Rabbinic rracticanty
Artist's Tribute to Meir Berlin - Bar-Ilan - Is Memorialized in Israel University
crcoouctr, PY
RABBI MEIR BERLIN
LIVES OF OUR TIMES
NO&MAN & SJL
Abba Joseph, though a
rabbi, was a builder's labor-
er. While at his work one day
he was accosted by a man
who wished to drag him into
a theological discussion. The
Rabbi refused. "I am a day-
laborer," he said, "and can-
not leave my work. Say
quickly what you would and
go."—Shemot Rabbah.
Nonct—_,
it XT
HE CAME TO THE UNITED STATES BEFORE
WORLD WAR I AND BECAME A MEMBER Of
THE JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE,SET
UP TO AID JEWS DISLOCATED BY THE WAR.
LEADER OF THE ORTHODOX ZIONIST MOVE-
MENT,MIZRACHI,CHAIAPION OF THE
RIGHTS Of THE JEWISH PEOPLE,SCHOLAR
AND AUTHOR
AFTER SERVING- FOR EIGHT YEARS AS
MIZRACHI MEMBER OF THE ZIONIST ACTIONS
COMMITTEE,HE BECAME THAT BODY'S PRESI-
DENT IN 1926.HE ALSO HEADED THE AMERICAN
MIZRACHI FOR MORE THAN A DECADE.
BORN INTO A RENOWNED RABBINKAL FAMILY IN
RUSSIA IN 11161,HE STUDIED AT THE FAMOUS YESAIVOS
OF VOLOZHIN AND TELZ.AFTER ATTENDING THE UNI-
VERSITY OF BERLINA( WAS ORDAINED IN 1902.
AS A MEMBER OF THE STATE COUNCIL AND•—
AS A DIRECTOR OF THE JEWISH NATIONAL
FUND, AS WELL AS OTHER IMPORTANT BODIES,
1415 COUNSEL 15 SOUGHT BY ALL IN ISRAEL.
IN 1933,RABBI BERLIN LEFT FOR PALESTINE TO
ESTABLISH PERMANENT RESIDENCE AND TO
DIRECT THE PROGRAMS OF THE WORLD - WIDE
MIZRACHI ORGANIZATION.HE 15 TODAY ONE OF
ISRAEL'S LEADING CITIZENS. _-----
MIZRACHI
TOURS TO
A FOREST - THE MEIR BERLIN FOREST- WAS
PLANTED IN HI5 HONOR IN 1940. WORLD
MIZRACHI LEADER,WHO STRIVES FOR AN
ISRAEL EASED ON THE TENETS Of THE TORAH.
Invites you to have the greatest
experience during your visit in
ISRAEL
We assure you that you vv$'
a
have
spiritual
satisfactic
SUCCOS TOUR
_
LETTER BOX
Humanist Manifesto
Decried by Reader
COPY•r.er .941, JEW19.1 7L6tG.n.0
SPECIAL!!!
Bar-Ilan University was established in tribute to the late Rabbi Meir
Berlin, who adopted the Hebrew name of Bar-Ilan upon the establishment
of the state of Israel. When he was still using the Berlin name, our
artists prepared a pictorial sketch portraying his life. We reproduce it
here on the occasion of the 18th anniversary celebration of Bar-Ilan
University, to be marked at the annual dinner of Detroit Friends of
Bar-Ilan, at the Shaarey Zedek, next Thursday evening.
Reservations for the annual Bar-Ilan dinner can still be made by
calling the Bar-Han office 398-7180, 23125 Coolidge, Oak Park.
7-10 DAY TRIPS
Beginning Nov. 1
$385
fare only or
with accommodations available
MAKE ARRANGEMENTS NOW!!!
100's of tours and
Flights available
For Further Information
Call or Write
Parents, Bar Mitzva Candidates Join in Unique Preparation
By BEN GALLOB
(Copyright 1973, JTA, Inc.)
NEW YORK — A family
education program to make
preparation of children for
Bar and Bat Mitzva a mean-
ingful educational experience
for both the candidates and
their parents has been re-
ported by a Reform rabbi
who developed it out of frus-
tration and disgust with the
existing program at his syna-
gogue.
Each candidate and at least
one parent study together for
three months in the program
which includes homework
for both parent and child.
Rabbi Edward Zerin of
Temple Sinai in Sharon,
Mass., stressed that the in-
Editor, The Jewish News:
The front page of the Aug.
31 issue of The Jewish News
prominently featured the
Humanist Manifesto II in the
name of some 120 religious
leaders, among them Rabbi
Sherwin Wine and Prof.
Mordecai Kaplan.
It declares, 'God, ritual and
creed do a disservice to the
human species. Reason and
intelligence are the most ef-
fective instruments human-
kind possesses, . . . we do not
wish to prohibit by laws or
social sanction, sexual be-
havior between two consent-
ing adults."
