THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Friday, April 6,
Rabbis Symbolically Work Matzoh
Dough at Annual Schmura Baking
Brandeis University Gets $400,000 for Max Richter Chair in Political Science
Brandeis University has an- for the "Max Richter Chair in signed to Brandeis by his wife,
nounced a $400,000 gift to un- Political Science" were pro- Mrs. Reba Richter, and by
derwrite a chair in political vided by the will of the late Charles Segal, attorney for the
science at the Waltham, Mass., New York industrialist and Estate, a Fellow of the Uni-
liberal arts University. Funds philanthropist and were as- versity.
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Rabbi E. Silver and Rabbi I. Siegal symbolically work the
matzo dough at the annual Schmura Baking held at the B.
Manischewitz Company, Jersey City, New Jersey. Yeshiva
leaders and learned Rabbis observe ceremony.
Ex-Catholic Priest Now Pleads
for Jewish Idea& Among Jews
By JEFFREY HART
In this country on a second
American lecture tour, Abra-
ham Carmel is busily engaged
as he travels around the coun-
try, in writing a new book on
the subject of comparative reli-
gion. It should he a good one,
for who is more qualified to
write on the subject of the
world's major religions than
this man who was born a Prot-
estant, became a Catholic priest,
and is today an orthodox Jewish
layman.
Speaking before Ili]lel Foun-
dations, Jewish community cen-
ters and synagogues—on a tour
booked by the National Jewish
Welfare Board Lecture Bureau
—the dark-haired, bespectacled,
fifty-one year old Englishman
preaches conversion—the con-
version of Jews to Judaism.
A man who believes Juda-
ism needs someone to do for
it what Billy Graham does for
the Christian religion, Car-
mel says: "Of the five and a
half million American Jews,
I would say that at least two
million don't know they're
Jews. They know nothing
about Judaism, and have sim-
ply become racial Jews, with
none of the positive tradi-
tions and moral values of
Jewry. Jews must be won
back to the traditions of Ju-
daism—they must find a new
commitment to the traditions
of their faith."
Born in Greenwich, London,
England, in 1911, as Kenneth
Charles Cox, the man who has
adopted the name of Abraham
I. Carmel became a Jew in
1953, at the age of 42, when
he was officially accepted by
the British Beth Din. This step
climaxed a dramatic religious
journey in Carmel's life be-
cause he chose to be a Jew
only after he had left the Cath-
olic priesthood and had studied
Buddhism, Hinduism, Moham-
medism and Christian Science
before he made his decision.
Brought up as an Anglican,
he became interested in Cath-
olicism as he sought "author.
ity" in his religious thinking.
He finally turned to Judaism
after studying the writings of
former Chief Rabbi Dr. Hertz
and Professor Klausner. When
asked why, he answers: "In
all other faiths, there were
mediators, but Judaism alone
had a direct stream to God."
Carmel was ordained as a
Catholic priest in 1943, and first
served Rome as a parish priest
in the outskirts of Edinburgh,
Scotland. His main interest was
always in youth work. He
ser v e d Catholicism as the
founder of an "Open Door
Youth Club" which was highly
successful in combating juve-
■
nile delinquency; today, his
greatest pleasure is addressing
Hillel Foundations and other
youth groups. He states:
"It would be a sad day for
American Jewry, if it were to
lose its students. Thousands of
young Jews on the campuses
have practically no knowledge
of their heritage, and have no
weapons with which to defend
their faith. The student body
must receive high priority in
all our endeavors. We must give
the Hillel Foundtion more sup-
port, material as well as moral."
But the man who is a cru-
sader for vital, living Judaism
did not become a Jew easily.
First, he had to wrestle with
his own conscience. Then the
English Beth Din had to be-
come convinced of his sincer-
ity. It took almost four years
before the British Beth Din
officially accepted him as a
Jew.
Carmel had been for some
time a teacher at Carmel Col-
lege, a Jewish secondary school
not far from Oxford. It was
from this association that he
took his name. Except for 16
months in Israel, and his two
speaking tours in the United
States, Carmel is a housemaster
and a teacher of Latin and
English at the school. In Israel,
he studied Hebrew at an Ulpan
and was a Talmudic scholar at
the Yeshiva Horav Kook.
Completely respectful of Ca-
tholicism, Carmel turned away
from it as he developed doubts
about the divinity of Jesus.
Ask Abraham Carmel today
why he is a Jew and he will
answer: "In Judaism, there is
a complete life of harmony
and union with God. Every
action of the day is blessed
and dignified by the laws of
daily living revealed by the
Heavenly Father direct to his
servant Moses."
Cannel's Judaism is com-
pletely orthodox. He is a strict
Sabbath observer, and a rigid
adherent of kashruth. He takes
his Judaism seriously, and wor-
ries about it. He believes too
many Jews practically sever
their ties with Judaism after
bar-mitzvah.
This is the man whose mes-
sage is being brought to Jews
throughout America, as he
travels from community to com-
munity, in the , tradition of
the circuit riding revivalist. A
zealot, he speaks for small fees,
and sometimes no fee, espe-
cially when addressing youth
groups. He is not interested in
major, more remunerative, non-
sectarian lecture platforms. He
is concerned passionately with
a cause: a Jewish mission to
the Jews.
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A lot of good eggs and some sweet apple cider
make Goodman's Egg Matzos delicious!
Kosher for Passover, baked under the supervision of Rabbi Mendel Chodrow
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