Friday, September 27, 1957—THE D ETROIT JEWISH NEWS-56

Season's Greetings

DAY'S
FASHION SHOP

The Latest Apparel
For a happy day . . .
shop at DAY'S
Mr. and Mrs. David Silver

9450 JOSEPH CAMPAU
TR. 5-5275

Hamtramck

Hebrew University's Struggle with Ideology Parallels a World Problem

By .PROF. S. H. BERGMAN

An AP? Feature

the Jewish people needed a uni- however, is the spiritual basis
The philosopher Sc hellin g
versity just because it was no , vi this spirnuai center:
once defined life as an equi-
like other peoples.
If we were to be asked for a librium of opposing forces that
D i s p e r s e d throughout the
is forever being destroyed and
world, speaking the language succinct formula to express the
we forever being restored. Our uni-
of all the peoples, the Jewis ideology of our university,
versity lives by the- popularity
people was nevertheless a spe should be obliged to reply: of these forces, which
conflict
cific spiritual unit, althougl There is no such formula. But
with one another in the world
there
are
spiritual
ideas
which
threatened by assimilation ii
are too delicate, too complicated - and in Jewry. It cannot dispense
all countries.
with either of the two forces.
Therefore, in Zion had to b to be expressed in a simple
Without Judaism it would
founded a university that woulc formula.
wither, without the world it
Leo Baeck in a happy phrase
be a spiritual center for th
once compared Jewish life to would petrify.
Jews of the whole world,
power station of a spiritua an ellipse which continually re-
character for Eretz Israel an volves about two foci. That ap- r'-'`'-'•'—'4"----"-~""-'•""'"
plies also to our university. Its ,
for the Diaspora.
Best Wishes
These two concepts are ob- existence is conditioned by the !
on
the Holiday
viously antiethical. The idea struggle of these two concepts— i
the
sacerdotal
idea
of
traditional
i
that the Jewish people is a
LEWIS - FLOOR
people like any other, signi- Judaism and the secular idea of 1
Maintenance
the
new
Judaism—which
strug-
I
!
fies the conscious rejection of
the basis on which historical gle for mastery at the Hebrew 'Daily - Weekly - Monthly Rates i
Judaism has rested since Bib- University, as they struggle for 1
13901 ARDMORE
lical times, namely: that we mastery in Israel and within the i
= i/
are not a people like all the Jewish people.
VE. 8-1115
W e must not be a purely f,-..•.• ,....-..-.,.-.0-..-..-.....-..o--
other peoples: that we stand
in the relation of a "Covenant" secular university-, since, as a
to God; that we are "chosen" Hebrew University, we are con-
and that we have a special scious of our bonds with the
mission in , the world.
past. And we do not want to be
Season's Best Wishes
Consistent Zionist thinkers a tradition-bound' university be-
FEDERAL SUPPLY
like the Hebrew writer, Ber- cause we serve the new Juda-
ditchevsky, in opposing and ism of the future which seeks
Plumbing
& Heating
fighting against this concept, a new basis not yet found. It
SALES
AND
SERVICE
demanded a break with the is meant that these two tenden-
Shell Paint Distributors
Jewish past and sought a pure- cies should wrestle with one
ly secular basis for the Jewish another just as the Hebrew Uni-
3941 MICHIGAN
people.
versity for a synthesis which we
TA 5-5383
The adherents of this secular cannot as yet envisage.
view saw in the Hebrew Uni-
versity not a Jewish university, ".....,,....0.,...... ......-...0....0..........0...........................-,--..-......•,....,
but a general institution of high- 1
Holiday Greetings
er learning with Hebrew as the i
medium of instruction: This
i
ideology still prevails among
the majority of the teachers and
students of our university.
Investments - Securities
The writer rejects this secu-
lar concept. But it is not possible
Member
Midwest
and Detroit Stock Exchanges
to ignore the fact that it has I
639 Penobscot Bldg.
produced great spiritual bene- 1
WO. 2-5625
■
1■ ■
■
■ ■
■
■0■
■
fits. The Hebrew University is
established on the principle of
freedom of research. This free-
dom has made possible for the
university scientific impartiality
New Years Greetings
without anxious glances to this
side or-that. It has broken down
the barrier which the centuries
had built between Jewry and ii
mankind in general.
Custom Tailor
Notwithstanding our gratitude
for the s p i r i t u a l liberation
7433 West McNichols
UN 2-4517
which the national concept of ...ii
Judaism has bestowed upon us,
however, we cannot but realize
that this purely secular view of
Judaism was wrong. •
In. Israel we are becoming
Happy New Year to Our Friends and Patrons
more and more aware of the
difficult problems which have
•
arisen particularly in _connec-
tion with the secular education
of our young people. A purely
secular Jewry signifies the very
15400 Schaefer
apex of assimilation, despite or
VE 7-1100
perhaps because this assimila-
tion conceals itself under a He-
brew cloak.
It makes a complete break
with the Jewish past and also
Warmest Greetings on Rosh Hashanah
a complete break with Diaspora
Jewry, which considers itself a
religious community. If we take
our stand on purely national
Our Only Two Addresses
ground and regard our past as
a wrong road, we can have
13505 West 7 Mile Rd., at Hartwell
nothing more to do with the
15401 West 7 Mile Rd., at Prest
Diaspora, since the basis of our
existence then becomes a He-
Mr. and Mrs. Irving A. Steinberg
brew, national, secular culture
in Israel. Israel and Jewry are
then seen as antithesis.

