Flanuka Gelt and the Youth of Today
its
.1.‘EK SIEGEL
Ft - Mitre)
Nvi.en
\\ as a kid. there %%as
aHay s some talk about Banoka
It tias only talk because I
eel cr saw any of it. primarily he-
,.,o-r there It:isn't too much mono =
go a round. 'Aly gra mhnot het
u-cd to give some to Moey Strom•,
tt ho lived next door to her. but not
me The strategy \N as she might
need favors from hint but front me
she could get them for free. Like
bringing the Yiddish Morning
Journal to her daily and the gefilte
tish every Friday since we only
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
10—Friday, December 5, 1969
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9 Mile Cor. Coolidge
Oak Park (
C E A N1E R )
lived across the street. And I he has not done enough, %%Ito does
never asked for money. not beat his breast for sins of
\N as reminded of this at the omission or commission and who
General Assembly of the Council among us has not once distributed
of .1 is' Federations in Boston. Ilanuka gelt as expiation'. But is
A group of young self-styled radi- that the way to beat this rap"
There were also some people ill
c'als sent the - establishment - a
that o
list of demands and threatened to Boston 5thu there proud
our 115111 young, radicals. just
had
disrupt the proceedings if they did
not get a hearing. Using the best like the Blacks. I wondered about
these young people and their at-
of confrontation methods menace.
they were given the floor at one of tachment to radicalism. 'They were
in Boston when. according to-later
the big meetings and I listened
a
with rapt attention as they pro- reports, more than a quarter of On
ceeded in sharp and sometimes million people hail descended
petition the Presi-
rhetoriCal phraseology to charge WaSilint;t011 to
older people. the "establishment, - dent for peace in Vietnam. Accord-
ing to the same reports. most of
with a defacement of Jewish
values. with a kind of obsession for them Here young.
So later, we talked to two of
making money, for building Jewish
centers and swimming pools and them privately. One was taking his
for letting Jewishness go down the doctorate at Harvard in Jewish
drain. I listened with the same education. I asked him what was
rapt attention, and patience, for his plan for replacing the old, the
what they would offer instead of failed Jewish values. And he said
the Jewish values which the older he would write up such a program
generations had forgotten. And all —provided he was funded. In other
they offered instead were Jewish words, lianuka gelt. I asked the
values, Jewish content, Jewish his- other guy, with less hair and more •
tory, Jewish tradition and higher hutzpa. what his plans were. He
pay for teachers. In effect, they said he needed the freedom to do.
suggested that he and his
came out against sin, to which no-
body objects, and demanded that buddies create a commune and
write up this master plan. And he
the sin be sinless.
The only novel thought they said, "But, man, I gotta eat!"
More
lianuka gelt.
offered was a demand for a piece
Then I asked them, what about
of the action, for a place on the
policy boards of federations. Vietnam? They were against that
They palliated that with an offer- war. What about Israel and the
up of Israel but unfortunately charge that it was imperialist?
Israel is not their idea and its They disagreed, vouchsafed sup-
actual creation occurred at a port of Israel. What was the dif-
time when they could do little to ference between the two? Vietnam,
help it into existence. Besides, they said, is an aggressive war, it
everybody is in favor of Israel was imperialist. But Israel was a
as they are against sin. But as I matter of saving lives. I suggested
came out of the .attitude of apt that many young people, including
and respectful attention, I no. Jewish ones, would not buy that
ticed the youth demanding and that there must be a better
money. And this was the catch to explanation. I even offered to sug-
gest one but they were not too in-
the whole thing.
As 1 analyzed their pitch. I dis• terested. I am, after all, over
30
and in secular matters not
covered, to my own satisfaction at
to be trusted. In Jewish matters, I
least. that they were offering noth-
ing new. The young radicals were was a devotee of swimming-pool
and I •
led by a younger rabbi whose cre- Judaisern. It was a burn rap
couldn't heat it but I couldn't help
dentials were smiha, had been on
the last plane into Israel before thinking that for sheer giving, for
the Six-Day War and had been sheer, pure, unadulterated tze-
wounded in defense of a kibutz. daka. who could beat the Estab-
Ileroes and Maccabees. the Jews lishment Generation? But maybe
have, and have hail before. This is tzedaka is not a Jewish value any-
not a credential of sufficient size more.
Maybe even my grandmother
to demand money. It also occurred
to me that a rabbi, least of all peo- had the right idea. She read her
ple. can he a radical. A radical, by Yiddish papers, went to Beth Ha-
definition gets at the root of things. medrash Hagadol on Forest Ave.
He also rebels. A ra'pbi must main- in the Bronx and gave Moey
tain tradition and heritage, he Stromin, the kid next door, Hanuka
gelt.
must be a conservative.
Unless he is like Rabbi Eman-
But she didn't try to buy me.
uel Rackman of the Fifth Ave-
nue Synagogue in New York and
prominent Orthodox leader, who
has written of this problem. Per-
haps the key statement in a
recent article of his is, "Ortho-
doxy sought to guarantee its sur-
vival by freezing the Halakha
(Oral Law) and its theology. As
a result, it cannot now realize its
full potential in an age when
more and more intellectuals are
prepared for the leap of faith
but hardly for a leap to obscur-
Has
Orange Hannka Candles
Menoras
from 35c
MELBOURNE—Almost 17 years
to the day that Dr. Chaim Weiz-
mann died, the State Zionist Coun-
cil of Victoria dedicated and offi-
cially opened the Beth Weizmann
Community Center here.
mental in the way of change. And tions including Bnai Brith and Na-
he is not asking for money. The tional Council of Jewish Women,
Rackman one of the finest old-age homes
is that he is a little bit over 30. and geriatric hospitals in the
Nevertheless, he should have led world. senior citizens flats, a
strong Yiddish cultural organiza-
the confrontation.
confess the young radi- Lion and social and fund-raising
I
call lost me and I was once a organizations covering every
young radical so I !.now the feel- sphere of its and Israel's needs.
ing. Sonic of the people at the . A "Refuah" organization sup-
Gener`al Assembly looked on them plies prepared pre-cooked kosher
with favor and others with some : meals to Jews in dozens of hospi-
guilt. After all, who does not feel tals throughout the city and state.1
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Melbourne Opens Center
for Active Community
A thousand members of the corn-
munity, including all the presidents
and rabbis of all its congregations
and hundreds of Zionist. day school
antism." and student youth participated in
My grandmother would not have this event.
understc;od this except that she
Melbourne has for many years
went to shut every Saturday to.
But Dr. been one of the best organized
insure some
survival.
Jewish communities in the Dias-
Backman also points out that the '
It has a network of life-
time is ripe for a challenge, and '
brew day schools and educa-
that "any :Jews committed to the ,
tional
institutions,
including Mt.
lialakha enjoys on the basis of his
Scopus College, pioneered by the
interpretation of the Halaha un- !
I
Zionist
movement.
It has 2,400
limited freedom to propose I
pupils, modern buildings and
changes." If I understand this, it
means that Jewish values need re- , equipment and cadet corps.
Melbourne also boasts senior,
constitution in the light of present
changes; it means that Dr. Rack- ' women's and youth organizations,
man is proposing something funda- more than 90 communal organiza-
only trouble with Ri.bbi
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