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Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951

Member American Association of English—Je•wish 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

8, 1879.

•

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Editor and Publisher

SIDNEY SHMARAK CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ

Advertising Manager

Circulation Manager

FRANK SIMONS

• City Editor

Sabbath Scrip tural Selections
This Sabbath, the fifth day of Nisan, 5720, the following Scriptural selections will be read
in our synagogues:
Pentateuch-al portion, Vayikra, Lev. •1:1 ,..5:2.6. Prophetical portion, Isaiah 43:21 44:23.

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Licht Renshen, Friday, April 1, 6:40 p.m.

VOL. XXXVII.

No. 5

Page Four

April 1, 1960

Warsaw Ghetto Fighters: Resisters of Tyranny

On April 10, the 17th anniversary of
. Council already has made the anniver-
the Warsaw Ghetto revolt against the nary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising an
Nazi tyrants will be observed here at an occasion for reminder to the community
of the tragedies suffered under Nazism,
annual observance sponsored by the we
concur with the World Jewish . Con:
Jewish Community Council.
gress call to the youth to take note of
The importance of this observance the occasion. Too many have been left
was explained in a statement issued by with the impression that Jews and others
Dr. I. Schwartzbart, director of the World who suffered under Nazism had not re-
Jewish Congress organization depart- sisted against the Hitler tyrannies. The
ment, who appealed to Jewish communi- Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is one of the
ties everywhere especially to call to the major proofs of serious action that was
attention of the Jewish youth the sig- taken by Jews against the Nazi onslaught.
nificance of the Warsaw Ghetto Upris- There were individuals who suffered
ing. He stated that the recent wave of martyrdom in the fight against the bru-
anti-Semitic incidents emphasized "the talities by Germans, and their memory
meaning of the resistance of the Jews should never be forgotten.
in the ghettos of Europe against the
The local observance, on April 10,
atrocities of the Nazis and their hench- will be one of the means of honoring the
men. These incidents recall the years of heroes who challenged the Nazis. It
horror during the catastrophe of. Euro- should serve again as the occasion for
pean Jewry and alert us anew to be on demonstrating our readiness to battle
the watch. Nothing can more assure our all threats to human liberties, and at the
watchfulness than k e e p i n g a 1 i v e the same time to recall with dignity and with
memory of the heroes of the Warsaw great respect the people of courage who
Ghetto and of the 6,000,000 Jews killed refused to be humiliated and who handed
during the Hitler regime."
down to us a s t an d a r d for decency
While the Detroit Jewish Commtinity through self-defense measures.

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Surgeon's Excellent Novel

Dr. Stilman's 'Healer of All
Flesh`UphoicisJewish Tradition

Dr. _ Abram Stilman, prominent MOntreal surgeon, has
written a powerful novel about doctors and the influence of
spiritual values on the medical profession.
His "Healer of All Flesh," published by Whittier Books
(31 Union Sq. W., N. Y. 3) has the merit of good writing,
of being a narrative that holds the reader's interest and of
combining with it one of the most positive approaches to
Jewish life.
The story is about a Jewish lad whose family is murdered
in pogroms, who experiences the tragedies that occurred during
the Russian Revolution, who saw the rise of Communism and
the cruelties attending its emergence.
Passover, aside from its major im- tions lies in a return to the Haggadah.
The hero of the story, David Shanan, promised his mother
portance as the Festival of Freedom, as
What we need is an understanding of on her deathbed that he would become a doctor, to be able to
the liberty-teaching period that has in- the Passover lessons, an acquaintance heal people. He came to this country, studied medicine, gave
spired not only Jewry but all faiths, has with the ritual that is to be used at the his -keenest attention to the needs of hii patients and - defied
obstacles to attain his goal on the highest levels demanded of
its significance as a holiday of joy for the' Seder, a combination of observance, cou- medical
men.
family, especially for the children.
pled with a knowledge of the festival's
Having been witness to cruelties in Russia, he retained
It is the festival on which families are traditions, marked by the type of respect his passionate adherence to humanitarian ideas. He fought
reunited, when parents and children as- that assures self-respect.
against prejudice as an intern, he protected the good name
semble, from whatever distances may sep-
* * *
of Jewry, he challenged another doctor who was ashamed of
his Jewish background and he came to the defense of a Negro
arate them, for the observance of a sacred
Twelve days remain between now and I who
joined the medical staff.
occasion that becomes, at once, a joyous Passover. They are ideal days during
He does not condone mercy killing. He opposes abortions.
event for young and old.
which to study the Haggadah, to prepare He learns from the head surgeon at the hospital—a noble-minded
That is why so much emphasis - is ourselves for intelligent explanations of Christian—to sit by his patient in time of need, and he does
placed on the Sedorim. That is why so the festival's symbols, to be ready to tell not
give priority to the rich, but his attention goes to the
much effort is exerted in preparation for our children what truly makes the Pass- most needy.
it by the women folk.
The remarkable part of Dr. Stilman's book is the pride
over the great humanitarian festival that
* * *
served as the beginning of all revolution- with which he approaches all Jewish issues. The author is a
and devoted Jew, and it is as such that he portrays
It is because the Seder is not, and can ary movements for liberty, for human dedicated
Shanan.
not be, ignored that so many novelists dignity, and against all evidences of in- David
When his Christian mentor suggests that he devote himself
have made use of it in their narratives. tolerance and enslavement.
to research, David declines, and he explains:
But some of them have utilized it for
Now is the time for those who are to
"Dr. Taylor, according to Jewish tradition the doctor is
ridicule and have caused deep hurt to lead the Sedorim,. and for all who will God's emissary. When I was a child my mother used to tell
the people from which they have sprung. participate in them, to study all aspects me: 'A doctor is always accompanied by Angel Raphael' . . .
Why has that happened? There is an of the Passover festival—so that they may The - name is significant: Rapha-el, the term in Hebrew stands
obvious reason. They did not misrepre- themselves be informed and so that they for 'Heal me, 0 Lord.' I feel and even dare to believe, that as
as a child find's repose and happiness in the warmth of
sent: they merely told what they, them- may be able to pass on the proper infor- long
its mother's bosom, as long as .love and sympathy command
selves, had experienced. mation about the joyous occasion to the respect and merit existence in this world, and as long as man
Is it possible that, more often than not, children and the children's children.
has God in his heart—then anyone who brings relief and comfort
the Seder is burlesqued, as it has been
It is in that way—through preparation to the suffering will never be cast aside as 'obsolete'."
portrayed in some of the novels by Jews? —that we can make the Passover a fes-
The respect with which Dr. Stilman writes about the Jewish
If non-Jews had written about the Se- tival of joy, of knowledge and under- faith and traditions, the high standards he introduces in treat-
dorim as some Jews did in recent years, standing, and of great dignity. It is in ing medical themes, make his novel a splendid Jewish narrativ.

