Roth Hashanah: Happy New Year on Spiritual Plane
By DAVID SCHWARTZ
(Copyright, 1948, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
There is a great deal of difference -between Rosh
Hashanah and the secular New Year, but one thing may
be said for the former. Rosh Hashanah leaves no hang-
over. Perhaps you might say that it has a religious
hangover, but that is intended and you don't need any
cold towels and aspirin for it.
On both the secular New Year and Rosh Hasha
nah, we greet each other with "Happy New Year,"
but the old Jews really meant it when they said it
and their religion required that they work for it by
seeking out their enemies and asking and giving for-
giveness at the time. In the synagogue, they might,
through prayer, attain forgiveness of their sins
against God, but they could obtain forgiveness for
their sins against man and the happiness that
results from it only by mutual forgiveness.
The holiday and the period of the year in which
Rosh Hashanah falls seem to coalesce. Rosh Hashanah
comes in our Indian summer. The summer lushness is
more- subdued, yet for all that, nature seems more
beautiful, arrayed in colors of brown and gold than in
the splashing and gaudier green of summer. Life is
pleasant. It is as though nature itself were preaching
a Rosh Hashanah sermon, saying in effect, that truer
happiness is to be found in moderateness than in
extremes. The long glow of love is better than the
fleeting tempest of high passion as cool temperate
breezes are better than torrid rays.
We children always got our new suit of clothes for
Rosh Hashanah. We had to look our best. SigMund
Freud, in his analysis of wit and humor, tells one of the
Jewish jokes about Rosh Hashanah—how two Jews look
at each other at the bath house and sigh: "Well, another
year has passed." Even the poorest Jew would go to
the bath house to prepare for Rosh Hashanah.
Of course, ,everyone goes to the synagogue and
there a lot of praying to do on Rosh Hashanah, -
but is pleasant to meet people and, besides, you
spend so much of your time around the synagogue,
talking with everyone that it is like attending a
Greeting the New Year
Remnant of Italian Jewry 'Comedy Genius'
Abe Burrows Wins Fame
Renews Consciousness
As Entertainers' Favorite
01 World Responsibilities
By LEON GUTTERMAN
By LEO BERNSTEIN
(Copyright, 1948, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
HOLLYWOOD—He's famous for making the great
laughmakers themselves laugh most, at Hollywood's
funniest private parties. He's long been the entertain-
er's favorite performer, the comedian's funniest comic,
the wit's sharpest wit! And for years, Abe Burrows
has also been one of radio's great comedy-writers,
heading up Duffy's Tavern's stable of scriptwriter and
gagsters; writing his sharp-edge, sparkling comed for
Joan Davis, Dinah Shore and others.
Last summer the Columbia Broadcasting System sat
him down to a coast-to-coast microphone, and proved
something else about him ... in sound! For Abe is now
revealing to millions what the great comedians have
always known: that no one can get as many laughs out
of a Burrows song as Burrows; no one can get the laughs
out of his lines that he himself does.
Abe has great faith in the American public, and
will argue both loud and long with anyone who pro-
fesses to believe that the average American is no
smarter than a reasonably bright twelve-year-old. In
fact, his most devastating satire is directed at songs,
travelogues and other entertainment forms which pro-
ceed on the assumption that the average citizen is not
overly intelligent.
Abe Burrows, is 37, a native New Yorker, a veteran
of Hollywood. He majored in Latin at the College of
the City of New York and at New York University. He
was also a certified accountant, Wall Street clerk, run-
ner and board boy, and salesman of maple syrup, wall-
paper and clothing labels. Even after he began writing
scripts for radio, he continued to sell labels and became
known around - Radio Row as "Abel the Label Man"—
a name that still sticks!
Abe is married, has a wife and two children. His
advice to budding satirists: "The difficulty increases in
direct proportion to the excellence of the original pro-
duct."
Abe believes that many a sin of racial bigotry is
perpetrated under the guise of humor, and such stuff
is strictly out—no matter how big a laugh must be
sacrificed.
(Copyright, 1948, Jewish Telegraph Agency, Inc.)
ROME—The_ emancipation of the Jews began in
Italy at the end , of the 19th century. Slowly the ghettos
were closed down, and - assimilation of the Italian Jews
made great progress. In time not only did they forget
the Hebrew language (Yiddish was never known in
Italy), but they generally remembered that they were
Jews only on the High Holidays, when they went
to listen to the synagogue organ render selections from
Bach.
In Italy there was no anti-Semitism at all. Eco-
nomic rivalry did not exist, and there was never place
for race discrimination. 'So, in Italy, there was prac-
tically no Jewish question until 1939, when Hitler re-
minded his friend and colleague Mussolini of his duties
as a Fascist.
