Jewry's Position Under New Argentine Regime
BY ASHER MIBASHAN
(Copyright, 1966, JTA, Inc.)
JTA Correspondent in Argentina
BUENOS AIRES — More than
two months have passed since the
regime of Lt. Gen. Juan Carlos On-
gania took power in a neat, blood-
less revolution, "announced" prac-
tically months ahead. From the
first moment Argentine Jewry felt
that a new situation had been cre-
ated, as the new leaders were
known to be nationalist, right-wing
Catholics, and a dull fear started
floating like a cloud over those
who, justly or unjustly, remem-
bered Germany in 1933.
Alarm arose almost immediately
over the curbing of the credit co-
operatives' activity, many of them
founded or led by Jews, and a run
started to withdraw deposits. Small
business, Jewish and non-Jewish,
was faced with the sudden lack of
credit to the tune of some $200,-
000,000 and a recession made it-
self felt. This measure of the Cen-
tral Bank had been planned al-
ready in November 1965, but had
then been staved off. It could, thus,
not be interpreted as anti-Semitic,
but its impact was felt mainly in
small Jewish business.
The reports published in the
United States caused a consider-
able stir in Government House
and when, a few days later, a
delegation of DAIA, the central
Jewish political representation,
was received by President On-
gania. he firmly stated that no
extremism, left or right, would
be tolerated.
As it happened, hours before,
Interior Minister Martinez Paz had
received Tacuara chief Errecalte
Aphorisms From
the Midrash
A Wise Will
A wealthy Jew and his slave
went to trade in a foreign country.
There he sickened and when near
to death he commanded a scribe
to write down his last will and
testament. He dictated these pro-
visions: "To my faithful slave who
brings this document I leave all my
property. To my only son whom I
have left in Judea I leave any one
thing of my possessions which he
may choose."
The slave returned with all the
wealth of his dead master and
showed the will. A rabbi said to
the son: "It is a most sagacious
will. If your father had left every-
thing to you, the slave would have
fled with the wealth. Now he has
brought everything safely to you,
and you may choose him, according
to provision of the will: for all the
property of a slave belongs to his
master."—Tanhuma Bereshit, Lek
Lekah.
*
*
*
The Not-so-Smart Crook
It once happened that a man de-
posited a hundred dinarii with a
certain Bartholomew, and when he
asked for them back, the latter
declared: "But I have already re-
turned them to your hand." The
man demanded that Bartholomew
come to the synagogue and repeat
the declaration under oath; to
which the other agreed. First, how-
ever, he hollowed out a cane, put
the hundred coins therein, and
pretended to use it for a walking-
stick. On arriving at the synagogue,
he said to the plaintiff: "Here,
hold this cane while I swear." And
he went on: "By the Lord of this
Good Place, I swear that which
was entrusted into my hand I have
given back into yours."
The other man was so shocked
at this that he dropped the cane,
whereupon all the coins fell oil'
Then Bartholomew, trying to brazen
it out, smiled and cried: "Pick
them up, pick them up, for it is
your own that you pick up."
—Peskita Rabbati, 12b
*
*
*
(The story of the money concealed
in a cane is widely known, according
to Lewis Browne in "Wisdom of Is-
real," published by Random House). It
may have originated in India, for we
find it in a cycle of anecdotes appar-
ently derived from the Buddhist Jata-
kas. Long after this Midrash was com-
piled (845 A.D.) the story reappeared
in — among other writings — Cervantes'
Don Quixote (Part 2, ch. 43).
Pueyrredon in a lengthy audience,
and confusion hit a climax. An ex-
treme rightist weekly, Azul y
Blanco, banned under the Illia gov-
ernment, started publication anew
and, though it did not attack Jews
openly, its malicious material did
not bring any peace of mind.
