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THE JEWI S3 NEW S
Spirit of Hanukah
Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20 1951
member American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit 35, Mich.. VE. 8-9304
Subscription S4. a year. foreign $5
Entered as second class matter Aug. 6, 1942. at Post Office, Detroit, Mich., under Act of March 3, 1879
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
VOL. XXIV, No. 12
SIDNEY SHMARAK
Advertising Manager
Page 4
FRANI( SIMONS
City
Editor
November 27, 1953
. Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This.. Sabbath, the twenty-first day of Kislev, 5714, the following Scriptural selections will be
read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Gen. 37:1-40:23. Prophetical portion, Amos 2:6-3:8.
Scriptural selections -for Hanukah: Wednesday, Num. 7:1-17; Thursday, Num. 7:18-29; Friday,
Num. 7:24-35.
Licht Benshen, Friday, Nov. 27, 4:23 p.m.
The Spirit of Hanukah in a Critical Age
An ancient victory over heathens, re-
corded in the Maccabean story which we,will
review again during the observance of Ha-
nukah, commencing on Tuesday evening,
made possible the survival of Judaism. As a
result of the triumph for Israel's principles,
the path was cleared for the eventual rise.
of Christianity. It is admitted that if the
Maccabeans had not succeeded in their
struggle the world would have been doomed
for many countless years of idol-worship and
progress in monotheistic observance would
have been postponed for generations.
This is the general view of Hanukah. The
festival has a far greater significance for
Jewry. It has inspired our people to carry
on against great odds during years of op-
pression. In our own time it signalizes the
courage with which Jewish communities
bear aloft the banner that symbolizes the
heritage of our people.
Hanukah also is an occasion to strive for
peace. It marked the end, not the begin-
ning of war. It denotes for us the constant
quest for peace.
But we celebrate it in our time while war
clouds are hovering over us. There are
threats of conflict on all sides. There is-dan-
ger for Israel. In this hour of need, as we are
about to light the Hanukah candles, we pray
that peace may not be a mere word but
that those who are preparing for conflict
should recognize the need for a common
meeting ground by kinsmen and neighbors.
8
*
Unfortunately, peace still is in the dis-
tance. In spite of pleadings before interna-
tional tribunals, hatred dominates over rea-
son. The result is that while our kinsmen
pray for peace they must carry on their
daily activities with the protection of
weapons.
The Hanukah of 5714 continues to be
symbolized by the girding of swords. Is-
raelis, who have built glgriously and who
have rescued the persecuted, plead for amity,
yet they must look with suspicion upon their
neighbors who insist on threatening them.
"Kabdehu ve-Hashdehu"—respect and sus-
pect—must remain the people's motto—until
the world's great powers step in to effect a
peace through a common understanding.
The fourth chapter of Nehemiah reads as
if it were written in our own time. Read this
portion and judge for yourself:
"But it came to pass that, when Sanballat,
and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Am-
monites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the
repairing of the walls of Jerusalem went for-
ward, and that the breaches began to be
stopped, then they were wroth; and they con-
spired all of them together to come and fight
against Jerusalem, and to cause confusion
therein. But we made our prayer unto our God,
and- set a watch against them day and night,
because of them. And Judah said: 'The
strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed,
and there is 'much rubbish; so that we are not
able to build the wall.' And our adversaries
said: 'They shall not know, neither see, till we
come into the midst of them, and slay them,
and cause the work to cease.' And it came to
pass that, when the Jews that dwelt by them
came, they said unto us ten times: 'Ye must
return unto us from all places.' Therefore set
I in the lowest parts of the space behind the
wall, in the open places I even set the people
after their families with their swords, their
spears, and their bows. And I looked. and rose
up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers,
and to the rest of the people: 'Be not ye afraid
of them; remember the Lord, who is great and
awful, and fight for your brethren, your sons
and your daughters, your wives and your
houses.'
and
the it
rulers
"And
came to pass, when our enemies
heard that it was known unto vs. and God
had brought their counsel to nought, that we
returned all of us to the wall, every one unto
his work. And it c ame to pass from that time
forth, that half of my servants wrought in the
work. and half of them held, the spears, the
shields, and the b ows, and the coat of mail:
w ere behind all the house of
Judah. They that builded the wall and they
that bore burdens laded themselves, every one
with. one and his hands wrought in the work,
and with. the othe r held his weapon; and the
builders, every on e had his sword girded by
his side, and so bl tilded. And he that sounded
the horn was by me. And I said unto the
nobles, and to the rulers and to the rest of the
people: 'The work is great and large, and we
are separated upon the wall, one far from
an_other ; in what place soever ye hear the
sound of the hor n ., resort ye thither unto us;
our God will fight for its.'
"So we wrough t in the work; and half of
them held the sp ears from the rising of the
morning till the stars appeared. Likewise at
the same time s aid I unto the people: 'Let
every one with his servant lodge within Jeru-
salem, that - in the night they may be a guard
to us, and may l abour in the dam' So neither
I, nor my brethre n, nor my servants, nor the
men of the guar d that followed me, none of
us put off our clo thes, every one that went to
the water had his weapon."
In our progr essive age, instead of being
able to sit in p eace with their neighbors,
Israelis- go to their daily tasks with their
weapons! And th e cry for peace appears to
have fallen on de of ears!
*
*
C
Nevertheless, especially on Hanukah,
which commemorates a military as well as
a spiritual triumph, we retain faith that the
call for amity will not fall on deaf ears.
