THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951
Member American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, National Editorial Associa-
tion. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075.
Secoaxl-Class Postage Paid at Southfield, Michigan and Additional Mailing Offices. Subscription $10 a year.
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
CHARLOTTE DUBIN
City Editor
DREW LI,EBERWITZ
Advertising Manager
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 20th day of Kislev, 5734, the following scriptural selections
will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, -Gen. 37:1-40:23. Prophetical portion, Amos 2:6-3:8.
Hanuka Torah readings: 'Thursday, Num. 7:1-17; Friday, Num. 7:18-23.
Candle lighting, Friday, Dec. 14, 4:43 p.m.
VOL. LXIV. No. 14
Page Four
December 14, 1973
Hanuka's Undiminished Spiritual Forcefulness
Hanuka enters upon the calendar in a time tinuity from the time of the Hasmoneans. A
of great concern over the celebrants' secur- handful fought them against the massed
ities and the slowness with which a peaceful forces of the Syrians; a handful resisted an
world could be anticipated in the months — even greater force in the week that followed
perhaps years — ahead.
Yom Kippur. The valor of a people deter-
Maccabean valor must be viewed as an mined to live was as great this year as it was
aim of triumph not for those fighting for in the second century before the Common
justice for themselves alone but also for all Era. It was much greater because then it was
others who must thereby benefit from social, against Syria, this year it was against Egypt,
Syria, their cohorts in 16 other Arab countries
religious, economic and political justice.
Through the ages, the Jewish communities and Moloch of Russia!
How realistic it would be to ignore an
everywhere observed Hanuka in an interpre-
tation fashioned by the prophetic guideline: additional fact: that the battle for existence
"Not by might nor by power but by My spirit, is the struggle against those who begrudge
saith the Lord." The spirit emanating from a to the descendants of the Maccabees the right
Maccabean triumph sustained the Jewish of mere existence. Had there been a conces-
people. That spirit necessitated resort to arms sion to the basic Jewish right to life, liberty
in defense of the homeland in modern Israel, and the pursuit of happiness, as it is the in-
where the means of resisting threats to the alienable right of every other person on earth,
people's very existence once again made war- we could then speak only of the spirit and
not of the sword. But Hanuka of 1973 will
riors out of the modern Maccabees.
It is not a new interpretation of the mean- be recorded in history as a mobilization of
ing of Hanuka — that it is an admixture of hatred for Jewry and Israel by nearly all of
the spiritual with the hard-fact military. When mankind: the Arabs who are kinsmen of the
a people battles for very life, the sin is not Jews and who would not acknowledge their
failure to lean on the godliness of the spirit cousins' right to a sacred heritage; the Afri-
but failure to protect life. Hanuka now as- can nations, who had been helped so much
sumes the duty to uphold the hands of the by Israel and who now subscribe to unspeak-
able hatreds; the Western Powers as person-
Maccabees of our time.
ified by Britain and France. Only the United
The are, indeed, the symbols of con- States retains a semblance of humanism; only
Holland among the European nations refuses
to issue a declaration of pro-Arabism to spell
anti-Israelism.
What a degrading status for an age be-
lieved to be progressive in what is described
as civilization!
Are Jews overreacting, and is there super-
Nevertheless, even the temporarily marred
sensitiveness about the current Middle East spirit of the people of the Maccabees, who
situation?
are being forced to resort to weapons of de-
It's easy for those who do not fully under- struction for self-defense, is not deadened.
stand the menacing situation to resort to It exists and it predominates. It is never
innuendos. Ridicule and :rebuke are low-priced doomed and it defies destruction. Why would
without recognition of a danger that spells a Mattathias risk the existence of a small
band of his followers against a mighty Syrian
destruction unless there is resistance to it.
Detroit's afternoon newspaper, for exam- army if it was not the spirit of a legacy that
ple, in editorials on two successive days, used proclaimed the determination to live? How
such phrases as "they won't thank Israel for could a limited defense force of several hun-
their discomfort and inconvenience," when dred withstand the vast army of the Egyptians
dealing with the energy crisis; and "Israel's at a defenseless Bar-Lev line, and those back-
record in dealing with homeless Arabs has ing up the handful of defenders gradually
not been the best," in a comment on the emerge as protectors of one of the smallest
of peoples in the Middle East but perhaps
Palestinians.
the most dedicated to existence and survival?
The latter statement is an untruth: Israel
It is the undiminished spiritual forceful-
has done more for the homeless than the
Arabs' kinsmen; the former incited to sus- ness of Hanuka, coupled with the obligation
picion and to the hatreds that inspired the to take up arms to defend that spirit that
sale of bumper stickers with anti-Semitic marks the new chapter of heroism that has
distinguished the defenders of Israel in this
slogans.
age of great distress and danger that has been
Even a distinguished Amefican like form- coupled with unspeakable immorality among
er Assistant Secretary of State George Ball, the nations of the world who, by their acts
writing in the New York Times, commented motivated by oil above justice have written
on a problem of "condoning Israeli obduracy an unspeakable chapter in degraded states-
after 1967."
manship.
