36—Friday, October 5, 1973

THE DETROI TJEWISH NEWS

Warning Given
Talmud on Gossip and Slander to Would-Be
By DAVID SCHWARTZ About two Yeshiva bahurim. Oppressors
(Copyright 1973, JTA, Inc.)

They argued which was
The preservation of the
Those great Zionists of the greater, because the sun
early days—what must they shone during the day when Jews is really one of the
be thinking in their heavenly light was not needed, but the most signal and illustrious
abodes as they look down on moon shines at night, when acts of divine Providence. . .
the earth today! How they light is needed.
The Jews can go up higher
toiled and sweated to make
Whoever was greater, both than any other nation, they
people believe in the possi- Weizmann and Sokolow or- can even deduce their pedi-
bility of the revival of the bited around the earth like gree from the beginning of
ancient Jewish homeland. the earth around the sun the world. They may not
What polemics with Kings trying to convinice the world know from what particular
and Popes and even more of the possibility of the re- tribe or family they are de-
cended, but they all sprung
with cynical Jews, Theodor vival of ancient Israel.
All saw a measure of suc- from the stock of Abraham.
Herzl waged. And Nordau
whose pen shook the literary cess. They saw little settle- And yet the contempt with
ments formed. Some saw the which they have been treated
world of his day.
And Weizmann, the great creation of the state. But the and hardships which they
chemist, whose chemical dis- old cynical definition of a have undergone in almost all
coveries, opened a new chap- Zionist lingered. A Zionist, countries, should, one would
ter in agriculture, showing it was said, was a Jew who think, have made them de-
sirous to forget or renounce
that the products of the farm, wanted some other Jew to go
that original; but they profess
notably sugar and startch Palestine.
But suddenly something is it, they glory in it: and after
could be turned into indus-
happening.
The same thing so many wars, massacres,
trial use, foresook his lab-
oratory to make Jews believe seems to be happening to Is- and presecutions, they still
in the idea of a new Jewish rael as happened to Florida subsist, they still are very
numerous; and what but a su-
ingathering in Palestine. And and California.
Sokolow, the masterful He-
Both Florida and California pernatural power could have
brew editor. The man fluent are more recently settled preserved them in such a
manner as none other nation
in all languages. Some said areas.
upon earth hath been pre-
it was due to a wonderful
served?
People
flock
there
to
es-
memory. Sokolow himself
Nor is the providence of
said it wasn't so. It was just cape the cold.
that he couldn't forget.
During the last year, three God less remarkable in the
Many Polish Jews prefer- quarters of a million tourists destruction of their enemies,
red Sokolow to Weizmann as went to Israel. This is an un- than in their preservation. . .
head of the World Zionist precedented number and the We see that the great em-
Organization. Schmaryahu number shows a sizeable in- pires, which in their turns
subdued and oppressed the
Levin, could not refrain from crease every year.
people of God, are all come
telling a joke in connection
A man Who doesn't like the to ruin; because though they
with the controversy about
Weizmann and Sokolow. cold remarked to us the other executed the purposes of God
day that the human race in yet that was more than they
his opinion had made a mis- understood; all that they in-
take in moving from its on - tended was to satiate their
ginal home on the Mediter- own pride and ambition their
Available For All Occasions
own cruelty and revenge.
ranean.
20,. years experience
Maybe the human race is And if such hath been the
MAGICAL MEL
about to repair the mistake. fatal end of the enemies and
547 - 2464
oppressors of the Jews, let
it serve as a warning to all
those, who at any time or
Everything Everybody Else Does,
upon any occasion are for
raising a clamor and per-
PLUS A LITTLE
secution against t h e m. —
Thomas Newton, in "Disser-
tations on the Prophecies."
398-1182

I

Moses Maimonides' Definition of Giving Charity

By_MOSES MAIMONIDES
Whoever closes his eyes
against charity is called, like
the idol-worshipers, impious.
. . . Whoever gives alms to
the poor with bad grace and
surly looks, though he bestow
a thousand gold pieces, all
the merit of his action is lost.
He must give with good
grace, gladly, sympathizing
with the mendicant in his
trouble. If a poor man solicit
alms of you and you have
nothing to give him, console
him with words. It is for-
bidden to upbraid the poor,
or raise the voice against
him, since his heart is broken
and crushed. . . . Woe, then,
to the person who shames
the poor man! Be to him,
rather, like a parent whether
with funds or kindly words.
There are eight degrees in
alms-giving, one lower than
the other. Supreme above all

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A man had -three daugh-
ters, all of good appearance
but each with a defect: one
was lazy, the second a thief,
the third was fond of slan-
der. A friend proposed that
the daughters marry his
sons, and promised that he
would cure them of their
faults. He placed the lazy
daughter in charge of many
servants, and she had noth-
ing required time or effort.
He gave his keys to the
thieving maiden, and told
her to take whatever she
wished at any time; she
therefore had no reason to
take anything in secret. As
for the gossiper, he would
ask her for her criticism,
even before she began to
speak words of slander.
When their father arrived,
the first daughter said to
him: "I can be as lazy as I
wish, and I am happy here."
The second said: "I can
take whatever I wish and I
am happy."
The third one, however,
said: "My father - in - law
makes love to me."
She alone was not happy
(for no one would believe
her) and she had no oppor-
tunity to speak slander. —
Midrash Assereth ha-Diberot.

