56 Friday, August 19, 1977 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS The Bible as A Guide for U.S. Democracy Defined in Dr. Katsh's Factual Compilation Dr. Abraham I. Katsh. the recently retired presi-_ dent of Dropsie University, Philadelphia. enriches the classical bookshelf contain- ing his numerous scholarly works with the newest, just published by Ktay. which properly belongs to the era of the American Bicenten- nial, While it deals with the his- torical aspects of American Jewish history and there- fore especially fits into the Bicentennial theme, it is a title, "The Biblical Heri- tage of American Democ- racy," that belongs to more than one age. It is rooted in experienc8 that enhance the American and Jewish relationships. The impact\of Hebraic in- fluences on Western Civ- ilization and on the Puri- tans in the New World are reliably developed by Dr. Katsh, whose authoritative DR. ABRAHAM KNISH role both as Bible scholar and a master of Hebraic lore fortify him with qual- ifications to define this in- teresting subject. Dr. Katsh's new book is not only informative: it will delight the readers with the numerous historical in- _ cidents outlined in it. There are the chapters on U.S. place names derived. from Scripture and words and phrases in English that stem from Hebraic sources. Both these chapters are ap- pendices to a volume of great merit which also is en- hanced by a series of illus- trations which have historic significance. Among the Bible place names listed for a Michigan grouping are: Beulah, East Jordan, Eben Junction, Eden, Naza- reth, Olivet. Omer, Ruth, Salem and Samaria. There is genuine fascina- tion in Appendix A with a listing of "Hebrew Words and Phrases in English." Their compilation will elicit gratitude from readers of the notable Katsh book. Here are some of them: "As a drop in the bucket" (Isa. 40:15); "a land flow- ing with milk and honey" (Exod. 3:8); "a still, small voice" (I Kings 19:12); "the way of all the earth" (Josh. 23:14). "the peoples arose as one man" (.Judg. 20:8):"there is nothing new under the sun" (Eccles. 1:9); "a tale that is told" (Ps. 9 0:9 ); "darkness which may be felt" (Exod. 4:21); "vanity of vanities" (Eccles. 1:2); "the apple of his eye" (Deut. 32:10): "a man after his own heart" (I Sam. 13:14); "how are the mighty fallen" (II Sam. 1:25). The illustrations, ap- pended as a 20-page supple- ment, are a fascination in an instructive book. They in- clude reproductions of no- table historic documents and the explanatory notes for them provide inter- esting studies of cultural in- terests in Hebrew lore. f-, Vra .01 miz4e/ C/9 eZ.....46 0 4817 prayer), and he would pull them into paradise. I will relate briefly two typical Hasidic tales: The holy Mayerl of Prze- mysl always prayed for sin- ners and begged God that he forgive their trans- gressions. God, of course, at all times fulfilled May- erl's wishes. Once the holy Rebbe pleaded for a hard- ened sinner, but "God this time simply would not for- give. The Mayerl — just think of it — actually stamped his foot at God. And the man was immedi- ately pardoned." The holy Reb Naftali of Ropshitz had a low opinion of the Russian, Hungarian and German languages. He considered Russian as the embodiment of "retsikhe" (violence), Hungarian of "niyef" (debauchery) and German of "apikorses" (un- belief ). He mused, "German re- sembles our Yiddish, but only in the same way as a monkey resembles a man." vilt)Ndi TYYJ In •zY), O'N) - 7 -7)n -7-nm -Ty] ■ IlvvP n),)1-/pa ..mvp Ifirrthi 7S 01>vi Ivy •› nth 77 ill 5 , z4v_i •i)t),A,0111./2-t 717-0 1.111 ti iTh2 TLY CrrlDW c7Swn .r75 7-v Old Tales of Hasidim Published in 'Nine Gates' of the "Nine Gates" is a Ha- By ALLEN A. WARSEN Jiri Langer's "Nine Gates sidic rebbe. In the "First to the Chassidic Mys- Gate" Reb Sholem, the teries," translated by Step- founder of the Belzer dy- hen Jolly (Behrman House) nasty, is the principal char- is a collection of well-nar- acter. Belz, it is worth noting, rated Hasidic tales. Langer was born in was a small Galician town Prague in 1894 and died in regarded as "the Jewish Tel Aviv in 1943. He was Rome, captial of a state- the younger brother of within a state." There Reb Frantisek Langer, the noted Sholem and his descendents Czech writer who is ranked ruled until the Second with Karel Capec. World War. In his "Foreword" Franti- According to a legend the sek describes with great in- office of Reb Sholem, be- sight the gradual process of fore he became Belzer Jiri's becoming a Belzer Rebbe, was managed by a Hasid. He notes that Jiri "messiah." Hasidim and was brought up in a cultur- Cabalists generally believe ally assimilated and reli- that there is a "messiah" giously indifferent family, in every generation who although they observed leads a solitary life and no kashrut. "This was mainly one knows of his existence. due to Julia, a devout Chris- According to another leg- tian, who during her youth end, the prophet Elijah in- had worked for our aunt, a - itiated Reb Sholem "into strict Jewess, and who saw the inscrutable mysteries of to it that we observed not the Cabala and gave him only the proper regulations the keys of the celestial regarding food but also gates." The Hasidim, as already other precepts of the Jew- mentioned, followed their ish religion." own practices and obser- Frantisek writes that after the First World War vances. Reb Sholem's adhe- Franz Kafka and Jiri be- rents, for instance, never came close friends. And dur- completely covered their ing the Second World War, chests as "the heart Must always be open." Neither in Tel Aviv after their flight from Nazi barbarism, Max did they wind the "retsua" (leather strap) of the