Jewish Life Autumn 1974 by Jewish Action

?S n k |I i s e n ? r e i 8 CARE FOR THE AGED THE GA0N OF VILNA KADDISH FOR OUR TIMES

AUTUMN 1974/5734

154

Volume 41 No. 4 Autumn, 1974

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

leunsh THE EDITOR’S V IE W ............... . .2 ARTICLES Spiritual Ferment in Israel—The Im plications for American Jewry

Samson R. W e iss..................................6 Care for the Aged—A Positive Jewish Approcah

Editor Emeritus: Saul Bernstein

Jack Simcha Cohen .............

Editorial Consultants Dr. Herbert Goldstein Mrs. Libby Klaperman Dr. Jacob W. Landynski Rabbi Solomon J. Sharfman Chairman, Publications Committee: Lawrence A. Kobrin Production Editor: Yaakov Komreich Published bv: UNION OF ORTHODOX JEWISH CONGREGATIONS OF AMERICA President: HAROLD M. JACOBS Chairman of the Board: JOSEPH KARASICK Honorary Chairman of the Board: SAMUEL C. FEUERSTEIN Honorary Presidents: M OSES t FEUERSTEIN MAX J. ETRA SAMUEL NIRENSTEIN Honorary Senior Vice President: BENJAMIN KOENIGSBERG Senior Vice Presidents: DR. BERNARD LANDER DAVID POLITI Vice Presidents: NATHAN K. GROSS JULIUS BERMAN MARVIN HERSKOW ITZ SHELDON RUDOFF REUBEN E. GROSS FRED EHRMAN T r o a c i i ror

MARVIN HOCHBAUM Honorary Treasurer: MORRIS L. GREEN Secretary: MICHAEL C. W IMPFHEIMER BERNARD LEVMORE National Director: RABBI DAVID COHEN

Boys Town of Jerusalem —A Revolutionary Approach in Orthodox Jewish Education

Gershon Kranzler ............................... 21 The Gaon of Vilna— His Impact on Our Times

Berel W e in .............................

The Anxious Man of Repentance

Moshe Halevi S pero............................ 53

ART FEATURE Shalom of Safed— Innocent Master from Galilee

Alfred Werner ..................................... 36

FICTION A Man of Few Words

Andrew Neiderman.............................. 45

POETRY Kaddish for Our Times

Stuart Farrell T o w e r............................ 51

BOOK REVIEWS Five Children’s Books

David Adler ........................................ 61

DEPARTMENTS Among Our Contributors........................63 Copyright 1975 by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. Material from JEWISH LIFE, including illustrations, may not be reproduced except by written permission from this magazine following written request. JEWISH LIFE is published quarterly. Subscription: Two years (8 issues) $5.00. three years $6.50. four years $8.00. Foreign: Add $.40 per year. Single copy $.75 Editorial & Publication Office: 116 E. 27th St.. New York. N.Y. 10016 Second Class Postage Paid New York, N.Y. and at additional mailing offices.

The Editor’s View

The American Front—the Next Battleground for Israel Since the Yom Kippur War ten armaments in the Arab arsenals. The months ago, the political, economic, combined effects of deep recession at and military circumstances which have home, and the subtle economic and dominated events in the Middle East political offensive o f the Arab oil since the birth, of the modem State of sheiks pose a grave challenge to the Israel have been seriously challenged American Jewish community. It calls or totally reversed. Not the least of into serious question our ability to sus these is the continued strength, vitality, tain the crucial domestic institutions and support of the American Jewish and services basic to our survival as a community, which is the cornerstone of viable community. Unless we are cap Israel’s economic and political system. able of maintaining our internal The economic and political crisis strength through these essential institu which has enveloped the American tions, we will, in the long run, be un Jewish community in recent months is, able to sustain Israel. therefore, no less a threat to Israel’s Specifically, institutions of Jewish survival than all of the sophisticated learning throughout the continent find

THE EDITOR’S VIEW

themselves in dire economic difficulty. They are faced with the simultaneous forces of galloping inflation, reduced enrollment (due to birth-rate declines and increased assimilation), and the exhaustion, due to recession, of the normal sources of outside income. To a somewhat lesser extent, Jewish com munity service agencies and institu tions find themselves in the same predi cament. It has become painfully clear that these forces, unchecked, will soon destroy some of our finest schools and institutions, drastically weakening the American Jewish community from within, and seriously challenging its fu ture. We of the Jewish community, and, particularly, we of the Orthodox community, who have traditionally made up the active core óf American Judaism, are faced with the difficult task of consolidating and streamlining our educational and religious institu tions through more efficient use of existing facilities in order to guarantee the continued vitality of our people. At the same time, we must maintain the high quality of Jewish education with out compromising Halachic or ideolog ical principles. In the past two decades* we of the Torah community have succeeded in spreading a patchwork quilt of educa tional and religious institutions over the entire North American Jewish com munity, often against great odds, and in spite of monumental difficulties. The uniqueness of many of these institu tions is one of the great sources of their

strength, and it is, indeed, a tragedy to be forced to suggest that they be com bined or share facilities. Nevertheless, if we are to realistically confront the challenges before us, we must have the courage and strength of character to overcome differences of personality and style for the greater good of the entire community. This is in no way meant to imply that serious differences of religious principle be sacrificed for the sake of economy. Three thousand years of Jewish history teaches us no thing if not that the standards and ideals of Torah and Halacha are not negoti able, regardless of economic or politi cal consequences. Under no cir cumstances should an Orthodox institu tion of Jewish learning be combined with a Reform or Conservative institu tion. Nevertheless, we call upon every Jewish community to seriously take stock of its physical and economic re sources, in light of its present and fu ture needs. We must determine whether it would be, in any way, feasible to combine institutions and/or share facilities to permit the continuation, in the long run, of the highest standards of Jewish education and community ser vices. Under-utilized buildings and classrooms should either be closed down or more efficiently employed. We must find the courage and strength of purpose to carry out these difficult steps in the most considerate and effec tive way possible, for our own sake, and for the sake of all of all Israel.

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Hachnasas Orchim and Our Re sponsibility to Russian Jewish Emig rants in America One of the overlooked aspects of the Russian Jewry problem has been the challenge of resettling and re-educating them once they have left the Soviet Union. Regardless of the pros and cons of encouraging Russian Jews to settle in the United States, we must face the fact that, once they are here, it is our duty to help provide for their physical and spiritual sustenance. The Mizvah of Hachnasas Orchim— caring for the stranger in our midst, is the oldest and deepest trait of the Jewish people. It was the hallmark Mitzvah of our forefather Abraham, and was regarded by our Sages as the distinguishing characteristic of the Jewish personality. The Jews of America owe a debt to those who first welcomed us or our parents and grandparents to these shores. It is our turn to repay that debt, and, indeed, it will take all of the com munity resources that we can muster to rehabilitate those Russian Jews who have chosen to settle in the United States. It is true that most of them have the barest minimum of Jewish identity, and an almost total ignorance of the funda mentals of Jewish living. This only in creases our responsibility as a commun ity to teach them how to be Jews as well as Americans. Our task of freeing the Jews of the Soviet Union will not be completed

until we have broken the spiritual chains which bind their souls. To this end, we heartily endorse the six point program adopted by the National Bien nial Convention of the UOJCA this winter: We call upon all communities into which Soviet Jews move to: 1. Set up classes to teach' English to all age groups. 2. Assist in finding suitable employment for the immig rants. 3. Assist in re-training some im migrants toward new ways of making a living. 4. Assist in finding them housing and furniture. 5. Establish resource-people to give advice to newcomers. 6. Open their doors and hearts to help the immigrants make new friends. Moreover, we must use this oppor tunity to bring to our Soviet co religionists the message of Torah, which has so long been denied to them. Day Schools must be prepared to admit children gratis. Teenagers must receive instruction in Jewish history, tradition, and heritage. Adults must be taught the rudiments of Yiddishkeit: Kashrut and Shabbat, prayers, etc. We of the UOJCA have launched an effort to make religious material avail able to Russian Jews in their own lan guage through the free distribution of the Russian translation of Rabbi Dr. Leo Jung’s classic introductory pam-

THE EDITOR’S VIEW

phlet, ‘‘Essentials of Judaism” , We also are encouraged by the UOJCA’s recent efforts, in conjunction with some of this country’s leading Or thodox synagogues, providing Russian Jews with kosher for Passover foods and utensils, and making the traditional Pesach Seder available and meaningful to them. More projects of this kind for Russian Jews are urgently needed in other areas of Jewish living and Mitzvah observance. Progress Towards Uniting Orthodox Jewry We note with pleasure the historic first step in uniting the talent and resources of the Orthodox community towards common and constructive ends. We congratulate the leaders of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America and the National Council of Young Israel on their foresight and co operation in the formation of an Or thodox Aliyah Department to co

ordinate the activities in this area of both organizations. The Orthodox Union and the Young Israel movement share a wide range of common interests. Both have always been dedicated to the service of the American Orthodox Jewish communi ty, and we look forward with great an ticipation to further co-operation bet ween them in other areas of endeavor. All discussions and negotiations to that end should be encouraged as much as possible. We hope that this will be only the beginning of a general movement of reconciliation and cooperation among the various organizations in the Or thodox Jewish community . In truth, all of us share a fundamental dedication to Torah and Mitzvot, and a respect for Halachah and Da’at Torah. In these dif ficult times, we must, therefore, make a serious effort to put all differences, outside of purely Halachie disputes, aside, to meet the serious challenges facing all of us.

rtfs*

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Dr. Samson R. Weiss delivering his report, “The Spiritual Ferment in Israet-The Implications fo r American Jew ry", at the 76th Anniversary UOJCA Biennial National Convention, at Boca Raton, Florida, in November, 1974. This article is an edited version o f that original report. (photo by I. Berez)

Spiritual Ferment in Israel — The Implications for American Jewry by Samson R. Weiss

Much of the laughter has gone out of Eretz Israel. The mood there is very somber. There is no panic or hysterics.' On the contrary, there is a very moving, heartgripping calm. It is not the calm of despair; it is the calm of utter loneliness. We have come to the realization that the majority of peoples, which make up the international forum of the United Na tions, their leaders and spokesmen, consider the extinction of the Jewish State, G-d forbid, a quite viable option at the present political and economic juncture. Even the thin pretense of operating under moral guidelines, heretofore a must of international dip lomacy, has been discarded. The murderer with his gun in holster is given a standing ovation. For one who

comes, as I do, from Germany, this is an ominous revival of Nazism, with one distinction. This revival has been sanctioned and given prestige as Nazism never was, even in the horror years of its European conquests, when everybody thought it was invincible. Let us note another small but import tant point. Chou En Lai,as reported in “ Maariv” , recently said to a leading Egyptian newspaperman that China had two Jews but that they are now gone. Among 800 millions, two Jews were too many for them,—two too many. This is China—a horrible power looming on the horizon of world domi nation, with its ever growing influence on the Third World. Let us face it: they do not want us to exist, neither as a

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State nor as a people. Israel knows this. She realizes that she is at war, and that the cease-fire is but a hiatus, the pause of exhaustion and not the hopeful bridge to peace. We hope to Hashem that this bridge might still develop. As of now, it has not. Israel also knows that, as military men would say, she té “ riding point” , meaning that she is the exposed front edge of combat in the high-stakes game of the superpowers for domination of the strategically cru cial Middle East and its riches. Over one year after the Yom Kippur War, a new outbreak of hostilities would be, for these superpowers, a not entirely unwelcome test of the efficacy of their new, sophisticated weaponry. It is by the grace of G-d that this neces sitates Israel’s receiving these weapons in sufficient quantity and rapidity. Israel is essentialy alone. Her only true and tested friend, who will stand by her in her peril and bear with her even in her “ Mechdalim” , even in her mistakes and failures, (and this is the true test of friendship) is World Jewry, the Jewries of the Diaspora and, espe cially, North American Jewry, for it is free, wealthy and relatively unafraid. The monetary support is, of course, quite important. Infinitely more impor tant, however, is North American Jewry making us feel that we in Israel are fighting tht Jewish war, and not the Israeli War. We would be lost, I am afraid, in any Israeli war, whose inner motif were not in consonance with the pulsebeat of Klal Yisroel. That pulsebeat is often unarticulated, yet so

strong, mysteriously persistent and es sentially unchanging vision of our de stiny, place and purpose in this, G-d’s world. In Hebrew it is called the “ Yiud” the “ Tafkid” of our people, our destiny. We are moving towards it, inching towards it. We say in the Shmone Esray. “ umayvi goel” not “ yavi goel” ; -4 “ He brings the Re deemer” , not “ He will bring the Re deemer” . The Jew believes that what ever happens is a step forward to the Geulah. The realization of this oneness of the Jewish people has shaken the secular Israel to its very foundation. Before the Six-Day War and possibly, even more, the Yom Kippur War, with its painful realization of the constancy of our peril, the rash, improper overreliance on our military superiority, and most of all, the engulfing sadness of national bereavement changed all of that. Our national44availuth” for 3,000 fallen and close to 10,000 wounded, many of them maimed for life, all but put an end and erased the negation of the Galut, both in its contemporary, acute meaning and in its historic, evaluative influence. I need not argue the point that even mere survival is heroism. To have chil dren and to bring them up as Jews, as human beings refusing to escape the Jewish fate, after the destruction of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem and its unimaginable impact on the Jewish soul, under the Islamic conquest, under the crusader’s sword, under the domi nance, of the church, of the inquisition and Auto-Da-Fe, under the unrelenting

SPIRITUAL FERMENT IN ISRAEL

pressure and debasement of the ghetto, under the Czar and the brutal Russian rule, under the conditions of the mod ern ghetto of social exclusion, in and after the Holocaust, simply to be here, is unbelievable heroism, unparalleled in the annals of recorded human his tory. The Ramban, commenting on the struggle between Yaakov and the Angel, quotes an explanation of our sages to the verses (Bereshit 32:26) “ and the hollow of Yaakov’s thigh was strained” . It is the only place in Chumash, to the best of my knowledge, where Ramban takes issue with a statement of our Sages, the “ Chazal” . Rabbi Chiya Bar Abba comments that our forefather Yaakov would not have withstood the terrible tortures inflicted upon the generation of enforced apos tasy (an extension in history of that struggle to which this verse alludes). Ramban says that Rabbi Chiya Bar Abba underestimated the strength of Jewish heroism. He states that genera tion after generation of Jews of much lesser stature than Rabbi Chiya Bar Abba were subjected to even more cruel tortures, “ u’v’kulom a’madnu’t and we withstood all of them without giving in. Ramban continues by quot ing a later verse (Bereshit 33:18) “ and Yaakov arrived sound” . Our Sages teach us that this means that Yaakov reached his destiny in the Holy Land safe and complete. The Ramban as sures us that, just as Yaakov was fulfil led, so will we and bur children. Jewish heroism is to be here without having

lost faith in the essential goodness and redeemability of man, despite all that has been and is still being done to us. We go through this world and history, and still declare that man is essentially good. We still say, “ Chaviv adam shenivra b’tzelem” , precious is Man who is created in His image. This makes me bow in reverence be fore this great, tormented, noble people. I humbly thank my G-d, Who has vouchsafed me to be one of them. “ Baruch shelo asani goy” , let us thank the One who has not made us like the nations of the world. There is no people like the Jewish people. We are the “ Am Segullah,” unique in quality of nature, persistent in goodness, undeter red by the evil around us and afflicting us. We are the only true aristocracy on this wide earth, if aristocracy means to be impervious to slight and loneliness, to be incapable of the mean and the unworthy, and to be above and beyond the reach, the suck, and the abyss of the collective evil all around us, which is so contagious. Thus, we stand alone. We have inher ited this historic ability to stand all alone and not to expire by sheet loneli ness, from Abraham our father. He is called Avraham the “ Ivri” because he alone was ‘‘ma’ayver echod, ’*—on one s id e ,^ “ V’chulom” —and all the rest, “ ma’ayver acher” stood on the other side. This is not the first time in Jewish history that this has happened. The outpouring of Jewish help, the sudden outburst of complete identifica tion with Israel and her people, in the

