Jewish Life December 1959 by Jewish Action

T T J ......

Kislev, 5720 — December, 1

in this issue

Jewish Education in America • The Secret Jews of Iran ♦ Israel's Fourth Knesseth • Refugees in the Era of the Uprooted • Yoseph Karo • Careers in Music

David and Goliath (or the first 10 years of EL AL Israel Airlines) That’s El A1 on the left. Right up there today with the giant airlines. But it wasn’t an easy climb! When El A1 Israel Airlines was first established in 1949, right after Independ ence, we never dreamed that it would become a first-line international carrier within 10 years. Today, El A1 is a factor in air transport not only to Israel, but between New York and London, Paris, Rome as well. Our jet-powered Britannia service has

won the respect of the civil aviation world for quality of airmanship and maintenance. Especially impressive is El Al’s on-time performance during 1959 —one of the high est, if not the highest* of any international airline. You have to have something special to survive among the giants, let alone grow. El A1 has demonstrated that it has it. El A1 Israel Airlines, New York, Chicago, Beverly Hills, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Montreal.

Vol. XXVII, No. 2/December, 1959/Kislev, 5720/

3 »

EDITORIALS Saul Bernstein , Editor

CHANUKAH LIGHT, SOVIET SH A D O W ...............

M. Morton Rubenstein Reuben E. Gross Rabbi S. J. Sharfm an Libby Klaperman

“REGULARIZATION” OF THE PRESIDENTS’

Editorial Associates

CONFERENCE..........................................

CANADIAN JEWRY’S BICENTENARY..................

T h e a ODEM, Editorial Assistant

ARTICLES JEWISH LIFE is published bi monthly. Subscription two years $4.00, three years $5.50, four years $7.00, Supporter $ 1 0.00, Patron $25.00.

ISRAEL’S FOURTH KNESSETH/I. Halevy-Levln.......

THE SECRET JEWS OF IRAN— MEMORIES OF MESHED/Joseph Reuveni.......... 17 A WORLD REFUGEE YEAR IN THE ERA

Editorial and Publication Office: 305 Broadway N ew York 7, N . Y. BEekman 3-2220

OF THE UPROOTED/Leon Wildes..................... 26 THE STATE OF THE JEWISH SCHOOL IN AMERICA/William W. Brickm an..... ..........

CAREERS IN MUSIC/Walter Duckat.................... 46 Published by

U n io n of O rthodox J ewish Congregations of A merica

YOSEPH KARO/Meyer Waxman......................

DEPARTMENTS Moses I. Feuerstein

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

President Benjamin Koenigsbérg, Nathan K. Gross, Samuel L. Brennglass, M. Morton Rubenstein, Vice Presidents; Edward A. Teplow, Treasurer; Herbert Berman, Secretary. Dr. Samson R. Weiss Executive Vice President

Second class postage paid at N ew York. N . Y.

December, 1959

HASHKOFAH: The Great of Our People...............30 ON THE JEWISH RECORD................................. 61 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR................................. 67

EXCERPTS selected and translated by David M. Hausdorff DRAWINGS by Ahron Gelles

And This, Too, Can Come To Pass For

Artist's Conception

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JEWISH LIFE

DR. WILLIAM W. BRICKMAN , professor of education at New York University, and editor of “School and Society,” is chairman of the Education Commission of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. A widely-traveled and distinguished educator, Dr. Brickman’s articles on present-day life in Eastern Europe and South America have appeared in J ewish L ife .

JOSEPH REUVENI is the pseudonym of a New York business

man of Iranian Jewish origin, who records for J ewish L ife the story of the secret Jews of Meshed, where he spent his boyhood years. DR. MEYER WAXMAN, eminent author of “A History of Jew

ish Literature,” has made important contributions in the field of Jewish scholarship. Another of his articles on great Jewish think ers appears in this issue.

among our contributors

LEON WILDES, a New York attorney, has been until recently associated as Migrations Specialist with the United HI AS Service, the international Jewish migration agency. His first contribution to J ewish L ife —on a vital human problem—appears in this issue.

WALTER DUCKAT is supervisor of the Vocational Guidance Division ofj the Federation Employment and Guidance Service and is a lecturer on the graduate faculties of Yeshiva University and the City College of New York.

I. HALEVY-LEVIN continues his incisive reporting and penetrat

ing analyses of events in Israel as the Israel correspondent of J ewish L if e . Mr. Levin is the editor of “Israel Argosy,” a series

of anthologies of the works of leading Israeli writers, and editor of the Modern Israel Library.

Cover: Iranian Jewish mother and child, kindred to the

secret Jews of Meshed, whose story is told in this issue. The mother is wearing the traditional chador. (Photo courtesy Joint Distribution Committee.)

December, 1959

,LightSoviet Shadow

Chanukah

N CHANUKAH, we celebrate the triumph of the Torah spirit over the onslaught of idolatrous tyranny. The miracle of Chanukah has echoed through the ages, an inextinguishable challenge of spiritual slavery and human abasement. In its modern garb of deified materialism, avodah zorah is with us to this day. Events have shocked multitudes into aware ness of this evil source of Jew-hatred. But in one area, the Soviet Union, the urge to eradicate the Jew and that which he person ifies has found renewed outlet. There is undeniable evidence that the religious and communal life of Soviet Jewry, long subject to heavy restrictions, nears the point of final suppression. And there is reliable evidence that while the Soviet government officially dis avows anti-Jewish policies, Antisemitism in parts of the Soviet Union is coming out into the open. In light of the horrors of the recent past, it is imperative that the situation of Soviet Jewry be given the most urgent attention. The problem will not be resolved by manifestos or by organiza tional publicity. It requires the unceasing consideration of all responsible Jewish leadership. Action must be shaped, geared to the complexities and scope of the menace to an entire national community, among whose three million men, women and chil dren the spirit that we celebrate at Chanukah still lives.

“Regularization” of the

res9Conference P

HE DISPUTE evoked by plans for “regularizing” the Con ference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations has important ramifications. Involved in the issue is the question of central spokesmanship for American Jewry, and whether this function shall be vested in a super-organization. Also involved are relations between Jews in America and Israel. The designation of the group, though somewhat ambiguous, has reflected its origin as an assemblage of individuals, brought

JEWISH LIFE

together because of their role as leaders of representative agencies in American Jewish life. Originally known as the Presidents’ Glub, the group was convened five years ago by Dr. Nahum Goldmann to confer on Middle East issues affecting American relations with Israel. Dr. Goldmann, who is president of the Jewish Agency, the World Zionist Organization, and the World Jewish Congress, was designated chairman of the group, serving in that capacity until several months ago, when he was succeeded by Mr. Philip Klutznick, former president of B’nai B’rith. Since the obvious need which the Presidents’ Club could serve outweighed other considerations, all the presidents invited, except *° for the head of the ever-solo American Jewish Committee, M eet “joined the club.” A large proportion of its members are leaders A of various Zionist bodies or of other agencies responsive to Dr. N e e d Goldmann. The roster includes some presidents of lesser as well as of major organizations, but the heads of some other important groups have not been invited to membership. There can be no question however that the Presidents group has served a needed purpose as a means of coordinating action in its original area of concern. But Dr. Goldmann and others were not content to let the group continue on an ad hoc basis. The potential was just too tempting! Moves were set afoot to give the club— presently desig nated Conference— permanent character, organizational function, and broad scope. It was to be “regularized”— an opaque term never clearly elucidated and susceptible to varying interpreta tions. A budget was proposed, to cover the salaries of staff to be engaged and operating expenses for a presumptive but undefined functional “program.” Half the budget was to be provided by the presidents’ organizations, the rest by the Jewish Agency, which heretofore has provided such facilities as the erstwhile Club re quired. At this point the implications of the development— which had been arrived at by soft-sell methods— dawned upon the parti cipants. The basic cleavage which ensued has brought the debate into the open. HE ISSUE can be viewed in relation to efforts to buttress the Zionist movement through the affiliation of congregational bodies and other representative communal agencies with the Zionist Organization. This elaborately promoted plan has been abortive. A similar miscalculation seems to have been made in respect to the Presidents’ Conference. The sponsors of the “regularization” scheme now assert that the Conference is not, and never was, a collectivity of individuals but is rather a channel of organizations, represented by their presidents. They insist that it must now be formalized as an organization of organizations, with sovereign sway in whatsoever areas of activity it may decide to enter. Such decision, and all its

December, 1959

procedures, shall be governed, not by consensus as heretofore, but by binding majority vote, from which minorities may exercise “the right to dissent.” Thus the Conference in its new character could impose its Sovereign policies on its constituents, and in any phase of Jewish activity. S w ay? In the absence of veto power or requirement of general agree ment any constituent organization or organizations would be un able to confine policy or program to such as are acceptable to all, and would be left only with the futility of “dissent” in return for the loss of its sovereignty. There would be in principle no bar to the entree of the Con ference into fields served by its constituents, or opposed by them, nor would there be any bar to entree into the spheres served by present community relations coordinating bodies, such as the National Community Relations Advisory Council and the Syna gogue Council of America. Be it noted that both of the latter, in contrast to the prposed Conference setup, are bound by basic and carefully guarded rules of consensus or veto which completely protect the principles and sovereignty of their constituents, and yet function effectively. PPOSITION to the “regularization” plan has found effective expression in a statement issued by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, which has won support from some other organizations. The statement says: “1. We believe it to be desirable to have a forum through which to coordinate and express the opinion of the American Jewish comrnunity with regard to matters of special importance to the totality of the community. “2. We do not believe that such a forum can or should be established by the Presidents’ Conference in view of the sponsorship and auspices under which it originated and has functioned, as evidenced by its past activities. “3. We recommend that such a coordinating agency be created outside the Presidents’ Conference. “4. Until such an agency can be created, we feel it is desirable to preserve the existing forum of the Presidents’ Conference, providing: a. The chairmanship of the Presidents’ Conference is rotated in intervals not to exceed six months among the member presidents; b. The organization headed by the acting Chairman assumes responsibility for carrying on necessary correspondence and convening any meetings of the Conference which may be required during the period of its responsibility;

JEWISH LIFE

c. The Conference function informally as it was originally constituted. “The foregoing will eliminate any need for a budget and secretariat, personnel or permanent offices.” The UOJCA statement maintains also that the present Con ference constituency is “unduly restricted” and that the manner in which Conference affairs are currently being conducted “im pairs the organizational sovereignty” of the member presidents’ organizations. Above alf, the statement hinges on the Orthodox Union’s concern for the welfare of Israel. “A truly representative Israel American Jewish coordinating body independent of political Welfare influences,” it stresses, could accomplish more on behalf of Israel than one in which the Jewish Agency predominates. The effec tiveness of the Presidents group in matters necessitating its taking a stand on the American scene as spokesman of American organ izations is bound to be decisively affected by the independent status of its constituents. It seems probable that once the smoke and fury of the dispute clears, the position propounded by the UOJCA with regard to the future of the Conference of Presidents will prevail in substance. The advocates of “regularization”' have been ill-advised in bring ing about this unfortunate episode. There may be compensating effect however in that this conflict has brought renewed concen tration on means to coordinate American Jewish interests, on a proper and workable basis, in areas of external relations not within the purview of existing agencies. The cloud of the “regu larization” issue may have a silver lining.

Canadian Jewry’s Bicentenary HE BICENTENARY now being celebrated by Canadian Jewry serves to draw to that community the wider measure of public attention which it merits. In certain ways, the situation of Canadian Jewry differs from that of any other national Jewish community. Numbering 250,000, the Jews of Canada are spread throughout the vast expanse of the country, dwelling in each of its ten provinces and even its distant Yukon and North West Territories. N o other segment of the Diaspora has a comparable geographic spread, except for Soviet Jewry — but the parallel between the two ends there. Canada’s Jews flourish under the fullest of civic and religious freedom. In the two centuries since a minyon of Jews serving with British troops in Canada assembled for the country’s first Jewish

December, 1959

congregational service, Jewish life has taken deep root. Jews have shared in every phase of Canadian development; the Jewish com munity has grown up with Canada. Today, Canada, whose eleven million populace is trifling by modern mass population standards, is yet among the front rank of nations and is steadily gaining Stature strength and stature. The Canadian Jewish community too has ¡n earned a position in the Jewish world beyond the criterion of W orld num^ers and is progressing notably as a focal point of Jewish . strength and potential. e w ry jn ^ process evolution, Canadian Jewry has been subject to much the same circumstances and influences as the Jewish community of the United States. Thus the two are similar in character—yet by no means identical. The community to the north, for all its wide geographic distribution, is the more cohe sive and has consistently shown a greater degree of attachment to traditional Judaism. Though by no means free from the prob lems of our age, there is good reason for confidence in Canadian Jewry’s basic will and capacity to build its future on sound Jewish foundations. HE NOTE struck in “A Proclamation of Faith and Thanks giving” on the occasion of the National Bicentenary of Can adian Jewry by the Canadian Jewish Congress (an interesting contrast in title, concept and content to the parallel proclamation issued a few years ago by the American Jewish Tercentenary Committee) is indicative of the spirit of the community: “Let us give thanks to the Almighty for granting us the freedom to prac tice our beliefs, to transmit to our children our cultural heritage, and to live in full equality with our fefiow Canadians.” May Canadian Jewry ever flourish and go from strength to strength in the awareness of Divine blessing.

JEWISH LIFE

Israel’s Fourth Knesseth By I. HALEVY-LEVIN

Jerusalem

HE MOST dramatic result of Is rael’s recent elections undoubtedly has been the return of Mapai to the dominant position it occupied in the Knesseth set up to 1955. Mapai has been returned with 47 seats— com pared to 46 in the First Knesseth, 47 in the Second, but only 40 in the Third — a resounding victory, all the more noteworthy because of the very mod est gains— two seats— of Cheruth, its chief political opponent, which under the slogan Begin Lashilton (Begin to Power) sought to set itself up as the party around which an alternative coalition government could center. The election campaign, indeed, was conditioned by the intensity of the 'Cheruth onslaught, which in its early stages threw Mapai off balance. The latter, however, soon recovered the initiative, and, apprehensive of sub stantial Cheruth gains, launched an un precedented three-pronged counter attack — against Cheruth, Achduth Ha’avodah, and the National Religious Party— the object of which was to pick up every possible vote. It is the wisdom of hindsight, but paradoxical though it may sound, Cheruth itself did much to facilitate Mapai’s task. In the twelve years of

December, 1959

statehood Cheruth has learned nothing and forgotten nothing— since the days of the Irgun Zvai Leumi. The health of Israel’s democracy calls for more ade quate political representation for the middle classes, the little and big busi nessmen, the citrus growers, the in dustrialists, and farmers. By their po litical ineptitude and squalid dissen sions the General Zionists have for feited the role. It could be undertaken by Cheruth, but the memories and traditions of the struggle against the British are too strong. Violence is for tunately a thing of the past— though Ben Gurion will forego no opportune ity to recall the stoning of the Knesseth during the debate on German restitu tion eight years ago— but the cult of personality, the florid eloquence, the. bombast, the aggressive propaganda (on Election Day Mr. Begin, standing upright in a luxurious Cadillac, toured the country at the head of a cavalcade of motorcyclists with exhausts wide open— a spectacle that must have brought back marly unhappy memories which hundreds of thousands of Is raelis recall with a shudder)— all these have defeated their purpose. R. BEGIN’S more vociferous ac tivism may have attracted some M voters of m certain mentality, but it 9

repelled many more. Tens of thou sands who normally vote General Zion ist and might have been won over by Cheruth were stampeded, as much by Mr. Begin’s methods as by his policies, into voting for Mr. Ben Gurion, who for them represents moderation and security. Cheruth, if it aspires to form the core of an alternative government, must adjust itself to the conditions of Israel’s democracy. It must come down to earth.

party refused to take the honorable course and resign. The striking rise in the number of votes Achduth Ha’avo dah polled at the Histadruth elections six months ago seemed to endorse the soundness of its strategy, blit it is now clear that Cheruth members of the Histadruth cast their vote for Achduth Ha’avodah in hostility to Mapai. The electorate has a better memory and better judgment than it is given credit for. The decline of Achduth Ha’avo dah from ten to seven seats is a salu tary lesson. HE National Religious Party’s modest gain of another seat in the Knesseth— besides increasing its rep resentation in many municipal and local councils— must be regarded as not unsatisfactory in view of Mapai’s systematic and effective propaganda among the religious immigrants. The Agudah-Poalei Agudah, united in an electoral pact, can also be satis fied in retaining their position in view of the special difficulties they encoun tered, such as the instructions issued by some rabbis not to vote at all, and the campaign of the Neturei Karta, of which only the Agudists were the victims. Attempts to reach an electoral agreement between the two wings of Orthodoxy were abandoned at an early stage and in effect never went beyond informal talks, again largely because of the ban imposed by spiritual leaders close to the Agudah. But unable to agree, they agreed to differ and not to attack each other publicly during the campaign. Both parties have their com plaints on this score but it seems that substantially the undertaking was hon ored. It is regrettable that this very limited and negative agreement was not extended to cover the disposal of surplus votes. Such an arrangement

MENACHEM BEGIN

Achduth Ha’avodah too, puffed up by minor successes, had its ambitions ^of succeeding Mapai. Within the Gov ernment Coalition this party acted as the opposition^—over the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip after the Sinai Campaign,; the Eisenhower Doctrine, fee German arms deals of 1957 and 1959, always with an eye on the elec torate. All these, it declared, were mat ters o f conscience, but when the Gov ernment adopted a different policy the 10

JEWISH LIFE

would not have increased either party’s strength in the Knesseth, but it might have saved some seats in the local councils. N o good purpose will be served by ignoring or minimizing the role of Rabbi Toledano, Minister for Religious Affairs, in the election campaign. Mr. Ben Gurion’s motives in offering him the Ministry after Mr. Shapiro’s resig nation over the “Who is a Jew?” issue were patent at the time. By accepting

the appointment Rabbi Toledano helped deceive the public— mainly the new immigrants— into assuming that the controversy was without real sub stance. Moreover the fact that Rabbi Toledano is a Sephardi could be expected to enlist the support of the non-European Jews for the Ben Gurion administration. Mr. Ben Gurion, however, had cast Rabbi Toledano for a much larger role, which the latter proved not loathe to accept.

