THE JEWISH NEWS
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PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
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CHARLOTTE DUBIN
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
City Editor
Business Manager
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DREW LIEBERWITZ
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Sabbath Scriptural Selections
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Page Four
May
21i, 1972
Sadat's Threat Challenge to Complacency
There is nothing new in an Egyptian
threat to kill a million Israelis. And Israelis
do not get panicky over such boast-threats
Yet, Middle East Information Media found ft
necessary last week to release the following
In a speech on .lay Pay 1972, President An-
war Sadat declared:
That star with Israel is unavoidable.
That in the coming war Egypt will inflict
upon Israel losses which Will be far in ex ,
ie., of one million human lives.
The population of Israel is three million.
Israel's army—when all the reserves are called
up—is only a small fraction of one million.
What Sadat's declaration means is that Egypt
intends if ever it is capable to do so, to commit
mass murder among Israel's civilian population.
We Israelis lake seriously what Sadat says.
Bitter experience has taught us that when the
leader of a nation says he intends to iburder
people by the million—his intention is serious.
Sadat's intention is to carry out massive war
against the population of Israel.
Fortunately, although Sadat serious!y means
what he say s, we completely belies e Israel is
strong enough to make his threat ineffectise.
Be are also sober enough to realize that what
Sadat Sal, may bother w and opinion sery Ettle.
Or do you think differently?
If you think you can do something about pub-
lic opinion—we shall deeply appreciate your doing
so—then by all means, go ahead and do it.
crimes
An appended suggestion is that readers
of this appeal. published in the media news
letter Brief, should write their protests and
call attention to the Sadat threats, in the
press through human rights organizations
and by contacting government officials.
Apparently the dangers always lurk on
the Middle East horizon and there must be
no complacency in dealing with the impend-
ing menacing situations.
Warning: Avoid Cultural Bankruptcy!
Millgram's 'Jewish Worship'
Gives Fascination to Liturgy
For Jewish News readers both the author and the title of the new
Jewish Publication Society book are well known. Already having been
Columbia University sociology professor
of the World History of the Jewish People
privileged to reprint some of the material in this work—especially the
Paul Ritterband warned, in an address at the
demonstrates this in that articles on diverse
Rosh Hashana story in our New Year issue—"Jewish Worship" by
annual conference of )(IVO Institute for
items'are not coordinated. An example is
Rabbi Abraham Millgram should Command large readership because of
.lewish Research. that Jewish studies pro-
the high quality of its descriptilve contents on the vast subjects it
the essays on the activities and the work of
covers.
grains could become as superficial as Black
Rashi. The problems of writing Jewish his-
studies if they are based only on student
tory should be discussed by an international
Rabbi Millgram has incorporated in this work all the aspects of
demands and not on real scholarship. In his
our faith, the development through the ages of worship in the synagogue
society of Jewish historians.
and
the
spiritualization of the horhe. Many works have been written to
opposition to ideas of making Jewish studies
These are views not to be ignored. They
part of the currently "fashionable" ethnic
must be taken into serious consideration describe festival observances, their meanings and historical back-
studies departments, Prof. Ritterband said especially now, when we are in the course of grounds. In this new work there s a thorough research into history, a
the Jew ish courses could degenerate into welcoming the establishment of Jewish pro- philosophical approach into realities and the description of the role of
`cheap psychotherapy," relating to the "gut" fessorships in many universities, including the synagogue that challenges anyl previous accomplishment of its kind.
rather than the brain, and then disintegrate the University of Michigan.
Few works have so expressively defined the Sidur and the
when .1 new generation of students lost in-
We are seriously concerned about abuses
festival prayer book, the Zemirot and the Piyyutim.
terest. as has been the case with many Black in scholarship, as well as laxity in approach-
Liturgy is not the ordinary method of prayer as defined by Rabbi
studies programs
mg the religious obligations in our commum-
Will such warnings be taken seriously? ties With an awareness of what is transpiring Millgracn. Into his analyses have been embodied the results of a life-
time of study and devotion, and the reader is linked in these explana-
pint soloinon Zeitlin of Dropsie University. in the ranks of our youth. we must take into tory facts with the ages during which there was developed the col-
the world's leading authority on the period consideration the "revelations" in an article lection of prayers that have grown and gained inspiration from historic
In our history dealing with the Second ('owl- on "Jews: Why Some Turn to Jesus'' in the
experiences.
monwealth and one of the outstanding schol- New York Times. If, as one rabbi asserted,
It is not only prayer itself but the Kavana, the key to prayer, the
ar, of our time. had OCCaSiOn to point to "the Jesus People can often be a substitute devotion
as the author describes At and the approach to it, that gains
distortion of historic facts in a volume deal-
for the family: and if, as a Jewish philosopher importance here.
mg Itlth the life of Yohanan ben Zakkai by
is quoted in that article, "Jewish religious
It is in such form that, by Outlining the foundations for Jewish
a professor of Jewish studies in an Eastern organizations have become so 'secularly mind-
uni , ersity :Ind in Prof Zeitlin's article in the ed' and 'insensitive to deep religious con- worship, Rabbi Millgram lends significance to proper study of worship.
