A's the Editor
Views the News

•

Miss Liberty 1947

Dr. Hershman Honored

Poet's Note: When John Milton visited Gallilei, the
latter displayed to him his crudely devised telescope and
asked Milton to look through it at the planet Mars.
"Messer"—Milton said rather haughtily—"my eyes are as
keen as falcon's eyes. and are able to discern the planet
without the aid of your telescope." The bard grew blind
within a short time after his visit to Gallilei.—(The Star-
gazer. by Szolt Harsanyi).

Two golden disks of sunlight fell

Tisha b'AB and the Return to Zion

Concluding the three-week period of mourning over the
Destruction of the Temple, Tisha b'Ab, to be observed on
Sunday, assumes great significance in this hour, when Jewish
spokesmen are concluding their testimony before the United
Nations Special Committee on Palestine With the urgent
appeals for lai-ge-scale immigration to Eretz Israel and the
ultimate establishment of the Jewish Commonwealth. •
The undying love of Israel for Eretz Israel is a matter of
record. While.Dr. Chaim Weizmann's comment, in his testi-
mony befbre UNSCOP, that it would have been better if
Moses had chosen America and the Mississippi, rather than
Palestine and the Jordan, will make some mouths water, it
must be accepted as a jest. Historically, according to gur
Britain's latest acts — the imposition of sages, "God measured all the countries and found only Eretz
curfews and military rule upon Nathanya, Israel suitable for Israeli" It is unfortunate that Eretz became
Haifa and Jerusalem; and the deportation of the world's battleground. But the incontrovertible result is
4,554 Jews—have done more to incite trouble that no .other place on earth is either willing or ready to
in Palestine than any other occurrences of receive Jews, and Zion remains the major hope of homeless
the past two troubled years.
Jews.
And yet—Britain - wants Jews to put an
end to extremists' actions, when she holds
Wtiile the Tisha b'Ab of 5707 occurs 2532 years after the
the solution in her own hands. Only by pur- destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians, in 586
suing a humanitarian policy can Britain end B.C.E., and 1,876 years after the second destruction by the
terror.
Romans in 70 C.E., the chain of Jewish aspirations for redemp-
tion - remains unbroken. It is marked by Prophecy and by
repeated movements to make real the Return.
The testimony of Jewish leaders, and especially the
heads of the Palestine Jewish community, before
Sponsors of the Brandeis University have spiritual
proves conclusively the logical sequence of present-
turned their controversy into a sad spectacle. UNSCOP
day
political
efforts with Jewish hopes and aspirations of the
Regardless of the differences involved, the past 2,000 years.
In prayers, in our poetry, in proclamations
fact that a Jewish university, for years the
hope of many American Jews, is about to be- of the Rabbis, the Return is a major objective in Jewish
come a reality, should have obviated the need existence.
for a public airing of disagreements. The
UNSCOP's,hearings -in Palestine are coming to an end.
linen should have been washed in private. In- Unfortunately, the UN committee is not going either to Cyprus
stead, the university's sponsort have given or to DP camps to learn at first hand the plight of Jews and
credence to the belief that, motivated by their dire need for a home in Zion. But the representatives of
jealousies, Jews find it impossible to acquire 11 nations have seen and heard enough in Palestine to con-
harmony. We should have been spared the vince them of the undying hopes of our people. All elements,
public spectacle which necessitated the drag- including former anti-Zionist groups, have joined in a plea
ging in of names like Einstein and Laski. Un- for a redeemed Jewish homeland. Only the small group of
less such squabbles are avoided, it will be Communists is willing to risk the perpetuation of Jewish
difficult for the new university to win the
minority status.
respect it merits.
Thus, on Tisha b'Ab Jews again express their aspirations
in hopes and prayers and in the faith that the nations of the
world will act firmly to enforce a permanent and just solu-
tion of the Palestine problem. Whatever the results of the
Mcmher Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Independent Jewish
Press Service. Seven Arts Feature Syndicate. Religious activities of the nineteenth commission, the sequence of
News Service. Palcor Agency.
Jewish hopes for a "Zion rebuilt with justice" continues and
Member American Association of English-Jewish News-
paners and Michigan Press Association.
must end in complete realization for the sake of Israel's
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publish-
security and the peace of the world.
inc Co.. 2114 Penobscot Bldg.. Detroit 26. Mich.. RA. 7956

Britain's Terror

,A Sad Spectacle

5.

