THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Rabbis Nix Compromise
on Who Is a Jew' Issue

JERUSALEM (JTA) — avoided if the chief rabbi-
The National Religious nate was simply authorized
Party was thrown into a to approve all conversions
quandry when the chief performed in Israel.
rabbinate issued a com-
However, the chief rabbi-
munique rejecting any nate made it clear in its
compromise on the controv- communique that it insists
ersial "Who Is a Jew" on the amendment.
amendment to the Law of
In a related evelop-
Return.
ment, the World Zionist
The communique said the Organization Executive
law must be amended be- discussed several cables
use "This is da'at Torah (a from the United States
rah opinion). Halakhic reacting to the possibility
eversion is a problem that the Law of Return
touching the core of Israel's will be amended as part
Torah."
of the ongoing bargain-
The issue is bound to af- ing between the religious
fect the coalition negotia- parties in Israel and
tions between the NRP and Premier Begin in the ef-
Likud inasmuch as Premier fort to establish a new
Menahem Begin has stated coalition government.
flatly that he cannot corn-
At issue is the demand
mit himself to force his that the "Who is a Jew"
non-Orthodox colleagues in amendment to the Law of
the Knesset to vote for the Return be adopted by the
amendment which would next Knesset that would de-
disqualify conversions fine a Jew as any person
made by other than Or- born of a Jewish mother or
thodox rabbis "according to -converted by an Orthodox
halakha."
rabbi "according to
Were the NRP to join a Halakha."
Likud-led government on
Some Conservative and
those terms it would be Reform Jewish leaders in
disobeying a ruling of Is- the U.S. have expressed op-
rael's supreme rabbini- position to the amendment
cal authority, a position it while leaders of Orthodox
wants to avoid.
Jews in the U.S. have been
On the other hand, some urging the religious parties
NRP circles maintain that in Israel to insist on its
the question is a political adoption as a precondition
one since it required amend- for entering the new coali-
ing a law and the chief rab- tion government.
bis should not be consulted
Cables by these groups
on political matters.
have been sent to Begin and
Zevulun Hammer, a NRP the WZO.
leader who served as Educa-
In New York, Rabbi I.
tion Minister in the outgo- Usher Kirshblum,
ing government, suggested spiritual leader of the
in a radio interview that a Jewish Center of Kew
Knesset vote on the "Who is Garden Hills and chair-
a Jew" amendment could be man of the Committee for
the Preservation of Tra-
dition within the Rabbin-
ical Assembly, became
the first Conservative
rabbi to state that "I can-
not accept the logic of
those of my colleagues
who argue that by
amending the Law of Re-
turn the existence of the
Jewish people would be
threatened."
In a telegram to Israeli
leaders, Kirshblum said he
regretted "that so religious
a subject" as "according to
Halakha" has "become a
political football." Continu-
ing to deal with the issue, he
reiterated "my strong feel-
ings" that the adoption of
the "Who is a Jew" amend-
ment to the Law of Return
"would unite rather than
divide the Jewish people.

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KEREN KAYEMETH LEISRAEL

1

Agudath Grants
Send Russian
Jews to Camp

NEW YORK — More
than 100 Russian Jewish
immigrant children will
attend Orthodox camps this
summer, as part of a special
program offered by Project
RISE (Russian Immigrant
Services and Education) of
Agudath Israel of America.
Twelve summer camps, in
the Catskill mountains,
have agreed to offer the
emigres scholarships so
that they may "solidify
their newly gained links to
authentic Judaism."

