Jewish Life Nov-Dec 1966

■■Hi IM PLEM ENTING T O R A H FR O M

STA N D A R D S

C INC INNATI TO M O SC O W

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IN TH E

COMM UNITY

O N G R EEK

SH O RES

C A N IMM IGRATION PO LICY: ITS IM PACT O N “ YE RID A H ” R A B B I SH IM O N

SH K O P

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T W EN TY Y E A R S A FT E R . . .

M ORAL SC IE N C E A N D M ORAL R E L IG IO N ---- A DICH O TO M Y?

KISLEV-TEVETH 5727 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1966

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Vol. XXXIV, No. 2 / Nov.-Dec. 1966 / Kislev-Teveth 5727

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THE EDITOR’S VIEW THE CONVENTION: WATERSHED OF THE NEW ERA

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S aul B ernstein , Editor

ARTICLES R abbi S. J. S harfman L ibby K laperman P aul H . B aris

Editorial Associates D vora M inder

Editorial Assistant JEWISH LIFE is published bi-monthly. Subscription two years $4.50, three years $6.00, fqur years $7.50. Foreign: Add 40 cents per year.

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AM ORAL SCIENCE AND MORAL RELIGION— A DICHOTOMYÎ/Benjamin Goodnick.............................

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FROM CINCINNATI TO MOSCOW/Bernard A. Poupko 14 IMPLEM ENTING TORAH STANDARDS IN TH E COMMUNITY/Morris Halpern............................................ 18 AMERICAN IMMIGRATION POLICY: ITS IMPACT ON “ YERIDAH’ VLeon Wildes.............................................. 24 RABBI SHIMON SHKOP/Aaron Rothkoff

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TW ENTY YEARS A F T E R . . . /Hlllel Seidman

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ON GREEK SHORES/Jacob Beller......................................... 43

U nion of O rthodox Jewish C ongregations of A merica

BOOK REVIEWS J oseph K arasick

President H arold M. Jacobs

AGNON STORIES/Libby Klaperman...................................... 53

Chairman of the Board B e n ja m in K o e n ig s b e r g , Nathan K. Gross, ; David Ppliti, Dr. Bernard Lander, Harold H. Boxer, Vice Presi­ d e n ts ; M o r r is L. G reen , Treasurer; Dr. A. Abba Walker, Secretary; Michael Kaufman, Financial Secretary.

Dr. Samson R. Weiss Executive Vice President

Saul Bernstein, Administrator

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

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LETTERS TO THE ED ITO R ............................................................ 57 Cover and illustrations on pages 23 and 50 by David Adler.

Drawings on pages 30 and 48 by Alan Zwiebel.

Second Class Postage paid at New York, N. Y,

November-December 1966

©Copyright 1966 by UNION OF ORTHODOX JEWISH CONGREGATIONS OF AMERICA

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RABBI MORRIS HALPERN, a graduate and musmach of Yeshiva University, is the spiritual leader of Congrega­ tion Beth Ora in St. Laurent, Quebec, a suburb of Mon­ treal. In treating here of the problem of securing adher­ ence to Torah standards by communal organizations and welfare institutions, he points to factors within the ortho­ dox Jewish community which impinge upon it.

A constant traveler and prolific writer for the English and Yiddish press, JACOB BELLER delights his readers with glimpses into Jewish life in far-away lands. In this issue he explores the past and future of the Jewish community of Salonika, Greece.

RABBI BERNARD A. POUPKO, a member of the 1965 Rabbinical Council of America delegation to the Soviet Union, was one of the three orthodox rabbis chosen to speak from the pulpit at the Central Synagogue in Mos­ cow* Rabbi Poupko, who has previously written on the “Plight of Soviet Jewry” for J ewish L ife , is the spiritual teader of the Shaare Torah Congregation in Pittsburgh.

among our contributors

DR. HILLEL SEIDMAN, who has reviewed for J ewish L ife several books about the Holocaust period, is the au­ thor of “A Diary of the Warsaw Ghetto.” Formerly the Secretary of the Association of Jewish Deputies of the Polish Parliament and Director of Archives for the Jewish community of Warsaw from 1939-42, Dr. Seidman is cur­ rently the American correspondent for three Israeli news­ papers.

LEON WILDES, a New York City attorney, formerly served as Migrations Specialist with HIAS, the interna­ tional Jewish migration agency. Presently National Treas­ urer of the Association of Immigration and Nationality Lawyers, articles by him have appeared in various period­ icals.

RABBI AARON ROTHKOFF is a Rosh Yeshivah at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary where he re­ ceived Semichah and also serves as the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Ephraim of Maplewood and South Orange, N.J. He is completing his Doctoral thesis at Yeshiva University.

In addition to his private practice, DR. BENJAMIN GOODNICK serves as psychological consultant to Jewish day schools and various other educational institutions in the Philadelphia area. He is active in the Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists and has written articles for several Jewish and psychology journals.

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JEW ISH LIFE

THE EDITOR S VIEW The Convention: Watershed of the New Era HE ferment generated at the National Biennial Convention of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, held in Washington in November, has not stilled with the pass­ ing weeks. A sense of the historic pervaded the great gathering, a depth of meaning that transcended the debate waged over contested issues. Far and wide, echoes of the convention rever­ berate in the organs of community life and in private circles; clearly the event has released currents of lasting force.

The “specialness” of this convocation has been variously at­ tributed to the quality, range, and relevance of its program as a whole, to particularly notable features or given platform presen­ tations, to the level of delegate’s debate and the disciplined in­ tensity of their participation in the proceedings, to the policy decisions reached on controversial questions and public issues, Key to to its combination of the colorful, the dramatic, and the distin"Specialness" quished, and to the technical organization and handling of the vast and complex event. And some, whose perception may prove well founded, see the key to the convention’s meaning in its bold-purposed undertaking to bring the orthodox Jewish scene totality of concept, approach, and planning.

Going beyond time-worn cries for unity, the convention adopted a planned concept of creative development for the Torah community. With this community envisaged as a coherent entity whose component parts, though autonomous, have ra­ tional interrelation with each other, established compartmentalizations and supposedly immutable divisions are reduced to their proper proportions. Most important of all, the Torah commu­ nity is conceived in this approach as commanding its own course, projecting its purposes on the pattern of events to shape circum­ stances rather than to react to them. It is this creative move, reaching to the very core of Orthodoxy’s situation, that may prove to be the most pregnant contribution to the UOJCA assem­ blage. Though obscured for the moment by more hotly debated matters and though viewed by some as more quixotic than real­ istic, this plan may yet be recognized as a milestone in charting the direction of Orthodoxy’s new era.

And perhaps it was that in making visible and tangible the fact of the emergence of Orthodoxy’s new era that the conven-

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tion bore so unique an aura. This is a fact which changes the configuration of the Jewish world and has important impact on the wider world. #

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f 11HE role of the Orthodox Union in the rebirth of North American Orthodoxy was made explicit in the character of this convocation. In providing the leadership which gave form and direction and the impetus of fresh perspective to the emer­ gence of this new era, the organization’s past administration, headed by Moses I. Feuerstein as president, has earned high distinction. The succeeding administration, under the presidency of Joseph Karasick, can be looked to provide leadership of like calibre.

The new president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congre-. gations of America begins his term of office armed with more than the conventional expressions of good wishes from leaders in various walks of Jewish life. His election has occasioned an outpouring of welcome and support that testifies to the con­ fidence placed in him as one who will steer the forces of Torah Jewry in a forward course.

Too, Joseph Karasick can and undoubtedly does find inspira­ tion in the unique contribution of his predecessor in office, Moses I. Feuerstein. The impress made by the latter can be gauged by the radical change in the stance of orthodox Jewry.

While many factors have combined to bring about the revolu­ tionized status of the Torah community, certainly a key element was the fresh outlook so dynamically projected by the UOJCA president. With rare gifts of mind and personality, and with a vision untrammelled by accepted concepts of the order of things, Moses I. Feuerstein awoke in the ranks of Orthodoxy a sense of the historic stature, strength, potential, and wider goals of the Torah Jew. All look to him now to exercise with a vigor unimpeded by the daily burden of executive cares his role as inspirer and creative statesman of orthodox Jewry. *

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'T 'O THE present administration of the Orthodox Union falls the task of carrying its program to a further stage. In the previous period, the new dimensions of leadership assumed by UOJCA opened up new avenues of service together with wider areas of responsibility. In essence, if not in substance, the en­ tirety of the needs of orthodox Jewry have been brought within 4

JEW ISH LIFE

the open threshhold of the Orthodox Union. To meet this broad mandate, it is necessary that the structure and equipment of the Union be greatly expanded. It is necessary, no less, that the functional program of the organization fully reflect the concept of its character and role which events have disclosed. Historical circumstances have decreed that UOJCA be the nerve center of the diverse forces that make up Norths American Orthodoxy.

This places upon it unparalleled moral responsibility. What the Orthodox Union does, and how it does it, bears decisive conse­ quences for the future of the Jewish people.

We do not use the foregoing expression in a rhetorical sense.

The dangers to Jewish life posed by forces of the contempo­ rary world are daily reaching new intensity. Research studies, of whatever scientific worth, are scarcely needed to show the toll exacted by de-Judaization and its inevitable concomitant, absorpThe Fateful tion into the surrounding populace. True, all competent observResponslbility ers of the Jewish scene recognize, tacitly or openly, that the one and only element of enduring vitality in that scene is the orthodox Jew. This, however, does not give Orthodoxy built-in assurance of immunity to the fate of the rest. Churbon Europa gave grim enough evidence of the collectivity of Jewish destiny.

It is clear that only by entrenchment of the Jewish totality in Torah can Jews have the will, the strength, the life-force to sur­ mount the challenges to Jewish existence. Neither morally nor practically does the orthodox Jew have the option to await the withering away of the non-orthodox elements of the community, inevitable though this be. There devolves upon him, with burn­ ing immediacy, a multiple responsibility: to bring his own house into best order, develop its strength, and deploy its force with calculated discipline; to reach out to those presently beyond his own ranks with an articulate, compelling Torah message; to assume, by a planned course, the leadership in collective Jewish affairs. in light of its role within the Torah community, the SEEN role of this community within the Jewish world, and, going a step further, the role of the Jewish people in the destiny of mankind, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America bears a truly awesome responsibility. Its newly inducted officers and Board share a very great task. May the Almighty light their path—and may all in the Torah fold, each of whom bears a measurable share of the responsibility, give them utmost support.

------ S. B. November-December 1966

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Amoral Science and Moral Religion—A Dichotomy?

By BENJAMIN G O O DN ICK

UMEROUS articles have appeared it—is the moral improvement of the N in various journals, both tradi­ human being. As our Sages have com­ tional and non-traditional, regarding mented: “. . . The Holy One, blessed science and religion but, without ex­ be He, sought to purify Israel; there­ ception—to the best of this writer’s fore, he increased for them learning knowledge—they have been dealing and commandments.” with philosophical and scientific issues, Thus we must face the issue of with the main, or only, purpose of science and religion in relation to the pointing out either that there is no ikkor, the basic goal of life. What real conflict or contradiction between do they have to offer in common?

Judaism and modern scientific thought What fundamental values can they or, on the other hand, that there is present for daily living? To gain per­ an unbridgeable gap between them. spective, then, we need an overview Jewish tradition, of course, has —of the basic scientific-religious as­ always maintained that there is no pects and their contributions to so­ necessary hiatus between scientific ciety. findings, past, present, and future, and Jewish observance and faith—on an T ET US first take note realistically intellectual level.

JLi of today’s trends in science and However, little has been said, dis­ religion. With the great stress upon cussed, or written in these scientific science study within our schools we and religious papers with regard to find vast numbers of students who their moral implications. Perhaps the participate in scientific experiments, dichotomy expressed in the title of who dabble in the many sciences but this paper was taken for granted. Yet, actually do not become true scientists this moral confrontation is vital; after or develop the traits or vision that all; the whole purpose of BEING— scientists require. An astronomer as far as we can humanly understand stated recently that he had brilliant

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JEW ISH LIFE

mathematicians and physicists among his students; but, they would not make good astronomers. ‘‘How soWk he was asked. “They do not love the stars!”

Similarly, with present progress, we find great numbers of Jews who ob­ tain or go through the motions of a so-called religious education but few who develop the understandings and insights, the fervor and zeal, that go into making a religious Jew. The younger constituents of both of these fields—science and religion —have not learned, have not been directed into developing, and master­ ing, those traits that are essential for moral living, for mental well-being.

The victims of these facile, superficial trainings are beset by equally uncer­ tain parents. Thus we find in our gen­ eration, for example, teen-agers, root­ less, yearning to use their gifts and talents and feelings and yet not know­ ing how to go about making life full of meaning and expression. At the same time, they are torn between their own inner desires and the expecta­ tions of society about them; they are bewildered and do not know which way to turn.

In the past, on a different level, an­ other issue stirred men. During the early part of this century and much of the last “conflict between religion and science” was the rallying-cry for agnostics, dialectic materialists, and social radicals of all kinds, as well as for many of a more sober mien. Re­ ligion was identified with oppression, status quo, and clericalism. Science was hailed as the precursor of the new millenium of mankind and the new hope. The ensuing battle was fought with pen and sword, with po­ lemics and politics.

Today, however, the average inNov^mber-December 1966

dividual is not too concerned with this issue that brought violence in former years; the explosive clashes and vehe­ ment controversy have become stilled.

Today, for the vast majority of peo­ ple, ^difference seems to reign. Sci­ ence has lost its novelty, religion its influence and awe. We accept non­ chalantly the mysteries and magic of science, the products of its research, as much as we remain unfeeling about the mysteries of life and the meaning of existence. We simply ask that our needs be served . . . through whatever vehicle and from whatever source!

HAT are these needs as so many W see them? They are: easing our burdens, delighting our senses, removing our cares, alleviating our pains. If science can achieve some of these by developing labor-saving de­ vices, increasing business efficiency, providing rapid transportation to places of pleasure and culture, intro­ ducing entertainment into our homes, creating pharmaceuticals that can check and combat the effects of ill­ ness, weariness, stress, and the general wear-and-tear of life, we seek no ex­ planations. We urge the scientist on and ask no questions as to how and why these things work.

Likewise, with the function of re­ ligion. In our day its area of operation seems somewhat delimited. There was a time when religion was the totality of life and every other aspect of civili­ zation and existence revolved about it. Even so, there remain many occa­ sions when the inspiration or consola­ tion of the spiritual becomes not only sought but vital. There occur, in our lives, briefer or longer periods when we face problems difficult to resolve or questions that are unanswerable, when the physical world impinging 7

on our senses does not provide solu­ tions or even simple satisfactions.

Frustrations beset us, pains still arise, misunderstandings continue. We have our separations and our losses; our attachments flow and ebb; our emo­ tions rise and fall. . . and falter. At such times, we seek the comforting thought of the presence of the Un­ known and the Unknowable. Here, we willingly share with others and accept that concept—which none of us can really understand— of some Being be­ yond the veil of the material. We find some refuge in particular words and expressions, in a particular place, and, perhaps, in proximity to some partic­ ular individual who, for us, has some of the aura of deeper insight into life.

Once, however, this brief “spiritual” mood has passed, and our “equilib­ rium” has been re-established, we— as “normal individuals”—turn back to the practical offerings, of science.

Religion has done its duty; now, we can enjoy life! Here, then is the new conflict between science and religion —the one we moderns create! Keep science and religion apart; they serve, for us, different goals.

How true! Indeed, in this way, we allow ourselves to become beguiled by our surroundings, human and ma­ terial, as well as our own inner crav­ ings.

ROM the social and psychological standpoint, other-direction—as David Reisman calls it—has become the guiding light in our personal and group lives. We seek the convenience that others have, the pleasures they enjoy. We must make sure that we do not become too deeply involved in thought or feeling, that we maintain a trivial attitude toward everyday

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happenings. We must not “stick out like a sore thumb” or arouse in others the suspicion that we really can think and evaluate. We live in fear of doing the wrong thing in showing unusual fortitude and zeal. Our neighbors de­ termine, despite ourselves, our aims and deeds.

The case study of a medical re­ searcher, the son of a rich father, may be to the point. He was happy in his work, although living in modest cir­ cumstances. On a rare vacation, he revisited his parental home, and thus came into renewed contact with his father’s and brothers’ commercial en­ terprises. He and his wife met the well-known guests that arrived from time to time. Of course, their mode of talk and the content of their con­ versation were alien and superficial to him; in turn, they looked upon him as crude and primitive, unknow­ ing in the ways of the world. Yet, he was attracted by their dabbling and their babbling and their having the wherewithal to do what they pleased. His wife, with less scientific interest, was even more overwhelmed.

The long-and-short of it is that he finally gave up the struggle and yielded, and came back to take his “rightful place” in the family.

In this manner, we see, likewise, the flow of scientists from research and teaching into administrative posi­ tions. “Bettering oneself” means ap­ parently in everyday language increas­ ing one’s income or enhancing one’s status rather than becoming a better person. It is certainly apt to say that the modern scientist may be losing sight of his basic goals and needs to rediscover that his primary yearning must be not to conquer man but to conquer nature and sometimes his own human nature.

JEW ISH LIFE

HAT is lacking so much today, are we, what are our lives. . . are not it appears, is the sense of inner all the mighty as naught before You, W direction, the feeling that within each the wise as if without knowledge, the of us lies the strength and determina­ tion to forge his own fate in life.

