Page Eight

THE JEWISH NEWS

Alteca
Boteca

A Short Historical

By

DR. NOAH E. ARONSTAM

Does history repeat itself?
This query is perhaps as old
As history, a tale retold
A thousand times and even more.

Certain Rabbis smelled apostacy,
Declared him as a renegade

And promptly put him in the Ban.
Yet, both the pious and the thinker
Seek solace from his Ethic
And his works survive all "Herems."

II-

It happened once in old Fostat
Where. Moses ben Maimuni lived
And wrote and taught and healed the sick,
Who codified the Law succinct,
A gift to those who read and think.
His exegeses were clear and pure
As sparkling waters from a fount.
And yet and yet—certain Rabbis thought
His teachings were stark heresies; .
They burned his books and he himself
Was then pronounced anathema—
They put him in the Greater Ban.

III

Eight centuries have gone and passed:
His books live on, his books are read,
A • Guide to all who are perplexed.

Iv

Does history repeat itself?
This second narrative may tell.
A sage there lived in Amsterdam
By name of Baruch de Spinoza,
Who thrilled by Hisdai Ibn Crescas
And the writings of Mainauni
Taught "that God was immanent
In all, His glory fills the Earth."

V

Does history repeat itself?
The answer is affirmative

As gathered from the tale that follows,
Just three hundred years and twelve:

VI

There lives a man, of fame well known,
A scholar erudite and true
A teacher who from sheer delight
Desired to simplify the Service,
As a greater inspiration,

A worship pure and limpid
As the crystal spring.
And what happened? Certain Rabbis
Met in fervid indignation,
And in solemn convocation
Burnt his book—"ap act of Faith"
And excommunicated him 'forthwith.

VII

Does history repeat itself?
Beyond the shadow of a doubt!

And what do the stories teach us, friend?
Look back to Profiat Duran
And answer in his very words:

"ALTECA BOTECA!"

Dr. Noah E. Aron-
stam's "Alteca Bo-
teca" refers to a work of the same name by the eminent philosopher Profiat
Laza Liza
tv 1.1.00.; 1
Pen
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as Efodi.

ILtutor's Note on 'Alieca Boteca

GC41

c'reenberg's Numerous Nicknames

Was Known as 'Bruggy' on
lia-yonne Basketball Teant

Given Many Other Titles by Admiring Fans; An
Evaluation of Outstanding Career of Detroit
Tiers' Most Popular Player

By DANNY RASKIN

Narrative in Verse
(

I

Friday, July 27, 1945

YV Ch..1

Profiat Duran was a grammarian, philosopher and polemical writer who
was probably born in Perpignan in Southern France, about 1350. He died in
1415. Receiving his education in Germany, he later settled in Catalonia, served
. as tutor in the Crescas family and in 1391, under duress of persecution, he em-
braced Christianity. But he decided to go to Palestine to return to Judaism, al-
though his friend, David Bonet Bongi orno, advised him to remain loyal to the
Christian faith. In reply to Bongiorno, likewise a convert to Christianity, Du-
ran, in 1396, wrote his famous epistle "Al Tehi Kaabotecha"—"Be Not Like
Thy Fathers," which he composed in an ambigously satirical style, deceiving
some church fathers with its praise for Christianity and causing them to quote
the poem as "Alteca Boteca."

Duran's "Kelimath Hagoyim," a criticism of the teachings of Christianity,
was dedicated to the philosopher Hasdai Crescas at whose request he wrote it
in 1397. In 1403 he completed a study of the Hebrew grammar under the title
"Maaseh Efod." He dedicated "Hesheb Haefod," an astronomical work, to
Moses Zarzal, personal physican of King Henry III of Castile. He also wrote
commentaries on the writings of Ibn Ezra and Maimonides and he regarded
the latter as the greatest of all philosoph ers. He was said to have written a his-
tory of Jewish martyrs since the destruction of the Temple and upon his return
to Spain in 1403 it is assumed that he again openly professed Judaism.

