Hanukah-1960

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
8, 1870.

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Editor and Publisher

SIDNEY SHMARAK CARM1 M. SLOMOVITZ HARVEY ZUCKERBERG

"

Advertising Manager

Business Manager

City Editor

Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the twenty-first day of Kislev, 5721, the following Scriptural selections will be
rend in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Vayeshev, Gen. 37:1-40:23. Prophetical portion, Amos 2:6-3:8.
First Hanukah Candle To Be Lit On Tuesday Evening

Licht Benshen, Friday, Dec. 9, 4:43 p.m. ,

VOL. XXXV III. No. 15

Page Four

December 9, 1960

Hanukah—Heroism Linked With Spiritualism

Hanukah is the Festival of Lights. It is
the occasion for the commemoration of
the great victories of the Hasmoneans
against the overwhelming Greek forces
which sought, at the direction of Antio-
chus Epiphanes, to uproot the Jewish
religion.
The Maccabean victory was a tri-
umph for religious freedom. It haS been
said that if the-Maccabees had failed then,
monotheistic.. religious ideas might have
been uprooted and monotheism deferred
for generations.
In 1903; the eminent Jewish scholar,
Dr. Morris Joseph, described the triumph
of a small group of zealots who fought
for religious freedom in the following
significant statement:
"It is good for Jewish youth to in-
clude warriors of their own race in their
gallery of heroes, to be able to say, 'My
people has produced its brave men
equally with the Greeks - and the
Romans.'
"But stilt better it is for them to feel
that these brave men drew their cour-
age from the purest of all sources, from
a passionate love for their religion,
from a veneration for the good and the
true and the morally beautiful. The
Maccabees boldly faced -overwhelming
odds, not for their on selfish ends, but
in a spirit of self-sacrificing fidelity to
the holiest of all causes. They threw
themselves up-On the enemy in the tem-
per that takes the martyr to the stake;
they did it not for gain or glory, but
solely for conscience's sake. They felt
that God was calling to them, and they
could not hold back. Theirs was a
unique effort. Others had, it is true, dis-
played an equally noble courage on the
battlefield. But what they had fought
for was their fatherland and their
mother ;tongue, their hearths and
homes. To fight for Religion was a new
thing.
"The little Maccabean band was like
a rock in the midst of a surging sea.

-

Standing almost alone in their day, the
heroes beat back the forces that threat-
ened to involve all mankind in a. com-
mon demoralization. They kept a corner
of the world sweet in an impure age.
They held aloft the torch of true reli-
gion at a time when thick - darkness was
covering the nations."
It is because Hanukah links the heroic
with the spiritual, it is because the fes-
tival has so strong an appeal to the roman-
tic, that it has become a major festival
for observance by the children even more
than by their adults. ,
Herzl Institute Pamphlets
Antiochus the Wicked, as the Greek,
ruler became known infamously in Jewish:
history, forced abominations on the altar
of the Temple in Jerusalem, in the year
168 before the common era, on the 25th
day of the month of Kislev. On the very
Herzl Press, sponsored by the Herzl Institute (515 Park,
same month of Kislev, three years later,
Judah Maccabee cleansed the Temple of N.Y. 22), periodically issues pamphlets on Zionism, personalities
the detestable symbols that were - erected an_d Jewish historical subjects.
This series represents more than a paperback publishing
by the Hellenic forces.
It is pamphleteering in the best sense of the term, and
_Linked with the festival is the_miracle project.
it serves a great purpose in enlightening people.
of the cruse of oil that was sufficient for
One such pamphlet, "The World of the Sephardim" (72
a single day but lasted for eight days—and
pages) has been prepared by three experts on the subject—
the festival became an eight-day celebra- Dr.
David de Sola Pool, rabbi of- the Shearith Israel synagogue
tion starting with the 25th day of Kislev. in New
York, the oldest in the land; Dr. Raphael Patai and
_In the rejoicing, which continues in our Abraham Lopes Cardozo.
time, 2,131 years after the -cleansing of
Dr. Pool's is a "personal survey," an evaluation of the
the Temple by- the Maccabees,' we recite Sephardic
communities in many areas, including the United
the 30th Psalm: -
States, their backgrounds, interests and activities. -
"Thou has turned for me my mourn -
"Sephardi Folklore" is the subject of Dr. Patai's essay, and
ing into dancing, thou hash loosened my Cardozo wrote on "Music of the Sephardim," an article supple-
sackcloth and girded me with gladness mented by musical notes of Sephardi songs.
-to the end that my glory may sing
This brochure has great merit and is valuable as an evalua-
praises unto Thee and not be silent."
tive analysis of Sephardi customs and traditions.
It is no wonder that Israel was able to
Another parriphlet issued by the Herzl Press is "Report on
survive the abominations of the ages, the Israel,"
by Gertrude Samuels, New York Times writer. It con-
persecutions of the centuries, the threats tains articles under three headings—"Still They Come to Is-
that lasted through two millenia—emerg- rael," "First Line of Defense for Israel" and. "Elath." The latter
ing independent and free and able to appears here for the first time. The others are reprinted from
celebrate its festivals and emerge autono- the New York Times Magazine.
mous in a State also known as Israel!
The articles deal with Nazareth, Operation Lachish, Capital
In this spirit we now celebrate Harm- . of the Negev, Lad Mordekhai, Yotvata and Goners..
kah again—as a linkage of the heroic with
the spiritual. What a blessed occasion!
An Album of 40 Plates

