Jewish Life Winter 1981-82

$2.50

| m\ I

Adar 5742/Winter 1981/1982

Comments: "Menachem Begin: A tragedy for the Jews"/ Yiddish Must Live.

Personal Comments: "Nisht Far Die Kinder."

"Making It" in the Yeshiva/A selection from the forth­ coming book The World o f the Yeshiva: An Intimate Por­ trait o f Orthodox Jewry, a major event in the development of American Orthodoxy.

Letter from Yerushalayim/The first in a series of letters from the Holy City, which describes the impact of the Kotel on Israeli spirituality.

The Beginnings of Jewish Life in South Africa/the Chief Rabbi outlines the origins of one of the worlcTs youngest Jewish communities and the changes it has experienced.

Israel's Olympic Games: Athletes Come Back Home/While Israel confronts a failure in its Aliya program, the games attract Jewish athletes who often become dim .

A publication of the Union of O rth od ox Jewish Congregations of A m erica/O rth o d ox Union

V„

Editor Yaakov Jacobs

Production Editor Marla Silver Circulation Anne Neuwirth Editor Emeritus Saul Bernstein Editorial Board Marc Angel Julius Berman Isaac Bernstein J. David Bleich Judith Bleich David Cohen Jack Simcha Cohen Samuel Cohen William Helmreich Lawrence A . Kobrin David Kranzler George Rohr Sheldon Rudoff Michael Shmidman Pinchas Stolper Baruch Taub Shimon Wincelberg Maurice Wohlgelemter

Mrs. Linore Ward and Family have established the Jess Ward Memorial Jewish Life Fund . to assure the continued publication of Jewish Life in its expanded format and to continue the dissemination of Torah ideology to English-speaking Jewry throughout the world.

The Fund is a tribute to the sacred memory o f Jess Ward who in his lifetime gave o f his talents and his means to his fellow Jews.

We pray that these pages shall be a worthy memorial to his committed life.

A publication of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America Sheldon Rudoff, Chairman, Publications Commmission

Contents 2

Comments: "Menachem Begin: A tragedy for the Jews"/ Yiddish Must Live/ Personal Comments: "Nisht Far Die Kinder"

11

"Making It" in the Yeshiva/ William Helmreich

23

A Letter from Yerushalayim/ Rochelle Furstenberg

27

The Beginnings of Jewish Life in South A frica/ B. M. Casper

39

Israel's Olympic Games: Athletes Come Back Home/ Elli Wohlgelernter

47

An "American" Israeli In China/ Barbara Soferr

53

The Stranger: A Fantasy/ Gershon Zwick

Because of the small staff producing Jewish Life, contributors are asked to send an inquiry before submitting manuscripts, and to be patient in waiting for a response.

We regret any inconvenience we may have caused in this regard, and we trust we will be able to increase our efficiency in the future. ^Copyright 1982 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 (ISSN #00-2165-77) is published quarterly. Subscription: 1 year—$10.00, 2 years—$18.00, 3 years—$25.00. Foreign: Add $.50 per year. Single copy $2.50, Editorial and Publication Office: 45 West 36th Street, New York, N.Y. 10018.

Second Class Postage Paid New York, N.Y.

"M enachem Begin: A Tragedy for the Jews" I am not a Revisionist—hardly even a Zionist in the political sense.

I winced every time I saw Menachem Begin embrace Jimmy Carter, especially on his last visit to the U .S.A . when he went all the way to Plains, Georgia to do it. With all this, I find myself appalled when American journalists criticize him; when American diplomats berate him—and especially when Jews attack him. On the latter: a case in point is Marie Syrkin's article in The New Republic, "How Begin Threatens Israel," which the editors dis­ played on their cover with the words: "Menachem Begin: A Tragedy for the Jews."

Ironically—what about Jews and Israel is not ironic— The New Republic is owned and edited by Martin Peretz, an independentlywealthy Jewish academic who saved the prestigious journal from going the way of all flesh and has been, generally, a staunch sup­ porter of Israel. While stopping short of portraying Begin's por­ trait in a Magen David made of rifles, as did N ew sw eek magazine, The New Republic has been less than staunch in its support of Menachem Begin. The article was written by Marie Syrkin whose sermonic piece takes as its text the attack of Achad Ha'am on early Zionist ideologues with the words "Loe zu h ad erech , 1 "This is not the w ay." Dr. Syrkin, a brilliant writer and analyst, albeit in the secular Jewish vein, opens with her response to a pro-Labor (read: anti-Begin) advertisement which she says "touched me personally.

