By RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX

(Copyright, 1962,
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)

The library of the Jewish
What is the origin of Purim Theological Seminary of Amer-
Parodies?
ica is holding a special exhibit
The Bible (Esther 9:17) to mark the recent acquisition of

characterized the day of Purim
as one of "feasting and glad-
ness." — It would. then be nat-
ural for those gifted with the
pen to attempt to compose hu-
morous scraps of literature to
be used on Purim. While there
is no doubt that the Talmud
exhibits a definite sense of
humor in various places, the
fun was tempered with serious
overtones. Historians of Jewish
literature contend that it was
not until the twelfth century
that there was .a clearly defined
branch of Parody in Jewish
literature. It was supposedly in
that century that Menahem ben
Aharon wrote his "Hymn for
the night of Purim" which was
a parody after the "Hymn for
the first night of Passover"
written by Meir ben Isaac.
The "Hymn for the night of
Purim" was included in the lit-
urgy contained in the Machzor
Vitry. Apparently, the texts of
sacred liturgy and religious lit-
erature in general were so ven-
erable in the eyes of the people,
that the happiness on Purim
was first written in parodies as
a "take-off" on these texts
rather than to imply a purely
secular form of literature. Even
the merriment of Purim, then,
had the form of a sacred lit-
erary expression.

the David Kaufmann microfilm
collection and concomitantly the
85th anniversary of the Jewish
Theological Seminary of Buda-
pest, on whose faculty Dr. Kauf-
mann served.
Dr. Simon Greenberg, vice-
chancellor of the New York
Seminary, stated that "the new
acquisition has established our
collection of manuscripts and
microfilms as the most complete
in the world and therefore an
incomparable resource for schol
ars doing original research in an
area of Judaica and Hebraica."
The exhibit consists of publi-
cations, holograph letters and
manuscript facsimiles written by
scholars of the Budapest Semi-
nary.
Kaufmann, Jewish scholar and
faculty member of the Budapest
academy from 1877 until his
death in 1899, had amassed a
large and precious library con-
; taming some of the finest speci-
mens of Jewish calligraphic and
illuminated art.
The 170,000 pages of printed
material have been compressed
into 5660 meters of film, now
incorporated in the New York
Seminary's Louis Ginzberg Micro-
' film Library. The Kaufmann col-

lection includes 594 manuscripts,
1066 Hebrew prints, 575 Judaica
items, 29 Spanish Jewish works,
47 bibliographies, 258 periodi-
cals, and illustrated manuscripts
including the famed Kaufmann
Haggadah, and Mishna (the first
codification of rabbinic law made
by Judah ha-Nas1 who lived in
the second half of the third cen-
tury) and the 1295 copy of Mai-
monides' Mishna Torah, his code

of Jewish law.
Prior to World War II, the
Kaufmann Collection fell into
the possession of the Hungarian
Academy of Science. During the
German occupation of Hungary
this legacy was carried off by the
Nazis but was returned intact fol-
lowing liberation.

Sliolem Aleichem Pupils
Hold Oneg Shabbat

Sholem Aleichem School Class
four students will have an Oneg
Shabbat at 7 p.m. today with an
evening of songs, dances and
readings in Hebrew and Yiddish.
At 9 p.m. Saturday the "Shole-
mates" of the Sholem Aleichem
Institute will begin their series
of discussions on Modern Jew-
ish History. The first session
will be d e v o t e d to "Secular
Movements of the 19th and
20th Centuries." Irving Zeitlin
will lead this first discussion.

Jewish Historians
Plan Testimonial
Mark 70th Anniversary, for Rabbi Levin
Chaplaincy Centennial
A testimonial dinner will be

The American Jewish Histor-
ical Society, observing its 70th
anniversary, returns to Phila-
delphia—the city where it was
founded in 1892—for a two-day
meeting April 1-2.
- In hddition to marking its own

tendered Rabbi Leizer Levin
by the Synagogue Council of
Yeshivath Beth Yehudah, it was
resolved at the annual general
meeting of the institution.
Nathan P. Rossen will serve
as general chairman. The ini-
anniversary, the Society will tial planning meeting will take

dedicate its annual session to the
celebration of the centennial of
Jewish chaplaincy service in
America's armed forces.
Participating in the ceremo-
nies will be Maj. Gen. Terence
P. Finnegan, chief of Chaplains
of the United States Air Force,
who will be a guest speaker at
a society banquet April 1.
Other speakers will include Dr.
David de Sola Pool, minister
emeritus of New York's Cong.
Shearith Israel, and Dr. Bertram
W. Korn, rabbi of Philadelphia's
Congregation Keneseth Israel.
Dr. Abram Kanof, president, will
preside.