Hurdles for Religious Parties ARLY in the election campaign Rabbi Toledano declared that while he supported no party, he ad vised citizens to vote for an admin istration like that in office. Seeing that Mapai’s three coalition partners-— Mapam, Achduth Ha’avodah, and the Progressives— are all more anti-re ligious than Mapai itself, the hint was not lost even upon the politically illit erate. But as the campaign became hot ter and Mapai, under Cheruth’s pres sure, more desperate, the Minister for Religious Affairs became more explicit. He came out openly in favor of Ma pai, presiding over a Mapai political rally of four thousand rabbis and gabbaim of synagogues— all of them new immigrants — addressing scores of meetings, the ostensible reason for which was the presentation of prayerbooks or the dedication of synagogues, all in the month before the elections. It is not irrelevant to note here that in keeping with its premise that within twenty years religious Judaism will die out in Israel, Mapai is not opposed to building synagogues or distributing prayerbooks— among the older people. But it will fight tooth and nail against the construction of religious schools or

December, 1959

MOSHE SHAPIRO

the establishment of a religious youth club. These are for the younger genera tion and they must be enlisted in Mapai. Another factor aggravating the po sition of both religious parties was the fact that many of the new immigrants who have arrived in Israel in the past four years from Poland, Hungary, and Rumania are non-religious, augment a i

mg the potential strength of the non religious parties. Finally one must take into account the veneration in which Mr. Ben Gurion is held by the new immigrants, and the pressure Mapai is able to (and does) exert in such spheres as housing, employment, set tlement, and social welfare, all of which combined rob the religious par ties of many thousands of votes. A question that recurrently engages political observers, particularly in the religious camp, is whether the religious parties might not have done better if they had presented a united front. Judging from the Knesseth results alone, it seems that the present ar

rangement is the best, under the cir cumstances. One must take into account that there are supporters both of the National Religious Party and the Agudah who are violently opposed to the other party, and would prefer not to Vote at all if their vote should benefit the party they dislike. In the First Knesseth the United Religious Bloc held sixteen seats, in the Second the four religious parties, which went to the polls separately, had fifteen in all; in the Third Knesseth they fought under two banners, the National Re ligious Party and the Torah Front, and gained seventeen seats. Today together they have eighteen.

Eclipse of General Zionists HOUGH they have only them selves to blame, the eclipse of the General Zionists— who have declined from 23 seats in the Second Knesseth to eight in the Fourth— must be re gretted. The General Zionists might— should— have been the party of Israel’s growing middle class. But more than any other party they suffer from lack &f leadership and internal dissension. Consistently over the past eight years the General Zionists have done just what might be expected to alienate por tential supporters. In 1951 rigorous austerity, runaway inflation, and the restrictions on trade and industry, helped them to win 23 seats. But in office together with Mapai they proved ineffective. Their Cabinet ministers had no ideas of their own, and they failed to enlist efficient aides who might have helped them, as the can didates for such positions were unwill ing to leave their businesses and fac tories for a term of public service. Just before the Knesseth rose in the middle

of 1955 the General Zionists had a brainwave: they would have a better chance with the electorate as an oppo sition party, despite their two years in the Coalition. They manufactured a crisis over the Kastner affair and re signed. The electorate voiced its dis like of such irresponsibility and blatant opportunism in no uncertain terms. No more than thirteen General Zion ists Were returned to the Knesseth. On the eve of the recent elections, again, the thrusting, younger SapirSerlin faction decided to take over from the older leaders. Bernstein and Rokach were retained, but only as figureheads. Other veterans were oust ed to make room for supporters of the new junta. The religious voters were not forgotten. Twenty-three-year-old Moshe Nissim, whose membership in the party dated from the day secret negotiations with him were concluded, was nominated (obviously with the consent of his father, the Chief Rabbi) to a safe seat. The result: The General JEWISH LIFE

Zionists today have just one-third of the seats they won eight years ago. NE gratifying result of the recent elections has been the halving of the representation of the Communists, notwithstanding Abdul Nasser’s broad cast instructions to Israel’s Arabs to vote for them. For many Israel Arabs in the past a vote for the Communist Party was a vote against the State of Israel, but it would probably be over sanguine to construe the decline of the Israel Communist Party as reflecting any change of heart. Mapai’s success at the polls, as al ready indicated, has been in recaptur ing positions lost four years ago. It is rather a vote of confidence in Mr. Ben Gurion’s leadership, though the record of the outgoing administration has been a successful one. Today Israel’s frontiers are secure, the State is re garded with a new respect by friends and foes alike. The Sinai Campaign, conceived by Mr. Ben Gurion, has set tled once and for all the controversy — carried on both within and outside the borders of this country— of how to deal with Arab sub-war. Internally inflation has been checked, prices and wages stabilized, the economy is ex panding, and with exports up and im ports a little down, the prospect of economic independence does not seem such a distant one after all. The man in the street, unversed in the intrica cies of economics and interested only in a decent standard of living, does not care to be reminded that his property is dependent upon foreign government and philanthropic aid, such as United States grants, German restitution and compensation payments, and United Israel Appeal funds, which must de cline drastically within the next three or four years; or that widespread un employment is concealed by a costly

December, 1959

ABBA EBAN

and extensive program of relief works, which is as demoralizing as it is un productive. But then even more in formed observers cannot deny that Mapai has done well on the balance, and that it has exercised sound judg ment and moderation in both foreign and external affairs. It was moderation and security that Israel’s citizens chose. HERE will be thirty-two new faces in the Knesseth— a minor revolu tion, in view of the vested interest sitting members acquire in their seats. Mapai has strengthened its team, thanks largely to Mr. Ben Gurion’s unchallenged authority, by electing a number of younger men, each of whom has already made his mark in some field of public service— including Abba Eban, who recently concluded a lengthy tour of duty as Israel Perma nent Representative at the United Na tions, Major General Moshe Dayan, former Chief of the General Staff, Shimon Peres, until three months ago

with practically every coalition com bination open to him. That this is not necessarily the case even where a party is victorious is shown by the situation in Jerusalem, where though Mapai has gained two seats and now has eight (out of 21), its former coalition partners have no more than two. The National Religious Party, on the other hand, has four (it had two in the outgoing City Coun cil), Agudath Israel three and Cheruth four. A Cheruth-Mapai combination being out of the question, while a

MENACHEM PORUSH

Director General of the Ministry of Defense, and Giora Josephtal, Secre tary General of Mapai. All of them are slated for important positions in the new administration. Mr. Shapiro has also succeeded in introducing two new members in the National Religious list; not enjoying the same position in his own party as Mr. Ben Gurion does in Mapai, he could do no more, for the National Religious team certainly needs a shake-up. The newcomers are Binyamin Shachor, the energetic Sec retary General of the party, and Tova Sanhedraith, a leader of the united Moetzeth Hapoaloth-Mizrachi Wom en’s Organization, who makes Knesseth history as the first woman member elected on a religious list. The AgudahPoalei Agudah representation has also been reinforced by the election of the astute and comparatively youthful Secretary General of the Agudah, Menachem Porush. David Ben Gurion has emerged from the fray master of the situation, 14

YITZCHAK MEIR LEVIN

Cheruth - National Religious - Agudah is not, the National Religious Party, if it succeeds in getting Agudah support, may secure a religious mayor for the city. Its candidate for the office, Dr. E. Nebenzahl, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Israel (the local equivalent of the Federal Reserve Bank) and Consul General for Swe den, is said to be regarded favorably by the Agudah. JEWISH LIFE

EN GURION has stated that in forming his new Government co alition he will give precedence to any party favoring constituency represen tation— a very cryptic statement, in view of the fact that no party has so far indicated any predilection for such an electoral reform. The General Zion ists, it is true, some time ago put for ward their own proposals for a re formed system of proportional repre sentation, but since the elections they have probably changed their minds. The present proportional system, treat ing the entire country as a single con stituency represented by 120 members, favors the smaller parties, and today definitely the General Zionists are a smaller party. Electoral reform, how ever, is very dear to Mr. Ben Gurion’s heart— he sought, unsuccessfully, to convert it into the major issue of the recent elections— and he hopes to in duce various parties to allow their members to vote freely on the question when it is debated in the Knesseth. But besides Mapai it is doubtful wheth er even Cheruth, an essentially urban party (and the constituency system favors the country districts) can hope to benefit from the constituency sys tem, and the other parties are not like ly to vote themselves out of existence. In an inspired forecast of Mapai’s intentions, the party’s English language organ, the Jerusalem Post, has stated that the most likely coalition will be Mapai-Progressives-General Zionists. To this writer such a combination seems extremely unlikely, for even if the two latter were to agree to join an administration with such an over whelming Mapai majority, it is almost certain that Ben Gurion himself would not like it because of its strongly rightwing tinge. The idea is current that because of his unfortunate experience

December, 1959

with Achduth Ha’avodah as a coalition partner, he has excluded that party from his calculations. Such a view is very naive. He is statesman enough to overlook past differences when it suits him to do so. Any coalition agreement will include very explicit provisions for the collective responsibility of all par ties for Government decisions, and Mr. Ben Gurion will insure himself against any recurrence of Achduth Ha’avodah’s nicely-balanced opposi tion-within^the-coalition tactics. The crucial factor in this sector of Mr. Ben Gurion’s calculations will be his as sessment of Achduth Ha’avodah’s amenability to eventual reunion with Mapai— another cherished aspiration of Ben Gurion— and the contribution that continued Government collabora tion between Mapai and Achduth Ha’ avodah can make in that direction. He is aware that the leaders opposed to such reunion, who hoped to build their party up as a rival to Mapai, have taken a hard knock and that the hands of the partisans of reunion have been strengthened. HERE are signs that in any coali tion the door will be left open for the National Religious Party, and per haps also for Agudath Israel (which while remaining outside the last gov ernment consistently supported it). Ben Gurion took the precaution of clearing away the debris of the “Who is a Jew?” issue long before the elec tions (it was all a misunderstanding, he has stated blandly)— while on a number of occasions in recent months Abba Eban, one of Ben Gurion’s close advisers, has mentioned the desirabil ity of National Religious membership in the future administration. On defense, foreign policy, and eco nomic affairs Ben Gurion can gener ally count on National Religious

support, while in the area where there are differences a compromise, if not a definite settlement, can probably be reached. A major, but not an insuper able obstacle, for the National Re ligious Party, if not for the Agudah, might be Rabbi Toledano’s retention of the Ministry for Religious Affairs. Rumor has it that Ben Gurion has given the rabbi a definite promise that he may keep the Ministry as long as he wishes to. For the National Re ligious, now that the elections are over, it is more a matter of prestige than anything else, for in any case most of the officials of the Ministry, from the Director General downwards, are members of the party. The Ministry of Interior, important from the religious as well as from the political point of view, would be regarded as adequate compensation. Of course Mapai is not expected to relinquish the Ministry of Education, which religious circles naturally covet. Some compact to cover municipal government will be included in any coalition agreement, for these arrangements are always very comprehensive, and provide for who

gets what in the most insignificant of local councils. Probably Mr. Ben Gurion will aim at the widest possible combination of parties. Such an administration bears the character and enjoys the prestige of a national government. But more important, by their mutual dislikes the smaller parties cancel each other out, leaving Mapai with a free hand, vir tually, on all major policy issues. NE THING is certain. Whatever plans Ben Gurion has in mind, he will keep them to himself until he has everything cut and dried. As a polit ical tactician he is unsurpassed, and he will go through all the motions of serious negotiations with all the par ties— excepting two, Cheruth and the Communists—-(“symposia,” as we in Israel have dubbed these marathon pre-election talks). Above all his talks with his former Histadruth partners, Map am and Achduth Ha’avodah, will be serious, and should they fail they will leave no doubt in the mind of the country that it is these parties them selves, and not Mapai, that are to blame.

In a th ou san d y e a rs of n a tio n a l existence on the soil of P a le s tine the Jews over a n d over drove out o ppressors a n d re g a in e d independence, bu t the M a c c a b e a n w ar, a b attle for religious liberty, alone found a p la c e in the rites of our faith. It stood out. It w as the Jew s' first full-scale en co u n ter w ith the q u estio n th a t w a s to h a u n t them in the next two th o u san d y ears: nam ely , can a sm all people, dw elling in a trium phant m ajor culture, tak e p a rt in the g en eral life a n d y et hold to its identity, or m ust it b e a b so rb e d into the ran k s a n d the w a y of the m ajority?

JEWISH LIFE

The Secret Jews of Iran — Memories of Meshed by JOSEPH REUVENI

E ARE Jews of Meshed. That is to say, Meshed in Persia, where our people dwelt for generations, is our place of origin, hence we are called Meshedi; and we are Jews. We are Jews— surely, millions throughout the world can say “we are Jews” and some will utter the phrase with more and some with lesser sense of its signifi cance. But to us, Jews of Meshed, the words “we are Jews” convey something beyond that which they convey to others. For through a hundred years and more, our people were forbidden, on pain of death, to live as Jews. And yet, in the face of all, our people, from generation to generation, remained Jews, faithful to the Torah and its com mands, to the present day. Today, the Jews of Meshed are scat tered far and wide. Some are in India, some in Turkey, a few in Afghanistan; there is a substantial Meshedi settle ment in London and a scattering in various western European countries; New York now has its settlement of Meshed Jews, Montreal and Toronto each has a small colony; many Meshed Jews now dwell in Israel. Others re main in Iran, but mostly in Teheran, the capital. In Meshed itself only some two hundred Jews are to be found to

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day. But wherever we may be scattered, our Meshed Jews cling together, hold ing fast to the memories and traditions which are ours alone, bound together by closest kinship. Meshed lies in the north of Iran, close to the Afghan border and to the borders of Russian Turkestan. It is a holy city of the Moslems of Iran. Dur ing the reign of Nader Shah, in 1734, that ruler brought to Meshed a number of Jewish families from the city of Ghazvin to be “Keepers of the King’s Treasury.” The king felt that the Jews were more trustworthy than the native populace of the city and was confident of their ability to develop the economic life of the area in loyalty to his dynasty. Nader Shah’s confidence was not mis placed. The enterprise of its Jewish citizens brought prosperity to Meshed; it developed into a major bastion of the entire kingdom and a principle cen ter of commercial life. EWISH LIFE flourished unimpeded in Meshed until the fateful twelfth day of Nisan in the year 5599 (1839), which corresponded to Moharram 10 of the Moslem calendar, a day of fast ing and mourning for Shiite Moslems. It seems that on that date a Jewish

woman troubled with a skin lesion was told by a Moslem practitioner of heal ing that a cure would be effected if she would kill a dog and bathe the affected hand in its warm blood. The woman asked a non-Jew to kill a dog for the purpose, which he did, but im mediately thereafter entered into a vio lent dispute with the woman over the amount to be paid. Dashing through the streets of the city, the Moslem raised a hue and cry with the charge that the Jews had killed a dog on the sacred fast day to show their disdain of the founder of the Moslem religion. A frenzied mob gathered, stoned the Jewish quarter, set fire to the syna gogue, and massacred thirty-two Jews. Further slaughter was checked only when the Moslem religious leader of the city stayed the frenzy of the mob by a proclamation that the surviving Jews be given the alternative of adopt ing the Mohammedan faith or be put to death. All pleas being without avail, the Meshed Jews, numbering then about a hundred families, yielded to the forced conversion. There commenced then a dual ex istence. In every outward respect, the Meshed Jews observed the Moslem re ligion of their neighbors. And yet, in the privacy of their homes, in strictest, death-defying secrecy, they held fast to the faith of their fathers. How, in that atmosphere of terror, under the con stant scrutiny of hostile neighbors, did they manage to persevere? We Jews of Meshed have often been asked, and have as often asked ourselves this question. There were no doubt a num ber of factors that contributed— in eradicable identification with Judaism and the Jewish people, unshakable faith in the Jewish destiny, the close ties which bound us together as a group. But what specifically was the 18

key to this extraordinary perseverance in Jewishness? N THE considered opinion of Meshedi Jews, the essential element was contributed by our womenfolk: at all costs and under all circumstances, they kept our homes Jewish. From the first, unknown even to their own hus bands, the women contrived to obtain kosher meat. Secretly, they would ar range to have a shochet slaughter ani mals in their own yards, keeping each household supplied whilé leaving no trace of the forbidden practice to the outer world. Thus was laid a founda tion upon which was built a pattern of living— in its outward aspect conform ing to Mohammedanism, in its inward aspect loyal to Judaism— which with stood all rigors. Observance of Kashruth, in even the initial period of ter ror, when every Meshed Jew dwelt under constant scrutiny, preserved the innermost sense of Jewishness and the link with faith and tradition. Main tenance of Kashruth led in a short time to the seeking and finding of means to observe, by similar techniques, other basic Jewish tenets. And yet, when the formula of per severance had begun to manifest itself in the secret lives of the Meshed Jews, there remained a basic problem—-that of the Jewish education of the children. Without such instruction, all efforts to endure would ultimately be doomed to failure, for no pattern not grounded on clear teaching of Torah could continue to withstand the strain. Jewish schools of any kind were of course forbidden; the young people were growing up de void of Jewish knowledge. But this problem too was met. One of our lead ers made it a practice to seek out child after child and teach them at first Aleph-Beth, and then Siddur and Chumosh, encouraging them with gifts

JEWISH LIFE

if they learned the Sh’ma and succes sively other parts of the prayers. Pres ently his example was followed by other leaders and eventually, when the techniques of secrecy had been tested, schools were established in the privacy of homes. In this way, the women kept the homes Jewish and the leaders kept the children in the fold, and where the women and the children led, soon the men followed. Step by secret step, these ostensible Moslems re-established a complete pattern of Jewish religious observance— including Tefillah and Tefillin, Shabboth and Yom Tov, and, not least of all, Taharath Hamishpochah, which was scrupulously and un failingly observed.