It firmly proclaimed: T h e Jewish State must adopt as its ideal, social justice, righteousness, social planning and social solidarity,' and was signed 'Nachman Syrkin, 1898.' " Nachman Syrkin, an early ideologist of Labor Zionism, was Marie Syrkin's father, and she has walked in his ways. She was appalled by chants heard during the last election campaign in Israel of the slogan , “Begin, M elech Yisrael, " a feeling one need not be a Labor Zionist to share.

After a brilliantly concise deliniation of traditional secular Zi­ onism as opposed to the fomenting of a mindless personality cult [which] has deep roots in revisionism, the movement from which Begin sprang," and a reiteration of the Labor philosophy, Syrkin goes on to a rebuke of Begin so much more mild than her title would indicate, making hardly fitting the cover title: "Menachem Begin: A Tragedy for the Jews." The air strike in Beirut that "shocked well wishers of Israel" she declares to be "reckless adven­ turism." The destruction of Iraq's nuclear reactor she finds "bril­ liantly executed—and justified." She then takes a swipe at "the alliance of economic reactionaries, orthodox dogmatists, and Greater-Israel zealots," who comprise Begin's coalition, and Begin's Defense Minister "predictable Arik Sharon." (One

2

wonders if Sharon's Arab enemies on the battlefield called him "predictable?") Prophetically—the article was written before Begin's "Banana-Republic" outburst, Syrkin concludes that "soon Begin will be embroiled with the American government in a manner calculated to delight all adversaries of Israel."

It all seems clearer now: my own infatuation with Menachem Begin, and the hatred he inspires among goyim and secular Zi­ onists and sophisticated Jews. Critics speak of life imitating art.circumstances where the musings of literary and even graphic artists suddenly appear in real life. Menachem Begin is a caricature of the despised Jew come to life, and thumbing his hooked-nose at his oppressors. There was a time when every antisemitic joke began with the words: "There was this little Jew . . ."Dim inutive in stature, bald-headed, hook-nosed, with professorial spectacles and vocabulary, he springs live from the pages of Nazi propa­ ganda. He is grubby: audaciously annexing the Golan Heights, thus denying the poor Syrians forever of the privilege of lobbing shells down on Jews in the valley. And when he is virtually or­ dered to rescind the annexation, he removes his diplomatic stance and garb and instructs the American Ambassador to "kindly [a small concession to diplomacy] inform the Secretary of State that the Golan Heights law will remain in force/' And with a look toward Heaven he adds, "there is no power on earth that will bring about its repeal."

And that is why Menachem Begin, engenders more wrath among the nations than for example, an Abba Eban with his Oxford accentf or the late Moshe Dayan with his swagger and stylish eye-patch.

And that is why Menachem Begin—even his name is so EastEuropean—annoys the secular Zionists who still like to attend meetings of the International Socialist party, pretending that they are equal among equals.

And that is why it is upsetting to hear a great Rosh Yeshiva whose party has cast its lot with Menachem Begin, suddenly de­ clare that Begin is not indeed "M elech Yisrael."

There may be yet a deeper meaning to the hostility of such as Marie Syrkin. She recently published Gleanings: A Diary in Verse (Rhthyms Press, Santa Barbara, 1979), a collection of poems she has written over the years. People who write poetry do reveal more of their inner selves and their inner struggles than those who confine themselves to prose. One of her poems is called "The Covenent."

My God has pledged me to a bitter love.

His Hand is on me; I cannot forget.

I hold the key but everywhere I move The ghetto walls slide close around me yet.

I know no psalms. The synagogue is dust.

3

The worshippers' thin voices fade away.

And yet how often to my knees I'm thrust.

I who do not believe forever pray.

Swine's flesh I've eaten and my faith have broken, And He, great God, has broken faith with me, Yet not in vain the words of awe were spoken.

The bond remains, unwilling though I be.

And when my mind cries, "Stop, there is no need," My blood remembers it is Abraham's seed.

—Menachem Begin, whatever he believes, seems not to need to be reminded that he is "Abraham's seed."

