62 Friday, July 3, 1981
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Israeli Stamp Honors Nobel Laureate Agnon
JERUSALEM — The Is-
rael Ministry of Communi-
cations has issued a com-
memorative stamp honor-
ing the late Israeli author
Shmuel Yosef "Shai" Ag-
non.
"I was born on Tisha b'Av
in the year 1888 in the town
of Buczacz, Galicia. I im-
migrated to Eretz Yisrael
on Lag b'Omer, 1908. A
couple of years before the
first World War I went to
live in Germany.
"There was a fire at my
house in Hamburg in 1923
and my books and writings
were destroyed, among
them a trilogy, 'Life Ever-
lasting.'
"I returned to Eretz Yis-
rael at the beginning of
1924 where I hope to live out
my days 'until the Re-
deemer cometh, speedily in
our days Amen.'
"I have written a number
of books including `the Days
of Awe.' "
Thus, in a few words,
Shmuel Yosef Agnon once
summed up his life with the
simplicity and modesty typ-
ical of one who was able to
conjure up a whole world in
a single phrase.
Shai Agnon was the first
Hebrew writer to be
awarded the Nobel Prize for
literature, which gained
him the recognition he de-
served in the world at large.
He was born in a townlet in
Galicia, where he absorbed
the Jewish values on which
he based his themes, and
acquired a knowledge of the
language of the Bible and
the Talmud on which his
very personal style of writ-
ing was based.
At an early age he
began working as a jour-
nalist in Hebrew and
Yiddish and signed his
articles with his family
name of Czaczkes.
Following his immigra-
tion to Eretz Yisrael in 1908
and his contacts with
writers of the Second Aliya,
his work took an interesting
change of direction, this
being after he had already
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gained recognition as a skil-
led storyteller blessed with
a rich imagination.
His first story to be pub-
lished in Eretz Yisrael was
"Agunot" (Deserted Wives)
from which he took his He-
brew name — Agnon. This
was followed by the novella
"And the Crooked Shall Be
Made Straight" which made
his reputation.
Shai Agnon was influ-
enced by the great Jewish
writers of the Diaspora at
the time he lived in Ger-
many, prior to and during
World War I and it was then
that he developed his first
published novel The Bridal
Canopy." His first novel,
which had an autobiog-
raphical background,
"Everlasting Life," perished
in the fire and was never
rewritten.
On his return to Eretz
Yisrael he did not go back
to his small room in the
Newe Zedek quarter of
Yafo (Jaffa) where he had
written stories in the
popular Hasidic style,
but went to live in
Jerusalem. Ho*ever he
was not left to write in
peace for long — in 1929
Arab rioters pillaged his
home in the Talpiot quar-
ter.
In the 1930s he wrote
three novels: "A Simple
Tale," "A Guest for the
Night" and "Etmol Shil-
shom" (Days Gone By).
During the 1940s he
Whale of a Find
applied himself to a wide
range of subjects and com-
pleted his last novel "Shira"
(published after his death)
which tells an epic-ironic-
romantic tale of Eretz Yis-
rael prior to the establish-
ment of the state.
In each of his five novels,
whose quality bear witness
to Agnon's untiring pursuit
of stylistic perfection, as
well as throughout his
prestigious other works, he
demonstrates an unrivalled
mastery of the Hebrew lan-
guage in his use of the so-
called Agnontic dialect — a
unique form of Hebrew,
rooted in traditional Jewish
sources.
Agnon is known in He-
brew literature as a mas-
ter craftsman in the
dramatic development of
his subjects and in the
feeling he demonstrates
towards his heroes.
Whether he adopted a
symbolic-grotesque ap-
proach or an idyllic-poetic
technique, Agnon always
remained true to himself as
a very special writer whose
works and whose soul
formed a single entity de-
rived from Jewish-national
and human-universal val-
ues.
S. African Jewry Seen
Facing Traditional' Issues
JERUSALEM (ZINS) —
Like many of the Jewish
communities of the Dias-
pora, that of South Africa
faces problems of drift, as-
similation and intermar-
riage. However, the prob-
lem of maintaining Jewish
identity is not as large as in
some other communities.