is to give assistance to a
fellow man who has fallen on
evil times by presenting him
with a gift or loan, or enter-
ing into a partnership with
him, or procuring him work,
thereby helping him to be-
come self-supporting. Next
-best is giving alms in such a
way that the giver and re-
cipient are unknown to each
other. This is, indeed, the
performance of a command-
ment from disinterested mo-
tives; and it is exemplified
by the Institution of t h e
Chamber of the Silent which
existed in the Temple, where
the righteous secretly de-
posited their -alms and the
respectable poor were se-
cretly assisted.
Next in order is the dona-
tion of money to the charity
fund of the community, to
which no contribution should
be made unless there is con-
fidence that the administra-

Lewisohn's 'Return to Judaism'

By LUDWIG LEWLSOHN
Message to the Young
Jewish Intellectuals
I was once a young return-
ing intellectual. And I didn't
stay "returning." I returned.
I returned so with my whole
soul and heart and mind that
today, when somebody re-
minds me of once having
been in a state of alienation
and is kind enough to assign
to me the merit—unmerited
—which our sages grant to a
Baal Teshuvah, it seems to
me like a legend, like a
dream, like something that
has no relevance to the man
I am. And perhaps these
present younger returning in-
tellectuals, who are nearly
all scholars and writers, sen-
sitive and gifted, have a
faint notion of that peace
within Israel which can be
found today as in every age
and yet being, for strange
and varied reasons, impotent
to approach even the source
whence that peace springs,
feel a natural and pardonable
and understandable irritation
in the presence of a result
which is the object of their
desire but not within their
power to attain.
It is a great pity. The
American Jewish community
is not too rich in lay leader-
ship. Younger scholars and
writers would be a very pre-
cious accession to its ranks.
But the first quality that is
needed for one who desires
indeed to return is humility.
He must "learn"; he must
sit at the feet of the sages
and saints of Israel, the liv-
ing and the dead. And the
second prerequisite is a true

Absence of Justice
In international dealings
there is neither justice nor
humaneness. The absence of
these two elements—no one
could say jestingly — makes
the Jewish Question an inter-
national one.—Theodor Herzl.

abjuration of pagan idols—
of nihilist Utopias, not be-
cause they have failed but
because God forbid, they
might have succeeded. But
even humility and the abjura-
tion of pagan idols will not
suffice—I warn my young
contemporaries—without the
spontaneous love of Israel.
They will know that they are
Jews again and no more lone-
ly and no more alienated
when the humblest Jew and
the most recalcitrant Jew is
dead and precious to them
for the sake of that eternal
bond of pain and glory, of
aspiration and even of de-
feat of service to man and
of suffering for that service
which constitutes the fellow-
ship of Israel through the
ages.

tion is honest, prudent, and
efficient.
Below this degree is the in-
stance where the donor is
aware to whom he is giving
the alms, but the recipient
is unaware from whom he
received them. The g r e a t
Sages, for example, used to
go about secretly throwing
money through the doors of
the poor.
This is quite a proper
course to adopt and a great
virtue where the administra-
tors of a charity fund are not
acting fairly.
Inferior to this degree is
the case where the recipient
knows the identity of the don-
or, but not vice versa. For
example, the great Sages
would sometimes tie -
of money in linen bu. s
and throw them behind their
backs for poor men to pick
up, so that they should not
feel shame.
The next four degrees in
their order are: the man who
gives money to the poor be-
fore he is asked; the man
who gives money to the poor
after he is asked; the man
who gives less than he
should, but does it with good
grace; and lastly, he who
gives grudgingly. ( From
Maimonides Yad, Mattenot
Aniyyim)

JACK TWORKOV's paint-
ings will be at the Gertrude
Kasle Gallery, from Oct. 20
through Nov. 23, The gallery
is open Tuesday through Sat-
urday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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Mikva Sabbath Ritual

By RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX

(Copyright 1973, JTA, Inc.)

Some people immerse in a
mikva (ritual bath) every
Friday afternoon before the
Sabbath.
The Sabbath is not only a
day of physical rest but of
spiritual refinement as well.
The mystics (Zohar, Exo-
dus 204; Rabbi Isaac Luria,
etc.) are regarded as the
originators of this custom.
They claimed that men ac-
quire an "additional" soul on
the Sabbath, which doubles
his spiritual capacity and al-
lows him to transcend him-
self.
Immersion in the mikva is
a means to attaining this
special spiritual quality re-
quired for the Sabbath.
In other words, a higher
spiritual attainment is avail-
able to man — but he must
exert some effort on his own
in order to attain it.

The Teicher Family

Wishes

The Community

A Happy & Healthy

New Year

Leonard Teicher is a Candidate
For Mayor of Southfield