THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951
Member American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, National Editorial Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish NewsPublishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile. Suite 865, Southfield; Mich. 48075.
Second-Class Postage Paid at South/field, Michigan and Additional Mailing Offices. Subscription $10 a year.
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ -
Editor and Publisher
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
DREW LIEBERWITZ
Advertising Manager
Alan Hitsky, News Editor . . . Heidi Press, Assistant News Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 9th day of Kislev, 5735, the following scriptural selections
will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Gen. 28:10-32:3. Prophetical portion, Hosea 12:13-14:10.
Candle lighting, Friday, Nov. 22, 4:48 p.m.
VOL. LXVI. No. 11
Page Four
November 22, 1974
Well Earned Acclaim for Paul Zuckerman
Appropriately, the Greater Detroit Jewish
community is the first to honor Paul Zucker-
man on the eve of his retirement from the
general chairmanship of the United Jewish
Appeal, and to take into account his un-
matched services in the humanitarian labors
of the great_cause he serves so diligently.
Mr. 2uckerman, as leader of many tens of
thousands of workers in the tasks of assuring
kinship for Israel and cooperation in the
rescuing of oppressed fellow Jews who were
settled in Israel; displayed - dynainism in
leadership that served to inspire the armies
of workers in scores of American Jewish
communities.
The 100,000 Russian Jews who found ha-
ven in Israel during Mr. Zuckerman's general
chairmanship of the UJA • owe him a great
debt for consistency in advancing-their cause.
He was unhesitant in pressing for their re-
lease from the depressing Russian spheres.
He was always an ardent pleader of the cause
of freedom for those seeking exit from the
USSR and 'he remains deeply involved in
these movements.
Nothing was too difficult for the untiring
UJA leader. He traveled widely and person-
ally solicited the large• contributors, in the
post-Six Day War, after the tragic events of
Yom Kippur 5734 and during that entire
seven-year period.
Jews throughout the United States, in
Israel and in England came to know Paul
Zuckerman as the Great Campaigner.
It is most deserving that his fellow citi-
zens in this community, in which he had his
apprenticeship in fund-raising and in com-
munal participation should be the ones to
honor him first, before he retires from UJA's
general chairmanship at the annual UJA
meeting in December. His retirement from
the major post in the. great philanthropic
agency in no sense ends his leadership in
many areas or 'his activities. His fellow work-
ers will undoubtedly always count him among
their dedicated workers and will honor and
respect him for his many achievements.
Isaiah's Identity in a
Injustice must never be hushed, whether
it is in evidenee at the United Nations or any-
where else.
The National Geographic Magazine, justly
noted for its thoroughness and accuracy, made
an apology, for the first time in its 84-year-old
history, for having given the wrong impres-
sion that the Jews in Syria, who are suffering
more than any other people since the Nazi
bestialities, were safe in a land of terror.
For some time it has been indicated that
at the United Nations there was failure to
identify the most famous declaration of paci-
fism on one of its most important murals. The
Vision of Isaiah is presented in the UN build-
ing as if it were the saying of an anonymous
writer.
It is creditable, therefore, that the New
York Times' Book Review section of Oct. 27
should have included the following letter from
Fritz Stoeckler of New York City under the
title "Isaiah":
The temvoraru banning of "Gulag Archipe-
lago" and the removal of a quotation from Con-
fucius from a wall of the UN headquarters in
New York have been preceded many years ago
by the violation of the rights—if not the copy-
right—of another author in the very garden of
the UN and also in its immediate neighbor-
hood. In the garden on the pedestal of that
U N Blackout
magnificent statue donated by the USSR, and
similarly on• an ornamental wall opposite the
UN building, there is quoted- the prophecy:
"They shall beat their swords into plowshares,"
but its source is not mentioned in either place.'
This omission may have had several reasons:
the dislike of the Soviets for the book in which
Isaiah's prophecies appeared; lack of interest
in others, because he has never been a mem-
ber of the PEN club; or it was simply tact-
fulness: nobody wanted to shame Isaiah's mem-
ory, for everybody was aware that, as far as his
country was concerned, that prophecy would
never come true.
This is not the first time a protest has
been placed on record over the failure to iden-
tify a Jewish Prophet in the international or-
ganization.
It is an established fact that when the
Arab-Soviet bloc wishes to declare night to be
day or black interpreted as white, it can get
an overwhelming vote of the great organiza-
tion. Is it possible that UN leadership believes
it can also tamper with the Bible?
