The Plea for Justice
THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue 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
Editor and Publisher
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ SIDNEY SHMARAK HARVEY ZUCKERBERG
Business Manager
Advertising Manager
City Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the twenty-second day of Heshvan, 5724, the following Scriptural selections
will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion: Gen. 23:1-25:18. Prophetical portion: I Kings 1:1-31.
Licht Benshen, Friday, Nov. 8, 5 p.m.
November 8, 1963
Page Four
VOL. XLIV. No. 11
Our Annual Jewish Book Fair
Our annual Jewish Book Fair has lean toward the vulgar. It is the emphasis
gained the status of a community festival. on sex in this type of book that places it
Sponsored by the Jewish Community on the best seller list.
If the proper aims for wholesome
Center, the Book Fair activities have
gained the cooperation of nearly every cultural aspirations are to be attained,
organization and movement in the city. the emphasis should be transferred from
This is in itself very heartening. The the popular but often vulgar literature
fact that so many groups have taken as- to the creative works that are published
signments to sponsor special events at the by the Jewish Publication Society, the
Center during Book Month may be an Union of American Hebrew Congrega-
indication of a growing interest in the tions, Sinai Press, the United Synagogue
printed word—in books and their authors. of America and their related affiliated
Jewish Book Month was inaugurated movements and the private Jewish pub-
by the National Jewish Welfare Board as lishing houses which are more cautious
a vehicle of inspiration for increased in the selection of their titles.
Jewish learning—to encourage the read- During Jewish Book Month, it is
ing and the purchase of Jewish books, equally important that parents should 'The Challenge of Medicine'
and thereby also to encourage authors and either begin to build up libraries of Jew-
publishers. While it is difficult to measure ish content for their children or should
the results attained, it is safe to assert that increase those already in existence. A
in our community the growing response Jewish book may go a long way in en-
to the Book Fair activities seems to point couraging youth to hold on fast to their
heritage. When the book is linked with a
to positive attainments.
Many books are being published on family interest, the loyalty to tradition
William Kitay, an authority in the field of health preserva-
Jewish subjects, and the major Jewish becomes all the more effective.
tion, makes a distinct contribution to a better understanding
Thus, our Jewish Book Fair can make of the medical practices in "The Challenge of Medicine," pub-
publishing houses are cautious that their
products should be respectful of Jewish many vital contributions towards the up- lished by Holt, Rinehart and Winston (383 Madison, N.Y. 17).
traditions and geared towards the attain- building a communal spirit and the in-
In a style that makes this book as understandable by lay-
ment of knowledge based on thorough and spiration to learning. The sponsors of the men as well as by professionals, Kitay traces the history of
genuine research. Regrettably, many of annual event have earned the cooperation medicine, and tells about the earliest foundations for the
the so-called "Jewish books" — because and the gratitude of those who will bene- medical science in the ancient world.
learn that "it was in Salerno, Italy, in the year 900,
their heroes happen to be delineated as fit from the inspiration that must come that We
a
Jewish
physician joined with a Christian, a Greek and
Jews—not Only are negative but often from all of its functions.
an Arab to establish the first formal scientific school of
Maimonides' Role, First Medical
School Described in Kitay Book
Bar-Ilan University's Rapid Growth
In the close to ten years of its exist- aided by Israel, Bar-Ilan's patterns for
ence, Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, scholarship are akin to those of the finest
Israel, has shown such marked progress universities.
that it now occupies a place of unques-
A distinguishing factor in Bar-Ilan's
tioned leadership.
record of achievements is that the univer-
Having begun with a very small sity has followed the trends pursued by
The that
plans
are now
in the ago
making
an expansion of the
faculty
was that
needed
a decade
to Israel of encouraging
school system. By providing
train the less than 100 students who secondary
formed the university body at the time, teachers for Israel's high schools, in its
Bar-Ilan has grown to its present student program of night courses for immigrants,
Bar-Ilan has made a lasting contribution
body of 1,300.
to Israel's educational progress.
The attainments of this great univer-
by the Ramat Gan Municipality to provide sity should go a long way in encouraging
additional facilities for Bar-Ilan Univer- Detroit Jewry to support the school and
sity—laboratories, clinics, a recreational to provide the means that are asked here
area and botanical garden, as gifts of the annually through the function to be spon-
city to its expanded university, indicate sored by the Detroit Friends of Bar-Ilan
the great respect that has been acquired University on Nov. 26. The honors to be
generally in Israel for this fine school.
accorded at that time to two distinguished
Drawing to its student body partici- women leaders, Mesdames Joseph H. Ehr-
pants from many lands, including some lich and Theodore Bargman, add import-
from the African countries that are being ance to the local annual event.
medicine. The school was the first to offer a prescribed course
of study and to give examinations leading to a medical
degree. The degree was awarded after eight years of study,
and a permit to practice was issued after an additional year
of apprenticeship to a physician. The school also introduced
the use of the title 'doctor' as a synonym for physician. The
school's textbooks were the first new medical texts in Europe
in more than 500 years."
