120 Friday, September 12, 1980
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
A Jew in Spirit St. John's Lifetime in Defense of Jewry
By GLORIA CHARNES
(Copyright 1980, JTA, Inc.)
They ask him all the time.
How is it that you, a gen-
tile, are so absorbed in
Jewish causes?
And when they find out
that his wife Ruth is Jewish,
they smile knowingly. "Ah
ha, so that's the reason he's
interested in us."
But they're wrong.
Ruth is not a cause; she's
an effect. His devotion to
Israel pre-dates Ruth by
at least a score of years.
Why, then, are Israel and
the Jewish people his
highest priorities?
Robert St. John, noted
writer and lecturer, ex-
plains: In one night of un-
precedented carnage, while
he was an Associated Press
correspondent in Romania
early in 1941, the fascist
Iron Guard rounded up
hundreds of Jews and
butchered them in a
slaughterhouse at the edge
of Bucharest. When St.
John learned of this gro-
tesque savagery the next
morning, he did some criti-
cal thinking.
"I realized I had been born
into a group that had been
doing this sort of thing for
2,000 years and, therefore,
had to share responsibility.
I promised myself that if I
lived out the war, I'd spend
the rest of my life trying to
atone for the sins of my
people, for the monstrous
atrocities committed in
Bucharest by men
presumably exposed to
Christian precepts they had
so barbarically violated."
Former newspaper editor
and publisher, foreign
correspondent, radio and
TV commentator, he re-
ported the liberation of
Paris, and as an NBC
broadcaster, St. John was
the first to announce to the
world the signing of the
armistice that ended World
War II. He has seen evil, re-
corded it, and managed to
survive.
Arriving in Yugoslavia
one step ahead of the
Nazis, he was in Belgrade
when that city was raided
by a surprise attack of
the Luftwaffe. Fleeing
the country in a 20-foot
sardine boat obtained in
trade for an automobile,
he was machine-gunned
by the Nazis. "The bul-
RUTH, ROBERT ST. JOHN
lets, which I refuse to let
any doctor remove, are
still in my right leg to re-
mind me, when it hits a
nerve, of certain events I
don't want to forget."
St. John pauses. "This all
sounds like ancient history.
And to the present genera-
tion," he reflects sorrow-
fully, "perhaps it's not only
ancient history, but un-
known history."
As a journalist in Israel,
he covered the fighting in
1948, 1956, 1973, experi-
ences which intensified his
loyalties and affection for
5740's Ten Best Jewish Books
tion for the Israeli Secret
Service.
The Jewish books of this
THE BOOKS OF
past year are characterized RACHEL by Joel Gross
by their sense of looking (Seaview). The best first
backward. Writers are seek- novel by a Jewish writer
ing to understand the pre- this year, "The Books of
sent by examining the past, Rachel" is an historical
to make sense of the present chronicle covering- 500
Jewish situation by deter- years of Jewish history and
mining its context. Perhaps is told through the records
this is a sign of uncertain of a remarkable Jewish
feelings about the future woman.
FROM GENERATION
and a confusion about the
TO GENERATION by Ar-
present.
Jewish books continue to thur Kurzweil (Morrow).
be numerous and of high This valuable book corn-
quality, although there is bines a reference guide to
not enough material for Jewish genealogy and fam-
pre-school Jewish children ily history with a very mov-
nor enough adult fiction ing personal account of the
with positive Jewish heroes. author's search for his own
Here, then, is a list of the Jewish roots.
10 best Jewish books of
THE SHTETL trans-
5740:_
lated and edited by Joachim
TOWARD THE HORI- Neugroschel (Richard
ZON by Charles Angoff Marek). This volume aims
(A.S. Barnes). This is the to portray the reality, not
late author's-11th novel in the stereotype, of small
his Polonsky series. The town and ghetto Jewish life
volumes trace the history of through a series of tales
Anti-Semitism in America. from the last several cen-
This book is particularly in- turies. Much of this excel-
teresting because in it the lent material appears for
hero confronts the anti- the first time in English.
