THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS -- Friday, September 12, 19 58-80

His Life — One Big Fairy Tale

Hans Andersen and the Jews

nails Christian Andersen Memorial
in Central Palk, New York, was dedicated
Sept. 18, 195ti on the occasion of the writer's
150th anniversary of birth. The bronze figure
is the work of Georg Lober, an American
sculptor of Danish ancestry. "The Ugly
Duckling," one of Andersen's best known fairy
tales, is shown at the base of the statue,
Which is located on the west side of Conserva-
- tory Lake, near Fifth Ave. and 74th St.

By RUTH MORRIS

(Standard Feature Syndicate)

Who of us, in our childhood days, has not
keenly felt the misfoitunes of "The Ugly Duck-
ling" and has breathed more freely when, in
the end, it turned into a beautiful white swan?
Who has not read and loved the touching tale
of the shic emperor and "The Nightingale" who
saved his life, or the amusing satire of "The
Emperor's new Clothes"—to note only a few
of the 168 fairy tales written by the prince of
fairy tale writers?
Hans Christian Andersen was born in
Odense, Denmark, on April 2, 1805, the son of
a poor cobbler. Little Hans wanted to become
a dancer, a singer, an actor. But he became a
writer instead.
Before attending public school, he frequent-
ed the Jewish School in Odense for a year or
two. The story of his life and all his writings
reveal his deep sympathy for oppressed Jews.
This stirring feeling of compassion coupled with
a great sadness arose in the 14-year-old boy
when, on a bleak December day in 1819, he
saw Copenhagen for the first time and wit-
nessed a bloody pogrom in the streets. Shud-
deringly, his keen feelings of justice revolted
with deep-felt horror against the cruelty with
which an incensed mob treated Jewish men,
women 'and children.
This heart-breaking scene remained with •
him during all his life and he described it
in many of his writings. In "Only a Fiddler"
(1837), Andersen depicts the ghetto in
Rome; the hero Bernardo protects an old,
feeble Jew when a ruffian would compel
him to jump over his lifted stick. At the
point of his sword, Bernardo forces the
cruel man to jump over his stick.
The moving description of a walk through
the dark, high-walled ghetto, vivid in its squalor
and misery, is imbued with the poet's heart
blood screaming to heaven against the infamous
conditions under which the Jews were com-
pelled to exist.

Roth Hashanah Traditions

BY RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX

(Copyright, 1958, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)

