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March 10, 1967 - Image 2

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1967-03-10

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

Purely Commentary

Interesting Developments
In Virgin Islands Jewries

By Philip

Siomovitz

Nat'l Book Award
Goes to Malamud

NEW YORK (JTA) — Bernard
(Thus, the history of Jews in French Martinique dates back to
Malamud,
the American-Jewish
WILLENSTAD, Curacao — When American Jewery celebrated the earliest times. There is even a legend that there were Jews in Marti- author, has won the National Book
Tercentenary of the establishment of the first organized Jewish nique as early as 1635. Records show that Jews owned Martinique busi- Award in fiction for his latest
community in the United States, in 1954, the event should have been nesses in the early part of the 18th century. A special tax imposed upon novel, "The Fixer," a story based
the Jews in 1764 was revoked after the French Revolution in 1789.).
linked with the history of this interesting community.
on the notorious Mendel Beiliss
There have been many events marking the anniversary of the
ritual murder case in 1911 in
ST. THOMAS, V. I.—From earliest times. since the island first Czarist Russia.
first synagogue established in the U. S.—the so-called Touro Synagogue
(Cong. Yeshuat Israel) in Newport, R.I. — the American synagogue was settled in 1665, there were Jews here. They came as escapees
The award, carrying with it a
that has been dedicated as a national shrine. But little has been said from religious prejudice in other lands to reside here under Danish
prize of $1,000, will be the second
about the first synagogue in the New World—Cong. Mikve Israel- rule.
A Jew, Gabriel Milan, was St. Thomas Governor, appointed by for Malamud. He received the Na-
Emanuel in the Netherlands Antilles city that is drawing so many
Book Award in 1950 for his
tourists and whose popularity has increased because of the visits Denmark's King Christian V. on May 7, 1684. Jews have held important tional
collection
of short stories, "The
offices
here
for
many
years.
here by the Israeli cruising steamer, the S/S Shalom.
Magic Barrel."
The St. Thomas synagogue, with its traditional Sephardic setting.
There are approximately 700 Jews in Curacao. They form the
The award is given annually by
oldest established center in the Americas, and the synagogue has dates back to 1833. The present structure was rebuilt after an older one
committee representing booksellers,
the unique distinction of having retained the characteristic of a was destroyed by fire.
and manufacturers. A
Sephardic house of worship with an outside appearance of a citadel.
A sensational bit of news was spread in St. Thomas last week. publishers
coveted prize, it ranks in this
Herman
Wouk,
the
noted
author,
who
has
settled
here
and
who
This, the oldest synagogue in the Americas, was named Hope
became active in the Jewish community, has resigned from the country on a level with the annual
of Israel—Mikve Israel. It was established as a Nusah Sefard house
synagogue in protest against its plan to introduce an organ. Wouk Pulitzer Prize.
of worship in 1654. The present structure, which retains all of the
In the Beiliss case, a Jewish
had rendered the community many services, including the establish-
original characteristics of the first building, was erected in 1732.
ment of a school and the introduction of cultural programs for brick-kiln worker in Kiev was
Like all similar public buildings of that era and that area, the solid
falsely accused of murdering a
members of all ages.
building itself was surrounded by a strong outer wall—remaining
to this day as a symbol of protective elements essential for public
The present Jewish population of St. Thomas is approximately 500. Christian boy "for ritual purposes."
structures in an embattled area for possession of which foreign It has grown considerably, but the population figures have vacillated After a prolonged trial which at-
tracted worldwide attention, Beiliss
powers waged wars.
considerably from year to year.
was freed. He came subsequently
The early settlers were the Sephardic Jews from Amsterdam.
Ralph Paewonsky is the U.S.-appointed governor of the Virgin to the United States, and died at
But their history dates back much farther. Curacao island's first Islands.
Saratoga Springs in 1941.
settler was its discoverer Alonzo di Ojida, the Spanish explorer.
The first Jew to set foot here was said to be Samuel Coheno who
came to the island with the Dutch West India Co. Then, in 1651,
Joao Ilhao or d'Illhan of Portugal established an agricultural settle-
ment. It was • with the formation of the Mikve Israel congregation
A permanent memorial, in the visit. Dr. Oppenheimer, former beginnings of the Weizmann In-
that the actual beginnings of an organized Jewish life commenced here.
name of Dr. J. Robert Oppen-
There was a dispute over ritual and a Reform congregation, hemier, "worthy of his distinction director of the Institute for Ad- stitute Dr. Oppenheimer had
Temple Emanuel, was organized in 1864. Three years ago, when as one of the great intellectual vanced Study and the great pio- served as guide and pexceptor.
Rabbi Simeon J. Maslin came here, the Orthodox-Sephard Mikve scions of our age and reflecting neer in atomic development, at Together with the late Niels
