THE JEWISH NEWS
Pre-Trial Confessionals
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, 1879.
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
SIDNEY SHMARAK CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ HARVEY ZUCKERBERG
Advertising Manager
City Editor
Business Manager
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath—Sabbath Hanukah—the twenty-eighth day of Kislev, 5721—the following Scrip-
tural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portions, Miketz, Gen. 41:1-44:17, Num. 7:24-29. Prophetical portion, Zechariah
2:14-4:7.
Licht Benshen, Friday, Dec. 16, 4:43 p.m.
VOL. XXXVIII. No. 16
December 16, 1960
Page Four
Traditional Significance of Hanukah
We are now in the midst of the Hanu-
kah festivities. The celebration of the
holiday is nearly half over, and during
the several days to come there will be
continued rejoicing.
It is a grand occasion for our children,
and it is stimulating for parents and
grandparents to share in the festive spirit
that marks an eight-day festival.
Hanukah is considered a minor fes-
tival on our calendar. Yet it has assumed a
character of major significance—thanks,
perhaps, to the fact that the children have
taken to it. To a degree, the gifts have
magnified the observance. But they are
not the gifts alone that matter: there is
an heroic story that is retold, and it leaves
its mark upon the younger generation.
The story of heroism is told in the First
Book of Maccabees. In it are related these
facts:
And after that Antiochus had smitten Egypt,
he returned again in the hundred forty and third
year (172 B.C.E.), and went up against Israel
and Jerusalem with a great multitude, and entered
proudly into the sanctuary, and took away the
golden altar and the candlestick of light, and all
the vessels thereof. He took also the hidden
treasures which he found. And when he had
taken all away he went into his own land, having
made a great massacre, • and spoken very proudly.
Therefore there was great mourning in Israel,
in every place where they were; and all the
house of Jacob was covered with confusion.
Moreover king Antiochus wrote to his whole
kingdom that all should be one people, and every
one should leave his laws; so all the heathen
agreed according to the commandment of the
king. Yea, many also of the Israelites consented
to his religion, and sacrificed unto idols, and
profaned the sabbath. For the king had sent
letters by messengers unto Jerusalem and the
cities of Judah, that whosoever would not do
according to the commandment of the king, he
said, he should die.
Now the fifteenth day of the month Kislev,
in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set
up the abomination of desolation upon the altar,
and builded idol altars throughout the cities of
Judah on every side; and burnt incense at the
doors of their houses, and in the streets. And
when they had rent in pieces the books of the
law which they found, they burnt them with
fire. And whosoever was found with any the book
of the covenant, or if any consented to the law,
the king's commandment was that thCy should
put him to death.
In those days arose Mattathias. And when
he saw the blasphemies that were committed
in Judah and Jerusalem, he said: "Who is
me! Wherefore was I born to see this misery
of my people, and of the holy city, and to
dwell there, when I was delivered into the
hand of the enemy, and the sanctuary into the
hand of strangers."
In the meanwhile the king's officers came
into the city of Modin. And when many of
Israel came unto them, Mattathias also and his
sons came together. Then answered the king's
officers, and said to Mattathias on this wise:
"Thou art a ruler and an honorable and great
man in this city, and, strengthened with sons and
brethren. Now therefore come thou first, and
fulfill the king's commandment, like as all the
heathen have done, yea, and the men of Judah
also, • and such as remain at Jerusalem. So shalt
thou and thy house be in the number of the
king's friends, and thou and thy children shall be
honoured with silver and gold, and many rewards."
Then Mattathias answered, and spake with a
loud voice: "Though all the nations that are
under the king's dominion obey him and fall
away from every one from the religion of their
fathers, and give consent to his commandments,
yet will I and my sons and my brethren walk in
the covenant of our fathers. God fodbid that we
should • forsake the law and the ordinances. We
will not hearken to the king's words to go from
our religion, either on the right hand or the left."
Now when he had left speaking these words
there came one of the Jews in the sight of all
to sacrifice on the altar which was at Modin,
according to the king's commandment. Which
thing when Mattathias saw, he was inflamed with
zeal, and his reins trembled, neither could he
forbear to show his anger according to judgment;
wherefore he ran, and slew him upon the altar.
Also the king's commissioner, who compelled
men to sacrifice, he killed at that time, and the
altar he pulled down. And Mattathias cried
throughout the city with a loud voice, saying:
"Whosoever is zealous of the law and main-
taineth the covenant, let him follow me." So
he and his sons fled into the Mountains, and
left all that ever they had in the city.
Now when the time drew near that Mattathias
should die, he said unto his sons: "Now hath
pride and rebuke gotten strength, and the time
of destruction, and the wrath of indignation:
Now therefore, my sons, be ye zealous for the law,
and give your lives for the covenant of your
fathers. Be valiant, and show yourselves men in
the behalf of the law; for by it shall ye obtain
glory. Take also unto you all those that observe
the law, and avenge ye the wrong of your
people." •
Then his son Judah, called Maccabees, rose
up in his stead. And all his brethren helped
him, and so did all they that held with his
father, and they fought with cheerfulness the
battle of Israel . . .
