Purely Commentary '
Eternal Light Vigil: Some Basic USSR Facts
The Vigil and the Russian
The . . Michener's
The Source' Background
Detroit Is Saddened by Michener's Illness
By Philip
Slomovitz
Weekly Quiz
By RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX
(Copyright, 1965, JTA, Inc.)
Why is it that Jewish law
is so insistent on meticulous
attention being paid to the form
of the letters written in the
Sefar Torah, T e f i l l i n and
Mezuzah?
The Talmud (Menahoth
29:B) tells us that important and
significant spiritual truths are laid
down in the traditional form of
the letters. For example, the end
letters, which take a special fora
when they appear as final letter i
have a special prophetic message.
Certain letters are ornamented
with crowns indicating the royalty
of certain principles of the faith.
A 19th Cent ury rabbi sug-
gested that the crowned letters
form an abbreviation standing for
charity and grace. Some letters
are ornamented with arms indicat-
ing that one must be a "fighter"
in order to uphold the Torah-
What does the word "Mezu-
zah" mean?
The term is that which
refers to the Sheathed Scroll
which is placed on the doorposts
of the house. The root, "zuz,'"
occurs in two places in the Bible
and means movement (Psalms
50:11), (Isaiah 66:11). The door-
post or the threshold, being a
place where people move either
in or out of the room would be
a place of movement. In latter
Hebrew the projections on build,
ings are called "Zizim" (Talmud,
Baba Kama 82:B)—the idea being
that this projection "springs for-
ward" or "moves forward." The
Mezuzah thus would get its name
by virtue of its location, which
is a place through which move-
ment is channeled. It thus teaches
us the ideal of making our move-
ments coincide with the Almighty's
wishes and also asking Him to
bless our movements for good.
The mere news that James Michener would be here to address the
On the eve of the Eternal Light Vigil in Washington, which is to
mark the protest against anti-Jewish bias in Russia, the Russian Com- Zionist Organization of Detroit, at a lecture co-sponsored by Wayne
munist party organ, Pravda, editorially condemned anti-Semitism. This State University and the J. L. Hudson Co., was exciting news. Now we
may indicate that the Soviet leaders are sensitive to attacks and are are saddened by the illness of the distinguished author of "The Source"
prepared for adequate Oefense against the proferred criticisms. It may and several other best sellers.
There was much to learn from Michener, and from his wife, who
also be an effort to undermine the effectiveness of the Eternal Vigil.
Whatever the intentions, the fact is that there are certain Russian had returned with him from Israel enthused over the Israelis' accom-
tactics that spell bias in relation to Jewry and that these need to be plishments.
At least, we can benefit from Michener's own evaluation of his
exposed to public light in defense of the basic rights of the Jews in
latest great novel, in the background material he wrote on "The
the Soviet Union.
There is need for an understanding of all the relevant issues in Source," as follows":
the case, and it is of the utmost urgency that the facts should be stated
"At different times during the
frankly and firmly.
past 13 years I have worked in I sonable when I was far from the
Among the requests addressed to Russia, to be heard in Washington, and traveled in or around the enchantment of the Holy Land.
echoing the protests of the past several years, will be those relating edges of the Muslim world — In- And the more I worked on the
to the suppression of the Yiddish press, the curtailment of freedom of donesia and Malaya, Pakistan and design of the book, judging char-
religion, interference with Jewish cultural opportunities—in the press, Afghanistan, Turkey, Egypt, Leba- acters and scenes as to their merit,
the theater, the arts, etc.
non and Trans-Jordon. Impressed the more convinced I became that
But those who are apologizing for the Russian attitudes are chal- by the vivid quality of life in those I had picked the right locale, the
lenging Jewish claims. They maintain that all religions are taboo in lands, I soon began to nurture in right imaginary town, and the right
Russia; yet the churches are flourishing while Jews are in constant the back of my mind the idea that group of incidents.