Israel was merged with Emanuel and the Curacao congregation now his profound commitment to sci- his death was an Honorary Fellow Bohr, in 1958, he dedicated our
functions as the Mikve Israel-Emanuel. The Emanuel structure has ence and human advancement," of the Weizmann Institute and a Institute of Nuclear Science."
been turned over to the municipality to serve as a Court of Justice, will be established at the Weiz- member of its board of governors.
Weisgal called Dr. Oppenheimer
Weisgal, announcing the memo-
but the building still is visited by tourists for whom the second mann Institute of Science at Reho-
"a man of wide ranging interests,
oldest, less picturesque house of worship on this island retains a voth, Israel, it was announced by rial, described Dr. Oppenheimer ennobled by adversity, who will
as "one of the great intellectual
great interest.
Meyer W. Weisgal, president of scions of our age, whose warm be remembered for his remark-
Half of this community's Jewish population belongs to the the institute.
and deepening relationship with able scientific mastery which gave
merged and the oldest synagogue. The other half is associated with
The form the memorial will take the Weizmann Institute of Science impetus to the world scientific
the orthodox Shaarei Tzedek which was incorporated in 1959. It is is now being studied by a special has left an indelible imprint on revolution; for his dedication to
the outgrowth of the preferred Nusah followed by Ashkenazic Jews committee, said W e i s gal who the quality of its research."
intellectual truth and freedom; and
from Central and Eastern Europe who came here in the early 1920s. is in the United States on a brief
He revealed that "from the for his extraordinary power to
It started in 1933 as the Club Union and developed into an orthodox
inspire others to new heights of
congregation..
imagination and achievement."
Of added interest is the fact that Rabbi Maslin had instructed
In Israel, physicist Dr, Amos
the Reconstructionist form of service.
de Shalit, now director general of
Rabbi Maslin concludes his association with the Curacao congre-
the Weizmann Institute of Sci-
gation this month. The young Hebrew Union College graduate—he
Exploration of the questions Rosenzweig and Edward Shifrin. ence, recalled that 30 per cent
is 35—came here in 1962. He has been called to assume the post being
of Israel's physicists have studied
vacated in the famous Chicago K. A. M. Temple by the noted posed in a widely circulated article,
Dr. Leonard Gordon has been under Dr. Oppenheimer and "loved
Rabbi Jacob Weinstein, the Reform Jewish leader who is among "The State of Jewish Belief," will acting as liaison for the AJC.
him as teacher and guide."
the major proponents of the Histadrut Israel Foundation of Labor
concern
the
four
speakers
par-
cause. Rabbi Weinstein currently serves as president of the Central
ticipating in the 11th annual
Conference of American Rabbis.
Boris Smolar's
The Shammes of Mikve Israel-Emanuel, I. Cardoze, is a native Midrasha Institute, starting 8:15
p.m. March 29 at the Esther Ber-
of Curacao. He dates back his ancestry for several generations.
The Mikve Israel congregation first conducted services in private man Building of the United Hebrew
homes. Then temporary synagogues were established in 1679, 1692 Schools.
and 1703. The permanent structure consecrated in 1732 (5492) has
This year, the Midrasha will be
all the original facilities—the Reader's platform, the Ark, (Hekhal),
a rostrum for the rabbi and another for the hazzan. The magnificent joined in the sponsorship of the
By BORIS SMOLAR
candlesticks are an unusual attraction for visitors who admire the series by the Detroit Chapter,
(Copyright, 1967, JTA, Inc.)
American
Jewish
Committee.
It
legacy of this congregation from the Dutch tradition.
By BORIS SMOLAR
was in the AJCommittee's Com-
(Copyright, 1967, JTA, Inc.)
A school for the community's children, an interest in the United mentary
magazine
that
the
ques-
BEN-GURION
SAGA:
The current visit of David Ben-Gurion to
Jewish Appeal and a functioning WIZO chapter attest to the com- tion was first posed before a cross
this country is marked by the publication of the "Days of David
munity's interest in retaining the people's traditions and in establishing
section of prominent rabbis and Ben-Gurion"—a lavishly illustrated volume which conveys, in photo-
a link with world Jewry.
educators.
graphs and in selections from his writings and speeches, the life
A tour of Curacao must include a visit to the Bet Hayim, the very
Milton Himmelfarb, a contri- and philosophy of the great Jewish leader . From the remarkable
old Jewish cemetery on this island. It is now next to the huge oil re-
buting editor of Commentary, photographs in the volume, one gets a concrete and impressive
finery whose operators had offered the community a million and a half
will open the series. Speakers biographic picture of Ben-Gurion since the days of his boyhood in
for the cemetery grounds but were turned down.
The cemetery, which dates back to 1659, has many interestingly on succeeding Wednesday eve- Plonsk, through the years of his pioneering work in Palestine, till
flings will be Rabbi Arthur the present time, when he is shown shaking hands as a great statesman
carved tombstones. Some are more than 250 years old. Many of the
Hertzberg of Temple Emanu El, with Winston Churchill, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the late
