgement ) be judged or not, their fate as the solemn prayer states of the Nation is decided."

NEW YEAR MESSAGE FOR 5724 TO “HAMAOR” We often hear of people who are said to carry out their tasks with Mesirut Nefesh. The term m i niroa denotes the unswerving loyalty and courage of the faithful Jew who will dare all and even sacrifice his life in the service of God and in obedience to His Law. The pages of Jewish history tell of Jewish men and women who have exemplified such lofty religious attributes. When the study of the Torah was forbidden, schools and synagogues forcibly closed and the observance of Mitzvot suppressed, Jews at the peril of their lives sought to maintain Torah and Testimony, the life-line of hope and survival. Mesirut Nefesh shines most brightly, if poignantly, in the darkness of adversity and inhumanity.

Recently a Jew from one of the Baltic countries which are part of Soviet Russia, who managed to come to the West, spoke of his efforts to have his grandson circumcised, of the manner in which Jews met for prayer in a town when one synagogue after another had been closed, of the steps that are taken to celebrate a marriage according to the law of Moses and Israel. From Russia we have a contemporary witness that the spirit of Mesirut Nefesh is not quenched.

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But what of Jews like ourselves for whom there is no external obstacle to teach and practise our faith, who can build synagogues and schools and maintain religious institutions? Wherein do we or may we have an opportunity of Mesirut Nefesh? I would suggest for answer that a man may be capable of Mesirut Nefesh when, in a climate of moral laxity, he holds fast to the moral values and disciplines of our religion.

It is Mesirut Nefesh for one who, no matter what chances of fortune or career may be forfeited as a conse­ quence, will not profane Sabbaths and Festivals nor abandon his trust in the Almighty. Rabbi Eliezer of Worms, the thirteenth century moralist, reflects in his book, the Rokeach, on the fact that in the dread days of persecution when force was used on Jews to try and make them give up their faith, there were many who readily gave their lives in its defence. In better days the Jew has still to struggle with evil desires in­ volving infractions of the laws of morality. To be victorious in the mastery of yourself you have to be pre­ pared to sacrifice proneness to self-indulgence and unlicensed gratification of impulses. That calls for Mesirut Nefesh. As the Solemn Days approach, may we pray for the stimulus of Mesirut Nefesh to live good and worthy lives, blessed by the Giver of life.

I send my cordial New Year greetings to the staff and readers of your journal.

ISRAEL BROD1E C H IE F R A B B I

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SEPTEMBER, 1963 — ELLUL, 5723

I HE MONTHS OF PRAYER

By DAYAN DR. M. KRAUSZ The months of Ellul and Tishri awaken in us childhood memories. We remember the dawns of Selichot when we made our way to the synagogue with lanterns in our hands. While the autumn wind whistled outside, in the synagogue praying men moved rhythmically to and fro, looking like wind-swept trees.

And then came Rosh Hashanah with the melancholy sounds of the Shofar and, finally, Yom Kippur when we concluded the solemn prayers of repentance.

In this article I wish to review briefly the meaning of the prayers and their source. In ancient biblical times, people turned to the Almighty with prayers when in distress or when facing some trial. Abraham prayed in order to try and save Sodom and for the recovery of Avimelech. Isaac and his wife Rebecca asked in their prayers for offspring. Jacob prayed for protection against his brother Esau. Moses sought the recovery of his sister Miriam. The nicest example of a prayer is that by Channah. who asked the Almighty to bless her with children.

According to the Rambam. to pray is a positive command­ ment of the Torah (pwy fllXfc) for it is written (y'D mEW) DDV^X '1 DR DJnayi and you should serve the Almighty your G-d, and it is further written (X"*> anal) t e l D ate t e na>71 —so that you should serve Him with full heart and soul.

REV. & MRS. L. SHAPOSNICK AND FAMILY convey to congregants, relatives and friends greetings for a happy and prosperous New Year— a FQ1U nirnTTl nXTID

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How can one serve with one's heart? Through prayer. From the times of Moses until the time of Ezra people prayed at least once a day (K"S nbsn Tip inn T>). At the time of Ezra the Great, the Synod imposed it as a duty to pray three times a day, and since the destruction of the Temple, prayers have become a substitute for sacrificial offerings.

Rabbi Joseph Albo writes in his book entitled Ikarim: “Although prayer does not have its basis in the Torah, it is nevertheless one of the most important aspects of belief in the providence of G-d and, therefore, it is an obligation for all who believe in G-d to pray to him when in trouble. For he who does not pray does not really and fully believe in the providence of G-d, and doubts the ability of G-d to help him when in distress."

According to both concepts, not praying is equated with denial of the existence of G-d.

On the other hand, one who thinks that because of his sins he is unworthy to render any prayers so that G-d may hearken to him, is in error. For the Almighty accepts our prayers not because of our good deeds and our noble personalities, but in his mercitulness and goodness G-d listens to our supplications. As Daniel the prophet said: "Not with our righteousness do we pray to You but because of Your great mercifulness."

In these days of patience, therefore, we have first of all to ask forgiveness for the sins we have committed throughout the year, and, secondly, we turn to the Almighty, asking Him "to make His face shine upon us, be gracious unto us." This is what the great Rabbi Eliezer had in mind when he said (Berachot 32b) “Prayer has greater value than good deeds, for there is no one who had more good deeds than our great teacher Moses and yet it was because of his prayers that G-d listened to him.”

Namely, although good deeds have ethical value, it is through prayer that we proclaim our belief in G-d's providence and in His loving-kindness and mercifulness. That is why prayer stands higher than good deeds.

Prayers have to be said in pure Hebrew, writes Rambam (Hilchot Tefilah, 1,4.). When Nebuchadnezzar carried the Jews to Babylon, their descendants forgot the Hebrew language and used a vernacular derived from a number of languages. Seeing this, Ezra and his Beth Din wrote prayers in pure Hebrew and made it obligatory to pray in the Hebrew language.

Later. Rav Amram Gaon gathered the various prayers and sent them to Spain under the title "Sidur.” Rav Sadia Gaon, the head of the Yeshivah of Sura (928-942), similarly assembled the prayers and sent them to Egypt. The Rambam gave the order of prayers for the whole year in his Yad Hachazakah.

During the time of Rabenu Yakov, the Baal Haturim, the two usages in prayer, the Sephard and Ashkenaz, became divorced.

During the sixteenth century, the prayers began to be trans­ lated, particularly for the benefit of women. But there is evidence which shows that, in practice, when prayer has been introduced in other languages, the numbers of those who pray have diminished, and those who do not pray in Hebrew do not pray in other languages either (Otzer Yisroel, Tefila).

For women, however, special prayers were written in the Yiddish-German langage. As early as 1609 a Yiddish-German prayer book (Techinah) was published in Basle. Every event in the Jewish woman's life was in this way connected with the Almighty, even the baking of the Shabbos-kuchen and dressing for the Sabbath. The Techinah contained particularly moving prayers for the Festivals. The Jewish woman appeared in front of the glowing Sabbath candles in her Sabbath-hood and prayed for the welfare of her husband and family, which might well serve as an example of piety and devotion for the woman of today.

And as far as prayer in the present-day synagogue is con­ cerned, the modern theatrical decorum could well be replaced by the piety of our forefathers and the spirit of sincerity which pervaded their prayers.

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ADULT WORLD

By RABBI J. E. EHRENTREU In two previous articles on “Jewish Education in Our Time’' (Hamaor, Vol. 2, Nos. 1 and 2), we tried to deal with a few general problems facing our educationists today. Let us come now to the description of some specific features of youthful life that influence the whole structure of youth and adult relationship.

Our studies on education deal with youth generally. But there cannot be any doubt that an understanding of adolescence is the key-stone of successful educational guidance. One of the reasons is that the behaviour and the state of mind which reveal themselves during early, middle and late adolescence have actually been slowly developing since childhood; they appear in different individuals sooner or later, in stronger or weaker forms.

Life-long religious or anti-religious attitudes are very often determined—unconsciously—in the age of adolescence. If we succeed in the guidance of the adolescent, his whole life-purpose can be decided favourably; if not, his life may well be a total failure.

Too many people (including teachers) abdicate authority and even guidance, today. They adopt either a laissez-faire attitude of “everything will be all right”, or the opposite, “it can't be helped”. This is a very bad sign of our time.

In life in general, which dominates the mentality of adults, it is a characteristic of efficient and successful people that any difficulties they encounter do not weaken, but strengthen, their energies and their efforts.

We must do the same in education. This, however, does not mean that we should take bold actions whenever we see that something is wrong. We must learn to understand the adolescent mentality as thoroughly as possible so that, if and when we intervene, it is as skilfully and to as small an extent as possible.

The following short study may be helpful in these efforts.

Apart from two or three years during infancy (between four and six), there is no period in a child's life which does more to mould him than middle adolescence—unfortunately enough, because at that time there is usually a crisis in the relationship between child and educator.

To guide children of this age is a very hard task for parents and teachers ; and they must take up this task determinedly.

These youngsters need a considerable amount of patience but, as educators may be aware, this period is even more difficult for young people themselves.

The main problem is not so much the self-evident necessity of little changes in the treatment by educators, but the fact that the whole relationship between adults and children must be revised. Up to this period, children generally like to please their parents and teachers, and to receive affection in return.

Now, the reverse takes place and—may I say—often with very limited success.

Parents are often extremely worried about the strange and frequently rude behaviour of their children ; they cannot under­ stand why affection seems so suddenly to have vanished. Inten­ sified manifestations of affection or, on the other hand, signs of aloofness on the part of the educator have no effect.

To give some more details: the young retire inwardly from the sphere of their previous surroundings, including parents, teachers and friends. They look for new comrades, and their new friendships exhibit themselves in a more obvious manner than previously.

However, in reality, in the depths of their hearts, they want to be left alone and unmolested, although at the same time

Page Five

appreciated and loved. Consciously or unconsciously, the young feel that a new life with hitherto unknown experiences is developing for them. They avoid revealing or speaking about them, and thus their estrangement and loneliness grows.

Their strange behaviour can be analysed as physical and psychic restlessness and helplessness. On the one hand, the adolescent needs firm guidance and, on the other, he or she becomes more and more critical. They show increased selfconsciousness and, at the same time, a loss of self-assurance.

However, quite a number of favourable qualities are asso­ ciated with this period: new intellectual interests and powers; deepening of social attachments, loyalty and friendship ; a large increase in the quality and variety of their emotions ; devotion to nature and religion ; love of ethical ideals and heroism.

What can we do, or rather, how must we react and respond to this state of youthful life?

The attitude of combining love with consistency must remain unchanged. In spite of some possible considerations to the con­ trary, educators must not tolerate undisciplined behaviour in their presence. Just the reverse, this period of life is most favourable for imposing on youth the consciousness of selfcontrol and self-education. This will help to overcome difficulties at that stage—and during the rest of their lives.

Even more than in other periods of children's lives, in adoles­ cence the educational principle applies that one should take into account not only the bad. but also the good qualities. One should not only fight the bad inclinations directly, but also make the best possible use of the good ones, in such a way that they help not only to paralyse the others but to overwhelm them and make the good qualities victorious in the inner struggle of the youngsters.

This new world is entirely imperfect, but highly promising.

The young, feeling this, are waiting for something unknown, to give perfection to the imperfect, the answer to their questions, the solution to their problems.

They are striving to find an ideal. If you are unable to make your ideal attractive to them, they will select and form their own ideal independently. Many young people wait for ever; nobody gives them what they need and have the right to claim.

They sometimes wait until it is too late—idealism and un­ selfishness vanish, the germ of individuality and personality is spoiled through the standardisation and uniformity of life in school, profession, state and politics.

In a quiet hour, when a young person is particularly recep­ tive you, the father or mother, should speak to him or her of the wonders human beings are selected and privileged to perform. Speak to him or her as a friend who reveals a secret; tell him or her that all this is nature. But what is nature?

Have a look at the green fields outside. On a square inch of soil countless • blades of grass have grown since time im­ memorial. However, not a single blade grew of a seed which did not come from the creative act of G-d, who spoke and said: “Let the earth bring forth grass!”

In the laboratories, men successfully analyse these blades of grass and define their substance, including their colour. How­ ever no one will ever tell us what the life is which was given from outside to the material substance, and which—invisible and imperceptible—must be transplanted and transferred if new grass is to grow.

This applies, of course, to animals and to the human race.

Their lives, different from one another, are equal in this: an uninterrupted chain of receiving and giving forth living power, from the Creation down to the last living specimen.

This is nature. Contemplation of its life turns our mind up­ wards to a power that exists without being analysed by human perception and reasoning. We know, but we do not understand.

Sex education must be built on a religious foundation in­ cluding, of course, the general spiritual and ethical one. If we

Page Six

SEPTEMBER. 1963 — ELLUL, 5723

give the young only comparisons with the life of plants and animals—even if in the most attractive way—the impression on his mind could be that the sexual life of the human race is, like that of animals, nothing more than a physical function.

Sex education, intended to lead youth to the understanding of the functions of the body, can provoke unexpected danger in this important phase of juvenile life. Young people might think: If sexual desire is a natural thing, why should I not satisfy it like hunger and thirst?

When we talk to the youngsters, we must arouse their sense of responsibility, self-esteem and heroism. We must tell them: Your world is small, but important as a part of the universe —a microcosm within the macrocosm. In your own small world you can work for the great one. You are called upon to help to build the world of future generations. Bear in mind that to build man means to give not only of your body, but also of your soul, of mind and heart.

You have to prepare yourself inwardly. Progress may be slow, but it will be steady. “Do not awaken love before it is ripe”. The highest degree of heroism is not to do something, but to refrain from doing something, which is forbidden to you, but is about to overwhelm you. In other words, master your inclinations and passions.

Proceeding in our talk to youth, we have to tell them: In addition to the uninterrupted chain of generations of teachers that secured the integrity of our religious tradition, there is a chain of generations of Jewish homes that goes back directly to times immemorial. These Jewish homes are the bearers of the Jewish tradition in its application to every sphere of daily life.

You are responsible not only for yourselves, but for your generation as well. To be a Jewish father or mother means to be a spiritual father and mother. Prepare yourself so that you are ready when you are called upon to join your home to the array of Jewish homes. It is a responsibility of unique character. The destiny of the Jewish people lies in the hands of every generation.

You are a link, the link between the past and the future. If you fail, the chain of tradition is broken, mostly lost for ever.

Who can bear such a responsibility?

It you build a home, it must be connected not only with the past and the future, but also with the last Jewish house in the most remote village in the most distant country. Recognis­ able by its Mezuza on the doorpost, it tells a story to the wandering Jew who comes from a distant country, and he feels at home there. It is the story of Jewish brotherhood.

Utilising the period of adolescence and its manifold problems, we try to give the youngsters a firm stand and a foothold in the world around them. Their feeling of loneliness, restlessness and helplessness is thereby gradually removed and replaced by a feeling of responsibility towards the Jewish people and by an endeavour to live up to Jewish ideas and ideals—apart from the self-evident fulfilment of active Torah-life—these being a call not only from an ancient time and a remote world, but also from everyday Judaism for everyday life.