Turkestan. Red Army soldiers and na tives of the area joined in wreaking murder and pillage upon the Jewish families, who, as Jews and as seemingly prosperous merchants, provided an outlet for an upsurge of racial and re ligious hatred that was unleashed under the impetus, or cloak, of “anti bourgeois” passions. Our people were trapped: stripped of their possessions, surrounded by unbridled hate, this dis tant outpost of Bolshevik power held for us only the alternatives of starva tion or violent death. We could not re main, but the only possible direction in which we could flee was— back to Me shed. Back to Meshed we went— those of us who could.

HROUGH decade after decade, the Jews of Meshed successfully maintained this dual existence. Cut off from their fellow Jews in other parts of Persia, they yet did not permit them selves to be absorbed by the surround ing Moslem populace, marrying only among themselves. Merchants and traders, they held fast to their role in the commercial life of their region. Eventually, when conditions permitted venturing into more distant areas, Me shed Jews established commercial links with neighboring lands. Russian Turk estan became a particular field of trade for the Meshed Jews, who traveled back and forth across the border with increasing frequency up to the time of the Russian Revolution. Some of them, including the writer’s family, estab lished residence in Russian Turkestan. There, although not free of acts of persecution on the part of the Moslem and Armenian Christian populace, we lived openly as Jews. The Bolshevik Revolution brought disaster to the Meshed Jews who had found uneasy sanctuary in Russian

MONG those who succeeded in fleeing Russian Turkestan was my own family, myself among them. I was five years old at the time, but some recollections of this grim journey re main sharp in my memory. Never can I forget the terrors of the crossing of that close-guarded border, over dizzy mountain peaks whose rigors were hardly less than the constant fear of capture. I remember we had to travel on mules, on which were hung two contraptions in which we sat on either side. If one side were heavier, the other side had to be exactly counter balanced with baggage to even out the difference in weight. To this day I shudder to think how we traversed those fearful mountain passes where a single slip of the foot would have meant certain death. My first sight of Meshed was the golden dome of the principal mosque, the central feature of the city. On clear days, such as that of our arrival, the dome can be seen for miles around. It is a beautiful and impressive sight. To the returning Meshed Jews, two-

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fold refugees, the sight evoked conflict ing emotions. Although life in Turkestan, even be fore the Revolution, had never been free of difficulties—-T recollect the pe riodic beatings which we Jewish chil dren received at the hands of older Armenian children— I found the Me shed atmosphere oppressively differ ent. Instantly one became conscious of a secretiveness pervading every facet of existence. Constantly, one must pretend to be something one was not— and would not, could not, be. It was a difficult adjustment for anyone, and certainly for a child, to make. Pres ently we found ourselves adapting more or less smoothly to the pattern of life which had become second na ture to our fellow-Jews who had never left Meshed, but the sense of con straint never completely faded. It was fortunate that by this time the Moslems of Meshed had developed a measure of tolerance. Through the passage of generations it had not been possible to completely conceal the Jew ish life that went on and the Moslem populace had granted an unspoken acceptance, tacit but never overt and certainly not official, to the private observances of their neighbors. They knew we were not the Moslems we pretended to be but they closed their eyes and ears to our aberrations, so long as the outward show of Mo hammedan conformance was main tained. Human neighborliness, after all, proved a check to religious fana ticism; besides which the Jewish pop ulace, small as it was, controlled most of the business life of the area. ET ME sketch some glimpses of the Meshed in which I spent my boyhood. The Jewish neighborhood was con fined to a fairly small, compact area.

L 20

The Jewish homes— all of them of modest exterior but a good many spacious and comfortably appointed within— were all built in such a way that there was an access j either through the yard or over the roof to the next house, and for a very good reason: Whenever an official ran short of personal funds, a search of the Jewish homes was in order. Immediately his pending arrival was signalled, each householder in turn would make a swift exit with his val uables, over the roof or across the yard, through the neighboring houses. Synagogues as such were, of course, out of the question, but there were Battey Tefilah nonetheless, many of them, consisting of rooms set aside for the purpose in private homes. The use of each was confined to the fa milies in its immediate vicinity. Wor shippers arrived singly and left sin gly, in order not to be too notice able. And each secret synagogue housed a Hebrew School, with every Jewish boy attending such a school. Since compulsory or public educa tion did not exist in Iran at the time, there were no educational obstacles to Hebrew School attendance, but as with the worshippers, the pupils ar rived and left singly, to avoid atten tion. Boys attended Hebrew School daily until Bar Mitzvah, and some of them beyond. Up to later years, the light of higher Torah learning was not lost among the secret Jews of Meshed. The men of great learning among us were held in high reverence. Up to thirty years ago we had many men in our midst who could favorably be compared in learning to the ortho dox rabbis of Europe and America, but we have had no new rabbis since that time. When I think of how the Jews of Meshed sustained, under such onerous JEWISH LIFE

conditions, a life of devout and fruit ful Jewish observance, I cannot for bear from contrasting this pheno menon with the conditions that pre vail among Jewish communities in the free, democratic lands today. With every civil right, with the fullest re ligious liberty, with Jewish dignity

the secret Jews of Meshed, is grossly slighted by free Western Jews of to day. Nowhere is the paradox more striking, and more painful, than with respect to Shabboth and Kashruth. N ot a single Meshed Jew failed to observe both. I have previously told how Kashruth foundations were laid, even in the very first and worst days. From then on, Kashruth was never breached. Many homes employed Moslem girls, who could be trusted, as housemaids. These girls knew all about the separation of “milchig” and ’’fleishig” and about Shabboth too, being well aware that we did not touch fire on that day. Be it noted that not one of these Moslem maids every informed on her employer. OW DID the Meshed Jews keep the Sabbath? Practically all of them were business people, store keepers or merchants; none was in the employ of a Moslem. On Saturday, each place of business was opened as on weekdays, but a simple ruse was employed: A youngster was left in charge; should a customer enter, the child presented the excuse that he knew nothing of the prices— father or uncle would be in later. Thus, no business was ever done o n ( the Sabbath. A more involved and difficult scheme had to be employed during the period preceding Pesach. Months before the festival the leaders of the community bought up enough wheat to supply every family with matzoth. They would then select a miller, and on one pretext or another, would in sist on cleaning out the milling ma chinery. Before the wheat was ground into flour the women had the pains taking task of examining it for any foreign matter and re-checking the entire supply, grain by grain. The

respected in public life and with the Jewish heritage looked upon by nonJews as an invaluable contribution to the common spiritual treasury— with all of these providential advan tages, great numbers of Jews in the lands of modern, democratic freedom manifest little regard for the faith of their fathers. Religious observance, such as was the essence of life for December, 1959

flour would then be brought back to the private home which housed the synagogue, and under the supervision of the elders or the rabbi, would be baked under the most primitive and difficult conditions— one matzah at a time— for several thousand people! Invariably, the city authorities found a reason around the time of Pesach to conduct a search in a part of the Jewish Quarter. The secretlyproduced and secretly-kept matzoth were passed from house to house as the officials made their rounds and then were brought back. The Passover wine, however, did not fare as well because it was kept in heavy earthenware jars which could not eas ily be carried. When searchers ap proached the wine had to be poured down the drain. If the search-party was seen nearing the synagogue, not only were the matzoth removed, but the Sifrey Torah and articles of wor ship were taken away to be hidden in a different place, Only if a par ticular official were paid-off would the search be called off. F THE writer may be permitted to recall “aloud” some well remem bered scenes: The Pesach Seder was essentially the same as that conducted here, with two exceptions: Our Charoseth— which was originally prepared with nuts, apples, chinnamon, pepper, vinegar, grapes, and pomegranates— gradually came to contain less and less pepper and vinegar, so that now it is neither strong nor sour; during the recitation of Dayenu— much to the children’s delight— large scallions were distributed to everyone around the table and each would “beat” his neighbor to symbolize the whiplash that our ancestors suffered at the hands of the Egyptians.

To all Persian Jews, and especially the Meshedi, Purim, with its historic ties to our own locale, has a special aura. The fast of Taanith Esther was universally observed among us. The reading of the Megillah takes place in hushed silence; stamping of feet or rattling of greggers, as is tradi tional in Ashkenazi communities when the name of Haman occurs in the reading, is not tolerated to the same extent. Mishloach monoth was a popular and colorful observance. The prac tice was to exchange trays of deli cacies and other gifts together with Purim eggs painted in many colors. In the case of a young man engaged to be married, more was added to the shalach monoth by painting the wings of a white chicken and attaching small bells to its feet, whereupon it was sent to the home of his intended, there to strut about the yard tinkling in its multicolored finery. HE BETROTHAL itself was a colorful social event. When some one wanted the hand of a girl for his son, he sent one or two men or one or two women to the home of the girl’s parents to bring up the subject. One or two visits generally sufficed, and the visitors would then receive some sweets signifying that the par ents were agreeable to the match. But that didn’t end matters in Me shed: On a given evening a number of elders of the community paid a Call to formally ask for the hand of the young lady. The father of the girl— with a perfectly straight face— protested that he didn’t know what sort of a fellow the groom was, or that his daughter was too young. Upon being pressed for an answer, he would say that he had to consult his brother; the brother, in turn,

JEWISH LIFE

would pass the ball to another rela tive. After more of the same, the matter would revert to the father, who would finally leave the decision to the discretion of the assembled. The rabbi would then recite a Shir Hama’aloth, and congratulations were in order. Cookies arid delicacies were then taken to the home of the young man. All women in Meshed were veiled. In order to avoid having to give our daughters in marriage to non-Jews, girls became engaged at a very young age, so that if a non-Jew proposed the marriage of his son to one of our girls, he was politely told that the girl was engaged. Because the women were veiled, the wedding took place in two dif ferent locations. The bride and groom were together for the ceremony it self, but afterwards the bride re turned home, where her family was giving a party for all the ladies, and the groom gave a party for all the men at his home. After dinner and festivities a delegation of elders— out of respect for the bride— were sent to escort her with much pomp and dignity to the home of her husband. Once there, a bonfire was lit in the courtyard, the bride and attending women on one side, the groom and men on the other. Then the dancing began, with the bride and groom taking turns in coming forward step by step until they met (finally) in the center of the courtyard. Only then— to a cheering send-off— did they enter the house, thus ending the chain of ceremony. HE close-knit unity of the Meshed community was not only sym bolized at religious seasons and at social events. In point of fact, each member of the community from

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childhood on was instilled with the feeling of responsibility and respect not only for his family but for the community at large. As soon as a child was able to think, he was taught that whatever he did— good or bad— reflected on the whole com munity. As a group, we were per haps the most honest in the world. The non-Jews of Meshed trusted even the poorest of our people; and if any of us strayed from the straight and narrow path, he was soon brought to count. The word of our rabbis and leaders was law to all of us. Our adherence to their word was to our advantage and stood us in good stead even in matters of self protection, as indicated by a story that everyone from Meshed knows: It happened that a Jewish woman in the Meshed marketplace had touched some groceries. To devout Moslems, the touch of a person of another faith renders the object un clean. The grocer insulted and villified the woman, telling her that she had abominated the things she had touched. In a state of great upset, the woman related the incident to the Rabbi, and on the following Shabboth the Rabbi forbade anyone in the community to patronize that gro cer. It wasn’t long before he realized that something was wrong and soon came to apologize to the woman, whereupon the Rabbi lifted his ban on the offending grocer. In periods of mourning, as well as joyful occasions, our people had customs which are peculiar to Jews of the Middle East. During the Shiva period the rule that mourners are not permitted to eat food that is their own was adhered to strictly. Food was brought by a relative or. close friend, so that if a poor man 23

was in mourning he need not worry about providing for his family; and since the rule applied to both rich and poor, no one’s feelings were hurt. There were many poor people in Meshed, but there were no mendi cants among us. The community look ed after the poor, discreetly and quietly, so as to cause them no em barrassment. There was a particular woman of Meshed who used to pre pare food, take it to the home of a poor family, knock on the door, and then run away so that the family in need should not see who had brought the food and be ashamed. Where can one find Tzedakah of this kind in this day and age? ERHAPS when one looks back on his childhood he is apt to re member things in a rosy hue. Per haps I am permitting memories of the very primitive conditions under which we lived to fade— the dirt and sickness, the constant deaths of in fants and children. I have dwelled on the good qualities of our people in those days, and particularly their moral courage, but in candor I must point also to a less worthy trait: fear had become second nature to us. After generations of subservience, we had lost a very important quality, that of physical courage, the strength to act openly for our rights or to seek freedom elsewhere. We could not have fought physically the nonJews among whom we were a small minority, yet perhaps we could have found ways to move to other lands. But for generation after generation, until comparatively recent years, we remained rooted to our secret life in Meshed. Finally, in the period after the first World War the spirit of freedom began to be felt in Iran, among Jews

and non-Jews alike. The spirit reach ed out to our Meshed Jews and there began a steady stream of emigration to lands east and west. I was eleven years old when my f amily once'more departed from Meshed, to re-establish our lives in England, there to dwell at last in freedom as Jews. Soon wer were joined by many other Meshed families and a flourishing community of our people sprang up. In our new found freedom, the colony of Meshed Jews in London, like those established in other countries, remained a closeknit group, adhering in considerable measure to our distinctive traditions but with inevitable adaption and modification of our ways to the radi cally different environment; we had come not only to a changed clime but to a phase and form of civiliza tion far removed from that which we had known. Eventually, Meshed Jews from Eng land, from other countries far and near and from Iran itself found their way to the United States. Here again a com munity life took shape among the nu merous families who now reside in New York, some living as apartment house dweller on the upper West Side of Man hattan and others as private home own ers in Kew Gardens, in the borough of Queens. Most of us are now well estab lished and thoroughly integrated into the American scene, our principal occu pations being in the fur industry and as dealers in rugs and carpets and other raw commodities. While in London the Meshed Jews have their own flourishing synagogue and Talmud Torah, around which communal life revolves, the New York Meshedi have joined Ash kenazi congregations. Our Kew Gar dens group has developed particular ly close associations with the Kew Gardens Synagogue Adath Yeshurun, JEWISH LIFE

joined by ties of friendship with the Ashkenazi families— originating from diverse parts of central, eastern and western Europe— as well as some Jews of other oriental origin, that blend together so well in that unusual congregation. IEWING the younger generation of Jews of Meshed descent as they appear today, in all the lands of our present dispersion, I must confess in all candor that social im provement has been accompanied by moral deterioration. Religious free dom has been accompanied, just as among so many of the Ashkenazim, with spiritual decline. With what dif ficulties in our Meshed Goluth our leaders provided kosher meat for our community, with what devious ways we observed Shabboth and Yom Tov, with what tenacity we stood fast to our heritage! — but today, among many of our younger people who never knew these trials, these loy

December, 1959

alties have faded. Nor is our young er generation of today steeped, as were all . our generations, in humility and respect for the aged, in our code of strictest integrity and considera tion for the community. Rather, the pursuit of material well-being seems the dominant aim. Yet I remain confident that these tendencies are but a transient phase. Among our rising generation I see leaders developing—young men and women, boys and girls, who know the message of Meshed and of all Jewish history, and who are respond ing to this inextinguishable message. With the blessings of Divine Provi dence, the unique community of Meshed Jews has persevered through great trials; the work of our com munity must go on. Our proud tradi tions, we faithfully trust, will not be lost but will yet inspire our children in the present generation and be carried forward to a new generation, to flower anew in religious freedom.

A World Refugee Year in the Era of the Uprooted By LEON WILDES

EMINISCENT of an earlier exo dus, a Jewish family leaves Egypt and carries with it a cherished pos session, an ancient Torah, a family heirloom. The family is one of thou sands of Jewish families who have been obliged to leave their former homes since the Suez crisis, and in leaving, to renounce their Egyptian citizenship and become stateless. Their life earnings confiscated, their citizenship gone, their morale low, they leave for France which graci ously accords them first asylum and, with the help of voluntary agencies, initial maintenance and care. They wait for over a year only to be told that the limited number of visas available under the special refugee law have been exhausted. In despair and desolation they wait. They wait and they repeat the query of their Biblical forebears: “Why have You taken us out of Egypt, to kill us in the desert?” Likewise awaiting help with repa triation, integration or emigration are millions of refugees including home less Koreans, Algerians, and Arabs, Chinese who abandoned their home land to live in squalid but free Hong Kong, European expellees in DP camps for over a decade, and count less others.

