Page Four
THE JEWI-SH` NEWS
Ttit; JEW-ISli NEWS
Nettot of tighten
Friday, _December ,4 1942
By•BRESSLEM
The Weekly
Sernionette
Member of Independent Jewish Press Service, Jewish Tele-
graphic Agency, Seven Arts Feature Syndicate, Religious News
Service, Paicor News Agency, Bressler Cartoon Service, Wide World
Photo Service. -
Published every Friday by Jewish News Publishing Co., 2114
Penobscot Bldg., Detroit, Mich. Telephone, RAndolph '7956. Sub-
scription rate, $3 a year; foreign, $4 a year. Club subscription of one
issue a month, published every fourth Friday in the month, to all
subscribers to Allied Jewish Campaign of Jewish Welfare Federa-
tion of Detroit, in accordance with 1942 allied Jewish Campaign
pledges, at 50 cents a club subscription per year.
Application for Sepond Class matter pending at Detroit, Mich.
By DR. ISRAEL TABAK
Chairman, Rabbinical Council of
the Seaboard Region, Balti-
more, Md.
Copyright, 1942, Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, Inc.
MAURICE H. SCHWARTZ and PHILIP SLOMOVITZ, Publishers
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MAURICE ARONSSON
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
FRED M. BUTZEL
ISIDORE SOBELOFF
THEODORE LEVIN
ABRAHAM SRERE
MAURICE H. SCHWARTZ
HENRY WINEMAN
•
VOL. 2—NO. 7
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ, Editor
•
DECEMBER 4, 1942
This Week's Scriptural Portions:
-During Hanukah week, commencing Friday morning, the
following Scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Friday, Num. 7:1-17; Sabbath Hanukah, Pentateuchal por-
tions, Gen. 37:1-40:23 and Num. 7:18-23, Prophetical portion,
Zech. 2:14-4:7; Sunday, Num. 7:24-35; Monday, Num. 7:30-41;
Tuesday, Num. 7:36-47; Wednesday, Rosh Hodesh Tebet,
Num. 28:1-15 and 7:42-47; Thursday, Num. 7:48-53; Friday,
Num. 7:54-8:4.
.
Feast of the Maccabees
Hanukah of the year 5703 occurs at a time when all
peoples may take heart from the lesson taught by the
story of the Maccabees of old.
The Maccabeans, like our modern heroes, fought
against vandals and heathens. They battled for an ideal
Edgar Guest, popular Detroit poet, made the shock-
against great odds. They fought for freedom of religion ing revelation at a luncheon of the Detroit Round Table
and for the right of men to plan their own destiny. They of Christians and Jews that the announcement of his ap-
were victorious against the overwhelming forces of their pointment as the Protestant co-chairman of the Round
opponents because they made no concessions in matters Table brought to his desk a flood of abusive mail.
involving justice and faith.
For those who are uninformed on the actual existence
Historians and theologians agree that not only Juda- of an anti-Semitic lunatic fringe, even at this time when
ism but also Christianity was saved as a result of the Mac- our country is fighting the Nazi-Fascist ideologists, this
cabean triumph. Had that effort failed,. the entire r evelation must have been startling. But as Jews we are
foundation for Christianity which was established with used to such information and we should take it calmly, in
the preservation of Judaism would have been destroyed order that we may be able to fight it efficiently.
and the development of civilization would have been
Dr. B. Benedict Glazer was right when he remarked
delayed for many decades, perhaps centuries.
at that luncheon that "those are the people we must be
The heroic battles now being waged against the Nazi- wary of." If the country at large can be made aware of
Fascist hordes by the brave American, Russian and British t he existing danger, then some good will come from Rabbi
military forces point to an inevitable Maccabean success Glazer's warning.
in our time. As in the days of yore, the success of the
The fact that Gerald L. K. Smith secured 25,000 votes
United Nations is certain to restore light to a long-suffer-
t the recent election; the continued spread of anti-Semi-
thvg world and to guarantee the perpetuation of justice and
ic literature by groups that continue to function in spite
liberty for all mankind.
f recent round-ups' of pro-Nazi elements by the F. B. I.;
With the hope of unending Maccabean victories on 1 he flood of bigoted letters to the newspapers, are indica-
lemocratic fronts, we extend best wishes to all Israel for 1 ions that the battle against intolerance is not over. It may
1, very joyous Hanukah. ] ave only just begun.