What would happen then if science and religion discovered that they had — and they do have—a common meeting-ground and common strengths and aspirations? . . . If the protagonists of both these camps, which for the average man seem to serve different purposes, realized that their basic powers lie in the same direction: that these forces are just what are required to make existence really exciting and meaningful!

Let us observe, for the moment, how science can view man today in terms that echo our own Jewish view.

As Dr. Walter Orr Roberts has said: “Man is a very tiny creature in the midst of this magnificence (of the universe). Yet, comparing the biggest star we know with man and then com­ paring man with the smallest sub­ atomic particle within our direct ob­ servational knowledge, man stands midway in size between the two ex­ tremes—neither of which he can fully appreciate; in fact, only by the full use of intellect and imagination can he partially appreciate them.” (And, may I add, without the existence of mankind there would be no apprecia­ tion at all!)

This statement points to the founda­ tion-stone of human character. In a real sense, the basis of moral character lies in being humbled before the vast­ ness of Creation. Without this feeling of awareness o f„ and acceptance of one’s niche in the world, without this sense of humility, no moral system can maintain itself.

It is apt that, early in our daily prayer service, we admit: .. What November-December 1966

discerning as if without understand­ ing . . . ” Yet moral character does not imply weakness or blandness or sub­ mission—either in a scientific or re­ ligious sense. Humility is not servility.

On the contrary, it offers more energy, more drive and more enthusiasm. It also removes the danger of relying on mere facts or mere words.

A somewhat similar view, if dif­ ferently expressed, has been offered by the geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky in his book “Mankind Evolving:” “In a way Darwin has healed the wound inflicted by Copernicus and Galileo. Man is not the center of the universe physically, but he may be the spiritual center. Man and man alone knows that the world evolves and that he evolves with i t . . . Evolu­ tion may no longer be a destiny im­ posed from without; it may conceiv­ ably be controlled by man, in accord­ ance with his wisdom and his values.”

Only, then, as science returns to real life and becomes a human and humane enterprise, as it regains its dependence on a sense of creativity and of faith, can it counteract the trend toward total objectivity and the decline of personal commitment. true scientific and religious attitudes remove the desire to wield power in the universe.

Unfortunately, through the halos and tools utilized by some practitioners of science and religion, they tend to delude themselves and others. By means of one more discovery or one more incantation, they seek, as my teacher Arthur Dembitz, of blessed memory, used to say, to “unscrew the inscrutable,” hoping to find thereby

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the key to the universe and the mys­ tery of existence.

So, without sincere humility, a lit­ tle knowledge can *be a dangerous thing, as Pope has said. Elsewhere, I have written that there are two kinds of ignoramuses in Jewish life ( . . . and, perhaps, even among scientists). The first type does not know the difference between an Aleph and a Beth; it comprises those who could not learn, or had not the opportunity to do so.

They deserve our concern and con­ sideration and our help. Then, there is the second type, those who do not know the difference between a Heh and a Vov, between Lishmah and Lishmo, between learning for its own sake and learning for self-aggrandise­ ment. These are the more dangerous because they think they know!

It is to avoid this possible corrup­ tion of spirit that we say—whether in science or religion “. . . We do not rely on a miracle*” Humbly, we say that we are not worthy; we must con­ tinue to toil to achieve our aims. It is in this vein that we have always considered Tachanun, the admission of human frailty and human fault, to be a vital, perhaps the most vital, part of the daily Service.

O GO a step further, the most beautiful and most deeply mean­ ingful portion of the High Holy Days Service to me is, strictly speaking, not really an integral part of the Service but merely an introduction. I refer to the prayer recited by the Sh’liach Tzibbur as he begins the Musaph Service: Hineni heoni mimaas . . .

Freely translated, it says: “Here I am, a poor, unworthy creature, terri­ fied and overwhelmed before the Master of the Universe— coming to plead for Thy people who have sent

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me as a sh’liach tzibbur, who have chosen me as their representative even though I am clearly not suitable for this vital office...

As we hear this rendition, we be­ come transformed and perceive that, indeed, each one of us is in fact equally selected by the community; for each of us in our individual capaci­ ties stands for and represents the whole Jewish community. Even more!

Each one of us is a unit of mankind.

And, as we do and perform, as we produce and create, so does all of mankind! And, likewise, as we dimin­ ish from our lives, so does all man­ kind become diminished!

And so, the worthy scientist, even as the true believer, strives by his own efforts to enhance his life and its meaning rather than use his knowl­ edge to manipulate the lives of others.

He recognizes the underlying bonds that pervade all existence. He recog­ nizes that perhaps his own insights, no matter how clear to him, may still be partial and faulty and so, strives on, gaining rather than losing strength in the process.

ONTINUING with this analysis, we can see that from these foun­ dations of humility and awareness of the totality of Creation, there follow certain corollaries. a.

Learning acquires a sanctity— whether we deal with text or with nature; the learner feels the continuity of life’s flow. In the physical and in the human sense, he blends with the stream of atoms and the stream of human life through the ages. (It is possible, in this sense, to realize what the expression Torah L’Mosheh MiSinai implies: the continuity of human experience, of Jewish experience throughout history.)

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JEW ISH LIFE

For the observant Jew, learning be­ or increased emotional dependence comes this totally sacred act, because, upon a Higher Power” and “personali­ through the process of search and ty change including enhanced in­ study, time takes on an infinitude. dependence in interpersonal relation­ The persevering mathmid or re­ ships and diminution of anxiety or searcher becomes contemporary with its equivalents.”

Thus the above statements bore out the creative experience, with the ac­ tual experience of creation. He blends “the prediction . . . that the degree of with the universe in its very forma­ ‘mental health improvement’ in terms tion, becoming part-and-parcel of total of personality changes noted would prior existence and, beyond this, as be in direct proportion to the amount close as humanly possible, akin to the of ‘spiritual’ change occurring in re­ source of life and of Creation. In this sponse to the Alcoholics Anonymous sense, and in this sense only, learning program.” takes precedence over prayer. c. This brings us to the matter of b.

On the emotional level, and as adiscipline. Both scientific practice and second corollary, there develops an research and religious principles and inner feeling of well-being and vitality practice demand a high degree of sin­ that wells forth and penetrates be­ gle-minded determination. As the verse yond the dark terrors and the gloomy says. “Thou shalt not turn aside from shadows of today’s happenings and the path . . . ” to the right or left. This, experiences. The temporary nature of to me, is a vital aspect of the moral the immediate is fully grasped. With­ character—the ability to avoid distrac­ out need for words we appreciate that tions, to keep one’s eyes fixed on “this too shall pass away,” and so, future goals, to “bear the slings and again, we raise our eyes on high and arrows of outrageous fortune,” to with­ strive ahead. stand the attraction of ease and pleas­ Let me interject at this point a de­ antness and plenty, to overcome the nial of the commonly-held notion that corruption which we may see all faith and reliance on a higher Power about us. To rise above these—only tend to make one dependent. The the moral individual can accomplish Jew, par excellence, has been the in­ it.

The moral person is dedicated to dividual throughout all of history who, despite his belief and his oppression, his ideal. Optimistically, he finds value has been the iconoclast, the breaker in study for its own sake, seeking no of all types of images, the searcher unique reward or recognition for his and revolter against evil in any form. attainments. His deep inner convic­ Modern history is replete with such tions spur him on; he has serenity of examples—beyond need to expatiate. life and purpose.

Rather than expand on this theme, d. On the dynamic side, the relet us briefly point to the experience of seacher in Judaism and science makes a secular organization, Alcoholics full use of his innate curiosity to Anonymous. Scientific research indi­ grasp the mystery of the universe. He cated that those responsive individuals is open-minded and questions; he fol­ who achieved sobriety, after a period lows past discoveries while develop­ of compulsive addiction to alcohol, ing his own chiddushim, his own did so because of: “spiritual changes novel approach. New insights are reNovember-December 1966

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alized, new meanings found. Thus, he accepts the Biblical Mitzvah to con­ quer the earth and subdue it.

But what about the road to fulfill­ ment? Is it a path of roses or full of thorns and jagged stones? We know the answer! It is a harchroad, requir­ ing patience and perseverance, ab­ stinence and denial—perhaps even suffering. There is an apt reference in the saying in Pirkey Ovoth—“eating a morsel of bread and drinking water.”

Only through inner discipline, direc­ tion, and zeal, can we strive ahead. e. Furthermore, through the lessons of science as through the tenets of our religion we gain the ability to ex­ pect and accept error, frequent error, and self-correction. After all, success is based on the very process of over­ coming difficulties and problems. (The history of the discovery of recent pharmaceuticals reveals that out of the thousands of chemical combina­ tions tested only one may be suitable and only one individual may be suc­ cessful.) We must experiment, we must endure trials and travails, on the path to self-improvement. For intel­ lectual as well as spiritual fulfillment, the verse applies:K“Who can discern error and from hidden faults cleanse me.” f. Concurrently, the scientist and the believing Jew recognize the limita­ tions imposed on all creatures by the act of birth. He realizes that he cannot always rely on himself alone. As the Bible puts it, it is not permissible that “each man may do as he sees fit.”

And as Alan Moorehead stated in “The Traitors,” the story of the defect­ ing atomic physicists, “a man’s con­ science is not necessarily the best or only guide.”

Since, however, the human being must both rely on himself and relate 12

to others, he usually resolves these contrasting needs by seeking personal status within the group. In present-day society it has become evident that, because of excessive individualism and lack of mutual appreciation, there develop human situations leading to emotional discord and disturbance.

Hence parent-child conflicts leading to “acting-out” and delinquency, interparental stresses leading to separa­ tion and divorce, peer frustrations and social pressures leading to under- and over-achievement—not to mention those circumstances in which some lose all purpose in living, the poten­ tial and actual suicides.

A LL these conditions are becoming more and more common in our Jewisfy communities. Increasingly, we are becoming less and less distinguish­ able from our non-Jewish neighbors.

Most obviously absent is the moral imperative, the religious spark, the feeling of kinship, and the sharing with other human—“spiritual”—be­ ings in a common destiny.

How can we modify this situation?

Einstein was once asked whether hu­ man nature can change. His reply was that, within the scope of human his­ tory, it could not! However, he added, this is no cause for weeping. Wher­ ever we see a river regularly over­ flowing, we build dams and dikes to stem the flow and utilize its energy.

Likewise with human nature! We set limits and laws; we develop habit pat­ terns and attitudes.

For us the source for direction re­ sides in the Torah. In recognition of human limitations, we are given dis­ ciplines that give strength to the in­ dividual, “fences” within which to live in freedom. This may require privajlj L

JEW ISH LIFE

tions and deprivations, the removal of self-centeredness and self-indulgence.

But, this is really the essence of moral character! No one is born all good.

The human being has to learn to con­ trol those aspects of his nature which might be negative or destructive or primitive.

In sum, then, it would appear to be our responsibility as Jews, with our strong and evident scientific bent and with our devotion to tradition, to ex­ emplify the unique moral blend of these two outlooks in our very lives.

HIS is not to be looked upon sim­ ply as a vague sense of noblesse oblige for our people and for man­ kind at large. It must be considered urgent for the preservation of our next generation, almost all of whom are or will be college-bred. With all the energy and effort being put into reaching our college youth, with all the concern that the older generation rightly has as to the possible loss of

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our young people on the college cam­ pus, it appears vital to re-direct our focus.

To combat and counteract the mass of facts they are accumulating in their studies we must not yield to the temp­ tation to offer other facts but rather directions and patterns of living.

Youth is basically not seeking facts but purposes, not knowledge merely but feeling and yearning—a desire to find itself. Our initial task, then, in line with the position taken herein, would be to focus on and guide along the common moral aims of both sci­ ence and religion—without attempting to belittle modern scientific research or its findings.

To realize these goals, we need al­ ways to return to our first principles: That Torah illumines and makes meaningful the essense of humanity and the worship of the Divine, the Source of all existence; and that sci­ ence, in its wider implications, too can serve this goal.

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From Cincinnati to Moscow

By BERNARD A. POUPKO

HE group of American Reform ministers who visited the Soviet Union several months ago declared at a press conference that the Jews of the Soviet Union have no future. It is heartbreaking when a doctor informs a family about the fatal condition of a patient. How much more so is it when the collective life of three mil­ lion people is written off with one well publicized announcement.

It is somewhat ironical that the three million Jews of Soviet Russia were cited as doomed to ultimate ex­ tinction at the headquarters of the Reform movement, “The House of Living Judaism.”

A year ago, a delegation of the Rab­ binical Council of America, in which the writer took part, visited the Soviet Union. We conversed with our breth­ ren there in Yiddish, Hebrew, and Russian. We prayed together with them in Tallith and T’fillin. We sat with them at a Shiur in Talmud. We spent hours with their rabbis and learned laymen, exchanging with them Torah insights and Chidushey Torah.

We visited their homes and witnessed their steadfast and passionate com­

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mitment to Torah and Mitzvoth— Shabboth, Kashruth, Matzah for Pesach, B’rith Milah. How moved we were with their passionate yearning for Torah, Eretz Israel, and associa­ tion with their Jewish brethren throughout the world. We communi­ cated with them in our mutual Torah language and we even sang together with them the moving melody of “V'shovu Bonim Lig’vulom—the chil­ dren shall return unto their heritage.”

Their mystically-imbedded longing for Jews and Judaism was frequently and vividly evident during conversa­ tions not only with such as the pen­ sioned and retired tailor in the Kiev Synagogue and the middle-aged wait­ ress in a certain hotel, but also among the students at the Moscow Univer­ sity and the youths we met on Pushkin Square. Even the brief and halting re­ marks of a Red Army officer reflected the majesty and the pathos of the eternal Jew. A NY student of Jewish history xTL knows that our life and survival as a people does not necessarily fol­ low the conventional social and poJEW ISH LIFE

litical patterns, however logical and compelling, which govern the history of other peoples. Ours is not only a distinct commitment but also a dis­ tinct destiny: “Lo, it is a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.” If, from the ashes and skeletons of Auschwitz and Treblinka, a State of Israel could emerge, in spite of all the “competent and seasoned” prognostications to the contrary of experienced statesmen and able generals, certainly there is un­ shakable, if at times seemingly ir­ rational, hope that Russian Jewry, so firmly rooted in the fabric of historic Judaism, will once again reveal its dormant inner strength.

No one, however wise, learned, and consistently committed to the destiny of our people, has the right or the authority to proclaim the doom of the second largest Jewish community in the world!

Are our Reform brethren in posses­ sion of any accurate data on Jews in Smolensk, Minsk, Vitebsk, Saratov, Tbilisi, Berditchev who, fifty years after the Russian Revolution, are still loyal to Judaism? Are they aware of the fact that even now, after years of cruel repression and inhuman persecu­ tion, one can still find much more gen­ uine and meaningful living Judaism in certain corners of the Soviet Union than in New York’s “House of Living Judaism”?

Many Jews in Soviet Russia and in the Free World were shocked and sad­ dened by the visit of the Reform clergymen to the Baptist Church in Moscow. As I read the report of the sermon delivered by one of them at the religious services in this church, I could not help recalling the image of the old cobbler, Reb Scheftel, whom I met in the Beth Hamidrash of a November-December 1966

Moscow Synagogue. During our con­ versation he related with pride an un­ forgettable incident in his own life.

With intense feeling and trembling hands, his voice breaking as he spoke, he said “I am the great-grandson of J|erka Kantonist who at the age of fourteen risked his life together with three other boys of his own age, jumped out of the military train which led them to the Uspenski Sabor ca­ thedral in Moscow.” Reb Scheftel de­ scribed how the youngsters wandered in sub-freezing weather through the deep snow of the birch forest in the outskirts of Moscow. Frostbitten and starved, Berka kept on murmuring “better to die in the snow of the forest than set our feet in a prohibited place.” This same Reb Scheftel related how eight Jewish families, his own brother among them, nearly lost their lives because they refused to take shelter in a church even as they were being pursued by the Nazi hordes.

T IS rather doubtful whether the Re­ form representatives visiting Russia had T ’filin or a Mishnah B’rurah in their luggage. One thing, however, is certain and that is that they imported a certain philosophy of their own. For the first time in their long and mar­ tyred history, Russian Jews learned of a “Rabbinic sermon” in a Russian church!

Whoever is in some degree aware of the typical steadfastness of the relig­ ious Jew of the U.S.S.R. can well ap­ preciate the spiritual anguish caused by the “first sermon of a Rabbi” in a Russian church. What burning indig­ nation must this development have evoked among Soviet Jews who have shown such heroic resistance to the most severe sanctions in order to pre­ serve with the last ounce of their

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strength the heritage of th d r fathers and to transmit a measure of it even to their own Communist-indoctrinated children under the shadow of the Kremlin.

I can still hear the echo of the brutal and cynical remarks of the cas­ sock-attired Russian Orthodox priest with his long hair reaching down to his shoulders. When, standing in front of the Metropol Hotel, I ^sked him about the treatment which he and his co-religionists are getting from the Communist regime, he replied with a self-satisfied and mischievous smile: “You cannot place us in the same category with other religious groups in the Soviet Union. M i nachodimsia Vnash sobstveni dom. M i ne gosti— We are in our own home, we are not strangers or guests.”

aggravated and even protests against this weekly walk to shool on Shabbos but even she realizes that it is the best medicine for me.”

Will any of my colleagues or I ever forget the expressive Jewish eyes, the gentle and refined face of that modest­ ly attired woman who described to us the various “operations,” including six hours of travel in several street cars and other difficulties involved in ob­ taining a kosher chicken for Shabboth.