By proclamation of the United Nations General Assembly, World Refugee Year was launched last June in an effort to tackle what is per haps the greatest human problem of our day: the existence of many mil lions of desperate refugees, a mil lion and a half of whom are under the mandate of the U.N. High Com missioner’s Office. HE LATENT resource which exists among many of these refugee groups, hitherto untapped, has already captured the imagination of several major countries of immigration. Not able among these is Australia, whose liberalized immigration policy affords an excellent example. Since the Second World War that country has admitted over a million immigrants from Euro pean countries. Even earlier, when it comprised a mere trickle of immigra tion by present standards, this group exerted a perceptible influence upon Australian culture, enriching the music, architecture, painting, handicrafts and the other creative arts. Moreover, its influence upon the economic develop ment of the country has aided in plac ing Australia among the world’s indus trial giants. Contrary to the prevalent policies of many other countries, Aus tralia’s policy was founded upon the premise that an alien is a potential

JEWISH LIFE

asset. Its exemplary economic and cul tural development is ample proof that there is much truth in its policy. Other countries of immigration which possess a large potential for ab sorbing substantial numbers of refugees include Canada and the South American countries. Nearly two million persons have immigrated to Canada since the Second World War and they have ex erted a stimulating influence upon the Canadian economy. Canada has learned that not all immigrants seek employ ment; that immigrants enlarge the buy ing market and can exert a creative social influence. Various South Ameri can countries and Israel have had simi lar experiences. Under the aegis and moral leadership of Great Britain, among whose “angry young men” the idea of a World Refugee Year first took root, a number of other countries have relaxed their immigration policies, in cluding Belgium, France, Norway, Sweden, and New Zealand, notably in the admission of handicapped “hard core” refugees. Although the United States was one of the sixty-two nations which pledged their support to the U.N. proclamation, it has thus far taken no steps to ease the admission of refugees to this country. MERICA was traditionally a haven for the oppressed. With the sharp increase in the volume of immigration which occurred in the 1890’s, however, there began a marked antagonism on the part of older immigrant groups in the United States toward those who followed in later waves of immigration. New York and other states, in the absence of a fed eral law, took legislative action, later declared unconstitutional, to protect themselves against an excessive in flux of immigrants. The first major federal law govern-

December, 1959

ing immigration was enacted in 1882 when Congress gave official recogni tion to the need to exclude certain classes of undesirables such as luna tics, idiots, convicts, and people like ly to become public charges. In 1891, certain health standards were pre scribed and, from time to time, addi tional requirements prescribed. Ex cept for the Chinese Exclusion Acts, there was little deviation from the basic policy of free, non-discriminatory immigration and restrictions were generally consonant with sound public policy. During the First World War a significant change occurred in our immigration policy. In line with pre valent isolationist thought, public op inion had become widespread that immigration to the United States should be restricted. Accordingly, in 1921 and 1924 Congress passed the first major laws in our history limit ing the quantity of immigrants to be admitted. Previous restrictions, it will be noted, dealt only with quality of prospective immigrants. The new law divided the globe into arbitrary geographic quota areas and limited the number of persons born in each quota area who would be ad mitted to the U.S.A. annually to a certain percentage of the number of persons in the United States who either were born in that area or are descendants of persons born there, according to the 1920 census (former ly based on the 1890 census). With in each quota area, first preference was given to persons whose services are deemed by the Attorney General as urgently needed in the United States because of their training, abil ity, or experience. Recognition was later accorded to the importance of family reunion by establishing fur27

ther preference categories for certain close relatives of American citizens and permanent resident aliens. This policy was finally codified in the im migration and Nationality Act of 1952 (The MacCarr an-Walter Act) which comprises our present basic immigration law. HE PRACTICAL effect of enact ing a quota system based on the 1920 census was to cut drastically the immigration from eastern and southern Europe and from Asia. Like the people of' ancient China, we be gan to build a Great Wall to protect ourselves from imagined hordes of immigrants whose cultures differed from our own. Immigration was largely restricted to such countries as England, Ireland, and Germany whose quotas are so large that only a small part of them is ever utilized, while the quotas of countries such as Italy and Greece are so small that persons who were born in the quota areas must often wait many years before their numbers are reached. In addition, the preference categories tended to further restrict “new seed” immigration. The only relief which may be sought by prospective immi grants is the passage of private bills by Congress. The latter form of re lief, however, is painfully slow and is only available in extremely com passionate cases. The displaced persons of the past decade were predominantly from countries whose quotas were small and oversubscribed. Our immigration law was thus not geared to the emer gencies which ensued and, in the ab sence of special legislation, the Gol den Door immortalized by Emma Lazarus.could not be opened and we were powerless to lend a helping hand. Special laws were passed but

these permitted only a few to enter and the delay which proceeded the passage of these laws caused untold suffering. The Displaced Persons Act of 1948 and the Refugee Relief Act of 1953 had expired by 1956 when 200,000 Hungarians fled to Austria from Communist oppression. While many free nations responded readily to ease Austria’s burden, the United States again struggled with the basic inflexibility of its immigration law. This time use was made of a littleknown clause in the law which auth orized the Attorney General, in his discretion, to “parole” aliens into the United States. Some 30,000 Hun garians were so admitted, and legis lation passed in 1958 enabled them to apply to regularize their status after two years’ residence. S REFUGEE problems multi plied in number and intensity, the number of private bills introduced in Congress became so cumbersome that almost half of the bills consid ered pertained to immigration. To alleviate the situation, a further amendment to the immigration law was enacted in September 1957, auth orizing the admission of 18,656 “ref ugee-escapees” as non-quota immi grants. The number was most inade quate to meet the need. The chaos created by recent world crises has demonstrated beyond con troversy the need for maintaining permanent international machinery to deal with such emergencies. World Refugee Year was intended, in part, to expand existing refugee admission programs and establish new mach inery to facilitate migration in the event that further emergencies should occur. In the last session of Congress, the challenge presented by this inter national humanitarian effort met with

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some response, but Congress failed to produce a single piece of legisla tion to benefit refugees. Among the measures introduced was a joint res olution sponsored by Congressman Walter (H.R. Res. 397), which would have extended the power of the Attor ney General to parole into the United States an unlimited number of ref ugee escapees. The resolution had the support of the Immigration Service and the State Department, but was never enacted into law. It is to' be hoped that this measure will be reintroduced when the 87th Congress

convenes in January and that it will be enacted during the coming session. The world refugee problem will not be solved in one year. Nor will the passage of further minor amendments to our immigration law cure its basic inflexibility. These, however, are sig nificant steps in the right direction. In a world divided into two great camps, Lenin’s remark that “a ref ugee is a man who votes with his feet” has added significance. To ig nore his “vote” is to jeopardize both our stature in world affairs and the very future of the Free World.

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Hashkofah The Great of Our People In Memory of the Brisker Rav By SAMSON R. WEISS

“And you shall speak in them when you sit in your house, when you go on the road, when you lie down, and when you rise u p ” (Devorim, 6:7) ORAH does not suffer any rele gation to circumscribed spheres of human existence. The revealed will and directive of the omnipresent G-d, it is permeated by His omnipresence. Without pause and without void, its voice and call fill all our times and all our places. Nothing is more con tradictory to its very essence than the fragmentation of its claim, the denial of its relevance to any given juncture of development or any con stellation of circumstances. All-em bracing and all-pervading, Torah is the element in which the life of the Jew is placed by Divine will. It is the source of his concepts, his weights and his measures. It is his idiom and his habitat. Greatness in the Jew is assessed by the degree of such total envelopment of man, intellectually and emotion ally, in Torah. It is the completeness of identification in which all of man’s

motivations coalesce with the Divine command, which marks the great of our people. The prerequisites of this confluence are the mastery of the knowledge of Torah and the purity of intentions. The ignorant cannot be truly righteous, though he may desire righteousness. The impure cannot at tain true greatness, though he may ex ceed in knowledge. In the Jewish view, the perfection of mind and character complement each other and cannot be achieved unless in har monious and reciprocal development. Our people has merited, by Divine grace and providence, the presence of such greatness in every generation. Its exponents have risen to leadership not as the consequence of outer posi tions of glory or strength— more often than not the Jewish Great have shied away from them— but rather as the result of our people’s unquenchable yearning for completeness, for the un broken oneness and the majestic freedom attained only in that har mony of all human faculties which these luminaries personify. HE almost instinctive perceptive ness of the Jew, even of the un learned and estranged, which makes

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him recognize the grandeur of such an existence, has possibly been the strongest factor in the miraculous continuity of our people’s reverence for Torah and its Sages. This rever ence reaches far beyond the circle of the actual observers of the Jewish law. By the hidden and silent com munications of the Jewish soul, the influence of the Godol extends even to those who may seem already be yond the periphery of Jewish con sciousness. They may live in the shadows and yet, without the light shed by the Jewish Sage, total dark ness would long ago have engulfed them. Though they may not know it, his radiance reaches out to them and in his existence there is vouchsafed to them the hope of return. Among our great, there emerges in every age one whom his people recognized as the Teacher of his en tire generation, as the holder of Jew ish wisdom and tradition, entrusted to safeguard and to transmit it. He is acknowledged as the Master of Torah whose authority to interpret it and to find in its teachings the - way, the Halochah, amidst our vexations, makes him the Rabbon shel kol B’nei Hagolah, the Rav of the entire congrega tion of Israel in all the lands of its

December, 1959

dispersion. In his concept of the Halachic truth, the highest intellectual and moral potence of the Talmid Chochom find their sublime expres sion. The imprint of his spirit and his utterances mold the minds and hearts of his contemporaries. Thus he be comes an integral part of Jewish his tory, of Jewish perpetuity. He is the great Pillar standing fast in the quick sands of time upon whom rests se curely the bridge of our continuance. N OUR generation, the Brisker Rav ^"plXT was this acknowledged Mas ter of Torah, the Rabbon shel kol B’nei Hagolah. Like his father Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik ^'plST before him, so Rabbi Yitzchak Zeev Soloveitchik P"pl¥T was the Sage and the Teacher of Israel, the living personification of Jewish greatness and Torah leader ship. On Yom Kippur 5720, at Kol Nidrei, in Yerushalayim the Holy City, where he had dwellt the last eighteen years of his life and whence his light illuminated the darkness of our times, the Brisker Rav was taken from us. Bereft of his presence, of the flame of his word, of the example of his courage, and of the inspiration of his truth, all of Israel are his mourners.

The State of the Jewish School in America By WILLIAM W. BRICKMAN

HE American people in general, in recent decades, has become religionminded and education-minded, and American Jews, for a variety of rea sons, have been particularly affected by this development. It is no surprise, therefore, that interest in American Jewish education has been steadily rising among laymen, rabbis, and educators. Enrollment statistics have been soaring and educational publications are plentiful. Survey after survey has been com pleted: some reports are used, others are quoted, while still others are shelved. The quantity is undeniable. The quality remains to be seen. Is the increased interest in Jewish education a result of the religious renais sance? Or is it an outcome of the country’s concentration on education? Very likely, a combination of factors made the American Jewish community really concerned with Jewish educational developments and problems. The growth of American Jewish education is depicted in the latest survey report, prepared by Dr. Alexander M. Dushkin and Dr. Uriah Z. Engelman for the American Association for Jewish Education. Entitled “Jewish Education in the United States,” this sizable study provides an opportune occasion for a re appraisal of the current status of the Jewish knowledge and attitudes of the younger generation. It may be appropriate, before analyzing this report, to review some of the major milestones in the historical development of Jewish education in America. This history is well known to all who have read Dushkin, Greenstone, Grinstein, Hartstein, Honor, and other specialists. It is by no means as familiar to lay readers.

N ALL probability, Jewish education in America began with the arrival of the first Jewish settlers in 1654. Steeped in the religious tradition of their forefathers, these Sephardim obeyed the commandment veshinantom levonecha. Since original records of schools are lacking, it may be assumed that children were taught by their parents or tutors. The earliest school of which there is any record is apparently Yeshibat Minhat Areb, founded as a congregational school by the Spanish-Portuguese community, Shearith Israel. Significantly, in the light of the future development of Jewish education in this country, this school was a yeshivah where both Jewish and secular subjects (English, arithmetic, Spanish) were taught. At the turn of the nineteenth century— in 1803 to be

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precise— this pioneering institution was reorganized as the Polonies Talmud Torah, a familiar name to students of American Jewish history. As Dr. Jacob I. Hartstein indicates in his history of this school, Hebrew and secular studies were taught during 1804-1822 and 1854-1856. In the early part of the nineteenth century, Jewish education was carried on in congregational and private schools and through private tutors. Miss Rebecca Gratz founded in Philadelphia in 1838 the first free Sunday School on a communal basis, and this became the forerunner of the later communal school movement. Jewish education did not begin to flower in this country until around the mid-1800’s. At that time there were day schools in a number of communities— Albany, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia. The Philadelphia day school existed from 1851 to about 1880; the Chicago school, from 1853 to 1873. In Philadelphia, the impetus behind intensive Jewish school ing was Isaac Leeser, who founded the Hebrew Education Society in 1848. So effective was the instruction in this day school that the Pennsylvania Legis lature passed a law in 1866 admitting its graduates to the Philadelphia high schools without examination.* The parents, teachers, and other supporters of this school did not have to defend the standards of the secular teaching, as many yeshivoth were forced to do in the twentieth century. It is worthy of note that one of the high schools to which the Philadelphia yeshivah students could gain admission was the nationally famous Central High School, which was beyond doubt one of the most advanced institutions of its kind in the country.

The Day School’s Pre-History EW YORK CITY could boast of several day schools. The leading con gregations, such as Shearith Israel, Bnai Jeshurun (1842-1847), and Anshe Chesed (1830? 1845-1857) maintained a number of religious-secular centers of study over a period of years. Emanu-El and Shaarey Zedek also started day schools, but these did not last as long. As a general rule, these mid-century day schools were coeducational and under the direction of German Jews. The in struction comprised Hebrew reading, prayers, Chumosh, and religion via cate chism. Some schools included Hebrew grammar and writing, religious practices, Bible history, and liturgical music. The secular subjects included the Three R’s, grammar, geography, and history. The girls were given instruction in sew ing and needlework at the time the boys were taught cantillation of the Torah and the Haftorah. Unlike many of the present-day yeshivoth, the Jewish studies were not confined to the morning hours and the secular subjects in the after noon. Rather, “the studies were intermixed.”** This is a felicitous turn of phrase which could well be imitated by modern day schools following a similar plan but preferring to use incorrectly the more elegant term of “integrated.”

*Julius H. Greenstone, “Jewish Education in the United States,” in T h e American Jewish Year Book 5615 (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1914), p. 95. **Hyman B. Grinstein, “T he Rise of the Jewish Community of New York: 1654-1860” (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1945), p. 241.

December, 1959

The 1850’s marked the high spot of the Day School movement. In 1854, there were seventeen Catholic parochial schools, seven Jewish, and six Protestant in New York City. The seven Jewish schools, with a pupil population of 857, had 35 teachers, while the 23 Christian schools had only 70 teachers.* But the same decade which saw the rise of the Day School also marked the begin ning of its decline. HE Jewish “parochial” schools rose in the 1840’s in New York City because of the immigration from Europe, the sdrry state of the afternoon school and the private tutoring, and mainly the Christian character and content of the public schools and their instruction. The New York City Board of Education did not approve the teaching of Hebrew in its schools and did nothing about removing the Christian material from the textbooks.* Moreover, the public schools were still operated in accordance with the monitorial plan, that is, with one teacher and several pupil assistants instructing hundreds of children. Small wonder, then, that Jewish parents lent an ear to suggestions for the establish ment of day schools. Apparently, the New York Jews as a group were more concerned with the quality of the secular studies than with the values of Jewish education. This attitude is not at all rare at the present time. One might add that then, as now, the center for Jewish education was New York City. Reforms in the public educational system of New York City led to the rethinking on the part of the Jewish parents of the role of the parochial schools in the lives of their children. In the 1850’s the monitorial method was abol ished, the public schools were secularized, and the Free Academy (now the College of the City of New York) admitted only the graduates of the public schools. Furthermore, the city’s schools were free whereas the Jewish schools required tuition fees. With the income declining as the result of dwindling reg istration, the various synagogues were loath to support schools in which most of the pupils came from families that were not affiliated with the congregations. As the day schools disappeared in New York in the late 1850’s, Jewish education once more reverted to private, afternoon, and evening schools. Even the Hebrew Free School Number 1, a day school which was founded in 1865 on the Lower East Side in New York City by the Hebrew Free School Associa tion, and which received New York State financial aid, failed to exist beyond 1872. The parochial form of education continued in Chicago until 1873 and in Philadelphia until approximately 1880. But the movement collapsed.

The Yeshivah Takes Root HE ARRIVAL of the first immigrants who had fled Russia after the in auguration of the era of pogroms in 1881 found many religious Jews in America who were very worried about the Jewish education of their children. With good Jewish schools extremely rare, the immigrants began at once to di-

♦Grinstein, p. 240.

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rect their attention to educational problems. A society, the Machzikei Talmud Torah, was organized in 1883 in New York City, to open up centers for religious instruction. Schools sponsored by Russian Jews began to spring up in various communities throughout the United States. The Cheder, or private school, also flourished in the succeeding decades, but few observers of the Jewish educational scene had any good word for it. Even if some of the criticism of the Cheder was biased and unfair, it is doubtful if it gave the pupil a penetrating knowledge of the Torah. Nor was the Sunday School regarded as a satisfactory institution for a Jewish education, as Greenstone testified in 1914. But a glimmer of hope was soon evident in the founding of the Yeshivah Etz Chaim in 1886 in New York City by Russian Jews. In 1897, Yeshivath Rabbenu Yitzchak Elchanan was established, and in 1915 the two were com bined into one institution. In the same year, this yeshivah opened the Talmudical Academy, a secular high school, to furnish its students an academic program parallel to that offered in the public high schools of New York City.* The Yeshivah movement grew somewhat after the turn of the century. Rabbi Jacob Joseph School (1901), the Yeshivah of Harlem (1908), and Yeshivath Rabbi Chaim Berlin (1910)— all in New York City— provided addi tional facilities for the combined Jewish and secular schooling of Jewish chil dren. The Jewish Communal Register of 1917-1918 listed only four “parochial” schools. It is interesting to note that the term yeshivah was used by several Talmud Torah schools at that time, e.g. Yeshivath Rabbenu Ranser, Yeshivath Beth Yavneh, and Yeshivath Hagaon Rabbi Elijah. HE NEW yeshivoth were, for the most part, for “sons of the poor from whom Torah comes out.” The problem of financial support was of para mount importance. The Vaad Hayeshivos, founded in 1917, and more than two decades later the United Yeshivos Foundation, sought to assure a sound financial structure for the day schools. At the present time, the problem is still a serious one, but very little effort seems to be expended toward undertaking a combined operation to improve the financial standing of the Day School movement. This perennial problem is one to which the Jewish community— orthodox and other wise—-will have to give serious thought if it wishes to maintain its integrity in the United States. Numerically, the Yeshivah movement enjoyed a steady growth. By 1935, there were seventeen schools in existence, sixteen in New York City and one in Baltimore; by 1948, 123 located in seventeen states and the District of Columbia; and by early 1959, 236 schools in 80 cities in 24 states. Interesting ly enough, there was a parallel growth in Canada, which had 24 schools in six cities located in five provinces as of early 1959. The bulk of the day schools originated in the years after World War II and the desire for ex pansion in length, breadth, and depth gives promise of further development.

*Yeshivath Rabbenu Yitzchak Elchanan grew into a “Yeshivah Gedolah,” a major seminary of Rabbinic learning, around which eventually grew Yeshiva University. Recent generations have similarly seen the rise of a score of yeshivoth gedoloth in New York City and several other American cities. These great institutions do not fall within the scope of the present article; the references to the “Yeshivah movement” in this article pertain only to the Yeshivah Ketanah — the elementary-grades Day School — and the yeshivoth of high school level.

