PURELY COMMENTARY

A Communist Epic Atonement

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Editor Emeritus

I

n the writings of history there is
always an interest in the cemetery
and tombstones. Research into the
lives of eminent personalities and their
family background has importance in
obituaries. The facts accumulated app-
ly not only to biographies but to history
itself.
That is why in the writing of
obituaries, especially about the lives of
the most accomplished, much impor-
tance is attached to the achievements
and backgrounds of the most eminent.
In the special concern it evidenced in
this matter, The London Times for more
than a century became known as "The
obituary newspaper."
Responsible magazines and news-
papers never ignore the obituary. The
New York Times often gives extra space
to the extraordinary; we have emulated
it in our columns.
Therefore, the special interest now in
Paul (Pesach) Novick, who died Aug. 28
at the age of 97. The communist
newspaper Morgen Freiheit which he
edited most of his life, collapsed a year
before his passing. The sensationalism
is attached to both.
Novick was born Sept. 7, 1891, in
Brest-Litovsk, Byelorussia, the city
where Leon Trotsky had a leading
diplomatic role on behalf of the emerg-
ing Russian socialist state in the sign-
ing of the peace treaty to end World War
I with Germany. It also was the bir-
thplace of former Israel Prime Minister
Menachem Begin and my father. Novick
had a newspaper career that commenc-

ed in Minsk, Vilna and Warsaw before
associating with the Jewish Daily For-
ward in New York in 1920.
When Moissaye Olgin, then among
the leading radical intellectuals, found-
ed the Yiddish Communist daily Morgen
Freiheit in 1921, Novick became its news
editor. In 1930, he became its editor in
chief until the paper, then a bilingual
English Yiddish weekly publication,
ceased publishing on Sept. 11, 1988.
There was an endless ideological
conflict between The Forward and
Freiheit, both catering to the labor forces
in their socialist formats. The Forward
also adopted a Democratic Party stance
commencing with Al Smith's unsuc-
cessful campaign for the presidency in
1928 and the presidency of Franklin D.
Roosevelt.
Morgen Freiheit became the Yiddish
communist organ in this country and
Novick adhered to that policy, which in-
cluded at the outset an extreme anti-
Zionism that bordered on the vilest in
pro-Arabism. That continued until the
mid-1950s until the Stalin pogrom and
the massacre of the leaders in the Rus-
sian literary theatrical and artistic
ranks. Then there was a drastic change
and Novick became the penitent. He
adopted a pro-Zionist and Israeli-
defensive attitude. In most recent years,
Novick had been aiding the so-called
peaceniks and pro-Palestinians, but
firmly backing Jewish statehood.
It was not until 1972 that he was ex-
pelled from the Communist party.
Freiheit and Novick are more than
a story of penitence. They are a
documentary. The "sinning" editor
aroused contempt in his treatment of

Zionism-Israel while serving the evils in
communism. Upon his atoning, he
reversed the damaging position; he
sounded more like one of the Israeli
peaceniks and became an avowed
secularist. Often, what he advocated in
the latter sounded like a rediscovered
Jewish devotion.
Therefore, his "finis' to his editing
and his newspaper, his editorial of Sept.
11, 1988, with a goodbye to his readers,
reads not only like a confessional but is
also a panegyric to a valuable record of
Yiddish journalism. It is an appeal for
Jewish unity and is a "Who's Who of
Yiddish Authors" whose works appeared
in Freiheit. It is an amazing opposite to
his communist ideology of the first half
of his life and newspaper career. It is so
valuable for the history record of Yiddish
journalism, as well as the sectarianism
advocated, that it must be read and re-
tained for the archives. After accounting
for compulsion to end the paper, because
of a lack of readers and advertising —
especially the disappearance age-wise of
his financial supporters — he concluded
with this message in his final editorial:
The loss is a very painful one
and the editorial board as well
as the administrative staff feel it
deeply. And we realize the feel-
ings of our readers on hearing
the bitter news. Our hearts go
out especially to the very
generous contributors who to
the very last moment have made
the effort to resuce the news-
paper — some of them are con-
templating covering the remain-
ing debts. It is an excruciatingly
painful experience but we are