During his stay in Slagelse, Andersen en-
Why do some people insist on wearing white on Rosh
joyed the warm friendship of a wealthy Jewish Hashanah?
family, the Henriquez, who after the death of
This tradition is traced to the Palestinian Talmud (Rosh
his patron and protector, Jonas Collin, director Hashanah 1:3) where the rabbis declare that the day of judg-
of the Royal Theater and a Councilor of State ment of Roth Hashanah is different than a mortal day of judg-
in Copenhagen, took him into their highly cul- ment. When one faces the court of mortals one comes dressed in
tured home. He shared with them their great black, fearful and worried. When one faces the tribunal of Heav-
love for music and books.
en (Rosh Hashanah) one comes dressed in white. It is for this
Later, they intoduced him to another Jewish reason that the pious wear a white kittel on Rosh Hashanah in the
family, the M. C. Melchiors, where the gentle synagogue. According to this explanation it is thus a symbol of
poet, who had never married and never had a confidence which is the spirit designated by the rabbis for Jews
home of his own, found his "home of homes" on Rosh Hashanah.
and lived there to the end of his life. Both
Another explanation claims the white is worn as a symbol of
families offered the sensitive, lonely poet warm
friendship and sympathy augmented by Danish purity and spiritual cleanliness. The idea is to show that we
have repented for our sins and appear in white innocence before
generosity and understanding.
Andersen's deep compassion and his loving the Almighty on the Day of Judgment. It is explained by some
and sympathetic treatment of his numerous writers that this custom was quite prevalent when it was custom-
Jewish characters, speak loudly for his warm ary to wear white on gala occasions and black on mournful
feelings for the great sufferings of a cruelly occasions. Now that black is worn even at weddings, some cow
tend that this customary tradition no longer is applicable; al-
persecuted and vilely calumnied minority.
though others still persist in wearing the white on Rosh Hash-
In 1343, while in Paris, Andersen met Victor anah.
Hugo,. Honore de Balzac, Heinrich Heine and
the great Jewish actress Rachel (Madame Elise
Why is it customary to eat an apple dipped in honey on
Rachel Felix) with whom he kept up an eager
correspondence until her death at the age of Rosh Hashanah?
37 in 1858.
Some claim that an apple is the symbol of the glory of the
Andersen wholeheartedly furthered such judgment of the Almighty which is present on Rosh Hashanah,
Jewish writers as the German playwright Her- The apple is hard and tart. Dipping it into honey makes it soft
man Mosenthal whose dramas he translated into and sweet. Lkewise is the judgment of the Almighty originally
Danish. But he not only did that, he saw to harsh. When it is dipped intc our prayers, our tears and our
it that they were performed on the Danish penitence on Rosh Hashanah it turns soft and sweet like the
stage and that the author would get his pay. apple. Some claim that in Northern France red apples were used
While in Germany, he met the brothers Grimm, as far back as the Twelfth Century to remind one of his sins.
authors of children's fairy tales, and a life-long When the red apples are dipped in honey, not only does the
friendship developed among the.. great spinners Crimson color fade but there is a sweetened effect. Our sins
are turned into virtues by our prayers, our penitence and our
of tales.
His own religion was Deism, the teaching charity on the day of judgment. This tradition is traced to the
which accepts a personal God, who, in His All- days of Nehemiah where the returning exiles were bidden to
power and A ll-love created the world and sus eat sweet things for it was Rosh Hashanah (Nehemiah 8:1-11)
tains and governs it with a definite end in view. and hence our tradition to eat sweets on Rosh Hashanah.
*
*
He had respect and sympathy for every religion
as long as it was honest; and he felt as solemn
Why are the occasions for blowing the shofar distributed
in the synagogues of the Jews and in the through several parts of the services of Rosh Hashanah?
mosques of the Turks, as in the churches of
The Shofar is blown during two principal parts of the
the Christians
service: First, after the Torah is read and secondly during the
He honestly confesses his religious feel-
Musaf Service which comes later. There are several reasons
ings in his own naive way: "In fear and
for this duplication. Some claim it is done to confuse Satan so
pain, i cannot pray to God, but in joy, when
that he will not be able to prosecute the people on the days of
things go well with me, He is so near me,
judgment. Others claim that the shofar was originally sounded
then I can pray; when there are humble
in the morning service of Shacharit, so that a commandment
thanks for blessings in my soul and
be not delayed but carried out as soon as possible. Because of
thoughts". In his fine dogma-free sincerity,
an evil decree from a hostile government forbidding the shofar
he advises his readers: "Live thy life ac- - to be blown it was moved to either the time after the reading
cording to the laws of love and justice, and
of the Torah or to the time of Musaf — a time when
God's bright sun will shine with the same
the guards stationed to see whether Jews were still blowing the
warmth over thy grave whether thou art
Shofar would not be at hand. According to this explanation the
a Christian or a Jew".
traditional explanation of confusing Satan is a symbolic way of
Andersen was firmly convinced that religion referring to the trick used to confuse the .enemy, i.e., the hostile
and science are friendly kingdoms which over- monarch who issued the decree. Even after the decree - -was
lap one another: "Truth can never quarrel with abolished the tradition continued. There are some writers who
truth, science never quarrel with faith when claim that th principle time for the shofar is during Musaf
both are viewed in their ptirity.: They meet and because of the tripartite liturgy of Malchiot, Zikronot and "• of-
strengthen man's most glorious thought: immor- rot which are accompanied by the shofar. It was done also at an
tality". (Quoted from his book "In Sweden"— earlier hour, i.e., after the Torah reading for the ill and weak
chapter "Faith and Science".)
or indisposed who could not wait until the Musaf service in the
Although his life began in extreme poverty, synagogue but who had to leave earlier. Others claim that the
it was later filled with lovely and exotic adven- shofar was moved to the Musaf service because by that time the
tures and always disappointed love affairs congregation has already observed many good commandments
(among them the famous Swedish nightingale, such as prayer, Torah reading, etc. and the shofar crowns them
Jenny Lind, to whom he dedicated his fairy- with the apex of good behavior topping all the rest of their
tales), with warm, comforting friendships with deeds.
*
*
*
highly cultured Jewish families in whose midst
he passed the later years of his life and was
Why is it claimed that a Jew must hear 100 shofar notes
loved like a son.
on Rosh Hashanah?
It ended peacefully at the age of 70. ' In his
These are said to be reminiscent of the one hundred wails
last days, when he was ailing, the Melchiors and sobs issued by Sisera's mother when tragedy befell him.
shielded him lovingly, giving him all the friend- The • shofar is a call to repentance and the hundred notes may
ship and understanding he so sorely needed. be symbolic of the glory of the Almighty which sighs for us to
He passed away in their beautiful home return or of the wails of our conscience Which beg us to repent
"Rolinghed" (Tranquillity) in 1875.
and be good.