fear lest they should be accused of entering a synagogue and the num- one day I would settle down in
"I therefore hurried back to the
ber of Jewish houses of worship has declined to a bare minimum.
the Near East for a long spell, to Holy Land, rented a room right on
When demands are made for a free Yiddish press in Russia, the study and then to write about Mount Carmel overlooking the site
apologists point to the monthly (hitherto a bi-monthly) Sovietische what was happening there. About of my imaginary town, and dug
Heimland, without acknowledging that this is a literary magazine and ten years ago, a prolonged stay in in for 15 months to write out the
that, unlike the freedoms in other minority nationality groupings, Istanbul convinced me that the first draft of The Source.
there isn't a single Yiddish newspaper in all of Russia—except for the setting for my work — whether
"I have never known a more
ludicrous attempt at Yiddish newspaper publishing in Biro-Bidjan whose it would be a novel, as essay or
a historical summary I did not at who satisfying experience.
Yiddish semi-weekly newspaper isn't a news-carrying sheet at all.
But the Russian Jews who are defending their government on the that time know — ought to be Every morning, without a single
score of the lack of Yiddish literature taunt us by stating that Yiddish Constantinople, and I began to interruption for fifteen months,
has declined here, 'too. Here, for instance, is a report from Labor focus my attention on that re- I sat at my typewriter working and
reworking this complex story. In
Monthly of London, written by the Australian novelist and short story markable city.
the afternoons I went on field trips
writer, Judah Waten, who had left Odessa when he was 14, in 1911, and,
"On these and similar plans I
returning there 53 years later, met with his family and was joined worked for some years, meanwhile to places like Safed, which is one
there by one of the eminent Yiddish novelists, Yechiel Falikman. revisiting Istanbul and surround- of my favorite spots in the world;
to Acre; to Megiddo; to Caesarea;
Waten wrote in Labor Monthly:
ing territories. One spring day I
"Yechiel Falikman showed us through the district of Podol happened to visit the old Crusader and always to the Sea of Galilee,
where Jews lived in Sholem Aleichem's time and still do. There castle at Athlit, on the Israeli sea- which I came to know better than
are still many Jews in Kiev, a high percentage of them intellectuals. coast halfway between Haifa and I know my own county in Pennsy-
I said to Falikman: 'Will many people read your book?"Yes, I the Herodian capital of Caesarea, lvania.
"When the rough draft was com-
think so,' he said. 'In Yiddish?' I asked. 'More in Ukranian and where St. Paul was imprisoned
Russian translations,' he answered. 'Take my word we Yiddish and St. James condemned to death. pleted — some half-million words
— I moved to Jerusalem to consult
writers thank heaven for translations. We have increased our
"The castle of Athlit is in ruins, the libraries and the specialists.
public by millions of readers.' In the West, official Jewish bodies
and newspapers are very concerned about the fate of Yiddish in but its cellars remain pretty much Since the manuscript dealt with
the Soviet Union,' I said, 'But are they concerned about the fate as they were 700 years such various matters as the coming
of Yiddish in their own countries?' Falikman said. 'How many ago, when the castle was held by of the Hebrews to Canaan, the
people read Yiddish' books in Australia? Or in England?' I couldn't French and English Crusaders. conflict with the Phoenicians, the
"And as I walked through these writing of the Psalms, the compila-
tell him exactly but there weren't many, I agreed.
"We met Jews everywhere, not only amongst the writers. In a ghostly vaulted dungeons I real- tion of the Talmud, the Crusades
sanatorium we visited, the assistant medical director was a Jewish ! ized that the ideal setting for the and the great days of Safed, no
lady who had won many decorations in the war. There were other projected novel was not Constant- one man could presume to know
Jewish doctors on the staff and I spoke Yiddish with them. In a inople but the land about Athlit: all that was required. I therefore
large clothing factory the director was Jewish and he told me he the nearby Caves of Carmel, where worked with real experts in these
had started life as a Yeshiva boy. There were skilled Jewish men passed from an animal-like fields and removed at least some Pl
cutters who were among the most estemed workers in the factory. life to human group living some of the errors of fact or judgment
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Supreme
The Jewish world of traders, of peddlers, and luftmenschen was forty thousand years ago; Megiddo, which had crept in.
