Jewish Life August 1955

cvm s August — 1955

Split In The Religious Front —I. Halevy •Levin

Nature — Creation Or Evolution?

—Robert R. Perlman

The Israeli Rabbi —Ary eh Newman

With Microscope And Inspiration —Gershon Kranzler

The Rambam And “T’noinï -David S. Shapiro

Show Us The Way Home —Anne R . Grunfald

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EDITORIALS

S aul B ernstein , Editor

AT THE SUMMIT ..... ..........................................

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M. Morton R ubenstein D r. E ric Offenbacher R euben E. Gross R abbi S. J. S harfm an

THE VICTIMIZING OF VACATIONERS .......

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BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY ............... ........... .... ....

Editorial Associates M. J udah Metchik

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A ssistant Editor

SPLIT IN THE RELIGIOUS FRONT ....... ........ 6 I. H alevy-Levin .

WITH MICROSCOPE AND INSPIRATION ,...fil6 G ershon K ranzler THE RAMBAM AND "T'NOIM" ..... ............ ...... 22 D avid S. S hapiro THE ISRAELI RABBI ...... ...... :... 25 A ryeh N ew m an NATURE—CREATION OR EVOLUTION? ...... 29 R obert R. Perlm an

Cover by, P aul H ausdorff

Inside Illustration by N orman N odel

JEWISH LIFE is published bi-monthly. Subscription one year $1.75, two years $3.00, three years $4.00.

All rights reserved

ARTICLES

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SH O RT STORY 39

SHOW US. THE WAY HOME A nne R. G runfeld Editorial and Publication Office: 305 Broadway New York 7, N. Y. BEekman 3-2220

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THE PRAYER SHAWL ... ................................ 42 R uby Friedm an

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Moses I. F euerstein

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President

Rabbi H. S. Goldstein, Wil­ liam Weiss, Samuel Nirenstein, William B. Herlands, Max J. Etra, Honorary Presidents; Samuel L. Brennglass, Nathan K. Gross, Benjamin Koenigsberg, Ben­ jamin Mandelker, Vice Pres­ idents; Edward A. TeploW, Treasurer; Reuben E. Gross, Secretary.

BOOK REVIEW FAITH AND TRUTH—COMBINED Solomon J. Sharfm an

Published by U nion of Orthodox J ew ish Congregations of A merica

POETRY

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FEATURES AMONG OUR CONTRIBUTORS ............ ... .

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SERVICES KASHRUTH DIRECTORY ............ I J j j f f l B . 52 Photo Credits: Pgs. 8 - 14, Israel Speaks; Pg. 27, D avid R ubinger.

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ROBERT R. PERLMAN is a n electronics engineer.'*A g ra d u a te of the City" College of New York, w here he received g d e g r ^ 'i n chem ical en g in eerin g , a n d the A m erican Television Institute, he is the m a n a g e r of a com pany w hich m a n u ­ factures chem ical a n d electronic products. He is a b ran ch d e le g a te to the N ational Council of Y oung Israel.

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GERSHON KRANZLER is the n ew ly -ap p o in ted p rincipal of the C haietz Chaim T alm udical A cadem y of Baltimore, M aryland. The author of sev eral Jew ish text­ books a n d poem s, he h a s b e e n a frequent contributor to JEWISH L i f e . His most recent article, "C hosid from the Left Bank," a p p e a re d in our issu e of Shevat, 5715. *

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ANNE R. GRUNFELD is a te a c h e r in a Jewish d a y school in London, E ngland.

This is her first contribution to JEWISH L i f e . *

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RABBI DAVID S. SHAPIRO is the spiritual le a d e r of C o ngregation A nshe Sfard in M ilw aukee, W isconsin.-He is th e5founder of the M ilw aukee H ebrew A cad­ em y a n d h as w ritten num erous articles for lead in g H ebrew a n d Anglo-Jewish periodicals. *

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I. HALEVY-LEVIN/ w hose au thoritative reports on the Israel scen e are a te g u ­ lar feature of JEW ISH LIFE, is prom oted in religious circles in Israel. He is the editor of "M odern Israel Library."

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ARYEH NEWMAN is a ssista n t director of the Jew ish A gency's D epartm ent for Torah E ducation to the D iaspora. *

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RABBI SOLOMON J. SHARFMAN, a m em ber of the editorial com m ittee of JEWISH L i f e , is Rav of the Y oung Israel of Flatbush. He is a former vice presid en t

an d currently a m em ber of the executive b o a rd of the R abb in ical Council of A m erica.

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Jewish LIFE

AT THE SU M M IT

JLTAS MANKIND finally lost its way?

Is modern civilization doomed to perish in a holocaust of its own making?

These, ultimately, were the questions faced by the top leaders of the United States, Britain, France and Soviet Russia at their epochal “Summit” Conference at Geneva. Not designed to be conclusive in itself, but rather to evoke an atmosphere in which the major Powers can peaceably grapple with their common problem, the Summit meeting has been evocative of hope rather than assurance. Millions upon millions of people in every land look, with heartfelt anxiety, to succeeding nego­ tiations between the forces of West and East to lay a foundation upon which peace may be built. The alternative is one of unimaginable horror. p O R ALL that these international negotiations seem to overshadow all other concerns, it will be a tragic, indeed a fatal, error if the peoples of the earth, leaders and rank-and-file alike, fail to realize that the roots of the modern crisis lie deeper than geo-politics and The armaments. Surely the whole course of present day Deeper events proclaims with unmistakable clarity that the Crisis problems of international society are but the echoes of moral ills, of defective values and unsound prin­ ciples, of philosophies that, even though in some cases paying lip-service to G-d, are G-dless. Failing the attainment of spiritual health among mankind at large, agreements, devices and compromises in the political realm can be but of temporary effect.

We Jews have a keener awareness than most of the surpassing im­ portance of moral forces in human affairs. Every page of our holy Tanach spells out to us this basic teaching, and again and again in the history of our people has this lesson been brought home. Tisha B’Av, perennial memorial of the twice-occurring destruction of our Temple and of the Jewish commonwealth, stands for us as a reminder of the inevitable, fearful social consequence of spiritual error. Was it merely Babylonians and Romans, Nebuchadnezzar and Titus, who overthrew Sanctuary and State, or was it rather demoralization born of estrange­ ment from Torah truth? The answer lies before us plain.

■PHE SIGNIFICANCE of Tisha B’Av, like so much of Jewish exper­ ience, is of universal application. Is mankind to be permitted to stumble blindly to an all-encompassing Ninth of Av? Is enthroned July - August, 1955

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materialism to be allowed to lead a science-charged world to its own churbon? This, more even than the tortuous difficulties of international affairs, is the problem with which society must grapple.

THE V IC T IM IZ IN G

OF VAC A TIO N ERS

N A RECENT issue of a New York newspaper with a large Jewish readership, there appeared the advertisements of 147 resort hotels which represented themselves as Kosher. Numerous other hotels advertised in the same issue and apparently seeking Jewish or mixed patronage gave indication that they are non-Kosher. This situation is significant.

Hotels are business establishments. Hotel operators are apt to cater to religious attitudes only insofar as this may serve their business in­ terest. It is therefore apparent that a vast number of Jewish vaca­ tioners, having choice of both types of hotels catering to Jewish clientele, will patronize only such establishments as offer Kosher food.

The question arises: to what extent are these resort establishments fulfilling their Kashruth commitment to their patrons? Out of the 147 hotels advertised as Kosher, scarcely half-a-dozen cited rabbinic super­ vision. The reason the rest did not do so is obvious — they do not have rabbinic supervision. Their claim to Kashruth is backed solely by the word of the owners. What is that word worth when it is given, as it is in the majority of cases, by people who are themselves neither observant of the Jewish religion nor familiar with its requirements?

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TTHE FULFILLMENT of Kashruth requirements in the preparation ^ and serving of foods is in no circumstance a matter of following a few mechanical procedures. Least of all can KashSupervision ruth be maintained by superficial gestures in the is complex operations of the modern resort hotel. The Inpcrotivc guidance of qualified rabbinic authority, imple­ mented by attendant mashgichim, is called for even in the case of resort hotels operated under religious management. Cer­ tainly without such supervision, maintenance of true Kashruth by es­ tablishments operating under non-religious management is impossible.

It can be correctly, if unhappily, stated that the claims of the majority of “Kosher” resort hotels are invalid. These places are victimising their patrons by a combination of ignorance, indifference and deception.

The remedy for this painful evil lies largely with the Jewish public.

The clientele is the only force to which hotel managements can be subject in this area. If a significant number demand the institution of reliable rabbinic supervision as a condition of their patronage, resort establish­ ments will have no alternative but to grant this right.

Let it not he thought that Kashruth supervision need constitute a burden to any establishment operating in good faith. To the contrary, a Jewish LIFE

such supervision is a practical boon, for it relieves the hotel management of problems which are an encumbrance to those unqualified to deal with them. Nor is the expense of supervision an item that need give pause to any sizable establishment. Any hotel of standing today pays far more for any one of a hundred fancy trimmings than it would incur for the cost of Kashruth supervision. Reliable supervision offers every advantage and no hindrance to the hotel offering Kashruth in good faith. For the Jewish public it is a necessity which must be filled and a right which must be won.

BAR-1 LAN UNIVERSITY

f| 1HE OPENING of Bar-Ilan University initiates a development of farreaching importance for the future of Israeli Jewry and for the whole Jewish world. Sponsored by the Mizrachi movement, Bar-Ilan .University introduces to the Israel scene, for the first time, the concept of an institu­ tion of higher learning, grounded in positive, orthodox Judaism, uniting academic studies with Torah teaching.

There can be no question as to the need which this bold project is designed to serve. The development of Medinath Israel entails the mas­ tery, through higher education, of the arts and sciences which form the tools of the modern world. But this purpose, if it is to be consonant with the character of the Jewish State, must serve a higher imperative — that of Ki Mitziyon Teytzey Thorah. Modern culture, in the Israel format, must be implanted in Torah; else will it form a foreign element, estranged, essentially, from its environment. Just as in the social and economic spheres, so too in all levels and branches of education must there be a basic Torah orientation. IsraeFs religious forces dare not leave entirely to others the university field, key factor as this is to other phases of edu­ cation and to the shaping of a modern society. Hence the importance of Bar-Ilan University.

Through its impact on Israeli life, the influence of the new university will be felt far beyond the borders of the Holy Land. Too, students from lands of the Diaspora will welcome the opportunity now afforded them to pursue a broad modern education amidst the inspiring associations of the re-born Land of Israel and in a vital religious atmosphere. The new­ ly-founded institution, therefore, bears promise for the nurturing of a Jewishly-inspired lay leadership for Yishuv and Goluth alike.

The worth of so challengingly new a project as this must be proven in action over the years ahead. A promising indication for the future is to be seen in the firm purpose with which the sponsors and leaders of Bar-Ilan University have addressed themselves to their task. Today, Jews in many lands salute Israel’s new center of higher learning and count with assurance upon its capacity to fulfill its high role.

July - August, 1955

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• Our Correspondent Reports on the Strategy of the Religious Parties as Israelis Went to the Polls.

T H E COLLAPSE of the United Religious Front only several hours after its creation has spread consternation in orthodox ranks.

The revolt of the Lamifneh wing of Hapoel Hamizrachi, which forced the issue, has dealt a severe blow to the prestige of Hapoel Hamiz­ rachi leaders, while in the Agudah camp chagrin and disappointment have sought an outlet in attacks of increasing violence upon their erst­ while partners.

The idea of a religious union com­ prising the major religious political organizations in Israel took on flesh and sinew immediately following the establishment of the State. Up­ on the combined initiative of Chief Rabbi Herzog and the late Rabbi Meir Bar-Ilan, a Religious Front was created to contest the elections 6

to the First Knesseth. The period was one of messianic fervor, after Israel’s victories on the northern and southern battlefields, and the agreement, though no more than an election pact, was hailed as a first step towards healing the breach which divided and weakened the religious Yishuv for thirty years.

It is noteworthy that leaders of Lamifneh, who this year so strong­ ly oppose a pact with the Agudists, at that time favored the formation of a Religious Front. The results of that election 4^ sixteen seats in the Knesseth f t were regarded as dis­ appointing in view of the general belief that religious Jews consti­ tuted the majority of the Yishuv.

Another disappointment was in store for the sponsors and members of the Front in the Knesseth, when Jewish LIFE

they discovered the magnitude of the differences dividing them. To a considerable extent, the effective­ ness of the Front as a political factor furthering religious interests and shaping the young State in keeping with Jewish traditions was diminished by the constant need for internal maneuvering to main­ tain an outward appearance of unity.

controversy set off following the resignation of Rabbi Levin oyer the question of women's military ser­ vice, and the Mizrachi-Hapoel Hamizrachi as a coalition party was able to secure important concessions for the Agudah-controlled schools, which remained outside the State educational system.

Nevertheless, the atmosphere for the creation of a United Religious Front for the Third Knesseth was not very propitious. It is true a merger (the full implications of which are still not clear) was ef­ fected between the Mizrachi and Hapoel Hamizrachi in r e c e n t months, constituting the basis for the National Religious Front, but relations between the Agudah and Poale Agudah had become steadily aggravated since the end of 1958, when the latter's desire to join the proposed coalition comprising Ma­ pai, the Mizrachi and Hapoel Ham­ izrachi was frustrated under pres­ sure of a campaign launched by the Agudah. It will be recalled that Poale Agudah boycotted the Knessiah Gedolah held in Jerusalem last year.

TNESPITE the fact that the first ^ Ben Gurion administration fell because of differences between Mapai and the Religious Front, the Front was not renewed in the elec­ tions which followed, mainly be­ cause of its unsatisfactory work­ ing in the First Knesseth. The fif­ teen seats won by the four religious parties separately (Hapoel Hamizrachi — 8; Agudath Israel — 8; Poale Agudah — 2;. and Mizrachi — 2), was hardly an encouraging outcome, but taking into account the fact that so large a proportion of the electorate was made up of newcomers, who though religious were particularly susceptible to the pressure of the dominant Mapai, it indicated that at least religious ■DUT the unity of the religious secJewry had held its ground.

In the second Knesseth the four , tion of the community is always religious parties continued to co­ a topical question in Israel which operate not only in the first two can mobilize extensive support. Ben­ years of its term, when the Agudah- jamin Mintz, leader of Poale Agu­ Poale Agudah were members of the dah and deputy speaker of the out­ Government coalition and Rabbi I. going Knesseth undertook the role M. Levin headed the Ministry of of mediator. For a long time, how­ Social Welfare, but even after the ever, his unremitting efforts, the formation of the outgoing Mapai- influence of religious leaders of the General Zionist cabinet. Thus a re­ caliber of Chief Rabbi Herzog and duced measure of collaboration was Rabbi J. L. Maimon that was maintained despite the acrimonious brought to bear on the various July - August, 1955

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ELECTION CAMPAIGN: Billboards play a significant role in Israeli elections.