The Lunatic Fringe at Work
Post-War Fulfillment
Two Serious Losses
We are ushering in the obser-
vance of the Feast of Lights, and
the stirring message of this festi-
val should serve as a reservoir
of faith and optimism for the
hard days that lie ahead.* The
successful uprising of the small
band of Judeans against the tyr-
ant Antiochus was the first epic
in the long history of humanity's
struggle for Religious Freedom.
From Zion came forth the
Light of Religion and from Zion
also came forth the battle-cry in
man's fight for Religious Free-
dom. When the aged Mattathias
summoned his sons to defend the
faith with the call: "Take your
soul into your hands and fight
the battle of the Lord," he led
the way in the struggle which
has continued through the cen-
turies, and which is being fought
with the greatest fury in our
very own- day.
The Hanukah Prayer
The Hanukah prayer of
Thanksgiving contains the signi-
ficant statement: "Thou didst de-
liver the strong into the hands
of the weak . . . the wicked into
the. hands of the righteous, and
the arrogant into the hands of
the faithful."
Yes, the experience of the
Jew has been that the righteous
were delivered into the hands of
the wicked, and the faithful
into the hands of the arrogant.
It was only a miracle which re-
versed the order.
The Arsenal of Religion
It is now crystal-clear that the
Nazi heathens, like the heathens
of yore, are not only bent on
crushing the Jew, but on destroy-
ing his teachings as well.
In order to withstand the bat-
tering of the enemy the forces of
religion .must be vital; for reli-
gion is the spiritual arsenal of
democracy.
If victory of Judah Maccabee is
to mean anything to us today, we
have to be guided by the Mac-
cabean spirit of loyalty to the
faith of our fathers. Now is the
time to strengthen our spiritual
defenses, if in our days, we are
to be worthy of the miracles,
the redemption, the mighty deeds
and savings acts" for which we
offer thanks at this season.
Governor Herbert H. Lehman of New York, who this
The Jewish people has lost two leaders the past
week assumed the post of Director of Foreign Relief and v week, in the deaths of former Detroiter Rehabiah Lewin-
Rehabilitation, entrusted to him by President Roosevelt, 1 pstein and the eminent Palestinian leader, Dr. Ben
s responsible for a significant statement. In a message Zion Mossinsohn.
;0 the annual .".Night of Stars" of the United Palestine
Mr. Lewin-Epstein, scion of an eminent Zionist fam-
A.ppeal, held in New York, he expressed the belief that ily, who had made his home in Detroit with his sister and
`the spirit which moved the statesmen of the world to brother-in-law, Rabbi and Mrs. A. M. Hershman, was on
!mbody the Balfour Declaration in the League of Nations, the way to Palestine on an important mission. He died
after the first World War, must again assert itself after i n Cairo, having succumbed to septicaemia following in-
he present conflict."
i oculations. An eminent economist, former director of
This is an expression of faith in the fulfillment of the American Palestine Economic Committee in Tel Aviv,
)ledges made to - the Jewish people. The eminent New Mr. Lewin- Epstein was one of the most devoted American
Cork leader's statement conies at a time when deep con- Zionists. Humble and modest, his activities were felt in
;ern is felt over the status of the democracies and their ( uarters limited to specialists, but those who know the
'ate after the present war. It is an encouraging expres- i ntricacies of Zionist activities are aware of the great con-
The completion of a Synagogue
ion which should serve to stimulate unending work for t ributions he had made to the cause of the upbuiding of
Council survey of Jewish Religi-
he upbuilding of the Jewish National Home to which the Jewish National Home.