hand Brod and Jiri became close phylactery towards them- companions. In Tel Aviv, too, Jiri translated into selves, but always towards Hebrew his Hasidic tales their neighbors, as they con- and published a volume of sidered this observance an his collected Hebrew verses act of unselfishness. titled "Ma'at Tsori" (A The Belzer Hasidim be- Little Balsam). lieved that after death their rebbe, by an ingenious oper- "Nine Gates to the Chas- ation, would lead them into sidic Mysteries" consists of the Garden of Eden. They tales about Hasidism, Hasid- ic rebbes, their beliefs and were convinced that as soon as they would arrive practices. in the "hereafter," they The tales are described would "catch hold of the vividly and eloquently. The central figure in each gartel" (belt worn during 1 n)1? la IR ell" iwyry ituw c• - • ;Iwo) nt .)8) tD)py The above Hebrew letter was written by then Secretary of State John Hay in response to a rabbi's letter thanking him for helping the persecuted Jews of Rumania. It reads: "Your letter I have received Man of God and I was happy that my .efforts have found favor in your eyes if they are for your persecuted brethren in the kingdom of Romania. Peace unto you and your congregation the Sons of Moses. I hereby request of the Lord God that he bless bless (sic) the people of your conversant that are in Evansville in all their endea- vors whether words or deeds. And may -the God of peace be with you forever. And I am your beloved." Pure Children: The Horror of the Lebensborn By DR. MILTON STEINHARLYT Of Pure Blood" by Clari- ssa Henry and Mark Hillel (McGraw-Hill) and "Chil- dren of the SS." by Mark Hillel and Clarissa Henry (Hutchinson), though with different titles, are identi- cal, and written by man and wife—the first was pub- lished in the U.S. and the second in England—both translated from French. - If ever one thought that he is aware of all the in- dignities, arrogance, hor- rors, cruelties,_and murder associated with the "mas- ter race" then he has not read the books by Clarissa Henry and Mark Hillel. The authors narrate the execu- tion of a policy pro- mulgated by Himmler to in- crease Germanic Nordic stock—with blue eyes and blond hair—capable of do- minating the world for a thousand years. The Nazis, with usual me- thodical zeal, attacked their objective from __several points of -view, and the exe- cution of this sinister and comprehensive plan is briefly reviewed. 'The first effort was to in- crease the birthrate by mak- ing abortion illegal; encour- aging early marriage; giv- ing mothers of five or more children special awards. The second, to establish special Lebensborn homes—the purpose being to allow unmarried preg- nant women to deliver and nurse their children. The third, to attract spe- cially selected young women to live in these homes for the purpose of impregnation so that they may offer a child to Hitler. Needless to say, the privi- leged males with access to the young women were the SS and the Wehrmacht. Many of the young, unmar- ried women developed a re- ligious frenzy to offer a child to Hitler for the sake of racial supremacy. While it pleased the simple, faithful, and those curious about sanctioned sex experiences. the towns- people, becoming aware of the activities at close range, regarded the homes as disguised brothels, baby factories, and stud farms. The object of the Nazi hi- erarchy was to increase the German population for more cannon fodder and ul- timate world domination. But in order to assure world superiority, one must diminish the productivity, fertility, and survival of the "undesirables" such as Jews, Poles, Russians, and others. To accomplish the latter, additional measures were adopted. Standards for determin- ing desirability included cer- tain measurements and ratio of the nose and cheek bones, as well as blue eyes and blond hair, but the main factor was - favorable impression." Physical attri- butes were the most impor- tant in the selection of thou- sands of youngsters ordered to certain camps under vari- ous disguises and sub- terfuges. The "desirables", only a small percentage of the total rounded up, were taken to special homes or sent for adoption to various Nazi families in Germany. The others, the less fortu- nate majority, were liquidat- ed in the most cruel fash- ion—for example, by plac- ing the children, thinly clad, in unheated barracks in the wintertime. What could not be accom- plished by official corn- mand was done by illegal kidnapping of Aryan-type children. Pubescent girls were given hormones to has- ten maturity. In one in- stance the mood of the mothers was so desperate that they laid themselves on the train tracks to pre- vent the departure of their kidnapped children. They were driven away with the aid of dogs and clubs. The authors document their material with full de- tails from archives, letters, and reports from witnesses, nurses, mothers, and some of the adopted children. Many of the records were kept secret by the Nazis for obvious reasons, and most documents were burned in the final days of Hitler. This explains why. during the trials in 1947, many of the perpetrators of the Le- bensborn and other illicit ac- tivities could not be con- victed. com- additional An plication was the fact initially the LebensL posed as a charitable organ- ization to help pregnant un- married women, and un- doubtedly that was the case at the start. Clarissa Henry was taken to America from Britain during the war years. Mark Hillel i is a young journalist who assisted in the clandes- tine immigration of Jewish survivors to Palestine after the war. Both performed a highly creditable task of bringing to light all the data on this difficult proj- ect.