With each party using a letter of the alphabet as its symbol, the campaign em­ phasis at times is on publicizing the letter rather than on prompting party slogans.

parties and the pressure of Ameri­ can Orthodoxy were unavailing.

Mizrachi-Hapoel Hamizrachi were opposed right from the very outset to an election pact of a restricted technical character that would not include an understanding on broad­ er issues and principles, and which would not serve as a basis for some more solid form of collaboration in the future. Eventually, however, these issues and principles were re­ duced to two: (a) in the Knesseth the policies of the Front were to be decided by a majority vote and (b) the Agudah-Poale Agudah must formally recognize the Chief Rab­ binate. A third condition insisted upon by the Lamifneh group, that 8

the Mizrachi-Hapoel Hamizrachi candidates in the united list include a woman, was withdrawn early in the negotiations.

The opposition of the Agudists to the first condition is understand­ able. In view of the certain major­ ity of Mizrachi-Hapoel Hamizrachi in any prospective Religious Front acceptance would involve loss of the Agudah’s political independence in the Knesseth, and to some extent at least of its influence in political life generally. Refusal to accept the sec­ ond condition implied no less than liquidation of the ideological basis of the Agudah.

It must be stressed that the atti­ tude of the Agudath Israel towards Jewish LIFE

the present incumbent of the Chief Rabbinical office appears to be cor­ dial, so there seem to have been no qualms on that score. And certain­ ly if the creation of a Religious Front is to be meaningful and to lead to a more durable unity, recog­ nition of the Chief Rabbinate by all sections of Orthodoxy is an indis­ pensable condition.

TT IS not yet clear why the opposition of the National Religious

Front (Hapoel Hamizraehi-Mizrachi) to a pact with the Agudah, ex­ cept under the conditions stated, was sustained for many months un­ der wearisome pressure, and then was suddenly given up, together with those very conditions. No wo­ men were to be nominated in the united list. Within the Knesseth the various parties to the agreement were to retain their freedom of action on all questions of principle (the definition of such questions of

KNESSETH IN SESSION: Members of Israel's first Knesseth are shown here during parliamentary debate. In the center (left to right) are Minister of Religions Moshe Shapiro# Prime Minister Moshe Sharett and Defense Minister David Ben Gurion. At the lower right, with back to camera, is Rabbi Mordecai Nurok.

July - August, 1955

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principle was left open). And par­ liamentary discipline was to be enforced only on agreed issues.

Agreement was reached even on the delicate question of the placing of the candidates — a crucial issue in all political negotiations of this sort. This was peculiarly significant in the present instance, in view of the underlying assumption in reli­ gious circles that the best that can be hoped for at the forthcoming elections is retention of the fifteen seats now held. Of* these fifteen “real positions” Hapoel Hamizrachi was to be given numbers 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13; Agudah Israel — 2, 7, 15; Poale Agudah ffc 4, 12; and Mizrachi — 6 and 14. Thus in the event of the Front holding its Lamifneh'

THROUGHOUT these talks the Lamifneh group, under the lead­ ership of Dr. Joseph Burg, Minister of Posts, and Moshe Unna, member of the Knesseth, made it clear that they were opposed to any pact with the Agudah. The Religious Zionist and the Agudah points of view, Dr. Burg declared, expressed funda­ mental differences of outlook and approach despite a common regard for Torah and tradition. Prior to the establishment of the State this divergence was reflected in the Agudah policy of non-cooperation with and even outright opposition to the Zionist Organization. During the War of Liberation it assumed a more tragic aspect. Nevertheless, according to Dr. Burg, Lamifneh is not opposed in principle to attempts to unite religious Jewry. But it 10

ground the status quo would be maintained. Positions 16, 17, 18 and 19 in the united list were to be re­ served for Hapoel Hamizrachi.

Once Mizrachi-Hapoel Hamizra­ chi insistence upon formal recogni­ tion of the Chief Rabbinate had been overcome the way to the es­ tablishment of a united religious front seemed clear. The parties re­ solved to fight any attempt to dim­ inish the prerogatives and compe­ tence of the Chief Rabbinate and the Rabbinical Courts. It was also agreed that after the elections a Joint committee was to be appoint­ ed to examine the possibility of Agudah rabbis joining the Chief Rabbinate.

Position

holds that such attempts should be of a more organic character, and that in order to succeed they must begin from the bottom and not from the top. Religious workers organ­ ized in Hapoel Hamizrachi and Poale Agudah must unite to form a single organization. Efforts must be made to develop a common basis for the State Religious and Agudist autonomous schools. Dr. Burg also stressed the vital importance of the struggle over questions of immigra­ tion and settlement, conducted in the Jewish Agency. This particular issue has been highlighted in recent weeks following attempts made by the Israel Labor Party (Mapai) to divert religious settlers from Mor­ occo to its own moshavim — and the passive attitude of the Agudah towards this struggle despite the Jewish LIFE

grave danger to the religious inter­ ests involved.

Protagonists of the Religious Front, however, pointed to the practical value of even such a re­ stricted political agreement, espe­ cially in view of the patent wide­ spread desire both in this country and abroad for a greater measure of unity in the religious community.

Yet* notwithstanding its oppo­ sition to Agudath Israel (not Poale Agudah)* there is little doubt that the pressure of a large bloc of its own supporters and of religious public opinion would have forced Lamifneh to comply with the terms

of the agreement had the clauses covering the recognition of the Chief Rabbinate and the right of Hapoel Hamizrachi to nominate a woman candidate been recognized.

This aspiration to extend women’s suffrage in the religious community (the Agudah, too, of course, insists upon its women members register­ ing their vote) constitutes more than an abstract principle of de­ mocracy. It is regarded as a mini­ mum recognition of the conspicuous contribution made by orthodox wo­ men’s organizations, particularly in the spheres of education, Youth Aliyah and social welfare.

Why Agreement Was Broken

T H E IMMEDIATE reaction to * Lamifneh’s decision to secede was one of anger and resentment.

Despite the fact that the decision of the group to fight the election on an independent ticket could not have been successful — with only seven weeks to go to election day, with no election fund and no election mach­ ine — the outcome of such a move must inevitably have been a major and probably irreparable rift in Hapoel Hamizrachi. Yet such was the strength of feeling against the group that Hapoel Hamizrachi lead­ ers were ready to maintain the United Religious Front at all costs.

A new snag, however, cropped up.

The Agudah demanded reallocation of positions in the united list.

Its arguments were eminently reasonable. Any vote cast for Lam­ ifneh meant a vote less for the United Front coming from a Hap­ oel Hamizrachi supporter. The AguJuly ^August, 1955

dah suggested an arrangement whereby the votes registered by Lamifneh would be subtracted from Hapoel Hamizrachi represen­ tation in the Knesseth. The counter argument of Hapoel Hamizrachi ran as follows: The Agudah-Poale Agudah also had their dissidents— the active and ably led Jerusalem Poale-Agudath Israel, who had al­ ready intimated their intention of boycotting the elections.

Another argument was that much of the support enlisted by Lamif­ neh would come from circles not prepared to vote for a front in which the Agudah participated.

There is a substantial measure of truth in this statement. It is a fact that immediately after its de­ cision to secede, in a matter of hours Lamifneh succeeded in col­ lecting thousands of signatures promising support, many of them from persons not associated with 11

the Mizrachi-Hapoel Hamizrachi.

There are many families in this country, who may be defined as tra­ ditional rather than religious, who aspire to see a greater measure of religion and tradition incorporated in Israel's public life and who would support a religious party with a so­ cially progressive program. The fact that thirty-five percent of the children of primary grade (six“to

VOTING: A soldier in Elath, at Israel's southernmost tip, places his ballot in the ballot box. More than 800,000 Is­ raelis voted in the recent national elec­ tions.

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thirteen years of age) go to reli­ gious schools, while the religious parties only polled twelve percent of the total ballot certainly indi­ cates that this category constitutes a large slice of the population.

OECOND thoughts rather than ^ these differences were respon­ sible for the abrogation of the agreement. There is no doubt that after the first burst of anger at Lamifneh’s recalcitrance, calmer counsels prevailed in Hapoel Hamiz­ rachi. The choice facing Hapoel Hamizrachi was between a techni­ cal pact with the Agudah of du­ bious longevity, and the preserva­ tion of internal unity in its own ranks, secured only after some years of strife and bickering. Nor could Hapoel Hamizrachi leaders ignore the fact that the hard core of op­ position to the proposed front lay in the settlements, notably Hakibbutz Hadati.

The dismay and even grief with which news of the breakdown of the talks was received, reflected the high hopes that had been attached to such an agreement and the sin­ cere desire for a greater degree of unity and amity within the reli­ gious community. There is no doubt that Hapoel Hamizrachi had man­ euvered itself into an unenviable position. The newly established Chazith Datith Toranith (Religious Torah Front — Agudah and Poale Agudah) exploited to the full the propaganda possibilities of Hapoel Hamizrachi’s predicament. What is more regrettable is the campaign of vilification which gathered momen­ tum, and which must in the long Jewish LIFE

run jeopardize religious interests. the attacks of Hamodiah (the AguAfter the breakdown of the United dist organ) upon its would-be poli­ Front talks Hapoel Hamizrachi tical allies. The main target, natu­ leaders were too busy restoring rally enough was Lamifneh, which unity in their own ranks to pay .among other things was charged much attention to the Agudah, and with Reformism, upon what evi­ in any case they hoped to coax dence it is not stated. Simultan­ voters away from Mapai and the eously, it may be noted, a bitter General Zionists rather than from polemic was waged between Ham­ the Agudah parties. But a tone of odiah and its rival Hakol (organ of mounting acrimony characterized the dissident Poale Agudah).

Effect on Elections

■PHERE WAS- one crucial question which engaged religious Jewry throughout this period: Would this state of disunion affect the chances of religious parties at the Knesseth elections? Past experience had indi­ cated that the fact that Orthodoxy would be represented by two lists and not one should not involve a loss of representation. There was even an opinion that the appearance of two lists would reduce non-parti­ cipation in the elections among the religious element;, Mention has al­ ready been made of the fact that the United Religious Front which fought the First Knesseth elections under comparatively favorable cir­ cumstances gained sixteen seats as against the fifteen won by the four religious parties in the Second Knesseth. Today conditions have once again improved. Contrary to the situation in 1951, the over­ whelming majority of the voters are settlers of more than several years standing in this country, and even the newcomers^ among them have al­ ready found their feet. They are less dependent upon but, it is important to point out not yet inJuly - August, 1955

dependent of — the favors of the party functionaries. Thus strength­ ening of the representation of the religious community does not de­ pend upon whether one or two lists are put forward but upon the mat­ urity of the voters themselves. It must be borne in mind, too, that Is­ rael’s variant of proportional re­ presentation favors small parties.

As far as Mizrachi-Hapoel Ham­ izrachi were concerned there was still another factor that they hoped would prove of decisive importance: Their electoral strategy and tactics had improved vastly. The consum­ mation of the merger between the Mizrachi and Hapoel Hamizrachi long before the elections permitted them to elaborate their plans on a long term basis. Indeed, the Front’s propaganda campaign was unob­ trusively launched many months ago. Since the beginning of the year newsreels shown in local cinemas in­ cluded items showing religious in­ stitutions, settlements and person­ alities, all stressing the constructive character of the work of the Re­ ligious Zionist Movement.

The issue of the Panim el Panim 13

REGISTRATION: Every citizen of Israel over the age of 18 is eligible to vote.

Here a sabra, native Israeli, a new immigrant, a Bukarian Jew and an Arab line up at registration.

(Face to Face) illustrated weekly, six months ago was another careful­ ly planned move early in the elec­ tion campaign. Designed as a pop­ ular paper to reach the masses, it has maintained a discreet relig­ ious note, while at the samé time avoiding the strident sensational­ ism and pornography to which il­ lustrated weeklies are so prone. It kept clear of a too blatant parti­ san tone and thereby succeeded in penetrating into circles extending beyond the religious and tradition­ al community. Indeed, an informal poll conducted by the present 14

writer among non-religious read­ ers placed it far ahead of its ri­ vals, the terribly dull Davar Hashovuah and the sensationalist HaOlom Hazeh.

Articles published in this week­ ly served to remind the public of religious Jewry's contribution to­ wards victory in 1948, to the ab­ sorption of immigrants and to the consolidation of the State in a wide variety of fields in the period in­ tervening. It recalled the lack of performance on the part of those parties, which on election eve showed much vociferous zeal for reJewish LIFE

ligious interests. A recent article, for example, underlined the fact that it was largely due to the Min­ istries of Interior and Trade and Industry, both headed by General Zionists, that no satisfactory solu­ tion to the question of swine-breed­ ing had yet been achieved.

In its press campaign, too, the Front followed a well thought-out line. One advertisement (published picquantly enough also in the antireligious Haaretz) can serve as an example. It appealed to one-time members of the religious pioneer­ ing and youth organizations, who, compelled by circumstances, were now members of the Histadruth, but (according to the advertise­ ment) still remain true to the ideals of Torah V’Avodah they up­ held many years ago.

The voter was also reminded of the fruits of Hapoel HamizrachiMizrachi participation in the Gov­ ernment coalition, such as the Mar­ riage and Divorcé Act, the Rab­ binical Courts Act and the regula­ tions interpreting the State Edu­ cation Act.

The religious platform of the Na­ tional Religious Front, which has been given wide publicity, stressed the following points: \(a> consoli­ dation of the supreme authority of the Chief Rabbinate in all religious m atters; (b) consolidation of the Rabbinical Courts, and the grant of status equivalent to that of the civil courts; (c) the extension of provisions for Sabbath rest in keep­ ing with the Halochah; (d) total prohibition of the breeding of swine in Israel, and the passage of suitable legislation to prevent fraudulent use of the term “Kosh­ er” ; (e) the adoption of suitable measures to countei missionary ac­ tivities, especially among children; *|f) opposition to the establishment of a Reform Movement in Israel; and (g) final ratification of the Re­ ligious Councils Act and the grant of an adequate budget for religious services.

The results of the strategy of the religious parties are now a mat­ ter of record. History alone will be the best judge as to their ultimate merits.

BECAUSE OF EVIL TALK The evening on which the ten spies spoke evil of Eretz Yisroel, w as the night of Tisha Bfav, the ninth of Av, and G-d exclaimed: 'I shall decree this night for permanent weeping and mourning/ On the Ninth of Av, the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed.

—Talmud, Taanith, 29a.

July - August, 1955

15

The Story of “Mr. Shaatnez”

By GERSHON KRANZLER TT IS now almost fifteen years * since I first met this strange young man whose eyes sparkle with boundless faith. He is young, though his hair begins to grey and his features show the strains of a campaign against hopeless odds to revive the observance of a much neglected Mitzvah in this country — the Mitzvah of Shaatnez.* When Josef Rosenberger first spoke to me about his idea some fifteen years ago he had just come to this country, a penniless refugee from Vienna who bore the marks of the notorious Dachau concentra­ tion camp on his body but not on his indomitable spirit. Politely, I listened to the young man. I saw the glow of unlimited faith in those * Vayikra 19:19

16

inspired eyes of his, and I had pity on the poor fellow, who, like all of us, had come with big ideas which were to revolutionize Amer­ ica one way or another but which, I felt sure, would cool off and die out with progressing adjustment to the harsh realities of this land.

