S
Detroit Jewish Chronicle
VOL. 47. NO. 48
and The Legal Chronicle
SECTLON_IWO
DETROIT, MICHIGAN, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1945
10c a single copy; $3.00 per year
CHANUKAH MESSAGES
; ) Chanukah
Repeats Itself
Rabbi's Reply
To Al Segal
By RABBI LEON FRAM
Temple Israel
The Maccabean war, which
ended in the triumphant rededi-
cation (Chanukah) of the Tem-
R-
ple at Zion, was not a war be-
ot'
tween two countries, but be-
tween two faiths. Israel's faith
to in One God fought against the
aggressive paganism of Greece:
;.
Similarly, in the total war
r'e
which has just ended victorious-
ly for America and the United
Nations, it was not two groups
of countries or two opposing al-
liances that were in conflict, but
two irreconcilable faiths.
The peoples who believed in
the Universal God triumphed
over those who believed in trib-
al and racial gods.
The peoples who believed in
the equality of all men triumph-
ed over those who believed in
their racial superiority.
The peoples who believed in
justice and love as the ideal re-
lations among men triumphed
over those who believed in cru-
elty and violence.
The peoples who believed in
'the dignity and freedom of ev-
ery human being triumphed over
those who denied the worth of
the individual man and sought
to enslave him.
The peoples whose civilization
is ultimately based upon the
Biblical teaching of the Father-
hood of God and the Brother-
hood of Man triumphed over
those who sought to destroy all
faith based upon the Bible. .
This victorious faith has prov-
en to be the most precious thing
in the world. It is the guarantee
of democracy and the key to
human progress. No one now
can afford to be casual or in
different about faith. It is our
very life.
This victorious faith we must
teach to our children. To serve
it we must be organized, regu-
lar and devoted. To preserve
these dynamic ideals, to keep
our way of life secure from
vanquishment, we must build
for our faith the shrines and
schools which shall express its
vitality and its beauty.
A Chanukah
Message for
Our Times
BY RABBI A. J. BURNSTEIN
hanukah will take on most
ti , ely significance this year, as
w! prepare to mark the first
CT anukah since the most tragic
al 1 costliest war in the history
of the world came to an end.
F a lighter mood and with a
ft "ling of immense relief be-
mise of victory, every observ-
e'! Jewish household through-
0' ' the world will kindle its
norah on eight successive
n . .,hts, between Nov. 29 and'
I). c. 6.
• Looking at the
flickering
'nukah lights we shall once
again be thinking of that grim
conflict which took place on Pal-
inian soil more than 2100
Years ago between a little band
or ill-equipped and untrained
but determined and daring free
led by the heroic Macca-
bees, and the mighty hosts and
well-organized armies of Antio-
chug IV, a despot and tyrant,
who not only slighted and de-
(Continued on Page 3)
The Orthodox View
By RABBI WOHLGELERNTER
Some weeks ago, the Chron-
icle printed a column by one Al
Segal in which he set forth his
views on the abandonment of
orthodoxy and orthodox prac-.,,
tices. He explained at great
length why he found much
greater comfort and satisfac-
tion in the Reformed synagogue.:
It is not my purpose to enter
into polemics with Al Segal .or
any other professed adherent of
Reform Juadism. I find my
time and energies pretty well..
taken up with trying to impart
the teachings of orthodoxy •to
those who wish to follow ■ its
discipline.
However, at the invitation of
the Chronicle, I shall state briefly
the case for Jewish tradition in.'
the matter of religious ..cere- , ! ,
monial.
There is a significant Talmtul-' .
is statement regarding praYer
and phylacteries which may , Shed
a little light on the general prin . -
ciple underlying all such "mitz- •
voth" and more Particularly help
in understanding the function 'of
these particular commandments.
The order of worship and the•
knot of the "Tefillin" were re-
vealed to Moses in response to
his request for an explanation
of the mysterious ways of Prov- •
(Continued on Page' 21)'
Bressler Eciltorial Cartoon
The Modern Maccabees
it marked the first time in th.)
history of Mankind that men
were willing to die for the prin-
ciple of Religious Freedom. It
was a strange thought in a
heathen world. The nations un-
derstood fighting and dying for
material gain, and glory, and
for family, but to ignore all
these, and to place an intangible
ideal above life itself set a new
standard in human relationships.
The clash of civilizations that
was the underlying cause of the
Maccabean revolt has been ..e-
p ea t e (I constantly throughout
the many years of the Diaspora.
