THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
▪
Rabbi Eskin's Four Decades
in U.S. Armed Forces Noted
(Continued from Page 16)
but to save a life shows you
are a human being instead
of an animal. Live as a hu-
man. Follow your parents'
example.'
"Once she realized how
wrong she had been and the
hurt she had caused her
parents, the girl wanted to
commit suicide. But Eskin
later received a letter from
her parents relating that
she was contemplating
going to Israel and working
on a kibutz as compensation
for her wrongdoing.
" 'How do you like that!'
Eskin exclaimed, reveling
in the conversion he'd
played a part in — the birth
of a new understanding."
Notable in the Pugh
story for the men in , the
U.S. Air Force who had
Eskin as an active
spiritual leader is the
manner in which the
rabbi aimed to provide
socialbility for serv-
icemen.
He secured a building in
Stuttgart which was owned
by three Jewish brothers
who perished in a Nazi
death camp, remodeled it,
personally helped paint the
walls. A kitchen and a sick
ward and a room for
synagogue services were in-
stalled.
When he returned home,
Rabbi Eskin learned that
the servicemen in the 100th
Division named the center
the Eskin House and it re-
mained open, providing
sociability, until the early
1950s.
The Pugh tribute to Eskin
is spiced with many inci-
dents involving the rabbi's
devotions and acts of human
kindness. Especially nota-
ble is the account of the
friendship with the late,
eminent Dr. Daniel A. Pol-
ing who was so moved by a
sermon Rabbi Eskin deliv-
ered, after providing last
rites to a Catholic when a
priest was not available,
that he reprinted it in his
syndicated newspaper col-
umn.
That sermon, "What It
Means to Be an Ameri-
can," acclaimed in the
Pugh article, continues
among the very proud
reminiscences in the
Eskin career.
Indicating that Eskin
remains the loyalist and ac-
tivist to this day, Pugh
states in his article:
"He has remained a sin-
cere friend to GIs. Although
70 years old — or young, in
his case — he still makes
the 400-mile round-trip
drive to Wurtsmith Air
Force Base every month,
dismissing it with a simple
`they need me.' "
What the Pugh article
does not tell is that Rabbi
Eskin makes frequent visits
to Israel, that he is active
here as a substitute rabbi at
Cong. Beth Achim, fre-
quently delivering
" s upplementary sermons
there; that he was a founder
of the American Red Magen
David for Israel — the
equivalent of the Red Cross
— chapter in Detroit and is
active in it now; that he is
associated with the local ac-
tivists of Bar - Ilan Univer-
sity and in many other
causes.
Rabbi Eskin's three
children all studied in Is-
rael. Stephen, a Hillel
Day School graduate,
attended the Yeshivath
Hakotel and is now
studying medicine at Tel
Aviv University.
Barbara is a Hebrew
University graduate and is
now in journalism, affil-
iated with an advertising
agency in Tel Aviv.
Vivian studied at Machon
Gold in Jerusalem and is a
graduate of the University
of Illinois. She is enrolled at
Columbia University,
studying for her master's
degree. She is married. Her
husband, Raphael Ben-
Ami, an Israeli, a Columbia
U. graduate, is in elec-
tronics research with Bell
Telephone.
Israeli POWs
Topic of Talks?
PARIS (JTA) — Chancel-
lor Bruno Kreisky of Au-
stria and Palestine Libera-
tion Organization chief
Yasir Arafat met this week
at Palma De Majorca, the
Spanish island resort. Ob-
servers in Spain believe
their meeting was con-
nected with efforts to obtain
the release of seven Israeli
prisoners of war held by the
PLO.
Arafat was greeted at
Palma airport by the is-
land's governor and the
mayor of the town. He was
driven to Kreisky's villa on
the Costa De Blanes near
Palma.
An Austrian spokesman
refused to say what the
meeting was about or to
comment on a report in the
current issue of Newsweek
magazine that the Israeli
POW issue was being dis-
cussed in Vienna in face-to-
face PLO-Israeli talks.
Walesa Notes
Flatto-Sharon
Mass Invitation
TEL AVIV (JTA) —
Polish Solidarity trade
union leader Lech Walesa
thanked former Knesset
member Shmuel Flatto-
Sharon this week for an in-
vitation to attend Christ-
mas mass in Bethlehem.
The Polish leader, re-
cently released from 11
months of internment, did
not attend the ceremony,
but said he might take up
the invitation at another
time.
Flatto-Sharon, a Polish
Jew, lived for many years in
Paris before fleeing to Israel
to escape trial for economic
crimes he was charged with.
The letter declining the of-
fer, dated Nov. 21 from
Gdansk, was received last
week.
If you know how to spend
less than you get, you have
the philosopher's stone.
—Franklin
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