I PURELY COMMENTARY I
5748 As A Year For Religious And Cultural Pluralism
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor Emeritus
R
osh Hashanah continues in
Jewish chronological observ-
ance as the time to reflect on our
ways of life. In self-judgment we also re-
pent. The New Year Day commences
the Yamin Nora'im, the Days of Awe.
There is need for another emphasis:
that in the solemnity of the sacred days
all mankind confronts Divinity. The
whole world is being judged, and that
lends to solemnity the inherited Divine
principle that the Jewish teachings are
for all who occupy the earth.
The acceptance of this principle
becomes a vital factor in Jewish obser-
vance. It serves as a demand for the
obliteration of all and everything that
may lead to inhumanism. It demands
that man in the image of God embrace
the most sacred ethical codes. When
treated for ourselves, they call for ap-
plication to the neighbor. When there
is transgression, all that is sacredly ap-
plied to the ideal imbedded in the Crea-
tion of the World may face destruction.
It is valuable to note that when the
blasts of the shofar are referred to, they
are always described as a call to self-
judgment. In Amos it is defined as a
summons for the assembly to apply con-
science to self-improvement. It is a
Jewish call for a rising to high goals in
life. There is cause for deep satisfaction
for those who have made the Shofar a
symbol for an arousing of the people to
whom it is applied, that it be a commit-
ment for all mankind to share in faith
for the humanity in whose sphere the
Jews are the bearers of the message im-
plied in the world whose creation is
marked by the Rosh Hashana sanctity.
As the standard bearer in this quest
for universalism and for emphasis on
humanism in mankind, the Jew con-
tinues that responsibility with the
sounding of the shofar. The Jew also has
the duty of assuring a high role in the
ethical codification. This demands a
priority for unity and cooperation in our
own ranks.
Nevertheless, there is the recurring
threat of "splits" in the ranks. Unity is
often threatened. Rosh Hashanah is
certainly a call for a new commitment
to the required unity without which
there can be no survivalism.
Is it possible to reassure unity and
to reintroduce in our way of life mutual
respect and dignity even when differing
views are on very extreme levels?
Spiritual leadership must be view-
ed as a unifying force. Rabbis are the
guides toward it. There are serious con-
flicting views. They need not, must not,
serve as disrupting forces.
A current volume devoted to the
famous in the rabbinate could well
serve as means to prove unity rather
than divisiveness. In enthusiastically
assembled personality portraits and
references to what is called "famous,"
under the title, The Greatest Rabbis'
Hall of Fame, (Shapolsky Publishers),
Rabbi Alex K. Goldman of Temple Beth
El, Stanford, Conn., provides the
necessary proof of unity that can not be
dismissed. In his introduction to his
Hall of Fame he comments:
This is a book of portraits of
great rabbis in America who,
during the last two centuries,
came onto the stage of history,
performed their missions nobly
and well, and achieved deserv-
ed recognition. They charted
the course of Jewish history,
guided, counseled, and led with
the kind of fervor becoming on-
ly giants of faith. Their impress
on America is indelible, for they
were as much a part of this
country as they were a part of
Judaism.
Hailing from many different
environments — Eastern and
Western Europe, Italy, America
— they all joined here. They were
Orthodox, Conservative,
Reform, and Reconstructionist;
as right as Aaron Kotler, as left
as David Einhorn. Although
they represented vastly different
orientations and made con-
trasting demands, they all loved
their people and all of mankind.
Each was recognized and ad-
mired by thousands of people of
all religions and persuasions.
This volume is designed to con-
vey their essence; to make them
live even to those unacquainted
with their contributions to
Jewish and American history.
It is the assembled cast of rabbinic
heroes which, as Rabbi Goldman sub-
mits, is only a partial list and is not the
totality that could be gathered, that of-
fers a warning against divisiveness.
In this famous ingathering of
spiritual leaders are the predominant
in Orthodoxy, such as Aaron Cutler and
Moses Feinstein. There are the ex-
tremists in Reform like David Einhorn
and Isaac M. Wise.
