THE
JEWISH
NEWS

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e were slaves wit Pharaoh in Egypt'

Incorporating the Detroit Jewish
Chronicle commencing with issue
of July 20, 1951.

Member American Jewish Press
Association, Michigan Press• Associa-
tion, 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 07.

Entered as second class matter Aug.
e, 1942, at Post Office, Detroit, Mich.,
under act of Congress of March 8, 1879.

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PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Editor and Publisher

CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ

Business Manager

SIDNEY SHMARAK

Advertising Manager

CHARLOTTE HYAMS

City Editor

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Passover Scriptural Selections

This Sabbath, the first day of
Passover, -the 15th day of Nisan,
5725, the following scriptural selec-
tions. will be read in our syna-
gogues:

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Pentateuchal portion: Exod. 12:
21-51; Num. 28:16-25; prophetical
portion: Joshua 5:2-6:1, 27.

Sunday, the second day of Pass-
over: Pentateuchal portion: Levit.
22:26 23:44; Num. 23:16-25; proph-
etical portion: II Kings 23:1-9, 21-
25.

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Hol Hamoed Passover
Pentateuchal Portions
Monday, Ex. 13:1-16. Num. 28:19-
25; Tuesday, Ex. 22:24 23:19. Num.
28:19-25; Wednesday, Ex. 34:1-26,
Num. 28:19-25; Thursday, Num.
9:1-14, 28:19-25.

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r it

434.7

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For '7th Day Passover

Friday, April 23, the seventh day

of Passover: P-entateuchal portion:
Exod. /3:1745:26; Num. 28:19-25;
prophetical portion: II Samuel 22:1-
51.

Licht benshen,
Friday, April 16, 6:56 p.m.

VOL. XLVII, No. 8

Page 4

April 16, 1965

)-TA
Passover and Emancipation From Indifference

Freedom is more effective when it is personally earned. Emancipation
is most honorable if it is acquired by people for themselves, rather than
through external impositions.
Auto-emancipation has been one of Jewry's most laudable qualities,
and its development through the ages has given us strength wherewith to
overcome many obstacles.
Although Passover's origin was the result of miracles created by an
Almighty Power, the biblical story nevertheless calls into being the aid
of individuals who mobilized into a community, the guidance of Moses, the
cooperation of the people that was then liberated from slavery. During
the ages that ensued, it was this type of communal mobilization, resulting
from personal convictions of constituencies, that created the solidarity that
assured survival for a harrassed people.
Now, as we usher in another week of Passover and again concern our-
selves with freedom and emancipation, we must think in new terms, in rela-
tion to the new tasks which confront us at this time.
There is no longer the slavery that oppressed us in the era of the
Pharaohs of old or the centuries that followed the exile. Drastic changes
have taken place in the Diaspora with the emergence of the State of Israel.
Now we are in danger of a growing assimilation, and with it develops a
new form of enslavement, a sort of indifference which is tantamount to
abandonment of group loyalties for strange gods.
Indeed-, we are witnessing in Jewish life the watering down of Jewish
values, the minimization of the heritage of Israel, the failure to recognize
the need to strengthen our ties with the past in order that there be an as-
surance of a formidable future.
In this period of celebration of the anniversary of the liberation of the
Israelites from Egyptian bondage, there are frequent expiessions of fears
and anxieties over our future and our ability to survive. We are not as
pessimistic
as many who fear that we are about to vanish due to an_increase
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in intermarriage and a decline of cultural activities. On the contrary: we
adhere to faith that Israel is indestructible, that while we may lose some
adherents we are not disappearing as an entity.

But there are other matters to be concerned with: those related to
the spirit, to the cultural aspects of Jewish life. What we would like to
see is a revival of interest in our cultural heritage, a reaffirmation of faith
in Jewish values, a liberation from the enslavement which has led so many
in our midst to become indifferent to the spirit of Judaism.

Physical freedom alone is not sufficient to make a people strong. With-
out vision a people perisheth, and the vision that is vital to Jewry's
existence is an understanding of the basic principles that are linked with
our historic continuity. What we need is knowledge, and to attain the
highest rank in a people's existence we must place major emphasis in Jew-
ish life on knowledgeability—on complete understanding of our past, on
acquisition of information about the links of the Jewries of the world
through the ages and full acquaintance with our present status, wherever
Jews may reside.

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Those who are concerned about the continuity of Jewish existence
must view conditions with confidence, assuring a wholesome Jewish Identi-
ty, recognizing that proper protection for our status as Jews calls first for
Jewry's own understanding of the whys and wherefores of our existence
as a free people in an era of freedom. Without such understanding, there
is an enslavement of the spirit. It is in this area that we must have libera-
tion. If we attain it, we shall have a Passover of great dignity and the
confidence of Jewry's position to survive all crises.

It is in the spirit of freedom from fear over our existence as a spiritual
entity, with an attitude of confidence that Jewry's continuity will not be
marred—especially. if we are freed from ignorance and assure knowledge-
ability for all of our people—that we greet the community with hearty
wishes for joyous sedorim and a pleasant Passover.