By approaching youth in this way—meeting it, so to speak, on its own ground—we may succeed, in addition to leading the way to a good Jewish life, in creating a positive, everlasting relationship between parents and children.

“And they went together” is twice said of Avrohom and Yitzchok. when they were on their way to the sacrifice on Mount Moriah. When the Jewish people wander on endless roads through endless spaces of the globe, this is an—ever­ lasting-path of sacrifice to Moriah as well. And this wandering is easier and more progressive when young and old support one another, when they walk the way towards the common goal, united.

Rosh Hashono reminds us of the father’s and the son's pre­ paredness to sacrifice themselves in unison of thought and action.

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MUSAR—THE SCIENCE OF CORRECT LIVING

By RABBI DR. H. MEDALIE A follower once posed a question to the founder of the Musar Movement, Rabbi Israel (Lipkin) Salanter (born November 3, 1810—died February 2, 1883): “Due to circumstances, I can only spare one half-hour to devote to learning. For which sub­ ject should I best utilise this precious time?”

"Well, in this case,” responded the Rabbi, “devote it wholly to the study of Musar. For. when you study that subject care­ fully and diligently, you will inevitably discover that you can find another half hour, too, that you could devote to learning.”

What is Musar?1 What is its philosophy? What is its aim?

Judaism is not another connotation for the Jewish religion. It is much more than a mere acceptance of and adherence to a set group of theological dogmas and propositions.

It is a system of thought—the Jew's civilisation. A spiritual culture embracing all the facets and aspects, attitudes and ex­ pressions of the individual and society. nTip denotes constant training, regular instruction ;2 it commands man to seek perfection. It sees in man the qualities, the talents, the gifts and the natural resources originally purposed for this end.

And Musar3 is a positive science—the science of correct liv­ ing ; the philosophy of self-restraint, self-discipline. Its doctrine is deep-rooted in the soil of reality, its ideal flourishes in the realm of the soul.

Torah is the mistress and Musar is the handmaid. Nay, it is the counterpart of the Torah. As the flame is bound to the candle, so is Musar Israel bound to Torat Israel. Like Siamese twins, inseparable, indivisible. Two that are one.

In the kingdom of Musar-thought they are not concerned with the claims to the truth of revelation or reason.4 The masters of Musar do not theorise in metaphysics, they do not delve into philosophies (not that there is evidence that that field was neglected or left unexplored). The truth of revelation—this is an axiom accepted without question.5 For the purpose of this brief presentation let us focus our attention on the study of the soul—the main ideal and aim of Musar.

The study of Musar—a sober, serious enquiry into life in all its facets and manifestations, is not merely an intellectual pas­ time, the influence of which may or may not have effects, results and consequences on him who studies it. It is an all-important ingredient, a most required spiritual nourishment of substance for the programme and plan of life of its loyal adherents. It is an adventure of the spirit.

From keen observation, it can be asserted that the basic assumption is that Musar sees in man and life a most fruitful soil for religio-spiritual growth, the influence of which can and must go into the very pattern of life.6 They witnessed the evident performance of the most impor­ tant commandments, even by the learned and well-informed, devoid of all intended content, religious action being enacted perfunctorily. The traditional concepts having almost completely 1 The term is a derivative of the verb 7D\ to bind, to chastise, to admonish, to discipline, to instruct, to correct. Here it denotes the philosophy of self-discipline of a moral and ethical nature.

2 See Joshua 1, 8.

3 See Tana Devei Eliyahu; Yalkut, Deut. 247, 830.

4 Jewish mystics, particularly Rabbi Z. Schneersohn, emphasise the intellectual element in the act of faith.

5 See Deut. 17 vv. 10-11; Siphre in Loc.; Jerusalem Talmud Berakhoth 1/4.

H See Deut. 10; Siphre, Deut. XI; Miamonides, Sepher Hamitzvoth.

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Page Seven

SEPTEMBER, 1963 — ELLUL, 5723

lost their purpose, expended their significance and value and thus were reaching a state of spiritual bankruptcy.

Without ideals, even the most sacred acts became brittle habits ; these could hardly stand a reasonable test, and stagna­ tion and decay inevitably must set in. Where there is soulless action, indifference must unavoidably result and even in respect of the eternal values—that stood the test of age and withstood the change of epochs and the various climes of thought—such action must become meaningless.

It is ironical and indeed paradoxical, that immortal values can also almost die, if only by sheer spiritual neglect. The Musar movement7 restored the crown of the study of Torah, both the oral and the written, to its original form. This system is today included in the curricula of each and every centre of religious learning.

As has already been stated, the authority of reason in Musar is left alone. Musar teaches absolute, complete, undivided and unconditional surrender to the will of G-d, as is explained in the Written Word and as it is authentically interpreted.

Musar considers that compliance confers benefit on the complier. Its main objective is man’s perfection. It is the pillar,8 the very essence, on which the whole spiritual purpose and structure rest. Its calendar lists first mifcR, religious faith— the great gift, the inherent characteristic, the essential ingredient in the psychological make-up of the Jew. Second—and only second—is reason, n$n — the intellectual element in the act of faith.

The teachers of Musar dived into the deep sea of Jewish literature—the Torah, the Bible, the Talmuds, the Midrashim, etc.—to glean from them the correct approach to the natural phenomena in human beings ; in order to arrest man’s natural tendencies, to subdue his impulses and temperament and direct them in the right proportions in the service of morality. Man must be the master and not the subject to be ruled by them ; to discipline and police all man’s activities, whether they be the direct concern of an individual or in relation to others, individuals or society.

This is aimed9 to make man, through a mental and spiritual process, the right type of individual,10 the type it was originally intended that he should be.11 This prompted the cultivation of the natural talents and gifts in the realm of the soul.

The Musar movement’s enthusiasm and its fervour have brought about a new atmosphere, discovered new horizons, an old-new clime of thought, and have heralded a new era in the life of Jewish religious ideology.

It must be borne in mind that the Musar movement lays no claim to originality, to bringing to the fore a new moral philo­ sophy. In fact, its teachers themselves insist that it has been in existence since the giving of the Torah ; it is as old as the Torah itself.12 The authoritative master-interpreters have explained, ex­ pounded and formulated its fundamentals and teachings. From the Sages down to the present it is still undergoing a process of evolution and growth.

The most that can be ascribed to the Musar movement is the formation of its principles, the re-awakening of its study—as the main objective of the entire contribution of Judaism, and its in­ corporation into the syllabus of all academies of original Jewish culture.

From the insights of the various doctrines Musar teaches, there emerges a series of aspects of life in general, and man 7 See Divrei Jehoshua Article 1, Chapter 1 and 2.

8 See Deut. 10; I Samuel 16; Bab. Sanhedrin 106.

9 See Lev. 19; Deut. 28; Saphra, Lev. 19 Bab. Shabbath 31.

10 See Ethics of the Fathers I. 11 See in Loc., 3.

12 See Emunot Vedeot Article 2; Sepher Ha-krim, Article 3, Chap. 27; Yad Hachazakoh, Yesodei HaTorah Ch. 2/1.

is the agent of it. Various methods are suggested for his spiritual growth to ensure his absolute cultural existence. They aim at the creation of the most normal human being.13 They hold that man is great because he was created in the spiritual image of G-d.14 His character is potentially Divine.15 He is an integral part of G-d Himself,18 say the Sages. G-d created man to be immortal, and made him to be an image of His own eternity.

He is capable—through the gift of reason—of knowing and loving G-d.17 To cite an example or two: Aba Saul (2nd century C.E.) says, “(This is my G-d) and I will glorify Him”18—be like Him. “As He is gracious and merciful so you too, be gracious and merciful.”19 What a dialogue! What an impertinent suggestion!

What an immodest analogy! And so indeed it would seem at first sight.

But this, assert the spokesmen of Musar, is a mere example of that system of thought. Man may and must aspire to attain such height; his spiritual qualities, being endowed with creative powers, have made him almost God’s partner in the universe.

Another illustration reflects the belief in the individual. The Sages observe: “Always man is obligated to say: 'When will my actions reach the standard of the actions of my ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob'.”20 They see man living in history, in posterity, they aim at the conquest of death itself, to attain spiritual immortality. Hewn out of the hard rocks of experience, illuminated by the beacons of culture, dedicated to the sacred service of G-d and man, the Musar teachers see the perfection of man and the achievement of his life’s goal.

This prosaic age of ours, though blessed with an abundance of thought, afforded to witness the revelations of hitherto un­ known secrets of nature, is nonetheless an epoch of confusion.

The currency and coinage of present day idealism is devoid of spiritual content. Sacred values are bartered for secular. Modern reasoning lacks an essentially inner urge. Man is more than ever perplexed.

The teachings of Musar present at once a challenge and an inspiration to the Jew and, through him, to mankind.

13 This is how the late Chief Rabbi A. I. Kook described the illustri ous sage and saint, the Chafetz Chayyim.

14 See Genesis 1, 27.

15 See Hertz in Loc. 18 See Tanya Rabbi Z. Schneersohn Ch. 2 based on the Zohar.

17 See footnote 15.

18 Ex. XV, 2. .

13 Jerusalem Talmud Peah 1/1; Bab Shabbath 133/2.

20 See above footnote 3.

STEPNEY ORTHODOX SYNAGOGUE & MILE END & BOW FEDERATED SYNAGOGUE STEPNEY GREEN, E.l The Honorary Officers and Board of Management, on behalf of the Synagogue extend to Rev. N. Kaplan, Chazan ;Mr. Godfrey Cherns, Secretary ; Mr. R. Korn, Bal Koreh and to all Members and their Families for 5724 nmm mo bsi

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SEPTEMBER, 1%3 — ELLUL, 5723

Page Eight

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A TIME FOR PRAYER

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF

By RABBI Z. PL1TNICK

ROSH HASHANA

Rosh Hashanah is celebrated by our people not with joy and mirth. It is rather a time for prayer and meditation, considera­ tion and reflection.

The m u m ^ are days of self-examination and re­ orientation. miu/n means return. We make efforts to return to our original and natural purity. “Oh, G-d, the soul which you gave me is pure”. And if we have tarnished it during the last year, we come to pour out our hearts to our Father in Heaven, and to ask Him for forgiveness and purification.

During these solemn days we rise above our personal in­ terests, and we pray for the welfare of all the people of Israel, scattered and suffering all over the world, for all mankind, for peace in the world, for the days when “the wolf will dwell with the lamb”, “and the earth shall be full of the knowledge of G-d”.

With our Holy Land always in our thoughts, our hearts and eyes are turned towards Zion and Jerusalem. We begin the Rosh Hashanah prayers with -|^ n ;a JU2W1 nflEW and the concluding words of the Neilah prayer are m en The progress and achievements of the State of Israel are watched by Jews all over the world with love, admiration and anxiety.

While we are thankful to ,T'2|?rT for His wonders shown to Medinat Israel during the past, we approach the coming year with great confidence.

Israel continues to be a haven of refuge for thousands of our brethren, who find there shelter and security, a resting place for their weary heads.

But, alas, our political position is far from improved. Our enemies have “raised their head” and brandish their swords against the infant State of Israel. “Edom and Ishmael” have joined forces against us.

To the great powers of the world, Arab oil is still of more value than Jewish blood. But while our enemies are united poli­ tically and economically against Israel, party strife still prevails in our State, and there is still no close link between great parts of world Jewry and the State of Israel.

It is true that many of our youth sacrificed their lives to defend the boundaries of Israel, but as a nation we have not risen to the call of the hour. We ignore the lessons of our past history and forget the tragic results of disunity.

Rosh Hashanah is a time for revision of action and recon­ sideration of purpose, for the nation as for the individual. If we have, so far. failed in our struggle to become a political power in the Middle East, let us return to our moral resources, by which we can contribute so much to this perplexed world of fear and anxiety, and become a spiritual force.

The world is facing disaster. Mistrust breeds hatred, and justice is forsaken for the greed for power. The world cries out for a vital spark to illuminate its deep darkness. It waits for a lead.

Many nations hailed the establishment of Medinat Israel as a new heavenly message to a desperate world. They wanted us to raise the banner and proclaim a new slogan “Fear of G-d“ instead of “Fear of Man”. Hence the support of great statesmen for our cause.

Shall we fail in the task our two-thousand-year history has laid upon us? Will we become a nation misled by a corrupt world, instead of being its guide and leader?

May the sound of the Shofar, which is repeated at the end of Neilah remind us that, before we exlaim niOfi we announce seven times : "crn^Rn Kin 'n,, —“The Lord is our G-d”. It is a reminder that the return to Zion has to be pre(Continued at foot of next column)

By RABBI J. HESHEL It is a remarkable fact that Jews generally have whole­ heartedly accepted the Mitzvah of listening to the Shofar on Rosh Hashana with the greatest respect and honour. It is in­ deed gratifying to look around in every synagogue—of whatever type or religious approach—and suddenly to be confronted by a galaxy of worshippers—young and old, men and women, children of all ages, rich and poor, religious and irreligious— all standing in holy awe and with inner fear present on their faces, prepared and alert to hear the thrilling sounds of the Shofar, this age-old instrument to call a strayed people together.

Even those Jews who have conspicuously failed to appear in a house of worship during the past year, are solemnly assembled at the time when the ram's horn is blown. Even those whose attendance at the service is only of short duration, choose to come at the time when the ram’s horn is blown. They listen carefully, devotedly and, one may even notice, sincerely, to the wailing, howling tunes which fill the air with mysterious, not easily explicable sounds.

This is a phenomenon which calls for an explanation. It is true that the rabbinical saying: m in “ISO I’TDX n^n bin,, — “Everything depends on luck—even which Sefer Torah is taken out of the Ark for reading in public”, can also be applied here. But an explanation of this widespread public demonstration on these Holy Days is indeed warranted.

It is interesting to note that the blowing of the Shofar is also ordered for another occasion—the celebration of the Jubilee Year (Leviticus 25,9). These Shofar calls seem to be intimately connected with one another. However, there is a difference of purpose between them. In the Jubilee Year, the sounding of the Shofar proclaims the social-material relation of man and his possesions, whereas the sounding of the Shofar on Rosh H a­ shana means the spiritual relation of man to G-d.

And just as the blowing of the trumpet was the signal to strike camp (as stated in Numbers 10,5): “And when you blow a Teruah then the camps shall journey forward,” so it is on Rosh Hashana. It is a signal spiritually to strike camp, to leave and give up our old ways of life of which we have become fond but which are not approved by G-d—as is sometimes rea­ lised. but alas, only by a few.

The annual Teruah on Rosh Hashana calls us to spiritual Jubilee just as that of the fiftieth year calls us to a social Jubilee.

It calls us to G-d, and thereby to moral freedom and to the repossession of those spiritual treasures which were originally our very own and from which we have parted. (Hirsch, Leviti­ cus 23,24).

One may ask. and with justification, are these people we are discussing—those Jews who appear in synagogue only on Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur—the ones to whom we should credit such an attitude? We know the people of today! Is it right, then, to give them this great credit of such an intention? ceded by our return to G-d. Why then shall we, returning to our own land, bring with us foreign gods—ideologies collected on our long Galut journeys?

This idea is unfortunately forgotten by many of the modern builders of Israel The deplorable result is now admitted by many true Zionists there.

