24
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Friday, July 5, 1963 —
Gemiluth Chassodiin High Bond Sale Puzzling Jewish
Characters in
Stories by Tertz
At the Congregation Gemiluth Chassodim "Salute to
Israel" dinner where more than $15,000 in Israel Bonds were
subscribed, from left: Menashe Haar, Mrs. John J. Leopold,
Siegfried Cahn, Lew Norman, the guest artist; Otto Kaufman,
celebration chairman; Probate Judge Ira G. Kaufman, guest
speaker; Benoit Gorge, president of the congregation; Rabbi
Joel J. Litke; Mrs. Bert Westheimer and Joseph Harris. More
than 200 attended the dinner in the Fred Hopfeld Social Hall of
the Congregation..Selfhelp-Detroit and the synagogue affiliates
joined in sponsoring the affair.
Cochin Jews Were First to Transplant
Themselves in Zion After Long Isolation
Of all the far-flung commu- trade relations with Malabar in
nities in the Jewish world that Southwest India.
of Cochin was perhaps the least
For a period of 1,000 years
known. For long ages the Jews they were entirely cut off from
of Cochin had • been cut off any other Jewish centers. Some
from other Jewish centers. Yet 800 years ago, certain rabbis
they were the first to transplant from the Yemen arrived there
their community to Israel and and initiated a period of Jewish
finance their journey entirely revival. The first European
out of their own resources. The Jewish traveller ever to reach
community sold all its assets in them was one of Eliahu Ha-
Cochin and handed over the danni who took them to be
proceeds to the Jewish Agency remnants of the legendary lost
so that the latter might arrange 10 tribes. The Jews of Cochin
for its transportation to Israel. also recall a certain Polish Jew
The Jews of Cochin may also by the name of _ Aba Yitzhak
boast of the fact that they im- Jaffe who came to them in
migrated to Israel solely out of some mysterious manner and
an urge for Zion and not as a remained for several years
result of persecution or op- serving as their teacher and
pression. For at no time had guide. It was he who had in-
they suffered from religious or troduced important changes in
national discrimination; their their communal life.
status in comparison with that
The community left behind
of the other numerous sects and some splendid synagogues in
communities in India was a Cochin; they took with them
favoured one. Many among only the Scrolls of the Law, in-
them had served in high posi- cluding one in a resplendent
tions in the British Colonial gold casing. Only about 300 peo-
Service in India.
ple have remained • behind in
The first Zionist emissary to
Cochin. These_include members
contact the Jews of Cochin was who
are experiencing difficulty
the late Dr. Emanuel Ols- in realizing their assets, and a
wanger. He became their patron number of social cases. The
and it was he who intervened Jewish Agency has decided on
with the Jewish National Insti- principle to bring over also
tution in order to effect their these remnants so that their
transfer to Israel.
aliyah to Israel is about to be
The history of the Jews of
Cochin, according to their tra- effected.
ditions, dates back to the time
of the First Temple. However, Connecticut Jewish
the exact time of their arrival Ledger Is Happily 35
to Cochin cannot be deter-
HARTFORD, (JTA) — Gov.
mined. All their historical docu-
ments were destroyed by fire John Dempsey was among the
several hundred years ago. They many Cbnnecticut officials to
claim to be descended from a extend congratulations to the
Jewish tribe in the Yemen Connecticut Jewish Ledger as
which had come to India after the publication began its 35th
the destruction of the First year of publication this week.
The only English-language
Temple. A group of traders of
this tribe landed on the shores Jewish weekly newspaper in the
of Malabar and founded a State, it began as the Spring-
Jewish community. According field Jewish Ledger and ex-
to legend King Solomon had panded thereafter.
r DAYENU
BY HENRY LEONARD
Abram Tertz is not the real
name of the author who bylines
"Fantastic Stories," published
by Pantheon Books (22 E. 51st,
NY22). These stories were
smuggled out of Russia.
There are four short stories
and a novelette in this interest-
ing set of narratives. The novel-
ette, "The Icicle," was trans-
lated from the Russian by Max
Hayward, who also translated
"You and I." The other three
stories, "Tenants," "At the Cir-
cus" and "Graphomaniacs" were
translated by Ronald Hingley.
Both translators are skilled in
their art and show a fine un-
derstanding of Russian, Russia
and Russians.
`You and I" at once reveals
a sort of defiance to, or rather
fear of, authority as exercised
in Russia. Perhaps that accounts
for Tertz's anonymity. It is no
wonder also that a lengthy quo-
tation from his "On Socialist
Realism" is included as a pref-
ace to the book.
Graphomania — compulsive
scribbling—is marked by a plot
that is marred by morbidity, by
sadness that seems to be infused
in Slavic narrations. But fused
with it is wit that distinguishes
all of Tertz's stories.
