IPURELY COMMENTARY
Luzzatto
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40
FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 1988
any time, began to decline
when the town was af-
fected by anti-Jewish
restrictions that earlier
had been introduced in
other parts of Italy. In 1777,
with the passage of a
decree requiring the expul-
sion of Jews from the
towns which did not have
ghettos, all the Jews of San
Daniele were obliged to
leave, with the exception of
the family of Isaac Luzzat-
to, Ephraim's brother.
Its Jewish inhabitants
apparently developed a
deep attachment for San
Daniele, as is evidenced by
their attempt to have the
decree calling for their ex-
pulsion nullified, and as is
even more warmly
declared by a poem writ-
ten by Ephraim Luzzatto
expressing his love for San
Daniele, the idyllic place of
his birth and the home of
his youth.
Then, in the Mirsky classic,
there is an evaluation of the
Luzzatto literary skill and
Ephraim's poetry. Prof. Mir-
sky wrote:
One thing we do have, thr
poems of Ephraim Luzzat-
to, published in a slim
volume known by the title
of These Are the Children
of My Youth, taken from
the larger description
given them by their author
on the title page of the first
edition:
These Are the
Children of My Youth
Begotten by Doctor
Ephraim Luzzatto
as the spirit of song rested
on him in his younger days
when in Italy, and their
sire mocked them and cast
them into a different land
even to this day, and they
weep and blunder through
the streets of London, nor
had they prepared provi-
sions for themselves.
His is a thin body of
work, yet rich enough to
have won a place for Luz-
zatto in Hebrew letters. On
the nature of that place
critics disagree strongly,
but essentially only over
details; on major matters
they agree. Different
readers extol his mastery
of Hebrew. his felicity of ex-
pression, his daring flights,
his originality, although
more often than not they
dismiss the examples
brought by others to bring
forth their own texts in
support of their claims.
The poems themselves
give us an insight into their
creator that may help ex-
plain seeming contradic-
tions. Gay charm, simple
pleasure in living, shine
through Luzzatto's lines,
which almost without ex-
ception are charged with
wit. He could be biting, but
an essential good-
naturedness underlies, and
disarms, his sharpest
sallies.
An attractive boyishness
seems to go hand-in-hand
with the sophisticated
worldliness he assumes.
These qualities grace his
poems with beauty, and his
originality and daring give
freshness and excitement
to his lines and figures
even when he works within
traditional and over-
worked forms.
And _so three-score
poems have given Ephraim
Luzzatto, about whom
almost nothing besides
these poems is known, a
firm place in modern
Hebrew poetry and made
him an influential force in
its development.
What Dr. Mirsky provided
is a chronological record of
one of the most famous Euro-
pean Jewish families as well
as a study of lyric poetry in
the writings of which one of
the Luzzattos made a notable
contribution.
The Ephraim Luzzatto
biography also enriches the
published historical data
about Italian Jewry.
Dr. Mirsky has added
notably to Italian Jewish
historiography and has
enriched biographical
literature
Accomplished
Goldie Adler:
Lady Of Valor
.
D
edication of a Sabbath
service in honor of the
80the birthday of
Goldie Adler is a tribute to
the Congregation Shaarey
Zedek leadership for the
recognition thereby given to
the eminent personality in
our community.
Recipient of many awards,
Goldie Adler has earned the
acclaim already given her for
the three or more decades of
service she rendered here. At
the Shaarey Zedek
ceremonies there will most
certainly be an accounting of
her numerous abilities.
Like her husband, *the late
Rabbi Morris Adler, she gives
a good accounting of her
Hebraic studies and her
mastering of the Yiddish
language as well. She is a
marvelous storyteller, with a
good sense of humor. She in-
fluences the home spirit with
the dedication she inspires,
the many continuing obser-
vances and adherence to the
Legacies. She also is the good
teaches
who
cook
homemakers in the communi-
ty how to cherish acquired
skills.
She is honored for her com-
passion, the human spirit
that gave her strength in
time of need. When the great
tragedy of her husband's
death struck her and her
family, in the sorrow that af-
flicted the entire American
Jewish community, she gave
comfort and did not bear
grudges. She evidenced a
kindness even to the one who
caused the tragedy.
She was always the great
lady. In the Proverbs of our
great tradition and legacy,
Goldie Adler is teacher and
guide. She is an inspiration to
the many who are privileged
to be in her presence. She is
the true Eshet Hayil — Lady
of Valor. The tribute to her is
not by her congregation
alone. It is by the Jewish com-
munity on the grandest scale.
NEWS 1"'"""ml
Woman
Sentenced
Jerusalem (JTA) — A Pales-
tinian woman was sentenced
Aug. 11 to eight months in jail
for badly wounding a Jewish
settler during a fatal alterca-
tion April 6 in the village of
Beita, near Nablus.
Munira Salah Daoud was
convicted of throwing a rock
at Roman Aldubi, who was
leading a group of young set-
tlers on a Passover outing
near the village.
According to an army in-
vestigation, Aldubi panicked
when confronted by villagers, (
and began firing his rifle. His
shots struck and killed
Daoud's brother and Tirza
Porat, a 15-year-old settler.
In a second case, the head of
the Binyamin regional coun-
cil in the West Bank was
charged in Jerusalem district
court with manslaughter in
the shooting death of Rabah
Hussein Ghanem, 17. of the
village of Beitin. in the
Ramallah region.
Pinhas Wallerstein, 39, is
the second settler to face
charges over the killing of a
Palestinian, since the start of
the uprising last December.
Refugee Support
New York — The .American
Jewish Committee expressed
to Secretary of State George
Shultz its support of the Con-
gressional Black Caucus and
other groups that have been
campaigning for greater
refugee admissions from
Africa and assistance to
humanitarian programs.