THE JEWISH NEWS

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Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of In y

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Sukkot Scriptural Selections

This Sabbath, the 15th day of Tishri, 5736, is the first day of Sukkot, and the fallowing scriptural selections will be
read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion (Saturday and Sunday), Levit. 22:26-23:44 and Num. 29:12-16. Prophetical portion (Saturday),
Zechariah 14:1-21; (Sunday) I Kings 8:2-21

Hol Flamoed Sukkot

Pentateuchal portions, Monday, Num. 29:17-25; Tuesday, i\rum. 29:20 - 28; Wednesday, Num. 29:23 - 31; Thursday, Nu in.
29:26-34

Hoshana Rahba, Friday, Sept. 26

Pentateuchal portion, Num. 29:26 - 34

Candle lighting, Friday, Sept. 19. 7:17 p.m.

OL. LXVIII, No. 2

Page Four

Friday, September 19, 1975

Sukkot: Symbolizing Faith, Freedom

Sukkot, ushered in this evening for observ- joys of Sukkot also are expressed as follows:
"The sukka reminds the Jew of those glo-
ante by Jewish communities throughout the
world, symbolizes both faith and freedom. The rious days (of harvest), and that is why he occu-
sukka in which the Israelites lived in the wilder- pies it with so much gladness, even though the
ness, on their way to the Promised Land out of autumn winds blow fiercely through the cracks
the Egyptian bondage, denoted the freedom, of the flimsy walls. The roof of leaves and
steeped in faith. The festival's spirituality is ex- branches does not oppress him as does the ceil-
ing of his weekday abode. The windows of the
pressed in the prayer:
"The earth is Thine and the fullness sukka may be very uneven, but the pious man
thereof, help us to realize that the blessings we feels quite at ease. Even the heterodox Jew, the
enjoy are but tokens of Thy love and that when skeptic, likes the sukka, first, because it re-
we use Thy gifts in the service of our fellowmen minds him of nature, and second, because the
we offer thanksgiving unto Thee." sukka is a symbol of our present exile, of our
An 18th Century poet, Eleazar Kalir, sang homeless, shelterless existence. Have not we
to the glory of this holiday, one of the major fes- Jews been knocking about for 2,000 years in
lightly built dwellings, ready to be quickly torn
tivals on the Jewish calendar, in this verse:
down and put up again where necessity might
"Thy praise, 0 Lord, will I proclaim
drive us? Has not our whole race known more ,
In hymns unto Thy glorious name.
shadow than sunshine? Our fathers, therefore,
O Thou Redeemer, Lord and King,
built the seven-day arbor-house with much glad
Redemption to Thy faithful bring:
fervor, their own hands sawing and hammering
Before Thine altar they rejoice ,
and nailing. And we youngsters with all our
With branch of palm and myrtle-stem;
might tugged and pulled at the branches for the
To Thee they raise the prayerful voice
roof of the Jewish house that must have more
Have mercy, save and prosper them.
shadow than light."
They overflow with prayer and praise
Because Sukkot is not "a world that passed"
To Him who knows the future days.
but a retainer of the spiritual strength of the
Have mercy Thou, and hear the prayer
Jewish people, even in the frail sukka, that the
Of those who palms and myrtles bear.
Sukkot festival is a living force in the lives of its
The day and night they sanctify
observers. The rejoicing in the festival's mes-
And in perpetual song adore;
sage, the glory inherent in it and the freedom
Like to the heavenly host they cry,
from which it stems and which it symbolizes
`Blessed art Thou for evermore.' "
In A. S. Sachs' "Worlds That Passed" the combine to give it an undying role in Judaism.