THE JEWISH NEWS

Subscription 2.3 a year: foreign. $4. Club subscription
every fourth Friday of the month, to all subscribers to
Allied Jewish Campaign of Jewish Welfare Federation of
Detroit 40 cents pei year.
ns second-class matter Aug. 6. 1942. at Post Of-
tiff., Detroit. Mich.. under Act of March 3. 1879.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Philip Slomovitz
Maurice Aronsson
Isidore Sobeloff
Fred M. Butzel
Judge Theodore Levin Abraham Srere
Henry Wineman
Maurice II. Schwartz

PHILIP SI.O'lliOVITZ. Editor

VOL. XI—NO. 19

JULY 25, 1947

Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the ninth day of Ab, 5707, the
following Scriptural selections will be read in our
synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion—Deut. 1:1-3:22.
Prophetical portion—Is. 1:1-27.
Scriptural selections for the Fast of Ab on
Sunday (deferred from Saturday) will be:„
Pentateuchal portions—Morning, Deut. 4:15-40;
-
afternoon, Ex. 32:11-14; 34:1-10.
Prophetical portions—Morning, Jer. 8:13-9:23;
afternoon, Is. 55:6-56:8.

I

Unique Hebrew-English
Textbook for Beginners

The Bard Grew Blind

High Nazi Percentage

Eleven' Army-conducted public opinion
polls, taken in the U. S. zone of occupation in
Germany during the past 13 months, show
that 47 per cent of the Germans still believe
Nazism to be the best system of government
but consider its failure due to mismanage-
ment. While 41 per cent of those polled said
that/ Nazism is a bad idea, 17 per cent de-
clared themselves die-hard Nazis.
It is to be deduced from these facts that
Nazism was not completely defeated in the
last war and that the virus of Hitlerism con-
tinues to germinate. A great responsibility
rests upon the victorious Allied nations to see
to it that the destructive Nazi-Fascist forces
in the world are destroyed, else we may be
nearer another world war than we realize.

`Let's Read Hebrw'

The unsuspecting reader, commencing to read
Anna Parmet Koch's "Let's Read Hebrew: the
Aleph Beth for our Days," (just published by
Bloch Publishing Co., New York), from the left
to the right, in traditional Latin character style,
finds the following plea and warning:
"Please turn me , over without delay. A,
Hebrew book opens the other way."
At once there is aroused the natural interest
which attracts attention to this unique beginners'
textbook. It is a splendid approach to the teach-
ing of Hebrew..
Ably contructed, this spiral-bound work serves
as activity book, reader, provides for writing prac-
tice and should be very helpful to Hebrew teach-
ers. It provides a pleasant and easy way of teach-
ing Hebrew. The use of simple prayers, the four
Passover questions, names of holidays, etc., is
extremely valuable.
Many parents and teachers .will undoubtedly be •
thrilled that this book is provided for them as
an aid to teaching Hebrew to our children.

An illuminated scroll, received this week
by Dr. A. M. Hershman of Congregation
Shaarey Zedek from the Rabbinical As-
seinbly of America, on the occasion of his
election as rabbi emeritus, pays tribute to. the
Detroit .leader's services as rabbi, preacher,
teacher and friend, and declares:
"He has brought to young and old a deeper
understanding of Torah, a reverence and love
of God, a vivid fellowship with all Israel and
with all who labor for the sake of Heaven."
Detroiters, possessing warm affection for
Dr. Hershman who has served this community
during nearly all of his 41 years in the rab-
binate, endorse these sentiments and pray for
the fulfillment of the concluding words in
the scroll: "May the Almighty grant him
length of days and ever-increasing oppor-
tunities for influence, by study, by teaching,
by example."

