Dore Schary Says:

Baden Cities Pledge Jewish Cemetery Funds

You Can't Acquire Judaism's Ideals Through Genetics

In a speech delivered at not come to us by inheritance,
the recent annual dinner any more than will American-
of Hadoar, a weekly Hebrew ism or the practice of the world-
publication printed in the ly virtues. It must be taught
United States, Dore Schary and then studied. You don't
delivered a speech telling wake up one day as an Ameri-
why he studies Hebrew. can and find that you know all
After delving into his per- about the Declaration of Inde-
sonal background and into pendence and the Constitution,
the immediate circumstances the Louisiana Purchase and the
prompting him to learn Bill of Rights. You don't know
Hebrew, he made the follow- about Bunker Hill and New Or-
ing pertinent comments on leans and Gettysburg—you don't
the study of Hebrew in know about Yorktown and Ti-
general.
conderoga — without studying
* * *
these historical moments. You
When I started my explora- don't know about the era of
tion in Hebrew, pieces of infor- expansion or the harnessing of
mation aerated my mind that to our national resources — unless
you scholars and authorities you study. The strong personali-
may seem relatively unimpor- ties of Washington, Jefferson,
tant, but to a beginner like my- Jackson and Lincoln do not live
_ self this information provided for you automatically; you have
blaze marks that move me along to learn before you can under-
the trail. When I learned that stand.
the name "Adam" came from
And so it is with my life as
the Hebrew word "Adamah," a Jew. Judaism is not trans-
this meant
mitted to generation from
generation with every moth-
something to
er's milk. I am well aware of
m e. Totally
"the Jews who are Jews at
apart from the
Heart." I respect these Jews.
knowledge, it
But the generations who come
gave meaning
after them will not be as Jew-
to why the
ish "at heart" because there
name Adam
will be fewer memories from
was used. Jer-
which they can draw. They
usalem, the
will have learned less from
"city of peace"
which they can have made a
that meant
selection. And the number of
something that
these "Jews at heart" will
added to my
diminish and suddenly there
understanding.
may be a group of Jews who
When it was
will be identified as Jews but
suggested
will have no idea of what
t o me that Schary
they are, why they are, or
"checkmate" was a c t u a 11 y who they are.
"Shich Met" — the king is
Nothing in the way of ideals
dead, I was fascinated. Hebrew or convictions is transmitted
also improved my understanding
through the genes. Blue eyes,
of Yiddish because I realized yes—but brotherhood, no. Long
that I had a headstart with legs, yes — but democracy, no.
words like Mishpocha, Bocher, Teeth, hands, heart, yes — but
Kallah, Milchamah, Sechel and liberalism, wisdom, charity, no.
a flood of other words so fa- If we do not devote ourselves
miliar to all of you (taken so to studying these positive social
much for granted, perhaps, be- convictions, all ideals can be
cause of familiarity).
swept away within a generation,
Beyond all these minor re-
flections, there was a more se- leaving us empty and defense-
rious effect on my emotions. I less—leaving us as easy victims
for any strongly indoctrinated
suppose to many of us it seems ideology. And if we do not de-
to be that the unique religious vote ourselves to studying the
civilization which is Judaism has
Jewish ideals and values, then
always existed and will continue
to live eternally. We think back they, too, can, in one genera-
to our history—to the revelation tion, be swept away. After thou-
sands of years they could be
of the Ten Commandments—to
the weary leader of a slave peo- uprooted and destroyed by the
utter neglect of only one gen-
ple—to the wresting of a prom- eration.
ised land from pagan ideologies
My concern, therefore, is that
—to the perseverance in the
face of destruction and exile— the life, culture and faith of
to the martyrdom of generation our people be preserved for
generations to come — so that
after generation. We assume all
those treasures encompassed
that all these agonies must
surely guarantee the survival of by Torah (the Bible, the Tal-
the Jewish approach to life be- mud, the Law, the lore, the
cause the price paid for survival mores, the art, the music, the
was so costly, in life and in poetry, the wisdom and the in-
blood. And we assume that the spiration of J u d a i s m) shall
value of the teaching of our surge with life in the minds and
forefathers has been univer- hearts of our children and theirs
sally acknowledged and will re- after them.
I know that it is not enough
main so because we feel that,
bought at such a high cost, the for me merely to learn some
Hebrew and to have my ego
product will endure.
But this is not so. The satisfied that I have mastered
product will not endure by some of its mysteries. My aim
itself. Under indifference and is to better understand the large
lack of attention it will molder concepts that will seem less
away. No, it will not endure complex once I am able to con-
unless it is guarded, protected tact them on basic levels. Final-
and nourished. When Judaism ly, I feel deeply that what I
was still young and when the shall learn is not for me alone.
broad concepts of Judaism
Torah was on the lips of only The
a small segment of the eastern are not a private domain. They
have been related, and in the
world, Rabbi Yose warned: future
will be even more re-
"Devote yourselves to the
lated,
to
our kinship with the
study of the Torah, for it will
at large.
not come to you by inheri- world
All these concerns and all
tance."
The Torah, I realized, will these ruminations propelled
me into my delayed labors
- as "Yeshiva bother."
"Thus hath said the Lord of
During most of my lifetime
hosts: Behold, I will save My I have been fascinated by Amer-
people from the East country, ican history, and while I am no
and from the West country, and
I will bring them, and they shall expert on the subject, I am, for
a non-expert, well informed. I
dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; believe that my knowledge of
and they shall be My people, and American history has made me
I will be their God. in truth more aware of American values
and in righteousness." — Zecha- and institutions and therefore I
riah 8:7 8.
am more completely fulfilled as

