S2
^
Friday; December 24, 1976
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
„Hebrew U. Scientists Unearth New Phase of Hormone Action
9
4ERUSALEM — Two
scientists at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem,
Prof. Michael Schramm
and Yosef Orly of the De-
partment of Biological
Chemistry, have recently
found that the hormonal
activation system in the
cells of the body consists
of two components which
can be separated and re-
combined.
One component, called
the "receptor," has the
job of binding the hor-
mone to the cell, while the
second component is the
enzyme adenylate cyc-
lase. The two components
interact as a single sys-
tem located in the cell
membrane.
The receptor, after bind-
ing the hormone is able to
activate the enzyme and
thereby induces in the liv-
ing cell the characteristic
response to that particular
hormone.
Hormones are chemical
substances secreted by
various glands which
regulate the body's main
processes, such as brain
function, blood pressure
digestion, sex and repro-
duction. Enzymes are the
catalysts of the body's
chemical processes.
It has long been known
that different cells react
to different hormones
and that for each hor-
mone there exists in the
cell membrane a receptor
that binds only that hor-
mone and no other.
'Eliminate the Opiate' Found
to Be an Insulting Publication
BY ALLEN A. WARSEN
"To Eliminate the
Opiate" (a 166-page
paperback, pocket size)
by Rabbi S. Antelman is a
scathing attack on Com-
munism, Marxism and
the Reform and Conser-
vative Jewish religious
movements.
The title of the publica-
tion is derived from Karl
Marx's phrase "religion is
the opiate of the people."
Rabbi Antelman traces
Communism and Mar-
xism to the German
"Bund der Gerechten
(League for the Just) and
to the Illuminati, follow-
ers of Plato's "political
radicalism."
- The author links the Il-
luminati with the Schiffs,
Warburgs, Rothchilds,
Rockefellers and Mor-
gans. He accuses the
"powerful wealthy men" of
secretly manipulating and
controlling "most Com-
munist governments and
Marxist-Leninist ac-
tivities throughout the
world."
He claims that already
at the beginning of this
century the Schiffs, War-
burgs and Rothchilds
were "planning a revolu-
tion in Russia." He even
suggests that the Czar
"may have published the
`Protocols' because he
had a personal axe to
grind" with the Jewish
bankers. (The Czar con-
tributed 13 million rubles
to the publication of the
"Protocols of the Elders
of Zion.")
According to Rabbi
Antelman, "Jacob Schiff
is credited with giving $20
million to the Bolshevik
revolution. A year after
his death the Bolsheviks
deposited over 600 million
, rubles to Schiffs banking
firm, Kuhn and Loeb."
The author, moreover,
credits Schiff and his fam-
ily with being instrumen-
tal "in developing the Re-
form and Conservative
apostate Jewish move-
ments." He places these
movements outside the
pale of Judaism as "both
hold that God did not
write the Torah, but
rather that men created
it."
He calls Moses Mendel-
sohn a "con artist of the
first order" and Solomon
Schechter "a tool of Com-
munist conspiracy."
In a similar manner he
attacks Geiger, one of the
founders of "Das Wis-
senschaft des Juden-
turns" ("Science of
Judaism") and the advo-
cates of "Biblical Criti-
cism."
"To Eliminate the
Opiate" is a fanatic and
fantastic publication. It is
insulting and does not
advance the cause of Or-
thodoxy.
Prof. Schramm and
Orly succeeded in trans-
ferring the receptor
which specifically binds
the adrenal hormone into
a cell lacking this recep-
tor successfully activated
the adenylate cyclase of
the receiving cell, and
thereby made this cell re-
sponsive to adrenalin al-
though normally that cell
would not respond to ad-
renalin. Similarly, the
Hebrew University scien-
tists transferred the re-
ceptor for the hormone
prostaglandin to a cell not
possessing this receptor.
Even more significant is
the conclusion that adeny-
late cyclase, an enzyme
A further experimental
conclusion is that the
mechanism enabling the
receptor to activate the
enzyme is identical for all
receptors capable of ac-
tivating this enzyme in
any cell.
The Hebrew University
research team developed
special, sophisticated
methods for their
receptor-transfer exper-
They fused a cell
Jewish Camping iments.
containing an adrenalin
Parley Planned receptOr but lacking
adenylate cyclase en-
NEW YORK — The zyme
with a different
changing life-styles, val- type of cell, containing
ues and relationships in the enzyme but lacking
the Jewish family, and the adrenlin receptor. In
their effects on camps, this way, they obtained a
campers and staff will be complete system respon-
a major theme of the 1977 sive to the hormone ad-
National Conference on renalin.