Yiddish Must Live We have at times expressed in these pages a concern for the sur­ vival of Yiddish. We are particularly anxious to expand on this subject in light of the many articles and statements by leading Jewish thinkers who see no loss in the possible demise of Yiddish.

We were therefore especially pleased to see in the Sunday De­ cember 6, 1981 issue of the Yiddish Forward—in a review of a major work on the subject edited by Dr. Joshua Fishman of Yeshiva University—a small but rich statement on Yiddish which appeared in February 24, 1961 in and was written by Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik. We are pleased to present it here verbatim, and in a modest attempt to do justice to it in English.

tirr* pum pV»p® p’Vx pu^ o$r tk ,papto nsatom ,oo,ttrr> p>p bp pa 7>x

,o’»n px pit px pa T’-xnoj x n»a$ .Bum piVxoax pj ngs p’a BXn naVn n .ttrpjjrpx ^xbbVx p’3 p3”Tu«poi^oait px tk n .n®np ’upawn (2 :rramp ’8ia (l :nwnp ps psrrx wnx btVibixs» nso n aw bu ,na® nsi® x ps pnyptn piX“3pa tx »piposyasx p^n n rfra pu ¡BVp’iiyjr’x px n ptom px pVypwa pix min 8 pi ®vt” ,x^aa |p| «t pVsm px ^p»r osn pix nx3 a« urn Bnyrm ,n®np »bij ppnx iwamxB p’l p x m ox33 J’TJpip »'a pa pa »aVsni px pV”*! pix pm »atom ■,n«mp^®»awn ps ox^p n pPn px "p’n„ nsruny® x ¡p p3 p x .nima sPx p’b p’®xa pi ,BVppwa3”x p^x IX3 P3”3 px pnyj pm min'PBO yporWi 4

'i ,pxa u n >'unn» nsn mm M n min n’Ta'rn snsm two Vx*iw> ^na snsnax px i w u n ^ n a^n nm px raa *i»WDn»T»a nan .»awowtora nan a^n wt ” »px .an»Vva p ^ -vaxa piw9 'p x .tny^pnyi mwxna nw»a pB nmo — »an na?a*?8 .opmyao'nx asxw,via px ya’Vyeiwg ,naiax n»”T p x » »wt ” n pxn rx "p'n,, xtx .urr’ *pix Dm»’» anarn ma’W’ ’wxn soma pxi DY*rr*ry IX *ix3 »soiVxoax p p aur»a rx nump p»t wax3 ,a’V”n na?an x T’x "p’n,, am pVxns’ix .nwnp*,>w’awn ps ma am px »yow^jMex ¡mat isom a

mn «pix ?urr>

I am not a Yiddishist who believes that the language has absolute value. But I am a id,and I know that holiness and orah-Y em G absoluteness are not always identical. The Halacha has formu­ lated two magnitudes of Kedusha (holiness): 1.) entities which are in essence Kedusha; 2 .) entities which are instruments of Kedusha.

The Halacha rules that one must rescue from a fire on Shabbos; not only a Sefer Torah, but the mantle in which it is wrapped; not just Tefilin, but the sack which contains them as well. Therefore Yiddish as a language—notwithstanding that it is not inherently holy—surely stands with those ancillary entities which are also holy and must be saved at all costs.

Is there a more beautiful mantle which has clothed the most sacred Sifrei Torah —and continues to cloak them—than Yiddish?

It was in this language that the Rthe Mahrshal, the Vilna Gaon, Reb Chaim Vohloziner, and other Gedolai Yisrael learned Torah with their students. In Yiddish, the Shem the M ehzeritcher Magid,and the Alter Rebbe [of Lubavitchj ex­ plained to their disciples the secrets of Creation. It was in simple Mame-Loshon that the Jewish masses expressed their simple faith, their love, their loyalty. To this day great Yeshivos give their shiurim in Yiddish. Such a mantle is surely holy, notwith­ standing that its holiness is not absolute, but an acquired holiness, akin to that acquired by artifacts used to contain holy objects.

Great merit lies in upholding that mantle.

5

"Nisht

Far

DK inder"

In most family households there is a code language used by parents to spare the children some of the difficulties of family life;, or to discuss unpleasant matters. In American Jewry, Yiddish has been that language, though one wonders what will replace it as the new generation moves into parenthood. In our house the ex­ pression “Nisht fa r die kinder, ” meant "this is going beyond w the children should know or hear." When the kinder got to know what “Nisht far die m der" eant, we had to dip into the world of kin technology, borrowing a phrase from our dishwashing machine: CANCEL DRAIN, signaling that a conversation had gone too far.

