Help, Mr. Fireman As the Editor Views the News ... Dr. Solomon Goldman, one of American Jewry's most brilliant scholars whose contribu- tions to Jewish culture are mounting, has made another gift with his explanatory notes, com- ment on and synopsis of Maimonides' "Letter to the Jews of Yemen" ("Igereth Temon"), which has just been published by the Histadruth Ivrith of America on the press of the Jewish Publica- tion Society of America. Rabbi Goldman's new book—Volume 6 in the S if riah Lemislamdim series— has great his- torical value. It not only reproduces the Hebrew text of the famous Mai- monides Letter, with explanatory notes and an extensive vocabulary —which forms a minia- ture Hebrew - English dictionary—but gives a history of the Maimon- ides era and evaluates the 11th century saint and scholar on the Dr. Goldman question of Messianic speculations, Israel and Islam, and other problems that arose at that time. A statement of policy by the United He- brew Schools, appearing in this issue, indi- cates a new and very wholesome trend in community relations. The United Hebrew Schools, for more than 30 years the dominant factor in Jewish educational efforts in our community, ac- companies the announcement of the expan- sion of its facilities by the inclusion of ad- ditional courses in Yiddish and Talmud with a call to other schools to join with it in sponsoring unified school facilities in new areas where it will be necessary to erect new school buildings to care far the edu- cational needs of our children. When the Farband and Sholem Aleichem schools were merged recently, we pointed out editorially on June 23: - • The invitation of the United Hebrew Schools to other existing school systems "to cooperate with them in creating a single school program" in new areas requiring ad- ditional educational facilities, "in the best interests of efficiency, economy and expand- ed service to our people" is in line with the policy which is advocated in the above- quoted editorial. By means of sincere and wholehearted cooperation, and by striving for economy, all of our schools will better be able to serve Detroit Jewry. The new trend evident in our educational ranks deserves wide acclaim and emulation in other quarters where uni- fication of community efforts would lead to greater accomplishments while effecting economies in time, energy and money. * * * This by no means summarizes the entire problem of Jewish education. The additional point must be made that through a coordin- ated system of Jewish education we should be in better position to enroll many hundreds of additional pupils who now are without a thorough Jewish training, or whose educa- tion is limited to preparation for Bar Mitz- vah. Instead of splitting our energies on numerous fronts, we should be in position, through centralized activities, to offer the best service without incurring duplication of expense in supervision, office management and a multiplicity of organizations. If it is accepted—as it should be—that duplication of effort should be eliminated from community programs, then it also should be understood that in a coordinated educational system only the functioning organizations should be responsible for the publication of school directories and for direct contact between the schools and the community. There is no reason, for instance, why the Community Council should duplicate this activity by publish- ing a school directory of its own. ' During the observance of Hebrew Educa- tion Month, which is annually conducted in the interest of advancing our educational activities and of enrolling more pupils in our schools, it would be well that these issues should be considered seriously and that the movement towards unification of communal efforts should be further encouraged. • JIM" Ta‘EGRA ► S" "VW. `Gloomy Dean' Censors Psalms Dr. W. R. Lige, the 90-year-old former Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, England, was a stormy petrel in the heyday of his career. He was known as "The Gloomy Dean" who was famous for his sensationally pessimistic statements. Apparently he remains the sensationalist of old, judging by a Jewish Telegraphic Agency cable from London quoting a recent sermon. The JTA report states that in a sermon at the opening service of the Modern Churchmen's Conference at Cam- bridge, England, on Aug. 14, Dr. Inge said that the services of the Anglican Church are "terribly clogged with Judaism" and proposed a considerable reduction in the use of Old Testament teachings. He quoted in particular the Sixty- Eighth Psalm which he called "gibberish." Since the first verse of this Psalm, beginning with "Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered ; and let them that hate Him flee be- fore Him," is recited whenever the Holy Ark is opened, at synagogue services, Dr. Inge's new proposal may create confusion and calls for re-evaluation of the value of the Psalms and the verse he refers to. The verse referred to by "the Gloomy Dean," used upon the opening of the Holy Ark, ("Vayehi binesoa ha-Aron") reads: "And it came to pass, whenever the Ark started, Moses would say, 'Arise, 0 Lord, and let thy enemies be scattered; let those who hate thee flee before thee.' Truly, out of Zion shall come forth Torah, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem." The quotation as used here is taken from the Book of Numbers (10. 35), and if Old Testament teachings were to be reduced, Dr. Inge would have to censor not only the Psalms but also the Pentateuch. Dr. A. M. Hershman, Rabbi Emeritus of Detroit's Con- gregation Shaarey Zedek, makes the interesting point that the "enemies" referred to in the Psalm and in the quotation from the Book of Numbers are not human enemies but the enemies of truth ; that the majestic statement represents a struggle of truth against error. Leading theologians, Christians as well as Jews, have singled out the 68th Psalm as an outstanding example of superb poetry, of Messianic idealism. In his commentary on "The Book of Psalms," published in 1938 by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, Dr. Solomon B. Freehof states with reference to Psalm 68: "A majestic Psalm describing God's work in the life of Israel and in the history of all nations. It visualizes God 'mani- festing Himself on earth, leading Israel to Canaan, choosing