Jewish Camping for resi-
dent and day camps to be
The receptor-transfer
held Jan. 16-20 at Gros- experiments have impli-
singer's.
cations of possible future
More than 100 directors importance to medical re-
of communal camps search. It may be possible
under Jewish auspices to increase the number of
will participate in the receptors in certain cells
conference, sponsored by of the body and thereby
the national Jewish Wel- intensify their reaction to
fare Board, the American hormones, in cases of dis-
Association for Jewish ease or of the receptors
Education and the as- being absent from birth.
sociation of Jewish It may also be possible to
Center Workers.
give cells temporarily the
ability to react to a hor-
mone to which they do not
Mizrachi Unit
normally respond.
to Start a Garin
NEW YORK — Fifteen
members of the youth
movement of Mizrachi
Hapoel-Hamizrachi will
The announcement of a
settle in the West Bank
next year in a new garin, new translation of the
Bible into modern En-
Lev Zion.
The garin will be com- glish, brings to mind
prised of young couples another Bible — The
and families, singles, pro- Aleppo Crown codex, the
fessionals, and skilled world's oldest Hebrew
tradesmen, all between Bible.
the ages of 21 and 35. The
For more than 1,000
projected economic base years, Jews have guarded
of the moshav will be light the manuscript, ran-
industry and agriculture. somed it from gentile
For information, write conquerors, hid it from
Noam -) Hamishmeret marauders and finally
HatZeira, 25 W. 26th St., smuggled it from Syria to
New York City, N.Y., Israel.
10010.
According to As-
sociated Press corre
spondent, Joel Epstein,
unlike a scroll, which is
printed only one side, a
codex is a manuscript
bound like a book, with
topics that are treated writing on both sides of
are birth ceremonies, the page.
adoption, health care,
The Aleppo Crown was
Bar and Bat Mitzva tra- the first manuscript ever
ditions, confirmation, to include instructions on
problems of deafness and all the correct spellings
blindness, sex and sexual- and readings, Hebrew
ity, medicine, divorce, the University Professor
teaching of the Moshe Goshen-Gottstein
Holocaust, repentance, said.
the geography of the
The codex was written
synagogue, choosing a at the beginning of the
rabbi, crafts and folk art, 10th Century by the mas-
dance, drama, philately, ter scribe Aharon Ben
cantorial music and more. Asher, working in
The emphasis is on how Tiberias by the Sea of
to go about making the Galilee. He filled the
variety of Jewish experi- margins with notes on
ence a part of modern life. spelling and cryptic signs
Above all, as the editors to guide future genera-
note, there is a stress on tions of scribes and wor-
"the same value that shippers.
permeated the first book
The sacred volume was
— the need for a commu- carried to Jerusalem,
nity to be Jewish with."
center of the Jewish
JPS Classic 'Jewish Catalog'
An immediate success
scored tbree years ago by
the "Jwish Catalog"
brought so many com-
mendations to the Jewish
Publication Society and
was in such great demand
that a second edition was
inevitable.
"The Second Jewish
Catalog," compiled and
edited by Sharon and
Michael Strassfeld, is
now a reality and once
again JPS anticipates
record-making sales.
The new edition is
larger and more com-
prehensive, and a sup-
plement, "The Jewish
Yellow Pages," is such a
vast guide to all Jewish
necessities, to newspap-
ers, hotels, book stores,
butcher shops and every
conceivable Jewish need
that the new work be-
comes indispensable for
all Jewish communities.
"The Second Jewish
Catalog" reflects the con-
cerns of the contempor-
ary generation of Jews
seeking the "sources and
resources" to vitalize
their personal and com-
munal Jewish experi-
ences. A blend of the tra-
ditional and modern, the
spiritual and the practi-
cal, the catalog offers an
authentic presentation of
Jewish observances in a
lively and distinctive
format.
"The Second Jewish
Catalog" is divided into
four sections: Life Cycle,
Study, Study and Prayer,
and the Arts. Among the
found in every cell in the
living organism, can be ac-'
tivated not only by the
hormone receptor not-
mally found in that cell,
but also by receptors for
other hormones which
have been "planted" arti-
ficially in the cell.
