World Watches Fate of Rashi Shul
By Sam Miller
(Copyright, 1954, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
.
WORMS—When Nazi vandals set fire to the synagogue in this Rhineland town dur-
ing the Novemb6r pogroms of 1938, the walls remained standing—they had already with-
stood the vicissitudes of better than 900 years.
This solidity irked local Nazi bosses. In 1942, with Allied bombs raining on German
cities,. they brought special machinery into the structural shell that remained of the syn-
agogue and, with trained engineers in attendance to see to it thA neighboring houses were
not endangered, blew up the walls. Only a field of rubble was left where Jews had, with
short interruptions, prayed
morning and night _ for more the beloved Bible commenta- original stones that were still
years, it is believed, than any for Rashi studied in the 11th littering the area.
other house of worship in Eur- century at the feet of Isaac
Even during the Nazi period,
ope•
Ben Eliezer Halevi and Jacob Dr. Inert had salvaged from the
The pioneer Jewish settlers in Ben Yakar of Worms, both wreckage of the Synagogue the
Worms are so lost in antiquity great Talmudists. famed "Rashi Chair," which is
that a once popular legend From here Rabbi Eleazar Ben believed to have been used by
identified them as members of Yehuda Ben Kalonymos, the the great popular expounder of
the tribe of Benjamin who had Tosafist a n d liturgical poet Bible and Talmud. It is now a
migrated to the banks of the known throughout Jewry as the showpiece of the local St. An-
Rhine directly from the Pales- "Rokeah," introduced the Cab- drew's Museum, where devout
tine of Biblical times. It is more balah into Germany. During the Jews come to view it on occa-
likely, though, that the first Third Crusade, a mob of pil- sion.
Jews came here together with grims killed his wife and two
A trickle of Jewish visitors
Roman Legionnaires.
daughters.. Other gaonim, too, come to gaze at these monu-
In the Middle Ages, the Rhine were buried in the Wurms ceme- ments and souvenirs of a Jew-
cities of Speyer, Worms and tery.
ish Worms that is no more.
Mainz (Mayence) — known in In 1934, when Jews celebrated Busloads of pilgrims have
Hebrew by t h e abbreviation the synagogue's 900th anniver- even made the long trip from
"SHUM," formed of the con- sary, Worms was still a flourish- the DP camp at Foehren-
tracted initials of the trio—were ing community with more than wald, south of Munich.
renowned among Jews every- 1,000 members. Today not one Watching these visitors has
where as centers of wealth and is left who could say kaddish for suggested to some Worms boost-
learning that enjoyed far-reach- them. Two elderly women make ers of the chamber-of-commerce
ing privileges granted by various up the city's resident Jewish type that, if the synagogue were
Emperors.
population, and there is no fore- to be restored, it might be de-
The scholars who made seeable chance the congregation veloped into a major tourist at-
, their homes here transformed will ever again be reconstituted. traction. . Not every city, after
Worms into one of the out
Shortly after American troops all, is in the fortunate position
standing kehillot of Europe. occupied the city in 1945, the of Frankfort to have a Goethe
In the shadowy interior of the Military Governor encouragedlHouse that can be reconstructed
Worms synagogue, founded by the Municipal Custodian of for the sake of paying guests,
the childless couple Jacob and Monuments, Dr. Inert, to have ; and one must make do with what
Rachel a generation earlier, a the entrance-way to the syna- I one has.
young man who later became gogue reconstructed with the During the past two months,
the Jewish and Gentile press of
many countries reported "Worms
Synagogue to be Rebuilt." These
stories have little basis in fact.
Concrete plans are quite
unknown to the kehillah at
Mainz, which now encompass-
' es Worms, to the State Asso-
ciation of Jewish Communities
and to the • representative
body of the Jews in Germany,
the Central Council. All three,
indeed, are pronouncedly un-
enthusiastic about the idea of
lavishing money on such a
project at a time when no
Jews live in Worms, but many
elsewhere are in need.