I have myself become a strong partisan of Yiddish and pray (literally) that it will never die—of which more elsewhere in this issue or a future one. Yet when I read the Yiddish press—which I do religiously—I cannot help feeling glad that most American Jews, including Orthodox Jews, don't read it. It is replete with the kind of puffery that would make a hardened press agent— Hollywood style—almost blush. It is filled with self-serving stories about individuals and organizations, and one can almost see the price-tag attached, or the inches of advertising copy com­ mensurate with the amount of editorial space. But it is not the standards of journalism or advertising standards that concern me here. It is the ugliness of the absurd disputes that fill the pages; the slander and the counter-slander; the public notices betraying intra-Orthodox hostilities.

There are on-going battles for the mantles of rabbinic lead-;' ership; stories of conventions fraudulently called; organization of new groups when there are already too many. And the ubiquitous announcements of forthcoming melava malkas, dinners, and con­ ventions, that are of so little interest really—except to those imme­ diately involved—that the writers must frequently fall back on the expression " __ _ hut aroisgerufen a sach in der Yiddish gass,"—"the announcement has brought forth a great deal of in­ terest on the Jewish scene."

If readers of Jewish Life don't know what I'm talking about and don't know the names of the principles, it's just as well. After all: "Siznisht far die kinder . "

6

The Issue The W orld of the Yeshiva Books are in a sense like people: they mean different things to different people; and they stimulate varying, often widelyW orld divergent responses. To scholars, William Helmreich's o f the Yeshiva—an advance selection appears in this issu e-w ill provide a major resource not previously available. To those who are of the world of the yeshiva, it will offer a total picture not normally visible to those who experience only a segment of it.

Some will read with delight; others will wince. Perhaps for the first time in American Jewish history, the institution which has revolutionized Jewish life will be scrutinized, and the ensuing dis­ cussions can bring about a willingness to confront some of its flaws.

To those whose understanding of the yeshiva, Jews and nonJews alike—is a bundle of cliches, it will be an opportunity to enjoy an objective, accurate description of what a yeshiva really is.

To the Orthodox Jewish community in the English-speaking world, The W orld o f the Yeshiva is a major step forward in our drive to achieve self-understanding within a framework of Torah and secular literacy.

The Kotel H a'M a'aravi Rochelle Furstenburg is an American, now Israeli, who will be offering us periodic reports on developments in religious life in the Holy City and the Holy Land. This new series is one step in our attempt to make Jewish Life at least some part of that long-sought bridge between Eretz Yisrael and the Golah.

Jews in South A frica To most Americans, reading or hearing about South Africa, brings to mind that country's internal and international problems.

Yet there is in that country a vibrant, growing Jewish community with an Orthodoxy not unlike that of American Orthodoxy. In this issue, Chief Rabbi Casper, introduces us to The Beginnings o f

Jewish Life in South Africa.

Aliyah and Yerida Aliyah to Israel is down to a trickle; Yerida is becoming a wave.

Given the importance of Israel to all Jews, the loss of potential and

actual residents can no longer be perceived of as solely an Israeli problem: it is a matter of major concern to Klal Yisrael. Elli Wohlgelenter, a young American journalist, gives us, in Israel's Olympic Games: Athletes C om e Home, a first-hand account of one effort—albeit on a small scale—to bring Jews back home.

An "A m erican" Israeli in China What happens when an Israeli scientist, under very transparent cover as an American, goes to the People's Republic of China would make an interesting story in itself. In An Israeli in CMna, Barbara Soferr, a free-lance writer from Yerushalayim, tells us what happens when the scientist is also a Kosher-eating Shomer Shabbos.

Fiction in Jewish Life Readers have warmly greeted our expanded fiction section. More and more people, with strong Jewish backgrounds are turning to creative writing. With due respect to the Roths, the Malamuds, and the Bellows, their understanding of traditional Judaism leaves most everything to be desired. Gershon Zwick, whose The Stranger: A Fantasy, appears in this issue, is a former yeshiva student now in retirement after a career in engineering. We hope he will continue to share with us the fruits of his retirement.

