Jewish Life Winter 1974

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LETTERS FROM THE YOM KIPPUR WAR WERE WOMEN CREATED UNEQUAL A MECHITZA FOR COLUMBUS TSANZ REBORN

W INTER 1974/5734

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THE 76TH ANNUAL NATIONAL DINNER of the

UNION OF ORTHODOX JEWISH CONGREGATIONS OF AMERICA will take place on

SUNDAY EVENING, M A Y 19, 1974 - 27 IY A R , 5734

at the

NEW YORK HILTON $75.00 per couvert For reservations and information, write or phone to: DIAMOND JUBILEE DINNER COMMITTEE, UOJCA 116 East 27th Street, New York, N.Y.10016 (212) 725-3400

Marvin Hochbaum Co-Chairman

Joseph Karasick, Chairman Rabbi Louis Bernstein Chairman, Rabbinic Committee Harold M. Jacobs President

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ARYEH KAPLAN, Editor Editor Emeritus: Saul Bernstein Editorial Consultants: Dr. Herbert Goldstein Mrs. Libhv Klaperman Dr. Jacob W. Landynski \ j ; Rabbi Solomon J. Sharfman Chairman. Publications Committee: ' Lawrence A. Kobrin

Published by:

UNION OF ORTHODOX CONGREATIONS OF AMERICA President: Harold M. Jacobs Chairman of the Board: JOSEPH KARASICK Honorary Presidents: j MAX J. ETRA SAMUEL NIRENSTEIN Honorary Senior Vice President: BENJAMIN KOENIGSBERG Senior Vice Presidents: DR. BERNARD LANDER DAVID POLITl Vice Presidents: NATAHN K. GROSS LAWRENCE A. KOBRIN JULIUS BERMAN JOEL BALSAM EUGENE HOLLANDER MARVIN HERSKOVITZ Treasurer: REUBEN E. GROSS

Vol. 41, No. 1 Winter, 1974/5734

THE EDITOR’S VIEW Jewish Lifeline . ............... .......................... 2 ARTICLES Letters from the Yom Kippur War Marta B. Shapiro..........................................

Were Women Created Unequal Moshe Halevi S p e r o ............. ..

A Mechitza for Columbus David Stavsky ...................................... ..

Tzanz Reborn H. Rabinowicz .. ............................ ..

Moral Ecology Reuben E. Gross . . . . . . m .. . . . , . . . . . .

4 17 22.

28 37

FICTION The Scuola Daniel Klein .................................................41 Eato and Latimore Gedaliah Fleer .......................................... 46 BOOK REVIEWS Judaism Itself Yaakov Luria . . . ............

The Sabbath Laws J. David Bleich ...................... .. . ..............

The Source of Oral Tradition Henry Biberfeld ..........................................

LETTERS .....................

48 51 54 57

Honorary Treasurer: MORIS L. GREEN Secretary: SHELDON RUDOFF Financial Secretary: BERNARD LEVMORE National Associate Vice Presidents: NORMAN L. BRODY MOSES J GRUNDWERG HERMAN HERSKOVIC a l h . Th o m a s National Director: RABBI DAVID COHEN

Copyright 1974 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 at New York, N.Y.

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The Editor’s View

JEWISH LIFELINE GETTING TO KNOW YOU HIS marks my first issue of Jewish Life, and getting it out has been both an experience and a challenge. There is a tre­ mendous feeling of power—after all, you are reaching out to tens of thousands of people. Yet, at the same time, there is a great feeling of responsibility—people will read and be affected by what you print.

In general, I feel that the Torah community has much to say, and that Jewish Life is the vehicle to say it. Both the Jew and his Torah have been here for over three thousand years, and have existed together under more varied conditions than any other civilization on earth. One of the foundations of our faith is the belief that the Torah contains solutions for all problems, both temporal and trans­ cendental, and during the past three thousand years, some of the greatest minds in the world have so applied it. This has been reflect­ ed both in the lives and teachings of our sages, leaders and heroes.

We are its inheritors.

We live in a generation that has seen more change than the previous twenty. The Torah must cope with new problems as the Jew faces new situations. Again, some of the world’s finest minds are applying the teachings of Judaism to these problems, and to a large extent, their conclusions will be the message of Jewish Life.

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A DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this, my first issue, to Mr. Saul Bernstein recently retired after serving as editor of Jewish Life for the past 27 years. He has given me a firm foundation upon which to build.

May HaShem grant him many fruitful years of health and accomplishment.

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The background, the advice, the meticulous, records and wealth of material that Saul Bernstein left me, will have an impact for many issues to come. I have been handed over a publication with a very solid tradition, and feel a great sense of responsibility to uphold his unusually high standards.

NEW TALENT WANTED You might notice that a number of articles in this edition are from previously unpublished writers. We believe that there are many people in the Torah community who have something to say, and we are eagerly seeking them out.

If you feel that you have something significant to write about, then we want to hear from you. The fact that you may have never written anything for publication should not dissuade you. We are openly courting fresh talent, and every article that we receive will be considered. Like most publications, however, we cannot be re­ sponsible for returning unsolicited manuscripts, so keep a carbon or copy of anything you send out.

If you want to write an article and have any questions, the best thing to do is to “query the editor.” In simple terms, this means writing a letter and outlining your plans.

Besides full length articles, we are also seeking: • Short stories (under 3000 words).

• Book reviews (under 1200 words).

• Short anecdotes involving life as an orthodox Jew (under 100 words).

• Original bits of humor.

• Original quotations. ¡S Poetry.

• Art work (cannot be returned without prior arrangement).

• Photography (ditto).

Of course, we will continue to publish articles by our major leaders and thinkers. But at the same time, we are also seeking out/w/wreleaders and thinkers. In short, we want to make Jewish Life your magazine.

Ary eh Kaplan

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LE T T E R S FROM TH E YOM KIPPUR W AR Compiled by MARTA B. SHAPIRO

when he encountered Esau after not haying Dear Imma and Abba, I was noting this morning how many seen him for over three decades. The killers are going to return to the Yeshiva. Torah says that (Genesis 32:8), “Jacob was We are going to have a Yeshiva full of very much afraid and distressed.” Rashi killers. Of course, we don’t really look explains that “He was afraid lest he be at it that way. It is a necessity—a fight killed, and was distressed that he might for survival. Believe me, these boys are have to kill someone else.” But in his more afraid of killing someone else than dilemma, the Jew also remembers the being killed. It is not that they are afraid. Talmudic dictum (Sanhedrin 72a), “I f They know it is necessary, but it is hard someone comes to kill you, you should for them to take someone’s life. Some­ kill him first. ” one is killed—a life is taken away. Even This collection of letters reflects many if it’s an Arab’s life, it is a life that G-d aspects of this dilemma. They were all gave. These Arab soldiers don’t really written by religious Americans, who want to kill or be killed. And we don’t were either visiting or had settled in want to kill them. It is the Arab leaders Israel, and they give us an on-the-spot who are the real culprits. In fact, we record of their experiences and emotions during the Yom Kippur War. These out­ pity the Arab soldiers. pourings of fear and confusion, together This is the classical Jewish dilemma. with trust in G-d, are from Jewish souls, The pattern was set by the patriarch Jacob, who, within the framework of Torah, contend with a war that pierced their lives on the holiest of days. We are privi­ MARTA B. SHAPIRO is an instructor leged to accompany each writer, and ex­ o f English at Staten Island Community perience the feelings of those fateful College, and previously served as the first days. The letters are presented as origin­ principal o f the Hillel Academy in Perth ally written, with only light editing to Amboy, New Jersey. A mother o f five, she translate Hebrew words and disguise the is currently working on her Ph.D. at names of individuals.

St. John’s University.

LETTERS FROM THE YOM KIPPUR WAR

THE RETIRED AMERICAN My Dearest Brother, Again, we find ourselves at war, not one of our making, and certainly not one we want. Everyone here is a Jewish mother or father, and is horrified at the thought of our young sons being killed or crippled for life.

On Saturday, Yom Kippur afternoon, coming from synagogue, I saw young boys riding very fast in their cars. We have been in Israel now for five Yom Kippurs, and I have never seen a vehicle move. I felt very bad, thinking that our youth had forsaken their holy day and their religion. Only at two in the after­ noon, when air raid sirens sounded and buses came to pick up the boys being called to the lines, did we realize that something was very wrong.

In our synagogue a father sat with his son. A fellow came and spoke to the son, but the father held on to him, crying and not wanting to let go. The Rabbi finally came over and told the father to let go of the boy. The Rabbi put his hand on the young fellow’s head, blessed him, and the boy left the synagogue with his Tallit still on, to go to war.

This scene was probably repeated all over our little country. On our holiest day, thinking us to be weak after our vigil of prayer and fasting, those miser­ able Egyptians attacked us. We are con­ fident of our victory, but how many of our young sons will be dead and wounded?

Everyone is mobilized. This is a

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citizen’s army, and the older men work on the home front. When the soldiers first left on Yom Kippur, the women in the upper Galilee handed out apples, cookies and other foods to the soldiers going by, so as to give them a little some­ thing other than field rations with which to break their fast. Many of our boys went to war still fasting.

We know so many boys in the service.

May G-d let them all come home safely.

THE WOMAN FROM NEW JERSEY Dear Friends, All is well here despite the obvious tension of a country at war. The tension is not lest we lose the war, but rather, at what cost in terms of fathers and sons on the battelines. They began to notify families of the fallen last night, and today’s fears are even more than usual because names are revealed.

It all began on Yom Kippur, a day when no radio or television is broadcast, and no traffic (at all) flows through the streets. Then, we suddenly began to see an increase in traffic and a sudden in­ crease in tension—men ran out of their houses, jumped into their cars, and drove away. Telephones began to ring. Because there was no radio or television, rumors began to fly without official confirmation.

All that we knew was that there was a general call-up of reserves.

Slowly, but steadily, men began to disappear from the synagogue, plucked

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JEWISH LIFE

by “somebody” coming to call for them.

Our Torah reader was taken just as he finished reading the portion. Fathers said goodby to their wives and children.

Mothers were quietly asked to step out­ side from the women’s section, so that they might kiss their sons and bid them well.

For us it was the first time—and I trust the last. We had just gone home in the afternoon between Mussaf and Mincha, and Moishe went to lie down.

Yaakov drove up outside, ran up the stairs to give Moishe his orders, and then drove away.

To be left behind would be unbear­ able, but the initial shock of notification is almost stifling. You don’t know what to do first—and on top of everything it was Yom Kippur. Don’t take your wallet, but take a blank checkbook. Don’t change your shoes, but put on your uniform.

Don’t eat, but drink if you have to.

All these thoughts run through your mind. What will you need? Will you come back? Where are the kids to say goodby? Can’t call parents on Yom Kippur to say goodby to them. What about Tefillin? A million things to think about and only seconds for decisions.

And then, a quick kiss goodby, because anything longer would bring tears, and that must be avoided at all costs.

And so, slowly, but certainly, young men, older men, religious and non­ religious, drove on Yom Kippur and re­ ported to their assigned depots. On the corner of Allenby and Shenkin Streets in Tel Aviv, an unusually congested and dangerous intersection, traffic flowed

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smoothly—thanks to the direction of a young man wearing a fur Shtreimal and flowing Kapota, with his Tallit still draped over his shoulders. Traffic lights don’t work in Israel on Yom Kippur.

There is no family that is not somehow directly or indirectly touched by this war.

We have spent time in the shelters, we have heard the terrible sound of the air raid sirens, but this time the war is being fought far away—thanks to the bound­ aries resulting from the Six Day War. As in every war, rumors fly uncensored, and rumors are never about happy events.

A neighbor has not heard from her son since Yom Kippur, and just think, he washed our car only ten days ago. A co­ worker’s son is a POW in Egypt, and he’s all of eighteen. No one is left un­ touched. Sarah’s youngest brother is married all of six weeks, and is some­ where very far away from his new bride.

Mail from the front is delivered 24 hours a day by high school students, who seem to be doing a better job than the regular postmen. There are even pre­ printed postcards. All that a soldier has to do is sign them, and then they are mailed out just to tell the folks back home that all is well. The boys fighting in the Golan are only interested in how things are going on the Canal, and vice versa.

Those who remain at home are frust­ rated by inactivity because their lives must go on. But still, how can you con­ tinue a normal existence? People expected a blitz victory like in 1967, and when it didn’t come, morale began to falter. They witheld news of casualties,

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LETTERS FROM THE YOM KIPPUR WAR

so imaginations began to run rampant.

Now that casualties have been announc­ ed, it becomes almost anticlimactic, except to the families of the fallen.

So life settles down. Kids go to school (there is usually no school during Succot).

High school classes are taught by college professors, since all men teachers have been drafted. Policewomen are teaching elementary schools. Deliveries to grocery stores take a bit longer—but strangers in the street shout words of encouragement to one another. The crime rate has dropped to nothing—in Israel even the crooks are drafted. Bank presidents are washing hospital room floors.

And so, the life of a people that has existed for so many thousands of years once again returns to the normalcy of war, sadness and loss. May G-d grant that it be for the last time.

THE MEDICAL STUDENT Dear Family, I’m sure that you are all interested in what I was doing when the war broke out, and what it was like being in Jerusa­ lem during a war which began on Yom Kippur, and continues during the city­ wide preparations for Succot.

On the Friday morning before Yom Kippur, we had a class in Yeshiva, and then I went for a walk with a friend to Meah Shearim to buy some cake and fruit for before and after the fast. Around 1:30 p.m., a bunch of us took a twenty minute walk to the Mikvah in the Mattes-

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dorf section of Jerusalem. Most of the re­ ligious men in the city go to the Mikvah before Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.

The Yeshiva was set up very nicely for the Kol Nidrei and Evening services.

We were about sixty guys and maybe twenty women, and services wjgre over by 7:30. After studying a bit, three of us decided to take a walk up Malchei Yisrael Street, toward the religious sections of Meah Shearim and Geulah.

We were curious to see all the streets of Jerusalem on Yom Kippur night, for we were told that on Yom Kippur all Israelis go to synagogue, and no cars are out on the street. Israelis don’t ride to synagogue—they always walk.

The street was very deserted, except for a truck or car every few minutes, which by the license plate, my friend identified as being military. There seem­ ed to be a number of trucks going in and out of the Schneller Army Camp.

Walking past the army camp on Yom Kippur, knowing that many of the soldiers were home on leave, I said to my friends (not giving it really much thought) that Yom Kippur could very well be the best time for the Arabs to attack. (This is the truth.) “No,” said one friend, “the Arabs are afraid of religion, and would never atack Israel on a Jewish religious holy day...” That was about the extent of our conversation about the Arabs or war.

We walked down to the intersection of Yaffo Road and Sarei Yisroel—one of the busiest traffic intersections, even on Shabbat—and found it completely dark and quiet, without a ear in sight. An

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JEWISH LIFE

army truck passed, and then an army car, and then an ambulance, but we didn’t think much of it. I joked that maybe the army had decided to have truck races, now that all the streets were totally clear.

Most of the Yeshi va guys awakened in time for the 7:00 a.m. morning prayers by a couple of Phantom jets that passed low enough for me to spot one out of my third floor window. Airplane noise is not a com­ mon sound in Jerusalem. Morning prayers went well, and so did Musaf, and by 1:10 p.m. we had finished. We had a break until 3:15, and my friend said that he was dead tiredandleftforhisroom. I decided to take a walk through Meah Shearim, to peek in some of the fam ous synagogues and Yeshivas.

Just before I turned the corner, I noticed a lot of noise coming from the Egged Central Bus Station. (Romema, where we are, is on a hill overlooking the Egged Station.) I ran over to see what was going on. After all, Egged buses shouldn’t be running on Yom Kipur, and Jerusa­ lem’s religious community is often alarmed by Egged buses starting up too early before the end of Shabbat. I was standing with two rabbis from the Yeshiva (one was the head of the Yeshiva) and we noticed that a number of buses were being driven by men in uniform—and more often than not, the buses had no­ body in them.

All of a sudden, the news started hitting us, spread by some passing Israelis. The Arabs had attacked on the Golan Heights, and there was now a callback of all the regular soldiers who had been given Yom

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Kippur leave. Then someone said that the Arabs had also attacked at the Suez Canal.

The next several minutes were spent in excited conversation and speculation.

Anyone who passed was questioned, or questioned us, about what was going on.

One of the Israeli rabbis praying at our Yeshiva explained to us the Israeli system of military mobilization. All the top “drafting” officersarecontacted, and they in turn start calling up soldiers in their area or unit. As the system goes, different people and units are contacted by radio signals, phone calls, and the knock on the door. Military messengers and drafted soldiers are transported by specially co­ opted private cars (“military security cars”) and Egged buses—hence, all the action at the bus station.