I wonder what was the reaction of this idealistic and dedicated Jewess to the seven-course treyfah dinner which was served to the Reform group in the decorated ballrooms of the Leningrad and Kiev hotels?

OW naive and utterly unrealistic is the anxiety and concern of the H Reform visitors about “the lack of adequate modern attractions in the

HAT kind of an impression was made by these visitors upon Rus­ Russian synagogues for the Jewish W sian Jews when their Intourist bus youth.” It would be well if they were brought them on the Sabbath to the Central Synagogue to attend the serv­ ices? Compare this with an experience which some of us shared when, on the way to the same synagogue, on a warm July morning, we stopped for a few moments at the Ploschad Sverdlove to greet a gentle patriarch. When our heavy-breathing coreligionist told us that he too was on the way to the shool, we suggested to him that, since walking is such a taxing effort for him, would it not be better for him to remain home instead and davven there. Leaning upon the wall of an old gray building he said to us “Quite true, the shool is almost one hour walking distance from my home, but you must believe me that this is the only thing which is left in my life, and the only thing which gives me chius and strength of endurance. My wife is 16

to ask themselves, seriously and searchingly, whether the imposing million-dollar temple edifices in Chicago, Boston, and Pittsburgh will ever pro­ duce a Jew ready and willing to jeopardize his freedom and even his life for Shabboth, Kashruth, B’rith Milah and an arduous four-hundredkilometer ride to the Mikveh as do some Russian Jews.

Timely and cogent is the observation of the distinguished editor of the Jewish Day Journal, David M. Mekler, who in one of his weekly articles remarked “evidently the Reform Rab­ bis went to the U.S.S.R. with their en­ tire reformed paraphernalia and thus failed to identify the authentic historic image of the Russian Jew.” One of the visitors spoke Russian, another even Yiddish but none of them spoke to our tormented brethren in the eternal JEW ISH LIFE

and universal Torah-language, the only bid, ever vanish, which is quite doubt­ language through which one can com­ ful, we are comforted by the realiza­ municate even today with the Jew be­ tion that you are trustworthy enough and competent enough to carry on. hind the Iron Curtain.

While almost all yisitors to the Now we have someone to rely upon U.S.S.R., Jews and non-Jews alike, in the future. However, please be as­ some of them competent and reliable sured that we are not ready as yet to Kremlinqlogists, including figures disappear— netzach yisrogl lo yeshafrom United States Department of ker.”

State and the British Parliament, as­ HROUGHOUT the generations sert that the religious, cultural, and and centuries, even under the most social condition of Russian Jewry is much inferior to that of the other challenging and most foreboding cir­ ethnic and religious groups in the So­ cumstances, Jews displayed unique res­ viet Union, the Reform observers tell olution, sacrifice, and even renaissance. us that Soviet Jewry shares equally And even as in the past so now too with the other minorities the civil and we can hear two voices, one of the insecure, frightened, and cowardly who religious rights and restrictions. still argue that it is “a land which AST YEAR when we concluded eateth up its inhabitants’’—total as­ opr sermons from the pupit of the similation and ultimate extinction, and Central Synagogue of Moscow, on that the other voice of hope and faith long-to-be-remembered Shabboth of “We shall go up and possess it”-*July 24, the entire congregation stood eventually we shall conquer. And be­ up and applauded enthusiastically with cause we have faith and hope in the tears in their eyes when I mentioned future destiny not only of American the State of Israel. Many of the wor­ Jewry but also of Soviet Jewry we re­ shippers^ frightened and yet over­ fuse to abdicate our historic commit­ whelmingly happy, embraced us with ment and our sacred responsibility. warm kisses. At this time a well-known Therefore, not a single day must pass Talmid Chochom from Veliz, came by, not a single stone must be left un­ over to me and whispered: “You turned in our efforts to restore to our American Rabbis have virtually re­ wronged brethren their rights to live vived us. You caused T’chias Hamesim as Jews. We must arouse the con­ amopgst us. We see in you the con­ science of the Free World to intercede tinuity of Russian Jewry. You speak on their behalf no less than for the our language. You are loyal to our rights and freedom of other wronged Torah and you share our pwn hopes peoples. Until these rights shall be re­ and aspirations. Should we, G-d for­ stored to them we dare not rest.

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Implementing Torah Standards in the Community

By MORRIS HALFERN

n p H E fundamental premise implicit -i- in the theme to which I am ad­ dressing myself here is that there are internal factors which the orthodox Jewish community must resolve, as well as techniques of external policy, in seeking to establish its standards of values as the rightful norm of public behavior for the Jewish community, its organs, and its institutions. Basic to this claim is that since Orthodoxy rep­ resents the classic tenets and values of the Jewish faith and people, this is valid enough reason for these stand­ ards to be enshrined as the least com­ mon denominator of what we might call public institutional morality in the Jewish community.

Pursuant to this standpoint, we or­ thodox Jews strongly urge Jewish Fed­ erations, and local units as well as the national structures of the United Jew­ ish Appeal or Combined Jewish Ap­ peal and Israel Bonds, and all other Jewish communal agencies and insti­ tutions to adhere to Sabbath and Kashruth in functions which involve the general community. We strive in city after city to have Jewish hospitals, 18

homes for the sick and aged, summer camps, and community centers arrange for kosher kitchens under properly qualified Rabbinic supervision.

This then is what we ask of the gen­ eral Jewish community. But if we ad­ dress such important requests to the larger community, it is equally im­ portant for us to understand the basis upon which we make these requests or, as many of us would have it, not requests but demands.

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BASIC rationale underlying the demands for community adher­ ence to Torah standards is the one we enunciated earlier, to wit, that since Orthodoxy is the repository of those beliefs, ideals, and values that have been identified with our people and faith throughout its history it is rea­ sonable that the community, at least in its public sense, adhere to those standards which bear the stamp of re­ ligious approval and religious author­ ity.

The problem we encounter is that the institutions that reign supreme in the contemporary Jewish community JEW ISH LIFE

are quite secular in their orientation. would be found. Certainly on the basis They make no claim to being religious of such demographic strength and institutions and since they also claim plurality, as well as op basic principle, the allegiance of so many Jews who Orthodoxy has the pght to ask for are not orthodox they feel no compul­ conformity to Torah norms. sion to accept any religious authority.

ERE TOO, however, there are The sole religious connection affected complications. Affiliation with a by many of these organizations is to hallow their secularism with certain given congregation is not necessarily nominally religious forms. On this ba­ the index of either one’s ideology or sis, a non-kosher organizational func­ one’s observance. Thus, in 1963 Dr. tion which opens with an invocation Mannheim Shapiro, of the American fulfills the obligations to Judaism of Jewish Congress, took a survey of the Jewish attitudes prevalent in Kansas the secular organization!

Well, then, let us not speak of au­ City, Missouri, and was led to con­ thority, let us speak of numbers and clude that “the choicp of a particular statistics. In my own Montreal com­ branch of synagogue affiliation among munity, for example, there are twenty- American Jews today is rarely the one orthodox synagogues. There are product of a choice on the basis of numerous other private minyanim, conscious analysis of theological or klaizlech, and shtibels. If we multiply ideological philosophies. The decision this number by the membership lists is likely to be more closely related to of these congregations we would such factors as geography, socio-eco­ emerge with a very significant tally. nomic positions and aspirations, and Such a statistical approach would pro­ many others.”

Yet a basic fact to consider in this duce a round figure of 10,000 families affiliated with orthodox synagogues in connection is that orthodox Judaism is this area. When you multiply this fig­ the historic faith of all Jewry, the re­ ure by the 4.5 individuals per family ligion to which the vast majority of generally conceded to Jewish families Jews owe allegiance by birth, an al­ we emerge with a very impressive fig­ legiance which remains normative un­ ure of 45,000 Jews affiliated with less foresworn by a definitive adop­ Montreal orthodox synagogues. And tion of another creed or philosophy.

We can therefore understand why this is certainly a minimal figure since there are many orthodox Jews who are Professor Liebman of Yeshiva Univer­ not formally affiliated with a syna­ sity, in his incisive essay, “Orthodoxy gogue^ and one can certainly argue in Ajnerican Jewish Life,” tells us that the orthodox Jewish community that: “Authority of numbers is rarely by and large produces larger families exercised directly. . . . In part this is than the non-orthodox, hence a larger because no organization has a gener­ individuals-per-family multiplier figure ally accepted, trustworthy membership should be utilized. The final yield list. More significantly, it is because no would then exceed the 60,000 mark, mass organization in Jewish life can a substantial majority of Montreal’s even pretend to be able to mobilize its 100,000 Jewish populace. In most Jew­ membership behind one position or an­ ish communities in the United States o th er^ (p. 13). This would tend to and Canada, much the same data bear out the view of social researchers

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that personal identification with, the group and its ideals are far more sig­ nificant than membership.

Professor Liebman continues his analysis by asserting that “the most potent claim for authority in Jewish life” is exercised today by those with greatest monetary wealth. “Tradition’s loss of status,” he maintains, “has re­ sulted in the dissolution of this alliance [of financial resources and religious tradition] and today those who control the purse strings, alone, usually speak for the Jewish community. Although the professionals and staff members of the various organizations generally ini­ tiate policy, their authority is often determined by their access to financial resources and particularly to the few big contributors.”

In stressing that “Orthodoxy cannot accept the authority of money” Lieb­ man notes that orthodox Jewry “con­ tains neither a class of large contribu­ tors nor a group of professionals with access to large contributors.”

To this we would add that the very committed orthodox Jew generally ear­ marks the major portion of his char­ ity dollars to establish and maintain Yeshivoth and other Torah institu­ tions, thus leaving his contribution to general community-type charitable federations and institutions on a level somewhat lower than his non-orthodox counterpart.

NDERSTANDING the aforesaid we are once again confronted with our earlier question, on what basis do we come before the general community to make our request of conformity to our Torah standards?

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, one of the most charismatic leaders that Jewry has produced in our day, once chose to interpret the saying of Rabbi

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Yehoshua ben P’rachiah (Pirkey Ovoth 1:6), asey lecha rav, “provide thyself with a teacher,” as follows: Any corpus of Jewish Law or Scrip­ ture is only as meaningful as there are people before us who personally embody its meaningfulness. The Torah is a book which can be closed and placed upon a crowded book shelf and forgotten for many years. The same is true for the Shulchon Oruch, the Code of Jewish Law. If, however, there is a man before us each day who lives his life according to the Torah; if we are acquainted with someone who syn­ thesizes in his attitudes and behavior, in his general demeanor and way of life, both the modernity of contempo­ rary life and the eternity of Jewish life, then both Torah and Shulchon Oruch become, for every person, a possible, feasible, realizable option among life’s alternatives, and can no longer be forgotten as the closed book on the shelf.

Keeping this in mind let us, be­ tween ourselves, earnestly analyze the orthodox Jewish scene as it so fre­ quently depicts itself.

Look into most of our orthodox community synagogues and you will find that few young yeshivah-trained Jews can be found there. The com­ mitted young orthodox Jew has fre­ quently tended toward a form of sep­ aratism. He has isolated himself into his translation of Mikdash M e’at, a diminutive private enclave of prayer which is isolated from the general Jewish world. These private conventi­ cles take the form of prqyer gatherings in private homes, quasi-private Yeshivah minyonim, or little, often leader­ less, landsmanchaft-oriented shtibelech. Their basic purpose is to provide a place of prayer for a few souls but their total accomplishment is to isoJEW ISH LIFE

late these sets of individuals not only from the general Jewish community but from the orthodox Jewish commu­ nity as well. As often as not these are gatherings of individuals who, while technically worshipping b’tzibbur, with a congregation, are actually, in effect, praying b’yechiduth, in isolation, re­ jecting implicitly both the Mitzvah and the majesty of B’rov A m Hadrath Melech, of glorifying G-d in the midst of multitudes.

And when we do find this type of committed young orthodox Jew in the community synagogue he usually places himself as a “backbencher.” He has taken a back seat both literally and figuratively to the congregation and its affairs. He is too often content to be frum far zich, to be pious inso­ far as it concerns him and those im­ mediately about him, but his concern frequently does not proceed further.

In order for the ordinary congregant to gaze upon this type of fellow-wor­ shipper he must, so to speak, turn his own back to the Holy Ark. And how often does this physical turning be­ come a theological or ideological re­ ality. When seeing the supposed ex­ emplars of devout orthodoxy as uncon­ cerned with and uncommitted to their fellow Jews of lesser observance, how often is one of the other category tempted to really turn his back to our Oron Hakodesh and reject classical Judaism.

E cannot begin to answer our W original question until we real­ ize that we find ourselves facing a crisis in Orthodoxy. And this crisis is not one of thought but one of be­ havior, one of practice and one of at­ titude.

Isolationism and separatism has caused us to become pictured in many November-December 1966

minds as the guardians of the “Thou shalt not!” The orthodox person is no longer seen as the saintly, intensely human lamed vov-nik who inspired his neighbors. He has now become looked upon as the lamed aleph-nik wha seems to give only the negative response, lo, lamed aleph, “thou shalt not,” you may not do this, you may not do that, to just everything.

Our basic insecurities have also brought about a sense of bittul, an at­ titude of nullification which demeans the efforts of our fellows. This, in turn, has caused us to be guilty of an unpardonable sin, bal tashchith, the utter waste of our most precious re­ source, the individual, committed, learned orthodox Jew, adult or youth, male or female. In an age where many agree with Liebman that “The only remaining vestige of Jewish passion in America resides in the orthodox com­ munity, and it is passion and dedica­ tion, not psychoanalytic studies of divorce, which will stem the tide of intermarriage,” it is in just such an age that the committed orthodox Jew must commit himself not only to his own observance but to his fellow Jew as well. In this age of emotional quest and intellectual stirrings in the Jewish community we must first recall our all-but-forgotten ability to inspire in order that we might fashion the abil­ ity to communicate.

It is the Abrahamitic conceptual image of tzaddik bethoch ho-ir, “the righteous person in the midst of his community,” that should inspire us to attain the position of rav vechaver, of teacher and intimate friend, humanly concerned in the welfare, both tem­ poral and spiritual, of alb our brethren.

Every orthodox Jew must strive to be­ come an exemplar of Jewish life, an ambassador of Orthodoxy.

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À ND NOW, in order that we might *£\. answer the initial »question, how we can implement Torah standards in our communities, we must state that we must first begin by implementing Torah standards within ourselves and within the orthodox community. And here, too, the way has been shown by our Sages. It was the oft-praised High Priest Shimon Hatzaddik who used to say (Ovoth 1:2): The world is based upon three things: upon the Torah, upon worship, and upon the practice of charity.

Our approach to Torah and Torah institutions must be on the most posi­ tive and the broadest level. The policy that Yeshivoth and Day Schools are open to every student whether he comes from an orthodox family or not, whether he can afford the tuition fées or not, should be carried forward to the ultimate degree. One would also like to see our higher Yeshivoth make themselves felt more broadly in the general community not only on the level of fundraising but also, and of considerably greater importance, upon the level of adult study programs and Sh’urim sponsored by the Yeshi­ voth and given by the Roshey Hayeshivah and other scholars, and in­ cluding such undertakings as estab­ lishing a given night as mishmar night, a night of study for the Jewish adult.

Our approach to synagogues and synagogue worship should be one of union and integration, not separatism and segregation. I would like to see the day when our higher yeshivoth begin to discourage their older stu­ dent and their graduates from attend­ ing Sabbath services at “yeshivah minyonim” and encourage them rather to attend Sabbath services in the ortho­ dox synagogues of our cities so that our young and our old might observe

22

and behold and be inspired to emulate.

I would like to see our yeshivahtrained orthodox Jews, male and fe­ male, take their rightful place both in the seating plan and in the organiza­ tional activity structure of our syna­ gogues, giving of their training and background, inspiring by their dedica­ tion, infusing reverence by their pas­ sion and encouraging the development of Kovod Hamokom Ve'chovod Hab’rioth, “honor to G-d and to man,” by their own acceptance and practice of contemporary standards of syna­ gogue dignity, self-respect, and per­ sonal decorum.

And finally, one would like to see the yeshivah-trained orthodox Jew take his rightful place in the commu­ nal leadership of our community. Our sense of achduth yisroel, of the unity of the Jewish people, demands this of us. Our sense of reason tells us that our aims could be attained more as­ suredly from within than from with­ out.

ROFESSOR LIEBMAN tells us that there is a fourth possible basis for authority in Jewish life other than the three with which we had dealt before. This basis he calls “charisma,” which means a special gift of power of inspiration granted by G-d to a given person. I offer the thought here that the charismatic basis is the real basis for our approach to the general Jewish community. But, in order to approach the community in full hon­ esty, we must first establish the charis­ matic goal not for just one or even a handful of individuals, be they Roshey Hayeshivah or community rabbis or others. I firmly believe that the char­ ismatic goal must be the primary mov­ ing, uniting, and integrating force

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JEW ISH LIFE

within the stirrings of the individual Jew in his religious quest and also within the orthodox Jewish commu­ nity. As we shall come closer to the realization of this goal we shall find that Torah standards would mqçe readily become objects of imitation lather than problems of implementa­

November-December 1966

tion for our own congregations and for the general community as well.

It is only within the context of the crisis facing the future of the entire Jewish community that we might really understand the tasks of ortho­ dox Jewry in spelling out its goals and striving to attain them.