Is it obdurac- to defend life and to re-
It is not the people of Israel alone who
j
fuse to accept a status
akin to suicide?
are motivated by a renewed Hanuka spirit.
What do such innuendos imply? That the Their kinsmen everywhere will not let them
Jews create all troubles, that greedy people down. For them Hanuka is a time of re-
out to annex land are the instigators of the dedication to a serious duty not to forget their
world's ills? Therefore, that little country is brethren in a time of crisis.
the villain, facing devastation if he budges
Hanuka 5734 is a time of crisis. It is a
from defense. What should he do? Should he time of challenge. It is a time of responsi-
bare his chest and yield to. destruction?
bility, and of adherence to it. It is a period
Can't people think in terms of Israel's of giving new force to the spiritual values
right to live? Is a minute state, struggling that sustain us amidst all dangers. The torches
amidst vast areas of neighbors in 18 countries of Israel remain lit this Hanuka! And the oil
that seek the little one's destruction, to be needed to keep it brightly illuminated will
obliterated? Where is the conscience and not be denied the kinsmen of the Maccabees!
morality of an indifferent world? It's an un- It is with such retentive confidence in the
answerable question because the hatred for Maccabean legacies that we again exchange
Israel and Jewry .is not a new phenomenon.
greetings for a Happy Hanuka!
Innuendos and Their
Venomous Aftereffects
Dr. Guttmann's 'Philosophies
of Judaism' Now in Paperback
Commencing with "The Basic Ideas of Biblical Religion," the
Jewish Hellenistic philosophy and talmudic Judaism, carrying the text
through the many eras in history until and through the time of Franz
Rosenzweig, the significant study by Dr. Julius Guttmann, "Philoso-
phies of Judaism," gains renewed status with its appearance as a
550-page Sehocken paperback.
Originally published in Germany, translated by David W. Silverman,
supplemented with an introduction by Prof. J. Zwi Werblowsky, this
volume is a veritable treasure for students of history, religion and
philosophy.
Concern with Aristotelianism, and opposition to it, by famous
scholars, the roles in the discussion of Moses Maimonides, Hasdai
Crescas and others; the neo-Platonism of Judah Halevi, Solomon ibn
Gabirol, Bahya ibn Pakuda and others of that era and related subjects
are dealt with in the section devoted to the philosophy of the Middle
Ages.
The modern period includes studies of the thoughts of Moses
Mendelssohn, Solomon Forstecher, Samuel Hirsch, Nachman Krochmal,
Solomon Ludwig Steinheim, Moritz Lazarus, Hermann Cohen and Franz
Rosenzweig.
Touching upon "The Renewal of Jewish Religious Philosophy at
the End of the 19th Century," the eminent author dwelt at length with
the thoughts of Hermann Cohen and Moritz Lazarus's ideas, leading
up to the ideals advanced by Franz Rosenzweig. There is this evaluative
conclusion:
"Philosophy maintains, through crises and polemics, a unique type
of continuity. A striking testimony to this is the development of Jewish
philosophy, which maintains its linkage with the past despite the abyss
which divides the Middle Ages from modern times. The selfsame
problems are reformulated in the thought of the Middle Ages and in the
thought of modernity; and the new Jewish philosophy has, in all its
trends, learned from the solutions offered to these problems by the
great philosophers of our past, from Maimonides on the one hand, to
Judah Halevi on the other. This connection is felt no less in the develop-
ment of modern Jewish philosophy itself, despite the differences and
oppositions among the various schools and trends. Nor will the results
of this great effort of thought be wasted for the Jewish philosophy of
the future."
The reader and student are served well by the ample annotations in
Dr. Guttmann's work.
Two Hebrew Textbooks
Ktav Publishing Co. adds valuable textual material for the study
of Hebrew in two new books—"Kriah Kalah" by Sol Scharfstein and
"Anahnu ba Ulpan" by Shlomo Kodesh.
Both provide guidance in acquiring basic knoweldge of Hebrew.
Both are first volumes of projected series.
In "Kriah Kalah" there are brief Hebrew lessons with English
explanations titled "The Right Way" of acquiring knowledge of the
language and use of specific terms.
" Anahnu ba Ulpan" has a double purpose—to teach reading and
writing Hebrew and to learn facts about Israel's people, history and
culture.
37 Children's Bible Tales
A continuous need for instructive and entertaining reading material
for the very young is again fulfilled with the publication by Ktav of
"Bible Stories for Jewish Children from Joshua to Queen Esther."
Ruth Samuels, author of this well written book for young readers
has incorporated 37 tales in 70 pages of text, and included in them
are the many fine illustrations by Laszlo Matulay, some in full pages.
Text and pictures provide for the youngsters knowledge about the
biblical characters in the Joshua to Esther periods.