36 Friday, May 4, 1984 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS rtybyrn-usiffE 855- 1400 A SURE THING FOR A GREAT PARTY! Johnny Chase Wilmot Jerry Fenby Fenby-Carr Shelby Lee Eric Freudigman Carl Ryding George Brooks VIS-A-VIS Sheldon Yellen Caricaturists Tom Ploeger Loving Cup Divertissement Jay Valle Tim Hewitt & Feelings Johnny Griffith Design In Music Eric Harris BOOKS Talent Agency Oasis ABZ Orchestra Primos Harry Teichert Strings Raymon Carbone Perfect Blend Mariachi Band Smiling Faces Advertising in The Jewish News Gets Results s Place Your Ad Today. Call 424-8833 From Sinai Hospital to You... A Free Program on Family ips Sinai Hospital in cooperation with the West Bloomfield Schools Community Education Department presents Coping--and Growing With Your Teenagers a free program, open to the public, on understanding and communicating with adolescent children. Thesday, May 15, 1984 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Orchard Lake Middle School 6000 Orchard Lake Road West Bloomfield Speaker: John Flatter, Ph.D. Dr. Flatter is a therapist with Sinai's Problems of Daily Living Clinic, and is coordinating programs at the new Sinai Hospital Health Care Center, Farmington Road north of Maple, West Bloomfield. For more information, contact Sinai Hospital at 493-5500. Pre-registration is necessary. To register, contact in person or by mail: West Bloomfield Schools Community Education Department, 5475 West Maple Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48033 — Phone: 851-7600. Feuchtwanger classic reissued BY LEONARD N. SIMONS• Special to The Jewish News Jew Suss by Lion Feuchtwanger is considered by the critics to be one of the finest, if not the finest, his- torical novels of the 20th Century. in acclaim Public England and America plus its sale of more than three million copies over the years since it was first pub- lished in 1925 make it one of the most notable and more successful historical novels ever written. No wonder it is said Jew Suss is being brought back by popular demand. It is the sheer power of the narrative that gives the book its absorbing interest. Lion Feuchtwanger's abil- ity to recreate history, at the same time adhering closely to historical truth, is little short of marvelous. Its original title in America was Power, a word which expressed the dominant motif of this splendid novel. It immediately became an international best seller. It established Lion Feuchtwanger's popularity and probably remains the book by which he is most widely known. "Jew Suss," reissued 1984. By Lion Feuchtwanger, Carroll & Graf Publishers. From many scattered sources published in the United States and England I found reviews of the book. All of them were extremely complimentary. Some are quoted here. In the words of the New York Times Book Review, Jew Suss is "comparable to Sir Walter Scott and Alexandre Dumas . . . a ro- mance on the grand scale and in the grand manner." Jew Suss is superb, a true work of art by an author • who wove a grand tapestry. He brings to life a panorama of civilization, an exciting historical period of time for Jews, Catholics and Protestants in a turbulent southern German state. "He does it with vivid de- tail, sweeping drama and full-blooded characters. It is great popular fiction at its most robust and satisfying. "Feuchtwanger's method is of historical romance but his treatment is realism. The narrative is particu- larly effective in dealing with power and its physical manifestations." Feuchtwanger wrote this unforgettable historical novel about Josef Suss Op- penheimer (1698-1738), the Lion Feuchtwanger son of Rabbi Issacher Sussk- ind Oppenheimer. Joseph, called Jew Suss, became the Jewish courtier and finan- cial councilor to the Duke of Wurttemberg, an area in southwest Germany, for- merly called Swabia. Jewish our All encyclopedias carry the story of Suss' experience as part of our history. The ear- _ liest Jews known to be in Wurttemberg was about 1240. The book's gripping story is based on the exploits of the Jew Suss, a living, pul- sating figure . . . a talented, ambitious Jew born in Heidelberg who became the friend and confidential ad- viser to Prince Karr Ale- xander, ruler of the Duchy in the early years of the 18th Century. By clever maneuvers, Joseph Suss Oppenheimer made himself indispensible to the Duke and became the virtual ruler. He also acquired a controlling hand in the in- trigues of the court; a court rampant with greed and lust, populated by the rapacious and the sensual. Subserviency to the Duke brought upon Suss the enmity of the people, both non-Jew and Jews. Suss' special duty was to assist the Duke to regulate the finances of the country. He was given control of the mint. Later, he became Privy Councilor of Finance and did such a fine job of bringing in a great deal of unexpected profits and taxes for the Duke that he became the major impor- tant power in the country — • second only to the Duke --- during the years 1733 to 1737. Suss settled many Jewish families in Wurttemberg in spite of the strong objection of the people of the country. Suss had only one vul- nerability — his love for Naemi, his young virgin daughter. And, it is the Duke's pursuit of the beau- tiful Naemi that forces Suss to choose. It began the downfall that lead to an heroic but tragic death. The book's hero has been called a great refined rascal, debauchee, grinder of the faces of the poor. But, he is a sympathetic fellow and his hanging amid circum- stances of fantastic terror will move the hearts of the staunchest upholders of morality. The distinguished British writer, Arnold Bennett, wrote: "Feuchtwanger treats the Jewish commu- nity with extraordinary in- sight and fairness. He im- mersed himself in this period with the meticulous thoroughness and impar- tiality of an historical stu- dent. He does not shirk difficulties. He writes naturally. He accepts human nature (as it was then — different from ours). "He seldom shows indig- nation — even in his pages on the lasciviousness of men or the acquiescence of women in Heavens! What a sex were German women in the 18th Century! . . . he keeps his head excellently and sins neither by audacity nor by timidity. "There are few examples of this kind of novel in English literature, and I want many more of them .. . it entertains, it enthralls, and simultaneously it teaches; it enlarges the field of knowledge." The novel gains in inten- sity as the end approaches. The pages exercise an ever- tightening clutch on the minds of the readers. Sev- eral critics liken the plot to the Faust legend. Suss has sold his soul to the devil — that is, to say, for power. And, indeed, so has nearly everyone else in the book. Feuchtwanger delimits narrowly the theme of the Jewish secular hero. For here, the Jew Suss makes no appeal to partiotism. He is interested in power only. But though he is a long way from the Torah, he never seems at any time to be alienated from the religion to which, at the close of the book, in sacrifice and sub- mission, he eventually re- turns. When in 1737 the Duke of Wurttemberg died, all the Jews in Stuttgart, the capi- tal of Wurttemberg, were made prisoners including Suss. In a sequence of highly dramatic scenes, Feuchtwanger describes how Suss is arrested and made to pay with his life for the crimes that had been committed by the Duke and dozens of corrupt, spineless officials. In all this there is nothing theatrical, nothing ar- ranged. Suss' character is traced with the utmost de- tachment and objectivity. We see his brilliance and his victories and his sacrifices; but we also see his defeats and forced servilities.