In forthcom ing issues . . . . . . we will offer a statement on Hashkofa by a young Rosh Ye­ shiva . . . a look at some of the problems faced by nouveau-frum Jewish women . . . an examination of some "new" Siddurim in­ cluding To Pray As a Jew, a work by the late and lamented Rabbi Chaim Donin . . . a review of Israeli novelist Ahron Appelfeld's An Age o f Wonders, about Jewish self-hatred, and Memoirs o f An Anti-Semite . . . an examination of two recent studies on Anti­ semitism . . . a portrait of Isaac Leeser, a pioneer of Orthodox Judaism in the United States . . . a round-up of recentlypublished Jewish books . . . more fiction . . . an article on the unique philosophy and outreach efforts of the Chofezt Chaim Ye­ shiva . . . and more new features.

Again: w e solicit your letters to the editor.

8

Give the gift of Jewish Life to scores of people in your home town for only ten dollars.

Give a gift of Jewish Life to your local public or Jewish Center library, or your local Hillel Foundation.

Jewish Life 45 West 36th Street N ew Y ork .N .Y . 10018 □ I enclose $________for

gift subscriptions—my list is enclosed.

□ Please send details on special bulk rates on gift subscriptions.

name

street address

city

state

zip

10

William Helmreich

'M aking It' in the Yeshiva: An Intimate Portrait of O rthodox Jewry “Making It" in the Yeshiva is part of a major work by Dr. Helmreich on Yeshivos Gedolos to be published in late Spring of 1982 by Macmilliam Publishers (The Free Press), called The World of the Yeshiva: An Intinlate Portrait of Orthodox Jewry.

In addition to explaining his methodology, the book includes chapters on life in the yeshiva; what motivates people to attend yeshiva; who fails, and who succeeds—and why.

The work is a pioneering effort, never before attempted by an independent scholar of American Judaism. It contains historical information on the yeshiva, the oldest institution of higher learning in Western society.

In the course of the seven years of research from which this work emerges, Dr. Helmreich, himself a former yeshiva student, returned to a yeshiva as a full-time student for a period of two years, where he kept a log of his experiences. He then began a series of interviews, speaking at length to about 180 people, including heads of major yeshivos, members of their faculties, community leaders, current students and yeshiva alumni. Among his respondents were: Rav Moshe Feinstein, Rav Yoseph Dov Soloveitchik, Rav Yaakov Ruderman, Rav Henach Liebowitz, Rav Shneur Kotler, and the late Rav Yitzchok Hutner. While much original materials and transcripts of these interviews remain in manuscript, the book is replete with their comments on Torah attitudes to Eretz Yisrael, secular education for yeshiva students, dating and courtship, and other matters of Torah hashkofa. These comments, from Torah scholars who do not frequently discuss these matters for the record, by themselves make the work of a major contribu­ tion to the ideology as well as the sociology of Orthodox Judaism.

Dr. Helmreich distributed an extensive questionnaire to eight hundred and seventy eight alumni of yeshivos gedolos, more than half of whom responded to the 70 items, providing statistical data never before available—much of which appears in the book. —Editor

Every community has its pecking order: the yeshiva is no ex­ ception. Why some people are looked up to in the yeshiva and others are not is a complex issue. To begin with, there are consid­ erable variations from institution to institution: some emphasize character development; others intellectual attainment. Within each yeshiva there are those on the faculty and in the adminis­ tration who are impressed more by a student’s intuitive grasp o f abstract concepts while others give greater credit to the bochur who makes up in effort what he lacks in ability. Similarly, there is no unanimity among students and teachers as to who is looked up to although there is general agreement concerning what criteria are important.

I want to present here some of the general criteria by which people in the yeshiva are judged and to discuss in a preliminary fashion some of the consequences of such status. The fact that the yeshiva is an institution with a rather fixed authority structure, one that emphasizes conformity over individuality and whose members are in basic agreement with its general goals, makes it easier to generalize. When sociologists use the word "status" they refer either to a socially defined position in a community (in this 11

William Helmreich is Pro­ fessor of Sociology and Judaic Studies at the City College of New York and the City Uni­ versity Graduate Center. In addition to The World of the Yeshiva, Dr. Helmreich is the author of The Black Cru­ saders, Afro-Americans and Africa, Wake Up Wake Up to Do the Work of the Creator, a memoir on life in a yeshiva high school recently re­ printed in paperback, and The Things They Say Behind Your Back, a new work on ethnic stereotypes soon to be published by Doubleday. Dr. Helmreich has published ex­ tensively in scholarly journals, and this is his first contribution to Jewish Life.

