22 Friday, July 2, 1982 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Electronic Golem Aids Hebrew U. in Compiling a Yiddish Lexicon JERUSALEM — The ac- counts of the demise of the JULY FEATURE 15x15x15 Lucite Cube a perfect cocktail table only $48 Muriel Wetsman 354-4126 Yiddish language are pre- mature. "It is not dying and it is not dead," says Chone Shmeruk, professor of Yid- dish at the Hebrew Univer- sity of Jerusalem. "It is alive and will live a long time, despite what the doomsters think." The story of the Hebrew See "THE LEADER" Today Morris Buick IS THE GUY IS THE BUY OPEN MON. & THURS. MI 9 P.M. WHERE EVERY DAY IS SALE DAY University's Department of Yiddish Studies is to a large extent also the story of Chone Shmeruk. In 1951, when the university launched its first course in Yiddish studies, Shmeruk was one of three students in the department. Polish- born, he fled that country on the eve of World War II and enlisted in the Russian army. It was not until 1949 that he was able to immig- rate to Israel. In 1953, Shmeruk was the only student to be awarded a BA in Yiddish studies. By the end of the 1960s he was head of the department, a post he held until 1980 (though he is currently act- ing department head for one year). Research of East European Jewry, the publication of well- received books in Yid- dish, and the compilation of a major Yiddish - He- brew dictionary are only a few of the department's current projects. W 7 Mile At Lodge X-Way 342-7100 COMPLETE SICKROOM EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES OSTOMY SUPPLIES featuring products by WHEEL CHAIRS • WALKERS COMMODES • HOSPITAL BEDS HOLLISTER & SQUIBB RESPIRATORY EQUIPMENT The idea of a comprehen- sive Yiddish - Hebrew dic- tionary dates back to the beginning of the century. But it is only now, with the advanced means at the uni- versity's disposal, that it has come to fruition. It is the university's electronic "golem" — more commonly known as a computer — that is providing the ability to complete the vast classification work invovled in a reasonable period of time. "We estimate that one volume will be published every two years," says Dr. Meir Wolff, who is in charge of the project. At this stage, the work is being planned for the next 10 years." In addition to the Jerusalem end of the proj- ect, work is also under way on it in New York, where the dictionary's chief editor, Prof. Marvin Herzog, is based. Jerusalem is work- ing on the second letter of the alphabet, beis, while New York is engaged in compiling the entries for the third letter, gimmel. Entries for the first let- ter, aleph, have filled four published volumes, or about one-third of the entire dictionary. The study of Yiddish ois inseparable from the study of the Holocaust according to Dr. Yehiel Szeintuch, a lecturer in the Yiddish de- partment. Dr. Szeintuch, whose area of expertise is Jewish cultural activism in Europe before and during the Holocaust, was the originator of a project undertaken jointly with Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial Authority in Jerusalem. Its subject: Jewish creativity in the ghettos and concentration camps. The result of the under- taking was a mobile exhibi- tion which was first held at Yad Vashem and then at the Jewish National and University Library on the Hebrew University's Givat Ram campus. The exhibi- tion is to be the first step in the comprehensive documentation of the his- tory of the Jews in the ghet- tos and camps, Dr. Szein- tuch notes. Among the courses of- fered by the Yiddish De- partment are Holocaust re- search, semantics, litera- ture, and folklore — all in Yiddish, of course. The de-,- partment currently has 4 1: students at all levies. Compulsory Army Service Extended by Three Months TEL AVIV (JTA) — Is- raeli soldiers about to finish their three years of compul- sory military service will have to serve another three months beyond their scheduled release date, army officials have decided. Chief-of-Staff Lieut. - Gen. Rafael Eitan told soldiers at the front that it would not be fair to let them go now while reservists were still on duty. Officials feel that reser- vists, called up from regular jobs within the economy, should be released as soon as possible. The men doing their na- tional service, on the other hand, will not lose much with the extra duty, as most of them have no civilian commitments. The soldiers will be compensated for their extra service at reg- ular army rates. EXPERIENCO REGISTERED NURSE ON STAFF PRIVATE FITTING ROOMS AVAIL. 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Most Americans probably believe that all churches, synagogues and mosques have been cloSed for sixty years and that any Towels and Washcloths Speedo Swim Suite Nose and Ear Plugs Bio-degradable Soap After Bite Back Packs Sleeping Bags Overalls Painter Pants Sweat Pants and Tops ALTERATIONS SEA GULL * WALDEN TAMAKWA MAPLEHURST * TAMARACK B made several statements about religious freedom in Russia at the close of his recent visit to Moscow. He was pro- illy Graham R. * 0000000000000000000000000000000as religion which remains in Russia is outlawed and underground. Not so. There are religious institutions which are open (though restricted) and peo- ple do attend (though always under surveillance.) The most crowded church I have ever seen was a Baptist Church in Moscow on a Sunday mor- ning two years ago. Of course, on the same Sunday morning in Atlanta or Dallas there were probably 100 Bap- tist congregations with that many in attendance, instead of just one. But there is more religious freedom than most Americans know about. Graham's fuzziness was in accep- ting the Russian definition of religious freedom. Over there it means that a state licensed, officially approved, religious organization can gather for worship. Period! That's all. No social application of the religious message is permitted. No religious education of children is allowed. No Bibles, hymn books, or religious tracts can be printed or distributed. 'You can pray and then go home. If Billy Graham considers that religious freedom then his inter- pretation of that treasured right is poles apart from mine. His tragic error was in suggesting that he saw no evidence of religious persecution. This absolutely boggles my mind. Graham visited. the Vashchcinko and Chmykhalova families in the American Embassy. They have been there in the 'protec- tive custody of the United States for nearly four years after a quarter cen- tury of effort to receive permission to emigrate to a place where they could practice their Pentacostal faith in freedom. How he could have talked with them and observed no evidence of religious persecution is beyond understanding. Does he know nothing of Ida Nudel, and Viktor Brailowsky, and Ilya Essas, and Evgeny Lein, and Anatoly Scharansky, and hundreds of thousands of other Soviet Jews whose fundamental religious and human rights are denied daily? Open your eyes, Dr. Graham. There are none so blind as those who will not see. (Don McEvoy is Senior Vice President of the National Conference of Christians and Jews. The opinions expressed are his own.)