At the time, the Rabbi didn’t think that the call-up was extensive, because he was the “draftofficer”formostofthe Romema section, and he was “still here.” As it turned out, his phone had been ringing all morning, but his wife didn’t answer be­ cause of Yom Kippur.

About four of us decided to walk down past the Egged Station to see where some of the buses were heading. We crossed the big square in front of the station, and saw a large group of soldiers saying goodby to parents and wives, with buses and cars coming and going, dropping off single soldiers. There were also about thirty Israeli “civilians” wearing Yarmulkas, and some still wrapped in their Tallit, watching and wondering what was going on. I talked with a number of Israelis, and most didn’t know any more than I did.

They all agreed that the Arabs were idiots

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LETTERS FROM THE YOM KIPPUR WAR

for thinking that Israel wouldn’t reply swiftly to a Yom Kippur attack.

I was talking and observing, when, all of a sudden, this tremendous siren went off almost in front of us—whining away just like in the movies when an air-raid is on. I waited long enough for someone to scream LaMiklat (to the bomb shelter!), and I ran as fast as possible to an under­ ground passageway beneath the street.

For those few seconds it was pretty scary, but the wailing sirens Finally stopped, and we decided that it was only a test.

After that, we decided that it was best to get back to the Yeshiva. Everybody was looking outside from their balconies, and many were coming up from the bomb shelters that are in every building.

It was a very unusual situation, be­ cause it was the one day of the year when Israel radio is not on the air. The thing that made everybody start realizing that some­ thing big was happening was that men were being pulled out of their homes and synagogues to enter the army. This was going on all Yom Kippur.

All we could do was finish the Yom Kippur prayers and wait until nightfall for real news. With the newscasts, it soon became obvious that the call-up was not just for the regular soldiers on leave, but for a very large portion of Israel’s reservists. As we were breaking the fast in the lunchroom, we heard Golda Meir’s address to the nation, deploring the Arab attack on Yom Kippur. War news started pouring in about Suez and Golan,’ and even though the Arabs had made some initial advances, everyone was confident that it was only a matter of time before the

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Israeli Air Force would blast the Arab units back behind the pre-war lines.

What has bothered everybody—and still has not been revealed—is the number of losses inflicted on us by the initial Arab advances.

Around 8:00 p.m., I took a little walk down Jaffa Road, the main street in Jerusalem. All the street lights and traffic lights were out. Buses and private cars, all co-opted for military transports, were honking and moving quickly through the non-lighted intersections, Men and girls in uniform were hurrying here and there. I sat for a while with my radio, listening to the news in Hebrew, and then in English, French, Yiddish, Spanish, etc., etc. ...

I took a walk down to Shaare Zedek Hospital (a two minute walk) to see if they needed me. Professor Menchel, the head of Internal Medicine, told me that everything was quiet so far and to come back on Sunday. The hospital was already setting up hundreds of emergency cots, and all but the most serious cases were being sent home, to leave the army an almost completely empty hospital.

Sunday morning we had our last Mishneh class at the Yeshiva, and then I went over to the hospital. There was really a tremendous number of volun­ teers there, mostly American and Israeli students. They had maybe a dozen wounded soldiers in the morning, but after that, all was quiet. No soldiers came in on Monday either. Because I knew the hospital well, I was given a job working in the basement in medical supplies, supplying syringes, catheters,

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JEWISH LIFE

etc. to the whole hospital. I called up my Israeli friend Yaakov Mendel (I had been studying with him for the past few weeks), and his mother said that he had been called up on Yom Kippur after­ noon, and had left as soon as the Fast was over.

I’ll tell you—I was so busy with the hospital work and listening to the news, that I almost forgot about the wedding that night. I was listening to the 6:45 p.m.

English news while I was putting on my black suit before I left for the wedding.

It was only a ten minute walk to where the wedding was, but it was very eerie. Jerusalem was in a total blackout, and very few cars were on the street— and here I was, going to a wedding.

The wedding itself was very exciting.

All the top Jerusalem rabbis were there.

It was exciting—a good feeling—to see people back home in the midst of a war.

Inside the Hall, the dancing and singing were very lively. Chaim’s whole Yeshiva was there, and his Yeshiva—Hevron—is one of the most famous in Israel.

Chaim’s father (a very big rabbi) had gotten a lot of Yeshiva boys to work all day lining all the windows in the Hall with black paper. During the entire wedding, two men in uniform from Civil Defense sat on guard.

On Monday, I spent some time at the hospital, but even though there was lots of preparatory activity, no wounded arrived. I also did a lot of walking through the city, especially in the religious sections. Despite the Civil Defense Readiness Precautions, (with) posters all over the city about shelters

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and blackouts, preparations for Succot are going in full force. The Jewish Market of Macheneh Yehudah was filled with scores of men selling Esrogim, Lulavim and Hadasim (myrtle branches).

You never saw anything like it in your life. It was as crowded as the Atlantic City Boardwalk used to be on Labor Day weekend.

Walking around the city, you see some strange sights... older men with long beards and peyos (side curls), in uniform, looking for a choice Esrog... little Chassidic boys lugging heavy boards through the streets for their Succot... trucks driving through the streets with mounds of long branches for S*thach (the top covering of a Succah).

Everywhere I walked, in stores, at bus stops, in the hospital kitchen, somebody had a radio and all work stopped when the five short beeps sounded, indicating the start of the news. Many of the cars and trucks have their headlights black­ ened with paint or covered by blue plastic, and many windows in the city are covered with black paper.

It’s Tuesday morning now, and the news on the radio is much more heartening. I think that it’s only a matter of a few days now. Most bus lines are getting back in action, and schools are reopening. A lot of the guys from the Yeshiva volunteered to unload heavy packages at the railroad station, as well as to make deliveries of milk, meat and scrap. All the regular workers are at the front. I passed one little grocery store which had its shutters down and a sign in Hebrew:

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LETTERS FROM THE YOM KIPPUR WAR

THE STORE IS CLOSED BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN CALLED UP FOR RESERVE

DUTY.

WILL

THE

DELIVERY MEN PLEASE STOP THEIR DELIVERIES OF MILK AND BREAD. THANK YOU.

SHOLOMO I had originally planned to do a couple days travelling, but that idea has been cancelled by the war. We hear all the news of the protests for Israel in New York and other places. On the Hebrew News, they had a report from Paris, where thousands of Jews sang HaTikvah, and chanted, “Israel will win! Israel will live!” It’s nice to hear—believe me, it’s nice to hear. But actually, Israelis don’t need any morale boosting. They know what they have to do, and they are used to the tension.

Blessed is G-d, who will bring peace to us and to all His people.

THE MUSICIAN Dear Abba and Imma, Boy, do I have stories to tell you! A week ago Sunday, a man came to visit me and asked me to go to the Golan to play my cordovox and entertain the soldiers. The rabbis at my yeshiva, how­ ever, didn’t think that playing for the sold­ iers was more important than my learning Torah. One rabbi said that he couldn’t render a decision that I should shut my Gemorah to play music. He asked Rabbi E., the greatest authority in Jerusalem, and he said that for this time only, for

11

two days, I should go out and play for the soldiers.

So, this past Friday morning, I met with six other Yeshi va musicians, together with a young Rosh Yeshiva, and we went off to Rosh Pinah and to Tiberias.

There we split—one group went to an army base in Kunetra, and I went with three older men to a base in Syria called Chalas. Go to Yeshiva in Israel and see Syria!

Chalas was a former army base for Syrian soldiers, and it has very well built barracks and large halls. All around the area, you can see burned out Syrian tanks and bunkers filled with Syrian ammunition (all imprinted with Russian inscriptions), uniforms and gas masks.

I picked up a small map of the world in Arabic. After you climb the Golan Heights, all the area is one huge plateau.

One very interesting thing is that they had dummy cannons made up of thin aluminum, built to look just like the real thing^to fool Israeli air photographers.

This camp was different from others because congregated here in one place were 120 Hesder-Yeshiva boys (para­ military Yeshiva Students). These Yeshiva boys had spent the past two Sabbaths in this Syrian camp with little to eat, and with no means of properly honoring the Sabbath. But this Shabbat was different. When they entered the hall set aside for their synagogue, they were unbelievably surprised to find tables and seats—made from ammu­ nition crates—and on the tables were white linen tablecloths, candles, Challahs, and gefilte fish. All had been provided

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JEWISH LIFE

by the same man who had visited me in Yeshiva and asked me to play.

Good news spreads quickly, and by the time we got to Kabbalat Shabbat (the service welcoming the Sabbath), 200 of the 300 non-religious soldiers had joined us, and the dovening was like no other.

All the Yeshiva boys sang out loud with Kavanah and devotion, and the non­ religious soldiers took prayer books and did their best to join in.

Just before Maariv, the young Rosh Yeshiva spoke. It was really a beautiful sight. There were almost twice as many people as there were places to eat, but all managed to get Challah, fish, and to top it off, Jerusalem Kugel. I taught them a new song, and they all went wild with dancing and singing. All this only two miles away from the Syrian troops.

That night, in the middle of a Shabbat gathering, there was a sudden scare. Everybody grabbed their boots and uzis, only to find that a guardsman had shot at a cat.

On Shabbat morning, the dovening was just as nice. They even had an Aufruf calling a young groom-to-be up to the Torah. The soldier was going to leave camp on Tuesday to get married, and then return to camp on Wednesday night. They threw candies at him.

All that Shabbat, the camp’s fifty tanks didn’t move. There were Torah lectures and singing through Shalosh Seudot(the Third Meal), and a beautiful Havdalah ceremony.

After Shabbat, I took out my guitar and went to one of the barracks to sing with the soldiers. We sang songs that

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they knew, like Od A vinu Chai, and YeVorecha-cha. I also taught them some new songs, and gave them a Torah lesson that they really enjoyed. All the soldiers were dancing.

On Sunday morning, after many thanks, we left the base. We got a tour of the Centurion tanks, and from there, we went to climb to the snow covered peaks o f Mount Hermon. Here, no entertainers, and certainly no Yeshiva students had come. Our tender couldn’t even make it up the road, so we walked the last few kilometers on foot. We reached the last encampment near the Syrian border on Mount Hermon, and the soldiers were so happy to see us in the freezing cold, they sang and danced as we played. Later in the afternoon, the clouds started coming down on the mountain and it became very cold.

We continued on the next encamp­ ment where they had built wooden huts, and we played inside. We put Tefillin on some of them, and went through the Mincha Service word by word. Our final destination was an intelligence base on top of Mount Hermon. It is built three stories deep into the mountain (Top Secret). The Syrians had broken into this intelligence base during the war, but we got it all back. We played at this intelli­ gence base, and then dovened Maariv, again word by word. The soldiers really were excited and it was a phenominal thing to see.

The Kunetra base was our destination for the night. We arrived there late and slept on the floor in the army synagogue.

The synagogue had been bombed and

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LETTERS FROM THE YOM KIPPUR WAR

the Holy Ark was smashed—except for the shelf with the Torah, which remained untouched.

The next day we went to the posts nearest the new border. We saw Syrian troops and the UN post in the middle.

One post was in the center of an extinct volcano. We got home at midnight. It was a long trip, but worth it.

13

Today I gave a ride to some girls working at one of the large army hospitals nearby, and they told me that the spirit and morale of the wounded soldiers is unbelievable. She said that they are the morale boosters for every­ one else!

We are a small country—and a big family. There are announcements on the radio every day about groups set up in many cities to aid families, where the father was drafted, to make a Bar THE BENEIBERAK HOUSEWIFE Mitzvah or a Brit (circumcision cere­ mony). There have been innumerable Dear All, weddings this past week where the groom Israel is not accustomed to “long came back from the front for an hour wars”—and it is now the ninth day, and or two for the wedding, and then re­ what seems at least a year, since Yom turned to battle.

Kippur! For the first few days, there was Birth reports from the hospitals are a flurry of organization, readjustment, broadcast, and there have been many, thinking, etc. As it became apparent that many multiple births in the past it wasn’t all going to be over in a few days week— and the majority are boys! And things began taking on a more temporary- so the country continues to function, permanent nature, and everyone began as a mixture of ears remain glued to the to live with this reality. news broadcasts, keeping daily routines, I’m sure that you’ve heard about the filling in vacated spaces, and above all, tremendous force of volunteers, both holding strongly and firmly to our faith from within the country and from with­ and trust in G-d. out. The local high school students are We are now getting much more de­ doing an amazing job of keeping the tailed information than during the first mail running, cleaning hospital wards, few days, and are relieved and grateful running switchboards to receive calls to G-d for our accomplishments and ad­ from soldiers, relaying messages to vances. But we keep asking ourselves homes where there are no phones, and and others—and I’m sure you do as well— many other appointed and self-appointed at what price? Please know, that as of this tasks. Hundreds and thousands of gift moment, no figures have been released packages, homemade cakes, cards and about casualties. It was only last Friday letters have been sent to the front—al­ that they began informing families of most more than anyone can manage to those who were lost. So if your news transport. media give figures, don’t accept them

14

JEWISH LIFE

Winter

as anything more than mere speculation. of Suez City. Imagine-—they are so But with all these facts, the most rest­ expert at setting the time of his death—but less and anxious people are the men who not expert enough to prevent him from have not been called up. Feeling relieved being killed by our Arab enemies.

David died to sanctify G-d’s name, and grateful? Never! They are sitting on and to my good fortune, I knew him well. the edge of their chairs, waiting and The only comfort that I can see for his hoping for the time they’ll be called. family is that he died for G-d. At any This is the first time since 1948 that rate, all the students here say that G-d a war here has included a holiday, and wanted it that way. We are not to this in itself has put us to the test. No question, but only to comfort ourselves doubt, you as well had difficulty getting with the trust that G-d knows what He into the spirit of Succot. Yesterday, I read is doing.

This is, of course, that famous a message written to the soldiers by a question.

Who can count how many survivor of the holocaust. He writes that times it was asked with regard to the six to his mind, the most difficult Mitzvah million?

But we Jews, still have trust to keep is the commandment to rejoice on the holiday. There are so many situ­ in G-d.

The Rosh Yeshiva spoke about David, ations where a feeling of joy is the anti­ and there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. thesis of anything that one may be Even those who didn’t know David had thinking and experiencing. And yet, as much pain as anyone else. when a holiday comes, the main Mitzvah You cannot imagine what is going on is to rejoice. here.

Everybody dovens with all their This concentration camp survivor might, hoping that G-d is listening—for writes that this power to rejoice in G-d we all know that He hears. There is also under the most dire conditions—and an increased emphasis on learning with he cited some from the camps—is the all our might, and it gives us all such a strength and power of the nation Israel. feeling of togetherness.

But it hurts me Jews not only don’t abandon the com­ so much when I see the older students mandments in times of trouble—they who grew up with David.

They try to derive their strength from keeping them! force a smile and to say that life goes on, but...

We have no idea when the students who have gone to the army will come THE YESHIVA STUDENT back. It could be in a month or six months—who knows? Therefore, we who Dear Imma and Abba, I don’t even feel like writing this now compose the Yeshiva must become letter, because another student from our the Yeshiva, and we must run it. We Yeshiva has been killed. David died at shall take over the learning and activities, one o’clock last Wednesday in the area and although we are a small group, we

1974

LETTERS FROM THE YOM KIPPUR WAR

shall become great, because we will stick together.

Tonight at Maariv, it seemed that everybody was dovening with such kavanah and feeling. After Alenu, some­ one in the back of the Study Hall started to say the Kaddish in an exceptionally loud voice. We all turned around, and there was Rabbi Chaim the paratrooper, standing there straight as a rod—clad in his army uniform with his high brown boots.

We couldn’t believe our eyes, for until three days ago, not even his wife had heard from him. All anybody knew was that he was on the Egyptian side of the Canal. Rabbi Chaim is a graduate of Gidud Chamishim, which is the best paratrooper unit in Israel, and they are part of Seieret Tzanchanim —the best paratroopers in all of Israel. When im­ portant missions must be accomplished, these are the ones who do it. There are many stories about Rabbi Chaim. He is a fantastic Talmid Chocham (Talmudic Scholar), and has accomplished great feats in learning. He has also accomp­ lished great feats in war—and has killed many people during his lifetime.

The stories about our Yeshiva boys and teachers are amazing. Yonah came back for a 24 hour furlough, and the first thing that he told us was that he finished all the Mishnayot of Baba Kama (a talmudic tract) right in the middle of a tank battle.

This is what he told us: When a tank goes to the top of a hill, if it spots the enemy, it backs down again out of sight, stands still, and then, while still out of

15

sight, it fires. When it finishes firing, it goes up again, turns to another part of the hill, backs down, and shoots from a different spot.

Now, this backing down of the tank takes time, so rather than just sit there and bite his nails—he really wanted to run away, but he couldn’t because there is no place to run away in a tank—he studied Mishnayot. All the time while Yonah was studying, the tank driver was singing out the Psalm (130:1), “From the depths, I call you, O G-d”—and you can bet that the driver meant what he said.