“Well,” I said, trying to be help­ ful without creating any undue illusions, “your idea has one ad­ vantage. It is not another scheme to get rich quickly.”

“Who wants to get rich?” Ros­ enberger responded immediately, and there was no mistaking the sincerity of this reply.

TT WAS this idealism which turned doubtful listeners and hardboiled businessmen into active helpers of a crusade that was built Jewish LIFE

on faith in the ability of Jewish masses to be shaken out of their lethargy and to expend extra effort and money on the fulfillment of a commandment about which they had perhaps once heard but which had little or no relationship to their twentieth century existence in America. More than that, the commandment of Shaatnez, which prohibits the wearing of garments of mixed wool and linen in any form, is one of the laws of the Torah known as chukim, This means that its reason is not given, and it must be observed regardless of the fact that we do not know why. We rely on our faith in G-d the Omniscient, who certainly has His good reason for this command.

Now it is relatively easy to “sell” the observance of a command if its purpose is self-evident or can be explained, as in the case of most of our Mishpotim — laws regulat­ ing the relationship of man with man. Yet a chok, a commandment that superficially serves no purpose and has no obvious function in the universe that is understandable to man, has obviously little appeal.

Hence> Shaatnez was one of the most neglected Mitzvoth in the United States more than in other

centers of the Jewish world be­ cause no other country has special­ ized as much in the standardiza­ tion of garments.

A suit made to order by a Jew­ ish tailor demands no extra effort for the observance of Shaatnez. It was the common practice of Jew­ ish tailors in European communi­ ties to eliminate automatically the prohibited mixture of woolen and linen materials either in the form of thread, canvas for lining or the basic fabric. Even non-Jewish tail­ ors in cities with orthodox Jewish communities knew of this Jewish tradition and would respect it.

But only a minimal percentage of orthodox Jews in America bothered to check on the mass-produced clothes they purchased in the large stores.

One of the main reasons for this lack of proper heed to one of the important Mitzvoth of the Torah was, of course, the fact that there was no common practice of analy­ sis or any expert or laboratory that wcmld specialize in this field.

Here is where Josef Rosenberger found the hub to the revolution he wrought in American Jewish life and, to a certain degree, in the garment industry’s largest chains.

A Neglected Mitzvah Revived

^■HASSIDIC tradition holds that every Jewish soul has a special predilection for a particular Mitz­ vah. One Jew devotes himself to charity work, another concentrates on giving comfort to the ill, a third contributes his particular share of the total observance of the Torah July - August, 1955

by the whole nation in the realm of Jewish education. Thus all of us collaborate in the sustenance of the universe of the 613 Mitzvoth.

Rosenberger found the fulfill­ ment of his yearping in the re­ vival of the neglected Mitzvah of Shaatnez. He studied the various 17

work of American fibre textile ex­ perts. In this way he acquired a thorough knowledge of methods and potentialities of analysis in this country to supplement his knowledge of the advanced re­ search of the German fibre chem­ istry. For Rosenberger knew very well that any testing laboratory would do exactly what he wanted at the minimum fee of five dollars.

But what he needed was a low-cost and fool-proof testing procedure that would add very little to the purchase price of a garment. This determination and clear vision soon showed results, and Rosen­ berger was ready to buck the mock­ ery, lack of interest and general inertia of most Jews in the cause dear to his heart by the use of methods tested and approved as infallible by outstanding scientists.

TESTING APPARATUS: An economic­ al and fast method of testing garments for Shaatnez, the mixture of wool and linen, was developed by Joseph Rosen­ berger with this apparatus.

qualities and peculiarities of wool and linen fibres, and he acquainted himself with the available litera­ ture in this specialized field.

Though his knowledge of Eng­ lish was very limited, he soon spent hours and days studying and ex­ perimenting. With the help of a dictionary, perseverance and the capacity of going for whole days without sufficient food, the young refugee with the long peyoth and the fervently shaking body of a typical yeshivah bochur studied the 18

THUS started the epic struggle of a newcomer without funds, without adequate knowledge of the language, customs and ways of the people of the land but with one inspiration: to make the Jews of America Shaatnez-conscious. I shall never forget the time I walked past the Refugee Home in Brooklyn long after midnight and saw a lonely light in the little attic room, from whence the silence of the night was broken by the irregular tapping of a typewriter. Curiosity made me walk up the four flights of stairs. There was Josef Rosen­ berger, sitting over an old type­ writer, the light dimmed, all doors and windows closed so as not to disturb his friends in the home.

“They gave me permission to Jewish LIFE

practice typing at night after the office girls are gone,” he said apolo­ getically. Laboriously he thus set out to find the uncharted routes of the typewriter in composing his first drafts of letters and announce­ ments on the back of printed mat­ ter, letters, or discarded paper.

Likewise he learnt how to run the mimeograph machine and to ac­ quire some fine phrases in appeal­ ing for help.

Much of Rosenberger’s initial progress in the organization of the Shaatnez Laboratory was due to the efforts and advice he received from Mr. Michael G. Tress, then president of the Agudath Israel of America, and Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein, one of the prominent leaders of American Jewry. With the help of these two individuals at his disposal, Rosenberger began contacting the various Jewish or­ ganizations and personalities who could help to propagate the idea of Shaatnez among the wider Jew­ ish masses. Rabbinical organiza­ tions and religious movements quickly rallied to the cause of Shaatnez under the constant prod­ ding and urging of the indefatig­ able “Mr. Shaatnez,” as Rosen­ berger came to be called by his associates and the salesmen in the clothing stores.

Soon after he had mastered his basic techniques and approach, Rosenberger turned to the reli­ gious Jewish public through leaf­ lets, posters, advertisements and direct mail. How did he do it?

Looking back, I still consider it a miracle. Each letter, poster and advertisement represented nights July - August, 1955

without sleep, days without ade­ quate food and innumerable drafts, written and re-written until any­ one but Mr. Shaatnez would long have become disillusioned about the whole project. But Mr. Shaatnez’ announcements became standard equipment in all synagogues, his advertisements became seasonal stock-in-trade of the Jewish press and the directors of orthodox Jew­ ish organizations eventually got accustom ed to th e idea that the periodic mail sent to them by Rosenberger had better be answered and his request fulfilled. If they threw away four copies, a fifth one was inevitable. And if it took them months to deliberate, the Shaatnez Laboratory would call them re­ peatedly, until they finally con­ sented to his requests. In the end the most uncertain and disbeliev­ ing had to acknowledge Rosen­ berger’s enthusiasm and gave him their whole-hearted support in en­ listing the members of their or­ ganization for the idea of Shaat­ nez.

T H E RESULT of all this activity was a rapidly increasing aware­ ness by orthodox Jews of the com­ mandment of Shaatnez, and under the pressure of Shaatnez-conscious customers, the large clothing stores of New York, as well as the small East Side wholesalers, instituted a regular testing service under Ros­ enberger’s direction. If this sounds simple and matter of fact, let it be said that the battle to get to the director of the largest chain of clothing stores in New York took months of letter writing, cam19

paigning and organized pressure, inexpertly but enthusiastically di­ rected by the one-man crusader, who served as executive director, tex­ tile expert, publicity manager, sec­ retary and treasurer. How did he raise money? The first two years he worked in various odd jobs. He tried the get-rich-quick diamond cutting business, and when that charm did not work he labored at sweatshop pressing, tailoring, op­ erating and male nursing. Little of what he earned went for his own expense. To send out thou­ sands of circulars or print large announcements costs money, and the fee which Rosenberger charged his customers then, as he does now, is so nominal that it covers only a small portion of the constantly ex­ panding budget.

The idea of non-Shaatnez cloth­ ing, which in the beginning seemed so far from the realities of Ameri­ can business life, has now reached the point where you can walk into most clothing stores in New York City and, after choosing your gar­ ment, request that the suit be tested for Shaatnez. The salesman will no longer offer you any strange glances, Nor will he attempt to as­ sure his guileless customers falsely that the suits are Shaatnez-free or tested. To prevent this Rosenberg­ er has conceived the ingenious idea of the “non-Shaatnez” label with a special seal sewn into the inside lining of the garment. It has be­ come a mark of distinction of the orthodox Jew in New York and be­ yond to wear the non-Shaatnez label in all his garments.

Still The Same Idealist

T5Y ALL RIGHTS this Horatio Alger story should end here, and Josef Rosenberger, the poor refugee, should now be a wealthy man, running his large laboratory outfit in an air-conditioned office building, watching the profits of his early hard labor and privations roll into his coffers. But the pic­ ture is quite different, simply be­ cause religious Jews are still not yet completely awakened. Notable strides have nevertheless been made, beginning with an educa­ tional campaign with the young yeshivah students and Beth Jacob girls in whose schools Mr. Shaatnez has spoken and organized testing programs.

Rosenberger has remained the 20

same idealist he was in the be­ ginning. One dingy room in his modest apartment serves as labo­ ratory, equipped with all kinds of apparatus and gimmicks of his own invention, implemented by chemicals, test tubes and all the other vital paraphernalia of scien­ tific work of high standards. He has trained many helpers and has established laboratories in other cities under the supervision of re­ liable, learned and pious men.

Rabbis of numerous communities throughout the country clamor for similar aid in the promotion qf the observance of the commandment of Shaatnez.

Yet Josef Rosenberger does not take a penny more from the ShaatJewish LIFE

nez income than his very bare mini­ mum of a salary necessary for his family’s sustenance. Every cent of income is recorded, and the whole laboratory program is accounted for and belongs to an organization set up by Rosenberger called “Torah U’Mitzvoth,” which is headed by outstanding Jewish scholars and lay leaders. This is only the first big step in the dream of this former refugee from Vienna of or­ ganizing American Jewry in the service of Torah and in particu­ lar, the Mitzvoth, foremost among which are Shemirath Shabboth and Neshech (the prohibition against the charging of interest).

If you smile benignly and think of the failures made by powerful organizations which had the same ideals, then you haven’t met Josef Rosenberger and you are not yet a soldier of the army that wears the insignia of the non-Shaatnez label and seal in their garments.

It is this insignia that attests to the fact th a t: Eyn dovor omed lifney harotzon. The tough but fer­ tile soil of American life does not defy the realization of ideals when ideals are sustained by men like Josef Rosenberger, the Mr. Shaatnez, whose faith, inspiration and will to sacrifice kindle the spark in the hearts of others.

THE MITZVAH Rabbi Zeira said# "One should devote to the adornment of a Mitzvah one third of that which is devoted to the Mitzvah itself."

—Bova Kama 9b FEAR As long as man has not sinned, he is possessed of the power of fear and fright# and other people are afraid of him.

Once he has sinned# however, the power of fear and fright is placed upon him and he is frightened by others.

—Rabbah 3.

Ribbi Abahu said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan# "When the Almighty gave the Torah, the pigeons did not shreik# birds did not fly# oxen did not plow# wheels did not turn# the Serpaphim did not recite "Holy," the seas did not move, man did not speak#' rather the universe remained in silence# and the voice declared. I am the L-rd, thy G-d . . . " —Shemoth Rabbah 29

July - August, 1955

21

• A Case From Responsa Literature.

The First Of A Series.

/fac/ \ t o 4m

By DAVID S. SHAPIRO TN ALEXANDRIA, during the A early part of the thirteenth cen­ tury, there lived two Jewish fami­ lies, one of which was apparently well-to-do. The heads of both fami­ lies were noted in the community as pious and scholarly gentlemen.

Yopheth, the son of Zechariah, the prominent and affluent scholar, became acquainted with Sath-alTaraf, who was the daughter of Eleazar, the poor scholar, and they became engaged. In accordance with the custom of the time an elaborate document was drawn up certifying the fact that Yopheth had agreed to marry Sath-al-Taraf after a year had passed. The young woman appointed her uncle, the scholar Yehudah, to serve as her representative in handling all the financial arrangements. The young man had agreed to give her an initial gift of forty Egyptian de­ narii upon marriage and had set her kethubah (settlement in case of death or divorce) at one hun­ dred denarii. He brought the ini­ tial amount of forty denarii and also three rings to be deposited with Yehudah until the wedding.

22

There were also other agree­ ments that had been made: that a clause was to be written in the marriage contract that Yopheth would not take to himself another wife (this was in a country where polygamy was permitted), that Sath-al-Taraf would have full con­ trol of household affairs, that her trustworthiness would at no time be questioned and that she would not be compelled to live in a neigh­ borhood which was unsatisfactory to her or where life was not secure.

There was also to be a clause deal­ ing with inheritance in case she would die without children, in which it was stipulated that her heirs would receive one-half of her possessions, such as clothes and jewelry, and her husband would receive the other half.

In addition to the initial sum he deposited, Yopheth also added ten denarii which would be hers in case he broke the engagement or any of the other conditions. This contract was drawn up in the month of Adar of the year 1201.

The betrothed, on her part, had accepted the conditions and had Jewish LIFE

agreed to forfeit ten denarii in case she broke the engagement.

EVERYTHING seemed to be go­ ing well with this couple. They were probably both looking for­ ward to the happy day when they would build their home together.

But here the unfortunate and pre­ carious circumstances of the age intervened to break up the future of the couple. Yopheth had to make a trip to Tripoli in Libya.

It was most likely a business trip and he went by boat. The ruler of Tripoli at that time was engaged in a war, and, as a military meas­ ure, he ordered all ships in the harbor seized and pressed into mil­ itary service.

It was impossible to return home.

Yopheth remained in Tripoli wait­ ing impatiently for the day of his return. Months upon months passed and Yopheth did not come home.

The news had reached Alexandria that the ships had been seized by the ruler of Tripoli. The day set for the marriage, in Adar 1202, had passed and Yopheth had not returned.

The father of the betrothed, Eleazar ben Yeshuah, in the mean­ while, had despaired of the return of Yopheth and he decided to break the engagement. He persuaded his daughter to become betrothed to another young man. Zechariah ben Avrohom, the father of Yopheth, heard of the efforts of Sath-alTaraf’s father to renounce her en­ gagement to his son and tie her­ self to another young man. This made him very angry. He turned to Eleazar with a severe rejriJuly - August, 1955

mand, asking him to explain his action. Eleazar retorted that he was a very poor man (meaning by this, probably, that he could no longer support his daughter), and since the time designated for the wedding had passed, he no longer felt bound by the agreement.

Zechariah insisted that since Eleazar or his daughter were breaking the engagement, the pen­ alty of ten denarii should be paid, and all the gifts that Sath had re­ ceived from Yopheth should be re­ turned. He thought that although the terms of the engagement had not been fulfilled, nevertheless the engagement itself was still bind­ ing.

