Purely Commentary
Toscanini and Israel Sym-
phony History . . . USSR
and the Mikhoels Puzzle
By Philip
SiOMOVitZ
His most illuminating Responstim poses the question whether
a preference in the matter of recording names is to be found in
Jewish tradition. He shows that the present methods are modern
developments; that "in earlier times they did not use our present
method of audible auction to raise money for charity."
He does indicate that there was something akin to the present
procedures in the privilege of being called to the Tora, when the
amounts of gifts were determined by competitive bidding, announced
audibly in the synagogue.
"As far as I know," Dr. Frehof stated, "the names of these donors
were not peVnanent/y recorded, but certainly they were publicly
announced."
Survey Health Conditions
Among S. American Jews
I RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA)—The
American Joint Distribution Corn-
mittee and the United Nations
Puzzles Created by USSR Information Bureau
High Commissioner for Refugees
Russia's attitude toward its Jewish population has been interpreted
are cooperating in a refugee health
as utterly antagonistic. Reports that come from the Soviet Union
program in Latin America, it was
continue to prove that there is prejudice against the Jewish segment
announced here Monday in connec-
of 3,000.000 under Kremlin rule. Yet, when occasion presents itself,
tion with the arrival of Carlos L.
the claim is made that there is no anti-Semitism, that Jews are free
Israels, president of United Hias
to act as they please, that they can worship as they wish.
Service, and Gaynor I. Jacobson,
Thus, there is much boasting about matzo baking and wheneVer
executive director.
the Moscow Chief Rabbi speaks he condones USSR actions, denying
They arrived here to begin a
bias. But while these claims were made, a Russian spokesman uttered
survey
of health and welfare con-
vile anti-Semitic comments in Geneva, at a United Nations sub-
ditions in Jewish communities in
commission session. And in the Russian press there is seldom a let-
Brazil,
Argentina,
Chile and Uru-
down in anti-Jewish propaganda.
Dr. Freehof thereupon introduced as part of his Responsum the guay.
That is why several items sent to us as Novosti Press Agency
The UN High Commissioner for
(APN releases by the press department of the Soviet Embassy in following discussion:
Refugees is making f, mds avail-
Washington are so puzzling.
"If a man gives a Menorah, a Torah cover, or other gifts to the
able
to establish new institutions
It is understandable that one APN release should have made
synagogue, should he hare his name recorded on it or not? The
and to expand existing facilities
much of a visit by American, Canadian, British and Israeli tourists
classic discussion of this question goes back to the thirteenth
in
order
to care for mentally ill
to the office of Aron Vergelis. editor of Sovietish Ileimland, and to
century, to Rabbi Solomon ben Aderet in Barcelona, Spain, the
or aged refugees of all faiths.
have become enthusiastic over Vergelis' work, with implied rebukes
greatest Spanish authority of the time. He says that there are
Hospitals and old age homes
to critics of the editor of the Soviet .Yiddish magazine and the USSR
both Biblical and Talmudic precedents for recording the names
maintained by the Jewish com-
regime.
of the donors. The Tora itself mentions the names of the bene-
munities
will participate in the co-
Press
Agency
as
a
Novosti
But another item has just come,
factors in connection with their good deeds. Thus, Reuben is
operative project of the American
release from Moscow, dated March 22. entitled "In Honor of Solomon
mentioned for his deliverance of his brother Joseph; and Boaz,
Joint
Distribution
Com m it t e e,
Mikhoels," and we quote it here in full:
in Bethlehem, is likewise mentioned. As for the Talmud, says United Hias Service and UN High
"A marble plaque was put up in a festive atmosphere on house
Solomon ben Aderet, there is in Baba Bathra 133b a clear record
Commissioner for Refugees and
No. 4 in Molodyozhnaya Street in Daugavpils (former Dvinsk), Latvian
on the gifts of the Temple of Yose ben Yoezer and his son for their local Jewish communities.
Republic.
separate gifts. So. concluded the Spanish authority (this is in his
The United Hias Service leaders
"Inscribed on the plaque in golden letters were the following
Responsa, 582), it is proper to record the names of those who give pointed out that, since 1933, more
words: 'Solomon Mikhoels. People's Artist of the USSR, was born in
gifts to the sanctuary, that they may have due memorial for their than 200,000 Jewish refugees
have
this house on March 16, 1890.'
good deed, and also to open the door wide for other givers.
been assisted to establish new
"Hundreds of city inhabitants gathered near the house to revere
"This
opinion
of
Solomon
ben
Aderet
is
repeated
by
many
later
homes
in
Latin
America.
