THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951
11bomber American Association of Engli•h-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association. National Editorial Associa-
tion. Piedlimbed every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co.. 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite a65, Southfield, Mich. 48076.
ncood.CLun Postage Paid at Southfield, Michigan and Additional Mailing Offices. Subscription W a year. Foreign $9
■
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Ildiatir and Publisher
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
CHARLOTTE DUBIN
business Manager
City Editor
DREW LIEIERWITZ
Advertising Nieto...sr
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 22nd day of lyar, 5732, the follou -ing scriptural selections
will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal
portion,
Levit. 25:127.34. Prophetical portion, Jeremiah
16:19-17:14.
Candle lighting. Friday. May 5, 1572, VAS pain.
VOL. LaLI. No. 8
Page Four
May 5, 19'72
Hebrew—in Schools and ZOD Project
Interest in the study of Hebrew and in
the advancement of Hebrew studies has
grown in Jewish communities everywhere,
and the studies that have gained encourage-
ment from the progress attained by Israel,
where Hebrew is the spoken language, em-
braces all faiths and all races.
In the metropolitan Detroit area there
are developments that are most heartening.
Southfield high schools are expected to
introduce three courses in Hebrew, and there
will be two courses in the language in the
Oak Park High School, starting with the
September school term.
Of special interest to the community at
large is the 13-week program which will
commence on May 16, for 13 Tuesdays at
6:30 p.m., on Channel 56.
It is to the credit of the Zionist Organiza-
tion of Detroit, the local branch of the Zion-
ist Organization of America, that this pro-
gram, "To Israel With Hebrew," is made
possible as -a service to our community.
Prepared by the Tarbuth Foundation, to;
gether with the education department of the
World Zionist Organization, with an eminent
Hebraist and educator, Dr. Sara Feinstein,
as narrator, these program are intended to
assist students of the Hebrew language. The
Jewish News' participation, the publication
of the vocabularies, the encouragement that
comes in arranging these broadcasts by the
educational broadcasting system of Channel
56—all contribute toward a progressive task
in the efforts to have Hebrew studied, un-
derstood, introduced as a secondary lan-
guage in American educational tasks.
"To Israel With Hebrew" has the addi-
tional merit of serving as a travelogue
through Israel, and the programs will serve
not only as a language project but also as
means to understand and to appreciate the
accomplishments of the Jewish state.
The Zionist Organization of Detroit, al-
ready having served as a valuable source of
support for educational projects and for
youth activities, has earned the community's
appreciation for valuable services rendered
as a result of encouragement the centrist
Zionist movement receives from Detroit
Jewry. It is this sort of activity that earns
for it increasing support in the months and
years ahead.
The Preferred Sm alter Synagogues
Prolonged negotiations for a possible
merger of two Detroit Reform temples have
been terminated, and what had for a time
developed into a spread of rumors and
speculations has come to an end. Now, after
amicable discussions, both temples have de-
cided to construct their own sanctuaries and
to retain their existing status quo ante.
In the course of the discussions regarding
the advisability of the proposed merger,
there emerged the opinion, held mostly by
the younger elements, that it is more desir-
able to have the smaller congregation, that in
a religious institution it is as valuable as in
all social movements to avoid magnitude.
Some even spoke of "the curse of bigness."
There have been numerous margers of
synagogues. In instances of congregations
that are similar in their observances, espe-
cially those that had begun to decline in
changing neighborhoods, such fusions were
especially valuable. Orthodox congregations
that were seriously affected by population
movements to the suburbs might have dis-
appeared entirely if they had not combined
the efforts of the sufferers from reductions
in memberships.
But there is a more serious aspect in
such considerations, the factor of bigness.
the danger of transformation of a beth
mikdash and its beth midrash—the house
of worship and its related house of study—
into a mass movement, into a cathedral-style
edifice in which worshipers get lost and
students find it equally difficult to work
intimately with fellow parishioners in estab-
❑ shing accord in learning.
All indications are that the trend in
:Xi-tier- wan Jewry is toward the smaller con-
gregation, the not-too-sumptuous edifice, for
a synagogue life that places emphasis on
study as well as worship. There is ample
opportunity for those who wish to limit their
acquisition of knoweclge through public lec-
tures to hear addresses by authorities on
many subjects of interest to .lews generally.
For tiro student it is vital that the studies
shout , ' be it smaller groups. else there is no
opt' mity for exchange of views and for
dis
true that the lar:7,er
also
opie•rlitMtle; for soiai•r
but it is equally as vital that the affiliate
with a synagogue should know his fellow-
congregant, something that becomes more dif-
ficult in a mass membership.
Perhaps the cost of upkeep of synagogues
should be thought of in constructing large
synagogues. Will the big synagogue aspira-
tion continue or will it end if youth and its
opposition to emphasis on grandeur has its
way?
The coming generation will surely assert
itself in a more revolutionary form. We may
see drastic changes in the status of bigness,
and the experience of the two Detroit Reform
temples may have considerable influence on
future developments.
Sadat's Venom
Anwar el Sadat has made many threats.