Semitism felt by his family.
OF BLOOD AND
SHULA: CODE NAME HOPE by Samuel Pisar
THE PEARL by Aviezer (Little, Brown). This is an
Golan and Danny Pinkas autobiographical account of
(Delacorte Press). This is an a Holocaust survivor. His
exciting, true-life spy story fascinating tale of the war
about the "Mata Hari of the years, the black market and
Middle East," Shula Cohen, his eventual triumph as a
a young housewife, smuggl- presidential adviser goes
ing Jewish refugees into Is- beyond one man's story to
rael from Lebanon and ob- explore the lessons the
taining valuable informa- Holocaust has for the con-
By LAWRENCE EPSTEIN
(A Seven Arts Feature)
-
temporary world.
BREAKING RANKS: A
POLITICAL MEMOIR by
Norman Podhoretz- (Harper
& Row). "Commentary's"
famous editor traces his
political development from
liberalism to radicalism to
neo-conservatism and in
doing so offers valuable in-
sights into American Jew-
ry's continuing political un-
rest.
FROM BERLIN TO
JERUSALEM:
MEMORIES OF MY
YOUTH by Gershom
Scholem (Schocken Books).
One of Israel's foremost
scholars — an expert in
Jewish mysticism — traces
his intellectual develop-
ment. His decision to move
to the Land of Israel is told
with special beauty.
NEXT YEAR IN
JERUSALEM by Avital
Shcharansky with Ilana
Ben-Josef (Morrow). This
brief account details vividly
the life of Soviet Jews, their
passion for Jewish culture
and their desire to emigrate
to Israel. The book is tinged
with sadness as it tells of
Anatoly Shcharansky's con-
tinuing imprisonment.
THE THIRTEEN-
PETALLED ROSE by
Adin Steinsaltz (Basic
BookS). This difficult yet
rewarding book attempts to
deal comprehensively with
all aspects of the Jewish
religion, including such di-
verse subjects as angels, the
soul and Torah.
the people and their land.
During the Yom Kippur
War, a memory, searingly
etched: A young cellist,
turned soldier, demanded:
"Do you understand what
we are fighting for? Not
only for the survival of Is-
rael. Not only for the survi-
val of Jews wherever they
may live. But also for the
survival of certain princi-
ples which you Americans,
whether or not you are
Jewish, at least pretend to
believe in."
An infinitely compas-
sionate man, with vast
sensitivity for the perse-
cuted and the hunted, he
is pained by those who
are forced to endure op-
pression. Witnessing the
flight of refugees from
Nazi invaders in Eastern
Europe left him a
heartfelt sympathizer
with victims of tyranny
everywhere.
As a child growing up in
Oak Park, Ill., a suburb di-
rectly west of Chicago, he
suffered the anguish of not
belonging. Oak Park, an
ultra-conservative commu-
nity, was split by two sets of
railroad tracks.
"Those who lived south of
the second were regarded as
undesirable, unworthy of
association." He recalls the
wounds that never quite
healed. "We lived in a small
house on an unpaved street
on the wrong side of both
tracks. Our family physi-
cian was Ernest Heming-
way's father, but I never
played with Ernest. He
lived in the north part of the
village, two notches socially
higher than us."
A skilled writer, many of
St. John's best-sellers have
been translated into a half
dozen languages. Of his 20
books, 11 concern Israel, the
Middle East or Jewish
topics. His highly inform-
ative, "Jews, Justice and
Judaism," recounts the his-
tory of American Jewry and
their vital contributions to
America.
David Ben-Gurion,
Abba Eban and Eliezer
Ben-Yehuda are the sub-
jects of three of his biog-
raphies.
"In more than 50 years as
a reporter," he acknowl-
edges, "I've interviewed
famous heroes and villains
but I've been in the presence
of greatness only five times.