Let's ask the United States, French, Brit-
ish, Scandinavian—even German!—delegates
how they react to historical and theological
truths. Oh, they'll surely affirm authorship of
"Isaiah," but, will they do it publicly—in the
UN?
Compiling American Jewish History
When the Jpwish Publication Society un-
dertook the arduous task of producing a re-
vised translation of the Torah, it had the wis-
dom of mobilizing the ablest scholars to pro-
duce the vitally needed modernized English
version of Scriptures. •
Under the chairmanship of Prof. Harry
Orlinsky, the Five Books of Moses became
available in an edition more suitable for Eng-
lish readers of a new generation.
Prof. H. L. Ginberg similarly was enlisted
to supervise the translation of the Five Megil-
lot, Isaiah and Jeremiah, 'all of which now are
books of pride to the JPS and to the American
Jewish community.
In the wake of plans for the celebration of
the American Revolution Bicentennial a simi-
lar responsibility rests upon the Jewish com-
munity to provide historical material gath-
ered by the ablest men in the cultural com-
munity.
The need for interpretation as well as the
facts demand that whatever is published
should be accurately provided for availability
not only to the Jews of this country but to the
non-Jewish community as well.
History, like the Scriptures, must be treat-
ed with respect and with the fullest under-
standing of all implications.
American Jewry has a rich history. Jewish
spiritual traditions served to cement the ideal-
ism that marked this Republic's democratic
ideals. In statesmanship, industrially, in the
social sciences and in philanthropy, American
Jewry has played significant roles.
These need adequate presentation and
authoritative interpretation.
Dr. Roth's History of Marranos
Reissued With New Commentary
. Dr. Cecil Roth has left a valuable legacy with his any studies of-
Jewish historical developments, with special emphasis on his evalua-
tive works on Spanish Jewry, the Inquisition, the Marranos and re-
lated subjects.
"A History of the Marranos," reissued in a fourth edition by Hermon
Press, is one of the very important works by Dr. Roth that retains its
value for Jewish students of the his-
. tory of the Spanish tragedy. Its
thoroughness, the relationship to the
'Marranos of the present time, those
who were in evidence in the cen-
turies after the expulsion of the
Jews from Spain and the agonies
imposed on the converses the New
Christians — has equal merit for -
all students of the era that left an
indelible mark on religious discrimi-
nation.
—
Dr. Roth's preface written for
the first edition of...this notable work
is a familiar reminder of the studies
that were _conducted by the eminent
scholar.
Adding significance to this' new
edition is an introductory essay 'by
Prof. Herman P. Salomon in which
Dr. Cecil Roth
the creative research of Dr. Roth is
defined as a timely note of guidance to the widely acclaimed Marrano
history. Dr. Salomon had been invited by Dr. Roth himself to write
the introduction, thus indicating the suitability of a more current
appendix to a work of research conducted more than three decades ago.
Dr. Salomon notes: "What has not been superseded in. Cecil Roth's
pioneering work is his clear-cut distinction between the Spanish and
Portuguese origins of Inquisitional persecution, as well as his distinction
between Spanish and Portuguese New Christians."
"Cecil Roth." he adds, "was the first historian of the Marranos to
make plain that, contrary to still current popular opinion, the unbaptized
Jews of Spain were never subject to the jurisdiction of the Inquisition
in respect to their practice of Judaism.
"Until July 31, 1492, Judaism in Spain was officially recognized,
tolerated and protected. The Jewish exiles of 1492 who departed for
North Africa, Turkey and Italy continued to hold tenaciously to their
Spanish Jewish culture.
"A History of the Marranos" concentrates on that numeric
stronger mass of Spanish Jews who crossed the border into -Portugal,
joining there the small, but long established native Jewish population ;
and undergoing with the latter forced mass conversion in 1497."
Dr. Salomon adds an interesting excerpt from the text to illustrate
how •Roth showed that most victims of the Inquisition were not guilty
of "Judaic practices:"
"A Portuguese nobleman, in order to secure from the Inquisition
the release of his body-physician, 'a very good Catholic' who had' con-
fessed to Judaizing under threat of torture, seized the Inquisitor himself
and extracted an identical confession from him by similar means."
Salomon says Roth's work "raises as many questions as it answers."
But, "like any major historical work, 'A History of the Marranos' will
have fulfilled its mission when one day it will inspire a scholar to write
a better one. In the meantime, Roth's seminal volume remains the
best introduction to the entire subject, supplemented, but not super-
seded by subsequent researches."