Friday, July 24, 1981 5

Lewin's Tzurik in der Heim' Reissued

bles and change reality into
(Editor's Note: The vol- likelihood by means of lin-
ume presently under re- guistic dexterity.
"Formerly, great and
view contained the intro-
duction to the German wise men and translators
edition by the eminent knew exactly why they
German-Jewish author equated in the expression
and dramatist, Franz 'vales' the poet with the seer
Werfel. Allen Warsen, the that is with the spirit (of
reviewer, provides his prophecy) that could see
translation of the Werfel images coming to him from
essay from the Yiddish in within and not from with-
the new edition of the out.
"Although, I am aware
Samuel Lewin novel reis-
sued in Yiddish by Mrs. of the difference, yet I af-
Miriam Lewin. Mr. War- firm with calm conviction
sen was the reviewer of that Samuel Lewin is a
an earlier work by poet. True, he is a poet of
Samuel Lewin which was a small and persecuted
published in an English people that carries on its
edition. The earlier War- shoulders an incom-
sen review appeared in prehensible mission like
The Jewish News March a heavy mountain.
"The most restless of all
16, 1979.)
Samuel Lewin's novel peoples the Jewish
"Tzurik in der Heim" ("And people does not meet a
He Returned Homeward") single of the conditions
with a foreword by Franz all others claim to be
Werfel (Shulsinger theirs. As a result, it is
Brothers, Inc.) was first more difficult for Jewish
published in German titled artists and poets to ob-
"Und Er Kehrt Heim" tain assistance that crea-
tive endeavor deserves.
(Levitt, Vienna, 1936).
"It is important to realize
The novel portrays
Jewish life in Poland at the that in the narrowest corner
time of World War I and of the Jewish poet's heart is
shortly afterwards. Its prin- compressed both a grief
cipal hero, Michael (Mekhl), thousands of years old and a
born in a small town and of mysterious past. Yet, there
poor parents, leaves home is no relief in sight.
"This fate is most evident
at a young age for Warsaw
where he becomes a re- in Eastern Europe. In Po-
land and Russia there exist
nowned opera singer.
But in spite of his musical Jewish communities that
successes, Michael returns lack the qualitie and . dis-
home, marries a poor refu- tinctions that would make
gee girl, becomes religious them equal with other
again, and assists in re- nationalities. Neither
building the town devas- ground nor terrain, neither
tated during the war by freedom nor self-rule binds
Russian soldiers and Polish them together, only an an-
cient way of life.
Jew-haters.
"The suffering result-
The novel is replete
with dramatic events, ing from this '6-slut' is
vivid scenes and fascinat- gravest there where the
ing passages. Franz Wer- widely-scattered people
fel's foreword sets the are densely concen-
tone for Lewin's engross- trated. There the life-
disadvantages manifest
ing narrative.
Franz Werfel's foreword themselves most strik-
ingly causing immense
follows:
"It is not considered good sorrow.
"Lewin sings in his
manners in our contempor-
ary spiritual life to call stories and novels about
`poets' authors of novels and this sorrow; and without
stories. But to be a poet fear and pretense looks
means more than fashion straight in its eyes.
"He, moreover, empties
life-events, invent good fa-

By ALLEN A. WARSEN

the goblet of the Jewish fate
and the unfulfilled Jewish
mission to the very bottom.
Nevertheless, his talent is
so great that he treats this
matter neither with a loud
voice, nor with complaints;
nor does he accuse with
clenched fists. No! His tone
is pleasantly calm, and his
hand that leads the reader
with firmness and determi-
nation is gentle.
"This book belongs to the
German literary school of
instructional novels. Cer-
tain of its chapters and
scenes compare in their sub-
tlety and humor with the
`Grun Heinrich' (a novel by
the Swiss-German writer
Gottfried Keller, 1819-
1890.)
"I think with pleasure
about Lewin's novel's
hero, the young Michael,
who joins a troupe of ac-
tors in Warsaw. Yet, how
far apart is young
Michael from `Grun
Heinrich.' His heavy
hereditary burden ac-
companies him through-
out life. At times he

Doily—Hospital
sympathy

According to Yeruham
Meshel, secretary gen-
eral of Histadrut, "We
have yet to see whether
the government will be
able to keep its election
promises of moderate
price rises."
Although
consumer
prices have declined some-
what since Aridor took
office, they did so at the cost
of unprecedented govern-
ment spending. The treas-
ury printed some 3.7 billion
shekels in April, May and
June in an effort to keep
prices stable.
In a related development,
Israeli workers' prod-
uctivity went up only three
percent last year, according
to Social Betterment Mnis-
ter Israel Katz. He said
productivity should rise by
seven to eight percent an-
nually.

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Small Price Rise in Israel

JERUSALEM (JTA) —
The modest 2.7 percent rise
in the consumer price index
in June — the lowest in-
crease since Febraury 1979
— was hailed by govern-
ment sources as a vindica-
tion of Finance Minister
Yoram Aridor's economic
policies.
He succeeded in bringing
the annual inflation rate
slightly below 100 percent,
his stated goal when he re-
placed former Finance
Minister Yigal Hurwitz last
year.
But the June decline,
aided by an unexpected 13
percent drop in the price of
fruit and vegetables, was
seen in opposition circles to
be the result of a gov-
ernmentl freeze on prices
initiated as an election
campaign ploy and only
temporary.

reaches his goal. At other
times, as if it were God's
judgment, he is not per-
mitted to benefit from his
successes and enjoy the
pleasures allowed to
others. Nevertheless, in
that judgment rings a
calm voice: 'Ye shall be
unto Me a kingdom of
priests.'
"Although the poet Lewin
fights that God's command
be fulfilled, he never in-
vokes the Torah. Still his
soul is filled with it."

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