ELEAZAR apparently felt that “ Zechariah was right and agreed to return all the gifts and pay for all the expenses incurred by Yopheth for Sath-al-Taraf as well as the penalty of ten denarii for renouncing the betrothal. Zechariah did not think that Eleazar was too poor to pay the penalty. How­ ever, Zechariah, who was well-todo, did not want the money for himself. He was simply interested in the principle involved. So he pledged the ten denarii to the poor.

In case his son, to whom the money was really due, would not want to give the ten denarii to charity, he would donate the same sum out of his own pocket for that purpose.

It is obvious that in this case both fathers were high-minded in­ dividuals, who were interested in carrying out their duties in the manner they saw right. Eleazar felt that he was no longer bound 23

by the contract, since the time for its fulfillment had run out. He was seeking the happiness of his daugh­ ter. Zechariah felt that he had been wronged, but he was not seek­ ing any personal gain, only the redress of his wrong.

■PHIS PROBLEM was brought to Rabbi Mosheh ben Maimon (Rambam, Maimonides) a few years before his death. It was not a difficult Halochic problem to de­ cide. There was no actual litiga­ tion between the two parties as Eleazar was ready to pay his fine.

It was merely a matter of reach­ ing Halochic truths in which both parties were interested. As usual, Maimonides answered very briefly.

According to him, neither party had to pay any penalty. The son of Zechariah did not carry out his obligation to marry Sath-al-Taraf on time, but he did not break the engagement voluntarily. The prin­ ciple of Jewish law, already formu­ lated in the Bible, is that no man can be held responsible for condi­ tions beyond his control (see Devorim 23.26). Eleazar likewise was not violating his trust when he sought to betroth his daughter to another man after Yopheth failed to come at the given time.

Maimonides, however, emphasizes the girl's rights rather than her father's. The girl, he maintains, is no longer obligated by the contract to wait for Yopheth after the time had passed. She was now free to seek her happiness with whomso­ ever she liked. However, the gifts Yopheth had given her must be re­ turned to him or to anyone he ap­ 24

points for that purpose. Whatever gifts were no longer extant must be paid for by two-thirds of their value, in accordance with a Gaonic enactment (see Rambam, Zechiah u-Mattonah 6, 23). Yopheth's fa­ ther, however,11had no right to make any demands for his son un­ less so authorized by the court.

The pledges to the poor made by Zechariah,¡ Rambam likewise con­ siders invalid, undoubtedly because it was made with the understand­ ing that the fine was owed to Zechariah or Yopheth. Since the penalty did not have to be paid, the pledge was no pledge. One cannot pledge charity with some­ one else's money.

TN THIS responsum we have an illustration of the attempt to deal with Jewish law not in ab­ stract and formally idealistic terms which would make the carrying out of contracts binding even where conditions no longer warrant their fulfillment. Wherever possible, the law relinquishes its severity in fa­ vor of freedom of action. It allows people to seek their legitimate ends without the constraints and en­ tanglements of agreements and promises which are no longer ap­ plicable. Though not uncovering any new principles, Maimonides, in this responsum, was merely reiter­ ating the ancient Jewish axiom that law was subservient to life— ‘That man may live thereby and not die thereby" (Yoma 85b; Maim.

Shabboth 2, 3)—as long as life it­ self remains subservient to the highest law of the universe (Maim.

Yesode Ha-Torah 5).

Jewish LIFE

THE ISRAELI RABBI His Status And Functions In A Jewish State

By ARYEH NEWMAN \

T H E ADVENT of the State of Israel has wrought a revolu­ tion in every aspect of Jewish life.

Particularly is this so with regard to religious life in the State, al­ though the changes are not so selfevident to the outsider. The func­ tions and status of the Israeli rabbi may be taken as a classic instance. The differences in the character and scope of his office, which are still in the process of crystallization, reflect the impact of a sovereign Jewish existence on this spiritual vocation for the first time in two millennia.

The rabbi in Medinath Israel is, first of all, not the appointee of a religious community Kehillah Igil but a public servant carrying out various rabbinic func­ tions which have become state ser­ vices. Such religious needs of the population as synagogue, kashruth, July - August, 1955

mikvaoth, burial rites, religious ap­ purtenances, registration and sol­ emnization of marriages are ad­ ministered through Religious Local Councils which are attached to every municipality and are directed by the Ministry of Religious Af­ fairs. The local rabbi is the presi­ dent of this council and has the same grading as the city manager or mayor and as such receives, by Israeli standards, a moderately comfortable wage.

TJO MORE does the Israeli rabbi depend on the whims and fan­ cies of synagogue committees. It is absolutely forbidden for him to receive fees for religious services performed. Charges are standard­ ized in a government tariff and the monies go into the public coffers.

Official receipts are made out to the client just the same as if he 25

were paying for any other govern­ ment service.

Naturally, these changes have not been accomplished overnight and without opposition. Many rab­ bis of the old school considered the income from the performance of such religious functions as guar­ anteed to them by time-honored custom, as bearing almost Divine sanction. There are still a few ex­ ceptions in the new procedure and the State Comptroller has had to draw the attention of the authori­ ties, more than once, to rabbis, who have found it hard to forego the “increments” of their office. n CCORDING to the latest infor“ mation, the traditional annual sale of chometz on the eve of Passover is the last stronghold of extra earnings for the rabbis of the old school. This is a lucrative source, for food firms and individuals feel themselves obliged to give a sub­ stantial donation to the rabbi on perhaps their one annual contact with him. However, even this prac­ tice is dying out. The rabbi sits in the offices of the Religious Local Council and dispatches public busi­ ness with the aid, in the large towns, of a staff of government clerks and secretaries. Indeed, no rabbi of an established village or town receives callers at any hour in the house or synagogue nor is he now buttonholed in the street as in the “shtetel” of old. Now he has his office, secretary and recep­ tion hours. The synagogue is just one of his many-sided activities and his hours of work are not prin­ cipally , Sabbaths and, Holidays. .

26

The enlarging of Jewish life to state dimensions has correspond­ ingly widened the scope of the rab­ bi-s terms of reference. At the same time, in those settlements where "an ordered municipal selfgoverning life has still not been established, where new immigrants still live in primitive conditions, religious life is similarly unstable, If taxes are not collected and there is no local government, then there is no adequate budget for religious affairs. This is, however, a transi­ tional state of affairs, and as the new immigrants settle down and support and manage their local af­ fairs so they will automatically maintain their own rabbi. By law, two-thirds of the Religious Coun­ cil’s budget is provided out of local rates and a third by the Min­ istry of Religious Affairs.

71 T THE HEAD of the hundreds of rabbis who serve Israel’s communities stands the Chief Rab­ binate, which is at the same time the highest religious judicial body in the country. The Chief Rabbi is the head of all the rabbis in the country ^¿(Rosh Harabonim) and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Religious Court. Here we' touch on another revolution in rabbinic life that is characteristic of Israel. The functions of rabbi and dayon, or religious judge, have been rigidly separated. Israel law grants the Rabbinic Courts exclusive jurisdic­ tion in matters of marriage and divorce and maintenance arising therefrom, and in other matters where both parties agree to rab­ binic adjudication. Thus every Jew Jewish LIFE

NEW SEPHARDI LEADER: Rabbi Yitzchak Nissim, after his inauguration as Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel. The investiture ceremony, with the placing of the traditional robe on the Chief Rabbi, was conducted by Rabbi Cheskiyahu Shabbethai (left), Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv - Yaffa. The Sephardi Chief Rabbi of the Holy Land bears the designation "Rishon Le'tzion" — First of Zion.

in Israel must, in marriage and divorce, come before a Rabbinic Court. The judges of the Rabbinic Courts have the same status and receive the same remuneration as judges in the secular courts, who are, incidentally, the highest paid public servants in the country.

There are also lower Rabbinical Courts and a Supreme Court of Appeals which is presided over by the Chief Rabbi.

July - August, 1955

A law was passed recently regu­ larizing the appointment of dayonim. Their status reflects their unique position as being the only dayonim in the World to exercise their office, in virtue of the powers granted them by a sovereign Jewist state. The dayon gives his verdict on the basis of the Codes of Jewish Law and the nation’s police force stands ready to enforce it -B just as it is laid down in the 27

Torah: Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates (Devorim XVI, 18). “Judges to lay down the law, officers to enforce it” (Rashi). Thus the rabbi in the State of Israel has had his functions divided 1 3 on the one hand he is the guardian of the law meting out justice, and on the other he is the spiritual leader of the community presiding over local religious affairs through the me­ dium of a specially constituted body attached to the city or village council.

TN THE LIGHT of these develop* ments, there is little doubt that we shall witness, in the course of time, the centralizing of world Jewry's religious authority in Is­ rael at the seat of the Beth Din

Hagodol — the Supreme Religious Court of Israel, which has to find the answers to all the everyday religious problems facing the Is­ raeli n^an in the street. Indeed, under the tireless advocacy of the Chief Rabbi, a supreme religious center to house Israel's Chief Rab­ binate and Religious High Courts is now under construction. The co­ operation of all Diaspora communi­ ties, which has been enlisted in this venture, is a prelude to their recognition of its supreme reli­ gious authority over world Jewry after the manner of the Patri­ archate of the Mishnaic era. In the course of time it may well evolve into the Sanhedrin advo­ cated by a number of religious writers and thinkers.

SHIR HASHIRIM It is written: (Bereyshith 1) Let us m ake m an in our im a g e after our likeness. In the past, Adam was created irom dust and Eve was created from Adam; from the time of Adam onward let him be ". . . in our image, after our likeness." It is impossible for man to exist without woman, it is impossible for woman without man, and it is impossible for them both without the 'Shechinah'.

—Berochoth Yerushalmi 89 THE TEMPLE Forty years before the destruction of the Temple the doors of the sanctuary opened of themselves until Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zaccai scolded them and said: "Oh sanctuary, sanctuary why are you so anxious? I know that you shall finally be de­ stroyed, for Zechariah the son of Iddo has prophesied con­ cerning you: O pen thy doors, O Lebanon, th at the fire m ay may devour thy c ed ars (Zechariah 11).

—Masecheth Yuma 32

28

Jewish LIFE

• Does New Scientific Evidence

Prove Evolution a Fallacy?

By ROBERT R. PERLMAN ^ ^ H E R E DO WE, and our world, come from? The answer to this most important of all questions must determine the entire course of life and thought. For over a century the answer of science has been “evolution.” And evolution has thus become the basis of mod­ ern thought. It has completely changed man’s view of himself, of the world and of history. Upon it have been built ideologies, philoso­ phies and even the everyday be­ havior of ordinary man.

Although most people consider it July -1August, 1955

as “just another theory,” evolution is, even in its barest essence, a total statement of what man and nature are, what history signifies and what the basic laws of the world are. And though the reli­ gions still survive, all, even Ju­ daism, have become deeply pene­ trated by the attitudes and ideas generated by evolution. Their foun­ dations have been gnawed away and the faith of the believer is now overcast with doubt. The basic statement of evolution is: “Out of the primeval ooze arose life. The 29

animals gradually changed and the fittest of the new species were selected by the struggle for exis­ tence. Ever bigger, better, more complex species were thus formed by the struggle, creating all nature,

and man himself, among whom the struggle continues that selects the fittest and will produce superior races of superman. This is pro­ gress.”

But fs it the truth?

Proofs of the Evolutionists

y? VOLUTION was launched a thoughts of the mathematicians. hundred years ago, and in a Let us look at the proofs of the few years became scientific dogma. evolutionists. They show a similar­ Religionists fought it, but against ity among different species in their science they lost. The celebrated appearance, skeletons and embryos Scopes trial of 1925 ended all for­ —no doubt about it, a „neat series of mal opposition. Evolution is now skeletons of living or fossil anim­ indoctrinated everywhere, from the als,* starting with simple ones and kindergarten to the doctorate. No progressing to more and more com­ scientist dares question it without plex ones, this being strictly by ar­ losing his standing, yet who would rangement; considerable variations doubt a doctrine accepted by mil­ in appearance produced in plants lions? And why question a doctrine and animals by generations of supported by masses of impressive breeding, or by bombarding with proofs ? x-rays; a few skulls and bones of The answer is — quite simply — “prehistoric man” like the Piltdown new evidence. Science, progressing, man (genuinely 500,000 years old, has produced great amounts of said the experts—alas, it turned out knowledge far better, more reliable to be but a zoo-monkey); a few and more accurate than that on ease histories of the survival of the which the proofs of the evolution­ fittest. It can happen. That is ists were based. Those proofs are about all. now seen to.,have been the first, childish steps, not the final con­ TT WAS enough in 1850. It was quest, of the science of living |1 the best then available, but not things. And so we can, indeed we today. must, reexamine, for now science Why? These are proofs made by has progressed so as to permit a biologists—and a biologist is one conclusive answer* The picture of who studies and classifies animals nature painted by the dabblers of by their internal and external ap­ 1850 has been destroyed by the pearance, and all these proofs are microscopes, the chemistry labora­ based on appearances. But in na­ tories, the medical researchers, just ture, things are not what they as the fancy, world picture of the Some fossils are undoubtedly genuine. How­ scholastics was destroyed by a * ever, they do not fill the huge gap in the touch of the telescope and a few ' evolutionary chain proposed by biologists.

30

Jewish LIFE

appear to be. Only by their action alone can they be known.

An elephant and a bee are both “protoplasm.” So what?

A hundred microbes will look the same. One will make better cheese, two will kill and the rest do noth­ ing at all.

Beethoven looked like a vagrant and Himmler like a chicken farmer.

You find two lumps of “lead,” put them in one pocket and you dis­ appear, leaving a mile wide hole— if it was plutonium.

To view man as skin, bones and protoplasm is as intelligent as de? scribing a TV set as a metal skele­ ton covered with a plastic skin. To consider the eye and ear as slightly modified pieces of the original protoplasm of the first living ancestor cell, formed by “adapta­ tion” into complex organs, is silly today. Today, we know what it takes to make a TV system or a microphone, and the only way to discuss these organs is as the highly efficient, extremely accu­ rate precision biological machines

July - August, 1955

they are:—in which every part must fit perfectly, and in which any change or “evolution” ’ would de­ stroy their efficiency completely.

TT IS the function of the organs * of living things that is basic.

The color, size or bones are super­ ficial. Each species is a complete de­ sign. The changes in appearance never constitute the slightest change in the basic design: Dogs range from the pony size Bernard to the mouse-like Chihuahua, but they all have the same internal de­ sign. None has wings, or gills, or feathers, or six legs or three eyes.

Sure, freaks are born, but a freak is not a species. His pups will be like others.

There are billions of people, and the design is identical. People who live by the sea do not have fins, and the Eskimos grow no fur. None can live under water, or live on grass, or live two centuries. And the children of black African Bush savages can equal, with the same education, the average attainment

31

of white races, whose “evolution” supposedly improved their brains so they developed civilization, while the others lived like monkeys since they originated.

The question of evolution can not be decided by showing that animals can change superficially, but only by determining whether they can evolve functionally, change their basic designs and grow new organs.

