8—THE JEWISH NEWS The Family o f the First President o Israel Friday, August 13, 1948 'Jest for Fun By I. ZAAC (Copyright, 1948, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.) Definition There is a story, probably fic- tional, that when Noan .\/ ■ ./ eoster, the author of the dictionary, was a very young man, his mother once came upon him when he was kissing a pretty young miss. "Noah, I am amazed," said his mother. "Mother," said young Noah, you are astonished, I am amazed." There is, of course, nothing particularly " Jewish about this story. except the name Noah. However, there is a "dictionary" story they tell about Benjamin Disraeli. The story goes that Disraeli was 'once asked what was the difference between the word "calamity" and the word "misfortune." Replied Disraeli: "If Gladstone were to fall in a river, taht would be a misfortune, but it would be a calamity, if someone were to fish him out." A photograph of members of the Weizmann family, taken at Front row *(left to right): A brother-in-law of President Weiz- mann;—LUBZINSKY, a brother-in-law, deceased; (standing) CHAYA Pinsk in 1911. Pictured are (left to . right) top row: YECHIEL WEIZ- LICHTENSTEIN, a sister of Dr. Weizmann, now a teacher in Tel MANN, a brother of President Chaim Weizmann;—LICHTENSTEIN, Aviv; LEAH RACHEL WEIZMANN, the president's mother, de- a brother-in-law, deceased; FEIVEP WEIZMANN, a brother, de- ceased; OZER W. WEIZMANN, his father, deceased; MAMA ceased; CHAIM WEIZMANN; DR. MOSHE WEIZMANN, a LUTZHIUSKY, a sister, deceased; SAMUEL W. WEIZMANN, a brother who is now professor of chemistry at Hebrew University, brother, deceased; Dr. HELENA WEIZMANN, a sister-in-law. The Jerusalem; a cousin, Dr. FRUMA WEIZMANN, a sister who was a boy and girl are grandchildren of Dr. Weizmann's parents. At the /left is a closeup of the president of the new State of Israel. dentist, deceased. The article on pages I and 20 in this issue completes the six-week series by Gerold Frank on the life of Dr. Chaim Weizmann. . • . 'Sholom Aleichem Panorama' Great Yiddish Humorist's Works Brilliantly Analyzed Melech (Max W.) Grafstein, ature. The compiler, editor and whose work on Judah L. Peretz publisher — Mr. Grafstein — has several years ago created a sen- written that he hopes "to stimu- sation in the literary world, has late the reader to a greater in- done an even more magnificent terest in the life and letters of job with his newest 416-page pub- Sholom Aleichem. If we succeed lication, "Sholom Aleichem Pan- in principle we shall consider orama," published by Jewish Ob- our efforts richly rewarded." It server Publishing Co. 1Ferlag M.. is certain that Mr. Grafstein , will W. Grafstein), London, Ontario. succeed, that his book will serve Divided into eight Sections, Mr. as a landmark in this genera- Grafstein has incorporated into tion's interpretation of the best this typographically excellent in Yiddish classics and that his and beautifully illustrated ' book volume will have a large circula- his own essay on the gPeat Jew- tion. The reason for such an as- ish humorist, translations of sumption becomes obvious even Sholom Aleichem's works, mem- after a very cursory study of the oirs and letters, an art section , volume. Thus, Prof. Solomon Liptzin, and a portion which includes the reprint of two' Sholom Aleichem who also wrote an essay in this one-act plays, "Heaven" and volume on the subject "Sholom "She Must Marry a Doctor," and a full-length play, "It's Hard to be a Jew." Mr. Grafstein's splendid work _ reveals that "It's Hard to be a Jew," which originally was written as a Sholom Aleichem story, employs as its plot the theme of "Gentlemen's Agree- ment." Some have maintained that Laura Z. Hobson got the cue for her best-seller from Sholom Aleichem. Sholom Aleichem was called "the Yiddish Dickens" by the New York Times. But Mark Twain, when he heard Sholom Aleichem referred to as the Yid- dish Mark