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American Immigration Policy: Its Impact on "Yeridah"

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An analysis of the recent changes in U. S. Immigration Laws and their relation to emigration from Israel.

By LEON WILDES SRAELI immigration to the United States, Yeridah, is largely a func­ tion of two conditions: the current economic situation in Israel, and the ease with which Israelis may gain ad­ mission to the United States. The writer professes no special knowledge of Israeli economic conditions, except that in his experience the number and type of Israelis emigrating to the United States provide a ready index to this first condition. With every squeeze in the economic life on any given level of society in Israel, a num­ ber of marginal persons are prompted to take the big step in search of greater opportunity.

Since 1948 when Israel was estab­ lished, increasingly large numbers of Israelis have emigrated to the United States. It is difficult to assess the rea­ sons for this movement. In the ten year period commencing with 1955 the United States Consulate at Tel Aviv issued almost thirty thousand immigrant visas to Israeli residents.

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Statistics present a necessarily incom­ plete picture, as many Israelis ob­ tained their visas in other countries and many more adjusted their status to become permanent residents in the United States after arriving on tem­ porary visas, as visitors or students or on business visas. During the same tenyear period over eighty-five thousand non-immigrant visas were issued to Israelis.

EST even these statistics be misunderstood, it is important to bear in mind that not all those com­ ing to the United States from Israel do so because they were disappointed with Israel. In many cases, they came to Israel by chance rather than by choice and Israel was not their in­ tended destination. They were not Zion-oriented idealists before coming there, and, despite the message of their involuntary Aliyah, they did not acquire such an attitude as Israel resi­ dents. Many Egyptian Jews, for in-

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JEW ISH LIFE

stance, having little in common with Israel’s cultural and economic life, went there only because the United States refugee legislation permitted only a limited number to immigrate to the U.S.A. directly. A Jew who owned a seat on the stock exchange in Egypt and sent his children to Eu­ ropean universities found it hard in 1956, when banished from Egypt and stripped of his citizenship and prop­ erty, to relocate in Israel where the economy had not yet reached the de­ gree of refinement to which he was ac­ customed. Many European Jews like­ wise went to Israel only because there was no other door open to them. These and many more left as soon as con­ ditions permitted them to do so, in some cases after as many as ten to fifteen years.

On the other hand, some Israelis leave because they yearn for greater comfort, not out of economic depri­ vation. One senses a growing desire among Israelis, especially in Tel Aviv, from where most Israeli emigration emanates, for more luxury and leis­ ure. These Israelis feel that having undergone their period of austerity, they are entitled to begin to enjoy the fruits of their efforts. Multiplying tel­ evision aerials and department stores mark the rise of the general standard of living throughout the metropolitan Tel Aviv area. Israelis as a whole are better dressed and travel more than ever before. But the rise in material living standard is accompanied by rise in cost of living. At a time when Ger­ man Restitution payments to Israel have dropped off and defense budgets continue at a high level, it can only be expected that, despite increased productivity, the economic squeeze will become increasingly felt. This in turn will continue to encourage more November-December 1966

Israelis whose desire to better them­ selves economically takes precedence over idealistic considerations to seek greener pastures in the future.

During the 1950’s the typical case which presented itself to the United States Consulate in Tel Aviv, or to an immigration attorney, for advice in seeking United States immigration was that of a Polish- or Russian-born tailor or construction worker with his wife, of the same birth, and two chil­ dren, the oldest of whom might be a sixteen-year-old boy born in Poland or Germany and the youngest a tenyear-old daughter born in Israel. The would-be immigrant family generally had a friend or relative in the United States (who was soon to disappoint them by refusing to sign some docu­ ment helpful to their immigration).

The head of the family often came alone and, once having found a job and a basis or hope of overcoming quota restrictions, sent for his wife and children. He might have fared satisfactorily under circumstances in Israel, but the cost of living, taxes and other facts of life in Israel felt more and more burdensome as letters from his lantsmen in New York told of the allegedly marvelous conditions here, where tailors were in short sup­ ply and luxuries were available to all.

This is the more typical case.

When such a person is asked why he left Israel he invariably cites the economic reasons, the big tax bite, and a desire to promote the interests of his children. For a substantial pe­ riod of time, the promise of an easy life was to be illusory to this Jew. He worked as hard in the United States while he learned the facts of life here, as he had in Israel. Language diffi­ culties and the high cost of living in 25

metropolitan areas here made his lot a hard one.

I More recently, there has been a different group of Israelis seeking to emigrate to the United States. During the past five years, one sensed a marked increase in the immigration of native Israelis. This group, to the greater disappointment of the Israeli government, consists of highly skilled, well-educated young people, generally English-speaking, more easily placed in good employment and slated for earlier economic success in this coun­ try. The reasons for the immigration of these young Sabras are far more complex. They often deny categori­ cally that they intend to remain here permanently or attribute their desire to remain here to an overabundance of well-trained personnel in Israel, where thé economy is unprepared for them. Here, a typical case is the young mechanical engineer who might be offered an excellent position with a nationally known United States cor­ poration immediately upon his grad­ uation from a United States univer­ sity. He hopes to bring his parents whenever he can. These young peo­ ple generally enter as visitors or stu­ dents and, after a ^period of soul­

searching, decide to remain here.

Many marry Americans whom they meet in university life. f I THE prospective Israeli emigrant is A likely to consult an expert about his intention to move to this country.

Since HIAS, the international Jewish migration agency, is known not to participate in assisting in the immi­ gration to the United States of Is­ raelis unless such immigration is nec­ essary for serious compassionate rea­ sons, he often seeks out an immigra­ tion lawyer learned in the intricacies of American immigration law and practice. The United States is prob­ ably the only country in the world where a specialized bar has devel­ oped to combat the red tape and help aliens navigate through a maze of complicated immigration law, regula­ tions and practices. The Immigration and Nationality Lawyers Association, a national bar association, was organ­ ized in 1946 and now consists of over three hundred members, comprised mainly of lawyers who have special qualifications by virtue of their ex­ perience in the field of immigration law.

O U R IM M IG R A T IO N L A W

INCE our own immigration pol­ 1965, U.S. immigration laws pre­ S icy will affect the number and scribed a system of quotas to limit type of Israelis who seek entry to the the number of immigrants permitted United States each year, changes in our law are of practical interest. A recent overall amendment to the law will, in the opinion of the writer, in­ crease the rate of Israeli immigration to this country substantially. To un­ derstand this, a brief review of prior law is helpful.

Prior to their amendment in late

26

to enter this country annually to 150,000, with chargeability of aliens to the quotas determined according to their place of birth. The law pre­ scribed large quotas for certain areas (England, Ireland, and Germany), smaller quotas for Southern and East­ ern European countries, and an arbi­ trary quota of one hundred for newJEW ISH LIFE

ly independent countries. The theory of the law was that the composition of the annual quotas was to remain in the same proportion as the com­ position of the United States by na­ tional background according to the 1920 census.

Within each geographic quota area, the law provided for “preferences” based upon occupational skills and close relationship to the United States citizens and resident aliens. Thus one quota might be totally consumed by the preference categories and no “new seed” immigration might be possible while large numbers of visas might go unused in other quota areas.

Once a quota number was avail­ able, in order to qualify for admission all aliens were required to show that they were not likely to become pub­ lic charges. Generally a relative’s af­ fidavit of support or a promise of steady employment sufficed.

In practice however, the quota did not perform its desired function. Cer­ tain areas were totally exempt from quota limitation, namely, the inde­ pendent countries of the Western Hemisphere. Some quotas were large­ ly unused. Numerous exceptions to the quota were engrafted upon the law; for example, husbands and wives of American citizens who were con­ sidered “nonquota” aliens. Since 1948 almost a million immigrants were per­ mitted in under refugee legislation by presidential executive orders. The sta­ tistics published annually by the State Department attested to the progres­ sively irrelevant position which the quotas played in the total immigra­ tion picture as time passed.

HE EXISTENCE of the quotas created many hardships. The Brit­ T ish annual quota was 65,361; the November-December 1966

Greek was 308. While a native of England with no relatives here could immigrate at will, a native of Greece whose wife and children were United States permanent residents had to en­ dure several years of separation while waiting on the preference list of the oversubscribed Greek quota.

Perhaps the greatest fault to be found with the quota system was its moral foundation, based as it was upon the premise that Englishmen were more worthy than Greeks by virtue of their place of birth. Few were proud of the system which re­ quired that a Chinese person, though born in England (which had a large quota) or who was a South American (which had no quota), to enter on the Chinese quota of 100. This provision, which stemmed from the Chinese Ex­ clusion Act of 1882, and required a determination to be made in each case of the percentage of oriental blood in one’s veins, remained the law of the land until just recently.

FFECTIVE December 1, 1965 major revisions of the United E States immigration laws were en­ acted. While many of the important revisions are not relevant here, most will have a profound effect upon im­ migration from Israel. The new law provides for an annual quota of 170,000 and, after a three-year transition period, eliminates all quotas, except to provide for a limit of 20,000 per­ sons from any quota area. A more elaborate system of preferences based upon occupational skills and close re­ lationship to United States citizens and permanent residents assures that persons closely related to those al­ ready here and persons needed in the American labor market will be given priority over other aliens. During the 27

three year period provided to “phase out” the old quota system, the law provides for a pool of the unused quota numbers available on an equal basis under ,the terms of the new equal numerical limitation to immi­ grants from each country. Under the new law a class of immigrants is cre­ ated which is not confined by numer­ ical limitations. This class is basically composed of the children and spouses of American citizens, the parents of adult citizens and religious ministers and their spouses and children. Pref­ erences are accorded to members of the professions, persons with excep­ tional ability in the arts or sciences, and persons capable of performing work for which a shortage of employ­ able and willing persons exists in the United States. Other preferences are accorded to adult unmarried children of citizens and permanent residents, married sons and daughters, brothers and sisters of United States citi­ zens, and their respective spouses and minor children.

Conditions under the new amend­ ments proved not so rosy as they

might have been mainly because there is another phase of the new law which came unexpectedly from the Congress as a result of alleged labor union pres­ sures. Whereas the former law pro­ vided that the Secretary of Labor could bar the entry of any alien if he certified that the entry of such alien would adversely effect the labor mar­ ket, the new law provided that aliens seeking to enter the United States to perform skilled or unskilled labor can­ not be admitted unless they first ob­ tain a certification from the Secretary of Labor that there are not sufficient workers, in the area where they are destined to settle, who are able and willing to perform such labor. In oth­ er words, where formerly the door was open unless the Secretary of La­ bor closed it, it is now closed unless he opens it. The Secretary of Labor had already published a list of types of employment which no aliens will be admitted to perform, thus closing the door completely to certain groups of aliens. Perhaps inconsistently, the new labor restrictions do not apply to immediate relations of United States citizens and permanent residents.

EFFECT O F IM M IG R A T IO N F R O M ISRAEL

OW will all these changes in­ crease Israeli immigration to the United States? Under prior law, Is­ rael was accorded a quota of one hun­ dred immigrants per year. This meant that no more than one hundred na­ tives of Israel were permitted to en­ ter unless they were excepted from the numerical restrictions of the law.

Most immigrants from Israel were at­ tributable by birth to other quotas, notably Poland (quota 6,488), Russia (2,697), Rumania (289), Hungary (865), etc., and entered under these

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28

quotas. The new law places all these countries upon an equal footing with England, Ireland, and Germany. Thus an Israeli alien, equally qualified, will have no greater quota problem than an Englishman—an annual lim­ itation of 20,000 per country and the overall limitation of 170,000 per year.

It was therefore pursuant to expecta­ tion that the waiting list of all Israeli preferences cleared itself and that more native Israelis qualified for im­ migration under the new law than previously.

JEW ISH LIFE

gration, the occupational preferences would provide possibilities for immi­ gration. Under prior law only persons who were highly skilled in urgently needed employment qualified for “first preference” based upon their skills.

The new law provides for two sep­ arate groups of occupationally pre­ ferred aliens, both of which will ben­ efit Israelis. The new third preference category includes members of the pro­ fessions (an expanding term) and per­ sons who, because of exceptional abil­ ity in the arts and sciences, will sub­ stantially benefit the United States.* OREOVER, even if this benefi­ It seems likely that many educated cial situation should not con­ Sabras will qualify for third prefer­ tinue, it is still possible for an in­ ence and that more Israelis will qual­ creased rate of immigration from Is­ ify for sixth preference than former­ rael to be maintained. This is true be­ ly qualified for first preference, since cause of the preference categories, the new provision includes unskilled most of which are likely to remain labor as well. In any world-wide com­ available. Many Israelis have already petition of professions or needed skills immigrated and are either citizens or it is a fair assumption that Israelis will permanent residents by this time. do more than hold their own.

These can, in turn, confer preference IKE all previous legislation in the status upon their relatives. Often, in­ field of immigration, the inter­ tricate solutions are required and the new law provides ample opportunity pretation of the law is likely to be for such solutions. For example, if a more liberal than the apparent mean­ United States citizen wishes to bring ing of its sterner provisions, to the his unmarried sister and the fifth pref­ credit of the Immigration and Nat­ erence (United States citizen brother) uralization Service and the State De­ is unavailable, he might well consider partment. While the labor restrictions bringing his parent (no numerical re­ appear to close the door to all immi­ striction) and have his parent bring gration, their provisions apply only to his sister (second preference). The persons coming to perform labor in parent might then legally return to the labor market. Is an independent Israel with no adverse consequences Israeli businessman coming to perform to the sister. The fact, therefore, that such labor? The answer is probably so many Israelis have already settled “no” in most cases. Is a student who here, is indicative of the potentially intends to study for several years com­ increased immigration of their fam­ ing to perform labor? Many exceptions ilies. * The sixth preference category includes per­ For those with no relatives here, sons capable of performing either skilled or unskilled labor for which a shortage of em­ should the overall numerical limit of ployable and willing persons exists in the 170,000 restrict nonpreference immi- United States.

This same principle applies to all the other oversubscribed quotas to which residents of Israel were attri­ butable, so a further benefit was con­ ferred upon Israelis. At the time of this writing most of the preference categories of the quotas generally used by Israelis are available as well as the nonpreference categories of some of the quotas. Although this sit­ uation will probably tighten up even­ tually and create new inequities, the transition period has benefited Is­ raelis who wished to immigrate.

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November-December 1966

29

will be made to the stringent terms of the new law. , One single cogent factor becomes increasingly apparent. In cleaning up its own house and making its immi­ gration laws more equitable, the United Stales was aiding Israelis who wished to immigrate here but pre­ viously could not. In placing Israel

30

on an equal footing with all other countries, the likelihood of a contin­ ued brain-drain of Sabras was in­ creased.

This is a time for serious thought on the part of the Israeli government.

The new immigration law may pose an increasingly important challenge in coming years.

JEW ISH LIFE

Rabbi Shimon Shkop

By AARON ROTHKOFF

Weller of Newark, and Aaron Char-

HEN the Chief Rabbi of Israel, W Rabbi Isaac Yehudah Unter- ney of Bayonne. man, mentioned his rebbe, Rabbi Shi­ mon Shkop, during his recent visit in the United States, there were many blank looks on the faces of the hun­ dreds assembled to hear his address.

“One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh . . . and many Torah luminaries of yesteryear remain only a vague glow for the new generation.

“Rav Shimon’s? students included such venerable rabbinical leaders as the late Moses Avigdor Amiel, Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, Moses Shatzkes, the last Rabbi of Lomza and later Rosh Yeshivah at Yeshiva University; Reuven Katz, Chief Rabbi of Petach Tikyah, Isaac Kossowsky, Chief Rabbi of Johannesburg, Elchanan Wasserman, Baranowicsz Rosh Hayeshivah, and Moses Rosenshein, Mashgiach Ruchni of the Lomza Y^sljiva. Some of the contemporary scholars and rabbis who studied with “Rav Shimon” are Rabbis David Lifshitz of Yeshiva University, Zeidel Epstein of Rabbi Jacob Joseph School, Aaron Shapiro of Mesivta Torah Vodaath, Louis November-December 1966

Rabbi Shimon Shkop, the peda­ gogue par excellence of the pre-World War II yeshivah world, was a Rosh Yeshivah for close to sixty years. Bom in Turetz, a hamlet near Mir and Novardok, in 1860, Rav Shimon re­ ceived his education in the Yeshivoth of Mir and Volozhin. He enrolled in Mir at the age of twelve, and for the next three years he studied under the guidance of the then famous Mirrer Rosh Yeshivah, Rabbi Chaim Leib Tiktinsky. At fifteen, he entered the leading yeshivah of its period, Volo­ zhin, and became a disciple of its Rosh Hayeshivah, Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin. He also became acquainted with Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik, the son-in-law of Rabbi Raphael Shapiro, the second Rosh Yeshivah in the Volozhin Yeshivah.

At this time, Rav Chaim did not de­ liver an official shiur in the Yeshivah, but he did discuss his chidushei Torah with the best students. Rav Shimon joined the selected group that gath­ ered around Rav Chaim.

31

A TRAINING sustenance while at x i . Vplozhin was not easy for Rav Shimpn, and in later years Jie related that on occasion he had to use laces to strap together his torn shoes as he ppuld not spare the few coins for their repair. Despite the want and poverty, he considered his six Volozhin years the happiest of his life.

Eighteen years after leaving the Yeshivah, he returned to the Volozhiper Beth Medrash and told his son, Rabbi Moshe Mordecai, “Observe, my son, the place where I studied Torah day and night for six years. This study was the greatest joy I have ever ex­ perienced.”

