THE JEWISH NEWS

Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951

Member American Associaton of Englsh-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, National Editorial Association
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield. Mich. 48075.
Phone 356-8400
Subscription $7 a year. Foreign $8.

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Editor and Publisher

CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ

Business Manager

CHARLOTTE DUBIN

City Editor

Sabbath Scriptural Selections

This Sabbath, the eighth day of Adar I, 5320, the following scriptural selections
trill be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuch& portion, E.rod. 2.5:1-27:19. Prophetical portion, 1 kings 5:26-6:13.

Candle lighting, Friday, Feb. 13. 5:43 p.m.

VOL. LVI. No. 22

Page Four

February 13, 1970

Brotherhood Week—Starting Anew

Another Brotherhood Week will be ob-
served nationally next week. Once again
there will be talk of good will, of comrade-
ship among fellow citizens of all faiths, of
ending feuds and hatreds.

of Christians and Jews and its local arm,
the Round Table, exists. After all, if we
did not have such agencies we would have
to start from scratch and build up agencies
for brotherhood.

One could be very cynical and say that
one week in the year we preach, 51 weeks
we forget that we used the term brother.

And since the agencies exist we must
strive to make them workable instruments.

Yet, one never gives up hope. There is
always the aspiration for kindness, for good
citizenship and even better fellowship, for
a revolt in an age of many revolts against
indecencies among men.

It is good that a National Conference

That is why Brotherhood Week, even if
it is a mere revival, is an established tradi-
tion to be adhered to. Many traditions are
being broken, and we seek their revival. Even
if it is a mere matter of revival, let us ac-
claim Brotherhood Week. And let us make

Brother our concern.

Who and What Really Is a Jew?

There is an awful lot of beating around
the bush about "who is a Jew" or "what is
a Jew" and when is one recognized as a Jew.

An Eskimo would laugh his head off
if he were asked "what is an Eskimo?" He'd
probably say "look at me," and would ex-
pect you to assert his origin at once. This
does not apply to a Jew whose physiognomy
has been exaggerated or overestimated or
misjudged. But there is such a thing as a
practicing Jew, a man whose faith is Jewish,
who was born of Jewish parents, or whose
parents adopted the Jewish faith. When
these things are on the record, they mark
the Jewishness of the person in question.

It is true, of course, that not all Jews are
We have many who are unobserv-
ant; our secularists are very numerous. But

religious.

their roots are Jewish. They were circum-
cized and brought into the Jewish fold in
accordance with the Abrahamic regulations.

There was an editor of the Yiddishe Freie
Arbeiter Shtimme who was not a Jew but
who had mastered Yiddish so well that he
was able to edit a Yiddish newspaper. There-
fore he was a Yiddishist, but that did not
make him a Jew. Similarly, a man steeped
in Jewish knowledge whose origin is Jewish

Dr. Schiff conceded that low salaries and
the lack of opportunity for professional ad-
vancement serve as factors in the teacher
shortage, but he declared that "somehow,
the bodies are always found to man the
classes, and he added:

"I don't believe that the personnel
shortage—despite the annual estimated
need approaching 1,000 teachers and prin-
cipals--is merely quantitative. The man-
power crisis approaches catastrophic pro-
. Porti.onP. OccAlksP It. is. a. qualitative.

Yeshiva U. Study Characterizes
Musar as Personality Building

Musar, the Jewish code of ethics, the study in conduct, emerged
as a course and method in higher studies in Judaism and is a chief
objective in Torah teaching.

but who refuses to affiliate with a Jewish
religious community can not, under any cir-
From the tradition set down by Rabbi Israel Salanter through sub-
cumstances say that he is not a Jew. He is sequent
scholarly contributions, the Musar movement developed into
secularist—and a Jew.
one of the most serious in rabbinic studies.

Perhaps what we say may also be damned
as beating around the bush on a complicated
issue. But what we contend is that it is im-
possible to separate one's Jewishness from
the faith of the Jew—even if the particular
Jew's faith may be in a state of abandon-
ment. Adoption of a nationality is an en-
tirely different matter, and since Israel must
acknowledge the citizenship of Christians
and Moslems as well as of Jews, while striv-
ing for a majority of Jews, there has to be
some form of delineation to ascertain reality.

The mere fact that Israel must, for its
survival, have a vast majority of Jews im-
mediately establishes a certain standard of
judging the status of citizens, and of ascer-
taining Jewish origin. For that purpose,
faith is relevant, much as most of us object
to theocracy.
It isn't easy to solve the Israeli problem.
But it is a simple matter to establish Jewish-
ness. It can not be separated from our faith
and our traditions and our heritage. There
is no prophetic legacy without it.