The age of "reason and en-
lightenment (intelligence)" is
now some 150 years old, and
the age of sexual permissive-
ness was given public sanc-
tion by Freud. We are old
enough to see the results of
the breakdown of moral re-
straint. All around us we see
the collapse of marriage and
family structure.
Children soon learn to imi-
tate their elders. The result
is "barnyard morality."
The Torah was given the
Jewish people for exactly
this reason. The surrounding
cultures in the lands of the
east had no restraints, moral
or sexual. It is for this
reason that we were told that
we are given the choice. "Lo,
I put before you this day life
or death. Therefore choose
life."
Widespread acceptance of
this "humanist manifesto"
would soon lead to total an-
imalism, not humanism.
Rabbis are supposed to
lead the people to higher
planes of human existence,
this manifesto would lead us
to the depths of hedonism and
ultimately nihilism.
Sincerely,
MRS. JOSHUA SPERKA
novative program was "not
just for adults nor just for
young people but for par-
ents and children together."
He reported on the experi-
ment in "Compass," a news-
letter published by the com-
mission on Jewish education
of the Union of American
Hebrew Congregations, the
Reform congregational agen-
cy, and the Central Confer-
ence of American Rabbis, the
Reform rabbinical associa-
tion.
Contrasting the new ap-
proach with the old, Rabbi
Zerin declared that "now the
students take their work seri-
ously. They carefully do their
homework and come to the
sessions prepared to discuss.
Neighborhood for Learning
The parents participate too.
They read the assignments
and engage in the group give-
and-take."
Rabbi Zerin said he had
been informed that the con-
versation at the dinner table
at the homes of candidates
"also has taken on a new
dimension. The talk is about
the Torah portion and the
Haftora, what ,each one
means and how they relate
to each other."
Each family is asked to
research the contents of both
the Torah and Haftorah por-
tions. The candidate makes
a presentation to his or her
group. Topics for research
include the difference be-
tween Torah and Haftora,
reasons why particular por-
tions are assigned for given
Sabbaths and the meaning
of the terms Bar and Bat
Mitzva.
He said that when a three-
month study period has been
completed, "each family has
studied with me at least
eight to 10 different Torah
and Haftora portions. I also
show them how to detect
the relationship between the
portions, and then we begin
to write the speeches."
He said a "wonderful by-
products" of the project was
the fact that "I now know
every family personally and
maybe what is even more im-
portant — the families have
come to know each other."
Dr. Gerson D. Cohen, right, chancellor of the Jewish
Theological Seminary, receives a proclamation from the,
mayor of New York, John V. Lindsay, center. Others in-
clude William McGill, president of Columbia University,
fourth from left; and Martha Peterson, president of Barn-
ard College, sixth from left. The proclamation hailed the
Morningside Heights neighborhood as "one of the greatest
collections of diverse academic and religious institutions
ever gathered in one place at one time." The mayor spoke
at the conclusion of a walking tour of the neighborhood
that took him from Columbia University, with visits at
several other of the area's institutions, and ended with
a reception in the student lounge of the seminary.
20—Friday, Sept. 14, 1973
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Mizrachi Tours
23125 Coolidge, Oak Park
398-7180
Classifieds Get Quick Results
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18650 LIVERNOIS, SOUTH OF SEVEN
For the
Most Elegant
Bar Mitzva
Suits in Town
with the
Finest Fit
Slims and Huskies
Torah as a Light
A young rabbi complained
to his master: "During the
hours when I am studying I
feel filled with light and life,
but as soon as I cease to
study this mood disappears.
What ought I do?"
Thereupon the rabbi re-
plied: "It is like a man who
journeys through a forest on
a dark night, and part of the
way is accompanied by a
companion who carries a lan-
tern. At length they come to
the point where their paths
divide, and they must go on
alone. If each carries his
own lantern, he need fear no
darkness."
$1050
• Succos in Jerusalem
• Full sightseeing, including
Eilat & Sharm El Sheikh
• 1st Class Hotels with 2 meals
a day, 3 meals on Succos
1 111110.
HE 15 THE EDITOR OF THE OFFICIAL
MIZRACHI ORGAN IN TEIAVIV,'HATIOFE,"
AND ALSO IS ACTIVE IN NUMEROUS EDU -
CATIONAL AND LITERARY ENDEAVORS.
Detroit Friends of Bar-Ilan University rightfully claims a major
share in the joys that attach to celebrating the 18th anniversary of the
university.
During. the entire hai—denoting life and 18—period, Detroiters dedi-
_
cated to the advancement of this university have been among the leaders
in its behalf.
Most effective in their efforts have been the Stollmans — Phillip,
Max and his wife Frieda; and the latters' son, Malvyn, has been
associated with the Bar-Ilan Library for a decade.
Oct. 8-Oct. 29,
Too!
PLUS all the latest
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1