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, Mich. 48235.
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
CHARLOTTE HYAMS
City Editor
Advertising Manager
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 2nd day of Sivan, 5726, the following scriptural selections
will be ready in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion: Num. 1:1-4:20; Prophetical portion: Hosea 2:1-22.
Shavuot Scriptural Selections
Pentateuchal portions Wednesday: Exod. 19:1-20:26, Num. 28:26-31; Thursday,
Dent. 15:19-16:17, Num. 28:26-31.
Prophetical portions: Wednesday, Ezekiel 1:1-28, 3:12; Thursday, Habak. 3:1-19
Licht Benshen, Friday, May 20, 7:32 p.m
Page 4
May 20, 1966
VOL. XLIX. No. 13
Shavuot--the Festival of Youth, Learning
So much has been said and written in the attached to the festival in our time, it is the
past few months for appeals for expansion festival that commemorates the Giving of the
of Jewish educational activities among Ameri- Law, it is the Zman Matan Torateinu.
Thus, it became the occasion for consecra.
can Jews that the current celebration of the
the holiday
on
tions and
Festival of the Giving of the Torah—Shavuot which
the confirmations.
youth become It
the is symbols
of the
—ought to serve as a period for renewed children's participation
in synagogue affairs
inspiration to those who are dedicating them-
selves to the advancement of our - cultural as partners in a great heritage with their
parents.
efforts.
As the festival of consecration, as the
is significance.
a great religious
festival.
great
to and
the princi-
has Shavuot
historical
It served
as It
the
ples Occasion
imbodied for
on re-dedication
the Decalogue
for re-
occasion for the offering of the first fruits in affirmation of the concepts of the
Taryag
the Temple in Jerusalem. It is the Feast of
Weeks that marks the conclusion of an im- Mitzvot — the 613 basic Jewish concepts —
Shavuot is one of the great festivals on our
portant cycle on our calendar, the conclusion calendar.
of the counting of the omer, the rejoicing
And because it is rooted in learning it
over the barley and wheat harvests. The emphasizes the need for knowledge and ad-
Children's literature based on legendary sources often serves a
holiday marks one of the great pilgrimages monishes Jewry to hold fast to its heritage
to the Holy City. Shavuot is the anniversary and to assure for it the dignified adherence most valuable educational purpose. This type of writing could well
of Primarily,
the birth however,
of King in
David.
that is vital to the people's spiritual security. emerge among the classics.
the significance
Hebrew Legend About Solomon
Basis for Ish-Kishor Youth Story
Good Will of 'New Germany' and World Jewry
But there still are many thousands of
Youna Germany could well be considered
the New b Germany. The youth that is assum- ex-SS men and criminals from the Nazi past
ing the role of citizenship and leadership can who have escaped punishment for their
not be blamed for what had happened during crimes, in spite of the apparent vigilance and
the Nazi era. It is on this basis that former the desire of prosecutors who are loyal to
West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer their duties to bring to judgment the guilty.
* * *
pleaded for recognition of the "good will" of
the "New Germany."
Much of the criticism generated by the
Nevertheless, the re-emergence of a strong controversy over the "New Germany" was
neo-Nazi movement in Germany poses ques- leveled at Israel's Prime Minister Levi Esh-
tions that may well challenge the seriousness kol. His position must be understood. He is
of Adenauer's appeals for a measure of for- the leader of a people half of whom survived
getfulness and a gesture of forgiveness.
the Nazi terror. Many tens of thousands of
There were rather distressing revelations them have the concentration camp numerals
about neo-Nazi gains in Germany in recent on their arms. Their hearts and souls remain
months. In a Socialist-minded community like wounded. They were the martyrs of a system
Hamburg the National Democrats — the that sought to exterminate the Jewish people.
NDP — gained 3.9 per cent of the vote,
Their experiences do not lend themselves to
and in a number of communities like forgetting, and their memories do not con-
Nuremberg and Bayreuth the Nazis gained up done forgiving.
to 10 per cent of the votes, and the London
Observer's correspondent was moved to ask: the While it is true that the Lufthansa is not
Luftwaffe — and this fact must not be
"Is the neo-Nazi National Democrat Party
here to stay in German politics — or 'just overlooked in a system under which Israel
visiting' like its many defunct predecessors? is engaged in close relations with West Ger
There was anxiety in West Germany after many — steps leading to forgetting and for-
the party's limited but startling victories in giving may give encouragement to an element
recent local elections." The Observer's cor- that still heils Hitler, that desecrates syna-
gogues and graves, that casts ballots in sup-
respondent, Neil Ascherson, stated:
port of a neo-Nazi trend.
Are the National Democrats to be a perma-
nent feature of West German politics? Many neo-
Nazi or right-wing extremist parties have risen
to far greater heights (the German Party won
4.1 per cent in Hamburg in 1957, and had 5 per
cent in West Berlin until 1958) and vanished
again completely. This will probably happen to
the NDP too, whose successes are an indirect
result of the two-party trend.
And yet they do stand for something. Unrest
in West Germany is steadily growing .. .
Young idealists as well as inveterate old
Nazis feel ashamed of their country's helplessness
and think—with some justice—that the three main
parties at Bonn have failed to give them. back
their pride. Through the National Democrats today,
through some other grouping tomorrow, this voice
of protest against humiliation will go on growing
louder until "something is done about Germany."
