56 Friday, January 19, 1919
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Youthful Emphasis on Religion Leads to New Israeli Yeshivot
By DVORA WAYSMAN
o
World Zionist Organization
JERUSALEM — The
Hebrew term is "Baalei
Teshuva" — people who
have returned — and this
strange religious phenome-
non continues to grow from
a quiet trickle in the late
1960s to a significant
movement 10 years later.
The most famous example
is Uri Zohar, one of Israel's
leading actors, comedians,
film and TV stars who re-
cently became Orthodox.
Maintaining his prominent
place in entertainment he
now appears in a skull-cap
and tsitsit (fringes).
Young Jewish men and
women who live at a time
when youth has never had
more freedom in every
sphere and lifestyle are tak-
ing upon themselves all the
restrictions entailed in
being Orthodox Jews.
To cater to these young
people who were thirsty for
knowledge but had little re-
ligious background, a diffe-
rent kind of 'yeshiva' or in-
stitute of Jewish learning
had to be provided, places
where they could start with
the basks.
Many young men - had
no idea how to lay lefil-
lin', girls had no concep-
tion of "kashrut" or what
was involved in keeping a
Jewish home. Tradi-
tional "yeshivot" were
centers of advanced
Jewish learning; they
simply did not provide
what was needed for the
new wave of young
people who came equip-
ped with only a spiritual
hunger.
Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa,
Netanya, Kiryat Shmona,
Rehovot, Beersheba and
Eilat. With its slogan "He
Who Seeks Shall Come and
Learn," it follows the ideals
of the late Chief Rabbi Ab-
raham Isaac Kook — based
on love of Torah, love of the
people and love of the
Homeland.
There is no tuition charge
and all sessions are open to
the public — some classes
are attended by hundreds.
The diversification is both
astonishing and fascinating
. . . academics, clerks,
manual workers, army of-
ficers and members of both
religious and non-religious
kibutzim.
Many of these new
yeshivot began with a few
students gathered around
one teacher. Today, many of
these new yeshivot have
begun to develop their own
communities — Kfar
Chabad; Har Zion (the
Diaspora yeshiva) now has
many young couples and
their children living on or
near the yeshiva; Ohr
Samayach has opened a
community in Givat Ada
with combined work oppor-
tunities; Shlomo Carlebach
has established a moshav
for his followers at Modi-im;
Aish Hatorah is a_ thriving
center of learning support-
ing 70 students in the
Jewish Quarter of the Old
City of Jerusalem.
Machon Meir has opened
institutes of learning in
Headed by rabbinic
scholars, who have all
served in the Israeli De-
fense Forces and re-
ceived training at Mercaz
Harav Kook, it was
begun in 1974 by the Rosh
Yeshiva, Rav Dov Bigon,
who is himself a 'Baal
Teshuva'. Until he was
aged 23, he lived on a
non-religious kibutz near
Hadera.
He began questioning in
high school, but it was dur-
ing his army service, where
Jewish, Monuments in Spain
Achieving Greater Recognition
Spanish National
Tourist Office
Vestiges of more than
1,000 years of enlightened
culture stand today,
alongside the new Jewish
communities in Spain.
Take Toledo, the history-
' filled melting pot of Spain,
an hour's drive from Mad-
rid. With two synagogues,
El Transito, the finest
example of medieval
synagogue art in Europe,
and Santa Maria la Blanca
imbedded in the "Juderia"
or Jewish quarter, ancient
Jewish culture comes alive.
The Sephardic Museum,
adjoining the El Transito
‘ 111.
Shown is a monument
to 11th Century poet
Aben Gabirol in Malaga
by American sculptor H.
Reed Armstrong, who re-
sides in Spain.
Synagogue, is one of the
finest of its type, and is only
paces from El Greco's home
and museum, Spain's sec-
ond most popular art
museum.
Cordoba, the ancient
Moorish capital of Spain,
was a Sephardic center
for 500 years. The
Juderia of white-washed
houses and refreshing
interior courtyards
presses to the very doors
of the Mezquita (Great
Mosque), so popular with
tourists. It is here, in the
Jewish Quarter, that the
patio fair of May is held
successfully each year.
The small but delicate
synagogue, on the Calle
Maimonides, named for
the great Jewish
philosopher-physician
born in Cordoba, is a re-
minder of the golden age
in Sephardic history.
Only 83 miles on national
highway 4 separate the
Juderia of Cordoba from the
old Jewish quarter of
Seville, now called the Bar-
rio de Santa Cruz. This
neighborhood, adjoining the
immense cathedral and
Giralda Tower, have come
to typify Andalucia. The
serpentine streets weave
between white walls, with
lacey, wrought iron grills,
connecting plazas and
serene courtyards, that echo
the ancient Jewish resi-
dents.
The new Jewish Spain
stands side by side with the
traces of the Sephardic cul-
ture. in 1976, Her Majesty,
Queen Sofia of Spain, was
honored by a formal dinner
held at the community cen-
ter of the Beth Yaacov
Synagogue; built a decade
ago in Madrid.
