14 Friday, September 16, 1983
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Morality as Commitment
/
Dear Friend!
In recent years some of the right wing political and racial hate groups of the
world have been trying to distort history by such claims as:
1. "The Holocaust is a Jewish lie, it never really happened."
2. The Nazis did not exterminate six million Jews."
3. The Holocaust is the biggest hoax of the twentieth century."
4. "The books about the Holocaust are fraudulent."
When we the survivors of the Nazi Germany death camps hear such
perverted propaganda directed against the Jewish people, we get agi-
tated and upset for fear that history may repeat itself.
Are we going to sit idle while racist hate groups brainwash the minds of
the world societies and thereby gain followers? — or, are we going to
counteract their distored propaganda by informing world societies of the
truth about the Holocaust?
Jack Seiderman, President
I am convinced that everyone of you survivors, and all the Jewish
Albert Einstein Lodge B'nai B'rith
people feel that we owe it to the six million martyrs who perished in the
Holocaust, our parents, brothers, sisters, and friends to remind the world that, when hatred and prejudice is allowed to grow, it can
lead to another gen locide.
The most effective method to counteract the hate mongers that we, the survivors in the Detroit area can take is to supply all the
evidence about the authenticity of the Holocaust, and to extend support to the development of the Holocaust Memorial Center,
where all the compiled evidence will be stored for present and future generations to examine.
It is our duty and moral obligation to support generously this very important project. I know that each and every one of you will do
his and her very best as I pledge to do mine.
Wishing You and Your Family
a Healthy Happy and Prosperous
NEW YEAR
LASTING PEACE FOR THE STATE OF ISRAEL AND ALL MANKIND
"THIS SHALL TELL ALL AGES"
JOIN US IN HELPING TO PRESERVE THE MEMORY OF
THE SIX MILLION JEWISH MARTYRS WHO PERISHED IN THE HOLOCAUST
YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO ATTEND THE
Albert Einstein Lodge B'nai B'rith
Holocaust Memorial Center Fund Raising Dinner
GUEST SPEAKER
DR. CAROL RITTNER
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1983
SIX O'CLOCK IN THE EVENING
AT
BETH SHALOM SYNAGOGUE
R.S.V.P.
Cover Charge
$20.00
Per Person
14601 W. LINCOLN, OAK PARK, MI 48237
For further information, call ticket chairman
Max Pines, 358-0715; Sigmunt Robin, 557-0281; or Jack Seiderman 548-7252
(Continued from Page 1)
he would not sleep but read
from Job, Ezra, Chronicles
and Daniel.
When he entered the
Holy of Holies, he did not
wear the golden vest-
ments which he usually
wore in his office of High
Priest, but simple gar-
ments of white linen —
emblems of humility and
purity. Today Jews also
wear white on Yom Kip-
pur= as if going to a feast
— confident that those
who return penitently
will receive pardon.
On returning from the
Holy of Holies, the High
Priest would offer the fol-
lowing prayer: "May it
please Thee, 0 Lord our
God, that this year may be
in a year of rain. Let there
not be wanting a ruler be-
longing to the House of
Judah. Let not Thy people
Israel be in want, so that
one Israelite may not be
forced to beg his sustenance
from another or from stran-
gers; and hearken not to the
prayer of travelers since
they pray for rainless
weather, which is a calam-
ity in the Holy Land" (Tal-
mud).
Part of the elaborate
ritual in the Temple was
concerned with a scapegoat
(the origin of the word we
use today). The High Priest
placed his two hands on the
goat to be sent away, and
having confessed the sins of
the people, symbolically
transferred them to the
head of the animal, which
was then sent into the
wilderness.
Later, when the land was
more densely inhabited,
the goat was cast down a
precipice as there was no ef-
fective place from which it
could not wander back.
The ceremonies of the
Day of Atonement were for
all time. The Torah named
Aaron as the atoning priest,
but whoever had been con-
secrated after him to the
High Priest's office was elig-
ible to continue the ritual.
But even after the de-
struction of the Temple
and with it the cessation
of the High Priesthood,
Yom Kippur remained. In
fact, with the passing of
animal sacrifice, it
*
DINNER CHAIRMAN
SIGMUNT RUBIN
CO-CHAIRMAN
SAM FREEDMAN
gained in spiritual
power. It also benefited
from the fact that there
remained no inter-
mediary between man
and God — man must
make his confession di-
rect to his Maker with no
one to intercede for him.
There remained the fast-
ing and humiliation; the
confession and contribu-
tion for sins; and fervent
prayers for forgiveness.
These were the reality of
the Day of Atonement, for
which the Temple rituals
had been dramatic symbols.
When the sacrifices ceased
(and many believe that
animal sacrifice was just a
concession to the prevailing
custom at that time of
pagan human sacrifice) Is-
rael was left with repen-
tance as the only way for
remission of sins.
The rabbis declare that
the Day of Atonement will
never pass away as long as
Israel does not lose its soul.
On Yom Kippur, Jews con-
fess in unison, summarizing
all possible religious fail-
ures using the pronouns
"we," "us," "our." All Israel
stands in relation to God as
a single immortal indi-
vidual.
Israel was the only nation
that took upon itself as a
matter of law to love God, to
observe His command-
ments, to love our neighbors
as ourselves, to protect
widows and orphans, to give
charity to the poor. They
form Israel's statutory law,
and as Jews we are bound to
accept this morality as our
commitment.
To be in Jerusalem as
the Day of Atonement
draws to a close is awe-
inspiring. Darkness de-
scends like black velvet
spangled with stars, and
the pine trees sigh a
prayer of their own.
Thousands are drawn to
the Western Wall to hear
the dramatic sound of the
the shofar rend the night.
Hungry and weary, but
spiritually refreshed, they
wish each other "Next year
in Jerusalem rebuilt" before
returning to their homes
and families, still with the
prayers and hopes of the
Day of Atonement inscribed
in their hearts.
*
FUNDRAISING CHAIRMAN
. CAROL RITTNER
HENRY DORFMAN
GENERAL CO-CHAIRMEN
Norman Adelsberg
Louis Levinson
Martin Shianger
Charley Grow
Eric Rosenow
Sam Seltzer
CO-CHAIRMAN
ALLEN CHARLUPSKI
I wish to enroll as a member of the Holocaust Memorial Center. To assure the acquisition, study and
maintenance of historical materials, as well as provide for creative programming that will ensure the preserva-
tion of the memory and lessons of the Holocaust. Our membership contribution is:
❑ $100 General
$500 Guardian
$1000 Charter
❑ $250 Patron
$1000 Founder
(annually for 5 years)
❑
❑
❑
AMOUNT ENCLOSED $
NAME
STREET
CITY
STATE
7IP
PHONE (Home)
PHONE (Business)
DATE
Please make checks payable to: Holocaust Memorial Center.
Mail to: Albert Einstein Lodge B'nai B'rith
c/o Sam Seltzer, 25214 Roy Court, Huntington Woods, MI 48070
For information call: 588-5787 548-7252 557-0281
All contributions are tax deductible
„
CtIstft'
4
44 cor,-
This postcard dates back to the beginning of the
20th Century. In the painting, artist G.L. Jerome de-
picts Jews praying at Jerusalem's Western Wall.