Improving Catholic-Jewish Views
THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with
issete of July 20, 1951
Member American Association of English—Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, 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 HARVEY ZUCKERBERG
Editor and Publisher
Business Manager
Advertising Manager
City Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the fifteenth day of Heshwan, 5724, the following Scriptural selections will
be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion: Gen. 18:1-22:24. Prophetical portion: II Kings 4:1-37.
Licht Benshen, Friday, Nov. 1, 5:08 p.m.
VOL. XLIV. No. 10
Page Four
November 1, 1963
46th Anniversary of Balfour Declaration
Uninterrupted Need for Zionist Action
The 46th anniversary of the issuance
of the Balfour Declaration, which set into
motion internationally recognized activi-
ties in behalf of the national redemption
of Israel, stimulates renewed interest in
the movement that gave birth to the
Jewish State and in the historic develop-
ments out of which Zionism emerged as
an important libertarian movement.
Zionism's triumph, while witnessing
the success of a people's determined will
to assure auto-emancipation, inevitably
resulted in a lessening of interest in the
movement itself, due to the reality of its
accomplished mission as a result of which
the Jewish State overshadowed the era
of zeal of the State's creators.
Numerous worldwide occurrences un-
interruptedly prove, however, that while
the State, in order to achieve its goal of
t h e Ingath-
ering of the
Exiles, pri-
marily needs
the material
assistance of
the Jewish
people, there
is no end to
political ac-
tion, to the
urgency of
vigilance in
defense of
Israel, to
Zionist ac-
tivities that
must not be
Lord Balfour
submerged.
When Arthur James Balfour issued
the historic declaration on behalf of the
British government in support of a Jew-
ish National Home in Palestine, there
was chaos in the world and there was no
end to Jewish tragedies. Many of the
problems that existed when that docu-
ment was made public, on November 2,
1917, have been solved. But Jewish res-
ponsibilities have not lessened, and there
are still several million Jews who need
the inspiration of the Zionist cause. Many
who live in freedom must have the guid-
ance of Zionist leadership.
When the local Zionist organization
marks the 46th anniversary of the Bal-
four Declaration, at the annual Balfour
Concert, on December 1, it will be an
occasion for re-evaluation of our respon-
sibilities to the historic movement and
for a review of the conditions which
make Zionism a vital force in Jewry.
Zionism pioneered for Jewish State-
hood. It struggled against great odds and
it pleaded for Jewish support and for
non-Jewish encouragement. It succeeded
in both during the years of horrors, in
the period of the hurban of our time, of
the destruction of a third of our people.
As a result of. the reality that has ensued,
a period of forgetfulness of the pioneer-
ing spirit and efforts has set in. As
Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Abba
Eban said in a recent address, "perhaps,
in a sense, the whole Jewish people today
is a Zionist people." But he added admon-
ishingly: "Yet a people of healthy histor-
ical consciousness has no right to confuse
those who have confirmed and ratified
Zionism after its success with those who
carried the banner in solitude."
In the speech we have referred to,
Mr. Eban set forth this set of ideas in
his plea .for .a strengthening of Zionism:
"If we call now for a renewal of Zionist
faith, it is because we do not believe, as many
of our friends in the world do believe, that
the basic questions of our survival and in-
terests have been solved. I do not believe that
time itself is an assurance of victory. There
are upon the early horizons certain trends
which are likely to produce a situation, during
the next decade, in which Israel will have
need of every ounce of support and of frater-
nity which she can mobilize within the family
of nations. Demographic trends are adverse:
Here we are a State of two million surrounded
by independent Arab countries who number
ninety million. In 20 years . time we shall be
four million, if we maintain the same rate
of growth as in the first decade, but by then,
they will be two hundred million—two hun-
dred against four, instead of ninety against
two. There is something inexorable in the
aggravation of this demographic balance to
our disadvantage.
"Until now we have consoled ourselves
with the thought that while our neighbors
had numerical superiority, we had superior-
ity in quality. They had advantage in matter
and we in spirit. But mark this well! Their
numerical advantage is permanent and irrev-
ocable; our technical and educational and
spiritual superiority is not inevitable. It is
not decreed by heaven: there is no assurance
that forces hostile to Israel will not begin to
understand the role and the effect of educa-
tion and science and technology in increasing
the strength of a nation. There is already
evidence of a determined attempt on their
part to reduce this gap of quality. There is
also the economic outlook. We have main-
tained our security through our own inde-
pendent deterrent.
"In these conditions-'—demographic, scien-
tific, strategic and economic—who would like
to swear that Israel's survival and stability
have been permanently assured or that there
are spontaneous influences of time to ratify
this process? We shall need more friends; we
shall have to make more demands on exist-
ing friendships.
"It is against this context that the Zionist
Movement should look upon its future with
no less promise than the pride with which
it looks upon its past.
"This is what Zionism is: a total interpre-
tation of Jewish history; a belief that through
the conservation of its particular character,
Dr. Glatzer's Scholarly Work
'Jew in the Medieval World'
As the second volume in. the "Beacon Texts in the Judaic
Tradition," Beacon Press, Boston, has just issued "Faith and
Knowledge: The Jew in the Medieval World," by Dr. Nahum N.