May these days of m iw n bring us back to the golden path of our Torah and tradition, leading us to our Land, the Land promised by JT"2j?n.

May the new year T'DOT bring security and safety, and to the people of Israel faith in unity and happiness.

A

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Page Nine

SEPTEMBER. 1963 — ELLUL, 5723

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;'sSs eln nnf sinDcerely - ^ , toliste" “ notice the lhe a<r with mysterious, not lor an explanation. It is ' 120 foa ^ ^ -oven whichSeferTorah in public", can also be f this widespread public indeed warranted. ving of the Shofar is also ilebration of the Jubilee ills seemto be intimately ; there is a difference of fear, the sounding of the relation of man and his he Shofar on Rosh Haan to G-d. impel was the signal to j; “And when you blow jy forward." so it is on to strike camp.!»leave which we have become i-d—as is sometimes reai calls ns to sf" * 1

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I should like to offer an answer to this question. Speaking of the holy task of a Jew in life the Rav, founder of the Chabad movement, says the following: “But the union of the soul with, and its absorption into the light of G-d. making them one, this is what every member of the Jewish people desires in very truth, indeed with all his heart and all his soul, because of the natural love that is hidden in every Jewish heart to cleave to G-d and not under any circumstances to be parted, sundered or separated from His Blessed Unity and Oneness, even at the cost of his very life” (Tanya, Chapter 41).

These are the days when holiness descends and fills the uni­ verse. It is then inevitable that some influence is being felt, somewhere and in some form. The Rabbis say in the Talmud: “He who wants to purify himself is helped to achieve it. And in connection with the blowing of the Shofar it is stated in the Bible: ‘‘Ye shall blow the Teruah and ye shall be remembered before the L-d your G-d and ye shall be saved from your ene­ mies” (Numbers 10,9).

It should be emphasised that one need not seek far for the enemy. A famous rabbi says: “Every man’s enemy is within himself” (Hobot H alebabot— Introduction). At this holy time people perhaps realise, inwardly, the need for spiritual awaken­ ing. But why do people particularly begin to realise their duties and flock to the synagogue to be present at least for the blowing of the Shofar?

It is necessary to investigate this interesting phenomenon a little more deeply. Some people ridicule this attitude, and are of the opinion that this is purely a supersitious act by those concerned, who hope in this way to have their wishes fulfilled.

I think this is not the right way to judge these people’s in­ tentions.

Ignorance unfortunately prevails among the Jewish people, yet it still does not justify a general description of the Jews as “ignorant.” It may be of interest to mention a recent report by unhsco (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) which stated that over 700 million people—an average of 50 per cent of the world's adult population—are illiterate (the t im e s , July 23, 1963).

But we may proudly claim that the Jews do not contribute a great proportion of the illiterate ones. Even those “one-day” or “three-day” Jews, who certainly cannot be classed among the learned ones in Judaism and all it stands for, do participate on certain occasions in the services with particular emphasis which conveys sincerity and devotional mood, and is an expression of sincere faith in the meaning of the words so warmly exclaimed by many congregants.

What is the psychological explanation of the general attend­ ance at the services on these days of awe by all Jews wherever they may be? The following may help to explain it. It is an accepted theory of modern psychologists that the result of a person concentrating on looking at other people’s lives is a neglect of his own life. The more a person indulges in the habit of scrutinising other people’s activities, trying to find their value or rather their faults, the more he forgets himself and the tasks and duties he has to perform. The significance of the High Festivals is in the fact that they commemorate no historical events, but are still known as the Days of Remembrance. One explanation for this name is that the Almighty remembers the pious deeds of our forefathers on that day, to save us on the Day of Judgement.

However, the Rambam gives a deeper and more penetrating reason for this name. He says, speaking of the commandment to listen to the blowing of the Shofar: “Although it is a Biblical commandment to blow the Shofar, without stating the reason, there is an intimation for a purpose, resulting from the listening to the Shofar.” He says it is to awaken the people from their sleep (a symbol for inactivity). This means it calls upon all of Vis to remember ourselves in this materialistic world, to remember

the purpose of life and what it stands for VT3i7 □17*7<7 *7V K*7 '3 (} .n □’HTT) mxrr '*rp—“For man does not live by bread alone.

This is a day to awaken the conscience of every Jew. It is a time when Judaism demands its share in every Jew’s activities.

Even the Jew who has been far from Judaism all the year succumbs to these impulses on these days, when the memories of old come back so forcefully, and joins the congregation in a solemn mood of meditation. This is in accordance with the rabbinical statement nyw 1*7 FXW DTK 1*7TX — “For there is not a man that has not his hour”, which in turn is in consonance with a folk-saying mVDn TViyft pWT — “The season awakens the devotion.”

The atmosphere of spiritual awareness which permeates the world reaches even those isolated, unaware and wavering Jews and brings them back to Judaism and its source—even if only for a short while. It is only to be hoped that this spiritual metamorphosis will be encouraged and given a longer lease of life and a lasting effect which would give Jewry its real form and lustre.

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Page Ten

SEPTEMBER. 1963 — ELLUL, 5723

MAN AND LIFE

By DAYAN Z. J. ALONY Rosh Hashanah, New Year's Day, has been ordained as the day when we should direct our thoughts both backward and forward, for we call the day Yom Hazikoron. We have to con­ sider the past year and examine our conduct, and we also have to look to the future.

“Remember us unto life, O King, Who delights in Life, and inscribe us in the Book of Life for thine own sake, O Living G-d.” Such is the prayer emanating on Rosh Hashanah from every Jewish heart.

Remember us and grant us that life may be given to us, to our children, and to all those who are dear to us. This is the greatest boon which we crave, the prime motive of all our thoughts.

Rosh Hashanah, when our prayers for life form the pre­ dominant note of our liturgy, is, therefore, an appropriate time for devoting some thoughts to a consideration of the Jewish outlook on life and to the Jewish conception of the purpose of existence.

I he Rabbis tell us that it was in the month of Tishri, on Rosh Hashanah, that the world was created ; and Rosh Ha­ shanah also marks the birthday of the first man on earth. We celebrate on Rosh Hashanah, according to our traditions, the creation of the universe, and the birthday of the father of all humanity.

7iie Jewish people, of all peoples on earth, alone com­ memorates these events. This factor alone reveals the inner genius of our people. The creation of a world is a colossal undertaking, and it is an event deserving commemoration, and we observe this day in a fitting manner. Not in gaiety, liveliness and vivacity ; but in deep contemplation and solemnity, studyng again the world’s and man's meaning and purpose, re­ examining their failures and progress.

We are passing through one of the greatest turning points in the history of humanity. The whole of our civilisation, carefully and painfully constructed in the course of centuries, seems on the point of dissolution.

There is a spirit of unrest and dissatisfaction which is causing au.u concern. Ihere is something radically wrong somewhere U!’!1 human hie as it is now being lived. And the problems are not Iundamentally political or economic, but religious.

No alteration in the social system can effect a cure, because the evil is not primarily in the social system, but in the hearts of man. What the world is suffering from today is an utterly wrong interpretation of life. What is wrong with humanity is simply this: we have abandoned the conception of life as re­ vealed in our Torah, and have adopted one of our own devis­ ing; and we are now paying the price for the change.

G-d wants man to work and watch the Garden of Eden.

(Bereshis II, 15), to serve and to master. Work is the pride of man, and his achievements by it and through it. But man has become restless and unstable in his mind and work. He has become shallow and indifferent, all because he is losing his anchorage with G-d.

Men and women now regard the world as a playground instead of a workshop. The new theory of life is to extract as much as one possibly can out of the world, and give to the world as little as one possibly can. Work is to be reduced to a minimum, enjoyment increased to a maximum.

I lie Torah tells us that, not by bread alone does man live, but by everything that proceeded out of the mouth of the Lord does man live” (Devorim VIII,3). This means that the human being is not merely physical, but that an essential part of his composition is spiritual.

It he is to live—not merely exist—he requires spiritual sus­

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tenance as much as he needs food. He has to nourish his body to maintain his physical life but, equally true, he must nourish his soul to maintain his spiritual life. Only when both sides of his nature are fed, does he live as life is to be under­ stood.

We need the introduction of the spirit of holiness into our lives, the emergence of the Divine Spirit which G-d breathed into the earthly clay, the insistent claim of the soul which is the main­ spring of every spiritual, intellectual and cultural activity which makes man stride towards a better life, which makes him lend an ear to the injunction: “Be ye holy, for I am holy (Vayikroh XII,44). Anyone who does not feel that urge is, indeed, no better than the animals.

Rosh Hashanah. when the world came into being, is a day of judgement for all human beings and creatures of the uni­ verse, and we ponder on the message of the Shofar which arouses our consciousness, which sounds the alarms for the wayward heart, and warns the slumbering soul of its peril.

The Shofar demands manful self-analysis, a truthful self­ judgement which makes for a better, nobler and sounder course lor the future. The Rambam, in his symbolic interpretations of the message ol the Shofar, exhorts: “Awake ye sleepers, and ponder over your deeds; remember your Creator and go back to Him in penitence. Be not of those who miss realities in their pursuit ol shadows, who waste their years seeking after vain things which cannot profit or deliver.

“Look well to your souls and consider your acts; forsake each of you his evil ways and thoughts, and return to G-d so that he may have mercy upon you”.

There is another interpretation given by the Saadia Gaon to the meaning ot the Shofar. It is to remind us of the revelation of Mount Sinai. For, when the Law was given to Israel, a trum­ pet blast sounded, as the Torah tells us: “And the sound of the Shofar went forth and waxed louder and louder”.

And when we ponder on this verse, we find there is some­ thing significant about this statement. Usually the sound of the note of an instrument becomes weaker and less audible the further it travels. But, as regards the trumpet sounded on Sinai, the Torah tells us that the sound went further; and the further it reached, the stronger it became.

It is a warning to those who are estranged from their religion, for to those does it speak loudest. The further the distance, the louder the blast of the Shofar ; the more distant the Jew was Irom his Torah, the sterner the admonition, the graver the warn­ ing, the more forceful the instruction. It is the echo of Sinai that calls on Rosh Hashanah, to arouse us to our duties and responsibilities towards Judaism.

It bids us to take stock of ourselves and undergo a frank self-examination of our moral and spiritual condition. And when we pray for life on Rosh Hashanah we should have in mind the ideal, the spiritual, the noble life.

It is significant that, at the end of the Musaf Amidah, the prayer to inscribe us in the Book of Life is immediately fol­ lowed by the words “. . . but ye that did cleave unto the Lord your G-d, are alive every one of you this day”. This indicates the kind of life to which we should aspire, a life dedicated to the service of G-d. devoted to the study and practice of His revealed teachings on Sinai.

The ten days of Teshuvah which commence on Rosh Hasha­ nah and culminate in Yom Kippur, call for repentance, for self-knowledge and for self-control. They bid us become active Jews, conscious of our Emunah, Torah and Mesorah.

We must learn how to realise our failings and shortcomings, so that in the days of Teshuvah, we will come nearer to G-d, which is only possible by the performance of Mitzvot and by learning Torah. Then our Father, the King, the G-d of life, who delighteth in life, will inscribe us in the book of true life.

May Rosh Hashanah bring a Ge’ulah Shle’ma, peace, happi­ ness and prosperity to Klal Yisrael and to all mankind.

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Page Eleven

SEPTEMBER. 1963 — ELLUL, 5723

LIGHT

Because the Rabbi is not tied to an office from 9 a.m. till 5 p.m., the illusion is created in some quarters that his position is a sinecure, and that he enjoys an ease denied to others.

It is significant, however, that even those who labour under the illusory and baseless notion of a rabbinic paradise, do not rush to enter their own sons for this most desirable of professions in consonance with the Talmudic advice that, "A man should always teach his son an easy and clean occupation".

Perhaps, if we take a week in the life of a minister and try to visualise what transpires therein, what may fall to his lot in addition to his routine duties, our assessment and conception of the ease of his assignment might undergo a complete trans­ formation.

He is essentially an early riser. If nothing, else, then early morning service makes him so. But he may have other cogent reasons for starting the day with the lark. He may very well wish to rise When the ’phone is quiet and the mind fresh for a little sacred study and contemplation prior to the morning ser­ vice, in order to put him in the right mood and attune him to the spirit that should permeate his devotions.

In any case, the Shulchon Oruch, his constant guide, would ring the alarm with the rousing call of its opening words: “He shall make himself strong as a lion for the service of his Creator and rise before the rising of the sun.”

Having partaken of some sustenance in obedience to the Tal­ mudic recommendation of “morning bread” as an indispensable safeguard to health, the minister now enters his study. “They go from strength to strength.” This oft-quoted biblical verse means (according to Tractate Berachot) to step from synagogue into the house of study. Torah study is the bounden duty of all Jews, but for a rabbi it is a sine qua non, if he is to be true to his vocation and fulfil his obligations to his flock.

No rabbi, however intensive and far-ranging his pre-gradua­ tion studies, can hope to acquit himself satisfactorily in pro­ viding leadership and uplift for his congregation, unless he remains a lifelong student. This is axiomatic.

But since it is a fact not sufficiently recognised among lay­ men, I adduce the admonition of a famous non-Jewish eccle­ siastic to his pupils, to make it an undeviating practice from the very outset of their careers, to spend their mornings in their studies, notwithstanding the pressing 'importance of their pastoral work, if they wished to prove worthy of their calling.

But before he has settled down to his “learning”, the rabbi has often performed one or more of a variety of functions. I know of one rabbi who, in the interval between his prayers and his studies, has gone to feed an old Jew living on his own and literally starving to death, has tried to arrange for the admis­ sion of another neglected person to a suitable institution and for a third made efforts to find more satisfactory living accom­ modation.

In the meantime he interviews Israeli emmissaries (meshulochim) as well as- other supplicants for aid and advice, while considering some “shyle”, simple or more complicated, requiring research and consultation.

This is to give but a few of the multiplicity of activities, as varied as they are many, that may engage the attention of your spiritual leader at the beginning of the day or in its later stages.

Lest you think that now he is in his study he is at peace, oblivious of the world and its aches, immersed in his scholarly meditations, we must disabuse you. The telephone is there to ensure that he does not forget his duties to the public for any length of time.

As the day progresses it brings its preoccupations. On one

occasion it is a funeral with its sorrow and the pain of loss in which he needs must take a personal share. Another time it is a visit to the sick to administer comfort and replace despair by hope which can make all the difference in the saving of a life.

Information and elucidation may be sought at any time by non-Jewish as much as from Jewish interlocutors, and problems to solve are never absent for long. In the late afternoon, it is the youngsters, after school hours, who require his patient at­ tention and instruction after careful, painstaking preparation.

The evening opens the curtain upon new scenes and new acti­ vities. He attends and addresses a Simcha, a meeting, a charit­ able organisation. He holds a Shiur, gives a lecture, leads a dis­ cussion group, and so on, often involving much prior planning and organisation.

And who has saved that marriage that was drifting towards the rocks? And who has shown the prospective bridal couple how a kosher Jewish married life should be conducted? And who has stopped a son or daughter from losing their head and bringing shame upon their parents and misery upon themselves by an impetuous, ill-considered alliance, joining together two ill-assorted partners and two incompatible religions?