In Germany's sole Yiddish
weekly, the "NJZ" of Munich, an
intriguing alternative has been
proposed by the best Jewish
newspaperman in German y,
Marian Gid. If the City of
Worms really wishes to express
goodwill towards Jews, he edi-
torializes, it should entrust the
"Rashi Chair" to the custody of
the Jewish people by permitting.
its transfer to Jerusalem. As for
the synagogue, he holds that it
I should rather remain in it*
present devastation, as a mem-
orial and a warning.
A Leaf from the Haggadah
,.".
-
Passover Through the Ages
Tells of Historical Evolution
By HARRY CUSHING
(Copyright, 1954, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
Passover, one of the oldest forms of religious observance,
has been a holiday for some 3,500 years.-It began in the hoary
dim past as a festival of physical freedom—a sort of crude
and primitive rite intended to free men each year from the
devastations of nature.
It later developed into a holiday dedicated to social free-
dom, commemorating the liberation of the Israelites from
slavery and finally becoming a festival of human freedom,
celebrating the principles of
liberty itself, of which the lib- well chosen. The term means
eration is but a symbol.
order, arrangement or program,
Modern archaeological evi- and is descriptive of the various
dence makes it possible for us to rites and rituals which go into
accept the theory that the Pass- making up the accepted tradi-
over observance began as a fam- tional Passover eve ritual.
ily celebration by the Hebrew
The development of the Seder
shepherds long before the Exo- ritual did become stabilized with
dus from Egypt. The festival is the centuries. However, there
. have been and
believed to have been a popular
Spring holiday when members
there continue
of every family sacrificed a lamb
lo be certain
at full moon.
Jewish commu-
nities which ob-
A marked transition in the
served the rite
observance of Passover occurred
with marked
after the destruction of the
variation f r om
Second Temple. During the days
of the first and second temples, the' established custom.
The•Marranos, the secret Jews
thousands of pilgrims would
crowd into Jerusalem. Every ' of Spain and Portugal, develop-
inn was filled and many private ed a Passover rite which was
homes opened their doors to the more akin to the Paschal ob-
farmers, herdsmen and crafts- servance in ancient times than
men who came from all parts of to the Seder-type of celebration.
the land. Those who could not With no direct contact with
find shelter in homes and inns Jewish life, they based their
set up tents in the public squares ideas and concepts of Judaism
of Jerusalem or in the outskirts on the Catholic edition of the
Bible.
of the city.
The Samaritan Sect
The Wanderers' Return
During the days of the Sec-
The peculiar Passover observ-
ond Temple, these pilgrims did ance of the Marranos found its
not come only from the villages way to the New World. In Mexi-
and towns of Palestine but from co, Marrano Jews smeared the
every corner of the then known blood of sheep on their doorposts
world. Dressed in multi-colored as mentioned in the Bible. (Exo-
and varied costumes, the pil- dus 12:7).
grims spoke many languages and
While millions of Jews observe
dialects representing the varied Passover eve with the reading
cultures of Egypt, Babylonia, of the Haggadah and the usual-
Greece, Rome and other lands.
ly accepted traditions of the Se-
It was after the destruction of der, there is one tiny band of
the Second Temple, when the men, women and children who
Hebrew sacrificial cult came to celebrate the festival as It was
an end, that Passover began to done in the days of the ancient
assume the role of t h e great Israelites.
family home festival. Because
Living in the vicinity of Mount
the system of sacrifices had Gerizim in Palestine, these peo-
been halted, it might have been ple known as the Samaritans,
assumed that Passover, the main carry on during Passover in a
feature of which was the Pas- manner which Jews have ceased
chal offering, would disappear. for some 2,000 years.
The name "Seder" for the
It is this strange group, now
Passover home ritual was very numbering a handful of souls,
•
--Reprinted through the courtesy of the Office of Jewish Information
Shown above is a specimen page from special "thousand
which on the eve of Passover, dollar" edition of the Hagaddah, which is beautifully illustrated by
teems with activity, as it pre- the late artist, Arthur Szyk, and edited by Cecil Roth. It is said
. pares to slaughter the Paschal that there are only about 100 copies of this Passover ritual extant
Lamb and carry out every detail today.
as prescribed by the laws of
Moses. Theirs is a strange Ju-
daism, tinged even with a slight
heathenism such as that which
influenced our forefathers many
centuries ago.