Then said Judah and his . brethren: "Behold,
our enemies are discomfited; let us go up to
cleanse and dedicate the sanctuary." Upon this
all the host assembled themselves together, and
went up into Mount Zion. Judah appointed certain
men to fight against those that were in the fortress,
until he had cleansed the sanctuary.
Thus was there very great gladness among the
people, for that the reproach of the heathen was
put away. Moreover Judah and his brethren with
the whole congregation of Israel ordained that the
days of the dedication of the altar should be
kept in their season from year to year by the
space of eight days, from the five and twentieth
day of the month Kislev, with mirth and gladness.
•
"Let us dedicate the sanctuary," our
ancestors affirmed. There was dedication.
It was mixed with "mirth and gladness."
We are grateful for the joys that have
been provided for us by this glorious
festival.
Obligations Facing Budget Conference
When the heads of the two-score local
agencies meet on Sunday for the 12th
annual Pre-Campaign Budget Conference
of the Jewish Welfare Federation of De-
troit, they will be charged with the re-
sponsibility of arriving at a formula for
the allocation of funds from income to
be secured from the 1961 Allied Jewish
Campaign.
The conference will meet for a very
serious purpose. More than 50 causes,
major among them being the United
Jewish Appeal for overseas needs and our
educational and recreational agencies,
will be represented.
Our obligations are immense. We
have been raising a total approximating
$5,000,000 in most of the recent cam-
paigns, and our responsibilities are not
diminishing: indeed, they are mounting.
It is a recognized fact that Israel still
needs our encouragement and support.
The Allied Jewish Campaign, whose
needs will be evaluated on Sunday, has a
major duty to our school systems, to the
Jewish Community Center, to the Home
for Aged, to Sinai Hospital and many
other local causes, and to a score or more
of national movements.
The conference on Sunday will meet
for earnest business. The sincerity with
which our duties were met in the past
gives us assurance that the community's
leadership will strive for the best formula
and that Detroit Jewry will continue to
meet its obligations with dignity.
'The Arabs in History'
Mohammed's Attitude Toward
Jews Told in B. Lewis' Book
As a new Harper Torchbook, in the Academy Library series,
Harper & Brothers have issued "The Arabs in History," by Bernard
Lewis.
This historical analysis, illustrated by six maps, including one
that shows the Key to the Arab World Today, shows the many
changes that have taken place in recent years.
In its description of Mohammedan attitudes, Lewis' book shows
the Moslem relationships to Jews and Mohammed's attitude towards
Jews and Christians.
Mohammed's adoption of Jewish customs—such as the fast of
Yom Kippur and prayer towards Jerusalem—was in the hope "to find
a friendly welcome among the Jews." But "realizing that no support
was to be received from this quarter, later dropped the Jewish
practices that he had adopted, substituted Mecca for Jerusalem as
the direction of prayer, and generally gave a more strictly Arabian
and national character to his faith."
'The Psychology of Crime'
CharacterMoulding IsWeapon
Against Crime ; Jewish, Chinese
Family Ties Cited by Author
In "The Psychology of Crime," published by Columbia Uni-
versity Press, in which he indicates the frightening increase
in statistics on crime, Dr. David Abrahamsen makes this im-
portant observation:
"It is significant . . . that criminal activities are rather
low among the Chinese and the Jewish people, where there
are strong family ties."
Dr. Abrahamsen, a leading psychiatrist who was consulted'
on the question of a parole for Nathan Leopold, states that
"lack of identification with older family members may explain
the sharp increase in juvenile delinquency in Western countries,
since those countries whose culture is imbued with respect for
their elders do not show such an alarming rate."
The author of this study of crime discusses the aspects of
emotional disturbances in criminal tendencies. He urges that
families that are supported by communities should be guided to
paths of self-support, that they must "be helped to mobilize
their resources from the first moment on so that they can stand
on their own feet as early as posSible," in order to eliminate
trends towards criminality in such quarters.
Dr. Abrahamsen advocates the establishment of research
institutes for the diagnosis and treatment of juvenile delin-
quents.
He is critical of newspapers that "encourage the principle
of retaliation by playing up to the public's morbid interest in
sensational crimes for commercial purposes," and while he
admits that the public is entitled to the truth, he urges that
newspapers should publish not only what is "fit to print" but
also what is "fit to educate."
He comes to this conclusion:
"Prevention and elimination of crime is truly a problem of
education—educating each man and woman to find within him-
self worthwhile values by which he can live. It is by bringing out
the best in the individual, by blending both his intellectual and
emotional wisdom into healthy reasoning, that he will be able
to get long with himself and others, thereby maintaining his
own worth and dignity as ari individual and as a useful member
of society. Only as a healthy individual can he integrate his
own personal goals with those of a healthy society, and only
when society tries to keep all mental and social deviations or
abnormalities to a minimum can a high social order be reached.
On man's character depends man's greatness, and on society's
character depends its primacy and prestige.