And that is precisely what we can do today, for since the dogma of evolution was “established,” en­ tirely new sciences have appeared and grown to maturity, sciences far more penetrating, accurate and re-

liable than biology, supported by vast laboratory work and able to show by magnificent practical re­ sults that they are on the right track. They have produced vast amounts of data on the functions of living things, with which we can give a far better and likely final answer to the problem of evolution. Among these are physio­ logy (medicine), biochemistry (or­ ganic chemistry and chemical en­ gineering), sensory sciences like ophthamology, endocrinology, etc., genetics (which proved the non-in­ heritance of acquired characteris­ tics) and many others.

Function is Basic

T ET US now study the general problem of “functional evolu­ tion” as compared with superficial evolution. Later it will be explained in detail. We will view animals as integrated combinations of seeing, hearing, motion, energy-conversion devices, which are all precision machines, and discover whether they could and did build these machines themselves.

An analogy will make this clear­ er. Suppose we have an automobile.

Where did it originate? Well, here is a rolling stone, a wheel-barrow, a horse-cart, an automobile. Be­ hold a logical chain. Rolling stone to wheel-barrow—preposterous, you say. Well, in a billion years, per­ haps ; most people will not think so.

Barrow to cart—not so difficult.

Cart to automobile: they looked much alike once. But do they have the same functions? How about the engine? The cart has 32

none and has no materials to evolve one. The radio? The battery? The cart may change from Brougham to Surrey but a horse will never run on gasoline. Without the work of an inventor — no automobile.

The similarity of looks means nothing; it is the new function that makes the difference.

This is exactly what we find in nature. When going “up the evolu­ tionary chain” skeletons may look similar, but completely new designs appear, completely different “en­ g i n e s , “batteries” and “acces­ sories,” and every time there is a huge gap in the “evolutionary chain.” The change from the cold blood system of slow, hot-weather reptiles to the vastly different hotblood system of the fast, all-climate mammals and birds is a blank, and of the thousands of intermediate species required there are none.

Jewish LIFE

And there are many such gaps all along the line.

But far more important is that we find innumerable “special de­ vices” in nature—accessories like the automobile radio—and usually possessed by only a single species or part. These special devices can not appear by “survival of the fittest” because the possessors can get along without them, and they must ap­ pear at once, perfect, or, like the automobile radio with but one tube missing, they are junk. These per­ mit excellent detail examination of functional evolution.

The bat has a supersonic navi­ gation system possessed by no other animal, though it also has good eyes.

The electric eel carries a 500 volt battery for fishing.

Bees construct precise build­ ings with their own “cement mixers” ; and there is the cham­ bered nautilus and the coral and many other construction special­ ists.

The spider also builds, but the silk worm just produces silk.

There is the penicillium mold which makes its germ-killer and the redwood tree with its built-in insect repellent.

There are the flies with a superb flight stabilizer, which we are trying to copy for use in airplanes.

There is the porcupine and the turtle and the squid and the skunk and the rose—inventors of impregnable defenses.

And then there are even “spe­ cial devices” having no “survival value” at all—just cultural.

July - August, 1955

The song of the nightingale and the voice of the cantor, the roar of the lion, the chatter of the parrot, the smell of the rose and the color of the orchid. The horns of the elk, and the tails of the peacock, and the bill of the toucan, the wing of the but­ terfly and the goldfish gold.

All these, and thousands more, do not fit into the low-to-high, simple-to-complex scheme of evolu­ tion and each can be shown, as will be done, not to have “evolved.”

They are not vague, like changes in skeletons, but concrete mechan­ isms, analyzable, exactly definable, like a car radio. The radio design may change, but without the tuner, amplifier, volume control and speaker it is not a radio and will not work.

K T THIS point, let us therefore “ sum up the situation: 1. The proofs for evolution are exclusively superficial.

2. The basic thing in animals is the function of their various or­ gans, the chemical and physical processes, which are exact and the same in each species, no mat­ ter how much the appearances vary.

3. True “evolution” must enable animals to change functionally.

We can test evolution by testing whether this happens.

4. There are in nature many “special devices” which permit conclusive checking of evolution in specific examples.

Now this detail method is de cisive. Why? The evolutionists show perhaps 100 of 1,000 sup33

test does not apply, since A, which *has nothing at all, survived. That means all the A’s which started to develop and had bits and pieces which later became B’s device, must have also survived. Now since it is often logically impossible for A to design and build such a device, it means that unless the evolutionists can show the necessary thousands of intermediate species between A and B, then B definitely did not evolve.

posed evolutionary steps and claim that the rest, as not being the fittest, have disappeared in the struggle for survival. So ultimate­ ly the argument boils down to something that could or could not have happened long ago.

But suppose we find in a single species, two kinds, A and B, of exactly the same basic design, ex­ cept that B has a complicated spe­ cial device which A has not. Then selection by the survival of the fit­ 34

TH ER E ARE many such clear-cut cases. A few will be examined.

A simple animal is the electric eel. It is part of and like the rest of the great eel family, except for its battery. One-third of the eel is an electric powerhouse, having more than 5,000 batteries and turn­ ing out, at the eel's command, 500 volt high-power shocks. That is five times as strong as the electri­ city that lights the home. It will paralyze a man or any fish.

Now how did this eel, just an ordinary eel, invent and design an electric powerhouse, with insula­ tion, switches etc. ? Here is an enor­ mous difficulty in a logical evolu­ tion of the eel: it must start .with one battery. This will furnish elec­ tricity that can not harm even a minnow. The eel must then take this utterly useless equipment and add hundreds of batteries, electrically and correctly wired, before it reaches a point where the electri­ city is of any use at all. And why did it not stop at 100 volts? That would be difficult enough to reach and would be quite adequate. Why such a super-electrician when none Jewish LIFE

of the “higher” mammals ever “thought” of one?

There is still the key question: Where are all the thousands of intermediate and bad-experiment electric eels? Remember, the other eels get along with no battery at all, so all the ones with little and badly wired battgfies must also be

around—if they ever existed. To the best of my knowledge, they do not. And to make it still more in­ teresting, there are two or three electric fish, each a completely dif­ ferent design from the eel, each a member of a great family which has no batteries, and the inter­ mediates are not to be found.

Natural Selection?

I 1

Q U R NEXT case will be the ^ poisonous snakes. These horri­ ble creatures are very important as they are not an obscure sub-family but very prevalent. They possess the most deadly armament in na­ ture and are still a menace. They provide an excellent case of func­ tional “evolution.”

Non-poisonous snakes, having no trace of poison apparatus, are found all over the world, as are poisonous snakes. They both Sur­ vive perfectly and are supposed to be hundreds of millions of years old. But there are five times as many harmless as poisonous snakes.

So here we have a very clear-cut case of two identical sub-families of the same species, one having a very fancy piece of equipment which the other does not possess.

That means natural selection could not operate. But let us trace the details of this “evolution” which some ambitious poisonous snake in­ vented.

1. The idea of a poison injec­ tion system. No mammals, birds or fish and only one reptile have such a system. It is a luxury.

2. Develop a formula and a manufacturing process. The poi­ July - August, 1955

son consists of some twelve very complicated and remote organic chemicals, which are designed exactly to match the nervous and circulatory systems of both coldand warm-blooded animals — at the same time. And a half drop can kill a man in an hour. They also have to be of exact viscosity, non-clogging, rapid diffusion, etc.

3. Design a plant to make the substance. A hundred Ph.D’s, in a million dollar plant, might pro­ duce a shot with a thousand pounds of raw chemicals — if we knew how.

4. Build a piping system to pipe the poison, valves and all.

5. Build a very high pressure pump to pump it.

6. Design a tooth possessed by no other animal — in the shape of a hypodermic needle ^ p | and build a system to grow a new one speedily (Why don’t we “evolve” a third tooth? There have been billions of toothless persons. Why doesn’t “nature” do something?)

7. Make connections to the cir­ culatory and nervous systems; it must be timed to a tenth of a sec­ ond.

But will this produce the poison35

ous species? Oh no! It must take all this material and incorporate it in the machinery that builds, in the egg, a machine that will enable the next snake to lay an egg that will produce the same thing. And a male and female snake must do all-this together.

There has never yet been pro­ duced a new gadget that did not have a lot of defects that needed straightening out. How does the snake know whether it is the for­ mula that is off, or the pipe that is stuck, or the timing that is too fast — so it can quickly repair the defect? In all of these cases the results are always the same: the machinery doesn’t operate. And how does it know when it is work­ ing? Does it keep a record of how many animals drop dead how fast, and when it hits the right thing turn off the “evolutionary machin­ ery” so only perfect models are turned out henceforth?

TTERY OFTEN, in checking these “evolutionary chains,” one finds dead stops which could not have been passed or “100 per cent nega­ tive probability steps.” In the course of trying to find the right chemical out of billions, the snake, trying them one by one, must ab­ solutely hit violent chemicals that would literally dissolve it. And be­ ing dead, it can tell no tales. Every snake, when it hits that point, also stops. Furthermore, each snake is, as it must be, immune to his own poison, or die. How can it find the immunizing agent before it has the poison ? But if it makes the poison first, it will drop dead and then be 36

precluded from finding the agent!

There are some animals which, instead of fleeing like men and most animals from the deadly snakes, have the instinct built in them to attack them, and therefore the snakes are subdued. Some of these animals are not immune to snake poison but survive because they know exactly how and where to bite.

However, a few obscure animals are completely immune to snake poison.

One is an obscure skunk and a few are non-poisonous snakes like the king snake. And to show that it was not an accident, there are not one but three very different poisonous snake modelstr-^ but the basic de­ sign is the same. To top it all, one variety added a long poisonous tooth, mounted on a complicated system that opens it like an um­ brella when in use, and then folds it away for the next occasion.

The implications of the foregoing are these: 1. The snake poison apparatus is an exceedingly complex chem­ ical, mechanical, hydraulic, medi­ cal and control engineering de­ vice.

2. The snake has had no good reason to have evolved it.

3. An evolution requiring an animal to evolve within itself highly lethal substances is an im­ possibility.

4. The existence of just a few immune snake eaters, among ani­ mals bitten for millennia by snakes and still not immune, ne­ gates the “adaptation” ideology. £ ^ F COURSE, there is the magic word “mutation.” That means Jewish LIFE

that some ray comes by, and presto, the snake is transformed. Why? Because in the lab some insects ex­ hibited minor changes when bom­ barded. However, rays do not in­ vent chemical formulae, piping sys­ tems or tooth-retracting mechan­ isms. But this is really very simple to dispose of: if any passing ray can so easily remodel the snake so drastically, there ought to be mil­ lions of vastly different species of snakes by now. There are not. And somehow, except for just that weap­ on and only a few minor differences, all snakes are very much alike.

There even are poisonous and nonpoisonous snakes which cannot be told apart.

Therefore, the poisonous snake could not have “evolved.” And by all standards of logic we can prove that it did not. Because the millions of intermediate non-poisonous-topoisonous snake species required to produce such an elaborate device do not exist. All poisonous snakes have the complete equipment. There ought to be at least a few degener­ ate species, having only remnants, but there aren’t. Ergo —? no evolu­ tion, no mutation, but Creation.

The "False Picture" of Nature

TMTOW HOW could so many scient­ mals as rabbits, rats and mice had ists accept such a defective dog­ evolved before the foxes and cats, ma? It has happened before that they could have wrecked nature. people made one-dollar theories That is cold fact. We know just with one-cent facts, and then, when what the “evolution” of a new fifty-cents worth of additional facts species would produce. There were showed up, forgot to check again. several occasions when new animals Thus a false picture of nature has were introduced in an area, like the rabbits in Australia, and the result been built up.

Nature could never have survived was disastrous. Had man not the “struggle for the selection of stopped them, they would have eat­ the fittest,” because we find in na­ en Australia into a desert, while ture a good number of plants and “nature” stood idly by. It “evolved” animals equipped with weapons so no counter-measure. One really new deadly, that were they the product microbe could wipe all life from the of a fierce struggle for survival, earth, and they have “tried” often. they should have gone on and wiped A “snake poison” rat would do well, out the rest of nature. There are too.

No, the deadly animals are but the snakes and electric eels, the ti­ gers and sharks and lions, the pois­ the fringe; they have had limits set onous plants and insects. Many of on them, so that they could not des­ these have no “checks” at all; troy Creation. The earth belonged others are checked by species which, to the deer, elk, bison, elephants—according to evolutionary theories, not the tigers.

The earth was made for man: are of much later origin!

And even if such harmless ani­ Does the coffee tree really go to all July - August, 1955

37

that trouble for its amusement, or the banana, the fig and the date, the grape and the corn and the cotton and the rubber tree? The animals did not need the cinchona tree, nor the insects the nutmeg. And this list is almost as long as nature, it­ self.

Q .IV EN a few facts, the delusion called “evolution” is quickly blown away. A little knowledge was a dangerous thing in 1850, but more knowledge is a cure, if the pa­ tient is still alive.

If we now wake up from this evil dream and truly comprehend that this world is the handiwork of the Creator, then, for the first time in history, can we begin to study and understand the mighty design of Creation. For only now do we have the scientific knowledge and ardu­ ous disciplines that make it pos­ sible. From nature we can go to the design of history and from there

to man and his purpose and his tasks. Though these are mighty problems, requiring great and dedi­ cated searching before the faint shadows of the design appear be­ hind the meaningless confusion of events, we also have the key, the Revelation, that alone can guide us through all errors.

The time is here, and the tools are at hand, for scientists who hon­ estly seek the truth, that by an hon­ est trial, the evolutionary dogma, shall be erased. If we but let nature speak the truth clearly, it will ut­ terly end the error of evolution. j^JAN is not an animal; he can descend far lower, and if we wanted it we could attain our des­ tiny to rise far higher than the best today. We can, by true and great work, reconquer for us the Creation that was made for us, and thus restore to mankind its soul.

THE SECOND TEMPLE Three prophets (Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi) went up with the Jews from the exile. One who prophesied con­ cerning the Altar, one who stated that it was permissible to offer sacrifices although there was no temple extant and one who said that the Torah should be written in Assyrian script.

—Masecheth Zevochim 62.

88

Jewish LIFE

By ANNE R. GRUNFELD “And G-d w ill gather His farscattered children from the four corners of the earth . . . .” ^■OULD this possibly apply to the super-modern world of today, whose greatest distances were al­ ready conquered by ever-increasing scientific inventions . . . where tens of thousands of miles meant noth­ ing to the all-powerful engines of the latest jet plane and where Shanghai was no further from Ice­ land than Jerusalem was from Bethel in the days gone by? Were there any really far and scattered places, as yet untrodden and un­ beaten, by the far-reaching haunts of civilized man? Might any place on earth still be called “scattered and far-away?” Was it really necessary for the Hand of G-d to interfere to bring His children July - August, 1955

back from the “far-away places” ?