In Volozhin, there were dozens of brilliant students who later became the Torah greats of the next genera­ tion. Nevertheless, Rav Shimon at­ tracted attention not only for his bril­ liance but also for his unique analyti­ cal method of Talmudic study. He constantly evaluated each Halochah and attempted to pinpoint the unique principle inherent in each law. He strove to identify, name, clarify, and explain these principles. When the wealthy scholar Rabbi Moshe Morde­ cai ifdlewitz, brother-in-law of Rabbi Eliezer Gordon of Telshe, came to the Yeshivah to select a son-in-law, the Rosh Hayeshivah, Rabbi N. Ber­ lin, suggested “Rav Shimon Turetzer.”

At the age of twenty-one, Rav Shimon married and he continued his studies at the home of his in-laws.

At the age of twenty-four, in 1884, Rabbi Shkop was appointed to be a Rosh Yeshivah in the Telshe Yeshivah, which was headed by his wife’s un­ cle, Rabbi Eliezer Gordon. For the next eighteen years, Rav Shimon lec­ tured at Telshe, and his analytical method of study became famous throughout the yeshivah world. Hun­ 32

dreds of students entered Telshe to study under his tutelage. Many senior students also attended his classes in addition to the lectures of Rabbi Gordon.

ABBI SHKOP was joined in the Telshe Yeshivah by Rabbi Joseph Leib Bloch, the son-in-law and later successor to Rabbi Eliezer. These three scholars created what later be­ came famous as the Telsher Derech —the Telsher Yeshivah method of Talmudic study. The years that these three scholars cooperated in Telshe were probably the most glorious in the history of this yeshivah. There was rarely another time in any ye­ shivah, including Volozhin, when three such capable Talmudic scholars simultaneously headed the institution.

In 1902, Rabbi Shkop answered the call of the community of Maltsh to serve as its Rabbi and Rosh Ha­ yeshivah. Previously, Rabbi Zalman Sender Kahane Shapiro, father of the last Rabbi of Kovno, Abraham DovBer, occupied these positions. How­ ever, Rabbi Shapiro disbanded the Maltsh Yeshivah when many of its leading students planned for the or­ ganization of an advanced yeshivah which was to include secular study in its curriculum. Rabbi Shapiro left for Krinik, and re-established his yeshivah there with some of his former stu­ dents. Many students remained in Maltsh in the expectation that the yeshivah would be reorganized by Rav Shimon. They were not disap­ pointed and shortly after Rosh Hashonah, 1903, the yeshivah was re­ newed. As described by Chief Rabbi Unterman, then a student in Maltsh, Rav Shimon’s tactful attitude in re­ organizing the yeshivah included con­ ferring with the older students. He

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JEW ISH LIFE

permitted them to share in decisions regarding the economic and spiritual activities of the yeshivah. Although this was the period of the Russian Revolution, and many Jiwish youth were swept away from the yeshivoth by the idealistic waves of socialism, the Maltsh Yeshivah thrived under Rav Shimon’s direction.

N 1906, the larger community of Bryensk invited Rabbi Shkop to become its spiritual leader. Rav Shi­ mon accepted on the condition that the community aid him in organizing a yeshivah in Bryensk. Here, Rav Shimon gained fame for the skillful and dedicated spiritual leadership he provided for his community. Here too the yeshivah he conducted attracted students from all over Eastern Europe.

With the outbreak of World War I, the Bryensk Yeshivah ceased to func­ tion, as the students could not safely travel to it. During these difficult years, Rav Shimon refused to leave his community, and he suffered all the hardships and privations of the war. His sagacious advice twice saved his community from destruction.

Once, he ordered the city’s inhabitants to prepare food for the retreating Russian soldiers. After this gracious reception, the soldiers did not ransack the city as they had done to neighbor­ ing communities. On another occasion, German soldiers set fire to the out­ skirts of the city in retaliation for a sniper’s killing one of their men. While the city panicked, Rav Shimon took a bucket of water and started, to ex­ tinguish the flames. Soon hundreds joined him and the city was spared.

It is not surprising that his devoted identification with Bryensk added a new distinguishing title to his name.

For the rest of his life he was popular-

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November-December 1966

ly called “Rav Shimon Bryensker.”

At the conclusion of the war, Rav Shimon remained in Bryensk. In the sixtieth year of his life, one could have felt that he h i permitted to spend his remaining ydafs guiding the community he had served since 1906.

However, Providence Willed otherwise, and his most important assignment was yet to be fulfilled.

In Polish Lithuania there prevailed, during this early post-World War I pe­ riod, a scarcity of Roshey Yeshivoth, for many were detained in Soviet Russia. Was it therefore justifiable to leave a Rosh Yeshivah of Rabbi Shkop’s calibre without pupils? Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzenski of Vilna led the Torah community in turning to Rav Shimon and requesting that he head the Shaarey Torah Yeshivah in Grodno, which had been organized in the midst of the war, in 1916, to accommodate local Students who could not travel elsewhere to study.

Recognizing the urgency of the re­ quest, Rav Shimon accepted the new position. For the next twenty years, Grodno became one of the main To­ rah centers of the world, and Rav Shimon raised hundred^ of new disci­ ples. Years later whefi Rav Shimon was asked why he undertook this dif­ ficult new burden at an advanced age, he replied that he did not want to be guilty of the sin of Bert Kamzar who would not teach others his art of writing the Tetragrammaton with four pens between his fingers in one mo­ tion (Yoma, 38B). Since he was a competent Rosh Yeshivah and peda­ gogue, he did not want to be judged guilty of not disseminating this ability.

HE Bryensk coihmunity was grieved at Rav Shiinon’s decision to leave. Its leaders vdinly appealed

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to other Torah scholars to annul the decree of Rav Chaim Ozer. Finally, they accepted the inevitable as they realized that Rav Shimon was under­ taking a task of great importance for the perpetuation of, Torah. The day of his departure, the entire community gathered in the city’s largest syna­ gogue. The leaders of the community delivered emotional addresses of fare­ well in honor of Rabbi Shkop. Many accompanied him on the seven-mile trip to the railway station. At the end of each mile the procession stopped to give additional Bryensk residents an opportunity to greet the departing Rav. At each stop, the community prepared a collation on tables covered y/ith white tablecloths. These table­ cloths were rare luxuries in post-war Europe. Later that day, Rav Shimon boarded the to n 1 for Grodno, accom­ panied by representatives of the Shaarey Torah Yeshivah. On his arrival in Grodno, Rav Shimon was greeted by the joyful voices of the yeshivah stu­ dents singing “Boruch Elo-kenu— Blessed be our G-d who has created us for His glory.”

After initial difficulties because of the Russian-Polish conflict of 1920, the Grodno Yeshivah began to thrive and it soon numbered close to two hundred students. Rav Shimon was assisted in conducting the yeshivah by his son, Rabbi Moshe Mordecai, and his famed son-in-law, Rabbi Shraga Faivel Hindus. Rabbi Solomon Harcavy served as the Mashgiach Ruchni.

In 1925, Rav Shimon acquiesced to serve as the Rav of the Grodno suburb, Perstadt, where he lived. His predecessor in this position was Rabbi Unterman, who had just left to be­ come the rabbi of Liverpool. Rabbi Unterman felt greatly honored that his revered teacher accepted his for­ 34

mer position. Rabbi Shkop was later succeeded in this position by his son in 1929.

During this period Rav Shimon prepared his writings for publication, assisted by his grandson, Kalman Shkop and his student, Aaron Shapiro.

In 1927, the first volume of his Shaarey Yoshor appeared. Subsequent volumes were published posthumously in the United States by his son after World War II. Y 1928, the Grodno Yeshivah was caught up in a serious financial crisis. Outstanding debt payments were due, and it became increasingly dif­ ficult to meet the constantly expand­ ing budget. No substantial support could be expected from the masses of European Jewry who were struggling to re-establish themselves in the Eu­ rope of post-World War I. In his old age, Rav Shimon was forced to emu­ late the practice of many of his col­ leagues by departing for an extended visit to the United States in order to raise funds for his Yeshivah. He re­ mained in the United States for close to a year and succeeded in raising large sums which ¿he, sent to Grodno.

While in America, he lectured at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.

This institution was then enveloped in mourning for the loss of its great Rosh Yeshivah, Rabbi Solomon Polachek, “the Meitsheter Illui,” on July 8, 1928. Rabbi Shkop was reverently and warmly re­ ceived by his American students, and he participated in the joyful consecra­ tion of the new Washington Heights edifice on December 9, 1928. He served as the institution’s interregnum Senior Rosh Yeshivah until Rabbi Moshe Soloveitchik arrived during September, 1929. At the successful

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JEW ISH LIFE

Rabbi Shimon Shkop (in center of picture with fur hat) as he appeared at the dedication of the Yeshiva University building in 1928.

completion of his American mission, he returned to Grodno before Rosh Hashonah of 1929. His European stu­ dents, who had sorely missed his lec­ tures and guidance, were overjoyed at his return.

HE semicentennial of Rav Shi­ mon’s publicly expounding Torah was celebrated in 1934. Fifty fruitful years had passed since his initial ap­ pointment to the Telshe faculty in 1884. In honor of this event, his stu­ dents planned for an unprecedented Jubilee Volume. They only received his approbation when they explained that their intentions were to raise sub­ stantial sums for the Grodno Yeshivah through the sale of this volume. In 1936 the Sefer HaYovel in honor of Rabbi Shimon Shkop appeared. It

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consisted of three sections. The first division was devoted to Aggadic ar­ ticles and memoirs penned by his stu­ dents. The second section consisted of Chidushey Torah written by his dis­ ciples. The final section was an im­ portant Kuntros (essay) written by Rav Shimon entitled “Maarecheth Hakinyonim”—a study of the Halachic definitions of acquisition. In his introduction to this unique volume, Rav Chaim Ozer wrote: “I know the modesty, humility, and the gentle soul possessed by the Gaon, Rav Shimon, and I am sure that he will feel uncomfortable and unpleasant when he reads his praise in this vol­ ume. He will also be unhappy because previous sages did not celebrate their Jubilees of sacred service—never­ theless, the burdened Rav Shimon, 35

who is currently so engrossed with the sacred task of providing for his Yeshivah, will have to disregard his own feelings and also bear this bur­ den. As a result of the publication of this Jubilee Volume, the financial status of his Yeshivah will improve, and that difficult responsibility will become less oppressive.”

During this period, Rav Shimon also participated in all attempts at strengthening Jewish Orthodoxy in Eastern Europe. He attended the many assemblies held in the Vilna area un­ der the direction of Rav Chaim Ozer.

On all pronouncements issued by the rabbinate, his signature appeared third, following those of the “Chofetz Chaim” and Rav Chaim Ozer. In his own locality he also established To­ rah-oriented schools for youngsters.

An elementary yeshivah functioned under the supervision of the senior Shaarey Torah institution. He also aided in the establishment of a branch of the Yavneh Academy in Grodno.

36

N 1937, upon the sudden death of his son-in-law, Rav Shraga Hindus, Rav Shimon’s responsibilities in­ creased once again. The difficulties in raising the budget again fell entirely on his aged shoulders. After the out­ break of World War II on September l,t: 1939, the Soviet army occupied Grodno before Yom Kippur. Fearing for the future under Soviet rule, the majority of the Grodno Yeshivah stu­ dents fled to Vilna. A few, refusing to leave Rav Shimon, remained in Grodno.

Despondent at the dark clouds rapidly gathering over European Jew­ ry, Rav Shimon found little comfort in his almost deserted Yeshivah.

Twenty years of labor in Grodno were nullified overnight. However, this separation from his beloved Yeshivah did not last long, for on Cheshvan 9th (October 22, 1939), in the midst of the Minchah service, Rav Simon returned his noble soul to the Almighty.

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JEW ISH LIFE

Twenty Years After The Post-World W ar II Jewish Immigration to the U.S.— Its Character and Contribution

By HILLEL SEIDMAN

A MONG the four main streams of Jewish mass immigration to this country the most recent one, which started twenty years ago, right after the Second World War, was, I believe, the richest in Jewish values and knowledge and the firmest in its de­ termination to preserve and expand them. This latest influx had, therefore, the most dynamic impact of all four immigration waves.

Each of these four influxes was dis­ tinguished by its special character and by its particular influence on the moulding of American Jewish life.

The first one, from Germany after the 1848 revolution, brought with it the Reform movement, and in its ex­ tremist form, which led in many cases to ultimate estrangement from Judaism and at minimum to widespread as­ similation. The second and third im­ migration waves, after the eighteeneighties and the wake of the Russian Revolution of 1905, were marked by socialist and other radical trends with November-December 1966

a distinct anti-religious or areligious tendency, which again typified escape from Jewishness, even though the Yiddish language was an important tenet of these ideologies. The socalled “Yiddish culture” was quickly abandoned by the second generation.

It is of course a fact that the masses of each of these immigrant influxes were deeply rooted in orthodox Juda­ ism, coming as they did from com­ munities which had been strongholds of Torah life for centuries. The vast majority were steeped in traditional religious practice and outlook and were far from any thought of shedding their religious loyalties. It is also a fact, on the other hand, that among 4be “fourth wave” were many who had been long divorced from tradi­ tional religious associations and were far removed from Orthodoxy in out­ look. But in the case of the three preceding major influxes, the orthodox masses failed to achieve that degree of ideological awareness and coherent 37

organization which could have resulted in an American Jewish community consciously committed to the Ortho­ doxy of its great majority. Instead, the imported seedlings of dissident ide­ ologies sprouted in the New World setting. Their principle advocates, adept at applying them to prevailing conditions, achieved positions of leadership which gave them domin­ ance in American Jewish life and en­ abled them to place the stamp of these ideologies on the communal pattern.

While the organized forces of Ortho­ doxy formed, to be sure, an important and active factor in the community, they lacked the kind of leadership that would mobilize traditional ranks into a dynamic force. They remained, therefore, constantly on the defensive: while the traditional Jew constituted the large majority of the American Jewish populace always, in social or­ ganization he took on the stance and role of a minority. In the case of the latest immigrant influx, however, an altogether different process transpired.

A MONG these newcomers, it was the Torah-motivated who had the men of leadership calibre, and this leadership was alert, able, and aggres­ sive. And in this case, too, the ranks of the orthodox were strong in ideoological awareness, and were possessed of the keenest sense of purpose in life as Torah Jews. Thus it is the “fourth wave” that has been marked out as preeminently characterized by militant Orthodoxy.

The fourth immigration stream, starting after the Holocaust, had a decisive influence in reversing the losses which Orthodoxy had long suf­ fered on American soil. These re­ latively few remnants of the once great European Jewry had endured

38

suffering almost beyond human en­ durance and imagination. Miraculous­ ly snatched from the German gas chambers and death camps, when they arrived at these shores they were unbrpken in spirit and unshaken in faith. Nor were they overtaken by re­ signation or intimidated by the new environment. They brought here vision and courage, passion and devotion.

Beyond all who had come here be­ fore, these of the Shearith Hap’leytah were resolved to revive and recreate their life of total Jewish commitment.

They exerted, therefore, a charismatic influence on the fabric and attitude of the Jewish community. They have contributed decisively to the present upsurge of traditional Jewish religious life which some even define as “the orthodox explosion,” and which ex­ ercises a direct and indirect influence on the other segments of American Jewry.

Particularly strong has been the im­ pact of the post-World War II im­ migration on the Day School move­ ment and especially on the Yeshivoth. And from their ranks has emerged a large proportion of religi­ ous leadership, vested particularly in the Roshey Yeshivoth.

RO LE O F R O S H E Y Y E SH IV O T H

These two factors—the Yeshivah movement and religious leadership— were paramount in the transforma­ tion which is taking place in the com­ munity. After years of spiritual stag­ nation we are witnessing an enormous growth of religious education on every level, which may forecast a new epoch of revival. In this the recent immigra­ tion, through its Talmudic scholars, Roshey Yeshivoth, teachers, and last JEW ISH LIFE

but not least, the parents of the pupils, has played a most vital role.

Today we have thousands of gradu­ ates of Yeshivoth, some of them with the highest standard of learning.

There are many thousands of young people in every walk of life well versed in Talmud and in Torah learn­ ing generally. It is estimated that about six thousand students attend the higher Yeshivoth and the Kollelim (“post­ graduate” academies of higher Torah learning) on a full time basis, devot­ ing their time exclusively to the study of Torah.

Data on the day schools, too, re­ flects the impact of the “fourth wave.” In 1946, at the beginning of the most recent immigration, there were 40 day schools in New York and seven outside the metropolis.

Twenty years after, 1966, we have 285 day schools in New York and 45 in other cities, together 330. In 1946 there were about 12,000 pupils of elementary and high school-level day schools and yeshivoth. In 1966, their number is about 65,000.

T ET US indicate one significant m-1 factor of this phenomenal growth.

Practically all of the Roshey Yeshivoth are of Eastern European origin and education, and most of them belong to the post-World War II immigration.

Yet they achieved the remarkable ac­ complishment of educating Americanborn yeshivah students not only as qualified rabbis and teachers but also, now, as Roshey Yeshivoth of proper scholarship and stature.

