invism TNE DETROIT NEWS 44—Friday, October 9, 1970 Edith Goodman, Bnai Brith Leader Edith Goodman, 53, pea presi- dent of Pisgah Chapter of Bnai Brith, editor of Menora Magazine and a founder of the Ida Hibbard Fund for distributing artificial limbs to World War II veterans, died Sept. 30. She was co-founder of the Bnai Brith Girls Organiza- tion. Mrs. Goodman was a real estate agent with Warren Seeley Real Estate. She was born in Detroit, and resided at 27315 Greenfield, Southgate. Survivors are her husband, Bernard (Hookey); a son, Joel Robert; her mother, Mrs. Jennie Fischer; and three Msters, Lillian; Mrs. Kenneth (Fay) Herman and Mrs. Peter (Rosalind) Evanoff. Weekly Quiz By RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX (copyright ism JTA. Inc.) Why does the cantor who leads the public service in the synagogue add a prayer includ- ing the priestly blessing towards the end of the 18 benedictions (Shmoneh Esreh)? Shabat—Aristocratic and Democratic ing man "nearer" or "closer" to the Almighty. A demonstration of one's desire to be "near" is his willingness to sacrifice something in order to bring this about. • • • Two verses in the scriptures are preceded and followed by the inverted letter "NUN." The verses referred to are the 35th and 36th verses of the tenth chapter of Numbers. Generally speaking, when special symbols are placed in the Bible it is done be- cause of a special significance which the "Masorites" wish to call to the attention of the one who studies the Bible. One answer given is that this section seems out of place since it refers to the mow ment of the Ark which is describe/ elsewhere. The reason for its la- sertion here is that it breaks up the sequence between one incident of transgression and another so that tragedy will not follow tragedy. It also shows that the Ark is a source of forgiveness for the transgres- sions of man. The second reason given is that the letter NUN is the first letter of the two words "Na-Aseh-V'Nish- na" (we will do and we will under- stand). This was the expression Why Is there a tradition which requires of every Jew to pro- nounce 100 benedictions every day? This tradition is mentioned in the Talmud (Menahot 43:B); The commentaries (in the name of Natronani Gaon) offer an in- teresting explanation. They claim that in olden times one hundred used by the people of Israel in ac- Jewish people died every day and cepting the Tors. When they trans- no one knew the reason for this gressed they inverted their inten- tragedy..Then King David offered tions from positive to negative; an explanation saying that the thus, the two letters are inverted. people had not given thanks to A third explanation is that the God for all He had done for them. letter "NUN" is the first letter of David, therefore, inaugurated the the word "Nachamu" which means tradition of offering one hundred consolation. This was the way in benedictions every day to prevent which the message of consolation the one hundred deaths. As soon gave the Hebrews the promise of as this was done the deaths ceased. the restored Temple which began Thus, we still retain this tradition with "Nahamu Nahami" Since in order to prevent such unfortu- they sinned, they lost the promise nate circumstances. Another ex- which was only restored to them by planation is offered by a medieval the forgiveness which comes from Kabbalist who claims that the the Ark. • • • hundred benedictions are offered is an act of charity called to counteract the one hundred a Why "Mitzva?" curses found in the Book of Deu- Basically,_ a Mit zv a" is a teronomy: 98 in Deut. 28:15-58, and two more in Duet. 28:61. "commandment." The reason this is used to designate an act of seeks to open itself in the day of Generally speaking, the number. term charity is because this term de- rest. It points and reaches toward 100 is a round and full number. notes the underlying philosophy of Offering 100 blessings is a means a world of harmony, toward a charity. Charity is not a "favor" on great peace, toward that which is of asking for a round and full the part of the donor. In Jewish about the terrestrial. The Sabbath life from the Almighty. tradition it is an obligation which • • • is a guidepost from man to God: the donor fulfills when he gives What was the purpose of the "It is a sign between Me and the his conrtibution. It is for this same children of Israel forever" (Ex. sacrifices which were brought reason that charity is sometimes 31:17). In it is protection from to the Temple of old? called "Tzadaka" which essenti- A number of reasons were of- bare being-in-the-world, salvation ally means righteousness, or the from the monotony of everyday fered. The offering and eventual fulfillment of one's responsibility. which presses upon man, a guard disintegration of the animal which A man who gives charity is only against the profanity, 'whether of was brought as the sacrifice was recognizing that the Almighty has supposed to indicate to the individ- haste or whether of idleness. ual who brought it the punishment provided him with the means to The Sabbath does not mean a which man might logically deserve give. He is nothing more than an mere not working, nor an empty for his sins. The Almighty was agent carrying out the provisions idleness. It connotes something said to have allowed the means of his charge. By LEO BAECE In "This People Israel" Man offers one day