ous Textbooks with a view to
hundreds of thousands will have to look for refuge when -
Dr. Mossinsohn, who also was well known to Detroit eliminating passages unfriendly
t] he war is over. V
Jews, was the director of the Vaad Leurni education de- to other religiouS denominations,
Governor Lehman's statement is important also be- partment in Palestine. He was the founder and for 35 was announced by Rabbi Israel
ause it comes on the eve of the conference of the National years the director of the Herzlia Secondary School in Tel Goldstein, president of the Syna-
Council for Palestine of the United Palestine Appeal, to Aviv. He was a - former Vice-Mayor of Tel Aviv and had gogue Council of America, which
ake place in New York this Sunday. His declaration that taken an active part in propagating the Zionist cause in represents' rabbinical and congre-
gational groups in American
we in the United States, stimulated by the progress which 1- any lands.
Judaism, Orthodox, Conservative
0 ur support has made possible, must face the future with
May the memory of these two eminent Zionists serve and Reform.
he readiness to shoulder gladly the responsibilities of as a blessing for generations to come.
Over a period of several years,
urthering the upbuilding of Palestine in keeping with
the survey has been conducted
7
he needs of anxious and decisive days to come," is a
by a Synagogue Council Com-
c larion call to all of us not to falter in our duties in the
mittee consisting of Rabbi Leo
g reat resettlement work in Eretz Israel.
The reopening of Detroit's Yiddish playhouse, Litt- Jung of the Jewish Center of
r -Ian's People's Theater, for the current season, deserves , New York, chairman, Rabbi
n lore than the usual attention from the . Jewish commun- Joseph Zeitlin of Temple Ansche
Blum and Mandel
i1 y. The fact that- outstanding actors like Jacob Ben-Ami, CheSed of New York, and Rabbi
Imprisonment of Leon Blum, former Premier of v ho has made his mark not only on the Yiddish but also A. A. Steinbach of Temple Aha-
trance, George Mandel, former Cabinet member, and t e English stage, are included in the Detroit cast, adds vath Sholom of Brooklyn.
0 ;her officials by the Laval government, and their intern- t(
The Synagogue Council survey
the importance of the current Jewish theatr:cal season,
rent by the Gestapo under the personal charge of Hein-
Recent efforts to create an active theatrical guild is a sequel to a similar survey
r ch Himmler, one of the most cruel Nazi gangsters, is an h
ave produced a wholesome effect upon the theatrical which had been conducted by the
Levitable result of the tyranny ruling conquered Europe p lanning in , Detroit. They have undoubtedly aroused Federal Council of Churches as
)day.
g reater interest in this aspect of Jewish cultural activities a result of which recommenda-
The cruelties to which the people of Europe are being it the city and it is to the credit of Abraham Littman, tions have been mad'e for the
ibjected stagger the imagination. Nazi rule, which does d: rector of the local theater, that he has selected the cast elimination of passages in Chris-
A hesitate to speak in terms of exterminating an entire in accordance with the plans advocated by the supporters tian textbooks which reflect un-
friendliness toward Jews • and
aople, will not hesitate to subject several out8tanding o] the theater guild idea.
Judaism.
le aders among that people to the most bestial tortures.
Our Yiddish theater deserves the community's sup- Rabbi Jung and his committee
May the prayers of the free peoples, and the weapons of p o rt, and it is to be hoped that Mr. Littman's renewed
he United Nations, protect Israel and these two members ei f orts to give Detroit the best available theatrical talent have examined about 450 volumes
in addition to many pamphlets
-o ' the People of Israel.
.
w ill be duly rewarded by large attendances at his theater. and magazine articles.,
•
SynagogueCouncii
Finishes Interfaith
Relations Study
,
Detroit's Yiddish Theater