–,„

56 Friday, March 16, 1979

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

An Oasis in the Communist Desert: Hungarian Rabbi's Writings

By DR. JOSEPH
GUTMANN

"(Editor's note: Dr.
Gutmann is professor of
art and art history at

DR. GUTMANN

Wayne State University. ing Jewish scholar in East-
His book "Hebrew ern Europe, Prof. Scheiber
Manuscript Painting," follows in the footsteps of
published by George , such outstanding Jewish
Braziller, has just been teachers as Berhard Heller,
published in revised Michael Guttmann and
German, Dutch and Wilhelm Bacher, who were
once on the faculty of the
tions.)
French edi
distinguished rabbinical
It is well-known that seminary in Budapest.
Eastern Europe, which was
As director of this semi-
one of the great centers of
Jewish learning at the turn nary since 1950, Scheiber
of the century, has become has valiently tried to main-
an arid desert. Amidst hos- tain its high standards.
tile Communist forces, Among his students is the
however, is a small Jewish present librarian,
oasis, Hungary; and it is Menahem Schmelzer, of the
zealously guarded by one Jewish Theological Semi-
scholar, Rabbi Alexander nary of America in New
York.
Scheiber.

Probably the last remain-

Scheiber is more than

the spiritual guardian of
Hungarian 'Jewry. He is
also a most productive
scholar. His numerous
books and articles deal
with such diverse sub-
jects as the history of
Hungarian Jewry,
Jewish folklore, art,
liturgy and geniza prob-
lems.

Among his contributions
are such solid studies as
"Jubilee Volume in Honour
of Prof. B. Heller" (1941),
the "Kaufmann Haggadah"
facsimile edition (1957) and
the "Corpus Inscriptionum
Hungariae Judaicarum"
(1960).
His latest publication is a

It is hoped that these im-
two-volume-- work entitled
"Folklor es Targytortenet" portant studies, mainly in
(Folklore and Literary Hungarian, will be trans-
Motifs), which appeared in . lated so that an English edi-
1977, in Budapest. It is a col- tion of this work can appear.
lection of 97 previously pub-
lished articles — a small
fraction of Scheiber's more
than 1,200 scholarly arti-
cles and reviews, all con-
veniently listed in an ap-
pendix to Volume 2.
The two volumes cover
such fascinating legendary
subjects and motifs as Sam-
son uprooting a tree, the
donkey ladder in HeberW
manuscripts, the Bible and
folklore, Gyula Juhasz's
poetry and biblical motifs,
Jewish motifs in the work of
Josef Kiss, etc.
RABBI SCHEIBER

Israel's Project Renewal: A Poor Tel Aviv Grandmother's Hope

By ANITA LEBOWITZ -

United Jewish Appeal News '

TEL AVIV — It's three
o'clock in the afternoon and
near the Mediterranean it is
quiet. A few children walk
along_ the seashore picking
up sand, watching the
grains- - slip smoothly
through their fingers. An
old woman, a kerchief over
her thin grey hair, moves
slowly along an alleyway,
. her head down, looking .. .
where?
She sees_a long shadow.
I'm standing just a few
paces in front of her. She
stops.
I say Shabat Shalom. I
• tell her my name, that I'm
an American Jew, that I
have come here to talk to
Tier and to others who - live
here.
She tucks a wisp of hair
back under her kerchief.
Then, "More than 20
years ago, I caul here
with my two sons, my
daughter and one
grandchild from
Morocco."
And your htisband?
s "Poor gentle soul, he died
of a heart attack just a few
weeks before we left for Is-
rael. We lost everything,
left whatever we possessed
behind, you see. Too much
for him."
I'm sorry. Tell me, where
do you live?
"There." She points to the
third shack from the end of

the'second row of shacks.
Alone?
"With my daughter, my
son-in-law and my
grandchildren. I have 20
grandchildren. But here,
there are only seven. I
have three great-
grandchildren also." She
smiles.
How many rooms Ao you
have? -
"Two."
No reproach or complaint. .
Just the simple answer,
"Two."
And the children. Tell me
about the children.
"The girls, they are good
girls."
And the boys?
"They are not bad boys.
Sometimes, they fight.
Often, they are angry.
One, Yoeli, tries very
hard. He's in the army
now, learning to read and
write better."
She " shifts her weight
from one leg to the other.
Do you often take walks?
Your legs, don't they hurt?
"On Shabat, it is only
right that my children have
some time alone. And the
sun is warm today, the sea,
very peaceful."
I can't seem to ask the
questions I need to ask.
Like: how can you stand
this kind of existence?
Wouldn't you like a quiet
piace of your own, a place
you can enter and leave
when you please?
She hag heard the voice

inside me. Slowly, she
raises her head and looks at
me —straight into my eyes.
"Truly, it has not been an
easy time for us . . : and we
have had many unhappy
years.
"In the beginning, we
barely spoke of these
things to each other.
What could we say? Is-
rael saved us: we were
grateful. We hoped things
would get better, though
year after year they
seemed to get no better at
all. And the wars. And
after each war, knowing
A grandmother in a
that it was not the last.
Project Renewal neigh-
"Look at the children. See borhood.
the little one, the girl with
the blue dress? Mine. The me to see her weariness.
"For me, it is too late."
older one next to her is from
Soon, though, her face
Herzlia Pituakh — the
neighborhood just across brightens. "But look at
from ours, the one with the her, at my little
pretty houses and streets. granddaughter. And
She comes here sometimes Yoeli. For them, life is
twice, sometimes three changing for the better
times every week to help my already.'
She squeezes my hand.
granddaughter with her
"You know, other American
school work."
She rubs her knee then Jews have come here. Their
turns her palm up. For the visits are good news: we are
first time, she is permitting not forgotten.".

