THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Friday, August 22, 1975 21

Timeless Advice in Rabbi Liebman Adler's Ethical Will

By IRVING I. KATZ

Executive Secretary
Temple Beth El

It is natural for a father
to give a deathbed message
to his children. Instances of
such verbally communi-
cated messages occur in the
Bible (Jacob, Moses, David).
Apocrypha (Testaments of
the Twelve Patriarchs, etc.),
and Talmud.
During and after the Mid-
dle Ages, however, the cus-
tom developed for scholars
to write testamentary dis-
positions to their children.
Since these consisted not of
the disposal of worldly pos-
sessions but of ethical ad-
vice, they have been called
"ethical wills."

A remarkable ethical will.
written in the 19th Century,
was that of Rabbi Liebman
Adler (1812-1892), spiritual
lea-der of Detroit's Temple
Beth El from 1854 to 1861
and subsequently rabbi of
the K.A.M. Temple in Chi-
cago.

Adler's ethical will ap-
pears in the privately pub
fished- book "Liebman
Adler: His Life Through
His Letters" which has
just been published, com-
piled and edited by his
great-granddaughter,
Joan Weil Saltzstein of
Milwaukee.

The text of Rabbi Adler's
ethical will to his eleven
children and wife is:

National Observer Editor Hits
Paper for Its Views on Israel

I. L. Kenen, editor emeri-
tus of the Near East Report,
reported that one of the
National Observer's senior
editors, Clifford A. Ridley,
in an editorial on_Aug. 4,
criticized his paper's anta-
gonistic view towards Israel.
Commenting on Lawr-
ence Mosher's recent decla-
ration (Observer, Aug. 2)
that Henry Kissinger
should bring Israel and Yas-
sir Arafat to the bargaining
table, Ridley points out that
Arafat is not only refusing
to recognize the existence of
Israel, but is refusing to
renounce the use of force
against the Jewish state.
He adds a compelling for-
mulation: "Arafat's gangs-
ters are the terrorists and
Israeli men, women and
children are the terrorized.
Should Israel negotiate with
a gangster? Would you?"
Ridley feels that it is his
"responsibility as a citizen,
to communicate my moral

NY Court Halts
Racial Job Quotas

NEW YORK — A Federal
appeals court decision re-
jecting the imposition of
racial quotas on job promo-
tions in the New York State
Correctional Services De-
partment was hailed by the
Anti-Defamation League of
Bnai Brith as a "landmark
ruling."
The case (Kerkland vs. the
New York State Depart-
ment of Correctional Serv-
ices), in which ADL had
filed a brief with the Second
Circuit Court of Appeals,
challenged a lower court
ruling that "at least one
black or Hispanic employe
for each three white em-
ployees must be promoted
from the list of eligibles re-
gardless of their test score
rank.
According to Arnold
Forster, ADL's general
counsel and associate direc-
tor, the new decision is a
warning against "reverse
discrimination" and strong
support for the Civil Service
system. The appeals court
pointed out that the New
York State Constitution
calls for appointment to
public jobs through Civil
Service.

I desire that there be no
haste in my interment. If
there are no signs of decom-
position sooner, the funeral
should not be until 48 hours
after my death.
If the physician who
treated me should find it de-
sirable in the interest of
science to hold a post-mor-
tem examination, I would
like that he be not inter-
fered with.
My coffin shall not cost
more than $7.
No flowers.

My funeral to be directly
from the place of demise to
the cemetery.

No funeral oration.
Dear Hannah: In view of
your delicate health, I desire
that you remain at home
and not join the funeral if
the weather is the least in-
clement.
Not more than three days'
mourning in domestic re-
tirement.

concerns to the government
to which I give allegiance.
The fact that the source of
my morality is Judaism
may be of passing interest
to someone or other, but it
oughtn't obscure the further
fact that I am behaving
precisely as every citizen
ought to."

I cherish the kadish-
prayers of mourning in the
synagogue — of my sons
and daughters as it de-
serves, but. I do so only if
you, after the expiration of
the year of mourning, do
not omit attendance at the
synagogue without necess-
ity.