He is a member of our Edi­ torial Board.

instance, a rebbe, executive director, or advanced student), or to a person's prestige. Here the focus will be on prestige as we try to understand what and who counts in the yeshiva.

He's A Genius All those who enter the yeshiva have at least one level of status, that of a student. Before long each acquires a reputation as a good, average, or poor student; as a fine or not so fine person; as a “nice guy", A student whohelps others in or a "bum". Generally, the highest status among students is their efforts to understand the given to those who "learn well," a student who studies hard and material derives a certain has a thorough understanding of the texts. The teachers, with few degree of status from them. exceptions, also seem to place this attribute ahead of all others Among the motivations for including ethical behavior (middos ),although most helping others are genuine concern and a chance to dem­ asked, would probably respond that being a "good person" is of onstrate their own skills, both greater importance than one's level of learning. to recipients of such aid and to The significance of learning is apparent from the almost ex­ their own peers and teachers. clusive focus on study throughout the entire day. As a general rule those students who do not attend college at all have higher status than those who do. This dichotomy is most apparent where practice with regard to college attendance varies widely among those in a particular institution, with some going two or four eve­ nings a week and others not at all. Nevertheless, while diligence in one's studies is highly valued, the brilliant student receives even greater recognition. It is common for both students and teachers to describe others in terms such as "He's a genius;" "He really knows how to learn" or "This rebbe's class is very deep." This is so important a criterion that students will sometimes go to great lengths to persuade others of their mental prowess.

An example of this sort of "impression management," as sociol­ ogist Erving Goffman calls it, occurred with one of my learning partners. He had been in the yeshiva for only a short time and gave the impression that he had a limited talmudic background. Yet he seemed very knowledgeable and often complained that the pace in the class was too slow for him. Over a period of time, however, it became clear that he had not only studied extensively at other yeshivas prior to his arrival but was quite familiar with the tractate being studied, having already covered it at another school. He had played down his previous experience because of a desire to gain a reputation as a really bright fellow among both his peers and teachers. The following observations made by a 22 year old student at Ner Israel Yeshiva indicate both awareness and concern about status: When I came here I found out there were two ways to be recognized, to make it. One, o f course (emphasis added) was to get in on your smartness—and when I mean recognized, I mean dealt with on a personal level by either your rebbe or the Kollel guys (older, married students whose place in the hierarchy is just below that of the faculty). Then your name goes around on a grapevine. The other

12

when

way is to do something very shticky (cool or idiosyncratic). If you catch on, then you're liked, there's something about you that's very special, that stands you out, which is basically the pshat.

These comments were made in the presence of five other stu­ dents; not one disagreed with the assessment.

The value placed on doing something "shticky" may be due, in part, to the lack of emphasis on individuality in the yeshiva. Being "shticky" may range from wearing a special sort of hat (within the bounds of propriety, of course) to using certain pet expressions which for one reason or another catch on and become a way of showing that one is "in" or "hip." Certain phrases and forms of expression become associated with different yeshivas to the point where both former and current students can relate to each other through a common frame of reference.

A student who helps others in their efforts to understand the material derives a certain degree of status from them. Among the motivations for helping others are genuine concern and a chance to demonstrate their own skills, both to the recipients of such aid and to their own peers and teachers.

Character and Religiosity A second source of status is character (middos). There are many laws in the Torah governing how one ought to act toward one's fellow man. Thus a person who is considerate of others fulfills a religious precept as well as one judged important by general standards of human behavior. People in the yeshiva will often characterize someone by saying "He's a great haul m i d d o s The degree of respect given such individuals varies. At schools such as the Chofetz Chaim Yeshiva and the Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch Yeshiva, which have a tradition of emphasizing this area (albeit from differing perspectives), it matters a great deal. Conversa­ tions with members of both institutions confirmed that such atti­ tudes are ingrained in the minds of the students: The main thing in this yeshiva among most of the bochurim is the person who's sincere and friendly and honest and gets along nicely with people. The ones looked up to are also those who manage to learn without using the "frumer shtick" (religious oneupmanship), like: -Don't ask me to cleanup the seforim (books) in the beis medrash because it's going to take away time from my learning, or, they'll say: 'Don't ask me anything except about learning because I'm too busy to bother with nonsense.'

