By SAUL CARSON
ROBERT LAURIE
Copyright 1964 JTA
Wholesale Beef and Boneless Cuts
TA 5-7580
VI 2-0590
2852 Eighteenth St.
o_suussisusuuLas
eq_suulssuza
Passover Greetings
1 McNamara Paints Products Co., Inc.
895-0400 ..
6181 W. Warren
zuzinmsmThis
Holiday Greetings
GEORGE MIESEL & SON
TA 5-7990
6000 Buchanan
Happy Holiday Greetings
KLIP & KURL BEAUTY SALON
Reba Paske, Prop.
Hair Cutting — Permanent 'Waving — Tinting
Hours: Tues. & Sat., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; 'Wed.-Fri., 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
8440 W. 9 Mile Rd., Oak Park
oiLLS1/1.9.2.3USSISM
LI 8-1155
ULakslastsuLsum
Best Wishes for a Happy Passover
To Our Relatives, Friends and Patrons
BORIN BROS., Inc.
c)
300 ice-o-mats
There is one in your neighborhood, for the one nearest you
TO 8-8800
Ice Punch Bowls — Ice Carvings
nrrinSinrCITInnn) ciousosoaaaa61115-66irtncrinsTh=n515Th'
Happy Holiday
BANK OF COMMERCE
Resources over $72,000,000
Hamtramck - Warren - Center Line - West Utica
Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
"MD (1••••0 ■ 111.04•110.41 ■ 1.1=111.414 ■ 041 ■ 041111 ■ 01111•11 ■0■ 10.0411 ■ 04111MO!111 ■ 041111.114.w11.n.oamoam111 ■ 111.0 ■ 04: ;
Passover Greeetings
SUPERIOR OLDS
15000 W. 7 Mile Rd.
VE 8-3030
■ 01•MI• 174M1.1 ■ 0411M1.0.11110 ■ 041•11.0.11M1.01111•0 ■ 04111!0•0111111.1•1=1, 0■ 11.0 .11•111.11111 ■ 04 ■ 0•11 ■ 11.1111111•11.1•11.0.11 ■ 0 411111110.11
Noseefooseeftooemeeeemfbeeseemeemeefteeso
•
•
•
Holiday Best Wishes
•
•
•
•
Industrial
•
: •
Meyer Weingarden
•
Commercial
•
0
•
20900
Hubbell
Sons, Inc.
•
•
•
•
•
GENERAL CONTRACTORS
Oak Park 37, Mich.
547-1021
•
•
•
•
• awbooeetrefeefretveoeefeeememosoometosomeo e
Holiday Greetings
SUSIE Q RESTAURANT
Fish & Chips — Chicken — Jumbo Shrimp
Lobster Tails that you will enjoy—Home made Pies
Beautiful dining room — Large parties
2216 N. Woodward, 1/ mile N. of 12 Mile Rd., Royal Oak
LI 3-7300
Holiday Greetings
To Our Friends and Customers
TOPINKA'S COUNTRY HOUSE
24010 W. 7 Mile Rd.
KE 1-9000
TOPINICKS
2960 W. Grand Blvd.
Food and Liquor for the Gourmet
Lunches — Smorgasbord Dinners — Open Sundays tJ
Catering — Private Rooms for Banquets
Passover had a special mean-
ing to the Berman family. It was
not only the great festival cele-
brating Liberation. The night of
the first Seder was also observed
as the birthday of the patriach,
he whom all in town called Reb
Meir, while the family simply
called him Pa.
From far and near. as long as
he lived, the clan of the Ber-
mans gathered on the Passover
for the holiday that had a spe-
cial meaning for the family be-
cause of Pa's birthday. Some,
indeed, came from points quite
remote from the homestead in
Manchester. But, most of the
time, the full complement was
there — all seven sons, both
daughters, the various in-laws.
female and male thereof, and
grandchildren galore. In every
sense. therefore, it was an occa-
sion of great joy to all in the
family. For Passover served also
as a period of reunion.
To appreciate fully what Pass-
over meant to this clan, one
must recall that Red Meir was
a maskil. He belonged to those
Jews who were part of the
movement t o war d enlighten-
ment, the haskalah. The haska-
lah was late in coming to the
Ukrainian region whence the
Bermans stemmed. But when it
did arrive, the coining of that
movement coincided with Metes
growth to young adulthood. And
he embraced it—fully. Thus, in
his family, the brought with him
to America, his home. in Man-
chester, that spirit of tolerance
and understanding that charac-
terized the best of maskilim. He
was of the best.
That is why a certain free-
dom was permitted to the fam-
ily — a feedom that might be
frowned upon in the homes of
other members of the hassidic
sect to which Pa belonged. To
the more stern, in fact, what
went on in that household while
the Seder was being celebrated
might have been characterized
as undue levity. But to the Ber-
man clan—it was fun. An in-
stance was the attitude toward
the four types who respond—or
fa il to react—to t h e mean i ng of
Passovef.
*
As they went on with the tra-
ditional recitation of that portion
of- the Haggadah, various sons
would interject their own inter-
pretetions. The first was re-
ferred to as The Good Guy; the
second was The Baddie; then
came The Dope; finally The In-
nocent. (If you will refer to
your Haggdah, you might see
that the modernization of these
characters was not too inept.)