I guess that we all mean what we say these days when we cry out to G-d.

THE GIRL WHO BECAME RELIGIOUS

Dear Miriam, How can I describe what’s going on?

Do you know what it’s like to run to the window every time you hear a plane to see what it is? Or to have a blackout where all the shades are shut and all the car headlights painted over, so that no light shows to any passing planes? No lights mean no targets for the bombers to sight in on the people.

The people have so much unity. By the first day, there were already too many volunteers for everything. They turn away the volunteers now—all they do is take their names.

But Miriam, think of the Haftorah!

JEWISH LIFE

16

The Haftorah for Succos speaks of the war of Gog and Magog, and this is when the war is happening! And it is the year after Shemitah (the Sabbatical Year) and that is when the Redemption is supposed to come. At any rate, the development of Eretz Yisroel is a way of bringing the

redemption closer, whether it is this Succot or next Shemitah.

May peace come to all the world before any more troubles come to the Jewish nation. May we all be victorious in all of our personal struggles, and always realize what we owe to G-d.

FOR Y O U R S E L F A N D Y O U R FR IEN D S

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17

WEREWOMEN CREATED UNEQUAL?

by Moshe Halevi Spero

HE claim has often been made that Jewish tradition is essentially anti-feminist. Various texts and phrases, both correctly and incorrectly quoted, have been amassed in the attempt to establish the truth of this claim.

A point by point apology would be beyond the scope of this article. For the sake of argument, we will assume at this point that classical Jewish literature does view women in a less than equal light than it does the male. We can still analyze certain concepts found in Jewish tradition, and attempt to explain this classical Jewish viewpoint.

Few studies of this issue have actually attempted to tackle the main point of interest, which centers around one basic question: Does basic Jewish ideology deem that women are inferior by nature?

If some of the ritual laws and ceremonial customs indicate that the woman is

T

MOSHE HALEVI SPERO is a student in the Beth Midrash o f Telshe Yeshiva in Wycliffe, Ohio, as well as a psychology and history major at Case Western Uni­ versity. His previous article (JL July 73) “ Negativism and Feminism” evoked much comment, and this is a fitting sequal.

indeed not on an equal footing with the male, we might ask, “What, if anything, is the foundation for such distinctions?”

Parents and Children. We find a clue to this entire issue in a seemingly unre­ lated topic. In reiterating the command­ ment to honor one’s parents, the Torah states (Leviticus 19:3), “Each man (Ish) shall fear his mother and his father.” A major question raised by the comment­ aries involves the use of the male gender in this commandment. Why does the Torah specify “each man,” using the particular Hebrew word Ish, which indi­ cates a male? This is especially difficult to understand when we realize that this commandment actually does relate to man and woman alike. If so, why does the Torah not repeat the more common command form, with the neutral pro­ noun, as we find in the version in the Ten Commandments(£x0flfe/s20.72):“Honor your father and your mother.”

The Sifra, the earliest Talmudical commentary on this passage, anticipates this question, and is quoted by Rashi.

After proving from the text itself that the commandment applies to man and

18

JEWISH LIFE

Winter

woman alike, it gives a reason why, in that a child fears his father. Even if we this instance, it is primarily directed at are presently thinking about the popular the male. A man always has the power conception of the father as the adminis­ to obey his parents, while a woman will trator of physical punishment—a capacity eventually owe her first allegiance to her that the child will quickly note—our husband. From this point of view, this sages are actually going beyond this. passage would tend to support the What they are speaking about seems to be an unlearned response on the part of position of male dominance.

If we look into the passage more the child toward his father. But the deeply, however, we might see a more question then arises: What is the source fundamental reason for the Torah’s of this innate fear?

This question may be the key to our specific use of the word ‘‘man.” The passage in Leviticus states, “Each man entire dilemma. In addition, one should shall fear his mother and his father”^ ' carefully note that when the Torah the mother being mentioned first. The speaks of fear in Leviticus, it also par­ Talmud (Kiddushin 31a), also quoted by ticularly specifies the male (Ish). On the Rashi, comments on this. The domi­ basisofourpreviouscomments,thiswould nating emotional feeling of a son toward apparently indicate that the son in par­ his mother is one of love and honor, ticular has an innate attitude of fear while his emotional response toward his toward his father. The father-son re­ father is largely dominated by fear. lationship is basically governed by fear, Thus, when the Torah speaks of fearing and in exploring the reason for this, we one’s parents in Leviticus, the mother is uncover some important clues about mentioned first as the deserving object masculinity in general. of this fear, since the child’s natural predilection is to love her, and perhaps, Genesis.The key may lie in the not to be properly reverent to her.

When, on the other hand, the com­ original genesis of humanity. As we know, mandment speaks of honor, the father is G-d created two higher order beings in mentioned first: “Honor your father and Eden: Man and Woman. Woman knew your mother.” The father, to whom the from whence she originated, since she son feels fear as an emotional response, was created from Man—human from is made the primary object of honor and human. Man, on the other hand, had no love. In each situtation, the Torah is human source. He was called Adam, making a functional and corrective from the same root as Adamah or earth, suggestion in order to level out our indicating that he was created from the effective responses toward both parents. ground, which is an impersonal and To derive the full impact of this Tal­ meaningless thing for a human to have mudic lesson, we must go one step to identify with.

It is, therefore, left for man to further. As noted above, our sages taught

1974

WERE WOMEN CREATED UNEQUAL?

identify with his Maker, whom he is, in fact, enjoined to emulate. But is that the same as relating to a human being, or to a parent that one respects? The male, it would seem, originally had no experi­ ence in relaing to another human being to whom he owed respect and love. As a result, he could not experience the type of respect that comes from the intuitive sense of gratitude that one feels toward a human benefactor.

Adam might have felt that he owed allegiance and deference to no one less than G-d Himself. Woman, on the other hand, did have the experience of relating to a human parent to whom she owed respect and love—in this case to her hus­ band, who was, in effect, also her parent.

At his point, a paradox develops in the human personality. Woman was more secure than man insofar as she had roots.

Man had to compensate for this sense of insecurity and overcome a feeling of inferiority that resulted from his lack of rootedness, as well as from the know­ ledge thathisfemalecompanionwasmore secure than he. This very insecurity made it his lot, in the words of the Torah (Genesis 1:28), to “conquer the earth.”

The male pattern thus emerged to re­ semble that which is recognized in the male of the species today.

The next generation saw that the mother had this basic sense of security as well as a pattern of love and respect in her behavior toward other human beings. The father, on the other hand, had no superior human being to whom he could tender respect. When these children matured and began to identify completely with their

19

parents—son with father, and daughter with mother—the basic child-parent relationship crystalized. The female child had learned the mode of love and respect toward another adult, while the male child did not.

The male child probably at least feared his father, since, after all, the father represented an authority figure.

Moreover, the male child himself may already have become sensitive to his own basic male inferiority complex. The type of awe that he felt toward his father, how­ ever, is not the emotional equivalent of love. Permanently etched into the male personality, in other words, is a primal lack of man-to-man empathy.

Archetypes.One may still question the relationship that this has to a male and female living thousands of years after Adam and Eve. How could their nature affect that of people today? In order to answer this adequately, we must discuss one final concept.

The attitude that we have discussed is inherited by all human males as an archetypal pattern, latent in every male personality. As Carl Gustav Jung points out, archetypes are a product of human­ ity’s earliest experiences with the real world. Archetypes are thus a record of data that we receive from our earliest ancestors, who had the first experiences with such concepts as death, rebirth, birth, kinship, heroism, servitude, motherhood and fatherhood. This in­ formation is conceptualized in a thoughtform that can create mental images or

20

JEWISH LIFE

schema corresponding to some aspect of our real environment. In almost Kaballistic terms, these archetypes can be said to become part of humanity’s co­ llective soul—and certainly of its collect­ ive unconscious. It is this thought-form that has been termed the “archetype.”

The archetype of Mother, for example produces a preconception in the mind of the subject that is composed of the characteristics of motherhood as all mankind has experienced it. This, for example, includes giving attention and nurturance, and, as discussed above, providing a model of love and respect.

The Father archetype, however, along with whatever else it represents in man, does not contain this “program” of re­ spect and love toward fellow males. And while every male inherits early man’s aggressiveness, he is only receiving an over-compensated security. The attitude toward other males that this archetype evodes is that of fear.

The child who inherits these arche­ types uses, them as inner predispositions towards perceiving the world in a certain manner. This is particularly true of the way he or she perceives the parents. If the child happens to be a male and identifies with his father, the basic attitude might be to fear his father, just as his father feared his father, and so on, until Adam. There will be no special reason, however, for him to fear his mother. This, in essence, explains how our sages interpret the two passages mentioned above.

The Torah is aware of this natural tendency in the male, and because of this

Winter

very fact, dictates that it is the duty of every male to fear his mother, despite his predilection. The Torah therefore specifies the male as the subject in Leviticus with respect to the emotion of fear, and places the mother first as the object of this response. With regard to honor, however, the commandment places the father first, indicating that the male must love his father despite his natural tendency to only fear him.

If either love for the father or fear of the mother were emotionally or psycho­ logically impossible, then G-d would not have asked it of us. The archetypical foundations in the male personality only predispose us—and predispositions are not irrevocable.

We see that the Biblical concept of respect for parents can be interpreted as a compensatory measure for a faulty behavior potential in the male. We have also suggested that there is another faulty characteristic in the male personality, namely, an inferiority-caused need to dominate. The woman never required such a compensation mechanism.

Natural Inequality.From all this, we also arrive at an answer to our original question: Does Judaism believe that women are naturally inferior to men?

We see that women are “inferior” only in that men feel the need to assert them­ selves, and in so doing, dominate the female. Women, on the other hand, never had such a need.

With the help of male statesmen and

1974

WERE WOMEN CREATED UNEQUAL?

21

kings, society apparently structured itself manner in which the world around it was so as to perpetuate female complacency established. When understood in this and male aggressiveness. This was done light, the Judaic opinion is more rational to such an extent that both personality and compassionate than any other con­ states^—male as superior, and female as temporary religious or philosophic system inferior—were accepted as natural. that deals with this subject. Judaism’s Indeed, as pointed out earlier, these attitude is essentially one that affirms the present day characterizations are natural value and worth of women, but adjusts in the sense that male superiority is a re­ their halachic status when it is felt that action to his basic inferiority and exist­ the basic nature of women, as reflected ential insecurity, while female inferiority in reality, was less dominant than that is a result of woman’s never having need­ of the male. As we have seen, however, ed, to assert herself to achieve security. this dominance is not so much a part of Judaism’s attitudes which are con­ man’s basic personality, as it is a des­ strued as anti-feminine follow the cription of the basic female personality.

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22

Oncea Mechitza has been removed can

it ever be reinstated?

A Mechitza for Columbus

by David Stavsky

HE issue of installing a Mechitzah in a modern synagogue is both deli­ cate and sensitive, especially where one had been removed at an earlier date. This is particularly true in the contemporary suburban congregation, where the membership is American born, upper middle class, financially secure, and for the most part, not particularly observant.

This type of synagogue, particularly outside New York, has undergone a very critical metamorphosis. Most began as the “Orthodox Shule” ofthe community, with a small daily minyon, a larger one on the Sabbath, and a much larger attendance on the High Holy Days. From the turn of the century until after World War II, many of these synagogues were small fortresses of authentic Judaism, dotting the landscapes of America.

DAVID STAVSKY is the Rabbi o f Cong­ regation Beth Jacob o f Columbus, and as many readers may have guessed, the article is actually autobiographical. He is also Vice President o f the Rabbinical Council o f America.

Most of these synagogues were located in what is now considered the “old Jewish neighborhood,” an area that in many cases has become part of the decayed inner city. They had an upstairs woman’s gallery, and in the majority of cases, their first rabbis were European born and trained. These leaders were often notable Talmidey Chachamim (Talmudic scholars) in their own right, who were strict and rebuking in their preaching and generally pious in their private lives.

With the end of World War II, there was a trend toward religious organization, and many new synagogues were built.

The young veterans married, families were created, and the search for modern­ ism in religion began. This change in­ cluded a new type of rabbi, new functions for the spiritual leader, as well as new synagogue facilities and locat­ ions, and new images for Jews. The young families were willing, and often anxious, to return to their synagogues— provided that certain innovations were instituted.

A MECHITZA FOR COLUMBUS

23

From the viewpoint of Halachah distinguished and dedicated Talmidey (Jewish Law), most of these changes Chachamim (religious scholars). were acceptable, and some were actually When Beth Jacob left the old neigh­ beneficial for the survival of the ortho­ borhood in 1952 and had to rebuild, the dox synagogue. One of the most common congregation went through a most innovations, however, was not accept­ traumatic experience. Many felt that the able, and that was the removal of the rabbi was too old, the synagogue “too Mechitzah and the institution of “mixed orthodox.” and that a merger with an­ pews.” In many cases, this ultimately led other synagogue in a more fashionable the synagogue to officially join the Con­ neighborhood would be the best way to servative movement, often while still serve the needs of the orthodox com­ retaining an “orthodox” rabbi. In other munity. The issues were hot, loyalties cases, the synagogue attempted to retain were tested and divided, and the episode its orthodox identity, often calling itself split the congregation. Many of its “traditional” or “modern orthodox.” leaders and children left for more In orthodox circles, such synagogues “modern” synagogues, while others were known as “deviationist.” joined the Conservative Temple, so that There were many older rabbis, as well the synagogue was left with only a hand­ as younger ones, who were committed ful of loyalists. to the Mechitzah, and the pressure on „ While this was happening, a new them was very harsh. One recalls with synagogue had to be built. Fearing that heavy heart the many battles fought in it might fold completely, the remaining the late forties and early fifties, when loyalists felt that the last hope for the congregations insisted on removing the synagogue’s survival was to “modernize.”

Mechitzah. Some rabbis left important, The old rabbi fought to retain the Me­ well paying positions, others became chitzah, but the membership was physically ill, while still others felt that adamant. The compromise was actually they were doing the best they could in an ultimatum to the rabbi: “No “holding the line” in their respective Mechitzah—only separate pews...” The synagogues. Unfortunately, many others rabbi felt that he was too old to start in were simply not convinced that the another community, and, having no Mechitzah was that important. other choice, he gave in. A year after he moved into the new facility, he passed away.

Beth Jacob Synagogue. The Beth His successor was a young rabbi, Jacob Congregation was founded in who felt that he would force the Mechi­ 1902, and built its first synagogue in tzah issue. One night, without discussing 1909. A full-time rabbi was first retained with the congregation or board, he in 1922, and for the next thirty years, the clandestinely placed a physical congregation was led by men who were Mechitzah between the men and

24

JEWISH LIFE

women’s sections. Two weeks later, equally clandestinely, some of the younger board members removed it.

The issue was brought to a head, and a special emergency meeting of the en­ tire congregation was called. Eyewit­ nesses describe that gathering as the most abusive, tragic and horrible meet­ ing in the history of the congregation.

The membership was bitterly divided, with threats and name-calling prevailing into the early hours of the morning. It was a sorrowful incident, the Mechitzah was not reinstituted, and a year later, for other reasons, the rabbi left.

A new rabbi came to the congregation in 1957, and found it with separate seat­ ing, but no barrier between the men and women. “Mechitzah” had become a dirty word, not to be discussed or even men­ tioned. As a result of the last Mechitzah battle, feelings among the congregants were sore and hard, and the entire younger element was adamantly opposed to even discussing the question.

A Program Begins. The new rabbi had served as any army chaplain and was now entering his first pulpit. He quickly became aware of the sensitivity of the issue, but would not resign himself to the status quo. If either the congregation or himself would have a future, he believed he would have to reach out to the young­ er elements of the congregation on an intellectual level. In order to capture the intellegentsia of the congregation, he should reach out through Torah educat­ ion, study groups, learning, and intellect-

Winter

ualism in general.

The core of this program was a “Re­ ligious Emphasis Week,” between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kipur, which the rabbi instituted in his second year. It was an intensive seminar-lecture type pro-' gram held in the evenings and after­ noons, where some of the most articulate writers and thinkers of authentic Torah Judaism discussed contemporary issues facing the orthodox community.

The men spoke about the Sabbath, prayer, man’s relationship to G-d, and the general place of orthodox Judaism in contemporary society. One of the subjects that was bound to come up was that of Mechitzah, and the issue was raised again and again. Over the years, more of the younger people were asking pertinent questions after the formal lectures, and the word “Mechitzah” ceased to be “dirty.” After the third or fourth year, it could be discussed rather openly, and the old rancor was overcome by intellectual curiosity.

The synagogue’s younger intellectuals soon understood the message that an orthodox synagogue must set Torah standards for the entire community.

