-
Israelis Mourn Habima Actor Aharon Meskin
By MOSHE RON
Jewish News Special Israel
Correspondent
JERUSALEM — Aharon
6 _ Meskin has been ont of the
■ greatest artists of the Israeli
National Theater, Habima.
He performed more than 100
roles in this theater, prior to
0 his death Nov. 11.
He was born in Smolensk,
I in Russia, the son of poor
parents. His father was a
oemaker. He had 10 broth-
and sisters. Meskin
rned in a heder and was
a laborer.
■
lb
t_ tAl s
:C•wt1:666
Fifty years ago, when Da-
vid _Ben-Gurioh visited Rus-
sia as the guest of the agri-
cultural exhibition, he visited
the Habima Theater and was
enthusiastic about its artistic
quality. He promised to ar-
range a tour in Europe and
the United States.
Ben-Gurion kept his prom-
ise. In 1928 Habima per-
formed in Israel. It per-
formed for the first time in
the Kibutz Dagania and its
members decided to stay in
Israel.
Meskin played the leading
role in "Golem" by Leivik,
"The Permanent Jewish
Wanderer" by Don Pinslky,
"It is difficult to be a Jew"
by Sholem Aleichem, "Death
of a Salesman" by Arthur
Miller and "Othello" by
Shakespeare.
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Meskin did not like public-
ity. He was against the com-
mercial theater. He was very
modest in his private life. He
lived in a modest apartment
and went always by bus. He
had no private car and did
not use a cab. When people
standing in a line to enter a
bus recognized him and
wished to let him precede
them, he refused politely.
Fourteen years ago Meskin
was awarded the highest
state prize—the Israel Prize
for outstanding acting, on the
Israeli Independence Day. He
was chairman of the Israeli
Section of the I.T.I. (Inter-
national Theater Organiza-
tion).
His life was the theater
and the stage. He left his
wife, Sima, and two sons,
Amnon, who is a famous ac-
tor in the Haifa Theater, and
Yuval, who works in the mili-
tary broadcasting station.
Meskin died at age 76.
Thousands attended his fu-
neral. Thousands of others
passed his coffin, when it
was set up in the Habima
Theater for a last visit to
Israel's greatest artist.
. . . under inspection the
stamp of inwardness is apt
to tarnish. We must be.silent
on our own internal life or it
may cease to be internal.
—Louis Ginzberg
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Friday, Nov. 29, 1974-51
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Tearing Clothes
a Mouring Rite Levenson Is Paperbacked
By RABBI SAMUEL FOX
It is required to tear one's
clothes upon hearing of the
death of the next of kin.
The rabbis deduce this
from the biblical prohibition
given to the priests whose
brothers (Nadab and Abihu)
had passed away, forbidding
them to tear their clothes
since they were in the midst
of the service in the sanc-
tuary. This indicated that
tearing one's clothes was re-
quired upon the passing of
one's next of kin.
The rabbinic literature
tries to explain this require-
ment by comparing the loss
of one's next of kin to the
experience of having a Torah
burned in one's presence.
Nakhmanides claimed that
the soul is like the scriptural
referenCes to the name of
the Almighty, while the body
of a person is like the parch-
ment of the scroll of the Sefer
Torah.
It has also been stated
that if one tears one's clothes
for the burning of a Torah
one should also tear one's
clothes when witnessing the
death of a person who fulfills
what the Torah commands.
Others claim that the soul
of the living person is what
grants that human being dig-
nity. Death strips the human
being of his dignity. Upon
death a tear is thus made in
the existential being of the
person. The next of kin thus
tear their clothes to demon-
strate this.
There are some who claim
that grief must be expressed
upon experiencing such a
sad event. One who is in
true anguish might be tempt-
ed to tear his flesh, as some
ancient peoples used to do,
Jecause of this feeling of
guilt or anxiety. Jewish tra-
dition thus provides a substi-
tute by calling for a tear in
one's clothes. Generally, upon
experiencing the death of the
next of kin we feel that a
part of us has been torn
away.
The corpse is covered im-
mediately upon death never
to be publicly exposed again.
One is forbidden by Jewish
law to gaze upon the dead.
First, it is considered to be
an insult to the deceased who
has been rendered physically
incapacitated and cannot re-
spond.
Secondly, death shrouds
the human existence in mys-
tery which the living cannot
understand. Third, one is ob-
ligated to honor the dead.
Whatever is honored and re-
vered is covered in Jewish
law. Covering the corpse is
thus a sign of reverence and
tribute being paid to the de-
ceased.
To achieve peace—through
justice—will prove a wrench-
ing task. We will have to let
go of traditional rhetoric,
stereo-typed thought, precon-
ceptions, and everything else
that inhibits man from ful-
filling himself. We wish Ito
cooperate, nor compete, so
that the family of Man might
become one. We see what
can be. And we seek the in-
effable. We will never grasp
it in this life, but we can
reach out—and live.
—Edward M. Keating
With Both Ears Alerted
Humorist Sam Levenson's hilarious bouquet to the
changing times, "In One Era and Out the Other," has been
reissued in paperback by Pocket Books. It has sold more
than 190,000 copies in hardcover.
Levenson, who has entertained both television and read-
ing audiences with his funny accounts of life in a family
of 10 has put together a zany travelogue.
Levenson begins with an affectionate look at his New
York childhood, spins through a whirlwind courtship with
show biz via school auditoriums and charity luncheons,
survives the turbulences of affluence and success and lands
as a tourist in the strange new era that is today.
Topics of Sam's observations run the gamut from
money to marriage, to succeeding in life.
Sam speaks for himself on the kaleidoscopic tour from
then to now:
"The year I got the whooping cough, I made a small
fortune. A mother of eight kids could be blackmailed into
a payoff if you put up a large enough fuss about taking
medicine. 'I won't take that poison for any money in the
world.'
"Money was the first clue. If Mama didn't go for the
bribe, you continued with 'I'd rather die first.' Die was
the second clue. You knew she wouldn't let you die. 'Here's
a penny. Take your medicine.'
Jews as Viewed
by Dr. Weizmann
My greatest difficulty in
lying here in this helpless
condition is to watch and see
all the mistakes that are be-
ing made in this country.
You see, the Jews are a small
people, a very small people,
but also a great people. An
ugly people, but also a beau-
tiful people, a people that
builds and destroys, people of
genius, and at the same time
a people of enormous stupid-
ity. With their obstinacy they
will drive through a wall, but
the break in the wall always
remains gaping at you. Those
who strive consciously to
reach the mountain top re-
main chained to the bottom of
the hill ...
We Jews can do something
very good, something which
can be an honor to us all and
ft), all mankind. But we must-
n't spoil it. We are an impet-
uous people and we spoil and
sometimes destroy what has
taken generations to build up.
(From a conversation
with M. W. Weisgal,
Rehovot, Dec. 1951)
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