The New Jerusalem Skyline THE JEWISH NEWS 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., YE 8-9364. Subscription $6 a year. Foreign $7. Second Class Postage Paid at Detroit, Michigan PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher CARM1 M. SLOMOVITZ Business Manager SIDNEY SHMARAK Advertising Manager CHARLOTTE HYAMS City Editor Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the 15th day of Shevat, (Tub' Shevat) 5726, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion: Exod. 13:17-17:16; Prophetical portion: Judges 4:4-5:31. Licht benshen, Friday, Feb. 4, 5:31 p.m. VOL. XLVIII, No. 24 Page 4 Feb. 4, 1966 Realistic Approach to Interfaith Dialogues Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, the ac- knowledged outstanding scholar in world Jewish Orthodoxy, has offered a most real- istic guide for dialogues between Jews and Christians. At the convention of Orthodox rabbis, last week, Rabbi Soloveitchik accepted, and en- couraged, discussions on an inter-religious basis on subjects related to secularism, civil rights, freedom, war and peace, the elimina- tion of poverty and other issues related to them. But he called it "improper" for such dialogues to deal with Jewry's attitude on Jesus, the messianic idea in Jewish and other faiths, our view of monotheism and the Chris- tian idea of the Trinity and the concept of the Covenant in Judaism and Christianity. His claim that a mutual understanding on these issues is an utter impossibility must be accepted as rational, since Jews and Chris- tians move within different frames of refer- ence and evaluation. If the views of Rabbi Soloveitchik could be adopted as a basis of approach to dialogue, controversy could be avoided and adherents of the differing faiths could go on worship- ing and practicing in accordance with their heritage while, at the same time, working together with others in matters involving the human values of all fellow citizens in the various countries in which Jews and those of other faiths live in amity. It is the injection Schocken Books has reissued as a paperback a classic—"On Jewish of the controversial and unbridgeable that Learning" by Franz Rosenzweig. causes unnecessary obstacles. Edited by a distinguished scholar, Dr. N. N. Glatzer, whose intro- Rosenzweig's 'On Jewish Learning' in a Paperback Responsibility for Peace in Middle East as in Asia President Johnson's excoriation of aggres- forces to such an extent that the situation sion, in the speech he delivered at the dedica- is more than threatening: there is real danger tion of the Truman Peace Center to be built of another conflict which could broaden into at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, was another unnecessary war. so effective that it deeply moved his audience Our government therefore owes a respon- — both in Independence, Mo., and the mil- sibility not to the Asian countries alone but lions who heard him over the nationwide to the basic democratic principles involved in hookups. assuring the security of Israel as well. This The warning against aggression was so cannot be attained by constantly feeding the thoroughly applicable to the threats leveled armed forces of Israel's enemies with • addi- by Arabs against Israel that the hope arose tional ammunition. The flood of arms to that that, perhaps, our Chief Executive will apply area must stop. Guilt for the increased threats his sentiments to the Middle East as effective- to Israel's existence must be directed at our ly as he does to the Far Asian threats to State Department, and the White House must democracy. share responsibility for the existing condi- There is a full awareness among those tions. They must act to avert a catastrophe. who also are concerned about the situation It is distressing that the many appeals in the Middle East of the seriousness of the against the arming of Arabs at Israel's ex- situation in Vietnam. All - liberty-loving peo- pense, for serious talks to avoid conflicts, ple must work together to assure a speedy have fallen on deaf ears. All that has occurred peace in that area. But peace is desired for until now merely credits the belief that the the entire world, not for a mere segment of State Department is pro-Arab, that at best it the globe, and the threats, the saber-rattling operates in fear of what the Soviet Union that continue to make. the Middle East a together with the Arabs may do to gang up powder keg, call for action there as well. against this country. But in the long run it Instead, however, of resisting the outra- has been proven that in a showdown such geous threats to Israel, the war-mongers are fears are groundless, that Nasser always re- being given encouragement. The escalation treats in an hour of danger to himself. of the arms race in the Middle East, the vast supplies of armaments that are being shipped Under the existing conditions, the policies to Egypt, Jordan and other countries by the of anti-Israelism have been myopic and it is United States, Russia and Great Britain have hoped that they will end quickly in the forced Israel as well to expand her defensive interest of world peace. Germans' Desire to Forget Rather Than Atone This summer, to help overcome "a virtual vacuum" in information on Jews and Ju- daism, a group of American Reform rabbis will go to Germany to lecture at universities and to overcome "a warped view" about us. Explaining the objective of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in accep- ting the invitation of the West German gov- eminent to offer such a course of lectures, one of the spokesmen said that Germany's educational institutions seek to instill into the new gereration "a sense of atonement, and there is an honest attempt to recount the tragedy of European Jewry." There is no doubt about the importance of such an undertaking, especially in view of the impoverishment of German Jewry itself which no longer possesses sufficient leader- ship to deal with the misunderstandings. The visiting rabbis should understand, however, that the view that "there is