IMOD I.= OM What Makes a Good Jew BY DR. SAMUEL BELKIN tage, nor hide his Jewishness. President, Yeshiva University While he endeavors to serve. To be a good Jew one must unselfishly, he does not wish to as a prerequisite be a moral become selfless. Rather does human being, a good man in the deepest sense of the term. For a Jew specifically, how- ever, the fountainhead of in- spiration for the attainment of this ideal state of goodness, is his spiritual and moral heri- tage — the Torah: Hence, Tor- ah learning and Torah prac- tice have been, throughout the ages, the main guide to the Jew for the living of a good life. The Torah is not merely a book of theological dogma, but, in its written and oral tradi- tions, contains above all a de- sign for living. A good Jew is one who can create a harmonious blending between his moral obligations to humanity and his divine at- tachment to G-d; a synthesis be- tween his contemporary envir- onment and his sacred heritage. A good Jew is not an escap- ist. He does not deny his heri- New Year Greetings PETCO BAR-B-O Restaurant Serving Superb Food Beer - Wine Bar-B-Q Dishes, Steaks, Chops 390 W2 McNichols (6 Mile corner 2nd) TO 8-8386 Best Wishes To All Our Friends and Patrons for a Happy and Healthy New Year COBO CLEANERS 18135 Livernois UN 3-0400 he give expression to his inner self, direction to his moral and spiritual destiny and thus be- comes a link in the golden chain of his historic being. He is cognizant of the fact that the essence of freedom in our blessed United States of Amer- ica does not lie in a religious "melting pot" — which seeks to impose a uniformity of re- ligious belief and cultural ex- pression. Our American demo- cracy is the purest representa- tion of a society based upon cultural pluralism where, by playing his own spiritual in- strument, the Jew shares with other groups in the blending of the spiritual symphony which is the deathless harmony of American democracy. . terize his duties toward his fellow-men as merely social obligations. Unlike the ancient Greeks, a Jew does not recognize philanthropy as the love of mankind and philosophy as the love of wisdom — each independent and unrelated to the other. The love of man is based upon divine • wisdom. The Torah is the soil in which all human obligations are nourished, and by serving man the Jew serves also the Creator of mankind. To a good Jew, every social activity is motivated and condi- tioned by a pious outlook and a spiritual purpose which makes it, in the deepest sense, religious. It is by the con- stant effort to consecrate his social and worldly activities to a higher spiritual and moral purpose that a Jew continu- A good Jew does not ously strives to become a "good achieve his state of goodness Jew." by the dedication of his A good Jew is one who en- entire life to other-wordli- deavors to translate moral and ness, or by withdrawing from spiritual ideals into practices, the affairs of our material one who endeavors to integrate world and physical universe. the transcendental or ideal A good Jew does not charac- world with the material world. Judaism, to a Jew, is not mere- ly a system of abstract re- i HOLIDAY GREETINGS i ligious beliefs, a confession of faith, it is rather a way of life with its spiritual and moral ob- ligations and value3 revealed in the Torah that are the funda mentals, to a Jew who strives to attain a state of goodness. I ROBIN HOOD'S Where Only the Finest and Best Foods Are Served I 111/2 20176 . LIVERNOIS blocks south of 8 Mi. Rd. Open 24 Hours UN 2-9762 1 '0.111•004111M.N ■ tti.0 ■ 43 ■ 04•111.1.1• ■ 1• ■ •11101 .10.1 ■ 01 ■ 11 ■ 1114.1111..0 ■0■1■ 41.0•1[1 ■011■.■41■0■ 14.1111•••11 ■■ 041M.1•11 ■0■ 001=1.0 ■ 11.1111.3 ■ 111. Happy New Year from Philip, Cele, Lee, Alvin and Estelle The PHILIP KRAMER AGENCY 18960 Schaefer, Detroit 35, Mich. • .A1=1141 - ■0■ 111.1M11•1 ■011■0■ 0■0■41.1111111111.1■0■0■111.0.■0■1111.4=11.1,411 ■0■ 041•11.1.1•1 ■0:■ Best Wishes on the New Year MR. T. ROGVOY, A.I.A. 929 Fox Bldg. Detroit 1, Michigan . Holiday Greetings MOTOR CITY TRANSIT MIX, Inc. READY MIXED CONCRETE 21420 W. 8 Mile Rd. - KE 5-9140 New Year Greetings McNamara Paint Products Co., Inc. TE 1-4575 447 Leland Ave. 1. Best Wishes for a Happy New Year To All Our Friends and Patrons GEORGE MIESEL & SON WHOLESALE GROCERS Serving Restaurants, Hospitals and Institutions TA 5-7990 3540 Vinewood Greetings on Rosh Hashanah THE- MORRIS STORES 1 0 Stores All Over Greater Detroit To Serve You A good Jew believes that by observing the Law of the Torah, he becomes a member of a chosen community; chosen not to be a member of a master race; chosen not to conquer, kill or destroy, but chosen to be of service to G-d and mankind. The Jew and particularly the good Jew is the eternal torch- bearer of monotheism, which means that while he believes that man was created in the image of G-d he still re-affirms that only G-d is infallible, and that no human being is immune from making mistakes; that no single individual can be vested with complete authority over the destiny of the group. Hence, dictatorship of any kind is com- pletely alien to the way of thinking of the Jew who is in- spired by his divine heritage. As a good Jew, he remembers the immortal words of our sages as stated in the Talmud: "But a single man was cre- ated, in order to teach us that if a man causes a single soul to perish, the Torah imputes it to him as though he has destroyed the entire world; and if a man save the life of a single person, the Torah imputes it to him as though he has saved the whole world. But a single man was created, for the sake of peace among mankind, that none should say to his fellow: My father was greater than thy father. . . But a single man was created to proclaim the great- ness of the Holy One Blessed be He, for man stamps many coins with one seal, and they are all alike, but the King of Kings. the Holy One Blessed be He. has stamped every man with the seal of the first man. yet not one of them is like his fellow. Therefore, it is the duty of every man to say, for my sake the world was created." These immortal words of our sages concerning the immortal dignity and worth of the human soul contain the basic philoso- phy of the Jew, and such a philosophy, which is the es- sence of any democracy, helps toward the making of a good Jew! Let us hope and pray that, in the not too distant future, the world will rid itself of tyranny in any form, and that every individual and- every na- tion will be able to proclaim: "For my sake the world was created!" Season's Best Wishes' SUN OIL COMPANY A Happy and Prosperous New Year KUHLMAN DRUGS UN 3-0110 10342 W. McNichols Greetings on the New Year SAFRAN Printing COMPANY PRINTING - OFFSET 3939 Bellevue WA 1-4560 New Year Greetings - WESLEY'S QUAKER-MAID ICE CREAM CO. C. Wesley Ebling, Owner 8920 Lyndon WE 3-5949 Happy New Year RAY ORLEMAN'S ALL-STATE AUTO DRIVE-AWAY Automobiles Delivered Anywhere 8110 Livernois, Detroit 4 TY 4-5800 Holiday Good Cheer PHILLIP'S WASTE OIL PICK-UP AND ROAD OILING SERVICE, INC. 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