Elie Wiesel's Prize-Winning
'The Gates of the Forest' Gains
New Status for Famous Author

Elie Wiesel, who survived the
Auschwitz terror and who, at the
age of 17, came to Paris and be-
gan to write in French, already
has gained world fame as an author
and as one of the most brilliant
delineators of the
terrors to which
he was subjected
and under which
his parents and
his family were ,
murdered.
His vivid writ-
ings have won
for him the 1964
Prix Rivarot in
France. He is the
winner of a
Wiesel
Jewish Book
Council Award. Now he holds, for
1966, the Bnai Brith Jewish Heri-
tage Award for his great novel,
"The Gates of the Forest," his
newest work, just published by
Holt, Rinehart and Winston (383
Madison, NY17).
It is not only because of the
significnce of this new work as
a great addition on the literature
dealing with the holocaust, but
because of its vivid descriptions
and its poetic style that the new
novel stands out as an immense
work.

• •

The Hasidic tales incorporated

in the story, the plot that holds

the reader's attention like a
magnet, the parables, the humor,
combine to make this a great
tale.

It is the story of Gregor who
uses this name because his right
name, Gavriel, would expose him
as a Jew in his flight from the
Nazis. And the mythical characters
who assist in his flight, the fear-
less, laughing hero to whom he
assigns the name Gavriel and from
whom he later seeks to recover
the name; Count Petruskanu who
aids him when in need to . escape
from a crazed mob; the maid,
Maria, who shields him by hav-
ing. him pose as her deaf mute
nephew — these are among the
characters who help make "The
Gates of the Forest" such an out-
standing work.
Gregor searches for Gavriel. He
is not to be found. But in the
process, as the liberation comes,
there also comes the liberated
spirit, the return to the synagogue,
the reciting of the Kaddish.
There are many stirring episodes
in this deeply moving story. The
confidential confessions to Gregor
during the period of his posing as
a deaf mute, by those who believed
he could not divulge their secrets,
and the fright that ensues when
he reveals his identity, make this
work suitable for a great drama.
It could even fit into a marvelous
movie. Then there is the period of
brutality when Gregor is forced
to play the role of Judas in "Judas
Isacariot" that is enacted in the
village where he is given refuge
by Marie. The beating he gets, the
rage of the mob, his eventual rev-
elation of his being a Jew and one
who knew the secrets of the in-
ebriated crowd — these and sim-
ilar occurrences give great power
to the great Wiesel drama.
Wiesel's superb work com-
mences with a Hasidic tale. Spread
over five opening pages is the fol-
lowing prefatory Hasidic folklore:
When the great Rabbi Israel

Still later, Rabbi. Moshe-Leib
of Sasov, in order to save his
people once more, would go into
the forest and say: "I do not know
how to light the fire, I do not
know the prayer, but I know the
place and this must be sufficient."
It was sufficient and the
miracle was accomplished,
Then it fell to Rabbi Israel
of Rizhyn to overcome misfortune.
Sitting in his armchair, his head
in his hands, he spoke to God:
"I am unable to light the fire
and. I do not know the prayer;
I cannot even find the place
in the forest. All I can do
is to tell the story, and
this must be sufficient."
And it was sufficient.
God made man because he loves
stories.

In this spirit is unfolded a great
drama, poetically narrated, incor-
porating action, heartrending de-
scription of the Nazi, terror mingled
with human reactions that contain
humor as well as pathos. That is
why "The Gates of the Forest" adds
so much glory to Elie Wiesel's birl-
liant record as a writer.
—P. S.