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pure flame of “ Ahavat Yisrael” has spread, as the Mishna of Rosh Hashana says (2:4), “ until the entire Golah was a firebrand” of this identification. This participation of Klal Yisroel in these two wars of Jewish survival has changed the relationship of the Israeli to his Jewish brother in the Galut. The trend of an Israel developing away from, and independent of, the rest of the Jewish people has disappeared. The tendency had been to grant the Golah merely the privilege of picking up the deficits and propping up Israel’s economy, while claiming that soon Is rael would be economically viable, and then not need the Golah at all. This trend has been halted and, I believe, lastingly reversed. The realization of our insoluble and indivisible oneness and alliance is one of the most signific ant components of the spiritual ferment which connotes today’s complex fabric of the inner spiritual reality which is Israel. People do not, on the whole, change their thinking and attitudes because of pure theoretical, objective contempla tion. It is events which jar them, events which do not fit the sequences of their thought-pattern, which refuse to be made malleable and digestible by the ready-made categories of yesterday. The cataclysmic events, then, of the Six-Day and Yom Kippur wars have shattered these pre-conceived notions and left a vacuum. This has resulted in a search for other, more meaningful frames of reference which can house and accomodate the realities or, better,

the new perception of reality and the new values emerging from this percep tion. This search has led to revolutionary, far-reachingj and quite inescapable conclusions and consequences. It has led, for instance, to the conclusion that secular Zionism, which fostered the negation of the Galut and of Galut his tory, is bankrupt, has failed and is, in fact, finished. It has no program for tomorrow and no vision to offer. Its representatives may still hold the majority of the Knesset, but, viewed from the aspect of historic verity (for we are an eternal people, and we do not live for today), secular Zionism has been relegated to the past. It is signific ant that Israeli secular thinkers now admit that it is an aberration. To be like all other nations is nothing more and nothing less than collective assimila tion and surrender. We have endured precisely because we are not like all other nations, because these normal rules of history condemning us to de feat and oblivion for almost 2,000 years simply do not apply to us. What Yitzchak Breuer once called meta history, to live above the natural rules which apply to all other peoples, is the natural habitat of our people. Secular Zionism has also failed to produce the transfer, the continuity of willing acceptance of the^ Jewish de stiny and its responsibilities. By sever ing belief in our spiritual past, it has become impotent of procreating this continuity. By the attempt to “ nor malize” the Jewish people, by forsak-

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ing and denying its meta-history, it has denied its very essence and peculiarity. “ It is a nation alone, not counted with the other nations” (Bamidbar 23:9). It has obtained one result, that of set ting a whole generation adrift. It has given them “ Eretz” , a land, but it should have also given them “ Artzenu ha’k’dosha” , our holy land. It should have offered* them the return to “ Kedusha” , tg a sanctification of exis tence possible only in this land. Instead it has made so many of today’s youths spiritual nomads, imitators, rootless, frantic and often cheap. I could quote from the examples in the contemporary literature. Soldiers ask, as their officers relate in their reports on troop morale: “ Why are we here? Are we usurpers?’’ Great secular intellectu als write: “ We are ridden by guilt feel ings. We are robbers. This is not ours. Where is our claim today? We were not here for 1900 years. A ren’t they right?” It is significant that the Mitnachalim, today’s settlers are religious young people who have no question of this kind, to whom the covenant of Ab raham, (Bereshit 15:18) “ to your de scendants I have given this land” , is eternal, overriding fact. You cannot sever the present from the past without making us incapable of producing a meaningful future. Secular Zionism has committed the cardinal crime of shifting Jewish existence from its vertical, age-encompassing orienta tion to the horizontal, “ now ” orientation, and in the “ now’,’ disillu sion is fatal. Let me explain that

through a “ Ma’amar Chazal” again quoted from the Chumash commentary of the Ramban. Abraham became the father of our na tion at the “ Brit bayn ha’b’torim” which, as our commentators state, was his first prophetic experience. He fell, in this vision, into a deep slumber. And in this slumber (Bereshit 15:12) “ a fear, a great darkness engulfed him.” The Torah uses four expressions to de pict this terrible fear. They represent, as our Sages say, the four “ Galiyot,” our four exiles till this very day. Prophecy, as Rambam defines it in Hilchos Yesodei Tbrah, is the Divine inspiration which makes the prophet experience the highest form possible of conceptual reality. To the prophet, the prophecy is of a much higher acute real ity than even the clearest logical thought. The “ Vada’us,” the utter cer titude of the prophet is not paralleled by any other intellectual, visual or sensual experience in this world. We must un derstand that our father Abraham, in this dream of prophecy, survived the entire period of our Galut history. He was in Babylon; he was in Mitzrayim; he was burnt in Aushwitz. He saw it; he lived with us; he is my father and I was with him there. He also saw Mashiach, and the final Redemption. He did not live for the day or for the moment. He was the father of generations. We are fathers, parents, mothers, children, grandchildren, those who are the link, and only by being a link can I carry my Jewish star. It would be meaningless if I were to end today, but I have a herit-

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age, and I am here to continue it. I am proud to be a small, minute link in this everlasting chain which will yet redeem the world, for we have not lost the faith. A person is obliged to look upon him self as if he personally had emerged from ancient Egypt. “ Chayav adam lir’ot et atzmo k’eelu hu yatza mi’mitzrayim” . This is not a phrase, but rather the essence of Jewish existence and life. I was there. I am the product and outgrowth of this continuous Jewish existence which spans the ages of the eternal people. “ Eretz Yisroel” , the land of Israel, is mine. It was the first Rashi I learned: “ Why does the Chumash start with Bereshit?” Yaakov Herzog z” l pointed it out in his famed dialogue with Toyn bee. He was not ashamed to quote this, the first Rashi in the Torah, which every day-school child of the age of eight knows. Why does the Torah, which is supposed to be a book of laws, start with Bereshit? Because it teaches us that the world is G-d’s. He has given us this land and, therefore, it is ours. He took it from them and gave it to us, because only in this land can we fulfill our destiny of being a sacred nation, a people full of “ Kedushah” . We have a mission to fulfill in this world, not just merely to exist. To us, any feeling of guilt over our presence in the land of Israel is misplaced. It is but the con sequence of secularization, the transla tion of our national perspective from the vertical to the horizontal, from the eternal aspect to the “ now” . This has terrible consequences.

We are so deeply moved by the mira cle of the Russian return, but do you know the percentage today of Russian Jews who are “ Yordim” , who leave the land of Israel or who do not even want to come to the land from Vienna? I quote official figures, given by an official representing the Aliyah De partment of the Jewish Agency: over 25%. Why? Because Russian Jews come to Israel and do not find that they have come home. They come with inar ticulate longings that shine in their eyes but are not fulfilled. They don’t get what they hoped for, and their eyes become dim. Now, there is a new prog ram, called Social Integration, to make them feel at home. Perhaps a few shules will be built for them, but the only real hope for these Russian Jews comes from the Torah world. I dispute the statement that the world of the Yeshivot, that the Gedolay Torah, “ have not done a thing.” That is not true. They and their talmidim are the only ones who have done something! There are many institutions for Rus sian Jews run by our people. There is the “ Vaad L’man Ha’kleetah” which has built several yeshivot exclusively for Russians. It is, in this country, offi cially non-political. In Israel, it is, in actuality, run by the Agudah,and I bless them for it. There is the “ N’shei Hapoel Hamizrachi” which, in Eretz Israel, has undertaken the job of socializing with the Russian wo men. They try to counteract some of the influences of the Batei Kleetah, where Sabbath Lights are kindled at eight

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o’clock, hours after sunset, where “ yiddishkeit” is presented to Russian women by a girl in a low-cut pantsuit teaching Shabbat and Yom Tov! This is not the way to bring them home. So, the N’shei Mizrachi have their wonderful program—too small, too insufficient, but, nevertheless, it demonstrates that there is a will to do. There is “ Yad L’Achim” established and staffed by Yeshiva students and the much maligned Yeshiva world, which has saved Georgian Jewry. It is an ac tivity of the Israeli P’eylim. ” There is “ Geulim,” established by one man, Rabbi Avraham Sher of the Vaad Hayeshivos,which prints and dis tributes “ keetvay kodesh” with Rus sian translation to the Russian immig rants. Among them was the first Rus sian translation of the Machzor in fifty years. It was distributed last year and this year again, three days before Rosh Hashanah. You cannot imagine the scenes—Russian Jews crying because, for the first time in fifty years, they had a holy book in their hands that they could read. For many it was something they never possessed. We did it, the Torah world, not the others. There is a wonderful institution called “ Ulpana” for Girls. It is sponsored and maintained by the Rabbinical Council of America, which also got Rabbi Sher the money for the Machzorim. In this institution they take girls from Carpatho-Russia, Marmorosh, and Sziget. They have not seen a “ Melamed” for 30 years. They come without “ Aleph-Bet” , completely

secularized; Lenin is their god. I have seen these girls now married, and estab lishing wonderful Jewish homes, in the two short years that this institution exists. They are again joining the link, the stream, the current of Jewish con tinuity and existence. Who has established all these Yeshivot for Baaley T’shuvah, such as Ohr Somayach for boys and Neveh Yerushalayim for girls, with which the UOJCA’s youth movement, NCSY, is connected? Who is “ Mekarev r’chokim” ? Who is bringing our young people back to Judaism and the Jewish people, if not we? Only one thing is wrong with all that we have done. We have accomplished something with Russian Jews and Ba’aley Tshuva, but what have we done for the “ Sabar” ? Who has estabished institutions for the Israeli who has grown up in an entirely alienated and often anti-religious surrounding, such as a Kibbutz? These Kibbutzniks leave the land now. They are the ones who ask the questions. The only ones who have gone out to them are the Bnei Torah, sent by their Roshei Yeshivah, who have established “ Shiurei Aras” and made significant progress. There is “ Saad” and “ Gesher” , established by American people, supported by Ameri can rabbis. They go out into the kibbut zim and bring these people to places such as Kfar Etzion where they can experience the Shabbat. There is an umbrella organization called “ Emunim” for “ kiruv rechokim” . There is an organization, “ El

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Hamikorot” , created by these so-called our isolation, nor by our being a minori B’nai Brak “ kanaim” , by these “ out ty, neither as the people of Israel, nor, casts” and “ enemies” , They go to speaking for the Torah world, within every house that will receive them. “ Klal Y isroel” . We have our Wherever they can, they bring a young “ Hashagacha” , our Weltanschauung, person, a boy, a girl, or a young couple and we have our covenant. The closer to Yiddishkeit. They travel the “ Nase” , the supernatural providence country, and nobody knows of the quiet of G-d, in the cloak of history and bat work they are doing. One o f the tle, is our natural habitat. This G-d of greatest contemporary Roshei Israel, who is recognizable in the fate of Yeshivah is the inspiration behind this our people, we have brought Him down organization and controls it. Don’t be to this world. We live by other rules. During the lieve that the Rosh Yeshivahs don’t do eight days of Chanukah we say the text a thing. On the contrary, if anybody ordained by our Sages. “ Geeborim gets strength from anywhere, if there is b’yad chalashim” . Who usually wins any point of nourishment where our the war? It is the strong, and not the people find meaning and hope in our weak; it is the many and not the few. dark hour, it is from the light of the But, in our history, it has always been Torah. the opposite. According to the rules of One of the two most important organi the world, the “ Tamay” , the unclean, zations in Israel (“ organizations” , not must win the war, because, to him, institutions—nothing tops the impor everything is allowed, and he can do tance of the Yeshivot) is the“ Talat’^, anything. We, the “ Tehorim’’, the authored sponsored and inspired by pure, can do very little. Nevertheless, “ Gedolay Torah” , the Torah au thorities of Israel. They send a Kolel we declare, “ T ’mayim b ’yad into the “ Arey Pituach” , the new set tehorim” , we do prevail over the unc tlement cities, consisting of ten or more lean. According to the normal rules, the young men and their wives. The men “ Reshoim” , the wicked, prevail. This learn daily shiurim with the men of the is not so in our history. They lose out city, the wives teach the women, and against the “ Tzadikim” , the righteous. the whole city becomes different. The ’The “ Zaydim” , the evildoers, lose out secular Mapai and Mapam governed against the “ Oskay torasecho” , those City Councils invite them, welcome who have made Torah their life’s pur suit, who devote their lives to learning, them, and pay part of their budget! doing and living by the Torah. These are some of the fundamental We must, of course, do what we can. changes taking place in Israel. We are We are taught by our Sages that the the safekeepers of the Jewish past, miracle begins where man’s honest, di hence we are also the safekeepers of the ligent and total effort ends. You cannot Jewish future. We are not frightened by

SPIRITUAL FERMENT IN ISRAEL

rely on the miracle until you have done all you can. This is called, by Rabbi Moshe Luzzato, the law of “ Hishtadlus” . Medrash Esther Rabbah relates how two people look at Jewish history, Had rian the King and Rabbi Yehoshua. Hadrian said, “ How great is this little lamb which survives among seventy voracious wolves!” By this he is refer ring to Israel among the nations of the world. But Rabbi Yehoshua rejects this compliment to Israel. He said, “ You mistakenly ascribe this to us. You should see Jewish history differently. You should say, instead, ‘How great is the shepherd who leads us through this desert of nations. He watches over us and breaks down our enemies. ’ This is our confidence which we must share. We must face the disillusioned and give them our hope. We must postpone our quarrels, even though they go to the core of our belief. Nevertheless, right now we have no time for them, for all our energy must be dedicated to the life struggle of our people. We must give them “ chizuk.” I am one of you, a friend who feels warm to be in your midst. Therefore, the following comment is not meant “ critically.” We have done nothing in the land of Israel yet. Where is a little bit of seed money to encourage the be ginning of seven, eight, nine other such outposts? They are radiants of light, the beacons, where people can flock to and ask us, “ Maybe you now who I am. What do I do in this country? What does it mean to be a Jew? Why should I fight,

or why should I be sure that we will win? Why should I be willing to give my life?” The nefesh of our brethem is at stake. Scripture tells us (Isaiah 57:19) “ Peace, peace. Extend it to the far and to the near. ’’ The difficulty in this verse is, why do you have to extend peace to the near? It is because we can bring peace to the far only if we Have it with those near to us. We differ within the Torah community by only 20 per cent with each other. In 80 per cent of our faith we see eye to eye. All of us put on Tefillin. All of us believe in the Al mighty and in the divinity of the Torah. We agree on the fundamentals of our faith. There are, of course, areas in which we differ. But, unless we have internal peace, we won’t have the ener gies to extend true inner peace to those in Israel who are distant from us. This is why we must postpone our internal quarrels. Otherwise we will not reach the rest of Klal Yisroel, which is our burden, and task. Unless their vexa tion becomes our pain, we have not reached the level demanded of us of “ Ahavat Yisroel” , of complete iden tification. This is the true meaning of “ Ahavah” . It is not that smutty term flaunted and thrown around, which makes it so difficult to speak about this sacred concept. In our sacred language, “ Ahavah” has the same “ gematriya” , the same numerical value as “ Echod” , unity. This is its true meaning, as has been revealed in our generation. To quote from the Song of Songs. “ Hard like death is true love—bitter like the

JEWISH LIFE

grave is its jealousy.” To love some body is to die for him, to die with him. This is love. There they stand, these naked souls, waiting. There is the story of a girl who was a movie actress in Israel. She said, “ when I was a child and had difficul ties, I cried. When I grew up and had “ tzores” , I took drugs.” She had np answers. Then, by accident, she worked on a film in a religious section in Haifa, on the Shabbat. The Jews of the section ran out of their homes shout ing “ Yiden, yiden; Shabbos, Shabbos.” She did not understand, at first, ‘Shabbos’, instead of ‘Shabbat’, and she mocked them like her. colleagues. But then, she wanted to know these

people and their world. She finally saw Jewish life in its reality. Sofiiebody took the time to learn Torah with her, Bereshit, and she met G-d through the Chumash. Today, this young lady lives in B’nei Brak. Her only worry was that they would not accept her, because she was an outsider, “ a yidishe shicksa.” But she found, instead, true “ Ahavat Yisroel” , and acceptance by these “ Kanaim” in the much maligned Yeshiva world. Now, she has answers, happiness and fulfillment. If we offer our past and our present to our brethren, we shall come truly home, and be redeemed, and yet re deem with us the entire world.

