THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, April 13, 1973-25
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Seeks Qualified
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For FALL '73
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Call (519) 969-2422
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Melchior Remains Denmark's Rabbi
COPENHAGEN — Rabbi
Bent Melchior, who had
resigned as chief rabbi of
Denmark, will remain in his
post, on a renewed contract
commencing in June.
His resignation in Sep-
tember was on his claim to
the right to express his views
on matters unrelated to the
Jewish community. The pres-
ident of the community, Prof.
Isi Foighel, who challenged
that right, also was re-elect-
ed.
Since the issue that was
raised by Rabbi Melchior
had not been resolved, any
issue that may arise on the
subject is left to two lawyers
who will act as umpires
when problems involving the
rabbi's speaking out on
public issues may arise.
Books From Japan
A total of 261 Japanese
books was presented to Tel
Aviv University recently by
Japanese Ambassador Eiji
Tokura. The books are a gift
of the Japanese government
and range from sociology to
the theater.
C
m
a n i sc h e
Manischewitz
FOR PASSOVER
so you don't have to.
Produced under strict Rabbinical supervision. Certificate on request.
Dances, Music
at Services
Festival Dancers of the
Jewish Center, directed by
Harriet Berg, will perform
at the Temple Emanu-El
Sisterhood Sabbath 8:15 p.m.
today at the temple. The pub-
lic is invited.
The creative service will
feature interpretive dances
depicting the history of the
Jewish woman. The dances
will be accompanied by the
temple choir , directed by
Cantor Norman Rose. A Jul-
ius Chajes composition,
"Passages," a 1 s o will be
featured.
Festival Dancers will par-
ticipate in the service with
Mesdames Louis Peven, pres-
ident; Joseph Blumenthal,
Elisha Gold, David Sapper,
Sidney Factor, Ben Alexan-
der, Leo Harris and Ralph
Holberg.
Maturity for U. S. Savings
Bonds is now only five years
and 10 months.
Maybe you've wondered
how successful parents pass their
success to their children.
Our Trust Department can show you at least 25 ways.
The Trust Department of Michigan Bank can
show you many types of trust agreement, the
purposes of which are essentially the same:
1. To provide a continuous income for your
beneficiaries during the life of the trust.
2. To expertly handle estate management and
investment for them on a day by day basis.
3. To enable your beneficiaries to pass- more of
their estates to their beneficiaries.
Your estate need not be large; our fees cer-
tainly aren't. Why not telephone our Trust
Department at 961-5300.
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Michigan National Bank
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MemberF .D.I.C.
Woman President Honored
Mrs. Gerda Seligson, a professor at the University of
Michigan and president of Ann Arbor's Beth Israel Congre-
gation, was one of 18 Conservative synagogue presidents
honored for "consecrated leadership" by the Jewish Theo-
logical Seminary of America at a recent statewide confer-
ence brunch at Cong. Bnai Moshe. Rabbi Harry Katchen,
center, makes the presentation for the seminary, while
Wayne County Probate Court Judge Ira G. Kaufman, left,
brunch presiding chairman, looks on. A total of 150 leaders
from as far west as Benton Harbor and as far north as
Mount Pleasant attended the conclave. Louis Kasle of Flint
was conference chairman.
Chinese Torah Discovered
at Dallas University Library
NEW YORK — A Chinese
Torah has been discovered
in a Bible collection at
Southern Methodist Univer-
sity in Dallas.
The scroll, believed to have
come from Kaifeng, capital
of Ronan Province in central
China, was acquired by the
university in 1964 as part of
the estate of the late Thomas
J. Harrison, an Oklahoma
real estate and insurance
executive who collected early
Bibles.
Scholars gave various ap-
praisals of the scroll's origin,
but the key to its discovery
came from Dr. Menah.em
Schmelzer, head librarian at
the Jewish Theological Sem-
inary here, who examined
copies of the 96-foot scroll
and reported that it had been
written by Chinese Jews.
"I am not an expert on
Chinese Torah scrolls," Dr.
Schmelzer said. He insisted
however that the scroll he
had seen in the Dallas col-
lection was of the same or-
igin as a Torah at the semin-
ary which is from Kaifeng.
The handwriting on the
Torah in Dallas is "flowing"
compared with the square
writing on conventional West-
ern Torahs, reported Michael
Pollak, a Dallas publisher
whose hobby is examining
early printing. He said the
scroll is written on goat or
sheepskin rather than parch-
ment and it is stitched with
silk instead of thread from
the tendons of animals.
Other distinguishing char-
acteristics are thin rods in-
stead of wooden rollers and
knobs varnished Chinese-
style with golden lacquer.
The Kaifeng community
was established in the 12th
Century by Jews who trav-
eled there from the Middle
East, scholars believe. A
Brooklyn College history pro-
fessor said that intermarri-
age, probably with Chinese
Moslems, was one cause
leading to the disappearance
of the community.
Kaifeng finally died out in
the 19th Century, but before
its de m i s e, missionaries
bought six Torahs from the
community. Experts kept
track of five of them; one
is at Cambridge University
and another at the British
Museum.
About 13 Torahs were writ-
ten or patched from earlier
Torahs, after - the Yellow
ftier flooded in
1642, apparently destroying
the synagogue. Parts of this
Torah may predate 1642.
Dr. Decherd Turner, Jr.,
of the university library is
researching the "life" of the
Torah. He is planning to
trace the scroll's adventures
from its sale in 1851 to the
time Mr. Harrison bought it
from someone in England by
way of a Pennsylvania rare
book dealer who thought it
was Turkish or Syrian.
Dead Sea Scroll
Seen as Harsher
Than Bible Law
JERUSALEM — Archeolo-
gist Yigal Yadin reports that
a Dead Sea Scroll recently
deciphered in Israel contains
a new version of God's com-
mands to Moses and is
harsher than biblical injunc-
tions.
Yadin said the 30-foot-long
"Temple Scroll" offers in-
sights into what formed the
basis of Christianity, which
was just starting when the
scroll was written.
The scroll, the longest of
all the parchments and lea-
thers found near Qumran on
the western shore of the Dead
Sea, was purchased for
$100,000 by Yadin from an
Arab antiquities dealer in
Bethlehem during the Six-
Day War. It was fairly well
preserved. although humidity
lad turned some of it to pulp,
and on some portions ink had
adhered to layers of parch-
ment so that the writing
came out back to front.
The scroll version of the
Ten Commandments did not
differ from the Bible, but
many other of God's dictates
were harsher, said Yadin,
who did not elaborate.
Yadin said the scroll was
written in the first person
and mentioned such laws as
selection of a king and con-
struction of a temple, how it
should be built and what kind
of city Jerusalem should be.
nests were ordered to be
celibate, and bigamy and
divorce were forbidden.
The University of Michi-
gan's Kelsey Museum of
Ancient and Medieval Ar-
chaeology has some 84,000
items from ancient sites in
the Mediterranean region and
the.. Near _East