THEJEWISH NEWS (uses 2,5.520,
Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951
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PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
ALAN HITSKY
News Editor
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
HEIDI PRESS
Associate News Editor
DREW LIEBERWITZ
Advertising Manager
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 26th day of Nisan, 5743, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Leviticus 9:1-11:47.
Prophetical portion, II Samuel 6:1-7:17.
Wednesday and Thursday, Rosh Hodesh Iyar,
Numbers 28:1-15
Sunday, Yom Hashoa — Holocaust Remembrance Day
Candlelighting, Friday, April 8, 6:48 p.m.
VOL. LXXXIII, No. 6
Page Four
Friday, April 8, 1983
HISTORIC D.C. ASSEMBLY
For the many thousands who assemble in
the nation's capital this week to pay tribute to
the memory of the victims of an inhuman
onslaught, it will be a commemoration filled
with the saddest of memories, intermingled
with a determined will that what was suffered
should not be repeated again.
The Week of Remembrance in Washington
must be viewed as representative of echoing
sentiments in thousands of communities, in this
land and wherever there are people with
memories and with a conscience. It is reason-
able to believe that hundreds of thousands will
share with the many thousands in the District
of Columbia the recollection of the agonies of
the Holocaust and the sense of thankfulness and
humility which marked the survival of those
who are now privileged to commemorate so de-
pressing a human experience.
A very sad note creeps into the observances
of the events tom be commemorated. It is the
depressing feeling about a generation that may
be the last to remind the world of what had
happened to them as witnesses of the horrors.
One of the survivors, preparing for the events in
Washington, portrayed himself as the last of the
generation that was tested by the Holocaust and
stated to a reporter: "Actually, what will hap-
pen when we all gather is a dream for me . . . No
one is asking what the program is. We all just
want to be together, rub shoulders, see faces. We
don't know how much longer there is."
Yet, when those who remember gather, and
it includes the observance this Sunday in this
community, they are under a commitment not
to forget, never to permit history to be lacking in
facts and in truth. That is why this nation is
setting aside two government buildings for a
perpetuating Holocaust memorial, as an ad-
monition for generations to come never to per-
mit repetition of horror. That is why such a
Holocaust memorial is being erected in the Met-
ropolitan Detroit area. That is why it is so im-
portant that the gathering in Detroit, marking
the Week of Remembrance, should be treated as
an All-Time Era of Remembrance, that the as-
sembly here should be an immense one, that the
people should demonstrate their sense of out-
rage over what had occurred while proclaiming
repeatedly that "Never Again" is humanity's
verdict.
YIZKOR • • • OF THE AGES
Haskara spells sadness. In Jewish experi-
ence it is primarily dignity. This is applicable to
a personal remorse, and more especially in the
character of the peoplehood of Israel.
Such a sense of judgment emerges in this •
period on the Jewish calendar, when the world
is reminded of the courage that spelled Warsaw
Ghetto Uprising.
This is a time to recall acts of courage, and
to treat the reminiscences with a sense of pride
that fearless Jews of all ages knew when and
how to resist.
They were the Maccabeans of the 20th Cen-
tury. They confronted a mighty army and they
died in the process, yet in the aftermath what
they did must be judged as a victory, even if the
survivors were only the very few who lived to be
the witnesses in the courts of mankind.
Th lessons of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
are imb dded in the recognition that it is an
inerasab e part in history that men, women and
children ere compelled to resort to firearms, to
Molotov Cocktails, with which they laid low
hundreds of Nazis. It was in the fashion in
which they did it — while celebrating Passover,
with confidence in their hearts and minds — as.
Zionists! — that redemption would come, that
justice would prevail.
It is not the Warsaw Ghetto heroism alone
that calls for a Yizkor period, for Haskarot
wherever Jews assemble. The heroes and the
admonitions are vital in the historic reminis-
cences. It is also an anniversary of many mur-
ders, including the great historian Shimon
Dubnow, who just before he was murdered by a
Nazi in the Riga concentration camp, sent forth
a message to his fellow sufferers: "Jews, make a
record for history of what you are witnessing
here."
There are many anniversaries, and Yizkor
is, indeed, of the ages. It is recited for many
tragic experiences. Additionally, sadly, this is
the 80th anniversary of the Kishinev pogrom,
which was inspired by Czarist Russian official-
dom. It is because of all the savageries that left a
legacy marked by brutalities that Yizkor, which
is of the ages, carries with it the message of
Zachor, Remember!
