6 Friday, March 5, 1982
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Holiday of Purim: Celebration and Giving
Music by
Sam Barnett
(Continued from Page 1)
Our forefathers made a
great point of sending food,
on plates wrapped in cloths,
968-2563
from house to house. Chil-
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dren delivered them, run-
ning through the streets col-
lecting tips in sweets. The
custom was a source of ex-
citement for housewives
with some tension because
the wrong amount or the
wrong kind of mishloakh
manot sent to a touchy rela-
tive could give undying of-
fense.
--
The custom is still car-
ried out in Israel, with
children in costume
(miniature Queen Es-
thers, clowns and as-
tronauts) making the de-
liveries. Among the ex-
hibits at the Israel
Museum- is a beautiful
silver plate, originating
in Austria in the 19th
Century, for mishloakh
manot. It is shaped like a
fish, which symbolizes
the month of Adar.
In the kibutzim, children
gave mishloakh manot not
only to their family but also
to their metaplot (nurse-
educators), teachers,
neighbors and classmates.
As the children make their
rounds in gay and varied
costumes, the whole kibutz
takes on the carnival at-
mosphere which char-
acterized the adults' cele-
bration on the previous
night. The kibutz Purim
party is hard to beat for its
joyous atmosphere and the
originality of the fancy
dress, which is virtually
compulsory for all corners.
However, one of the most
important precepts of
Purim is often overlooked in
all the merriment — giving
charity to the poor. In fact, it
is one of the most important
precepts in Judaism. The
Bible, the Talmud, the
Codes and all moralistic lit-
erature emphasize the need
to care for the poor. Whole
sections of the Shulhan
Arukh (Code ofJewish Law)
are devoted to the giving of
charity with all its ramifi-
cations.
As in every fe-stival in
the Jewish calendar, the
triumphs and disasters of
Israel throughout its his-
tory are events whose-
meaning transcends the
immediate incident. In
celebrating Purim, we do
more than commemorate
the oppressed Persian
Jews at the time of Queen
Esther. We show our sol-
idarity with all Jewish
communities continuing
to live under oppres-
sion.
When we fulfill the
mitzva of mishloakh manot
and of giving charity, we are 0 1
expressing our feelings of
caring for our friends, of
compassion for the less for-
tunate. Purim is an un-
inhibited andjoyous holi-
day with wonderful over-
tones of sharing and friend-
ship.
ADL Opposing
Creation Scien
NEW YORK — isle
Anti-Defamation League of
Bnai Brith has adopted a
resolution to actively op-
pose the teaching of
creationism in the public
schools.
In introducing the resolu-
tion at ADL's national --
executive committee meet-
ing in Florida, Peter Alter of
Detroit pointed out that a
Louisiana statute which re-
quires the teaching of
creationism on a par with
evolution, similar to a sta-
tute that was struck down
by the courts in Arkansas, is
now under challenge.
Beauty is an outward gift
which is seldom despised,
except by those to whom it
has been refused.
—Gibbon
MY DAILY PRAYER FOR ISRAEL Hope Eternal
By MAURICE CROLL, M.D.
Oh; Israel, this tortured land I love, with all the hearts that be —
What is there that I would not do for thee, our promised land.
Hate pours in at you from all sides, and distant unheeding lands
Tumble down upon your slender strip of land — in bloody avalanche
From all your semitic kin.
Where are the sacred words — the Holy words — that Moses brought down
From Mt. Sinai direct from God's guiding hands?
The Holy sacred words that God gave us, to give to all the world
To learn — in guiding — rules of righteous conduct.
No words of hate doth they contain. Are they mere empty words,
To throw upon the wayward winds so that they will blow away?
And, now, forgotten and be guide no more the kve so needed now.
To the dire challenges, so brutal in our daily lives.
With rules to guide us thru the perils of our daily life,
That bears down so heavily upon us now, determined to destroy
The relationship of man to man, immature and vicious grown,
Bastardized by the dollar sign.
Oh Lord, teach theime of love, real brotherly love, for their fellow man.
Love that teaches in the same vein that we are brothers all, and
As such, to live together in peace, together with peace
And in peace with the stranger who dwells within our midst.
Teach them again — and teach us, too — to love, to live in love
With all our neighbored kin to speak again the language
Of the One God, that in it doth prescribe to each of us
In full measure.
Israel redeemed — a state in '48, a promise of the Lord fulfilled
as we have daily prayed, but what a price we pay in Israeli blood.
Every inch of blessed soil drenched beyond all human ken.
When will it cease? When will it ease? The hate, propogated
From father to son down thru the ages.
The youngest of our children already know the deathly, dreaded words —
Auschwitz, Dachau and ---- ---? At 15 years of age children are taught
And trained as soldiers to kill with bayonets. What future is there
For either side with such an outlook?
We need no more terrorists attacks, such as Nahariya, Kiryat Shmona
and Ma'alot. The constant shelling, back and forth with no end in sight.
For mostly it is the children who suffer. Children of darkness in a world
Where all children (innocents) belong to the world.
Just picture this: An Israeli mother, under life and death tenstion,
Hiding from terrorists in the next room, with her two-year-old child, Yael,
Who inadvertently suffocated her child.
Her husband, Danny, had been shot, and their five-year old, Einat,
Died a most horrible death.
Stop for a moment and visualize this: As the Israeli forces approached
The terrorists, in full retreat, picked up little Einat by her feet
and split her head upon a rock. Can you imagine what the mother went thru
When she looked upon this scene . . . Alone, now, in a world alone.
This one tragic, inhumane incident conjures up, reflects and writes
Into history the entire history of all the Israeli people.
More innocent blood — shed of innocent children — upon Israeli soil.
The entire Israeli nation was plunged into deep mourning.
The world looked on, but not a single voice was raised, and then
They looked away, it did not concern them.
So much blood is being spilled without a transfusion in sight.
What, then, is gained by each bloody revenge?
This 'cannot be the ultimate answer. What does the future hold?
I see a federation of all the semetic states welded into one,
into the parliament of man, °fall the semetic kin.
Swords and guns must first be buried in the soil,
So that the land therein will be more fruitful.
Hate must perish in the dust from whence it was born.
It must be buried deep in the soil; stratified and immobilized,
Deep in the recesses of the earth never to be raised again.
And hunger will be banished from the lands, never to be seen again.
A far-flung impossible dream, beyond the ken of men today?
An historian of the future? Or pure madness on a rampage?
Not so, indeed!
What can be visioned in the minds of men of goodwill—
In the soul, deeply embedded can be built by men of goodwill
If their hearts be true, with sincere airh-
It can be so!
Credits:
The tragic story of these two children (Einat age five, and Yael age two), Danny, the
father and Semadar, the furviving mother, was reported in Time magazine Jan. 11, 1982,
by Roger Rosenblatt under the title "Israel, What Good Is Revenge?" It is a monumental,
clearly-defined report that opens a new door into the future of "Children of War." It
should be read by Jew and Arab alike.
I realize that my heart is preaching in this (My) soul-shaking poem, but then, my
heart asserts itself in every poem I write.
The solution will not come in my time. The emotional minds of men change exceed-
ingly slowly, but that does not mean that we should stop trying. Mr. Rosenblatt has
opened a whole new area for the future; THINKING! Thinking of our children, be they
Arab or Jew!
(