onto God, consecrates unto God _something of that which he has received through God, and with that dimes to con- secrate hitn9tPlf. Gift end com- mandment, grace and lepaand are one here. Consecration thus head its basis in this; the eminence at the pause, the loftiness of silence was experi- enced, was discovered la this day. Nobility became a commandment and therefore communal, a nobility for everyone. There is ae Sabbath which only belongs to an individual or to a few. As it is a people freely joined in labor, so this people is to become a people freely joined in rest, united in its rest. There is— taking the two words in their true sense—scarcely anything which is as aristocratic and as democratic at the same time as the 'Sabbath. One could also say that the genius, the power to receive reve- lation which exists in everything. The Kidush Cup By RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX (Copyright 1970, JTA. be.) Generally speaking, the food as well as the utensils that are used for the Sabbath are supposed to be more luxurious and decorative than those used during the week. Therefore, it became a custom to have a special cup for use in mak- ing the kidush on the Sabbath, to be distinguished from ordinary of sacrifice to man as a source of grace and mercy. Instead of having to offer his own life on the altar of sacrifice, he was allowed to offer an animal in its place (Rabbenu Chananel). There was some who claimed that the sacrifices were offered as a means of providing the priests with assistance in the form of some tangible means (Yehuda ha- Levi). Others said that the sacri- fice was a means of punishing the sinner by making him spend the money for the sacrifice as a fine. (Rabbenu Bahya). Still others claim that the sacrifice was meant to bring to the attention of man how his physical end will be death just like that of the animal about to be sacrificed. This was sup- posed to both bumble him and prevent him from pursuing his mundane desires. (then Ezra). Still others claim that the sacrifice was meant to discourage men from being idolators. Some idolatry wor- shipped animals as gods. Burning and destroying the animal was a glasses or drinking vessels used during the week. These were made of some luxurious material like silver or some other valuable metal. means of showing that the animal They were designed with etch- was indeed no deity, and thus ings to distinguish them. A mu- should not be worshipped as such seum displays a Sabbath jar of dark red glass coming from the Islamic community with Hebrew letters cut into the thick glass con- taining such words as "And the Jleaven and the Earth Were Fin- ished." (Maimonides). The basic concept was probably a synthesis of all the above reasons. Generally speaking, some have maintained that the Hebrew word for sacri- fice (Korban) with its meaning of "nearness" indicates that the act CINCINNATI—Dr. Moses Zale- sky, recently retired executive di- of sacrifice was a means of bring- and confesses at some time before rector of the Bureau of Jewish The last blessing of the 18 benedictions (the one asking for peace, etc.) was originally a response and followup to the priestly blessing which was in- voked every morning in the Tem- ple of old and as is still invoked every morning in many synagogues in Israel today. Since we do not follow the custom of having the priests (Kohanim) invoke the blessing every morning, the Can- tor refers to the ancient blessing as a prayer asking the Almighty Himself to invoke it up on His people. Consequently, the benedic- Fischer; and three sisters, Lillian tion for peace is now in order as a response to that blessing. • • • positive. It has guided the soul unto its mystery, so that it is not a day that just interrupts, but a day that renews, speaks through it, but something eternal. It is the expres- sion of a direction for life and not just an instituted day of rest.. If if were only that, or if it became that, its essence would be taken from it. It would then be only a hollow shell. Dr. Moses Zalesky, Cincinnati Hebraist What is the origin of the name Rothschild?" There was a time when, instead of affixing a number to one's house, the house was identified by a badge or symbol placed on the outside. Often this depicted the particular occupation or business of the master of the house. The people of the house became known by this symbol which later came to be used as their,last -name. The house occupied bythe Rothschilds hid a very simple red shield as its badge. Thus the name Rothschild came into being which means "Red Shield." A number of family names came into existence in this way, as for example "Schiff," the family name for those who exhibited a "boat" as their badge and "Schorr" for those who exhibited an "ox" as their symbol. • • . Why does Jewish tradition call for "confession" on one's death bed? The experience of death, like that of Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement), is regarded as a means of atonement by the Rabbis. On any occasion when one receives atonement, confession is necessary. The Rabbis said "Do penance a day before your death." This is another means of saying that no matter what one has done during his lifetime, he can always receive atonement so long as he repents he dies—even if it is the last hour of his life. The Almighty waits for the sinner to return "until the day of his