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THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of AN 20, 11151
I
Member American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, National Editorial Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 805, Southfield, Mich. 48075.
Second-Class Postage Paid at Southfield, Michigan and Additional Mailing Offices. Subscription $10 a year.
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
Alan Hitsky, News Editor .
4
DREW LIEBERWITZ
Advertising Manager
Heidi Press. ..%ssistant News Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Seleetions' -
This Sabbath, the 11th day of Adar, the following scriptural. sections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Exod.. 27:20-30:10; Deut. 25:17-19. Prophetical portion, I Sam. 154-34. Monday: . Fast (it Esther
Megilla reading.
Candle lighting, Friday, Feb. 21, 5:53 p.m.
VOL. LXVI, No. 24
Page Four
Friday, February 21, -1975
Purim's Lesson: Deaf Anti-Semitic Ears
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Purim's jollity for the celebrants who are an intended doom. 'He then makes this comment
confident that no enemy can triumph over them on the anti-Semitic angle in the famous story
poses a ,major puzzle. There is the unanswered that has been incl , ided in the sanctified Canon:
question: will the anti-Semite ever learn that his
Anti-Semites have always hated the book, and
aspiration to destroy the Jew can never be
the Nazis forbade its reading in the crematoria and
the concentration camps. In the dark days before
realized?
Haman in the Purim story was the model
for Hitler and the anti-Semites from all nations
who hated and sought to destroy the Jews. They
all had many victims; in the end the Jew won the
battle.
Dr. Robert Gordis has edited a new paper-
backed book on Purim, "Megillat Esther," which
has just been issued by Ktav for the Rabbinical
Assembly of America. The noted scholar deals
with the Purim story from all its aspects, touch-
ing upon the claims to historicity as by those
who call it fiction. Dr. Gordis indicates the sym-
bolism of the religious inspiration in the story of
Esther and the rescue of the Jewish people from
their deaths, Jewish inmates of Auschwitz, Dachau,
Treblinka, and Bergen-Belsen wrote the Book of Es-
ther from memory and read it in secret on Purim.
Both they and thbir brutal foes understood its mes-
sage. This unforgettable book teaches that Jewish
resistance to annihilation, then as now, represents
the service of God and devotion to His cause. In every
age, martyrs and heroes, as well as ordinary men
and women, have seen in it not merely a record ol
past deliverance but a prophecy of future salvation.
'
The lesson is a clear one. The anti-Semite
keeps attacking, the Jew keeps resisting. One
seeks to destroy, the victim is determined to live.
The anti-Semite seems unable to learn the les-
son of Purim. Because the Jew does not forget,
he is the victor. In this spirit Purim retains glory
in the perpetuation of the will to live.
Bonds for Israel: Meritorious 25 Years
Marking 25 years of meritorious service to
Israel, the anniversary of 'the popular invest-
ment project draws renewed attention of Jewish
communities in this country, in Canada and in
several European countries to the basic needs
supplementary to the philanthropic funds.
With the odds agairist Israel because of the
threats to the country's security, the obstacles
created by the Arab boycott and the reduced
cooperation from many lands resulting from the
oil embargoes and other threats, the difficulties
that are faced by Israel in her economic develop-
ment are immense. Nevertheless, the embattled
nation has progressed, its economy remained
sound even during the periods of warfare and
tens of thousands of newcomers were provided
with housing and jobs. The conditions emerging
from the war tensions have added tensions that
could affect the country's economy. Neverthe-
less, thanks to the strength derived from Israel
Bond monies the nation's economic obstacles
have been hurdled.
The United Jewish Appeal — major benefi-
ciary of Detroit's Allied Jewish Campaign —
grows in importance as the major obligation of
Jews to the needs in Israel. The continuing set-
tlement of Jews from Russia and Moslem coun-
tries where discrimination and oppression
forces emigration of the persecuted represents
serious obligations for assistance from Jews in
the free countries, notably the United States. In-
vestments in Israel's industrial projects add se-
riously to such responsibilities by the more af-
fluent to the less fortunate who must be
The commencement of the 26th year of Is-
provided with means for economic security.
rael Bond activities emphasizes the need for
continuity in investment efforts. The obligations
Funds from Israel Bonds, purchase of to Israel Bonds are as urgent as those to philan-
which are recognized as sound investments, have thropy. They supplement each other_and must
made possible the creation of new industries in be treated as related duties evolving upon the
Israel, the building of roads, the introduction of Jews of this country and wherever the Israel
new means for business enterprises that are a Bond movements are operating
source of employment for newcomers.
