incorporating

THE JEWISH NEWS

Labor Day Reminder

the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue. of July 20, 1951

Member American Association of English--Jewisb Newspapers, Michigan Press Associations, National
Editorial Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit 35,
Mich.,. VE 8-9364. Subscription $6 a year. Foreign $7.
Second Class Postage Paid At Detroit, Michigan

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ SIDNEY SHMARAK

Editor and Publisher

read

Business Manager

Advertising Manager

portion,

Licht benshen, Friday, August 30, 6:52 p.m.

VOL. LXIV. No. 1

City Editor

Sabbath Scriptural Selections
day of Elul, 5723, the following Scriptural selections will be

This Sabbath, the eleventh
synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Deut. 21:10-25:19; Prophetical

in our

HARVEY ZUCKERBERG

Page Four

Isaiah 54:1-10.

August 30, 1963

The 'Seasonal Rush' to the Synagogues

Eighteen days from today, our syna-
gogues will be filled with worshipers,
many of whom have not participated in
religious services since last Yom Kippur.
The three-day-a-year religious Jews
who predominate in our midst will flock
to houses of prayer to reaffirm their
faith, to realign themselves with their
people, to express their allegiance to a
long line of ancestors who have estab-
lished traditions for an unbroken conti-
nuity of Jewish existence as a people
and as a religious entity.
Even limited synagogue attendance
should be commended; It is a welcome
sign of a profound devotion that is age-
less, that spells allegiance to a faith that
is ingrained in our people.
Yet, the concern that is expressed
over the interest that is limited by time
must be considered in all seriousness.
When there are happy occasions, when
a newborn child is to be named, or a Bar
Mitzvah performed, or a period of mourn-
ing observed, we turn to our synagogues,
we bring the children for observance of
consecration and confirmation, and in
time of sorrow for the recital of the
kaddish.
Our rabbis are busiest in this period
of the year in preparation for the solemn
services on the Holy Days.
What about the entire year, during

which the synagogues must function, in
the course of which rabbinic services are
called for by those in need?
Then the challenge becomes evident:
who is to be expected to assure the func-
tions of our religious institutions, and
how many will provide for the activities
in our houses of worship and for the
services of the spiritual leaders?
It is the synagogue that will always
be the mainstay of Jewish existence. The
house of worship, and the house of study
attached to it, must remain the centrum
of Jewish existence.
To those who make use of the syna-
gogue on the three most sacred days on
the Jewish calendar there is directed the
constant appeal not to permit a minority
to provide for the survival of the Beth
Tefila and Beth Medrash. The houses of
worship and of study belong to all Israel,
and all Jews must serve them.
The current Yamim Neraim, the Days
of Awe, call to all Jews not to limit them-
selves to the three-day-a-year observance,
to become synagogually affiliated, to en-
courage the activities in our spiritual cen-
ters. When that is attained to a higher
degree, our position will be greatly en-
nobled and our status as Americans with
a deep-rooted faith will elevate us to the
highest rung as the People of Priests and
a Holy Nation.

n ortunate Incidents on Israel's Borders

After a "peaceful" lull of nearly two
years, there is renewed shooting on Is-
rael's borders, and both Israel and her
neighbors have suffered losses in the un-
fortunate incidents.
While the danger of an all-out war
in the Middle East as a result of the new
flareup is minimal. its eventual possi-
bility nevertheless must be viewed with
great anxiety.
There were numerous developments
of a serious nature in that area during
the past year. Nasser's invasion of Yemen,
his attempt at Arab unification for domin-
ance by the Egyptian dictator may have
a strong bearing on what had occurred
in the past two weeks on Israel's borders.
While United Arab Republic Presi-
dent Abdel Gamal Nasser has announced
the pacification of Yemen, that former
monarchy is far from genuine peace. The
former royal representatives in Washing-
ton and elsewhere are holding on to
power in the hope of a return to mon-
archy. They had even spoken up against
Nasser's schemes against Israel. But in
order to prove to their neighbors that
they share their common hate against Is-
rael, the latter is always the scapegoat.
Similarly, while Nasser has failed to
accomplish a fusion between the UAR
and Syria, and the latter is suspicious of

him and his aspirations, there develops
a unity when Israel is involved. It is pos-
sible that the attack by Syria on Israel
was the means resorted to by the Syrian
government to prove that on a major
issue it is holier than Nasser and hates
Israel more actively — by resort to mili-
tary action.
Other incidents in the Arab sphere
are utilized for attacks on Israel. The
ancient scapegoat of mankind now is the
chief scapegoat of divided Araby.
The new incidents seem to point to
new postponements in achieving peace in
the Middle East.
The role played by the United Nations
in dealing with the problem may be of a
minor nature, in the sense that only the
strength of Israel and its ability to re-
sist attacks is what counts at present and
perhaps also will be the deciding factor
in the long run. Nevertheless, it is fortun-
ate that a UN exists to bring the facts
out into the open as well as to provide a
force on one of the borders — the Egyp-
tian — that may make it impossible for
too many fedayeen, the Arab infiltrators,
to invade Israel and to threaten its citi-
zens. Every step in the direction of peace
must be welcomed and commended, and
the UN role is such a step at this time.

