Neturei Karta, Israel's Latter Day Saints

By AD% OREN

(Copyright. 1950, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, .Inc.)

TEL AVIV—Besides numerous monuments from

ancient times Israel possesses a very interesting live
antiquity.—the Jerusalem sect Neturei Karta, the
most extreme manifestation of Eastern European
Ghetto Judaism.
Neturei Karta are the only consistent Jewish
advocates of internationalization of Jerusalem be-
cause they believe the Holy City requires "liberation
from the rule of the Sadducees." According to their
own estimate, they number five thousand persons,
in whose name they requested U. N. protection and
even Vatican assistance against the "Godless" Israel
regime. Typically, they do not attempt to influence
other Jews because they believe even the Agudah
became sinners when They joined the Israel Govern-
ment.
The "true Jews" hope only "to be released from
sharing the fate of the unOrthodox," which they
believe must in due time come to resemble a second
flood. To them any foreign rule is preferable to that
of non-zealous Jews and they postively yearn for the
days under the British when they enjoyed autonomy.
They still say during the Seder: "This year we are
slaves, next year we shall be free men."

Mourn Independence

Although the Chief Rabbinate's decision to de-
clare Independence Day an occasion for thanksgiving
prayers was not accepted by part of the regular
rabbis, Neturei Karta members were the only ones
who did not take part in the festivities even in their
own neighborhood. On the contrary—they declared a

day of mourning and fasting.
Some would prefer to leave Israel altogether, as
they believe that self-liberation without a Messiah
is forbidden. The use of force even for self defense
they hold to be idol-worship and independence not
worth a single life.
Nothing has come of the story that they intend
to leave Israel for the Jordanian part of Jerusalem.
This fraction of the group seems to have been over-
ruled.
Service in the Israel army they reject on the .
grounds that Israel has no right to recruit in an
international city. They were disappointed to hear
that they could not go to the International Court of
Justice at The Hague with this case unless some
foreign country took it up for them..

Three Capital Sins

Jewish girls have been invited by the selfsame
"spiritual authorities" to brave prisons and commit
suicide, rather than perpetrate the heinous crime of
joining the armed forces which Neturei Karta ranks
with the three capital sins, idol worship, murder and
unchastity.
Military cars have been attacked by Neturei
Karta youths on Sabbaths notwithstanding the fact
that their street lies near the front line and that their
spiritual leaders disapprove of picking up stones for
any purpose. Firemen coming to the rescue of Holy
Scrolls from a burning synagogue were also rebuked
for this profanation of the Sabbath and pelted ‘.with
stones.
In spite of all this the Government of Israel has

American Teaches Israel Hotel 'Know
How' in Its Bid for Tourist Trade

not touched these people at all, and nothing came
of rumors that they would be transferred somewhere
else or that their organization would be declared
illegal because it endangers peace and order in a
very sensitive sector.

Clash With Soldiers

Instead military vehicles supplying frontline posts
were instructed to avoid their quarter, but since
troops do not observe such instructions too punctil-
liously clashes occur again and again.
When brought before an Israel court because of
some offense, Neturei Karta -people often refuse to .
give their names or otherwise *participate in the prO-:
ceedings in order to "recognize Zionist jurisdiction."
Although the Agudah in Jerusalem usually abets
them, they rejected an Agudah request that they par-
ticipate in municipal elections in order to strengthen
the Orthodox representation. To them such con-
duct, or even simple non-interference with elections,
would be equivalent to "surrender to the Zionists."
Other problems occupying the attention of these
latterday Saints include: Bare legs on cinema poster
advertising called for covering with tar; four Shoch-
etim were "excommunicated" and fowl slaughtered.:
by them "declared Treifa" because they accepted city
salaries and thereby "recognized the rule of the state
of Israel"; and, if a local story is to be believed,
Neturei Karta men came to' Tel Aviv to pray for the
purification of the sea which, they had heard, had
been polluted by the presence of so many Godless
people around.

Rosh Hashanah's Meaning, Three
Ideals of Our High Holy Days

By HARRY CUSHING

(Copyright, 1950, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)

Each holiday tells an important story from the long
and eventful Jewish past. Passover recalls the Exodus from
Egypt ; Shabuot is a reminder of the giving of the Ten
Commandments and brings back memories of the agricul-
tural life in ancient Palestine. Succot, the Feast of Booths,
recounts the journey of the Israelites through the desert to

the Promised Land. Chanukah
recalls the successful revolt of
the Maccabees against Hellenic
oppression. Purim retells the
story of Haman's efforts to de-
stroy Israel, and has been an
eternal lesson to all his succes-
sors through the ages, up
through Hitler of current his-
tory, that Israel is an Eternal

people.