Crucial Test for the United Nations

Visions for peace and amicable interna- han warned against the denigration of the world
tional relations, introduced with the formation organization into an empty shell.
of the United Nations 30 years ago, dimmed
The need for a strong international organi-
with time and with the accumulation rather zation to strive for peace is undeniable. But a
than the diminution of hatreds.
movement that declines into a hate-fostering
A Holocaust which was to have augured an• force develops into a menace to mankind. That's
end to inhumanities soon lost its impact.
the condition confronted in the UN today. That's
A Third World, whose nations were ex- the type of organization that loses the confid-
pected to share in the benefits of civilization and ence of rational people and it either changes or
the aspiration for amity, for the erasing of bit- it loses its value completely. The current session
terness and the perpetuation of peaceful aims of the UN General Assembly will provide a test
for all, suddenly emerged as the propagator of demanding answer to the challenge whether a
mediavalism and the bestialities from which movement that has been permitted to sink into
they themselves had suffered. the gutter by hate tactics has much life left in
The world forum has reconvened for an- civilized society.
other session of the General Assembly. What
will be its pursuant role? Have the downtrodden Sadat Confronts Enemies
learned the lessons of time? Will the humanism
Egypt's President Anwar el-Sadat con-
that inspired the formation of the world move- firmed the confidence placed in him by the U. S.
ment for justice and peace regain its original in his confrontation with the terrorists who be-
aims?
gan a battle to scuttle the agreement with Israel
One of the tests will be the attitude the on the Sinai disengagement. Linking the USSR
world organization will indicate, in its current with Arafat, he has given world the basic facts
session, in the tragic conflict that divides neigh- regarding the obstructionists in the Middle
bors in the Middle East. East. Perhaps the incident in Madrid on Yom
Anticipating the renewal of a struggle, Sec- Kippur will serve effectively to isolate terroris-
retary of State Henry A. Kissinger and the U. tic banditry from the rational aims at an accord
S. Ambassador to the UN Daniel Patrick Moyni- in the Middle East.

■

VTR,

Historic Movement Described

Socio-Political Study of U. S.
Jewry and the Zionist Idea

American Jewry's role in Zionism and the upbuilding of Israel
receives intimate treatment in a volume by Prof. Naomi W. Cohen of
Hunter College of the City University of New York.

In "American Jews and the Zionist Idea" (Ktav), Dr. Cohen pro-
vides a thorough account of the activities that date back from the very
beginnings of the movement's history in this country, with relevant

comments on events experienced in the present efforts to assure as-
sistance and protection for Israel.

The new work has special significance both in its outlines of the
political efforts as well as the sociological aspects of the movement.

It is a positive work even in its treatment of the negative aspects

of Israeli problems, and these provide completeness for the study, even
in the brevity of a 180-page book in which the author has assembled
the basic facts regarding a subject of major interest to Jewry.
The personalities as well as the events that marked the turbulent
as well as the pragmatic mark this narrative of an historic experience.

The world Jewish leadership as well as their American counter-
parts form the personnel of this study. The Brandeis-Weizmann con-
flict at the Cleveland convention of the Zionist Organization of Amer-
ica in 1921, the subsequent events, the ZOA functions and those of
other parties are enumerated here.

Dr. Cohen also touched upon the religious factor in Zionism and
in Israel, and she also expresses an interesting view on the American
Jewish and Israeli relationships. On both scores she offers the follow-
ing concluding comments:

"When Israelis consider American Jews, they are struck by what
seem to be gross inconsistencies. The Americans define themselves as
a religion but are in fact non-observant; they call themselves Zionists
but refuse to settle in Israel. Israelis fail to grasp the way in which the
American environment has shaped the development of the Jewish
community there. Since they themselves have no religious option but
the rigorous Orthodoxy imposed by the politically powerful religious
parties, they are unfamiliar with American Reform and Conserva-
tism. "When ignorance is coupled with Orthodox intransigence on
Conservative and Reform legal ceremonies (e.g., marriages and di-
vorces), the gap between the two communities grows wider. Differ-
ences over religion point up a more serious obstacle to a mutually
beneficial relationship: Israelis cannot yet see how they can be spiritu-
ally enriched by what has been created in the Diaspora.
"Just because Jews are a religious-national group, neither religion
alone nor nationalism alone can perpetuate the Jewish heritage in its
totality. That applies to Israel as well as to the American Jewish com-
munity. Since Israel and the United States are the major centers of
contemporary Jewish life, the survival of Jews and Judaism for the

foreseeable future depends upon both.

"The kind of survival will be determined by how well the two can
develop their Jewish resources independently and how they can enrich
each other at the same time. Perhaps in time the Zionist idea will
develop a new dynamic that will enable it to continue as a productive
and unifying force for both communities."

These are symptomatic of the many other viewpoints that make

the Cohen work on American Zionist experiences an additional compi-

lation certain to arouse increased interest in the social, economic and
political aspects of the historic efforts for the redeemed Zion.