Atrophy and Decline in Jewish Education

A distinguished scholar, Dr. Alvin I.
Schiff, chairman of the department of Jewish
education of the Ferkauf Graduate School of
Humanities and Social Sciences of Yeshiva
University, speaking at a conference of edu-
cators arranged by the community service
division of the Isaac Elhanan Theological
Seminary, an affiliate of Yeshiva University,
and the New York Metropolitan Commission
on Talmud Torah Education, challenged
Jewish teachers and administrators on "the
low status of their profession."
While he was addressing himself primarily
to the Orthodox element, his criticisms, his
comments on the "disquieting decline" in
Jewish schools' enrollments, must merit the
attention of the entire American Jewish
community.

-JTA,

We are losing good people, and with few
exceptions have not been able to recruit
gifted personnel. As long as the job of
teaching is pedestrian and unexciting we
will fail to attract those we so desperately
need to revive a lack-lustre, dying pro-
fession."
In relation to the Orthodox afternoon

schools, Dr. Schiff's view is that they suffer
from "abuse, abandonment and atrophy" and
that the Orthodox community is little interest-
ed in "reversing this tendency and providing
an antidote to it . . . " He pleaded as "the
first challenge of the seventies" that the
children should not be let down.
Is this a problem merely of the Orthodox?
Isn't it a general failing, a decline that may
well be affecting all of American Jewry—
both in relation to teacher shortage, decline
in attendance and in school enrollments, in
atrophy and its related shortcomings?
It is always heartening to know that the
problem is not ignored, that it is considered
seriously, that the balebatim who run our
schools are not permitted to take things for

granted and to overlook decline. As in all

problems, as long as this one is spoken about

there is hope for solution. But if we stop
talking and fail to act, woe unto our commu-

As part of the "Studies in Torah Judaism," Yeshiva University
Press has just issued an important 84-page booklet, "The Musar
Movement," by Dr. Zalman F. Ury, in which this ethical movement,
its major interpreters, its significance, are thoroughly reviewed.
With an introductory comment by Dr. Leon D. Stitskin, this book
explains the moral philosophy guided by Musar, the practice of moral-
' ity, and indicates that "Jewish ethical thinkers have generally been
moralists who lived what they preached.

Defining Musar, Jewish ethics, as "an integral part of the spirit
of Judaism," Dr. Ury points to the extensive literature that has
developed on the Musar movement. He refers to the early works
of Bahya ben Joseph Ibn Pakudab (1050 1120), Moshe Basins Luz-
zatto (1707-1747) and others who established the li b rary on Maser
in their noteworthy writings. He especially notes the work Of Rabbi
Israel Lipkin (1810-1883), who became known as Rabbi Yisroel Salan-
ter, whose destiny it was "to redeem the great Musar teachings of
the past from obscurity."

-

Dr. Ury describes the unique contribution of the eminent Lithuan-
ian talmudist to Musar as consisting "in his formulation of Musar
as a dynamic process and adding to it a psychological dimension."
He states:
"Salanter's theory of Musar includes such elements as introspec-
tion, self-criticism, self-discipline and continuous emotional involve-
ment and stimulation. Salanter's definition of Musar is a life-long pre-
cess of self-improvement, service to man and reverence for God."
Salanter's view of Musar is interpreted as the moral precept that
must be applied towards social reform.

It is noted interestingly that since, in Russia there was a gap
between religious and academic groups, and Haskala, enlightenment
movement, championed Jewish secularization, Salanter considered
it a threat to tradition and he opposed it strenuously.

A very significant point is made here regarding the Maskilim, the
adherents of the Haskala movement, by Dr. Ury, who states with re-
gard to Salanter's position:
"One of the favorite charges of the Maskilim was that the rabbis
are preoccupied with sterile scholasticism and a rigid observance of
ritual, to the neglect of the moral aspects of the Jewish heritage.
Salanter, more than some of his colleagues, knew that there was some
validity to this charge. After all, was not this his own constant com-
plaint? Therefore, instead of merely disregarding the Maskilim and
condemning them as heretics, as other rabbis did, Salanter decided to
improve the moral standards of the community through his unique
Musar teachings. This, he hoped, would revitalize the religious com-
munity and weaken the influence of the various secularists."

There were few allies in the Salanter movement in Russia, and he
moved to Germany where he gained followers. He learned German,
studied science, organized study groups, concerned himself with HUI
Israel. His role is interestingly evaluated in this study.

Dr. Ury devotes considerable attention to the theoretical foe!
dations of the Moser movement. Musar is analyzed as "a process"
with self-discipline as a factor.

The various schools of thought in the movement are reviewed, la-
eluding the Kelm and Slobodka groups. The author takes into accousill
Musar's relevance to contemporary thought and problems. He deals
with the ethical and social issues and the character development. He
summarizes with the assertion:
"The current crisis in morality in our society and the complex
international situation seem to warrant special efforts in the area at
character education. We and our children are in need of the spiritual
strength and the integrity which are inherent in a genuine Musar

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