The Hebrew New Year and
The operation of a "fron t desk" in a hotel is shown at the
Hadassah Hotel Management Institute in Jerusalem. The in- the Day of Atonement are dedi-
stitute is the latest addition to the Hadassah-run Louis D. cated to universal lessons when
all men and all nations pass
Brandeis Vocational Center.

* * *

By MARC . SHOLSKY

(Copyright, 1950, Jewish Telegaphic
_Agency, Inc.)

the industry will be assured of
a continuous flow of profession-
ally trained personnel.
"I was amazed that there was
no code of hotel laws. The set-
up was governed by hangover
legalisms from Turkish Ottoman
days and parts of British Com-
mon law from the Mandate. But
just like the students at the
Hadassah Institute, the hotel
owners learn fast. When I left
the owners' associations were
working on a comprehensive
code of hotel law for submission
to the government."

before God. Hence, Rosh Ha-
shanah and Yom Kippur are
known as the "Yamin Noraim"
— "The Days of Awe," when all
living things pass before God
like sheep before a shepherd, to
stand in judgment for their
deeds of the past year.
Oddly enough, the Bible does
not refer to the Jewish New
Year by the accepted Hebrew
name, Rosh Hashanah. This
was given to the observance in
the Talmud.
New Year's Four Names
The Jewish
New Year is
known by four names, two of
them Biblical and two liturgical.

Nine months ago hotel opera-
tors in Israel were in a dither.
Business was starting to boom
and an even greater boom was
in sight because of the increased
tourist trade beginning to make
Israel a "must" on its itinerary
Hotel owners were unhappy
because the industry wasn't hit-
ting on all cylinders. Business
methods were haphazard. Uni-
fied controls for efficient opera-
tion were non-existent.
Hadassah representatives in
Israel suggested to various own-
ers' associations the possibility
of opening a school to train per- Molly of THE Goldbergs:
sonnel in the industry, and hav-
ing an American hotel expert
untangle their problems.
Dr. Miriam Freund, national
. vocational education chairman
BY LEON GUTTERMAN
pull the family budget out of
of Hadassah, contacted the In-
(Copyright, 1950, Jewish Telegraphic
the
red. A friend suggested she
stitute of Applied Arts and
Agency, Inc.)
HOLLYWOOD—Gertrude Berg try writing for radio. Even
Sciences, State University of
New York in Brooklyn and is matriarch, creator and sus- though she was running a full-
asked their help.
tainer of one of the most be- sized household and rearing two
lievable family groups ever children, a son Cherney and a
Expert Recommended
daughter Harriett, she went to
The State Institute suggested originated, "the G o l d b e r g s." it.
She was born Gertrude Edel-
Sam Iseman to do the job.
Her first effort turned out to
With 25 years in the hotel stein in New York's Harlem
business behind him, Sam knew some fifty years ago, when that be ill-fated but tlit undeterred
part of town was looked upon Mrs. Berg got the inspiration
the tricks in the trade.
Iseman landed in Jerusalem as elegant by its middle class for "The Goldbergs." She ap-
late last January. Three weeks residents. Her father was own- proached executives of one of
later he set up the Hadassah er of a Manhattan movie house New York's radio stations and
Hotel Management Institute, and also ran a summer hotel timidly asked if they would care
latest addition to the Haddas- at Highmount, N. Y., where Ger- to hear the script.
That reading took more effort
sah-run Louis D. Brandeis Vo- trude first tasted the fruits of
than any chore she has per-
cational Education Center in literary success.
After high school, she took formed since. But it worked.
Jerusalem.
He divided the school's courses at Columbia University. Gertrude Berg was signed at
While there, she met her hus-
curriculum into two parts, one, band, Louis Berg, whom she seventy-five dollars a week.
"The Rise of the Goldbergs"
front office and housekeeping;
and, two, catering and dining married in 1920. Shortly after, was launched Nov. 20, 1929. At
room management. To make the young couple went to live one time, it was broadcast by
a Louisiana sugar plantation, three different networks. Three
the program more realistic he on
her husband, a sugar weeks after its inception, when
set up a model hotel in which where
technologist, carried on his a sore throat prevented Ger-
students put to practice what saccharine experinents for sev-
trude from appearing on the
they learned.
eral years. They then returned show, the radio station received
School in High Gear
to New York, where they've been 11,000 letters from irate listen-
Iseman said that at the time living ever since.
ers who wanted to know what
he left, the hotel school was
In 1929, with the depression happened to Molly.
operating in high gear and that. on, Gertrude wanted to help
In 1932, "The Goldbergs" got

.

