PURELY COMMENTARY
An Earlier Generation: Cultural Blessing To Rabbis
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor Emeritus
T
he newest addition to the Detroit
rabbinic corps is a reminder of
his grandfather's share in what
is now a cultural blessing to Detroit
Jewish community.
Temple Beth El will have added
pride in the acquisition of Rabbi Daniel
Polish as its senior rabbi when it is in-
formed about the literature treasures
that were assembled by his grandfather
Abraham Hyman Friedland.
His father, Rabbi David Polish, has
an excellent record as rabbi, lecturer,
columnist, community organizer. His
grandfather instilled great inspiration
in the family and created a library for
children so valuable that two genera-
tions were enthused into increased
Hebraic studies.
A. H. Friedland authored scores of
paperbacked short stories that ap-
peared under the title "Sipurim Yofim:
Pleasant Stories." Mildred Gandal
Goldman provided the nekudot (punc-
tuation) for the stories.
There are few copies left of these
stories. My own copies were presented
to day schools.
Rabbi Daniel Polish must have been
blessed with copies of them.
He can render a great service by
having them reprinted, used again and
again and most assuredly popularized
again.
A. H. Friedland was an impassion-
ed Herzlian Zionist and his loyalties to
Jewish needs and to the cause of Jewish
nationalism became a valued heritage
in the family. He was a convincing
orator and his Detroit audiences valued
his teachings and he became their idol.
Rabbi Daniel Polish
He was among the most admired
associates in Hebrew educational
circles and in Detroit his followers in-
cluded the superintendent of the United
Hebrew Schools, Bernard Isaacs, who
considered him a mentor.
These are memories to be cherish-
ed in anticipation of the perpetuation
of the Friedland legacies.
It was my privilege to invite
recognition of the genius of A. H.
Friedland in a series of syndicated ar-
ticles. They dealt with the scholarship
of the pedagogue, his poetry, his short
stories and ballads.
As emphasis on his "Sipurim
Yofim" there were the accompanying
reproductions of their sample pages.
There also was recognition of his
Hebrew textbooks, the series published
under the title "Gilenu":
The syndicated articles in-
cluded such titles as "The Pied
Piper of Hebrew" and "A. H.
Friedland — The Human
Library." Their tributes were
understatements. He was the
eminent pedagogue, the teacher
of great merit. The last named
articles were published in
English language newspapers
in many lands only a short few
months before his death. He is
destined not to be forgotten,
especially if new life will be
given to "Sipurim Yofim" and
"Gilenu."
In my 1938 article, "The Pied Piper
of Hebrew," I commented that "Gilenu"
subtitled "The Playway to Hebrew" ap-
peared in four volumes and immediate-
ly "won acclaim from the most
discriminating critics in America."
In my tribute to Friedland, I
evaluated his contributions to Hebrew
literature and his works for adults as
well as the children and added a
chapter to the history of modern
Hebraic literature. I wrote then:
The secret of Friedland's
successful approach is a simple
one: he is a master storyteller
and a thrilling storywriter; he
possesses the imaginative mind
that links the poetic with the
prosaic; he has found the path to
the minds of his vast audience
which makes his approach and
appeal irresistible. It is no
wonder that his stories are read
by Jewish children in schools
throughout the United States
and Canada, in South Africa, in
India, in England, in Australia.
Wherever there are English-
speaking Jews, there Mr. Fried-
land has met with a receptive
audience whenever the pages of
"Sipurim Yofim" ("Pleasant
Stories") are opened for the
child in the Jewish school.
There are close to 100 of these
stories published, and more
than 100,000 copies have been
sold. The texts and the pictures,
their simplicity of style and
vocabulary and the charm of
the plots, have led thousands of
Jewish children who did not
purchase these 10-cent
storybooks to Jewish libraries
to draw them on their cards and
to get the thrill of good reading
in Hebrew and through it the
enrichment of their knowledge
of the Hebrew language.
Not content with reaching
only the youngsters, Friedland
recently made another contribu-
tion to the teaching of Hebrew
by creating a library for adults
under the title "Bibliotheko Du-
Leshonith" — "The Bi-Lingual
Library" — which accomplishes
a double purpose: it helps
popularize the works of the
outstanding Jewish writers and
serves as an excellent self-
teacher in Hebrew. It is a novel
creation. The story itself ap-
pears at the right hand of every
page, with a maximum of four
words to the line. The English
translation appears to the left.
Anyone with a smattering of
Continued on Page 40
Beware Of 'Dice' On The Way To The 'Casino'
W
ith "Casino" in the headlines
and games of chance in the
limelight, disputed views
draw much interest in Detroit's plann-
ing stages on these ideas.
Jewish attitudes and objectives play
significant roles in the current debates.
So do the traditional American.
In Jewish legalistic aspects, the
"cube" called "dice" is an object of
disrepute.
In the American traditions there
are many warnings. George
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Vol. XCIII No. 15
June 10, 1988
2
FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 1988
Washington is quoted from a letter he
wrote in 1783: "Gambling is the child
of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and
the father of mischief."
Mark Twain provided this piece of
wisdom: "There are two times in a
man's life when he should not
speculate; when he can't afford it, and
when he can."
Interestingly, Leon of Modena,
writing on "Games of Chance" in 1596,
went to the extreme of avowing: "A
gambler transgresses all the Ten Com-
mandments."
In every instance involving Jewish
legalism, there is the treatment of the
"dice" as an abomination. In "Gateway
to Judaism," by Albert M. Shulman
(Thomas Yoseloff), there is important
judgment of "Gambling" and the
"Dice" as its topic:
GAMBLING — In its general
use gambling means to stake
money or something of value
upon an uncertain event. From
a legal point of view it refers to
the playing or gaming for
money or other stakes, as at
dice, cards, horse racing, etc.
In the Bible and rabbinic
literature there is no prohibition
against gambling. From a moral
point of view it should be
discouraged on the ground that
it does not further the interest of
the individual or society. The
rabbis were aware of the
frailties of man and in the
moralistic literature of Israel
they repeatedly condemned
gambling as a frivolous pursuit.
The rabbis objected to cer-
tain forms of amusement that
turned to gambling, mainly
because it could not always be
controlled. Dice were banned
but chess was permitted.
A more evaluative treatment of the
subject is provided in the "Encyclopedia
of Jewish Religion," edited by Dr. R.J.
Zwi Werblowsky and Geoffrey Wigoder
(published in 1966 by Massada). There
we read:
"GAMBLING — There are no
references to games in the Bible
and it seems that only under
Greek and Roman influence
were games such as dice-
playing (kubya) adopted and in-
dulged in by Jews. The rabbis
were strongly opposed to all
Coleman Young
forms of gambling which,
although not classed as actual
robbery (since appropriation
against the will of the owner is
an essential legal requirement
for proving robbery in Jewish
Continued on Page 40