December, 1959

Note should be taken of the success of Torah Umesorah, the Mizrachi National Education Committee (Vaad Hachinueh Hatorani), and the United Lubavitcher Yeshivoth in the establishment of large numbers of day schools all over the country. Torah Umesorah, founded in 1944, and for nearly all of its his tory under the dynamic direction of Dr. Joseph Kaminetsky, has also or ganized the National Association of Hebrew Day School PTA’s and other units for the better servicing of the Day School movement. In the earlier decades of the present century, when Jewish communal leaders were greatly worried about the Americanization and the consequent acceptance of the Jewish people by the Christian population, there was a widespread feeling that the yeshivah was an old-world and undesirable form of school in a democratic society. Many of these anxious leaders were as ignorant of the real nature of Jewish education as they were of the char acteristics of a genuine democratic society in America. The same can be said of those who still raise today such objections toward the Yeshivah movement. Misconceptions, misinformation, and prejudice die hard.

Talmud Torah in Perspective

HE post-World War II period which marked the rapid growth of the day schools also witnessed the strange sight of bandwagon jumping by He braists, secular Yiddishists, and Conservatives. Since they could not argue the orthodox day schools out of existence, and since they had become aware that survival as a group cannot be guaranteed by a minimal educational pro gram, they launched day schools of their own. The existence of the Bialik, Kinnereth, Beth Hayeled, Solomon Schechter, and Sholom Aleichem day schools and foundations bear testimony to the triumph of the stubborn idea that the future of Jewish education in America cannot be entrusted to the afternoon schools, much less to the Sunday Schools. The Talmud Torah, or afternoon Hebrew school, blossomed forth during the first three decades or so of the century. The great and the less significant educational institutions began to decline for a variety of reasons, one of which was apparently the rise of the Yeshivah. The communal form of organization, beginning with the Bureau of Jewish Education of New York City, established in 1910 with Dr. Samson Benderly as director, was no doubt helpful to many afternoon schools. So were the Jewish Education Committee of New York and its national counterpart, the American Association for Jewish Education, both of them founded in 1939, but neither, despite the expenditure of large sums in the maintenance of their organizational programs, could stem the downgrading of the Talmud Torah. The forces of American society and changing Jewish life were leaving an indelible mark on the hitherto effective institution. The will and the capacity to resist and to launch a counter offensive were lacking. The stage was set for a reexamination of the entire structure and status of Jewish education in America. Hence, the raison d’etre of the survey by Dushkin and Engelman.

JEWISH LIFE

HE REPORT by the two noted Jewish educators, who have worked long and diligently in Am erica,. deals with the various aspects of American Jewish education— aims and objectives, the ^quality and quantity of education wanted by parents and children, communal organizations, content and results of religious studies, and suggestions for improving American Jewish schools. A portion of the report is concerned with technical matters, but the document as a whole can be read with interest and profit by the non-educator, rabbi as well as layman. The orthodox Jewish reader needs no introduction to the author of the foreword, Professor Milton R. Konvitz of Cornell University. This renowned scholar has prepared an essay which is full of spiritual fire. He cites with natural ease the Tanach, Midrosh, Talmud, and Chasidic writings in a superb synthesis of sacred and secular thought such as is very rarely achieved by Jewish leaders of whatever branch of endeavor in this country. However, this heartwarming overture cools off once the curtain rises. While Doctors Dushkin and Engelman use Hebrew and traditional religious terms at times, one senses that the table of contents which comes between the foreword and the report proper is a mechitzah which can pass the scrutiny of the scrupulous. Very little is offered by the two authors in the way of historical orienta tion concerning the growth and development of American Jewish education. Iff as Professor Konvitz explains, the survey is “a report to the American people in general, for they know little or nothing about the thousands of [Jewish] schools,” then it is difficult to understand why it can be assumed that the American and the American Jewish reader are familiar with the basic facts of the history of Jewish education in the United States. The study discovered that most parents, communal leaders, and children look upon “the acquisition of Jewish knowledge as a prime desideratum of schooling.” However, there is a great hiatus between this feeling and its ful fillment, as the authors make abundantly clear. They are correct in insisting that there must be a bridge which can be constructed of more years of Jewish education and better qualified teachers.

HE STUDY also records that a total of 553,600 children aged five to seventeen were taught, as of the fall of 1958, in all kinds of Jewish schools. All told, about 40 to 45 per cent of the Jewish children are in a Jewish school. at any one time and accordingly “well over 80% of Jewish children receive some Jewish schooling at some time during the eight years of elementary school age.” Another interesting statistical fact revealed by the survey is that “a large and constant enrollment increase”— one of 31.2 per cent— took place between 1948 and 1958. Breaking down the half-million pupils, the survey reports that 47.1 per cent attended Hebrew and Yiddish weekday afternoon schools, 45.1 per cent the Sunday Schools, and only 7.8 per cent the day schools. The percentages of increase of enrollment since 1948 are significant: the weekday afternoon schools, 161.2 per cent; the day schools, 131.2 per cent; and the Sunday Schools, 106.7 per cent.

December, 1959

These figures are most encouraging if they are accepted at face value. But how accurately do these really portray the enrollment situation in Jewish education? One wonders if a child is a child is a child. Certainly, a Sunday School pupil gets less instruction quantitatively and probably qualitatively than a Talmud Torah pupil. Then again, the latter who may attend for two hours three days weekly is hardly the same kind of Jewish education as a pupil in a yeshivah. Any comparison on the basis of raw statistics, as the authors have done, is bound to be misleading. Constructively, it is possible to make a more accurate comparison by multiplying the number of pupils by the number of hours of Jewish instruction. If the resultant products are then compared, there can be little doubt that the yeshivoth will be found to carry on well over 7.8 per cent of all Jewish in struction in the country. HE AUTHORS estimate, on the basis of their enrollment statistics, that “probably no more than 4% of all Jewish children of school age” attend the day schools. This percentage is seen by them as proof that “the fear of undermining the public system would therefore seem very far from reality.” Of course Dushkin and Engelman are merely mentioning one of the perennial objections to the yeshivoth without necessarily subscribing to it. It is odd that such a complaint should persist, all the more so because the public school sys tem is relatively better financed and enjoys many more advantages than the Day School movement. Catholic and Protestant schools exist in vaster num bers than the yeshivoth, but one seldom reads of laymen connected with those churches expressing opposition to the religious schools because they might “undermine” the public schools system. Evidently, to certain classes of Jewish laymen their defense of the “threatened” public school is of greater im portance than the deepening of Jewish values and the maintenance of the Jewish spiritual continuity. The total annual cost of Jewish elementary and secondary education is over $60,000,000, or about $100 per pupil a year. This means an expense of “about $11.40 for each Jewish person in the United States, exclusive of capital outlay of schools.” The expenditure on Jewish education went up by 230 per cent since 1947 to meet an enrollment rise of 140 per cent. “Whatever the cause for the increase, it would seem that American Jews are spending a very considerable sum annually on the Jewish schooling of their children.” This can be said of the parents and of the financial supporters, but hardly of the Jewish community at large. More than half of the Jewish educational expenditure comes from parental tuition fees and synagogue membership dues. The Jewish community Federa tions and Welfare Funds spent for community education purposes in 1957-1958 nearly ten per cent (9.55% ) of their total domestic budget, constituting some seven to eight per cent of the Jewish educational costs. Since the major part of these allocations was channelled through education bureaus, the question arises as to what proportion was absorbed for maintenance of the administrative and technical apparatus of these agencies and what proportion was applied directly to the school budgets.

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Significantly, the federations have been constantly increasing their contri butions to Jewish educational endeavor since 1935, when their allocated funds for this purpose reached $700,000. However pleasing it may be to take note of increased community appropriations, federation financing of Jewish education is still in the stage of childhood, if not infancy. In some communities, the federations refuse to grant any money whatsoever for day school education. They take money from the Jewish population at large, but find excuses to refrain from supporting thorough Jewish education. They do not seem to realize that they are unfairly throttling the growth of the Jewish leadership of tomorrow. About 35 to 40 per cent of the cost of Jewish education is borne by synagogues and temples and by contributions from philanthropists and other donors. The survey estimates that about ten to twenty million dollars are raised each year by the “ costly” and “uncertain” method of soliciting. “There must be better ways, if in the half century ahead American Jewish education is to con tinue to progress.” To which one can only say, “Hear, Hear!” What Do We Teach Our Children? HE report’s appraisal of the Jewish teacher reveals that “the Jewish educa tion of our One-day school teachers is woefully meagre.” In response to a questionnaire, only 2 9 per cent of these teachers indicated that they had reached a college level in their own Jewish studies. Moreover, “over two-thirds do not lay claim to more than the most elementary sort of Jewish education, and 9 % state that they had no Jewish schooling whatever.” As Dushkin and Engelman rightfully conclude, “The perennial inbred weakness of the One-day schools is that they depend on the ‘ignorant to teach the ignorant’.” Thus, the present study seems to bear out reports by many who came into contact with Sunday Schools over the decades and also this writer’s personal experiences. If all this be true, then the status of the Sunday School would appear to be a very sad one indeed. Surely one cannot look to this school as a future source of a Jewishly literate laity. In their analysis of “What Do We Teach Our Children,” the authors do not present a happy picture. Almost half of the afternoon schools, for example, do not succeed in preparing their pupils for the study of Chumosh. Seventy per cent of the Sunday Schools cannot boast that their pupils read the Chumosh even in an English translation. Dushkin and Engelman arrive at the conclusion that “the vast majority of our children grow up without any knowledge of Bible text, either in Hebrew or in English,” and then raise the plaintive question, “Are we to cease being ‘the people of the Book’?” But their solution is the basic theme of the report, namely, improving “the teaching of Hebrew through scien tific laboratory analysis and through directed classroom experimentation,” and increasing the hours of instruction per week and the years of study in the Jewish school. No doubt, the addition of more time is a necessary reform, but it is seriously questionable if modern teaching techniques would be as effective as a more thorough education of the teacher in Judaism and the permeation of a deeper sense of spiritual values among the Jewish teachers.

December, 1959

ALMUD, as one might logically expect, is a staple subject in the Yeshivah, but rarely in any other type of Jewish school. The authors, however, point out the “growing sense of the importance of teaching Rabbinic Judaism as the classic way of Jewish thought, without which it is very difficult to understand Judaism and the Jewish way of life. Whatever be the forms or the orientation in the study of Jewish religion and ethics, there is growing recognition that they must be grounded in the values of Rabbinic literature, Talmudic and Midrashic. . . the development of texts and materials for teaching these rabbinic values, especially for those who do not have the time or the capacity for intensive Talmudic study, would seem to be one of the important curricular needs during the coming decade.” These are warm words which indicate that the experienced Jewish educators are convinced that the road to Jewish learning lies through the intensification of Jewish content in the schools. In their final chapter, “How Can We Improve the Work of Jewish Schools?” Dushkin and Engelman conclude that it is high time for “combined cooperative efforts” which will “deepen the stream of Jewish education.” Their program is more time weekly and a longer course; better trained, full-time teachers; and a proper atmosphere in the home and the community. Finally, they strongly urge the setting up of a National Curriculum Institute “as a national cooperative program for studying all aspects of the educational process as applied to Jewish schools . ...”

E COME BACK to the yeshivoth and their role in the survey. It is clear to the authors that there is “a rather constant general trend toward more intensive Jewish education for an increasing number of children.” Consequently, they urge all congregations to restrict the Sunday School program to children aged five to seven, requiring thereafter that all children continue their Jewish education in weekday afternoon schools. Furthermore, they admit that “the dramatic increase of Jewish Day Schools indicates that they have met a deeply felt need for more intensive Jewish education by the community” (original italics). Stressing as they do that Jewish education should be organized on a com munity basis, they very logically throw out a direct challenge to the federation leaders. “Upon the readiness of federations to enter more actively into the area of Jewish education will depend in no small measure the progress to be made in creating cooperative community efforts for improving Jewish schools. Thus far, however, the help given by federations and councils has not kept pace with developments in Jewish education.” In this recommendation, Dushkin and Engelman echo earlier suggestions which have not been as yet put into real operation.* The attitude of the federations toward the yeshivoth is a bizarre one. In Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, Miami, and Minneapolis, they give nothing to the day schools (in Miami nothing at all to any Jewish school). Three of the six Chicago yeshivoth receive grants from welfare funds. The day schools of Los Angeles, Newark, and Philadelphia obtain federation subsidies for the Jewish subjects only, while the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland, the only case of its

*See, for example, Abraham P. Gannes, “ Central Community Agencies for Jewish Education” (P hila delphia: T he Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning, 1954) p. 163.

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kind in a metropolitan community, was given in 1957 a subsidy of $74,000 for the Jewish and secular programs.* The bugaboos of the peril to the public schools, parochialism, and segre gation, still continue to haunt the high priests of philanthropic allocation in such communities as Philadelphia and Newark. The depths of ignorance were reached several years ago by a top leader in Newark and vicinity when he said that “the all-day school program, in my opinion, is a reversion to the European pattern and is not indigenous to America.”** While the New York Federation gives no direct allocation to the day schools, the Jewish Education Committee, which is a Federation beneficiary, has in recent years given annual incentive grants of from $300 to $3,000 to no less than 65 yeshivoth, all but a few of the grants being of the smaller amounts. The avail ability of “limited funds” for “the large number of schools” is mentioned as the reason. Just how much support a full-time, double-branched Jewish educational institution can derive from a mere $300 or even $3,000 a year is left to the reader’s imagination. I t would be ridiculous if it were not tragic. The grants form a minute fraction of the budget of these schools, yet constitute a wedge whereby a “non-denominational” educational agency gains entree to the key area of orthodox chinuch.

The Criterion of Quality S a general rule, Dushkin and Engelman, notwithstanding their recognition of the role of the yeshivah in the American Jewish educational scene, A offer scanty facts about this type of school. The writer has already demon

strated the fallacy of using unweighted figures to compare school attendance. There can be no question that the pupil-hour product method is more objective and correct in determining the quantitative status of yeshivah instruction in America with relation to the other types of schools. But what about quality? Let the authors present their evidence. They cite the results of objective achievement tests, constructed and administered by the American Association for Jewish Education and the Jewish Education Com mittee. With regard to the test in the Hebrew language, in the day schools “the achievement is not only very much higher than in the Afternoon schools (the average 9-year-old in Day schools does much better than the average 13-yearold in Afternoon schools), but a lso . . . the achievement progress [proceeds] more regularly.” On the Jewish history test, “the pupils in the Day schools score better than all the others in this subject practically in all grades, as they did also in the Hebrew fundamentals test.” On the third test, which dealt with Jewish holidays and customs, the day schools once more “stand out; their 9year-olds score better than the 13-year-olds in any of the other school types.” There was no test available for Chumosh that was validated to yield results on *“T he Organization and Control o f Jewish Education,” Report No. 4, R eports on Jewish Communal D evelopm ents (N ew York: Library of Jewish Information, American Jewish Committee, 1959) pp. 30, 32. **Ibid., p. 31.

December, 1959

a national scale. None seems necessary in the light of the Chumosh program in the yeshivoth and also in the light of the results already obtained on the other tests. Hameyvin Yovin. With reference to comparative knowledge and understanding of Talmud on the part of yeshivah pupils in comparison with Talmud Torah pupils or any others, the situation is lo kol she-ken. HE DAY SCHOOL is obviously the superior form of Jewish education, both qualitatively and quantitatively.1Why, then, do the authors seem to insist on discussing the yeshivoth with a negativistic attitude? For example, they say that “the impetus for the growth” of the Day School “came from the Orthodox groups, but it has also been felt in the Conservative and in the Yiddishist groups.” ,“Impetus”-*f^forsooth! This is the understatement of the year, if not of the decade. Even a cursory review of the history of the Day School movement discloses that, until recent years, it was an almost exclusively ortho dox phenomenon. As a matter of actual fact, the authors’ Table XIX shows that 95.1 per cent of day school enrollment outside New York is orthodox and 96.8 per cent of day school attendance in Greater New York is similarly ortho dox. Moreover, the authors admit that the five-fold growth of yeshivoth in the country and the twelvefold growth in New York City during the past fifty years or more constitute proof that this school “is evidently one important agency for greater intensification in American Jewish education.” This is at best a grudging admission. More properly, in view of the ample evidence in their own report regarding the Sunday School and the Talmud Torah, they should have said that the yeshivah is the “important agency” for an intensified Jewish education in America. Another statement might be cited in connection with the authors’ approach to the Yeshivah movement. They remark that “the growth of Day Schools was evidently part of the general urge for more Jewish education.” This is only part of the story. What Doctors Dushkin and Engelman overlook are the deeper roots of the movement which lie in the desire to perpetuate the chain of the timeless Torah tradition in the United States. The report recommends that parent-teacher activities be expanded and that a National Association of Jewish Parents be formed. The authors are evi dently unaware of the existence of the decade-old National Association of Hebrew Day School P.T.A.’s. The Yeshivah movement has realized the import ance of a nationwide parental organization, for which it might be given due credit. Homage is paid to such advocates of community-centered Jewish educa tion as Judah L. Magnes, Samson Benderly, Israel Friedlander, and Mordecai M. Kaplan. N o mention is made of the pioneers in the Yeshivah movement, such as Julius J. Dukas and Rabbi Feivel Mendelowitz.

examples might be given to support the thesis that the survey report M ORE of the American Association for Jewish Education does not do justice to the yeshivah, which the document itself shows to be the most dynamic, thor ough, and promising school in American Jewish education. The authors are hardly fair when they dismiss the Yeshivah movement with the statement that “the Hebrew Day School, valuable as it may be, can reach but a fraction of 42

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our children. . . ” If the yeshivah is indeed a valuable institution, then the report should have demanded strong support for it by the federation authorities. This should have been a major conclusion of the study, all the more so because it points out that in New York City, the per pupil-hour-year cost was $0.23 for the yeshivoth, $0.39 for the Sunday Schools, and $0.45-$0.49 for the afternoon schools. Even from the standpoint of business pure and simple, the Jewish com munity gets a higher value from the yeshivah than from any other school, not withstanding the niggardly support. The point might have been made by the survey that Jewish cultural and educational organizations ought to exercise pressure on the federations for the satisfactory support of the day schools because their future membership can hardly be expected from one-day-a-week and three-day-a-week schools. The writer does not wish to imply that the Dushkin-Engelman report ignores the need for federation funds for yeshivoth. In point of fact the Jewish educators do recommend that the federations allocate such funds. However, they attach strings which are derived from their subjective pedagogic predispositions when they insist “that subventions and scholarships be given via the central educational agency only to those Day Schools which meet, or are ready to meet, objective educational standards of modern schooling, and give adequate attention to the general education of their pupils’” Just what seems to be in the authors’ minds may be inferred from what they state in the paragraph prior to this quotation: “, . . there are also some very poor schools, when measured by modern educational standards; in these, usually Talmudic studies taught in the old ways, form the bulk of the curriculum, with a minimum of general education” (italics in the original). There can be noticed here opinion, rather than objectivity; a preference for “new” methods over the old; an unwillingness to emphasize the Talmud; an ingrained fear concerning the perpetuation of the secular studies. To this winter, the specification of the inadequacy of “a minimum of general educa tion” betrays the authors’ desire to control the content of the secular learning in the yeshivoth, something which is by law the proper province of the state departments of education, and to influence the content of the religious studies.

