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CLIFTON AVENUE - CINCINNATI 20, 01110

Page 21

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE

Thursday, September 7, 1950

Jewish GIs in Arctic Ask,
When Sabbath Eve Starts

eluding of course the Sabbath, ground that Jewish communities
commence at sunset, at what in French Samoa, etc., had been
hour should Friday evening observing the dateline and •thus
services be conducted in the ex- had established an authentic lo-
treme northern latitudes like cal religious custom which has
Iceland when for six months of validity in Jewish law.
In recent months, most of our
the year it is dark and for six
months of the year light, or at questions come from the Veter-
ans Hospitals. They deal with the
least twilight?
By DR. SOLOMON B. FREEHOF
The answer involved the dis- tragic cases of the paraplegic, or
cussion in the Talmud of a man with the insane (a woman want-
NE OF THE GREAT UNSETTLED proble ms in the new State of Israel involves the who journeys through the desert ed to know whether she could gi't
status of Jewish law. Other states newly founded have no such problem. But the Jewish and does not know which day a Jewish divorce from an insane
state will have to solve its relationship with traditional Jewish law very soon. The rea- is the Sabbath (as the people in husband who is in a neuro-
son for the urgency of the problem lies in the nature of Jewish law. This legal system Iceland cannot know just when psychiatric hospit a I), or the
- burial of a limb amputated from
gous in the sense of being merely ritual. It also involves govern- Sabbath begins). —
is not exclusively religious
relii
We finally decided that the a patient in an operation in a
ment law, the organization of courts, the equanimity the idea that in a Jewish state men
in Iceland should accept the veterans hospital, and similar
the traditional Jewish jurisprudence will not be adopted.
Sabbath sunset hour from New questions.
The Jewish law is considered (!
York and the men in the Aleu-
The work of the committee is
to be of divine origin, either by lished, composed of 21 rabbis- 1 jectors from military service. A tians should accept the Sabbath now greatly diminished, but in-
direct revelation (as in the seven each from the orthodox, conscientious objector was de- sunset hour of Seattle.
teresting questions continue to
Torah) or by authentic interpre- conservative and reform rabbi- fined as one who on religious
• • •
come up. Such questions as chief-
grounds
(such
as
Quakers,
Me-
tation (as in the Talmud and the nate. This committee was affili-
AN ANALAGOUS QUESTION ly involve the civilian life of a
Codes). How then can it be ated with the National Jewish nonites, etc.) disbelieved in vio-
involved
the International Date soldier — divorce and marriage,
pushed aside by a Jewish state, Welfare Board, which had long lence and considered the taking Line. As the war moved to the etc.—we avoid.
of
life
in
war
as
contrary
to
the
merely in the interests of mod- experience and contact with the
Pacific we received questions
In the question mentioned
tenets of his faith.
Armed Forces.
ernity?
from the Navy, originating from above, that of obtaining a divorce
The
young
man
was,
therefore,
The difficulty in applying Jew-
It was first called the C. A. N.
sailors of Jewish faith as to the from an insane husband, we did
ish law to a modern state in- R. A. (Committee on Army and asked whether he has any con- International Date Line.
not make a decision, but gave the
heres in the fact that it was cre- Navy Religious Activities) and scientious objections to violence
When one crosses the Date facts for the information of the
and
war.
To
which
he
replied
h
e
t
is
now
a
separate
division
of
the
ated and developed during
Line from west to east, it may chaplain and directed him to con-
many centuries of dispersion by National Jewish Welfare Board that he had not. This astonished be Monday one second before sult orthodox authorities, since
the
induction
board
and
they
theoretical study and hence when and is called the D.R.A. (Division
the dateline is crossed and
asked him then to explain how Wednesday the next second man and wife were orthodox.
practically considered presents of Religious Activities).
innumerable difficulties. But that
One of the committees of the he could claim exemption on the when the dateline is crossed.
problem will in some way be D.R.A. is the Responsa Commit- ground of being a conscientious
Thus, for example, going in one
BEST WISHES
solved. It must be solved without tee, composed of an orthodox, objector.
direction there may be no Yom
FOR A
He said that although he does Kippur at all; and going in the
too much delay.
conservative and reform rabbi.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
All this concerns us in Amer- To this committee came religious not oppose violence he still other direction there may be two
