vt, LI-c" They say everybody else is doing it and it's supposed to be fun. You say you don't want to do it. Not only that, you care about your friends to try to stop them from getting into trouble. Your friends get angry, start calling you names, and turn against you. Even though they're angry and don't want your help, you still try to keep your friends from getting into trouble. This is the type of situation Judah Maccabee was in. He was one person, part of a small group, trying to save his fellow Jews from what he considered to be trouble. The Hellenistic Jews didn't want to be saved and turned against him. It's difficult to help someone who doesn't want to be helped. You may stop your friend from shoplifting, but you might also end up losing your best friend. It is also very hard to be the only person standing up to a group of friends. People will call you "weird" and won't want to be seen with you. Judah Maccabee's bravery showed most in this situation. He accepted the difficult task of helping those who didn't want his help. He risked being hated by a large number of fellow Jews. Judah Maccabee was a great warrior on the battlefield. Yet it was much tougher for him to fight the battle against his fellow Jews which could not be won with weapons. Judah Maccabee fought with his beliefs. In so doing, he left himself personally open to ridicule by his fellow Jews. In the end, Judah Maccabee succeeded in doing away with blatant Hellenism and reestablishing Jewish culture in Jerusalem. Judah Maccabee has always been admired as a great warrior. Today, when many of us face the same problems of assimilation that he faced, we can also admire him for being able to stand up to assimilation and group pressure. Judah Maccabee was proud of his Judaism. Not only did he keep it alive against great odds, he also helped Judaism to thrive. When we celebrate Chanukah, the holiday created by Judah Maccabee, we not only remember a victory over Greek rulers. Chanukah also reminds us that no matter how tough the situation, we, too, have the power to stand up for what we feel is right, even if sometimes, we stand alone against our friends. Reprinted from Shofar magazine, December, 1985. i ts Her oes Don't All Come On Horseback By MARY KORETZ Someday, there will be no statutes of heroes, sitting astride ferd, with a biks or sword in their hands. Someday there will be statues of people, who are senstitive and provide comfort to those in nayt. Someday, people will be recognized for having the power to be kind. Captain Roland said that he was bahld 100 years alt. We didn't gloyb it. He was hoych, slim, straight as an arrow; a retired armay officer. Yeder week, he would come into my parent's hand vesherie to bring a parcel and retrieve one. He would make some bamerkung about the weather or inquire as to my parents' gezunt. Kayn mol more than that. He never hot geret to me or to my two yunger bahld nearly sisters. I felt that he never noticed alt old us. gloyb believe Although we lived with our hoych tall parents, in a tsimer behind the armay army krom, we made ourselves as yeder each inconspicuous as miglech. It vesherei laundry embarrassed my eltern to have bamerkung remark customers tsu bamerkn that three gezunt health young children hobn gelebt on the kayn mol never premises. hot geret spoke On one occasion, when Captain yunger younger Roland hot gekumen in the store, tsimer room he held out his hant to me. In it he krom store had a book and I hob farshtanen miglech possible that he meant it was to be a matone for me. I was too astonished to badanken him. Anyway, I wasn't accustomed to bakumen gifts and didn't know the appropriate opfir. I was further farvundert by the fact that no Compiled By JUDY SILBERG LOEBL conditions were attached to the BIOGRAPHIES giving. There was no "be forzichtik, Vocabulary eltern parents tsu bamerkn to be aware hobn gelebt lived hot gekumen came hant hand hob farshtanen understood matone gift badanken thank bakumen receiving opfir response farvundert surprised forzichtik careful shmutsik dirty hot nit areingebracht.did not bring in geentfert answered tseitung newspaper hot geshtorbn died techter daughter kinstler artist bild picture sach many oyf upon held hero hot gegebn gave elent lonely ferd horses biks gun nayt need Jewish Heroes And Heroines Someday there will be statues of people who provide comfort to those in nayt. don't tear it, and don't get it shmutsik." It was given freely and with good will. A time came when Captain Roland hot nit areingebracht his laundry. We wondered about his absence. Our curiosity was geentfert, in a full-page article, in the rotogravure section of the now- defunct tseitung, the Detroit Times. Captain Roland hot geshtorbn. It was reported that, at the time of his death, he was almost 100-years- old. His two techter were writing a book about his life. A newspaper kinstler had sketched a bild of him as a 12-year-old when he witnessed the charge of the Light Brigade. There must have been sach people, in his long army career, who looked oyf him as a held. To me he is a hero because he hot gegebn a elent child the companionship of a book. There are many biographies on famous Jewish heroes and heroines. Here is just a sampling of titles for all ages. Queen Esther by Tomie dePaola. Popular author dePaola has written and illustrated a book for young children on Queen Esther and the story of Purim. Ages 3-6. David and the Giant by Emily Little. Part of the "Step into Reading" series for beginning readers retells the story of David and his courage to fight the giant Goliath. Ages 5-7. Henrietta Szold: Israel's Helping Hand by Shulamit E. Kustanowitz. A leader who fought to improve the lives of the Jewish people. Ages 8-12. Anne Frank by Laura Tyler. Part of a series called "What Made Them Great" this new book on Anne Frank explores the crucial events that shaped the lives of the seven people who had lived in an attic for two years in Nazi-occupied Holland. Ages 9-13. Hank Greenberg: Hall-Of-Fame Slugger by Ira Berkow. The powerful home-run hitter who became the first Jewish player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ages 10-14. Hannah Szenes — A Song of Light by Maxine Schur. The remarkable story of a young Jewish woman whose mission was to help rescue European Jews during World War II. Ages 11-14. Judas Maccabeus by E.H. Fortier. The biography of a man, believing in religious and political freedom, who led his outnumbered rebel army to victory over the Greek Empire. Ages 12-15. Our Man in Damascus: Eli Cohn by Eli Ben-Hanan. The dramatic story of an Israeli master spy who infiltrated the top Syrian leadership and was able to transmit important information back to Israel. Ages 13 and up. COLLECTIONS Bible Heroes I Can Be by Anne Eisenberg. Introduces Biblical figures and shows how their accomplishments can be copied today. Ages 3-5. The Jewish Athletes' Hall of Fame by Buddy Robert S. Silverman. A Who's Who of Jewish Athletes. Readers will enjoy the candid interviews, humorous anecdotes, and photos. Ages 10-adult. Jewish Heroes of America by Seymour Brody. One hundred and one true stories of American Jewish heroism including the lives of pioneers, war heroes, religious leaders, labor and social justice activists, scientists, astronauts and many other people that helped make America great. Ages 13 and up. Munbaz II and Other Mitzvah Heroes by Danny Siegel. Modern day heroes and how you can be a mitzvah hero. The Jews' Secret Fleet by Joseph M. Hochstein. The untold story of North American volunteers who smashed the British blockade. Ages 14 and up. THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS L-7