And who has helped to bring sanity and understanding and a more conciliatory spirit into the heat of controversy and anger, and a sense of justice and honesty in the face of temptation?

Is it not the minister?

The cost to him in time—one minister spent a total of 18 hours in effecting a reconciliation—in mental, emotional, and spiritual exertion, may have been immense, greater certainly than we realise, but the satisfaction has been even greater. He has justified himself; he has helped his friends who depend on him, and look to him for guidance, faith, and confidence in life's trials.

The rabbi has to combine many professions and play many parts and be many things to many men. He has to be a “Shadchan”, a marriage guidance councillor, a diplomat, a peace-maker, a probation officer, a collector for charity, an ad­ vocate, a lecturer, an organiser, an expert letter-writter in Yiddish, Hebrew, and the vernacular.

And, of course, he has to be a preacher, whose sermon, week by week, whether successful or otherwise, whether distinguished or even just average, is not, contrary to popular opinion, simply taken out of thin air, but involves exhaustive search, hard mental exercise, and weighty responsibility.

Yes, to possess the power of the word is indeed a weighty responsibility. Perhaps the most chastening thought of all for the rabbi is the responsibility his position carries. So much depends on him. His utterance may make or mar so much in Jewish life.

On him falls the onus of decision as to whether to speak, when to speak, and what to speak. Grave indeed is the in­ volvement of one in charge of so many souls, who holds a key position in religious life, and is in a sense the keeper of the conscience of his congregation, who has been appointed by G-d “to tell my people their transgression”, to endeavour to set new and higher standards.

The Talmud says that he who has the power to protest against and to arrest any wrong-doing in the family circle, the congre­ gation, or the city, is held culpable for their misdeeds. Yet. since we are a community that loves praise and is up in arms given the slightest suspicion, however unfounded, that the minister’s strictures refer to us because they seem to fit, how can the minister do his duty imposed on him by the Torah (Lev. Ch. 19), to rebuke every un-Jewish act, and still retain any friends in the congregation?

He often has to sacrifice popularity for the sake of the dictates of his conscience. This consideration alone could very well deter would-be aspirants to this holy calling from assuming a (Continued at fo o t o f page 12)

SEPTEMBER. 1963

Page Twelve

THE YESHIVA — III

By B. HALEVI The previous two articles described a Yeshiva and showed it to be a direct outcome of Halacha and, as such, every Jew should spend some years in it. It should be mentioned in pass­ ing that this prime Torah-educational institution rightly de­ mands the support of money-earning Jews, since the Mitzvah of minn nprnn is almost as great as learning Torah.

Let us now turn to the charges often made against Yeshivot. in addition to those already refuted in previous articles.

One still sometimes hears today the charge of dirtiness and undernourishment in Yeshivot. This, if it ever exists, is usually due to the lack of support given to Yeshivot, which cannot be considered a charge against Yeshivot. But nearly all Yeshivot in the world today are clean and the Bachurim well-fed. The two largest Yeshivot in England, Gateshead and Manchester, are very clean indeed and have good food.

Then there is the matter of recreation. In Yeshivot, the students are encouraged to go swimming, they play chess and during the summer months they have a holiday. But it is surely time we realised that all these things are trivialities; many of our great Rabbanim were perfectly healthy and lived to a ripe old age even though they never played cricket.

Those people who think that bodily pleasures alone are the be-all and end-all of existence and think that those who devote their lives to the attainment of an ideal live a drab life devoid of colour and joy, would do well to ponder on some words of Shaw at the end of his play Back to Methuselah.

Here we are shown the world of the future in which live a number of ancients who have survived for a very long time and spend their days contemplating the mysteries of the Uni­ verse. When they are reproached by the bright young things of that time for not dancing and loving and partaking of the pleasures of this life, one of the ancients answers with words that many a Yeshiva Bachur could use to retort to his critics: “Infant*', he says, “one moment of the ecstasy of life as we live it would strike you dead”.

By the catch-phrases “narrow-minded”, “fanatic”, “extreme”, people usually mean that stern insistence upon the details of the Mitzvot and the seeming disinterest of the Yeshiva Bachur in anything but the Torah. As far as the first type is concerned, G-d demands from us staunch adherence to the letter of the Talmud and Shulchan Aruch.

The teaching of the Yeshiva will always blazon forth like a clarion call the need for that adherence and it seeks to con­ vince Jewry at large of that necessity. The Yeshiva is proud of its adherence to the Shulchan Aruch! It will always remain so, in spite of its critics.

(Continued from page 11) commitment of such tremendous dimensions.

Let us then not belittle the burden the minister has to carry.

Let us not add to it by being difficult and demanding, capricious and carping.

On the one hand people complain that he is not giving leadership, and on the other there is an attempt to turn him into a puppet, a mere functionary. Let us accord him authority.

Let us extend to him a helping hand, an attentive ear, a for­ bearing spirit, willingly accepting the criticism and correction he has to offer.

We shall be all the better for it, his work more rewarding, and his week, its every day, a source of perennial satisfaction.

ELLUL, 5723

1 1 R 71 n

As regards the other side of the narrow-mindedness, I wish to point out that one of the Hebrew words for fool is TlD,which comes from the root HDD meaning to be open. Thus *ns is that type of fool who stands open to all the influences of his en­ vironment and has no fixity and therefore no progress in life.

A person either subjects himself to or reacts against his en­ vironment ; a person who just accepts all the influences of his environment is a vis, that is, he has no mind of his own, since he can never judge whether influences are good or bad. If, however, he subjects himself to the Torah, the purpose of which is runy □■'NJID1? n n 1? — to give fools cleverness to dis­ tinguish between good and bad—he can study all subjects in safety, since the Torah guides him as to whether he should subject himself to or react against the influences. (This is the meaning of the b"m "172XE: m x b t t Tttl1?,! DDn mPX,,

"'b ntm T»mry *0 ’nbowi

Before I went to Gateshead Yeshiva, a man said to me: What! Gateshead! There they will enclose you with a wall over which you will never be able to clim b!” Yes, this is quite true, but this Torah-wall forms an excellent protection against the vicissitudes and bad influences of life. We may look over the wall at the outside world, but we may only open the gates in the wall if the influence is good ; when we see an evil in­ fluence coming along to attack us, it is our duty to close all the gates and to oppose it as much as is in our power.

It is only in this way that we can become broad-minded in the true sense, as the b"in say: qtx b v ljijn m m & JTTIJVl — the Torah allows the mind and human character to develop within their proper limits, thereby giving them the power to broaden without losing itself.

It is quite true that if a boy attends Yeshiva for a few years, then, unless he becomes a rabbi, schochet. or teacher of Jewish subjects, he is held up for a few years in the pursuit of his career. As I have explained before, according to Halacha, a person must gain a thorough knowledge of the Torah before embarking upon his career. What does it really matter if he starts upon his career a few years later than others?

Since it is a question of learning and living by the Torah, whilst losing a few years of money-earning, or only a mechanical m in n UV? plus a few years of money-earning, then it follows quite naturally that the first has to be chosen, since not money­ earning but learning and living by the Torah is the design and purpose of our lives.

The statement is often made, especially by English opponents of the Yeshiva, that Yeshivot do not and could not produce ministers ; this sort of person assumes that the primary function of the Yeshiva is to produce ministers of religion. Nothing could be more alien to the spirit of the Yeshiva than this idea. The Yeshiva strives to produce what every Jew should strive to become: □’•p’HXl .DVSDn It strives to make the boys into proper Jews themselves: the influence which they will have upon others will follow naturally, though they will not be put in the limelight so much. People today are often so worried about helping the community spiritu­ ally, that they neglect their own Yiddishkeit in the process.

The Yeshiva is also the training ground for authorities and scholars in Jewish law and not for orators or parish priests.

The Jewish nation, if it is to continue as an Orthodox nation true and loyal to its Torah, must have Rabbanim and Talmidei C'hachamim who can “pasken sha’ales”. It is unfortunately true that there is no great demand for the Talmid Chacham in present-day England ; very few sha'ales are ever asked ; very few people are sufficiently interested in advanced study of Torah to require a learned rabbi, and so very few people would appreciate his erudition.

These things are not the fault of the Yeshiva. The fault lies with the weak, diluted, shallow and spineless Judaism with which the English Jew feels satisfied, and from which he will

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THE

LIGHT

Page Thirteen

SEPTEMBER, 1963 — ELLUL, 5723

not budge. It is for this reason that he cannot accept the great demands of the Talmid Chacham, and it is because of this sad state of affairs that the Yeshiva Bachur, though he has the talent to become a first-class minister, withdraws from the affairs of the community, realising the futility of striving to raise the standard of Yiddishkeit by being a minister, a mere employee of the wardens of the synagogues.

The only real solution to this problem lies in the return of Anglo-Jewry to the vigorous, energetic, stern, vitalised Judaism of tradition, which can best be done by a return to the Yeshiva.

This will raise the standard of Torah in Anglo-Jewry and give the Talmidei Chachamim, which means the Talmidei Hayeshiva, a chance to take over the leadership of the community.

Yeshiva Bachurim, like all human beings, are not perfect. It is the result of an unfortunate prejudice that any fault which is found in a person who has been to Yeshiva is immediately attributed to this institution, no matter how short was the period he stayed there. This is a great fallacy, for the Yeshiva hardly ever influences for the bad, since it is only Torah-influence that exists there. The faults in Yeshiva Bachurim are usually due to the fact that they stayed in Yeshiva for too short a period, or did not always take its lessons to heart.

What has been written here about Yeshivot so far applies to modern society as much as it applied to the society of previous ages. For kingdoms may come and kingdoms may go, ideologies and systems may rise and fall, but the Torah and its institutions go on living for ever, for they form a □‘n y m In many ways, the Yeshiva is more important today than it has ever been. It is our duty to pass on the divine traditions of the Torah to the next generation, and there are hardly any Jews left in the world who have a really thorough knowledge of them. The Yeshiva is the only institution where they can be learnt.

Today the Torah-front is very weak everywhere, and it is our

duty to strengthen it. Especially in Eretz Yisrael, where there is so much at stake, is it necessary to have a strong Torah-front.

But this can never be achieved by political means. What is needed is a strong educational drive towards a revival of Jewish learning and life as put forward in the Yeshiva, which will make Jews not only Orthodox but proper B'nei Torah.

In the Yeshiva, the Bachur immerses himself in the mm HD In working through the niDW of MITTRO -D’l M l in discussing and thinking over a note of the Vilna Gaon upon a Rambam which discusses a R'vo who comments upon a Mishna, these great Torah-personaliLes become alive, and in a Yeshiva a real life of Torah is lived ; the Torah becomes a real Etz Chaim.

The logical thought of the Torah trains the mind of the Bachur and teaches him to view everything in life without objectively and clearly, without prejudice. The method of learning in a Yeshiva is far deeper and more concentrated than that of a university, and in its higher stages reaches an intellectual life (always coupled with practice) which, in com­ parison, puts university life into darkness.

One of the things which most of us miss today is living examples of great men, Gedolei Hatorah, who can teach us personally how to live and learn. They are to be found leading the Yeshivot, trarm H’fctoVI CPpnS who have reached exalted heights by absorbing the m infl — D” n tra "npa. Their influ­ ence, though usually npT n»»7 VlpX is enormous, far greater than that of those wnm wy*m in the outside world.

In the general moral and religious confusion of the world today, the Yeshiva proclaims its holy challenge to all Jews.

Within the four walls of this age-old institution lie the sources of Jewish life. It calls out into the night of our drab civilisation to give every Jew a firm, exalted and purposeful basis for life.

Youth of today, follow its call!

[This is the last of three articles]

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Page Fourteen

SEPTEMBER. 1963 — ELLUL, 5723

CHASSIDIC RABBIS IN POLAND—III

By RABBI DR. H. RABINOWICZ Kuzmir and Modzitz occupy a high place in the history of Chassidic musicology. The family tradition of Rabbi Ezekiel of Kuzmir (1806-1856) was upheld by Rabbi Saul Yedidia Eliezer Taub who was born in 1886 at Ozarow, Radom.

From 1818 to 1922, he was rabbi in Rakow, and in 1929 he settled in Otwock, near Warsaw. He was the product of neither conservatory nor musical academy ; no professor instructed him in the rudiments of musical theory ; yet there was music in his veins.

Not only Chassidim but well-known composers, Jewish and Gentile, cantors from Poland and abroad and even Maskilim, Hocked to Otwock to listen to the compositions of this un­ tutored genius. More than a thousand Chassidim sat at his table every Sabbath at the 1hird Meal (Shalosh Seudot) to hear his Torah discourses and his melodies. He was said to be the com­ poser of more than 700 melodies.

At the outbreak of the second World War he lived in Vilna.

What other rabbis could achieve with scholarship. Rabbi Taub achieved with music, and he gained many adherents to Chassidism. He narrowly escaped the Nazi holocaust and died on Kislev 16 (November 29), 1947, on the very day of the United Nations decision to partition Palestine. He was the last person to be buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

The tradition of music remained with the Chassidim even to the end, in the valley of the shadow of death, along the paths that led to the crematoria where hundreds of thousands of Chassidim perished. It was at that tragic time that Rabbi Azriel Pastag composed a triumphant melody for the final affirmation of faith.

T believe.” he sang, and hundreds of thousands sang with him, "with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah, and though he tarry, I will wait daily for his coming.” This was the faith for which the Chassidim lived and this was the faith for vffiich they gave their lives in sanctification of the Great Name.

From Lublin, too. came famous Chassidic rabbis. Rabbi Solomon Eiger, and Rabbi Moses Mordecai Twersky, son of ITt, hi Leib of Trisk (d. 1943), who married a daughter of Jaci ■ > ol Novominsk. His home at 40 Lubertowska was a thrilling centre of Chassidism.

What Ger was to Poland, Belz was to Galicia. “The whole world,” as Chassidim of Belz were wont to say, ‘‘journeys to Belz.” 1he rabbis of Belz stressed sincerity and simplicity as the fundamentals of the good life.

Rabbi Issachor Dov (1854-1927), second son of Rabbi Joshua Rokeah, was a militant upholder of tradition. In October, 1922 Count Galecki, Governor of Lvov, backed by several Orthodox Jews who supported the assimilationists, urged the Belzer to issue a proclamation calling upon Jews to vote against the Minority Block. The rabbi of Belz unequivocally refused.

In 1927, Rabbi Aaron (b. 1880), named after’ Rabbi Aaron ol Karlin, succeded to his father’s throne. His seven children were killed by the Nazis. Miraculously, he escaped the Hitler terror and finally reached the Holy Land.

Far removed from earthly matters, he dedicated himself to the service of God and study of the Torah. Yet, during the Sinai campaign, (Israel military operation directed against Egypt, October 29-November 5, 1956), he neither ate nor drank nor spoke for 48 hours, while praying for a Jewish victory.

My sons,” he said, “we have won with the help of the Al­ mighty.” He died on Heshvan 24, 1957.

Next in importance to Belz was the dynasty of Bobov. Rabbi Benzion Halberstamm (1874-1941) maintained the traditions of his father, Rabhi Solomon. A noted composer, he created many melodies for his Chassidim. His Friday night nigun (melody)

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Yo Ribbon ( God of the World”) was renowned throughout the country.

