2 Friday, March 25, 1983 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Purely Commentary Passover for Rejoicing While Reminiscing as a Note of Jubilation for a Continuing Creativity By Philip Slomovitz When Scholarship and Research Add to the Pride of a Peoplehood Motivated by Learning Passover is for reminiscing — about the great events that led to the birth of the Jewish peoplehood. It is also a time for rejoicing. It is also a time for self-judgment, for taking into account responsibilities of indi- viduals who cannot, even if they wished, isolate themselves from their people. The Seder always beckons to them. Heinrich Heine had been converted. He really never left the Jewish fold. How could he? His very being was rooted in the legacies and the Seder made it unbreakable. Therefore Heine asserted, in "Rabbi von Nacharach," written in 1840: "Jews who long have drifted from the faith of their father . . . are stirred in their inmost hearts when the old, familiar Passover sounds chance to fall upon their ears." It is inerasable, and those who are now readying for that powerful magnet, the Seder, may well take added pride in a dedication to the roots of their peoplehood. There are many causes for pride in the Jewish spirit and creativity. Even in an age when fears redound over the spreading assimilation, the losses sustained by intermar- riage and indifference, there still are the productive, those who lend the comforting strength that makes Jewish life worth living. The cultural values are not being abandoned. The creative is in evidence. Learning is respected, because teaching still abounds. The evidence is often provided in a special essay, in a brochure, in a full-length book. When the molders of public opinion are positive in their approaches, they will have an audience. When research abounds, those for whom it is intended can not perish. As the Passover approaches, two important volumes have made their appearance to give emphasis to this expressed idea. Replete with information, based on thorough research, fortified by facts necessary for an understanding and appreciation of the Jewish values, they elevate the culture of the people to the highest standards. These two, among many other important works, come as inspirations on the eve of a great festival. For the archivist, for teacher as well as student, the facts are not hidden. They are available, and the responsibility that rests with the American Jewish Historical Society and the American Jewish Archives, with the major Jewish academies of learning and the world Jewish organizations, with the publishing houses that are devoted to the Jewish themes, are basicly fulfilled. The contributing forces toward elevating the research and publishing processes are not limited to the strictly Jewish sources. Many in the general sphere assist in these efforts. Wayne State University Press is exemplary, with its Judaica publications that add to the literary and historical treasures. It is from the latter that the scholar now welcomes another immensely scholarly work. Much enrichment has been provided by WSU Press' Judaica series. Now comes another gem under the title "The Jerusalem Cathedra." The cathedra, as a professorial chair in a university, assumes great significance in the ingathering of treasured accom- plishments in a volume that counts among the most distinguished of the generation in the vastness of creative writers. These will be fully accredited in a more thorough analysis of this work. The point to be made at this time is that this creative effort deals with Jerusalem in the ancient, medieval and modern periods. This is a time to be fully acquainted with these eras, especially since they lead to an understanding of the historic importance of the Holy City in Jewish tradition and in modern determination that the City of Peace remain in the capital of the Jewish state. As a cathedra, this volume is vital in Jewish studies and for an understanding of the links of Jewry with Israel. A second volume of immediate significance, "Guide to America-Holy Land Studies, 1620-1948," is the second volume in a series published by Praeger but inspired by the American Jewish Historical Society and by Hebrew University's Center for Jewish Studies. The archival collection in this volume is of immense value and it retains for the record historic data that must not be hidden. These are works that provide the links between Israel and world Jewry, and very significantly the roots that make the American-Israel relations inseparable and con- tributory to the values of nation-building and the noblest in international relations. Such are the creative in Jewish planning. They speak well for a determined will by scholars in Jewish ranks to assure the highest goals in elevating the spiritual-cultural for the People Israel and for mankind. On Passover it is well to think of such values as a legacy that makes the festival a time for jubilation. It is in this fashion that the creative role of an indomitable people reigns supreme. In the Season of the Ten Plagues, Count the Blessings of Israel By CARL ALPERT HAIFA — The Passover season is occasion for telling and retelling the story of the Exodus from Egypt, and the terrible Ten Plagues which helped put the pressure on Pharaoh to let our people go. In our own times some critics of Israel, both over- seas and domestic, have so much fault to find with our government that they never cease to tell and retell all the faults, flaws and fail- ings, real or imaginary which they find in the Jerusalem administration. The trouble is that constant repetition may give some people the impression that Israel is indeed today un- dergoing a modern version of the Ten Plagues. There is no doubt that we do have problems, but when I began to take stock, and to balance our difficulties against our blessings, I found that the latter by far outweighed the "plagues." Why should we not take note of all the things that are right with Israel - all the things that give us cause for pride and rejoicing - all the elements that make life in Israel a matter of utter joy and satisfaction. So here we go with our 1983 list of the Ten CARL ALPERT Blessings of Israel: • True democracy, where no one is muzzled, where even maverick opinions can be ex- pressed, where the will of the people is supreme so that no one, whether Labor Party or Likud, is beyond public scrutiny. • The children, the ador- able, bright-eyed, talented, over-active little kids, whether