Care for the Aged — A Positive Jewish Approach by Jack Simcha Cohen

The tragic plight of the aged in America today has been dramatically underscored by the recent spate of dis closures concerning abuses of the el derly in institutions. These senior citi zens are confronted with the following dichotomy. Thanks to scientific ad vances, their life span has been in creased. At the same time, however, our contemporary, youth-oriented cul ture has rendered them obsolete. Thus they live, as the poet Matthew Arnold once wrote, ‘‘walking between two worlds, one dead, the other powerless to be born.” Our society has a debt to its aged. Whether we like them or not - they gave us the life we have and even our ability to disagree with them. It is our obliga tion to care for the aged and give them

some meaningful function in life. Respect for the aged and maintaining them with dignity are fundamental to Jewish tradition in defining man’s obli gations to his fellow man. For millen nia, Jews have taught that one measure of a society’s worth is the manner in which it treats its aged.“ Cast me not off at the time of my old age, when my strength fails, forsake me not,” reads the ancient Psalm. Today, when allega tions concerning neglect and abuses in nursing home care abound, it is vital that we utilize these traditional norms in seeking to develop an understanding of the multi-faceted ramifications of the problem, and to help articulate practi cal suggestions for its rectification. A generation or two ago, the ex tended family was the norm. The nor-

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mal household contained three genera tions, simultaneously interacting and interrelating with one another, and per forming useful productive functions together. Now, however, the nuclear family has become the standard in a country on the move, with one out of five families changing their residences each year. Moreover, our society es pouses independence from parents as a great virtue. As a result of this phenomenon, coupled with everincreasing social demands on younger adults, elderly parents, in most cases, are no longer cared for in the homes of the children. As the old saying goes, “ One parent can care for 10 children; 10 children can’t seem to care for one parent.” As incongruous as it may ap pear, our sprawling suburban homes do not seem large enough to accommodate one parent. Exacerbating this problem is the fact that, in many instances, the elderly require a variety of medical and therapeutic services that can not conve niently be provided within the home. Thus, with the Jewish aged popula tion accelerating at a rapid rate (one out of every nine Jews today is over 65; 20 years from now this ratio will be one out of six) institutional care for the aged has become the normal rather than the exceptional situation. How can we, the organized Jewish community, in fulfillment of the Bibli cal mandate, keep faith with our older adults? How can we insure that institu tional care where necessary provides quality service medical care to senior citizens in a decent and dignified envi

ronment? How can we be certain that institutional care, whether public, vol untary or proprietary in nature, pro vides adequate physical and emotional treatment, and minimizes the trauma of social estrangement that is often con comitant with the process of in stitutionalization? The first priority, of course, is to sustain them in life. This connotes the elimination of poverty, for the Talmud equates an impoverished person with one already dead. No aged person need starve or be deprived of medical care due to lack of funds. This would, of necessity, involve intensified efforts on the part of the organized Jewish cornunity to influence the government to provide meaningful old age assistance programs. A partial step in this direc tion was the inauguration in 1974 of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. This program provided a guaranteed federal uniform income to the aged and permitted states to sup plement such incomes. However, the dollar income gained by SSI recipients was more than offset by the loss of food stamp benefits. In addition, the bureaucratic red tape created innumerable difficulties in the process of transference to the program. As a result, this supposed boon to the elderly has turned into what has right fully been termed “ the cruel hoax of SSI.” Moreover, eligibility criteria of the program mitigate against inhabits ants of populous urban centers, where the vast majority of the aged Jewish poor reside.

CARE FOR THE AGED

Efforts, therefore, must be concen trated along the lines of eliminating these inequities in governmental legis lation and administration ostensibly de signed to ameliorate the plight of the poor. Another vital need for enriching the lives of our older adults is to break down the communications barrier con fronting those who are not fluent in the English language. To this end, government-funded programs must provide Yiddish-speaking personnel to assist the aged who may not have the ability to clearly articulate their needs in English. The next priority deals with improv ing the quality of life of the elderly. As institutional life for the aged becomes an ever-increasing phenomenon of our contemporary culture, a prime concern must be infusing decency and meaning fulness into their lives by developing a richer pattern of institutional living. A massive input of city, state, and federal programs must be developed to hook these institutions into the various neighborhood religious, social, cultur al, and political programs. This would integrate the aged into the mainstream of social life. Government agencies should award funding grants for prog rams to integrate and coordinate the institutional aged into communal ac tivities. Community action projects should have roles for the aged. Prog rams should be designed to meet their cultural needs and involve them in the decision making process of communal affairs.

These self-same communal and/or quasi-govemmental agencies that are providing the aged with social services, should also perform the duties of om budsman to protect the rights of the aged and to insure that they are receiving adequate care. In this regard, linkages should be established between these agencies and the institutional care facilities to ascertain that proper health and nursing procedures are being fol lowed. One of the most significant aspects of this proposal is to insure strict com pliance with the Federal Life Safety Code adopted in 1971. This law elabo rates such code violations as too narrow halls or doorways for escape route eg ress of bed-ridden or wheel chairconfined patients, and other structural deficiencies that may be considered fire hazards. Governmental and quasigovemmental agencies must scrupul ously enforce these long-awaited safety guidelines, as well as all other codes of proper health and nursing care. Still another important priority is more adequate care for the needs of the non-institutionalized elderly. We must promote, for example, the policy that all housing projects should designate a portion of their apartment units for the able elderly. The able aged need to live with other generations. They need to be involved with persons of all ages. Con versely, other age groups must have the opportunity to communicate on a daily basis with the'aged. Thus, the aged would not be so estranged or segregated from the pattem of general life experi-

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ences. forts must be directed towards In summary, to heed the cry of the strengthening the present evaluation aged in their loneliness and despair, system which seems to have lost its and to safeguard them from the indig efficiency. In this manner we shall be nity and pain resulting from indiffer acting in accordance with Jewish tradi ence and negligence, we must increase tion which bids us to undertake positive communal participation and promote constructive programs to improve so strict compliance with, and improving cial conditions. upon, governmental regulations. Ef

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Boys Town of Jerusalem — A Revolutionary Approach in Orthodox Jewish Education by Gershon Kranzier

There exists in Israel two almost to rams. A large part of the problem arises tally separate societies. The “ other” or from the lack of positive motivation of 44Second Israel” consists mainly of the young, especially in such near-slum Jews from oriental and North African neighborhoods as the Katemons in countries such as Yemen, Morocco, Jerusalem. This is largely due to a lack Iraq and Tunis, most of whom have of parental supervision, or a clash of come to Israel through such ingathering generational values caused by culture projects as Operation Magic Carpet. shock. The uprooting of these tradi Their cultural differential and voca tionally oriented, simple, religious tional underqualification block their en older immigrants, and their children’s trance into the middle and upper strata exposure to a radically new Israeli cul of the generally open Israeli society. ture, challenged their basic W el This is almost as true for the young as tanschauung, The resulting generation for the older generation of immigrants, gap has hampered the social adjustment in spite of the equalizing effects of the of the youth of this Second Israel, and schools and the army. handicapped their integration into the The problems of this largely destitute mainstream of Israeli life. and underprivileged community persist In response, a daring social and educa despite many government long and tional experiment has been carried on in short range welfare and education prog the past two decades with mounting

Artist's conception o f Boys Town in Jerusalem - “Kiryat Noar’’

A student o f Boys Town operating one o f its modern printing presses.

BOYS TOWN OF JERUSALEM

success by Kiryat Noar, the famous Boys Town of Jerusalem. It was de veloped by a handful of orthodox Jewish educators rallying around the dynamic leadership of Rabbi Alexan der Lynchner, following the teachings of Rabbi Feivel Mendelowitz, z’T, who also played a leading role in the creation of the great network of Ameri can day schools, and the development of Yeshiva and Mesivta Torah Vadaath into one of Americas foremost Torah institutions. But Kiryat Noar, Boys Town of Jerusalem, is radically different from the conventional Yeshiva in its basic educational ideology and approach to the serious social and educational prob lems of Israel’s disadvantaged and dis illusioned youth. It welds the American version of the classic Eastern European Yeshiva to the specific socio economic, psychological, and Jewish needs of the youngsters from Eidoth Hamizrach. It is, in the purest sense, a realization of the ideal of the Torah im Derech Eretz, for those who are not geared to the exclusive concentration of talmudic and halachic studies. The visitor to Boys Town is impressed by the personal, individual childfocused care lavished on behalf of the physical, as well as the intellectual and social needs of its 1200 students, on the junior high, high school, and applied engineering college levels. Were these youngsters from the normal social dis tribution of Israel’s population, the ap proach and actual achievements of Boys Town would be spectacular. But

in light of their disadvantaged backgrounds and personal histories,one understands why even non-orthodox officials like Pinchas Sapir and Teddy Kollek are so enthusiastic about the triple-pronged education system of Boys Town. It combines the best of Jewish traditional Torah Education with the most advanced training for careers in a highly sophisticated and scientifically oriented technology. Entering the main school center com plex of Kiryat Noar, one is impressed by the modern layout and aesthetic beauty of the facilities. The flight of busy offices, the spotless wide stair cases, and the general environment would meet the highest American stan dards. This very atmosphere is an im portant part of the success story of Boys Town. It takes some time for a youngs ter from Israel’s most disadvantaged homes to realize that this is his school. Gradually, he learns to use and care for these sparkling tools and precious equipment, in the large, brightly lit workshops. This environment of clean dormitories, and well equipped, large classrooms and laboratories, is as valu able an experience as the formal classes in Torah and secular topics. Walking from class to class, from one building to another, one meets everywhere eager groups acquiring knowledge, skills, craftsmanship under the guidance of competent scholars and experts in vari ous technical fields. Among them are graduates of Boys Town who have come back to transmit to others the knowledge and skills that have opened

JEWISH LIFE

the doors to opportunity in Israel’s economy. The same clean, busy, but beautiful atmosphere strikes one in the large cafeteria, without the usual deafening noise, odors, clatter patter that one associates with school lun chrooms. Teachers and young capable counsellors sit with each group of stu dents at the tables engaging in lively discussions while enjoying the good food. Cleanup and traffic in and out of the cafeteria is well organized as is the Benching. This atmosphere of intimate, yet con trolled activity is all the more gratifying because two thirds of the students come from the Eidoth Hamizrach. They do not come from the elite backgrounds typical of other Yeshivos and advanced schools. Starting practically frorfi the bottom, the three-tiered school system of Kiryat Noar has succeeded to an amazing degree, largely because of the unique human quality and the en thusiasm of its young Rabbeim, teachers, and experts, led by Rabbi Alexander Lynchner, the dean, and his son, Rabbi Moshe Lynchner. Upon spending half an hour with Mr. Bar Eytan, the principal and computer expert, who has made the administra tive processes of Boys Town a model of efficiency, one learns to appreciate the effectiveness of the modem system that provides and integrates all kinds of in formation on each Student, allowing for the most intensive concentration on in dividual needs, interests, and problems this old school practitioner has ever en countered. It turns the principal’s office

into a central source of knowledge feed ing the various divisions and faculties, and enabling them to give their full attention to the human and social, as well as the intellectual and skill needs of their students. Chance encounters with such radi cally different people as a young soldier ih the sweltering night heat of the Negev, and a prominent Jewish or thodox leader, have made this writer aware of the unique success of this edu cational venture. On the way to Eilat, our bus stopped at a forsaken spot in the middle of nowhere, for a brief rest and refreshments. There, I met a young soldier with a Kippah, from a nearby army post. In our brief conversation, before the bus moved on, he told me that he was a graduate of Boys Town, and that he kept in touch with Rabbi Lynchner and his teachers, and was very grateful for the periodic publica tions and circulars sent to all former students. “ Not only I, but my buddies in the army enjoy the thoughts of Torah and the general information which keep all Boys Town graduates in touch with the spirit and warmth of our school. ” A few weeks later, a former Boys Town student who currently is an activist leader of Agudath Israel, drove me around Bayit Vegan. As we rode, he commented: “ All the work we are doing here for Torah in every day life cannot compare to the concrete achievements of Rabbi Lynchner’s Boys Town for the last twenty years IT” At Boys Town, I saw busloads of stu dents from those neighborhoods of

BOYS TOWN OF JERUSALEM

Jerusalem where the incidence of drop More than these modem wonders of outs, juvenile delinquency, and van technology, is the driving force of the dalism are highest. Small wonder that man behind everything in this amazing the Iriyah, the Jerusalem city administ complex of learning facilities. But most ration, has commended Boys Town for impressive is the students’ reaction to its unusual approach, and success with Rabbi Lynchner when he addresses these children, where others have them by name and asks them questions largely failed. There are now approxi about their Torah learning; when he mately 300 of these youngsters from “ kids” them about their attire, or chal the Katemons and similar low-class so lenges them to take a haircut, or to cial environments at Boys Town who demonstrate their skills in handling the are being positively restructured and complicated machinery that they are reinforced in their basic Jewish at entrusted with. One is touched as Rabbi titudes and values. At the same time, Lynchner puts a gentle arm about the they receive the type of education shoulder of a veteran from one of the which eventually will open the doors to worst battles of the Golan, who has a better future in the Israeli economy. returned permanently crippled, but They are being trained as carpenters, who finds comfort and peace in teach furniture-makers, draftsmen, desig ing his class of eager youngsters in ners, and printers. Boys Town presses graphic design. This young teacher is have produced some of the most eleg one of hundreds of Boys Town’s stu ant and valuable Sefarim and books av dents, teachers, and alumni who have ailable anywhere. Other Boys Town actively served at the fronts. Some are graduates will go on to work in elec still there, long after the tenuous cease tronics, designing sophisticated fire. Two thirds of the faculty fought in equipment used by the Israeli army and the October War, as in the previous throughout the defense and private in campaigns. There are,unfortunately,too dustries. It is not surprising that Boys many who have not returned from’the Town’s graduates are eagerly sought sands of the desert, or the Golan front. after by employers. They have penet Rabbi Lynchner and the other Rabbeim rated Israel’s most advanced technolog have visited their parents and helped ical industries for both war and peace, them get over the worst of their sorrow. which have helped catapult Israel into They are continuously in touch with the small country leadership, in terms of many who lie wounded in hospitals, technical production and creativity. and who deeply appreciate the deep Boys Town’s visitors cannot help concern and care which permeate every being deeply impressed by the serious phase of life in the Boys Town family. learning, the superb facilities, It happened that one Friday evening, I laboratories, and shops crammed with was privileged to make the regular pil the latest machines and equipment. But grimage to the Kotel, to join the hun-

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dreds who come to this most sacred friends over the weeks of davening to place in the world to welcome the Sab gether. His glance of admiration and bath Bride. In a crescendo of inspira respect told me more than all the public tion, praying and dancing, shift after relations could about the public success shift of Sephardim, Ashkenazim, of Boys Town. These boys who Mithnagdim and Chasidim delve into davened with such fervor and obvious the deepening dark of the Friday eve knowhow were none other than the holiness, each group with their ver youngsters from the Second Israel. I sions, vernacular, and customs. Vis had wondered how and who could itors from all parts of the Jewish and teach them, and turn them into stu non-Jewish world come to partake in dents, Talmidim of a Yeshiva. Here this unique experience of spiritual was my answer. This inspired group communication. One of my favorite had danced down the hills into the val places is the left comer, where a group ley and up to the Mount of the L-rd. of Vishnitzer Chasidim welcome the Their fervent prayer, disregarding all Sabbath Queen with beautiful Nig- that went on around them, denied the gunim that transform into a beautiful effects of their old milieu of destitute cosmopolitan dance. homes. Their hearts had been joined On this last Friday before I had to with the hearts and prayers of t^eir sim leave the Holy Land, my attention was ple, religious parents, who had all but drawn away for a minute, as a solid given up hope that their children could phalanx of neatly dressed youngsters, be led back to the paths of their in white shirts, dark pants, and Kippah forefathers. As they started to sing and zerugah, lined up right at the Kotel and to dance welcoming the Queen of Sab started to da ven word for word, follow bath in a joyous Rikkud, I knew that ing the lead of a somewhat older young Boys Town, in the spirit of Rabbi Menman. I had noticed the group there sev delowitz, z’T, had overcome what eral times before, where special groups seemed like insurmountable obstacles have their regular services. Any other to turn these boys into functional mem group would have been stopped, but bers of the Israeli society. Boys Town not these eager intent youngsters. Sud has dug deep into their souls, to ignite denly, I recognized the Chazzan, and what human frailty, ignorance, and some of the other clean, devout poverty might have extinguished. The youngsters in the group. “ They are the miracles wrought daily by the Mesirath talmidim of Kiryat Noar,” whispered Nefesh of the men who built Boys one of the Chasidim, dressed in a Town in Jerusalem has made it a unique golden-striped Kapotte of Meah and glorious hope for Israel’s Chinuch Shearim, with whom I had become for the future.

The Gaon of Vilna — His Impact on Our Times by Berel Wein

Forty years ago, the title of this article would have been incredible. For then Lithuanian Jewry was still vibrantly alive. Vilna still was the Jerusalem of Lithuania, and the “ Lithuanian method” of Talmudical study, de veloped by the disciples of the Gaon of Vilna, held sway in the great rabbinical colleges of Ponivez, Telz, Slobodka, Mir and the tens of other smaller Yeshivos that were to be found in that marshy, cold and poor country— “ Lita.” But Jewish life was then alive and pulsating in Eastern Europe, the memory of the Gaon of Vilna was still fresh in the hearts of third and fourth generations of his disciples and follow ers, and the impact of his life was felt in every strata of Jewish religious and so cial life. Lithuanian Jewry is gone, stamped out by the Nazi, the Russian and the Lithuanian himself. It is now

only a memory, and, therefore, the re levance of our topic is once again ques tionable, albeit for the opposite reason. For where in American Jewish life is the impact of the Gaon of Vilna to be yet felt? In the spiritual and intellectual debacle that has overtaken us in this country, the influence of the Gaon of Vilna is unknown on a popular scale. But still, if one searches in the right places, he will still come upon the light that emanates from 18th century Vilna, the Gaon’s great legacy to the people of Israel. Few are the schools and synagogues that recognize and retain that tradition, but the fact that this heritage should still exist on these shores at all is the greatest testimony to the truth and value of the legacy of Rabbi Elijah of Vilna to us and to post erity.

JEWISH LIFE

The Greatness of the Gaon Rabbi Elijah ben Rabbi Shlomo Zalman—born in 1720 and died in 1797—acquired for himself two titles that in the long history of the Jewish people were sparingly conferred and, even if granted, rarely ever bestowed concurrently on the same person. He was crowned with two titles— “ G aon,” the great scholar, and “ Chasid,” the man of great piety. And even though Jewish scholarship throughout the ages has always been entwined with ritual observance and moral piety, the excellence of Rabbi Elijah in both of these worlds is an amazing testimony to this genius of a man. He was not a rabbi in an official sense, never holding public office or heading any Jewish body or communi ty. Nevertheless, it was to him that all Jewish eyes turned for leadership and guidance and to him that the Jewish generations were committed. This paradox of a non-leading leader de mands from us some understanding and insight as to his greatness and an expla nation of the phenomenal influence that he exercised over his contemporaries and later generations as well. The Gaon’s greatness lay in the fact that within the uniqueness of his per son, he embodied all of the different strains of Jewish knowledge, scholar ship and historical tradition. He was the microcosm of the House of Israel and therefore, in him, could all Jews see the reflection of their own particular point

of view against the total backdrop of traditional Jewish values. Let me cite several examples that will illustrate this point: First, the Gaon was a man well steeped in the classical philosophies of the world generally and of the Jews particularly. He used philosophic method and thought and was well ac quainted with the books of Plato and Aristotle, not to mention Maimonides, Rabbi Judah Halevi, Saadia Gaon, and the other great Jewish philosophers. The Gaon’s method of study is logical—that of a rationalist of the first order. Yet the Gaon never was criticized, in his time or since, for deal ing with the Torah in a “ philosophic” or “ rational” manner. The attacks that were turned even against the greatest man of the Jewish Middle Ages, Maimonides, were never levelled against Rabbi Elijah of Vilna. He was the greatest Jewish “ philosopher” of his age, while being, at the same time, exempt from attack by those elements of Jewish life that viewed rationalistic philosophy suspiciously if not scornful ly. It is interesting to note that the Gaon himself rebuked M aimonides, by commenting that “ the (cursed) philosophy, through the great attraction it had for him, caused Maimonides to err’’ (Bieur Hagro, Yoreh Deah, Sec tion 179, Paragraph 13) in certain pre cepts of Jewish law. This nevertheless did not frighten the Gaon away from an understanding and application of philosophical principles in his own Torah scholarship.

THE GAON OF VILNA

The Gaon of Vilna was a great propo The Gaon, therefore, authored a nent of the study of the natural sci number of books on these disciplines ences, not for the sake of their know (“ Ayil M ’Shulash” regarding ledge solely, but rather as an indispens trigonometry, “ Sefer Techunah” re able adjunct to the correct study of garding astronomy) and, on his instruc Torah itself. His disciple, Rabbi tions, his disciples also wrote and trans Menachem Mendel, stated that the lated works on all the sciences. How Gaon, upon completing his commen ever, no word of criticism was ever tary to the Song of Songs, said: “ The raised against him for this. No one dis study of all the disciplines is necessary approved of this study of general know for the understanding of our holy To ledge, though it had brought many seri rah, for they are all included in the ous schisms in Jewish life before, and, Torah. Such sciences as trigonometry, in fact, vestiges of those schisms exist geometry, architecture, engineering, till today. Yet the Gaon, the greatest physics and music are necessary, for proponent of Torah and piety, was im without them it is impossible to know mune from all such criticism, for in his or understand the Torah in all of its holiness he mirrored the proper rela breadth and depth and beauty.” (Sefer tionship of worldly knowledge to its Hagro, Maimon, Mosad Harav Kook, source and guide, the Torah of Moses. p. 181.) The words of another disciple, The Gaon of Vilna was the foremost Rabbi Baruch of Shklov, in the intro student and exponent of his time of the duction to his Hebrew translation of study of Kabbalah. The secrets of the Euclid’s Geometry, are that the Gaon Zohar as well as the holy tradition of stated: “ To the extent that one is defi Jewish mysticism were explored and cient in the other disciplines of the unravelled by him. Though never gain world, will he be one hundred times ing the reputation of a miracle-worker, more deficient in the understanding of he nevertheless delved into the Kabbalah Torah, for Torah and general know to an extent unmatched by any of his ledge are yoked together. ’’ (Sefer Hag contemporaries, including the famed ro, Maimon, Mosad Harav Kook, p. founders of Chasidism. Many of his 198 See also the introduction o f Rabbi commentaries on the books of the Bible Israel Shklov to ‘‘Peas Hashulchan.' | ) are written in terms of Kabbalistic in The Gaon claimed that if one did not terpretation and insight. And again, know and appreciate music, he would this raised no furor, even though in the be unable to understand “ most secrets generation preceding, two of the of the Torah, the songs of the Levites, greatest Jewish scholars (Rabbi the secrets of the Zohar’^and that Jonathan Eybeschitz and Rabbi Moshe through music man could achieve Chaim Luzatto. See Sefer Hagro, p. spiritual ecstasy. (Sefer Hagro, 150, for a record o f the defense o f Maimon, Mosad Harav Kook, p. 181.) Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschitz by the Vilna

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ance. Suffice it to say that both Chasidim and Mithnagdim have been successful in preserving their traditions and life patterns till today and have successfully transplanted them to alien shores. Chasidim themselves have been known to admit that their eventual suc cess was at least partially due to the counter-measures they were forced to employ in order to defend themselves against the ban of the Gaon.) This naturally aroused a reaction,and certain Chasidic extremists were guilty of vulgar actions and words against the Gaon, both during his lifetime and at the time of his death. But, amazingly, this was not true of the general Chasidic movement. They saw in him not only their formidable foe, but, more impor tantly, they acquiesced to his Halachie authority and emulated his piety and love of Torah. Thus, even among the Chasidim, the Gaon was not remem bered for his opposition to them solely, but also for his greatness in scholar The Gaon of Vilna was the chief an ship, his strong leadership and unques tagonist of the newly-emerging tioned piety and sincerity. Chasidic movement. It was his decree Thus we have seen how in this one against Chasidic thought and practice kaleidescopic personality all of the that effectively prevented the growing greatness that is the tradition of Israel movement from enveloping Lithuania was absorbed and reflected. The Gaon as it had much of the Ukraine, Poland himself embodied all of the assets of and Galicia. The Gaon took harsh ac Israel—piety, scholarship, faith, mys tion against the Chasidim, culminating ticism, abiding tenacity, humility and a in his issuing a ban of anathema against soaring knowledge of G-d’s will. He was thus truly “ all things for all men, them. (The subject of the dispute between for all that was positive in Jewish exis Chasidim and Mithnagdim is a major tence and experience was to be found in study by itself. To attempt to judge the this great man, and it is this that exp equities o f the situation 180 years later lains his unique influence upon genera is the height o f arrogance and ignor tions of Jewry .

Gaon.) of the time were openly exor cised for their leanings toward the use and study of the Kabbalah. It is interest ing to note that the followers of the Gaon, while they severely criticized the Chasidic Rabbis for emphasizing mys ticism, Kabbalah, and the supernatural seemingly at the expense of the rational study of Torah, never doubted the truth of their master’s exposition and use of the very same subject matter. (Again see the Sefer Hagro, p. 72, for a fas cinating story regarding the ability of the Gaon to communicate with the dead. The fact that the disciples o f the Gaon criticized the Chasidim for in dulging in such claims, merely points out the phenomenon of the Gaon more sharply.) The fact that the Vilna Gaon combined the mystical and the rational in his approach to Torah, and showed their true harmony one with the other, is one of the greatest of his many ac complishments.

THE GAON OF VILNA

THE GAON “ IN EXILE”

(For an ingenious elucidation o f this theory see again Sefer Hagro, The Gaon, even in his own personal Maimon, p. 68.) In these three reasons life, was a living reflection of the for exile, Rabbi Elijah of Vilna once people of Israel. A particular period of again mirrored in his own private life his life was spent in a self-imposed the unique purposeful experience of his exile. For a period of years: he wan entire people. For the Jew has also seen dered west from city to city , travelling in his long (and hopefully now-ending) incognito, suffering all of the hardships exile, not only punishment for his sins, of travel and abuse, until finally reach but also the opportunity to prove con ing Germany, where he was “ disco clusively to the world, that a holy and vered.” His return journey to Vilna pious life can be lived by millions of took on almost the festive air of a people under the most abject of cir triumphal tour. He never really cumstances, and that great contribu explained his motives for embarking on tions to education and scholarship can this troublesome road of personal stem even from a transient and perse anonymity and exile. His disciples, cuted group. The scholarship and love however, saw in his journey a practical of knowledge, the analytical approach attempt to accomplish three main ob and the pursuit of truth that charac jectives, They saw in his exile a hope, terized Yeshiva life in Eastern Europe 1. to expiate his “ sins” (See Sefer certainly far exceeds the quality of Hagro, Maimon p. 61, that legend has those virtues that can be found in higher it that the “sin” which the Gaon institutions of learning in the nonwished to expiate by his self-imposed Jewish world. And our generation must exile was that ofpulling out a hair from also admit that the piety, serenity, and his father’s beard when he was yet a harmony of the inner life of the Eastern child!), 2. to discover hidden Jewish European Jew was to be envied, though luminaries and Torah scholars who lay his physical lot was a most deplorable isolated in the small communities of one. Eastern Europe {Rabbi Yeshiah The Gaon also attempted to fulfill Zuchivitzer and Rabbi Moishe o f Ivya another Jewish dream—to settle in the were two o f his ‘‘discoveries’’.), and 3. Land of Israel. In fact, he made all to have the opportunity to study and arrangements, wrote his letters of compare rare manuscripts and books, farewell, and set off on the then scattered throughout the Jewish com arduous journey to the Holy Land. munities of Central and Eastern However, because of difficulties that Europe, so as to expand his sources for he encountered during his travels, he a critically accurate text of the Talmud was forced to abandon his pilgrimage and other works of Rabbinic literature. and return to Vilna. He later was heard