Describing the practices of the earliest doctors, the activities
of the early Christian, Moslem and Jewish and other physicians,
Kitay tells of the skills of the scientists of a thousands years ago
and gives the following account of the gifts of Maimonides:
"Arabian medicine had its well-known physicians, but
because their contributions were neither startling nor dramatic,
their names are little known outside the annals of medical
history. The one exception is Moses Maimonides (1135-1204),
the _Jewish physician and scholar, who in his day was famed
not only for his medical skills but for his talents as a
philosopher. Far ahead of his time, he believed every patient
was a human being first and a medical case second. He pre-
ferred to use simple drugs and medicines, and before he pre-
scribed treatment he made every effort to establish the- cause
of the illness or the disease. He maintained that there was a
close relationship between mental and physical health and
that medicine and religion could aid each other in solving
many of the ills of mankind.
"Forced to leave his native Cordova because of his religion,
Maimonides acquired hiS reputation in Cairo in the latter half of
the twelfth century. He had a large practice and for a time
served as personal physician to many influential families. He
was so revered that when he died in 1204 Arabs throughout the
Moslem world joined their Jewish neighbors in observing three
days of common mourning. To this day his tomb at Tiberias has
Histadrut, the Israel Federation of La- ents and for the new nation that emerged remained a place of pilgrimage for ailing Christians, Arabs, and
bor, has been a basic factor in the estab- after many struggles in which Histadrut Jews.
lishment of the Jewish State.
"Indirectly, Maimonides was responsible for the return of
played a vital role. They brought into
Long before the State became a being a highly-specialized program of medicine to Europe. His writings were all in Arabic; rich in
philosophy as well as in treatment, many were translated into
reality, the Zionist labor movement and socialized medicine.
Latin. Jewish physicians, migrating to Central Europe to accept
its federated groups, functioning through
Histadrut has left its mark upon the
as court physicians or personal physicians to church
Histadrut,
provided manpower
the new State of Israel and in the interim it positions
From Histadrut's
ranks settlements,
also in
came
officials, including the Pope, took these Latin manuscripts with
establishment
of agricultural
brought good cheer from Israel to Dias-
Soon, their influence was felt throughout Europe."
set up industrial enterprises, encouraged pora Jewry. The $60,000,000 sum that was them.
Kitay's is a thoroughly remarkable book. It covers every
immigration and assisted in providing for raised by Histadrut in the 40 years of its aspect of medicine—the general practitioner, the surgeon, the
new settlers.
existence was the result of hearty en- dermatologist, the psychiatrist, the obstetrician and pediatrician,
and plays emphasis on preventive medicine.
dorsements by the Jews of America.
Discussing the ophthalmologist and the otorhinolaryngologist,
leadership, and many of the present civil
It is especially interesting to note that he points out that "a code of ethics for treating eye problems
servants of Israel stem from the ranks of
Histadrut also has gained admiration in was known in Biblical times."
the labor movement.
Adding greatly to the value of this book is a special section
These are established facts worth re- non-Jewish ranks and has the support of dealing
with "Your Career in Medicine." It provides guidance for
its
labor
movements.
In
the
course.
of
calling at this time, when Histadrut
is exchange of friendship between the labor those who aspire to become doctors and it outlines the person-
marking its
ality and other requirements for the study of medicine. It also
40th
anniversary.
The leaders
of the
labor Zionist leaders
move- in this country and those•in Israel, points to the rewards that go with medical practice. Applicants
Histadrut also has assured labor's inter- for admission to medical schools also are provided with informa-
ment
have been
among the They
most were
effective
for all
liberal involved.
causes in which tion about entrance requirements and the available of college
interpreters
of Zionism.
Jews cession
may have
become
among those who brought the message of
handbooks.
William Kitay has made a valuable contribution towards an
We join on
heartily
in congratulating
Zion to the Diaspora. They propagated movement
its 40th
anniversary. the
understanding of the medical arts with his most informative book.
high social standards for their constitu-
40th Anniversary of Histadrut Campaign