Court Justice Moshe Landau, serv-
where
one
of
the
noblest
of
all
"In due course the entire novel ing as chairman of the Central
dead but the Jews were not dead. The Jewish world of Odessa
today was a world of intellectuals and skilled workers with the Biblical kings was slain by the was rewritten. When the rewriting Elections Committee, was given
Egyptian Pharaoh; Acre, where was complete I took the one copy
same opportunities as all other citizens.
unlimited authority by most Is-
"A group of writers, Ukrainian, Russian and Yiddish', gave us the peerless Saladin and violent of the manuscript which existed rael political parties to stop any
Richard
the
Lion-Hearted
contend-
to
the
research
department
of
a farewell party in the Odessa hotel. Then the Yiddish poet Weine-
practices during the campaign for
man said to me: 'We have changed just like you in the West. Dif- ed; Safed, where the wisest men Hebrew University., and there had elections to parliament which he
of
Judaism
once
lived;
and,
above
it photographed. Then I air-mailed considers unfair or illegal.
ferent maybe, but great changes there have been. You are not the
same as your father. And there will be more changes. But some all, the Sea of Galilee, where so it back to New York and went off
The parties signed an agreement
people in the West think change is good for them but not for us. much of significance in world his- on a vacation in Egypt, going up empowering him to act in such
tory
occurred.
In
the
cellars
of
Ath-
the Nile to the great tombs of the situations, without appeal against
They would have liked us to stay in Sholem Aleichem's time.'
And he spoke of the great contribution made by Odessa Jews to lit I saw my novel completely laid Pharaohs.
any rulings he might make. They
"If the public derives half the issued a joint statement pledging
Soviet culture, literature, science, music and industry. We all out before me.
"In the days that followed, I pleasure from reading this novel to conduct a fair campaign for
played together the local game of listing the names of famous
writers, musicians and scholars born in Odessa. 'The world is divided decided that the setting should be that I have had in writing it, I the November balloting. The par-
between those who were born in Odessa and those who weren't,' an imaginary town standing along will be most pleased. For as I ties signing the agreement were
the borderland between Phoenicia wrote I lived in the land from the Mapai-Ahdut Avodah align-
one of the Ukrainian writers said."
Here we have a defense: Yiddish has declined in the United States, and Judea, and that the structure which our theories of God develop- ment, the joint Herut-Liberal bloc,
in Canada, in Great Britain, in Australia, as well. But the defenders of of the novel would be based upon ed. I walked the ancient streets the National Religious Party, Ma-
conditions in Russia have overlooked a basic fact: while more than the archaeological excavation of inhabited by those who composed pam, the independent Liberals / -._---
500,000 Russian Jews have stated in the last census that Yiddish is that ancient site, plus dramatic the Bible. I camped on the hills former Premier David Bent
their mother tongue, they dare not publish a newspaper that keep views of what life in the town where the god Baal conducted his Gurion's new Israel Workers
them abreast of facts occurring in Jewish communities everywhere was like at fifteen selected stages furious competition for the minds and the Communist parties. Agu-
on earth. But while the Yiddish press is declining in the free coun- of history covering the period from of men. I spent hours tracing out dat Israel and Poale Agudat Is-
tries, any one who wishes could publish a Yiddish, or a Hebrew, news- prehistoric man down to today. I the paths followed by the armies rael agreed to sign the pledge
therefore prolonged my visit to of Antiochus the man-made god, later.
paper, anywhere.