They heard, not only from their own rabbi, but from articulate scholars with the highest academic credentials, that the real issues were the authenticity and survival of Judaism. The discussion no longer centered around the question of being “modern” or “old-fashioned,” but around the questions of meeting the requirements of a synagogue according to Halachah.

At first, questions such as the equality

1974

A MECHITZA FOR COLUMBUS

of women and the necessity of families “praying together” were the main issue.

Gradually, however, the membership realized that these were mere slogans that had been used by the opponents of Torah Judaism to brainwash synagogue leadership across the country.

The important thing was that the en­ tire question of the purpose and goals of the orthodox synagogue were now being discussed on an intellectual, rather than an emotional and personal level. Mean­ while, more and more young profession­ als and intellectuals were being attracted to the synagogue, and the entire coloring of the congregation seemed to change.

Many of these young individuals became real Baaley Tshuvah, honest in their search for G-d, Torah and the love for fellow Jews. They also began to take positions of responsibility in the congre­ gation, representing a totally new generation of orthodox leadership in America today. From the synagogue, many were attracted to the Day School, creating a core of young, educated, committed Torah Jews.

Within this context, the entire mood concerning the Mechitzah was gradually changing. Rather than a holdover from some medieval ghetto, it was looked upon as an integral part of the con­ temporary Jewish practice. Most of the antagonists to the Mechitzah idea left, dropped out, moved away, or honestly began to accept the concept that an authentic synagogue must have a physical separation between male and female worshippers.

25

The Real Challenge. Meanwhile, the urban renewal programs taking place in the inner city, together with a new inter­ state highway, were bringing propulation changes that would force Beth Jacob to move again. After only ten years in its “new” location, it would have to relocate and build yet another synagogue.

The rabbi was planning to play an important role in this transition, spear­ heading the drive to build a new facility and leading a fundraising campaign. He accepted the task with one perfectly clear and defined condition: The new synagogue would have to be built according to Halachah, with a Mechitzah, Bimah, and everything else that might be required.

This position was not taken audaciously or arrogantly, but as a matter of personal conviction—as an orthodox rabbi, he would simply not help erect a synagogue unless it was for the continuation of Torah Judaism. Simply stated, he put his rabbinical position on the line. The board approved the blue­ prints—complete with a Mechitzah—and a year later, when construction began, they granted the rabbi life tenure.

The Personal Dilemma. Although he had won his point, the rabbi was still caught in an intellectual and emotional dilemma. He realized that the imposition of a Mechitzah might truly stymie the growth of the synagogue’s membership, and questioned if he had the right to im­ pose his own convictions on the congre­ gation. Many people argued that if he

26

JEWISH LIFE

Winter

allowed mixed seating, his imaginative programs would attract many new members to the synagogue. It was pointed out that his message and influence could reach out to six hundred families, rather than the three hundred that constituted the synagogue’s mem­ bership at the time. Others stressed the fact that many synagogues without Mechitzot were apparently recognized by national orthodox institutions.

The rabbi felt that the question was most serious, and was even prepared to leave. But what about the congregation?

Aware of his own limitations in deciding the future of an entire community, he decided to discuss the issue with both the Lubavitcher Rebbe and HaGaon Rabbi Moshe Feinstein. He met with them privately, and they both had the same answer: Remain and build an orthodox synagogue.

design, height, size and scale of the Mechitzah. “Halachah,” he would often say, “is something that we do not tamper with. No questions, no compromises— and no half truths.’’

Determined to construct the most beautiful possible synagogue in an authentic manner, the builder was con­ stantly asking questions. “What is a ParochesV “What is a reader’s table?”

“What can they be mads of?” “What must they look like?” The final result lived up to the expectations of both the builder and the rabbi, and people from all over the country have acclaimed it as one of the most inspiring orthodox syna­ gogues in the United States.

At the dedication, the rabbi stressed that none of this would have been possible without the genuine commit­ ment of the builder, the president of the synagogue, and the handful of board members who served at that time.

The Builder. While plans were being drawn up and completed, the synagogue had the good fortune of winning the friendship of one of the largest contract­ ors in the Columbus-Dayton area. This young man left the Reform Temple, became affiliated with Beth Jacob, and accepted the challenge of building the new synagogue.

The builder worked with the rabbi every day and was not interested in “old Shule” politics and previous de­ bates. To him, the rabbi’s word on re­ ligious furniture and other ritual and relgious requirements of the synagogue, was final. This, of course, included the

Results. After the building was com­ pleted, the congregation was extremely concerned about attracting new member­ ship. They had gambled in going against the general trend toward- mixed seating, and feared that this might seriously hurt their membership drive.

Their fears were quickly allayed, however, when a pre-High Holy Day membership drive brought in over fifty members, many who had previously belonged to congregations with mixed seating. “What was important,” said the rabbi, “was that they joined on our conditions and terms.”

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A MECHITZA FOR COLUMBUS

After Yom Kippur, the rabbi called and polled the families who had previously belonged to congregations with mixed seating. He asked that they be frank, candid and honest in answering the question, “How do you feel about not sitting next to your spouse?” Even the rabbi was surprised when, without exception, they answered that they did not mind at all, and found the services meaningful and inspiring.

The Lesson. One cannot sit in judge­ ment of the deviationist “orthodox! synagogues which have made enormous contributions to Torah Judaism, and we EM PATH Y

Bernard Dov Milians

Tonight I soared to heaven.

I saw You sit alone: Your angels huddled calm in sleep B ut You upon Your throne Bent, grieving sad Your earthlings The idols they pursue A nd grieving sad creation, A nd sad Your promise too You would not snuff out living, In ire, and would not send Your deluge or Your brimstone more To bring man f world to e n d . . .

A speeding Bleeding End...

27

must acknowledge the effectiveness of their youth programs and adult education classes. But still, their accomp­ lishments would be much more real and honest, and there would be much less compromise in other areas of Jewish life, if the question of Mechitzah would at least be discussed openly and frank­ ly. Most important, rabbis and other synagogue leaders must themselves be convinced that the Mechitzah is important.

We must also be concerned about the next generation. Is it fair that they should have to inherit the frailties of their parents who sat on synagogue boards and made synagogue policy? Simply stated, we owe the truth to ourselves and our children.

Tonight I soared, updriven By question, dream and quest And painful knout O f angry doubt That would not lie at rest.

And though I soared afire, A plaintiff gnashing-mad, I saw you there In Your despair, And how my heart was sad!

I bowed my heart beside you Your whisper kissed my ear: “My world!!ft It sighed; “Our world!! ” I cried And sobbed a lonely tear.. .

An only Lonely Tear . . .

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The Klausenberger Rebbe and

T S A N Z REBO RN

by H. Rabinowicz T is just a twenty minute walk from the name of the community from Sanz Netanyah, a cosmopolitan Medi­ (spelled with a Samech) to Tsanz terranean resort boasting eighty thousand (spelled with a Tzadi), indicating that a residents and over sixty fashionable^ Tzadik, or one of the perfectly righteous, hotels. But as you enter Kiryat Tsanz, you had come to the city.

During his forty-six years in Tsanz, find yourself in the greatest Chassidic Rabbi Chaim attained a reputation as a settlement outside of Jerusalem and leader of the entire Chassidic community Benei Berak. Here, in a community of of Galicia.

He wrote extensively, pub­ over three thousand, is Tsanz, resurrected lishing halachic works, responsa, and a in modern Israel by Rabbi Yekusiel Bible commentary, all under the name Yehudah Halberstam, the seventy year of Divrey Chaim or “Words of Life.” old Klausenberger Rebbe.

Through his voluminous writings and devout life, he refuted the allegations of The Dynasty. As far as we are con­ both Mitnagdim and Maskilim, who con­ cerned, the real history of Tsanz (Nowy sidered Chassidism synonymous with Cacz in Polish) began 130 years ago with ignorance. Even such an opponent of the the arrival of a young Chassidic rabbi, Chassidim as Rabbi Yosef Saul NathanChaim Halberstam (1793-1876), in his son (1808-1875) was to call him, “Holy Galician community. It is said that soon Gaon, Light of the Exile.”

From such great Chassidic masters as after he arrived, the Chassidim changed Rabbi Naftali of Ropshitz, Zvi Hirsh of Zhidachov, and Shalom of Belz, the H. RABINOWICZ, a well known name to young Rabbi Chaim had learned to pray all JEWISH LIFE readers, is Rabbi o f with impassioned abandon. When the the Dollis Hill Synagogue in London. He Tsanzer Rav, as he was called, stood in is the author o f six books, and has con­ prayer, he seemed to radiate with a holy tributed to many periodicals o f Jewish light, and he was so caught up in the interest on both sides o f the Atlantic.

TSANZ REBORN

29

liturgy that he would completely forget Tzadik. Chassidim come to me, honor his surroundings. It is said that when he me, and give me money. But poured out his heart, he would stamp his when the truth becomes known, they feet in ecstasy, completely oblivious to will all forsake me.” Unlike his grand­ the profuse bleeding of his badly father, Rabbi Zvi Hirsh prayed quietly ulcerated leg. and punctually. The only part of the Like many of the greatest Chassidic service that he led was the Pesukey leaders, Rabbi Chaim was the founder DeZimra, the preliminary Psalms that of an important dynasty. Unlike other open the Sabbath morning service. dynasties, however, that of Tsanz was In 1902, Rabbi Zvi Hirsh married not dominated by a single leader, but Chayah Mindle, daughter of Rabbi Meir spread forth in many branches. The Meshullam of Lancut. His son, who was Tsanzer Rav’s seven sons each estab­ to become the Klausenberger Rebbe, lished their own “courts” in different was born in 1904 in Rudnick, and was parts of Eastern Europe, and inspired named Yekusiel Yehudah after his such diverse dynasties as Bobov and grandfather. Soon after this, Rabbi Zvi Satmar.

Hirsh became the spiritual leader of One of the Tsanzer’s sons, Rabbi Klausenberg (Cluj) in what was then Baruch of Gorlitz (1826-1906) married Transylvania, and is now Romania. the daughter of Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah Teitelbaum (1808-1883), author of the The Klausenberger. A lthough Yetev Lev (Goodness of Heart). This Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah was to found a Yekusiel Yehudah was only fourteen Chassidic dynasty in his own right, when his father died, the youth was giving rise to the houses of both Sighet chosen to deliver the eulogy. Guided by and Satmar. It is said that all his life he his Granduncle, Rabbi Sholom Eliezer constantly prayed for the Messiah, and of Ratzford, he soon attained a repu­ whenever he heard a noise, he would tation as an outstanding Illuy or genius. ask, “Has he come?”

One of the projects that he completed as Rabbi Baruch in turn had a son, Zvi a young teenager was a comprehensive Hirsh (1851-1918), who was rabbi in study of all the halachic opinions invol­ Niske for two years, and then assumed ving sunset, which in turn determines the leadership of Rudnick, a town where when one day ends and another begins. both his father and grandfather had This would have been a major contrib­ briefly served as rabbis. Rabbi Zvi Hirsh ution for a mature scholar, and the fact was known for his modesty and deep that its author was still an unbearded humility. “When the Messiah will come,” youth created a profound impression on he said, “who will look at me? Now, in the entire surrounding community. this false world, no one is aware of the One individual who became aware of truth, and some even regard me as a this study was Rabbi Chaim Zvi Teitel-

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baum, author of Atzey Chaim (Trees of Life) and rabbi of Sighet. He sought out the young scholar as a son-in-law, and the houses of Halberstam and Teitelbaum were once again united. After living with his father-in-law for a year, while still a teenager, Yekusiel Yehudah was accepted as the rabbi of Klausenberg.

With extraordinary talent and capacity for work, Yekusiel Yehudah earned a reputation as a dynamic rabbi. He was an exacting, and at the same time, a stimu­ lating and considerate teacher. Unlike his predecessor, Rabbi Moses Samuel Glasner, who sought a more liberal approach, Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah was firm and uncompromising, especially when it came to challenging the nucleus Reform community of Klausenberg.

The rabbi’s twenty years in Klausen­ berg were fruitful and fulfilling, and during this period he gained a wide repu­ tation as a brilliant scholar and a dynamic leader. This period, however, was to come to an abrupt and tragic end with the Nazi invasion of Romania.

Holocaust and Rebirth. The Klausenberger Rebbe saw his community scat­ tered amd deported before the Nazi hordes. He himself was interred in a number of labor camps in Hungary, and then transfered to the ghetto of NadiBanyeh. Fora time he was forced to work in the ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto, and in 1944 was taken to the hell that was Auschwitz.

During the Nazi holocaust, the Rebbe’ wife and ten children were murdered in Auschwitz, and an eleventh child died of typhus. Such tragedy

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would have broken a lesser man or cause him to lose faith, but the Klausenberger Rebbe emerged with a fiery deter7 mination to rebuild a Chassidic com­ munity that had been completely de­ moralized.

Immediately after the liberation, he went from camp to camp nourishing the broken shards of humanity with the teachings of their fathers. His once flow­ ing beard had been shaved off in the concentration camps, and with little more than a stubble on his chin, he dedicated himself to the réhabilitation of these broken remnants of Jewry. He established kosher kitchens, yeshivot, religious schools for girls, and Batey Midrashim (study halls) for adult study.

Desperately, he attempted to sort through the pathetic human wreckage: Children without parents, parents with­ out children, husbands without wives, and wives without husbands. He listened, talked, counselled, comforted, publicized the plight of these unfortunates, and pulled every string he could think of.

Working out of the Freidenwald Dis­ placed Person Camp, he soon gained a wide reputation as the “wonder rabbi.”

General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was then commander-in-chief of the European theater of operations, visited the Freidenwald Camp, and was es­ pecially interested in meeting this “wonder rabbi.” It was Yom Kippur, and the arrival of the general did not disturb the Rebbe’s devotions. Afterwards, he told Eisenhower, “ I was praying before the General of generals, the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He.” The

1974

TSANZ REBORN

earthly general had to wait.

Esienhower was impressed by this man. Here was no cowering refugee, but a leader of men, working to rebuild a community. The General asked if there was anything that he could do to help.

“Yes,” replied the Rebbe, “The festival of Succos is coming, and it is impossible to obtain the Lulav and Esrog here in the camp.” This might have seemed like a trivial request, but the Rebbe stressed the importance of every element of spiritual rehabilitation in this forlorn camp. Eisenhower was so touched that he sent a ¡special plane to Italy to procure an ¡ample supply of the “Four Species” in time for the festival.

In order to mobilize the conscience of the Jewish community, the Rebbe travel­ led to the United States and spoke widely. He returned to Germany after a few months, but realized that the place to begin would be America. In 1947 he settled in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, founding Yeshiva Shearith HaPletah. As the years passed, this grew into a school with hundreds of students, and eventually the Beth Moses Hospital was purchased and transformed into a large, vibrant yeshiva. Branches were also established both in Montreal and Mexico City. In order to accomodate the growing community, the Marcy Theater was purchased and converted into a beautiful, spacious synagogue.

Shortly after his arrival in New York, the Rebbe married Chayah Nechamah, a daughter of Rabbi Shmuel David HaLevi Ungar, rabbi of Nitra, Hungary.

He thus began to re-establish a family,

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first with two daughters, and then with five sons.

Israel. Even though the Klausenberger building was in the United States, his heart was in Israel. He constantly spoke of the miracle of its rebirth, and counseled many of his followers to settle there. He quoted his grand-uncle, Rabbi Yechezkel of Shinava, who visited the Holy Land in 1869 and later remarked, “If a man loves the Land of Israel, it becomes his friend—the best friend a man can ever have.”

The Klausenberger constantly told of how closely linked Tsanz had been with the Holy Land. Six years before his death, Rabbi Chaim, founder of the dynasty, raised enough money to build a synagogue, which still stands in Safed.

His son-in-law, Rabbi Moshe .Ungar of Dumbrova settled in Safed, and was soon joined by another son-in-law, Rabbi Naftali Chayim Hurwitz, son of Rabbi Meir of Dzikov. In 1923,Abraham Zvi Hirsprung prepared an elaborate family tree of the Tsanz dynasty, and this is prominently displayed in the Safed synagogue. This synagogue, however, was only the First link. Rabbi Chaim’s great-grandson was to build a city.

The Rebbe first visited Israel in 1954, and spent seven weeks searching for a suitable site for his Chassidim. Jerusalem was the obvious choice, but it was almost too obvious. “Jerusalem is already steeped in holiness,” the Rebbe ex­ plained, “I want to add to the holiness of the Land of Israel.” It was for a

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Winter

similar reason that he rejected Safed and Tsanz.

The date of its dedication1was chosen Benei Berak, which had been suggested with equal care. Rabbi Elimelech of by the Israeli government.

