Home at Last Comparison and Contrast Yiddish, Hebrew Intellect uals spiritual de-Ghettoization of the Jewish people. An Israeli writer recently gave e::pression to this In Yiddish circles the follow- militant spirit of de-Ghettoiza- ing incident; though it occurred tion in a literary letter from Is- over a decade ago, is still related rael. He boasted of this libera- with relish and proper emphasis. tion from the shackled Jewish When the first annual La Med past and declared it to be the prizes (the Jewish equivalent of essential quality of young Is- the Pulitzer prize) for Hebrew raeli literature. The Yiddishist intellectual and Yiddish letters were award- ed, the two Yiddish prize poets is hard pressed to prove his right to continue a spiritual received distinction, respective- ly, for a volume of verse and a existence in the Diaspora. He After long months of waiting, novel dealing exclusively with digs deeper` for the roots of Hebraic values in the Yiddish the .past. He tries to adjust this aged woman has finally language. As a matter of fact, himself to the miracle of a reached Israel. She's one of 110,- the title of the Yiddish volume Jewish state which demands 000 Jews evacuated from Iraq of verse which was singled out of him an ever clearer view of in 14 months, through the for merit was "Clear Is the Old the Jewish future, in the light United Jewish Appeal. Now she Spring." This title was an alleg- of everyday. Jewish life in waits again, for the next step oric allusion to the ancient He- Israel.. The Yiddish intellect- on her way to a pgrmanent braic lore which was still .hailed ual, therefore, has a harder home. To speed emergency im- by the poet as the proper guid- task, but more often than not, migration from Iran, Romania ance for the perplexed Yiddish his task is rewarding, he is and Libya, and to continue intellectual. The two Hebrew compelled to enrich his lan- other vital programs of the prize winners, on the other guage and to imbue it with a United Palestine Appeal, Joint Distribution Committee and hand, came forth with a volume Messianic fervor. United Service for New Ameri- of poetry about the California It is difficult within the limits cans, the UJA must have $35,- Gold Rush and a volume of of a small article to dwell at essays about Shakespeare, Tol- length upon the broader aspects 000,000 in cash before Dec. 31, stoy and other worldly celebri- of these trends in Jewish life, 1951. A nation-wide drive is now ties who, if they ever did take both in Israel and in the Disper- going on to raise this sum in a sip from the old Hebraic sion. It is well to bear in mind time. spring, failed to bless the re- the optimistic approach of the New Villages in Israel freshing drink in true orthodox Israeli intellectual to the future TEL AVIV, (JTA) — Corner- Jewish fashion. of Jewish life and the tragic ap- stones of two new villages of This paradox employing He- proach of the Yiddish intellect- brew for secular themes, and ual to his own role in the midst private farmers affiliated to the Yiddish to extoll Judaism, was of this hitherto undreamed of Farmers' Cooperative Movement then interpreted in various ways. burst of Jewish optimism. Both (not connected with the Hista- The Hebraists reasoned thus: the tragic and the optimistic drut) were laid on a 12,000 dun- Hebrew required no apology for views are creating new chapters am tract of land allocated by its existence and, therefore, in Jewish history which future the Jewish National Fund near could be used freely to exploit generations will read with ab- Yavneh, in southern Israel. The farmer's cooperative plans the wordly themes, whereas the Yid- sorbing interest. establishment of five villages in dishists, in order to cling to and this area and the future resi- justify the use of a "moribund" dents of these villages are al- language, had to keep dredging Psychology Used at Children's ready building their two-room up old values to give it the sem- Home in Curing Asthma wooden houses. Each farmtr is blance of tradition and herit- DENVER (AJP) — Psychiatric providing private capital of 1,500 age. Yiddishists, on the other hand, looked with askance at treatment, in addition to medi- pounds ($4,200). the spectacle of Hebraists cal care is the new method of rhapsodizing over the Califor- treating asthma at the National nia Gold Rush, regarding this as Home for Jewish Children, here, a quasi-apostatic attempt on the announced Benjamin M. Win- part of the Hebraists to become nitt, national director. Approxi- like "unto the Gentiles" in or- mately 82 per cent return home der to gain fame and recogni- within two years, free of the tion. The Hebraists, too, regard- affliction, he added. ed the national Jewish themes of the Yiddishists as a hopeless expression of . provincialism, while the Yiddishists detected the provincial in the Hebrew poet who wanted to draw atten- tion to himself by his un-He- braic chants. This rather lengthy intro- duction serves to illUstrate the conflicting points of view Of the Hebrew_ and Yiddish intel- lectuals as well as their oppos- ing and irreconcilable attitude to Jewish life. To the Hebrew writer, his un-Jewish theme did not constitute a cleavage or a break with the past. His secularism was rather an emancipation from a tradition which burdened the Hebrew language with a Messianic role GROSSINGER'S in an attempt to redeem the Jewish soul. The Yiddish writ- GROSSINGER, N.Y. er felt the need of Hebraizing his Yiddish, making of it a THE holy language and infusing it with the sanctity of a people GROSSINGER-PANCOAn who went to their deaths with MIAMI BEACH, FLA. a Yiddish version of "Shma Israel" on their lips. Hebrew gained soil and roots, while Yiddish was compelled to seek those invisible roots in the past and to attach itself more than ever to the historic past of the Jewish people. The Hebrew writer is in a sense a liberated artist. He does not have to flaunt his Jewishness via the medium of the Hebrew lan- guage, while Yiddish, in a des- perate struggle for existence, is compelled . to wrap itself in a talis in order to perpetuate its hold on the Yiddish reading public. This essential difference be- tween the Yiddish and the Israeli intellectual is not confined merely to the linguistic field but is more discernible in their dis- similar views of Jewish life. The Israeli has more than his share of difficulty trying to minister to the primitive cultural needs of many thousands of Oriental Jews who literally had to start from "Aleph." And while trying to Hebraize a Jewish babel of tongues, he has to be on guard 600 Griswold lest true cultural values be sub- WO. 5-6800 merged. Young Israeli intellec- tuals rather feel superior about this genesis and primitivism and THE JEWISH NEWS-41 Friday, September 28, 1951 Holiday Greetings By• JACOB GLATSTEIN Noted Yiddish Critic and Poet To All Our Friends Sisters and Brothers Mr. and Mrs. Hy Freedman and Sons Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath. And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon. Deuteronomy 33:13-14 May the New Year 5712 be blessed with the bounties of Creation and may we see the fulfill- ment of mankind's hopes for justice and peace everywhere. MR. and MRS. ABE KASLE GREETINGS ON THE A HAPPY NEW YEAR NEW YEAR Blumberg Bros. Co. —gniurance 1310 Lafayette Building WRIGLEY SUPER MARKETS New Year's Greetings MALCOLM MacDOWELL and ASSOCIATES, Inc. FHA LOANS Sincere Best Wishes To The Jewish Community For a Year of Health and Happiness THE HIGHLAND PARKER Printers of the Jewish News AVAILABLE IN VOLUME 30 Bartlett . Highland Park, Mich. TO. 8-5072