Moroccan Jews Loyal to Hassan

place Sunday in Rossen's office.
Rabbi Levin is the director
of the Council of Orthodox
Rabbis, is one of the found-
ers of Agudath Israel of De-
troit. and a National vice presi-
dent of the movement, and is
the chairman of the board of
education of Yeshivath Beth
Yehudah.
Wolf Cohen, president- of the
Yeshivah, proposed the testi-
monial.

Bolivia Honors Rabbi

LA PAZ, Bolivia — The
Bolivian government conferred
upon Rabbi Gunter Friedlander,
spiritual leader of the Bolivian
Jewish community, the Order of
Condor de los Andes, the coun-
try's highest national award, for
the role he played in securing
the recnet technical cooperation
and cultural exchange agree-
ment betwen Bolivia and Israel,
making him the first Jew to be
accorded Bolivia'S° highest
honor.

CASABLANCA — Grand
Rabbi Danan, president of the
Supreme Rabbinical Tribunal
of Morocco, accompanied by
members of the Jewish Com-
mittee of Rabat, has conveyed
to King Hassan II the "un-
swerving" loyalty of Moroccan
Jewry to the throne on the first
anniversary of Hassan's reign
after the death of his father
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Mohammed V.

!

*
Why is the Sabbath before
Purim designated as "Par-
shath Zachor?

On this Sabbath a special por-
tion is read from the Bible
( Deuteronomy 25: 17-19) which
bids us to "Remember" (Za-
chor) the evil Amalek who at-
tacked us during our wander-
ings in the wilderness and to
blot out all remembrance of
this vicious foe. This portion is
read because Haman is a de-
scendant of Amalek and Rab
explains (Yerushalmi Megillah
25) that since the Bible says:
"And these days (of Purim)
shall be remembered and kept."
(Esther 9:28). They should re-
member the deed of Amalek
before celebrating the festival
of Purim. Generally speaking,
one must never celebrate a vic-
tory before remembering the
terrible toll of tragedy that was
encountered before the victory
came about. Since the first Word
of the Biblical text which is
read on that Sabbath is "Za-
chor," the text itself came to
as known as "Parshath Zachor"
as did the Sabbath on which it
is read.

Northwest Young
Israel Dedication

Rabbi Ernest E. Greenfield,
president of, Young Israel of
Northwest Detroit, has an-
nounced the dedication of the
newly-enlarged synagogue will
take place at 2 p.m. March 27.
The Young Israel branch on
Wyoming was established in
1952 as t h e
Northwest Is-
rael Congrega-
tion. In 1956 it
joined the
Young Israel
movement as
the Young Is-
rael of North-
west Detroit.
This year a

building with a
140-foot front- Rabbi Greenfield

age, auditorium for 600 persons
and a six-room school building
was erected. The classrooms are
used daily as a branch of the
United Hebrew Schools.
The offices of the Young
Israel Council of Metropolitan
Detroit are located in the North-
west building.
Rabbi Samuel H. Prero is spir-
itual leader of this Young Israel
branch.

Joseph Seligman-NoWonderThey Called 1-11. 171 e Eminent!"

It was said that between 1860 and 1880,
Joseph Seligman was the most eminent
Jew in America.

And indeed, he well may have deserved
the kudos. For during that period of time,
his contributions to his country were
remarkable. •

Joseph Seligman had arrived, a penni-
less immigrant, in 1838. Shortly his
younger brothers joined him William,
James, Jesse, Henry, Leopold, Abraham,
and Isaac. The clothing business was
something they understood and soon small
Seligman establishments were selling dry
goods in such diverse places as Lancaster,
Pa., Watertown, N. Y., Greensboro, Ala.,
and later, San Francisco.,
By 1857 these enterprises had so pros-
pered that the brothers were able to

—

establish the banking house of J. and W.
Seligman in New York.
Soon after, Joseph tgeligman and his

banking house performed the first of their
remarkable services for the country.
Singlehanded, he practically clothed the
entire Union Army! Over a million dollars
in uniforms were provided on credit to the
hastily-formed defenders of the Union.

P. LORILLARD COMPANY

Later in the war, when the governments
of Britain and France were very doubtfUl
of the Union's chances and unwilling to
loan badly needed funds, it was Joseph
Seligman who, through his friends in
Germany, was Able to sell 200 million
dollars worth of U. S. Bonds to keep the
war effort going!

But Joseph Seligman's most remark-
able act is a little-known one of personal
compassion. For it was he who discovered
the martyred Lincoln's widow in her later
years—alone, neglected, sick. And it was

he who rescued her and helped to make
her last years a little easier.
No wonder men called him "eminent!"

First with the Finest Cigarettes
through Lorillard research

4PM2 P. Lenoubef Ce

15 - THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Friday, March 16, 1962

Seminary Library Exhibit Marks
Acquisition of Kaufman Collection

Purim Quiz