ica and in other lands, not merely questions from Washington, from claims it on religious grounds be- Yom Kippurs.
This complex question has re-
because of our deep interest in m i l i t a r y headquarters, from cause he is a Cohen by descent
a ceived considerable discussion in
the welfare of the State of Israel, chaplains, from soldiers and from and according to Jewish law
Cohen may not come in contact recent years and was finally de-
but because our own Jewish life hospitals.
with dead bodies, except those of cided by us as follows: that sol-
is deeply affected by this highly
These questions were answered
diers in the navy should accept
developed, highly complex legal according to strict Jewish law in his immediate family.
The question then came to us the date line 180 degrees from
system. In fact, the problem of as liberal way as possible, owing
the State of Israel is to be a con- to the exigencies of wartime, for decision. The answer in- Greenwich even though such a
siderable extent the same prob- which permitted such liberal in- volved an analysis of the actual date line could theoretically have
10226 DEXTER
status of a Cohen today under no status in Jewish law.
lem which confronts Jewries all terpretation.
Jewish law. Is he to be con-
It had to be accepted on the
over the world.
Of all the questions that came
To what extent should Jewish —and there were a great many— sidered of sure status or merely
law govern our life? The answer only two minor ones did not win presumably a Cohen since the old
New Year Greetings
to that question is perhaps the complete agreement from the books of genealogy are no longer
GREETINGS
basic source of the differences three members of the committee kept?
between orthodoxy, conservation and from the larger committee to
The debate over the question
and reform. Since the basic dif- whom each question was sub- involved, therefore, the actual
ference between orthodox, con- mitted. The rest were unanimous status of a Cohen today. He must,
of course, observe the Cohenite
servative, and reform is their decisions!
Smelting & Relining
different answers as to the valid-
Looking over some of the restrictions on the presumption
ity of Jewish law in modern life, questions discussed, it is interest- that he may be authentically a
Company
then it seems impossible to ex- ing what a variety of questions Cohen. But that is hardly suffi-
pect orthodox, conservative, and had to be dealt with and how cient ground for the claim of ex-
•
2936 W. DAVISON -
reform leaders to come to a the nature of the questions emption on the basis of those
unanimous answer to any impor- changed with the progress of the restrictions.
TE. 1.3266
1826 Illinois
TO. 6-3800
tant question involving such law. war in a rather dramatic and
We received an interesting
All of which prepares us to somber way.
question from the chaplain of
understand how astonishing a
The first questions dealt with Jewish troops stationed in Ice-
phenomenon arose during the induction into service, with land.
Second World War. On hundreds kosher food, with wearing of the
Since all Jewish holidays, in-
of questions involving Jewish hat. Then there came questions
law a unanimous answer w a s of marriage and divorce; then
given by a committee composed questions involving funeral serv-
of orthodox, conservative, and ices; finally questions of the dis-
reform rabbis.
interring and transportation of
How that was possible and ac- bodies to America.
tually occurred is one of the
And now almost exclusively
most fascinating, little known the questions come from the
chapters in the story of the par- V e t e r a n s Administration hos-
ticipation of American Jewry in
pitals.
$ • •
World War II.
• • •
O N E OF OUR EARLIEST
THE NATIONAL JEWISH questions involved a young man
2286 E. MILWAUKEE
Welfare Board had been serving who claimed to be a conscien-
the armed forces continuously tious objector. The government
MA. 5980
since World War I.
had made the provision for the
It had a committee which dealt exemption of conscientious ob-
with the welfare of soldiers and
sailors and also which kept in
contact with Washington. At the
ROSH HASHONAH
Greetings to All
beginning of the Second World
GREETINGS
War it became evident that the
government intended to expand
CENTRAL
the chaplaincy service, appreciat-
SCRAP IRON &
ing more than it ever did before
the need for spiritual guidance
METAL
and voluntary morale service to
COMPANY
the men in the Armed Services.
The task, therefore, of select-
17239 SWIFT
ing this greatly enlarged number
of chaplains had to be under-
TW. 2-8100
615 Peninsular Building
taken in a much more systematic
Griswold
600
way than hitherto. Clearly only
ministers and ministerial associa-
tions could determine the eccle-
siastical status of a candidate for
the chaplaincy.
Hence, a committee was estab-
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