THE JEWISH NEWS iusps275520
Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951
Member of American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers and National Editorial Association and
Affiliate Member of National Newspaper Association and Capital Club.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Site 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075
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CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editorand Publisher
ALAN HITSKY
News Editor
HEIDI PRESS
Associate News Editor
DREW LIEBERWITZ
Advertising Manager
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 22nd day of Heshvan, 5741, the following scriptural selections will be read in .pur synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion. Genesis 23:1-25:18. Prophetical portion, 1 Kings 1:1-31.
Candle lighting, Friday, October 31, 5:10 p.m.
VOL. LXXVIII, No. 9
Page Four
October 31, 1980
A BOOK FAIR WITH A MISSION
Detroit's annual Jewish Book Fair, commenc-
ing this Saturday evening, retains special sig-
nificance for the entire community.
The cooperation given the perennial celebra-
tion to the sponsors of the nine-day program, the
Jewish Community Center, by two score organ-
izations and congregations retains for the
events the importance of cooperation devoid of
partisanship. There is unity in the emphasis
due to a cultural undertaking which encourages
thousands of constituents of the sponsoring
groups to read books and to purchase them, and
in the process to attain the status of an informed
community.
The authors selected for participation in
the more than 20 program meetings are
authoritative writers whose works deal with
matters of current and historical Jewish inter-
est. Their appearance here creates a link be-
tween readers and authors, and also gives spe-
cial attention to the fact finding and research
involved in the writing of the books, thus serv-
ing as means of sharing with the community the
knowledge that is so vital for the creation of an
informed constituency.
Honored with the title Am HaSefer — the
People of the Book — there is always the
shortcoming of a mere minority responding to
the call of the Book. The Book Fair corrects
some of the follies related to the honor of being
traditionally devoted to the printed word and to
the knowledge it imparts.
Detroit's Jewish community has been a
leader in creating an instrument for the glorifi-
cation of the printed word, for the respect that is
inspired for authors, for encouragement to pub-
lishers. This year's Book Fair promises to con-
tinue that record for cultural creativity and the
Book Fair's sponsors merit commendations for
their efforts.
LOOKING AHEAD TO Nov. 5
This nation looks forward, with confidence,
that as of Nov. 5 only confidence and faith will
predominate for all Americans.
The Day of Judgment, the coming Tuesday,
challenges all citizens. The quest for votes by
the major candidates for. President, during the
preceding months, introduced the candidates
and emphasized the issues. The American voter
is traditionally trustworthy. He is the better
judge of events because he listens and studies,
reads and debates. When he blunders he knows
that in the course of time there will be correc-
tions and assumptions of the rational and prac-
tical for the people of this democracy. Because
there is no permanence in office-holding, there
is always the assure 09. that errors are correcti-
ble.
The issues .re multiple. The domestic prob-
lems are often oppressive, as they are currently
in the economic sphere. The foreign obligations
have not been ignored by the candidates. -
Now the voter rules, if only for a single day
quadrennially, and exerts power exceeding
any other in the entire universe. The responsi-
bility is immense and those casting their ballots
could not possibly be unaware of their serious-
ness.
This nation has experienced many oppressive
occurrences. To the internal, the economic and
the social, the principled involving the religions
of the citizens and the civil rights that are the
sacred duty for all, have not been attained too
easily. To these have been added the foreign
pressures, some of them like those of American
hostages in a backward country, which have
been depressing. As of the coming Wednesday,
there will be a leadership charged with the obli-
gation to aim at justice for all and freedoms that
are undeniable.
As of the coming Wednesday, there will be a
renewed confidence tha 4 Americans do not
buckle under oppressie that justice and fair
play are on the agenda Tor all, regardless of how
they voted on Tuesday.
This is the confidence with which Tuesday
must be approached. Because of it, the b( 3t
judginent must be anticipated. The Americ.
who rules on Tuesday will surely be the one wh ■ _
also will be assuming the inerasable duty of
being the vigilant who will insist on the con-
tinuity of the ideals that are the very roots of
true Americanism. In this spirit, the future
must be anticipated as one which will never
tolerate injustice. Iii this spirit the American
spirit will emerge again as indestructible in the
administrations in power in the decades ahead.
DANGEROUS PROPOSAL
At the impressive annual dinner of the
Jewish National Fund, at which he was honored
with the planned forest in Israel, University of
Michigan President Harold Shapiro expressed
concern that the so-called Tisch Amendment
would endanger the educational programs for
this state.
