THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Frida
August 5, 1977 5
Menuhin Biography Long on Naivete, Short on Feeling
By MARGUERITE K.
CHAJES
(Editor's Note: The review-
er of the autobiography of
Yehudi Menuhin, Marguer-
ite Kozenn Chajes, is a dis-
tinguished musician and
presently holds a profes-
sorial post in music in Ger-
many. She has written and
lectured on musical topics
and is a former opera sing-
er. She ' divides her resi-
dences between Oak'Park,
when she visits her family
here, and Vienna, Austria.
Ms. Chajes postponed writ-
ing this review until she re-
turned from her most re-
/agent Detroit visit to Vienna
Win order to double check on
the articles the elder Moshe
Menuhin, who is violently
anti-Israel, had written for
the neo-Nazi press there.)
VIENNA Violinist Yeh-
udi Menuhin, American
born "citizen of the world,"
owes his first name to an
anti-Semitic slur of a land-
lady in Bronx Park, N.Y.
His parents Moshe and Ma-
rutha had already agreed to
rent an apartment, when
suddenly the landlady said:
"YoU'll be glad to know, I
don't take Jews!"
Then and there Mrs. Men;
thin vowed that "her un-
born child would wear a
label proclaiming his race
to the world ! He would be
called `Yehudi', the Jew in
Hebrew!"
In his autobiographic
book "Unfinished Journey"
(Knopf) the 61-year-old art-
ist poignantly depicts his
life, career, his insights and
actions and the meetings
with world renowned per-
sonalities of the arts, sci-
ences and politics during
the past five =decades.
Some of his descriptions
are controversial and make
the reader wonder about
Yehudi's naivete and quiXo-
tesque actions and reac-
tions.
He refers frequently and
lovingly to his "Jewish par-
ents and Jewish up-bring-
-
For Custom Drapery
Cleaning, Call
DRAPERY CLEANERS
"MI That The Nome liege:"
We Also
Wash & Finish
Drip Dry Curtaini
Professionally
WE DO ALL THE WORK
REMOVE AND INSTALL
891-1818
Suburban Call Collect
Reverse Charges
• e • zprea s
• Lampshades
Cleaned — Recovered or Relined
• Window Shades
Cleaned & Replaced
• Blankets
Laundered & Fluffed
& CARRY DISCOUNT
11410JOS. CAMPAU
. 3 blks. E. of 1-75
Caniff/Holbrook exit
Free Parkin. in Rear
Traci* Member
American Society of
Interior Designers
(A.S.1.D.)
ing" and yet one can also
learn that "my mother was
determined that no burden
of the past, either claims of
relations or Jewish tradi-
tion, should encumber her
children"..."We did not ob-
serve Jewish customs..." In-
'
YEHUDI MENUHIN
ternational music critics,
radio and TV interviewers
are so impressed by Yeh-
udi's apparent strong devo-
tion to Judaism, that they
mention it as the out-
standing feature in his biog-
raph y.
Hs i father Moshe, born in
Gomel, Russia, was a de-
scendant of the Lubavitcher
Rabbis. At the age of 11- he
left Russia for Palestine,
where he spent eight years.
Upon his arrival in the
states he -earned his liveli-
hood as a "mejamed."
While studying in Tel
Aviv, he met Manitha Sher
and fell in love with this
proud, beautiful and adven-
turous girl. In New York
they met again and mar-
ried.
Mrs. Menuhin likened her-
self as a descendant. of
Cherkessians, Circassians
and. Tartars, Turkish-Asian ,
people living North of the
Caucasus. She seems to
have been attracted more
to those rather "wild" peo-
ples than to the Crimean
Jews, from whom she ac-
tually descended.
"Every home we ever
lived in had a kind of
harem, where mother
would dress in silken Turk-
ish trousers, clipped with a
silver belt".
Up till Yehudi's third
year (he was born in 1916)
Hebrew was the language
at home. His sister was
called Hephzibah (in Hebr-
ew: the desired one); there
is another sister "Yalta"
most likely named after-the
area in the Crimea.
One would assume that
with such a Jewish-Hebrew
background and the resi-
dence of the family in Jew-
ish quarters in New Jersey
and San Francisco, their ac-
quaintances and especially
their Jewish benefactors,
the Menuhin family would
remain faithful to Jewish
traditions.
However, it seems that
the contrary to • Menuhin's
descriptions. of the "Jewish
home atmosphere" actually
happened. All three chil-
dren married out oftheir
di's
faith twice and Yehu
daughter with the Hebrew
name "Zamira" (song
bird) was married to a Chi-
nese musician.
Yehudi's first wife Nola
NicholaS was an Australian,
whose "father was a re-
markable person, upright
with Protestant prin-
ciples"...she was "an enor-
mously energetic girl...with
physical vigor" of people
who live much out doors."
Yehudi fell in love with her
and married her as soon as
possible. Two children were
born to them, when he "sud-
denly cannot conceal the
straints upon our home."
"Nola would make reser-
vations at supper clubs,
whose soft music and hard
drink created a goyishe
Lethe that filled me with ex-
istential alarm".
The phrase "goyishe
Lethe" proves that Yehudi,
who had never attended
any public or private
schools, had acquired an ex-
traordinary education and
knowledge from his private
tutors. He continuously
read and studied.
Lethe is a little stream in
classical mythology, the
river of forgetfulness from
which souls drank before
being born.