`Self-Destruction' of U.S. Jews Called Myth at WC Parley

KIAMESHA LAKE, N.Y. (JTA)
—Israel Breslow, a vice president
of the International Ladies' Gar-
ment Workers Union, was elected
president of the Workmen's Circle
at the quadrennial national con-
vention of the organization, the
world's largest Jewish labor fra-
ternal order.
Breslow said that statements by
Dr. Joachim Prinz, until recently
president of the American Jewish
Congress, and by former Israeli
Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion
that the American Jewish commu-
nity was assimilating itself to self-
destruction "are written with the
hands of doom and spoken with
the lips of myth, not history."
Breslow said that Jews have
survived pogroms, exiles, ex-
termination and Medieval per-
secution. "The miracle is not
only the State of Israel but the
people of Israel; and the miracle
of survival of 2,000 years of his-
tory is not to be surrendered to
the • pious effusions of men who
forget that the will to live saved
the Jewish people from disinte-
gration," he declared in his ac-
ceptance speech.
Breslow argued that attempts to
depict American Jews as a people
of only merchants, lawyers and fi-
nanciers, "falsifies" the fact that
American Jews are still the work-
ers of this country.

"Jews, in America, are in the
professions and service industries,
they are organized as workers in
these professions and industries,
and all attempts to make it appear
that American Jews are sinking
into the swampland of affluency
and being assimilated into the
general community have no basis
in fact," he declared.
He said that the same decline
in the number of blue collar work-
ers that has taken place in in-
dustries that were once considered
to be mostly Jewish has also ta-
ken place in the non-Jewish com-
munity. He emphasized the need
for secular Jewishness but said
that a negative approach to reli-
gion would not achieve the suc-
cess of such a program. Instead,
he said, it was essential for the
Jew to know his origins and his
culture in order to arrive at a
positive secularism.
*

Programs to Fight
Assimilation Sought

Speaking at a board meeting, tie
cited statistics indicating that Ju-
daism lost seven of every 10 chil-
dren barn in mixed marriages and
a Jewish birthrate of 2.2 per fain-
He warned that if such trends
continue unabated, "the proportion
of Jews in this country's popula-
tion will diminish from its pres-
ent 2.9 per cent to 1.6 per cent by
the end of the 20th Century."
Eleazar Lipsky, vice president
of the league, rejected the thesis
that Zionism had fulfilled its mis-
sion with the restoration of Israel.
He asserted that "apart from its
unfinished task of assuring Jewish
unity and survival. Zionism has
something to say about every im-
portant issue or problem."

The job of keeping Detroit Beau-
tiful is a vital part of Detroit's
urban renewal program and plans

for the future. It involves every
citizen, as well as city depart-
ments, in the job of conserving
neighborhoods and preventing
"creeping slums."

NEW YORK (JTA) — An urgent
appeal to "every Jewish and Zion- THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
ist organization" in the United 16—Friday, May 20, 1966
States to enact "a constructive
program." to combat the threat of
assimilation was made by Samuel
For Some
Daroff, president of the American
of the
Jewish League for Israel.

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Tempests

The number of pupils in Israel's
school system now totals 739,000.
Of these, 97,000 are in the kinder-
garten; 475,000 in elementary
school; 120,000 in post-elementary
first husband who emerges as the school courses; 8,000 in high
culprit and her loyalty to the sec- schools; 7,000 in teachers' semin-
ond man she married during the aries and 22,000 in institutions of
first months of her despair. And higher learning.
the culprit's mother, whd has anti-
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Roderick Thorp's Novel 'The Detective'
Powerful Sociological, Police Study

Roderick Thorp, whose previous
novel, "Into the Forest," attracted
wide attention, has produced an
equally powerful work in his new
novel, "The Detective," just issued
by Dial Press (750 Third, NY17).
This long novel is full of action,
depicts a number of developing
crime incidents, indicates their so-
Thorp's personal evaluation of
lutions and one great error which
develops into a strong factor in his own work is not boastful. It
is with realism that he states:
sociological study.

"The Detective" is of special
interest because of the master.
ful fashion in which the able
author has developed the homo-
sexual theme which plays an im.
portant role in one of the mys-
teries solved by the heroes of
this story, the police and the
provate detective.

But this novel is much more
than that. It is a combination of
several family incidents, of an
involvement that drags in many
of the cast in this drama. These
are descriptions of genuine love,
occurences of extra-marital expe-
riences, involvements relating to
psychological and emotional dis-
turbances.