Horace Goldin — Magician in a World That Likes to Be Fooled .

Horace Goldin, born on De-
cember 17, 1873, in Wilna,
Poland, son of a Mr. Goldstein,
was considered by many the
greatest of all • contemporary
magicians. At an early age, he
was taken by his parents to the
United States and, during his
school days, had a passing in-
terest in magic. He started an
unpromising career as a sales-
man in his uncle's modest boot-
store in New York.
One day, when he was about
18 years old a man came into
the store, tried on a pair of
boots and protested violently
that he could not get his feet
inside them. When the bewil-
dered Goldin reached into the
boots, he found an egg in each,
hard-boiled of course, and he
stared at his find, open-
mouthed. The prospective buyer
who had played the trick upon
him, was none other than the
famous magician, Professor
Compars Hermann.

Flattered by the boy's genu- was nicknamed "The Whirlwind
ine interest, he showed him Wizard."
some of his tricks and from
When only 21 years old, he
was engaged by Keith's-Boston,
and from that moment on, he
was. a star in his profession.
In August 1904, he was in-
vited to perform in New York
City and there he went sight-
seeing, racing through the
streets in a flaming red car
known as "the red devil."
The sensational Dreyfus af-
fair in France inspired Goldin
to an illusion entitled "The
Flight of Captain Dreyfus from
Devil's Island" which made him
Goldin as the "Yogi"
world-famous overnight. After
that moment on, Goldin was a few performances in New
magic-mad. He started conjur- York, he was invited to come to
ing as an amatuer to amuse England where he had a solo
himself and his friends.
engagement for six consective
Goldin soon became a pro- weeks at the Palace Theatre,
fessional and because of the un- London. He made extensive
canny rapidity of his work, his tours all over the world with
cleverly-thought out stunts and kings and emperors vying with
illusions following each other each other to have him perform
with kaleidoscopic effects, he at their courts. After a London

• •

performance, Edward VII pre-
sented him with a diamond-
studded pin, as did Emperor
William II of Germany.
Goldin performed all his il-
lusions whether card stunts,
sleight-of-hand or the bewilder-
ing "egg-in-the bag" trick with
such astonishing skill and rap-
idity that his audience could
hardly follow him. And he did
so in silence, never uttering
a word. .
Wherever he played, he
would be accorded a sensational
reception by a packed house;
enthusiastic audiences burst in-
to orgies of clapping and cheer-
ing. After a performance of the
Dreyfus Act, which aroused
immense enthusiasm every-
where, the excited spectators
would rise to their feet and
shout wildly: "Encore! Encore!"
mixed with a deafening "Bravo-
Bravo!"
As "Yogi Carem Dumbila,"
he would do a variation on the

BY ERWIN FETTERS

(Standard Feature Syndicate)

famed Indian rope trick that
left his audience gasping. After
chasing a boy up the rope,
Goldin followed branishing a
gleaming knife. Seconds later
he would toss the dismembered
boy back on the stage, only to
appear shortly thereafter with
his confederate, made whole
again. For this act, he asked and
recieved $15,000 for one per-
formance.
Although Goldin became an
American citizen, he lived most-
ly in Great Britain where he
was one of the highest paid
artists on the stage.
• Goldin passed . away in Lon-
don on August 22, 1939. He was
president of the Magician's Club
and in true Jewish fashion,
played a major part in organ-
izing vaudevlle artists' charities.,
He was the author of a few
books on magic of which "The
World Likes To Be Fooled," an
amusing autobiography, is the
best known.