Henry Greenberg, the Tiger man with the booming bat,
probably answers to more. nicknames than any baseball star
on the diamond today. They are names drummed up in the
minds of sports writers the country over and the many fans
who love him.
Most of them are pretty much -known to his followers, but
every once in a while a new one pops up.
According to Art Wilson and Cy Webster, writing in the
Bayonne, N. J., "In Fact", Hank is the same "Bruggy" who
played center on a Bayonne basketball team managed by a
town hardware merchant, Morris Rosenblum, around 1930.
Rosenblum visited Detroit a few years before the war to see
Hank play and sat above the Bengal dugout beaming with
pride at the performance of his one-time center. Once, as
Greenberg was returning to the dugout, .say Wilson and Web-
ster, he called, "Hey, Bruggy."
Hank turned his head and with
a big . smile answered, "Hiya
Rosie..•
Following an after-gam e
shower room confab, they had
supper together—just Rosen-
blum and his "Bruggy" of a de-
cade past.
Named "Hankus Pankus'
The nickname "Hankus Pan-
kus" is widely used and has
been credited to many people,
including a Ford Motor' Car Co.
official, Neil Conway, head
grounds keeper at Briggs Sta-
dium, and Patsy O'Toole, rabid
Tiger rooter of pennant-win-
ning days. Although the ex-
aet source is not known it is
more often attributed to Harry
Salsinger, sports editor of the
Detroit News.
When Greenberg first came
to Detroit from the Texas Lea-
gue, Malcolm Bingay, writing as "Iffy The Dopster" in the De-
troit Free Press, planted the rhythmic title of "Homer Hank"
on Greenberg, and Hank made it his business to live up to it
in the years that followed. Bud Shaver, former Detroit Times
sports editor, is generally given credit for "Bronx Bomber" al-
though the legitimacy of that is opposed by the usual many.
When speaking about baseball, his younger fans, the ones who
gave Benny Goodman the name in the music world, sometimes
refer to Hank as the "King of Swing".

"Hefty Henry, Big Biff," Etc.
Among his many other sobriquets. Greenberg is also called
Hefty Henry, Big Biff, and King Henry the ninth. These names
aren't as popular as some of the others but have been used at
one time or another.
Like his nicknames, there have also been many tales abOut
how Greenberg became the property of the Tigers and to whom
credit goes for "finding" him.
Some years back, Shirley Povich, an able baseball writer
on the Washington Post, called Hank the "find" of Bucky
Harris, former Bengal manager and then mentor of the Wash-
ington club. He wrote that Harris kept playing Greenberg
when everyone said Hank would never make a first baseman;
that while boos and cat-calls were being directed at Hank
everytime he struck out or popped up, Harris continued to play
him, maintaining that Hank would become a great player.
The truth of it is that had Harris been given his way,
Greenberg would now be playing for another term.

Beginning of His Career
He was 17 years old and playing ball on a team in the
Bronx getting ready to go • through the university as his father
wanted. He never had to play ball for a• living. His parents
were well-off financially. They didn't want him to play but
he always loved the game and plays only because he loves it.
One of the late Frank Navin's scouts in Ohio, Bill Doyle,
received a letter from a friend, telling him that there was a
likely looking giant playing on that New York .sandlot team.
Doyle sent the letter to Navin, who never overlooked anything
as far as his Tigers were concerned. He forwarded the letter
back to New York, to Jean Dubuc, old Tiger pitcher and scout
for the club, Dubuc looked Greenberg over and wired Navin
that "the kid looked good." He was told to sign him on a ten-
tatve contract which wu . dc?n, ivang Detroit.: a tree year_
vxle right to claim him when he was
through the - University.

-

Bucky Harris Was Wrong
New York had always wanted to have .a Jewish star on its
ball club. They still do, for that matter. Ed Barrow 'of New
York made desperate efforts to sign up Hank, even when Dubuc
was working on him: But Greenberg, whose one ambition was
to play first on a big league, stated, "I'll get no chance to ever
play first for New York because never be able to replace
Lou Gehrig." At that time Gehrig was at his height.
He turned down the Yankee offers and signed with Detroit.
The baseball urge became so strong with him that he quit
college and insisted on starting out. Frank Navin turned him
over to manager Bucky Harris—and Harris tried to make a
third baseman of him! Harris insisted that Navin get rid
of him, that he would never be a major leaguer.
Wherever he may be, the soul of "Uncle Frank" has been
resting peacefully these many long years. He listened when
they told him Hank Greenberg would never make a.first base-
man, that "the big gawk from the Texas League" was a laugh
in the infield, strictly a guess hitter when he first came to man-
ager Harris. But when he was advised to sell or trade Hank,
he said a definite "No!" and Hank paid off by becoming one
of the greatest hitters in baseball, many times called Babe
Ruth's successor. .
His Great Record
Before being inducted, May 7, 1941, Hank more than bore
out Navin's trust in him. He left after compiling a 10-year bat-
ting average of .325 and being voted the American League's
most valuable player in 1935 and 1940.
His .325 average included 249 home-runs, 1015 runs batted-
in, 1299 hits, 62 triples and 317 doubles. He led the league in
homers in 1935 with 36, in 1938 with 55 and in 1940 with 41.
He won the, league RBI honors in 1935, 1937 and 1940, was tops
in runs in 193
8 and in doubles 'in 1934 and 1940.
And Bucky Harris insisted that Navin get rid of him—that
Greenberg would never be a major leaguer!