Ridley criticized news-
papers like the Observer
for publishing Norman F.
Dacey's recent anti-Israel
advertisement. Referring
to Kenen's comment that
freedom of the press does
not "extend to the publica-
tion of material the press
knows to be false," he de-
clares:

If financial conditions
permit. each of my married
children should join a Jew-
ish congregation, the fittest
being: the K.A.M. — Kehil-
lath Anshe Maarabh,
"Congregation of the Men of
the West," corner of Indiana
Ave. and 33rd St.
Those children who do not
live too distant should, if the

"It makes my blood boil
when Dacey suggests that
Russian Jews are not perse-
cuted," and he comments,
"belittling the anguish of an
oppressed people, whether
by inference or direct state-
ment, is an exercise for
which no publication has a
duty to provide space.
"He insults not only every
Jew, but everyone who for
whatever reason has served
as scapegoat for tyrants
through the ages. On such
grounds, I think, we should
have told him to peddle his
venom elsewhere."
[Earlier this year, John F.
Bridge, the Observer's man-
aging editor, proposed that
Israel be dismantled and
that the Jews of Israel be of-
fered a home in America
and be encouraged in every
wa y to settle here as citi-
zens.]

weather permit, and it can
be done without disturbing
their own domestic rela-
tions, gather every Friday
evening around the mother.
My children, hold to-
gether. In this let no sacrif-
ice he too great to assist
each other and uphold
brotherly and sisterly senti-
ment. Each deed of love you
do to one another would be
halm to my soul.

The example of 11 chil-
dren of one father who
stand together in love and
trust would be to his grave
a better decoration than
the most magnificent
wreath of flowers, which I
willingly decline, but leave
to your judgment.

The small savings which I
leave will come to you only
after the death of the
mother. I know you; I may
trust that you will not meet
in an unfilial way about pos-
session and disposition. The
heritage which is already
yours is a good name and as
good an education as I could
afford to give.
It does not look as if any-
one of you had a disposition
to grow rich. Do not he wor-
ried by it. Remain strictly
honest, truthful, indus-
trious and frugal. Do not
speculate. No blessing rests
upon it even if it be success-
ful. Throw your whole en-
ergy into the pursuance of
the calling you have chosen.
Serve the Lord and keep
Him always before you; to-
ward men be amiable, ac-
commodating and modest,.
and you will fare well even
without riches.

My last word to you is:
Honor your mother. Help
her bear her dreary wid-
owhood. Leave her undis-
turbed in the use of tile
small estate, and assist if
there should be want.

Farewell, wife and chil-
dren!
Another point, children. I
know well you could not, if
you would, practice Juda-
ism according to my views
and as I practiced it. But re-
main Jews and live as Jews
in the best manner of your
time, not only for yourself,
but also where it is meet to
further the whole.

Rabbi Leibman Adler

CHILDREN love Billy

The Magic Clown!

ADULTS

Mind

love

Reading and Laughs!

Party Entertainment with
Audience Participation.

356-5112 or 1-662-3700

DECORATE YOUR HOME NOW

SAVE UP TO 30%

SLIM LINE and VERTICAL BLINDS

CORRELATING DRAPES, BEDSPREADS,
WALLPAPER

Hurtig Window Interiors

559-8209

CALL FOR FREE ESTIMATE

559-8209

HAPPY 25TH ANNIVERSARY

MOM and DAD

Love Your Children,

Susie Katzman
Maureen Ashman
Larry Ashman

Rationing your coffee?
You can enjoy all the great-tasting Brim® you want.

Jewish Seaman
Missing in Iraq

TEL AVIV (JTA) — The
Greek Jewish Community
has urged the Greek For-
eign Ministry to do every-
thing possible to find out
the whereabouts of a Greek,
Jewish seaman who disap
peared while his vessel was
in Iraq.
According to reports from
Athens, the seaman, Chaim
Cohen, wireless operator on
the merchant ship Kirin,
was seized by the Iraqi pass-
port control officer when
the ship docked in Basra on
July 29. Cohen had not re-
turned to the ship by the
time it left Aug. 8.

If you've been rationing yourself to
half a cup of coffee because you're worried
about caffein, forget it. Decaffeinated
Brim''' is for you—wonderfully rich
coffee that's 97% caffein free.
Get some today—and enjoy! Regular or
Drip Grind, Freeze-Dried, or Electric Perk.

K
Certified
Kosher

#PIFFEINATE0 COFFEE

Rich in Colombian beans

