looking back

Rabbi Richard Hertz of Temple Beth El, Rabbi Irwin Groner of Congregation Shaarey Zedek
and Rabbi James Gordon of Young Israel of Oak Woods (now known as Young Israel of Oak
Park) visit the West Bank of the Suez Canal in Israel after the Six-Day War, circa 1969. •

Courtesy Professor Samuel and Lillian Levin Archives of Congregation Shaarey Zedek

From the DJN

Davidson Digital Archive

T

he April 24, 1942, issue of the JN is a very interest-
ing one. When reading it, the first impression I had
was that it was very hard to look past the large,
emphatic headline for the issue: “Polish
Jews Send Frantic Appeal to the World for
Food.” There was also an ominous subtitle:
“Nazis Seek Reduction of Jewish Births in
Poland.” Of course, we now know these
words hardly convey the actual extent of
the horrible suffering of Poland’s Jews, as
well as other European Jews, during the
Nazi occupation.
On that same page, another storyline
Mike Smith
Detroit Jewish News
caught my eye. The JN had arranged with
Foundation Archivist
publisher G.P. Putnam’s Sons to reprint

66

April 20 • 2017

jn

a short story, “The Lucky Touch,” by the eminent Jewish
writer Sholem Asch.
Asch was indeed a prominent writer and essayist in his
time, writing only in Yiddish. He was born in relative pov-
erty in Poland in 1880, moved to America in 1938, spent a
few years in Israel and died in London, England, in 1957.
During his life, Asch was a most prolific writer. For exam-
ple, per the Encyclopedia Britannica, in 1938, his stories,
novels and plays filled 29 volumes. That is a lot of writing.
I’ll admit this was my first time reading a story by
Sholem Asch. I’m glad I did. And, it was nice to be able to
read the story in archives of the JN. •

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation archives,
available for free at www.djnfoundation.org.

Historic photos are curated by the
Jewish Historical Society of Michigan.

