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' — ■