35 —
By Philip Slomovitz
this land of many wonders remains incomplete
—because Israel's tasks can never be complete
until all the devastated areas will have been
rebuilt, until new sources for redemption will
have been tapped.
Here is advice for those who retrace our
steps in Israel: don't bother taking notes. In-
evitably, one takes so many that they become
worthless. The best notebook is the Bible. Take
the Holy Book with you, study the history of
your people, retrace the treks of our ancestors,
and you'll find a repetition of history, a re-
newal of dedication to high spiritual values,
historic values redeemed and rededicated.
*
*
*
by happy children who took pride in the bits
of Hebrew in which they were able to converse
with us. They spoke affectionately of their
rabbi, Rabbiner Leo Adler, a former New
Yorker. They took us with joy to the Aron
Kodesh, the Holy Ark, to show us their many
Sifre Torah.
The Yarmulke came in handy in many
places we visited, and the reason for relating
these personal experiences is to encourage
other travelers, when they are away from
home, to look for their kinsmen's houses of
worship, to study the ways of their fellow
Jews in other lands, to become acquainted
with jewry. They'll learn a great deal from
such approaches—and they'll meet many in-
teresting people.
In Basel, we met with a confrere, Adrien
Blum, the editor of Juedische Rundschau
Maccabi, Switzerland's leading Jewish news-
paper—a weekly published in French and Ger-
man, with lessons in Hebrew. The Blums have
two sons in Israel. One is with the Air Force.
The other Andre, is an instructor at the Ben.
Shemen Children's Village near Lod. Ben She-
men is one of the most interesting children's
centers in Israel. It is directed by a very dedi-
cated man, Dr. Siegfried Lehmann, who had
befriended .Albert Einstein and who has gained
fame as an educator. Andre Blum has become
a valuable asset to Ben Shemen.
Adrien Blum explained that Basel Jewry's
dedication to Jewish causes stems from the
pride the community takes in its having served
as the home of the First Zionist Congress. The
people rejoice in the fact that their community
was host to Herzl. Blum said: "We are all
Zionists: note the fact that some of our chil-
dren are settling in Israel." He said there were
very few intermarriages here — a heartening
experience compared with the conditions we
found in Italy.
There is much that can be said about Swiss
Jewry. There are many distinguished leaders
who had done much for escapees from Nazism,
who now are doing a great deal for Israel.
At the Weizmann Institute of Science in
RehovOt it was our pleasure to be with Mr.
and Mrs. Walter Baer, of Zurich. The Baers
established a laboratory at the Weizmann In-
stitute; now they are heading a campaign for
the construction of a new science building at
Rehovot.
We met eminent Swiss non-Jews as well
as Jews who settled in Israel and are assisting
in the country's upbuilding. There are, indeed,
strong cc Swiss-Israelites.
We were enchanted with Basel, pleased
with its proud Jewish community, heartened
by the spirit of its youth who showed a love
for Israel, a devotiori to Jewish traditions —
many are Sabbath observers — and a knowl-
edge of their people's language and traditions.
2
At the Basel synagogue we were greeted
On from Israel
to the Communities
of Basel and Berne
-
BASEL, Switzerland — The very mention
of the name of this historic, 2002 year old city,
arouses high powered emotions. Here, the
Zionist movement was founded. Here, Theodor
Herzl convened the first World Zionist Con-
gress and thereby established "the first Jewish
Parliainent" in. modern times.
Herzl would have said: "Here I created
the Jewish State."
Here, on one of the balconies of the Hotel
des Trois Rois, Bale — the Three Kings Hotel
of Basle — Drei Koenige Hotel — Herzl's
historic photograph, showing him dreaming of
the Jewish State — was snapped. It is still
the most widely used and best known photo-
graph of Israel's modern prophet.
When he came here to convene the Zionist
Congress, he was a guest at the Trois Rois.
Perhaps we even occupied the bed that Herzl
slept in!
So—we visited the Stoat Casino where the
Zionist movement was created by Herzl at that
historic August, 1897 session. The respect with
which the Herzl name and the Zionist Move-
ment are mentioned here attest to the glory of
Israel's achievements and to the Herzlian
vision.
Basel provided the most heartening expe-
rience of an inspiring tour — next to the visit
in Israel. After seeing evidences of decline in
the old and historic Italian Jewish communi-
ties (only Milan Jewry in Italy apparently con-
tinues to show signs of strength), it was heart-
ening to be here. Next to Zurich, where about
6,000 of the 18,000-20,000 Swiss Jews reside,
Basel is the largest Jewish community in Swit-
zerland. There are 5,000 Jews here—and they
are a proud people: We visited them in their
synagogue and school, both parts of the Is-
raelitische Gemeinde, and we were witnesses
to the joy they displayed in their heritage, in
their Zionist background, in their interest in
Israel.
We also visited the synagogue in Berne.
But there the minyanim are small. The syna-
gogue is beautiful, but the observance is not
as widespread as in Basel.
•
•
Friday, November 8, 1 957—THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary