By DAVID SCHWARTZ
( Copyright, 1964, Jewish
Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
. , ... ...
American youngsters on Jewish Agency's
Bar Mitzvah Pilgrimage to Israel take time
from their studies and touring throughout Israel
to work on the land in a kibbutz.
Rabbi Ben Zion Bokser Offers His Interpretation
of Judaism in Valuable Volume 'Profile of a Faith'
In "Profile of a Faith," pub-
lished by Knopf, in which he
offers "an interpretation of a
great tradition," Rabbi Ben Zion
Bokser ren-
ders many
valuable ser-
vices to the
hordes of Jews
who should
read this book
when in search
of information
about the bas-
ic concepts of
our faith.
T h e distin-
guished auth-
or, who al-
ready has to
his credit a
number of
noteworthy
Dr. Bokser
books, including the several
prayerbooks he has edited, cov-
ers many aspects of Jewish life
and thought in this splendid
work. Intended for the layman,
it will prove of value to students
of Jewish history, theology and
philosophy, as well as to rabbis
and teachers.
Dr. Bokser discusses the
ethical life as the "noblest
expression of divine service."
He shows how Jewish ethics,
as an application of tzedek or
"The Jewish National Fund rep-
resents one of Zionism's most
constructive achievements in hu-
man welfare and social develop-
ment. It has made possible for
many Americans to join in an
important and lasting coopera-
tive enterprise of freedom."
John F. Kennedy
In Memory
of our
late martyred President
PLANT TREES in
The John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Peace Forest
Your certificate will be mailed
directly to Mrs. Kennedy
and Family
justice, "is very much con-
cerned with protection of so-
ciety against the perpetuation
of evil."
Zionist ideologies and the new
influences that arose with the
establishment of the State of
Israel are developed here and
the appraisal of events relating
to Zionism's realization provide
much food for thought.
Dr. Bokser points out that
"Judaism offers its value system
to every man, but to the Jew it
offers something more. It offers
him the sense of privilege in
being the bearer of a tradition
which has grappled bravely with
the deepest issues that have agi-
tated the human heart and which
have charted the answers by
which a man can live meaning-
fully in the face of whatever
storms may rage in the world."
In a comparative note on
Christianity as related to its
Jewish opposite, Rabbi Bokser
states:
"Much of what Judaism has
to say concerning the riddle
of existence has reached the
Western world via Christian-
ity. Christianity itself is one
of the Jewish contributions to
civilization. It is in many re-
spects a Jewish sect. It took
form within the Jewish house-
hold of faith, and its answers
are answers it learned when
it was still part of the main-
stream of Jewish vision and
life. But Christianity has ob-
scured the religious humanism
represented by Judaism
through placing at the center
of its value system the belief
in the divinity and messiah-
ship of Jesus and by making
salvation dependent on this
faith rather than on the moral
and spiritual quality of one's
life. Christianity is of course
divided into a variety of sects,
and they differ in their inter-
pretation of the role of Jesus
in the scheme of salvation.
They grow in closeness to
Judaism to the extent that
they recede from the absolu-
tization of Jesus and center
their faith on the direct rela-
tionship with God and on the
primacy of the moral deed as
the means of serving Him."
There is a poetic note in Dr.
Bokser's book on the meaning
and role of God:
"Is God a person? From all
that we have said it is clear that
God is not a person. We speak of
Him as though He were a per-
son; we call Him 'He,' because of
the qualities of personality and
the highest marks of perfection
we know. In a figurative sense
these qualities are applied to
Him, but God is above personal-
ity as He is above everything
else that is part of the world.
A person functions through a
physical self; he is finite, tem-
poral, relative in his virtues and
excellence. God is wholly other
than all this. . . . There are
godly qualities in all men, but
in essence God and man are
wholly dissimilar realms of be-
ing. Man is a creature, a mortal,
while God is—God."
Commenting on the messian-
ic
hope, Dr. Bokser explains
that it is "not personalized,"
that: "Its emphasis falls on
the substantive content of the
hope, not on the human media-
tor who is to help in its vic-
tory. And the hope involves
the dawn of a new epoch,
leading to the universal
acknowledgment of God's sov-
ereignty, to the banishment of
idolatry and falsehood from
the human heart, to the per-
fection of the world in the
image of the ideals of the
divine kingdom."
Dr. Bokser points to instances
in which rabbis were ready, be-
cause circumstances justified
their decisions, to condone abor-
tions. He points to the relative
non-existence of suicides in the
European ghettoes because of
the "unwavering faith that God
would not abandon His people"
and because Jews believed in the
coming of the Messiah.
Jewish hope for redemption,
out of which sprung the Zionist
movement, is interestingly eval-
uated in the light of recent de-
velopments, including some
Christian opposition as well as
Jewish antagonism because of a
belief that there has been, in
Israel's emergence as a State,
"an attempted usurpation of di-
vine prerogative." Such theology
is judged by Rabbi Bokser as "a
distortion of classic Judaism."
"The State of Israel," Dr.
Bokser asserts, "by the com-
mitments of the faith which
nurtured its rebirth and by its
own conscious dedication,
cherishes the goal to serve
the cause of the larger re-
demption."
While our dream is "the hea-
venly Jerusalem," he declares
that "the earthly Jerusalem
must be built first" and that
"the earthly is a stepping stone
to the heavenly."
Dr. Bokser's "Judaism: Pro-
file of a Faith" is an inspired
work that is certain to inspire
the readers who are in search
of an interpretation of the Jew-
ish heritage and of occurrences
in Jewish life during our life-
time.
—P. S.
Why do Jews smoke?" I
asked.
Such a question, said Morde-
cai. Jews always smoked. Take
the ancient Israelites. They de-
pended on camels for a lift.
Even the girls smoked. Remem-
ber the story of Rebecca and
the camels.
Not so fast, interjected Shlo-
mo. Camels may have been pop-
ular but the Jews believed that
the Messiah would come not on
a camel but on a donkey. A
cigarette may have a kick but a
donkey has a stronger one.
The historical fact is, I said,
that no one smoked before Co-
lumbus discovered America, ex-
cept the Indians. Luis de Torres,
a Jew, who went along with Co-
lumbus as his interpreter, is Said
to have been the first European
to write about the Indian habit
of smoking.
So when we smoke, we are all
Indians, said Goldenson. The
white man thought he was con-
quering the Indian, but the In-
dian conquered the whole world!
"When I was a kid," said
Shlomo, around the synagogue
you could always get a shmek
tabak." In the Jewish Museum,
you will see many finely carved
receptacles for snuff from syna-
gogues through the centuries.
Snuff was quite generally used
by all peoples and creeds.
That's the point, I said. In the
matter of drinking, Jews appear
to indulge less than their neigh-
bors, but not so in smoking.
Maybe, laughed Mordecai, be-
cause, before taking a smoke,
you don't have to say a blessing,
but before taking a drink, you
have "to make a Shehakol" as
they say, you have to say a
blessing, to "praise the Lord."
Do you know, said Shlomo, in
the old days, I am told, some
Jews, who were extra fond of
whiskey. would say, "Let's make
Shehakol, let's praise the
Lord? Actually, they were not
thinking of •mitzvah or praising
the Lord but of getting another
drink."
But even though, said I, taking
a drink could earn for them
something of the spiritual re-
ward of a mitzvah, they gener-
ally didn't drink to excess, but
such is not the case with tobacco.
Sometimes I think, said Morde-
cai, that smoking is really a kind
of playing with fire. Children
like to play with fire and adults
are more children than they
think.
The religious Jews abstain
from smoking on the Sabbath,
said Shlomo. Years ago, smoking
on the Sabbath was one of the
bitter controversial issues be-
tween the religious Jews and the
so-called free thinkers who liked
to spite the religious Jews by
conspicuously smoking on the
Sabbath. Once Rabbi Masliansky
was strolling down East Broad-
way when he encountered a
group of labor leaders, reputed
to be irreligious. "Good morn-
ing, gentlemen," said the rabbi,
"I see you are out for a Sabbath
stroll!"
"Sabbath!" exclaimed one la-
bor leader, "why today is
Wednesday."
"0, excuse me," said the rabbi,
"'I saw you smoking, so I thought
it must be the Sabbath."
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17 -THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS—Fri day, February 14, 1964
American Youngsters at Work in an Israel Kibbutz Why Jews Smoke ... It's Traditional