1

Friday, July 25, 1947

THE JEWISH NEWS

Page Four

• Interim Period for Education

And lit my latticed door;
They gleamed a while, they beamed a while
And went—to come no more. •
-' A nebulous and leaden cloud
Had hid them from my sight;
The clouds passed by, so did the sun-
' My world grew dark; the night
Had come with spectral speed of wings
To cast its spread of blight:
But little did it know how keen
Was still my soul's delight.
Delight what Milton could achieve
Undaunted by defeat:
To give the world his gems of song,
And gain the laurel wreath.

Facts You Should Know

Answers to Readers
Questions • • •

Why can circumcision take place only in the
day time? Why can only a Mohel perform the

rite?

Rabbi Samuel J. Fox, writing for the JTA,
replies:
The origin of this rule stems from the Talmud
(Tractate Sabbath 132a) (Tractate Megillah 20a)
wherein inferences are drawn from Biblical state-
ments which repeatedly emphasize the daytime as
the period for circumcision. There may be many
benefits implied, such as the health of the child,
and the alertness of those performing the surgery.
In Jewish law, some authorities insist, it is so strict
a matter, that should the circumcision have taken
place at night it isn't valid until some blood is
drawn from the organ in the daytime.
Circumcision among. Jews is not practiced pri-
marily for health purposes although its hygienic
.value has been recognized the world over. Cir-
cumcision is fundamentally a religious matter and
as the Bible puts it "a sign of the covenant of
Abraham." Such being the case, it would be highly
ironical for one who is not himself circumcised
to circumcise others. Furthermore the circumcision
must be performed in the spirit 'of the religious
motive behind it. -
Gentiles and even Jews who are not themselves
circumcised are not qualified to do the circum-
cision. As far as Jews who are circumcized are
concerned, the only reason for preferring a spe-
cialist called a "Mohel" is his experience. Many
physicians have often said that the Jewish "Mohel"
because of his experience many times performs a
better job than a licensed surgeon. It should also
be noted that originally the father would circum-
cize his own son and that even today when 'the -
"Mohel" does it he is considered merely the agent
of the father.

* * •
What are the origin and meaning of the names
Abraham and Sarab?
The origin and meaning of Abraham is de-
scribed in the Bible (Gen. 17.5) where it is writ-
ten "Thy name shall be Abraham! for the father
of a multitude of nations have I made thee." The
name is really a combination of two works. "Ab"
means "father" and `raham" is an Aramaic word
meaning "multitude." The orgin of Sarah is men- -
tioned in the Bible (Gen. 17:16) where God said
to Abraham, concerning his wife, "Sarah" shall
her name be. From all indications "Sarah" is
the feminine "form of the 'Hebrew term "sar"
which means a "ruler" or "prince." The fact
that a name implying "rulership" was given to
the first Jewish woman should tend to answer
the unjust, criticism of those who claim that
the Jewish religion regards women as subordinate
beings. • Even the first Jewish woman bore a
name impliyng a measure of rulership and the
first Jewish husband was told to listen to his
wife (Gen. 21:12).-
• • •
Who were the Saraites?
A Jewish sect flourishing in the Near. East, prin-
cipally in Babylonia, from the 9th to the 12th
centuries. The name Karaites means, literally, the
"Readers of Scriptures," and they were-so-called
because of their exclusive adherence to the Bible
as a source of religious authority in Judaism.

We may as well be realistic and admit to ourselves that,
for the present at least, Congressional measures to ease re-
striction on immigration, in order to permit the entry of
400,000 displaced persons over a four-year period, are dead.
But we must also keep in view the fact that these bills—
the Stratton measure in the House and the Ferguson proposal
in the Senate—will be revived when Congress reconvenes in
January.
While the outlook for the adoption of such legislation is
not bright at present, there remains the possibility that
through a campaign of education it may be possible to or-
ganize a strong enough bloc to break down resistance and to
permit a welcome sign on the gates to the United States for a
•
portion of the survivors from Nazism. Inauguration of such an
Who
were
the
parents
of
Abraham?
educational campaign and its execution is a serious responsi-
The father of Abraham is mentioned explicitly
bility for all Americans who are anxious to see the perpetu- in the Bible as Terah. The mother of Abraham
ation of one great ideal of this nation which was founded is given in early sources as Emetlia, the daughter
of Karnabo. ,
by refugees and made strong by refugees.