During his visit, the Klausenberger Lyzensk, the “Rebbe Reb Melech,” was met with David Ben-Gurion, who had one of the founders of Ch^ssidism in recently resigned as Prime Minister, and Poland, and another great; individual was living in Sedeh Boker in the Negev. whom the Klausenberger considered his Expressing his love for this southern spiritual ancestor. The dedication would region of Israel, Ben Gurion-suggested therefore take place on his Y^ahrzeit, the that the Rebbe might also find it a anniversary of his passing! from this suitable climate. The latter replied with world. The foundation stone was thus the Biblical verse ( Genesis 12:9), “And laid on Sunday, March 4, 19^6 (21 Adar, Abraham journeyed, constantly going 5716), and was attended by tens of toward the south (Negev).” The Rebbe thousands from all over Israel. ~ A year later, the Rebbe fllew to Israel, explained that Abraham did not begin in the Negev, but only reached it after together with a Torah and d nucleus of travelling by degrees. He felt that he fifty American immigrants. Others also should not initially settle in the followed the Klausenberger’s example, and within a decade, dozens of Chassidic Negev.

Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah’s travels settlements had sprung up in the Holy finally led him to Netanya. where he Land. From one corner, hbwever, the met with its mayor, Oved Ben-Ami. At Rebbe met with opposition. His cousin the mayor’s suggestion, he acquired the and uncle by marriage, Rabbi Yoel three hundred dunams of land that Teitelbaum—the Satmar Rebbe— would become the setting for his viewed this move as being tainted with community. The site, which had origin­ secular Zionism. The Klausenberger’s ally belonged to a group of Belgian reply typifies his position. “It is absurd Jews, had many advantages. The climate to suggest,” he retorted, “that I am was idyllic, the panorama pleasing, and following the footsteps of ¡the secular it was close enough to a major growing Zionists. On the contrary, I am following seaport to provide industry and em­ the paths of the disciples of the Ba’al Shem Tov and the Vilner Gaon, and of the ployment to its inhabitants.

There was little question what this great earlier sages such as the Ramban settlement would be called. The Klausen­ (Nachmanides), who visited and settled berger closely identified with his great­ in the Holy Land. I am not afraid of a grandfather, founder of the Tsanz secularist government, which is transitory dynasty, and this community would be and can very suddenly pass away.”

The Rebbe compared Israel to a the resurrection of the town made famous by his ancestor. The new settlement Torah which had fallen into the hands of would henceforth be known as Kiryat a heretic. “It does not lose its sancitity,’

1974

TSANZ REBORN

33

seats over five hundred, and is used mostly on major holy days and other special occasions.

Directly opposite the Great Synagogue is the small synagogue, the B e t H a M id r a s h , which is in constant use for prayer and study. After work each evening, the men of Kiryat Tsanz gather together to study T a lm u d and H a la c h a h .

The Rebbe sets a standard of scholarship for his followers, quoting the Talmudic dictum ( A v o s 2:5), “An ignorant man cannot be a Chasid (pious man).” “To me,” he declares, “a Chasid is not one who just comes to my weekly lesson or sits at my ‘table.’ Rather, he is one who Kiryat Tsanz. Realizing that a healthy studies eighteen hours a day”.

The pride of the community is the soul must be sustained by a strong body, the Klausenberger Rebbe was involved main -Yeshiva. which also reflects the in every detail of the development, Rebbe’s high standards of scholarship remaining in the forefront of planning and has had a strong impact on the with the architects, building contractors general Israeli Yeshiva community. The and engineers. The plans were based on students advance by a unique system of an optimistic projection of growth, and “degrees,” each denoting a special level the key buildings were designed to cater of achievement. A student who has com­ to an expanding community . An ultimate mitted to memory six hundred pages of population of up to twenty thousand was Talmud together with its commentaries provided for, and the master plan in­ is thus given the title of C h a v e r (associate), while the mastery of a cluded a total of 43 major buildings.

Under the Rebbe’s expert direction, thousand pages entitles him to the degree the dream was rapidly translated into of M o r e n u (our teacher). The highest reality. Since the city was built entirely “degree,” that of M o r e h M o r e n u (revered according to Jewish law and custom, its master), is reserved for those who have most impressive building was the “Great mastered the entire T a lm u d . Older Tal­ Synagogue,” built at a cost of over a mudic sages who visit the Yeshiva are million Israeli pounds. Centerpiece of virtually awe-stricken by the sight of this synagogue is the three hundred year teenage students who can relate half the old Italian A r o n H a K o d e s h (Holy Ark), Talmud from memory.

The Klausenberger’s efforts are not constructed of beautiful red veined wood and ornately covered. .The synagogue confined exclusively to his Chassidim.

he explained, “but, on the contrary, it is our sacred duty to retrieve it and uphold its sanctity. The Land of Israel will like­ wise always be holy, even though it may temporarily be contaminated by non-religious elements,” Religious Jews, especially those in the western world, were urged to settle in Israel. The Rebbe proclaimed that “an influx of religious Jews would transform the state into a veritable wall of fire and iron, which would render it indestruct­ ible. The achievements of Torah-true Jews, imbued with a spirit of selfsacrifice, would amaze the entire world.”

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Of particular concern is the status of Israel’s Yemenite and North African citizens and the Rebbe becomes in­ censed when he hears of the prejudice they face. “How can we have anything but admiration,” he declares, “for a community that produced the Golden Age of Spain, as well as such luminaries as the Rif (Yitzchok Alfasi), the Rambam, Yosef Karo, and Chaim ibn Atar?” For oriental Jews, the Rebbe established Yeshivat Maharshad, named in memory of his father-in-law, Rabbi Shmuel.

David Ungar. Kiryat Tsanz also contains an orphanage for Sefardic children, and a synagogue where they can follow their own traditional liturgy. “Let us show that all Jews, whatever their origin, can live in harmony together,” says the Rebbe.

One of the most unique buildings in Kiryat Tsanz is the General Hospital.

Conceived by the Klausenberger because “one must be concerned with a Jew’s body as well as his soul,” this is the first religious hospital to be built in Israel in eighty years. In the words of mayor Oved Ben-Ami of Natanya, this hospital “will solve a most important problem in an area where there are over two hundred thousand people and no municipal hospital.” Built in part with a substantial grant from the United States Government, this Chassidic hospital will provide health services for dozens of surrounding cities.

The ‘Tsanzer Rebbe.’ Since he is the rabbi of Kiryat Tsanz, it has become a common practice to refer to the

Winter

Klausenberger as the “Tsanzer Rebbe,” the title once held by his great-grand­ father. The Rebbe himself supervises all religious* and spiritual activities in the community, and in many ways, life in the Kiryah revolves around the person and personality of the Rebbe.

The high point of the week, is the Sabbath, which to a large extent is epitomized by the Rebbe’s Tish, the Friday night ceremonial meal. Some five hours after the inception of the Sabbath, usually around 11 p.m., the Rebbe enters the small Bet HaMidrash that is next to his house. With his eyes closed, he begins the traditional greeting to the Sabbath angels, “Sholom A lechem, O you Ministering Angels.”

At the table, he is flanked by his two oldest sons, Hirsh Melech and Shmuel David, as well as his sons-in-law, Shlomo Goldman and Dov Berish Weiss.

After the Kiddush, he breaks bread from one of the twelve loaves, representing the twelve tribes of Israel which are spread out before him. The traditional courses are interspersed with melodies handed down from the Chassidic masters. The Rebbe only tastes each dish, while the remainder is passed around as Sherayim.

The Chassidim eat and sing, but most of all, they watch and listen, since the Rebbe’s every gesture is significant.

The Tish reaches its climax at mid­ night, when the Rebbe begins a lengthy unrehearsed discourse, usually on the weekly Torah portion. The entire vast spectrum of Talmudic, Rabbinic, Chassidic and Kabbalistic literature is at his fingertips, and he quotes freely and

1974

TSANZ REBORN

35

extensively. Many of his followers are come. He is fond of explaining the major Talmudic scholars in their own Talmudic passage ( Yerushalmi, Shevi’is right, and he often pauses to allow for 4:7), which relates how Rabbi Yosi ben Chanina used to kiss the stones of Acre. their comments.

Another Sabbath highlight is Shalosh “Why,” asks the Rebbe, “did he kiss the Seudot, the Third Sabbath Meal. The stones of Acre in particular? The reason lights are out, and in the gathering dusk, is because the traditional borders of the the Rebbe speaks in illuminating phrases Holy Land run through that city, half of and the Chassidim sing mystical melo­ which lies inside of Israel, and half on dies rooted in the Kabbalah. The meal the outside. When Rabbi Yosi stood in rarely ends before midnight, and it Acre, he could appreciate the difference requires great stamina merely to keep between the sanctity of Israel, and the secular nature of other countries. As a pace with the seventy year old Rebbe.

The Rebbe leads an ascetic life, rising mark of this appreciation, he would kiss every morning at five and spending the the stones which lay in the portion of early hours immersed in study. Like Acre in Israel.”

The Rebbe’s life in Israel is not devoid many other Chassidic masters, he commences the morning service quite of problems, technical as well as spirit­ late, and a special rota of students pro­ ual. Once, when construction was in full vide him with a Minyan. His full day swing, a severe shortage of cement does not end until long after the evening blocks developed. In response to this Maariv service, which usually is held urgent need, a cement block factory had to be set up. Religious issues were not after midnight.

On Monday mornings, the Rebbe as easy to resolve. At one point in 1963, lectures to the more advanced married such an issue almost persuaded the students, and at various other times, Rebbe to leave Israel completely, and he lectures on Talmudic and Halachic was only dissuaded by the personal topics. Tuesday is the day when he is “at intervention of President Zalman Shazar.

The Rebbe had many ideas for expan­ home” to his followers, and people from all over Israel as well as from ding the Kiryah, as well as for encouraging abroad come to him with petitions. fellow Jews to observe the command­ These can relate to the entire spectrum ments. One example of such concern was of human problems—illness, childless­ when he sent out young scribes to ness, marriage and livelihood. Although examine Mezuzot and Tefillin through­ the Rebbe receives everyone kindly, he out the land. “It is not just important to hates hypocrisy and mere convention, observe the commandments,” he said, and therefore often gives the impression “but they must also be oberserved cor­ rectly.” The Rebbe is confident that of aloofness and detachment.

To the Rebbe, Israel is a spiritual the spiritual influence of his com­ Eden, a foretaste of the Golden Age to munity will have far flung effects, and

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that eventually people will not say “Kiryat Tsanz near Netanya,” but “Netanya near Kiryat Tsanz.”

The Klausenberger does not believe in courting publicity, nor is he concerned with catching the eye of newsmen. He shuns every artifice or gimmick that might in any way color the dry facts of

what he is trying to accomplish, and indeed, would most probably object to even a modest article such as this.

“Action not words” seems to be his favorite maxim, and his ambition is nothing less than to “establish Torah in­ stitutions in every town in Israel.”

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MORAL ECOLOGY

by Reuben E. Gross

EW people would argue that today’s moral climate is healthy.

We are flooded by a sea of pornography, and our eyes are constantly assaulted by provocative displays alleged to have redeeming artistic value. While most people would acknowledge that such an atmosphere tends to undermine the basic moral fabric of Judaism, very few rabbis or other Jewish leaders have distinguished themselves by speaking up against it. Except for an occasional article by some more outspoken rabbis, or a quiet resolution by one of the ortho­ dox organizations, nothing has been said on the subject. The national “roof’organ­ izations have been so closely identified with the civil libertarian viewpoint that their sympathy for the freedom of ex­ pression is taken for granted.

In the light of Jewish history, this is quite surprising. It is an axiom of Jewish life that the masses tend to permanently treasure and preserve those principles and Mitzvot which have a history of suffering and Mesirat Nefesh (sacrifice).

F

REUBEN E. GROSS is a frequent contributor to JEWISH LIFE, and has gained a considerable following who look forward to his insightful articles. A promi­ nent attorney, he is currently the Treasurer o f the U.O.J.C.A.

If we look at our history carefully, we see that the preservation of the moral climate was one of these principles.

Few events have captured the imagin­ ation of all classes of Jews throughout the generations as greatly as the Maccabean wars. Despite the friction between the Talmudic sages and the later Hasmoneans, the Talmud readily accepted Chanukah into the calendar of festive days. It is noteworthy that the impact of Maccabean heroism was felt and admired even outside Jewish circles.

Although the sages did not consider the Books of Maccabees as inspired writings, and therefore did not include them in the Biblical canon, the Church felt that its moral lesson was grounds for its accept­ ance. Mattathias and his sons have been held up before all mankind as paragons to rebels against religious persecution.

Every Jewish Sunday school pupil knows that Mattathias and his sons fought against the tyrannical decrees of Antiochus, which were calculated to Hellenize Judea. But these decrees were only a late repressive escalation of a struggle that had started years before those enactments. What was the casus belli, the germinal cause, of the Maccabean wars?

Our extant sources uniformly agree that the struggle was sparked by the

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introduction into Jerusalem of the gymnasion and ephibion, where the well-born youth of Hellenistically inclined Jewish families exercised in the nude. These young men further insulted the sensibili­ ties of the faithful by surgically removing the mark of circumcision, so that their naked bodies would not appear muti­ lated in the eyes of their Greek comrades. What began as nudity ultimately led to the desecration of one of the most important Jewish rituals, and fostered a general climate that was hardly conducive to Jewish survival.

The streets of Jerusalem assuredly rang with rancor and bitter debate.

Rhetoric and Socratic dialogue took a high priority in Hellenistic circles, and these clever youth, applying their native Jewish wit to these arguments, un­ doubtedly overlooked no reply to the protestations of the faithful. We need no transcript of those debates to know that the faithful were told to look away and to mind their own business. The arguments were most probably the same as the ones we hear today with regard to nudity and pornography: “Who compels you to look? Why should it bother you if someone else sees them?”

Judah Maccabee and his followers obviously did not accept these arguments.

They were not satisfied to make religion a “private matter,” but insisted on controlling the moral ecology of their environment by ridding it of all lewdness and contamination. If the Hasmoneans had been willing to accept religious liberty as nothing more than an individual right, and had ceded the stage

Winter

of public expression to the Hellenizers, there would have been no wars, and perhaps no Judaism.

The core issue between the faithful and the Hellenizers therefore involved the definition of religious freedom.

The Hellenizers felt that it was enough if each individual could worship and practice as he pleased. The Hasmoneans, on the other hand, insisted that the entire climate should remain healthy for the continuance and growth of their faith. They were therefore intolerant of anything that might erode this ecology, and did not hesitate to challenge the rights of others when they impinged on their moral environment.

This analysis answers another im­ portant question. The Hellenistic-polytheistic civilization was essentially tolerant, ecumenical and accomodating, and therefore, if we look at Antiochus’ decree as simple religious persecution, it would seem to be vefy much out of character. Actually, it was the Has­ moneans who were intolerant, and it was as a result of this intolerance that they became heroes to Jew and non-Jew alike.

This core issue might also explain a cryptic and dangling remark in a dialogue between Judah Maccabee’s grand-nephew, Alexander Jannai, and a certain Sadducee, Eleazar ben Po’erah, as reported in the Talmud (Kiddushin 66a) It is related that after King Alexander Jannai returned from a successful campaign in which he captured sixty towns, he invited all the sages to a festive banquet. Eleazar ben Po’erah, who is described as an “evil hearted and

1974

MORAL ECOLOGY

39

restored the P e r u sh im to power.

Looking back at Eleazar’s final state­ ment, his concern for the survival of Torah seems strange, especially since it came from the lips of a man who had just advocated the murder of almost all the Torah sages of his generation. It becomes comprehensible only when we see Eleazar as a Sadducee, and therefore, a cultural heir of the Hellenizers. The struggle was for the center of the stage, and when taken in this light, the concession of a “narrow corner” for a “rolled up Torah” was credible as a show of concern for religious liberty—like the religious freedom clause in the Soviet constitution.

As a true Hellenistic liberal, Eleazar was really saying, “By all means, give the P e r u s h im religious liberty—if they practice it as a matter of personal conscience, in some quiet corner.”

The Maccabean rejection of Hellen­ ism’s eroticism, public displays, and libertine attitudes toward family life introduced no new element into Jewish life. Judaism had always looked upon sex as something sacred, and not an object of public display. The lesson that the Maccabees taught was that one must fight to preserve the moral climate, even when it is possible to observe the Torah in a “narrow corner.”

The moral values of Judaism were a n d s tu d y .” adopted

by Christianity, and until This episode resulted in a great slaughter of the sages. The Sadducees recently, were largely accepted in took control of the public expression of Western civilization, at least as an ideal. religious life, holding it until the death of It is no small paradox, however, that this Alexander Jannai. After the king’s death, positive moral climate, based on the his widow Alexandra Salome, with the teachings of the P e r u sh im , is being . help of her brother, Shimon ben Shetach, . paganized today in a great measure by irresponsible mocker,” intimated to the king that the P e r u s h im (who were the forerunners of the Talmudic sages) were disloyal. He suggested that the king, who alsodoubledas C o h e n G a d o l{ High Priest) publicly wear the T z itz , the forehead symbol of the sacred priestly office, to test the loyalty of the P e r u sh im . Upon seeing the sacred T z i tz displayed in this manner, one of the elders of the P e r u s h im , Judah ben Gedidiah, addressed the king, saying, “Is the crown of royalty not enough for you? Leave the priestly crown to the sons of Aaron.”