These were the questions that so often crossed my mind as I said my prayers every day, until one brilliant summer’s afternoon, on a peaceful hillside, I heard this strange story, told by a youth worker of Paris. As you will see, his story more than answered my misgivings.

“JT WAS one of those hot and * sultry afternoons, when the en­ tire world seems to be at a stand­ still. We left our smart hotel in Tripoli accompanied by El Hashi Bar Ha-Cohen, or simply El Hashi, as he was popularly known. His ancestors had lived in this capital of Tripoli for many hundreds of years, and his heavily-lined Jewish face was indeed scarcely to be dis­ tinguished from the swarthy, in89

scrutable faces of the numerous Arabs whose white-clad figures lined the market-squares of many an Arab village. He knew the dry, arid, sun-scorched areas surround­ ing Tripoli better than the back of his aged, honest hand. We cquld have had no better guide than he, on this, our first visit to Tripoli; and now in fluent Arabic or broken French and again with meaningful gesticulations, he would point out this or that landmark of interest as we slowly left behind us that town of white dazzle and oriental heat.

“We were on our way, open to danger as well as adventure, as we passed the many Arab villagers who were often quite hostile and sullen to strangers, especially if they were white as we were. Our clothes, light as they were, clung to our glistening bodies under the unbearable scorching heat of the noon-day sun — and yet we did not mind, for that which we were about to experience was quite unique. After much persuasion on our part, El Hashi had promised to lead us to ‘The Hidden Jewish Village/ which was supposed to be miraculously concealed so as to defy discovery even by those who knew this sun-beaten country as the back of their hands. “ ‘P V E R SINCE we came here/ explained El Hashi, as our bruised, hot feet staggered over the sharp stones and left every re­ minder of civilization far behind us, ‘we B'nei Israel have had to keep our beloved Torah at the risk of our lives, for the Arabs would 40

not tolerate any worship other than that of Islam. Time and again our Yeshivoth were burnt over­ night “and many precious lives lost.

It was impossible to keep the Torah alive under the light of day. So about two hundred years ago, we decided to go into hiding and build a stronghold underground where we should be safe from the treacherous and interfering eyes of our Arab neighbors till G-d Him­ self should see fit to deliver us.

This settlement is hundreds of feet below the earth's surface and its inhabitants must have forgotten by now how to recognize the light of day. So well is it concealed that even the opening to the vast sub­ terranean structure is unrecognizableBBbut you will see for yourself.'

“As he said this, I stopped in open-mouthed amazement.

We were, by now, in the most desolate spot I had ever seen; we stood in a complete desert. Nothing but a few solitary boulders to remind us that we had been but a few hours before in a sweltering but thriving center of civilization. This place looked deserted even by the man-forsaken vultures themselves, whose shrill cries faintly echoed beyond the never-ending horizon.

Even a hermit would not have de­ signed to live in confinement such as this.

“As I was wondering on all this, El Hashi halted by a particularly large boulder and disappeared! I was dumbfounded! But soon two wiry brown arms appeared out of nowhere, and my companion and I, without knowing how, found our­ selves stepping hand over foot into Jewish LIFE

the engulfing darkness below. Un­ accustomed to the sudden obscuri­ ty, we blinked our eyes in vain, and surely would have fallen into the abyss below were it not for some strange miracle of gravity. Soon, amazingly enough, we found a sud­ den end to our almost legendary de­ scent, and realized ourselves to be on firm, solid and cool ground.

S IN a dream, I looked around me. It was unbelievable. A hundred feet or more below the ground, shut away from the glare of the sun, was a complete, selfsufficient colony such as I never dreamed might exist outside the realm of the fairy-tale world. I looked — more -— I gaped. With a sudden flash I knew what was so strange. For the first time since I had come to North Africa I saw Jews walking upright and fearless, going about their daily tasks with unassailed confidence. However, this soon changed. Instantaneously and instinctively they had realized that something was wrong, some breath of the cruel, Arab world above had penetrated into their safe, underground stronghold. At once they were on guard. But when the head of the ‘town’ recognized the grim reassuring smile of El Hashi, he knew all was well, and he would not need to defend the community of two thousand living in this underground safe.

“This venerable Zokeyn had not been above ground himself for fifty years or more, but every night, when none but the lone wolf was there to witness stealthy moonlight manoeuvres, he “ had July t ;August, 1955

supervised the lowering down of food-supplies, crude weapons, and, above all, precious seforim salvaged by the loving hands of El Hashi.

“T WAS so amazed I could hardly x believe that this, all so unreal and strange, so cut-off from civili­ zation, was happening not so far from an airport, that this unbe­ lievable spot could exist so peace­ fully, so totally buried to the world of 1955. Most of all, I wanted to see the school which was El Hashi’s particular pride. ‘Not yet, my friend/ he grinned, in Arabic.

‘Wait/ and he placed his hands on a large stone trap-door which slid noiselessly aside to let us down another fifty feet or so, and there at the bottom of this new vault, El Hashi commented, ‘You know when we dance on Simchath Torah and Purim we have much to fear. For any scoundrel of an Arab merchant passing above might hear the noise of joyful shouting as we dance around our beloved Torah, for whose sake we have buried our­ selves from the outside world and so risk our lives.’

“I stood yet once more amazed.

The school was of unsurpassable beauty and the gold of the Menorah shone brightly as if to welcome its visitors from the busy world above.

The old man, as if unable to bear any longer the heavy responsibili­ ties of so many years, suddenly sat down op a stone bench and cup­ ping his snowy head in his gnarled hands, heaved a mighty sigh. ‘Oh! it has been so long, this exile of G-d. We have all waited so patient­ ly in our living graves down here.

41

And yet we cannot keep the Torah by daylight. Would that it might soon end/ ” ^■HAT IS the end of the story as I heard it, but I do know from the teller of this true account that not so very long later the entire underground colony of two thou­ sand was brought to Israel, where they are amongst our staunchest and most pious citizens today.

They had not waited in cold and poverty under the earth all those

years for nothing G-d, as ever true to His promise, had indeed gathered them from the “far cor­ ners of this earth” to keep His Torah in peaceful daylight, and in His own way He had preserved them to be living proofs of His Immutable Will.

May this story as I heard it be for us a glimmer across the dark­ ened and storm-brewing world horizon of the Golden Days that are yet to come ^ "the Yemoth Hamoshiach.

ThePrayer Shawl

By RUBY FRIEDMAN White as the first light snowflake and as pure, Its cord of blue reflects a smiling sky, Fringed with a faith long able to endure Encircling darkness with a courage high.

Varied its wearers BHhumble, proud and small, Rich man, poor man, both equal in G-d's eyes.

A magic mantle bidding them recall How Israel's songs are beautiful and wise.

Long dreams of old men sitting in the sun, Sweet visions of a youth across the years, These are eternaP^psilHen threads that run To mingle with brief laughter and bright tears.

While to thy scattered sons let Israel's voice Reach out with promise they may too rejoice!

42

Jewish LIFE

Faith And Truth —

Combined

By SOLOMON J. SHARFMAN THE FAITH OF JUDAISM, by Rabbi Isadore Epstein, The Soncino Press, London, 1954, 418 pp., $4.00.

1X 7E HAVE been waiting for a * * book like this for a long, long time. It is with a feeling of grateful­ ness that we read it, not unmixed with regret that we had nothing like it for so many years. One hardly dares think, so painful is the thought, how many souls would never have been lost to Judaism if our libraries had possessed such a volume to kindle the cold logic of science with the torch of Faith. Between these pages a wedding between Reason and Reli­ gion takes place in a happy and last­ ing union. In answer to the mocking voices of the critics and sceptics of our age, here is a lucid, modern and brilliant re-phasing of the beliefs of

July I- August, 1955

traditional Judaism. After reading it, we are all the more able to demon­ strate to those who scoff and sneer why “Moses is true and his 'Torah is true and they are liars.”

The world in which we live no longer permits us to reply to every doubt, “This is the Law,” or* “The Torah says so.” Indeed, very seldom in Jewish history did such answers alone suffice. Nor were they con­ sidered desirable in a faith where proper answers always depend upon the right questions, and even Moses is depicted as constantly seeking, but never obtaining, complete understand­ ing. As with Job, we eventually learned the limitations of the earthbound human mind in its attempt to grasp divinity. The ages before us, however, always provided guides for their perplexed. Our age provided none of its own.

43

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; LIGHT: We furnish an i electric fixture complete with 25 ft. waterproof wire, socket, plug and plastic shade.

ROOF :We furnish three wooden or bamboo strips mm across the top to hold ■ Fixture and S’chach.

PACKING: We pack and ship entire Stikkah in a heavy corrugated car­ ton Which is 8 feet long by 8 inches square and this carton is used for storing your Sukkah.

ONLY

ASSEMBLING

$98

With each purchase we furnish you a very detailed assembly instruction sheet, which makes it very simple to put the Sukkah together.

F.O.B. N.Y. Check With Order

Sukkah on display at 33 West 42nd Street, N.Y.C. Room 642

We also have Sukkah decorations/for your own home built Sukkah.

Write for brochure.

I

S'CHACH: We will also supply you with 70 bam­ boo stacks 1 1 /4 inch in diameter by 6 feet long to cover entire Sukkah.

ADDITIONAL

$14.00

Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 805 Broadway - New York 7, N* Y. I Gentlemen: [““I Please ship me one Packaged Sukkah designed by the | Spero Foundation. Check for the amount of $98 is en­ closed.

PI I also want 70 bamboo sticks which will cover entire I Sukkah, and I am enclosing an additional $14.00.

I P | Please send brochure on Sukkah decorations.

J Name ................ ....................... ............... ............................. .............

J Address ..........

I City and State

44

Jewish LIFE

The classic works of traditional Judaism, like those of Saadiah Gaon, the Rambam, Joseph Albo and Yehudah Halevi, are still luminous guides, providing they are restated in the terminology of thé twentieth century.

This, the distinguished author, who is the editor of the Soncino Talmud, has succeeded in doing — and has done it remarkably well. As he states in his preface, he takes his stand on the primary sources of our religi­ ous tradition—the Bible, the Talmud and the Midrash. He dips into the other treasures of the Jewish spirit, ancient and modern, from which emerge fabulous jewels, refurbished to sparkle even in an atmosphere of modernism and science. With deep erudition, he summons the philoso­ phers and scientists of our own day, to help him make peace between Judaism, science and philosophy.

TX7E HAVE numerous books on |p a Jewish ethics, customs, philoso­ phy and theology. No book quite like this has appeared since Michael Friedlander published “The Jewish Religion” at the turn of the century.

As the author says, “The crisis in orthodox Judaism is fundamentally one of faith or belief. It is true that Jewish Orthodoxy is primarily a re­ ligion of action, and its still faithful adherents are mostly concerned with the decay of Jewish practice. But on examination it is found that the prin­ cipal and most serious (though by no means the only) cause of this decay is the weakening of belief in the principles of Judaism.”

Some recent books have depended for their effect on style, emotion and an existentialist trend of reasoning,

July - August, Ï955 !

highly personal and subjective. Some­ times Christian concepts are uncon­ sciously introduced. The author will have none of this. He develops in the first chapter the theory of the “forced option”—that a man always acts as if he believes, whether in G-d or not, so that there really is no agnostic.

He shows that Saadiah Gaon, long before William James, enunciated this principle. He proceeds to explain the concept of G-d and it is the Jew­ ish concept that he defines, although no scientist can quibble with it. By cold reasoning and a rational ap­ proach, we are then shown that Reve­ lation must be acknowledged as the handmaiden of Reason, that Israel is truly the instrument of the Divine Purpose. The remarkable correspond­ ence between the Cosmology of Genesis and modern science, the con­ cept of the Kingdom of G-d, the dif­ ficulty of Evil in a world created by G-d, and the basic tenets of Judaism are discussed in such a way that doubts are alleviated and belief is strengthened.

T H E LANGUAGE is simple and the • • style excellent. There are ex­ tremely interesting notes at the end of every chapter. The reasoning is made comprehensible for the layman, without losing any of its value for the scholar. If it does nothing else, “The Faith of Judaism” creates a renewed interest in the classics of Jewish philosophy, by demonstrating their timelessness and timeliness, if we only allow for their archaic idiom.

Theie is no question but that this book will shortly find its place in all Jewish homes that thirst- feS Faith and Truth combined.

45

REFRESHING, FLAVORFUL

...DELICIOUS! i M

ô

H

i e

i ’ ÿ

OLD-FASHIONED

GEFILTE FISH KOSHER © PAREVE Ready to servej/s

Prepared under Rabbinical Super­ vision, in America's most modern Ice Cream Plant

« »-'1-

tr 's rtfe 7w m /

A

o s t a ' s ICE CREAM FOR FINEST QUALITY

from the spotless kitchens of MOTHER’S FOOD PRODUCTS, INC. Newark 5, N.J.

M poitfO*

A ll Beech-Nut Cereals and Baby Foods are ac­ cepted by the Counoil on Foods and Nutrition of the American M ed­ ical Association.

Beech-Nut

œwu JKSP

Choice of Soups, Vegetables, Fruits, Desserts, 4 Cooked Cereals.

BEECH-NUT FOODS FOR BABIES 46

Jewish LIFE

DR. BIRNBAUM 'S Mahzor

a

br n

ni rn»

n a n o n njt?n a w i1? for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is auperbly translated, bril­ liantly annotated, and luxuriously printed.

A model of conciseness, accura­ cy and attractiveness.

FaSIsburg, N. Y.

In F lexib le C overs $2.50

Reserve Now for

ritrsin dv^ iTimVa Selihoth F or T he F irst D ay translated and annotated by

Labor Day Week-End Special Family Rate

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July ¿¡August, 1955

47

Famous TAAM-TOV Kosher Cheese * American * Sliced American * Cheddar * Spread

* Swiss * Edam * GOUDA * MUENSTER

S upervised by: R abbi Dr.

Breuer

New York City

Also ask for our SCHMERLING'S Kosher Imported Gruyer Cheese

SC H N A L L PRODUCTS COMPANY Brooklyn 25, N.Y.

PResident 2-3615

Hotel Diplomat Kosher Kitchen is u n d er the supervision of R abbi A braham Reichlin *

Hotel Diplomat can accommodate from 50 to 1,000 people.

mm KOSHER BABY MEATS

1 J. Edward Saltzman,

PER CAN

ow nér a n d ca te rer

S KOSHER VARIETIES Kosher Beef • Veal lam b • Liver

108 W est 43rd St., N e w Y ork

Beef Heart

\

STUIKD FOI 1MFAWTO (HOPPED

m jUNIOtt

T elephone BRyapt 9-2387 - 8 - 9

bIOg 48

MANISCHEWITZ Jewish LIFE

No other Chips so fresh as GORDON’S! No others have “Magic-Pak” protection!

Also: try G or­ don’s new R IPL E T S and crisp G ordon’s Vacuum Packed Potato Sticks.