On the other hand the
words "goyishe Lethe'.' also
proves his naivete. Sud-
denly he is nostalgic for the
close knit "Jewish" home
environment. He recalls so
often the Jewish atmos-
phere, but one is at loss to
understand what he meant!
He never mentions the ob-
servance of the Sabbath or
Jewish holidays or any tra-
ditional or specific Jewish
features.
. Both parents earned
money by preparing boys
for Bar Mitzva, but Yehudi
apparently never cele-
brated his Bar Mitzva; in
any case he does not men-
tion' it at all.
At home the parents and
the three children had a rou-
tine, where they worked
and practiced at the same
time, where all of them re-
•laxed, took walks together
and went early to bed.
Would he consider this rou-
_ tine as a typical Jewish
one?
Yehudi started to play the
violin at the age of four and
had the -once 'in a life-time
chance to find teachers and
sponsors who helped him in
his fabulous career, until
the 1950s., The interest in
his performances has con-
siderably diminished ever
since.
Presently he heads a
music school in England,
partly • supported by the
Wolfson and other founda-
tions and helped by' the.
Swiss-Israeli bank. Occa-
sionally he plays sonatas
with Hephzibah and also
conducts, but he admits
that he is not a first-rate
conductor.
"Unfinished
the
In
Journey" he describes the
various audiences ,through-
out the world. He calls the
Israelis "the greatest indi-
vidualists; they are only dis-
senters. As one looks along
the front row of the Fred-
rick Mann Auditorium in
Tel Aviv, one sees someone
madly applauding; his
neighbor, arms folded, re-
mains unconvinced".
Again his naivete amazes
and amuses ! Before coming
to Israel for appearances
throughout the country, he
gave a concert for the ben-
efit of Arab refugees in Lon-
don.
Some years ago, many Is-
raeli concert subscribers
would have chosen to ig-
nore his concerts and a pre-
sentation of the Beethoven
violin concerto, but they
liked the Italian conductor
Carlo Maria Giulini so
much that they attended
the concert for the latter's
sake.
In the biography, Yehudi
mentions his father's mili-
angles so very much...in '
despair or in atonement?
"The Israelis are terroriz-
ing Egypt, Jordan, Syria
and the Lebanon...they are
terrorizing the Arabs and
preparing those from the
East of the JordanRiver for
slavery, as are their coun-
try-men, who live West of
the Jordan..."
He quotes people who
most likely don't exist as
they exclaim: "The Israelis
are always talking about
the old Nile-Euphrates bor-
der of the Holy Lank what
they actually want is an em-
pire that includes Saudi
Arabia as well as Kuwait
and the Iraquian oil
wells...in reality a Greater
Eretz Yisrael..."
One wonders why Yehudi
Menuhin, in his biography,
has stressed the Jewish
The bashful cannot learn,
nor can the quick-tempered
teach.
—Hillel
BIG SELECTION!
GOWN
Waking : - Parlyr-Ber Mit:ea
$ 39 TO'$139
ALL SIZES
SHAN DELS
154 SOUTH WOODWARD (Nr. Maple)
BIRMINGHAM
MI 2-4150
OMEGA
N. N.
/
MARGUERITE CHAJES
tart anti-Zionism. He fails
to inform the readers, and
one certainly can sympa-
thize with him, that Moshe
Menuhin has written
against Israel and her inter-
national friends and suppor-
ters the most vicious and
dangerous items for the
"German National Zei-
tung, the last anti-Jewish
newspaper in Germany.
Moshe Menuhin was the
head of the cultural-politi-
cal department of that
paper, but he quit in protest
when some years ago the
chief editor • "com-
promized" and recognized
the UN resolutions con-
cerning the Israeli-Arab 'con-
flicts.
Some of "Aba - Menuhin's
phrases from the . National
Zeitung read as follows:
;'•
Daily—Hospital
/
Sympathy
FRUIT
BASKETS
/
/
3 Times Daily
/
/
Nation-Wide
Delivery
/
/
/
/
/
$13.95
RODNICK-
McINERNEY'S
779-4140 772-4350
N. N.
Agency'
Official
/
/
N
To 44
/
/
George
Ohrenstein
Jewelers Ltd.
Creative Jewelers Diamonds -- Precious
Stones
Precision - Time Pieces
HARVARD ROW MALL
353-3146
11 Mile & Lallser
.
SUPER SPECIAL!„
100 NEW YEAR CARD FOLDERS
Engraved
with
your name
$595
Hebrew Book &Gift Center
SPITZER'S
I Don't Want to Sell You A Car.
I Want To Help You Buy One.
11 mite & Lahser, Southfield
Harvard Row
356-6080 Open All Day Sunday
You work hard for your money.
So do I.
But I don't think that a low price
alone is enough to get you to
spend your money at Jerry
Glassman Olds, or any other
car dealership.
I believe people want to
buy their car from a
dealership they can put
their trust in. A dealership
'that'll work as hard for their
money as they did. Making sure
things are right — before, during
and after the sale.
When you visit Glassman Olds,
we'll help you pick out a car that's
right for the kind of driving you do.
Then we'll quote you a fair price. A
price as low as any in town.
Maybe lower.
And, after the sale, you'll find
Our smiles are just as wide,
our handshakes just as friendly
when you come in for a free
warranty check.
That's the way I run things at
Jerry Glasstnan Oldsmobile.
Come in and see for yobrself.
Glassman Oldsmobile
12 Mile and Telegraph
Phone (313) 354-3300