Geniza

The term "Geniza" means a
"store room" or "that which is
stored." It has come to represent
the documents of scriptural and
apocryphal writings which were
not kept in the usual place in the
synagogue (i.e. the Holy Ark), but
rather in a special store room. This
Baal Shem-Tov saw misfortune
was done in the case of Scriptural
threatening the Jews it was
material which had been torn or
his custom to go into a certain
whose condition made it so that it
part of the forest to meditate.
could not be used for the official
There he would light a fire,
reading in the synagogue. It was
say a special prayer, and the
also done in the case of those writ-
mircale would be accomplished
ings which were similar in style to
and the misfortune averted.
the Scriptures but which were not
Later, when his disciple, the
acceptable as Scriptures. Instead
celebrated Magid of Mezritch,
of keeping these where they could
had occasion, for the same
be read and mistaken as scriptural
reason, to intercede with heaven,
materials, they were kept separate-
he would go to the same
ly in a store-room. One of the most
place in the forest and say:
famous of these store rooms is that
"Master of the Universe, listen!
I do not know how to light the fire, of the synagogue in Cairo, where
but I am still able to say the prayer." many documents have been found
which have proven to be of great
And again the miracle would
historic value to many scholars.
be accomplished.

MIM

AT

Packer Pontiac

18650 LIVERNOIS
1 block South of 7

UN

3-9300

Detroit Jewish Folk Chorus

41st Annual Concert
HARVEY SCHREIBMAN, -
Conductor

Presents G. F. Handel's Oratorio
JUDAS MACCABEUS
With
SHIRLEY BENYAS, Soprano and
CANTOR HAROLD ORBACH,
Featured Soloist
Guest Artist: HOWARD DA SILVA
Star of Stage, Screen, Radio & TV

Out of this work there emerge
a number of very interesting and
strong characters, and Thorp's de-
lineation of them is very skilful.
He describes excellently the real
estate scheme into which the
"The Detective" is The Literary
schemers and defrauders dragged
Jewish and Catholic charities. He Guild's selection for June.
has a good description of Betty
Kaminsky and her devotion to her

41110

SAUL BEAEH

REGISTERED REPRESENTATIVE
2990 WEST GRAND BLVD.
TR 2-0888
RES. PHONE: UN 2-4608

" 'The Detective' is an American
novel. It is set against the change that
has occurred in this country since the
end of World War II. You will recog-
nize the cities and the suburbs, but the
maps will not tell you where they are.
Your local newspapers will tell you
more about Manitou and Port Smith
than any map—and your own experience
will tell you more than any newspaper.
"It follows that you know the people.
You have seen Leland before—he is a
man this country produces with gratify-
ing regularity. You have seen MacIver,
too, whispering in the corridors of
power. In some ways Karen is a product
of her time—and her response to the
problem of herself. Norma is more a
product of society—two societies—and
she may never be able to fully realize
herself. There are victims in this book,
but there are murderers, too.
"I believe in economy of language,
heightening suspense, and action spring-
ing out of character. In a long novel—
like this—the story must be kept before
the reader, and in a mystery—like this
--there can be no loose ends. In 'The
Detective' the form is tied up with the
meaning, and it all comes together at
the end, when Leland learns who are
the murderers—and who are the vic-
tims. A bit more than a business week
has passed, it is near dawn, and he is
at a new beginning. He thinks that it
has been worthwhile for him, and I
hope that you will think so yourself,
too."

MIMI OM ■•=1. MIN

ASK
FOR

SUNDAY EVENING, MAY 22nd - 8 P.M.

Scottish Rite Cathedral, Masonic Temple

Tickets From All Members of the Chorus
DI 1-9231—BR 2-0330 or box office evening of performance

IN=

vimio am.

TOTEM POLE DAY CAMP

Cordially invites you

and your friends to

OPEN HOUSE

Sunday, May 22nd

12 -

5

p.m.

Surprises Refreshments Fun
Alternate Date in Case of Bad Weather
Sunday, May 29 — 12-5 p.m.

For Further Information

Call KE 5-8877

Located at 47300 W. 12 Mile Rd.

Directions: Grand River X.Way to Beck Road exit, OR
12 Mile Road West to Beck Road, OR Lodge X-Way

(696), merge with 1-96 to Beck Road exit.

;SPIE101041,ZiEt UN' CHILDREN