For several years after
the Nationalist Party came
into power in 1948, political
relations between it and the
South African Jewish com-
munity were at best ambi-
valent. In recent years,
however, there has been in :
creasing Jewish support for
the government, which has
consistently shown itself
friendly toward the Jewish
community and also
friendly toward Israel.
There are anti-Semitic
groups in South Africa and
their activities at times
have been of some concern
to the Jewish community,
but the government has
publicly emphasized that it
will not tolerate any ac-
tivity that tends to foment
race hatred and it has
banned a number of anti-
Semitic books.
There are Jewish
members of Parliament
but not among the
Nationalist Party repre-
sentatives, although in
American-Israeli
Team Evaluates
Project Renewal
JERUSALEM — Six
American and two Israeli
research specialists have
joined forces to establish an
international evaluation
team for measuring the im-
pact of Project Renewal, the
worldwide Jewish program
for the comprehensive re-
juvenation of Israel's dis-
tressed immigrant
neighborhoods.
Currently in Operation in
70 separate locations, Proj-
ect Renewal encompasses
hundreds of physical and
social programs designed
to meet the rehabilitation
needs of neighborhood resi-
dents. The new team, ac-
cording to its chairman,
Prof. Arnold Gurin of Bran-
deis University will "de-
This 40-ton finback whale is the largest ever to velop an objective research
wash ashore in Israel. Scientists from the University program that will help to
of Haifa cleaned the flesh and buried the whale. The identify weaknesses and
skeleton will be exhumed in a year for study and dis- evaluate successes in the
Project Renewal process."
play.
the last Parliamentary
election a Jew running as
a Nationalist Party can-
didate in a largely Jewish
constituency came
within only a few votes of
being elected.
Most South African Jews
support movement, at a rate
realistically related to the
need to defuse mounting
black frustrations, toward
accommodations and corn-
promises which, without
undercutting white self-
determination, will give
other racial groups a more
equitable share of political
rights and economic oppor-
tunities.
Since they tend to vote ac-
cording to their
assessments of political
platforms rather than on
the basis of party loyalty,
increasing Jewish support
for the ruling Nationalist
Party would reflect a con-
viction that the new Prime
Minister of South Africa,
P.W. Botha, is committed to
meaningful changes in the
country's racial policies.
Bond Campaign
Cites Survivors
NEW YORK — The
American Federation of
Jewish Fighters, Camp In-
mates and Nazi Victims,
which represents a number
of Holocaust survivor
organizations, has started a
campaign in the U.S. and
Canada for the sale of Israel
Bonds.
The campaign will in-
clude local dinners of trib-
ute in honor of individuals
who have survived the
Holocaust and who have at-
tained success or recogni-
tion in various fields, in-
cluding the business world,
philanthropy, science, edu-
cation, communal service
and the arts. The honorees
will also receive special
recognition at the national
"New Life" dinner in New
York in November.
Javits Papers
NEW YORK — Former
U.S. Senator Jacob Javits
has donated 1,300 cartons
of his papers to the State
University of New York.
An official stated that it
will take five years to un-
pack and catalogue the pap-
ers before scholars will be
able to use them.
Ex-Envoy Harold Linder
NEW YORK (JTA) —
Harold Linder, a prominent
investment banker and dip-
lomat, former U.S. Ambas-
sador to Canada, and a
benefactor of many Jewish
philanthropies, died June
22 at age 80.
Mr. Linder was president
and chairman of the U.S.
Export-Import Bank from
1961 to 1968 when he was
appointed ambassador to
Ottawa by President
Johnson.
Prior to that he had
served in the U.S. State De-
partment as deputy assis-
tant secretary of state and
later assistant secretary of
state for economic affairs.
He was also a member of the
Board of National Esti-
mates and of the Central In-
telligence Agency.
Born in Brooklyn and
educated at Columbia
University, Mr. Linder
worked with the Inter-
governmental Committee
on Refugees in London
until World War II when
he joined the U.S. Navy,
attaining the rank of
commander.
