Vacation's Over —Real Work Ahead

THE JEWISH NEWS

Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951

Member American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers. Michigan Press Association. National Editorial
Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co.. 11100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit 35, Mich.,
VE. 8-9364. Subscription $5 a year. Foreign $6.
Entered as second class matter Aug. 6, 1952 at Post Office. Detroit. Mich., under Act of March 3, 1879.

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Editor and Publisher

CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ

SIDNEY SHMARAK

Advertising Manager

Circulation Manager

FRANK SIMONS

City Editor

Sabbath Scriptural Selections

This Sabbath, the twenty-fifth day of Elul, 5717, the following Scriptural selections
will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Nitzavim-Vayelech, Dent. 29:9-30:20; 31:1-30. Prophetical por:.
Lion, Isaiah 61:10-63:9.

Licht Benshen Erev Rosh Hashanah. Wednesday, 6:07 p.m.
Licht Benshen Friday, September 20, 6:16 p.m.

VOL. XXXII. No. 3

Page Four

September 20, 1957

Divorces, Intermarriage and Religious Education

If it is true, as Rabbi Louis Bernstein,
of Young Israel of Bayside, Queens, New
York, warned in a sermon last week, that
there is a "rising divorce rate" among
Jews, then there is justification for the
wide interest that is being shown in his
analysis of the problem.
Rabbi Bernstein said that although the
Bible "explicitly permits divorce, it was
rare enough to be considered a calamity
when it 41 occur." He then proceeded to
present the Orthodox viewpoint on mar-
riage and divorce:

"Judaism regards marriage as a religious
rite, and the third partner in the marriage is
the Almighty. The love-fear of God gives the
truly Jewish home the lasting stability which
no legislation prohibiting divorce can grant.
Orthodox Judaism views with alarm the
rising divorce rate. Restrictive legislation by
state authorities does not attempt to strike
at the basic causes of divorce, and may even
aggravate the relationship, and lead to fur-
ther immorality."

There is, of course, the inevitable det-
errent: civil divorce which must be rec-
ognized by every law-abiding citizen.
V ■7 hile the sanctity of marriage demands
that it be given the recognition due a
religious ceremony, there still is the way
out for any one who wishes to avoid going
through the religious procedure of a di-
vorce to procure it through legal action.
How is the problem to be solved: Rabbi
Bernstein urged "more religious educa-
tion." He stated that: "The rising divorce
rate and number of broken homes is di-
rectly attributable to the constant drift
of the younger generations away from the
synagogue and home. Many parents are
content to give rheir children a minimum
religious education and more frequently
none at all, in contrast to our grandpar-
ents' days, where every child received an
intensive religious and moral education.
The tolerance and respect of others that
Judaism stresses, the love for parents,
wife, home and children, are the ounce

`Adolf the Second?'

A report from Bonn to the London
Jewish Chronicle states that-

Partei der guten Deutschen (the party of
good Germans), which was formed at Plaidt,
in Rhineland-Palatinate, some time ago, has
decided to contest 18 constituencies in the
forthcoming Federal general elections.
It has about 1,000 members, and its leader,
who calls himself "Bundes-fuehrer," is August
Unger, a former Nazi mayor. Unger openly
proclaims that he wants to succeed Hitler.
His opinion is that only one party should be
allowed in Germany. Everybody refusing to
obey its orders should be sent to the coal
mines.
The inscription on one of the posters says:
"A new Fuehrer has arisen! Adolf the Sec-
ond!"
People who know Unger describe him as "a
harmless fool" who will never be able to gain
political foothold and impress serious people.
"Let him have his fun" is their comment.

The "Adolf the Second" incident for -
tunately is being treated as a laughing
matter. He is referred to as "a harmless
fool." But it was not so long ago that
Adolf the First was treated similarly, with
derision. We know the results of compla-
cency and we must use it as a warning
against indifference to any incitements to
prejudice. It had come to a point when
people used to say: "Don't laugh at a mere
house painter! You know how the world
suffered from one of them!" When it
comes to the spread of Nazism, don't laugh
at a mere "harmless fool." Not so long
ago, such a clown became the "fuehrer"
and threatened the world's security.
Chancellor. Adenauer's victory eases
the tension temporarily. We pray that the
anti-Nazi elements should have sufficient
time to destroy the poisons that have
seeped into the body of Germany.

of prevention that is far better than the
impersonal pound of cure by state author-
ities."
There is much truth in what the New
York rabbi said. But the deploring of the
new generation's drift away from the
ways of their parents hardly solves any-
thing. True, we need more education- But
there still is the influence of the street,
the effect that radio and TV programs
have on our youth, the new thoughts that
are gathered by young people when they
leave home and enter universities. Envi-
ronment gets its toll, and the emancipa-
tory elements that affect the lives of Jews
often are as strong as the • sentiments of
the home.
It is not divorce alone that is a prob-
lem. We should be grateful that there are
fewer divorces among Jews than among
other peoples. If and when divorces in-
crease among Jews, they are the result of
the same social developments that affect
the lives of non-Jews.
There are other problems that are re-
sultant from the new era of freedom for
all peoples. There is a marked increase in
intermarriage, and while it is true that
young Jews who receive a good Jewish
education have greater immunity to
mixed marriages, it is nevertheless unde-
niable that there have been as many in-
termarriages among children of very Orth-
odox parents as among the Conservative
and Reform groups in Jewish life.
The problem, therefore, is not neces-
sarily one that is influenced by a lack of
Orthodoxy. It involves other forces: the
free mingling of all Americans in a demo-
cratic environment, the new type of eman-
cipation, the social radicalism that is im-
bibed in universities.
The New York Orthodox rabbi has ren-
dered a service by calling attention to a
serious problem and by advocating more
religious education. But we believe that
he has merely scratched the surface. We
are yet to approach a solution either to
the increasing, number of divorces, to in-
termarriage and to other occurrences in
Jewish life which are both the causes and
the results of the great contrasts between
our children and their grandparents.