Glatzer, one of the most distinguished
Jewish scholars.
Dr. Glatzer's first volume in the
series, "The Rest Is Commentary,"
had many commendations and a warm
welcome.
With the objective of acquaintin-
the reader with major trends and
thoughts in medieval Jewish life, and
especially European Judaism, the
current Glatzer volume deals with
a variety of subjects and turns to
many authors whose works influenced
that period.
Main spokesmen who figure in
this scholarly compilation include
Moses Maimonides, Judah ha-Levi,
Dr. Nahum Glatzer
Solomon ibn Gabirol, Moses de Leon, Saadia Gaon,.Leone Modena
and many others. The founders of Hasidim are included, and
Dr. Glatzer draws also upon the Zohar and the Midrash.
Explaining the inclusion of the latter, Dr. Glatzer states:
"The term Middle Ages is somewhat inexact; in the Jewish
realm the 'age between' Antiquity and the modern period
stretched beyond the era generally called the medieval. Even
within the Jewish realm no clear-cut division can be made. Thus,
for example, Hasidism in Eastern Europe can be considered as
part of the Jewish Middle Ages, while the West-European En-
lightenment of the same period is a chapter in modern Jewish
history."
Legends and historical data are recounted here and serve
as factors in unveiling the details about Prague, Rome and other
communities. The movements that functiondd during that era,
the knowledge that has been transmitted, are evaluated expertly,
and Dr. Glatzer's work marks another great contribution to Jew-
ish literary attainments.
Concentrating, as the title of the book indicates, on faith
and knowledge, "`in the literature at hand," the compiler states,
"-we encounter attempts to correlate the two, to treat the one
the Jewish people can fulfill its destiny in as the precondition of the other, to interpret the one in the light
world history. We constitute a special thread of the other."
in the tapestry of human culture. With victory
Making "no attempt to idealize medieval Jewry," emphasiz-
behind us, we have many ordeals ahead. We
ing that the selections include harsh self-criticism," Dr. Glatzer
draw inspiration from the length and con-
adds that "the reader is expected to gain some understanding
tinuity of our tradition, from the dim roots
of that element by which Jews maintained their dignity and sense
of man's past, to the shining possibilities of
of purpose in periods of degradation."
his future."
The biographical data about the noted personalities whose
In this context, we join in reiterating works are included in this volume serve a valuable purpose in
that Zionism is, indeed, unendingly, part
of the total interpretation of Jewish
history. Its aims are in behalf of Israel
and also in defense of the highest stand-
ards of Jewish existence. It aims for the
elevation of the status of all peoples in
the Middle East, and when we speak for
the movement as defensive of Jewish
rights we do not, in any sense, speak
against the Arabs but join in a plea to
them for peace so that all who make up
that area may enjoy a better life.
The Zionist Organization of Detroit is
part of that uninterrupted effort for the
advancement of the highest ideals related
co Israel and to Jewish survival. It has
had good support here and it has earned
encouragement in its single fund-raising
effort of the year: the annual Balfour
Concert, which this year brings to our
community one of the most distinguished
artists in the world, Isaac Stern. The
event serves to remind us of the historic
significance of the Balfour Declaration,
while providing_ an opportunity for assist-
ance to "the pioneer in the modern age
.
of national redemption."
-
.
keeping the reader alerted to the basic objectives of this com-
pilation. The knowledge of and love for God as intoned by
Maimonides, ibn Gabirol, Judah ha-Levi, Bahya ibn Pakuda,
Moses Hayyim Luzzatto and others brings the reader closer to
an understanding of his faith. This is where he can attain a
knowledge that is so necessary for an appreciation of the his-
torical background of the era under review as well as of the
literature that comes to us from that period.
The section on the Sabbath is so evaluative that it serves a
most important purpose in the overall delineation of faith and
in the knowledge about faith. Equally significant are the sections
devoted to the ways of a good life, and especially those dedicated
to the community of Israel, to Hasidism, to the land of Israel
and to the redemption.
Hasidic accounts relating to the Baal Shem Toy, his testa-
ment and the legends about him; stories about Hasidic teachings;
the works of Abraham Kalisker, the. teachings of Mendel of
Kotzk are included in this work.
There is great magnitude in the collection "The Land of
Israel, Exile and Redemption." Commencing with the famous
traveler, Benjamin of Tudela, and his "Jerusalem," the reader
is treated here to the Zoharic "'Mystic Drama of Jerusalem,"
to the Midrashic legend "Ten Kings," to "The Suffering of the
Messia, also from the Midrash; as well as selections from
Moses Nahmanides, Judah Loew ben Bezalel, Immanuel ben
Solomon of Rome and Maimonides.
•
The Epilogue, "The Holy One Is Within Thee," by Eleazar
ben Judah, is an especially moving and appropriate conclusion
to a great book. The sources and notes add immeasurably to the
book's merits.