The Bible refers to the ob-
servance by the name of Yom
Teruah, the Day of Blowing
(the Shofar) and Zichron Teru-
ah, the Memorial of Blowing
(the Shofar). Later, in Jewish
history the name Yom Hadin,
the Day of Judgment, came into
use.
Thus the observance was the
day on which all mortals pass
before the Heavenly Throne to
give account of their deeds and
to receive the promise of mercy
as a result of sincere penitence.
The name Yom Hazikiron, the
Day of Memorial, assumed an
important place in the high
holiday liturgy for in the peti-
tions of those days worshippers
asked God to remember the
noble deeds of the patriarchs
and to forgive the Jewish people
on account of their ancestors.
Three-Fold Ideal
There is .a three-fold ideal
associated with the observance
of Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur — Repentance, Prayer
and Charity. This is empha-
sized in the various prayers,
supplications and petitions of

the synagogue liturgy for the
holy days. The Jewish ideal of
repentance is rather significant.
Repentance is more than a -
reconciliation with God. The
Jewish sages .,have taught a .
deeper meaning to repentance..
They declare that peace with :
God requires that peace must
first be made with one's fellow
man. According to the rabbis,
God forgives only those sins
which have been committed
against Him. He does not for-
give wrongs committed against
one's fellow man until such for-
giveness.is first asked and ob-
tained - -from • the person so
wronged.
The high holiday prayers are
for the most part in the plural.
The prayers are for the com-
munity of mankind, not for the
individual. They are usually
"we"; seldom "I." In these
prayers of a universal note, the
Jew prays for a better world,
for the rule of justice and for
the destruction not of the wick-.
ed, but rather, of wickedness.
The rabbis have stipulated that
"if one prays for happiness in
the year to come, he must be
prepared to give that for which
he prays."
The Jewish ideal of "charity"
is expressed in the Hebrew by
the word "Tz'dakah." It has
-a higher meaning than mere
charity. It is charity with jus-
tice; there is no giver and re-
ceiver; both are equal.

Gertrude Berg Mothers a Great American Institution

their first sponsor and Gertrude
was offered $2,000 a week. She
promptly fainted.
Plump, fiftyish and charged
with energy, Gertrude Berg is
up every morning at six, has her
meager breakfast and is ready
to start writing out her weekly
script in longhand. She gener-
ally works right up until the
minute she has to leave for the
studio.
She is five
feet four inches
t a 11, a stylish
stout, with
brown hair,
laugh ing sloe
eyes and an
olive c o m plex-
ion. Many of
the philbsophies
she voices are
based on recol-
'Molly' Berg lections of her
grandmother, whom she adored.
The character of Jake, she hays,
is based upon her father.
In 1946, after 17 consecutive
years on the radio with a single
show, Gertrude Berg finally gave
vent to a long latent ambition
to do a Broadway play, "Molly

and Me," which she had been
mulling over for twelve years.
Shortly after "The Goldbergs"
had been established as a suc-
cess on television, the domestic
drama resumed on radio, now
heard Saturdays on CBS. Scoop-
ing the Hollywood field, Para-
mount Studio has arranged to
screen "The Goldbergs." Ger-
trude has been signed to star as
Molly Goldberg and will collab-
orate on the script. Filming is
set for July, during the show's
summer vacation, with Mel Ep-
stein producing.
In New York, Gertrude, her

husband and two children live
in a Park Avenue apartment.

Week-ends and summers, the
family goes to its home in Bed-
ford Hills, N. Y., where Gertrude
putters fondly among her flow-
ers. By her own admission, she
has a passion for gay hats, par-
ticularly when they are on sale.
Though most of her clothes are
custom-Made she's not above
running down to one of the bar-.
gain stores every now and then.

8—TH E J EWJ SH NEWS

Friday„ September 8, 1950