Falashas Offer Sacrifice
Another sect which performs . By LEON GUTTERMAN
! meaning of the law. Pharoab
(Copyright, 1954, JTA, Inc.)
loved him. Moses could have
the Passover lamb sacrifice is
HOLLYWOOD
The greatest been an Egyptian ruler. Why
that of the Falashas of Ethiopia.
Known as the Black Jews of film in the history of motion Ahen did he choose to remain a
Abyssinia, they too, follow a pictures, "The Ten Command- slave?
primitive type of Judaism based ments, is soon to be produced by
"With all the passionate devo-
only on the' the greatest creator of motion tion of a true Israelite, Moses
pictures,
Cecil
B.
DeMille.
Bible.
sought a spiritual rebirth, the
DeMille, who has distinguish- fulfillment of righteous law, the
Because they
do not know ed himself through his pictures creation of quality in life. He
Hebrew, they in the quest for human better- saw the evils of his time and
follow and ob- ment, is now at work on his sought inward regeneration. He
serve the laws forthcoming production based stated the contrast between the
Egyptians and the Israelites
of the Bible by on the life of Moses.
reading them in
DeMille recognizes that the with merciless clarity. Inevita-
an Ethiopian motion picture offers a dual op- bly, then, the Egyptians found
translation. On tunity: to produce works of art him a dangerous enemy."
Passover eve, and to do the most magnificent 1 In "The Ten Commandments,*
they assemble in their synagogue thing of all—to make people DeMille win point out that the
and a lamb is sacrificed in the think, and having thought, to Hebrew, Christian and Moslem
name of the entire Falasha com- search their own minds and I religions all stem from Moses,
munity.
souls.
The Hebrew faith did not take
In an exclusive interview place until Moses brought the
A fascinating Passover observ-
commandments to his people
ance is that of the Jews in the and the first given to a syndi-
cated newspaper columnist in and to all the world. It was then
Caucasian mountain region. Sit-
ting on the ground, they observe connection. with his new pic- that the Hebrews brought God
their Seder by being dressed in ture, DeMille told me: "Moses into the consciousness of man,
their best clothes. The women was the greatest human being But it was Moses who formed
folk are bedecked in jewels and that ever lived. The story of the first idea of God and
the young girls wear flowers in his life is the greatest drama .brought that idea to the people
ever presented to the world
under him.
their hair.
through the medium of the
DeMille will picturize how in
The long history of Passover motion picture. Through this
the course of his career Moses
has had many changes and evo-
film 1 am going to show to
met and dealt with all those
lutions, However, it has retain- the world what manner
of
who are ordinarily problems—.
ed one feature from the begin-
man the historic Moses was,
the ungrateful, the self-seek-
ning up to the present time— what he thought and taught
ing, those who ask for special
that of being a Jewish family
and did, and how he felt."
privilege, the petty; the, trou-
celebration. Since the days in
In filming this historical
the desert of Sinai until now, as drama DeMille will "endeavor blema.kers, the condescending,
American Jews gather about to draw a true picture of Moses. the vicious, and the shallow.
"There never was a time when
their festive board, it has been I will seek to answer many
a festival which unites all mem- questions about him. I intend to a motion picture like The Ten
bers of the family circle at one show the discovery of God by Commandments was more
worthwhile to 'society nor when
table, at one happy feast.
the Jewish people; that they did the necessity for it was-greater,"
In joining together in family not create Him, . but that He DeMille stated. "Nor was there
unity, Jews observing the Seder, created them."
ever a time when real motion
relive and share their collective
DeMille believes that people picture drama. demanded rarer
memories of the heritage of Is- know Moses only as the man qualities of mind and heart."
rael. They strengthen their with the long white beard. "That
hopes to live as Jews and as free is not history. Even as a young
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS--S
men.
man Moses pondered deeply the
Friday, April 14, 1954
DeMille Movie on Moses
Called His 'Greatest Film'
—
■