dark-skinned or blonds, who bubble over with enthusiasm and some- times with hutzpa. (Alas, they eventually grow up!) • A national pride, where Jews stand with heads erect; where they do not yield to terrorism, nor knuckle under to big uncles; where the memory of the Six Million assures that this generation will not cooper- ate in any effort to endanger its survival. • A concern for the minorities. Yes, we dare say it, despite all the lies that have been told, where we have been responsible for raising the standard of liv- ing in every field for the non-Jewish minorities among us, far above the levels of their brethren in surrounding countries. We can be proud. • A Jewish environ- ment. We know when our holidays are, and we celebrate them as a natural part of our lives, without having to build defensive armor against pervasive alien elements which in other lands are dominant. • A haven for Jews in need of a home. The refu- gees from Nazi Europe know full well what that means, though not all emigres from the Soviet Union have grasped its full significance. • The kibutz, its way of life, the spirit of its people, its contribution to the qual- ity of life in the country and its establishment of pioneering traditions which The Front Page 'Illuminations' Two of the Jewish festi- vals traditionally inspired artists to illuminate scrip- tural texts and the prayer books. The Megilla has been a source of inspiration on Purim, and the illuminated Haggadot for Passover have multiplied into a vast li- brary. The reproductions on Page One of this issue of The Jewish News are from two Haggodot: the Ho Lakhma and the Ma Nishtana are from the Koren He Ada of the-Jeius Jerusalem Te- Pub- lishing House. The "V'higadta le-vinha" is from the Haggada published by Shmuel Boneh of Shikmon Publishing House of Haifa. The "Ho Lakhma" is appropriate for our time. The Seder commences with it and it represents an invi- tation to all who are hun- gry to come and to share in the Passover meal. It is fol- lowed by the traditional Ma Nishtana, the youngest member of the family pos- ing the question why this night of Passover is differ- ent from all other nights. Then there is the third selection from the Haggada — the one that admonished the elders to teach their children the meaning of the festival under observance, so that they may learn the true values of the freedoms that were introduced with the rebellion of the enslaved Jews against the Egyptians who held theni in bondage. can still serve as models for the country as a whole. • A Hebrew culture, based on the great Hebraic and prophetic epics of our people, yet elastic in the modern idiom and respon- sive to the moods and spirit of the 20th Century even in the tongue of the prophets. • The new idealism which finds expression in settlements in Judea and Samaria, and even in the face of criticism at home insists on establishing Jewish sovereignty in every corner of Eretz Yis- rael. Surely this is in the same tradition as that of the courageous halutzim of earlier decades, who set up their tower-and- stockade settlements in the midst of Arab areas. • Jewish creative genius, here unfettered, which has already made itself felt in agriculture, in modern technology, in music and in other fields of human achievement. A free Jewish people on its own soil is again able to make its con- tributions to humanity and to civilization. When the headlines get you down, or when surly Is- raelis . seek to befoul their own nests, reject the negativism like the plague and think of the Ten Blessings. Every Israeli can add to the list. JDC Aids Pesach Celebrations in Countries Throughout World NEW YORK — In Cairo, Egypt, matza and kosher wine trucked across Sinai from factories in Israel by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the overseas relief arm of the American Jewish community, will grace the Passover tables of the 400 Jews still living in that an- cient land. In Tunisia, the Jewish community of 4,500 baked Passover cakes with matza provided by JDC. In Romania, which has a Jewish community of 34,000, elderly and infirm Holocaust survivors re- ceived a specially-prepared Passover package, part of the program that reaches the Jewish poor throughout Eastern Europe. According to JDC President Henry Taub, the traditional call to the hungry to come and join the Passover meal is an injunction that JDC, act- ing in behalf of the American Jewish com- munity, takes seriously in its work around the world. JDC Executive Vice President Ralph I. Goldman noted that JDC distributed more than 200 tons of matza and more than 30,000 bottles of kosher wine as well as matza meal, cooking oil and even, in some coun- tries, macaroons and other holiday sweets. Goldman said that in nearly every one of the countries where JDC is at work it is actively involved in Passover programs in one form or another. "By far the largest of these is Passover cash grants to the needy. In most nations around the world," said Goldman, "Passover supplies are available and bringing Passover into the homes of needy Jews means provid- ing them with the financial means to obtain it." "In other more distant lands," he added, "there is no sacramental wine, matza or matza meal, and it is to these nations that JDC ships Passover supplies using trucks, ships, or even if necessary, aircraft." Communities receiving Passover supplies were Italy (for Soviet emi- grants), Greece, Melilla and Ceuta in Spanish Morocco, Portugal, Spain Poland, Czechos- lovakia, YugOslavia, Hungary and Egypt. In Israel, as part of a JDC-sponsored cultural and religious program, univer- sity and yeshiva students organized a demonstration Seder for underprivileged children and their families. "JDC meets the challenge of bringing Passover into all Jewish homes with a variety of solutions dictated by the circumstances of the individual Jewish com- munities," said Goldman. "In some cases JDC pro- vides a subsidy to enable the community to bake its own matza. It is all part of its annual attempt to bring Passover into the home of every Jew, no matter how distant, no matter how poor." The American Jewish Joint Distribution Commit- tee was established nearly 70 years ago. It is active in more than 30 countries around the world. The JDC has an annual budget of more than $40 million. In Israel, JDC aids yeshiva students, ORT vocational schools, and funds 130 community cen- ters. The JDC is one of the be- neficiaries of Detroit's Al- lied Jewish Campaign.