■

\

/

\

Kosher and Parve

O N tV TH£ FtNEST f/5 OF 71N£ TUNA JUST THE PRIME PORTIONS of selected, top-grade

tuna fish are used in Breast-O’-Chicken brand—the

first brand of tuna to bear the Seal of Kashruth. Try it—in either the fancy solid pack or popular chunk style.

\

July - August, 1955

/

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49

SERVICE FOR ISRAEL, INC. • 989 SIXTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 18 • LO 5-1835

50

Jewish LIFE

Tel. BElle Harbor 5-9671-9552 NEptune 4-4244

W A S H IN G T O N HOTEL

G o ld ’s

Catering for Ail Occasions

100% - Pure

©

HORSERADISH

Supervised and Endorsed by Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations

Famous for Quality and Kashruth

Open A ll Y ear Levine M an ag em en t

124-05 ROCKAWAY BLVD. ROCKAWAY PARK/ N. Y.

Traditional Jewish Style

GEFILTE

^

FIS M

WÊÈ

WÈ $ $

M im m

Â

p r Ä

PORTIONS

..JUMBO SIZE

«ss IY

THE

BAKERS

July - August, 1955

(h T " 0 Y E N

CRISP*’

(UNSALTED)

MATZOHS

51

UNION OF ORTHODOX JEWISH CONGREGATI ONS OF AME R I CA

n"n

Kosher commodities and establishments under official @ supervision and en­ dorsement.

KASHRUTH DIRECTORY Issued Avf 5715 HL August, 1955 LOOK FOR THE (Q) SEAL- AND BE SURE!

The (O) seal is your guarantee of communally responsible Kashruth supervision and endorsement, conducted as a public service by the Union of Ortho­ dox Jewish Congregation# of America—UOJCA. All © products are passed upon by, and receive the constant inspection of, the Rabbinical Council of America, Rabbinic body of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations.

CONSUMERS ARE CAUTIONED TO: • Make sure that the © seal is on the label of every food product.

• Make sure that the seal shown on the label is the © — beware of imitations!

• Read carefully the list of ingredients of each © product to ascertain whether it is a meat or dairy product. The © does not necessarily mean that the product is Pareve.

Please note that the © seal of Kashruth supervision and endorsement is exclusively the symbol of: Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 305 Broadway, New York 7, N. Y. BEekman 3-2220

52

Jewish LIFE

U OJC HASH RUTH DIRECTORY

©

All items listed below bear the (y) seal.

Items listed (y)P are Kosher for Passover when bearing this or other UOJC A Passover Hechsher on label.

Items listed • are Kosher for Passover without Passover Hechsher on label. * Indicates new (y) endorsement. ^

Apple Butter Musselman’s ( The G. H. Musselman Go.,

Biglerville, Pa.)

Apple Sauce Musselman’s

(The G. H. Musselman Go., Biglerville, Pa.)

©

Junior Fruits Junior Vegetable Soup Junior Banana Dessert Junior Puddings Junior Plums with Tapioca Junior Fruit Dessert Junior Chocolate Pudding

(Beech-Nut Packing Go., N.Y.C.)

Beans Heinz Oven Baked Beans with mo-

, lasses sauce

Heinz Oven Baked Beans in tomato

sauclfid

(H. J. Heinz, Go., Pittsburgh, Pa.) Heinz — with ® label only . Strained Vegetables & Salmon *Strained Bananas *Strained Creamed Spinach Strained Cream of Tuna Strained Vegetables Strained Fruits Choppe d Mixed Vegetables i; Strained Puddings Strained Orange Juice>* Strained Tomato Soup,.

Strained Vegetable Soup Pre-Cooked Cereals (Barley, Oat­ meal, Rice) Junior Creamed Carrots Junior Vegetables Junior Fruits Junior Vegetable Soups Junior Puddings

(H. J. Heinz Go., Pittsburgh, Pa.)

Beech-Nut;— 5with @r label only di­

strained Vegetables Strained Fruits Strained Vegetable Soup Strained Tomato Soup Strained Puddings \ Strained Fruit Dessert Strained Plums with Tapioca Cereals Junior Vegetables

July - August, 1955

Freshpak Vegetarian Beans in Tomato Sauce

(Grand Union Food Markets, East Paterson, N.J.)

Beans & Frankfurters White Rose

(Beemah Bros., Inc., N.Y., N.Y.)

¿ P W ^ j C A K E S , COOKIES CRACKERS (u)P Barton’s Bonbonniere

(Barton, Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y.) ^Continental Favourites

(ABC Baking Co., Inc., B’klyn, N.Y.) Dromedary

Chocolate Nut Roll Date Nut Roll Orange Nut Roll (above contain milk)

(The Hills Brothers Go., N.Y.C.)

Golden Cracknel Egg Biscuits

(Golden Cracknel & Spec. Co., * Detroit, Mich.)

Ry-Krisp

(Ralston-Purina, St. Louis, Mo.)

53

U OJC

KASHRUTH

DIRECTORY

CONDIMENTS SEASONINGS Dromedary Date Muffin Mix Fudge Frosting Mix jf Corn Bread Mix . Corn Muffin Mix Cup Cake Mix DeviFs Food Mix ^ F ru it Cake |d ix Gingerbread Mix W hite Cake Mix *Honey & Spice Mix *Angel Food Mix ellow Cake Mix

(The Hills Brothers Go., N.Y.C.)

Camps lfor children! *Camp Ke-Yu-Ma

(Grass Lake, Michigan; Office : 3304 Webb Avenue, Detroit, Mich.)

Camp Mohaph

(Glen Spey, N.Y. ^ N.Y. office 4320 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y.)

© P Gold’s Horseradish

(Gold Pure Foods, B’klyn, N.Y.) Heinz Horse Radish 57 Sauce Hot Dog Relish Chili Sauce Worcestershire-Sauee Tomato Ketchup ^Barbecue Relish

(H. J. Heinz Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.) Lawry’s Seasoned Salt ( Lawryls Products Inc/,

Los Angeles, Cal.)

Mother’s *© P Horse Radish

{Mother’s Food Products, Newark, N .J .)

Pride of the Farm Catsup

(Hunt Food Prod., Fullerton, Cal.)

Corn

Products— Bulk

*OK Pearl Corn Starch

© P Barton’s Bonbonniere (Barton, Inc., ; Brooklyn, N. Y.)

Cereals Skinner’s Raisin-Bran Raisin W heat

(Skinner Mfg. Co., Omaha, Neb.) Ralston Instant' -Ralston Regular Ralston

(Ralston Purina Co., St. Louis, Mo.)

54

*OK Powdered Corn Starch *OK Waxy Maize Com Starch *OK Dri-Sweet Corn Syrup Solids *OK Corn Syrup

(The Hubinger Cgi} Keokuk, Iowa)

Corn Starch— Packaged *Pop’s *Tiger

(The Hubinger Co., Keokuk, Iowa)

Cranberry Sauce |j|C April Orchards

(Morris April Brothers, Bridgeton, N.J.) Dromedary

(The Hills Brothers Co., N.Y.C.)

Jewish LIFE

U OJC KASHRUTH DIRECTORY All items listed below bear t h e , (y) seal.

Items listed (y)P are Kosher for Passover when bearing this or other UOJC A Passover Heehsher on label.

Items listed • are Kosher for Passover without Passover ^H eehsher on label. * Indicates new (y) endorsement.

Cranberry Sauce fConf'tfJ

*Wish-Bone Italian Salad Dressing

@P Eatmor

(K. C. Wishbone Salad Dressing ^¿'ffo. Inc., Kansas City, Mo.)

(Morris April Brothers,) Bridgeton, $ \J.)

Dessert Topping *Qwip

(Avoset Ço., San Francisco, Cal.)

Dietetic Foods @P Mother’s Low Calorie Borscht

(Mother’s Food Products, Newark, N. J.)

Sugarine Liquid Sweetener

(Sugarine Co., Mt. Vernon, III.)

Dishwashing Machine Detergents •

All *Dish-All

(S. A. Haram Co., N.Y.C.) Mother’s Old Fashioned !g)P Geiilte Fish Sweet & Sour Fish

(Monsanto Chemical Co., St. Louis, Mo.) ^Finish •

Royal Snack Cream H erring Spinel H erring M atjes Fillets Lunch H erring H erring Cocktail Tidbits Salmon (in wine sauce)

(Mother’s Food Prod., Newark, N J .)

(Economics Laboratory, Inc.,j ■Bt. Paul, Minn.)

Breast O’Chicken Tuna

Spic & Span

(Breast O’Chicken Tuna, Inc.^fp San Diego, Calif.)

(Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, Ohio) *Ad *Super-Suds Blue ( Colgate-Palmolive Co.l ^

*Eatwell Tuna

(Star-Kist Foods, Inc., Terminal Island, Cal.)

J ersey City, N.J. )

Dressings Garber’s Misrochi Salad Dressing

(Garber’s Eagle Oil Corp., B’klyn, N.Y.)

(Sitar-Kist Foods, Inc., Terminal Island, Cal.)

Heinz French Dressing

(H- J. Heinz Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.) Mother’s Ä ff Mayonnaise *Salad Dressing

(Mother’s Food Products, Newark, N.J.)

July - August, 1955

Star-Kist *Tuna *Egg Noodles and Tuna Dinner *Frozen Tuna Pie

-

*:©P 1000 Springs Rainbow Trout

(Snake River Trout Co., Buhl, Idaho) *Deming’s Salmon (Deming & Gotild Cet.jfm

Bellingham, Wash.)

55

v H

/

UOJC KASHRUTH DIRECTORY

Flavor Improver A ccen t

(International Minerals and Chemical Co., Chicago, III.)

Food Packages © P Care

{New York, N.Y.)

Food Freezer Plan Yitzchok Goldberg & Sons

v y /

, r*Sunkist Lemon Concentrate ^Exchange Lemon Concentrate ^Cal-Grove Lemon Cencentrate *Calemon Lemon Concentrate

{Exchange Lemon Prod. Co Corona, Cal.)

Fruit — l Dried — bulk onlyl © P California Packing Corp.

J(San Francisco, Cal.)

{New York, N.Y.)

Fruits— I Packaged I Dromedary Dates ^ F ruits and Peels Moist .Coconut® Shredded Coconut**

Frozen Foods Milady’s Blintzes , (blueberry, cherry, cheese potato—all are milchig) Waffles

{Milady Food Prod., B ’klyn, N.Y.)

Associated Waffles

{Associated Food Stores Corp., N.Y.C.)

Pure Dairy Waffles

{Service Frozen Food Corp., B’klyn, N.Y.) © P Indian Trail Cranberry Orange Relish

(Cranberry Growers, Inc., Wisconsin Rapids, Wise.)

Home Town Blintzes Fishcakes Pancakes

{Home Town Foods, Inc., Harris, N.Y.) *©P 1000 Springs Rainbow Trout

{Snake River Trout Co., Buhl, Idaho) Star-East *Tuna Pie

(Star-Kist Foods, Inc., Terminal Island, Cal.)

56

(The Hills Brothers Co., N.Y.C.) Musselman’s Cherries ■...Sliced Apples (The dT H. Musselman Co.,

Biglerville, Pa.)

Gelatine Desserts — Vegetable Rerish’s Real Kosher © P Gel Desserts (flavored) Unflavored Vegetable Gelatin

(Orthodox Kosher Products, B’klyn, N.Y.)

Glycerides Emcol MSVK

(The Emulsol Corp., Chicago, III.) ^Distilled Monoglyceride Emulsifier —with © label only.

(Distillation Prod. Industries, Dip. Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N.Y.)

Glycerine — Synthetic *Shell Synthetic Glycerine

(Shell Chemical Corp., N.Y.C.)

Honey © P Garber’s Misrochi

(Garber Eagle Oil Corp., B’klyn, N.Y.)

Jewish LIFE

U OJC KASHRUTH DIRECTORY All items listed below bear the (y) seal.

Items listed (y)P are Kosher for Passover when bearing this or other UOJC A Passover Hechsher on label.

Items listed • are Kosher for Passover without Passover ^Hechsher on label. * Indicates new (y) endorsement.^

.o Trend *Liquid Trend

(Purex Cory. Ltd., South Gate, Cal.) "Lineo Liquid Detergent

(Lineo Prod. Corp., Chicago, III.) (See also Scouring Powders and Dishwashing Detergents)

@P Brillo Products gf (Brillo Mfg. Co., B ’klyn, N.Y.) «Bright Sail (A & P Food Stores, N.Y.C.)

®P Barton’s Bonbonniere

(Barton, Inc,, Brooklyn, N.Y:)

Cameo Copper Cleaner

Costa’s French Ice Cream

(Cameo Corp.,-Chicago, III.) «Ad • Fah ' • Kirkman Detergents *Super Suds Blue • Vel *Liquid Vel ( Colgate-Palmolive Co.,

•

Met Tee-Vee \

Jersey City, N.J.) Soilax

{Economics Laboratory Inc., St. Paul, Minn.)

Glim

(B. T. Babitt Inc., New York, N.Y.)

My Pal

{pal Products Go., Brooklyn, N.Y.)

• • • • • •

Cheer Dreft Oxydol Joy Spic & Span Tide (Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, Ohio)

(Marchiony Ice Cream Co., N.Y.C. distributed by Metropolitan Food Brooklyn, N.Y.)

Industrial Cleansers Artie Syntex M. Beads

(Colgate-Palmolive Co., Jersey City, N .J .)

Institution X Orvus Extra Granules Orvus Hy-Temp Granules Orvus Neutral Granules Cream Suds (Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, Ohio)

Jams and Jellies Berish’s Beal Kosher

Pure Fruit jams Marmalade Marmalade Butter

(A & P Food Stores, N.Y.C.)

(Orthodox Kosher Products, B’klyn, N.Y.)

Sprite

Heinz Jellies

«Sail •

(Costa’s Ice Cream Co., (Woodbridge, N.J.)

(Sinclair Mfg., Co., Toledo, Ohio)

July - August, 1955

(H. J. Heinz Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.)

57

UOJC KASHRUTH DIRECTORY Jams and Jellies ICont'dl

New Yorker (milchig)

© P Barton.'s Bonlbonniere ( Barton, Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y.)

(Roslyn Distributors, Middle Village, N.Y.)

Marshmallow Topping

Juices

Marshmallow Fluff

Heinz Tomato Juice

(H. J. Heinz Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.) Musselman’s Apple Juice....

Tomato Juice

{Durkee-Mower, Inc., East Lynn, Mass.)

Mayonnaise *@P Mother's

(The C. H. Musselman Co., i Biglerville, Pa.)

(Mother’s Food Products, Newark, N.J.)

*Sunkist Lemon Juice ^Exchange Lemon Juice *Cal-Grove Lemon Juice

MEATS AND PROVISIONS

{Exchange Lemon Prod. Co., Corona, Cal.)

