Purely Commentary Bokser Prepares Impressive Liturgy

By Philip Slomoyitz

Lawrence Gubow's Appointment

for Israel Independence Anniversary

Senator Philip Hart has earned the gratitude of our entire com-
Hebrew Publishing Co. has just
munity by presenting the name of Lawrence Gubow. currently U.S.
issued an impressive liturgy for
Attorney for this district to fill the vacancy on the U.S. District
Israel Independence Day anniver-
Court Bench.
sary services.
Ile could not have made a better choice,
Authored by Dr. Ben Zion Bokser,
and it is sincerely to be hoped that there
entitled "Prayers and Readings for '
will be speedy confirmation of the appoint-
Israel Independence Day," this col- I
ment by the U.S. Senate.
' lection is unique in its approach.
Larry Gubow has such a fine record-
It carries with it a deeply spiritual
/ as a citizen, as a public official, as a leader
message, and the inclusion of pro-
in community af'airs.
phetic selections gives the service
A hero of the last war, a man of cour-
special significance.
age when he held a high-ranking position
With a true festival as its. ap-
in our state, highly competent in his present proach, this collection of prayers
post as U.S. Attorney, he has gained the and readings
presents God and man
respect of all citizens.
in the role of laboring together for
In the Jewish community he has been the high goals of peace and human
a leader for the advancement of Israel's affinities.
cause, has aided Israel Bond and Allied Jew-
Dr. Bokser makes interesting
ish Campaign activities. His congregational
suggestions: "If Yom Haatzmaut
LAWRENCE GUBOW and other affiliations have been accom-
is to be commemorated as part
panied by services that have endeared him to all. We consider it an
of a synagogue service on a week-
honor for all of us that he should have been chosen for the Federal
day morning, it is suggested that
Bench on which, we are confident, he will serve with as much dignity
it be held prior to the recitation
as he has displayed in all of his other public services.

Pathetic Council for Judaism

There is something very pathetic about the anti-Israel and anti_
Zionist Council for Judaism. Its spokesmen see a Zionist in every
shadow. Zionism's echoes in every heartburn. They are so loaded with
hatreds that they dream venomously.
Often they are so stupid they do not realize how pathetically
ridiculous they and their writings are.
There was discussion of an article on Germany in Look magazine,
and a spokesman for this venomous council, charging that neither Dr.
Joachim Prinz nor the American Jewish Congress are "qualified to
report objectively on anti-Semitism or the revival of neo-Nazism" in
Germany, he added: "It has been a consistent policy of both ... to keep
American Jews in (ferment) about real or fancied anti-Semitism in
order to serve Zionist ideologies and programs."
Such nonsense! And such arrogance! It proves how depraved a
mind can become by the venom of hatred!

'Der Alte' and the German Reparations

Major Jewish organizations joined with Dr. Nahum Goldmann,
Israel Prime Minister Levi Eshkol and other prominent personalities
in paying honor to the memory of Dr. Konrad Adenauer, with empha-
sis on the fact that Germany's acceptance of responsibility for Nazi
crimes against the Jewish people was "one of the most important
objects of his life" and that he "labored
••• ■ r
without respite for this end."
In the authorized biography of Dr.
Goldmann written by the Israeli writer
Shlomo Barer there is an account of the
first meeting between Goldmann and Aden-
auer, in the Claridge Hotel, London, Dec.

6, 1951, when the plan for the inaugura-
tion of the reparations was first broached.
It was then "Der Alte" asked Goldmann
to dictate a letter for his signature, corn-
\ mitting the German government to pay a
billion dollars in reparations. The German
government had not yet discussed the
matter and it was an act of courage on
Adenauer's part to make that pledge which
eventually was to be fully honored.
Indeed. "Der Alte" had courage. His
name will be linked with those who truly
tried to atone for the Nazi crime, and his
memory will be blessed for the determina-
Per Alte'
tion with which he pursued the matter of compensations and repara-
tions to the victims of Nazism.
•
•
•

