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
Associa lion.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co.. 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit, Mich. 48235
-
v1. 8-9364. Subscription $6 a year. Foreign 97.
Second Class Postage Paid at Detroit. Michigan
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
SIDNEY SHMARAK
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Advertising Manager
Business Manager
CHARLOTTE DUBIN
City Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 27th days of Av, 5727, the following scriptural selections will be
recui in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion: Dent. 11:26-16 - 17. Prophetical portion: Isaiah 54:11-55:5.
Candle lighting, Friday, September
VOL. I.I. No. 24
I, :AR p.m.
September 1, 1967 '
Page Four
Labor Day and Schools' Reopening
This is not to say that our standards have
Every family that has children—or grand-
children—is under the impact of the reopen- been of the highest. We have much to aspire
ing of the schools during the coming week. to. We are obligated to provide the best con-
And all who are concerned with human wel- ditions for teachers so that they may devote
fare and the wholesome attitude of citizens themselves wtihout handicaps to the tasks of
are aware, at the same time, of the national teaching our youth. Even in literacy we often
holiday known as Labor Day. are confronted with illiteracy, and a great
nation, steeped in democratic principles,
"In toil shall you eat . . . all the days of
must aim to give its people the best that is
your life," "when you eat the labor of your
available in knowledge.
hands, happy shall you be." "man is born to
Thus the two major humanitarian ideals
labor," " be strong . . and work,•' "six days
shall you labor. and do all your work"—these —the right to work in freedom and to learn
adequately—are merged during the current
are among scriptural quotations that are week on the occasion of Labor Day and of
applicable to labor, to work which has been
the reopening of our schools.
defined by Zangwill as "the best form of
♦
*
*
prayer."
Jewish communities have the added re-
sponsibility of providing for our children the
These are admonitions to be taken into
best facilities for the acquisition of Jewish
account under the trying conditions which
knowledge. There is the inherited tradition
have been experienced during a summer of of elevating learning to the highest rung on
tensions when there were demands that the
the ladder of communal duties and there is
underprivileged should be provided with the responsibility of placing the school on an
equal footing with the synagogue.
means of earning a livelihood.
Here, too, we turn to a biblical admoni-
Labor Day is an occasion for the labor
forces to demonstrate their rights. It also tion: "Thou shalt teach them diligently unto
thy children."
must be the occasion for Man to acknowledge
that in order to live he must Work.
It is worth turning to a non-Jewish nove-
Louis Brandeis had a definition for it list for an interesting comment in relation
to
our
tradition for learning. The English-
when he said, in his "Economic Exhortation
man Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) wrote
to Organized Labor," uttered Feb. 5, 1905,
in his "Outline of History:" "The Jewish re-
long before he became U. S. Supreme Court
Justice: "Don't assume that the interests of ligion, because it was a literature-sustained
religion,
led to the first efforts to provide
employer and employe are necessarily hos-
elementary education for all the children in
tile. The opposite is apt to be the case."
the community."
It is when we learn this lesson while
We have these provisions for our chil-
acknowledging the human right to employ-
dren. It is obligatory upon all parents to
ment and to earning a livelihood with dig-
utilize
them for their children.
nity that Labor Day assumes its natural role.
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At the same time, if we are to have the
informed communities we hope to build,
There is. in this season of the year. the adults must make use of provisions available
parallel right of all citizens to acquire knowl- for them also to continue their studies and
edge. to share in educational endeavors, to
to be aware of the past in its relation to the
have access to proper schooling.
present—and to the future.
It would be unjust to say that these op-
Learning, as defined in Isaiah (28:10) is
ortunities are lacking. They eyist for all
"precept by precept, precept by precept, line
Americans. There is less illiteracy here than
by line; here a little, there a little." In this
in most countries, and while we are not the
fashion our children should learn and our
most literate of peoples, we strive for the elders should seek knowledge.
elimination of illiteracy and for the proper
These are - the lessons of this season of
training of all citizens for productive pur-
the year.
suits.
• MOTHERS IN AIM •
Samson Raphael Hirsch's 'Pirkei
Aboth' Commentary Translated
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888) remains among the
outstanding authorities on Orthodoxy. The eminent scholar whose
literary works serve as guides for the traditionalists and whose
teachings are at the core of those seeking knowledge in Jewish living
had written extensively on the basics of Jewish observance.
A number of his works already have appeared in English transla-
tions. Now Jewish scholarship that needs the English versions is
enriched by the appearance for the first time of an English translation
of Dr. Hirsch's "Pirkei Aboth" which the able translator, Gertrude
Hirschler, calls "The Chapter of the Fathers."
Published by Philipp Feldheim, Inc. (96 E. B'way, NY2), as part
of the Tora Classics Series, this is a significant work because the
English reader now has available in English the valuable commentary
on the Pirkei Aboth by one of the very great Jewish scholars of the
last 200 years.
The publishers point out that while there has been an eager
desire for English translations of the vast Hirsch literature, "the
commentary to Pirkei Aboth appeared originally in Jeschurn, a
monthly published by Hirsch and containing many of the essays which
were subsequently compiled in six volumes of Collected Writings (most
of which still awaiting publication in English and Hebrew). However
the commentary did not appear as a separate entity but was published
posthumously as part of the 'Hirsch Tefila' (which will appear in
the near future in the English version)."
The publishers appended to their announcement another interest-
ing note in which they stated:
"Little more than a decade ago the project of lifting the language
barrier between the stupendous literary output of the great Rabbi
Samson Raphael Hirsch and the two chief centers of modern Jewish
life, Israel and America-England, seemed merely wishful thinking.
In an incredibly short period, due to the eminently timely character
of the Hirschian philosophy and the re-emergence of this Great in
Israel as a spiritual leader of our time, a large part of his literary
legacy has been made available to the English-speaking—and now
also the Hebrew-speaking—Jewish world. The force of its impact
upon the thinking of the new generation is still reverberating through-
out the Jewish study halls and streets and may perhaps not be fully
evaluated until the advent of another generation."
The commentary on Pirkei Aboth, it is indicated in a foreword
to this new important volume by Rabbi Joseph Breuer. is taken from
Dr. Hirsch's work on the Tefila. Dr. Breuer states that "its relative
brevity" thus is accounted for and he points out that "the Commentary
to the Tefila was the final chapter in Rav Hirsch's blessed literary
life work and it was published posthumously." Dr. Breuer makes
this additional comment:
"Since our Tefila constitutes the most faithful reflection of the
truths gleaned from Tanakh, it is only natural that Ray Hirsch
presupposes the reader's familiarity with his great commentary to
Tanakh and consequently limited himself to a form of summary or
synopsis in his Tefila commentary."
In the Feldheim volume, the text of the Pirkei Aboth appears in
while Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia Hebrew, and the English translation appears on opposite pages.
went along with the Kremlin anti-Jewish, anti-
The extensive commentaries, ably translated, with the Hebrew
Israel lines, the comparative figures for West- references properly inserted • serve the significant purpose both of
East reactions to the Middle East conflicts fulfilling the task of furnishing English readers with additional Hirsch
showed the following results, percentage-wise: commentaries and of enriching the knowledgeability of those seeking the
viewpoints of traditionalists on basic Jewish texts. The Pirkei Aboth
West Europe East Europe commentary enriches the Jewish literary classics.
With the Arabs
8
12
With the Israelis
53
58
With neither side, don't
know, no answer
39
30
A REVIEW BY BORIS SMOLAR
Iron Curtain Pressures Meet Resistance
Israel's difficulties with the Arabs are un-
abated, but the major difficulties continue to
be with the Soviet bloc. From the USSR
come the chief obstacles to peace. Never-
theless, the Iron Curtain countries have not
yielded so readily to pressures to back the
Arab states and to oppose Israel.
A poll taken in Paris with East Euro-
pean visitors from several East European
countries shows that in answer to the ques-
tion "Where do your sympathies lie in the
Arab-Israel conflict?" the sample replies
showed the following results in percentages:
Czech Hungarian Polish Romanian
With the Arabs
13
9
13
10
With the Israelis
57
65
58
59
With neither side 22
19
19
21
Don't know, no
7
answer
8
10
10
Stieglitz's Modern Art
(Copyright, 1967, ZIA, Inc.)
100
100
Thus it is clear that even though the
extreme dictatorial Communist pressures in-
fluenced regime supporters, they have not
succeeded in misleading the peoples of the
world about the existing facts.
There remains the need to assure that
the truth will remain known, in the interest
of world peace. Israel's obligations are im-
100
100
100
100
mense on many fronts, and not the least of
them is the public relations duty to retain
Romania alone refused to follow the
USSR orders on the Arab-Israel issue. But friends everywhere.
Very little is known among Jewish readers of Alfred Stieglitz,
whose pioneering services in modern art — applied first to the field
of photography — made him an internationally-known figure in a
short time at the turn of this century . .. Herbert J. Seligman, noted
author and former correspondent of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
in Washington, has written a book on this remarkable figure who was
the recipient of more than 150 medals from various countries and was
honorary vice-president of the Society of American Painters and
Sculptors . . . The book, published by Yale University Library under
the title "Alfred Stieglitz Talking," gives an intimate picture of the
American-Jewish creator of photography as an instrument of vision
in the deeper sense and of his great pioneering service in implanting
art on what was the unfilled soil of the United States . . . Mr. Seligman,
who was an intimate friend of Stieglitz, uses the notes he has taken
on some of his conversations with Stieglitz in 1925-31 . . . They give
a vivid picture of the atmosphere in which Stieglitz lived.