While the few American yeshivoth of yore were but a pale reflex of the ones in Lithuania, Poland, or Hun­ gary, the present-day yeshivoth are a true replica of Volozhin, Slobodka, Mir, Telshe and their like. The emiNovember-December 1966

nent Rosh Yeshivah of Ponevesz, Rabbi Joseph Shlomo Kahaneman, who is also a penetrating observer of current trends, goes even further, maintaining, in a talk with this writer, that in dedication and determination the present-day American Yeshivah Bochur often even surpasses his coun­ terpart in Europe before the destruc­ tion. He is also more steadfast in his convictions and more immune to out­ side anti-religious influences.

The reason is clear enough. Yester­ day’s yeshivah student lived in the closed environment of the self-con­ tained shtetl. Upon coming in contact with the modern world he often be­ came entranced by its attractions to the extent, in many instances, of abandonment of Jewish values. To­ day’s yeshivah student is mostly well aware of the surrounding environment and of the spectacular allurements of the modern scene. This single-minded adherence to the values of the Torah world has been forged in the crucible of historic experience.

These present and former yeshivah students live in a world of their own largely, and in the opinion of some, too largely, distinct from the wider Jewish community. Yet their influence will not fail to put its mark on the community. And this trend is growing in numbers as well as in intensity.

What is more, while there is a shortage of Jewish teachers, here we have a great reservoir of yet scarcely tapped resources of Jewish educators on every level which assure the fur­ ther growth of the yeshivoth in num­ bers and quality.

A NOTHER quite new development -lm . in American Jewry is the grow­ ing cadres of girls dedicated to the study of Torah. The depth apd in39

tensity of Torah study in such schools *tige and influence in communal life as the Beth Jacob and Beth Rivkah as such—which they had never wielded schools, the girls high schools of in Europe.

Yeshiva University, and, Stern Col­ lege, was unequaled even in Europe F ILLIN G A G A P before the destruction.

And—here we are witnessing a Several causes contributed to this phenomenon unthinkable only a few years ago—there is a growing trend situation. First, the heads of the Yeshi­ among the girls of the Beth Jacob voth did not find here the counter­ schools to aspire to marry a Talmudic weight authority which they had faced student who will continue his studies in the “Old Country,” the communal in a Kollel. To an outsider this may Rav. In the absence of organized seem a great sacrifice, since the young Kehilloth in America, the individual wife works, usually as a teacher, while synagogue had become the unit of re­ the husband devotes himself to study. ligious life and the influence of the These young couples, however, find shool rabbis rarely exceeded the con­ happiness and fulfillment in renounc­ fines of their congregations. The void ing the better comforts of life for the in authoritative Torah leadership was sake of realizing their ideal, which is filled by the Roshey Yeshivoth.

Torah in full commitment and im­ Secondly, while in Eastern Europe plementation. the lines of communication between Their number may be limited but the Yeshivah heads and the Chassidic their example, and the impact of their Rebbes were few and rarely used (ex­ unequaled dedication, are bound to cept in the Agudath Israel), in this have a vital influence upon wider cir­ country, the mutual distrust and an­ tagonism subsided. What is more, an cles.

These B’ney Torah form disciplined informal coalescence of the two kinds cadres led by their former and present of religious leadership seems to be teachers, many of whom sprang from emerging. A number of Chassidic rebbes are also heads of yeshivoth their own ranks.

Here we are already at the second and on the other hand there are in­ decisive cause of the change brought stances where a Rosh Yeshivah as­ about by the post-World War II im­ sumes the character, if not the title, migration—the emergence of religious of a Chassidic rebbe. leadership.

This tacit coalition finds its expres­ sion in the collaboration of Roshey T IS an undeniable fact that the Yeshivoth and Chassidic rebbeim, and role of the Roshey Yeshivoth in also rabbis of congregations, in the America far excels that which they Agudath Harabonim as in Agudath once played in Eastern Europe. With­ Israel. The spiritual leadership in both in the past two decades not only did these bodies rests more with the Ro­ the Roshey Yeshivoth achieve in this shey Yeshivoth and Chassidic Rebbes country remarkable success in their than with the rabbis.

Thirdly, and here we view again proper field of their activity, as Torah educators, but they also gained au­ the multiplication of yeshivah gradu­ thority and rose to a position of pres- ates, the influence of the Roshey Ye-

I

40

JEW ISH LIFE

shivoth reaches through their talmidim and their families far beyond the immediate bounds of the yeshivoth.

This periphery includes also the many who contribute to the maintenance of the yeshivoth. These are often won over for other religious causes as well.

Fourth, the Roshey Yeshivoth be­ came, through the personal example and under the leadership of the late Reb Ahron Kotler, of sainted memory, increasingly involved in communal life, participating actively in various causes and taking a stand on problems of the day in this country and in Israel.

Fifth, while in Europe decisions on questions of religious law and practice were the almost exclusive jurisdiction of the communal rabbis— among whom were outstanding rabbinical authorities widely recognized outside their respective cities and even their countries—this prerogative went over, by force of general consensus and ac­ ceptance* to the Roshey Yeshivoth, of whom Reb Moshe Feinstein and Reb Yosef Baer Soloveitchik are the most universally recognized.

Sixth, it was the good fortune of this recent Jewish immigration to be blessed with the emergence among them of revered and widely respected leaders like the late Reb Ahron Kot­ ler. His influence reached beyond his formal positions as head of Beth Medrash Govoha and the Agudath Israel or Agudath Harabonim. He was endowed with the essential ingredients which makes one a widely accepted Godol and religious leader. His bound­ less devotion to Torah and his singlemindedness in pursuing his lofty aims acted as charisma in forming the new character of American Orthodoxy, and contributed greatly to its expansion.

November-December 1966

M O T IV A T IO N

OWEVER, the different character of the post-Destruction immigra­ H tion resulted from the different con­ ditions of its point of departure. These remnants of the German mass mur­ ders come not from existing Jewish communities but from death camps and from countries behind the Iron Curtain. They left behind nothing but destroyed communities and destroyed lives. Before that* when Jews immi­ grated to America they were like wind-blown leaves scattered on foreign soil while the tree from which they were torn stood still rooted in its earth. There was a feeling of belong­ ing to the “Old Country” which ex­ pressed itself in joining the landsmanshaften, a particular institution of East European Jews unparalleled among other ethnic groups, and which were more than a mere instrument of securing relief for the countrymen left behind in Europe or for the new­ comers.

For the new arrivals there was no more “Old Country.’’ Their world was cruelly and finally destroyed by the Germans. The post-War immigrants were completely uprooted from the soil and soul of their origin and up­ bringing. They also knew that gone were the former reservoirs of Torah, learning in the overseas yeshivoth. The new immigrant was entirely on his own. He was forced to build or re­ build his institutions of Jewishness relying on his own spiritual resources.

He carried his beliefs and ways of thinking and loving, his own culture, deep within himself. He arrived with an experience no other immigrant ever endured. In former years per­ secutions and even pogroms were the outburst of mobs, of hooligans run 41

wild, or of hostile rulers. But here the standard-bearers of European cul­ ture which have been the symbol of civilization and progress, the Germans, showed themselves as the most in­ human torturers and murderers in the history of mankind. The Jews who went through these gruesome experi­ ences lost every illusion as to the moral value of this culture and civili­ zation, every respect for the enlight­ ened European culture of which Ger­ man was the standard-bearer. After the cruel confrontation with this un­ masked culture the Jew found himself in a strange and hostile wilderness.

This was one more reason for the Jew to cling to his own. While the children of the former immigrants were little deterred, in the case of so many, from shedding the traditions and values of their people, the recent immigrants centered every effort on imbuing their children with their sacred beliefs and principles and rearing them in the spirit of Torah—no matter what sacri­ fice this might require.

A S a result of this attitude we are x V witnessing now the steady rise of a second generation of orthodox ac­ tivists.

Paradoxically these orthodox Jews of recent settlement, y^ho are consid­ ered by the assimilationists as being on the fringes of the general American life, are better adjusted to the Ameri­ can society than are the proponents of

42

total integration, which for them is identical with abandonment of Jewish­ ness. Secure in their beliefs and goals, the former make their own terms with American society, of which they are becoming an integral, yet self-con­ tained unit. The assimilated Jew on the other hand, is never completely absorbed by non-Jewish society; he finds himself in a no-man’s land be­ tween two cultural forces, uprooted from the one and far from rooted in the other. It is not sufficient to desire to be absorbed—the other party must agree to absorb.

In the dramatic interaction between Jewish identity and American multi­ cultural society, the orthodox Jew of recent immigration has shown his creative strength. Once considered outlandish, “not for America,” his presence became a natural part of the American Jewish scene, which in turn became a natural part of American society itself.

Certainly manifold factors, eco­ nomic, cultural and political, in their constant interplay, have contributed to the changing character of American Jewry. Yet among all of these the “fourth wave” immigration which started twenty years ago has set the most distinctive mark. The Shearith Hap’leytah has made its deep impress on the spiritual fabric of American Jewry, whose outlook for the future, because of them, bears surer promise of endurance, fruition, and growth.

JEW ISH LIFE

On Greek Shores

By JACOB BELLER WALK through Salonika today brings to mind what the German Jewish writer Hugo Bettauer wrote in his book about Vienna years ago, “City Without Jews,” describing how the city would appear without its Jews.

His prophecy can be fully applied to the city of Salonika.

For many years Salonika was the life-nerve of Greece, the focal trade center through which it had connec­ tions with the Balkan countries and with western Europe, thanks to the hundred thousand Jews who had lived there for generations. The port of Salonika at that time played the role of an international harbor from which ships laden with many goods came and went from and to all parts of the world.

Jews played quite an important role in the development of Greek industry and commerce, and had placed it on the international map after Greece ac­ quired Salonika from Turkey in the Balkan war of 1912. Even under the Turkish regime Jews had developed Salonika as an important commercial center. The Jews developed theosilk and textile plants which had a market in all European countries, and many other industries and financial institu­ tions. The port of Salonika was fac-

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November-December 1966

tually in Jewish hands. Its stevedores —designated “Amali,” the Hebrew term for workers—were Jews. The customs officials, who were engaged in the export businesses which had their warehouses on the harbor, were Jews.

There were even Jewish fishermen, who would bring their catch to a spe­ cial quarter called the “pescadero.”

The Jewish seamen and port workers of Salonika had a reputation through­ out the world, long before the estab­ lishment of the State of Israel. Thou­ sands of them emigrated from there and were a blessing for the Jaffa port and for the Israeli marine traffic.

How does this former commercial center look now without Jews? Of the more than 50,000 Jews who were in Salonika at the time of the Nazi in­ vasion, at present there remain only about 1,200, most of them invalids who fought with the Greek under­ ground in the forests, and other aging people. It will not take long, one is convinced, before the Jews of Salo­ nika will totally disappear. The econ­ omy has suffered serious losses in their decimation. On the main streets the scores of fashionable signs of the large Jewish businesses and bazaars such as Ezrati, Zakkai, Florentine, and many such other Sephardi Jewish 43

names are gone. If you do come across a small business shield with a Jewish name on it, it will be as it were a token of the past.

The change is focused even more sharply when you come closer to the port, which once played an important role. The white tower which stands at the entry to the waterfront now looks like but a monument to its for­ mer glory. The noise of the planing machines is no longer heard nor is the whistle of the boats nor the care­ free shouts of the Jewish dockers. The emotional and volatile Jewish mer­ chants are no longer there and the giant storage houses and warehouses of the international Jewish importers and exporters have vanished.

HE Jewish community of Salonika in particular, and the Jewish com­ munity of Greece in general, have behind them a colorful history and have played an important role in the Jewish world. Their history goes back to before the destruction of the Temple

by Titus. Even then it was one of the oldest Jewish settlements in the Goluth. The well-known travellers Petachiah of Regensburg and Benja­ min of Tudela, who visited Greece in the twelfth century, found as many Jews there as there were then in Eretz Yisroel.

Philo of Alexandria, the Jewish phi­ losopher who lived at the beginning of the Christian era, mentions in his letters that there were Jewish settle­ ments in Greece. When Paul, Chris­ tianity’s first evangelist, came to Greece to spread his new doctrine, he found Jewish communities in Salonika (then called Thessalonika), in Petros, Chalcidos, and in many of the Greek islands.

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In the fourteenth century Greek Jewry had noted spiritual leaders such as Baruch Hayrani, Zachariah Hayrani, author of the Book of Justice, Dussa ben Zvi, Rabbi Moshe Hayrani,. the author of Jhe Commentaries on Tosafoth and David ben Chayyim, Rabbi in Patros. In the fifteenth cen­ tury, many Jews escaped from Spain to Greece fleeing the Inquisition and with them brought a spiritual renais­ sance. The famous Don Isaac Arbabanel spent some time during that per­ iod on the Greek island of Corfu.

In pre-World War II days, Salonika had dozens of synagogues, a network of community institutions, philan­ thropic and educational, the two Jew­ ish daily newspapers El Kirbash and La Independencia, and numerous weekly and monthly journals and mag­ azines. It was a strictly religious com­ munity. The Sabbath and the Jewish festivals were universally observed there, even the non-Jewish businesses closing their offices on those days.

The port was closed on the Jewish Sabbath and no ships could leave on that day.

Of these many synagogues, there have remained today only two. One of them is located on the Rua Vassileo Trakliau No. 221. At this ad­ dress is also located the office of the present Jewish Kehillah. The second synagogue is at No. 37 Rua Syngrou.

Of the over 77,000 Greek Jews, about 10,000 were saved, mostly those who fought and distinguished themselves with the partisans and those who were successful in hiding out in the remote mountain districts.

Of the 10,000 remaining, 5,000 left for Israel and the Latin-American countries, and there are about 5,000 left, of whom most are concentrated now in the capital city of Athens.

JEW ISH LIFE

This is where the Central Committee of Greek Je\ys is located. I visited the office and had a chat with the leader of the community. That a larger num­ ber of Athens’ Jews were saved and did not share the fate of the Salonika coipmunity was because Athens was occupied by the Italians and Jews therefore had more time to find out

about the plans of the Nazis and to escape to the mountains. In addition the Italians, of course, were not as ruthless toward the Jews as were the Nazis. A representative of the com­ munity told me that after the Nazis completed the deportation of the Jews in Salonika, their plan was to attack the Jews of Athens.

IN THE N A Z I G R IP

ICHMANN’S emissary, Visliczeny, actually came to Athens to carry out this purpose. He at once arrested the family of Dr. Shaul, the legal ad­ visor of the Italian Consul. When this happened, the Italians arrested Eichmann’s emissary who had dared on his own responsibility to intrude on the Italian zone. Eichmann threatened to appeal to Himmler to take measures against the Italians for arresting his man while he was carrying out his orders. For a time there was a dispute and later the Nazis grew a little mil­ der and made a statement as follows: “We shall be satisfied if the Italians will do in their zone what we are doing in ours and if they will transfer the Jews to the suitable locations.”

Eliyahu Itias, general secretary of the Central Committee of Jewish com­ munities in Greece, met me in the of­ fice of the Kehillah and gave me some horrible details about the destruction of Greek Jewry by the Nazis and about its present situation. The com­ munity in Salonika, then the largest in Greece, suffered the greatest losses.

At the beginning the Nazis there did not show their true face; in order to deceive the Jews, they had set up a civil government with a commisar who dealt with the Jews. Some of the Jews lodged a complaint against the rabbi

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November-December 1966

there, Dr. Zvi Koretz, who had let himself be deceived by the Nazis and their assurances that nothing would happen to the Jews. He himself later died of typhoid in one of the camps.

RADUALLY the Nazis began to show their true colors. They ar­ rested several thousand Jews, among them the most prominent communal leaders and sent them to labor camps.

When the community intervened for their release, knowing that this labor would mean certain death, they de­ manded from the community the sum of many billions of drachmas. When the Kehillah did not succeed in col­ lecting the necessary sum, the Nazi civil commissar demanded in supple­ mentary payment the historic Jewish cemetery which went back to the ear­ liest days of Greek history and which had 400,000 tombstones. In other words, they blackmailed the Jews. The Jews then pleaded that at least they be permitted to disinter the bones of their nearest ones and transfer them to another place. First this was per­ mitted, but soon afterwards the Nazis shut down the cemetery, destroyed the tombstones and graves, and broke up the historic monuments. Even the new graves, which had already been moved to another place, were not spared.

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45

which in Greece is quite a sizable pop­ ulation; there remained only forty-two.

In Drama, of 1,200 Jews, there re­ mained thirty-nine. In Serron, of 600 Jews, there remained three. In the province of Thessaly, where the local Greek population and the partisans helped the Jews save themselves 1,660 survived out of an original 6,900 whd had dwelt in the communities of Trikkalon, Larissis, and Volou. The same number of Jews were rescued in the province of Sterea Hellas, to which the capital city of Athens belongs. In the community of Chalkidos, about half of its more than 300 Jews were saved.

Likewise in the province of Pelopon­ nesus of the 275 Jews, about half were saved.

Grim figures spell out the fate of the Jews in the province of Epiros and in the Greek islands. In the community of Jannina, one of the oldest commu­ nities in Greece, of the more than 2,000 Jews, but 165 survived. In the second kehillah of the province, Prevesiou, of about 300 Jews only fifteen remained. In the third commu­ r p H I S is the record of the destruc- nity, Artis, of the 400 Jews, sixty re­ X tion of Greek Jewry, one of the mained. On the islands of Corfu, oldest communities in Europe: In the Zonthe, Kandia, and Rhodes the Ger­ province of Thrace, in the community mans carried out complete liquidations of Didimothiou, there were 900 Jews with the help of Greek fascists. On the and of these there remained only famous islands of Corfu, which had thirty-three. Part of these fought with about 2,000 Jews, only 185 were alive the partisans and others saved them­ at the war’s end. In Kandia, of the 350 selves by hiding in the hills. In Alex- Jews only seven survived. The Jews on androupoleos, of 149 only four re­ the island of Zonthe were more fortu­ mained. In Nea Orestiâdos, of 200 nate: all 2,075 Jews remained alive Jews, only three remained. The town because the partisans were strongly en­ of Komotinis which had about 900 trenched and the Nazis did not dare Jews now has only twenty-eight. In the to penetrate. city of Xanthis, of 550, only six Jews N Rhodes, the island which is remain.