The Greek culture which was
so forcibly thrust upon the Jews
in Palestine in the time of the
Maccabees was dyametrically op-
posed to everything inherent in
Judaism. It placed personal com-
fort above responsibility and sac-
rifice, it placed material gain
above moral values, it placed
physical values above spiritual
ideals. The holiness of the fam-
ily, so essential to Jewish tradi-
tions, was a conception quit‘!
alien to Greek thought, but from
the point of view of personal
selfish temporary pleasure, it can
be well understood how the gym-
nasiums, the games, and the con-
scienceless living of the Greeks
would hold some attraction for
certain elements among the Jews
whose loyalties were weakened
through selfish interest. It must
not be thought that there was
nothing good in Greek culture.
In the course of years, the fin-
est and best Greek ideas were
gradually absorbed into Jewish
By RABBI MOSES FISCHER
thought, in a manner so as to
make them part and parcel of
basic Jewish tradition. By the
time one reaches the days of
Maimonides the influence of
Aristotle on Maimonides' think-
ing :s most apparent.
The struggle of the Maccabee
was not against the absorption
of that which might be worth-
while in an alien culutu•e, but
rather against the danger of the
Jews becoming completely ab-
sorbed by that culture, and
thefeby losing touch with his
own heritage.
The analogy in history to our
current Jewish problems is al-
most too obvious to require
pointing up. Since the days of
the Emancipation of Western
Jewry at the beginning of the
last century, there has been a
too-evident trend in favor of the
exclusion of Jewish influences
from the life of the Jews to a
complete absorption in the alien
civilizations we find about 1.13,
We have not produced Jewish
m u s i c i a n s, Jewish scientists,
Jewish scholars, and Jewish au-
thors and artists. There have
been, on the other hand, many
Russian, German, French, Eng-
lish and American artists, schol-
ars and scientists. Leaders in
fields who happened to have
been born of Jewish parents.
The trend is further evidenced
by the organization of the Coro.-
cil (against) for American Ju-
daism (Sic), This is the ex-
treme assimilation end -- re-
sult of the absorption of Jews
As we light the festival Men-
orah on Chanukah-eve in our
homes, its golden lustre recalls
to us, amidst the immortal he-
roic deeds of the Maccabees,
the memorable story of the jar
of pure oil, and so, the factual-
ity of the impure oil that was
found in the Sanctuary.
As to the nature of the pure
oil, it needs little comment or
explanation. Oil was always con-
sidered a pure substance, the
medium and complement of
light. As such, it greeted and
welcomed the entrance of Sab-
bath and Holidays in our home.
As such, it passed as the sym-
bol of all that is holy, elevated,
and sublime in Jewish life. The
Torah, Righteousness, the Soul.
all the imponderables of Religion
were symbolized and visualized
by oil processed into light,
But it has seemed to me al-
ways enigmatic and difficult to
define and to explain the nature
and marks of "impure oil."
How, by what contact, does the
pure become impure? How does
oil, the very essence and sub-
stance of light, become defiled
and impure?
Pondering by the bright light
of the Menorah upon the pres-
ent constellation and stage of
world-politics, especially of the
tragic role which the Jew plays
in the scheme of things, I found
the key to "impure oil."
Oil is intrinsically and innate-
ly a pure substance. Its use, or
rather abuse and misuse may
render it .impure and contamin-
ated. It is oil, stored and accum-
ulated in the vast subterranear.
(Continued on page 21
(Continued on page 2)
By RABBI E. A. LEVI, Congregation Bnai Moshe
During these past few terrible
years, we became accustomed to
hearing many of our Jew:sh ser-
vicemen referred to as true de-
scendants of the Maccabees.
Wherever and whenever we feel
inclined to refer to any heroic
deeds of arms by Jews, it is
customary always to speak of
them as having some relation-
ship to the Hasmoneans. It is
unfortunate that this analogy
should have become accepted,
because there is no relationship
whatsoever between our Jewish
celebration of Chanukah and the
deeds of the Maccabees and mil-
itary might.
Traditionally, we are a people
of peace. Esau was the great
warrior, and Jacob the dweller
of the tents, the man of peace-
ful pursuits. In fact, Jewish
sources have nowhere preserved
for us the stories of the battles
that Judas Maccabea fought
against the Syrian oppressor.
These accounts were saved
through alien influence, and not
by the Rabbis. The significance
of the celebration of Chanukah
is concerned only with the re-
ligious and the spiritual end —
result of the Maccabean revolt
— the rededication of the Tem-
ple, and the rebirth of the pure
religious spirit. It was because
that basic idea was forsaken by
the descendants of Judah, that
the records of the Hasmonean
dynasty in the Jewish Common-
wealth were lost from Jewish
sources.
The principal significance of
the Maccabean revolt was that
Pure and
Impure Oil