* * *
IT IS INTERESTING to note that the revolutionary
ideals, as well as the ideals of Zionism, as they lived
and grew in the hearts and minds of the masses of
Jews in Eastern Europe, did not find a fertile ground
in Italian Jewry. Indeed, there were in Italy rabbinical
seminaries, Jewish cultural-centers, religious schools
and even publishers of Hebrew literature, but it was
solely a religious spirit which dominated these institu-
tions.
Italian Jewry lost 20,000 souls in the last year. That
great loss, and the disturbances of the war, had their
profound effect, which seemed, however, not to last
too long. At the end of the war the presence of the
Jewish Brigade in Italy, its successes and the allied
victory impressed the Jews.
At that time, some Italian Jews immigrated to
Palestine, mainly girls going to marry Jewish fiances.
Also, before the war, there were already some Jews
from Italy who had settled in Palestine. But when the
war was over, the effect of all this weakened, and it
seemed that Italian Jews forgot that 10,000 co-religion-
ists were still living in camps in Italy, with conditions
far from ideal. Italian Jews never visit these DP camps.
• * *
THE MAJORITY of. Italian Jews seem to be quite
By I. ZAAC
indifferent to the Jewish question, despite the fact that
(Copyright, 1948, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
at the head of -Italian Jewry there are leaders who are
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not only fully conscious of their responsibility to Jewry,
DOUBLE-TALK: "You know," said Mrs. Goldenson
but also have considerable authority on the great polit-
ical stage. In the first place may be mentioned Raf- to her neighbor, Mrs. Farber, "according to the Jewish
faello Cantoni, the president" of the society of Italian religion, people should make up and forgive each other
Jewish communities.
at Rosh Hashanah."
Mention must also be made of Professor Prato,
"That's right," said Mrs. Farber, "it says so in the
Italy's Chief Rabbi, a well-known philosopher and a Siddur."
person of international repute. There is also a noted
"Yes," said Mrs. Goldenson, "why should we be
politician, Terraccini, president of the Italian Constitu-
enemies, let's be friends."
ent Assembly.
"Sure, why not?" said Mrs. Farber, "it's better to
* * *
AT THE TIME of the proclamation of the Jewish_ be friends than enemies, any time."
"So now," said Mrs. Goldenson, "let's be real friends
state, a large delegation of prominent Jewish personali-
ties visited the Italian President. The President told the and everything you wish me, I wish you."
"So, you are starting to fight right over again,"
delegation during the reception: "Italian Jews have a
double task: one, construction; two, reconstruction." snapped Mrs. Farber. *
He meant that Italian Jewry had to contribute both to
PROGRESSIVE JUDAISM: "Rosh Hashanah, I
the construction of Palestine, and to the reconstruction
of Italy.
know what holiday that is," said Mr. Bixby to Mr. Levy,
It. seems that Italian Jews, who were always good "that's the day you eat those white phonograph records
patriots of their hospitable country, have taken these --Matzos."
"No," said Mr. Levy, "we eat Matzos on Passover."
words of their President to heart.
"Oh yes," said Mr. Bixby, "on Rosh Hashanah, you
The situation seems to be as stated above, but now
don't
eat anything, you fast."
we have occasion to see that the national consciousness
"No," said Levy, "that's on Yom Kippur."
of Italian Jewry is awakened. We saw it recently in
"Oh yes, on Rosh Hashanah," said Bixby, "Jews
the fund-raising drives for the defense of Palestine.
make a lot of noise and eat those poppy seed cakes."
There - are hardly 40,000 Italian Jews, yet it is expected
"No," said Levey, "we do that on Purim."
that they will contribute more than 200 million lires
"Well, what on earth do you do on Rosh Hashanah?"
(about $350,000) this year.
said Bixby.
"On Rosh Hashanah," said Levy, "we blow the
THE JEWISH NEWS 10
Shofar."
Friday, October 1, 1948
"Well, think of that," said Bixby, "I never knew
convention. And the inside of the synagogue has its
temptations too—the lover of music can regale him-
self. "Even when the gates of Heaven are closed to
prayer," said the old Hasidic rabbis, "they are open
to song." Jewish music was centered around the
synagogue. It is here that the Cantor most nearly
approaches the operatic plane.
The prayers of Rosh Hashanah are also on a height-
ened plane. Alas, many of us do not grasp their wealth,
spoken as they are in Hebrew. You may have been
moved as the cantor, Hershman, chanted, "Uvchan Tayn
Pachdecha" or perhaps you have heard it on a phono-
graph record. It is beautiful, but the words recited
without song, are beautiful in themselves.