Priority for Civil Rig hts in Jewish Ranks

•

All emphasis has been given in Jewish
activities to the cause of civil rights, and
even during the current period of prepara-
tion for the Holy Day observances Jewish
leaders, rabbinic and lay, relegated their
own needs to the background to devote
themselves to the national task of wiping
out a century-old sin and to assuring civil
rights for all of our fellow-citizens.
The demonstrations in Jewish com-
munities in support of President Ken-
nedy's civil rights program are indications
of the urgency of the issue and of the
sincerity of the traditional Jewish support

in defense of just rights for the Negroes.
It is unfortunate that some extremists

among those for whom we seek just rights

should have chosen to embrace anti-Semi-
tism. The rebuke to them by their na-
tional leaders is an indication that the sin-
cere Negro leaders will not brook intoler-
ance at a time when they seek justice for
themselves. The entire battle is not one of
mere toleration but of fairness, and any-
thing involving prejudice, whether it is
against Negroes or those who back civil
rights, is in itself intolerable.
Jewish organizations and their leaders
played an important role in the Washing-
ton March on Wednesday. Their role in
the struggle for justice for the Negro
has been and remains a vital one. That's
how it has been traditionally and that's
how it will continue.

Judaism's Messianic Influences

Religion-Revolution Interplay
Described in Lanternari's Book

In the account he gives of modern messianic cults, in his
book in which he describes "the interplay between religion and
revolution in the 20th century," in his most informative book,
"The Religions of the Oppressed," published by Knopf, Dr. Vit-
torio Lanternari makes this interesting observation:

"The messianic pattern of Judaism, from Moses through the
Prophets of the Exile, contains both external and internal motiva-
tions. The impact between a pastoral and an agrarian society
being external, the clash between monotheism and polytheism has
left a mark on the entire history of the religion of Israel. It later
found its way into the Christian church: the clerical hierarchy is
patterned on the priesthood of the Hebrews, and institutional de-
mands are often at issue with the spiritual needs of the faithful
and of society as a whole. The conflict between 'popular' -and
`official' religion is evident in the early prophetic movements,
from the Essenes to the Sect of Qumran, and continued- to affect
the course of Christianity from the Middle Ages through the
Reformation to the messianic movements of our day. In all of
them the contrast is clear between the demands of the people
and the needs of their society on the one hand, and action deter-
mined from 'above' by the clerical hierarchy on the other. The
rise of the Mormons and of the Watch Tower movement illustrates
this point. The understanding spontaneously developed between
these two movements and certain indigenous groups further illus-
trates the conflict between missionary churches and modern
powers on one side and 'primitive' cultures on the other; or, to
put it differently, the imbalance between such overpowering in-
stitutions as church and state and the answered needs of society.
"Religious movements motivated by intercultural clash usually
have a different orientation from those arising from within the
society. The former tend to seek salvation by immediate action
through militant struggle or through direct and determined opposi-
tion to the foreign forces which beset them: we see 'primitive'
societies turning against Europeans, the Jews under Moses turn-
ing against the Egyptians and Canaanites, the Prophets of the
Exile turning against Babylon."

Dr. Lanternari, whose "Religion of the Oppressed" was trans-
lated from the Italian by Lisa Sergio, is professor of the history
of religions at the University of Bari and a lecturer in ethnology
at the University of Rome, shows how Judaism served as an in-
fluencing force upon messianic movements in many lands. He
points out that "the Christian promise of a 'kingdom' and a 'Mil-
lenium' for the salvation of all mankind, inherited from the mes-
sianic traditions of the Jews, was heeded by the natives (in the
Congo) as a call against the repressive rule of the colonial powers."
He describes an "Israelite incident," the involvement of the
Israelite church in the village of Bullboek, near Queenstown, in
South Africa, a prophet named Enich Mgijima having "attracted
the natives to a new sect called the Israelites," and he "pro-
claimed its 'bishop, prophet and guardian.' " Dr. Lanternari con-
tinues to state about this sect:

"Rejecting the New Testament as a hoax perpetrated by the mission-
aries, the Israelites adhered to the Old; they celebrated the Sabbath and
other Jewish feasts and regarded themselves as the chosen people of Jehova,
who would not fail to come to their aid when the time was ripe for throwing
off the foreign yoke."

In addition to the Israelites of Bullboek there were other
cults that identified themselves with the Jews. Prof. Lanternari
expressed the view that the Judaic pattern met the requiremnts
of the African natives "because, down through the ages, the Jews
have established themselves as the unparalleled example of a
people able to survive, an image of anguish and successful survival
with which the natives wished to be identified.

He goes on to indicate that such identification is strongly
shown in South Africa by "the religious pattern of Zionist
churches rising alongside the Ethiopian movement," African Zion-
ism being patterned "on the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church
in Zion founded in 1896 at Zion City, Ill." He states that "Zionist
liturgy also reflects the attachment to exorcism and magic."

Among the "Zionist" native leaders in South Africa is Isaiah
Shembe, founder of the Ama Nazaretha Church, who had visions
of leadership, who called himself the Moses of his people. There
were other such prophets among many sects.
There were numerous interpretations of the heritage from
other faiths. For example, "the followers of Kanito led licentious
lives and performed obscene dance rituals, which they claimed
were interpretations of the essential concepts of Judaism, Chris-
tianity and Paganism."
Dr. Lanternari's "The Religions of the Oppressed" is a most
revealing book. It will fascinate students of theology and all who
are interested in the conditions among many sects in underde-
veloped countries,