I tell her that I know
about these Americans.
They visit neighborhoods
around the country to learn
how they can help.
"They ask so many ques-
tions," she tells me.
"They want to know
where the children go to
school, are the schools good,
do they have a place to go
after school, is there enough
clothing and are the chil-
dren warm in the winter .. .
many questions about the
children."
Suddenly, she seems dis-
turhed.
"And I see the faces of
the ones who come into
our house. Their eyes
grow wide when they see
our rooms, the mattres-
ses on the floor. Why do I
feel shame before these
Americans? The house is
clean, everything is in its
place. We do our best."
They are shocked, I say,
because they have never
seen Jews living like this
before:
"Yes," she answers, she
has heard these very words
from the Americans.

You see, I explain, these
visits are all part of a special
effort that the American
Jews, the people of Israel
and Jews aroundthe world
are making to give her chil-
dren the kinds of oppor-
tunities she never had.
There is a name `for it: Proj-
ect Renewal.
What does it mean? She
wants to know.
It means new schools,
homes, special centers
where children and their
families can go for all
kinds of help. It means
that people — 45,000
families in 160 , neighbor-
hoods throughout the
country — will get a sec-
ond chance to begin life
in Israel ... only this
time, with all of the
strong support it was im-
possible to give them for
over 20 years.
"It is good that we have
met," she says. I have seen
life begin to change. And I
have had hope — always ---
for my children. Now this
hope has a name. Project
Renewal. I will,remember
this name."

"

Warsaw Ghetto Mayor's DiaryPubli s g hed

NEW YORK — "An au- bdoi published by Stein and
thentic voice out of the Day: "The Warsaw Diary of
depths of the Holocaust" Adam Czerniakow: Prelude
emerges from the 'secret to Doom."
Describing the diary as "a
journals of Adam Czer-
niakow, mayor of the War- piece of history and book of
saw Ghetto, according to literature," Prof. Hilberg,
Raul G. Hilberg, professor , one of the book's editors,
of political science at the said that it is the "utterly
University of Vermont and real" experience of a man of
an internationally re- integrity who tried to serve
nowned scholar of the Ger- his co-religionists while
man war on the Jews. working with their. German
persecutors.
Prof. Hilberg discussed
the implications of the
Pointing out that "no
"unique documentary re- one else could, have had
cord" left behind by Czer- Czerniakow's perspec-
niakow at a luncheon spon- tive," Dr. Hilberg said
sored by the Anti- that the diary was begun
Defamation Le-ague of Bnai before the Germans
•
Brith to mark the publica- entered Warsaw and was
-Children in their partitioned bedroom in one of tion of an English transla , maintained with entries
tion of the journals in a new nearly every day until
Project Renewal's 160 target neighborhoods.
Czerniakow took his life
rather than obey the Nazi
order to send Jews to
their deaths.
He went on to say thafthe
diary is very revealing
about all phases of ghetto
life, the actions of the vic-
tims as well as their vic-
timizers, as well as of the
difficulty Jewish leaders

had in coming to grips with when the Judenrat, was
the full "horrendous if-111)1i- most efficient in serving
the Ghetto Jews —
cations" of the Nazi "final
solution" to the Jewish eliminating the black
market, educating the
question.
children, improving sani-
Dr. Hilberg described the
tation, finding housing,
"Judenrat" (Jewish Coun-
repairing the synagogue
cil) as a "tool of the
"it also served the
Germans" recognized as Germans," saving them
such by its Jewish officials manpower and finances.
such as Czerniakow who,
The original journals, a
"whether they served out of document about the size
vanity or glory were au-
thin pocket book, were
thentic Jews, not Quislings,
for 22 years following e
who did not hope for a Ger-
war. Acquired in 1964 by
man victory."
the government of Israel,
The diary shows, he said, they were translated into
that Czerniakow and the
Hebrew from the original
others were "neither rotten Polish.
nor blind." He emphasized
The translation into
that Czerniakow, who English -was rendered by
served without salary, re- Stanislaw Staron, professor
ceived no special food and
and chairman of the De 7
even rejected the return of partment of Political Sci-
his former apartment, was ence of the University of
not a fool but foresaw what Vermont, and Josef Ker-
the Germans planned and misz, director of archives at
"when he was nothing but a • the Yad Vashem Memorial
tool, swallowed poison he to the Six Million in
had prepared for this con- Jerusalem.
tingency."
The Stein and Day book
It was a paradoxical was edited by Dr. Hilberg,
situation, according to Dr. Staron and the staff of
Dr. Hilberg, because Yad Vashem.

—

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11

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