Perhaps it should be mentioned
in passing that, while under the
Peron regime, there were virtually
no anti-Semitic attacks, many Jews
did not feel secure. Under the
Frondizi and Illia administrations,
on the other hand, there were,
sometimes, attacks, but Jews used
to sleep tranquilly. Not that there
have been any attacks now, but a
feeling of uneasiness can be per-
cieved. It may be quite subjective,
as DAIA's president, Dr. Isaac
Goldenberg, put it in an interview
with Corr e o de la Tarde, pro-
government weekly. But, undoubt-
The 'Huppah'
By RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX
(Copyright, 1966, JTA, Inc.)
The expression "huppah" h a s
been associated with marriages
from ancient times. The Psalmist
speaks of the "Bridegroom coming
forth from his huppah" (Psalms
19:6). The prophet speaks of the
bride coming out of her huppah
(Joel 2:16). It is not clear, how-
ever, as to what exactly the hup-
pah was supposed to consist of.
Most commentaries claim that the
original huppah referred to the
chamber in which the couple were
married and in which they lived
afterwards. The central theme of
the huppah seemed to be that
the bride left the domain of her
father (or her home) and entered
the domain of the bridegroom.
The term "huppah" is gen-
erally taken to mean a "covering."
In its original sense the "hup-
pah" as the "bridal chamber" or
"marriage room" symbolized the
fact that bride and groom lived
together under one roof (i.e. cov-
ering). Post medieval Halachic
authorities made intense inquiries
into what the "huppah" repre-
sented and especially as to what
legal effect it had upon the Jewish
marriage ceremony. Technically
the marriage, as such, is legally
not completely contracted, even
today, until the bride and groom
are ushered into a room by them-
selves after the formal public
ceremony where they eat together
and spend a little time together,
having two witnesses posted out-
side who were in a position to
attest that the couple finally were
left together thus legally con-
summating the marriage. The
huppah, under which the public
ceremony takes place, would thus
be symbolic of this final act of
edly it springs from the suspicion
that some of the new government
officials may not be friendly to
the Jews.
And though Bishop Podesta of
Avellaneda disavowed statements
that were "attributed" to him by
a Montevidean weekly banned
here, to the effect that, though
there is no anti-Semitism, he
would not be surprised if Jewish
physicians were eased out of
hospitals, they struck.
By the way, and without much
connection with any Jewish prob-
lem, it is interesting to note that
part of the Catholic hierarchy is
making lately certain efforts to
disentangle itself from the image
of a clerical government, created
by the repeated statements by gov-
ernment leaders about its "Christ-
ian and Western" orientation.
Among the university students
detained for demonstrating against
the new university regime, the po-
lice lists many, perhaps too many,
Jewish names, though it is well
known that some extreme leftist
student leaders are Jewish.
Senators Javits and Kennedy
have incurred the wrath of Azul
y Blanco and of Correo de la
Tarde, whose editor, Francisco
Manrique, flew to the United
States in an attempt to curb the
campaign about anti-Semitism
in Argentina. That campaign,
perhaps not fully warranted by
hard facts, has probably acted
as a kind of preventive vaccine.
Ambassador Alsogaray, while
trying to minimize its importance,
admitted in disgust that "it has
damaged us." However, using a
psychoanalytic smile, we could
speak of certain transferential
malaise, as the government feels
it is being accused of something it
strongly and manifestly denies
though its protestations appear to
be under the onus probandi.
As the Buenos Aires Herald put
it recently in an editorial: "It
would be well for Argentina to be
rid of Gerhard Bohne (the Nazi
mercy killer). The country has -too
long suffered from a reputation as
a haven for fleeing Nazis. The de-
cision last week by the Supreme
Court to let the Germans come get
their man will go a long way to
lighten the opprobrium of that
reputation."
So Argentine Jewry, well or-
ganized and fully able to express
its opinion at the right moment,
vigilantly waits and sees.
20—Friday, October 28, 1966
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Zohar Sayings On Virtue, Charity
If a man walks in the ways of
the Lord, but transgresses by acci-
dent, every creature below and-
above helps to conceal it—Zohar,
3:101a.