There is pride and dignity in the recollec-
tions of the brutalities which fill the pages of
Jewish history. Because Jews resisted, there is
pride. Be6.use Jews always retained faith,
there is a self-respect that is imperishable. Be-
cause it is always emphasized with Zachor!
A FORTNIGHT FOR ACTION
Less than two weeks remain before the
formality of concluding an important Allied
Jewish Campaign. The remaining days repre-
sent a challenge to the several thousand poten-
tial givers whose contributions are yet to be
recorded.
The ultimate result of this important Cam-
paign will register the extent of Jewish unity in
support of the communities involved, the
domesticly vital. Detroit agencies as well as the
multiple needs nationally and overseas. They
include the obligation to keep Israel fully pro-
tected as a creative force in Jewish life.
Hopefully, there will be a unanimous re-
sponse, strengthening the unity for action for
which the current fund-raising effort appeals to
all members of this responsible community. We
all have a duty to be partners in Jewish unity.
From Ballantine Books
`Live and Be Well' Volume
Captures Yiddish in America
"Live and Be Well" (Ballantine Books) is a large-sized volume,
filled with photographs, replete with capsules about Jewish experi-
ences and historical events. It is subtitled: "A Celebration of Yiddish
Culture in America."
It is the subtitle that is a misnomer. The major title is properly
descriptive, yet the book itself is much more than a Yiddish collection
of tid-bits and historical occurrences. It is a remarkable collection of
brief essays about nearly everything that has influenced Jewish life
in this country upon the arrival of the large influx of immigrants.
The final item in the book is about "Zeides and Bubbies." The first
is about the great Yiddish actor Jacob P. Adler. This explain's a great
deal. It is testimony to contents that deal with those who arrived in
this country, struggled to defy the difficulties of immigrant life and
then rose to a measure of great strength as an American Jewish
community; and in between there were the eminent personalities, the
actors who created a stage to be envied, the People who rose to
leadership in this country, the creators of a great community.
The compilers are Richard F. Shephard and Vicki Gold Levi, and
the research assistants were Moishe Rosenfeld and designer Louise
File.
In a sense this book is encyclopedic in content. Many of the
leading Jewish communities are recorded here. This, and perhaps in
other aspects, there should have been some caution. Detroit is
exemplary. It could not be expected to be complete. Much belongs
there, even in the brevity of this insertion. When, however, the com-
pilers said that a notorious gang "preyed on the city's Yiddish-
speaking small businessmen," it introduced a misleadingly negative
note. It was a sad occurrence in Detroit's Jewish history, but there was
no preying on Jews by Jews.
Remarkable about this collection is the accumulation of facts
about Jews in the theater, in the movies, and more especially in the
Yiddish theater. This is where "Live and Be Well" emphasizes the
joyous factor in a book so filled with Jewish experiences.
Here is one item among the very intriguing ones that draw much
attention to this exciting book. Few people now remember Cafe
Royale on Second Avenue which was a gathering place for the Yiddish
authors and actors. That's where many,disputes took place and where
life developed into a "Be Well" atmosphere.
The very fact that Louis D. Brandeis merits a paragraph in this
book is an indication that it is not all of a Yiddish nature, that "Live
and Be Well" could be defined as "All-American."
Noteworthy in the personalities' designations are the inclusion of
prominent names, such as Stephen S. Wise, Louis Marshall and Jacob
H. Schiff. Lillian Wald, who is credited with having proposed the
formation of the Free Synagogue to Stephen Wise, gets due attention
here. Marshall is credited with having influenced President William
Howard Taft in with abrogating the treaty with Russia in 1911 on
grounds of Russian discrimination against Jews and Catholics.
The long section on Yiddish states: "There is certainly irony in
the fact that Yiddish, a language beleaguered by assimilation, should
have made what is probably its longest-lasting impression, outside its
own circles, on the English language spoken in the United States."
This is where applications of Yinglish, Yiddlish and Ameriddish are
found. The many Yiddish words that are now part of the Yinglishisms
are recorded here.
The scores of other tid-bits and capsules that enrich this volume
add to the extreme interest already aroused in this interesting,
multi-illustrated volume.