Ruth Gruber's Dramatic Story of Heroism
In the New York Central Park West apartment of Dr. Ruth
Gruber (Mrs. Philip Michelson) there is a miniature model repro-
duction of a house in Stanislav, Poland. It was made for her by
Staszek Jackowski, a Christian Pole who risked his life to protect 64
men, women and children who were kept in hiding in bunkers in the
—
basement of his Stanislav home and were * -
rescued from the Nazis.
Dr. Gruber is known to hundreds
of thousands of Jews for the impressive
messages she has brought to them when
she represented the United Jewish Appeal
and other causes, including Hadassah. the
Zionist movements and other Israeli causes.
Many thousands of Detroiters are acquaint-
ed with her as a result of her appearances
on lecture platforms here.
The Jackowski story was told by Dr.
Gruber in a deeply moving article she
wrote for the Saturday Review. Therein
she described how Staszek Jackowski
brought a dear Jewish friend and his rela-
tives to his home, without the knowledge
of his own family, how he hid them, built
bunker after bunker, how they drilled for
water. provided sanitation and lived on
Dr. Gruber
food he brought them. Their number
grew. to 64 who sought refuge with him.
It is a most dramatic story introducing one Christian who, unlike
many Poles who collaborated with the Nazis, came to the aid of Jews,
risked his own life, was determined to lose his life if necessary in
order to assure safety for the handful who escaped death in Stanislay.
Almost all the Stanislav Jewish community of 50,000 was murdered,
but the entire 64 lived to tell the story of a Christian whose nobility
defied the Nazis as well as his own coreligionists' collaborators.
Now the Jackowski family, honored for their noble deeds by the
Jews of America, live in the Bronx. They are becoming self-sustain-
ing. Their residence in this country has been legalized by a bill intro-
duced in Congress by U. S. Representative James H. Scheuer of

of Menu Leshabeah; if as part
of a Saturday morning service,
it would be more practical to
hold it prior to En Kelobenu; if
as part of a Friday evening serv-
ice, it is suggested that it follow
the Kiddush. The opening Psalm
of Deliverance may be chanted in
Hebrew, or read responsively in
English; it is to be followed by
the singing of Am Yisrael Hai,
and the public recitation of the

Presenting his "Prayers and Readings for Israel Independence
Day," is shown with Rabbi Ben Zion Bokser of Forest Hills Jewish
Center (left), Michael Arnon, consul general of Israel, and Isidor
Werbel, president of the Hebrew Publishing Co.

