.--- Oolgiliarank-, WW7:77 . 7 Belinsky Heads Bnai David New Herzl Biography Irks Reviewer . Irving Belinsky was elected Appointed to the board of president of Cong. 'Bnai David trustees were: Morris Aveliblich, at its recent 82nd annual Dr. Maier Belen, Ernest E. Buren, Berman, Joseph M. Bieder- meeting. Other officers are Meyer man, Morris J. Brandwine, Philip Bricker, Fred Brown, Marvin Can- Gust av Berenholz, Alan Arthur Maims, Hyman Co- Weiner and Dr. Sherman ner, hen, Fred Ferber, Morton Granat, Kane, vice presidents; Jack Samuel P. Havis, Neil M. Kalef, J. Kraiztnan, Charles Lam- Wolf, treasurer; Arthur Cole Jack pert, Julian Liebman, Irving Mar- and Philip Bolton, secre- kel, Mike Must, Donald Nitzkin., Morris Novetsky, Burton J. Platt, taries. Melville J. Richman, Norton Ro- HEBREW LESSONS Experienced Israeli Teacher Reasonable Rates 643-460 Factory Sealed, Factory Fresh • IBM • Although Desmond Stewart commences h i s story of "Theodor Herzl—Artist and. Politician" as a biography of "the father of modern Israel" and refers to him as "one of the most remarkable men of his age," qualifying him — not objectionably — as "the instigator of the most hazardous venture of the cen- tury to follow," the Double- thy-published book creates Tr any concerns. There is such a toilsome search for every possible evidence of blemishes in the life of the Zionist leader that one wonders how an author of a biography of one of the great Jews of the century could have been so anxious for the negative aspects. He could have gained a better understanding of secu- larism in Jewish ranks, yet the emphasis on Herzl's non- religious sentiments, h i s agreement with his wife not to circumcize his son—let's accept it as fact—does not lessen the objection to the form of the approach. It com- pels the query as to the author's intentions. At the outset, a doubt arose whether one with his background could write dis- passionately about Zionism and Herzl. Stewart spent 25 years in the Middle East — after a 20-year span in classi- cal education at Oxford. He specialized in Arabic litera- ture, translated from the Arabic, worked on the philos- ophy of Islam and published a Middle East periodical while livinP: in Cyprus. That does not disqualify anyone, but upon reading his work on Herzl, o n e wonders whether he was or could be objective and impartial. He certainly does not de- fine Zionism in the most friendly terms. He glorifies the friendship for Jewry by Moslems, and while admit- ting some discrepancies, there is a measure of sub- jectivity that could be view- ed as biased. sin, Simon Sairwarzberg, Charles N. Shere, Paul Shea-izen, Aaron Shifman, Max Simon, Nathan D. Soberman, Jerome Sable, Max So- sin, Lawrence Traison, Jerome J. Trumper, Mrs. Alan Weiner, Phil- ipp J. Wimmer. Honorary members are: Peter Chodoroff, Joseph. Gorman, Harry Koltonow, Lew Kruger, Max Ostrow, Sam aarvitz, Julius Rotenberg, Joseph Shifman, Men- del Shifman, Dr. Maurice M. Sil- verman and: Harold Soble. IRVING BELINSKY Major Prayers Recited Quietly The installation of officers RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX and board of trustees will be By (Copyright 1974, JTA, Inc.) held Aug. 14, announces The main body of prayer chairman of arrangements (the 19 benedictions) is re- Southfield 355-4444 Melville J. Richman. cited quietly by individuals. A number of reasons are offered for this practice. The Talmud (Berakot 31a) de- rives this from the biblical description of Hannah's pray- er where it is written: "her lips moved, but her voice was not heard" (I Samuel 1:13). The Talmud further states that one who would One of Allied Van Lines Largest Haulers chant these prayers aloud would appear to be an insin- 1300 N. Campbell Road 2253 Cole Street cere believer since he im- Royal Oak plies that the Almighty can Birmingham only hear loud voices and LI 1-3313 MI 4-4613 cannot hear a whisper. The Kabala states that the an- gels who are assigned to ac- cept the prayer and bring it forth will not accept it of other human ears can hear it. In other words, one might say that the prayer is a com- munion between man and his Creator and should not be audible to other humans. (Zohar, Exodus 89). Others contend that chanting these prayers silently prevents em- barassment to each indivi- dual worshiper who prays for the forgiveness of his sins. On this basis many chant these prayers aloud on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur since everyone prays for for- giveness on these days. Some sources point to the fact that in olden times there was a difference in regard to this matter between the Jews of Palestine and the Jews of Babylonia. While Palestinians recited these prayers aloud, Babylonian Jews recited them silently. Jews in Palestine claimed that reciting the prayers out loud helped the community to learn the pray- ers and get used to them. Some even claim that the prayers are recited silently to differentiate the congre- gants or the individuals from the Karaite notion which or- dered prayers to be recited out loud in response to the priest. By having the cantor re- peat these prayers out loud and having the congregation respond to each benediction with "Amen," two things are accomplished. First, besides individual prayers, there comes into being a commun- ity that prays. Secondly, this practice allows even those FOR INFORMATION who cannot recite the prayers by themselves to join the con- gregation in prayer by re- sponding with "Amen." Also, should the individual OR WRITE TO: have made an error or omis- sion in his own prayer, it can be made up by listening in- 21550 WEST TWELVE MILE ROAD tently to the cantor's repeti- tion and responding properly SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN 48076 