This statement could have been construed as an aspersion on Jannai’s qualifications for the priesthood. There hadbeenarumorthathismotherhadbeen captive before he was born. If this were true, there would be a question as to whether she was defiled, and her children subsequently disqualified from the active priesthood. Although the matter had been investigated and found to be ground­ less the king was understandably sensitive about it, and was incensed by the sage’s remark. Eleazar fed the king’s anger by advising him to stamp out the P e r u sh im . “ But what will become of the Torah?” asked the king. “7/ w ill r e m a in r o lle d u p ly in g in a n a r r o w c o r n e r answered Eleazar, “A ll w h o w ish to s tu d y it, ca n c o m e

JEWISH LIFE

40

Jewish “liberals,” their biological descendents. How strange that orthodox Jews who truly profess to speak in the name of the Perushim do not speak up

against moral pollution, a cause for which their antecedents fought with such Mesirat Nefesh.

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41

A Historical Fantasy

THE SCU O LA

by Daniel Klein

HE Venetin Alps grow darker, males, gathering a quorum was never an their western ridges crowned with easy task, but on this particular night a flaming sunset. At their feet, a quiet it was apparently impossible. Three of the village was closing up for the night: The ghetto’s most imporant merchants had tradesmen closed their shops, the farm­ gone off earlier in the week to the Most ers closed their barns, the watchmen Serene—but already decayedlicity of closed the ghetto. The year was 1770. Venice to plead their case before the Long inured to enforced separation, Doge. And herein lay the people’s major the men of the tiny ghetto usually worry: For three years the Jews of thought it just as well to be cut off from Venetia had been barred from trading eight thousand rough Italian peasants. in grain, an edict which was slowly There were other, more pressing strangling their communities.

“Signor Rabbino, they should have problems at hand that Friday night, the most immediate being the impending been back hours ago.” “They are pious lack of Minyan at the Scw0/tf(SKWO-la), men, Isacco; they promised to return for or synagogue. In a community with a Shabbad. A few minutes more...” The population of no more than twelve adult rabbino held up his hand and peered through a window. There was a distant DANIEL KLEIN is a third year pre-law babble of hooves and voices, and within student at Yeshiva University, and attends moments the three worthies appeared at the Erna Michael College o f Hebraic the Scuola door, dusty and quite out of Studies. This story was the recipient o f the breath. They were welcomed anxiously.

T

1973 Jerome Robbins Memorial Award, given by Yeshiva University for the best original short story.

42

JEWISH LIFE

“The Doge! Did you see the Doge?

What did the Doge say? What does he look like?”

“The Doge, indeed!” spat Signor Conegliano, panting. “We were lucky to have entered his palazzo. We were referred—one minister after another— promised nothing!” His comrades nodded in mournful agreement. “It’s late,” one of them remarked. “We had to argue with the watchmen to let us back in.”

“Yes, it is late,” reflected the R a b b in o with sad eyes. “Come, it is time to greet the Shabbad.” (Such was the Italian pronunciation.)

Isaaco, the shoemaker, chanted L e k h u N e r a n e n a as the men filed Sephardi-wise into two rows of wooden seats and benches facing each other.

Except for its plain exterior, the diminutive S c u o la was a SephardiBaroque gingerbread house: The elaborately carved B im a in its niche on one end and the A r o n , an explosion of gold leaf, on the other; the discreet lattice screens enclosing the women’s gallery perched just below the ceiling; the upside-down forest of low-hanging chandeliers, their spindly arms curving in all directions. “ D a life n e i m i a tta o m e ( T - “ K n o w b e fo r e W h o m y o u s t a n d ' -

admonished the Ark in letters of gold.

A “garden enclosed” was their S c u o la , thought the proud worshippers, no less splendid than any of its larger sisters in Venice.

The evening service concluded, the men exchanged Sabbath greetings and stepped out into a nocturnal mountain

Winter

breeze and the faint light of a shrunken crescent moon. Signor Conegliano walked alongside the rabbino. “ S ig n o r R a b b in o , there is something I must confide to you.”

“Certainly, tell me.”

“Well, for one thing, the Doge never even knew we had come to see him.

For all his pomp, you know, he really is quite dependent on his ministers, and as I have said, none of them were at all sympathetic.”

“I understand, my friend. So at least you returned to us to make a M in y a n ,” he smiled wistfully.

“But that’s the point—until last night I was sure it would be worth-while to stay in Venice over Shabbad, to try again afterwards, but...”

“Yes?” They drew to a halt. “Just before I awoke today I had a dream. A voice-^, a familiar voice—spoke to me, warned me that if the Doge were to discover that we had come to complain to him, he would be enraged. The voice was so clear and so... so imperative that I felt I had no choice this morning but to persuade the others to come home with me.”

T h e R a b b in o was silent. “The T a lm u d says,” he respon4ed at last, “that three kinds of dreams come true: Early morning dreams, dreams about friends, and dreams interpreted within dreams.

Now yours was certainly self-explana­ tory. And you said the voice was familiar?”

“Yes, but that’s the most puzzling thing about the whole dream. I’m sure it

1974

THE SCUOLA

was one of our neighbors speaking to me, and speaking distinctly: I should know, shouldn’t I? Half of them are my cousins.

But for the life of me I can’t tell which it was, man or woman, young or old!”

The R a b b in o stroked his graying beard “Only time, of course, will tell about your dream, but you might feel better if you observed a dream-fast tomorrow.

Tomorrow, you know, we announce a new month,” he remarked, glancing toward the moon. “What kind of month will it be for us?”

43

But we must remember that we have survived for three years in an unpleasant situation, and with the Almighty’s help we will survive for another three years and another if need be, H a s V e sh a lo m .

Remember that the Jews have always been a hardy and stubborn people.

And remember that although a fleshand-blood prince has rejected our plea, we must now turn with no less confi­ dence to the Supreme King of Kings, H a k a d o sh B a ru k h H u.

“As you know, today we announce the coming of a new month. Let us now be especially fervent as we pray for a ★★★ month of H a y im S h e l T ova, H a y im S h e l Time and again during the morning B e r a k h a , H a y im S h e l P a rn a s sa , a life of service, the R a b b in o had to rap on his goodness, of blessing... and of desk and glare across the room and up prosperity.”

A chastened congregation stood and at the lattices for silence. The ceaseless, agitated buzzing of the congregants, plus recited the Yehi Ratzon formula at the an occasional child’s whine, betrayed direction of Isacco at the B im a , who universal anxiety over the failure of the took up the chant as they finished.

“May it be Thy will... to renew this merchants’ mission. Besides, rumor had quickly spread that the haggard Signor month for us in goodness and in bless­ Conegliano was observing a dream-fast. edness, and to grant us long life: A life No one in the ghetto had taken this of peace..,” Was that a noise? precaution in years, and his cousins “A life of prosperity, a life of physical wondered what chilling presentiment would induce such a self-assured man to vigor, a life with fear of Heaven and deny himself food on the very Shabbad. abhorrence of sin...”

Yes. The noise was growing—tramp­ Finally, after the Yokum Purkan was all but drowned out by sibilant murmuring, ing footsteps, muttering voices.

“A life without shame or disgrace...” the R a b b in o had had enough. He rose and Signor Conegliano gasped and red­ cleared his throat.

“My friends! My friends—we have dened. Soldiers—the Doge’s soldiers!

“A life of riches and honor...” Isacco experienced a misfortune. Our dele­ gation to the Most Serene Doge has, intoned on unperturbed, but a ripple of through no fault of its own, failed to excited dread ran across the S c u o la as bring about the result we had hoped for. the marchers advanced through the

44

JEWISH LIFE

ghetto.

“A life in which our hearts’ wishes will be fulfilled for good...”

The marching stopped. A man appeared at the door; he was the commanding officer.

“A m e n , se la h , ” concluded Isacco, his back to the door. Suddenly aware of the people’s frightened stares* he turned around to look.

The commanding officer opened his mouth—and froze. From across the room, the radiant gold letters, crowns, vines, and blossoms of the Holy Ark surged and blazed in his eyes with a searing brilliance. He clapped his hand to his smarting eyes, but when he looked again, the intense, wide-eyed gazes of forty-five men, women, and children converged to trap him. Of the ninety eyes, one unblinking pair was the most menacing, and as the others faded these two grew larger, redder, angrier, pinning him to the spot. Little by little their grip was loosened, and when he felt he could move again the gaping officer staggered limply out the door. Once again the soldiers’ voices were heard, now raised in questioning, now lowered in bewilder­ ment, and renewed cadence of their boots subsided in the distance.

Utterly mystified by the officer’s behavior, the silent worshippers re­ mained standing. The R a b b in o was the first to notice that the blessing of the new month had been left unfinished. As an arousing cue he chanted aloud the congregation’s next line, which though familiar, startled him as he read it: “M i s h e ’a ss a n iss im l a ’a v o d e n u .” “He who

Winter

wrought miracles for our fathers...’’ ★ ★ ★ In his hard-won sleep, the R a b b in o dreamt he could not sleep. To still his overwrought mind, so he imagined,'he arose from bed and sat down at the table with a volume of Gemara. He was about to explain a difficult passage to his companion when he remembered that he had no companion! But indeed he did. Sitting across from him, in fact, was a total stranger, and quite an impressive one. His beard was flowing and white, his eyes determined but mild, and he held a gnarled walking stick. He was wrapped in what the R a b b in o assumed to be a night robe, which together with the beard and the stick produced an almost Biblical effect. More than almost Biblical.

“You^-you are Eliyahu the Prophet!” breathed the rabbino, “Why have you come to me, my lord?”

Eliyahu smiled. “You have been puzzled by recent events in the town.

S ig n o r R a b b in o , have you not? You deserve an explanation.”

“Yes, of course, the soldier last Shabbad. And today they came and told us that we may once again trade in grain. What does it mean”? “ S ig n o r J R a b b in o , you are a great scholar. You are well acquainted with the words of the Sages, both the readily understood and the nearly unfathomable.

You know, for instance that mention is made of a small group of righteous men. without whom the world could not exist.”

1974

THE SCUOLA

“Thirty-six in Eretz Israel and thirtysix in the Diaspora.”

The prophet nodded. “According to one count. These anonymous men, it has been said, can foretell the coming of the Messiah. They can work wonders, and when their communities are in danger they secretly employ their powers...’'’

“Do you mean to say here, among us, one of us—?”

“Yes, it is true. One of the L a m e d - Vav lives among you. A L a m e d v a v is ta in your language, I should think.”

“But who—?” “ Really, S ig n o r R a b b i no, you must restrain your curiosity. Surely you know that if a L a m e d v a v is ta is discovered, he may be forced to wander to a distant place to preserve his anonymity. Suffice it to say that it was that person who spoke in Signor Conegliano’s dream.”

Eliyahu leaned forward. “Now there is something else I will reveal to you.

This L a m e d v a v is ta o f yours is particularly proud of your beautiful S c u o la , and this pride has led to an unusual request. The L a m e d v a v is ta wishes that in the event that this community should cease to exist, the S c u o la should not be aban­ doned or destroyed but transferred, chandeliers and all, to the holy city of Jerusalem where it will be on hand to greet the Messiah. ‘Thou hast asked a hard thing,’ I said. But an elegant S c u o la which housed a miracle ought to be pre­ served. The request will be granted.”

The R a b b in o woke up. Then and there he resolved never to tell a soul about Eliyahu, the L a m e d v a v is ta , or the strange prophecy. “But I can’t help but wonder,-?

45

he thought, “who this T z a d d ik actually is, if he is. Is it one of the Conegliani? Or perhaps the shoemaker? Could that voice in Conegliano’s dream have been a child or a woman for that matter? One thing is certain, though,” concluded the R a b b in o , far more confused after the revelation than before, “it is not I.” ★★★

“Come on. Margaret, the tour is leaving without us. We’ve still got Hadassah Hospital and the Kennedy Memorial to see this morning. Haven’t you had enough of this Israel Museum yet?”

“Wait, Harry, here it is.”

“Here’s what?”

“You know, Harry, that synagogue Zelda told us about. The Italian syifagogue.”

“Italian synagogue? There’s no such thing!”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Mr. Know-it-all. See? The Vittorio Veneto Synagogue. C’mere. read the plaque. I tell you this synagogue was built in Italy, let’s see, over two hundred years ago.

And then they took it down and brought it here to Jerusalem and set it up again right inside the museum. Can you imagine? Come on, let’s go in.”

“Well, I guess it’s worth a look. But the tour. Margaret, remember!”

“Harry, look at this place! See that gold leaf? Harry, what’s the matter?”

“Nothing, Margaret, I was just think­ ing... I haven’t been inside a synagogue since my bar mitzvah.”

46

EATO AND LATIMORE by

GedaliahFleer

VER since I can remember, Eato what he does with his time. But un­ and Latimore have lived inside of doubtedly, he must be busy, since he myself. I don’t recall how I was first never visits either Eato or myself. When­ introduced to them, and therefore, I ever we want to visit Latimore, Eato and couldn’t tell you who told me their I must walk down the long, dimly lit names. Suffice it to say that we are the corridor, until we come to the door of best of friends, and share much of what his room. It’s a strange looking door, very thick and old, rounded at the top, we are with each other.

Whenever I have a problem that is with an ancient looking knocker in the particularly confusing, I like to talk it middle of its face. I’ve never seen them, over with Eato. He visits me in my mind but somehow, I know that there must whenever I need his companionship, be cobwebs above its frame. Eato and I yet try as I may, I’ve never been able to always grow uneasy as we approach this see him clearly. If I had to describe him, entrance. We know that we’re uneasy I would say that he was a shadowy since we suddenly become unusually figure, resembling what you would call quiet. It’s as though we each sink back a ghost. He is, however, quite friendly into our own world, and no longer have and extremely understanding, though his any need to communicate or exchange view of my problems always starts out ideas. But then suddenly, we find our­ diametrically opposed to my own. We selves timidly standing there, wonder­ talk things through until we reach the ing which one of us should knock. Some­ point where I agree with him, or he times Eato does, and at other times I do agrees with me. Occasionally, after much it myself. But whoever knocks always discussion, we realize that our points knocks twice, once for each of us. of view concerning a particular dilemma Instantaneously, the door is flung open, are at such variance, as to render mutual and we find ourselves face to face with agreement virtually impossible. It is at Latimore.

When I look at Latimore, I can see times like these, and only at such times, that we are forced to consult Latimore. him quite clearly. He’s an old man, with Latimore is a very busy man, though an unkempt, dirty white beard that has I must confess that I don’t really know strands of black hair going through it.

He wears an old crumpled gray suit that looks like it hasn’t been pressed in GEDALIAH FLEER, who gained fame ages. His shoes are black and highly as one o f the “9¥i Mystics,” is the author polished. The most imposing feature o f R abbi N achm an’s Fire. A worker for about him is his eyes, which are deep-set, Soviet Jewry, he has also been active in piercing, and unusually clear. Eato and I spreading the teachings o f Chasidus.

E

EATO AND LATIMORE

have never entered Latimore’s room, but I would like to tell you about the little of it I have seen from the threshold. There are shelves of old books everywhere, and then there is a table stacked high with more books, some opened and some closed, but all old.

Next to the table there is a straightbacked chair, with brown paint partially peeled from its limbs. There’s a moist, dusty odor, the kind you might find bet­ ween the pages of an old manuscript, that permeates the air. Whenever I first smell it I feel secure, though I suspect, that living permanently with that odor, might give a person like myself a headache.

47

would change me, to too great a degree.

Maybe it would stifle the growth of my own personality, to the point that I would grow to become something I did not wish to be. Coming from a non-orthodox home, I realized that merely setting foot into a Yeshivah would involve certain compromises in my behavior and lifestyle.

I would have to give up some of what I was used to. I would have to cease being myself to some extent.

