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11
Mayer Levin's 'Obsession' Anne Frank, Assimilation
By DAVID FRIEDMAN
Copy right 1981, JT.A, Inc.
Meyer Levin, the Ameri-
can Jewish writer who died
recently at the age of 75.
was a man with an obses-
sion.
"The Obsession, - the title
of a 197:3 hook he wrote, was
not only about his struggle
to have his play on "The
Diary of Anne Frank" pro-
duced, but was a lifelong -
fight against assimilation
and to have Judaism and
the Jewish people portrayed
positively in literature.
Levin's 30-year legal
battle over Anne Frank is
well known. He has charged
that the producers elimi-
nated sections of the "Di-
ary" to give it a more corn-
munistic or at least extreme
leftist stand in which
Jewish values were sup-
pressed to give Anne Frank
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CONGREGATION B'NAI ISRAEL
W. Bloomfield
announces
The Opening of its
HEBREW AND SUNDAY SCHOOL
Pre-Registration Period
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Interested In A More
Participatory Form Of
JUDAISM?
CONG. T'CHIYAH
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JEWELRY
APPRAISALS
At Very Reasonable Rates
call for an appointment
642-5575
est.
Int DEINUll JEWISH NtVIS
1919
30400 Telegraph Road
Suites 104, 134
" Birmingham. Mi. 48010
(313) 642-5575
LAWRENCE M. ALLAN
President
GEMOLOGIST <41 DIAMONTOLOGIS r
a more so called universal
approach — that she was
speaking for mankind
rather than the Jewish
people. Whatever one's feel-
ings on this view, one can't
help wondering why the
producers and their suppor-
ters have gone to such great
leng-hts to prevent Levin's
drama from being staged.
However, Levin was
correct when he stressed
that it was Anne Frank's
particularism that gave
her universality, that a
person does not repre-
sent humanity when he
or she is made to be
everyman or woman.
Here is what Levin said
was dropped from the
"Diary":
"Who had made us Jews
different from all other
people? Who has allowed us
to suffer so terribly up till
now? It is God who has made
us as we are, but it will be
God, too, who will raise us
up again. j.f,we bear all this
suffering.-Ancl .if. there are
still -Jew.g-Nft i. when it is
over, then Jews, instead of
being doomed, will be held
up as an example.
,",Who knows, it might
even be our religion from
which the world and all
people learn good, and for
that reason and that reason
only do we have to suffer
now. We can never become
just Netherlanders, or just
English, or just ... repre-
sentatives of any other
country for that matter, we
will always remain Jews,
but we want to, too."
Levin said this was re-
placed in the play with
Anne saying: "We're not the
only people that have had to
suffer. There have always
been people that have had to
... Sometimes one race ...
sometimes another."
While the fight over
Anne Frank dominated
Levin's last three de-
cades, it was part of his
long struggle against the
literary establishment,
much of it Jewish and as-
similationist, who Levin
believed were opposed to
writers who wrote about
Jews.
Levin was a writer who
always sought literary
recognition but he believes
he has denied this by the
literary establishment.
True, he was paranoid but
as Freud pointed out, even
those suffering from
paranoia have enemies.
Levin also tried to educate
-
Man Arrested in
Synagogue Theft
A Jackson Prison parolee
who lived in an apartment.
behind Cong. Bnai Israel
Beth Yehudah has been
charged by police with
stealing $25,000 worth of
silver ornaments from the
synagogue.
Richard Campbell, 31,
was arraigned in Oak Park
District Court yesterday.
He was arrested after he
pawned some of the stolen
items to a gold and silver
_dealer who contacted police.
Police have recovered
only a small portion of the
stolen items.
in hishdoks. He wrote about
the Holocaust. he wrote
about Israel both about the
p•e-state days and the
JeWish state, he brought the
plight of the Falashas -to
world attention. . -
Levin is best known for
his best seller, - Compul-
sion - and his early work
The Old Bunch" is consid-
ered a classic of American
Jewish literature. Yet he
always believed- that once
the prejudice against
Jewish subjects disap-
peared he would win true
recognition.
Levin began his writing
life during a period when it
was difficult for works
about Jewish subjects to get
published. • This prejudice
seems to be disappearing
and now novels about JeWs
are pouring off the presses.
Perhaps in death Levin,
who pioneered the way for
American Jewish writers,
will get the literary •ecogni
tion he deserves.
FUND RAISER,
ADMINISTRATOR WANTED
-
FUND RAISING AGENCY SEEKS YOUNG MAN
WITH GOOD JEWISH BACKGROUND, AND
WITH SOME EXPERIENCE IN FUND RAISING
AND PUBLIC RELATIONS, AS ASSISTANT TO
DIRECTOR. ALSO TRAVELING THE STATE
REQUIRED. EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITIES
FOR ADVANCEMENT. SEND COMPLETE RE-
SUME (to be kept in strict confidence) TO THE
JEWISH NEWS, BOX 2262, 17515 W. 9 MILE
RD., SUITE 865, SOUTHFIELD, MI 48075
The Workmen's Circle, J. T. Zukerman Culture Fund
Sholem Aleichem Institute &
Jewish Community Council
PRESENT THE 3rd ANNUAL
in cooperation with
the City of Oak Park * *
FEATURING
SHIRLEY BENYAS °ALEX NEMOFF
SAM BARNETT &HIS ORCHESTRA
Sunday, August 2,198102:30
Oak Park Major Park pm
Please bring chairs or blankets for your comfort
The Instrumental Music for this occasion is made possible by funds supplied
by the recording companies of America through the Music Performance Trust
Fund. The grant for this performance was obtained with the co-operation of
Local 5. Detroit Federation of musicians.
No charge
AN ALTERNATIVE JEWISH EDUCATION
. A Non-Religious Approach for Children and Adults
Affiliate of the
Jewish Community Center
Jewish
Parents
Institute
MAKE YOUR FAMILY PART OF
A SECULAR JEWISH EXPERIENCE
ADULT PROGRAMMING PLANNED THROUGHOUT YEAR
SUNDAY SCHOOL PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN
From Biblical times to contemporary issues
Music and Dance incorporated into program
. ENROLLMENT NOW OPEN FOR FALL PROGRAM
For information call JPl office:
661-1000, Ext. 159
or. 557-5486