When a man steps down from
his bed, he should say to himself:
"Guard thy feet when thou walk-
est."—Zohar, 4:175b.
A good intention is accounted as
a good deed—Zohar, 1:28b.
Woe unto him against whom the
poor man makes complaint to his
Heavenly Master, for the poor
man is nearest to the King—Zo-
har, 2:86b.
He who lengthens the life of a
poor man has his own life length-
ened when his time to die arrives-
Zohar, 3:85a.
Neglect not thine own poor in
order to give to strangers who are
poor—Zohar, 4:206a.
The world was created for the
sake of those who are ashamed
to do evil—Tikkune ZOhar, Intro.
12b.
YOUNG WOMEN'S BICUR
will
meet noon Oct. 24 at the home of
Mrs. Harry Stone, 13233 Vassar.
* *
A UNICEF Halloween "treat" of
25 cents protects 20 children
against tuberculosis.
CHOLEM ORGANIZATION
BREAKFAST FORUM SERIES
Starts
Sunday, November 6, 1966-10:00 a.m.
Nusbaum Hall—Beth Abraham Synagogue
7 Mile and Greenlawn
Outstanding Speakers . . . Ladies Invited
Sponsor — Men's Club of Congregation Beth
Abraham
Tickets — $5.00 for series of five Breakfast Forums
Call UN 1-6696
Agudath Israel of Detroit
Cordially invites the public to hear
RABBI JACOB WEINBERG
Dean of the Ner Israel Rabbinical
College of Toronto, Canada and
renown American born scholar
and orator
at a
Melave Malkeh
October 29 - 8:00 p.m.
at CongregationBnai Jacob
20470 Hubbell
A
Fish Dinner Will Be Served
Our sincere congratulations to . .
having bride and groom together
under one roof. According to some
authorities this might have been
accomplished by using the canopy,
or by spreading a Talith over the
heads of both bride and groom.
and even by having the groom
draw the veil over the bride. ThuS,
our practice is to go through all
of these processes in order to
comply with the fullest measure of
the law in the act of consummat-
ing the marriage.
It is also possible that it was for
some such reason that beds at
some early times had canopies
spread over them. The canopy
might thus possibly be representa-
tive of the conjugal bed, though
in a very modest sense. It should
be noted that according to Jewish
law, the ring only accomplishes
the first stage of the marriage, re-
stricting the bride from being sub-
ject of betrothal by others. The
huppah, a process which begins
with the canopy and ends in a
private room, finally consummates
the marriage, demonstrating that
the couple finally belongs to one
another. Marriage is thus phased
as both a negative and positive
situation. It not only restricts each
of the couple from having rela-
tions with others, it also brings
them together into one harmoni-
ous blend of love and affection
under the protective grace of
Providence.
Sam and ail novetshy
who will be honored at the
lauktunik annuaL Nanclud.
of
Young Israel of Northwest Detroit
on
Sunday evening, November 27th, 1966
David I. Berris
Irving M. Moskovitz
Hon. Chairman
Rabbi Sambel H. Prero
Pres. Young Israel Council
Hillel L. Abrams
Pres. Young Israel of Detroit
Harry L. Blitz
Pres. Young Israel of Northwest
• -
Charles T. Gellman
Pres. Young Israel of Greenfield
Salek Lessmon
Pres. Young Israel of Oak-Woods
DINNER COMMITTEE
Rabbi Ernest E. Greenfield
Marvin Seligson
CO CHAIRMEN
-
Morris Novetsky
Norman Sukenic
Fannie Wainer
Harry Weiss
Theodore Weiss
Leah Zwick
JOURNAL COMMITTEE
Milton Duchon
Nathan Butrimovitz
Abe Korchak
CO-CHAIRMEN
Hyman M. Beale
Rose Blitz
Evo Hertz
Rabbi J. Hobermon
Rudolf Kor