Eato came to my mind and we dis­ cussed my predicament. I told him that I was happy with what I was, but at the same time curious about Judaism. I wanted to study and experience religion, while maintaining my own identity. He argued that one can open himself to new ideas Latimore is always impatient, and and experiences only through negating sometimes his impatience seems to certain preconceived notions, and comp­ border on intolerance. His movements romising on certain aspects of his are hasty and gruff, and he never takes' personality. I vehemently disagreed, time to exchange pleasantries. In fact, explaining that such a course was now that I think of it, the only way I irrational and could prove extremely know he likes me is because he always dangerous. After all. I was terribly tells me the truth. When Latimore opens frightened about becoming something the door, he thunders, “What now!” and I didn’t wish to be. Finally, we de­ Eato and I proceed to explain the cided to ask Latimore. We walked problem. Latimore listens patiently, but down the dimly lit corridor and the more we talk, the more impatient he knocked on his door. He flung the door seems to become. Then, after hearing open looking impatient and irritable as us out, he barks his advice, the solution ever. After hearing both sides of the to our dilemma, and before we have a argument, Latimore looked at me with chance to ask, or to question, he slams his piercing eyes and grumbled, “So the door in our faces, leaving us in the you’re afraid of becoming something you dimly lit corridor with nothing but don’t want to be. Tve never heard such the truth. profound stupidity. Don’t you realize Once when I was younger, I thought that as long as you don’t want to be of going to Yeshivah. I wanted to learn something you will never become it” and more about Judaism, but I was afraid. he slammed the door. It was at that point Perhaps my experience at the Yeshivah that I decided to go to the Yeshivah.

48

BOOK REVIEWS JUDAISM ITSELF by

TO BE A JEW, by Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin, New York, Basic Books, 1972, 336 pgs, $10.00

HERE is no scarcity o f books about Judaism for laymen. Basic Judaism by Milton Steinberg, for example, handles essential religious ideas with grace, but, as a Reconstructionist, treats observance and ritual as a smorgasbord from which the reader can select his religion according to his taste.

This Is M y G -d by Herman Wouk, while masterfully written, is a personal testament, a summing up by a celebrated novelist o f his

T

special experience as a Jew. What was still needed, to borrow a phrase from Rabbi Morris Besdin o f Yeshiva University, was a book that does not teach us about Judaism-^ but Judaism itself. Such a book is now in print. It is To B e a Jew by Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin.

Rabbi Donin, spiritual leader o f Cong­ regation B’nai David o f Southfield, Michigan, wrote this book during a sabbatical year in

YAAKOV LURIA is the author o f stories and articles which have appeared in Jewish and general magazines. He teaches at the Bronx High School o f Science.

Luria

Jerusalem, and the sanctity o f the place seems to infuse his work. Writing in a clear, forceful style, Rabbi Donin does not attempt to “popularize” Judaism, but bases himself solidly on tradition, without apologetics. He upholds maximum observance o f both ethical and ritual practices, as set down in the Torah as the only proper religious commitment.

While his book stresses basic things, there are few Jews, no matter how learned, who will not come away from it with their learning refreshed.

In the opening section o f To Be a Jew, Rabbi Donin quickly but comprehensively reviews the basic premises o f Judaism, and defines the special character o f Jews as a people living for almost two thousand years among the nations o f the world, interacting with them while maintaining their distinctive­ ness. He attributes Jewish survival to three attachments—to faith in one eternal and omnipresent G-d, to the precepts o f the Torah, and to the land o f Israel. He rejects the effort o f non-traditionalists to “regard the Torah as the inspired writing o f great men, as a record o f man’s attempt to reach out to G -d,” but insists that the Torah “is a record o f G-d reach in g ou t to m an, and h ot vice^ versa.” (p. 25) The core o f the book is devoted to the ways in which Jews witness their commitment to G-d day by day, by the reliance on the practical guidance o f H alacha and not by con-

BOOK REVIEWS

cern with theological theory. Rabbi Donin points out that “H alacha asks for a com­ mitment in behavior. It deals with ethical obligations and religious duties. ” While he does not disparage the efforts o f Jewish scholars throughout the ages to understand the reasons for G -d’s command­

49

rises. For the young, who are concerned with room for individual conscience in any discipline they accept, Rabbi Donin shows how relevant to their thinking Judaism is.

Rabbi Donin’s chapter on the Sabbath is written in a spirit having convinction and

passion all its own. What a marvelous gift ments, Rabbi Donin demonstrates that for analogy Rabbi Donin reveals in one Jews have ultimately accepted the M itzvot passage: even when the reasons for them were obscure.

To describe the feeling that over The will o f G-d expressed in both Oral and comes one on the Sabbath is like trying Written Law have been sufficient to evoke to describe a beautiful sunset to a blind man. However rich in words the freely given response—- N a ’aseh (we will do). one may be, the sense o f rapture that even a simple person with sight senses We are shown how Halachic observance at the sight o f such beauty can never leads to sanctity, but the author refutes a common misconception that equates sanctity be totally conveyed by even a master with asceticism. He writes: poet. Looking in from the outside at A Jewish definition o f holiness may those who observe the Sabbath might be put in these terms: Holiness does be compared to a deaf man coming not lie in the ascetic, saintly with­ upon a scene where people are dancing drawal from life, the excessive denial to music being played by an orchestra to oneself o f human pleasures, or in hidden from sight. Not hearing the the repression o f human drives. It j music, the deaf man might well mistake consists, rather, o f full participation the dancers for a group o f people who in the stream o f community life, have gone mad. Of course, he does not sharing the joyous as well as the hear the music, and so the movement o f the body which the music inspires is sorrowful experiences which life has unappreciated and leaves him cold. to offer, denying to oneself no And sb might the Sabbath with its legitimate pleasures; but at the same restrictions leave an observer—unless time so developing one’s sense o f dis­ he has had an opportunity to become cernment as to be able to distinguish part o f the experience...” (p. 62) the right from the wrong, the true from the false, the good from the bad, the sacred from the profane, the pure from the impure, the clean from the unclean...” (p. 36) In setting forth the “daily way o f life” in Jewish tradition, Rabbi Donin gives primacy to human reationships, for “the love o f G-d cannot be separated from the love o f man” (p. 48.) Kindness — compassion, Tzedakah , forbearance to even those who are unkind to us, .scrupulous fairness—is the foundation upon which the structure o f Y iddishkeit

The value o f his book is that Rabbi Donin is not content with inspiration, which after all, is only a preamble to action. He proceeds to set down step by step how one is to go about preparing for the Sabbath, extracting the essence o f the laws pertaining to Sabbath observance in the Shulchan Aruch. He even includes the text, in Hebrew, English trans­ literation, and translation o f all the major Sabbath blessings! He removes all stumbling blocks for those who have either never come

JEWISH LIFE

50

to the Sabbath or have wandered from it. It is possible to take exception to this step-bystep approach—after all, the blessings are in the Siddur —but this is what was meant by teaching Judaism instead o f teaching about it.

As he deals with the Sabbath, so Rabbi Donin explores every aspect o f religious observance—the dietary laws, family life, Tallit, Tefillin; prayer, the synagogue, the special occasions o f the years, and the mile­ stones o f life. He begins with the rationale for the observances, documents it with references to the laws, and gives all essential practices. He cuts through to the heart o f each matter, leaving nothing necessary out, while avoiding a clutter o f detail which would

Winter

confuse the reader.

In his preface, Rabbi Donin says, “I hope that it [his book] will be useful for (1) college study groups, (2) adult education, (3) the guidance o f proselytes, (4) young couples about to be married, (5) Jewish families interested in enriching their lives through the study o f their ancient heritage—a heritage which speaks to m odem man and relates to contemporary issues” (p. vii). I believe his hope is eminently justified. I can think o f no better gateway to complete observance o f the M itzvot, nor—to echo Rabbi Donin’s aspirations—to further the study o f Judaic lore to which the book points so invitingly.

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BOOK REVIEWS

1974

51

THE SABBATH LAWS by

J.David Bleich

HALACHOS OF SHABBOS, by Shimon D. Eider: SECTION 1, Lakewood, 1970, 40 pages.

SECTION 2, Lakewood, 1970, 20 pages.

SECTION 3, Lakewood, 1972, 200 pages.

HALACHOS OF THE ERUV, Lakewood, 1968, 35 pages.

A SUMM ARY OF HALACHOS OF THE ERUV, Lakewood, 1973, 6 pages.

N the course o f the past two decades American Orthodoxy has matured and come o f age. The phenomenal growth o f Yeshivot and K ollelim has brought with it a generation o f Jewishly literate, educated, and intelligent B ’nei Torah. Significant inroads have been made in reaching out to the non­ orthodox elements o f our society and much has been done particularly among youth in terms o f creation o f an enhanced awareness o f the nature o f authentic Judaism.

There is, however, one area in which we have been extremely remiss. We have not yet developed a corpus o f publications which present a valid picture o f Torah Judaism. We suffer from the fact that over a period o f decades both exponents and apologists have created a wealth o f literature which fails to

I

J. David Bleich is the Rav o f the Yorkville Synagogue—Congregation B’nai Jehudah, and a Rosh Yeshiva at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.

portray Judaism in an authentic manner.

Until recently, we were confronted by a situation in which those who knew could not write, and those who wrote knew not whereof they wrote. Halachah, in particular, is an area which has been sorely neglected.

The treatment o f Halachic topics requires the highest degree o f responsibility and scrupulous meticulousness. There is a dearth o f textual material which can satisfy the needs o f the growing numbers o f teenagers and college students committed to the Halachic discipline. The result is that a person must acquire a mastery o f rabbinic Hebrew before he can study a work detailed enough to give him a comprehensive view o f Jewish law on any topic. With the exception o f a translation o f the K itzu r Shulchan Aruch and several compendia dealing with limited areas o f the H alachah very little o f this nature has appeared in English. Much o f what has appeared is woefully inadequate either is not written in the popular idiom or because it deals with the subject matter in far too cursory a manner.

H alachah has not been presented in the English idiom for understandable reasons. We have not yet learned to adapt the English language to express the concepts embodied in the technical terms o f Halachah. This can be verified by walking into the Beth Midrash o f any Yeshiva. Yiddish is no longer the mother tongue o f the American Yeshiva student and it has ceased to be the language o f the Beth Midrash. It has been supplanted not

by English but by a strange dialect the sound o f which often reminds this writer o f a

52

JEWISH LIFE

comment by the Taz in his commentary on Even H aEzer. H alachah provides that a Get (bill o f divorce) may be written in any language but stipulates that it must be written entirely in a single tongue, not in a com­ bination o f languages. Yet the text o f the Get which has been in continual use for centuries is a combination o f Hebrew and Aramaic. In explaining this anomaly Taz writes that the Get is indeed written in a single language; not in either Hebrew or Aramaic, but in Lashon H aTalm udiyim , the language o f the Talmudists who wrote, and apparently spoke, a language all o f their own, a combination o f Hebrew and Aramaic. On our shores a lashon haY eshiva has emerged, a new language in, which English is used for basic syntax with a liberal sprinkling o f Yiddish and Hebrew, Unfortunately, this is an esoteric language understood only by the initiated; it is not one which is comprehen­ sible to the public at large.

Rabbi Eider’s works constitute a valuable contribution. He has chosen what is undoubtedly one o f the most complex areas o f Halachah, the laws pertaining to observ­ ance o f the Sabbath and has attempted to present them in English in a comprehensive and, comprehensible manner. In order to be comprehensive, such a work must be detailed, and here lies the crux o f the problem. There are few comprehensive compendia dealing with H ilchot Shabbat in Hebrew, not to speak o f translations into the vernacular.

There are certainly very few such compil­ ations which record the views of comtemporary Halachic authorities with regard to aspects o f Sabbath law which have not been fully delineated in earlier centuries or which incorporate discussions o f modernday questions arising from technological developments and mechanization.

Rabbi Eider has set himself a most formidable task. He has set out not only to

Winter

compose such a truly comprehensive compendium, but to present it in English!

Volume I o f the H alach os o f Shabbos deals with the general principles and concepts underlying the laws o f Shabbat; volumes 2 and 3 deal with the first eight o f the thirtynine forbidden categories o f labor. The volume devoted to the laws o f Eruv and its companion, A Sum m ary o f the Laws o f Eruv, provide detailed instructions with regard to the construction o f an Eruv. These works are detailed but succinct, and in fact, at times may be too cryptic for the uninitiated. Each o f the booklets is carefully annotated through­ out and the author has wisely employed Hebrew in the copious footnotes indicating his sources and containing his own comments.

Thus these works are o f value not only to the general reader but also to the scholar who in perusing the notes may be led to sources which otherwise might have escaped his attention.

Despite Rabbi Eider’s disclaimer that H alachos o f Shabbos has been geared to serve as a text—and not as a compilation o f Halachic “decisions” these works have the added advantage o f being clear-cut and definitive in terms o f providing normative Halachic decisions in areas shrouded by controversy. O f course the individual M oreh Hora*ah may, here or there disagree with Rabbi Eider’s Halachic findings. That is certainly the privilege o f a competent R av and in no way detracts from the value o f this contribution. As Rabbi Eider himself emphasizes, “Where there is any question concerning a specific H alacha or difference in minhag, a M oreh H o ra ’ah should be con­ sulted.” Rabbi Eider himself is an outstanding Talm id Chacham and possesses a complete mastery o f the topics on which he has written.

Assessment o f the degree to which Rabbi Eider has succeeded in the task he has set himself depends upon one’s vantage point.

1974

BOOK REVIEWS

The author himself views his work as a text and advises that for maximum benefit it should be used in conjunction with the study o f Schulchan A ruch and M ishneh Berurah.

In those terms the work is a signal contrib­ ution and o f inestimable value to the Ben Torah engaged in serious study. But if this were the sole motive, the work could well have been composed in Hebrew. The less erudite reader may find the going a bit difficult and may be confused by the frequent use o f Hebrew technical terminology in the text, often without benefit o f translation. A trans­ lation o f such terms could easily have been supplied, at least in brackets. Nevertheless, even the general reader may derive great

53

benefit from this work. Although he may find the text less than fully comprehensible, he will become familiar with the broader aspects o f these laws and be prompted to seek further clarification o f obscure points.

We look forward with anticipation to the completion o f the entire series devoted to the laws o f the Sabbath. Perhaps when this yeoman endeavor is completed the author will give consideration to preparation o f a com­ panion volume equally detailed in scope but geared to a less knowledgeable audience.

It is this latter group whose thirst for learning is sorely neglected. A comprehensive work dealing with the laws o f Shabbat designed to meet this need still remains desirable.

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JEWISH LIFE

54

The Source of Oral Tradition

by Henry Biberfeld

THE ORAL LAW: THE RABBINIC CON­ TRIBUTION TO TORAH SHEBA’AL PEH,

by Harry C Shimmel, New York and Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers, 1971, 175 pp

OME o f the most intriguing and perplexing problems in Jewish learn­ ing are those relating to origin, nature and

S

extent o f the Oral Law. In the preface o f his book, Mr. Schimmel formulated some of these questions: “Were all the laws o f the Oral Torah o f Sinaitic origin? If so, how did disputes arise? Why and how are certain laws deduced by the Sages from Scripture? And what was the practice before such laws had been deduced? To what extent did the Sages enjoy legislative powers?...”

To these questions must be added one that Schimmel treats briefly at the very end o f his book: What is the raison d’etre for an Oral Law? Why was the totality o f the Torah not given in writing? Would it not have been more reassuring to possess a written document

Henry Biberfeld, author o f David, K in g o f Isra e l is Hon. Secretary and Consulting Chemist o f the Jewish Community Council o f Montreal, on the board o f the Association o f Orthodox Jewish Scientists, and a member o f the Vaad HaPoel HaOlami o f Agudath Israel.

encompassing the whole Torah, than to have to rely on oral tradition seemingly subject to misunderstanding and forgetfulness?

Nor are these mere theoretical questions.

On the answers (to them) often depend decisions acutely affecting the life o f the individual as well as that o f the Jewish Nation. For, as the Chief Rabbi points out in his foreword to the present volume: “The most implacable critics o f Judaism and the Jewish way o f life come from the rank o f those who have little or no familiarity with the Oral Law.” Or, as Schimmel puts it: “ Most important conflicts in Judaism from the Sadducees and Pharisees down to the dispute between orthodox and Reform are linked with many o f these questions.”

The starting point o f Schimmel’s discussions is the quest for the origin o f the Oral Law. Quoting from Professor David Hoffmann’s classical work D ie Erste Mishna, he firmly establishes his basic proposition o f the simultaneous reception o f both the Written and Oral Torah at Sinai. Schimmel shows that logical and historical consider­ ations, as well as clear indications in Talmudic literature give evidence for the existence o f an Oral Torah Tradition.

Such an essential term as “M elach a” •(the kind o f activity forbidden on the Sabbah) is nowhere defined in the Scripture.

Schechita | the ritual way o f slaughtering is merely referred to in passing as previously, having been commanded orally to Moses.

How to get married, how to buy and sell,

1974

BOOK REVIEWS

55

what Milah is, how to observe Yom Kippur, Tefillah— in short, it seems that precisely

establish the theoretical background for our Mitzvoth.

those commandments that most profoundly determine the texture o f Judaism are known

While much o f what Schimmel discusses has been investigated by others (notably the Gaon, Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Chajes in his “Student’s Guide Through the Talmud”) Schimmel adds many valuable insights on his own, such as his excursus on “ Legal Fiction.”