This is a fear that is expressed wherever con-
cerned citizens meet prior to Tuesday's election.
Should the tax cuts as they are propagated in
the Tisch Amendment be made effective, there
would not only be a wholesale effect on employ-
ment of teachers and staff members of scores of
state services, but the entire educational sys-
tem could be ruined. This is, therefore, a recog-
nition of the impending dangers and a warning
to reject the threat at the polls on Tuesday.
The dangers inherent in a sensationalized
proposal aimed at arousing false hopes teaches
voters a lesson. The proponents of the question-
able legislation can be, usually are, very sincere
citizens who believe they are making great con-
tributions to their state and their people. Be-
cause they are deluding themselves does not
help the communities unless citizens study
events and needs. Therefore, what is vital in a
democratic society is that those who seek to
protect it should study proposed legislation and
should be ready to judge for themselves.
When the bitterness of the 1980 election will
have been recorded into history, it will be a time
once again to think in terms of creating not only
a concerned but also a knowledgeable consti-
tuency. This is vital for our democratic way.
Jewish Publication Society Volume
Selected Scholarly Essays
From Dr. Buber's Der Jude'
.
"Der Jude," the important periodical that was published under
the editorship of Dr-. Martin Buber, contained so many important
essays on a variety of Jewish topics that it retains its importance for
students of Jewish ethical and other problems who are in need of
material for their studied research.
The Jewish Publication Society, therefore, lends'importance to a
number of selected essays from "Der Jude" in its latest volume, "The
Jew," subtitled "Essays From Martin Buber's Journal 'Der Jude,'
1916-1928."
This volume gains significance in its editorship by Arthur Cohen,
who did both the selecting and editing of the collected works and.who
wrote an introduction to the volume. -
The essays were translated from the German by Joachim Neug-
roschel.
The 22 essays in "The Jew" on subjects of imperishable interest,
such as nationalism, Yiddish as a language, the Hebrew language
and_the national future, Zionist ideology, the Galut liturgical topics,
historical writing, and many others.
Hermann Cohn's ideological conflicts enter into discussion, and
of the essays by Dr. Buber himself there is one entitled "Zion, the
State and Humanity: Remarks on Hermann Cohn's Answer." It is a
defense of Zionism," rooted in the goal, "sons of Messiah," different
but not aliens everywhere. It is an affirmation of Zionist faith, written
in 1916, declaring the movement to be "on the way, for the sake of
salvation."
An essay on "Zionism and Max Nordau" by Leo Strauss retains
historic interest. Tracing Dr. Nordau's interpretive and definitive
skills and his views on many Jewish problems, essayist Strauss ex-
plains that "Nordau takes it for granted that the helotry of assimila-
tion must be replaced by the Spartan spirit of Zionism. This is nothing
less than the consequence of substituting more virile casualism for
theologism in regard to ethics and thereby Jewish politics."
A strong appeal for Yiddish as a Jewish language of merit was
made in one of the essays entitled "Yiddish," published in "Der Jude"
in 1916. In this essay, Moses Calvary advocated equality for Yiddish
with German and declared:
"At the moment, the Yiddish-speaking nation is experiencing a
peculiar antagonism, the hostilities and encounters of Hebrew and
Yiddish. Jewish youth in the Orient, from Aleppo and Teheran to
Cairo, are passionate speakers of Hebrew; in Poland, Yiddish is grow
ing into a literature. Contradictory developments.
"Hebrew, all style — and therefore, as Berdichevky (1865-1921)
once explained, the language of young Jewish science and scholarship
— in the process of becoming softer, subtler, more alive; Yiddish, once
only a spoken, malleable language, has been moving towards style for
several generations now. This essay is not meant to decide the issue,
but merely to demonstrate the right of Yiddish to exist as a separate
and independent language alongside German."
The JPS volume "The Jew" offers guidance for teachers and
students alike and is challenging to this day, although many of the
essays were written more than 60 years ago.
In his introduction, Arthur Cohen pays honor to Martin Buber,
describes "Der Jude" as a "heroic enterprise, a free journal, indepen-
dent of party or movement and committed only to the highest intellec-
tual discussions and commentary concerning issues principally and
primarily Jewish.", It is in this spirit that the JPS volume is as
important as Dr. Buber's journal was in his day.