coming to this finale with a feel-
ing of great pride, considering
the role that the newspaper has
played and the message that it is
leaving behind.
The Morning Freiheit, then
under the name of Freiheit, was
born on April 2, 1922, some 661/2
years ago. In New York City at
that time there were five daily
Yiddish newspapers: The For-
ward, the Day, the Morgen Jour-
nal, the Tageblatt and the Tseit.
How come there was room for
still another paper, which even-
tually survived four of the
others? The Freiheit came to
light as a newspaper of a "new
type," as stated by its first editor
and one of its chief founders —
together with Morris Winchev-
sky — M. Olgin. There was born
a newspaper fighting for a better
life for the workers in the fac-
tories and shops and a bettter
life style, as well as working
against the plague of assimila-
tion of Jews in America; a news-
paper for the fostering of Yid-
dish culture and Yiddish
cultural institutions and
organizations. Under the in-
fluence of the new newspaper,
there were created Yiddish
workers' clubs, choral societies
— most of them bearing the
name of Freiheit — as well as the
"Artef" (a Yiddish art theater);
also the Jewish People's Frater-
nal Order (JPFO) as part of the
International Workers' Order,

Continued on Page 46

'One-Minute Stories' Jewishly Inspired

S

hari Lewis has national recog-
nition as a successful storyteller.
Her tales on radio for children
which also have thrilled the elders, her
stories of published narratives and well-
received books are reaching ap-
preciative listeners and readers.
Her works include the ecumenical
stories from the Bible for all faiths, the
factors in daily life experiences. Now
there is a new work with the theme,
"One-Minute Jewish Stories."
It is the manner in which she nar-
rates the stories that draws apprecia-

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Vol. XCVI No. 2

2

September 8, 1989

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1989

tion for Shari Lewis. The choice of her
texts is admirable. She relates about
personalities — Moses, Solomon, David,
Abraham, Jonah — and events of an-
cient history.
The Jewish values of Lewis' well-
related stories, splendidly illustrated by
Roberta Collier, are accompanied by ex-
planatory comments on how she turn-
ed to the Jewish theme. In her introduc-
tion, she calls attention to this influen-
tial factor in her selectivity:

In the course of my research,
I interviewed many Jewish
scholars, rabbis and Sunday
school teachers. The consensus
was this: Like me, there are
many Jewish-American
children who are not particular-
ly interested in their heritage
because they were never in-
troduced to the material in a
way that engaged their imagina-
tions, stimulated their emotions
and tickled their funnybones.
And, of course, there's
always been the time factor:
Even in childhood, there are so
many distractions vying for our
free moments!
I was encouraged (by the
scholars, rabbis and teachers) to

adapt these classic tales to the
"One-Minute" form in order to
create a smorgasbord of stories,
providing youngsters with a tas-
ty sampling of the many flavors
of Jewish life and literature.
Focusing on the tradition
rather than the religion, I per-
sonally savor those stories that
are loosely based on historical
figures (like Herzl). But even the
stories that are clearly not true
represent very personal Jewish
mythology. In some way, I feel
that these legendary events are
all the more real for their
exaggeration.
Out of this generalization had
grown the choice not only of Bible
stories but also the legendary tales. An
example is this aging legend titled "A
Father's Advice":
An old Jewish father had
just one son, who was the
sultan's favorite servant.
Before the father died he
whispered to the son, "Here's
my advice. If you pass a
synagogue and hear people
praying, go in and pray with
them." With that, the old man
died.

The son stayed home and
mourned for seven days.
While he was away, the vizier
(the sultan's adviser) told the
sultan that the boy was trying to
poison him. (You see, the vizier
was jealous, because the sultan
trusted this boy.)
The angry sultan rode out to
the ovens where they baked the
pottery, and said to the potter,
"Tomorrow morning, someone
will come from my palace. Pro-
mise me that you'll push him in-
to the hot oven!"
The sultan returned to the
palace and told the boy, "Ibmor-
row, first thing, go to the pottery
ovens. Tell the potter, 'Don't
forget the promise you made to
the sultan: "
So next morning, the boy
rode toward the ovens. He was
almost there when he passed a
synagogue and heard people
praying.
"I'll pray with the others,"
thought the young man. "I'll
follow my father's advice, and
then I'll deliver the sultan's
message."
Meanwhile the vizier, eager
Continued on Page 46