"Let Thy awe descend on all the creatures Thou
hast fashioned that they may be led to form one ,
society to do Thy bidding.
• • "Let the dominion of arrogance cease among man
and all evil disappear as smoke."
Rosh Hashanah commemorates the creation of the
earth and man. Such a theme naturally stirred the
Jewish fancy through the ages. In the Agada, telling
of these great deeds, all things become alive. The
Torah takes on corporeal form and they tell us that
the Torah warned God that unless He were disposed to
be forbearing, it were better that, man not be created.
God replies: "Am I not known as the long-suffering and
merciful?" The words of the alphabet too become flesh,
and after the creation of the alphabet, the letter "aleph"
is chosen to head the alphabet because of the modesty
of that letter. The rams' horn, we are told, is bloWn
on Rosh Hashanah to symbolize the ram which was
offered as a substitute for the sacrifice of Isaac, in the
story of Genesis. It was on Rosh Hashanah, too, we
are told, that God heard the plea of the barren Sara for
a son and at that time, the lame were made to walk,
the deaf to hear and the blind to see. It is in these
stories that we find the true spirit of Judaism, better
perhaps than in the formal credos, as they stand clad
in the raiments of poetry.
•
To the rabbi, the pulpit of Rosh Hashanah offered
the supreme opportunity. The most dramatic stories
of the Jewish pulpit are associated with the High
Holy Days. We like to recall how the famous Rabbi
of Berdichev arose in his pulpit and thundered
to God, that unless He, God, bestowed a good year
on the Jews, that he, Reb Isaac Leib of Berdichev,
would brand the phylacteries which God wore as
not "kosher." The old Jews felt so close to God that
they indulged in the fancy that God Himself also
played and donned phylacteries. They felt so close
to their Father in -Heaven that they could even
rebuke Him at times as a loving child might on
occasion chide his parent.
Man, on Rosh Hashanah, beat his breast and con-
fessed his sins. Have you ever looked at the translation
in English and seen the sins which we confess at this
time? They are indeed a formidable host; and what
was the greatest of the sins? A midrash offers a parable
for the answer.
Once upon a time, a King had a son who embarked
on evil ways and the tension between father and son
grew to such a pitch, that the son left the palace. For
many years, friends of the King and his son sustained
the son with donations, but in time, these friends died
off, and the son even forgot that he was a prince.
In order to sustain himself the prince became
a shepherd. Many years after, the King; who was
Very long-lived, made a journey throughout his
kingdom and in accordance with the custom of the
times, the people in whatever province he traveled,
would send in their requests for favors, which the
King would grant or not, as he saw fit.
When the King came into the province in which
lived his son, he received from the latter a letter in
which it was asked that a little shelter might be built
for him among his flock, like to those which other
shepherds had to shelter them during rains.
The King recognized the handwriting of his son
and sent for him. "Why did not you make yourself
known to me all these years?" asked the King to the
son who had forgotten all about his royal paternity.
And this, concludes, the Rosh Hashanah moralist,
is tilt greatest sin—"that we do not esteem ourselves
properly, that we forget that we are all chileren of a
great King."
o tot /. the JUil y
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Jews had progressed so far as to have a holiday for
chauffeurs.
HARD TO TRANSLATE: Mr. Cohen was arraigned
in court, charged with stealing a bushel of oats. Mr.
Cohen had little knowledge of English and the court
interpreter was a very literal minded translator.
"Ask the defendant," said the Court, "whether he
stole the oats."
"Mr. Cohen," said the. interpreter, "Hast du geganvet
die huber?"
"Ich hab geganvet die huber?"' exclaimed the Jew
indignantly.
"Your Honor," the interpreter said, "this man says:
'I stole the oats.' "
, "Ask him," said the Court, "what did he need the
oats for?" -
"Mr. Cohen, fur vas hat ihr gedarft die huber?"
"Auf Kappores," answered Mr. Cohen.
"Your Honor," said the interpreter,. "Mr. Cohen said
he needed the oats for chickens.'
*
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OLD RELIABLE: The staple High Holy Day joke,
of course, is about the man who approached 'the police-
man standing outside of the synagogue on Rosh Hashanah
and said to him that while he had no ticket, he wanted
to enter to look for a friend and that he would be
in a minute.
"All right, go in," said the cop, "but God help you,
if I catch you praying."
•
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, A FAST HORSE: Did you know that there used
to be4n English race horse with the name Yom Kippur?.
I