Shevuot Torah Harvest Festival

THE JEWISH NEWS

Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 2 0, 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. 8-9364
Subscription $4. a year, foreign 85.
Entered as second class matter Aug. 6, 1942, at Post Office, Detroit, Mich., under Act of March 3, 1879

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FRANK SIMONS
City Editor

SIDNEY SHMARAK
Advertising Manager

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher

June 4, 1954

VOL. XXV, No. 13

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Sabbath Scriptural Selections

This Sabbath, the fourth day of Sivan, 5714, the following Scriptural selections will be read in
our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Num. 4:21 7:89. Prophetical portion, Judges 13:2 25.

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Shevuot Scriptural Selections

PentateuchaVportions. First Day, Itionday,.Es. 19:1 20:26, Num. 28:26 31; Second Day, Tuesday,
neut. 15:19-16:17. Num. 28:26-31.
Prophetical portions, Monday,. Ezek. 1:1-28; 3:12; Tuesday, Hab. 3:1 10.

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Licht Benshen, Friday, June 4, 8:02 p.m.

Shevuot

Jewry's Bill of Rights Festival

Commencing on Sunday • evening, Jewry
again will rejoice for two days in celebration
of the great Feast of Weeks — •Shevuot —
which may well be called our people's Bill of
Rights Festival.
Shevuot is the birthday of the Ten Com-
mandments and therefore is the Constitution
Day of Israel. Humanity's first compilation
of ethical laws is incorporated in the greatest
of all documentsthe Ten Commandments.
Shevuot thus became the zm•n matan toro-
Geinu—the season of law-giving, the event
that marked the presentation of the Torah to
the people of Israel.
As the occasion which in Biblical times.
marked the ingathering- of the first fruits,
Shevuot was an agricultural festival. It is
referred to as the "Yom Habikkurim," "the
day of the .first fruits." Having marked the
end of the barley harvest, it also was known
as "Atzereth"the day of "conclusion." It
is also the "feast of harvest"—"Hag Hakat-
zir." To this very day, in Israel, the first
fruits are offered for public purposes and are
sold for the benefit of the Jewish National
Fund, the land-redemption agency of Israel.
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In 1831, at the inspiration of Solomon
Eger of Braunschweig, Germany, the tradi-
tion of holding confirmation services on
Shevuot was introduced. This has become
an established tradition in this country, first
in Reform and now in Conservative and also
in many Orthodox congregations. Thus,

Shevuot, our Torah Constitution Day, the
harvest festival, the birthday of the Ten
Commandments, plays a very important role
in the lives of our children who are welcomed
into the Jewish fold, who are graduated from
Jewish schools and are encouraged to con-
tinue their Jewish studies.
In offering congratulations to confir-
mands, consecrants and graduates on the
occasion of Shevuot, and in greeting the par-
ents of our boys and girls on the occasions
of graduations, confirmations and consecra-
tions in our schools and synagogues, we ad-
dress special messages to both.
We plead with the parents to encourage
their sons and daughters to retain their affili-
ations with their schools and synagogues and
to continue their Jewish studies; and we urge
the young people to take places along with
their elders in Jewish ranks, to assume posi-
tions of leadership in Jewry,- to study our
people's history and to strengthen the cultur-
al ties between parents and children, between
constituents and their congregations and
communities. Having accomplished this, we
shall have strengthened Jewry's ranks.
In this spirit we extend to our community
hearty Shevuot greetings. May the spirit of
the Torah give courage to all Israel, and may
the Ten Commandments be the ruling force
for mankind, in the interest of peace among
nations, the peace of mind of peoples and the
domination of justice in the relation of man
to man.

Jewry's Status and Cultural Outlook

Results of studies made by a seminar of
the World Jewish Congress. British Section's
Cultural Committee, in London, shed con-
siderable light on the present status of Jew-
ish communities throughout the world.
These studies point anew to the fact, as
outlined by Dr. Cecil Roth, that Diaspora
Jewry's strength is centered in English-
speaking communities.