the memory of the outstanding Jewish actor and public figure. The
authorities, as for example, Mendel of Nicholsburg, in the eigh-
meeting was opened by Secretary of the City Committee of the Party,
teenth century ("Zemach Zedek" 52), and others. Finally, this is Soviet City Plans Tablet
Vladimir Klibik, who spoke very warmly of Mikhoels' services to the
recorded in a rather remarkable way in the Shulchan Arch, the
multinational Soviet and world theatrical art. The honor of unveiling
official law code, Yore Deah 249: 13, especially in the note of for Esperanto Inventor
the memorial plaque was given to the actor's daughters who arrived
LONDON (JTA) — A monument
Moses Isserles (Kracotv, sixteenth century). He says: "While it is
from Moscow, Natalia and Nina Mikhoels. After that representatives
a sin to boast of one's good deeds, nevertheless, it is proper to will be erected in the Soviet city
of the theatrical world of the city spoke about Mikhoels, his art and
of
Bialystok in
record the name of a donor on his gift, first, in order that this
his activities. Raya Katsnelson, a student, recited a moving poem
public record may prevent the gift's being misapplied to another honor of Dr. Lud-
dedicated to Solomon Mikhoels by the well-known Jewish poet Perets
wig
Zamenhof,
purpose unintended by the giver, and, second, that it should be
Markish."
the inventor of
a memorial for him.'"
Is this an about face? Mikhoels had been in this country during
Esperanto, t h e
the early 1940s as an emissary of the USSR and of Russian Jewry,
The question is interesting, the discussion illuminating, the international lan-
at a time when we were campaigning for
Responsum serves as a valuable guide in communal planning. Naturally, guage, according
war relief for Russia, He had come with Itzig
practices vary in different communities. The approach is not always to a report re-
Feller. They had visited Detroit and we
the same. Contributors often ask for recognition and usually get it. ceived here from
established a kinship with them. They were
But in the instance of transferring names from buildings in old to those Moscow. Dr. Za-
received enthusiastically wherever they trav-
in new areas one could easily create a case causing embarrassment. That's menhof was born
eled in this country.
where common sense could fit in well if decisions could be arrived at in Bialystok and Zamenhof
not to perpetuate demands upon a community. But this, unlike Dr. a local school and a street are
Before long, shortly after the last war,
Freehof's, is a private opinion.
both men were liquidated. On May 22, 1964,
named after him.
we published a story from Paris about Mik- E.
hoels' role as an actor in "King Lear" I.
having been included by Soviet producers
in a documentary film on Shakespeare. In •
Mikhoels
that story from Paris appeared this paragraph:
"3Iikhoels was killed on Jan. 19, 1948, in an auto accident
2. No increased concern with re- religion, less than half had ever
NEW YORK (JTA)—A majority
now known to have been engineered by Soviet secret police."
of college students do not find ligious questions had been found
Why, then, this double talk? What exactly is aimed at by the their religious beliefs affected by among 84.7 per cent of the Jewish done so. More than 86 per cent
new Russian propaganda? If there is to be accord between Russians higher education, but about 20 per students questioned, 55.7 of the said they would not convert to the
and Jews — and there certainly should be — let there be an apology
cent have reported that a college Protestants, and 51.9 per cent of religion of their mates.
and an explanation for the liquidations; let's have genuine recognition
education has definitely caused the Catholics.
Generally, Prof. MacGregor said,
of Jewish rights. But why beat around the bush and give the false
them to question the fixed religious
3. Questions relating to the ef- the survey showed that, as a stu-
impression that all now is holy and compassionate in the Soviet Union?
beliefs that they had held at the fects of religion on dating and dent's academic average in-
The Soviet Embassy, its press department, the APN service — all
time they entered college, it was marriage established that, while creased, the likelihood of his hav-
have much to explain.
revealed after a survey of students the majority of students would ing any fixed religious beliefs
.
*
at Brooklyn College.
date someone outside their own kliminished.
Arturo Toscanini and the Palestine Philharmonic
The college, part of the City
Israel's Philharmonic Orchestra had its beginnings in the crucial University of New York, has a
years when Nazism threatened the existence of the entire Jewish majority of students who are Jew-
Boris Smolar's
people and menaced the security of all mankind, It began as the ish. Of the 2,471 students polled in
Palestine Symphony and it drew into its ranks
the survey, 76 per cent were Jew-
a number of escapees from Nazism and its support.
ish, 11 per cent Catholic and 2
cis counted many men of prominence (Ossip
per cent Protestant. The total
Gabrilowitsch, Bronislaw Iluberman, Prof. S, Ro-
undergraduate, full time enroll-
sofsky and many others).
ment at the college is about 10,000.