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to comment that he was “ held back by before making any emendation in the the Hand of Heaven’’ from accomplish text of the Talmud. It is this ing his mission. In his hope for settling background of piety and tradition that in the Land of Israel, and in his served as the wedge of acceptance for heartbreak in being denied that the Gaon?s changes of text and allowed privilege, did he, again through the many mysteries of the Talmud to be personal actions of his own life, repre solved. It is ironic to note that the sent the noblest longings and hopes of Gaon, through the means of strict his resilient people. (It is no means adherence to tradition and intense Tal accidental that many o f the disciples of mudic scholarship, wrought far greater the Gaon ofVilna did settle in the Land changes in the texts of Rabbinic litera o f Israel, and that, to this day, their ture than did all of the “ scholars” of descendants form the backbone o f the later generations who “ scientifically” havoc in the texts of the Tan“ Old Yishuv’’in the holy city wreaked of naic and Amoraic literature. One Jerusalem.) should also note the fact that the Gaon’s critical texts were accepted by the tradi HIS LASTING LEGACY tional Jewish community, which is the Among the many specific contribu true guardian of meaningful Jewish tions of the Vilna Gaon that comprise scholarship, while later4‘critical’’ texts his legacy to us, I make special mention have, in the main, been rejected. And thus, even today, no meaningful efforts of the following items: The Gaon established a critical text of at Talmudical scholarship are possible Mishna and Talmud, as well as of later without the use and reference to the Rabbinic literature. His immense comments and glosses of the Gaon of knowledge and scholarship coupled Vilna. The Gaon was the father of the mod with his unerring holy instinct for the truth, allowed him to winnow the trans ern “ Yeshiva” system of schools of cribing errors of the centuries out of the higher learning. Through the effort of texts of the Talmud, Mishna, Tosefta his renowned disciple, Rabbi Chaim of and many Midrashim. The benefits of Volozhin, the famed Yeshiva of Vol this herculean task are yet to be fully ozhin was established in the early appreciated even by our scholarship nineteenth century. Rabbi Chaim often community, but there can be no doubt said that the curriculum and order of that an accurate text must be the basis of studies in the Yeshiva of Volozhin all Talmudical research and scholar were the inspiration of the Gaon of Vil ship. The care that the Gaon took in this na. The Yeshiva of Volozhin was itself task is reflected in the statement of his the mother of all the other Yeshivos of disciple, Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, Lithuania, which gained world renown who said that the Gaon fasted 40 days because of their analytical and penetrat-

THE GAON OF VfLNA

ing study of the Talmud. Ponivez, Mir, quoted in Maimon’s Sefer Hagro, p. Telshe, Grodno, Slobodka, Kaminetz, 73, as being told to the author by Rabbi Kletzk and Radun, were all daughters Yeehiel Epstein o f Navorodok, who of Volozhin and grandchildren of the heard itfrom the lips o f the Lubavitcher Gaon of Vilna. The miraculous fact Rebbe. It is interesting to note that this that all of these institutions still exist story comesfrom Mithnagdic sources.) Had a lesser person than the Gaon and thrive (either in America or in Is been involved, then the quarrel would rael) is a prime example of the viability have undoubtedly sunk into the morass of the Gaon’s legacy to later Jewish of personal calumnies and bitter enmi generations. The key to Jewish survi ty. Even with the Gaon involved, the val, certainly in our difficult times, lies disagreements almost sank to this level. with the success and growth of these But the fact that the fires of enmity were institutions, and, though they have quickly banked and the opposing bèen criticized for their shortcomings, no one has yet invented as secure a camps rapidly adjusted one to another vehicle for the transmission of Jewish and together formed and still form the united backbone of Torah Jewry, is in tradition. A most oblique bequest of the Gaon to itself the highest compliment to the en Jewish history is the Chasidic move lightened and positive opposition of the ment. One cannot thank the Gaon for Gaon to the Chasidic movement. Thus, the establishment of the Chasidim. The not only do the Mithnagdim owe their opposite tack was indeed taken by the allegiance to the Gaon of Vilna, but the Gaon. As I mentioned before, he Chasidim as well owe him a great debt placed a ban upon them, exorcised for turning them, so to speak, into the them and led the group that opposed core of Jewish life and tradition. The internal revolution within Jewish Chasidim implacably—the Mithnagdim. Nevertheless, it was this spirited social and cultural life in nineteenth opposition to the Chasidim that played century Lithuania—the Mussar a great role in modifying any extremist movement— was begun by Rabbi tendencies among the Chasidim, and Yosef Zundel of Salant, a disciple of thereby enabled them to find a place for the Gaon’s great student, Rabbi Chaim themselves within the framework of of Volozhin. This movement, which Torah Jewry. The late Rabbi of stressed the ethical values of Judaism Lubavitch was reported to have com and the observance of the Halachic re mented that had it not been for the cor quirements of ethical conduct between rect opposition of the Gaon to certain man and his fellow man, created an excesses of Chasidism, the Chasidic upheaval in Jewish life. But it brought a movement would have drifted off and new wind, a fresh spirit, and a return of qut of the orbit of Torah discipline and basic Jewish values to the institutions Halachic practice! (This statement is of Jewish life. The Mussar movement,

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in itself, was a product of the personal behavior and spirit of the Gaon of Vilna, and also of the public climate which the presence of the Gaon among Lithuanian Jewry produced. It is indeed unfortunate that proper appreciation has not yet been paid to that great pro duct of Lithuanian Jewry—the Mussar movement. The proponents and leaders of that movement were the heirs of the Vilna Gaon, just as the cause that they championed—the ethical rehabilitation of traditional Jewry—was part of the legacy of the Gaon to his successors. Perhaps the greatest element in the legacy of the Gaon to the ages was his personification of those two ingredients which are most necessary for Torah scholarship to flourish— 44ahavas hatorah” (love of Torah), and “ yegiah batorah” (incessant toiling in the study of Torah). The Gaon never claimed any superhuman abilities for himself nor did he credit his ability to supernatural aid. He claimed to be a product of his own incessant labor in the vineyard of Torah knowledge. He paraphrased the words of the rabbis, (Megillah, 6B) who said that “ if one tells you I have labored at Torah studies and not accomplished—do not believe him,” to mean that “ if he has in fact not accomplished—do not believe that he has labored!” He himself slept only 2 hours out of every 24 for over three decades of his life, and only 4 of 24 for another 2 decades! His toil and devo tion to Torah study were matched only by his insatiable love for G-d’s Law. His love for Torah was so great that it

infused not only his students and fol lowers, but also the entire land of Lithuania shone with the light of love of Torah. Mothers prayed that their chil dren would become Torah scholars, Yeshiva students were the most sought after potential sons-in-law, and rabbis were measured almost exclusively by the yardstick of Torah knowledge. This all-pervading love of Torah charac terized Lithuanian Jewry from the time of the Gaon till its doom in our genera tion and remained its distinguishing hallmark, giving it the ’place of promi nence among the communities of the Jewish exile. To this day, all Jewry owes a great debt to that living per sonification of these two most difficult ideals to realize, love of Torah and toil in study of Torah—the Gaon of Vilna. CONCLUSION The Gaon’s son, Rabbi Abraham, {In his introduction to the book (tAderes Eliyahu,” a commentary on the Pen tateuch by the Gaon of Vilna.) quotes his father as saying: “ The Rabbis have told us (Baba Bathra 75 B.) that three things are called by G-d’s name: Right eous people, the M essiah, and Jerusalem. By examining the verses of the Bible that the Rabbis produce to substantiate their statement, one sees that the Ineffable Name of G-d, com posed of the three Hebrew letters44yud, heh and vav,” is to be found in the suffices to the Hebrew word “ Shem” (name), which is quoted in each of the three verses copied by the Rabbis.

THE GAON OF VILNA

Therefore, it is obvious that G-d’s spe cial Name-—so to speak—rests particu larly upon these three subjects— righteous people, the Messiah, and Jerusalem. We also live in a time when the reflec tion of G-d’s Name is becoming evi dent in the world. The righteous people of Israel have borne His Name throughout the world, and the Gaon of Vilna himself is an example of the calibre of human being which the people of Israel have been able to pro

duce for centuries and millennia on end. In our day, the city of Jerusalem has once again been restored to her children, and the greatness of G-d’s Name now shines forth from its noble hills. We wait now only for the third bearer of His Name to come forth and redeem us, gather us together, and lead us in joy unto Zion and Jerusalem. With our great legacy of Torah study and practice—the legacy of the Gaon of Vilna, his predecessors and heirs,— shall we go forth to welcome him—the Messiah himself.

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Shalom of Safed — Innocent Master from Galilee by Alfred Werner

“ Everything in his career seems ter tion, long gone are the days when Pari have come from the other side of prob sians flocked to the Salon des Indépen ability .” These words, which a dants to poke fun at the naive works of a museum director wrote about John retired toll-collector name Henri Rous Kane, the Pittsburgh mill-hand turned seau. The shift in attitude may be traced painter, can also be applied to the untu to professional painters who rallied to tored master, Shalom of Safed, whose the cause of Rousseau, the “ father” of works were brought to our attention for “ primitive” art whose education never the first time about a decade and a half went beyond the three R’s and who ago at the Carlebach Galleries. Despite never studied in any Academy of Art. obvious flaws, Shalom’s pictures made (Among those who revered the genius a considerable impact on the viewers. of that simple little man, Rousseau, There was clearly something amusing were men as prominent as Edgard about the small works on display, yet, Degas and Camille Pissarro and, sub as I recall, none of us at the opening sequently, Pablo Picasso and Max laughed. Years earlier, Kane, too, had Weber.) been treated with the same respect, Personally, I hesitate to call Rous unmingled with condescension. seau, Kane or, for that matter Shalom Though it was, and still is, difficult for of Safed, a “ Primitive,” though this is an untrained artist to achieve recogni often done in print. The term connotes a

Shalom ofSafed’s “ Noah's A r k " . (Courtesy o f the New York Cultural Center)

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certain crudeness and even rudeness, with any artistic yearning, as far as we while the international brotherhood of know. He descended from a long line of untrained artists—by now comprising East European Chasidim. His greatthousands from nearly all countries—is grandparents settled in the Holy City actually composed of gentle, thought of Safed, once a center of Kabbalisful folks, middle-aged or older. To a tic learning, to lead lives devoted to man, they are idealists who, when they piety, undisturbed by the hostile out first picked up brushes, envisaged no side world. When Shalorn was bom, monetary gains. some time before 1900, the Galilean Hence, I shall refer to Shalom as a hill town had about 20,000 inhabitants, Naive Painter. He is the “ Dean” of one third of them Jews. There, Shalom Israel’s naive practitioners of art, supported himself and his loved ones as though he is too modest and unworldly a stone mason, as a silversmith and, to think of himself in these terms (yet in finally, as a watchmaker. an Israeli group show entitled, “ Naive This simple “ folksy” background A rt,” on display at the Tel Aviv was good raw material for journalists Museum in 1970, he was the only one and public relations men. But it was not among eighteen participants with a on account of his quaintness that seri truly international fame). Shulem- ous critics were respectful of, and even der-Zeigermacher (the watchmaker^ impressed by the work of this Israeli or, to call him by the name he received elder, a bespectacled, bearded little at birth, Shalom Moskowicz, is cer man, who hardly responded to the ac tainly not a “ Sunday Painter,” that is, cepted image of the sabra he really one of the sophisticated suburbanites was. His work triumphed here in who, in fits of boredom, begin painting America, as it subsequently did in art as a pastime, a mere hobby. (These centers all over the world, though it often, too often, decide to “ go profes came to the fore at a moment when the sional,” and, impatient and egotistical, “ Art Establishment, ’’ from Tel Aviv to are found trying hard to establish a Tokyo, was still under the spell of beach head in commercial galleries....) Abstract Expressionism (as By contrast, Shalom—simple, unaf exemplified by the recently deceased fected, unpretentious—is free of any Jackson Pollock’s wild dribblings of self-seeking aggressiveness. A Yiddish pigment on rug-size canvases). There - speaking, orthodox Ashkenazi, he could be no greater difference than that started to paint entirely for himself and between the Westerner’s haphazard, his family, without any publicity or uncontrolled and uncontrollable game fanfare, and without any notion that his of chance - and the Galilean’s modest little renditions of Biblical stories and sized pictures (usually small enough to episodes would ever yield any money. be held in the hand) that were carefully Among his forbears there was no one painted and aways have clearly recog-

SHALOM OF SAFED

nizable subject matter. We critics heard, of course, the biog raphical reports. This was a genuinely naive man who was spared the hesita tions, the fears, often bordering de spair, that torment the professional ar tist, who is never sure as to the final outcome of his venture, while Shalom felt assured that a balanced, harmoni ous composition would emerge. He was quoted as having said, “ From the beginning I have the whole picture in front of my eyes, clear as a dream.’’ From about 1957 to about 1972, when fading eyesight and other illnesses of old age ended his activity, he worked ten hours every day that was not a Sab bath or holiday , in defiance of increas ing rheumatic pains in his fingers. At the start, he applied watercolors, there after gouaches or temperas, to sheets of paper, placing each sheet square on the kitchen table, and making on it a black border, like a frame. Into this defined space, he drew and painted figures and backgrounds, filling the areas meticul ously with glowing unmixed color, first the yellows, then the reds, then the blues, and so forth. He later turned to using acrylics on canvas, but the proce dure remained more or less the same. It was touching to hear this utterly pious Ghasid explain away his “ viola tion” of the Second Commandment. After all, he was not really making an image—he was merely retelling what he had read in the Scriptures and com mentaries, using line and color instead of words (though the pictures often do contain quotations from the Biblical

text, carefully written on the margin in delicate Hebrew calligraphy, or iden tifying the dramatis personae by plac ing the name, also in Hebrew, next to the particular figure). All of this alone would have made Shulem-der-Zeigermacher a delightful individual, but not necessarily an in teresting artist. We critics were re minded of Grandma Moses, who had recently passed away at the unusual age of one hundred and one. Anna Mary Robertson Moses, too, had a disarm ingly sweet personality. Yet, it was the quality of her work that made her known to millions who could not name a single professional American artist. Her pictures exude a great deal of ir resistible charm that are like happiness pills for an age in which non-figurative art often degenerates into either mind less decoration or sharply intellectual experimentation, while figurative art is frequently preoccupied with crude sex or violence. For similar reasons, mul titudes who are totally unaware of the existence of, for example, the Israeli artists Mordechai Ardon or Joseph Zaritzky, know and love “ Grandpa Shalom.” Aesthetically, the untutored Grandma Moses and her colleague from Safed have much in common, though their styles and subject matters are quite different. Life in an upstate New York farm spared Mrs. Moses any exact knowledge of the complications and torments, artistic and otherwise, that plagued men and women in the mammoth cities. Life in old Safed—

Shalom o f Safed’s “ Joseph's D ream s", (Courtesy o f the New York Cultural CenterJt

SHALOM OF SAFED

which became a modem art and tourist the rhythmic patternings on parallel center only in recent years—allowed stripes; the austere stylization of heads Shalom to be insulated from the politi and bodies, seen either rigidly frontal cal, social and cultural life of the Yishuv or completely profile; the tight proces to such a degree that his pictures have a sion of almost identical people, animals medieval air about them, despite an oc or trees; the precise rendering of every casional intrusion of 20th century de leaf, every twig; and, above all, the tails: Could Rabbi Akiva be resurrected application of strong, flat, unmixed to view Shalom’s pictures, even he colors. would have little difficulty understand The Egyptian wall decorations were ing them—without consulting the made for the benefit of the dead, not for explanatory Hebrew captions. the edification of the living. Yet, their All the art Grandma Moses ever purpose was, unmistakably, religious. knew were thé popular hand-colored Christian art was educational - through old prints of contemporary scenes and it the largely illiterate worshipers were events mass-produced by the firm of meant to leam the contents of the two Currier & Ives. Shalom is said to have Testaments. Early Jewish Art was di been influenced by movie posters and dactic, too, as evidenced in the mosaic by the picture books of his grandchil floor of the Beth Alphoa synagogue, dren. This may very well be so. Yet, the murals of the Dura-Europos what his work immeditely conjures up synagogue, and some of the illumina is the long bands of Egyptian wall tions of Hebrew manuscripts. (To all of paintings, certain samples of Coptic these, Shalom’s work has an explicable and Byzantine art, and especially affinity.) These other works involved panels made by pre-Renaissance mas more than mere teaching. What was ters, though he never saw any of these. also intended was an allegorical in (Had he somehow come across them by terpretation of the Bible in which the means of reproductions, as an orthodox material realities were to become sym Jew he might have averted his eyes bols of ideas. from these renditions of Christian lore. ) Shalom does not aim that high. In Yet, just as the painters before Giotto fact, all he wanted was to express him often presented two, three or more self. To do the same thing, Grandma episodes simultaneously in one picture, Moses had turned for inspiration to so Shalom’s Paradise, to cite an in Eagle Bridge farmers and village folk at stance, tells the story of Adam’s.fall as work or leisure, while Shalom reverted well as the sinful couple’s expulsion to the books of the Bible and their elab from the Garden of Eden. His Ten oration in the legends and myths of Plagues is carefully divided into ten Kabbalah and Chasidic lore. I do not recall what prompted Mrs. rectangular sections. With the Duecento painters, he has in common Moses to pick up the brush. In