to it. TYPEWRITERS $348.88 POTTER MOVING & STORAGE CO. Thinking of a Change? Looking for the Best? CONSIDER YESHIVAT AKIVA NOW ENTERING OUR ELEVENTH YEAR AKIVA HEBREW DAY SCHOOL OFFERS THE FINEST LOCAL PROGRAM OF JEWISH ttit GENERAL STUDIES ALL DAY ADVANCED KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE TWELVE Call: 354-4664 AKIVA HEBREW DAY SCHOOL Sabbath Uplifts Heart , For example, in the final section of the book he calls Herzl's role "The Desperate Intriguer." Herzl was not, in the Stewart view, the ideal- ist and creator of a great libertarian movement, but an intriguer! Every approach to Herzl's search for an accord with the sultan of Turkey is as if he intrigued a n d schemed. Stewart is even inaccurate. He makes Max Bodenheimer the founder of the National Fund (eliminating the word Jewish) and in most other ways he ignores the Zionist leaders and backgrounds. Had he researched Prof. Herman Schapira, the crea- tor of the Jewish National Fund ideal, and the support it received from Herzl, he might have found some sym-. pathy for an important move- ment. * * * Briton Loses Libel Suit Against Paper LONDON — Writer and broadcaster Desmond Stew- art lost a libel suit against the Daily Express for an ar- ticle which, he said, "con- tained an imputation that in 1964 he was a Mosleyite and a Fascist." A High Court jury by a vote of 11-1 found for the Beaverbrook Newspapers. (Stewart is the author of the new biography of Theo- dor Herzl published by Dou- bleday). The words in question were: "Mr. Stewart, after the war, organized an Oxford (Uni- versity) club to propagate the ideas of Sir Oswald Mos- ley. Later he wrote for Mos- ley's magazine, 'The Euro- pean.' His ideas on Egypt and Israel may be imagined." It was the last nine word's that contained the sting of the libel, according to Stew- art's attorney. He claimed that the sentences implied that in 1964 he was a Mos- leyite, anti-Semitic and rac- ist. They also implied that he was not impartial in his views as a commentator on the Middle East and was a Fascist. The judge said the first two sentences were true while the third was fair comment. He added that Stewart had read much more into the wording of the article than it actually stated and it was for the jury to decide if the article did bear that innuendo. The very idea of the World Zionist Congresses, already a sensation when Herzl created them in 1897, finds little en- thusiasm in t h e Stewart story. He does go into detail about about Herzl's world, his am- bition to be a playwright, his novels. "The New Ghetto," "Altneuland" and his plays receive good analyses. But Stewart's end of it all is that the writer was so ambitious, that it dominated his ideal- ism. This is not to say that the Stewart biography is lacking in some merits. He does touch upon Herzl's family life. He shows that he had an unhappy marriage. The chil- dren's fate is traced—Hans was circumcized later in life; his sister Pauline died of rheumatic fever, and it af- fected Hans and is said to have caused his suicide; Trude died in Theresienstadt, having been sent to the con- centration camp with her husband; her son, Stefan Theodor Neumann, Herzl's only grandson, who was a British embassy attache in Washington, committed sui- cide in 1946. The comment on Herzl's youth diary, which was obtained from Hans by Josef Leftwich, also has merit. These and other facts, and the extensive emphases on Herzl's ambitions as a play- wright, provide interesting reading. But the negative as- pects, the insistence on pro- viding that a Herzlian youth sex deviation may have harmed his own and his wife's health, the failure to understand the libertarianism of Zionism—these do irk. Stewart depended vastly upon the Herzl. Diaries, but he treats them as if they were calculated, as if Herzl contrived them in advance to glorify his existence. Had they been treated as diaries which often change human reactions almost from day to day, there might have been a different . attitude in the biographer's approach to his subject. Much also is quoted from the writings on Herzl by Josef Fraenkel (Detroit Jew- ish News special London cor- respondent). But Fraenkel had objected to Stewart's! using his material—anticipat- ing an unfriendly tone. What a pity that a good subject is marred by short- comings. —P.S. The world has our hands, but our soul belongs to some- one else. Six days a week we seek to dominate the world, on the seventh day we try to dominate the self. To set apart one day a week for freedom, a day on which we would not use the instruments which have been so easily turned into weapons of destruction, a day for be- ing with ourselves, a day of detachment from the vulgar, THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, July 5, 1974-17 of independence of external obligations, a day on which we stop worshiping the idols Now that July 4th is over ... of technical civilization, a Celebrate your own Independence Day! day on which we use 'no money, a day of armistice With a tall. cold glass of in the economic struggle with our fellow men and the forces of nature—is there any insti- tution that holds out a great- er hope for man's progress than the Sabbath? In the tempestuous ocean of time and toil there are islands of stillness where man may enter a harbor and reclaim his dignity. The is- Buttermilk, Chocolate Milk, or smooth land is the seventh day, the and creamy Vitamin D enriched Milk Sabbath, a day of detach- ment from things, instru- Or any one of the eighteen varieties of refreshing ments and practical affairs beverages made fresh daily in Detroit . . . .411 as well as of attachment to Strictly Kosher and manufactured under the spirit.—Abraham J. He- Orthodox Rabbinical Supervision schel, in "The Sabbath."