Naturally, the role of Ilebre ,it becomes important in such explana-
(ul rent 1,1 , 11e of .1e ,Aish Quarterly Review, of corns' that they. have forced young Jews to
%%hi, h he was the editor for more than 35
look elsewhere for meaningful religious ex- lorN - terms.
years. he declared
periences," then we must make a new ac-
Because the contents oi the Sidur get proper description.
counting of our role as a Jewish community.
- Before senturing to
w rite on the sages
with reference to the history of the emergence of Tefilot, the
or the "Falmud, a thorough knowledge of
Clearly: we must reconstruct the .lewish
reader who desires to gain information about the prayers he utters
the Talmud is indispensable. Intelligent
values in the .Jewish family life, and we must
becomes knowledgeable. ThoSe who recite the kidush are moved
re - examine the status of our schools which
readers as well as Christian scholars who
emotionally, and as a result of the information provided in Rabbi
are not well versed in the Talmudim may
have begun to fail in their duties to youth
Millgram's work acquire much needed spirituality.
he misguided. This type of scholarship is
and community. In the process. we must not
ignore scholarship!
harmful to true scholarship. Disce aut
Unless Prof. Zeitlin's
Equally significant is the review of the theology of the Sidur,
diseedel"
admonitions are taken seriously, we may be and the chapter that deals with the effects of persecution on religious
We quote this out of the text of Prof.
on the road to spiritual and cultural bank- poetry and the church-synagogue confrontations. The author refers to
Zeitlin's review because it is applicable to all
ruptcy.
allegorical descriptions of the church as proud, while the synagogue
matters of Jewish research which need ac-
bows its head under the burden of persecution. Yet the synagogue's
banner "was held in readiness to be unfurled when the Messiah would
curacy and knowledge.
come and vindicate their sufferings in the sight of all the nations . . •
Very recently. we. had occasion to refer
Urgent
Cash
Within the humble synagogue, there was a wealth of piety and learning,
to Prof. Zeitlin's views on the writing of
which added to the Jew's conviction that the Church's power was only
history. tie had reviewed Rutgers University's
The successful Allied Jewish Campaign physical. In the realm of the spirit, the synagogue was the Jew's
first volume of the "World History of the
and its related Israel Emergency Fund can citadel and his assurance of eternal life. • '
Jewish People," and in the course of his
not be considered a total triumph until the
t s
ob f eha n z o a ted
ootthat Rabbi Millgram also dealt with the hazan
analyses he commented:
large sums so urgently needed in behalf of and t he hr o ou l l e d
Heinrich Graetz, although the greatest
Israel and for the many national and local
of Jewish historians since Josephus, relied
Furthermore, in deScribing the Sidur he did not ignore either
causes are made available for the function-
the Reconstructionist Prayer Book or the Reform Union Prayerbook,
only on the literature of scholars—he did
ing agencies and philanthropies.
not have a profound knowledge of the orig-
Israel's needs are immediate. The large While criticizing the latter, he also indicated the revisions.
inal sources. S. Dubnow drew from Graetz,
Notable also is the attention he gives to translation, their pitfalls,
influx of immigrants from the Soviet Union
and also from Isaac Hirsch Weiss, who
places serious obligations upon world Jewry, the "plethora of new translations' that have appeared in this country.
lacked historical vision, (see also No. 171).
and primarily upon the American Jewish
He points out: "The old translations into Spanish, Italian, and
Jewish history cannot be written by one
community.
Judeo-German vernaculars were usually published in Hebrew script
man. it is a continuous development, and
Having expressed our dedication to the and were intended primarily for Women. In modern translations Latin
is used. This accords with the education of modern Jews, which
must be written as a unit and can he done
major Jewish causes, it is now of the ut- o i script
, as
r e sd o derived
rule,
d o e cr e i h from t e secular school systems of the countries
correctly only by the united efforts of a
most importance that payments on pledges is, their
group of specialists in their own fields. Un-
be made promptly. The cash mobilization
It is the totality of coverage 'oaf prayers, devotions and all related
like the Cambridge History, Jewish history
campaign under the chairmanship of Louis
subjects that makes "Jewish Worship" by Rabbi Millgram a most
must be systematic and unified. The edition
Berry must be turned into a huge success. valuable work for the Jewries English-speaking countries.
Mobilization