Implications HERE seems to be a plentitude of proof that this study of American Jewish education is prejudiced against the orthodox Jewish Day School movement, in spite of the fact that it does refer infrequently to its value, accomplishments, and contributions. On the whole, it is useful in offering information about the Jewish schooling of American Jewish children. No doubt, it will “serve as a valuable historic and sociological record of aspects of American Jewish education in the middle of the twentieth century.” It is a matter of profound regret that it is not a historic record of the most valuable aspect of contemporary Jewish education in the United States— the orthodox Jewish Day School movement.

December, 1959

There are a number of implications in this study for the future of Torah education in this country. It is obvious that the American Association for Jewish Education, the sponsor of this study and the coordinating body of the community educational bureaus outside of New York City, neither under stands fully nor appreciates sufficiently the yeshivoth. It should be clear, to this writer at least, that the bureaus and the AAJE, as presently constituted, do not form the proper framework within which the yeshivoth can operate. It is very much open to question whether, even were these bureaus differently orientated, schools dedicated to Torah Judaism should enter their embrace. Chinuch is integral to Judaism, not an associated “department”. The question of affiliation of orthodox schools— individually or collectively— with “non-denominational” or “inter-denominational” Jewish education bu reaus is no different in principle from the question of affiliation of orthodox institutions with non-orthodox religious institutions in any other area of internal religious life. This, of course, is not to be confused with the entirely different principle applying to cooperation between orthodox and non orthodox or “non-denominational” groups in matters of external relations of the Jewish community. Can orthodox Jewry give sanction to the concept of co-equal “wings of Judaism” by uniting orthodox with non-orthodox schools in a necessarily non-orthodox education bureau? Such a policy is advocated by some as essential if orthodox schools are to gain critically needed material support and technical guidance; others feel that this remedy would be more fatal than the disease. The device of an “orthodox department” of the non-orthodox education bureau which has been introduced in some com munities, ingenious though it is, fails to resolve the basic issue. However the ultimate principle may be resolved, as matters stand at present there is clear danger for orthodox schools— whether Day Schools or afternoon Hebrew Schools— in yielding to the demand to join the bureau of Jewish education in its community as the price of obtaining federation support. There is not the slightest moral basis for such a demand, nor is it “irresistible.” It is far more preferable, and fully practicable, for the yeshivoth and afternoon schools in a community or district to form their own bureau for mutual aid and service. And so organized, to demand their rightful share of allocations from the funds collected by the federation from all elements of the Jewish community. In striking contrast to the New York City scene, with its vast orthodox populace, the traditional Jewish community in Chicago, with its own independent education bureau receiving direct alloca tions from the local federation, stands as an example of the method which is advocated here. The traditional communities of several other cities have similarly developed their own successful education agencies and present indications are that this trend may become prevalent. S THE federation the only recourse for the financial support of the day schools? It represents, of course, a potentiality. If the federation leaders do not recognize the need for allocating funds to the yeshivoth, then it would seem advisable that moral and philanthropic pressure would be in order. Educators and lay leaders in the Yeshivah movement might explore the

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I i

possibility of applying, under certain conditions, for grants to the large educational foundations. During the past decade there have been frequent controversial discussions concerning the question of public aid to non-public religious schools. This is a complicated issue on which considerable heat has been expended. The strict constructionists of the doctrine of constitutional separation of church and state in educational matters have the final answer. These machmirim virtually always disregard the facts of American historical development in culture and education. They are unaware of the subsidies bestowed upon Christian and Jewish parochial schools during 1796-1821 and 1868-1871 by the State of New York.* The question of state or federal subventions for part of the work, at least, of full-time religious schools whose programs also comprise the subject matter offered by the public schools has not been settled once and for all. There exists a possibility of some aid from public sources. *

N THIS essay the writer has attempted to evaluate, on a foundation of historical and contemporary fact, the status of the various types of Jewish schools in the United States. There appears little reason to have much faith in the Sunday School, the Yiddishist School, and the Talmud Torah as guarantors of Jewish well-schooled generations in the future. The work of these schools should not be disparaged. Within the limitations of their nature and program, they have doubtless accomplished something of value for Jewish education in America. The Talmud Torah particularly will undoubtedly long be resorted to by a large part of the community and accordingly must be strengthened to the maximum. Some Jewish learning is better than none. Even a thin thread may bind an individual to his people. But this minimum cannot be satisfactory for the community which wishes to endure in the face of such conditions as indifference, ignorance, and assimilation. Only the Yeshivah can fulfill the task of carrying on the long chain of Torah tradition from the remote past into the time to come. But the day schools cannot, in and by themselves, perform their function properly unless they are aided by the community which is benefiting from the results of their work. It is the obligation of the American Jewish people to give the Yeshivah the means wherewith it can expand and deepen its program of infusing the content and spirit of Judaism into the children and youth of America. This is the only way by which the American Jewish community of today can ensure the existence of the American Jewish community of tomorrow.

*See Jeremiah J. Berman, “ T he Return to the Jewish Day School,” reprint from Conservative Judaism, Vol. V II, No. 2, January, 1951, pp. 2, 6.

December, 1959

Careers in Music By WALTER DUCKAT

EW CAREERS offer such artistic and financial rewards as well as crushing disappointments and poverty as music. It is a career of strange con trasts. There are a few popular, yet unmusical singers who gross a half million dollars a year while other gifted and dedicated musicians are un known and barely eke out a living. It is this uncertainty which may dis courage many qualified persons from selecting music as a career. Neverthe less, there are many opportunities for personal fulfillment as well as for earn ing a reasonably good income in music — even for those who do not possess virtuoso talents. As a people, Jews have been closely identified with music through the ages. From the earliest times music played an important role in Jewish life. In Biblical times choral music was ren dered in the Temple by Levites accom panied by instrumental music. The many references to music in the Bible attest to its widespread use. Children danced in the streets and young people played various percus sion instruments and the kinor (small harp). Music was even played at meals. Dancing accompanied by music was also common on religious occasions. “David danced before the Lord,” on recovering the Ark from the Philistines as did Yiftach when he vanquished his adversary.

On Succoth much dancing occurred at the ceremony of the Water Libation and melodies accompanied the dances. In Biblical times music was also played at weddings and at funerals, on the coronation of a king and at the home coming of a victorious warrior. The Book of Tehillim contains the names of many ancient musical instruments — wind, percussion, and string. on Jewish music 1 declare that it has exercised a pro found influence on the course of Western music. They assert that the structure of Hebrew poetry influenced the antiphonal principle of music used in early Christian song and later in choral style of the 16th century Ve netian School. The latter indirectly in fluenced the development of the mod ern orchestra. Also, the principle of modern tonality is believed to derive from Hebrew synagogal chanting. Many of the melodies of the Gregorian chant which influenced the course of musical history are based on ancient melodies. Thus, Jewish music influ enced the development of the entire Christian liturgy. After the destruction of the Second Temple, as a sign of mourning playing on instruments was restricted to wed dings, to the consecration of a syna gogue, or of a Sefer Torah. Never theless, in the Middle Ages there arose u t h o r it ie s

JEWISH LIFE

a group of musicians known as klezmorim who played at both Jewish and non-Jewish dances and celebrations. Because the Jewish musicians were more popular than the non-Jewish artists and an economic threat, the latter contrived to have their Jewish competitors banned from playing even at Jewish functions. Jewish musical genius, however, could not be thwarted. A survey of Jews represented in music reveals that there is scarcely a phase in which Jews or persons of Jewish extraction are not prominent. Among composers of seri ous music were Jacques Offenbach, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Halevi, Mendel sohn, Dukas, Saint Saens, Mahler, Schoenberg, Milhaud, Ravel, Bloch, and many others. Leading composers of music for the theater and popular song writers in clude many Jews. Similarly, the con ductors of our leading orchestras, out standing violinists, pianists, cellists, and other instrumentalists are Jews. EVERTHELESS, some Torah-true Jews are hesitant about pursuing music as a career. It is true that in some of its phases music may conflict with religious observance. For exam ple, for orchestra players, opera sing ers, and for many phases of concertising it would be very difficult to ob serve Shabboth and Yom Tov. Never theless, there are a substantial number of other music specialties which an observant Jew might pursue without incurring severe economic penalties. And, we will deal with them. While an observant Jew would find it extremely difficult to function as a member of a professional symphony orchestra without violating Shabboth, this would not be true if he became a music therapist. This growing occupa-

December, 1959

tion offers many opportunities for the qualified. From the earliest times music was employed to release tensions. The classic Biblical example was David who played for King Saul when the latter became depressed. It is only in the last decade, however, that music therapy has developed as a profession. This vocation involves musical ac tivities prescribed by a physician or mental health specialist for patients who may be physically or emotionally ill or both. While more extensively used in mental institutions, music therapy is also employed increasingly in treating physical ailments. Fatigue, boredom, discouragement also may be allayed by appropriate music. Music therapists are expected to possess above-average intelligence, good health, emotional stability, pa tience, tact, and a strong desire to help others. They should be able to play the piano, transpose, improvise, play by ear, accompany, and possess some knowledge of a variety of instruments. Also desirable are the ability to ar range music for choral groups and for many instruments. Professional training in this field includes a minimum of a B.A. degree or its equivalent plus a minimum of six months of resident internship in an approved neuro-psychiatric institution. There are a wide variety of openings for male and female music therapists in state, city and private hospitals, with those in mental hospitals predominat ing. Salaries start at $4,000 a year. HE GREATEST number of jobs in music is in teaching. There are about 60,000 teachers and more than 200 accredited collegiate schools of music. Good teachers are always in demand and command fees ranging from $10 to $50 an hour. The demand

for music teachers is so great that a recent issue of the Music Educators Journal, official magazine of the Music Educators National Conference, re ported that college, university, and other teacher placement agencies are finding it impossible to fill current va cancies— a situation which is expected to continue far into the future. It is a common myth that most music teachers are frustrated artists who are unable to earn a living as per formers and are thus forced to teach. While this is sometimes true, usually

it is not. Some gifted artists are poor teachers and many inspiring teach ers, while competent instrumentalists, would not qualify as concert artists. Nevertheless, teachers generally recog nize that their best abilities reside in teaching. Traits that are most important for a teacher are his personality, scholar ship, sympathy, and patience. Not only is the quality of his student’s perform 48

ance important in evaluating his worth, but how deep and enduring is the en thusiasm and application which he in spires. There are a substantial number of teachers of music appreciation. Here too, it is not their profound scholar ship which counts, but the amount of interest which their talks generate. Similarly, many choral directors and bandsmen have endeared themselves to many groups by dint of their per sonality rather than their musical gifts. OST JOBS in full-time teaching are in the public and private M schools. The ideal music teacher pos sesses the ability to teach privately or in a group on one or more instruments. He may teach voice or conduct choral or instrumental combination, as well as composed and arrange music for spe cial occasions. His income depends on his education, reputation, location, and duties. It may range from about $3,000 to $15,000 a year in universities— with a few earning more. Teachers of music in elementary and high schools are required to pos sess a B.A. or B.S. degree and a knowl edge of teaching. Teachers at colleges and conservatories are often perform ing artists and give occasional concerts. Most colleges and universities operate placement bureaus, or applicants may use the services of teacher placement agencies. While some small, rural communities have been known not to hire Jewish teachers, this is not considered a seri ous problem for the well qualified person. The faculties of some of the leading music schools contain a sig nificant number of Jews. And certainly, in the larger metropolitan areas re ligious prejudice against hiring Jews is insignificant. Among the advantages of teaching JEWISH LIFE

in high school or college is the leisure it provides to concertize, compose, practice, do research, and other re lated activities. Aspirants for college teaching posts would be wise to acquire at least an M.A. degree in music unless they are well known instrumentalists or composers. The largest group of music teachers comprises those who teach privately; their main instruments are the piano, the trumpet, and drums. One appealing aspect to the music teacher who is a homemaker is that she may teach dur ing her leisure hours. talented musicians aspire to MANY become concert artists. What are their prospects? According to Abram Chasins and Sigmund Spaeth, two ex perts, the likelihood is near zero. They and others assert that many superla tively gifted musicians never achieve success and the few that have can thank a lucky break. The blame for this is thrust upon the shoulders of a few managers who exercise a virtual mo nopoly on the best “outlets” or concert halls and audiences in the country. These men prefer to deal only with established “sure-fire” box office names rather than to build up unknown art ists, which is time-consuming and ex pensive since the unknowns do not draw crowds. As a result, thousands of hopefuls slave away for years, earning little while they prepare for their debut in one of the New York concert halls. Depending on the fame and size of the hall and the date it is hired, they may spend from $600 to $2,500 on their debut. Few will receive more than a few lines notice, mostly negative. The rare few who win favorable reviews from probably the country’s toughest critics are momentarily elated but rarely does this lead to success. Since December, 1959

most young artists are unable to sell more than a few tickets, the house is usually “papered”— filled with holders of complimentary tickets so as to con stitute an audience for the critics. The major musical management firms are Columbia Artists Manage ment and the National Artists Corpo ration— both of New York City. If a young artist can obtain bookings from either of these groups he is most for tunate. considerable number of excellent artists decide to become accom panists to other artists, such as singers or violinists. Accompanying is a spe cialty for which even a virtuoso may be unsuited. A first-rate accompanist possesses the same technical equip ment as a solo pianist and is often a better musician. He usually knows how to read any music at sight and how to transpose immediately. He senses and accommodates himself to every change in the artist he is ac companying. Accompanists also work in studios of singing and dancing teachers and as staff accompanists of radio and TV stations. Some also teach. Fees for ac companying an artist range from $10 to $150 a performance. Vocalists with serious musical int erest will usually find concert and op era singing almost impossible to enter. In addition, Shomrey Shabboth would probably suffer. The one former can tor who has become renowned as an opera star accepts secular engagements on the Sabbath. One avenue open for good singers who wish to remain observant Jews is in chazonuth. Several of the “star’’ chazonim are reputed to average well over $25,000 a year from their combined liturgical concertizing and recording activities. Most American-

trained cantors, however, earn much less. Their usual range is from $6,000 to $10,000 a year. But aside from their income, many may derive satisfaction from serving as an important religious functionary who promotes the religious and aesthetic life of his congregation. The outlook for qualified cantors is considered good because of the con tinued growth of congregations and increased synagogue membership. There are also some opportunities for Jewish musical consultants in bu reaus of Jewish education and Jewish Centers as well as for choir leaders. Their salaries range up to about $10,000 a year. A number of young boys and men who possess good voices supplement their income by singing in choirs for holidays, Sabbaths, and weddings. Their income for the holi days may range from $50 to several hundred dollars. HOSE who aspire to earn a living by composing music may spare themselves the pain. It is virtually im possible for a serious composer to earn a living by composing alone. Almost all of the best known composers man age to survive by teaching, conducting, playing, editing, and arranging. A few composers of film background music earn from about $500 to $2,500 a week— while they work. Thousands of persons who can as semble rhymes and put them to music hope to win fame and fortune by sell ing a popular song. Here too, the out look is virtually hopeless for the un known. Most publishers who receive manuscripts from unknown persons return them unopened. Even the com positions of many established names are rejected or prove to be duds. Con sequently, publishers refuse to take a chance with unknown names. Nevertheless, many “song sharks”

or bogus experts mulct the innocents by promising to help them sell their songs to publishers. Some of these cul prits have been jailed but others con tinue in this lucrative racket. Another job almost impossible to obtain is that of music critic. Aside from the formidable obstacle of being expected to cover performances on Shabboth and Yom Tov, openings are rare and usually go to persons of wide experience. More optimistic, however, is the outlook for music librarians who em ploy their knowledge of library science to file and index musical documents and recordings in school or public li braries. Others are employed by large orchestras to file scores and arrange ments and to help to select music ap propriate for any event. Their salaries usually parallel that of public school teachers. Arrangers, who are also called adapters or transcribers, arrange mel odies to fit the style of a particular orchestra or may rewrite music written for one instrument for use by one or more other instruments. Their work is important for radio and TV pro grams, motion pictures, publishing houses and recording companies. Well known arrangers earn good incomes. Good opportunities also exist for competent piano tuners and repairmen. There are courses lasting about a year which would equip a person to become a piano tuner and repairman. He may work for schools, dealers, or factories, or be self-employed. Many earn in comes ranging from $4,000 to about $9,000 a year. Frequently they may supplement their incomes by apprais ing, buying, and selling pianos. Little capital need be invested and hours can be arranged so as not . to collide with religious observance. No college educaJEWISH LIFE

tion is necessary nor need one know how to play an instrument. It is essen tial, however, that one possess good hearing and dexterity. HE AFOREGOING is not an ex haustive account of the musical scene but a summary of the fields most appropriate to the Torah-true Jew. Since music is such an essential part of artistic and human expression, it is de plorable that more encouragement and financial support is not provided for the

development of Jewish religious and folk music and Jewish musicians of all sorts. Undoubtedly, it would enhance Jewish self-consciousness and creativ ity. Some of our people who are music ally inclined may find a satisfying ca reer in music. The emotional satisfac tion, the reasonably good income, and the important role which music plays in many people’s lives may be persua sive factors.

