It; ' rgrc3 +e•c !i 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 . 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. - 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.