-

-

an American. One of my other
life interests has been some con-
cern with the humanities. Per-
haps this concern has fulfilled
me more as a human. The last
few years of my tentative work
in Hebrew has better fulfilled
me as a Jew.

KARLSURHE (JTA) — Vir-
tually all the communities of
Baden from which Jews were
deported to the south of France
in 1940, have pledged financial
contributions toward the reno-
vation of Jewish cemeteries
near the Noe and Gurs concen-
tration camps, the Council of
Jews announced here this week.
The pledges were made in

response to an appeal by Karls-
ruhe Mayor Guenther Klotz who
initiated a campaign to raise
335,000 marks for the renova-
tion of the cemeteries in which
the martyred deportees are
buried. He wrote the Baden
communities that participation
in the program would "honor"
them and "raise the esteem of
Germany" in the world.

The Historic Rosh Hashanah
Prayer of il'iaimonides

God, Thou hast formed the body of man with infinite good-
ness; Thou hast united in him innumerable forces incessantly
at work like so many instruments, so as to preserve in its
entirety this beautiful house containing his immortal soul, and
these forces act with all the order, concord and harmony imagin-
able. But if weakness or violent passion should disturb this
harmony, these forces would act against one another and the
body return to the dust whence it came. Thou sendest then to
men Thy messengers, the diseases which announce the approach
of danger, and bid him prepare to overcome them. The Eternal
Providence has appointed me to watch o'er the life and health
of Thy creatures. May the loim of my art actuate me at all
times; may neither avarice, nor miserliness, nor the thirst for
glory for a great reputation engage my mind; for, enemies of
truth and philanthropy, they could easily deceive me and make
me forgetful of my lofty aim of doing good to Thy children. En-
dow me with strength of heart and mind so that both may be
always ready to serve the rich and the poor, the good and the
wicked, friend and enemy, and that I may never see in the
patient anything else but a fellow-creature in pain.
If physicians more learned than I wish to guide and counsel
me, inspire me with confidence in, obedience toward the recog-
nition of them, for the study of the science is great. It is not
given to me alone to see all that others see. May I be moderate
in everything except in the knowledge of this science; as far
as it is concerned may I be insatiable; grant me strength and
opportunity always to correct what I have acquired, always to
extend its domain; for knowledge is immense and the spirit
of man can also extend infinitely, daily to enrich itself with
new acquirements. Today he can discover the errors of yester-
day and tomorrow he may obtain new light on what he thinks
himself sure of today.
0, God, Thou hast appointed me to watch o'er the life and
death of Thy creatures; here am I, ready for my vocation.

5719 We

Tr ;sit You

4958

A Happy New Year

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