names and inscriptions are decipherable.
Englewood, N.J., a member of Adlai Stevenson, Gen. Charles de Gaulle and other world leaders
A newer cemetery was consecrated in 1864 and is a few minutes'
the graduate faculty of Colum- From the selected texts of his speeches and writings a picture
ride from the synagogue.
bia University; Prof. Emil L. emerges of a man of great designs whose visions is always tempered
(In relation to the study of smaller world Jewish communities, like
by his great sense of reality—a man of divine inspiration and of
Curacao, it will be of interest to call attention again to these facts, Fackenheim of the department great
translated into dynamic action . It shows him as a
regarding Jewish communities with less than 1,000 residents, listed in of philosophy, University of person ideas
who makes little effort to entertain • people who bore him
The Jewish News on Jan. 29, 1967: Jews residing in Albania total only Toronto; and Dr. Isadore Twer- and who
attaches little importance to small talk and formal social
300; Gibralter has 650 Jews; Malta 50, Norway 800: Portugal, 750; Bar- sky, chairman of the Near East- entertainment . . • He is direct and impatient in his approach
to
ern
languages
and
literatures
bados, 100; Curacao, 700; Dominican Republic, 500; El Salvador, 300;
people as he is in his approach to problems, but he can spend
Haiti, 150; Honduras, 150: Nicaragua, 200; Trinidad, 400; Surinam, 250; department of Harvard Univer- in relaxed conversations with settlers in an immigrant village hours
and
sity.
Aden, 500; Burma, 500;" China 200; Cyprus, 150; Hong Kong, 200;
seems more at ease and happy among young people .". He believes
Indonesia, 100; Pakistan, 300; Philippines, 500; Singapore, 750; Congo,
There is no charge for the lec- that the new society built by the Jews in Israel must utilize everything
500; Kenya, 800; Northern Rhodesia, 800."
tures, but those interested in noble, true and beautiful that exists in the highest human achievements
(Of added interest, since so many Jewish tourists now visit it, is attending are asked to contact the of the past and the implementation of these achievements by modern
the historical background of the West Indies island of Martinique. When Midrasha, DI 1-3407, immediately man . . . He is a pragmatic politician, not an adherent to ideologies
guides are asked whether there are any Jews now on this island, they to ensure a reservation.
. . "Give me the world's ideologies on one palm, and give me on
invariably reply that there are no longer any Jewish residents there. But
This year's institute planning the other the security of Israel, and I shall choose the latter; because
the facts that had been gathered by the World Jewish Congress showed committee includes Mrs. Samuel without the preservation of our physical existence none of the values
that in 1942 the Martinique share in the then-total Jewish population of Linden, chairman; Louis LaMed, and ideologies will have importance," he is quoted as having stated
10,706 in the West Indies was less than 1 per cent. In other word, chairman of the Midrasha Board; At present, his chief intellectual exercise is the study of biology
Martinique then had less than 100 Jews. This surely means there still Mesdames Henry Berris, Asher and the uncovering of the origin of life . "If I could live my life
are Jews residing there.
Buchhalter, Nathan Getz, Daniel all over again," he has said, "I would choose to become a biochemist."
(In 1654, refuge was sought in Martinique by the 300 Jews who Mandelbaum, George Rubin, Carl . He always thinks anew, taking nothing for granted . . . He never
were fleeing from the then Dutch-held Recife (Prnanbuco) in Brazil S'chiller and Milton Weiss.
assumes that yesterday's solutions will apply to • tomorrow, and this
when that port was attacked by the Portuguese. That's when the Jewish
he has taught the Army of Israel which he built in his own image,
Also
Lawrence
Crohn,
Nathan
settlement of Martinique began. The Jesuits on Martinique conducted a
allowing for individual initiative tempered by discipline . . The
campaign against the Jews compelling them to leave and the few who Getz, Gordon Ginsberg, Julius Har- "Days of David Ben-Gurion," published by Grossman Publshers, Inc.
wood,
Norman
Katz,
Jack
Mala-
remained suffered many restructions. But some privileged positions
carries an introduction by S. Y. Agnon, the Israeli Nobel Prize
were held by Jews, according to available records. In spite of Jesuitical mud, Irving Pokempner, Frank winner for Literature, who emphasizes that "vision, action, tenacity,
Rosenbaum,
Jay
Rosenshine,
Louis
pressures, certain rights were granted the Jews by Colbert, the finance
dedication and courage" combined together in Ben-Gurion, brought
minister of France's King Louis XIV. Upon Colbert's death in 1683,
about "the miracle of the rebirth of Israel." . . The volume is
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS edited by Ohad Zmora, Mordecai Barkai, Nahum Pundak and Israel
Louis XIV yielded to the Jesuits and the favorite position of the Jews
ended.
2—Friday, March 10, 1967
Stockm an.

Curacao: The New World's Oldest Jewish Community

Weizmann Institute Establishes Oppenheimer Memorial

`State of Jewish Belief' Theme
of Annual Midrasha Institute

4•0414MINI

'Between You
. . and Me

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