Schimmel’s work is comprehensive—to this reviewer’s knowledge he omits none o f the really relevant sources—and it is system­ atically constructed. It is perhaps in this latter respect that Schimmel goes a little too far overboard: The book is divided into chapters, which, in turn, are sub-divided, the latter being further broken down into paragraphs, each one headed by a summation o f its contents.

There is no doubt that the “Oral Law” by Schimmel is a novel and most welcome addition to our literature. There is a steady stream today o f works on almost every aspect o f Jewish learning coming from the presses, especially in Israel. But the area o f the methodology o f Biblical and Talmudic studies has been barely touched upon yet. It is indicative o f this paucity o f systemic investigations that fundamental issues such as the relation o f Drash to H alacha (i.e. whether the H alacha was derived by the Mishnaic sages from the text o f the Bible, or post factum, traced to it), has been clearly

only from Oral Tradition. Historically, there has never been a viable Judaism without recourse to and reliance on an Oral Law. After outlining the historic foundation o f the Oral Law, Schimmel devotes the central portion o f his work to the aspect o f it, indi­ cated by the subtitle o f his work: “The Rabbinic Contribution to Torah Sh eB a'al Peh. ” He is anxious to prove that the Rabbis o f the Talmud were not merely transmitters o f a body o f legislation but that they also actively and creatively contributed towards it. He strongly opposed the view that: “The sages o f the Talm ud never said anything which they had not received by tradition from Sinai” (page 27). According to Schimmel’s opinion, “The sages contributed views, statements and H alachot o f their own.” (page 29) In this reviewer’s estimation there is no real conflict o f opinions here. The question is simply whether a particular law is deO raita (from the Torah) or deRabbanan (talmudic), though in some cases there might be a contro­ versy whether a particular law belongs to the first or the second category. In fact, Schimmel himself clearly states the distinction further on: “Wherever the Sages acted as interpreters , they did not actually m ake the law and the law is therefore deOraita; wherever they acted as legislators they m ade the law and the law they produced is deR abbanan . ” (page 63) One o f the most valuable aspects o f Schimmel’s book is that he quotes—in the original Hebrew—many o f the original, classical sources on which he bases his con­ clusions. It gives the reader, who has no access to these works, the possibility to follow the line o f reasoning o f the Talmudic and postTalmudic

authorities when

it comes

to

discussed only during the last hundred years. (To Schimmel’s outline o f the position o f the two outstanding representatives o f both views, Malbin and R. Isak Halevy, that o f R.J.Z. Mecklenburg with his introduction to his Bible Commentary H aK etav VeHaKabalah should be added).

It is to be hoped that Schimmel’s work will find among the students o f our sacred literature, the popularity that it amply deserves.

56

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57

LETTERS ON INTERMARRIAGE Editor: In reference to Rabbi Pelcovitz’s article in Jewish Life (October, 73) on intermarriage, particularly referring to his comments on the Rabbinical Council of America, permit me the following remarks: I was the one who originated the entire pressure on intermarriage in my capacity as president of the Rabbinical Council by announcing that we oppose those who have intermarried, or who have performed such marriages, for any position of Jewish leadership. Rabbi Pelcovitz questions the difference bet­ ween those performing intermarriages and those who commit much more heinous Sins. One is rather surprised by his failure to grasp the elmentary differences between one who maintains his Jewish links even though he.violates Jewish precepts, and one who severs his bonds with the Jewish people completely through an act of inter­ marriage. For the first, there is always the hopes of Tshuvah. We American Jews have witnessed children and grand­ children of Reform Jews returning to traditional Judaism. One who formally severs his ties with Judaism, and raises his children as non-Jews, has practically closed all avenues of hope for a return.

Rabbi Pelcovitz flays dead cats with

atomic bombs by raising that spectre of the Rabbinical Council’s connection with the Synagogue Council of America, It is totally unrelated to the issue of inter­ marriage, on which we have received substantial support from Reform and Conservative rabbis, who view inter­ marriage from the same perspective that we do. It would be most helpful to view facts as they are, rather than through the imprisoning prisms of opposition to the Synagogue Council.

Rabbi Louis Bernstein President, Rabbinical Council of America

Editor: In his article on intermarriage. Rabbi Pelcovitz reports on the problems of intermarriage and gives its Halachic and historical context. It is therefore quite surprising that there is a sudden de­ parture from reporting and analyzing in the otherwise well balanced article when the reaction to intermarriage of the Rabbinical Council of America is dis­ cussed. The issue is shifted to the general question of participation of orthodox rabbis in a mixed rabbinic body. Several seemingly unanswerable Halachic questions are fired off, leaving the R.C. A. bruised and bloody, if not dead on the ground.

The impression is also left in the article that were it not for this, pure love, harmony and unadulterated brotherhood would unite the moderates and the ‘Tight wing” into a solid

58

JEWISH LIFE

Winter

invincible block against those on the left. the various aggressive and militant wellIf Halachic considerations and good meaning groups can get together is to wishes operated in a complete social condemn another equally well-meaning vacuum, the pages of Jewish Life might group. The trouble is that to some people, just be the place where all Jewish some are more well-meaning than Qthers, problems could be solved and brought and that they always happen to be the to rest in a few well directed sentences. more well-meaning.

It is worth noticing that Rabbi But that is never the case. The issue is Pelcovitz limits himself to questioning the how to approach and come to grips with general Reform approach to Judaism, a wide spectrum of problems, facing and its corrollary as applied to mixed different rabbis in varied communities, marriages.

He could at the same time according to Halacha. This diversity has have questioned the Halachic validity led to diverse solutions as for example, and status of all marriages of two Jewish participation or non-participation by partners performed by Reform rabbis. orthodox rabbis in mixed groups.

That does not imply unquestioned It has also led to a resolution that orthodox rabbis should not partici­ acceptance, but a desire to deal with a pate in mixed groups with rabbis who problem from a certain view, within a perform mixed marriages, as well as concrete, regrettably unchanged, but not to differences between moderates and unchangeable reality.

The dealings with non-orthodox right wingers, even though all equally groups within the realities of American are most strenuously and desperately Jewish communities are geared by the trying to cope with the problems that same desire that brings Russia and beset the American Jewish community America together in the U.N. Although everywhere.

Russia ideologically and- otherwise is One should keep in mind that even diametrically opposed to what we among the "right wingers," who agree represent, wishing Russia away will not on non-participation, there is little love make it go away.

It is a political force lost otherwise. The absence of this, as with which we have to wrestle. well as their unwillingness to come to an Halachic questions additionally understanding, are perhaps the more compound the problems involving the basic reasons why the moderates and contact and dealings with religious the right wingers have difficulties in groupings, requiring the choice of the getting together to tackle the important best weapons for changing times and issues that wait for this long needed circumstances, but still demanding the unity. facing of realities created by outside If Rabbi Pelcovitzs intentions were to raise exactly this point in a popular forces beyond our control.

Rabbi Israel Bornstein magazine, it helps explain why it is so B'nai Israel Congregation difficult. It appears that the only time Norfolk, Virginia

1974

LETTERS

59

Editor: and publicly exercise rabbinical The article by Rabbi Pelcovitz on authority, but who would either intermarriage (October 73) is a docu­ diminish, negate or destroy the very ment of utmost importance and should Halachic traditions that have been and not be relegated to the archives. still remain the citadel of the preser­ In speaking out on the extreme peril vation of the Jewish people. This de­ of intermarriage. Rabbi Pelcovitz points stigmatization of the reformer’s role has to two major differences between today been a slow and insidious process, and it and past eras. One is quantitative has resulted in a weakening of our (p.41): “Never in Diaspora history as hallowed tradition, as well as the public today was so large a portion of the elevation of many whose credos are a Jewish community divorced from mockery of Torah principles. observance of Jewish tenets and As long as the masses of non­ Jewishly illiterate.’1 The second is observant Jews sincerely believe that qualitative: “The other is the existence their clergymen-leaders are rabbis, and of organized denominational groupings as long as these “rabbis” preach a Judaism who have given not only sanction but that is divorced from Halacha, these respectability and legitimacy to the Jews will be denied the opportunity to practice of intermarriage.11 return to authentic Judaism. More than I offer a third major difference. Even any other factor, perhaps, this denial may where Conservative and Reform clergy­ be the greatest “stumbling block” ever men are sincerly against intermarriage, to be “placed in front of the blind.” their concentration on “social religion” has practically reduced Judaism to a kind Irving Gavrin of humanist faith that blurs and Parsippany, New Jersey obliterates Jewish particularist standards, especially in the minds of our youth. It is then but a short step for our idealistic young people to accept a non-Jew as a marriage partner, as long as he or she is “a decent human being” and “respects humanitarian and social prinicples.”

According to what they have been taught, these youth can logically ask. “After all, isn’t that what religion is all about?”

The article also demonstrates what I call the schizophrenia of some orthodox rabbis. This is a condition where orthodox rabbis enter into organizational alliances with those who call themselves “rabbis”

60

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LETTERS

EDITOR’S NOTE; ‘‘You shall not place a stumbling block before the blind” is one of the prohibitory commandments of the Torah, and therefore, Mr. Gavrin’s letter raises some very interesting Halachic questions. While the issues raised in the above three letters have been widely discussed from a rhetorical and practical viewpoint, we have heard very little about the Halachic considerations. A re­ action to this should be very interesting.

RABBI PELCOVITZ REPLIES:

Rabbi Bernstein is surprised at my failure to differentiate between one who transgresses Torah while maintaining Jewish links, and one who marries out of faith. Actually, my reference was never to those who violate Jewish law as opposed to those who intermarry. I focused specifically on the clergy who “perform”—be it in mixed marriages, or in their multi-faceted role as preachers and teachers of a diluted or distorted version of Judaism. It is especially in this latter role, as molders of attitudes and architects of a Jewish life-style, that an aurora of acceptance and legitimacy granted by authentic Rabbanim is all important.

I therefore questioned the unseeming contradiction in the stand of the Rabbi­ nical Council of America—passionate opposition to rabbis who violate this

61

Halachic law, while resisting all attempts at dissociation with rabbis who flout laws which are even more fundamental and serious, as I explained in my article.

It would seem that since the R.C.A. is now prepared, under its present president, to become more assertive and dynamic in defending the way of Torah, it should go all the way and clarify for the Jewish lay-loyalist that many so-called “rabbis’’ are actually deviationists and destroyers, and not reformers and conservers, as the respective labels imply.

As for “flaying dead cats,” I do not consider the question of orthodox rabbis and organizations belonging to the New York Board of Rabbis and Synagogue Council of America a dead issue, al­ though it would probably please many if those who challenge this affiliation would just go away and allow the plastic and paper organizations to live in peace.

I am perplexed that my applauding the R.C.A.’s resolution, while questioning their timidity in not going all the way, should be considered “unrelated.” It is very much related to the much larger question of Jewish identity and integrity, of which intermarriage is but one issue.

Rabbi Bornstein’s letter stresses reality, and indeed, I agree with the basic thrust. As one who has served in the rabbinate in smaller communities in Connecticut, upstate New York, and Ohio, I can appreciate the need for local mixed rabbinic and congregational groups, working closely together to solve

62

JEWISH LIFE

Winter

JUDAISM IN HICKTOWN Jewish communal problems and deal with the total community in a united manner. These circumstances, however, Editor: do not prevail in the larger urban centers.

In the issue before last (January, ’73), I submit, however, that the plea for there was a most interesting article realism, pragmatic as it may be, must not written by my good friend and obscure the tragic erosion of Jewish colleague, Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum, religious commitment in the United States, attested to by the bankruptcy of bemoaning the fate of small town, U.S.A. non-Torah institutions and their By “small town,” I imagine that he spiritual leadership. Why, therefore, meant small Jewish communities should we not ask ourselves how scattered throughout the country, often culpable we may be for granting legi­ in the midst of heavily populated areas. timacy and respectability to forces that Certainly, the advantage of living in have not saved us, but have succeeded Brooklyn with regard to Jewish exposure in alienating so many of our people cannot be overestimated.

I nevertheless find that the situation from authentic Jewish sources, and is not as bleak as those living in the driven many from our fold? Must we Northeast imagine. Having lived in cling to policies that have not strength­ Savannah for three years, and now in ened and salvaged, but perhaps have en­ Birmingham for the past five, I can couraged the further weakening and testify to the tremendous growth of undermining of our Jewish foundations? orthodox Judasim and its traditional To use Rabbi Bornstein’s simile, values—not in a superficial way, but in detente is not only selective, as recent factual, concrete achievements.

For months have proven, but it can also deter us from taking decisive and instance, cities such as New Orleans, vigorous action—or at least limit our Nashville,Charleston,Atlanta,Savannah, response. This was true of the United Memphis, and now Birmingham, have States in October, and of the R.C.A. vibrant Jewish Day Schools and Yeshivas that are changing the face and in July.

As for the lack of unity within character of these cities.

Speaking for my own city, I can Orthodoxy, none can deny it, but we can personally testify to the dozens of survive it. Frankly, we will also survive families who have become Sabbath the ongoing love affair between certain observers and strictly follow the laws of orthodox groups and the deviationists.

Kashrut.

Shabbat services are well What we must not do, however, is delude attended, as are Shabbat Shiurim ourselves into thinking that there are no (lectures) that are held in the afternoon. alternatives, and become ossified into defending positions which are no longer At our recent Selichot services, we had 200 adults as well as many young viable, desired or effective. children and teenagers.

63

LETTERS

1974

Speaking of teenagers, I cannot say enough about the impact of N.C.S.Y. on our synagogue and community. Many of the families are now purchasing Lulavim and Esrogim, and building Succos only because of the efforts of our N.C.S.Y. and Junior N.C.S.Y. youth groups.

This situation is not unique to Birmingham, and hopefully young people will look to the South, where they can find a Torah way of life, and certain­ ly contribute to improve the quality of such life in the community where they choose to live. Without question, much more needs to be done, but at the same time, the impression that Jewish South­ erners live in a “desert” is both mislead­ ing and inaccurate. In fact, if I may be so bold as to predict that the problems of the over-populated areas in the North willbecomeincreasinglyunbearable,then the new Torah Center of Jewish life will be located in the South. Those of us who are presently situated here are merely paving the way for that time.

Rabbi Moshe Stern Knesseth Israel Congregation Birmingham, Alabama

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Rabbi Stern and I have discussed the problems which face the small Jewish communities many times, both as friends and as concerned spiritual leaders. In truth, our feelings are very similar. We both feel the acute difficulties which face the small pockets of traditional

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64

Judaism in the dense groves of delinq­ uent lumber. We are both sensitive to the necessary climate in which growth can be achieved and survival assured. We are both toiling to bring forth a real Jewish spirit and commitment into areas where the only commitment is to a philosophy, and the sense of spirit lies dormant beneath a dusty Tefillin bag.

Rabbi Stern is absolutely correct, and thank G-d for it. City after city across the land are witnessing a phenominal growth and resurgence of both Jewish spirit and commitment. The cities men­ tioned by Rabbi Stern are indeed indicative of a national trend staggering in its significance. It points up both a communal and an individual return to the paths of our forefathers.

But as remarkable the progress, and as dramatic as many of the achieve­ ments are, one must realize that there is still a long journey yet to be travelled.

After all, even in the cities of which Rabbi Stern speaks, and certainly else­ where, the vast majority of the orthodox members are not Sabbath observers, do not use the Mikvah, and seldom wear Tefillin. How is this remedied? How can you make observance the rule, rather than the exception?

And what of the real Hicktowns, the communities with less than a thousand inhabitants, who live isolated from any significant influence? One must under­ stand that several of the cities mentioned

by Rabbi Stern have more than ten

JEWISH LIFE

thousand Jews. The real issue here is whether we have really reached a point of self sufficiency. Can we now make it alone?

Here I say a very resounding No! The extent that we have seen success is the extent that a rabbi has had small numbers of committed lay leaders that have crystalized the ideal. The extent that Yiddishkeit thrives is the extent that the portrait of Jewish life conceived by the rabbi-artist is being affectuated by loving canvasses of beauty and class.

True, a very marked and wonderful growth is evident, but if it is to be accelerated, and if it will be far-reaching enough to touch the real isolated Hicktowns—if we are to see the day when observance will be the rule, rather than the exception in the smaller Jewish communities—then we must still rely heavily upon the assistance from our counterparts in the metropolis.

Rabbi Stern is hopeful of new young residents coming to our region. So am I. It is certainly easier to live in many small communties today than it was ten years ago. But in truth, it is still a sacrifice. It is still spiritually demanding. And yet, in its problems, in the travail of settling in a town without a Bet Midrash (place of study) or even a Kosher restaurant, lies its greatest asset. The challenge is one of building Jewish souls, and laying the foundations for growth and inspiration, in a community that will always know that you were there.

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