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Shalom’s case, the destruction, during the War of Liberation, of his watch maker’s shop, at first drove him to apply for welfare benefits. Virtually idle, he hit upon the idea of drawing figures on plywood, coloring them, cutting them out carefully along the outlines, and pasting them on wooden panels. At first, these “ toys” were made solely for his grandchildren. When it was suggested that he might be able to convert these charming objects into money, he made more of them. They were sold by a peddler at the local bus stop to holiday crowds. One day, the Safed painter, Jossel Bergner, saw these things, liked them, and was di rected to their maker. It was upon Bergner’s insistence that Shalom, then in his late fifties, switched to painting! In a few years, enough pictures were available to enable the artist’s represen tative, Daniel Doron, to display his work in the United States at the Carlebach Galleries show. The success was immediate, and one-man shows were soon given to his work all over the world, in galleries and museums, often under non-Jewish sponsorship. Every body was intrigued, despite the obvious fact that Shalom had no knowledge of the anatomy of the human body; that, in his pictures, there is no light and shade to model the stiff little puppets affixed to the bottom of parallel bands, comic strip fashion. Nobody minded the little houses that look like domino pieces, nor the complete absence of the perspective through which painters,

from the Renaissance onward, have,on a flat surface, managed to create the illusion of three dimensions. In 1961, and even in 1921, a show of works like his would have been an impossibility. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, there is world-wide enthusiasm for what he offers—pictures that are fresh, simple, honest, uplifting, even if awkward in technique, and childish in concept. For anyone who desired to write a book about Shalom - which regrettably, does not yet exist - it would not be difficult to survey and size up his total work. In a career that lasted for roughly fifteen years, Shalom produced about five hundred pictures. Though, through constant practice and encouragement, he gained in self-assuredness, and, therefore, in firmness of composition, he did not really develop or change with time (which is true of nearly all “ naive” artists). Neither was he sub ject to any influences of the art of past or present, though, by the mid-fifties, the city of Safed had become an artist’s paradise, with many studios, supply shops, bookshops, and even a museum. The first “ Shalom” contains, more or less, the same ingredients as the last; the subject is always taken from the Bible; color scheme, patterns of com position have remained the same, though, as indicated, the choice of painting media had broadened, and the dimensions had somewhat increased (from an average 18 by 11 inches to approximately 36 by 27). He offers a veritable feast to those

SHALOM OF SAFED

Shalom ofSafed’s “Moses Breaking the Tablets o f the Law“ . (Courtesy o f the New York Cultural Center

who are thoroughly familiar with every facet of the Bible, but one must not think that he slavishly follows it. He takes liberties, freely indulges in “ poe tic license,” though perhaps less than did his confreres in Christian Europe. While, with*his religious upbringing, he knows the Biblical text thoroughly, he is, to begin with, not concerned with archaeological accuracy. Nineteenth century academic artists, employed by the churches, made special efforts to find out precisely what kind of clothes the Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Per sians and Palestinians wore in antiqui ty, and exactly what their weapons, tools, chariots, ships and edifices looked like. In all of this fussing about “ accuracy,” they often lost sight of what writers on aesthetics have called “ significant form ,” which Italy’s

Gothic painters, who naively placed the figures of the Scriptures onto a piazza or into a palazzo ,in s tin c tiv e ly achieved. In a similar way, Shalorp does not pretend to be a historian. Yet, manages to be convincing by the strong piety of his approach, and by his inherent sense of good design that never abandons him. In fact, the so-called anac hronisms he introduces do not bother him, eVen if he is aware of them. On the way to Canaan, Abraham is seen pas sing by a Turkish Stagecoach; the pat riarch’s servants are smoking waterpipes. A steamboat is moving along Pharaoh’s Nile. Since the desert is hot, Moses, carrying the Tablets of the Law, wears Bermuda shorts, as many Israelis do today. Modern lighting fix tures are on the streets. Philistine sol-

JEWISH LIFE

Shalom ofSafed’s 4 ‘Eleazar Brings Rebecca to Isaac ’ ’ . fCourtesy o f the Gallery o f Israeli Art)

diers wear 20th century combat dentally, a town is visible on the shore: fatigues. In The Flood, the bad men, “ A man must have a place to go...” who are drowning, look like little Hit Is Shalom a great artist? This ques lers. The low houses in the pictures are tion cannot be answered as easily as reminiscent of the maabarot, that dot some might believe. An artist’s impor ted Israel’s landscapes when the mass tance, or lack of it, is rarely judged influx of immigrants began soon after correctly by his contemporaries. Time the war of 1948/49. is a severe, but generally just, When a viewer, puzzled by a detail, eliminator! Still, it is safe to say that; asks for an explanation, ,the witty old within the obvious limits of “ Naive gentleman usually has a ready answer. Art,” this ex-watchmaker has a legiti Creating a midrash of his own, he tells mate niche. In any event, although he is why, in his picture, of all the animals in now unable to indulge in his beloved Noah’s Ark, only one animal is single: activity, he can be sure of our gratitude. “ To save space, Noah took a pregnant During his short career, spanning only elephant. ” In one picture, Jonah and a decade and a half, he has done much the Whale, a host of small fish surround to uplift us, at least momentarily, into a the monster - “ It is not every day that world far more fascinating and cer they have a chance to see a fish swallow tainly more colorful than the one of a prophet!” Shalom reassures us. Inci everyday living.

A Man of Few Words by Andrew Neiderman

“ And this is the cafeteria,” Rabbi Kantowitz said. “ The boys have to clean it up themselves.” Stan looked the room over, noting the bread crumbs on the tables, open catsup bottles, and salt and pepper shakers lying on their sides. The chairs were pulled away from their tables, napkins were strewn over the floor and left on the tables, and small piles of dirt were swept up and left standing. “ Looks like they let it get a little out of hand,” Stan said. “ Yes, well that’s one of the reasons why we need a firm, strong disciplina rian The boys who come to this Yeshiva are all geniuses, geniuses you under stand. We don’t accept them in here unless they have very high I.Q .’s, but they’ve got a lot to learn, especially in

the area of behavior. What good is genius if it’s undisciplined?” the Rabbi asked, rhetorically. He moved quickly out of the cafeteria and into the lobby. “ What was this place before you people took it over?” Stan asked. 4‘It was called, The Panorama. At one time it was a thriving hotel, but small hotels like this have all but died out in the Catskills. The big hotels swallowed them up,” the Rabbi said,swallowing to emphasize his point* “ so we bought them out, at a good price too.?;* jp Stan looked around the lobby. The faded rug and worn furniture suggested the elegance of a once lush resort. The chandeliers, although not working, still hung sparkling from the ceiling, and the wall paper, while peeling in spots, was still bright enough to add some

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color. All the reading lamps were turned on, but their isolated light could not dispel the heavy shadows that re sted over large portions of the lobby. Two clean spots on the walls revealed the positions of paintings that had once hung there. A boy, with his side curls and a black skull cap, sat at the main desk reading. The main door, which had been boarded up in haphazard fash ion using pieces of stray wood, was pried open. “ Meyel,” the Rabbi called, and the boy looked up. “ Who opened the main door? I said nobody should open it. We boarded it up because it let the wind blow in,” the Rabbi explained to Stan. “ Who did it?” “ Yussie did,” the boy said, looking up disinterestedly. “ He had to hurry out and didn’t want to go around the side.” He then immediately buried himself back in his book. ‘‘See what I mean?’’ the Rabbi asked. “ Geniuses all of them, but undiscip lined. ” “ Yes,” Stan said, thoughtfully, “ I see what you mean.” Stan Blum was a twenty-nine year old physical education instructor at the local public high school. Standing five-eleven, his one hundred and eighty pounds all packed tightly around his shoulders, chest and legs, presented a strong figure. The Rabbi was impre ssed with his fitness and the firm set of his face. He thought, “ This man could pull the place together and silence my board’s complaints about discipline.” Stan brushed back his brown, wavy

hair and considered the situation. Rabbi Kantowitz was offering him a part-time position in his Yeshiva—a couple of hours after public school daily and a few hours on Sunday. He didn’t like the thought of committing so much of his free time, but the salary was attractive and he needed the money. With the birth of a new baby, Dorothy was con stantly talking about how small the apartment had become, and how nice it would be to have their own house. “ Well, what do you think?” the Rabbi asked. “ It wouldn’t entail too much. ” “ Where do the boys study?” Stan asked, putting off his decision for a few more moments. “ We use the old casino building and the rooms off the lobby here. That used to be a card room, and that was a tea room,” the Rabbi said, pointing. “ And they sleep in the guest rooms above?” “ Yes, we try to keep it down to two in a room, but applications are on the in crease. Some rooms can hold three. We have one hundred and fifty boys here now. I can make that your office there,” the Rabbi said pointing to the small area behind what used to be the hotel desk. “ What do you say?” “ O .K .,” Stan said, “ I’ll try it.” “ Good,” the Rabbi said, “ good. You tell me what you will need,and I’ll try to get it for you. I’ve got a good desk to move in there immediately.” “ First thing I want,” Stan said, “ is to have that area off limits to the boys. We’ll have some papers and records

A MAN OF FEW WORDS

there which will be confidential.” “ Oh, yes, yes,” the Rabbi said, “ of course.’’ , , _^ ;*, ‘‘And I’ll need a file cabinet, typewri ter, and office supplies. We’ve got to keep proper records if we are going to do this right. ” ‘‘Of course,” the Rabbi said, impre ssed with Stan’s immediate take-charge attitude. ‘‘And I’ll want to meet with your teachers and talk about classroom dis cipline and behavior. Can you have them all together when I come up to morrow?” ‘‘I can have all the academic teachers. We’ll just have to cancel a class or two to get ourselves organized,” the Rabbi said, trying to imitate Stan’s authorita tive attitude. ‘‘What do you mean by ’the academic teachers’?” Stan asked, cautiously. ‘‘There are really two kinds of school ing going on here at the Yeshiva. We have the teaching of the Jewish Law, you know, the Torah, and then we have the academic subjects. The older Rab bis are teaching the Torah. You won’t have much to do with them,” Kantowitz said smiling. ‘‘Why, don’t they ever have problems with discipline?” ‘‘Never.” ‘‘Never? Oh, come on!” ‘‘There are no problems during the teaching of the Torah,” Rabbi Kan towitz said seriously. ‘‘Very well,” Stan said skeptically, ‘‘but I would like to know how they do it. ’’ He thought to himself that the elder

teachers probably ignored the discip line problems, not knowing how to handle them. ‘‘They do it,” Kantowitz said. ‘‘Now let me get you the things you want and inform the personnel. The board of di rectors will be happy about this,” Rabbi Kantowitz said, patting Stan on the back as they walked through the hall to the side entrance. When they came back to the cafeteria, the Rabbi stopped him and pointed out a boy standing with his hands in his pockets on the other side of the room. ‘‘You see that one, the skinny one with his hands that are always doing business in his pocket like that?” ‘‘Yes?” “ He’s the grandchild of Old Jerusalem Matzos. They make pickled herring, matzo meal, and matzo balls too.” ‘‘I’ve heard of them, yes,” Stan said seeing that the Rabbi was trying to im press him. ‘‘His grandfather sent up a truck full of their products last week. A present, you understand.” ‘‘Wow!” ‘‘Many of them come from well-to-do families. That boy across from him, the one with the blue jacket?” ‘‘Yes?” ‘‘His mother is the sister of Little Bird Cat Food.” “ They didn’t send a present, did they?” Stan said smiling, but the Rabbi simply shook his head. ‘‘And we have some cats hanging around here, too,” he said, as he led

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Stan through the door. “ It’s not that they mind you, it’s just When Stan came up the next after that they don’t expect any interference noon, he found the small desk that the from this part of the school. I know Rabbi had installed in the little room you’ll do the best that you can,” Kancovered with papers and office towitz said and they left it at that. supplies. He moved in slowly, afraid he Two days later, Stan had his first case. might knock something over in the He had just arrived from the public crowded space afforded him. school and was hanging his coat up in “ I hope,” the Rabbi said, coming in the corrider when a small boy ap behind him, “ that you have everything proached. He was wearing a slightly you need now. Here are the files, the yellowed white shirt, two sizes too records of our students, just as you large, and loosely hung pants held up asked.” by a pair of suspenders. “ Good,” Stan said. “ I want to get to “ Yes, ” Stan said, sliding behind his know as many of them as I can.” desk quickly. “ And the teachers will meet with you “ Rabbi Bender says I should come in fifteen minutes. I told them to be in here, so I’m here, ’’ the boy said, facing the old tea room. ’’ the wall instead of Stan. “ Very good,” Stan said, and began “ What’s your name?” organizing the things on his desk. The “ Yussie.” Rabbi stood by silently, waiting to “ Your last name?” make sure Stan had everything he “ Yussie Schearl. Should I go now?” needed. “ Do the students know about “ Go?” Stan said almost laughing. “ I me yet?” Stan asked. don’t know what you have done yet, do “ Every teacher was told to inform his I? Why did the Rabbi send you to me?” classes. They’ve also been told that this “ I was playin’ wi’ mine baseball area is off limits to them from now on. ” cards,” the boy mumbled. Stan nodded. “ There is only one thing I “ Yes?” would tell...” the Rabbi said, groping “ The Rabbi says that from the for the right words. baseball you can’t learn nothin’. He “ Yes, go ahead.” wanted I should study de math, de prob “ Try to work out your discipline and lems wi’ de numbers.” schedules in such a way as to avoid any “ Well, don’t you think you should conflicts with the teaching of Torah have been paying attention? How will subjects and Jewish Law. The older you learn otherwise?’’ Rabbis may not see these things the “ I don’t wanna learn de math, but my same way you do.” modder says I got to. She wants I “ You mean they couldn’t care less should have a diploma,” Yussie said, whether I was here doing the job or kicking at some unseen object on the not?” floor.