—A 21-year-old student at the Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch Yeshiva (Breuer's Yeshiva)»

There are, of course, other ways of demonstrating religi­ osity. A young man may wear a very large talis katan, or sleep all night in a succah during Succos, rather than simply have his meals there.

More often than not his religi­ osity will be evaluated as part of his overall personality.

Modesty and the avoidance of gossip (loshon hora) are key virtues partly because they are difficult to adhere to. This is espe­ cially true in the yeshiva, where one's abilities are constantly on display in the classroom and in the beis medrash , and where the limited options for free time activity plus institutional insularity 13

Some rosh yeshivas are sur­ rounded by a phalanx of such individuals some of whom are students and others who work in this capacity on a formal basis and are paid for their services. Tensions sometimes develop among the various persons who carry out such tasks as they jockey for a po­ sition that will make them more powerful. Power, in this case, usually means having the rosh yeshiva's ear on certain matters and con­ trolling who gets to see him and who does not, much like appointment.

make talking about others a favorite pastime.

A certain degree of status is sometimes achieved by extreme religiosity. But since being religious is a requirement for remaining in the yeshiva only extremes are likely to draw attention. For ex­ ample, a bochur who takes twenty minutes to say a tefila that others say in ten or fifteen minutes will attract attention. At the same time it can make the others uncomfortable, as an implicit statement about the devotional level of the individual as com­ pared to that of his peers. Still, when perceived as sincere, it will rarely evoke criticism. Such behavior is perfectly acceptable, of course, when it comes from someone generally perceived to be on a higher spiritual plane, such as a rebbe. It is indeed expected that the teachers in the school will spend more time saying their tefilos than the students.

There are, of course, other ways of demonstrating religiosity . A young man may wear a very large talis katan, or sleep all night in a succah during Succos, rather than simply have his meals there.

More often than not his religiosity will be evaluated as part of his overall personality.

The " All around Guy" and the Meshoress Another source of status is being known as an "all-around guy."

This is usually synonymous with being an athlete. Interestingly, the bochurim may look up to a teacher with such skills. It may be, however, that a rebbe s reputation as an athlete is a double-edged sword: It will reduce social distance between the teacher and some students, but it may result in a loss of respect on the part of others.

Whether or not this will be an important basis for status in either direction depends on both the individual and the school. In general, the more liberal the institution the more significant such criteria. Thus, a student at a New York City yeshiva where most of the students attend college and where the enforcement of laws relating to dating and going to the movies is lax, said: I play basketball, so I'm always arranging the games and everything.

But it isn't just me. Guys who are good ballplayers are admired by the others because it's something they'd like to be good at. Yet it isn't only that. If a guy has a good sense of humor, if he's an okay guy, not a squealer, these things count too.

Students at the more "right-wing" yeshivas asserted that such characteristics, especially ability as a ballplayer, were, by and large, rather irrelevant.

There are also students who fall into the category of meshorsim (literally, those who serve). These are people who act as aides for either their rebbe or the rosh yeshiva , perhaps for such things as

14

driving him to weddings or to important rabbinic meetings. If the man they serve is ill, it can mean giving him his medication or preparing his meals when he is away from home. They also shield the rebbe from unnecessary or unimportant matters—especially true of the head of the institution who is often besieged by persons wanting to see him, each insisting his problem deserves the highest priority.

Students who do this are not necessarily the best students. It is sometimes because they are not such good students that they grav­ itate to this area. Often they also have a gift for administrative detail. Some rosh yeshivas are surrounded by a phalanx of such individuals some of whom are students and others who work in this capacity on a formal basis and are paid for their services.

Tension sometimes develops among the various persons who carry out such tasks as they jockey for a position that will make them more powerful. Power, in this case, usually means having the rosh yeshivas ear on certain matters and controlling who gets to see him and who does not, much like appointment secretaries in a governor's office or in the White House.

Wealth and the "Right" Family: Does it Matter?

Most yeshivas are hard-pressed for funds, relying heavily on the private sector for financial support. They are therefore open to pressure from a wealthy parent who wants his son admitted.

Twenty years ago yeshivas could ill afford to turn anyone away.

