Pager-awe eq THE- JEWISH - NEWS' As the Editor Views the News ... Twister of Lives End of Anxiety in 5708 On the lips of all Jews there are prayers that there should be an end to anxiety and despair in 5708. The year that is ending was an unusually trying one on the nerves of our people. Betrayals by great powers, dissention in our ranks, continued suffering in the ranks of the survivors from Nazism and the need for endless protests against injustice and de- mands for adherence to pledges—these are but a few of the elements which have caused 5707 to be chalked up as a year drenched with Jewish blood. * * Naturally, we welcome the new year with trepidation and with a sense of humility. Our responsibilities to our fellow Jews are far greater today than they have ever been. We're faced with the duty of raising hun- dreds of millions of dollars for relief and re- construction in times of transition, but we shall have to meet vastly greater responsi- bilities in the days of creating permanent structures for the security security of our people. at home and We need to mend our we must be prepared for unprecedented chal- lenges abroad. * * * American Jewry, more than any other Jewish groups in any other period in our entire history, is primarily charged with the duty of being in the vanguard of reconstruct- ing Jewish-life and of restoring dignity to Jewish existence. No other Jewry possesses the means of carrying out the challenge of a people whose heritage must not be defiled and whose ethical values must be given new meaning in a world sickened by disillusionment. American Jewry is capable of carrying the banner of Israel in the fight for justice and high ethical attainments, and the year 5708 may well prove that we can help put an end to indecencies and b leading factors in guar- anteeing the realization of ideals that go with the restoration of sanity everywhere. May the year 5708 be a happy one for Israel and humanity, and may it be the beginning of an era orpeace with justice and righteous- ness sincerely aspired to by all mankind. THE JEWISH NEWS Member Jewish relegraphic Agency, Independent Jewish Press Service. Seven Arts Feature Syndicate. Religious e s Service, Paicor Agency, King Features, Central Press Association. Member American Association of English-Jewish News- papers and Michigan Press Association. Publisned every Friday by The Jewish News Publish- ing Co.. 2114 Penobscot Bldg., Detroit 26, Mich., RA. 7956. Subscription, $3 a year; foreign, id. 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. Entered as second-class matter Aug. 6, 1912. at Post Of- fice. 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 H. Schwartz rirrLIP SLOMOVITZ. Editor SEPTEMBER 12, 194: VOL. XI—No. 26 Sabbath and Rosh Hashanah Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the twenty-eighth day of Elul, 5707, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchical portion — Deut. 29:9-30:20. Prophetical portion — Is. 61:10-63:9. The following scriptural selections will be read on Rosh Hashanah: Pentateuchical portion — First day, Monday: Gen. 21, Num. 29:1-16; Second day, Tuesday: Gen. 22, Num. 29:1-16. Prophetical portions — First day, I Sam. 1:1- 2:10: Second day, Jer. 31:2 - 30. Calendar Oddities New Year in. Autumn Is Logical Turning Point By GERHARDT NEUMANN * Fortunately, we begin the new year with new proposals for the solution of the Jewish problem and with a serious effort to secure an amicable solution to the sad problem of our people. There is unanimous agreement that the miseries of the displaced Jews and the trage- dies of the homeless and dispossessed can not be solved unless the problem of home- lessness is solved. Therefore—recognizing the sad fact that all other doors are closed to Jews—Palestine remains the only solution to the tragic prob- lem of at least a million and a half unfor- tunate Jews. The serious attempt of the majority of the members of the United Nations Special Com- mittee on Palestine to set up a Jewish State and to encourage the opening of other lands for the settlement of Jewish survivors serves as an encouragement that 5708 may, after -all, prove to be a very good year for Israel. IFfidalattS•141, 1 271947 t -..- Cenre ► psy frimilhoti .he AM•ricon Democracy, hoc. May the new year 5708 put an end to racial prejudices. May it bring peace and understanding and promote the welfare of all people. Foundation for a Jewish State Eretz Israel, the Jewish State, really never was de- stroyed. The expulsion of Jews from Palestine by invaders marked the temporary end of Jewish political independence, but it never completely terminated either the love of Jewry for Zion or the continuation of spiritual statehood. Foundations for the re-creation of the political Jewish state were laid as far back as 1880 when, under the leader- ship of the BILU, the movement of the first Jewish pioneers who marched to Zion under the banner that carried the initials of the words from traditional liturgy, "Beth Yaakov Lecu ve-Nelcho--House of Jacob, let us go forth," the first in the large chain of Jewish coloriies were established to serve as the beginning for the present Commonwealth. The existence of the Jewish colonies, which flourished in the midst of neglected desert land, served to inspire the non- Jewish world to endorse the Balfour Declaration of Nov. 2, 1917, and to approve the Mandate for Palestine as an instru- ment to guide the establishment of the Jewili National Home under the aegis of the League of Nations. A majority report of the United -Nations Special Com- mittee on Palestine now recommends the establishment of a Jewish State in a portion of the Land of Israel. This recom- mendation, which already has the endorsement of the over- whelming majority of the Jews of Palestine, means, in essence, that the prophecy of Dr. Theodor Herzl in 1897 that there will be a Jewish State 50 years hence is nearing realization. Israel's dreams may, after all, become realities. A study of the map outlining the minuteness of the area recommended for the Jewish State leaves us with a sense of pain. It is a sliver on the face of the Middle East and almost invisible on the map of the world. But we dare not be unrealistic and we must admit, as we have indicated in our discussions of proposals for a parti- tioned Palestine for the past few years, that if we do not accept partition there may be little else left to hope for in