For example, if an Isaac Cohen wished to print a Yiddish paper in Israel and began inspecting the of Vespasian, of Richard the Lion-
Gen. Zvi Tsur, who resigned as
Detroit, he could go to Sussman's or to Becker's or wherever else there land between Acre and the Sea Hearted, of Napoleon, and of chairman of the United States-Is-
are Yiddish linotype machines and available facilities—or he could of Galilee, and one fortunate day General Allenby, who reconquered rael Desalination committee when
set up such a plant on his own, anywhere—and publish a Yiddish found the precise setting I was this land from the Turks.
he joined Ben-Gurion's independ-
newspaper of his own. This can not be done in Russia. That's our looking for. On that spot I would
"More importantly, I came to ent list for the November Parlia-
place my imaginary town.
complaint !
know the places where the early mentary elections, decided to coil-
"I returned to America and Christians worked, where immortal tinue in that post, after a person-
Then there is the matter of Babi-Yar, the Dachau and the Ausch-
witz of Russia, where tens of thousands of Jews were murdered by spent a month pondering my con- rabbis like Maimonides and Akiba al appeal from Premier Levi
the Nazis. When an effort was made to turn the Dachau area into clusions, for I wanted to be sure labored, and where the men of Eshkol.
a park, in order to have the crimes of Dachau forgotten and erased that the idea which had come to Safed developed their theories of
Gen. Tsur quit the chairman-
from historic memory, a Catholic priest formed a rebellious committee me so very strongly looked rea- mysticism."
ship because he felt that, as a can-
and prevented Jews from visiting the site of Babi Yar when they
didate for political office oppos-
Wayne State University, the Detroit Zionist Organiaztian and the ing • Eshkol's Mapai Party, he
wished to see the area where tens of thousands of Jews were murdered
J.
L.
Hudson
Co.
are
fortunate
in
having
secured
Robert
St.
John
to
by the Nazis. Now apartment houses have been erected on that site.
should not continue as a major
Yevgeny Yevtushenko's famous "Babi Yar" poem protested, against anti- be here on the night on which Michener was to have spoken—on Sept. civil servant. Eshkol sent him a
Semitism. It did little good, except for a concession just made that the 30, at the Rackham Auditorium. We welcome him.
And our good wishes go forth to James A. Michener for a speedy message expressing the view that
poem has been set to music in Dmitri Shostakovich's 13th Symphony,
the resignation was "ill-consid-
recovery.
Perhaps we shall be blessed by his appearance before very ered," and asking him to remain
and that there are plans for the erection of a Babi Yar Monument on
long,
when
his
health
will
be
completely
restored.
the site of the area of the Nazi crimes which has been turned into a
in the post. The chairmanship ap-
park adjoining the new abomination: the series of apartment houses
parently was regarded by the pre-
over the graves of the Jewish martyrs, the number of whose dead `Heil Hitler' Earns Fine
mier as a borderline case, making
of $666 for Sailor
may have been in excess of 100,000.
Gen. Tsur the head of an interna-
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to charges of disturbing the peace. tional project and, therefore, not
Why did the Russians act thus in the Babi Yar matter? They are
to The Jewish News)
Three other West German sea- strictly an Israeli civil service of-
Haifa Folk Henreis, 23, a West
anti-Fascist and anti-Nazi: why did they hide the facts about the Nazi
terrors? Was it part of an anti-Jewish scheme: anything to keep the German sailor who shouted "Heil men who admitted joining with fice holder.
Jew in subjection?
Hitler" and sang a Nazi marching Heireis in singing the marching
There are many other wrongs that need adjusting. If only the song last Friday in Haifa, was song but who denied they shouted
Russians could be dealt.: withL All that is asked is basic justice, Will fined 2,000 pounds ($666), by a mag- "Heil Hitler" were fined 200 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
istrate's court. He pleaded guilty pounds ($66) each.
the four-day Vigil attain it?
2—Friday, September 17, 1965
Pledge to Halt
Unfair Political
eas in Israel