study of the history of the
Hebrew University reveals that
its founders had two mutually
contradictory concepts of what
it should be.
The resolution to establish a
university, adopted at the Zion-
ist Congress held at Vienna in
1913, read as follows: "This
Congress is of the opinion that
a Hebrew University would con-
stitute a powerful factor of the
first importance in the national
and political life of Palestine,
and considers the foundation of
a university one of our noblest
and most important tasks."
The concept underlying this
resolution was that of a purely
nationa 1, secular university.
Reared on the ideologies of the
national movements of the nine-
teenth century, the Zionists
knew that the peoples who had
awakened to national self-con-
sciousness regarded the found-
ing of a university as an inte-
gral part of their political aspir-
ations, a weapon in their . spirit-
ual and political struggle for
existence.
Ahad Ha'am and Magnes,
however, had an entirely dif-
ferent conception of a univer-
sity. This is evidenced by their
opening of the Hebrew Univer-
sity with the Institute of Jewish
Studies. Their attitude was. that

New Years Greetings

H. E. EDWARDS
BLUE GRASS FARMS

Nursery Grown Sod

26502 FENKELL

.

i
i

.

KE. 2-2345

Charles A. Parcells & Co.

i0.1■(1■1•4)

Thompson-Cain Meat Co.

1515 Winder

Best Wishes of the Season

TRIANGLE ELECTRIC CO.

VIENNA BAKERY

Famous for Pastries, Bread and Cakes for 40 Years
DEXTER AT LAWRENCE
Also Visit Our New Bakery at 13303 West 7 Mile cor. Littlefield
UN 4-0414
- TO 8-8081

0

0

Sincerest Greetings on the New Year

.

WHITE PINE SALES COMPANY
L0 18900 Fitzpatrick
BR 3-4800

CI

CI

0

CI

0

Holiday Greetings

BONDED GUARD SERVICES

Plant Protection Specialists

Uniformed Guards

Patrol Service

441 East Grand Blvd.

LO 8-4150 •

011•11.14

04

611111•11

4).M.0

11.01

041MIWIHNIMOIMIN

FN

STAR BAKERY

Mr. and Mrs. Ernie Klein, Props.

°

•01INIMPOANII.01M1 0 /1

SKY FLORIST

TW 3-4013

Happy New Year Greetings
To Our Many Friends and Patrons

r
G

0•

STEVE PETIX

WO 1-2762

4222 East McNichols

CF•MIINIIIIIM. 4

0rl

On the other hand, the basis
of the university cannot be a
purely religious one. It has often
been said that our university
is a continuation of the famous
Yeshivot of Sura and Pumpe-
ditha. That is a falsification of
history. Our university is not
and cannot be a Yeshiva, with
all due respect for the vast
spiritual achievements of the
Yeshivot. For we are a free and
not a bound university,

Thus both these roads ap-
pear to be impassable. But,
for all that, has our univer-
sity an ideology? 'In a letter
written by Einstein in March,
1949, which has been pub-
lished in his book "Out of My
Later Years," he refers to the
university as a "spiritual
center of a flourishing and
buoyant community whose ac-
complishments have finally
met with the universal recog-
nition they deserved," What,

Happy New Year to Our Friends and Patrons

Steffen Hardware & Sporting Goods •

18824 West- 7 Mile Rd.

.

KE 2-1811

Mr. andMrs. S. Leibick

of the

AMEDAH STUDIO

Wish all their friends and patrons
A Happy and Prosperous New Year

11645 DEXTER

I
1

WE 3-4607