The others of rabbinic fame who
were selected by Rabbi Goldman for his
fascinating assembly are:
Isaac Leeser, Max Lilienthal, Ber-
nard Felsenthal, Sabbato Morais, Kauf-
man Kohler, Solomon Schechter, Henry
Cohen, Stephen S. Wise, Saul Silber,
Abraham E. Halpern, Solomon
Goldman, Milton Steinberg. Alexander
E. Goode, Abba Hillel Silver, Mordecai
M. Kaplan, and Israel Goldstein.
In each instance, whether Or-
thodox, Conservative, Reform or
Reconstructionist, each of the spiritual
leaders listed had views of his own. He
propagated them, but did not use them
to outlaw, harrass or condemn fellow
Jews. In every instance there was a
mark of respect for fellow Jews.
If they were all assembled in a
single congregational gathering, it is in-
conceivable that they might call for a
war, such as in most recent Israeli ex-
periences when cause was given to the
media to sensationalize a theme that
spelled "War of Jew Against Jew."
Our contention is that it is in-
conceivable, that the centrality of the
theme that spells "Jew" denotes a
measure of unity that emphasizes a
measure of cooperativeness that can not
be dismissed into a war of neighbor
against neighbor, of fellow Jew against
fellow Jew.
Even in the extremest cases, of
secularist Jews sharing communal life
with other Jews, there is not an in-
stance to be found of advocacy of
destruction of the non-religious
community.
Such is the lesson offered for the
New Year 5748. Is it acceptable by all,
with a rejection of divisiveness that
Continued on Page 54
Legendary And Humorous Enrich The Historical
Modernized narratives, based on
the legendary, including the humorous,
are also enriching Jewish historical
writings. Newly-published modernized
narratives are certain to delight Jewish
readers. The new storytellers, by utiliz-
ing the accumulated recorded tales, re-
taining the emphases on the most
cherished historical experiences, are ad-
ding immensely to the importance of
the expanding Jewish story-telling book
shelves.
The publishers of the newly-
accumulating narratives, thereby en-
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FRIDAY, SEPT. 25, 1987
Sept. 25, 1987
couraging the storytellers, are earning
commendation for making possible the
publication of these works.
Storytelling is an art. When
childrena re readers of listeners or both,
they provide an audience that is certain
to multiply into unlimited scales. Then
they serve as an inspiration for the
elders. Exemplary in this instance is
the tried and proven creatively-
enthusiastic narrative skill of Professor
Emeritus Blanche Serwer-Bernstein of
Boston University who previously
taught at Harvard University, specializ-
ing in teaching children with learning
disabilities and children's literature.
She began to tell stories with Jewish
themes to her children. It became a
family tradition and then her children
continued to tell the stories to their
children and it continues for three
generations.
Some of the Serwer-Bernstein
stories are in her newest book, Let's
Steal the Moon, a Shapolsky Publishers'
product. The title is of one of the
Chelem stories. They provide opportuni-
ty to become acquainted with the
legends about a former Polish com-
munity whose residents were rated as
foolish. Of course, that was not always
true. But the pun led to legendary
relating. The Chelmer have all been
Nazi massacred, but their tales live on.
This Serwer-Bernstein book is fill-
ed with 12 stories that include many
with historical data — one is about the
famous Maharal and the Golem legend
in the battle against anti-Semitism in
Prague 400 years ago.
This splendidly-narrated collection
contains numerous other tales about
ancient Israel as well as Eastern
Europe. The tale about Hillel of
Talmudic times is among the most
commendable.
The charming illustrations by Trina
Schart Hyman add impressive interest
to the Blanche Serwer-Bernstein
stories.
Generations'
Enrichments
Storytellers with a sense for
historiography succeed in perpetuating
tales that arouse nostalgia with a love
for the legendary. They enrich the
wealth of constantly retold folktales.
Under the intriguing title Jewish
Stories One Generation Tells Another,
published by Jason Aronson of Nor-
thvale, N.J., the widely acclaimed
storyteller Peninnah Schram has col-
Peninnah Schram
lected the most fascinating tales. As in
her personal appearances as a narrator
of legends and historic tales, her
printed stories are a source of
enthusiasm.
The 64 stories include the
Solomonic, famous Bible stories,
folkloristic, legends of the ages —
everything _conceivable in Jewish ex-
Continued on Page 55