"In the Icicle" there is an
element of clairvoyance, of for-
tune-telling, and the hero who
predicts the future is cursed
and hounded. It is interesting
that into this story should have
been injected this phrase: "I
was lucky to be with the colonel
rather than one of those liberal-
minded university types (you
know the sort I mean: very
sharp and Jews, mostly) who
would have plagued the life out
of me about free will and the
role of the personality in his-
tory."
Then there is the reference
to Jews in "The Tenants": "Just
an ordinary citizen, except that
he's a Jew, a Moisey Yekhele-
vich. Well, I must say! If /I'm
not mistaken Karl Marx was
also of Jewish origin!"
"At the Circus" also injects
a Jewish element through a
character described thus: "The
one who joined him (Konstan-
tin Petrovich) most frequently
of all was a certain sad man,
elderly and modestly dressed,
who, incidentally, was Jewish,
though an alcoholic, and main-
tained on his emaciated chest a
decorous dark blue bow tie as
a sign that he had received a
higher education. His name was
Solomon, and he would ensconce
himself in a dark corner under
a palm tree, patiently waiting
for a vacancy, for he disposed
of no funds and they let him
sit in the restaurant mainly be-
cause of his cultured appear-
ance."
None of the Jewish characters
are spoken of with flattery and
one wonders what really was in
the author's mind. But perhaps
such references, too, are part of
the Russian style and the Rus-
sians' approach to their varying
characters.
Cancer Patients Need
Volunteer Drivers
MO.
•■ ••
MM.
"Oh, nowt see . . . you diaper
him like a Hamantaschenl"
irk
Copr. 1963, Dayenu Productions
There are countless cancer
patients in the Detroit area
whose only chance for cure lies
in daily treatments at local hos
pitals. Many of these patients
have no relatives or friends
able to take them to and from
the hospital in a car; they
haven't financial means to hire
a cab and are physically un-
able to use public transporta-
tion.
If you have a car, and can
spare any time during these
summer months, won't you call
the Michigan Cancer Founda-
tion and volunteer your serv-
ices—if only for a limited time?
The telephone number is TE
3-0710. Your assistance this
summer could very well save a
life.
Jewish Historical
Society Elects Rabbi
Applebaum President
Eisman-Siegel
Troth Announced
Rabbi Emanuel Applebaum
has been elected president of the
Jewish Historical Society of
Michigan, succeeding Irving I.
Katz.
Other officers are Dr. Irving
I. Edgar, vice-president; Jona-
thon D. Hymans, treasurer; Mrs.
Ettie Raprael, secretary; and
Allen A. Warsen, honorary pres-
ident.
Members of the board include
Rabbi Morris Adler, Charles E.
Feinberg, Rabbi Leon Fram, Mor-
ris Garvett, Eli Grad, Rabbi
Harold D. Hahn, Irving I. Katz,
Louis LaMed, Prof. Shlomo
Marenoff, Charles J. Meyers,
Dr. Leonard W. Moss, Bernard
Panush, Mrs. Ettie Raphael, Dr.
A. S. Rogoff, Jay Rosenshine,
MISS SHERYL EISMAN
Dr. A. W. Sanders, Gregory
Dr. and Mrs. David Eisman
Ross, Leonard N. Simons, Rabbi
M. Robert Syme, Allen Waller, announce the engagement of
Dr. Bernard Weiss and Dr. Is- their daughter, Sheryl, to Ar-
rael Wiener.
nold Siegel, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Charles Siegel of Black-
stone Ave., Oak Park. An Aug.
18 wedding is planned.
Marriages
BELFER - GOLDRING: Mr.
and Mrs. Leo Weintraub, 8634
W. Seven Mile, announce the
marriage of their daughter,
Florence Goldring of Miami
Beach, to Cantor Ben W. Belfer
of Rockville Centre, Long Is-
land, N.Y. The wedding was
held June 25 at Temple Bnai
Shalom in Rockville Centre.
* * *
SAUTER-LEWIS: Mrs. Beu-
lah Zeohman Lewis and Dr.
Simon H. Sauter announce their
marriage on June 30 in Detroit.
Arab League Puts
2 Belgian Travel
Avencies on Blacklist
BRUSSELS, (JTA) — Offi-
cials of two Belgian travel
agencies expressed surprise over
reports they had been black-
listed by the Arab League Boy-
cott Committee in Beirut for
violating the boycott.
The officials of Agence Isbel
and Voyages Istra said the two
agencies specialized in travel
between Belgium and Israel, had
had nothing to do with the Arab
countries and had no commer-
cial relations with Arab travel
agencies. It appeared that the
only likely explanation for the
boycott action was that the own-
ers of both companies were Jews.
Man's main object is to eat.—
Berachoth 38
■
A man sees no wrong in him-
self.—Sabbath 119
FRANK PAUL
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Telecommunications Pioneer
Emil Rathenau, 19th century
German-Jewish engineer and
industrialist, pioneered in the
field of telecommunications.
He was responsible for the in-
troduction of a telephone sys-
tem in Berlin and his firm, the
AEG, became one of the great-
est electrical enterprises in
Germany.
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