Mount Zion as His dwelling place, accepting the homage of all peoples." But "the Gloomy Dean" has become a censor of the Psalms, one of the most august portions of Holy Scriptures, which form the basis of most of the prayers in Christendom, not to speak of Judaism. Truly, the "gloomy" one has aged! Make Use of Absentee Ballot Rosh Hashanah—and the Primary Election—are draw- ing closer and the challenge that faces the Jews of Michigan emerges more serious daily. On account of Rosh Hashanah—Sept. 12—Jews will be Member: American Association of English-Jewisb News- ps,pers. Michigan Press Association. prevented by tradition from casting their ballots on this Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Election Day. Co. 708-10 David Stott Bldg., Detroit 26, Mich., WO. 6-1166. Subscription $3 a year; foreign $4. Through the grace and wise action of our State Legis- Entered as second class matter Aug. 6, 1942 at Post Office, Detroit. Mich.. under Act of March 3, 1879. ture and Governor Williams, the Jewish citizens are given the special privilege of using the absentee ballot. PHILIP SLOMOV1TZ. Editor SIDNEY SHMARAK Advertising Manager Applications for absentee ballots must be filed IMMEDI- RUTH L. CASSEL. City Editor ATELY. These applications are available from the Jewish Com- Vol. XVII—No. 24 Page 4 August 25, 1950 munity Council, at the office of City Clerk Thomas Lead- Sabbath Scriptural Selections better and from The Jewish News. This Sabbath, the thirteenth day of Elul, We urge our readers not to delay, to apply for their 5710, the following Scriptural selections will be absentee ballots, to be sure to vote by mail and to indicate read in our synagogues: to the State's authorities that we are loyally making use of our franchise and that we are appreciative of the special Pentateuchal portion—Deut. 21:10-25:19. privilege extended us by our non-Jewish fellow-citizens on Prophetical portion—Is. 54:1-10 or 54:1-55:5. account of Rosh Hashannah. THE JEWISH NEWS - Letter to Jews Of Yemen Analyzed in New Book by Dr. Solomon Goldman Unifying Our Schools "The economy effected by the merger ought to be considered of minor importance in relation to the major issue involved: that of joining all our schools under single super- vision, in one unified community education- al system. Perhaps the merger of the Labor Zionist and Sholem Aleichern schools is the first step in the direction of merging, in the years to come, the United Hebrew Schools, the Workmen's Circle Schools and the new- ly-unified United Jewish Folk Schools. This, at any rate, should be the aim of a communi- ty concerned not with splintering our efforts but in uniting them in the best interests of the educational needs of our children." Maimonides' Maimonides' "Letter to the Jews of Yemen" was composed in Arabic but "owes its preserva- tion to thme Hebrew translations." Samuel ibn Tibbon translated it in 1210 but it first was printed in 1873 by David Holub at the request of Dr. Jellineck. The second translation was done by Nahum Ma'arabi (the Maghrabi, western or Moroccan). Dr. Goldman informs us that it ap- peared in Basel in 1629 under the name "Petach Tikvah." "Abraham Halevi ben Hasdai of Bar- celona, a prolific translator and energetic and enthusiastic champion of Maimonides," was the third. translator, in the middle of the 13th century.- Rabbi Goldman reveals that "one section of the Letter, recounting the experiences of several false Messiahs, was omitted for various reasons by all three translators and was first rendered into Hebrew by the late Dr. Jacob Mann in 1928. The present text follows the Arabic orig- inal rather closely and reproduced it in its en- tirety." In his introduction, Dr. Goldman treats his readers to an interesting chapter in Jewish his- tory and to a biographical resume of an impor- tant era in the life of Maimonides. His synopsis of Maimonides' Letter contains many illuminating facts. We learn about the condition of the Jews in Yemen 800 years ago, their sufferings, a wave of apostacy among them and the causes of anti-Semitism. The battle against Jewry was described by Maimonides as doomed to failure because it was a fight against God. Maimonides, who spoke of imperishable Is- rael, told of the harm -done to Judaism through the sowing of doubt and confusion. In his syn- opsis, Dr. Goldman states, explaining Maimon- ides' viewpoint: "The first to have devised this plan was Jesus. He represented himself as hav- ing been sent to resolve the perplexities in _the Torah and as being the expected Messiah. In reality he interpreted the Torah in a manner as to invalidate it altogether. The Rabbis however, having guessed his purpose, made it impossible for him to gain many followers among us. So it was with the founder of another religion, who sought to emulate Jesus. The intention of all of them is to compare their religion to Judaism. • But a chasm yawns between Judaism and the other religions." Maimonides pointed out, Dr. Goldman ex- plains, that "Islam is a cheap superficial imita- tion, the work of the vainglorious Mohammed, who would be a prophet, but whose folly and deceit were apparent . . . But Daniel predicted the fall of all persecutors. Their triumphs would be temporary as was anticipated by David. Nebuchadnezzar perished, Daniel and his friends were saved . . . The apostates' claims that Mo- hammed is mentioned in the Bible and his proofs are anticipated are ludricrous." Astrology and Messianic speculations are de- cried and those who posed as Messiahs in Ye- men were called insane. The Letter served to strengthen the Yemen- ite Jews in their faith and to carry them through their worst ordeals. Dr. Goldman did an admirable job with his new book. Facts You Should Know .. . What is the derivation of the term "Sanhe- drin?" It is generally claimed that the term "San- hedrin" has its origin in the Greek language. It is not found in Biblical literature. Etymolo- gists claim it means "seat." Sanhedrin thus means a group of people who "sit together." Traditionalists like to feel that the term "San- hedrin" is an abbreviation of the Hebrew sen- tence "they despise the (preferential recognition of) appearance of dignity at the trial" (sonin hadras ponim badin). This term would be an abbreviation of the description of the integrity of the body in rendering legal decisions.