THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Dr. Sherwin's 'Gan Hadorot' Emphasizes
the Importance of Tracing Family Roots

Dr. B. L. Sherwin of the
Spertus College of Judaica
believes in tracing the roots,
in familiarizing and
thereby lending respect and
dignity with the genera-
tions.
He emphasizes it in a vol-
ume, "Gan Hadorot — Gar-
den of the Generations"
which has just been pub-
lished by Spertus College of
',Oca Press.
_ _ he Spertus College
scholar emphasizes the
background of the families
of Rosemary Krensky and
the Watermans.
The latter has special
significance in the Sher-
win studies because of
the role of Louise
Waterman Wise, the wife
of Dr. Stephen S. Wise.
Julius Waterman was the
father of Louise. Her uncles
Sigmund and Leopold fig-
ure prominently in the
Sherwin study, "Gan
Hadorot."
Dr. Sherwin draws upon a
classic legend to define his
theme, and he utilizes it for
his "Gan Hadorot" root-
tracing theme with this
comment appropriate to his
theme:

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"In the 1960s, a woman in
Chicago realized that a
treasure was buried in her
home. This treasure was not
of jewels but of paper. In
cartons and files, in
envelopes and boxes, was
the story of a family, her
family.
"Though a pioneer herself
in many ways, she knew
that every pioneer is also an
heir, every ancestor of fu-
ture generations is also a
descendant of past genera-
tions.
"Wishing to endow her
progeny with an awareness
of their genealogical legacy,
she labored to sketch a his-
tory of her family. In this
way she hoped to link the
past to the future, the root to
the branch, the ancestor to
the descendant. The product
of these labors is a two-
volume documentary and
pictoral history entitled
`Gan Ha-Dorot — Garden of
the Generations.'
"A journey through this
garden of nine generations
is an enviable adventure.
One travels from Prussia to
Pennsylvania, from Hol-
land to New Haven, from
Hungary to Alabama, from
Bialystok to -Iowa. Scenery
shifts rapidly as years flow
into decades and decades
melt into centuries.
"Poets and physicians,
merchants and rabbis,
soldiers and suffragettes,
enter and exit the revolving
stage. In the pages which
follow we shall become
familiar with members of
this family. And, perhaps,
in so doing, we shall become
inspired enough to go home
and to discover the trea-
sures left by our own ances-
tors.
"For in discovering
where we have come
from, we can better
understand where and
Who we are now. In un-
covering our legacy, we
may more clearly per-
ceive what is our destiny.
"The story which unfolds
below is the story of one
family, of one Jewish fam-
ily. As such, it is but a sen-
tence in the long history of
the Jewish family, in the
long chronicle of the Jewish
people.
"Jewish history is the
story of one family which
became many families
while remaining one fam-
ily, one people. Thus, the
study of Jewish history is

the study of the experiences
of the Jewish family in
many lands and in many
ages.
"Beginning with the Bi-
ble, individuals were iden-
tified by their membership
in a family group. For
example, when Moses takes
the first Jewish census
(Numbers 26), he lists the
people by tribes and
families. On tombstones it
was customary to engrave
the deceased's genealogy.
For even in death, one is not
alone; one is part of a fam-
ily.
"Indeed, the biblical
euphemism for death is
'gathered to his ances-
tors.' On Jewish legal
documents and on being
called to the Torah one is
identified as 'X' son of 'Y'.
Thus, in Judaism, one's
identity derives from
one's family.
"The twig is identified by
its stem, the branch by its
root. To identify a piece of
fruit one must know the
kind of tree from which--it
came. To help assuage one's
identity crisis, it is helpful
to examine one's family

Friday, April 2, 1982

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"By uncovering the trea-
sures of the past, we can
enrich the present and the
future. By exploring our
roots, we fulfill the biblical
commandment: 'And each of
you shall return to his fam-
ily' (Leviticus 25:10)."

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Best Wishes for
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to the entire community

FROM THE DIRECTORS
AND OFFICERS OF

Israeli Theater.
Hits Censorship

JERUSALEM (JTA) —
The Cameri Theater has
appealed to the Supreme
Court against a ban by the
censors that could prevent
the performance of its latest
production, "The Great
Harlot of Babylon."
The censorship board,
known officially as The
Public Council for Criticism
of Motion Pictures and
Plays, approved the play by
Israeli writer Hanoch Le-
vin, but objected to "full
nudity" called for in the
script.

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