Oil on Troubled Waters
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
As•ociation.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit, , Mich. 48235.
VE 8.1, 344. Subscription S6 a >ear. Foreign S7.
Second Class Postage Paid at Detroit, Michigan
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
SIDNEY SHMARAK
Advertising Manager
CHARLOTTE H. DUBIN
City Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath. the ninth day of Siran. 5727. the following Sc- riptural selections
u- ,11 be read in our synagogues:
l'entateuchal portion. Num. 5:1.12:16. Prophetical portion, Zeharia 2:14-4:7.
Candle lighting, Friday. June 16. 8:51 p.m.
VOL. I.I. No. 13
Page Four
June 16, 1967
Major Duty: to Protect the Victory
Israel has scored a !Treat victory. It is a belated triumph over unhuman-
itv. a final attainment of a status that should and must once and for all time
lead to peace and not to mere armistice agreements. The armistice regula-
tions that followed the successes of 1948 and 1956 were excuses to end
Israel's military operations. They were forced upon Israel in the same fashion
as the United Nations had compelled Israel to desist from occupying all of
Jerusalem in 1948.
It is different now. Israel will not yield to pressure because of the need
for peace rather than procrastination that can only lead to endless warfare.
Therefore Israel's role in the demand for worldwide recognition of the
Jewish State's rights and in insisting on a sound peace and not on mere delays
must he protected.
And while aid is being given to Israel on the political and diplomatic
fronts, Nvwid Jewry must continue to provide the means with which to assure
the State's security.
Israel is hard hit economically. The schools must be reopened, the hos-
pitals must function properly, industries must commence their functions anew.
It will require much aid to provide for all the necessary facilities, to make cer-
tain that the farms are harvested, that the postal services are not interrupted,
that travel continues, that tourism begins anew.
Volunteer civilian manpower must be encouraged to go to Israel and to
help the courageous people. Our funds must be provided for Israel's econ-
omic security.
Our duties are self-evident: there must be no let-down in the assistance
we began to pour in last week. It must go on and on and on until Israel's
peaceful existence is fully guaranteed—by the nations of the world and by
us as Israel's kinsmen.
U.S..Jewish Students in Israel's Army
On the Sabbath before the outbreak of
hostilities on Israel's borders, 12 graduate
students from Yeshiva University in New
York came to Lydda Airport near Tel Aviv,
remained there until the end of the tradi-
tional 'rest day. then proceeded to volunteer
in Israel's defense.
Since then, hundreds of theological stu-
dents from many areas enrolled for, service
in Israel's defense. It was as natural a devel-
opment as that of the cessation of the relig-
ious war by the Naturai Karta in Jerusalem:
protection of human lives and the guarantee
of security for a people threatened with an-
nihilation came first.
This was one of the unusual developments
in Israel that presented the Jewish State as a
family as much as a nation, as kinsmen bat-
tling for their very lives, for the protection of
their children as well as the adults, for the
guarantee of the retention of the basic rights
to life, liberty and the search for a normal
economic existence.
When the supporters of Yeshiva Univer-
sity in New York gather on June 21 for their
annual dinner here, they will be able to point
with pride to the role their students play as
dedicated members of the Jewish community.
The inspiration of Yeshiva University studies.
like that of all the Jewish schools, contributes
towards the building of a unified force that
guarantees survival. This was the case at the
Hebrew University, the Technion, Tel Aviv
University and many other schools outside
Israel. Yeshiva University emerged glowingly
as part of the dedication to the causes that
strive for Israel's and Jewry's security and
survival.
National Family and Singing Army
When the story of the 1967 Israeli cam-
paign for peace and security and the people's
honor will have been written, it will indicate
several important factors.
It will show that the nation was also a
family and that its kinsmen were linked by a
sacred duty to assure the protection of human
lives.
There will be many books—just as there
were numerous volumes dealing with the war
of independence in 1948 and the Sinai Cam-
paign of 1956 in Israel—and they will show
that Israel's was a citizens' army and a singing
one.
The record %vitt show that fear was rele-
gated to the background, that there was a de-
termination not to be subjected to humilia-
tion. that never again should there be the sort
of subjection and degradation that marked
the era of Hitlerism.
The 1967 campaign proves something else:
that the fear of complacency, the panic that
had reigned that young Jews may be abandon-
ing our ranks, were based on misconceptions.