Ben-Gurion was one of the
great ones." The others?
"Mohandas Gandhi, Albert
Einstein, Helen Keller, Al-
bert Schweitzer. You sensed
their greatness the moment
they entered the room."
During his conversations
with Abba Eban, St. John
observed that the former
Foreign Minister and pre-
sent Knesset member is
"one of the few people keep-
ing the English language
alive. I am tired of trying to
converse with people who
have a vocabulary of 600
words. It's tremendously
gratifying to be compelled
to go to the dictionary and
look up a word after talking
to Eban."
Articulate and un-
swerving in his support
of Israel, St. John's lec-
ture tours have taken him
to 49 of the 50 states. 1-7-
has appeared beforc,‘
tually every existing
Jewish organization.
Born a Christian, his up-
bringing was strictly de-
fined by Episcopalian doc-
trine. His mother, ardently
religious, came from a
Church of England family
who followed a revered tra-
dition: The eldest son "went
into the church." St. John
thus had his career planned
for him.
But there is no way St.
John can identify as a
Christian. "I am critical of
Christianity more now than
ever," he asserts, his anger
obvious. "What infuriates
me is that we are living in
the most immoral, mate-
rialistic and militaristic age
of mankind. All three of
these conditions are the an-
tithesis of Christianity. I
still believe in the precepts
of Christianity but I have
only contempt for its prac-
tices."
When he married Ruth 15
years ago, he suggested the
ceremony be performed by a
rabbi. "But we decided I was
a little too old for conver-
sion. The rabbi assured me I
was already a better Jew
than most members of his
congregation. And unlike
Henry Kissinger, we did not
get married on the Sab-
bath."
Significance of Shofar on Rosh Hashana
nant symbol of God's mercy
to His people — indeed to all
mankind. Hence the sound-
In the book of Numbers ing of the ram's horn re-
29:1 the shofar is mentioned minded God that He should
in describing the ritual for forgive the Jewish people
Rosh Hashana. "You shall their transgressions.
The shofar was and still
observe it as a day when the
is "the ritual horn" of the
horn (shofar) is sounded."
The horn was commanded Jews. When the Torah
to be part of the New Year was given on Mt. Sinai,
observance by this prescrip- the shofar was sounded.
tion; furthermore, it was When the walls of Jericho
specifically defined as a fell, the shofar was
ram's horn when the sages utilized. The victory of
included in the service for the Judge Ehud over the
Rosh Hashana the story of Moabites was marked by
Isaac on the altar and his the sound of the shofar.
being replaced by the ram At Ein Dor in the dark of
caught in the thicket by his night, Gideon and his 100
blew the shofar as an ac-
horn.
The horn became a poig- companiment to their
By RABBI DAVID GEFFEN
World Zionist
Press Service
surprise attack.
In our times, when in
1967 the Israeli army cap-
tured the Western Wall,
then Chief" Chaplain
Shlomo Goren sounded the
shofar to mark that moment
— a joyful sound heard
round the world. The shofar,
therefore, has been a call to
assembly, a call to alarm, a
call to battle.
After the recitation of the
penitential Psalm 27, the
"tekia," the long single
note, the- "terua," the nine
staccato notes and the
"shevarim," the three
broken notes, are sounded.
This is a daily act ex-,
cept for the Sabbath an0/ 1
the day before
Hashana.
In fact the Baal Tokea
the shofar blower — must
get the ram's horn to emit
100 notes on each day of
Rosh Hashana as well as the
majestic "tekia gedola" at
the end of Yom Kippur.
Therefore, whether he uses
the small curved shofar or
the monumental spiral
black or brown shofar, the
Baal Tokea must have pre-
pared well _enough so thr‘
when called upon during
the service he will cajole the
right notes out of his unique
instrument.
,
Yona Yaffe of Yeshiva Aish Torah is shown blow-
ing the shofar in Jerusalem last year during Rosh
Hashana.