THE JEWISH NEWS The Spirit of Hanukah 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 48235 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 Business Manager SIDNEY SHMARAK Advertising Manager CHARLOTTE I3YAMS City Editor Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the 24th day of Kislev, 5726, 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. 17. 4:44 p.m. VOL, XLVIII, No. 17 Page 4 Dec. 17, 1965 Hanukah -- Festival of Spiritual Valor Once again, the spirit of Hanukah domi- nates in Jewish homes. While for many it is a way of counteracting influences of strange gods, a means of "competing" with the major- ity's forces in our midst whence emanate temptations to glorify teachings that could wean the weakest among us away from us, the valor that is recorded by our festival nevertheless predominates in our midst. When we speak of valor we do not nec- essarily intend to worship the military factor in Hanukah. It is true that we look with admiration to the past, that we admire the ancestral strength that overcame a superior enemy in the struggle for survival. But what we especially embrace as the chief character- istic of Hanukah is the spiritual factor, the triumph in defense of our faith, the victory of a small band of warriors over a great power that tried to destroy the faith of Israel. More than 60 years ago, a great scholar, the late Dr. Morris Joseph, thus evaluated the Maccabean spirit: These brave men drew their courage from the purest of all sources, from a pas- sionate love for their religion, from a veneration for the good and the true and the morally beautiful. The Maccabees bold- ly faced overwhelming odds, not for their own selfish ends, but in a spirit of self- sacrificing fidelity to the holieSt of all causes. They threw themselves upon the enemy in the temper that takes the martyr to the stake; they did it not for gain or glory, but solely for consience sake. They felt that God was calling to them, and they could not hold back. Theirs was a unique effort. Others had, it is true, displayed an equally noble courage on the battlefield. But what they had fought for was their fatherland and their mother tongue, their hearths and homes. To fight for Religion was a new thing. "It is good for Jewish youth to include warriors of their own race in their gallery of heroes, to be able to say, 'My people has produced its brave men equally with the Greeks and the Romans.' "The little Maccabean band was like a rock in the midst of a surging sea. Stand- ing almost alone in their day, the heroes beat back the forces that threatened to in- volve all mankind in a common demoraliza- tion. They kept a corner of the world sweet in an impure age. They held aloft the torch of true religion at a time when thick darkness was covering the nations." In this paean of glory to the Maccabees, penned in the first decade of this century, credit was given to Maccabean valor for its military achievements, but especially for the belief in and adherence to Faith. It was, in- deed, the first time that a battle was con- ducted for Religion, and the torch that our ancestral heroes held high, in a time of dark- ness, symbolized Man's struggle for Right as much as Might, for Justice and Freedom of Belief as much as for material well-being. This, in truth, is the lesson of Hanukah. It is this that we must emphasize in the midst of alien environments; and such emphasis eliminates whatever conflicts there may be with strange gods because even for those alien to us the Hanukah victory created a pattern for religious freedom. Hanukah is the supreme festival for chil- dren. It is the gift-giving, the gift-receiving and the gift-exchanging period on our calen- dar. The chief of the gifts is the acceptance of the spiritual heritage that has been re- tained by the Maccabean triumphs. And be- cause of this gift the festival becomes a major occasion for celebration not by the children alone but by their parents as well-- by elders who must interpret the great gain of twenty-two centuries ago in proper fashion to our children. It is the spirit that was so well evaluated by Emma Lazarus in her poem "The Feast of Lights" in which she pro- claimed: Kindle the taper like the steadfast star Ablaze on evening's forehead o'er the earth, And add each night a luster till afar An eightfold splendor shine above the hearth. Clash, Israel, the cymbals, touch the lyre, Blow the brass trumpet and the harsh- tongued horn; Chant psalms of victory till the heart takes fire, The Maccabean spirit leaps newborn. Remember how from wintry dawn till night, Such songs were sung in Zion, when again On the high altar flamed the sacred light, And, purified from every Syrian stain, The foam-white walls with golden shields were hung, With crowns and silken spoils, and at the shrine Stood, midst their conqueror tribe, five chieftains sprung From one heroic stock, one seed divine .. . Still runs the dance, the feats, the glorious Psalm, The mystic lights of emblem, and the word. Where is our Judas ? Where our five-branched palm? Where are the lion-warriors of the Lord? Clash, Israel, the cymbals, touch the lyre, Blow the brass trumpet and the harsh- tongued horn; Chant hymns of victory till the heart takes fire, The Maccabean spirit leaps newborn ! Warning Against Re-Emerging Anti-Semitism Prof. Arieh Tartakower, chairman of the Israel executive of the World Jewish Con- gress and the head of the World Hebrew Movement, one of Jewry's most distinguished historians, recently said that "in the history of anti-Semitism, which extends over thou- sands of years, we have hardly ever had such a period of widespread propaganda of hatred as today." Dr. Tartakower, who has never been con- sidered a panic-monger, contends that on all world