pledge, and the Sheheheyanu." writings of the Hebrew prophets
The liturgy, after the chanting who stressed the hope of a Jewish
of the Psalm of Deliverance (126) return to the Holy Land, and the
and the Sheheheyanu, continues aspiration that a renewed Israel
with the reading of Megil lat Haatz- serves the world as a force for
maut, the Declaration of Israel moral and spiritual enlightenment,
Independence. The complete text and world peace.
is given in Hebrew and in the Eng-
The Israeli Declaration of Inde-
lish translation.
pendence included in the liturgy
pledges
the new state to open doors
Then comes the Hallel, followed
Stangl Extradition Urged; by A Prayer for Israel in which the for the ingathering of Jewish home-
rise of the State of Israel is refer- less in any part of the world to
Volkswagen Denies
red to as Reshit Tzmihat Geulatenu respect the cultural and religious
—"the initial sprouting of our re- freedom of all inhabitants, whether
Knowledge of His Past
demption."
Jewish, Christian or Moslem, and
SAO PAULO (JTA)—An ap-
A prophetic portion after the to fulfill the obligations of the
peal by the Jewish Confederation
prayer is "The Vision of Ezekiel" charter of the United Nations.
of Brazil to the Brazilian Supreme
(37:1-14). It is followed by the
Dr. Bokser, who prepared the
Court to approve the extradition
song "Yerushulayim" by Avigdor new liturgy, is the rabbi of the
of Nazi war criminal Franz Stangl
Hameiri. An additional song is Forest Hills Jewish Center and
was read Saturday in parliament
the "Ani Maamin."
serves on the faculty of the Jewish
in Brasilia by federal representa-
A concluding prayer and the Theological Seminary. He edited
tive Cunha Bueno, The appeal was
Hatikva are at the end of a service and translated the daily, Sabbath
widely publicized in the Brazilian
of considerable merit. Published on and `estival prayer book, and the
press.
High Holy Day prayer book, which "
Stang], wartime commandant of the eve of Israel's 19th anniver-
also were published by the Hebrew
the Treblinka and Sobibor death sary, it is expected that many con-
Publishing Company. His most re-
gregations will introduce it.
camps in occupied Poland, has
All of the prayers and the pro- cent book "Judaism and the Chris-
been under maximum security de-
phetic writings appear here in Eng- tian Predicament," published by
tention since he was arrested here
Alfred A. Knopf, is reviewed on the
March 2 at the request of the lish as well as in Hebrew.
This liturgy thus draws on the editorial page in this issue.
Austrian government, A u s t r i a,
West Germany and Poland have
asked for Stangl's extradition to
face war crimes charges. The Su-
Boris Smolar's
preme Court must rule on the
appeals.
In Bonn, the Volkswagen Co.
issued a statement disclaiming any
knowledge of the Nazi past of
Stangl when he was hired by the
By BORIS SMOLAR
Volkswagen plant in Sao Paulo.
(Copyright, 1967, JTA, Inc.)
Stangl was an employe there last
March 2 when he was arrested.
EYES OF ISRAEL: The U.S. government is keeping close watch on
The statement of the West Ger-
the present economic policy of Israel, but is by far not as pessimistic
man auto firm declared that all
about this policy as are some Jews in this country . . . The Depart-
rumors that Stangl's Nazi past
ment of Commerce believes that despite unemployment, Israel's economy
had been known when he was
continues to expand at an "impressive" rate . . . It tells Americans
hired was false. The statement
interested in dealing with Israel that the present economic actions there
declared that the chief of per-
aim at diverting resources from local consumption to export and im-
sonnel and his assistant at the
proving the competitive efficiency of the country's economy . . . The
Volkswagen plant in Sao Paulo
Department of Commerce cites certain positive results already achieved
were Jews who had suffered perse-
by these actions, including the reduction of the trade deficit in 1966
cution under the Nazis and that
to well under $400,000,000, compared with $409,000,000 in the previous
Stang! had been enThloyed on the
year . . It also foresees economic development progress from indus-
basis of his Brazilian identity
trial expansion, particularly those industries that contribute to export
papers.
potential . . . It predicts that Israeli manufacturers will be offered
Jacques Torczyner, president of
tax rebates and other incentives to increase their export performance
the Zionist Organization of Ameri-
and believes that Israel will modernize its export marketing techni-
ca, who returned from a visit to Rio
ques . . . At the same time it advises American firms to be alert to
de Janeiro, said that "world opin-
the import opportunities which the Israeli market offers despite the
ion anxiously awaits the ruling of
intention of the government there to reduce its imports . . It reveals
the Brazilian Supreme Court be-
a review of Israel's import pattern — with modifications due to
fore May 2 on the extradition re- that
the new economic program — indicates that a number of product lines
quest."
will continue to be imported in substantial, or even increased, volume
. . . It enumerates these products and urges American firms to pay
New York. This act, too, was made attention to the possibility of selling them to Israel . . . They include
possible through the efforts of Dr. telephone equipment, motor vehicle parts, loading equipment, tinned
Ruth Gruber. The eminent Jewish sheet and plate, iron and steel bars and tubes, electrical cable, hand
author, who is always a welcome tools, chemicals, electric welding equipment, food processing equip-
guest here, as elsewhere, as a ment . . . In evaluating American trading with Israel in 1966, the
lecturer, not only has made us Department of Commerce stresses that despite Israel's new foreign trade
our debtors to her for her labor policy, there were encouraging increases in U.S. exports to Israel . . .
in behalf of Jewish causes but, Machinery and transport equipment was up 29 per cent over the same
now additionally, for having period in the previous year . . Increases were also registered in food
brought the Jackowski story to, grains export to Israel, in oilseed, in electric power generating equip-
us, for having made it possible ment, in telecommunication equipment. and in other fields of trade
for them to become Americans, . . . On the other hand, American exports to. Israel fell in sales of
for having indicated that even in textiles, paper and other manufactured goods . Israel's chief imports
the darkest period of Nazism from the United States are soya beans, corn, wheat, cereal, grains,
there were humanitarians among motor vehicles, beef and veal, and mechanical handling equipment
non-Jews who refused to accept . . . Last year, American exports to Israel were estimated at $190,-
the terror of Nazism and who 000,000; a slight rise is anticipated this year.
made sacrifices to rescue Jews
THE , DETROIT, JEWISH NEWS
,
2—Friday, April 28, 1967
from oblivion.

'Between You
. . and Me'