an honest attempt to recount the tragedy" is widespread in Germany even among educators. The fact is that German public opinion polls have shown that there is an overwhelm- ing sentiment to acquire "forgetfulness," that Germans are anxious to have the past erased from memory. A study of "Germany's Emerging Lead- ers," under the title "Does Nazism Live in duction adds much value to this important work, the 130-page book includes an exchange of correspondence between Rosenzweig and Martin Buber on the theme of "The Builders," and the entire brochure, in spite of its brevity, serves an important purpose as a guide to educators and as an inspiration to laymen as well. Rosenzweig (1886-1929), who came from an assimilationist environ- ment, was on the verge of converting to Christianity when a Yom Kip- pur experience brought him back to Judaism as a creative force. Prof. Glatzer indicates in his introduction that Judaism ap- peared to Rosenzweig "in its ancient profundity and universality of concerns," that he invited us "through learning and action to become partners in the life process called Judaism, "that he pointed "to the fullness of Jewish life expressed in the Halakha, in the universal implication of the law in classical Judaism." Dr. Glatzer points out that Rosenzweig's treatise "The Builders" ("Die Bauleute"), "written in the summer of 1923 and addressed to Martin Buber, takes the fateful step from Jewish knowledge to Halakha, the structure and body of the law, and the Mitzvot, the commandments and their observance." Three of Rosenzweig's epistles are included in this paperback: "It is Time: Concerning the Study of Judaism," addressed to Hermann Cohen; "Towards a Renaissance of Jewish Learning," addressed to Edward Strauss; and "The Builders: Concerning the Law," addressed to Dr. Buber. In the appendices are the Buber-Rosenzweig exchange of letters, a draft of an address, "Upan Opening the Juedisches Lehrhaus," and two letters on "More Judaism" to Richard Ehrenberg and Hedwig Cohn-Vohssen. Concluding the book is the brief essay "The Command- ments: Divine or Human." The appeals are for more Jewishness. To Hermann Cohen, for example, he addressed the plea: "The reactionaries of the middle of the 19th Century wanted to create a body of Jewry. We want an organic representation of Judaism. We do not want to have organizations of Jews, but • spir- itually Jewish organizations. The spirit of Judaism must be planted and raised in institutions of its own. The problem of Jewish educa- tion, in every stage and in every form, is the task of the moment. Of the moment; for, verily, the time has come to work. 'It is time the Lord; they have made void Thy teachings.' (Psalm to 19 work The epistle to Eduard Strauss points to Zionism's assertion "thi:- the only healthy, the only whole thing about the Jewish person—is th.., Jewish person himself." Yet he said that when the question "wha.-- should be done now" was posed at the time he wrote his essay—nearly a half century ago—Zionism as well as the other forces failed. And a bit later he referred to the German non-Zionist element as "the stuffed shirt." Rosenzweig's teachings are as valid for evaluations of Jewish learning as they were so many decades ago when the great adherent to the law and our traditions first developed them, and the Schocken paperback is a valuable addition to the Jewish library. Hitler Youth?," appearing in the National Observer, quotes an American who lived near Bonn for a number of years as agreeing that the Nazi ideology has rarely surfaced in the former members of the Hitler Youth he has known, but the very persons least suspected, the followers, may be the most dangerous. There are more indications of a desire to "forget" than to atone, and when our lectur- As part of the adult education program of Bnai Jeshurun syna- ers go to Germany, they should keep this in gogue in New York, Rabbi William Berkowitz has conducted dialogues view. dis- 'Heritage and Hope' Dialogues The Center Festival A vital step in the direction of advancing Jewish art, embracing the theater, music, painting, sculpture and the dance has been taken by the Jewish Community Center. The Festival '66 program inaugurated last week, to continue through the entire month of Febr- uary, embraces so many important activities that it has served to bring added status to the center's standard of high-rate programing. Renewed interest in the Yiddish theater, emphasis on cantorial art, important creations by noted Jewish artists, and numerous other factors are included in the current center festival. The exhibits, the theatrical perform- ances, the selected films — all add up to a program of great merit, deserving of par- ticipation by the entire community. in Judaism. During the 14 years of his ministry, he has directed cussions in which many prominent figures participated. The newest in his literary efforts — the compilation of texts of the dialogues—is "Heritage and Hope" which has just been published by Thomas Yoseloff. A variety of important and timely subjects was under discussion. Prof. Horace M. Kallen, Dr. Nahum Goldmann, Louis Nizer, Ogden and Mary Reid, Congressman Emanuel Celler, Richard Tucker, Rabbi Walter H. Plaut, Rabbi Bertram W. Korn, Fannie Hurst, Abraham Harman, Prof. Sehnan A. Waksman and Judge Michael A. Musmanno were the interviewed. Musmanno discussed the Eichmann trial and dealt with the tragic era in world history. Waksman commented on science and human. ism. Korn is the authority on the Civil War era. Nizer spoke on every man's right to a day in court., The others dealt with topics related to their movements and life's dedicated work and causes. The platform provided in such dialogues has made available for public discussion and for consideration by a large congregation— and now for a larger group by the appearance of major views of interest to many more—basic issues. The authorities who led in the discussions serve as stimulants for further consideration of vital issues introduced into a congregational program by an enterprising rabbi.