Palestine. * * Did you ever wonder why the different calendars begin a new year in different seasons? Is there any reason at all why a year .should be ushered in at a specific time? Looking back at ancient periods, we find that a new year always began at a logical turning point in the economic life of a nation. The Hebrew Year, as that of most Semites, starts in autumn, while the Greeks, Romans and Persians saw the dividing line between years in spring. The motive is obvious. In spring, when Nature reawakens and the sun regains its strength, its time to think ahead, to plan and to pray for a good harvest. In fall, when the harvest is brought in and the mild season fades away, it's time to thank for the gifts of the earth and the blessing of the summer. It remained for the present Gregorian calendar to put New Year right in the'middle of the winter when there is nothing to celebrate. * • • However, it should be added that the Hebrew New Year did not always start in autumn. Accord- ing to some of the Passover legislation (Exodus 12:2), the month of Abib (Nisan) became the first month of the year. It is possible that this change was due to the influence of the Babylonian year which also began in Nisan. The great Jewish his- torian Josephus asserts that while Moses made Nisan the first month for the festivals, he preserved the original order of the months for buying and selling and other business purposes. Whereas the Palestinian Jews clung for a long time to Nisan as the first month of the year, the Seleucidan calendar, which is generally recognized today as the Jewish calendar, made Tishri the first month. This law was laid down in the year 312 and has been adhered to ever since. • • • In times of the Second Temple when reckoning was still highly uncertain, a court of priests heard witnesses about the new moon and fixed the new month accordingly. Later, the Sanhedrin in Baby- lonia fixed the length of the month after hearing witnesses. Since this method was rather crude, every two or three years an extra month had to be inter- calated. This intercalation depended on calculation of the relative lengths of the solar and lunar years, and moreover could be judged by the grain harvest. • * • To inform all communities of the new month, fire signals were set up which were carried from sta- tion to station in the mountainous country. The communities in Egypt, Asia Minor and Greece, however, which could not be informed in time, celebrated two days as the new moon in order to avoid errors. This is the reason why we still celebrate two holidays. • • • Ever heard of the Samaritans? They were The irreconcilable foes of the Jews, and used the new moon fires to create confusion by giving the signals at improper times. In the year 170, Rabbi Judah made an end to this by abolishing the fires and employing messengers. By this time.astronomical calculations also had made witnesses superfluous. • . • • No calendar is perfect. The Jewish calendar, according to the scholars, exceeds the Gregorian calendar by six minutes and 39.37 seconds. In- significant though this time may seem, it accumu- lates throughout the years and will finally bring about serious disorder in our calendar. It is there- fore likely that some day a pan-Judaic synod will have to be convoked in order to adjust the dif- ferences and to bring the calendar up to date. * Israel's tragedy is too great that we should gamble with uncertainties, and we endorse the appeals of the American Jewish Conference, the Palestine Yishuv and responsible Jewish leaders everywhere that the UN should act favorably upon the majority recommendation of the UNSCOP and that our government should exert its influence for its speedy im- plementation. The miseries suffered by the survivors from Hitlerism, the interned on Cyprus and those who stake their lives upon the only future acceptable to them—their eventual settlement in Palestine—demand an early end to despair, want and home- lessness. We are certain that American Jewry overwhelmingly supports the majority UNSCOP report and prays for its speedy enforcement. This is no time to bewail the cutting off of valuable slices of Eretz Israel from the future Jewish State. At this moment we must accept the best possible solution to the problem and must resolve to make it work properly for the future settlers and for the entire people Israel. There undoubtedly will be opposition to the proposals. But we caution against hotheadedness hi facing the offers that are being made to us. Chaim Weizmann is as pained as we are in being forced to take a small slice of Palestine. But he is realistic out of experience with the betraying British government, with the indifference of a world not too friendly to Israel and with the callousness of Jewry itself. For the sake of peace and our people's security, we endorse the UNSCOP majority plan. May it be enforced with- out too much debate. Perhaps it will lead not only to solving Israel's needs but to the begining of the rule of true justice on earth under a genuinely just covenant of the nations of the world. It Dawns By DR. NOAH E. ARONSTAM It dawns— And Israel shall set his seal With steadfast will upon the soil, His fathers' dwelling place of yore. And build again the land laid waste, A heritage for evermore. It dawns— The fealty we have ever pledged Shall never from our midst depart; Though centuries retard the pace, In vain was not the ardent race, The goal whereto our hopes were bent- It dawns— From hills and dales, from vills and vales And vine clad slopes and fertile fields, From orange laden scent of groves, From workshops where the mallets sound Goes forth the call: "The hour is nigh." It dawns! Answers to Readers Questions ... What is the meaning of: 1. Sabbath, 2. Siddush, 3. Benshen, 4. Havdolah? 1. Rest. 2 Sanctification. 3. To say grace, the word being derived from the Latin benedieere. "Differentiation"—between the Sabbath and the balance of the week. • • • What is a Minyan? The number of adult males required for Jewish public worship fixed at 10. Talmudic View of Toleration An aged man, whom Abraham hospitably invited to his tent, refused to join him in prayer to the one spiritual God. Learning that he was a fire-worship- per. Abraham drove him from his door. That night God appeared to Abraham in a vision and said, "I have borne with that ignorant man for seventy years; could you not have patiently suffered him one night?"