Middle East Scapegoat

When Czarist Russia and corrupt Ro-
mania sought to divert the attention of
their downtrodden peoples from their suf-
ferings, in pre-World War II days, they
instigated pogroms on their Jewish com-
munities. It was a safe bet to make the
Jew the scapegoat for all indignities.
Only a week ago, Arab potentates
raised the hue and cry that Israel is pre-
paring for war upon them—once again
resorting to the scheme of shifting the
attention of their peoples, whom they keep
in ignorance of what is happening in their
countries. It was a stunt also to blind the
eyes of the democracies to the dangers of
communism in the Middle East.
There was an amazing element of sur-
prise in this propaganda stunt: the role of
Lebanon's president, who was reported to
have joined in warning against an attack
by Israel. The very next day, it developed
that it was Lebanon that had suffered
casualties in a border clash with Syria.
It is Lebanon that has most to gain
from friendship with Israel and the most
to lose from pro-Communist Syria. Once
again, Lebanon's president must have
acted under threats from haters of Israel.
Meanwhile, Israel Ambassador Abba
Eban has reiterated his country's urgent
appeals for peace and for United States
assistance in efforts to come to peaceful
terms with the Arabs. If his program could
be pursued, the entire Middle East problem
could be solved.

Excellent Book on Jewish Observances

Your Neighbor Celebrates'

Arthur Gilbert and Oscar •Tarcov have combined their efforts
to describe Jewish festivals and ceremonial practices, by means
of narratives and pictures, in an impressive volume, "Your
Neighbor Celebrates," just issued by Friendly House Publishers
(65 Suffolk St. N.Y. 2).
The explanations of the festivals are exceptionally well told,
so that the book can be enjoyed by young and old. The book
contains special chapters on Bar Mitzvah, Confirmation and the
Synagogue. A strong appeal for interfaith - cooperation is con-
tained in a one-page statement on "The 'Church and the Syna-
gogue."
The synagogue service and the roles of the cantor and the
rabbi are excellently evaluated.
Explanatory notes on pronunciation of Hebrew, the Bibli-
cal source of the festivals, the Jewish calendar and the Jewish .
denominational groupings are excellently evaluated.
- An 11-page glossary of Hebrew words will prove of great
value to the reader. There are holiday calendars for the years
5718 to 5722.
The festival chapters deal with Rosh Hashanah, Yom
Kippur, Sukkot, Simhat Torah, Hanukah, Hamisha Asar
b'Shvat, Purim, Passover, Lag b'Omer, Shavuot, Tisha b'Ab and
the Sabbath.
The photographs in this book have special value. They are
impressive and emphasize the importance of the subjects they
illustrate. There are photographs by J. J. Breit, Frank J. Darm-
staedter, Victor Kayfetz, Maurice Seymour, Herbert S. Sonnen-
feld, and Leo Stashin, and some pictures were supplied by B.
Manischewitz Co., Brandeis University and the Union of Ameri-
can Hebrew Congregations.
Publication of this volume was encouraged by the Anti-
Defamation League of Bnai Brith, and there is - a statement of
acknowledgment by the ADL chairman, Henry Edward Schultz.
There also is an introduction of the Chairman of the ADL inter-
religious committee, Dr. William F. Rosenblum.
But of special interest in the prefaces is the foreward by
Dean James A. Pike of the New York Episcopal Cathedral of
St. John the Divine. Dr. Pike welcomes this volume "because
it will bring to people of all faiths, most effectively, a sense
of the real meaning of Judaism."
Dr. Pike adds: "This treatment does not — and was not
intended to exhaust Judaism's meaning or cover it comprehen-
sively, but 'it may lead many to go further into the theology and
ethics which Hebrew worship expresses. Speaking for the Chris-
tians who will read this book, I can say that they will not only
understand better the religion of many of their neighbors,- but
also, from its pages, they will understand their own faith better;
for a man cannot be a Christian without also being a Jew in
spirit. As Pope Pius XI said: 'We are all Semites spiritually.' "
Such is the value of "Your Neighbor Celebrates," for the pub-
lication of which ADL has earned hearty thanks.
(Announcement was made this week by Dr. Morton J. Sobel,
ADL director in Detroit, that "Your Neighbor Celebrates" is
beinc, distributed here by his office and that for a limited time
the book will be sold by ADL at the reduced rate of $2.25.)

'

Religion and Human i ty'

"Religion and Humanity," by Dr. Eugene Kohn, published
by Reconstructionist Press (15 W. 86th, N. Y. 24), answers many
questions on "the disillusionments and anxieties of our age."
The eminent scholar suggests the need for reinterpreting
the Idea of God. He discusses the Messianic ideas in religions,
the democratization of religious authority and religion's influences
in social changes.
Of special interest is his chapter dealing with the "Chosen
People" complex. He denies that "any religious society is 'chosen,'
and adds that "none is chosen and none rejected." He declares
that "God is equally accessible to all," that "all religions must
respect all others as having an equal right to bring whatever
gifts they are endowed with to God's altar."