A R ab b i a c c e p te d the position of sp iritu al le a d e r of the city of Metz. His first official a c t w a s to w rite the Ten C om m andm ents in the com m unal record. W hen a sk ed w hy he did this, he ex p la in e d th a t he h a d le a rn e d from experien ce th a t the w ords in scrib ed in the com m unal record w ere o b e y e d m uch m ore strictly th a n the w ords w ritten in the Torah.

The B erditchever R ebbe w a s accustom ed to inviting ordinary, ig n o ra n t p eo p le to his S uccah. W hen a sk ed w hy, he replied: "The time will come w h en I will ap p ro ach the S u ccah m ad e out of the le v ia th a n 's skin, a n d w a n t to enter. But w hy should I, w ho am a n ordinary, ig n o ran t in d iv id u al in com parison w ith all the pious ones w ho sit there, b e giv en perm ission to sit w ith them ? Then I will h av e a justifiable excuse: w hile I w a s alive, I, too, e n tertain e d su ch p eo p le in m y S uccah."

December, 1959

Yoseph Karo By MEYER WAXMAN

S IS well known, all great men tion by the coming of the Messiah, for . whose work and personality ex throughout Jewish tradition it was as A erted much influence on their genera serted and believed that Chevley Motion, and indirectly on the succeeding generations, were themselves, to a large degree, the product of the spir itual climate of their era. It formed the substratum of their personality and served as a factor in molding its char acter and drawing out its potential ability into complete reality. It is un necessary therefore to say that the time in which Yoseph Karo (1488-1575), the author of the Shulchon Oruch, lived and acted, exerted a similar in fluence on him and impressed both his life and his activity. In a way, we can say that the effect of the time on Karo was greater than is usually the case with other great men, for the period constitutes a landmark in Jewish his tory. It saw the existence of a great Jewish center, that of Spain, terminat ed by the expulsion of the Jews in 1492, a center the existence of which for eight centuries is designated as the Golden Age in Jewish history because of the brilliance of the literary crea tions of the men who lived in it. This end was followed by the great suffer ing of hundreds of thousands of exiles who were scattered in many lands, and who tried to adjust themselves to new and different environments. On the other hand, this very suffer ing aroused in the hearts of many exiles the ancient hope for redemp 52

shiach (great suffering) must precede the coming of the Messiah. We have noted* the awakening of such hope in the Messianic works of Don Isaac Abrabanel. It was intensified by the appearance in Europe of two excep tional personalities, David Reubeni (d. 1541) and Solomon Molcho (1500-1532). Reubeni posed as ambassador of his brother, the king of several Jewish tribes in Arabia, who came to solicit the help of Christian governments in carrying on a war against the Mos lems. He succeeded for a time to in fluence the Pope and even the king of Portugal. Molcho, a young gifted Marrano, a favorite in the court of the Portuguese king, charmed by Reubeni, embraced Judaism, delved into the study of the Kabbolah, joined Reubeni in his endeavors, and began to preach the near arrival of the Messiah. He even fixed its date as the year 1540. The prophecy, of course, was not ful filled, and the messengers of the Mes siah suffered a bitter end. Molcho was burned at the stake at Mantua in 1532, and Reubeni was imprisoned in Spain, and died there probably in 1541. How ever, the hopes for redemption and the arrival of the Messiah were not less* See “ Don Isaac Abrabanel,” J ewish L ife , J u n e/ Sivan.

JEWISH LIFE

ened, and even gave rise at the begin ning of the seventeenth century to a powerful Messianic movement which likewise ended tragically, namely that of Shabbethai Tzvi.

key’s European possessions, which at that time embraced all Greece and most of the Balkan lands, and also in cities in Asia Minor and in other provinces.

O N C O M M IT A N T w ith th ese events, two other important de velopments, one spiritual and the other socio-economic, took place in this period. The first was an intensive in terest in the study of Kabbolah, which had become prevalent in Spain a cen tury before the expulsion, and reached its height at this time. There were few leading scholars among the exiles who were not immersed in study of Kab bolah. The very increase of suffering also intensified the interest in that study and the hopes for redemption, for the mysticism of the Kabbolah of fered many a hint for the calculation of the ketz, i.e. the end of the Goluth and the arrival of Moshiach, and its study was even considered a means for hastening this end. The second development was the es tablishment of new centers by the exiles. As Europe, with few excep tions, was practically barred for the immigrants, the streams of migration flowed to Moslem lands, North A f rican countries, and primarily the lands embraced in the Turkish Em pire, whose rulers were at the time liberally minded and welcomed the settlement of Jews. In fact, the Turkish Empire drew a considerable number of Jewish immi grants from Spain even before the ex pulsion because of many local persecu tions which became frequent following the year 1391 when many massacres took place. But after the expulsion, the migration increased to such propor tions that within several decades large Jewish communities were established in almost every important city in Tur-

HERE WAS one land, which though small and with little to offer in economic possibilities, yet had magnetic power to draw to itself a large number of immigrants. This was Eretz Yisroel, Palestine. This was the very land of their hopes to which they expected to return with power and -might. They did not wait for the mirac ulous return, but settled in it immedi ately, believing that this would hasten the arrival of the Messiah. Do not many statements in the Midrosh say that Moshiach will reveal himself first in Eretz Yisroel? The very settlement of Jews there will then hasten his ar rival. It did not take long before a number of cities, especially Jerusalem and Safed, were overflowing with new settlers, who came from the new com munities in Turkey, from European countries, and even from distant Po land. Scholars as well as pious laymen left their places of birth and went to Eretz Yisroel. Safed, because of its nearness to Meron, where Simon bar Y ochaipthe reputed author of the Zohar, the fountainhead of the Kabbo lah, is buried, became the largest of the new settlements. All who were students or followers of the Kabbolah wanted to be near that grave in order to draw inspiration by visiting it and perhaps to learn the secret of how to hasten the redemption. In fact, as we will see, attempts were made for such hastening. Safed thus became the great center in the world both of Jewish mysticism and Jewish learning— al most all scholars were also Kabbalists — and it therefore competed with the holiness of Jerusalem, Diaspora com-

December, 1959

munities, many of which raised funds for the maintenance of the scholars and pious men of Eretz Yisroel, ap portioned a fair share for those who lived in Safed. There is still one more important event which was called forth by the character of this period. The scattering of the Spanish Jews in many countries and the situations they had to meet and adjust themselves to brought about confusion in maintaining unified re ligious practice. Old ways prevalent in certain regions were either forgotten or did not suit the new conditions. There were numerous codes of re ligious practice but not one accepted by all, and a great need was therefore felt for such a work. The need was ul timately filled by the very man who is the subject of this essay, and the short survey of the period presented here will help us to understand certain events in the life of Karo, his excep tional personality, why he undertook the great task, and how he carried it out successfully. OSEPH KARO was born to his father, Ephraim, in the year 1488. Y The exact place of his birth, whether Spain or Portugal, is not definitely known. But we do know that when the king who first gave refuge to a number of Spanish Jews changed his mind in the year 1496 and drove out all the Jews, Ephraim Karo and his family were among the exiles. Yoseph was then eight years old. The family wandered for a time from country to country, and finally settled in Nicopolis, Bulgaria, then a Turkish city. There he was instructed by his father in Bible, Talmud, and codes. Ade quately provided with his father’s in struction, Yoseph had no other teach ers. Although Ephraim Karo never held a rabbinical position, he was a 54

great scholar, as is evident from the fact that Karo quotes his father’s opinion on Halachic decisions in his famous commentary, Beth Yoseph, on the Tur (the code of Yaakov ben Asher). It also seems that he had de voted himself from early youth to the study of the Mishnah. This he con tinued to study every day all his life, though he knew it by heart when he was very young, for he claimed that the spirit which revealed to him all secrets was the spirit of the Mishnah (see below). He likewise became in terested in code fixation as is evident from his large commentaries on the codes of Maimonides and the Tur. It is not definitely known how many years Yoseph Karo spent in Nicopolis, nor how long he occupied the rabbin ical position there. We only know that he left it in 1520 at the age of thirtytwo. We also know that he was not pleased with the attitude of the lead ers of the community towards him, and especially with that of the older rabbi there. The situation did not improve even after that rabbi’s death. Karo also suffered poverty during his stay in Nicopolis. He always signs his responsa and letters written in Nicopolis with the words, “The disturbed and dispirited,” (torud v’aluv). His guid ing spirit tells him to leave Nicopolis, for its people are uncharitable, nor do they love learning. In that city he mar ried the daughter of Rabbi Chayim Ibn Albalag, a famous scholar, but she died without issue within a few years. N the year 1520 Karo left Nicopolis, stayed for some time in Salonica, and then accepted a rabbinical posi tion in Adrianople. There his star be gan to rise; the academy which he established was frequently visited by well known scholars as well as Kabbalists. One of them was Sh’lomoh Alka-

JEWISH LIFE

betz, the author of the famous song, Lechah Dodi, recited by Jews all over the world on Friday night. There Karo remarried, and his wife bore him a son whom he named Sh’lomoh. There he also began his great work, Beth Yo seph, the large commentary on the Tur on which he worked for twenty years. In Adrianople Karo’s Kabbalistic and mystical inclination received great impetus through his meeting with Solomon Molcho, who visited that city in the year 1529. So great was Molcho’s influence on Karo that later, after he heard of the martyrdom of Molcho in 1532, he harbored in his heart two great desires for the fulfill ment of which he longed. The first was to undergo Kiddush Ha-shem, martyr dom for the sanctification of the Di vine Name, like Molcho, and the sec ond was to settle in Eretz Yisroel. This last wish was soon fulfilled, for in 1940 Joseph Karo came to Eretz Yisroel and settled in Safed. There several other wishes of his began to be fulfilled. Two years after he settled there, he completed his great work, Beth Yoseph, which when published twelve years later made a great im pression upon the scholarly world, and a number of scholars began to call him Maran (our master). Another honor was the conferring of the Semichah (ordination) upon him by Rabbi Jacob Berab (1477-1541), an honor which requires some explanation. As was mentioned above, not only was the hope for redemption strong in the hearts of Eretz Yisroel Jewry, and the arrival of the Messiah expected daily, but attempts were made to has ten his arrival. One of these attempts was to reinstate the ancient form of Semichah. This ordination, which em powers the receiver to pronounce all kinds of authoritative decisions and December, 1959

judgments, was in olden times con ferred by the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish court, in Eretz Yisroel. Later, due to circumstances, it was allowed even for one who received such or dination to ordain another, provided the chain of reception of such ordina tion reached that of the Sanhedrin. But when persecutions brought an end to the Sanhedrin, Semichah proper ceased to exist. The attempt to restore that institu tion was undertaken by Jacob Berab, one of the great scholars of the gen eration. Relying upon a statement by Rambam (Rabbi Moses Maimonides) in his Code which says that if the majority of scholars in Eretz Yisroel should decide to ordain dayonim (judges) and endow them with the power of Semichah, they are allowed to do so. Accordingly, Berab con vened the scholars of Safed who, due to their number, constituted the de sired majority, and issued the decision to reinstitute the Semichah. He also ordained four scholars, of whom Yo seph Karo was one. He and the others believed that re-establishment of Se michah would hasten the coming of the Messiah. Opposition arose and the in stitution was not reestablished, but Karo continued for a time to ordain several other scholars. The longer Yoseph Karo lived in Safed, the more his fame grew. He be came the rabbi of the community of Safed, and there also completed in the year 1555 the Shulchon Oruch which was destined, after additions, to be come the religious code of all Israel. There he also married a third wife, of whom the spirit told him before hand that she would bring him a rich dowry, and what is more, that she would give birth to a son. Both prom ises were fulfilled; the son, named 55

Yehudah, was born in the year 1572 when Karo was eighty-three years old. E HAVE previously referred to statements about the heavenly spirits which conversed with Karo. This remarkable phenomenon, which influenced Karo’s life and reflects many phases of his character, deserves special notice. Converse with angels or hearing a voice from heaven are re ferred to numerous times in the Tal mud, Midrosh, and mystical books,

but none as exceptional as this one. All others were casual ones, but this phenomenon lasted for over fifty years, as it seems to have begun before Yoseph Karo left Nicopolis, i.e., before 1520, and continued until 1572. What is more, the messages were written down by Karo in a diary giving dates and hours, called Magid Meshorim (One Who Tells What is Right), a title taken from Isaiah 45:19, hence the spirit is called Magid.

Contribution

ARO tried his hand in all branches of rabbinic literature; he wrote a commentary on the Mishnah, super commentaries on the commentaries of Rashi and Nachmanides, and even a treatise on the methodology of the Talmud, but his chief contribution lies in that of codification. His first work in this field was in the form of com mentaries on standard codes; even tually he proceeded to compose his own code. He began with a commen tary on the code of Maimonides en titled K esef Mishnah (double silver), a title borrowed from Bereshith 43:12, which tells of the double amount of silver returned by Joseph to his breth ren. Here it refers euphemistically to Maimonides’ code, the Mishneh To rah, which is gold, and to his own name Yoseph, whose commentary is like silver when compared to gold. Karo was a great admirer of Maimo nides and was grieved to note the criticism levelled against him because he offered no sources for his decision. He therefore undertook to supply the sources as well as to explain difficult

passages. He also constituted himself the champion of the Rambam against the numerous objections raised by Abraham ben David, known as Raabad, called Hasagoth (refutations), and carries out his task with great skill and learning. The Kesef Mishnah is considered one of the best commen taries on the code of Maimonides. He then turned to a still greater work, the Beth Yoseph (the commen tary on the Tur of Yaakov ben Asher) on which Yoseph Karo spent twenty years in preparation and five years in revision. Though nominally a com mentary, it is in reality a great work in itself. Karo’s purpose was, as he says in the introduction, to supply for every legal decision in the Tur its basis in Mishnah or any other Talmudic source, and to determine whether each decision is unanimous, or there are several views on the matter, and if the Tur followed one opinion, the reason for the preference. Similarly, when the Tur quotes several codifiers, he points to the sources of such views in the Talmud. If the view of any authority JEWISH LIFE

is left out, he supplies it. In short, says Karo, he intended to collect the views of all authorities beginning with the Mishnah and Gemorah and up to his own time. He succeeded in that, but it can hardly be considered a commen tary on the Tur. Nor did Karo always follow the Tur in his decisions but deviated in many of them. He also laid down rules for a decision between the numerous views of codifiers. He says that since the three great men, Alfasi, Maimonides, and the Rosh (Asher ben Yechiel) were considered through the ages the very pillars upon which scholars have relied in their decisions, he decided that when two of these men agree on a decision, it is to be followed unless a majority of codifiers oppose them. Yoseph Karo thus completed the Tur, and were he not to compose his own code, the Shulchon Oruch, the Tur would have become the accepted code. HE Beth Yoseph was a great work, and it certainly helped scholars and rabbis to select the proper decision of the law. The author, though, felt that its use would be limited to scholars, and that even they would find it diffi cult to arrive at a decision without much study, due to the numerous views and opinions quoted in the Beth Y o seph. In addition, he was also urged by the frequent promises of the “Magid”' that his teaching and his books would be spread and accepted by all. Karo therefore decided to prepare a code which would help to fulfill, in a great measure, these promises. He states its purpose in his introduction to the work:

“I felt that it is best to select from my work, the Beth Yoseph, the jewelled statements, i.e., its deci sions, and write them in clear lan guage in order that the Torah of December, 1959

G-d may be known to all Israel. The scholars, when asked for a decision of the law, shall be able to offer it without hesitation. Even students will be able to read it and become versed in the law. I therefore called it Shulchon Oruch, for the spiritual and intellectual food which it con tains is well prepared, ready for nourishment.” From this statement it is clear that Karo aimed that his code should be used by scholars, students, and even laymen who have some learning— in short, by all Israel, as a guide in all forms of religious conduct. In order to facilitate study of the Shulchon Oruch and make it a part of the program of every one who devotes time to Jewish learning, he divided the work, in addition to its four major sec tions in which he followed the Tur, into smaller divisions of each section, making thirty altogether, correspond ing to the thirty days of the month. He asserted that such division would encourage all who were interested in the mastery of the law to cover the study of the code each month. The rule of decision he followed in this code is the one he laid down in the Beth Yoseph, namely, to follow primarily the views of Alfasi, Mai monides, and the Rosh, and if two of them agree, it is accepted against all other views unless they are opposed by a majority of codifiers. The great qualities of the Shulchon Oruch which in time helped in its acceptance by all Israel was the brevity of its decisions and its authoritative statements. This work does not say, as other codifiers say, “this decision is preferable”* or “it seems to me”, but states that it is to be done or followed in the form of a command. 57

ceived with great admiration, but also

OSEPH KARO’S hope that the Shulchon Oruch would be the code with a refusal to consider it the leading Y for all Israel was realized, though not code. There was a special reason for immediately and not in his lifetime. True, the masses f avored If to a degree, but among a number of scholars, es pecially in Eretz Yisroel where the great men of learning lived, there was marked opposition. Some said that it was a book proper only for young students and ordinary laymen, but not for schol ars. Others said that since Karo wrote it in his old age— he was near seventy at the time of its completion— it did not live up to the standard of his earlier work, Beth Yoseph, and that some of its decisions were not correct. How ever, it was not long before the Shul chon Oruch became the accepted code in all Sephardic communities in Asia, Egypt, and North Africa, and his name was always mentioned with the title, Maran, our master. The case was different in European countries, especially in Poland which was at the time the largest Jewish center and the home of great scholars. There the Shulchon Oruch was re

this refusal. The Karo code expressed primarily the views of the Sephardic scholars and only partly those of the Ashkenazic authorities. And, as we mentioned in the essay on the Tur, there was much distinction in views on a large number of religious mat ters, some of which arose from the conditions of life. The Polish scholars, belonging to the Ashkenazic group, hesitated to adopt the work of Karo as their code. They felt it needed com pletion. The completion came soon. It was undertaken by the great Polish scholar, Rabbi Moses Isserles (Ramah), a contemporary of Karo. With the addition of the glosses of Ramah, accepted as authoritative in the Ash kenazi world, the Shulchon Oruch be came truly the code of Israel, and Yo seph Karo, who laid its foundation and erected the largest part of its structure, remained during the generations the Maran, the master.