In an introductory survey, Dr. N. Barou
said that the• 11,700,000 Jews in the world
today, representing less than one-half of one
per cent of the population of the world, is a
static 20th century figure, as a- result of wars
and extermination. He pointed out that in
the last 50 years six out of every seven Jews
have changed places of habitation and now
live in new countries, facing different sur-
roundings, subject to changes in culture and
language. Jews now are dispersed in 100
different lands, including 29 on the American
continent, 31 in Europe, 14 in Africa, 24 in
Asia and three in Australasia. Dr. Barou
commented:

"The most tragic aspect of the issue from
the viewpoint of Jewish comity is that 66 out
Of 100 of these territorial units number no
more than 10,000 Jews. Moreover, Jews in our
days have groWn to be almost. exclusively an
Urban population. They are exposed to strong
influences of assimilation .and integration,
arising from modern mass-produced culture,
and from the fact that Jews of the world
nowadays are using seven main languages, of
which English is the most spoken, followed by
Yiddish, Hebrew, German, French and Span-
ish."

Of special interest is the report sub-
mitted by Dr. A. Steinberg who stated that
there are 2,000,000 Jews in Russia, 500,000
of them making their homes in Moscow. He
said that Russian Jews have made sacrifices
to retain their religious identity; that in one
instance a group of 14 parents deliberately
moved from place to place in order to avoid
sending their children to Russian secular
cchools, out of fear, that the youngsters
would be imbued with Communist ideas and
be "led astray."

Dr. Steinberg admonishes us: "Soviet
Jewry should not be considered lost to world
Jewry, but it is clear that their survival will,

to a degree, depend on the intensity of inter-
est taken in them by Jews outside Russia."
Deploring any "obituary note or tomb-
stone on Yiddish literature in Russia," Dr.
Steinberg referred to an anthology of the
works of Russian Yiddish writers and said,
he would be happy to hear of 10 native-born
American writers in the Yiddish language:
He pointed 'to a large number of Jewish
scholars in Russia in proof of his optimism.
On the other hand, Dr. Roth, who ap-
pears to us to be more realistic, said there
was "no chance of Jews behind the Iron Cur-
tain re-establishing their ties with Jews out-
side if the Soviet regime remained in being,"
and he said he saw no hope for a Jewish fu-
ture in the Communist sphere.
Dr. Roth also said that in France and
Italy Jews had "resumed the process of as-
similation, convinced that there will be no
outbreak of anti-Semitism there." He also
referred to the great decline of Jewish com-
munities in Greece, Salonika now number-
ing only 2,000 Jews.
Dr. Roth's view must, especially, be taken
into account. He expressed the belief that
within a generation not much intellectual
and moral strength might be left . to the
Jewries on the European Continent. He
spoke of the shortage of leaders, but express-
ed the hope for the development of good
communities in South America and pointed
to the strength inherent in the American
and British Commonwealth communities.
These views are Worthy of wider study
and of serious consideration by those who
guide the cultural activities of Jewries in
free countries. We have been preoccupied
with fund-raising, and while there has been
an upsurge of interest in our educational and
cultural needs, much is yet to be done to as-
sure survival that will be based on high cul-
tural standards.
American Jews, jointly with our kins-
men in the British Commonwealth and Is-
rael, can go a long way in the direction of
elevating our cultural position. Present in-
dications point to progress in this direction.
In this country we have just come of age.
Perhaps the Tercentenary celebration will,
as it should, serve to inspire the interest we
seek in higher cultural attainments.