Toscanini 's interest was deep-rooted. He was
The survey had been organized
By BORIS SMOLAR
horrified by Nazism. He had faith in a Jewish
by Herbert H. Stroup, dean of
(Copyright, 1967, JTA, Inc.)
renaissance. He earnestly desired to aid the perse-
students. The results showed:
cuted Jewish musicians.
WELCOMED VISITOR: The present visit of Simon Wiesenthal
1. More than 75 of those inter-
Higher Education Fails to Disturb Beliefs
of Most Students, Brooklyn College Poll Finds
'Between You
. . and Me'
And so Toscanini conducted the first concert
of the Palestine Symphony Orchestra—now the
Israel Philharmonic—on Dec. 26, 4936. It was not
Toscanini
destined for Gabrilowitsch to share in the joy of
seeing the Jewish orchestra emerge as a great force in the musical
world: he passed away three months before the first concert.
Toscanini retained his interest in the Palestinian Jewish musicians'
efforts. His name is indelibly linked with the history of the Israel
Philharmonic.
•
•
•
What Do We Do to Honor Contributors?
Fund-raising, the construction of communal buildings and the
extension of honors for both monetary gifts and services rendered
often are accompanied by problems involving human attitudes.
What do we do about situations created by changing neighborhoods,
when buildings named after honored personalities have to be abandoned
and the institutions involved are compelled to move to new buildings
in other areas? Are the names-of those honored in one neighborhood to
be transferred to buildings in new sections, when new donors expect
to be honored? In instances of generosity, what procedures are to be
followed to honor contributors?
Dr. Solomon B. Freehof, an authority on Responsa, treated the
subject in an interesting study. Dealing with the question of recording
names of donors to causes he pointed out:
"If the purpose of announcing and recording the gift is merely
boastful vanity, then to record the name is actually a sin (as Isserles
said); but if it is for the purpose of safeguarding the gift, that it should
not be misused for purposes unintended by the donor, or certainly, if
for the more important purpose of encouraging other givers, then we
should record the names, following the opinion of the great Spanish
authority, Solomon ben Aderet, and thus, as he said, 'open the door to
other doers of good deeds."
viewed said their college educa-
tion has not affected their con-
cern with religious questions.
However, 20 per cent reported
that their college education had
definitely caused them to ques-
tion the fixed religious beliefs
that they had held upon entering
college and, within this group,
"the nature and existence of God
was found to be the largest mat-
ter of concern."
to the United States is marked by the publication of "The Murderers
Among Us," a book of his memoirs relating his tragic experiences in
the Nazi camps where he was held, as well as details of his activities
in tracing Nazi war criminals responsible for mass-killing of Jews
. Mr. Wiesenthal's reputation as a Jew dedicated to securing evidence
against thousands of Nazis who participated in the mass-annihilation
of Jews—and to bringing them to justice—is worldwide . . . He is per-
haps the most dreaded person for the multitude of Nazi war criminals
now scattered throughout the world, living under false names - . .
He has collected affidavits concerning Nazi crimes against Jews in
about 1,000 different places . . And his card index of such Nazi
criminals now contains about 22,500 names ... His services as Nazi
hunter have been acknowledged by the American military authorities
in Germany and Austria An architect by education, he has chosen,
after the fall of the Nazi regime, to devote himself exclusively to the
hunting of Nazis guilty in deporting, torturing and murdering Jews
Jerusalem Prize Goes
to Schwartzbart
before they might evade justice as a result
ct JTA Teletype Wire
(Dire The Jewish News)
JERUSALEM—The third inter-
national Book Fair, with some
80,000 books from 25 countries on
display, was opened here Tuesday
evening by President Zalman Sha-
zar.
More than 1,000 publishing
houses from both Eastern and
Western countries are participat-
ing. A highlight of the fair was
the presentation of the Jerusalem
Prize to French author Andre
Schwartzbart, who wrote "The
Last of the Just," on Thursday.
of the expiration of laws
aimed at punishing them ... He does not believe in considering all the
Germans guilty for what happened to the Jews under the Nazi regime
. In fact, he speaks very warmly of same Nazi officials who secretly.
helped him in critical moments when he was on the verge of being
shot ... He even testified in favor of some Nazis known to have helped
Jews simply because they detested the sadistic brutalities of the
SS--the Nazi elite troops . . . He devotes a full chapter of his book
to a Nazi sergeant who was sentenced to death by a Gestapo court
when it was discovered that he was helping Jewish people in the
Wilno ghetto where his superiors killed 80,000 Jews . . . All this goes
to show that he is not simply a "fanatic avenger" but a man who
believes that Nazi murderers who are still free must be rounded up
(Related stories on Page 6)
and punished.
2—Friday, March 31, 1967
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS