Superb Classical Hagada Aids
Preparations for the Sedorim

Schocken's Goldschmidt-Glatzer Text
Features Traditional Commentaries

Passover this year will com-
mence with the first Seder on
April 2. There still are a few weeks
left for preparations for the great
Festival of Freedom which serves
to solidify families, to link all of
our communities together in the
worldwide observance of a major
event in the annals of our people.
The time at our disposal between
now and the Pesah enables us to
study the Hagada, to perfect pur
knowledge and to make it possible
for those who lead in the Seder
ceremony to instruct and to learn
from historic experiences.
In contemporary fiction, Jewish
authors, who in large measure pre-
dominate in the literary world,
have dealt with the Passover—
often in derogatory fashion, derid-
ing, placing emphasis on the Four
Cups of Wine rather than on the
principle of liberation. How very
necessary, therefore, that there
should be proper alerting and con-
structive study of the Passover
Hagada, so that the derisive should
be prevented.
There are many Hagadas, anci-
ent and modern, abbreviated and
revised. In most Jewish homes it
will be the traditional Hagada that
will be used.
Fortunately for the oncoming
festival. Schocken Books has issu-
ed a new Hagada that should
serve as a powerful educational
medium to instruct, to make pos-
sible Sedorim that will be enlight-
ening. containing material that
should enable Seder performers to
study while reciting and to link
the Passover of today with the
vast experiences of the past.
Schocken's "The Passover Ha-

gada" based on Hagada studies
by E. D. Goldschmidt, edited by
Prof. Nahum N. Glatzer of Bran-
deis University, re-introduces
the classical commentary by the
eminent Berlin Jewish scholar.
It contains supplementary es-
says, serving as material to be
read and discussed.

Containing the complete Hagada
text, with an excellent English
translation, the introduction and
commentaries are of superb value.
Indeed, as the publishers indicate,

1526.
The instructive introduction is
most valuable for an understand-
ing of the Hagada, the various
terms used at the Seder, the com-
mentaries of previous works.
And the commentaries include
some of the most valuable scholar-
ly explanations about the festival,
historic experiences related to it,
the ancient and the modern appli-
cations to the Pesah theme.

PROGRESS IN ISRAEL: The attention of the delegates was cen-
tered to a great extent on community mental health centers programs
in Israel. There are about 30 mental health centers in the Jewish state.
The delegates learned that the number of mental patients requiring

From the historical point of
view the latter is significant be-
cause it enlightens Jews on a
basic historic facts, presenting
an authoritative Jewish inter-
pretation, on a matter so fre-
Based on Goldschmidt's "Die
quently referred to by Christians.
Pesah Hagada," Berlin 1937, and
Then there is the brief prayer,
"Seder Hagada shel Pesah,"
Jerusalem 1947, both published "Passover, Bergen-Belsen, 1944,"
an explanation that Jews in
by Schocken, the Hebrew text in with
Nazi concentration camps did
the present Hagada is a tradi- the
not
have
matzos and were permit-
few
tional version except for a
minor changes based on the an- ted to eat leavened bread. It was
for
such
repast that this prayer
notation by Elijah Gaon of
was composed.
Vilna and on ancient sources.
A guide to names, works and
The introduction explains the terms
used in this Schocken Ha-

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JDC ACTION: Mental health in community services was fun-
damentally discussed at a three-day international conference convened
by the Joint Distribution Committee. Held in Geneva, the conference
was attended by 120 specialists from 13 countries, representing more
than 60 national and international organizations.
The high incidence of mental disorders among victims of the Nazi
holocaust, Jewish refugees and migrants was one of the major subjects
deliberated at the parley. Dr. A. Gothic, director of the JDC medical
services; who presided, told the experts in psychiatry, psychology,
sociology, anthropology, social work, public health, and nursing assem-
bled there that the fate of the Jewish communities with which the JDC
is concerned is only part of the total picture. "It is an example of what
can happen and an illustration of what can be accomplished in a diffi-
cult situation," he pointed out.
•
•
•

cuts from the first illuminated
Hagada published in Prague in

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'Between You
... and Me'

(Copyright

a parent who has never presided
at a Seder before will be able with
this text to acquire confidence in
directing an evening of great
merit, marked by knowledge and
sanctity.
Jacob Sloan translated this text
from Hebrew Yiddish works have
enriched English literature, is sup-
plemented by a variety of wood-

basic Passover lessons, the terms
of Hagada and the items on the
Passover Plate, the Misbnaic ex-
planations of the dinner of anti-
quity, the course followed at the
Seder, Seder customs, and evalu-
ates the Hagada as a book, pro-
viding definitions related to it and
reviewing commentaries of signi-
ficance.
Major attention should be given
to the supplementary readings in
this Hagada.
In the specially assigned read-
ings for the Seder there is a selec-
tion from the Mishna, a quotation
on leavened bread from Philo
Judaeus, brief excerpts from the
Talmud and the Mishna on "Moses
and the Exodus," two ideal quotes
from.Martin Buber's "Tales of the
Hasidim," Fr a n z Rosenzweig's
"The Feast of Delixerance" and
the essay by Prof. Solomon Zeitlin
"Jesus and the Last Supper."

Boris Smolar's

hospital treatment is somewhat lower in Israel than in Western coun-
tries. Social adjustment there of the survivors of Nazi persecution was
more successful than in most other countries, especially in Europe.
Most interesting was the contents of a report by the Israeli Ministry
of Health showing that depressive psychoses are twice as frequent
among European-born Jews as among Jews of Oriental origin, whereas
neurotic—especially hysterical—reactions are ten times more frequent
among Oriental Jews. Suicidal risk is five times higher for European
than for Oriental Jews once a depressive illness has developed.
Until recently, the lack of psychiatrists was most serious in Israel.
But the Israel government, has, with the help of the JDC, instituted a
series of fellowships for the training of psychiatrists. This has attracted
young physicians in the field. In addition, psychiatric social workers of
high standard are now being trained at the Paul Baerwarld School for
Social Work established by the JDC at the Hebrew University, and they
do much of their supervised field work in mental hospital settings.

A Notable Nixon Woman Appointee

gada must also be considered as
most valuable for students and for
those desiring to be fully aware of
By JACK SIEGEL
what they are celebrating.
(A Seven Arts Feature)
This Schocken Hagada thus is
Rita Hauser is young (34), is
highly recommended by this re- pretty, is smart. And was ust ap-
viewer as a gem, worthy of widest pointed by President Nixon as the
use on the approaching Sedorim. United States Representative to the
Human Rights Commission of the
• • •
United Nations. In addition, she is
mother of two children and is
Hagada for Students the
a partner in a New York law firm.
Merits Due Attention Her husband is a corporation ex-
Meriting special attention is "The ecutive.
Student's Hagada" by Alvin I.
One of her first statements on
Schiff, fully illustrated by Ezekiel her appointment was she intend-
Schloss.
ed to take up the matter of the
Ktav Publishing House has pro- Iraqi Jews at the forthcoming
duced this work from a 1918 mim-
meeting of the commission in
eographed text of "Hagada La-
Geneva. The agenda, of course,
Talmid" hich appeared on the
includes other matters of world
occasion of the first anniversary
concern and importance.
of the State of Israel.
She was one of the New York
The five parts of this Hagada
explain its value. They are: Learn- chairmen for Nixon campaign dur-
ing about Passover, Preparing for
Pesah, Celebrating Pesah, Seder
Sidelights and Glossary of Seder
Terms.

The clarity with which the au-
thor has prepared the text, the
Bible quotations, the English
text intermingled with the most
important selection& from the
Hagada—all combine to make
this an especially commendable
work for children for whom the
Seder gains new significance in
the manner in which the Hagada
is defined for them.
It is a left-to-right Hagada and

rightly so because the English text,
which presents the Passover story,
while interspersed with the He-
brew prayers, psalms, Hagadic
texts, is a story book for the young
Seder participants.
New minhagim (customs), such
as the Ani 2lfamin, are presented,
and there is emphasis on the hos-
pitality factor in Jewish tradition
in the "kol dikhfin," with proper
examples of hospitality presented
to the reader.
The baking of matzo and the re-
moval of hametz are explained and
there is an expose of the atrocious
ritual murder lie.

There are additional notes on
Passover as the Holiday of Spring,
Counting the Omer, the Song of
Songs and the background of Jew-
ish traditional adherence to the
precepts of freedom.
So — we have two splendid
Illuminated Megila, from the Hebrew Union College collection
Hagadas, the Schocken and the
in Cincinnati.
Ktav, enriching the Seder litera-
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS ture for young and old.
48—Friday, February 28, 1969

Republican." With such interest in
that kind of problem, it was sug-

gested that, according to the com-
mon image, she would more likely
be a Democrat. She has, she said,
faith in her 'party and its potential
for doing important things., Hir •
concern for human rights is get!.
eral but she believes that the rise
and fall of the United States and
its relations worldwide dependi on
what is done in Africa and with
blacks at home.

Regarding the agenda in Gen-
eva, she said there were treaties
which required ratification: on
genocide, on slavery, and on
political rights for woinen.
Are there many areas in the
world where women are deprived
of their political rights
Many, she said in Africa and
Asia. Likewise on this side of the
world. Slavery, to most Americans
_associated with the times before
the Civil War, still exists in many
parts of the world. Saudi Arabia?
she was asked. She didn't specify
any one area but wherever it exist-
ed, it had to be attacked as a prob-
lem.
She introduced the interviewer
to her partner, a young man very
active in the New York Chapter
of the American' Jewish Commit-
tee.
Mrs. Hauser will be filling the
shoes, among • others, of Mrs.
Franklin D. Roosevelt. That's a big
.job but she seemed able and con-
fident. And certainly eager.

RITA A. HAUSER
ing the past election. But her ap- Labor Zionists Urged:
pointment is not a payoff. Mrs.

Hauser come to the job with the
:following qualifications: bachelors
degree from Hunter, a law degree
from Harvard, graduate studies in
the University of Strassbourg and
Paris, economics in the first and

law in the second. She is fluent in
French and Spanish and while
studying in Paris met many of the
Arab students, from the then
French colonies like Morocco and
Tunisia. She has since travelled
even more widely, with particular
interests in Africa and the Carib-
bean.
As a lawyer, she was interested
and involved in civil rights, repre-
senting people who needed defense.
She worked for John Lindsay and
defined herself as a kind of "Javitz

Give Week's Pay to Israel

(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)

NEW YORK — The American
Labor Zionist movement has call-
ed on its 90,000 members to con-
tribute at least one week's income
to the 1969 United Jewish Appeal-
Israel Emergency Fund, in addi-
tion to their contributions to the
regular UJA campaign. The or-
ganizations comprising the move-
ment are the Poale Zion, United
Labor Zionist Organization of
America, the Farband Labor Zion-
ist Order. Pioneer Women and tilt
Habonim Youth Organization. The
members were asked to give a
week's wages or household expen-
ses because of the increased bur-
dens and