He was one of the 200 rabbis at the Lvov conference in 1927. which adopted a resolution calling upon Jews to vote only for lists which were loyal to the State—a move against the Jewish Minority Block.

Like the rabbi of Ger, he concentrated on youth He estab­ lished a Yeshiva, Etz Chayyim (“Tree of Life”) which eventually developed 46 branches throughout Galicia. A special societv Tomchei Tmmimim (‘‘Upholders of the Perfect”) looked after the physical needs of the students.

Strangely enough. Poland, home of Torah, was not at first the home of great Yeshivot. During the 19th century Mitnaggdic Lithuania had the monopoly, and the ‘‘voice of the Torah went out from Mir and the word of the Lord from Slabodka” Chassidic bachurim (“young men”) studied in the Stieblech and the Batei Midrashim (“Houses of Study”) of the Rebbes.

The trend towards Chassidic Yeshivot was a development of the inter-war years, when the Rebbes began to establish their own religious academies, and their young followers were spared the difficult choice between inadequate study in the home atmosphere of the Stiebel, and a thorough Talmudic grounding in the alien setting of a Lithuanian or Mitnaggdic Yeshiva such as Mir. Baronowice, Radun and Ponoviez.

During his residence in Otwock (1927-1939), Rabbi Joseph Isaac Shneersohn of Lubavitch founded a number of Tomchei Tmmimim Yeshivot. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Alter Kalisch of Pabianice (near Lodz) established Yeshivat Darkhe Noam (“Ways of Pleasantness”).

Equally successful was Rabbi Sholem Henoch Rabinowicz (o. 1882) ot Radmosko, son of Rabbi Ezekiel, author of Knes­ set Yichezkel (“Gathering of Ezekiel”). His Yeshiva Keter Torah ( Crown of the Torah ’) opened thirty-six branches in Poland and Galicia.

In Cracow there were more Radomsker Stieblech than Gerer Stieblech. Though many rabbis followed the Radomsker. he regarded himself as a Chassid of Czortkov. The Radomsker was a man of substance who owned a glass factory as well as houses in Sosnowiec, Berlin and Warsaw. He had'one of the finest libraries in Poland and was the author of Tiferet Shlomo (“Glory of Solomon”), homilies on the Pentateuch and festivals.

The Radomsker s son-in-law, Moses David ha-Kohen Rabino­ wicz (b. 1900), was the author of Zivchei Kohen (“Sacrifices of a Priest”). Under his guidance the Yeshivot of Radomsk achieved high standards of learning, particularly in the famous Keter Torah colleges at Lodz, Sosnowiec, Bendin, Radomsk, Kielce, Katowice, Piotrokow and Czestochowa.

The Rabbi himself supplied half of the budget of the Yeshi­ vot, and the rest was subscribed by his Chassidim. No provision was made tor the Rabbinical Diploma. Emphasis was on study for the sake ot study and not for certification. Gemara (Talmud) and Tosaphot (critical and explanatory notes on the Talmud

by French and German scholars) were the main subjects of this concentrated curriculum Under the influence ot the C hofietz Chayyim much time was devoted to the study of Kodashim (Fifth Order of the Mishnah).

Students and teachers were not necessarily Radomsker Chassi­ dim. In Sosnowiec, the principal of the Radomsk Yeshiva was Joseph Lask, a Chasid of Ger. The Radomsker was murdered on Av 18, 1942, together with his son-in-law, and was buried in the Ohel (“Sepulchre”) of the Rabbi of Novominsk in Warsaw.

As the holocaust raged, the lights of Chassidism were dimmed and a deathly pall descended. Hundreds of thousands of Chas­ sidim were wiped oft the face of the earth. Sages by the score (Continued at the foot of page 15)

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SEPTEMBER, 1963 — ELLUL, 5723

LIGHT

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The solemn festival of Rosh Hashana brings with it many profound and elevating thoughts. It is a festival which penetrates deep into the consciousness of a Jew, and awakens within him a deeper insight and heightened understanding of the world around him. For, we are told, “this is the day on which the world was created." This is the day at the beginning of our calendar, when the Creator, alone in splendour and majestic in power, spoke; and the universe was formed. The day when, out of nothingness, the multitude of living creatures, and all the vast complex of the material world was formed at His command.

It is indeed awe-inspiring to contemplate this, and the thought of the Creation lends lustre to this solemn festival, and provides us with a proper scale of values with which to view our place in this great scheme of natural law.

And if we may consider this from another aspect, we see also in the human contribution another manifestation of the remarkable potential which the Almighty made latent in the universe. The first man was placed in Paradise “to work it and to guard it” ; and this Divine requirement of human participa­ tion has been displayed in innumerable ways throughout the history of man in the outstanding progress of scientific know­ ledge and application.

Who better than the present-day observer, replete with the publicity of the space age, to cast an assessing eye over the multitude of modern technological achievements. Certainly, the world today is very different from that at the time of the Creation, or from the time when the Patriarchs flourished; and if this is history, it requires no magic of divination to forecast even more spectacular progress in the years ahead.

However, in spite of the undoubted spiritual decline which may be discerned in the modern world, there is a clear parallel to this material advance in the history of our people. We, of course, have a special birthday, which reflects the essence of Jewish existence. “Today you have become a nation" is the Jewish understanding of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.

It is because of the Torah that we are a nation, and with the Torah that we continue to exist in spite of the manifold tribula­ tions and humiliations history has earmarked for us.

But our attitude to the Torah through these years has certainly not been one of static indifference. Moses was commanded to take “this Law,” complete and perfect, but the vast store of contributions which Jewish personalities have made through history to the understanding of “this Law” would fill a thousand libraries. Like ripples emanating from a central source, of vary­ ing depth and momentum, Jewish genius has enriched our tradi­ tional literature. Craving inspiration from the Torah itself, they have built a fantastic structure on its firm foundation, and it is this gigantic edifice, towering above all this literature, which represents the thousands of years of Jewish spiritual develop­ ment.

Moreover, it must be conceded that these twin developments (Continued from page 14) perished with the holy scrolls in their hands and holy words on their lips.

The Jewish quarters of Warsaw, Lodz, Lublin, Otwock, once citadels of piety and learning, became piles of rubble, physical symbols of the almost total destruction of Chassidism in Poland.

From the ashes, phoenix-like, a new Chassidism arose. In London, in New York, in Jerusalem, it lives today. Lubavitch, Ger, Belz, Novominsk, Biala, Bobov—these ancient names have set their seal on twentieth century life, here as well as hereafter.

[This is the last of three articles]

Page Fifteen

are not entirely unrelated. At the present time modern science, with its printing methods, its world-wide communications, its building resources, and much besides, can provide invalu­ able assistance to spiritual development and Torah study. The present time certainly has no need of the means Chananiah ben Hezekiah used. In order to interpret the book of Ezekiel, he locked himself in an attic with 300 barrels of oil for lighting. But now, modern progress has made it unnecessary for the interpre­ tation of Torah to be equated with material privation, and the spread of scientific knowledge should make it possible for great strides to be made in the study and understanding of our sacred literature. There is no reason why the present age could not pro­ vide an upsurge of all the necessities for Jewish learning, with ever-increasing appreciation of the profundity and depth of our traditional literature.

And yet, even if this is a reality, it does not suffice. For any amount of study of the theory of Jewishness without considera­ tion of the practice is merely what our sages term *73pi WITT —study it, and receive your reward. But real Jewish learning is inexorably bound up with the practice of Mitzvot. Our libraries may be filled with books of Jewish law, but it can easily become a dead law. unrelated to daily life. Our Shulchan Aruch must be consulted daily, so that our Torah may indeed be a Tree of Life. When our study is not nwyfcV with the idea of doing not merely understanding, it will inevitably grow sterile and yield no permanent fruit.

And let us not imagine that problems do not exist, or that in modern times it is no longer necessary to refer to the Torah for guidance and inspiration. Perhaps there has been no time in history when so severe a spiritual famine has prevailed, and it is certain that amongst the great masses of our people there is a profound desire to learn more about their spiritual heritage.

But the real root of the problem is that the ordinary person has lost contact with the rabbi. In times gone by. the spiritual leader occupied the leading position in all aspects of religion and social life. Nothing was done without his consultation, and this not only on technical points of law, but also on any number of other matters pertaining to communal well-being. Yet the present time sees a complete divorce between the majority of the com­ munity and its spiritual leaders. It is only on rare occasions that the rabbi is consulted, and then normally on matters which appear to be of lesser importance.

It is, of course, difficult to complete an accurate analysis of the reasons for this rift, but whatever these may be, they are not directly relevant to the real problem which arises—the means of solution. This is certainly no matter on which one may formulate an immediate or obvious remedy. Anything which has become firmly rooted in the attitudes of people can only be alleviated by patience and perseverance. But this is not a reason to avoid the -problem. The answer must lie in co-operation between rabbi and congregant.

On the side of the congregant, he must be educated to appre­ ciate that the Torah must be consulted to answer the daily problems of living which inevitably recur. He must learn to appreciate that in all aspects of human activity there is much to be gained by understanding the message of the Divine Law, and that being a Jew is not merely a reason to attend synagogue on rare occasions and pay formal allegiance to a way of life, whose comprehensive actuality is merely a vague phantom with which he has no contact.

On the other hand, the duty of the rabbi must be to stimulate this understanding in its infancy, and to guide it in its develop­ ment. On the spiritual leader must fall the onerous task of presenting traditional belief in the context of this modern age— not by dilution or diminution; on the contrary, the wonders of modern life provide a unique back-cloth to the portrayal of Jewish eternity.

It is by clarity and conviction, from adherence and creative

Page Sixteen

SEPTEMBER. 1963 — ELLUL, 5723

thinking, that this age may he attracted to the everlasting truth contained within our Torah. And it is this that the spiritual leader is required to achieve; to find within the wealth of his scholarship and learning the inspiration to stimulate interest and appreciation of the Jewish way of life, and by doing so to inspire himself to even firmer dedication and greater appreciation of the Torah. Has not Rabi told us (n ,rpjyri) : “Much have I learned from my teachers, more from my colleagues, yet most from my pupils.”

We do not require a rabbi in the synagogue. The synagogue is merely the base, the springboard of religious teaching. The real stage is the daily life of the individual. We have never con­ cerned ourselves with preserving our Torah for museums, and our future will be full of hope only if we continue to dedicate ourselves to this practice of our Torah in daily life.

vn man FEDERATION OF SYNAGOGUES

FINCHLEY CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE Red bourne Avenue, Finchley, N.3

The Honorary Officers and Board o f Management, on behalf of the Synagogue, wish Rabbi P. Braciener, R a v ; Rev. I. Myers, Chazan ; Mr. Godfrey Cherns, Secretary ; all members and their families for 5724

2iu *721 nanai

n^n nw

11 r n n

THE KELMER TALMUD TORAH

By RABBI O. FEUCHTWANGER Strictly speaking, we should have used the Talmud Torah's full name: m in Tl&bn rrn. It had its special meaning, postulating education to greatness, like everything else in this unique institution, the anniversary of whose cruel destruction by the Nazis twenty-two years ago occurred in Av. The Kelmer Talmud Torah was founded by Rabbi Simcha Zisel Sielf (Braude) the educator of genius among the disciples of Rabbi Israel Salanter, the founder of the Mussar movement.

He deliberately strove to produce only pupils of marked charac­ ter, which is why he started a Talmud Torah for youngsters with a difference.

He abhorred stereotyped curricula and mechanical perform­ ances. As an outstanding judge of human nature, he introduced new methods of analysing motives of action which he found mostly selfish, and hence demanded many unconventional exer­ cises based on his novel concept of how a person had to treat his ego and raise it to a level of absolute selflessness. Without it, true fear and service of G-d are not possible either.

Rabbi Simcha Zisel founded his first “Talmud Torah” in Kelm in 5626 (1866). It continued there for ten years. Among the subjects he introduced were the study of the Prophets, Hebrew grammar, Russian and arithmetic, but his main aim was to revolutionise the few selected pupils’ approach to Judaism.

We may say that he demonstrated how, with the help of Talmudic and Midrashic sources, human imperfection can be scientifically studied and counteracted. He called this, “medicine of the soul”, with its necessary twin methods of diagnosis and therapy. His educational methods, in spite of their deliberate exclusiveness, soon attracted large numbers, but in 5635 (1876) he had to leave Kelm. The Russians, apparently taking some daring expressions of his out of their context, thought he had been preaching revolution against the Czar.

He now transferred his Talmud Torah to Grobin, in Latvia, where he had it officially recognised as a “Yeshivah” with an approved secular division and first-class boarding facilities.

It consequently attracted the cream of the younger generation and produced during this period brilliant pupils who were ulti­ mately to become responsible for the conduct of famous Yeshivot like Lomza, (today in Petah Tikva), Slobodka (today in Bnei Brak) and the Talmud Torah itself, when it was later revived in Kelm. Others became rabbis and authors of distinction.

In 5646 (1886) Rabbi Simcha Zisel did not feel strong enough to continue and. rather than hand over his Talmud Torah to someone he could not fully trust, decided to close it altogether, in accordance with advice he had received from his teacher.

Rabbi Israel Salanter.

He had already retired to Kelm before this, and had tried for a time to run the Talmud Torah by visiting it periodically and by correspondence. However, great new Yeshivot which had in the meantime been established by Rabbi Simcha Zisel’s pupils, would not accept his retirement, and started to send their best students to Kelm so that they might benefit from Rabbi Simcha Zisel's influence.

These were the informal beginnings of the second Talmud Torah in Kelm for adults of every age, which existed for 55 years. There was hardly a Yeshivah of repute in Russia, Lithu­ ania and Lithuanian Poland up to the second World War, on whose staff a former Kelm student did not play a most important and. indeed, essential part. It is sufficient to mention Hebron.

Mir, Radin, Telshe, Ponievetz, Grodno and Kletsk.

In our own days, the Yeshivah in Kfar Chassidim, near Haifa, is spiritually guided and thus given unique standing by Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian, formerly of Kelm and London (Etz Chayim),

THE

LIGHT

Page Seventeen

SEPTEMBER. 1963 — ELLUL, 5723

one of the very few surviving pupils of Rabbi Simcha Zisel.

The Talmud Torah had indeed produced educators of vision in the image of its founder. It proclaimed education as a life­ long process. That is why all its pupils used to assemble there once a year in Ellul and over the High Festivals, the time for repentance and making a new start.

When Rabbi Simcha Zisel passed away on Av 8. 5658 at the age of 74, a younger brother and trainee of his who greatly resembled him, Rabbi Laib, succeeded him for three years, until he retired to Jerusalem. Then his son. Rabbi Zvi Hirsh Braude, who was at the same time the son-in-law and a great devotee of Rabbi Simcha Zisel, took over until he passed away in 5673 (1913).

Now, Rabbi Simcha Zisel's son Rabbi Nachum Ze'ev took charge. He had already settled in Kelm three years before, after living for many years in Konigsberg. Unfortunately he died less than three years after his predecessor.

These three successors of Rabbi Simcha Zisel proved by their own quite exceptional perfection and greatness, although all were professional merchants, what the latter had been capable of achieving. They all deserve full scale biographies in their own right.