Jewish fronts there is a spreading evil. He pointed to the status of Russian Jewry—a quarter of the Jews of the world—who are suffering injustice, and he said in relation to them and to efforts in their behalf: "We shall continue the struggle until our brethren are able to live as Jews, to pray to our God, and be part of the Jewish people. If there is jus- tice in the world, our struggle will be crowned with success." He was especially concerned about the Jews in South America who, he said, "again have become the famous scapegoat." Civic-protective Jewish groups in recent years maintained that the anti-Semitic men- ace had declined. Russia's Premier Alexei N. Kosygin, in an address some time ago in Riga, Latvia, said: "For our society, nationalistic survivals in any form, racism or anti-Semi- tism, are naturally alien and contradictory to our outlook." Latin American leaders also have uttered denials of a growing anti- Semitic danger. Nevertheless, Dr. Tartakower's warning must not be treated lightly. So well-informed an historian knows whereof he speaks, and his admonitions must not be ignored. Every indication of the re-emergence of anti-Semitism must be considered as a symp- tom to be countered with action. Ostrich-like burying of our heads in the sand, ignoring warnings, will only weaken our position. Salisbury Exposes USSR Bigotry in N Y Times Byline Book 'Russia' Harrison E. Salisbury, Nei York Times assistant managing editor, who distinguished himself as a foreign correspondent and won the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting, is the author of the N. Y. Times Byline Book "Russia," published by Atheneum. Written as an introduction to Russia "from Czars to Commissars," this paperback covers quite thoroughly the Jewish situation in the USSR. Salisbury contends that while Russia has changed radically since Lenin sized power on Nov. 7, 1917, the change is not as radical as the Communists say and he states that "there is more continuity in Rus- sian life and Russian problems than either the Soviet regime or its critics often admit." He calls Czars and Commissars "brothers under the skin." Commenting on Yevgeny Yevtushenko's poem "Babi Yar," which denounced anti-Semitism in Russia and dealt with the ravine near Kiev where the Nazis slaughtered and buried 40,000 Jews, Salisbury declares that the poet's condemnation "was a reaction against deep and pernicious anti-Semitic currents in Soviet life." Today, synagogues have been closed, rabbis arrested, members of Jewish congregations _intimidated and sometimes physically attacked. Especially in the Ukraine, a hotbed of anti-Semitism under the Czars, there has been noted a revival of anti-Semitism, often encouraged by official party propaganda publications." He adds that "while Khrushchev heatedly denied any anti-Semitic feelings, he often told anti-Semitic jokes." Salisbury writes that young intellectuals are reacting against the revived anti-religious campaigns, that: "Young intellectuals of Jewish background attend Yiddish concerts and recitals, even though they do not understand the language, as a gesture of solidarity with the old Jewish generation." Salisbury's "Russia" is one of the most revealing documents on the current situation in the USSR. Gumbiner Book Leaders of People': 23 Brilliant Biographi E:____Th, The second volume in the series "Leaders of Our People" b' Rabbi Joseph H. Gumbiner, director of the Hillel Foundation at the University of California, Berkeley, illustrated by David Stone, published by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, deserves, like its predecessor, wide distribution. Its use in schools, as reading material in homes where parents take an interest in their children and guide them to a knowledge of the heroes in Jewish ranks, is of immense value. Rabbi Gumbiner has made an excellent selection of notables in history for his evaluations. Commencing with Luis de Torres, hero of the sea, adventurer, Marrano, his list of 23 greats in Jewry extends through the ages, con- cluding with David Ben-Gurion. Two great women are among the distinguished leaders de- picted in this series of biographical sketches. They are Emma Lazarus, the eminent poetess, and Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah. Another escapee from the Inquisition, who abandoned his status as a Marrano, Joseph Nasi, who rose to power in Constantinople at the beginning of the 16th Century, is the second luminary to be described by Rabbi Gumbiner. The others whose lives are reviewed in this series are: Israel Ba'al Shem Tov, founder of Hassidism; Moses Mendelssohit, credited with founding Reform Judaism; Haym Salomon, financier of our Revolution against Britain; Judah Touro and Rabbi David Einhorn, eminent figures in early American Jewry; Rabbi Israel Salanter, the Russian Jewish Talmudic scholar of the last century; Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, American Reform Jewish leader; Rabbi Solomon Schechter, leader of Conservative Judaism; Eliezer Ben Yehudah, who led in the re- vival of Hebrew as a spoken language; Theodor Herzl, founder of mod- ern political Zionism; Rabbi Stephen D. Wise, great Zionist leader and reformer; Rabbi Leo Baeck, German-Jewish theologian; Chaim Weiz- mann, first president of Israel; Chaim Nachman Bialik, poet laureate of Israel; Supreme Court Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis, jurist and Zionist; Judah Leon 1VIagnes, first president of the Hebrew Univer- sity; and Albert Einstein, the world's most noted physicist. The great value of this book is that it was so well written for children and serves so splendidly as a series of heroic stories that can be enjoyed by elders while they read them to their children. It is a commendable work.