World of 'Sephardim,' Israel
Reports Are New Brochures

Unrestrained Arrogance of Nazi Criminals

There is a lack of restraint in the arro-
gance that still is being displayed by many
former Nazi fuehrers.
While arrests continue, and although
many West German officials appear de-
termined to bring to justice the scores of
criminals who still are at large, there is
so much hatred generated by those who
played brutal roles under Hitler, there
still is such a vast amount of antagonism
against the democratic way of life and
against the Jewish people, that the Nazis
of 15 years ago and the neo-Nazis of today
remain a dangerous element in human
society.
The best proof of the criminality of
the Nazis is to be found in the memoirs
of Adolf Eichmann. He remains unre-
pentant in spite of the complete expose
of his crimes. He said only a short time
before his capture by the Israelis that he
was pleased with the extermination of
five million Jews, and that he looked
upon them as enemies.
It does not matter that the Jews in
Germany were as loyal as their fellow
citizens, if not more than many of them,
and certainly more self-sacrificing in
their native land, to its culture, its lan-
guage and traditions.
On his recent visit in \Israel, Mayor
Willy Brandt of Berlin said: "A German
who speaks in Israel has to bear the ter-
rible burden of the past. I bear this bur-
den. I do not believe in the wisdom of

letting the grass grow and forgetting the
past.'
This was an honorable way of saying
"I repent." The man who aspires to win
the post now held by Chancellor Konrad
Adenauer has shown on numerous occa-
sions that he means to punish the Nazi
culprits and that he does not condone
any of the Hitlerite crimes.
But the Eichmanns and their ilk re-
main unrepentant. They would repeat the
cruelties of the past. They gloat over
their dastardly deeds. Even the attorney
for Eichmann, Robert Servatius, was re-
volted by his memoirs and is reported to
have said that he may refuse to defend
the Nazi criminal.
There still are too many Nazi-indoc-
trinated who are infesting many ranks.
They are to be found in Germany, in spite
of the process of weeding them out. They
are in hideaways in many parts of the
-world. •
'Wherever the Nazi propagandists are,
they continue to spread their poisonous
hatred.
Eichmann's confessions should serve
as revived warning against the threat that
still is imminent'''. from poisoned minds
like his.
If Nazism never again is to be per-
mitted to raise its ugly head, the world
must increase its vigilance against the re-
currence of the threat that was hurled at
all mankind only 15 years ago.

'Herzl's Life in Pictures'

The numerous publications dealing with the life and works
and aspirations of Dr. Theodor Hertl, issued during the current
Herzl Centennial Year, are enhanced by the album of 40 plates,
entitled "Herzl's Life in Pictures," issued by the Herzl Press
(515 Park, N.Y. 22).
This is a remarkable -collection because it includes not only
pictures of Herzl, his family, Jewish and world leaders with
whom the founder of the modern political Zionist movement
was photographed, but also important manuscripts..
Among the 40 plates is a reproduction of the invitation
that was issued by Herr and Frau Jacob Herzl to the Bar Mitzvah
ceremony of their son Theodor.
Also in the series are photographs of important buildings—
the Budapest house in which Herzl was born and other scenes,
including the Herzl study reconstructed in the .Jewish National
Fund Building in Jerusalem.
There also is the caricature of Herzl as "The Greatest Jew
of Our Times," letters in Herzl's handwriting, photos of Herzl
in Palestine, and many other reproductions.
This is a significant collection that will enrich the Herzl
libraries of individuals as well as of communities.
The volume was prepared by the Joint Committee of the
Government of Israel and the World Zionist Organization for
the Observance of the Herzl Centennial 1860-1960.

Guide to Wouk's 'This Is My God'

Rabbi Maurice Lamm, of Floral Park Jewish Center, New
York, is the author of "I Shall Glorify Him," a study guide to
"This Is My God" by Herman Wouk.
It is "an adult workbook on the vital religious problems
of modern Jewry." It was published by Bloch.
All aspects of Wouk's hook are covered in this guide.
Questions are posed regarding the many issues discussed in
the book and there are provisions for group discussions.