After the first World War, a pupil of Rabbi Simcha Zisel, Rabbi Reuben Dov Dessler, who, incidentally, is buried in Edmonton, was put in charge, jointly with the sons-in-law of Rabbi Nachum Ze'ev—Rabbi Daniel Movshovitz and Rabbi Gershon Miadnik. The former was very likely the most profound thinker on things Jewish in the last fifty years. Philosophy and art were the domain of his all-pervading and profound intellect no less than Talmud and Mussar. Few knew him and fewer still appreciated him for what he was. As a true, self-effacing Kelmer, he emphatically shunned the limelight. His stewardship of the Talmud Torah in the last ten years of its existence is probably one of its most glorious chapters.

He and Rabbi Gershon, his brother-in-law, were in possession of valid American visas, and could have escaped before the Nazi invasion, but they did not tell anyone in Kelm about their visas in order not to cast despondence on others less fortunate. There was never the slightest chance that they would make use of their emigration permits unless all the other members of the Talmud Torah could join them in leaving. A true captain is responsible for his ship up to the last minute. Thus an institution whose image remains immortal, suffered physical destruction and mar­ tyrdom after being for 75 years a veritable power-house of edu­ cation serving all the great Lithuanian Yeshivot.

Sensibly, no attempt has been made so far to re-establish it, even nominally. Any institution not absolutely following in its footsteps would desecrate the hallowed name of Kelm. For a short time during the first World War there existed an almost identical daughter institution in Gomel, in Central Russia, of which Rabbi Reuben Dov Dessler, who later took over Kelm itself, was in charge. But most of its members had been in Kelm themselves.

The son of Rabbi Reuben Dov, Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler, the third son-in-law of Rabbi Nachum Ze'ev and a great-grand­ son of Rabbi Israel Salanter, an original thinker, served for ten years as a rabbi in the Federation of Synagogues, first in Artillery Lane and later in Montagu Road. He, of course, underwent full-scale Kelm training, and although he never had any special responsibilities there, it was his destiny to be the link between Kelm and the flourishing centres of Torah learning of our time. He built up Gateshead into the Torah capital of Europe. This took him no longer than seven years.

He did not have five more years to live, but Divine Pro­ vidence willed him to become in this short period one of the main architects of the present day Ponievetz Yeshivah in Bnei Brak. As its educational guide he- gave it the unchallengeable

central position it occupies today in Israel. His son. Rabbi Nachum Ze’ev, is now in charge of primary Torah education in the Telshe Yeshivah in Cleveland, Ohio, one of the most pro­ minent in America. His activities were in the beginning regularly supervised and directed by his father. Thus, three of the main Torah centres of our day carry on in some way or other ihe inspiration of Kelm.

[This is the first of two articles]

THE REV. AND MRS. S. J. MICHLEWITZ

convey their New Year greetings to their children, grandchildren, relatives and friends, Hon. Officers and Board of Management, and members of the congregation for a happy and prosperous New Year nmo rrarnm naTo

MR. AND MRS. E. CHANAN 14 PHILLIMGRE GARDENS, N.W.10

wish their family, the Rabbinate, honorary officers, executive and council of the Federation of Synagogues and K’lal Yisroel a— m itt nzrnm m T O

★

MESSRS. ANGEL & KAYE 111/112 NEW. BOND STREET, W.l ■

Wish the members of the Rabbinate, President, Hon. Officers and Executive of the Federation of Synagogues, and the Editorial Board of

naiD rrcrnm navo

★

hamaor

Li I—

SEPTEMBER. 1 % 3 - ELLUL, 5723

Page Eighteen

THE BALANCE

By BRIM As the old year draws to its close, it is the custom to draw up a balance-sheet, an account, before the new year is ushered in, of what has happened during the preceding twelve months.

When I started to draw up a list of the events of 5723, I must confess that I found little change from previous years. The positive aspects of life in the Jewish world are as feeble as ever, while the negative ones, if they have grown no stronger, do not seem to have diminished.

Dissension is as widespread now as it was at the end of 5722.

Not only are the various sects at loggerheads, but even within the ranks of Orthodoxy there is controversy, sometimes acrimo­ nious controversy.

The European Rabbinical Conference is a case in point. In the first place, many Orthodox rabbis who have attended pre­ vious conferences, including the Federation, did not attend this one. Was regret expressed at this? Was any effort made to try and ensure that the absent ones would come to the next con­ ference? Not at all. On the contrary, Rabbi Dr. A. Carlebach. writing in hamaor of all publications, characterised those who had not attended the conference as “ultras" and “extremists."

Not only that, but having criticised those Orthodox rabbis who were not at the conference by calling them names. Rabbi Carlebach proceeded to take a back-hander at his colleagues by remarking that the absence of the “extremists" did not matter, since some of those present “could rightly claim to be as extreme as anybody else."

Moreover, why was Basle such a happy choice for a rabbinical conference? As Rabbi Carlebach said, its long history includes many expulsions of the Jews. This fact alone should have made Basle the last place to hold a rabbinical conference. Why do we hug these memories of persecution to ourselves and fall

" ii N n n

over backwards to say pleasant things about the countries and people who perpetrated them? Why does a country that has persecuted the Jews become such a desirable place?

It would be much better to pay tribute to those countries where Jews have not been persecuted, if there are any, and hold conferences there. But the only really suitable country for a rabbinical conference, indeed, for any Jewish conference, is Israel.

As for “progressive revelation,’’ it seems that some of the rabbis at the conference were certainly not sufficiently “extrem­ ist." Of course, there was no discussion of Dayan Grunfeld's paper on S. R. Hirsch. The believers in progressive revelation were evidently thin on the ground, fortunately, and thought it better to hold their peace, although Rabbi Carlebach went out of his way to put in a good word for it in his article. If Rabbi Carlebach did not see fit to comment at the conference and take issue with Dayan Grunfeld, he should not have delayed comment until after the conference was over and then taken the easy way out—printing his views when he knew that there would be a time lag before anybody could reply to them.

Progressive revelation is no part of Orthodoxy as I see it.

The Torah has already been revealed to us in its entirety. It was so revealed on Mount Sinai. The Torah was given to us by G-d himself and He revealed it to us then. That is what a Jew should and must believe.

Perhaps that is an “extremist" view, but from what I recall.

Rabbi Carlebach himself was an “extremist" in his London days at the Adath. If it was the right thing to be in London, why not in Belfast?

And one last point about the Rabbinical Conference. Why did Dayan Grunfeld have to choose the “ferment . . . in the Anglican Church" as a basis for comparison? And why did he have to set up the writings of a bishop as an example?

There are plenty of examples of the right kind much nearer home.

THE MINISTER, PRESIDENT AND HONORARY OFFICERS OF

AHAVATH SHALOM SYNAGOGUE CLIFFORD WAY, N.W.10 wish all their members and their families, Rabbi J. H. Cymerman, members of the Rabbinate, the President and Hon. Officers of the Federation of Synagogues and 7 NKIT 7 73 a

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THE

LIGHT

SEPTEMBER, 1963 — ELLUL, 5723

As for conferences, the last year has seen a spate of them.

Youth conferences, student conferences, World Jewish Congress conferences, COJO conferences, this Jewish conference and that Jewish conference. And they have all been “world conferences.”

All of them have claimed to speak in the name of world Jewry.

How true is this claim? World Jewry, for the most part, did not even know that the conferences were going on and would not have cared about them if it had known.

At least, when there is a Zionist conference, the Zionists claim to speak for world Zionism and their claim is justified.

But they do not claim to speak in the name of world Jewry. The Aguda and the Mizrachi, too, when they hold conferences, speak for their world movements, but they do not claim to speak for world Jewry. If we must have conferences, then let us have local Jewish conferences, speaking in the name of local Jewry, and let them solve our local problems. Heaven knows, we have enough of them.

Sometimes these conferences do a great deal more harm than good. Look at the “American-Israeli Dialogue” in Jerusalem. In the capital of Israel, the Jewish State, in the Holy City, no less a personage than a judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Haim Cohen, stands up and compares Jewish marriage laws with the infamous Nazi Nuremberg race laws! The Jewish law making the status of the child of a mixed marriage dependent on that of the mother was “of a Nazi-racist character,” said the learned judge.

To such straits is Israel reduced because it is not a TorahState but a secular one, where Judaism is not given the respect which is its due, let alone strictly adhered to. You think this is an exaggeration? Then how is it that pig-breeding is still allowed there?

Yes, a law against breeding pigs has been passed and came into force in July, but it still allows certain non-Jews in certain areas to breed this unclean animal. 30.000 pigs from other parts

Page Nineteen

of Israel were transferred to the North before the law took effect, but even then, there were still several thousand pigs left in the areas of the State where no pigs are now allowed. Nobody except the religious “extremists” seems to be very much bothered by it.

What other developments have there been in Israel during the last twelve months? Oh yes, Mr. Ben-Gurion resigned and Mr. Eshkol took his place as Prime Minister. But, plus 9a change, plus c’est la meme chose. All that is different is the name of the Premier. The same party, Mapai, still hugs power to itself, the same policies followed by Mr. Ben-Gurion are still followed by his successor. The religious parties are still pariahs, outcasts, protesting at the Government’s unsympathetic attitude to Torahtrue Judaism, but being able to achieve little. Indeed, how could they, when the National Religious Party is a member of the Government coalition, that same coalition which turns a blind eye to taxis plying for hire on the Sabbath and even, on Yom Kippur in Haifa, although they are routed away from the main synagogue—perhaps this shows a certain delicacy of feeling on the part of Mapai we have not given them enough credit for in the past!

I think I have said enough to prove the point I made at the beginning of this article—nothing much has changed since last year. However, optimists as we are, we look forward to 5724 with hope, and with a belief in a change for the better. Perhaps the New Year will see the plight of our Soviet co-religionists eased, a more positive attitude by our erring brethren towards Torah-true Judaism, a greater adherence to the Divine law, a return to the fold by those whom Reform has lured away, the disappearance of missionary activities from the Holy Land.

Even if only a small part of Jewry comes to repentance and not only resolves to try not to sin, but really does try not to sin, then perhaps the balance-sheet for 5724 will, please G-d, show a healthier situation than the one we have just drawn up.

Mii

MRS. JANE CAPLIN AND FAMILY SEND GREETINGS AND BEST WISHES TO FOR A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR AND WELL OVER THE FAST

HOOP LANE, GOLDERS GREEN, N.W "A

lr

SEPTEMBER. 1963

Page Twenty

J.F.S. SECONDARY SCHOOL

By NATHAN RUBIN, F.C.I.S. The J.F.S. Secondary School, which opened in a new building ip Camden Road in September, 1958 is in fact a continuation of that great school in Anglo-Jewry so well-known in the East End of London before the war.

The origins of the school go back to 1732 to the Talmud Torah Charity School founded by the Great Synagogue. In 1788 an elementary school was attached to the Talmud Torah, and in 1814 it was decided to name this charity the “Free School for German Jews.’'

The School moved from Gun Square to Ebenezer Square in 1817, where it became known as the “Jews' Free School." In 1822 it moved to Bell Lane, where it continued until the outbreak of war in 1939.

This article is not intended as a history of the school, but in order that the present school may be given its place as a con­ tinuation of educational events in Anglo-Jewish history, it has been necessary to recall its origins.

The school in Bell Lane received world-wide fame, and former pupils are to be found throughout the world. The entry records of the old Jews' Free School are themselves a chronicle of the large-scale immigration into this country from Eastern Europe during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

T is interesting to note that, today, the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance, as well as similar agencies throughout the world, accept dates of birth entered in these records as evidence of birth for the confirmation of claims to pensions and other social benefits.

In 1939, together with other schools in the metropolis, the

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WE HA VE A MOST A T T R A C T IV E SELECTION OF A LL THE LA TE ST STYLES

EVENING SHOES A R E OUR SPECIALITY

A N Y SHOE M AD E TO M EASU RE IN THREE DAYS TO YO U R OW N DESIGN AN D CHOICE OF COLOUR

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BERWICK STREET, O X F O R 1) S T R E E T , L O N D O N ,

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ELLUL, 5723

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school was evacuated to the country and was never to return to Bell Lane as a school unit. Large parts of the buildings were destroyed by bombing. In any event, the evacuation in 1939 was in itself only the direct cause of the then closing of the school.

It was evident that at some future date the school would have to move since, due to the shift of the Jewish population, parti­ cularly to the North and North-West, it was no longer able to recruit such large numbers of pupils.

At the peak of its achievements there were over 3,000 pupils in buildings which, for their time, could boast of some of the finest educational facilities to be found anywhere in similar schools throughout the country. But by 1939, consideration was already being given to the need to transfer the school elsewhere, not only because of the Shift of population but also because of the need to modernise the school buildings in accordance with the new trends.

Although the school was now closed, its national identity remained so that the question of reviving the school was a matter for discussions between the Jewish community and the secular education authorities.

In 1944 there came into force the new Education Act, which was not only the charter for post-war education in this country in general, but was also the new legal framework within which denominational schools could re-establish themselves.

Without going into the many intricate provisions of the 1944 Education Act in regard to voluntary denominational schools, it will be sufficient to recall that provision was made for transfer­ ring an old school to a new area or substituting one by another, where this was necessary because of a shift in population or because the existing school buildings could not be adapted to comply with the new school building regulations.

The former Governors of the Jews’ Free School handed over the rights of the school to the London Board of Jewish Religious Education, and negotiations were opened both with the Ministry of Education and London County Council for the revival of the school in a centrally situated site in London.

It was no longer necessary to have the school in an area of Jewish population, because experience w'as beginning to show that such areas would be changing constantly. A search was made for a site which would be on a nodal point of communica­ tions, so that it could be reached from all parts of London. After years of endeavour, the site in Camden Road was found, and in 1956 building work commenced. The new school opened in September, 1958.

In the first instance, the school was built as a three form entry school allowing for an annual intake of some 90 pupils, with overall places for 520. So great was the impact of this school within the community that, within two years of its opening, it was full to capacity, and hundreds of children have had to be refused admission annually.

The present buildings are the most modern of their kind, comprising a technical block (including woodwork, metal work, domestic science, arts and needlecraft); a main classroom block, incorporating science and physics laboratories, commerce rooms, specialist rooms for geography and history, and a library; a fullsize gymnasium and a hall equipped with a large stage, and many other facilities that go into the buildings of a modem school.

Right from the beginning, particular attention was given to the Hebrew department, so that the school w'as able to integrate Hebraic and secular studies within its curriculum. Above all. the pupils, through the many activities of the school, are able to work and play within an Orthodox Jewish environment and are enabled to take their place not only writhin our own com­ munity, but within the general community of the country.

Because of the enormous demand for entry to the school,

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THE

Page Twenty-one

SEPTEMBER, 1963 — ELLUL, 5723

LIGHT

immediate representations were made to the secular authorities, as the result of which it has been agreed that building work on the extension to the school will commence in 1964.

By September, 1965 it is anticipated that the additional build­ ings will have been completed, allowing for 1,400-1,500 places with an annual intake of 240 pupils. Thus the greatest of schools in Anglo-Jewry will have been re-established, with not only a proud past behind it but a great future ahead of it.