A MAN OF FEW WORDS

Stan quickly flicked through his files “ I hafta goto Torah in five minutes,” and found the boy’s papers. He read. he said, in a nervous voice. Yussie was thirteen, and from Brook “ Five minutes? You’ll have to miss lyn. His father owned a clothing store. Torah today,’’ Stan said. Yussie “ Don’t you want to get a diploma?” looked at him a second time in disbe Stan asked, but the boy simply shrug lief, but sat down. Stan gave him some pages to read and assigned some prob ged. “ My fadder wants I should be in his lems. The boy started, but Stan could see that he was keeping an eye on the business wi’ him.” “ Well, you’ll need math for the busi clock. “ I hafta go to mine Torah class,” the ness, won’t you?” “ I know dat kind of numbers. Dese boy said again, with a touch of despera numbers I don’t need. So I’m lookin’ at tion in his voice. de baseball and de Rabbi says I should ‘‘Just work, ” Stan said. “ You have to learn to pay attention in math.” Yussie go to you, so here I am. “ You are going to have to make more shrugged and went on reading. of an effort with these academic sub Stan had never before seen the rabbi jects,” Stan said looking through the who came rushing into the lobby. He boy’s record. “ You work hard at study was an elderly man with a long white beard that reached his chest. Dressed in ing the Torah, don’t you?” black hat, black coat, and faded black “ Y e s/’ Yussie said. “ Then you must work hard when you pants, the rabbi glared at Stan with study these subjects too. You can’t get deep-set, dark, intense eyes. He moved a diploma from Torah studies alone, with long, quick steps, and, without right?” Yussie shook his head, in that even a word to Stan, he marehed into vaguely disinterested way Stan was get the small office and confronted Yussie. ting to know so well. “ I want you to get The boy quickly closed the book and your math book,” Stan said, “ and got up to leave. He glanced for just a bring it back here with you. I’m going moment at Stan and then moved out to give you some work in it for you to without saying a word. Before Stan could utter a word of protest, the boy do here.” “ I hafta go to my odder class soon. ’’ had rushed out. He then turned to con front the elderly rabbi. “ What other class?” ‘‘The boy was doing detention work “ In de Torah.” ‘‘Well, you might be late if you don’t form e,” Stan said. “ He wasn’t paying hurry and get your math book. ’’ Yussie attention in math class today.” The old man heard, looked reproach looked directly at him for the first time with an expression of shocked disbe fully at him with those dark, piercing lief, and then quickly left. He came eyes, but did not respond. Instead, he turned quickly and walked out, almost back a few minutes later.

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as fast as he had walked in, leaving Stan tighten up. ” staring after him into the dark shadows That afternoon, he got two boys who of the empty lobby. were free of classes to come in and Now if I’m going to have any control clean up the cafeteria. Then, on the here, Stan said to Rabbi Kantowitz, cafeteria wall, he posted the new rules struggling to keep his voice under con for cleanliness. trol, “ or any effect whatsoever, I have When he came up to the Yeshiva the to have the cooperation of the entire next day, he expected to find Yussie in staff, even those who only teach the his office, but the boy wasn’t there yet. Torah.” He sat at his desk and went on with “ I understand that,” the Rabbi said, other work, but his thoughts were cen “ but those who teach the Torah are not tered around what was to happen with part of our academic school. I don’t Yussie. As the time for the boy’s ap always have the last word with them pointment passed, he began to grow myself,” the Rabbi said, smiling self impatient. After a few more minutes, consciously. “ We have to confine our he got up and walked out into the lobby. business to the time allotted for He spotted Rabbi Kantowitz through academic work.” the window talking to a couple of boys “ Whoever that rabbi was, he could on the lawn in front of the building. He have at least spoken to me,” Stan said, himself had nailed up the front door, bitterly. securely, this time, so that none of the “ Rabbi Block? He rarely speaks En boys could tear it open. So he quickly glish to anybody.” walked around to the side entrance and “ I’m still one of his associates up came up to the rabbi in front of the here, ” Stan said trying to hold on to a building. point. “ Where’s that Yussie Schearl?” he “ Well,” the Rabbi said^changing the demanded, with more than a touch of subject, ’’tomorrow Yussie doesn’t annoyance in his voice. This was to be have Rabbi Block; I’ll have him go to the first and most crucial test of his your detention class.” effectiveness. If he wasn’t going to get “ Good,” Stan said, trying to salvage cooperation now, then he might as well some kind of victory. “ At least the boy forget the whole thing. will know he can’t get away with every “ Isn’t he in your office?” asked thing. ” Rabbi Kantowitz in mild surprise, “ I “ I won’t accomplish anything here if told him to be there.” my words don’t mean something to “ He’s not.” these boys,” he thought as he walked “ We’ll have to find him, then. I’ll back to his office. “ I ’ve got to make an check his room. Why don’t you check example of the first one. The word will the classrooms on the other side of the get around and things will start to cafeteria?” Rabbi Kantowitz sug-

A MAN OF FEW WORDS

gested, and Stan nodded. He went back into the building, satisfied that Kantowitz had at least told the boy to ap pear. He moved through the cafeteria and started looking into the classrooms. When he got to the second one on the right, he spotted Yussie, sitting and writing at a desk. Stan stepped into the room to find old Rabbi Block at the teacher’s desk. As he stopped to survey the scene, Yussie looked up with a glimmer of interest in his eyes and waited. “ You’re supposed to be in my office to do detention work,” Stan said. The boy looked at Stan and then at Rabbi Block. “ He’s doing work in the Torah now, ’’ Rabbi Block said, but there was the hint of a smile behind his white beard. Stan looked at the old man cautiously. “ But he was assigned to my office this period,” he insisted. “ Oh,” Rabbi Block said. “ Andwhen he is assigned to you, you want him?’’ “ That’s right.” “ That is right,” the old Rabbi said and nodded to Yussie.

The boy got up, and walked past Stan slowly. “ Go to my office/’ Stan said and the boy moved out into the hall. “ I get your point,” Stan admitted to the Rabbi, who nodded graciously, “ but we could have discussed this between ourselves.” “ A great deal of time is wasted with words,” Rabbi Block answered. Stan studied the old man. That wry smile was still half hidden within the beard. Stan smiled himself. There was a subtle wisdom about the old teacher that he recognized and respected. “ I guess we are all students of one another,” Stan said, permitting his smile to broaden. The Rabbi nodded again and stroked his beard. Stan turned and left. As he was walking back to his office, he met Rabbi Kantowitz. “ I just saw Yussie. You didn’t have words with Rabbi Block, I hope.” “ A few,” Stan said. “ He doesn’t understand the modem ways,” Kantowitz said, searching Stan’s face for an inkling of what hap pened. “ Oh, yes he does,” Stan said, “ yes he does.”

KADDISH FOR OUR TIMES On the discovery of a hidden Jewish burial ground, in Calvert, Texas May, 1974 by Stuart Farrell Tower Just a mile east o f town On a lonely plot o f ground, There's a resting place, that no one ever sees— Where some o f God's chosen, these few, Each the seed o f a wandering Jew, Lie in silence - 'neath an arch o f tangled trees. A fence o f iron, encrusted, Two twisted benches, rusted, Say the Jewish era here is all but done. Hebrew letters on the stones Tell o f Levy's and the CohensHear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one. For more than a hundred years, Through happiness and tears, Our brothers here had practiced their belief- { As on Holy Days they prayed, Many blessings they had made, And beseeched the Lord to help in times o f grief.

KADDISH FOR OUR TIMES

Even though we’ve been dispersed And massacred and cursed, Our presence has been felt throughout the world. As in this little Texas town, With strangers all around, The Torah, in its glory, stood unfurled. Yes, the town of Calvert stands ‘Mid Texas’ richest lands, 5 m/ if can never hope to be the sameNot without these precious few, God knows that this be true, Magnified and Sanctified be His Name! To the bygone Jew of Calvert And the children ofM a’alot, We vow that you’ve not lived, nor died, in vain! O’seh sholom bi’mrowmov Hu Yaaseh sholom oleyno V’al Kol Yisroel, veimroo - O’mayn!

KASHRUTH handbook for home and school Principle Laws of Kashruth A Treasure Chest of Information An Indispensible Guide A Must for Every Kosher Home 500 per copy bulk orders of 10 copies or more 250 (Includes a complete Kosher fish list) KASHRUTH DIVISION OF UOJCA 116 E. 27th Street, New York, N.Y. 10016

Return to Him half-way, and He will meet you half way —P’siktah Rabbati 45:9

The Anxious Man of Repentance by Moshe Halevi Spero

One of the most creative aspects of human personality is the ability of man to reform, restructure and improve upon his nature at certain times—a pro cess we „call T*shuvah. T ’shuvah, meaning repentance or, literally, re turn, is the mechanism by which one rises from the pitfall of sin and reverts to, and perhaps surpasses, his pre transgression status. Repentance can be understood as a return to status quo, at the minimum level,and further strengthening of one’s spiritual status, at the optimum level. “ There is a higher and lower order of penitence. If a man repents of his evil deeds and ceases to do them again, this is the lower form. If he repents of his evil deeds and strives to perform good deeds, his penitence is the higher

type.” (Zohar, I. Goldman, Warshaw, 1878),J3:123y). Repentence, itself, is so important that it must accompany all tangible modes of atonement (Maimonides, Yad: Hilchot Tshuvah, 1:1,2 cf. also Talmud B. Yoma 86b.). Tshuvah presupposes a sense of guilt and, due to an expressed or tacit expec tation of punishment, involves an infer red psychological state known as anxie ty. This anxiety is an elemental aspect of the Tshuvah-process and, indeed, is a common state for much of mankind, due to any number of major and minor personal tensions and frustrations. However, when we talk about anxie ty, we must draw a distinction between its psychological and existential conno tations. As a psychological construct, inferred from heightened blood pres-

THE ANXIOUS MAN OF REPENTANCE

sure, increased skin dampness, pupil dilation and other physical symptoms, anxiety differs from fe a r , another psychological construct which signals a danger or threat which a person can objectively identify, whereas anxiety signals one which he cannot. Further more, as expressed by Freud, fear is an animal attribute, an automatic reaction in response to a definite stimulus (Ramzy, Ishak, “ Freud’s Understand ing of Anxiety ’’, in Seward Hiltner and Karl Menninger (Eds.), Constructive Aspects o f A nxiety, New York: Abingdon Press, 1963, p. 25). Only man, however, can experience anxiety. Man experiences psychological anxiety partly because even an apparently sim ple danger is rarely read by man au tomatically, apart from what he has learned from the past and anticipates of the future (Hiltner, Seward, “ Some Theories of Anxiety: Psychiatric” , in Hiltner, ibid,, p. 47). The Talmud expresses a clear opinion of the role emotion plays in T’shuvah. “ Said Reish Lakish, ‘Great is T’shuvah for it mitigates the gravity of intentional sins into that of mere accidental sins.’ Yet, did not R.L. also say, ‘Great is T’shuvah for it transforms intentional sins into meritorious acts? (He responded) The former is the case by T’shuvah motivated by fear, while the latter is the case of T’shuvah motivated by the love for G-d. ’’ (Talmud B Yoma 86b; T.B. Eruvin 19a.) Here we are dealing with an anxiety whose cause is apprehension and fear

of punishment. Similarly, “ He who is made anxious by his own conscience is greater than he who is shamed by other s’’ (Taanis 15a). The elemental anxiety one feels after having sinned can be a motivator of repentance. If properly ef fected, “ ...all who sin and are shamed (made anxious) are forgiven for all their sins” (Berachos 12b; Psiktah Rabbati 42; Shir Hashirim Rabba 5:3). There is another connotation to anxie ty.* Anxiety gives us a fundamental clue to the understanding of human existence as such, and becomes more than a psychologically analyzable a/fect** In the existential sense, through anxi ety; we participate in life-situations, and these feelings disclose special meanings of human existence in those *If we view every human emotion as significant, then the emotion, as studied by the psychologist is, by na ture of his discipline, dead and inhu man. To say, for example, that one’s guilt over a sin causes “ various effects which signal danger or aversive con sequences” is to speak about man but not to man. **(ibid. , p. 125. Existentialists used the word “ angst” —best translated not as ‘dread’ or ‘anguish’ but as ‘anxiety’. ‘Dread’ is too akin to fear while ‘an guish’ implies physical pain, neither of which is of major importance to these philosophers, (cf. ibid., p. 121) Affect, as used here, is the psychological noun form of emotion, as in ‘affective’ as opposed t o ‘cognitive’.).

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situations. Since anxiety has this disclosive property, we can talk about “ Ontological anxiety” (May, Rollo, Existence, New York: Clarion, 1958, p. 50., The Meaning o f Anxiety, New York: Roland Press, 1950, p. 51,191). Ontological means the basic selfaffirmation of a being in his simple existence and designates the philosophical analysis of the nature of being. The anxiety of death, for exam ple arising from the knowledge that we will all someday die—is most basic, universal and inescapable, for every body is aware of complete loss of self which biological extinction implies. This anxiety would be first ontological, since it is ultimately related to the way in which we experience our total being and our anticipation of eventual nonbeing (ibid., p. 51). Second, this form of ontological anxiety is existential, in the sense that it relates to man’s total existence, and being-as-such*, and is not an abnormal state of mind, as in neurotic anxiety. Anxiety should not be viewed as an affect among affects, but rather as an

ontological characteristic in man, rooted in his very existence {ibid., p. 55, see also the discussion in Paul Til lich, The Courage To Be, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1952, p. 35). As such, this type of anxiety, transcends psychological anxiety. Fear can be ob jectified. A person can look at the source of fear objectively and identify it. He is able to say, ‘-There is the snake which I fear!” Anxiety, on the other hand, strikes at the core of one’s sense of value as a person. When a person denies his potentials and fails to fulfill them, he experiences an ontological guilt. Whereas the psychologist would describe this as “ having a feeling of guilt,” the existentialist would talk of “ being guilty” or “ being anxious” : Ontological guilt does not consist of the I - am - guilty - because - 1 - violated parental - prohobitions syndrome, but arises from the fact that man can make a conscious choice to obey or disobey parental injunctions {ibid.). If we do not face life’s choices and respon sibilities by suppressing these ontolog ical emotions, we may then find ourse lves in a state of pathlogical neurotic *Being-as-such,in this hyphenated guilt. Just as neurotic guilt is the result form, was a type of term used fre of unconfronted ontological guilt, so quently by Heidegger, the Existen neurotic anxiety is the end-product of tialist philosopher, to designate a sense unfaced normal ontological anxiety. of being which was given and implied Man’s use of his being—physical, by man’s being a being! If was opposed existential and spiritual—is not . “ gi to his being-in-the-world which was ven’’ to him, but rather is demanded of man’s mere existence as one of several him by G-d, in the sense that man will objects located spatio-temporaly. cf. be required to answer for what he has Martin Heidegger, Being and Time made of himself. When we introspect, (Zun und Zeit). we stand as both our own judge and

THE ANXIOUS MAN OF REPENTANCE

prosecutor. This situation cannot help but produce the ontological anxiety of radical self-condemnation. It then be comes our duty to transform this ontologial anxiety into moral action rather than into neurosis. Our sages expressed a similar insight into the creative potential inherent in the experience of ontological anxiety. Aside from the references which stress the function and mechanism of elemen tal anxiety, there are also statements which express the conviction that Anxi ous Man, the prototype Jew who ex periences the awesome ontological awareness of his own imperfection and responsibility to G-d^—is in a better position to be creative by effecting Tshuvah. Ontological anxiety, as a feeling which motivates Tshuvah, at tunes us to Being, and gives us insight into how a Jew should stand before his Creator. In this way, an emotion is serving in a capacity hitherto reserved for Reason. Perhaps this is best expressed in the following discussion: “ Said R. Eliezer, ‘Return one day prior to the day of your death.’ The Students of R.E. then asked him, ‘But does a man know the day of his death?’ To which he answered, ‘Obviously not! But let man repent today lest he die tomorrow and, thus, all his days will be spent in penitence. And even did Solomon in his wisdom state: ‘In all times let your garments be white... (Shabbos 153a). On one level, Rabbi Eliezer asks man to

repent for specific sins he commits as soon as he commits them, lest he be confronted by death unaware and un prepared. However, the deeper signifi cance lies in an awareness that one should continually confront ontological anxiety which comes about, not by meditation over small or great trans gressions alone, but by an awareness of the imperfections in the minutae of one’s everyday existence and conduct, as expressed by David, “ V’chatati Negdi Tamid” — “ and my sin shall be before me always.” (Psalms 15:5). Why should we continue to worry about our specific sins if G-d grants absolution of past sins that are duly repented for?* It seems, therefore, that it is not the elemental psychological anxiety or guilt which we once felt at the time of any specific sin that we are to continually re-experience, but rather the ontological anxiety inherent in the awesome responsibility of our lives. We must always be cognizant of our ability to be imperfect, unauthentic, meaningless, irresponsible and even not to be, at all. This idea is poignantly expressed in the following medrash: After the Sin of the Golden Calf, Aaron the Priest would carry an iron yoke on his shoul ders and walk from house to house so as to teach the concept of “ ol malchoos shamayim” —the responsibility to the authority of G-d. It was due, in part, as merit for this conduct, that Aaron was found worthy of being the means through which Israel would mediate their atonement. Aaron did not carry