Only a true maskil would per-
mit such freedom of interpreta-
tion!
There was the Seder when
Ione of the sons, having just fin-
ished a course in Shakespeare
at college, quoted Hamlet's re-
mark about the irrelevance of
Hecuba. The connection took
some explaining — but, once
made clear, Hecuba was for
Years thereafter me n t i o n e d
when it came to The Baddie.
And, long before that develop-
ment, there was another misin-
terpretation that Pa tolerated.
You'll recall that the Hebrew
term for setting that bad guy's
teeth On edges uses the word
"hakeh." Always, the slightly
irreverent translators gave the
worth its Yiddish meaning, say-
ing: "Bust him in the teeth."
Pa would look up—as if he was
surprised — smile a moment —
and proceed as if nothing had
happened.
Are those little things? One
feels they had major signific-
ance Those things created an
atmosphere that permeated the
family sired by Reb Meir—one
of utter tolerance, utter devo-
tion to genuine freedom, utter
understanding of the real mean-
ing of Passover as a festival
celebrating the larger freedoms
for all of mankind.
Pa is now gone. The "Ber-
man" family in what we have
here called "Manchester" is, of
course, hidden by fictitious
names. But the family was real.
And so was Pa. And so, still, are
the precepts that he taught, the
traditions that he passed on.
One likes to think there are
many such "Berman" families,
in many a "Manchester." For
Reb Meir was one of a large
tribe of men who stood for gen-
uine enlightenment—for a fu-
sion of ancient Jewish tradition,
solid Jewish learning, adherence
to true principles of Freedom
Now—for all men; all of it inter-
larded with genuine humanity,
even with mild humor at one's
own expense. They were a great
race—the Maskilim.
On Pa's tombstone, in one of
the Jewish cemeteries in "Man-
chester," there is only one word
in addition to his Hebrew name
and the dates of his birth and
death. Each Passover, his tribe
still travels there. The clan is
there again this Passover. Its
members take pride in the true
meaning of that single word on
Pa's monument. The word is
"Maskil."
gitiLizasulsiksuuts_suuzsutstis,,_
HAPPY PASSOVER
Dr, McArthur Colton
Dentist
1111 Griswold, over Kinsel's
WO 2-1779
61161515-2nrninnrnsiSTICTIMP
Holiday Good Cheer
CONSUMERS
PAPER CO.
5170 Vermont TY 7-1287
3111111.11 .111 .1 ■•1■ 9 111;1 4, ■ ••=1.0 ■ 041111 ■ 0•11 ■ 11•1111.1/ ■0■ 01•1111M 0 4 ■■•■
ETSOL SYNTHETIC
PRODUCTS
3550 Russell
TE 1-7230
Passover's
Most Cordial Greetings
DETROIT MILL
SUPPLY CO.
1909 East Ferry WA 2-5600
Mr. and Mrs. Abe Weisman
•••,04111.1 ■13■ 0■ 11111• .11M•01
Holiday Best Wishes
WILDE REGISTER & GRILL CO.
Special Sizes Made to Order
Lewis and Art Wilde, Proprietors
424 Bellevue
LO 7-4890
• 11111.0•01!0■1141■0■11.04111111.0,11
•1■041■ 1 . 1 •10.0 i 11,1111111.0•MPOINMO •111111111.0 ■ 111.111 ■ 0•11111111•01M1.1 011 ■0■ Il i1 }41•1111.0
Passover Greetings
WINKLER SANITATION CO.
General Hauling and Cleaning of All Kinds
l l
80 East 7 Mile Rd.
Ir
I
I
FO 6-1429
Passover Greetings
International Metal Products Corp.
Coils, Strips, Sheets — Galvanized, Electrolytic
10621 Capitol
SIM
ONO
Oak Park
LI 8-8111
IIMM OEM ;1 ■ F
MOD
Holiday Greetings
THE WALTER CARROLL COMPANY
Painters - Decorators Since 1907
110 N Waterman
VI 3-1400
Holiday Greetings
HAROLD E. McCLURE
Real Estate
1015 FORD BLDG.
'WO .1111111, 011MIM 0 ■ •••• 0•11M 0 ■■ •• ■ 141111111.1.1=111. 1111=11.0 /111 ■ 04111.11.01 ■ 041111111•11•111•11PO411 ■ 0!11.1•11./•••••11 ■ 11.111111•011 ■ 041111 •4■ MINI
Holiday Good Cheer
i
PHILLIP'S WASTE OIL PICK-UP
AND ROAD OILING SERVICE, INC.
The Largest Pick-Up Fleet
SEASON'S GREETINGS
04=111.411 ■ ININ ■
in
the Midwest
VI 3-170LI
3901 Wyoming in Dearborn
HIEMP.11 ■ • 0 011M. 0 MMED.04111111 ■ 04.1101. 0 41111•11.0 ,1!1) ■ •••• 0.1111•11/041111M; 041=.0411101.1.1.11.1 / ;NM 0•11111111.011•11/W0.0•11
■ 01•1111141.1•1•041•111. 1
Best Wishes for a. Happy Passover
to Our Friends and Patrons
THE FABULOUS
STAR BAKERY
13505 W. 7 Mile at Hartwell
UN 4-1635
39 - THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Friday, March 21, 1964
Passover in the Horne of `Maskil'
Happy Passover