The next stage of the school involves the building of an addi­ tional multi-storey classroom block, incorporating a science wing, a commerce wing, and facilities for sixth form advanced studies; an additional gymnasium; a swimming pool and extended technical and workshop wings. Provision witil also be made for ancillary accommodation to house general youth activities. The Hebrew department will be enlarged, creating facilities for advanced Hebraic studies.

When completed, the buildings will enable pupils to study for the G.C.E. “A” levels and will provide courses leading to the Universities and professions, as well as to commercial and technical careers. Parents can now make plans for the secondary school education of their children, knowing that from 1965 on­ wards the school will be able to accept all who wish to attend.

The school when completed will have cost the Ministry of Education, the London County Council and the Jewish com­ munity almost £1.000,000. It is estimated that the second stage will cost over £600,000, of which the community must provide some £250,000 Within the next twelve months.

Surely, this should not be difficult, since the community must realise the contribution the school will make for many genera­ tions to come, to producing young men and women who Will take their places in the life of this country as Jews proud of their heritage and equally proud of the Jewish achievements of today.

i&nnni Mn'Dn nznu

MESSRS. L. ELGROD Diamond Merchants and Jewellers of Black Lion

Wish their children. mechutanim, relatives and friends at home and abroad, Rabbonim, Hon. Officers and Commit­ tees of Synagogues and Institutions with which they are connected

D” nV m it> n a r n m r i m s ★

WILLIAMSBURG IN DECLINE

By E. KRAUSZ, M.Sc. The Chassidic community of Williamsburg, New York, has recently attracted the interest of social scientists. It is easy to guess why. In the first place, until recent years most of the East European immigrants who have come to populate Jewish centres in the Western Hemisphere have been of non-Chassidic stock. This means that past appraisals of Jewish adjustment to the Western way of life have been based in the main on evidence from non-Chassidic communities ; hence the Chassidim provide a new field of investigation.

Secondly, most of the former types of communities have shown tendencies towards rather rapid assimilation. This has not been true of the Chassidic groups. Investigations trying to discover how the Chassidim are adjusting to the American way of life are, therefore, both interesting and useful.

Some of the reasons for the success of the Chassidim are suggested in a study by Dr. Solomon Poll, The Hassidic Com­ munity of Williamsburg (The Free Press of Glencoe, 1962). He points out that “the main object of the group’s existence is the perpetuation of Yiddishkeit, traditional religious Judaism, through Hassidic behaviour.”

Even more important seems to be the observation that “by considering itself first in rank and in importance, the group maintains the stimulus to direct most of its activities along the religiously oriented lines which differentiate and define Hassidism.” Furthermore, this leads to severer standards. Thus, “as compared with other Orthodox Jews, the Hassidim must observe stricter food habits and practices. Prescribed ritualistic observ­ ance must be kept constantly in mind ; the duration of prayer in the morning, afternoon and evening is long ; greater expres­ sions of piety are required in religious performances ; external

Page Twenty-two

SEPTEMBER. 1963 — ELLUL, 5723

appearance is prescribed ; and the Sabbath and religious holi­ days last longer. In short, there are a host of rituals exclusive to the Hassidic community.”

Dr. Poll investigates the Chassidic family and community, the organisations of Chassidim, and their economic behaviour and occupations, and shows that the Chassidic way of life has been maintained in the vast metropolis of modern America. In spite of the many dangers that such a metropolis entails for Chassidism, the American urban democratic setting has even proved conducive in many ways to the Chassidic community.

Another writer. Dr. George Kranzler, in his book Williams­ burg, A Jewish Community in Transition (Philipp Feldheim, New York. 1961) has also shown how the recent Orthodox elements, particularly the Chassidim, have been successful in maintaining high standards of observance.

Both writers, however, point out that the existence of Jewish groups that are less Chassidic, have played and are still playing an important role in maintaining the Chassidic groups intact by cushioning the effects that modern life would otherwise have had on the Chassidim through a direct clash.

As Dr. Poll puts it : “There is a non-Hassidic Jewish com­ munity between the Hassidim and the non-Jewish community serving as a social wall to deflect the values of the outside world before they can penetrate to the Hassidim.”

While Chassidism has thrived in Williamsburg ever since the second World War, the community now has to face certain serious problems other than those of education, religious observance, communal organisation and so on. The new prob­ lems are: (1) The re-building programme taking place in Williamsburg which is largely a slum area—this may have a strong dis­ ruptive effect; (2) I he settlement of low-class immigrants in the district, mainly Puerto Ricans, who make life for the Chassidic in­ habitants rather difficult—a factor that has induced many to leave the district.

Dr. Kranzler says: “A decisive factor in this intensified move­ ment away from Williamsburg is the considerable increase of such lower class elements as Puerto Ricans. Attacks on indi­ viduals in the very heart of Williamsburg after dark, and recent­ ly even in broad daylight, have become more frequent. Thefts anti robberies have become daily occurrences, and are especially frequent on Jewish holidays, during the time of services, and in the summer. Even cases of rape have been reported, and police protection seems rather ineffective”.

In view of these problems, and the recent news that most of the famous Rebbes of the locality are moving their headquarters to other districts of New York, there seems little doubt that Williamsburg as a Jewish religious centre will sooner or later decline.

The question remains as to what effects the dispersal will have. Will merely a transplantation of the community take place without affecting the fervour and high standard of observance, or is it possible that something may be lost in the process?

The recent history of the Chassidim suggests that a weakening in their religiousness is unlikely to set in. The move from Eastern Europe to the Western Hemisphere does not seem to have affected them much. It is even less likely, therefore, that the move from Williamsburg to other parts of New York would bring about any major changes in the life they have chosen to live.

MR. ANI) MRS. JOEL GLAZER 32 Lower Addiscombe Road. Croydon wish their children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, mechutanim, relatives and friends, a happy and prosperous New Year—innnm u r o n roiu mar?

11

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REFLECTIONS OF A TALMUD TORAH TEACHER

By S.K. Iaking stock of the contemporary spiritual scene, as is customary before the advent of Rosh Hashanah, brings us in­ evitably to reflections on the present state of Jewish education in this country as compared with other times we have known.

There are in this connection probably very few who can share with the writer of this article an experience of over thirty years in the teaching profession and thus be able to give an eye­ witness account of the varied changes, some for the better and some for the worse, which have transpired in this period.

This article, however, will not deal with such encouraging developments as the spread of Yeshivot and Jewish Day Schools (the twin institutions in which we can take most pride), but will concentrate instead on another prop of our educational system_ the Cheder.

I recall that, after having studied at the London Yeshivah thirty years ago, I was engaged as a teacher at a well-known East End Talmud Torah and was put in charge of a class of boys whose average age was ten years. The impressions I gained then have never faded from my mind and have enabled me to establish a standard which I have found most difficult to main­ tain in later years and in other environments. It is worth while recording these impressions so as to throw into relief the deterio­ ration which set in over the years.

I was, first of all, quite taken aback when the headmaster, a saintly type, informed me that the syllabus for the class must include the translation of the chapter on the riTHy m iry IT?2n iw ta . of course). The reason he gave me for his insistence was that “otherwise many of these children will never in their lives learn of the importance of nnSOTH Hint:. ” He was probably right in his estimation, but the point is that nowadays one would have to seek far and wide to find a head­ master of synagogue classes with teachers who would have this matter on their conscience.

The children themselves, almost without exception, came from homes where Yiddish was still spoken, and use could some­ times be made of it with effect to reinforce a particular point.

One such instance readily comes to my mind. The class had been encouraged to daven Minchah aloud together, and during the Amidah, I overheard one boy concluding one of the pidih with the words c r r a i -pOtt M #THK "[VU (who blesses *he women instead of the years).

When the class sat down, I drew attention to the “howler”, assuring the pupils facetiously that men could be just as worthy of a Divine blessing as women. In order to demonstrate, more­ over, how transposition of letters in the reading of a Hebrew word can palpably reveal a person’s ignorance, I related in great detail an anecdote I had heard from my father my.

This featured a Jewish inn-keeper in Eastern Europe before the first World War, who was a notorious |natn □>. He had prospered exceedingly and now felt in a position to approach Talmidei Chachomim (then the elite in Jewry) for a life-partner for his daughter who was of marriageable age. He headed for the nearest Yeshivah and, fully confident in his ability to make an impression by reason of his means and his sagacity, informed the Rosh Hayeshivah of his mission and of the considerable sum he had at his disposal for a dowry.

“Have you, then, anyone learned enough for my daughter?” he enquired.

The principal, after a little thought, nodded his head and sent for one of the more elderly Bachurim. The inn-keeper then requested of the principal that he might be permitted privately to examine the Bachur on his knowledge. Concealing his amuse-

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LIGHT

SEPTEMBER, 1963 — ELLUL. 5723

ment, the principal assented and left the room. The inn-keeper lost no time in addressing the Bachur.

“I have only one question to ask,” he said, “and if you can answer it correctly, I shall know that you are truly a learned man. What is the Hebrew for ‘Tuesday’?”.

“Why, ’HjrbtWl Dr* , ” replied the Bachur without hesitation.

He had little time to wonder at the simplicity of the question before, to his astonishment, his questioner bawled out, “Wrong!

I can see you don’t know much" and dismissed him. The Rosh was naturally puzzled when, a few minutes later, he was approached by the would-be father-in-law again.

“The Bachur you sent me didn't know the answer even to a simple question," he said. “Can you let me have someone who knows something?”

The Rosh sent him a second Bachur, but the result was no different, for he gave the identical reply to the same query. The procedure was repeated with a third Bachur, but, after this the Rosh could no longer contain his curiosity and ventured to enquire of the inn-keeper as to the nature of the question he had put to them.

“I simply asked them the Hebrew for ‘Tuesday’,” he replied contemptuously, “but not one of the three gave me the correct answer.” ‘‘Well, I am surprised that they didn't know it's OV".

“Do you mean to say that you, of all people, would also give me such an answer? What has come over you all? ‘Tuesday’ in Hebrew is jyTO!" ” “How does that come to mean ‘Tuesday’?”

“Really, Rosh Hayeshivah! Don't we say in the Amidah rnum ftTOD? If ‘Mittvoch' (Wednesday) is mentioned there, then the word before it must be the Hebrew for ‘Tuesday’, because that's what comes before Mittvoch!”

When my class heard this anecdote thirty years ago, the appreciation was evident on every face by the smiles it evoked.

In a similar situation this year, I told the same story, but was met with blank looks. Words like “Mittvoch” and “Yeshivah” conveyed nothing to them.

Likewise, the idea that a man should feel honoured to have as a son-in-law one whose only quality was that he was learned in the Torah sounded very strange indeed! We have truly strayed far from the old concepts.

Needless to say, in my early days, it was our task as teachers simply to assist in raising a Torah-conscious generation, and we were proud of the fact that our top two classes were Gemara classes, where pupils were encouraged to continue their studies in the Yeshivah evening classes after they had left us.

Pride of place was naturally given in the curriculum to the weekly Sidrah, most of which was covered regularly in the upper classes while even the lower classes were able to translate at least up to Sheni (a few minutes being devoted later to a synopsis of the other portions).

The translation of the Siddur, on the other hand, had only a minor place in the syllabus. It was rightly assumed that, while a great amount of the Siddur is undoubtedly more difficult of translation than the Chumash, once a pupil knew the latter thoroughly, he could nearly always grasp the gist of what he was saying in his prayers, especially if (as in our own classes) he had combined a little Rashi with the study of each Sidrah.

Nowadays, however, a great deal of precious time is spent in our classes on translation of the Siddur, on post-biblical history and on Hebrew grammar, subjects which were con­ sidered relatively unimportant in my youth, while still another innovation is the inclusion of the study of some of the Haphtarot.

I found quite amusing, incidentally, a remark made to me by one of my colleagues as he emerged from a classroom at the end of the lesson. Mopping his brow, he said he felt quite limp

Page Twenty-three

after attempting to teach one of the Haphtarot from Yeshayah.

“To get my pupils to appreciate the beauty of Isaiah's writings,” he said, “is like putting a Rembrandt painting before a cow in a field and expecting her to esteem its qualities!”

In some places, also part of the syllabus is devoted to instruction in Hebrew as a living language, but, of course, the time set aside for this project must of necessity be hopelessly inadequate, and the net result is simply once more a diminution in the study of Chumash.

In any case, though, those teachers who are ex-Yeshivah students are mostly very reluctant to spend any time at all on teaching Ivrit simply as a language, partly because it is outside the purview of sacred studies and partly because the agitation for the subject to be included in the curriculum stems mainly from those elements in our community who have substituted a secular nationalism for the Torah as the raison d’etre for our separate existence as a nation, and would wish to see the Hebrew language as the unifying force amongst Jewry instead of our religion^ The plea is often advanced that, in this modern age, we have to deal with a different type of pupil, coming, in most cases, from irreligious homes. The only way, it would seem to these “modernists”, that these children can be imbued with some pride in belonging to the Jewish people is through the medium of systematic history-teaching.

They must be made to understand that their national language is Hebrew and their approach to the study of Chumash must be bound up with the teaching of grammar methodically, so that it can be on a par with the teaching of French in school.

These ideas cannot be dismissed as being completely without foundation but. in the view of the writer, the time spent in the Cheder nowadays is so limited that we cannot afford more than occasional allusions in our lessons to the subjects mentioned.

It is essential that the Cheder pupil who does attend the synagogue on the Sabbath should, first of all, be able to follow the weekly Sidrah, or at least part of it, as it is being read, and this must, therefore, constitute a sine qua non of the Cheder syllabus. It is the Chumash, after all, which, rather than the Siddur, is the basis of our way of life.

Finally, some of the views expressed in this article will undoubtedly be dubbed “reactionary” by some of our educa­ tional authorities. If this “reaction”, however, can mean “Teshuvah", i.e., a return to a situation whereby a pupil at least knew his Chumash thoroughly before he left classes, we shall have achieved the first step towards the rearing of a Torah­ conscious generation.

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MR. & MRS. S. SYNETT AND FAMILY Wish the Rabbinate, President, Honorary Officers and Executive of the Federation, the Hon. Officers, Executive and members of the Ilford Federation Synagogue and K’lal Yisroel a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year and Well Over the Fast.

Page Twenty-four

SEPTEMBER. 1963

DIVINE JUDGMENT

By THE VERY REV. DR. ISAAC COHEN, CHIEF RABBI OF IRELAND The teaching of Judaism that we are judged on Rosh Hashanah is the most fearful thought that any man can endure. David said: “O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my sitting down and my rising up. Thou understandest my thoughts from afar off." (Psalm 139). It is not only the outer show' of behaviour that is judged. G-d stands by our side at all times as an unmovable and all-seeing witness who knows when we sit down and when we rise up. There is not a word on our tongue, but that G-d knows it completely. G-d knows not only w'hat we do but what we are.

Many people are naturally possessed of an urge to do away with this eternal Witness. Who can stand to be known so thoroughly, even in the darkest corners of the soul? Who can bear Him to see you always through and through, to peer into a man's ground and depth, to behold his hidden shame and ugliness? Some men take revenge on this Witness and become, in the words of Nietzsche, “the murderers of G-d." They deny Him completely and believe that thereby they have secured free­ dom from this Presence. Nobody wants to be known, even though his own health and eternal happiness depend upon such know­ ledge. We do not want a mirror in front of us always showing us what we really are.

