Hanukah Lights of Freedom 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-first day of Kislew, 5724, the following Scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion: Gen. 37:1-40:23. Prophetical portion: Amos 2:6-3:8. Licht Benshen, Friday, Dec. 6, 4:43 p.m. VOL. XLIV. No. 15 Page Four December 6, 1963 Hanukah-Festival of Strength and Faith While the basic Jewish credo as handed down to us in Zechariah 4:6 is: "Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts," it is an acknowledged principle that man must defend himself when attacked, that people have the right to uphold their spiritual rights, that tyranny should be rejected even if the force of arms is required. Hanukah did just that: it became the first festival An mankind's history to mark a triumph for religious liberty. The victory of the Maccabees over the Syrians prevented the opposition of pa- ganism upon the Jewish people. The suc- cessful struggle of the Maccabees paved the way for continued, unhindered spiri- tual teachings by Jews, and that right thereby was inherited by others, notably the Christians who were an offshoot from Judaism. * * Hanukah represents something even more important: the victory of the Mac- cabees assured for the Jewish people, and for others who sought that rights in the generations that followed, the right to be different. A p e o p 1 e's free conscience emerged from the fight against Hellenic rule. It was the triumph of individualism against totalitarianism, it was the success in the struggle to prevent the type of dictatorship which would have made Israel the vassal of the demagogue and would have shelved Judaism into oblivion. At the same time, it reaffirmed faith in spiritual power and gave reality to the declaration of Mattathias that "none who put trust in God have wanted for strength. Thus, while Hanukah marks a great mili- tary triumph, it is also the symbol of faith, as indicated in the last speech of Mattathias to his son, recorded as follows in Maccabees I: "In our days tyranny and cruelty have gained the mastery and our religion and laws are threatened with overthrow. God's wrath rests upon his people Israel. But you, my sons, be ye very zealous for His Law and ready to give your lives to preserve God's covenant with your fathers. "For call to mind the heroic deed which our fathers did in times of trial and sorrow, and you also by showing yourselves strong may receive great glory and create for your- selves an undying name. Was not Abraham found faithful when he was tested by God with the command to offer up Isaac? Joseph, in the hour of his trial in Egypt kept the com- mandments. When Israel was threatened with disaster, Pinhas showed himself brave and zealous for the good name and purity of his people. When the spies brought their evil re- port of the land of Canaan, Caleb stood forth, though the people threatened to stone him, and bore faithful witness to the land, Joshua fought the battles of his people and became ruler in Israel. Elijah was exceedingly zealous for God's Law, and stood well nigh alone against the enemies of his people. Haaniah, Azariah and Michael trusted in God and were saved out of the fiery furnace and Daniel in his uprightness was saved from the mouth of the lions. "Thus, consider ye, how from generation to generation, none that put their trust in God have wanted for strength. So ye, also be not afraid of the arrogant boastings of the blaspheming Antiochus, for his kingly glory shall decay, it shall become dust of the earth. Today he may be lifted up as a king; but tomorrow he shall be laid in the dust and evil purpose against Israel shall have per- ished. So ye, my sons, be strong and show yourselves men in the Law of Israel, for herein shall ye obtain glory." * * Hanukah left its mark upon the Jew- 'Communist Rabbi Hess' ish people. It became an inspiration for the youth of our people throughout the ages, and from this festival young Jews Mary Schulman's Study Views repossessed "eternal youth." This was interpretation that was given the festival Him as Prophet of Zionism by the eminent Zionist leader, the late Mrs. Mary Schulman, a New York high school teacher, has U. S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. made a thorough study of the life and Zionist ideology of Moses Brandeis, who said: ' "The Jewish calendar has many sorrowful Holy Days. Hanukah—the Feat of Maccabees —is one of the few joyous Red Letter days. It celebrates a victory—not a military victory only; but a victory also of the spirit over things material. Not a victory only over external enemies—the Greeks; but a victory also over more dangerous internal enemies—the Sad- ducees. A victory of the many over the ease- loving, safety-playing, privileged, powerful few who in their pliancy would have betrayed the best interests of the people, a victory of democracy over aristocracy. "As part of the eternal world-wide strug- gle for democracy, the struggle of the Macca- bees is of eternal world-wide interest. It is a struggle of the Jews of today as well as of Palestine. It is a struggle of America as well as of Palestine. It is a struggle in which all Americans, non-Jews as well as Jews, should be vitally interested because they are vitally affected. "For the Zionists the day has special sig- nificance. The Maccabees' victory proved that the Jews—then already an old people—pos- sessed the secret of eternal youth. The ability to rejuvenate itself through courage, hope, en- thusiasm, devotion and self-sacrifice of the plain people. Then they achieved a rebirth. They will bring again a Jewish Renaissance." * * * "Moses Hess, however, like Judah Halevi, saw 'Jewish nationalism and development as a link in the process of human civilization, and Zionism as a necessary consequence of that process.' Israel in its own land would not only serve as a place of refuge for the persecuted