Editorial

Entire Community Prays for Complete Healing of Rabbi Adler

The Eighth Benediction in the Amidah
Three times daily, devoutly, Rabbi Morris Adler had been praying during a creative
lifetime for the health of the ill, for healing and peace and justice for his congregants. He
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1 ad been praying and pleading with the Power mightier than we are for peoples of all
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iths. Now it is our turn to pray for him, to turn to our Prayer Book, to the Amidah, and
recite the eighth benediction, pleading with all our heart and all our soul that he may be
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granted a refuah shleymah — complete healing — from wounds he had suffered as an
innocent victim in a tragic emanation from a confused mind. We plead with the Almighty
Heal us, Lord and we shall be healed; help us and we shall
to grant hini the strength he needs to conquer the affliction that has been heaped upon
be helped, for Thou art our praise. Grant complete healing for all
him, so that our community, so that this nation and humanity, may again be blessed
our ills for Thou, 0 God and King art a faithful and merciful leader.
with the services he has been endowed to render so brilliantly. We share the prayers of
Blessed art Thou, 0 Lord, who healest the sick.
peoples of all faiths, of communities
throughout the world, that his great
mind should not be blurred, that his
genius should continue to function for
the good of America, of the People
Israel, of Judaism and humanity.
- He is the chief spokesman for
DETROIT
MICHIGAN
our people in Detroit. But he has
A Weekly Review
of Jewish Events
gained the distinction also of being
the interpreter of the acts of justice
Michigan's Only English-Jewish Newspaper, Incorporating The Jewish Chronicle
that are so vitally needed in our time
so that there should be an end to
Vol. XLVI I I—No. 26 17100 W. 7 Mile Road, Detroit 48235
February 18, 1966
racial and religious discrimination, so
that we should no longer be cursed
with man's inhumanity to man but
that, instead, the high ideals of our
faith and our land should predomi-
nate.
We pray that the powerful voice
that had been interrupted may once
again speak out, that the ailment should be temporary, that our
Rabbi may return to full glory in the service of his people. -
The brightest years are still ahead for him. He had just begun
to create new interpretive values. The literary works he had plan-
ned, the editing tasks he had undertaken, the aspirations for the
future, still hold out great hope for a great man. May our hopes
be fulfilled that these tasks and the man equipped to carry them
A dedicated staff of doctors, on endless vigil at Sinai Hospital,
to fruition will once again be linked with a restoration of health
caring for Rabbi Morris Adler, is showing serious concern over the state
to the victim of a tragic perversion.
of his health and the chances for his recovery.
We had planned so much for Rabbi Adler! May we be priv-
While there were optimistic reports through Tuesday night, the
ileged to adhere to these plans—to honor him on his 60th birth-
bulletins on Wednesday afternoon commenced to indicate increasing
day on March 30, then to take note of his creative life, to share
anxiety.
with his family on that occasion the presence of the personality
who so well deserves to receive the honors in store for him.
A bulletin issued on behalf of the attending physicians by Sinai Hos-
The spontaneous messages of good wishes and the inquiries
pital's administrator, Sydney Peimer, on Thursday, just as this issue was
of concern that are pouring in from all parts of the globe are
going to press, stated :
the evidence of the respect and affection Rabbi Adler has ac-
"Dr. Adler's condition remains very critical. He spent an un-
quired from appreciative friends who have learned to love and
eventful
night and showed very slight improvement, but he remains
admire him for all his acts for faith, nation, humanity.
in
a
coma."
Mrs. Adler, who shares with him an active community life,
has the good wishes of a community that utters the prayer for
Dr. Harvey Gass, who operated twice on Rabbi Adler — on Satur-
refuah shleymah—for complete healing—in behalf of her hus-
day,
immediately as the seriously injured spiritual leader was brought
band. Her admirable display of courage, her retention of faith
to
the
hospital from the Shaarey Zedek by ambulance and again on
in her husband's recovery, is an added tribute to a beautiful life
Monday
— and the attending physicians, were gravely concerned.
that must go on, in behalf of which we pray so solemnly now.
Dr. Myer Teitelbaum, Rabbi Adler's personal physician ; Dr. Edgar
May we be privileged in the days ahead to be able to utter
prayers of thanks for the fulfillment of the prayer we now direct
Kahn, University of Michigan' specialist; Dr. Stephen Gurdjian, Wayne
pleadingly to the Merciful Healer.
State University professor, and a group of associates, were in constant

?

HE JEWISH NEWS

Dr. Adler's Worsened
Condition Is Causing
Great Worry at Sinai

.

mmunity Honors Courage of Goldie Adler

.

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"Words that come from the heart enter the heart"

An admiring community, while anxiously awaiting news to indicate that Rabbi Morris Adler
will be granted strength to conquer the tragic wounds that are endangering his life, pays
honor to Goldie Adler who has shown more courage than any one
else during the period of her husband's sufferings while under-
going two operations in the struggle to save his life.
In the early hours of her vigil at Sinai Hospital, she kept
asking that her sense of compassion should be expressed to the
family of the demented boy whose act endangered her hus-
band's life. She wrote a message to Mrs. Edward Wishnetsky as-
suring her that she fully understands that the parents are not to
be blamed.
Goldie Adler kept a stiff upper lip throughout, •expressing
confidence that "Morris will be well, he must be." She has faith
and is being admired greatly for it.
On Monday, after the second operation, she made a statement,
expressing gratitude to the community, and said:
"I have a heart full of gratitude for the community, for the
nation, and for the world that have shared these days of crisis
and anxiety.
"I am also so very grateful for knowing that my own faith
has been sustained.
"My husband has always said that from each experience we learn something, and I
think here God is trying to tell us that man should feel compassion' for his fellow man. I can
only think of a saying in the Hebrew tradition:
" `Words that come out of a heart enter the heart.'
"I feel the throbbing pulse of this community. The hospital has given me such strength, an-
ticipating not only my needs but my desires. The concentration of medical force's are beyond that
which anyone could expect. The faith I have within me was sustained by these doctors who are
attending the rabbi, and I am grateful to God for these learned hands.
"In the 37 years we have lived together, this is the greatest lesson I have learned from him
a teacher whom I am fortunate to call husband."

consultation in their combined efforts to speed the
recovery of the world-famed religious leader who is the
victim of a tragic dementia that afflicted a University
of Michigan honor graduate who has since died of gun
wounds he inflicted upon himself after firing at Rabbi
Adler.
As another Sabbath approaches, an agonized
community has been subjected to deep sorrow over an
act that has interrupted a most active life, and thousands
have turned to prayer that the eminent leader should
be restored to health and to resumption of his work in
behalf of Jewry and humanity to which he has dedicated
his life.
There have been prayers, church meetings, all
arranged spontaneously, without orders from hierarchies,
and the prayerful mood persists in Jewish ranks. Many
organizations canceled meetings this week.
Congregation Shaarey Zedek, The Detroit Jewish
News and movements that are aware of the date had
planned distinct honors for Rabbi Adler for March 30,
when he will mark his 60th birthday. Now all the plan-
ners are engrossed in prayers for his health and recovery.
Rabbi Morris Adler was born March 30, 1906, in
Slutzk, Russia. His father was the late Rabbi Joseph
Adler of New York. He was brought to this country by
his parents in 1913, studied at the Isaac Elchanan
Yeshiva and then transferred from the Orthodox sem-
inary to the Conservative Jewish Theological Seminary
of America where he was ordained rabbi in 1935, after

(Continued on Pages 12 and 13)
(See also Conunentary, Page 2)

