THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Soviet Jewish Radio Announcer
Is Proud of Role as Propagandist

Priests Banned
from Medicine

B.H.

"THE CHEDER DINNER"

By RABBI SAMUEL FOX

(Copyright 1977 JTA , Inc.)

MOSCOW — Yuri B. Levi-
tan's deep, baritone voice
has for 46 years kept mil-
lions of radio listeners in the
Soviet Union aware of both
L_____,raws and propaganda. His
e informed listeners of
)..,,e Nazi attack on the
Soviet Union in 1941, and
again of the Red Army's
occupation of Berlin four
years later, according to
Craig R. Whitney of the
New York Times.
Levitan has lived through
the regimes of Stalin,
• Malenkov and Khrushchev
and today he announces
mostly Leonid Brezhnev's
major pronouncements. He
sayd he reads only what his
superiors tell him to read,
and his view of the role of
• journalism is loyalty to offi-
cial doctrine.
Levitan is a Jew, and
when he was asked whether
he has ever suffered
because of his ethnicity, he
said, "How? I have made
,_ some of the most important
announcements in the his-
tory of our country. I have
been decorated for my
work, I get extra pay for it,
I have a dacha (country
house) and a car of my own
— is that discrimination?"

He joined the Communist
Party in 1941, and his broad-
casts during the war earned
him a place in the official
Soviet encyclopedia, "for
their great propaganda
importance." Now, at age
63, he still reads the news
broadcasts and led the state
radio team during the Nov.
7 anniversary of the 1917
revolution.

Levitan remembers great
historical events as the high
points of his career, as he
4,1 recalls with special detail
- the Second World War. The
early months of the war
brought mostly news of
defeat. The Soviet govern-
ment seized all private
radio receivers, so those
who heard Levitan's broad-
f.. casts did so mostly over
public loudspeakers.
"I was shown German
propaganda leaflets in
- wY
Hitler told his sol-
that when Moscow
was captured, Levitan_

would be one of the first to
be hanged," he said. "I was
also told that Hitler wanted
to take me to Germany and
make me announce the fall
of Moscow from Berlin."

In 1943 the tide had turned
against the Germans, and

The "powerful, emotional
influence of Levitan's
voice," the Soviet encyclo-
pedia says, contributed to
the victory.

Stalin was the only one of
the Soviet Union's leaders
whom Levitan said he knew
personally. "He came to the
studio to make his
speeches," he said, "and I
always introduced him over
the same microphone he
used."

When Stalin died in March
1953, it was Levitan who
read that news, and when
the official speeches
denouncing the leader and
his crimes began, Levitan
read that news as well.

YURI LEVITAN

on May 8, 1945, he recalls,
the authorities ordered him
not to leave the office. "At 2
a.m. we announced 'Vic-
tory, dear comrades. Ger-

In news broadcasts, he
said, "everything is pre-
pared for us by the news
editors or by Tass. An
announcer is a propagan-
dist, an agitator, as well as
an artist. What is important
is how yOu say what you are
given to read."

Jewish tradition forbids a
Kohen (a descendant of the
priestly family of Aaron, the
original High Priest ) from
studying medicine because
the courses in pathology
require medical students to
come in contact- with and
handle dead bodies and
their parts.
By Biblical laws (Levi-
ticus 21:1) a Kohen (priest )
is forbidden to come in con-
tact with dead bodies.
Thus he would not be able
to fulfill his requirements in
the study of medicine.
Since there are ample
numbers of candidates who
do fulfill the needs for appli-
cants in medical schools, a
Kohen is restricted from
this pursuit:
Should there be a short-
age of such candidates
which might in turn have an
effect on the safety and sur-
vival of human life, there
might be some exception to
this rule. In such a case, the
proper rabbinic authorities
would have to be consulted.
According to Jewish law,
even the High Priest is
required to attend to a
corpse when there is no one
else to take care of it (i.e.
Mes Mitzva ). - -

REUBEN FRANKEL
CANTOR/SINGER
Guest Entertainer

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Chairman

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7:30 p.m.

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Jewish Obligation to Pray Derived From Bible

By RABBI SAMUEL FOX

(Copyright 1177, JTA, Inc.)

According to Maimonides,'
prayer is an obligation
which is directly com-
manded in the Bible. The
commandment in the Book
of Deuteronomy "to serve
Him (the Almighty) with all
your heart" is interpreted to
mean that a Jew is obli-
gated to pray to the
Almighty.
Prayer is the means by
which a Jew serves the
Almighty with his heart.
According to some author-
ities prayer is a means of
acquiring a greater amount
and better quality of ben-
efits from the Almighty
(Sefer ha-Chinukh).
It is also said that prayer
is a means by which a Jew
affirms his faith that there
is only one absolute source
of benefit and blessing, i.e.,
the Almighty. Others say

Please, Get in . Touch With Me.

By ROSE B. KAUFMAN

°You packed your _brown bag and shouted "goodbye"
You slammed the screen door with tears in your
eyes.

You said, "I must live my own life, can't you see
I must try to find out what life holds for me"

, l. just want to know are you feeling okay
I Are you hungry or eating three meals every day

I just want to know if you're doing all right
Are you lonely or crying for love every night

,

many is defeated. Victory!'
and the lights went on
immediately all over
Moscow."

Friday, November 25, 1977 53

Do you think of the past and wish you were home
,,,Are you happy at last, I wish you would phone
(-)
( ,,
-I placed many ads with prayers, you can see
That I love you so much, Please, get in touch, dear,
with me.

that player is a means of
man's recognition that he
needs the Almighty.
Some commentaries con-
tend that prayer is a means
of sacrifice on the part of
man. Indeed, prayer always
accompanied the sacrifieces
in ancient times. Also, when
a Jew prays and acknowl-
edges that his only hope is
energy.

Some also say that prayer
serves as the connecting
link between man and the
Almighty. It is the bridge

through which the human-
divine relationship is expe-
rienced by man.
Still others maintain that
prayer is the means of
man's self-expression.
Indeed, man's innermost
feelings crave some sort of
expression. While man may
not be ready to express his
innermost feelings by con-
fiding in other people, his
prayer to the Almighty
gives him a mode of expres-
sion in the private and
direct relationship between
himself and the Almighty.

r

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WEI AST

The Synagogue of Venice

By YEHUDA AMICHAI

(From the book "Amen" published by
Harper and Row)

This synagogue knows of all the many waters
That cannot put out this. love.

From

I cover my head with my arm,
Which comes out of my shoulder, not far from my
heart.

No need for a skullcap. Many thanks. This
Is a museum. This is an empty grave
Of those who rose out of it
For resurrection or new death.

Paste in old label

TO:

No need for beautiful glass jewelry
From the island of Murano. This multicolored
Blowing-up is the terrible cancer
Of glass and memory.
One window for dim light is enough.

After that to be very quiet
Like a buoy at the water's gate,
To warn of gold and of love
And of days of youth never returning—

A head of longing afloat and bobbing slowly
On all the many and torpid waters.

NAME

L

Please Allow Two Weeks