Jew, but would bring about the messianic era, a redemption of humanity, by helping to introduce perfect harmony and amity among nations. Israel, where Jews would develop according to their Jewish or Mosaic prin- ciples, would therefore become a cultural force in the development of all humanity." In her able analysis of Hess' works, in her thorough study of Hess' life and his refusal to truncate Judaism and Jewish na- tionalism, Mrs. Schulman also reviews the events that influenced the Socialist-Zionist and she points to the fallacies of those who hoped for emancipation. She is critical of the Reform Jewish movement in Germany and she commends the efforts that were exerted to stem assimilation. * * * Her study of Hess and his ideas includes evaluations of As we are about once again to observe various Zionist trends, including the religious Zionist movement the Festival of Lights, we review anew and she points out that in "Rome and Jerusalem" Hess the values gathered from physical as well as spiritual strength in striving for our people's survival. As long as our youth gather for the observance of Hanukah in their homes and in the synagogues, we shall always have the evidence that the festival gives us renewed "eternal youth," that those who remain devoted to their heritage will stand up to defend it, and that none that have trust in their people's basic principles shall ever want for strength. America s Genius: Orderly Government We are still in a spirit of mourning. The dastardly act which took from us our great President will not be forgotten, and the name of John Fitzgerald Kennedy remains indelibly written in our history. It is an added tribute to the memory of our late President that the orderly functions of government which he advo- cated remain intact, unhindered, inde- structible. This, indeed, is the genius of Amer- ica: that the people as a unit remain united in time of national crisis, that destructive elements can not gain favor among us when the welfare of the Amer- Hess, and her "Moses Hess: Prophet of Zionism," published by Thomas Yoseloff (11 E. 36th, NY16), is a valuable addition to the bookshelf on Zionist personalities. Mrs. Schulman evaluates the socialism of the pre-Herzlian Zionist philosopher and his approach to the Zionist idea, and, hailing him as "a modern Jewish prophet," declares that "Mes- sianism (which she calls the core of all Jewish prophecies) was likewise at the heart of the philosophy of Moses Hess." * * * Comparing the ideas of Moses Hess (1812-1875), whose "Rome and Jerusalem" was published in 1861, long before the appearance on the political scene of Theodor Herzl, with those of modern Zionism, Mrs. Schulman expresses the view that practical Zionists "felt that the Jews needed Zion because of anti-Semitism and economic exile." She believes that the spiritual need was to politi- cal Zionists "of secondary importance" and declares in tribute to the subject of her biography: ican people is involved. That is why our Government continued to function and was immediately restored to normalcy, under the guidance of another great legis- lator, within a matter of less than two hours after the functioning President had been taken from us. It is with confidence in the ability of our new President to carry on the func- tions of our Government as ably as he had guided his party through many diffi- cult eras while he was Majority Leader in the Senate that we acclaim him and wish him well. May he be granted the health and the wisdom to lead our nation towards paths of justice and peace. "gave due credit to the part that true inspired Orthodoxy had played in the Jewish revival, giving particular emphasis to the role of Hassidism . . . The Jewish movements and countermovements of the era in which Moses Hess lived and wrote ran the gamut from extreme denial of Judaism to a fanatical affirmation of Orthodoxy. Moses Hess saw, understood and evaluated them all, concluding that in the phases of Jewish thought an affirmative, self-helping Jewish national- ism, based on pride in its religious heritage, was the only path towards a well-adjusted Jewish life; and that a national home for the Jews in Palestine, run according to the tenets of Mosaic justice as a way of life and as a teacher of the world, was the only possible and desirable way for achieving Geulah, the Jewish redemption.' Mrs. Schulman's review of all of Hess' ideas regarding the movements of his time make her 128-page book especially valuable. She points out that "Hess' Jewish messianism, his Jewish national- ism and his humanitarianism are all-embracing and interchangeable terms in his concept of the world." She emphasizes: "Hess did not deny, as Mendelssohn did, that Judaism is dogma. But it is a dogma that has never become fossilized; it has never become extinct. It grew and developed as the Jews grew and developed, and as the rest of humanity grew and developed." * •* * Because he had been referred to as "Communist Rabbi Hess,* the views of the pre-Herzlian Zionist, his interpretation of religious beliefs, are important for an understanding of the man. Mrs. Schulman writes: "To Moses Hess, Judaism was a spiritual entity which must have a spiritual basis • . . To him the true object of rejuvenation of the Jew was not biological, social, political or economic self-assertion but the social education of the entire human race. It was therefore not necessary for Jewry as a whole to settle in Palestine. A spiritual center of action in Palestine was sufficient to make the influence of Judaism felt by the whole world." Hess' background, his birth in Germany and his studies in Poland, his dedication first to Socialism and then his advocacy of Zionism, form the basis for a fascinating biography. Mary Schulman's job is well done within the scope of the emphasis she places on this "Communist Rabbi Hess," in this "Prophet of Zionism."