Twain, protested and said "I am the American Sholom Aleichem." The name "Sholom Aleichem," which also is the Jew- ish salutation, means "peace be with you." The great humorist's real name was Sholem Rabino- witz. Born in 1859, he left his native country of Russia in 1905 SHOLOM ALEICHEM after the Kishinev pogrom, be- Aleichem Scans America," in his came a world wanderer, arrived in the United. States in 1911 and introduction describes "the full force of Sholom Aleichem's en- died in New York in 1916. The most beloved Jewish chantment" and points out that writer of this century, his works "readers unacquainted with Yid- have been translated__ into En- dish need not remain utterly out- glish and many other languages. side of this spell." S. Niger's "Sholom Aleichem Maurice Samuel's "The World of Sholom Aleichem," which was Mirrored in `Tevyeh' " concludes • awarded the Saturday Review that Revyeh the Dairyman is of Literature Prize, has helped Sholom Aleichem's spiritual auto- biography. spread the humorist's fame. Maurice Samuel, who already Sholom Aleichem wrote chil- is known as a great authority dren's books, short stories, poems, on Yiddish literature, has writ- farces and comedies. ten one of the best essays in the Noted Essayists book—"The Humor of Kasri- Mr. Grafstein's book is signif- levke." icant from many points of view. An article that will attract The eminent contributors to the wide attention is Mary Ready book elevate it to a position of Holmes' "A Gentile Reads Sho- great significance in Jewish liter- lom Aleichem."' This Christian • view of the Yiddish' humorist's creations by one who became a lover of Yiddish has the special quality of its comparison of Sholom Aleichem with 0. Hen- ry, Mark Twain, Josh Billings, Bret Harte and others. Mr. Grafstein's essay "The Leg- end of the Lost Laughter," Itzik Manger's "Only One Sholom Alei- chem," Dr. A. A. Roback's "The Humor of Sholom Aleichem," I. I. Trunk's "Menachem Mendel of Kasrilevke," Ch. S. Kazdan's "Sholom Aleichem — Poet of Childhood" which describes the children's stories of the humor-^` Nachman Meisel's description of how Sholom Aleichem ,red the folksinger M. M. Warshawski, Dr. Jacob Shatzky's "Slavonic Slant on Sholom Aleichem" and "The Untranslatable Translated," are among the essays which con- tribute towards the magnitude of Grafstein's work. A. Almi's essay "Sholom Ale- ichem and Sholom Rabinowitz" shows that in nis private life the great humorist was a very de- voted Zionist. David Rom 's "Chaucer and Sholom A e " shows the kinship between these two writers. B. Z. Goldberg, trio humorist's son-in-law, is the au- thor of "Sholom Aleichem in the Soviet Union," an essay which describes the great author's popu- larity in Russia. There is a sec- tion of tributes to the humorist by Yiddish poets, published in Yid- dish. The editor's article on the Hebrew background of the hu- Morist concludes the first book in his volume. Dramatic Works The second book is devoted to the republication of the works of Sholom Aleichem and concludes with the classic tale about Mark Twain and Sholom Aleichem. Book Three, devoted to mem- oirs of Sholom Aleichem, contains articles by David Pinski; the hu- morist's epitaph, written by him- self and translated into English; "My Father, Shplom Aleichem," by Lala Kaufman;. fascinating es- says by I. D. Berkowitz, Abraham Reisen, Daniel Charney, Marie W. Goldberg, the humorist's youngest daughter, and an article on Ma- dame Sholom Aleichem by Regina Mantell. Book Four contains two dra- matic works by the humorist. They are illustrated with the pho- tographs of noted actors who ap- peared on the Yiddish stage in Sholom Aleichem's works. Books Five and Six contain the Yiddish folksongs of the humorist, illus- trated by Saul Raskin, and the Sholom Aleichem Art Gallery. Poems and Letters Poems that follow are: Zalman Shneour's "A Monument to Sho- lom Aleichem;" "Elegy" by A. M. Klein