MARGARINE Berish's Beal Kosher (milchig)

{Orthodox Kosher Products, B’klyn, N.Y.) Crystal Brand (milchig)

{L. Daitch & ßo., N.Y.C.) Dilbro (milchig)

{Dilbert Bros., Glendale, N.Y.) Mar-Parv (pareve} Miolo (milchig—bulk only), Nu-Maid (milchig) Table-King (milchig) ’

(Miami Margarine Co., Cincinnati, Ohio) Mother's (milchig) Mother's Pareve

,

{Mother’s Food Products, Newark, N.J.)

58

Yitzchok Goldberg's • Meats ® P Corned Beef ® P Tongue • Frozen Meats © P Salami © P F rankfurters Pastram i

{I. Goldberg & Sons, 220 Delancey St., N.Y.C.) Oxford @P Bologna @P Corned Beef © P Pastram i @P F rankfurters © P Salami ijj^P Tongue .

{Oxford Provisions, Inc., 549 E. 12th St., N.Y.C.)

Meat Tenderizer Adolph's

(Adolph’s Food Products, Burbank, Cal.) So-Ten

{So-Ten Co., Memphis, Tenn.)

Jewish LIFE

UOJC KASHRUTH DIRECTORY All items listed below bear the (y) seal.

Items listed (y)P are Kosher for Passover when bearing this or other UOJC A Passover Hechsher on label.

Items listed ® are Kosher for Passover without Passover Hechsher on label. * Indicates new (y) endorsement. ^

1 Mustard Heinz

Brown Mustard Yellow Mustard 4 (H. J. Heinz Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.)

(u)P Nutola

(ilutóla Fat Products Co., B’klyn, N.Y.)

Peanut Butter Beech-Nut

(Beech-Nut Packing Go., N.Y., N.Y.)

Noodles & Macaroni Products -Buitoni Macaroni Products

(Buitoni Foods Corp., So. Hackensack, N.J. ) ^Greenfield’s Noodle Products

(Golden Cracknel & Spec. Co.,< Detroit, Mich.)

Heinz Macaroni Creole

(H. J. Heinz @o., Pittsburgh, Pa.) ^Pennsylvania Dutch Egg Noodles

Heinz

(H. J. Heinz Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.)

Pie Fillings Musselman’s

(The. Cl H. Musselman Co., Biglerville, Pa.)

Popcorn TV Time Popcorn (B & B Enterprises, Inc.,

Chicago, III.)

(Megs Macaroni Co., Harrisburg, Pa.) Skinner’s Macaroni Products

(Skinner Mfg. Co., Omaha, Neb.)

POTATO CHIPS

*Sophie Tucker’s Noodle & Macaroni Products

(Sophie Tucker’s Food Products Go., Inc., Baltimore, Md.)

*Star-Kist Egg Noodle & Tuna Dinner

(htar-Kist Food Inc., Terminal Island, Cal.)

Gordon’s

Potato Chips Potato Sticks Tater Sticks

(Gordon Foods, Inc., Atlanta, Ga.)

Kobey’s

Potato Chips Shoestring Potatoes

(Tasty Foods Inc., Denver, Col.)

Monarch Shoestring Potatoes

(Monarch Finer Foods, Div. of Con­ solidated Foods, 'Chicago, III.) <y)P Garber’s Misrochi

(Garber Eagle Oil Corp., B’klyn, N .f.)

Mazóla

{Corn Products Refining Corp., N.Y.C.)

July - August, 1955

Sunglo

Potato Chips Shoestring Potatoes

(Tasty Foods Inc., Denver, Col.)

*(u)P Warner’s Potato Chips

(East Coast Food Corp., Riverhead, N.Y.)

59

UOJC KASHRUTH DIRECTORY

m witty — Frozen

Yitzchok Goldberg & Sons

{New York, N.Y.)

Southern Style Relish Hamburger Relish ^Barbecue Relish

■

(H- J. Heinz Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.) Dolly Madison

*Ner

{Menorah Products, Inc.,

Prepared Salads Royal Snack

Beet Salad, Cole Slaw, Cucumber Salad, Garden Salad, Potato Salad (S. A. HaramJJo., N.Y.C.) Mother’s

Cucumber Salad Potato Salad

{Mother’s Food Products, Newark, N.J.)

Heinz Vegetable Salad {H. / . Heinz Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.)

Pudding ©P Perish’s Real Kosher Chocolate Pudding

{Orthodox Kosher Products, B’klyn, N.Y.)

Pickles

{H. W. Madison Co., Cleveland, O.)

Mother’s

©P Pickles ©P Gherkins ©P Sweeft Red Peppers ©P Pimentoes ©P Pickled Tomatoes . @P Sauerkraut Deluxe •©P Pickled Country Cabbage Diced Sweet Pepper Relish Corn Relish Sweet Pickled Watermelon Rind Sweet Diced Mustard Pickle Grenadine Melon Balls Mint Melon Balls Kosher New Spears 4 California Pimentoes Hot .Cherry Peppers {Mother’s Food Products, Newark, N.J.)

Carolina Beauty Pickles

{Mount Olive Pickle Co.,; Mount Olive, N.C.) Silver Lane

K Bl , | IiS r

RELISHES PICKLES, ETC.

Pickles Sauerkraut

{Silver Lane Pickle East Hartford, Conn.)

Rice Heinz

Pickles Dill gherkins Dill Sandwich Chips India Relish Hot Dog Relish Pickled Onions Sweet Relish *Sweet Dill Strips Sweet Cucumber Disks Sweet Cucumber Sticks Cocktail Sauce

60

Heinz Spanish Rice {H- J . Heinz Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.)

Resorts @P Pine View Hotel (Fallsburg, N.Y.)

©P Washington Hotel

{Rockaway Park, N.Y.)

*Zimra Adult Camp {Tolland, Mass.—N. Y. officei

55 Liberty St.)

Jewish LIFE

U O JC KASHRUTH DIRECTORY All items listed below bear the © seal.

Items listed © P are Kosher for Passover when bearing this or other UOJGA Passover Hechsher on label.

Items listed © are Kosher for Passover without Passover * Indicates new © endorsement.

Hechsher on label.

® Old Dutch Cleanser

Salt •

(Cudahy Packing Cp„ Omaha, Neb.)

Mögen David Kosher Salt

{Carey Salt Co., Hutchinson, Kansas)

© Morton Coarse Kosher Salt • Morton Fine Table Salt © Morton Iodized Salt

(Marion Salt Co., Chicago, III.)

•

Lustro Polishing Powder My Pal © Palco Polish Powder Pal-Lo

(Pal Products (Co., Brooklyn, N.Y.)

• Red Cross Fine Table Salt © Sterling Fine Table Salt • Sterling Kosher Coarse Salt

(International Salt Co., Scranton, Pa.)

Sauces Heinz Savory Sauce

(H. J. Heinz Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.)

SCOURING POWDER

Shortening — Bulk *Crisco—with @ label only (Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, Ohio) @P Garber’s Misrochi Pareve Fat

(Garber’s Eagle Oil Corp., B’klyn.) © P Nut-Ola Vegetable Shortening

(Nut-Ola Fat Prod., Brooklyn, N.Y.) (See also Household Cleansers and Dishwashing Detergents) • • •

Ajax Ben Hur (bulk only) Kirkman Cleanser New Octagon Cleanser

(Colgate-Palmolive Co., Jersey City, N.J.) *Bab-0 (with bleach)

(B. T. Babbitt Co., N.Y., N.Y.) Cameo Cleanser

(Cameo Corp., Chicago, III) © Garber’s Misrochi Cleanser

(Garber’s Eagle Oil Corp., B’klyn, N. Y.) Kitchen Klenzer

(Fitzpatrick Bros., Chicago, III.)

July - August, 1955

Shortening — Bulk *Beatreme CS

(Wright & Wagner Dairy Co., Beloit, Wise.)

Delmar Margarine Shortening

(Delmar Products Corp., Cinn., O.) *Flake White—with (0) label only *Primex—with @ label only *Sweetex—with © label only *Primex B & C—with © label only (Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, Ohio) National Margarine Shortening

(National Yeast Corp., Belleville, N.J.)

Silver Cleaner *Lamco Silver Polish

(Lamco Chemical Co., Inc., Boston, Mass.)

61

U OJC KASHRUTH DIRECTORY Soap © P Nutola Kosher Soap ( Nut-Ola Fat Prod., Brooklyn, N.Y.) © P Brillo Kosher Soap

(Brillo Mfg., Co., B’klyn, N.Y.) © P Garber’s Misrochi

(Garber’s Eagle Oil Co., B ’klyn, N.Yi) © P Gentry Paprika

(Gentry Inc., Los Angeles, Cal.) Gold’s © P Borscht Schav Russel

(Gold Pure Food Prod., ^ B’klyn, N.Y.) Heinz Cream of Mushroom Celery Cream of Green Vegetable Cream of Tomato Condensed Cream of Mushroom Condensed Cream of Green Pea Condensed Gumbo Creole ■ Condensed Cream of Tomato Condensed Vegetarian Vegetable (H. J . Heinz Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.) Mother’s © P Borscht Cream Style Borscht Cream Style Schav Mushroom and Barley

(Mother’s Food Products, Newark, N.J.)

Soup Mix Joyce Egg Noodle Soup Mix

(Joyce Food Products, Paterson, N.J.) Nutola Chicken Noodle Soup. Mix ..,, Noodle Soup Mix

(Nutola Fat Products, B’klyn, N.Y.) 62

Sugar I p P Flo-Sweet Liquid Sugar © P Hudson Valley Refined Granulated Sugar (Refined Syrups & Sugars, Inc.

Yonkers, N.Y.)

*© P Sugarine Liquid Sweetener

(Sugarine Co., Mt. Vernon, III)

Syrup 1©P Berish’s Real Kosher Chocolate Syrup True F ru it Syrups Imi tatfOn F ru it Syrups

(Orthodox Rosheir Products, B ’klyn, N,.Y.) © P Barton’s Bonbonniere

(Barton, Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y.)

Tzitzith Woolen M. Wolozin & Co. (36 Eldrige St., N.Y.C.) Rayon, for Rayon Taleythim Leon Vogel (66 Allen St., N.Y.C.) M. Wolozin & Co. (36 Eldridge St., N.Y.C.) Zion Talis Manufacturing Co., Inc. (48 Eldridge St., N.Y.C.)

Jewish LIFE

Tarragon White Rex Amber

Vegetables Dromedary Pimientos

(The Hills Brothers Co., N.Y.C.)

(H. J. Heinz Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.)

*Cavem Canned Mushrooms

Musselman’s Cider Vinegar

(K-B Products, Hudson, N.Y.)

(The C. H. Mussehnan Co., Biglerville, Pa.)

Vegetables — Dehydrated ©P Basic Vegetable Prod.—with © label only

Vitamins — Bulk

©P Gentry, Ins.—with © label only

Vitamin Tablets

(San Francisco, Gal.) (Los Angeles, Cal.)

Collett-Week-Nibecker Co.

{Ossining, N.Yi) Kobee Kovite Vitalets

Vinegar ©P Garber’s Misrochi

(Freeda Agar Prod., N.Y.C.)

(Garber Eagle Oil Co.f ^ B’klyn, N.Y.)

Wine ©P Her sh’s Kosher Wines

Heinz

Cider Malt Salad Vinegar

(Hungarian Grape Products, Inc., N.Y.)

fllutaifA Xcck for 7kb

©

It Is Your Guarantee Of Responsible Kashruth Supervision

July - August, 1955

63

the GLORYand M AJESTY

ofthe SABBATH SERVICE

iP I p

I

• \

^ s y Z Hr m r ^

'

-r

a spiritual experience.. .a musical treasure...as sung for you by

fe /

C A N T O R SH O L O M KATZ and male choir conducted by

SE Y M O U R S IL B E R M IN T Z T h e sp iritual exaltation and insp ired m usi­ cian sh ip of Cantor K atz and Mr. Silberm intz have w on unbounded praise from both reli­ g iou s and m u sical authorities. A nd th ese 12" dou ble-face lon g-p layin g records, m ade sp e­ c ia lly for us by W estm inster, w orld’s forem ost producer o f h igh fidelity record in gs, bring the su b lim ity o f the Sab bath righ t into your hom e.

B ut w ords are tota lly in ad eq u ate: here is in ­ deed a cu ltu ral treasure beyond descrip tion — one to w h ich you m ust listen. L isten, and thrill to a m a tch less re-creation !

PLEASE USE T H IS O R D E R F O R M

Jew ish M usic D ocum entary Society, Inc. 275 Seventh A venu e, N ew York 1, N . Y.

Please send □ JMDS 101 @ $5.95 □ Album (all 3 records) □ JMDS 102 @ $5.95 complete with booklet □ JMDS 103 @ $5.95 @ $19.85 □ Descriptive literature on deluxe subscription album @ $25.00 N am e

Contents JMDS 101 (Vol. 1) L’chu N ’ran’n o ; S h om ’o V atism ach T ziyon ; K ol H ashem ; L’c h o D o d i; T zad ik K atom or; H ashem M oloch ; H a sh k iv ein u ; Y ’shom ’ru.

JMDS 102 (Vol. II) M ogein O vos; R ’tzei V im ’n u ch o se in u ; K id d u sh ; L’k eil B oruch; A1 H orishonim ; M im ’kom ’cho (from K ’d u sh o ) ; R ’tzei; M odim .

JMDS 103 (Vol. Ill) B ’rich S h ’m ei ; A v H oracham im ; M ussaf K ’d u sh o : N a ’aritz’ch o , K odosh, M im ’kom o, S h ’ma Y isro eil ; L’dor V odor; Y ism ’ch u ; Sim Sholom .

Each of the above records:

$5*95

Album com­ plete with booklet:

$|9*85

A deluxe album at $25.00 also available;

A d d ress C ity

SABBATH in the SYNAGOGUE

Z one

S ta te

I may return records within 7 days for full refund, if I am dissatisfied for any reason.

please write for descriptive brochure.

V E L m akes dishes shine i w ithout w ashing or w iping! \ U, O l S H i * }

stockimgs

tlNGKRlK

I $0Kind»0HandsM

Vel soaks dishes clean. Don’t wash, just soak; don’t wipe, just rinse. And the hand test proves there’s no “Detergent Burn” to hands with VBL. It’s marVELous!

A J A X Cleanser with

“Foaming

Foams as it cleans all types of tile, porcelain surfaces, pots and pans. . . up to twice as easy, twice as fast! Floats dirt and grease right down the drain!

N ew f o r m u la F A B g iv e s y o u m ore a c t iv e d ir t r e m o v e r !

Milder to hands, new FAB gets the dirt out of EVERYTHING you wash.

Wonderful for dishes, too!

| « * I

a minute to

a midsummer's

treat No need to labor over a hot stove to prepare delicious Heinz Vege­ tarian Beans. Just heat them and eat them! They’re ready in a jiffy! -"A mechaya!”

Select either label. They're both the same beans!

HEINZ V E G E T A R IA N BEANS STRICTLY K O S H E R “How About Heinz Beans Tonight?*

The (G)seal o f en­ dorsement o f the UNION OF ORTHO­ DOX JEWISH C O N ­ G R E G A T IO N S OF AMERICA is on the front o f the Iq bei.