JEWISH LIFE

his personal, specific guilt with him the self. At this level, ontological anxi (for his role, albeit exonerable, in the ety is still self-centered and narcissis Golden Calf incident), but rather his tic. Anxiety, however, is also an emo ontological sense of imperfection and tion concerned with others, as a man the need to restructure the errant per ifestation of a repressed longing for a sonality. loved object or person, -the first of Similarly, an existentialist once said which is usually the mother (Ramzy, that anxiety is the “ vague apprehension op. c it., p. 24). A loved one’s absence, cued off by a threat to some value actual or threatened, would not be which the individual holds essential to anxiety-provoking if we did not already his existence as a personality.” (May, entertain certain feelings of love to op. cit., p. 51). This thought was an wards the person. (Berthold, Fred, ticipated by R. Kook, z’T, who distin “ Anxious Longing” , in Hiltner, Op. guished between what could be called cit., p. 79.). A child’s fear of retribu elemental and general repentance tion from parents can be understood (Metzger; " Alter, Rabbi K ook's within the context of his anxiety over Philosophy o f Repentance, New York: the possibility that they might reject Yeshiva University Press, 1968, p. him if he misbehaves. In fact, children 18-20). The former is described fn often exhibit anxiety,(seperation anxie terms of specific sins known to the in ty) before they understand the concept dividual, which cause him great inner of punishment. turmoil. We call this elemental anxiety. (During about the ages of 4 months to On the other hand, general repentance 12 months, we comonly see children describes a condition when one is experiencing extreme anxiety and “ ashamed of himself and is aware that fright whenever the mother leaves their G-d is not within him, and this is his presence, cf. ibid., p. 79; Mussen, greatest anguish, his most frightful sin. Paul, J. Conger, & J. Kagan, Child He is embittered at himself and finds no Development and Personality, New escape from the snare of his “ pursuer York: Harper and Row, 1969, p. 227.) s’’ which have no specific nature, but Even in adult life, anxiety due to guilt he is as one taken completely captive. ’’ can retain the structure of this original (Orot Hat’shuvah, III, in ibid.). separation from G-d. One can be said to Two comments are in order. Note be anxious over one’s guilt because he first, the vagueness and non specific believes that he deserves the rejection nature of existential anxiety or of ele of G-d. This anxiety of possible separa mental anxiety, in general. However, tion presupposes, at the same time, a there is another aspect of ontological creative impulse of longing and love for anxiety, which we shall now examine. G-d. {ibid., p. 79.). It is the awareness Thus far, we have spoken of ontologi of this love, and the concomitant fear cal anxiety’s role in achieving aware that G-d will leave us if we sin which R. ness of things happenig to and within Kook alludes to in the paragraph cited.

THE ANXIOUS MAN OF REPENTANCE

Ontological anxiety, therefore, pre supposes our desire to always be close to G-d. It is in situations of sin that we feel anxious. More important, we are no longer only interested in our own awareness of our interpersonal prob lems and infirmities. We are concerned with an Other who has great meaning for us. His absence, due possibly to our wrong doing, is what gives the sinner a feeling of literal loneliness which, in turn, causes him intense ontological anxiety. With this in mind, we can better un derstand why T’shuvah motivated by fear does not achieve the same results as penitence motivated by love of G-d. The former is actually an animal fearresponse to the threat of direct punish ment, without any other ontological awarenesses attached to it. One who lingers at that infantile level cannot grow, but rather moves closer to pathological anxiety and neurosis. The latter, on the other hand, refers to an anxiety—even over fear of punish ment. It results from seeking the “ re turn of G-d” , and presupposes a long ing for a loved object other than one’s self. In this sense, T’shuvah means not only our return to the pre-sin state, but also G-d’s return to us. Since man is created in the image of G-d, if he loses G-d’s presence from within himself he, in a sense, loses a little of his own self. It is only this existential sense of being alone and incomplete, which makes the Anxious Man of Repentance produc tive and creative.

R. Kook, case in point, stated his awareness that melancholy is a neces sary aspect of T’shuvah, in that it can be indicative of man’s striving for moral and psychological equilibrium. Nevertheless, one must exercise cau tion lest this dysphoria overwhelm him and prevent the individual from achiev ing the ultimate goal of self-betterment. Put in more vintaged words, “ Three things weaken a man’s strength: fear, trouble and sins:” (Gitten 70b.). Or, “ Why does a man have fear? Because his sins break his courage and he has no strength left. ’’ (Zohar 202a.). That is to say, we are trying to prevent neurotic anxiety while, at the same time, we are attempting to confront ontological anx iety. Our feeling of lonliness during the initial moments of the T ’shuvahprocess must not lead us to withdrawal and catatonia, but rather to the pursuit of G-d’s return by our return to Him. If we had no capacity to be Anxious Men, we would have no capacity to be creative or to effect penitence. Animals know no anxiety, for their life is purely physical. Angels know no anxiety,for their life is pure spirituality. Only man, who combines body and soul, sensual ity and reason, lives in the constant shadow of this ontological anxiety. “ No one can be called holy until death has put an end to his constant struggle with the ever-lurking tempter within, and he lies in the earth with the victor’s crown of peace upon his head.” (Medrash T’hillim 16:2). This anxiety is dreadful, but it is, indeed, a sign of life.

JEWISH LIFE

As an application of this philosophy, we might interpret the various afflic tions which we submit ourselves to on Yom Kippur, coupled with the day’s awe-inspiring liturgy, bring us closer to the face of non-being. It is as if we, in attempting to follow R. Eliezer’s ad vice literally, were simulating the “ day of our death’’ in order to increase our motivation for repentance. “ Alone, shorn of all committments, we confront our Maker. We own nothing, we can do nothing, we anticipate no pleasure. We are dead in the midst of life.’’ (Spero, Shubert, “ In Search for the Real T ’, Jewish Observer, 1965, 2(4), p. 25.) Yet, even Yom Kippur is not a day of depression, but of seriousness and self-awareness. As R. Shmelke of Nikolsburg put it, “ You must know that the weeping on this day will not avail if there is sadness in it.*. That is, ontolotical anxiety rather than pathological anxiety is the order of the * (In S. Y. Agnon, Days o f Awe, New York: Schocken, 1948, p. 207.) Erich Fromm (You Shall Be as G-dst Conn.: Fawcett, 1966, p. 132-133) opines that the Jewish view of sin is that “ to sin is human, almost unavoidable, nothing to be depressed about.. .the Hebrew Bible shows this very clearly by describing all (sic.) of its heros as sinners, includ ing the greatest figure of all... Moses... Repentance involves no need for contri tion or self-accusation.” Despite, or perhaps, due to Fromm’s considerable traditional background, this conclusion is clearly overdrawn.

day. Anxiety, in this sense, does not only relate man to himself and to G-d, but also relates man to his fellow man. For once we understand Anxious Man as he who is seeking a loved object, we can already anticipate his ability to love and to engage in dialogue with others as loved objects. In his attempts to ask G-d to return to him, the Anxious Man comes closer to understanding and ap preciating the need to reconcile himself with others. This, in essence, is the direct intention of having man resolve his personal “ Bayn Adorn L’chavayro” sins before approaching G-d with his“ Bayn Adorn L’makom” errors. In summary, while psychological guilt and anxiety may be the individu al’s elemental reaction to sin and to the looming task of repentance, this does not exhaust that certain creativity inhe rent in the Anxious Man of Repen tance. Anxious Man experiences anxi ety in the ontological sense that he feels confronted with his fundamental frail ties and responsibilities . He feels threatened by non-being as the ultimate punishment, yet, he is anxious also due to the despair of experiencing G-d’s conspicuous absence. He will remain in this state of instability until which time he initiates some action which can merit G-d’s return. To fail to experi ence this ontological awareness is to fail to experience this sense of loss which, in turn, is to fail to appreciate the full import of loving G-d.

BOOK REVIEWS

Five Children’s Books by David Adler

One Jewish publishing house told me, by Molly Cone (40 pp. New York: “ We don’t need another children’s Thomas Y. Crowell Company. $3.75. book. We already have some. ” Most of Ages 5-8.) the young reader has a those books were written over twenty charming first look at Israel and her years ago. Fortunately other major pub people. Could anything be worse than a wife lishers are more enlightened. They con tinue to publish books for children and that always complains, a daughter that some of those books are of special in never works, and a baby that only terest to Jewish parents. Here are five cries? In Could Anything Be Worse by Marilyn Hirsh (32 pp. New York: examples: How does a young child first react to Holiday house. $4.95. Ages 5-8.) a a one year visit to Israel? By building a man brings this complaint to his rabbi treehouse, Yaacov tries to bring part of and receives some very wise advice. the America he remembers to his tem This very familiar tale is enriched by porary home. “ If you can find enough Marilyn Hirsh’s illustrations. It is a spare wood in Israel to build a pity, however, that Ms. Hirsh chose to treehouse, it would be a miracle,’’ retell a folk story so often retold. Yaacov is told. But then, miracles do Among other instances, it was recently happen in Israel. Through Yaacov’s related by Eleanor Chroman as a Rus experiences in The House In The Tree sian folk tale. {It Could Be Worse. 32

JEWISH LIFE

pp. Chicago: Childrens Press. Ages 5-8.) Could anything be better than a book of stories for children by Isaac Bashevis Singer? When shrewd Todie borrowed silver tablespoons from Lyzer the mis er, the spoons mysteriously gave birth to silver teaspoons. This profit the miser could accept. But when Todie borrowed expensive candlesticks, they died, perhaps in childbirth. Must Lyzer also accept thj/s? When Shlemiel Went To Warsaw <Sl Other Stories, (115 pp. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. $4.95. All /ages.) contain eight stories which youf child will enjoy listening to now, and reading for himself in the future. The magician pulled ribbons, from his mouth and turkeys from his boots. Gold coins spilled out of his shoes. Who was this magician? What special magic did he bring to a small village on Passover? All children will enjoy the magic of this I.L. Peretz story adapted from the Yiddish and illustrated by Uri Shulevitz. (The Magician. 32 pp. New York: Macmillan. $3.95. Ages 5-8.) Many of the children’s books that should be of special interest to Jewish parents either describe Jewish holidays or retell stories from the Bible. But the best way to teach your child about our holidays is to observe them. I found such statments as “ Chicken soup means Sabbath...” offensive, and an illustration of Megilath Esther with Friday night kiddush inscribed inside insulting. I also found that the Bible tells it better. The Tower o f Babel by

William Wiesner (Unpaged. New York: Viking. $3.95. Ages 5-8.) is notable, however, for its colorful and imaginative illustrations. I enjoyed these books, but, hopeful ly, your child will derive even more joy from them. Certainly, nothing replaces a good book, or the love that a parent expresses when he reads it to his child.

Adopt A Special Child Jewish children with handi caps need warm, loving Orth odox homes to give them a fair chance in life. Can you provide a permanent home for such a child? For further information call: (212) 851-6300

4907-16th Ave. Brooklyn, N.Y. 11204 (212) 851-6300 “The only professional child care agency under Orthodox Jewish Auspices in the U,S.A.”.

AMONG OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Dr. Samson R. Weiss, the retired Executive Vice President of the UOJCA, returns to the pages of Jewish Life with a report, delivered at the recent UOJCA National Convention, on the spiritual ferment in Israel, where he now lives. His keen insights on current developments both in North America and Israel reflect his continued, active involvement with Klal Yisroel. Rabbi Jack Simcha Cohen is the Executive Director of the Metropolitan New York Coordinating Council on Jewish Pover ty. He is a member of the Executive Committee and Vice Chairman of the Commission on Communal Affairs of the UOJCA. He presented papers on neighborhood stabilization and Jewish poverty at the recent UOJCA National Convention. Dr. Gershon Kranzler is another frequent contributor to Jewish Life. A Professor of Sociology at Townsend State College and John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Dr. Kranzler is uniquely qualified to report on Boys Town of Jerusalem, having served as a Day School principal for over twenty years. Rabbi Berel Wein, a frequent contributor to Jewish Life, is the Rabbinic Administrator of the Kas-

hruth Division of the UOJCA. Before assuming his present position with the UOJCA, he served as its Executive Vice President, after establishing him self as one of the nation’s leading pulpit rabbis. Alfred Werner, the author of more than twenty books on art, is a well-known lecturer and authority in the field. He has published many arti cles in Jewish Life, dating as far back as 1952. Moshe Halevi Spero, a student of psychology and history at Case Western Reserve University in Cleve land, Ohio, has evoked much comment on his previous two articles in Jewish Life. In this issue, he pens a modern, psychological analysis of the tradi tional concept of T’shuva. Andrew Neiderman, a young native of the Catskill region of New York State, is a new contributor to Jewish Life, who brings the flavor of that resort area to his story, “ A Man of Few Words” . Stuart Farrell Tower, of Calabasas, California, brings us a moving poem of Jewish universality in “ Kaddish for Our Times” . David Adler, a fine artist whose work graced the pages of Jewish Life for many years, treats us to a sensi tive and knowledgable review of sev eral childrens books of Jewish interest.

77th Anniversary National Dinner Of The

Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America SUNDAY EVENING, MAY 11 1975 ROSH CHODESH SIVAN 5735 At The NEW YORK HILTON Will Honor

SOLOMON T. SCHARF With the UOJCA KETHER SHEM TOV AWARD

Rabbi Dr. LEO JUNG

OF THE JEWISH CENTER With the UOJCA Distinguished Leadership Award

Ambassador YOSEF TE KOAH With the UOJCA Israel Award and these nationally renowned community leaders, recipients of the UOJCA PRESIDENTS AWARD: Abraham Dere

Shelley S. Goren

David Grossman

R ichm ond, Va.

G reat N eck, N. Y.

Baltim ore, M d.

Dr. Ellis Gruber

David H. Hill

Alfred Kahn

R ochester, N.Y.

K e w G ardens, N. Y.

Linden, N.J.

Dr. Joseph Parker

Emanuel Quint

Joseph Russak

Brooklyn, N.Y.

Seattle, Wash.

M em phis, Tenn.

Henry Wimpfheimer, N e w York, N.Y.

Couvert: $85.00 per person For reservations and further information contact:

UOJCA NATIONAL DINNER COMMITTEE 116 E. 27th Street, New York, N.Y. 10016 (212) 725-3400 BERANRD W. LEVMORE — N ational D inner Com m ittee Chairm an RABBI FABIAN SCHOENFELD — R abbinic Chairm an HAROLD M. JACOBS — U O JC A P resident

Jewish Life Autumn 1974

Articles inside

The American Front: The Next Battleground for Israel