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your interest
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100 10IEURIIPON
• $10,000 yields $25,974 in ten years
• Non-callable
• May be pu ft
•Also available for IRAs, Keogh
'other Trusts
nd
9.5%VITINCOME
• $10,000 m
urn
Ahad Ha'am Preached
Unique Form Of Zionism
• 10%
-annually
Cold fur storage prolongs the life
of your furs by keeping them soft
and supple for years. We have
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we will include:
• Free minor repairs.
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Your older furs will be restyled by
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You'll be amazed by our creativity
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bq
181 S. Woodward Ave.. 1 Blk. S. of Maple,
Next to the Birmingham Theatre
Free Adjacent Parking • 642-1690
Monday-Saturday 9:30-5:30
fter 5 years at 100%
(able for 5 years
PRIME+1%
VARIABLE RATE CURRENT INCOME
• $5,000 minimum priced at 100%
• $100,000+ priced at 98.5%
• Minimum rate 7.5%—no maximum
• Due November . 1, 1992
A driving financial force,
Ampal-American Israel Corporation
enables Israel to grow productively.
For further information about Ampal, your American
corporate connection to Israel, and a prospectus, call:
Al Schonwetter
Representative, Ampal Securities Corporation
(313) 547-7056 or
1-800-445-6508 Operator 903
Member SIPC
This is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an
offer to buy securities. The offer is made only by the
•
Prospectus which may be obtained in any state
wherein the underwriter may lawfully offer the securities.
PROVIDING A FOUNDATION ON WHICH ISRAEL BUILDS
it
.
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THE CHECKMATE COLLECTION
7.g . .1111117
,.
20
FRIDAY, MAY 13, 1988
RABBI BERNARD S. RASKAS
N
ew York — Ahad
Ha'am's pioneering
ideas on the nature of
Judaism, Zionism and world
Jewry have not lost their
relevance even 60 years after
his death. His views can yet
offer guidance to those who
struggle with the quality of
Jewish existence in our time.
Adah Ha'am (Asher
Ginsberg) was born i i Skvira,
Russia in 1856 and died in Tel
Aviv in 1927. Although he
was one of the most creative
Jewish writers and probably
the most individualistic
Jewish thinker at the turn of
the century, he chose as his
pen name Ahad Ha'am ("one
of the people").
Ginsberg's intelligence was
recognized early. At age three
he was taken to the local
cheder (Hebrew school). He
secretly learned mathematics
from his classmates. His mind
was so powerful that at age
nine he learned Russian by
studying the signs on the
shop windows while on the
way home from Hebrew
school. By age ten he could
study the Talmud and its
commentaries.
His father tried to surround
him with Chasidic culture,
but Ginsberg - rebelled.
Although he turned from
Chasidism, his deeply emo-
tional attachment to Judaism
that he learned from them
was always central in his life.
Ginsberg eventually evolved
a new spiritual interpretation
of Judaism for a generation
unable to accept the tradi-
tional religious approach.
He never attended a
yeshivah, nor was he a
regular student at a universi-
ty; he- was completely
autodidactic, reading in his
father's well-stacked library.
In addition to mastering
Hebrew grammar, he read
Haskalah (enlightenment)
literature. He also learned
German, French, English and
Latin independently. Because
of his profound rational
tendencies, he was drawn to
the works of Maimonides.
Ginsberg's first important
article_ was "Lo Zeh
Haderech," The Wrong Way).
The fact that he wrote that
article and all his others in
Hebrew was an important
signal for the revival of the
Rabbi Bernard S. Raskas serves
Temple of Aaron Congregation,
St. Paul, Minn., and is author of
the trilogy Heart of Wisdom.
Ahad Ha'am: Prophets, not
diplomats.
Hebrew language and Jewish
studies. From here, he went
on to develop the idea of
spiritual or _cultural Zionism.
In Odessa and later
through visits to Eretz
Yisrael, Ginsberg strengthen-
ed his conviction that the
cultural approach to Zionism
was more important than the
political one. He wanted to
revitalize all of Judaism, and
saw Zionism as but one ex-
pression of this charge. He
identified completely with
the masses.
Ahad Ha'am felt that the
settling of Eretz Yisrael
should be slow and measured,
with emphasis directed
toward the state of Judaism
and Jewish thought
everywhere. He perceived
that the young, educated Jews
admired and identified with
European cultures, but re-
jected their own heritage.
He was concerned with
creating a new type of Jew,
one proud of Jewishness and
deeply rooted in it.
Through the generosity of
K. Wissotsky, a wealthy
Moscow tea merchant of
scholarly interests, Ahad
Ha'am was offered the oppor-
tunity of launching a new
monthly periodical in Hebrew
that would lift the cultural
level of Russian Jewry.
He called the magazine
Hashiloach, which he took
from the biblical river whose
"waters go slowly."
Around this time Theodor
Herzl published his brochure
The Jewish State. Ahad
Ha'am resisted the call to
political Zionism. The aim of
Zionism, he contended, must
be a moral one, "to liberate
ourselves from inner slavery,
from feelings of inferiority,
and to strengthen our na-
tional unity until Jews will be
ready for a new life."
He argued that Herzl's ex-
pectations were too high and
warned that "the salvation of