death." • • • Why is the biblical portion des- cribing the daily sacrifices brought in the Temple still re- cited in the course of the daily prayers to this day?' The hope and aspiration of the traditional Jew is to someday rea- lize the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem and the reinstitution of the sacrifices. This would, of course, mark man's return to that lofty state of moral integrity which would enable him to offer sacri (ices. Since we never lost this hope, the sacrificial texts are still read. Also, of course, the sacrifices were not an end in themselves; rather they brought about a certain condi- tion of the heart and soul which is also expressed through real prayer. While we do not offer sacrifices in the physical sense, our prayers are still offered in their place. Some claim that the sacrificial texts are recited to bring to mind the sacrifices of Isaac and all the Jewish martyrs through the ages, hoping that the Almighty will send us his Grace because of this. It is comidered a religious ob- ligation to attend as unveiling when invited. While a stone can be set at the grave of one's beloved without any special ceremony, the tradition is never to visit the grave without offering some prayer for the me- mory of the deceased. Therefore, if the unveiling is over the grave of one's father or mother or teacher, or any one whom one is religiously obligated to respect during one's life time, he is naturally obligated to respect the same person after death—especially if it is a parent, by attending whatever ceremony_ is planned and partaking in the pray- er for the deceased. Otherwise it might be regarded as an insult to the deceased. `Glatt Kosher ' BY RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX Glatt Kosher is a term used to describe a certain restriction which limits the kind of meat used for kosher comumption to that meat which comes from animals whose lungs have been found to be with- out any scabs or adhesions what- soever when they were inspected following the slaughter of the ani- mal. According to the Jewish law, if scabs or adhesions are found on the lungs of the animals, the ani- mal is deemed kosher only if the scab or adhesions indicated that the punctures which may have occurred have been healed or that there were no punctures originally. This is, usually done by slowly removing the adhesion and inflat- ing the lung to see whether any air escaped through the place where the __adhesion is removed. If it does, then there still is a puncture and the animal is not regarded as kosher. If it does not then the animal, under certain circumstances (depending upon the kind of adhesion) is regarded as kosher. Cattle usually swallow a number- of foreign objects with their grass which can easily make punctures in the lungs. Certain sects, of Jews would not depend upon the procedure of removing the adhesions and testing the lungs for punctures and would thus im- mediately consider any cattle which bad been found to have adhesions on its lungs as trefa. The cattle which they use thus have lungs that are universally "smooth" and have no adhesions whatsoever. Thus, these lungs are Glatt (smooth) and they call their beef Glatt Kosher. By popular no- tion, all products these sects use have come to be called Glatt Kosher, although it may be that regular kosher laws follow the very same restrictions in everything but the matter of the inspection of the lungs of the cattle. Education of Cincinnati, died Oct. 3 . Widely known as a Hebrew scholar and translator of Israeli poetry, Dr. Zalesky frequently appeared in Detroit before Hebrew cultural groups. He was the editor of "Glories of Jewish Holidays" and "Jewish Hymns and Zmirot." He also taught Hebrew at the University of Cincinnati. Monument Unveilings Unveiling announcements may be in. seried by mail or by caning The Jewish News offlee, 17915 W. II Mile al, Suite US, Southfield, Mich. 45075. Written an. nouneenaeats must be accompanied by the name and address of the person making the insertion. There is a 'tattl- ing charge of $4.00 for an unveiling notice, measuring an inch to depth, and $7.50 for one two inches deep with a black border. The Family of the Late BERNARD SERMAN Announces the unveiling of a monument in his memory 2 p.m. &today, Oct. 11 at Clover Hill Memorial Pa rk. Rabbi Gorrelick will officiate. Relatives and friends 'are asked to attend. The Family of the Late HANNAH NORWOOD Announces the unveiling of a monument in her memory 2:30 p.m. Sun.' day, Oct. 11 at Machpelah Cemetery. Rabbi Groner will officiate. Reladves and friends are asked to attend. The Family of the Late MORRIS SCHLESINGER Announces the travelling of a monument in his memory 12 noon Sunday, Oct. 11 at Oakview Ceme- tery. (Section P.) Rabbi Lehrman and Cantor Klein will officiate. Rela- tives and friends are asked to attend. Norman N. Snyder and Leopold J. Snyder, Sons of the Late HENRY SNYDER Announce the unveiling of a monument in his mem- ory L30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11 at Chased shel Eines Cemetery, Plusher see- Om Rabbi Groner will officiate. Relatives and friends are asked to at- tend. Sons Arthur, Irving and Daughter Mrs. Irving laden) Alpert, Family or the Late DORA, LICHTERMAN Annormees the swelling of a momintent in her memory 12:39 p.m. Sun- day, Oct. 18 at Machpelah Cemetery. Relatives and friends are asked to at- tend.