'Children of Mixed Marriages
Should Be Accepted as Jews'
NEW YORK — Chil-
dren of intermarriages
whose mothers are non-
Jews should be accepted
as Jews, according to an
article in the summer
issue of Conservative
Judaism, official publica-
tion of the 1,000-member
Conservative Rabbinical
Assembly.
Admitting that his
suggestion is "daring,"
the late Rabbi Solomon D.
Goldfarb, an American
who retired to Israel and
died in Jerusalem in Feb-
ruary, called for
"halakhic courage" to
_deal with this contem-
porary problem.
Pointing to the non-
acceptance as Jews of the
children of Russian
mothers who have settled
in Israel with their
Jewish husbands, and re-
ferring to the classic bi-
blical story of Ruth as a
precedent, Rabbi
Goldfarb said that "these
are new times in Jewish
life and we are faced with
new demands especially
in matters concerning-the
Jewish family."
Asking "why, in the
light of the liberation and
relaxation of the prohiti-
tions against intermar-
riage, do we still insist
that only the child of a
Jewish mother be consid-
ered Jewish," Rabbi
Goldfarb urged that we
"grant the same recogni-
tion to the child of a
Jewish father, regardless
of who the mother may
be."
Rabbi
Goldfarb
suggested that such non-
Jewish wives of Jews, who
had never been converted
in Russia, might well be
good prospects for con-
version after settlement in
Israel.
In support of his con-
tention, Rabbi Goldfarb
cited the biblical story of
Ruth, who was of Moabite
descent, and who made
her way into the Jewis
community by adopting
the faith of Israel and be-
came the progenitress of
the royal line of David.
Rabbi Goldfarb made
an "appeal for a hearing,
for as objective a judg-
ment as is possible in this
highly charged area of
Jewish law. Our great
teachers in the past met
the challenges of their
day and made the neces-
sary changes in the law.
"The courage," he con-
cluded. "which moved our
scholars to abolish the
prohibition against the
admission of the Ammo-
nites and the Moabites
into kahal hashem and to
create the whole struc-
ture of conversion on the
foundation of halakhic
norms stands as a model
and as a challenge to our
present-day authorities.
It is this kind of halakhic
courage that is called for
'if the Jewish people is to-
be served well and to be
saved from future shock."
History of 'Aleppo Crown' Recalled
world, where it became
famous throughout the
Middle East.
In the 11th Century,
Jerusalem was sacked by
the Christian crusaders,
then by the Arab' Seljuks.
The Jews of the city were
massacred and their pos-
sessions burned and
looted.
Ben Asher's Bible was
seized and carried off, ap-
parently to Cairo. There it
was held for ransom to the
Jewish community.
"There is a basic prin-
ciple in the Jewish reli-
gion that people and
books must be ran-
somed," said Goshen-
Gottstein. So the Jews
raised the money — no
one knows how much —
and bought the book for
the Jewish library of
Cairo.
In the 14th Century,
the volume was taken to
the Syrian city of Aleppo.
There it received its pre-
sent name — the "Aleppo
Crown" — and became
enshrined in the main
synagogue of the large
Jewish community.
The fame of the codex
spread. Scholars came
from as far away as Po-
land to study it. After the
reformation in the 1500s,
Christians also began to
realize the manuscript's
worth.
The Bible was stored in
a special vault behind the
ark, or repository, of the
synagogue, with an elabo-
rate, multi-keyed lock.
Only when all the leading
rabbis of Aleppo assem-
bled could it be opened.
The crown remained in
Aleppo for more than 500
years. Then, during the
Israeli war of indepen-
dence in 1948, a mob of
enraged Syrians broke
into the synagogue, tore
at the manuscript and set
it ablaze. Word spread
through the world Jewish
community — the Aleppo
Crown codex has been de-
stroyed.
But only about a quar-
ter of the Bible was
burned. The charred
parchments were rescued
and hidden away. About
20 years ago, it was
smuggled out of Syria to
its present home in Is-
rael.
Meanwhile, the n
ABS Bible translatio.,_
known as the "Good News
Bible," strives for a
"meaning-for-meaning"
equivalence, which trans-
lates the meaning of the
Hebrew, Aramaic and
Greek texts into English
that expresses accurately
the same meaning today.
The translators have
used written expressions
that are not likely to be
misunderstood when
read aloud. Difficult
combinations of conson-
ants tongue-twisting
phrases and long strings
of unaccented words have
been excluded.