A

n Appropriate Tercentenary Book

Uriah P. Levy's Adventurous
Life Told in 'The Commodore'

- We should expect many good books in the coming months in
relation to the celebration of the American Jewish Tercentenary.
"The Commodore: The Adventurous Life of Uriah P. Levy," by
Robert D. Abrahams, the latest publication of the Jewish Publica-
tion Society of America, is a most appropri-
ate and a welcome addition to the American
Jewish history library.
Commodore Levy, who rose to one of the
highest ranks in the U. S. Navy, was not only
a militantly patriotic American; he remained
a loyal Jew who never compromised his faith.
He went to sea at the age of 7, when he
ran off with Captain Wilkins, a Bible-reading,
devout Christian, on the coaster New Jerusa-
lem. But he returned to the home of his par-
ents and many brothers and sisters, in Phil-
adelphia, to become Bar Mitzvah. He was de-
termined to remain a seaman—and he did—
eventually fulfilling the aspiration of joining
Commander Levy the Navy.
His life, as outlined in fine style by Abrahams, was full of ad-
venture. Levy was impetuous, got into many quarrels, was court-
martialed six times, but in the end he came through with flying
colors, recognized as a hero and a patriot. He defied those who
disliked him for his Jewishness, and he emerged the victor over
prejudice.

His great achievement was that he was responsible for
abolishing flogging in the United States Navy. He commanded
the first Naval vessel on which there was no flogging. He was
disliked for it by some old Navy men, but his humanitarian ap-
proach soon became the accepted principle in our Navy.

Commodore Levy diStinguished hiniself in many other ways.
He presented a monument of Thomas Jefferson to Congress. An.
admirer of the great President, he acquired and - restored to beauty
the Jefferson home, Monticello.
Levy fought the British, in their own waters, during the War
of 1812. Prior to that he was impressed into Britian's service; but
he managed to escape. He fought pirates and conquered.

His.career was romantic throughout. He was offered the
post of Captain in the Brazilian Navy by the Emperor of Brazil
who had come to apologize to him for misbehavior of his police
whom Levy had trounced, but the Jewish Naval officer told him:
"I would rather serve as a cabin boy in the United States Navy,
than be admiral in any other service in the world."

Presidents knew about him, and the final act of Levy's life
was to volunteer to Abraham Lincoln himself for service at the
outbreak of the Civil War. Lincoln assigned him to court martial
duty in the U. S. Navy in Washington.
Abrahams intended this story for young adults, but Ameri-
cans of all ages will find it cheering and fascinating.
Several years ago, the late Detroit attorney, Sol Blumrosen,
wrote a biography of Commodore Levy. He was especially inter-
ested in proving Levy's role in the abolishment of flogging and
his successes in defying anti-Semitism. The historical facts gath-
ered by Abrahams in "The Commodore" prove the accuracy of the
data accumulated by the Detroiter.

Valuable Israel Travel Guide

Na.gel's Israel Travel Guide, published in Paris, Geneva. New..
York and Karlsruhe and distributed in this country for the Israel,
National Tourist Center (37 W. 57th, NY19) by Frederick A. Prae-
ger, publishers (105 W. 40th, NY18), is a volume that is indis-
pensable for tourists in Israel and has equal value for all who
desire to increase their knowledge about the Jewish state.
This interesting book of 328 pages includes 24 maps in colors
and 14 black-and-white maps.
Actually, it is more than a travelers' guide: it begins with .
a history of Palestine and of present-day Israel and offers infor-
mation about the Holy Places, the activities of the Arabs and the
Turks during their days - of rule in the land, the eras of • the
Romans and Greeks and the Herods, as well as the early days of
Hebrew history: the Divided Kingdoms, Assyria and Babylon, Ezra
and Nehemia, the Maccabees, etc.
The major portion of the book is devoted to descriptions and
explanations of the Tel-Aviv-Jaffa, Jerusalem, Negev, and an-
other areas in the land. The present and ancient ports are in-
cluded in the descriptions, as well as the Sea of Galilee, Megiddo,
Lake Hule, Safad and other territories.
Jerusalem is adequately described in all details. There are
chapters on the Mount of Olives, Bethlehem, Jericho, Jordan
and the Dead Sea.
The section on Practical Information guides the tourists as
to clothing and food, coinage, language, motoring, photography,
passports, and a . score more details that a traveler should know.
We highly recommend this volume as a valuable addition to
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historical material about Israel.
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