In time of crisis all Jews came forth with
help, cooperation, encouragement.
Now we must strive to make certain that
it is not adversity alone that keeps us united,
that it is not mere anti-Semitism that makes
Jewry an entity. Let there be unity for just
survival, for worldwide cooperation, for hu-
manitarian labors that make all humans kin
and that relegate to a forgotten past hatreds
that should not exist either among kinsmen—
and Jews and Arabs are kinsmen—or among
fellow human beings. Let us hope and pray
that the results of the war of June 1967 also
will lead to better understanding among all
Middle Eastern nations, in the interest of
world peace.
d17%
Solomon Maimon's Life Story:
Is Entertaining and Enlightening
Schocken Books' paperback, "Solomon Maimon—An Autobiography"
is so delightful an account of an 18th Century scholar who encountered
many obstacles, and challenges; it is at the same time so entertaining
as well as instructive, that it stands out as a notable work.
With a most interesting and explanatory introduction by the
late Prof. Moses Hadas, who edited the book, the value of this book
is in the manner in which it describes ghetto life in the years when
Jews were at the mercy of Polish landowners, the way the Jews
sought to protect themselves against abuses, the devotion to learning
and the craving for knowledge.
Solomon Maimon was born in 1753. His autobiography was first
published in 1792, eight years before his death. The present Schocken
volume, Dr. Hadas points out, is based on an 1888 translation, from an
extensive original German text, by Prof. J. Clark Murray of McGill
University.
Solomon Maimon's roguery, his search for knowledge, his strug-
gles, his controversial relationship with a group of scholars in the
days of Mendelssohn, his friendship with Mendelssohn—all form
the basis for a life story that is filled with many entertaining episodes.
The roguish narrator tells how as a youngster a wife was chosen
for him. Without qualms of conscience he tells how he left his wife and
children, how she later pursued him and finally divorced him.
At 11 he was a genius who qualified as a rabbi. He taught him-
self German and was able to converse on an equal basis, with the
the many community figures whom he befriended.
It was a life of poverty, but he had the stubbornness and deter-
mination to defy obstacles. He often went hungry, but managed to
travel to many cities in search for learning, positions to earn a liveli-
hood, acquire acquaintances.
He even was tempted, in search for security, to convert to Chris-
tianity, but it ended in his exposing his views of Judaism's superiority.
The anecdotes he tells, the stories about his father's struggles
and the way he faced Jew-baiting—involving even a case of ritual
murder — combine to make the Maimon autobiography a very signif-
icant work.
Miss Samuel's Notable Work:
"Pathways Through History"
Ruth Samuel and her publishers, Ktav Publishing House (120 E.
B'way, NY2) have earned the gratitude of children and their parents
for an immensely valuable and instructive work, "Pathways Through
Jewish History."
This factual collection of stories which start with the beginning
and lead up to the present time which has been blessed with Jewish
Statehood, contains basic information about all aspects of Jewish
historical developments Excellently illustrated by the book's picture
editor, Sol Scharfstein, this volume has the merit of dealing with all
the elements of Jewish history with simplicity. It this becomes an im-
portant book for home use. so that parents can guide children in their
studies and share the book's contents with them. At the same time,
this book could well serve as a textbook.
There is special merit to this volume because each chapter
ends with a glossary of Hebrew terms. The Hebrew texts not only
provide a vocabulary in Hebrew: collectively, all the glossaries
in the volume being bound together, they serve as a text for the
study of the Hebrew language.
The transliterations used for these glossaries may not be acceptable
to all, but they are simple enough for the reader to acquire a knowl-
edge of the words, names, terms appended to explain the preceding
chapter.
Miss Samuels' approach to her overall topic, "Pathways Through
Jewish History," is very interesting. She commences with the earliest
records of Jewish history, describes the Kingdoms, deals with the
Exodus, with the Dispersion, life in many lands, and proceeds to
analyze modern events. But part of her story is not only the struggle
for survival but also explanation of the cultural factors in Jewish
life--the origin of Mishna and Talmud, and reviews of the many cul-
tural and spiritual developments in Jewish life.
Dealing also with the power of the church and with the
struggle for survival, outlining Hasidism, Reform, Zionism, Miss
Samuels is thorough in her approach.
"Pathways Through Jewish History" is valuable as history as well
as in its spiritual - cultural emphases. It is a commendable work.