THE JEWISH NEWS IUSPS 275-5201 QUO VAC' IS ? I Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951 Copyright ( The Jewish News Publishing Co. 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, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 Postmaster: Send address changes to The Jewish News, 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 Second-Class Postage Paid at Southfield, Michigan and Additional Mailing Offices. Subscription $15 a year. PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher ALAN HITSKY News Editor CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ Business Manager - HEIDI PRESS Associate News Editor , DREW LIEBERWITZ Advertising Manager 1 . • s‘ i6 .14 ...11,r, • \ t 1: • ' " ‘• • Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the 19th day of Shevat, 5741, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Exodus 18:1-20:23. Prophetical portion, Isaiah 6:1-7:6; 9:5-6. '0•Aipt It*iiee Candle lighting, Friday, January 23, 5:17 p.m. '; , • VOL. LXXVIII, No. 21 Page Four Friday, January 23, 1981 BOOKS AS. BAROMETERS V 11.:;44 i :. 41) \ • ' ".1 l ' qki tA) • • , • !",.. Ai; A • 1,Tewspaper, • periodical and book publishing is approaching the prohibitive stage. It is costly and is seriously affected by the inflationary trends. Yet, a rich library is growing and the Jewish topics are multiple. Book publishing may therefore be considered the barometer of the time, of the spirit of iden- tification and responsiveness. If the new library that is being compiled on Jewish topics is posit- ive in nature, authoritatively produced, con- tributing towards the enhancement of Jewish values, the trend may be considered enriching for the Jewish community. A number of the current books lend them- selves as examples of the type of literature that serves as a test for literary accomplishments and their appeals to the general public. Emphasis given by Schocken Books to the publication of the series of volumes dealing with the Holocaust, in all their historic details, merits appreciation. "Lest- we forget," the slo- gan adopted by the historian-sociologist Dr. Franklin H. Littell for his weekly articles ex- posing horrors, on condemning anti-Semitism, striving for just rights for Israel and the Jewish people, can be applied to the Schocken series. It is not the only specialty of Schockent It recog- nizes the value of publishing scholarly works by Jews on Jewish topics and it adds to its prod- uctivity the availability of the paperback. For its Holocaust series it earns special apprecia- tion. To the Jewish Publication Society goes the appreciation of English-speaking Jewries for the major Jewish classics, for recent books on the history of Jewish communities in this coun- try and abroad, for publishing the works of Is- raeli historians, novelists and poets. It adds glory to the fact that it now gives consideration to the juvenile field. The several books for chil- dren, the emphasis given to the reproduced "Ktonton" stories by Sadie Rose Weilerstein, and more of its kind, are of value to the corn- munities that give emphasis to the need to in- spire children with Jewish themes. Wayne State University Press, under the chairmanship of Dr: Bernard Goldman and the guidance of an academic community and a selected public committee, has made enriching contributions to Jewish scholarly research in a series of important books. Its recent publica- tion, jointly with the Jewish Museum of the Jewish Theological Seminary of the Catalog of Rescued Ceremonial Valuables from Danzig, Germany, .marking a remarkably valuable re- scue of historic objects before they could be ac- quired or destroyed by the Nazis, is a memora- ble contribution to world Jewry. The list of im- portant Jewish books from the WSU Press is very lengthy. Holt, Rinehart and Winston has added to the production of children's books, besides the interest the firm has created with a number of its volumes of general Jewish interest. To the Union of American Hebrew Congrega- tions goes the credit of having produced a number of informative books that serve well as textbooks for congregational schools. Behrman House, Bloch Publishing Co. and the Hebrew Publishing Co. all continue services that give them high status as publishers in the Jewish field. To Sir Isaiah Berlin is accredited an extension of his impressive series of biographical sketches of the world's notables, in the Viking-published "Personal Impressions." For those concerned with the progress made by the Zionist move- ment there are the sketches of Chaim Weiz- mann, Albert Einstein, Felix Frankfurter, Lewis Namier, among others, who have added immensely to an understanding and involve- ment with the great libertarian ideals which led to the creation of Israel. In an earlier volume, Sir Isaiah, the brilliant author, historian and critic, evaluated the contributions towards the rise of the Zionist ideal by Moses Hess, the au- thor of the pre-Herzlian "Rome and Jerusalem." Such works as "Know Jewish Living and Enjoy It" and his earlier - book, "Know the Jewish Festivals and Enjoy Them," by Rabbi Morris Golomb, issued by Shengold, provide knowledgeability with Jewish customs and