Early Passover Planning ... for Children's Sake

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I
Schechter s Seminary Essays

we might, with justification, have called that way that we can recapture the vitality
them anti-Semites. What is it that in- of our Hebraic heritage. May all of us, in
duced some of our able young men to that fashion, join in restoring dignity to
A number of the most scholarly addresses and essays, by
treat great occasions in Jewish life with the coming festival and to all sacred oc-
one of the great scholars of the early years of the present
disdain and with indignity?
casions in Jewish life.
century —Prof. Solomon Schechter — are made available anew,

* * *
The tragedy—we view the disrespect
in our own ranks towards our basic tradi-
tions as tragic—undoubtedly lies in a lack
As we prepare to usher in the festival
both of knowledge and of understanding of Passover, Jewish communities are
of our heritage. It is traceable to the un- moved to a spirit of aiding the less for-
preparedness with which even those who tunate and of asserting that "let all who
observe our festivals introduce them to are hungry come and eat. . . ."
their children.
- • - • There will no doubt be generous as-
What we need is preparedness. It is so • sistance to the traditional local Mo'os
deeply regrettable that the Seder should Hitim fund in behalf of the needy. The
all too often have been marked by a hasty , community must, at the same time, keep
reading of a few portions of the Haggadah, . in view of the vast responsibility to hun-
by puns while that was done, and by rush- _ dreds of thousands who are aided by the
ing to silverware and dishes as proof of United Jewish Appeal, on a worldwide
the validity of an old saying that what is basis, through our Allied Jewish Cam-.
usually aspired to is not the Haggadah paign. Passover's approach should be a
but the kneidlach. signal to bolster the spirit of giving and
It is apparent that the cure for the to assure the success of the Allied Jewish
evils that beset us in the internal nega- CaMpaign.

The Spirit of Giving

in a new volume issued by Burning BuSh 'PreSs (1109 - . Fifth
Ave., N. Y. 28).
.
•• . . .
Prof. Schechter's "Seminary Addresses and - Other - Papers"
are again available in a clothbound edition and in a paperback.
There is an introduction to the volume • by Dr. Louis Finkelstein, ,
Chancellor of the Jewish Theolgical Seminary.
These addresses and other statements are of great value
to rabbis.- Scholars in all areas of Jewish thought are, however,
the beneficiaries of the great scholar's :thinking and . guidance.
Bible students will be enlightened by his address "Higher
Criticism = Higher Anti-Semitism."
"Rebellion Against Being a Problem" is to this day an
outstanding commentary on the anti-Semitic issues and on the
so-called "Jewish problem."
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"Humility and Self-Sacrifice as the Qualification of . the
Rabbi" is a stimulating evaluation of huinbleness as a necessity
for wise leadership.
Zionism, Jewish and non-Jewish personalities, basic ethical
problems and public issues are among the subjects covered in
Prof. Schechter's essays. His espousal of Zionism was a major
intellectual gift - to the movement. By the same token, he ad-
vanced the cause of learning with his scholary analyses

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