Yet the truth of life is that we cannot escape from G-d. “ If I ascend into heaven. Thou are there; if I make my bed in Hell, behold Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea. even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.’’

It is always a simple matter for anyone to talk about the great and sublime ideals of Judaism if these ideals do not really form the actual overwhelming experience of his life. Such pro­ found conceptions, however, as Divine Judgment or the Day of Atonement, if they are just abstract theoretical statements, can reduce Judaism to just another philosophical system which can be argued and supported, redefined, rejected and further rebutted.

It may well be that the first step to atheism is a theory of theology which drags G-d down to the level of debatable things. Judgment b> G-d must have a genuine meaning within our own experience.

On the Day of Judgment we must recognise that there is no escape from G-d. Nothing can be hidden ultimately. All is revealed. The intimate depts of our souls are not completely our

MR. AND MRS. AVIGDOR SHAKOWITZ AND FAMILY of I Queen's Mansions, West End Lane, London, N.W.6 and 9 First Avenue, Hove, 3

wish their children, grandchildren, mechutanim, relatives and friends in London, Israel and the United States, members of the Federation Rabbinate, all rabbis, chazanim, the Przemyslaner Rebbetz.en and family, officers and members of the Federation of Synagogues, our dear friend Mr. N. Rabinowicz and family and ?Niur 111 m it: iw n r o m v o n p w nbm o^n nawi

ELLUL. 5723

11

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own. Before G-d there is no privacy.

Probably every man who has at any time become aware of G-d desires to escape the consequences of this experience. The easiest escape is to refashion G-d in an image of our own making. We remove from our thoughts the knowledge that G-d is our King.

C reator and Judge. We think of Him only as a benevolent and forgiving Father who guarantees for us poor sinful mortals our eternal happiness. From such a G-d there is no need to hide, there is no need to feel ashamed, to be guilty or afraid. Our relationship with G-d is little different from the attitude of the spoiled teenager towards his parents. In our childish conception of G*d we soon believe that we can do no wrong, nor ever be in error. But Judaism points to the arrogance of our self-opinionated moralisation. Do we not know from the beginning that “G-d sitteth above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers” (Isaiah. 40)? Judaism teaches that every thought and deed of a man is subject to the all-seeing and all­ knowing judgment of G-d; and that life and death, and good and evil, are awarded to man as they appear to be merited in the sight of G-d.

It is no wonder that, if we awake even momentarily on Rosh Hashanah from our self-deception, we tremble at the thought of Divine Judgment. Knowledge about G -d’s judgment is brought home to us at varying stages in our lives.

As the world in which we live becomes daily more complex, confusing and dissatisfying, it is essential for our spiritual and mental health that we cast off our home-made idols, which are mere replicas of our baser selves, and order our lives accord­ ing to the ways of G-d. Too many parents fail to appreciate that religious education, and a training in religious life, are as indis­ pensable for a child’s well-being as the food which nourishes his body.

It is time for many of us in our community to rechart our course in life. In the ffrst place, let us completely reconstruct our conception of the needs of a child's religious education. A true education for life must have daily training. An education that is confined to an odd hour or two in the week is powerless to have any real influence on a child's character. To put up a Jewishly-uneducated child to give a once-in-a-lifetime perform­ ance in the synagogue cannot be considered as the fulfilment of parents' religious duty to their child. It is far more a personal experience of emotional gratification on the part of the parents than a deeply moving religious experience on the part of the child. It is probably true that the type of social celebrations that accompany so many a present-day Barmitzvah reflect more cor­ rectly the actual mistaken significance of the occasion.

In our communal life also, there needs to be more recognition of the fact that in the sight of G-d there is no darkness thick enough to hide our thoughts from being known. If a man's efforts and plans are actuated by self-seeking, or influenced by personal vendetta, such secret thoughts are more than often apparent in his face; but even if they are skilfully dissembled they are clearly reflected in the mirror of G-d’s witness. We should greatly guard our souls that we do not direct our hate against the witness which uncovers our true intention.

“Whither shall I go from Thy spirit. Or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?" The Psalmist acknowledges the inescapable presence of G-d. The L-d is our G-d because He is omnipotent and omnipresent, and. therefore, inescapable. Only to Him do we pray and offer our humble obedience. The prophet Isaiah has already revealed to us that G-d will not endure iniquity along with public assembly and apparent sacrifice. It is not the blood of bullocks or of lambs that He requires, but that we put away the evil of our doings and that we learn to do well (Isaiah, 1).

We must return to G-d on this Day of Judgment, and with David (Psalm 139) we must declare: “Search me, O G-d, and know my h e art; try me and know my thoughts. See if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

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CROYDON SYNAGOGUE LADIES’ GUILD •onvey to their members and friends greetings for a happy and prosperous New Year — naiO HOPim HOTO

Page Twenty-five

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Page Twenty-six

SEPTEMBER, 1963 — ELLUL, 5723

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RECEPTION IN HONOUR OF MR. W. N. W ILLIAMS V'J A reception in honour of Mr. W. N. Williams, arranged by the Rabbinate and Honorary Officers of the Federation of Synagogues, was held in the Morris Kasler Hall, Great Garden Street Synagogue, on Thursday, July 25, 1963.

Rabbi J. H. Cymerman. Chairman of the Federation Rab­ binate. was the chairman at the reception, which he described as an exceptional occasion. The purpose of the reception, he said was to show the Kehilla’s appreciation and gratitude to Mr. Williams for his outstanding gesture in establishing a Yeshivah fund, to which he himself donated I£6,000,000 (in memory of the six million martyrs).

The income from this fund would go a long way towards alleviating the financial difficulties of the Yeshivot and allied institutions in Israel and to enable the Yeshivot movement to expand. The reception was not only an honour for Mr. Williams, but for Torah institutions and those associated with Torah learn­ ing, whom Mr. Williams had himself honoured. His magnificent gift could not have been put to more useful and holy purpose.

Amongst the guests at the reception were members of the Rabbinate and the Ministry of the Federation of Synagogues and its Honorary Officers; members of Mr. Williams’ family and a number of his friends; and members of the Federation Executive.

Rabbi M. Fisher, Member of the Federation Rabbinate and Rav of the Yavneh Synagogue, stated that greater wisdom was required for the disposal of wealth than for the acquisition of wealth. He spoke of the great responsibility borne by those to whom Providence had vouchsafed riches. He described the miserable conditions suffered by students of the former great Yeshivot in Central and Eastern Europe, and drew a vivid pic­ ture of the system known as "Essen Tag ", which he himself, and his colleagues had experienced. Those days, thank G-d. had passed, but the Yeshivot were still not organised on a dignified basis. Mr. Williams' practical gesture showed his awareness of his true responsibilities, and his wisdom in fulfilling them.

The President of the Federation of Synagogues, Mr. M. Lederman, welcomed Mr. Williams on behalf of the Federation’s Executive and Council, and hoped that the occasion would lead to a bond of friendship between Mr. Williams and the Federa­

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W. N. Williams speaking at the reception in his honour.

M. Lederman, President o f the Federation of Synagogues, is on the right. tion of Synagogues. He reminded the gathering that Mr. Williams had been a member of the Federation of Synagogues (Cannon Street Road and North-East London Beth Hamedrash) before Mr. Lederman himself.

Whilst Mr. Williams and his (Mr. Lederman's) political views did not always coincide, he recognised Mr. Williams as being close to the Jewish conception of the ideal man. He was a wonderful husband and father, a man of the people who worked for the people. There was scarcely a single institution in this country which had not benefited from his largesse. His work for Eretz Israel and for the Zionist cause hardly needed mentioning.

The President emphasised that Mr. Williams' benevolence was entirely without personal motive, but was a result of his devo­ tion to Torah and the Jewish people.

Mr. H. Landy, a son-in-law of Mr. Williams, Chairman of the Mizrachi Federation and Treasurer of the Board of Deputies, expressed his gratitude to the Federation for the honour shown to his father-in-law and thereby to Torah. Many philanthropists, he said, gave for fashionable things ; it was, therefore, an all the more praiseworthy act of faith to give for Torah. It was the desire of Mr. Williams' family and friends to assist him in this work. Describing the difficulties of the Yeshivot and Batei Midrashim in Israel and the poverty of some of the students, Mr. Landy stated that the sacrifices and Mesirat Nefesh of these people were far greater than those who gave the money.

Rabbi J. Szpetman spoke of his early friendship with Mr. Williams, whom he had assisted in his charitable work for Polish refugees in London many years previously. He quoted the Posuk. "Zion will be redeemed with justice and her inhabi­ tants by charity.”

Mr. Williams expressed his thanks for the warm and homely honour shown to him that evening. Referring to his charitable endeavours, he stated that we were here only to help others and not for ourselves. Mr. Williams, in an address which was liberally punctuated with quotations from T'nach and Talmud, explained why he had established a Yeshivah Fund in Israel and gave details of what he hoped to achieve.

Yeshivot of all types direly needed support; he envisaged an annual income of half-a-million Israeli pounds, which would be devoted to the assistance of these institutions. He was con­ vinced that only by Torah training could a generation be raised which would lead Israel out of her present difficulties. Ffe re­ vealed that the statistics for juvenile delinquency in Israel showed

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Page Twenty-seven

SEPTEMBER. 1963 — ELLUL, 5723

LIGHT

that not one apprehended child had received a proper Torah training.

Mr. Williams complained that the Yeshivot were not receiving suffi­ cient support from Jewish com­ munities, and he regretted that there was active propaganda against the Yeshivah emissaries. He himself had experienced the humiliation of “Essen Tag”, and stressed that Torah institutions must be estab­ lished on a firm economic footing, so that rabbis and students should be provided with conditions ap­ propriate to the dignity of Torah learning.

Mr. Williams referred to his association with the Mizrachi, and explained the philosophical basis for his belief that in Judaism, religion and nationhood could not be separated. In contrast to the reli­ gion of other peoples, the Jewish The top table at the reception. Seated from left to right are: Rabbi Szpetman, Rabbi religion had been given to the Feuchtwanger, Rabbi Gukovitzki, Rabbi Berkovitz, Rabbi Fisher, Dayan Krausz, Rabbi Jewish nation simultaneously with Cymerman, Mr. W. N . Williams, Mr. M. Lederman, Mr. H. Landy, M r. E. Chanan and its birth. The culture of a people, Mr. R. Pollard. he said, was its raison d’etre. follow in his footsteps. He thanked the Rabbinate for suggesting Torah was the culture of the Jewish people and the Jewish and organising the reception. people could not exist without it.

A telegram was received from Rabbi Pinchas Levin, Head Mr. Williams was given a long ovation when he concluded his address. of the Beth Yaacov movement in Israel, congratulating the Rab­ binate for this recognition of Mr. Williams’ unique act. The Mr. E. Chanan said that no one would doubt the value of the evening's function. Referring to the presence of Mr. telegram stated that it was the first time that one man had Williams’ family, he stated that Mr. Williams was fortunate in established such a substantial fund for the benefit of Torah in­ having children and sons-in-law who were only too happy to stitutions and hoped the example would be followed by others. /* ■

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wnnm nnun truntu rniu muj'?

MR. AND MRS. H. FINEMAN The Principals of London’s leading

JEWISH MARRIAGE BUREAU u

THE MAYFAIR & FINCHLEY AGENCY” 3 CORK ST. (OFF BOND STREET) LONDON, W.l and

18A THE MARKET PLACE, HAMPSTEAD GARDEN SUBURB, N.W .ll

EXTEND SEASONAL GREETINGS AND BEST WISHES TO ALL THEIR CLIENTS WHO H AVE A LR E A D Y FOUND THEIR HAPPINESS THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF THE AGENCY, AND LOOK FORWARD TO ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL YEAR ON BEHALF OF ALL CLIENTS, OLD AND NEW.

Enquiries invited:

Please telephone REGent 1980 or SPEedwell 8151

i—

Page Thirty

SEPTEMBER, 1963 — ELLUL, 5723

non

GREAT The members

R abbinate,

g ard en str eet

syna g o g ue

President and Hon. O fficers of the FUNCTIONS COMMITTEE

F ederation

of

Synagogues wish mem­ WISH THE

bers of the E xecutive C ommittee, mem­ HON. OFFICERS & COMMITTEE,

bers of the G eneral C ouncil, all members THE MINISTER

of the F ederated Synagogues and their AND ALL MEMBERS

families, and K lal Y isroel throughout OF THE SYNAGOGUE

the world A Happy

and

Prosperous nmD rurnm nruro

N ew Y ear

FIELDGATE STREET

FIELDGATE STREET

GREAT SYNAGOGUE

GREAT SYNAGOGUE

1 he Honorary Officers and Board of Management extend New Year Greetings to members of the

ADULT HEBREW CLASSES

Synagogues and their families, the Chazan and Officials and

their families,

to

Rabbi The Committee extends very best wishes to R abbi

Cymerman and the Rabbinate of the Federation of Synagogues, Honorary Officers, members of the Executive

and

Staff Synagogues.

Federation

of

J. H. C ymerman, and to all those attending Shiurim and C lasses as well as to Klal Yisroel A Happy, H ealthy

and

P rosperous N ew Y ear

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Page Thirty-one

SEPTEMBER, 1963 — ELLUL, 5723

LIGHT

MR. & MRS. B. HALPERN & DAUGHTER 101 HUGHES MANSIONS, VALLANCE ROAD, E.l wish naio n»*nm nrro tonur bVa

☆

iftnnrn ■nron naiD rawh

MR. & MRS. STANLEY CRAIG

MR. & MRS. MAURICE GLASSMAN

12 VALE COURT, MAIDA VALE, W.9 wish nmtj nynm naTO btcvtr

75 PARSONS CRESCENT, EDGWARE

MR. & MRS. W. KIRSCH & DAUGHTER

Wish their children, grandson, mechutanim, relatives and

87 WHITECHAPEL ROAD, E.l wish -inn: rrcpnm navia ton

friends, members of Bethnal Green Great Synagogue, Rabbi Cymerman, members of the Rabbinate, President, Hon. Officers of the Federation of Synagogues and K ’lal Yisroel a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year and Well Over the Fast.

MR. AND MRS. M. LEDERMAN 11 MAYFIELD GARDENS, N.W.4

wish their children, grandchildren, mechutanim, relatives, the Rabbinate, honorary officers, . executive, and council, of the Federation of Synagogues, and K’lal Yisroel a—

☆

r a iu n r r n m r a v e

WITH THE COMPIMENTS AND BEST WISHES OF l& n n n i in n a r i n u t :

R. GOLUB & CO. LTD MR. BEN SHACK Stockist of Judaica and Hebraica for the home and Synagogue

ALSO SELICHO T— nJCUfl 'PD'?

CATERER Wishes his relatives, friends and clients old and new as well as K ’lal Yisroel a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous

BY REV. A. ROSEN FELD New Year and well over the Fast.

ARB A MINIM WITH ICDDfl FROM ISRAEL

5 OSBORN STREET, E.l

Telephone : BIS. 7430