THEJEWISH NEWS („sps2755201 Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951 Copyright © The Jewish News Publishing Co. Member of American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, National Editorial Association and National Newspaper Association and its Capital Club. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing CO., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 Postmaster: Send address changes to The Jewish News, 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 Second-Class Postage Paid at Southfield, Michigan and Additional Mailing Offices. Subscription $18 a year. CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ Business Manager PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher ALAN HITSKY News Editor HEIDI PRESS Associate News Editor DREW LIEBERWITZ Advertising Manager Sabbath Scriptural Selection This Sabbath, the 25th day of Elul, 5743, _ the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Deuteronomy 29:9-31:30. Prophetical portion, Isaiah 61:10-63:9. Rosh Hashana Scriptural Selections Thursday, Pentateuchal portion, Genesis 21:1-34, Numbers 29:1-6. Prophetical portion, I Samuel 1:1-2:10. Friday, Pentateuchal portion, Genesis 22:1-24. Numbers 29:1-6. Prophetical portion, Jeremiah 31:2-20. Candlelighting, Friday, September 2, 7:43 p.m. VOL. LXXXIV, No. 1 Page Four Friday, September 2, 1983 - ON THE 5744 THRESHHOLD It was a year filled with ramparts. The commencement of the year 5744 is filled with many anxieties. If the concluding twelvemonth has anything to offer, it is a message of assur- ance that the concerns that were so vital in the past offer an admonition: what was endured previously will be confronted with equal vigor in the months and years ahead. As_ the agonies — and there were many which justified being labeled with worrisome accompaniments — accumulated, the experi- ences of what could be labeled a tragic year made it one of the most depressing in Jewish experience. It has ended with few solutions, yet the judgment of it - must be with a sense of com- fort that time will solve, just as it has often healed many wounds. Would that the military exploits had not existed! Would that Israel could have kept out of the embroiling conditions that developed in Lebanon! It is now a factual item on the calen- dar, with a past that can not be erased from the record, and the future is filled with hopes that pragmatic diplomats will know how to deal with the situation, that the military experts will avoid the errors of an agonized past, that Jewish leadership will stand the test of time. The swivel-chair philosopher may specu- late about blunders and the horrible sufferings that ensued. So much bitterness resulted from the Israeli efforts to destroy the terrorist threats to her northern situated population that it drew into the disputes many nations, it fomented criticisms that created anger, it divided Jewish communities. It is the judging of the events as a new year approaches that matters deeply. Israel's security remains a major factor in a situation that could be judged as the saddest in the history of one of the youngest modern na- tions with legacies that are the oldest in human records. The developing experiences call for exer- cise of wisdom learned from sufferings that have marked every age in Jewish history. The new lesson is for a speedy cessation of whatever actions may be terminated — in the interest of peace for Israel and her neighbors, for the entire Middle East and as a beckoning light to man- kind to strive for an end to warfare. Tragically, this is not a simple matter. The new conditions in that battle-scarred part of the world make Israel's position most difficult. Two faiths are continuing a war of terror and Israel could, together with the United States, become a pawn in a fratricidal conflict. Hopefully, further suffering and loss of lives will be averted and what had become a curse for 5743 will be avoided in 5744. This is where the new year must teach a lesson from a great friendship — that of the United States in its close relationships with Is- rael. This is an aspect that became especially apparent in the past year and its lessons must be applied in the year to come. It is by strengthening the friendship and creating an accord for action to end the horror that spells Lebanon that relief may emerge from the ad- mittedly tragic events. It is through unified ac- tions and a realistic understanding of the chal- lenges that solutions may be attained. This leads up to another demand for unity — the cooperative tasks within Jewry. If any- thing created sorrow it was the -threatened split in Jewish ranks, the internal bickering, the failure of some groups — small in numbers but all-too-vocal — that created discord. Never was the obligation to avoid rifts so vital for Jewry. No one expects the impossible. Neverthe- less, every aspiration must be to so strengthen the internal Jewish unified efforts that they will lead towards creativity and progress for Israel and for world