Editorial
Passover Bids
Us: Remember
Past History
Passover has many les-
sons for every generation.
It calls upon us and our
children to apply the les-
sons of the past t6 the pres-
ent and to the future; to
strive for liberty today and
to work for better days to
come.
The primary admonition
of the great festival, there-
fore, is that no one dare for-
get the past events. We
learn from the past as
means of avoiding its errors
in the future. We look back
at the dark ages in order
that we may keep in mind
the sad periods in history
whose repetitions are to be
prevented.
* * *
Many dark ages are be-
hind us. One very recent
one should be engraved in
our memories and passed
on to our children, because
the battle for freedom never
ceases.
It was only a few years
ago that all of Jewry was
condemned to destruction,
in the minds of a group of
tyrants who nearly acquired
control of an entire contin-
ent.
It would be folly for us
to imagine that the dangers
of hitlerism are passed, that
neo - Nazism is impotent,
that the free peoples are se-
cure.
From two portions of the
globe, the dangers stem
anew — from the revived
Nazi elements in Germany,
small as their numbers may
be, and from the tyrannical
elements behind the Iron
Curtain for whom the hu-
man consideration is some-
thing to scorn at.
There are too many in
our midst who labor under
the impression that what is
past is past. They overlook
the fact that what had oc-
curred once can happen
again — if we permit it to
recur.
That is why the Passover
lesson, to remember his-
tory's past errors, is so vital
for all.
One must never forget
the tragedies that caused
genocide, that led to the de-
struction of millions of
men, women and children,
that brought into being gas
chambers and crematoria.
* * *
Passover has many les-
sons, but this one — to re-
member the past — is so
important.
Once we forget. the les-
sons of history, we are our-
selves doomed. The mo-
ment we treat former cala-
mities with indifference, we
ourselves become helpless.
It is when we keep in
mind the inhumanity of
man to man that we are in
position to assure human-
ity's retention of faith, of
respect for human beings,
of concern that the indigni-
ties of the past shall no
more be repeated.
remember the past — so
that the future may guar-
anty the dignity of man.
, 1PINI44.4'
1141.100
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., 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit 35, Mich., VE 8-9364. Subscription
$5 a year. Foreign $6.
Entered as second class matter Aug. 6, 1942 at Post Office, Detroit, Mich., under Act of Congress of March 3, 1879.
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
SIDNEY SHMARAK
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Circulation Manager
Advertising Manager
FRANK SIMONS
City Editor
Sabbath Hol Hamoed Passover Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, Hol Hamoed Passover, the seventeenth day of Nisan, the following Scriptural selections will be
read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portions, Ex. 33:12-34:26, Num. 28:19-25. Prophetical portion, Ezek. 36:37-37:14.
Scriptural Selections for Concluding Days of Passover
Pentateuchal portions: Wednesday, Ex. 13:17-15:26, Num. 28:19-25; Thursday, Deut. 15:19-16:17, Num. 28:19-25.
Isaiah 10:32-12:6.
Prophetical portions: Wednesday, II Samuel 22 ;
Licht Benshen, -Friday, April 24, 7:05 p.m.
VOL. XXXV. No. 8
Page Four
April 24, 1959
The Lesson of Passover: Freedom for All Peoples of the Earth
"From slavery to freedom," the aspiration of the downtrodden from time immemorial, had its earliest
application as an organized revolt among the oppressed Hebrews in Egypt, under the skillful leadership of
Moses, the great guide, who gained immortality as the greatest of all Prophets and as the Lawgiver.
Under Moses, the Hebrews were formed into a national unit. They constantly needed his guidance, in
-order to acquire the freedom that was offered to them. They were not accustomed to such a task. They lived
in an age in which peoples were subjected to the rule and domination of god-kings. Moses undertook to lift
his people out of that stage of subjection. It was a difficult task, but he sought its achievement by a passionate
adherence to principles of justice and human rights.
This passion for righteousness has been infused in the Passover Festival. When the oppressed Hebrews
first were faced with the idea of liberty, they did not know how to accept it. Freedom often has to be imposed
upon slaves. The genius of Moses would not yield to obstacles. In his historic essay, "Moses the Prophet," the
Jewish philosopher, Ahad Ha'am, thus explained Moses' determination to seek the fulfillment of his hopes:
great vision which
"The Prophet has faith in the power of the ideal. He is certain that the liberating farce of the
he is to show to his people will overcome their inherited servility, and inspire them with the courage and idealism that
their lofty mission demands. He assembles the people at the foot of Sinai, opens the innermost heavens before them,
and shows them the God of their fathers in a new revelation as the God of the whole universe. 'All the earth is Mine,'
proclaims the God of Israel out of the midst of the fire. Hitherto you have imagined, like the rest of mankind, that
every nation and country has its own god, and that these tribal deities, each sovereign within the limits of the Tuitional
territory, fight and conquer one another like the nations that worship them: This is false. There is not one god for
Israel and another for Egypt; there is only one eternal God, lord of all the earth and ruler over all the nations."
Such is the lesson of Passover, as incorporated in the principles pursued by the Great Lawgiver.
It is a festival of freedom not for Jews alone, but for all mankind. It is when all the peoples are free that
we shall have true liberty on earth.
A great ideal is offered to humanity in the Passover Idea. As we greet one another on this festival, as we
inaugurate it with the traditional Sedorim, we pray for the fulfillment of its sacred ideals.