[PURELY COMMENTARY
r -
With Presidential Cheers Especially In Liberalism
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor Emeritus
co
n the night of Nov. 8, 1988, the
new commitment commenced,
with the unanimity of greetings
to our nation's new chief. It will be
President. George Bush on Jan. 20,
1989, and as an organized community
we will be one nation.
There were bitter disputes and
there may be a lapse of years ahead to
aim at resolving them. In our
democratic way of life we will surely
make the desired unity a basis for rais-
ing our standard of living. Therefore,
the especially vital greeting to
President-Elect George Bush.
The record of liberalism that was a
process turned into a disputation dur-
ing the election remains a factor in the
history-making of American idealism.
Thumbing through pre-election
magazines, attention is drawn to a car-
toon in the New Yorker depicting a
restaurant, the manager advising a
waiter: "Should anyone inquire, Harr-
ington, our portions are generous, not
liberal!'
This is a reminder of the political
philosophy that has gained dominance
in diplomatic etymology. The results of
the 1988 elections are carried influen-
tially into the new challenges that com-
mence with the Electoral College
decisive results. The changing era is at
hand.
It is not mere allusion to the recent
political disputations to believe they
will now be accepted as decisions by the
American citizens even though they
voted for the party advocating them.
The ideological factors remain on an ac-
tive agenda. Capital punishment is not
unanimously imposed on the nation.
There is an opposition to it that cannot
be silent. There is a "separation" prin-
George Bush
ciple that does not eradicate the
idealism of James Madison and his
generation in support of it. The
"liberal" does not bend knees, even
though in political strife the ultra-
conservative reduces him to "Mister —
or Ms. — L!' There are many more mat-
ters under dispute not to be ignored.
Central to the many themes is the
ideological and the sentimental that
have created puzzles over from the view-
points involving either liberal or conser-
vative. We have begun to hear the
escape into "progressivism!' There will
surely be clarification now that we have
a lull politically and the choice of terms,
of etymology, will not be motivated by
clamoring for votes and/or jobs on a
political basis.
Sensationalized "L" contains the
secret of what occurred in our political
thinking. It has affected our social
philosophy and it is no surprise. The
country at large has gone conservative.
The university campuses are thinking
conservatively. The leading countries in
the world are performing conserva-
tively. Israel is exemplary on that score.
As one who would be labeled a "card
carrying liberal," I believe that there is
no compromise for it from the seekers
for a substitute in a "progressive" label.
It is apparent that the "E' commitment
calls for a measure of both devotion and
militancy in an effort to retain
whatever has been achieved in
liberalism. The record is too rich to need
repetitive explanation for the
knowledgeable.
Yet, there is a realism not to be ig-
nored. It is an uphill battle for a
strengthened idealism. The Jewish ex-
perience is in evidence. The Orthodox
in our ranks, their overwhelming ma-
jority, are ultra-conservative. It is a new
trend in Jewish life.
There is much to contend with for
the liberal. The triumphant American
political party is not only conservative.
Its leaders, including the president-
elect, have invented the "L" brevity. As
far as they are concerned the liberal is
a sinner. Such "sinning" adds pride to
liberalism.
My rabbi made a Holy Day sermon
an evaluation of "Hatanu — we have
sinned," when errors are committed. He
urged admission of it in the striving to
make life liveable. Therefore, as a "card
carrying sinner" of liberalism, I must
plead for a recommitment to the ideal
that continues to have a high goal for
the betterment of human values.
The battle lines on the subject are
now sharply drawn under the leader-
ship of the duly-elected president and
the political party of which he is now
the acknowledged chief. Therefore, in
the interest of differing with that par-
ty and its leaders, the ideological
weapons need to be sharpened. In order
not to abandon the lifelong in-
volvements in the liberal principles,
this "card carrying liberal sinner"
believes in the necessity of retaining
association for a goal aimed at human
values. My conferes in liberalism and
I will surely be judged honorably in the
course of time.
Genealogical High
In Batkin Family
G
enealogy has become a science
that attracts very many who are
making it both a habit and a
devotion to find and learn about family
roots.
The Batkin family has become a
leader in such root-searching. It
becomes evident in a voluminous work,
The Batkin Family Genealogy (ktav).
This large book with its many
scores of facts, profusely illustrated, was
edited by Stanley I. Batkin. Some
chapters about the ancient and
medieaval world of the Batkin
ancestors were written by Harold
Drimmer.
In a summary of the contents of this
work that will be tempting for all aspir-
ing genealogists, the growing number
of roots-seekers, there is this notewor-
thy sentence:
"What do the president of
Waldbaum's Supermarkets in New
York, real estate developer Bernard
Mendik, an Episcopalian priest in
Jacksonville, Fla., and Tibok Hollo,
owner of the Eden Rock Hotel in Miami,
have in common? They are all members
of the prolific clan of Batkin."
The Batkin Family Genealogy in-
cludes 1250 family names, addresses
Continued on Page 32
One-Woman Szold Performance Glorifies Hadassah
A
one-woman stage performance
by accomplished actress Muriel
Nussbaum, as a tribute to
Henrietta Szold, is certain to add in-
creased glory to Hasassah, the move-
ment founded by the personality thus
acclaimed.
The Nussbaum performance, plann-
ed to commence Nov. 30, should provide
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2
November 18, 1988
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1988
thrills for the ladies of Hadassah, the
movement founded by Henrietta Szold
who is about to be honored in this
fashion. There should be an assurance
that the approaching staging in New
York will eventually also be for Detroit
audiences.
Hadassah has so important a share
in modern Jewish history, in the Zionist
record, in Israel, that every step in the
direction of the limelight for this com-
mendable Jewish movement should be
encouraged.
There are many aspects in the life
of Henrietta Szold that are unforget-
table. She was the first editor of the
Jewish Publication Society of America
and was the translator from the Ger-
man into English of the five-volume
History of the Jews by Heinrich Graetz.
She was a scholar whose translations
indicated linguistic ability as well. She
was head of the original Hadassah of
in Jerusalem where the nurses
who were brought to Palestine by her
movement provided succor for the needy
and their children. One of her
associates in managing that Jerusalem
office, Dr. Reuven Katznelson, often
related to me her dedication and
tirelessness which brought to the
Hadassah cause widest support and
acclaim.
Not to be forgotten are Henrietta
Szold's contributions to Zionist educa-
tional activities. She was among the ac-
tivists in support of Young Judaea. She
worked closely with Emanuel
Neumann in that as well as other
Zionist educational programs, and it
was in that capacity in the Young
Judaea movement at the same time as
the founding of Hadassah that I was
closely associated with Neumann and
Szold.
The introduction of the Nussbaum
show will serve as a reminder of the
early Hadassah years in Detroit.
Miriam Hershman, the wife of Rabbi A.
M. Hershman, was Detroit Hadassah's
first president. Mrs. Noah E. Aronstam
was the group's second president. An-
nette Steinberg was among the move-
ment's most dedicated activists. Dora
Ehrlich was an inspiration to the
thousands of Hadassah women and to
the community at large. They and
numerous others pioneered and will
surely be remembered.
Henrietta Szold