Medievalism on Rampage
Philanthropic dollars provide for social
services, education, proper health and other fa-
cilities for new settlers in Israel. Israel Bonds
assure the construction of new homes and the
protection of existing industries as well as pro-
tection for future ones. Housing and jobs are
made available by the investment dollars which
have been so well protected until now and have
an assurance for security in the future.
If there is any one left who doesn't believe
that the massive Arab enmity for Israel also em-
braces the Jews throughout the world, then he is
experiencing the mirage of the desert.
The boycott of Jewish financiers by the
Arab potentates proves that world Jewry is
menaced by the Arab prejudices that are affect-
The 25th anniversary of the Israel Bonds ef-
ing financial and commercial enterprises every-
forts signalizes the need for security in these
where.
tasks. The acclaiming of this anniversary, 25
The shocking medievalism of the Arab boy- years after the Israel Bond movement was
cott of Jews is a new challenge to human decen- started here by the late David Ben-Gurion, must
cies. It is beginning to embroil this country. be accompanied by a new dedication to the suc-
How will democratic United States react to the cess of this popular and very urgent task of
threatened danger to free enterprise and to civi- Diaspora Jewry in behalf of the Israeli
lized society?
kinsmen.
Image of the Jew in American
Literature From Earliest Times
This new volume of The Jewish Publication Society of America is an extraor-
dinary contribution to the understanding of the image of the Jew in more than one
hundred years of American literature. The first comprehensive study of its kind
it ranges from the early years of the Republic to the days of the mass immigration
of the late 19th century.
The full spectrum of Americin literature of the period under discussion —
poetry, fiction, and drama — is here included. Among the writers surveyed
are: William Cullen Bryant, John Greenleaf Whittier, Henry Thoreau, Emily
Dickinson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Stephen Crane, 0. Henry, Adah Isaacs
Menken, William Dean Howells, Mrs. E.D.E.N. Southwortli, James Fenni-
more Cooper, Henry Adams, Horatio Alger, Jr., Ambrose Bierce, and Henry
James.
Until the mass immigration began, the study points out, Jews enjoyed low
visibility in America because of their small numbers. Under the influence of the
folkloristic anti-Semitic tradition and the universally known Shylock, the image
of the Jew created by the earliest American writers drew upon these stereotypes
in lieu of experiential knowledge. The consequence was that Jew as portrayed in
most American literature and drama until recent times was an invidious stereo-
type. For the most part, the story of the image of the Jew in American literature is
thus a chapter in the history of American anti-Semitism.
The book opens with a view of the Jewish image in the poetry and fiction
of the Revolutionary period. The first Jewish character to appear in American
fiction, a foreign Jew in this instance, made his debut in the "Algerine Cap-
tive" by Royal! Taylor (1797). The first American Jew was introduced by
Charles Brockdon Brown in his novel Arthur Mervyn (1799).
From the treatment of the Jew in poetry and popular fiction to the eve of the
Civil War, the study moves to an examination of the Jewish attitudes of the Fire-
side Poets, and of Melville and Hawthorne. There is also an extensive look at the
stage Jew, a prominent feature of 19th-century American drama.
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Following a survey of aspiring Jewish writers of the 19th Century, nota-
bly Emma Lazarus, the study takes up such writers as Mark Twain (author
of an essay "Concerning Jews"), Howells and his fellow-Realists of the 90's,
and the novelists of the Utopian and Populist schools.
The final section is devoted to the first stirrings of the American Jewish novel
as we know it today, recalling such precursors as Henry Harland, Emma Wolf,
and Edward King. The study concludes with a detailed scrutiny of Abraham Ca-
han, particularly his seminal novel, "The Rise of David Levinsky." This examina
tion is a fitting climax to an important new work on an aspect of letters hithert
insufficiently explored.
Louis Harap, the author of this momumental study, served as librarian sat
Harvard and the New Lincoln School in New York City. An editor and critic, he
is the author of numerous articles and reviews.
Medicine in the Talmud
First published in London by its author, Dr. J. Snowman, in 1935, "A Short
History of Talmudic Medicine" has just been issued in a new edition by Dr. Snow-
man together with Hermon Press of New Yrok.
Based on a number of authoritative works, this splendid study is a condensa-
tion which incorporates all the basic facts about every aspect of medicine.
The analyses of medical needs based on the views of the Rabbis in the Talmud
researches are so extensive that noted medical scholars have applied the cures to
modern treatments. Anatomy, abortion, autopsy, subjects. which often recur in
dispute over medical practices, and which are fully covered in this volume, are of
value in viewing current issues in Israel and the Diaspora.
Dr. Snowman did not limit himself to medical contents in the Talmud. He also
deals with major dental practices referred to in the Talmud.