America (with Pendia! Cato
CLIFTON AVENUE - CINCINNATI 20, OHIO
F: day, November 30, 1945
Page Twenty-On.
DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle
e Orthodox View --- Rabbi Wohlgelernter
(Continued from page 1)
ide•lce (Exodus xxx, 111, 14).
w constitutes an answer to
tb- fundamental problems of life
or this earth and the relation-
s!..1) between Man and God?
rri, answer is daily communion
ith the Creator through the
rvi ce of the heart" and the
sYmbolic representation of unity
the causality in nature as one
commentary interprets the mean-
ing of "Kosher Shel Tefillin."
They prepare us for the per-
formance of our assigned task
and establish harmony between
the faculties of mind and body.
I quote from an essay by Dr.
H. Raphael Gold entitled "Juda-
i s m — A Psychological Ap-
proach."
This interpretation of intel-
lect, emotion and will in the
psychology of Judaism is beauti-
fully illustrated in the symbol-
ism of the . . . phylacteries
which contain the affirmation3
of the unity and love of God in
the scriptural passages enclosed
in them. They are composed of
three cardinal elements, the phy-
lactery of the head, placed op-
posite the organ of thinking, the
phylactery of the hand, placed
opposite the heart, the organ
supposedly most sensitive to the
emotions and the "Retzuoth,"
the streamers which bind the
phylacteries to the body to sym-
bolize the extension of the will
to the organs of action.
It is significant that the phyl-
actery of the hand is placed on
the left arm. We are thus re-
minded that it is the weaker
arm which is to receive the great
spiritual support and the strong
binding power of the faith.
There are, unfortunately, the
ignorant who see in the "Tefil-
lin" no more than boxes and
straps. They may be compared
with those who, when looking
at their country's flag, can see
only the cloth out of• which it
is made. Even to these, however,
the value of putting on the Te-
fillin is not lost. For there is a
unifying influence of such a
practice by all communities of
Israel throughout the ages that
is not to be underestimated.
",k •
The identification of Jews with
other Jews of all lands and gen-
erations is in itself of tremen-
dous religious and nationalistic
nnportance. The "mitzvoth,"
thanks to the G-d idea, which
they inevitaidy suggest even
when they are carried out in a
perfunctory manner, have serv-
e d mor e than anything else to
build up the faith and moral
character of our people. They
have rendered us, with all our
failings and shortcomings, the
people with the keenest moral
sense in the world. The prin-
ciple at work in this inner disci-
pline may be illustrated in the
familiar tug:
Sow an action, reap a habit
Sow a habit, reap a character
Sow a character, reap a des-
tiny.
As long as we cling fast zo
these, our divinely instituted ob-
servances, we need have no fear
about the destiny of Israel in the
world of morality and pure re-
ligion."
One need but reflect upon the
joy experienced by masses of
observant Jews in the fulfillment
of a command decreed by the
Eternal to realize the effect of
such deeds in the development
of a wholesom e personality.
Several months ago, a Euro-
pean representative of Vaad
Hatzalah described his visit with
several thousand liberated in-
mates of a German concentra-
tion camp. He told of hundreds
of men lined up and waiting
their turn all day long to put on
— for the first time in years —
the only pair of "Tefillin" he
had brought along with him.
I should like to invite the
readers of this article to visit
the local Yeshivath Beth Ye-
huda any week day to watch
the morning services conducted
by a group of intermediate boys,
all wearing "Tallith" and "Te
fillin."
These examples are cited to
show the ecstatic feelings of
Jewish multitudes all through
history as they adhered both to
the letter and the spirit of the
G-d given Law. That so many of
the provisions of the Torah are
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now honored in the breach
among the great majority of our
youth and elders alike and that
so pitifully little of its spirit
has as yet been recaptured in
American Jewish life is a sad
commentary on Jewish religious
and educational effort during
the last-and-lost one or two gen-
erations that have been the vic-
tims of their parents' neglect
or laxity.
Of late, there has been a
marked tendency for a return
to traditional forms. Even Re-
form temples and radical Yid-
dish circles are groping for an
expression of uniquely Jewish
content with which to invest
their meetings and functions.
Through word and deed, they
are finding their way back to
some of the time hallowed ce•-
emonies ordered by the Shul-
chan Aruch (Code) that governs
the life of the Orthodox. A
somewhat different process which
points in the same direction is
evident among the leftist "Cha-
lutzim" in Palestine whose lead-
ing intellects are beginning to not vague appeals to our emo-
see the need for a reaffirmation tions. In the scheme of Jewish
of the historical Jewish attitude discipline they have always been
in the interpretation of Torah. known and praticed as "Bala-
chic" do's and don'ts with specific
At the root of all deflections regulations outlined in the "Tom
from the pattern of the 613 She-bal-pe" as to the manner
commandments advocated by the in which these observances are
protagonists of religious schism to be carried out.
since the time of the Sadducees
has always been a misreading of
the very nature of the Written
Law. Authentic Jewish interpre- Sincerest Wishes for a
tation of Scripture as well as Happy Chanukah
the new non-Jewish scholarship
have long parted company with
the old Bible criticism, which
was influenced to a large ex-
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tent by anti-Semitic motives,
and intensified to the antiquity
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of the oral law embodied in
Talmudic literature.
TO. 8.8191
It is only in the light of this
tradition which had its begin-
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understanding of the sacred
books. Directives contained in
the Pentateuchal passages such
as those dealing with "Tefillin"
quoted from Deuteronomy are
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In Memory of
Henry Holinstat
who passed away Dec. 1, 1939
Blessed be the memory of one whom we
loved dearly.
He was an inspiration in his lifetime and
the memory of him gives us courage
in life.
May his memory be a blessing for gen-
erations to come.
Mrs. Henry Holinstat and Family
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