He was to have destroyed Israel nearly a year
ago, but his magic extended to prolongation
of the calendar year. Now he warns again and
on April 25, on the occasion of Mohammed's
birthday, "that Israel must fully know that it
will pay dearly . . "
It was not the abuse of the United States
and the venom against Israel that was so
evident in that speech. It was his attack on
the Jewish people that indicated that it was
not Israel alone he was after, that the United
States did not suffice as the scapegoat. Sadat's
latest speech nullified all the claims of kin-
ship between Ishmael and Israel and instead
dug up the record of Mohammedan enmities.
He did not speak of the era of friendship and
cooperation but of the periods during which
Mohammed viewed Jews as treacherous and
"evicted them from the entire Arabian Penin-
sula." lie supplemented such recollections
with the assertion: "We know cur history and
we know their history with our Prophet. They
are a mean treacherous people. They are a
consiiiratorial people who have been raised
to he treasonous."
Harassment of Jews Described
in 'Jewish Religion in the USSR I
As the demand for just religious and cultural rights for Jews in
Russia progresses, it becornes necessary to acquire acquaintance
with the Russian laws affecting Jewish religious practices.
Dr. Joshua Rothenberg, Brandeis University's Judaica librarian.
has compiled an important vnIume with data relating to such regula
tions in "The Jewish Religioni in the Soviet Union," published by Ktar.
It is a revealing work. Here is a typical example of the facts
that expose the Russian prgjudices: Dealing with circumcision, Dr.
Rothenberg points out that While it is not prohibited "most of those
who perform the operation are prosecuted or threatened with pro-
secution." The author explains:
"There is a markech difference in the attitude of Soviet au-
thorities in the performance of the rite of circumcision by vari-
ous groups of Soviet Jews. Circumcision is tolerated for the mem-
bers of Oriental Jewish communities of Georgia, the Mountain
Jews in the Causasians, and the Bukharan Jews in Central Asia.
It is prosecuted, or persecuted, or subjected to harassment in
the European parts of the Soviet Union,"
It is interesting to learnjrom Dr. Rothenberg's study that while
Yiddish books have been published, there is a Yiddish magazine and
a Yiddish paper in Birobidjan, "Yiddish was a likely candidate for
ostracism from the Soviet ptiint of view beczuse it contains a sub-
stantial Hebraic component . ."
Support for the only yeshiva in Russia in Moscow is described
as having been drawn from; Jews throughout the Soviet Union but
from the very beginning "the Soviet authorities sought to limit the
size of the yeshiva substantially." "In spite of this wretched state
of affairs," Dr. Rothenberg ,', writes, "as long as the yeshiva is not
formally closed it can be reaCtivated, if and when the Soviet govern-
ment decides it to be in her: interest."
Cemetery desecrations have not been common in East European .
countries, it is pointed out, and the liquidation of all religious ceme-
teries is viewed as "part of the anti-religious efforts."
Case histories are given by Dr. Rothenberg to describe the anti-
Jewish practices as they relate to the anti-religious laws in the USSR.
The role of the synagogues is dealt with at length to show how
pressures lead to resignations of members, thereby leading to dis-
solutions. But a group of 20 others can always reconstitute a syna-
gogue function. There remain in force the prejudices spread in
accusing synagogues of harboring speculations.
Dr. Rothenberg also indicates that "except for the Oriental
communities, the rite of Mar Mitzva is almost extinct in the Soviet
Union, The near-extinction is due largely to government pressure
and harassment. Yet, it may be assumed that in addition to
extremely rare public cOlebrations in the open synagogues, a
limited number of bar mitzvas are conducted in rudimentary
form in makeshift houses of prayer and assemblies (minyanim)."
The author concludes: "The sense of hurt Jewish dignity, which
the Jewish anti-religious propaganda constantly feeds and exacerbates.
is a result of the cultural and spiritual genocide of the Jewish ethnic
group attempted in the Sov et Union. The cultural annihilation is
perpetrated on several levels nd has become a paramount component
of the 'Jewish problem' in he Soviet Union. This has become a
problem not only for the Jews but the Soviet Union as well, a probiem
which the Soviet leadership , ...'ill not he able to solve so easily 5,1
their terms. We are reminded) that spiritual oppression so often pre :
votes spiritual opposition- which even a dictatorship cannot control.'
Novel 'Babi Yar' ,Paperbacked
A. Anatol' Kuznctsov. wh r was an eyewitness to the tra,Ledies In
Kiev that hate become part of the infamy of World War II, reyorh -d
It is this type of venom that marks the his experiences in a novel. l'Ilabi Var." the name of the ravine ,al -.. , :re
newest approach to his problem with his as- 70.00o Jews were murdered b . • the Nazis in 1941.
sertion that "we will nut negotiate with Is-
rael." llatred of Jewry as well as abuse
of the l'inted Stales. distinguishes the F42,yp-
(jail pres;dcot inade his objectives
"Bahl Yar - has been re ssucd by Pocket Books of Sun
-
Schuster as a paperback.
ori2inally published by ,,./ larrar. S.raus and Giroux. tl'i ,
Ora. hi
from the Russian h David Sa ,-.yd, exposes the Russia, :•7:!et .
M hidin: ;be d.,:alis an , . :t. t -:e 4 ,- ,. , .;,,,...-. ti - 1'it'dY. It r
el '''' . '
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