JEWISH LIFE

T H I S IS MY G - D HERMAN WOUK, famous novelist, play wright and orthodox Jew, turns his prize winning literary skill to an account of the Jewish people and their religion. In THIS IS MY G-D, he paints not only the broad sweep of Jewish history, the Faith and the Law that helped our people survive down to the turbulent Present, but also a highly candid personal state ment of faith. Under his pen, the rites and holy days of Judaism quicken to life as an exciting* colorful drama of personal living. The Torah and the Talmud, thousands of years old, come to link up with the main problems and dilemmas of the 20th

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Mixed Pews—Right or Wrong? One of the most controversial questions in contemporary Jewish life is whether men and women must sit separately or may sit together in the Synagogue. Unfortunately, most dis cussions were based on a total or partial ignorance of the basic literature on the matter.

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JEWISH LIFE

On The Jewish Record Living Jewish Music By ERIC OFFENBACHER

FEW weeks ago, a Reform clergy This controversy, requiring de man addressing a group con tailed examination, may become the A cerned with the promotion of con subject of a separate article, but for temporary Jewish music, said: “The survival of the Jewish people and its heritage depends to a large degree upon our ability to respond in Jewish terms to the spiritual, cultural, and artistic needs of our time.,, What he wished to signify by Jewish terms is, of course, open to conjecture, but the subsequent sample performances at the biennial meeting of the National Jewish Music Council showed very little promise in the direction of understanding or respect for this heritage. For the term “Jewish Music” has long been in need of a re-definition. It means so many things to many people. Is music Jewish simply because a composer of Jewish birth wrote it? Is it Jewish, regard less of the origin of the composer, as long as it deals with a Jewish sub ject or is written in the Jewish “idiom” (another expression to be further elucidated) ? Or, finally, can music only be called truly Jewish if it emanates from the synagogue li turgy, from folklore or Chassidic sources? DR. ERIC OFFENBACHER, a dentist by pro fession* has been a devotee of Jewish music for many years. He regularly conducts this department.

December, 1959

the present, suffice it to state em phatically that Torah-true Jews, mindful of an unbroken heritage that dates back to the service of the Levites in the Beth Hamikdosh, cannot conceive of musical expression that is not in some way inspired by prayer or takes as its cue a text culled from the T’nach. Conversely, just as our ancient liturgy will always remain “contemporary” for us and our chil dren, so will the melodies based on it be jubilantly sung by our young sters as a healthy enrichment of their spiritual diet. CASE in point is the recent emergence of a most satisfying phonograph record, entitled: uOd Yishoma—A Treasury of Chassidic Song.”* An enthusiastic band of young people illustrated on the jacket cover dances beneath a suggestive headline: “Living Jewish Music.” And, indeed, alive it is. As heard on

*Od Yishoma —A Treasury of Chassidic Song. T he Velvel Pasternak Chorus. Herbert Rothgarber, Arranger-Accompanist. G. Barr and J. Bauer, Soloists. Produced by B. & H. Stambler. One 33Hi r.p.m. Long Playing Record. Available from the Collectors Guild, 507 Fifth Avenue, New York 17, N. Y. Order No. CG L 593. List Price: $4.98.

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the disc, nineteen simple songs of Chassidic origin have been recorded which “have become so much a part of Jewish life that they are sung and enjoyed at the festivities and cere monial occasions of all groups and are taught in schools and camps the year round”. Although presented in a vivaciousness akin to the two re cordings made by the Modzitzer Chorus (J ewish Life, Kislev 5717 and Av 5718) and assisted by the same arranger-accompanist and pro ducer-director, the Velvel Pasternak Chorus possesses the advantage of presenting familiar tunes which every orthodox Jew will be exposed to at one time or another. Here are the Hallel excerpts “Y ’vorech as bes Yisroel” and “Kol rino vishuo,” “Haben Yakir li” and “Ko omar Hashem” from the Rosh Hashonah Musaph Service, the “Or Zorua” (which in some synagogues, in addition to its regular place in L ’chu n’ranenah of Friday evening, is also said before Kol N id re), a number of hearty wed ding songs, “Vay’hi Bishurun melech” and “Asher boro soson”, and many more. The over-all impression is that of a spontaneous and lifelike perform ance, with enthusiasm brim-full and running over at times, but held tor gether capably by the young Torontoborn choral conductor Velvel Paster nak who is making his record debut here. If the group continues in the same vein it will make many friends for itself. But a little self-examina tion may be in order. There is the problem of the proper accent in the pronunciation of the Hebrew words. Granted that many of the incongrui ties are conditioned by the musical outline of a piece, yet harsh offenses possibly could have been avoided. December, 1959

They are: hoorets (at the end of “B’ruchim atem Lashem”), the no torious kdnes (in “V’korev p’zurenu”), b’hisdsef (in “Vay’hi bishurun melech” ) ; also usher (in “Asher boro soson” ) and ernes (in “Ernes ato Hu rishon”) both of which get the downbeat, on the first syllable (the latter more than sixty tim es!). Other con ductors have mastered the hurdle, and since the songs are already in the “public domain”, we should take pride in accenting Hebrew correctly. NOTHER important aspect of a successful delivery is the har A mony achieved between the mood of a given text and its transposition to music. Most of the Chassidic songs done by the Pasternak Chorus answer this requirement, especially in the joyous numbers. As an exception we cite “Boruch Elokenu she’boronu lich’vodo”. This is an affirmative state ment lacking strength in the suppli cant rendition of the soloist. The musical arrangements for the differ ent voices of the chorus are simple, perhaps held to many unisons in order to facilitate assimilation of these songs by a young audience. At vari ance with this we note the lesser known “Chasde Hashem ki lo somnu” whose counterpoint writing has much musical merit, and the “Shiru Ionic mishire Tsiyon”, new to this reviewer, which reveals a beautiful lyrical melodic line. The wedding numbers come off best. Repetitions are fre quent, but nevertheless evoke the fa miliar scene of dancing around a Chothon held high aloft on a chair by his fellow Chassidim, f Some of the shrillness could be smoothened and the voices shaded. But the lack of refinement is out weighed by the infectious spirit of hithlahavuth dominating the record. 63

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The two soloists, B. Barr and J. Bauer, have agreeable voices. The piano accompaniment must be rated as unimaginative and is no particular feather in the cap of the otherwise gifted arranger of the music, Herbert Rothgarber. A special word ought to be said, however, about the unusually scientific and thorough preparation of the record jacket. On the back cover one finds not only full Hebrew texts, transliterations, and English transla tions in three columns, easily com parable side by side, but proper ac centuation of the transliterated text

with a key to symbols (Mr. Paster nak, please take note!), and what is more, a complete listing of the litur gical and Biblical sources for all the texts. Credit for all this researches due Mr. B. Stambler who, together with Mrs. Stambler, produced this record for a new recording company called Collectors Guild. This husband and wife team has been active for the past ten years in gathering, creating and recording Jewish music, the “living” kind, that is. Cantorial re leases by this same company will be reviewed in a future issue.

A R ussian m inister of the c a b in e t once ask e d a C hasidic R abb i how the T alm ud could b e b eliev ed , since it contains so m an y "e x a g g e ra tio n s". For in stan ce, he cited the ta le s of R a b b a h Bar Bar C h a n a , p a rticu larly the one w here a dy in g w h ale le a p e d ash o re a n d destro y ed sixty tow ns. The R ab b i a n sw e re d th a t this w a s not u n b eliev ab le. He rem in d ed the m inister th a t the C zar h a d recently b a n is h e d Jew ish fam ilies from tow ns n e a r the borders, a n d th a t this u k a se h a d ru in ed Six h u n d red Jew ish settle m ents. So, the R ab b i concluded, if a w riter w ould sa y th a t one drop of ink h a d drow ned six h u n d red com m u nities, this w ould seem to b e a n e x a g g e ra te d statem en t w hich could not b e e x p la in e d h u n d red s of y e a rs later!

December, 1959

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JEWISH LIFE

Letters to the Editor

ANNIVERSARY GREETINGS

THE MOGEN DOVID SYMBOL

New York, N. Y. May I extend a hearty Mazol Tov to you and your fine magazine on the “Bar Mitzvah” anniversary of its publica tion. As an avid reader of J ewish Life for nigh on ten years, it has been my pleasure to witness its phenomenal growth as a foremost exponent of Orthodoxy and Torah Judaism. If I may be permitted a homiletic an alogy : When a boy becomes Bar Mitz vah, he takes upon himself the 01 Maichuth Shomayim, and it is incumbent upon him to fulfill the commandments and precepts of Judaism. He then dedi cates himself to live a life of Torah. Jewish Life, however, did not tarry until its thirteenth birthday to mature in its religious thinking, to expound the word of Torah, and to inject the lifegiving serum of Orthodoxy into the hearts of its readers. From its incep tion, it bore the message of OZ Malchuth Shomayim to its readers and consecrated itself to the principles* of Orthodoxy. Throughout these thirteen years, in your various editorials, articles, and discussions, you have sought to interpret and perpetuate the tenets of the Torah. Accolades and orchids are due you and your staff for this noble endeavor. My warmest c6ngratulations for a job well done. I am confident that you will continue to strengthen the cause of Orthodoxy for many years to come. Rabbi Harry J. Nussenbaum

New York, N. Y. In this department of the Tishri issue, Mr. Leo Levi confesses that he “cannot see how a symbol (the Mogen Dovid) can serve as a . . . source of inspiration,” and also that in his syna gogue “there is not a single Mogen Dovid.” Fifteen years after the horrible European Jewish tragedy, when six million Jews went to death al kiddush Hashem wearing a yellow Mogen Dovid —I fail to see how any Jew can with stand being stirred to the depths of his heart at the sight of the Mogen Dovid, the symbol—in addition to its other deep meanings—of Jewish martyrdom in our own age. Rabbi Samuel Cohen treated his sub ject along the lines of Chochmath Yisroely and, I presume it was for this reason that he did not quote a chasidiccabalist work, Sefer Hamatamimf which gives the explanation and signi ficance of the Mogen Dovid. According to him the six points of the Mogen Do vid, being ends of three lines, point to the three dimensions of Jewish reli gion: maalah-matah (above-below, i.e. G-d-Man relationship); yamin-semol (right-left, or right-wrong, man-to man relationship); and panim-achor (ahead-behind, historical relationship of Jewish eternity, Netzaeh Yisroel) . This might be the meaning of the na’anuim, too. Mr. Levi ought to know, therefore, that the Mogen Dovid’s reli-

December, 1959

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gious significance can be proven on basis other than Karaitic usages . . . His preposterous statement about the Zionist Organization's declaration of independence and that the organiza tion accepted “under pressure even Eretz Yisroel instead of Uganda” was not worthy of being printed in your magazine. Surely you know that the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel bears the signature of religious leadership of the Holy Land —Zionist and non-Zionist. You also know that if pressure was brought to bear upon the Zionist Organization to refuse the British Government's Ugan da proposal, this pressure was brought to bear by Zionists like Weizman, Ussishkin and others, but certainly not by Mr. Levi or others who share his views. The King of Denmark and all his people proudly identified themselves with their Jewish compatriots by put ting on the yellow Mogen Dovid badge. It is a pity that there are synagogues which fail to display the Mogen Dovid —if for no other reason than identifica tion with six million kedoshim. Rabbi Eugene J. Duschinsky

JEWISH CAMPING

St. Louis, Mo. May we congratulate J ewish Life and Professor Solomon H. Green for the excellent article, “Some Views on Institutional Camping,'’ in the Tishri issue. The problem of Kashruth and observance of mitzvoth at Jewish social agency-sponsored camps has been thor oughly analyzed and should provoke a great deal of discussion. As Professor Green stated, “Social agencies with their sense of responsibility to the communities are becoming responsive to the expressed needs of the orthodox December, 1959

Jewish community . . . In addition social workers and social agency board members are developing new perspec tives on the Torah-committed Jews and a new respect for the value of his com mitments as the foundation of the meaningful endurance of the Jewish individual and the Jewish people.” It is most gratifying for us in St. Louis that the local J CCA is presently headed by an enlightened and competent profes sional staff who enjoy the full confi dence and cooperation of their lay lead ership. Since the institution of Kash ruth, Camp Hawthorn is serving the total Jewish community, and this past summer's registration has been the largest in its history. In addition to the service of provid ing yarmulkes, mentioned by Professor Green in his article, the Vaad Hoeir of St. Louis (United Orthodox Jewish Community) played a major role in raising the $8,000 necessary for the complete renovation and installation of new equipment as well as new utensils and dishes to make Kashruth observ ance possible. The ongoing Kashruth supervision was under the personal direction of Rabbi M. H. Eichenstein. The Beth Din of the Vaad Hoeir visited the camp periodically during the season. The Vaad Hoeir is deeply grateful to Henry L. Freund, chairman of ths Camp Hawthorn Board, Sam Negrin, Camp Director, Professor Sol Green, Program Director, and William Kahn, Executive Director JCCA, for the posi tive accomplishments at Camp Haw thorn. May our experience be an ex ample for other pioneering efforts in the area of camping which is a vital aspect o£,.s Jewish summer living throughout the CdUiitry. Ben Hoffman, President Hyman Flaks, Executive Secretary Vaad Hoeir of St. Louis 69

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JEWISH LIFE

ALL ARE SHOMRAI EMUNAH

Bronx, N. Y. I should like to correct a misappre hension which I unwittingly created in the article “ Genesis of a Washington Synagogue” (J ewish Life,. Tishri 5720).

While it is true that there is a larger than usual percentage of orthodox scientists in Congregation Shomrai Emunah, this in no way belittles the

tremeiidous enthusiasm, hard work, and significant contributions of the many members who are not scientists. Shomrai Emunah never was and is not now a synagogue created by and for scientists. It could never have come into existence, nor could it have at tained its present position in the com munity without the devotion and co operation of all its members regard less of vocation. Aaron D. Krumbein

STATEMENT REQUIRED BY THE ACT OF AUGUST 24, 1912, AS AMENDED BY THE ACTS OF MARCH 3, 1933, AND JULY 2, 1946, (Title 39, United States Code, Section 233) SHOWING THE OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION OF JEWISH LIFE, published bi-monthly at New York, N. Y., for October 1, 1959. 1. The names and addresses of the publisher, editor, managing editor, and business manager are: Publisher: Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, 305 Broadway, New York 7, N. Y. Editor: Saul Bernstein, 305 Broadway, New York 7, N. Y. Managing Editor and Business Manager: None. 2. The owner, is: (If owned by a corporation, its name and address must be stated and also immediately thereunder the names and addresses of stockholders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amount of stock. If not owned by a corporation, the names and addresses of the individual owners must be given. If owned by a partnership or other unincorporated firm, its name and address, as well as that of each individual member, must be given.) Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, 305 Broadway, New York 7, N. Y .; Moses I. Feuerstein, President, 305 Broadway, New York 7, N. Y<|j Benjamin Koenigsberg, Nathan K. Gross, Samuel L. Brennglass, M. Morton Rubenstein, Vice Presi dents, 305 Broadway, New York 7, N. Y.; Edward A. Teplow, Treasurer, 305 Broadway, New York 7, N. Y.; Herbert Berman, Secretary, 305 Broadway, New York 7, N. Y|j|Dr. Samson R. Weiss, Executive Vice President, 305 Broadway, New York 7, N. Y. 3. The known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities are: (If there are none, so state.) None. 4. Paragraphs 2 and 3 include, in cases where the stockholder or security holder appears upon the books of the company as trustee or in any other fiduciary relation, the name of the person or corporation for whom such trustee is acting; also the statements in the two paragraphs show the affiant’s full knowledge and belief as to the circum stances and conditions under which stockholders and security holders who do not appear upon the books of the company as trustees, hold stock and securities in a capacity other than that of a bona fide owner. 5. The average number of copies of each issue of this publication sold or distributed, through the mails or otherwise, to paid subscribers during the 12 months preceding the date shown above was: (This information is required from daily, weekly, semiweekly, and triweekly newspapers only.).............. SAUL BERNSTEIN Sworn to and subscribed before me this 17th day of September, 1959. STANLEY H. CEMBALEST, Notary Public, State of New York (My commission expires March 30, 1961) December, 1959

MEMO TO: ALL TRADITIONAL JEWS PROM: Moses I. Feuerstein, National President, UOJCA SUBJECT: ORTHODOX UNION ASSOCIATION 1. The goal of the Orthodox Union Associa tion, the individual membership arm of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, is to assist the Union in spreading the ideals of orthodox Judaism. 2. We call upon every loyal Jew to participate in this national, vibrant, traditional Jewish movement. OUA membership identifies you personally with our great program of religious resurgence. 3. As an O.U.A. member you will receive: a. JEWISH LIFE - the distinguished bi-monthly magazine that brings a wealth of good Jewish reading. b. Holiday Pamphlet Service - bringing into your home informative booklets and pam phlets on Jewish holidays, beliefs and practices. c. JEWISH ACTION - a publication of news and events in the traditional Jewish world. d. © Kosher Products Directory; © News Reporter - keeping you posted on Kashruth developments. e. Special memos giving inside data on current Jewish issues. 4. The annual membership fee is $10.00. 5. I urge you to join now by filling out and mailing the application below. Union of Orthodox Jewish Cong, of America 305 Broadway New York 7, New York Please enroll me as a member of the Orthodox Union Association. N A M E _______________________________________________ A d d ress__________ _________________________________ C I T Y_________ ; ________________STATE________ _ _ _ _ _ □ 72

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