The province of Macedonia shared v X mentioned in the Book of the the same fate as did Kavallas which Maccabees and which has behind it a had a community of 2,000 Jews, history of 2,000 years, not a minyon

To this day, there are streets which are paved with these historic Jewish tombstones and whole walls and houses are built of the massive granite stones of the graves. The historian S. D. Emmanuel, himself a native of Salonika, immortalized these in his book “Tombstones of Salonika” which records the inscriptions and epitaphs of some hundreds of these desecrated tombstones.

Then Adolf Eichmann sent in his notorious commandant Stropp who had carried out the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto. He began the liquida­ tion of Greek Jews: 53,000 Jews of Salonika were deported to the concen­ tration camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau. The synagogues were taken over by the Nazis, some to be de­ stroyed, others to be used as stables for horses. Despite the fact that the Jewish population was spread over the various islands and in the most remote districts, the Nazi murderers were able to reach most of them with the help of Greek collaborators.

46

JEW ISH LIFE

of Jews can now be found where 2,000 had dwelt. Of the forty Jews who saved themselves, most emigrated to Athens. The street on which were lo­ cated the buildings of the Alliance Israelite which was the most thickly populated Jewish section, is now called Martiro Ebraio, the Jewish Martyrs.

There is also a street named after a Jewish partisan who fought heroically against the Nazis, Ben Tovim.

The Jews on the island of Crete suf­ fered the worst fate of all. Jews on that island were fishermen. According to a legend which has been handed down from one generation to the next, Jews originally came there with the Tarshish boats of King Solomon and through­ out the years remained in contact with the Kingdom of Yehudah. At the time of the destruction of the Second Tem­ ple, the Palestinian port of Jaffa was a base and center for the revolt against Rome and with their small ships they

helped destroy and sink giant Roman ships. Rome then sent reinforcements and when Jaffa was conquered, a stream of refugees fled to the island of Crete and settled there.

In our own century, far away from the center of things and cut off from any contact from the world, they had no idea of the Jewish tragedy in Eu­ rope and its extent and when they did find out about it, it was too late. Two renegade-informer Jews, the brothers Reconti, helped the Nazis ferret their brethren out in the most remote cor­ ners. Not a single Jew remained alive.

After the liberation, one of these in­ formers was sentenced to death. The punishment was commuted to life-long imprisonment and after seventeen years, despite the protest of the Greek Jews, he was released from prison.

Now Israeli specialists are helping de­ velop this remarkable island on the basis of a treaty between the two coun­ tries.

W H A T IS THE PRESENT SIT U A T IO N O F G R EEK J E W R Y ?

M

ARSHALL WILSON, command­ bravely against the Italians. The Jews er of the Allied Armies in the knew what would happen if the Nazis Near East, has highly praised the hero­ would conquer Greece and they fought ism of the Jewish partisans. The Jews bitterly against the enemy. of Greece played an important role in In some towns, there are streets with the struggle over the Nazis. More than the names of martyred Jewish heroes.

12,000 Jews were in the Greek army. In Chalkidos, there is one bearing the Of them more than 300 were officers; name of the Jewish Colonel Mordecai of these two were colonels, one a brig­ Frizis, who was considered the great­ adier. More than 600 Jewish soldiers est hero of the Greek Army at the were killed in the fight against the time of the fight with the Italians in Italians and 4,000 wounded. The gen­ the year 1940. The forces under his eral losses in the Greek army were command thrust the Italians back over 12%, among the Jewish soldiers they a bridge and when the Iatlians strafed were 30%. The former premier the bridge, from the air, Frizis ordered Papagos, in a speech he made, stressed his division to take cover, he himself the heroism of the Greek Jews in the remaining on horseback to give further defence of Greece. First they fought instructions. While mounted he was November-December 1966

47

killed by Italian bullets. The Greeks gave this town the name Frizisville.

When the Italians recaptured it, they erased the name. Now the main street in his native town of Chalcis bears his name.

Greek Jews distinguished* themselves among the underground fighters who conducted sabotage operations against the German invaders, making daring raids on places which were important strategic points for the Nazis. jGreece was also the closest base from which

48

the Germans sent out huge transports of war materials and soldiers to Rom­ mel’s army in North Africa. Two Jew­ ish journalists, Elie Wiesel, editor of the publication “Tempo” and Mentech Bestanbitti, president of the Jewish Federation of Salonika, were leaders of a Jewish ^partisan group who ex­ ploded a bridge at the time an impor­ tant military transport was on its way to Rommel’s army.

Even in Auschwitz Greek Jews showed their heroism. It is a well

JEW ISH LIFE

known fact that daring Jewish soldiers under the leadership of Col. Joseph Baruch, Captains Joseph Levy, Nauris Aharon, Isaac Baruch, Maurice Aharon, Sam Carosso and Yom-Tov Jakael organized a revolt there in Sep­ tember, 1944. Rallying a group of 135 imprisoned Greek Jews and with the help of two groups of French and Hungarian Jews, they succeeded in ex­ ploding two of the crematoria, Nos. 3 and 4. Their attempt to destroy the other two crematoria failed at the last moment when the other prisoners who had promised to assist lost their nerve when the Nazis landed five airplanes and opened a bombardment on the rebels. They fought bravely to the end, dying to the last man. After this the Nazis had no further opportunity to burn as many Jews per day as before. À T the end of the war the scattering of Jews surviving in remote areas came to Athens to start life anew and to reorganize a Jewish community.

With the help of some reparations funds, the community has restored those synagogues which the Nazis had demolished only in part and had used for military barracks. They have also succeeded, with the help of their Greek neighbors, in rescuing and sal­ vaging Torah scrolls, manuscripts of various epochs, and other important cultural treasures. Many documents have been collected in a special mu­ seum located in one of the synagogues.

The community called to its spiritual leadership Rabbi Moshe Gabbai, him­ self a native of Salonika, who pre­ viously served the Gibraltar commu­ nity. Under Rabbi Gabbai’s leadership there was formed the Union of Jewish Communities, which now publishes a bulletin every two weeks in the Greek language. J3e has organized a chilNovember-December 1966

dren’s camp for youngsters from re­ mote areas to which there come guides and leaders from Israel who visit those areas where Jews have remained.

Athens has a Hebrew school also with teachers from Israel.

Mr. Shabbatai Mano, one of the representatives of the community, said to me: “As in all small Jewish com­ munities which have been isolated from larger Jewish centers, the strug­ gle to preserve Jewish life faces great odds. Mixed marriages? This is not a problem for us alone. As in other iso­ lated communities, it is a common and tragic phenomenon.” He consoled him­ self by saying that according to Greek law, the couple must have a religious marriage. Greece does not recognize civil marriage. Greek girls who marry Jewish husbands must have Jewish weddings and the number of Jewish girls who marry with Greek boys is very few. To our question on anti­ semitism, the answer was that officially it is not tolerated in the country; this policy applies in the reign of the pres­ ent king as under his predecessor.

There are Arabs carrying on an incite­ ment and hate propaganda against Is­ rael. They exert pressure on Greece not to give Israel formal recognition, re­ minding the Greeks that Israel’s large fleet in the Mediterranean is a com­ petitor to their own merchant marine.

There are also in the country fascists and reactionaries who helped the Nazis in their annihilation policy. Some time ago when a children’s exhibition was opened and pictures were shown of Jewish children who had been gassed in the death camps, open threats were made that the, exhibition would be bombed. Despite these threats, the young king made a point of visiting the exhibit. The community in appre49

elation sent the king a specially en­ graved plate with the names of the present Jewish communities in Greece.

“With all our strength,” Mr. Mano

50

said to me with profound feeling, “we Jews of Greece try to maintain the Jewish tradition and to carry on and to persevere and insure our future/'

JEW ISH LIFE

Announcing the Publication of TOW ARD A N UNDERSTAN D IN G OF JEW ISH FUN ERA L A ND M OURNING PRACTICES

By Rabbi M arvin B. Pachino Published by the Publications Commission Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America This new, comprehensive guide to Jewish funeral and mourning observances meets the long-felt need for an exposition that will enlighten as well as inform the present-day Jew of every background.

TOWARD AN UNDERSTANDING OF JEWISH FUNERAL AND MOURNING PRACTICES sets forth, step by step, the what, why and how of traditional requirements including care of the body of the deceased, the role of the Chevrah Kadishah, procedure for the Onan and the Avel, the funeral serv­ ice and interment, Shiv’a, Sh’loshim and the year of mourning and other basic facts. Included also are the texts, in both Hebrew type and transliteration, of the deathbed prayers, graveside Kaddish and the Kaddish Avel, with transla­ tions of each.

Expertly written in concise, lucid style, TOWARD AN UNDERSTANDING OF JEWISH FUNERAL AND MOURNING PRACTICES will be welcomed as an indispensable source of guidance, reference and enlightenment for every family. Rabbis and lay leaders will want to arrange large-scale distribution of this attractively printed handbook in their communities, thereby assuring under­ standing and observance of cherished Jewish sanctities on occasions of bereave­ ment.

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Our readers will appreciate knowing that reprints are now available of the following articles and editorials from previous issues of J E W IS H LIFE. THE JEW ISH ATTITUDE TOW ARD FAMILY PLA N N IN G

By Dr. Moses Tendier THE STATE OF THE JEW ISH S C H O O L IN A M E R IC A

By William Brickman THE DIVO RCE PROBLEM

By Rabbi Melech Schächter THE JEW ISH -CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE: ANO TH ER LOOK

By Rabbi Norman Lamm C A N W E NEGLECT THE TALMUD TO RAH ?

By Rabbi Zalman Diskind JU DAISM A N D FREE ENQUIRY

By Rabbi Nachum L. Rabinovitch THE PROBLEM OF C O N V ER SIO N TODAY

By Rabbi Melech Schächter NATURE— CREATION OR EVOLUTION?

By Robert Perlman These reprints may be used to much advantage by study and discussion groups, as well as for distribution for public information purposes to people in your local areas.

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JEW ISH LIFE

B o o k R eview s Agnon Stories

By Libby M. Klaperman

TWO TALES: BETROTHED and EDO AND ENAM. By S. Y. Agnon. Trans­ lated by Walter Lever. Schocken Books, New York, 252 pp., $4.95.

A GNON’S “Betrothed” (Shevuath Emunim) and “Edo and Enam” (Edo V’Enam), which originally ap­ peared in 1943 and 1950 respectively, fortunately have been translated most sensitively into English this past year by Walter Lever. Agnon’s style is not an easy one, for it is interwoven and inter­ laced with Talmudic references, allusions, and quotations, and developed in an in­ volved language that is almost untrans­ latable. It is for this reason that when his longer works, specifically “The Bridal Canopy” (Hachnosath Kallah) and “In the Heart of the Seas” (Bil’vav Yamim), were translated into English, they proved too great a challenge to the average jl\

L ibby K laperman is an Associate Editor and frequent contributor to J ewish L ife . She resides in Lawrence, Long Island where her husband is a rabbi.

November-December 1966

reader and did not meet with the popu­ larity they merited. These companion stories, however, while in the consistently mystical style of the author, appear so simple and effortless that they should be appreciated by all.

As the current Nobel Prize winner, Agnon’s name may be a new one to the world community, but among Israeli writers and Hebrew-speaking Jews and in Israel generally, his is a name which is highly admired, respected, and revered.

Agnon was born in the little town of Buczacs in eastern Galicia on July 17, 1888. In 1913, he left for Berlin to study, and there, a few years later, married Esther Marx. In 1924, the Agnons moved to Jerusalem where they have made their home, except for a few years, ever since.

Agnon, who is 78 years old, has been writing from the time he was fifteen, when his first verses were published. His books are considered classics today and are required reading in the schools of Israel. In Jerusalem, a constant stream of sightseers and worshippers from all walks of life passes his home daily.

53

Soncino announces '/¿The Minor Tractates of the Talmud translated into English for the first time with extensive commentary and Scriptural, Rabbinical and general indices under the general editorship of the late Dr Abraham Cohen. Complete in two volumes, these fifteen Tractates include treatises on morals and ethics, general behaviour, social obligations, marriage, rules of writing of scrolls, laws of mourning, and many other subjects of considerable interest to all concerned in the ways and customs of Judaism.

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Pre-publication privilege ends 31 January 1967 This important work which must be considered an integral part of all libraries on Judaica is to be available on pre-publication for a limited time at $15.00 for the set, instead of $17.50- a saving of $2.50.

To obtain your set under these special facilities your order, accompanied by the required remittance, must be received by 31 January 1967

The S o n c in o P re ss Ltd 84 Fifth Avenue, N ew York 10011, N.Y. representing The Soncin o Press, London, England or to your usual Bookseller Please send me when re a d y .....sets of The M inor Tractates of the Talmud at the pre-publication price of $15.00 per set for w hich I enclose check for a total of $ ...............

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IKE all great writers, Agnon must be read, understood, and appreciated on many levels. The two stories under dis­ cussion seem clear enough on their first and most obvious level. “Betrothed” takes place in Jaffa in the early 1900’s and tells the story of a sea naturalist, Jacob Rechnitz, and his childhood sweetheart, Susan Ehrlich. While Jacob is pursued by six lovely girls in Jaffa, it is to Susan, to whom he pledged himself as a child in Vienna, that he becomes betrothed.

“Edo and Enam,” the second story, is set in Jerusalem at the close of the second World War and is the story of a strange and legendary scholar named Gideon Ginath whose mystical magnetism draws a beautiful woman, Gemulah Gamzu.

Gemulah abandons her husband because of her great passion for Ginath and must be physically torn from him by Gamzu before she surrenders her lover. Both these stories, seemingly so disparate and separate, divided from each other by decades and by the most catastrophic changes in human history and social mores, are nevertheless tandem pieces.

In both of these, Agnon, who has been compared to Kafka (and even described by some as an imitator, although Agnon’s first story of this type was published a few years before any of Kafka’s major works), seeks the human spirit in the distant past, in the eternal, remote, and timeless surge of the sea, as in “Be­ trothed,” or in the echo and reverbera­ tion of a long-ago hymn, as in “Edo and Enam.” This theme of the past is reinforced by the strange occupations of the heroes of the stories. Rechnitz is re­ searching unknown sea plants; Ginath is in search of ancient and remote cultures, possibly non-existent ones like Edo and Enam; and Gamzu is involved in the purchasing of ageless manuscripts.

But the past and the distant, while they represent man’s longed-for ideal to

L

November-December 1966

Agnon, are realized in death. “Betrothed,” a recounting that begins in hope, ends on the note of death-in-life, as Susan falls into a mysterious sleeping sickness. In “Edo and Enam,” Gemulah, in returning to her husband, Gamzu, returns to a never-to-be-consummated marriage and gives up the spirit within her, again, end­ ing in a living death. Both Susan and Gemulah function in the unconscious— Susan through her sleeping sickness and Gemulah through her sleep-walking. The truth of life, for Agnon, lies in the past, the hidden, the dark, the unreal, the secret and the mysterious.

OTH stories, like heavily laden trees whose most beautiful and most golden fruits are to be discovered hidden deep in their branches, are gloriously en­ riched by the symbolic imagery. The moon represents both the past and death itself. Susan Ehrlich’s illness is con­ trolled by the moon; Gemulah Gamzu’s sleeping sickness is directly related to its appearance. Of the moon Agnon says,

B

“Happy is he who can make use of her light without being touched by it.”

Man longingly seeks the moon, but when he finds it, it proves to be his destruc­ tion. The writer’s thoughts as he dwells on the moon are “thoughts of those who long for the moon. . . . To those whom the earth welcomes, and those who wander about like the shades of the night . . .

I refer to all men who are in the grip of the earth,” All men, whether or not they are at ease on earth or whether or not they “wander” like “shades in the night,” live with the dream of the moon before them. And yet, Agnon says, when the dream is fulfilled, it is in death.

In “Edo and Enam,” there is an in55

teresting acrostic that is built into the tale for the author’s own mysterious pur­ poses and that strikes the reader im­ mediately. The names of almost all the characters and places begin with the let­ ter “G” or “Gimmel,” a few beginnining with the vowel sound which is the equiv­ alent of the “Ayin.” These two letters, the “Ayin” and the “Gimmel,” are the first two letters of Agnon’s own jiame.

The device is interesting and open to countless interpretations.

A GNON’S philosophy appears to conjlV. tradict our ingrained belief of V’chai

Bohem, that the fulfillment of life is in the living rather than in the implied other-worldliness of death. Whether or not we agree with his philosophy, Agnon

is of special interest to us for his style is of the timeless mode that is steeped in the Talmud and enriched by the wealth of our religious literature. It is of pride to us to be able to reaffirm that he whose roots are deepen the golden past, who has reverence and learning, can span the decades and the centuries, and reach the modern man in his irridescent present.