After the war he was a
volunteer representative in
London of the American
Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee (JDC).
In addition to the JDC, he
was active over many years
on behalf of the United
Jewish Appeal-Federation
of Jewish Philanthropies,
the Jewish Guild for the
Blind and the American
Jewish Committee.
In the course of his
business career, Mr.
Linder was a partner of
Mrs. H. Berman
Hortense G. Berman, a
member of Jewish women's
organizations, died June 26
at age 68.
A former Detroiter, Mrs.
Berman made her home in
Pompano Beach, Fla., at the
time of her death. She was
born in Allendale, Mich.
She was a member of
Hadassah, Pioneer Women,
Temple Israel Sisterhood,
National Council of Jewish
Women, Brandeis Univer-
sity National Women's
Committee and Tam-0-
Shanter Country Club.
She leaves her husband,
Harry S.; two sons, Barton
and Marc of San Francisco,
Calif.; a daughter, Mrs.
Phyllis Secosky of New-
burn, N.C.; a brother,
Seymour Rosenberg • of
Muskegon; and nine
grandchildren. Interment
Detroit.
Jules Mehler
Jules A. Mehler, founder
and owner of Jules Mehler
Associates, food manufac-
turers representative, died
June 29 at age 68.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio,
Mr. Mehler was active in ef-
forts on behalf of the Service
Division of the Allied
Jewish Campaign and for
Synanon. He held member-
ship in Mosaic Lodge of the
Masons.
He leaves his wife, Edith;
a son, Steven of New York;
and a daughter, Mrs. Kent
(Joyce) Gell.
Car M. Loeb, Rhoades &
Co., investment bankers,
and was president of the
General American In-
vestment Co.
He was also chairman of
the board of trustees of the
Institute for Advanced
Studies at Princeton Uni-
versity, a member of the
Council on Foreign Rela-
tions and of the finance
committee of the Smithso-
nian Institution and of the
American Association for
the Advancement of Sci-
ence.
S. Goodman
Samuel L. Goodman, -
tired real estate broker a,
land developer, died July 1
at age 81.
A native Detroiter, Mr.
Goodman worked for Hol-
den Realty until he formed
his own company, S.L.
Goodman Realty.
He was a former member
of the Pontiac Zoning Corn-
mission, a founding
member of Temple Israel
and its men's club, a
member of Hannah Schloss
Old Timers and Louis Mar-
shall Lodge of Bnai Brith.
He fought in the Golden
Gloves amateur boxing
competition and also was
a former minor league
baseball player.
He leaves his wife, Edith;
a son, Harvey; two daugh-
ters, Mrs. Steffen (Shelley)
Taub and Mrs. Ronald
(Linda) Rossen of Saratoga,
Calif.; two brothers, Louis
and Jack; a sister, Mrs.
Frank (Esther) Barcus; and
eight grandchildren. Serv-
ices 10 a.m. today at Ira
Kaufman Chapel.
Herzl Publishes
Barbarash Book
Jabotinsky, Ben-Gurion,
Churchill, Sokolow, Nor-
dau, Truman... are but a few
of the names that appear in
"If I Am Not for Myself," the
new memoir by Ernest E.
Barbarash, published by
Herzl Press.
Contemporary history for
the past 60 years that
helped shape and carve the
Jewish experience and the
Zionist dream to fulfillment
come alive in the book, as do
reminiscences of the author,
a publicist and editor who
served for more than 50
years in the American
Zionist movement.
Future Designers
HAIFA (JNI) — WIZO's
Henrietta Arvill Technical
High School this year
graduated 60 Haifa
youngsters trained in fash-
ion design. All 60 will con-
tinue on to WIZO's fou-
year Cabadian Hadas.
College and qualify to in-
struct fashion pupils.
Hold Territories
TEL AVIV (ZINS) — The
Public Opinion Research
Institute's most recent poll
showed that 55 percent of
Israelis are unwilling to
support a peace treaty that
would return control of the
administered territories to
the Arabs.