Retired European and
American Jews formed,
in Mallorca of the
Balearic Islands, the
congregation that holds
services at the Hotel
Santa Ana in Palma, a
city rich in Chueta
(Jewish) heritage. In
Malaga, birthplace
nearly 900 years ago of
Aben Gabirol, renowned
Hebrew poet and author
of "Fountain of Life,"
community leaders have
planned a - new
synagogue-community
c enter complex for their
city.
c i
Beth El Synagogue, nes-
tled comfortably between
the Mediterranean and the
mountains in Marbella, was
built by one family's reli-
gious initiative. Completed
just this September, this
small temple reflects the
lasting Sephardic heritage
that is part of Spain.
.
life and death cease to be
just abstract concepts, that
religion began to take on
meaning. When he was de-
mobilized, he went to study
at Mercaz Ha Ray, and later
he influenced his own pa-
rents and many of his
former kibutz comrades to
"return" to Judaism.
A typical student at
Machon Meir is, David
Bruce from Australia.
David, 23, came on aliya in
1977, an economics and -a.c-
counting graduate. He had
some Jewish background,
but had never really ob-
served "mitzvot". He spent a
year on a Habonim kibutz in
1973, and in 1975 returned
for three months, this time
to a religious kibutz.
It had a strong influence,
and when he returned to
Melbourne, he wore a 'yar-
mulke' and studied with the
Lubavitcher movement
there. At Machon Meir, he
is consolidating his Jewish-
ness and finding great satis-
faction and spiritual con-
tent.
David feels that this is
only the beginning, and like
most of the `Baalei
Teshuva', the penitents,
who are virtually re-cycling
Habima
By ILAN SEIDNER
World Zionist Organization
JERUSALEM — Sixty
years have passed since the
formation of Habima, the
first Hebrew national thea-
ter. It was formed during
the Russian civil war in
1918 when chaos ruled the
land and thousands died of
starvation.
Under the leadership of
Nahum Zemach, the 12 ac-
tors that constituted the
theater group struggled
against the hardships of the
time, pouring their souls
and their energies into the
task of making their own
contribution to the modern
renaissance of the Hebrew
langauge through creating
a Hebrew theater.
Within a short time the
group's perseverance pro-
duced results. Stanislayski,
the famous Russian direc-
tor, took an interest in their
work and sent his protege,
Evgeny Vakhtangov, to as-
sist them. Vakhtangov was
an Armenian and though he
did not understand a word of
Hebrew it did not hinder-
him from shaping a cohe-
sive drama group out of the
band of earnest amateurs.
The ensemble's first
premier was played be-
fore the cultural elite of
Moscow, including
Stanislayski, and their
production of "Twilight
of Creation" — a quarte-
nary of one act plays —
made such an impact that
"Habima" was granted_
official recognition as
one of the dramatic
studios of the Moscow
Art Theater.
In a short time the Soviets
had consolidated their
Yeshivat Aish Hatorah
their minds, believes that
these new-type yeshivot
present a framework and a
laboratory in which intelli-
gent young Jews can learn
in Jerusalem's Old City.
about their past, discover
their roots and their iden-
tity and can be excited, not
only by their history, but
also by their own future.
the National Theater
power in Moscow; the ques-
tion arose as to whether the
theater had a right to exist.
The commissars argued
that "Habima" was a "nest
of counter-revolution" in-
terested in promoting the
"language of the Zionists."
The troupe, however, had
staunch friends including
not only Stanislayski but
Maxim Gorki. Shortly after
the successful performances
of the "Dybbuk", Cultural
Commissar Lunarcharsky
awarded them the status of
an official state theater.
The contradictions inher-
ent in being a Hebrew lan-
guage theater in the Soviet
Union committed to
Zionism grew sharper so
that by 1926 the Habima
collective decided to pull up
roots and leave Moscow for
good.
They left on a two-year
tour that took them to all of
the theater capitals of
Europe, where they won
much acclaim, and eventu-
ally brought them to the
United States. It was in
1928 that the differences
that had appeared among
the members of the
ensemble developed into a
full-fledged schism.
Part of the group, led
by its founder Zemach,
wished to stay in America
and bring Hebrew thea-
ter to the masses that
flocked to the already es-
tablished Yiddish stage.
The rest including Hanna
Rovina, Aharon -Meskin,
and Zvi Friedland, were
adamant in their desire to
sail to Palestine and ful-
fill their dream of per-
forming in Hebrew to an
audience that used the
language in everyday
life.
The fortunes of Habima
within the land of Israel ran
parallel to that of the
Jewish population. During
the 1930s, when the influx
of refugees brought money
to the Jewish economy, the
theater prospered and work
was begun on an au-
ditorium. Part of it was only
completed after World War
II.
In 1947, Habima enlisted
some of the world's most dis-
tinguished directors, in-
cluding Tyrone Guthrie and
Harold Clurman to come
and work in Israel.
By the late 1960s, how-
ever, the National Theater
— it was granted that title
in 1957 — had reached an
artistic and financial dead
end. The collective method
of running a professional
theater, whereby every
single decision from the
color of scenery to the reper-
toire had to be voted upon,
was no longer adequate.
Little new blood was
allowed to enter the
closely-knit ensemble
framework and the re-
pertoire was stale and
lacking in experimenta-
tion. Because it was the
National Theater e
government decidt ,o
step in and reorganize
Habima.
In 1969, they disbanded
the collective and appointed
Gabriel Cifroni general
manager, while British di-
rector, David Williams, was
chosen to be artistic direc-
tor. Since then Habima has
received an expanded and
refurbished auditorium,
has begun to produce con-
troversial Israeli plays and
has been operating in the
black.
.