For many readers it may be an eyeopener to learn that the ancient, tradi­ tional material is the greatest tool which is able to reach modern man and even become his idiom.

Staying within the symbolic imagery which Agnon uses, we recognize him proudly as one of the blessed few who have learned “to make use of the moon’s light without being touched by it.”

TORAH AND TRADITION

by WALTER ORENSTEIN and HERTZ FRANKEL This Bible textbook for religious schools of all trends has a new and creative approach to the teaching of CHUMASH by emphasizing the ethical teaching? of the text, while laying due stress on the understanding of the Hebrew.

The authors have received much acclaim for their volume TORAH AS OUR GUIDE, which is used in hundreds of schools.

TORAH AND TRADITION is the textbook Jewish teachers have long been hoping for. It is highly recommended by prominent educators who have seen advance copies of this unique tool for the effective and enjoyable teaching of CHUMASH.

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JEW ISH LIFE

L e tte rs to th e E d ito r TORAH U-MADA Brooklyn, N.Y. Michael Kaufman’s article in your last issue was most interesting, if somewhat inexact and over-optimistic. I feel, how­ ever, that one point he raises compels my taking exception. He implies that the primary reason for opposition to the ex­ pansion and direction of development of Yeshiva University is disagreement with the ideal of Torah U’Mada. This seems patently untrue. Careful examination will reveal that sòme of the most vocal and (Concerned dissent conies from those with­ in the camp of Torah U’Mada. It is precisely because these dissenters espouse the idea of synthesis that they reject Yeshiva University’s current policy of unplanned and purposeless growth. They contend that Yeshiva’s concept of Torah U’Mada is narrowly confined to bring­ ing the two together under the same roof, with no concern for ending the mental compartmentalization which re­ sults. (Rabbi Steinhorn makes this error in his article also.) From his inaugural address to his latest public pronounce­ ments, Dr. Belkin has constantly stressed the independence of thé secular studies from Jewish influence and vice vèrsa.

Those opposing this notion do not favor the teaching of Jewish biology or chemis­ try, but they do insist on the dominance of Torah norms and values in every area.

It is this failure to distinguish between the content of “secular” subject matter and the ethos within which it is emNovçmber-Deçembçr 1966

bedded that has led Yeshiva University astray.

This discomfort with Y.U.’s policy (or, more properly, lack of it) is not confined to a single group. It extends from rep­ resentatives of the “new orthodox left” to the “right-wingers,” with which I identify. It is not an objection to the idea of university which unites them but the rejection of the belief that the role of Yeshiva University is to mimic other universities. While they differ on their definition of Torah U’Mada, they agree that no division of the university which fails to further such an integration has reason to exist. The frequent publicity comparisons to secular universities de­ rived from divinity schools personify the provincial and uncreative administrative stance to which the dissenters object.

The entire institution must further the goals of Torah Judaism or it has no claim to the support of traditional Jews.

My own experience has led me to be­ lieve that a sizable portion of the Torahcommitted college-educated community (both from Y.U. and elsewhere) share similar feelings. It is too easy to dismiss them by assignment to the camp of ob­ scurantism.

M elech Press

MR. KAUFMAN REPLIES: I believe Rabbi Press and I are in greater accord on the issue he writes about than he is possibly aware.

57

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I did not wish to imply at all that “the primary reason for opposition to the . . . direction of development of Yeshiva Uni­ versity is disagreement with the ideal of Torah U’Mada.” I was rather seeking to convey the character of most of the pub­ lic dissent which, from my perspective, does not unfortunately come from within the camp of Torah U’Mada but from those who reject it as an ideaL As for such discussion from within the Torah U’Mada camp, I wish that it were more vocal and concerned, but, unfortu­ nately, my observations lead me to be­ lieve that the “rightest” dissent within the Torah U’Mada camp that you refer to, is hardly heard on the platform or in writing—which is something I certainly deplore and wish that it were otherwise.

Such dissent could play a weightier role in the struggle for definition within the Torah U’Mada camp than anything heard from without.

The very fact, however, that almost all the public dissent within the Torah U’Mada camp comes from its left wing serves, unfortunately, only the more to discredit the ideal of Torah U’Mada in the eyes of those who reject it in prin­ ciple. Whereas, if such dissent were to come from the rightist segment within the Torah U’Mada camp, it wotiild undoubt­ edly gain a respectable hearing from those who reject it in principle.

I certainly do identify with Rabbi Press’ observations on the lack of an in­ tegrated “world view” at Yeshiva Univer­ sity—observations which I certainly share. It was farthest from my mind to assign those who share the rightist crit­ icism within the Torah U’Mada camp to the camp of obscurantism. If anytning, I deplore the fact that this group has not yet achieved the capacity for widespread public dissemination of its viewpoints.

November-Deqember 1966

And I most certainly share with Rabbi Press his view that this group is of qual­ itatively highest importance for the fu­ ture of American Orthodoxy.

FROM THE WOMEN Forest Hills, N.Y. I read with interest Mr. Michael Kauf­ man’s article on “The Orthodox Renais­ sance: Crisis and Challenge” in your last issue of J e w is h L if e and was keenly disappointed and dismayed at the au­ thor’s perspective in his analysis of what women have contributed to the orthodox Jewish renaissance.

I am particularly distressed that Mr. Kaufman, who is actively associated with the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congrega­ tions and should, therefore, certainly be more informed on its achievements, is un­ aware of the tremendous impact of Wo­ men’s Branch, the feminine counterpart of the Union, on the orthodox Jewish woman in the United States and Canada.

Women’s Branch is listed as part of a grouping of other women’s organizations, who are neither numerically, geograph­ ically nor operationally comparable to it.

This imbalance of evaluation mars the picture Mr. Kaufman has drawn of tra­ ditional Jewish life today. Would that he had conveyed the broad scope, influence and manifold activities of Women’s Branch.

Pearl N. W adler N ational President, W om en’s Branch U nion o f O rthodox Jewish Congre­ gations o f America.

59

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New.York, N.Y. We greatly appreciated the kind words that Michael Kaufman had for the Na­ tional Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs (COLPA) in the September-October issue of J e w is h L i f e . We would like the record to indicate that, in addition to the undersigned and Reu­ ben E. Gross, Rabbi Moshe Sherer was a founder of the organization and it was he who conceived and initiated the idea of an organization to represent Orthod­ oxy on legislative and legal matters.

Marvin Scliick, President, COLPA

AUTOPSIES IN ISRAEL New York, N.Y. Aryeh Newman’s article on Post Mortems in Israel appearing in the September-October isssue of Je w is h L if e so overstated the case for the medical pro­ fession and so understated the anguish and alarm of religious Jewry that I must consider it a whitewash. The post mortem crisis situation in Israel is not one of conflict between an enlightened medical profession and a conservative religious tradition. To the contrary, the situation arises from a medical profession which has been granted a completely free hand and, as a result, has, with abandon and license, imposed its narrow view of right and wrong on an unwilling population.

The questions involved here go beyond the denial of religious freedom and the abrogation of elementary human rights.

So determined is the medical profession, supported by the hospitals and the gov­ ernment, to impose its iron will, that we enter into problems of the violation of medical ethics and even of murder. (I do not deem this an exaggeration when the JEW ISH LIFE

critically ill are, as the result of an served to the individual, that the right edict (gezerah/) issued by a government of a person to his own body, during life minister, denied admission to a hospital and after death is inalienable. if they insist on a prior guarantee that A person may will his body to science their bodies, in the event of their death, if he so desires, but science cannot lay will be spared a post mortem.) claim to the body of a deceased without In this country, the issue would long the person’s prior consent or that of his have been championed by civil rights family, except under the most exceptional groups. In Israel, where everything is un­ circumstances. The determination of the fortunately subjected to political label­ special circumstances should be in the ing—and where any cause championed hands of the courts but not of the by the religious is instinctively opposed physicians. No civilized country permits by others—the issue, long neglected by “scientists” to snatch bodies, just as it everyone concerned, is being championed does not countenance bank robberies, primarily by the yeshivah circles, led by even if the funds are urgently needed for the eminent son of the Rabbi of Brisk, medical science. A doctor may caution Rabbi Raphael Soloveichik, whose fol­ a person that a particular operation is lowers some, including Mr. Newman, necessary to his survival, the individual, writing in another organ, the American if the person so wishes, may refuse the Zionist, conveniently label as “religious operation, foolish though his refusal may vigilantes.” be. No doctor can compel a patient to I was in Israel this past summer where undergo an operation. In the same fash­ I led the National Conference of Syna­ ion, no doctor can compel a person to gogue Youth European-Israeli Summer forego the privilege of his body, the in­ Seminar and had occasion to renew an sistence of physicians notwithstanding. old friendship with a physician who I further explained that there are hun­ serves as Chief Medical Officer for a dreds of patients who now refuse to major segment of the country. To my enter hospitals out of a fear for their deep disappointment he accepted as sim­ eventual fate, as well as a large number ple fact that the decision concerning the who may be psychologically harmed out performance of a post mortem is that of of a fear for what awaits them in the the physician and not of the family. My hospital. While some of this fear may be argument that the civil and religious the product of hysteria, it is real enough rights of the individual take preference and can have tragic medical results. The over the research needs of medical sci­ doctor, an “Anglo-Saxon” who has been ence, at first were a surprise to him. He in Israel for some twenty years, was felt that the need to determine the cause quite taken aback by the simple logic of death, and to check on the accuracy of this approach. of the diagnosis of the attending physi­ He did confirm that the standard post­ cian, took priority, and that according mortem procedure in Israel was to make to Israeli practice the doctors made this an incision from the neck to the bottom decision and carried it out, the wishes of the belly and later to sew this back of the family notwithstanding. in the common fashion displayed in the I explained that the democratic, liberal, photographs that have been published. and humanistic approach to the rights of These are the facts as I observed them man, excluding all religious considera­ at first-hand. tions is that there are areas of life reIsraeli hospitals and the medical proNovember-December 1966

61

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fession accept post mortem autopsies as a routine, matter-of-fact necessity in nearly every instance of death in a hos­ pital.

Autopsies are performed contrary to the expressed wishes of the family or the deceased. Bodies are returned for burial with brains, eyes, tongues, livers, hearts, and other vital organs missing. The stand­ ard procedure is to extract all organs deemed vital to research. The body is then stuffed with rags, glass eyes are inserted, and the incision is crudely sewn.

The removed organs are rarely given over for burial, but are disposed of as is other hospital garbage.

Patients are turned away from Israeli hospitals if they demand a guarantee that no autopsy be performed in the event of their death.

Many pious Jews are afraid to enter a hospital. In many instances autopsies are performed, and the organs removed, even prior to notifying the family of the death.

The Israeli religious community looks upon the policy of mechanical and rou­ tine autopsies as anti-religious coercion, and as an infringement of their right to live in Israel as Torah-loyal Jews.

Elderly Jews who were contemplating moving to Israel during their declining years are cancelling their plans out of fear that they will not be able to receive a full “Jewish Burial in a Kever Yisroel.”

People lying on their sick bed, on the borderline between life and death, do not receive the medical care they need in order to be cured, because they are afraid to enter a hospital lest a cruel “opera­ tion” be performed on them after death.

Parents, lying on their sick bed, plead to their children, “Please! Don’t take me into the hospital, I want to die on my bed,” §o as not to be dissected after death, “I want a Jewish Burial.”

Religious authorities counsel that the JEW ISH LIFE

Mitzyah of Meth Mitzvah pertains to each and every organ and is to be re­ garded in the category of “Yehoreg ve’al ya’avor.”

No legal provisions presently exist to safeguard the rights of individuals to refuse an autopsy. The legislation cur­ rently before the Knesseth is inadequate and in many respects even aggravates the current situation.

Israel, a democratic and civilized coun­ try, is highly sensitive to the views of out­ siders, especially to the pressures of Jews the world over. Many Israelis feel that only the pressure of American Jewry will move the authorities to make the re­ quired revisions in the law. We can do no less.

Rabbi Pinchas Stolper

APPRECIATION Baltimore, Md. I have read your excellent magazine for years and always found it stimulat­ ing and informative. May you grow from strength to strength.

Leonard Oberstein

EAST SIDE EXHIBIT Brooklyn, N.Y. I recently visited the Jewish Museum on Fifth Avenue and viewed the exhibit de­ picting the lower East Side of New York at the turn of the century and also scenes of Jewish and other immigrants arriving in New York.

I was struck by the absence of Jewish content in the exhibit, except for one or two unflattering pictures of a Cheder held in a corner of a dilapidated loft. At about that time I attended the Machzikei Tal­ mud Torah on East Broadway which pro­ vided inspiring religious instruction in November-December 1966

modern (for that period) classrooms fo at least a thousand boys daily but thdt institution received no mention whatever* No synagogue of the many magnificent ones functioning then was visible in word or picture.

What did appear in profusion were posters extolling the benevolent role of the Garment Workers Union in bringing happiness and prosperity to our people.

I am arguing this claim but resent hav­ ing to pay to propagate it. They can af­ ford to pay for their own publicity.

I came to view something Jewish in concept and didn’t find it.

Sam uel Viders

ISRAEL'S CHADO RIM Kvutzat Yavne, Israel The symposium in the Av-Elul issue dealing with the Jewish content of the Jewish State, though not adding any new or yet unheard of aspects of the problem or its solution(s), definitely dealt well with two of the numerous points of view on the most pressing of issues. It is necessary to acquaint the orthodox Jew­ ish community in the United States with this most important of problems of Is­ raeli life, which affects them much more than many might realize. For bringing the issue to the forefront, you are to be commended.

In pointing out that the religious po­ litical parties have been unable to assist in halting missionary activities in Israel, Dr. Samson R. Weiss noted that Jewish children enrolled in missionary schools not abiding by the curriculum which the Ministry of Education imposes upon all Israeli schools, somehow escape the truancy law. Indeed, this is a most tragic fact. A fact presented in a manner that clearly implies a lack on the part of the government to guarantee that Jewish 63

children will be educated in the ways of their fathers. Dr. \^eiss, in fact, actually arrives at the same conclusion.

It must, therefore, be made clear that there, are many hundreds of additional children who fall into the same category of “schools not abiding L>y the curricu­ lum . . . and somehow escaping the truancy law.” These are the children of Meah Shearim and parts of B’ney Brak who learn only Torath Hashem in the various unrecognized “Chadorim” of the “Hid ah Hocharedith.” In these Chadorim the children learn as their parents and grandparents have for the past hundreds of years. The government, in their case, does not only not prosecute these juve­ nile offenders, but actually indirectly assists in their illegal form of education.

By subsidizing Chinuch Atzmai, part of whose budget supports many of the Chadorim, the government actually par­ ticipates in the act of supporting Talmud Torah schools of the purest calibre. In our interest in solving the problem of Jewish peoplehood in its entirety, let us not forget that far too often in order to emphasize a point an opposite side of that same coin is criminally omitted.

Chaim M agani

of this article. It grew out of my pres­ entation in behalf of the National Jewish Comihission on Law and Public Affairs before the Board of Education of the City of New York on disposition of Fed­ eral funds under the “Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965”— a heated evening session that lasted until the \vee hours of the morning. While dis­ cussing some of these ideas on the side­ lines that night with Mr. Philip Jacobson, the Program Coordinator of the National Community Relations Advisory Council and Mr, Marvin Karpatkin of the Amer­ ican Jewish Congress, both staunch sub­ scribers to the catechism of Separation of Religion and the. State, Mr. Jacobson heatedly challenged, “Well, why don’t you start a law suit to enjoin these secu­ lar practices, if you feel that way?” The suggestion, though rhetorical, has merit.

But it is premature.

We, too, Mr. Smith, should first be prolific in presenting our position. Un­ fortunately the doctrine of “Separation” with all its refinements, by the mere dint of repetition, has become accepted like the idea of the Emperor’s New Clothes.

More people should point out with child­ like simplicity that the Constitution does not mandate separation. Then, with a better, climate of opinion, we may act successfully.

R euben E. Gross

ESTABLISHED SECULARISM Staten Island, N.Y. I am pleased to note from the letter by Mr. Morris Smith in your Av-Elul issue, commenting on my article in the pre­ ceding issue, that he has developed one of the implications of my suggestion that the public schools are in the hands of America’s Established Religion-Secular Humanism. I would like to set forth a little o f the background to my writing 64

JEWISH LIFE

H ave You M et Jeremy?

Thousands o f children have grown up w ith the JEREMY & JU D Y books. N ow, a new generation o f youngsters is ready to he introduced to this delightful pair.

The hooks come in sets of four: JEREM Y LEARNS A BO U T G-D SA B BA TH IS SPECIAL JEREM Y & JU D Y SAY TH E SH ’MA JEREM Y’S & JU D Y ’S H A N U K A H Priced at $2.76 per set plus 15^ postage.

5^ additional postage for each additional set.

A sk for them at your synagogue sisterhood gift shop or order directly from W OM EN’S BR ANCH UOJCA 84 F ifth A venue N ew Y ork, N ew Y ork 10011

The (0) seal of approval of T H E U N IO N OF O R T H O D O X J E W ISH C O N G R E G A T IO N S OF A M E R IC A is on the labels of Heinz Vegetarian Beans, Heinz Tom ato Ketchup and six of the Heinz So u p s (Vegetarian Vegetable, Tomato, Tom ato with Rice, Cream of M ushroom , Cream of Pea, Cream of Celery). Look for these K osher foods of quality at your favorite food stores.

H. J. H EIN Z C O M P A N Y \ ^ /