Jewry. The approaching New Year will carry with it the hopes that the world, which in Jewish traditional beliefs was created on Rosh Hashana and the Jewish spiritual functions therefore commence with it, will gain ground in the quest for amity among nations. The aspira- tion is that all that is good for the year ahead will be a blessing for mankind, Jewry and neighbors benefiting from it. There is that hope for what must become attainable — an end to racial strife and a humanism relating all races, all faiths. It spells an aim for peace among nations and a civilized conduct among all peoples. The lessons of the months that conclude the retiring year create the craving for such human accord. It is not easily attained, in the experi- ence of hatefulness that has blanketed the world. As an aspiration for a new year it is a duty that cannot be shirked. The obligation for such striving is the root of all greetings to be exchanged on the Rosh Hashana now approach- ing. NEW YEAR TOOLS In the quest for a Rosh Hashana salutation, there is nothing more apt than the assertion of the savant of nearly 2,000 years ago, Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai: He who possesses both learning and piety is like an artist with his tools ready to hand. The famous Tanna who secured Rome's permission to establish the historic Academy in Yavne, thereby continuing Jewish life tradi- tionally and in the process assuring survival for Judaism, rescued Jewish spirit from destruc- tion by the Romans. His plea for learning was one of his legacies for succeeding generations. It remains a legacy for this generation as well. May such tools ever be on hand to strengthen Jewish identifications. Shana Tova! tiltp; i1t3tv11 Historic Treasures: Legends of Second Commonwealth For more than half-a-century, "Legends of the Jews" by Dr. Louis Ginzberg was a major inspiration for learning and served as a guide for scholars, teachers and students. In more recent decades, the legends compiled by Zev Vilnay added to the legendary treasures. "Jewish Legends of the Second Commonwealth" by Judah Nadich (Jewish Publication Society), as the newest contribution to folktore, pi-ovides so vast a collection of historic material that it assumes significance on a par with the most valuable literary- historical facts enriching the most fascinating records of a rr - portant era in Jewish history. Dr. Nadich, rabbi of the New York Park Avenue Synagogue since 1957, author of several other volumes which included American Jewish historical chronicles, incorporated in this new work so thorough a record of the most significant occurrences that influente Jewish experiences, that his scholarly anthology is certain to inspire increasing interest covering Jewish striving for continuity and em- phasis on learning from the most threatening to Jewish survival. Taking into account the Hasmo- nean era, the roles of Akiva and Yoha- nan ben Zakkai, the scholars and the sages, the dramatic events recapitu- lated emerge as much as an historic record as the legendary spirit in which the events are recounted. This is, indeed, a history of the Second Commonwealth and of the per- sonalities whose roles are indelible in the historically indelible cast of char- acters. Taking into account the ideologi- cal as well as historic, giving emphasis to the ethical and disputable, the thorough coverage of the differing views of Hillel and Shammai reach into the debatable that leads to an JUDAH NADICH appreciation of the scholarly confron- tations recorded in the Talmud, as well as the events that marked Jewish struggles for survival, as in the Hasmonean era. Dr. Nadich, in his thoroughly researched work, covers the events from the Third Century BCE to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. Therefore, the historical marked by the legendary marks a march through that most important period in Jewish history, the emergence of the synagogue, the triumph of the leadership in its wisdom of arriving at spiritual fortresses that assured the continuity, the very indestructibility of Jewry. The introductory chapter is in itself a very scholarly analysis of these experiences. The author deals at length with the records left for posterity by Josephus and he gives full credit to his having drawn upon Josephus for his legends relating to the Roman era and the conquest of Judea. Thus, Dr. Nadich proceeds to describe how defeat, under Titus, was not a triumph, with Yohanan ben Zakkai producing the spiritu- ally defensive means of survival. Therefore the author of this impres- sive collection asserts: "The work of the sages in developing Jewish Law and schol- arship, in making the study of Torah and the life of Torah a new central force in Jewish existence, assured Jewish survival and created continuity." This is a mere capsule as a comment on a very great book. This anthology of Jewish legends serves as fact and reality in encouraging utilization of this noteworthy literary anthology as a textbook for uninterrupted study of Jewish history.