On the other hand, there are reports of
"passionate condemnations" of the past and
of the Nazi roles by their elders in expres-
sions of students published in West Germany.
There is, as an example, the poetic rebuke by
a 20-year-old Hamburg lad, Peter Hermanns,
who wrote under the title "Reproach":
"You want to be heroes in our eyes.
In the years of crisis -each of you claims
to have been a resistance fighter
in the privacy of his home,
Through so many years.
This leaves me asking who it was who
did all the hailing and yes-saying
and applauding?
You, all of you, are guilty."
* * *
It is most regrettable that demonstrations
should have affected the visit to Israel by the
German leader in the movement to repudiate
Nazism and to honor obligations to Israel.
But as Dr. Adenauer has stated, in a mood of
sympathy for the demonstrators, it is under-
standable that those who had suffered from
Hitlerism should have given vent to their
feelings as the students did in Jerusalem.
But even an Adenauer should not be
angered — as he was — over our people's
anguish.
All indications are that the sound and
practical thinking of the German rulers is in
the direction of democratic action. There . is
reason to believe that the officials of the New
Germany, where there must be a stepping up
against the re-emergence of a new terror.
What the Germans must keep in mind is
that the problem, as it emerges both in West
Germany, where there must be a stepping
of efforts to punish the guilty, and in Israel,
where the resentment against Nazism is a
normal reaction, is not Jewish- or Israel-made
but German-made, and all the atoning must
come from the Germans. Therefore, expres-
sions of resentment and anger at those who
express their feelings stemming from tragic
memories should be : curtailed. -
Sulamith Ish-Kishor, a name already well known for brilliant writ-
ing for children, is the author of this type of a children's book. Her
"The Carpet of Solomon," published by Pantheon Books (22 E. 51,
NY 22), a-division of Random House, based on an old Hebrew legend,
will fascinate the young readers, will inspire parents to read the story
to the youngsters, and should serve as a subject for studies in schools as
an introduction to the ethics of Jewish lore and as part of the legendary
life of King Solomon.
Upon the completion of this story, the reader is told that all the
action took but a moment—and therein lies part of the great lesson
in the Solomon tale.
The legend—it is interestingly illustrated by Uri Shulevitz in the
Pantheon Book—commences with King Solomon viewing a scene in
Jerusalem during which a merchant is seen displaying a carpet to a
gathered crowd. He orders Benaiah, the captain of the Royal Guard,
to bring the merchant to him, and when he is told the carpet is a
magic cloth with the name of God woven into it, 'ablt to take• its pos-
sessor anywhere, Solomon promptly pays the price of 60,000 gold pieces
and he becomes _ the owner of the treasured cloth. Hearing the mer-
chant's tale of how he had acquired it, Solomon assumes possession,
asserting that he had known about it, that he now will be "like God!"
It is at this point that Benaiah, horror-stricken, warns the king
that the carpet is the creation of the devil, that "the archdemon Ash-
modai has sent this work of his hands to do you harm." But the king
does not listen. He gets on the rug, orders it to carry him "to the ends
of the earth," and a crucial journey, filled with much action, com-
mences. .
On this journey, Solomon views the world, the earth and the stars,
the firmaments. There is brilliant writing by the able Sulamith Ish-
Kishor. Suddenly, as the Great King is alighted on a mountain, the
carpet vanishes. Then he is forced to grope his way homeward. He
climbs mountains, crawls into abandoned buildings, pleads for help
from eagles. But he is not recognized.
And the climax comes when he happens upon a scene during which
his own son is faced with death during a hunt when an enemy who
sought his destruction, Amdiah, planned to shoot an arrow into the
monarch's kin.
Solomon had forgotten the very name of God to be able to save
himself. But when his son's life was in danger, he pleaded with the
Almighty, and the return of the God spirit to him brought him back
to his palace. This is when Benaiah told King Solomon that he was
happy that he had listened to his advice not to travel on the carpet,
that it had vanished before his very eyes—that it all lasted but a
moment. And Solomon realized that he had blundered by comparing
himself to God, that he had blasphemed, and he prayed!
The lesson in the story is vital. The action is superb. There is
adventure linked with a moral. And the splendid composition makes
this very attractive book a most welcome addition to the children's
bookshelf.
Guttmann's 'Judaism Philosophies'
"Philosophies of Judaism" by Julius Guttmann, originally issued
by Holt, Rinehart and Winston and the Jewish Publication Society as
a hard cover book in 1964, has been reissued by Doubleday as an
Anchor Paperback. a 11
This important volume, which appeared in German under the
title "Die Philosophie des Judentums," and was issued by Bialik
Institute in Jerusalem, has been translated by David W. Silverman.
The introduction is by Prof. R. J. Zwi Werblowsky of the Hebrew
University.
Rated among the most important philosophic works published
in this decade, this volume contains significant essays on religious
ideas in talmudic Judaism, Jewish philosophic developments in the
Islamic world, discussions of Karaite Judaism, essays on Solomon ibn
Gabirol, 131iya ibn Pakuda, Judah Halevi, Abraham ibn Daud, Moses-
Maimonides, Hasdai Crescas, Moses Mendelssohn, Samuel Hirsch, Nach-
man Krochmal, Hermann Cohen, Franz Rosenzweig, Moritz Lazarus
and many others. .