The entire world may be affected by what
happens in the Middle East, where the need
for retention of Hebraic ideals compelled
the rise of the Maccabeans and their call
to arms.
Protection of life forces use of arms in
that area today. But it need not be so. There
can be peace—provided the international or-
ganization, the United Nations in which Is-
raelis and Arabs sit side by side, can exert
its influence for good will on wider areas
than its meeting hall.
This is our hope for Hanukah: that it
should commence to mark the peace which
must result from all wars and that the Holy
Land should once again be blessed with
tranquility and with an end to strife among
neighbors.
The Rebuke to Israel and Unsavory Political Roles
Our Government has become a party to
the resolution censuring the state of Israel
for "retaliatory action at Kibya." By join-
ing forces with Great Britain and France in
condemning Israel, the U. S. delegation to
the United Nations follows a line suitable
to the Arabs—that of rebuking Israel with-
out taking into consideration the only vital
means of solving the tragic Middle East pro-
gram: through an enforced peace.
The Kibyan incident deserves condem-
nation, but not without giving due consider-
ation to the numerous similar provocative
events, instigated by the Arabs, which
forced the "retaliatory action" recognized
in the UN Security Council's resolution.
• While the resolution recognized the long
series of episodes which created the explo-
sive Israel-Jordan situation, Ambassador
Eban was justified in comilaining that
the Security Council concentrated on "Symp-
toms" while ignoring the "disease." He is
justified in his deploring the failure of the
promulgated resolution to indicate the need
for peace, in behalf of which he made a
strong appeal to the nations of the world
and to Jordan.
We deplore the role played by our rep-
resentatives at the UN in this issue. The
chief need now is to strive for peace. Merely
to "request" Jordan to strengthen measures
that would prevent infiltrations into Israel,
thereby avoiding repetition of incidents such
as had provoked the Kibya tragedy, is not
sufficient. The only sure way of ending
strife is through a permanent peace, and
the failure, thus far, to call for such peace
negotiations is an indictment of those who
are playing unsavory political roles in the
UN.
fi
Hannah in the Dungeon
Selected from play, "Judas Maccabaeus" by Henry W. Longfellow
Be strong, my heart!
Break not till they are dead,
All, all my seven sons; then burst asunder
And let this tortured and tormented soul
Leap and rush out like water through the shards
Of earthen vessels broken at a well.
0 my dear children mine in life and death,
I neither gave you breath, nor gave you life.
And neither was it I that formed the members
Of every one of you. But the Creator,
Who made the world, and made the heavens above us,
Who formed the generations of mankind,.
And found out the beginning of all things;
He gave you breath and life, and will again
Of his own mercy, as ye now regard
Not your own selves, but his eternal law.
I do not murmur, nay, I thank Thee, God,
That I and mine have not been deemed unworthy
To suffer for Thy sake, and for Thy law,
And for the many sins of Israel.
Hark! I can hear within the sound of scourges!
I feel them more than ye do, 0 my sons!
But cannot come to you. I, who was wont
To wake at night at the least cry ye made,
To whom ye ran at every slightest hurt,—
I cannot take you now into my lap
And soothe your pain, but God will take you all
Into his pitying arms, and comfort you,
•
And give you rest.
Victoria and Her Ministers
Noteworthy Story of Disraeli
Eleven colorful figures play roles of significance in "Queen
Victoria and Her Prime Ministers" by. Algernon Cecil, an Oxford
Press (114 5th Ave., NY11) publication: the Queen and 11 Premiers,
including the famous Benjamin Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield).
It is a delightful book, and the reader gains a world of in-
formation about the famous queen and her Prime Ministers. Each
of them was outstanding in his own right, and Mr. Cecil, a nephew
of the last of the group, the Marquess of Salisbury, is well qualified
to write with considerable authority on the subject.
We are especially concerned here with the delightful chapter
on Disraeli. He did not win Victoria's approving welcome at once. ,
It took time for the two to acquire mutual regard. But when that
time arrived, he was her most favored public servant.
Disraeli, in turn, showered praise upon her. He called her
"Faery Queen."
The section dealing with Disraeli is a genuine tribute to the
great statesman. The author quotes the "Political History of Eng-
land" by Low and Sanders: "Only those will call (Disraeli's)
speeches flippant who have not read them."
Tracing Disraeli's views to his literary works, Algernon Cecil
paints a fascinating portrait of the man who rose against odds to
the important post of Premier. He recalls Bismarck's reference
to him: "Der alte Jude, das ist der Mann."
It is the story, of course, of Disraeli the great patriot, the lover
of the country he helped expand into a larger empire, who said:
"I am neither Whig nor Tory. My politics are described by
one word, and that word is England. Mr. Cecil quotes this from
Monypenny's "Life of Disraeli."
The author does not overlook the roles played in Disraeli's life
by two women, his wife, the former Mrs. Wyndham Lewis, and
the Jewess who became a convert to Christianity and left him a
legacy—Mrs. Brydges Willyams.
There is tribute to Disraeli's father in Mr. Cecil's comment:
.
"Beaconsfield was born in 1804 and was, as everyone knows,
the child of that strange man, Isaac D'Israeli who lives still
a little by virtue of his 'Curiosities of Literature' and whom
his greater son compared to Oliver Goldsmith. Isaac was just
remarkable enough for Byron to feel that he was worth getting
to know; and this connection. of his . father's was clearly a defi-
nite element in the making of Benjamin."
Every chapter about Victoria and her 11, ministers will en-
chant the readers — by their facts and their literary qualities. Mr.
Cecil's book has earned the recommendation's it is receiving.