ceremonials, with the background of Jewish ob- servances, and help make Jewish living a verit- able pleasure. Paperbacking has made possible the re- issuing of many of the most scholarly works treating Jewish subjects and of general Jewish interest. Exemplary currently is the re- appearance of "Treasury of Jewish Folklore" by Nathan Ausubel, published by Bantam Books, whose specialty is the paperback. Ausubel has - produced indelible marks for scholarship and research in his numerous anthologies ofJewish humor, legends and poetry and the current re- printing of his valuable work makes available his important collection of Jewish stories. The examples of publishing achievements, of Jewish authors' contributions to the knowledge necessary for an appreciation of Jewish legacies, is uncountable. An interesting evaluation of the gifts of con- temporary Jewish writers is offered in the in- terviews with nine eminent Jewish writers, in The Tie That Bonds" by Harold U. Ribalow, who carries on a tradition of family creativity in literature begun by his father, the late Menahem Ribalow, the eminent Hebraist and a Hadoar editor. Barnes Publishers, producers of this volume, frequently issue works of general Jewish interest. Herzl Press, an arm of the World Zionist Organization, provides important works on noted Jewish personalities and the Zionist movement. Especially impressive is the most recent Zionist anthological work, "Zionism in Transition," edited by Dr. Moshe Davis. These references are samples of what has been issued, the type of literature that should be encouraged by Jewish readers. They have an appeal also for the non-Jews who are interested in the life, activity and aspiration of the Jewish neighbors. The book is indeed the barometer of Jewish life and experience. No wonder that the desig- nation for Jews is Am HaSefer, the People of the book. , • • • it "1 ,, ,3 ( 0, 1 l it'LL ft I ' • i ‘ 1 1st “ 1 , t I I 11 • ;F:1: , !I • • : • • i:asErehisv Aura of Jerusalem Charm Joins People of All Faiths People make up a country. People depict the world's humanism. People when freed from rancor emerge in the human spirit that rises above religious or racial differences. The artist can depict such glory for mankind. William Papas achieves this enormous task in "People of Old Jerusalem" (Holt, Rinehart and Winston). In his series of drawings of people of all faiths, in the charm which marks his artistic skills accompanied by an explanatory text, he offers a veritable treasure in the scores of draw- ings which make the people of Jerusalem symbolic of history and prophecy. Papas was captivated by the Old City of Jerusalem, its shrines, its appeals to all faiths. For three months he lived and portrayed the holy sites and the people who live and visited-there, devoting himself to his work 100 yards from the Jaffa Gate. His home was the Mis- hkenol- Sha'ananim. It had been the first Jewish suburb outside the City Wall. Now it is a guest house of the Jerusalem Foundation. Artists, musicians, writers are guests there selected by the munici- pality's hosts. He was privileged to be the Jerusalem Foundation's guest. Notably, Papas painted and drew in the various areas, and the contents give an indication of the historic spots from which he gained his inspiration. Here are the notable ones: Street of the Cobblers and Tailors, Sheep Market, Diaspora Yeshiva — Mount Zion, the Wailing Wall, Dome of the Rock, Holy Sepulchre, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, David Street, Armenian Monastery, Casanova Hospice, The White Father's Church of St. Anne, Ethiopian Monastery, Coptic Monastery, Syrian Monastery. These are revealing indications of the variety of appeals to which the artist responded. His commentaries markedly pointed to the reli- gious conflicts, and he even writes about the religious intolerance towards secularists. The concluding note, impressively, is about Jerusalem the City of Peace, the dedication to it by the Jewish people and by Israel. On this score he offers a concluding comment of faith: "Under Israeli law there is complete freedom for everyone to follow his chosen creed without persecution from others. Pilgrim come from all countries, Arab as well, to pay homage at their shrin no one is banned." But the conflict is there and the artist views it realistically. Thus, the artist's work is both in his drawings as well as his comments on an experience that emerges as inerasable. New Tzedaka Tract The Jewish Tract Series, the pocket-sized informative brochures on major Jewish ethical and historic subjects, is being enriched with the addition of the new title, "Tzedaka." Authored by Dr. Abraham B. Eckstein, who wrote an earlier tract, "Mezuza," the newest definitive work explains the origin of the term and analyzes the importance of Tzedaka — Justice — as being superior in Jewish tradition of Charity. Described as an "imperative duty," the adherence to charity, to justice, is traced through history, in the Bible and in rabbinic litera- ture. Emphasis is placed also on the importance in Jewish tradition to Gemilut Hasidim, acts of human kindness, the obligation of aiding needy with loans and encouragement to self-sustenance.