and a list of writers who died as victims of Nazism in Po- land. Book Seven contains the, letters of Sholom Aleichem and reviews of his works. Book Eight is the Sholom Aleichem Theater Album, with photographs and reproduc- tions of theater programs, an arti- cle by Zalmen Zilbercweig and Nuggets by Sholom Aleichem. Mr. Grafstein, whose "Sholom Aleichem Panorama" surely will be in demand wherever Jews read MELECH GRAFSTEIN English, has been in business in London, Ontario, since settling there from Poland 20 years ago. An ardent devotee of Yiddish art and literature, he is the editor of the London Jewish Observer and is a contributor to American and Canadian publications. He now is working on an anthology of He- brew and Yiddish writers and poet's who perished during the war. He is the Ontario director of YIVO, Yiddish Scientific Insti- tute, and is a national director of Histadrut in Canada. Grafstein's "Sholom Aleichem Panorama" can be ordered through booksellers or directly from the publisher, M. W. Graf- stein, P.O. Box 10, London, Onta- rio, Canada. Jews Mark 50th Yahrzeit For World Zionist Pioneer WARSAW, (JTA)—The 50th anniversary of the death of Rab- bi Samuel Mohilever, one of the founders of the world Zionist movement at the turn of the century, was marked in Jewish communities throughout • Poland. At the cemetery in Bialystok, where the distinguished Zionist figure is buried, Jews gathered to pay honor to his memory. The Mizrachi organization of Poland announced that it will take steps soon to decorate his grave. The Whole World Can't Be Crazy Moe and Sam decided to take Horace Greeley's advice and "go West" to grow up with the coun- try. On a balmy spring day, they arrived at a town in the midwest which was just experiencing its first surge of settlers. Moe and Sam looked about for a business to start: Moe with only $25 to his name and Sam had even less --$10 to be precise. So Moe and Sam sat down in the railroad station and thought and thought. Then they stood up in the railroad station and thought some more. Then they walked around the block and thought even more. Finally Moe had an idea. "I have it," he said. "Yes, so let's hear," prompted Sam. "Let's open a bank," said Moe. "When you open a bank, you don't need money of your own. The people themselves bring the money." "That's a good idea," said Sam. "If we become bankers, we'll have Saturday afternoons off." So they spread the word around town that they were opening a bank, and the people began bringing their money to the bank by the bushel full. Moe and Sam even had to use the waste basket for storing the money. Finally at the end of the day, when the bank was closed, Moe looks at Sam, and Sam looks at Moe and then Moe speaks: "Sam, you know what?" "What?" "I think," said .Moe, "we should deposit our own $35 00 in the bank too. ,,,The whole world can't be crazy." * * Ashamed of His Deed It has lately been divulged that, a few years back, a Jew was the means of saving Hitler's life. At least, so the story goes. "Even though you are a Jew," said Hitler, "you are a brave man and I would like to reward you. What would you wish me to do?" "Well," said the Jew, "the one thing I would ask you, is not to breathe a word about this to anyone." * * * Don't Go—Ride Old timers will remember Dr. Adoph M. Radin. Years ago, he was a leading figure in American Jewish life. He was a good- hearted man and always helping out people in trouble, but some- times there is a limit to benevo- lence. . There was one very half-baked "schmiel" who could -never get adjusted to a post, whom .Dr. Radin was forever helping. One day, after this ne'er do well had flopped after repeated efforts of Dr. Radin to assist him, he came crying to the good doc 7 tor: "I can do no more for you," said Dr. Radin. "If you do nothing," warned the man, "I will go to the mis-, sionaries." . Dr. Radin took a nickel from his pocket. "Don't go," he said. "Ride."