Today, a young man might be admitted to certain institutions under such circumstances but would probably be asked to leave if he became a disruptive force affecting morale in the school. On the other hand, family wealth counts for little among the students themselves in what is very much a meritocracy. Such students often become the subject of unfavorable talk, as we see in the fol­ lowing comments by a student: Now you take Asher. He's a real "bum". He doesn't learn; he doesn't come to minyan, goes to movies, and look at the way he dresses— flashy shirt, tight pants. I mean, he doesn't belong here. But this is a poor yeshiva, and you have to let him stay here for a little while. His father's on the board. It's just a shame he had to have a son like that.

You know, this is his third yeshiva in three years.

Rosh yeshivas are often from distinguished rabbinical and scholarly families. In the yeshiva such lineage gives a bochur a certain degree of prestige. First: it implies that a student from such a family has had the benefit of highly desirable role models. If his father is a rosh yeshiva , for example, he has presumably been so-

15

cialized into the values and norms of yeshiva life at an early age.

On a more subtle level, it is assumed that there is a better than even chance that some of the family's talents in scholarship have been genetically passed on to its descendants. Success on the part of such individuals may be noticed more rapidly with credit being given to the family line. ("What do you expect?; he's a 'Soloveitchik.' ") Sometimes, as in the case of a not-so-talented student, mem­ bership in a distinguished family can be a liability. Such a bochur of only average capability may feel tremendous pressure to be outstanding. In some cases the matter is resolved by sending him to another yeshiva. This is often considered a good idea even in cases where the student is quite capable since it gives him the op­ portunity to grow independently.

As indicated previously, learning is more highly prized than money and family prestige. Yet, as the following remarks by a former student at a New York City yeshiva indicate, the last two can and sometimes do tip the scales: One of the things that bothered me for a very long time is that it was a very prestige-conscious world. There was very little learning lishmo (for the name of God, not for any "practical" reason) . . . I didn't have yichus. I always felt bad because my father was a nobody in the world. He was just a salesman. And you would see how the rosh ye­ shiva would talk to other guys, guys whose fathers were rosh yeshivas, more than to me. They w ould get better dates. I was con­ sidered good, but not top, material. Rich guys were also respected.

WH: Who was respected most?

Learning came first. Then money and family. I remember one fellow though. He learned exceptionally well. He got the best. Certainly it wasn't a pure world. There was a lot of bitterness, but there are ri­ valries and jealousies in the academic world, too .

Some Results of Status Let's begin first with cliques among yeshiva students. The group a person belongs to may be an outcome as well as a predictor of his status. Thus good bochurim may become friends with others who are already good students or they may be motivated to become good students because they belong to such a group and are influ­ enced by its values. For example, student A comes from Memphis, Tennessee to an Eastern yeshiva where there are six other students from Memphis of about the same age, all of them good students.

Student A is slightly above average although he has a propensity for fooling around occasionally. Upon arriving he encounters stu­ dents B and C who were close friends of his from childhood days.

They introduce him to the others from Memphis who know him only slightly at home but now consider him one of their own.

Accepted by a group in an unfamiliar setting, Student A tries his 16

best to fit in, adopting the norms and values of those closest to him. In addition, he is perceived as a "good guy" at the onset by others merely by association and may well be referred to as one of "the Memphis contingent." In this way, membership in a grou may encourage a person to act in a status-raising manager while at the same time conferring status upon him.

Student D comes from a small town in Minnesota where his father is the local rabbi. He has been sent to the same Eastern yeshiva because his father knows the rosh yeshiva from the old days in Europe. He arrives with no reputation and no friends. A studious young man, Student D throws himself into his work.

Through good fortune his teacher notices his diligence and not inconsiderable mental abilities early in the term. He matches him with one of the best students in the class, one who has numerous "The fact that the rebbe puts friends in the institution partly as a result of having been there him down doesn't mean that since high school days. The two bochurim hit it off almost imme­ he's asking the wrong ques­ tions. It just means that he can diately ahd, as a result, Student D is introduced to his learning take being put down more. If partner's circle of friends, who are also excellent students. These you're handled gingerly it young men become his friends too. In this instance membership in may well mean that the rebbe a group confers status while also coming about as a result of doesn't feel you’re ready yet for rougher treatment. " certain qualities valued by the group. It differs from the first in­ stance in that achievement in a key area preceded acceptance.

Both examples illustrate the interplay between the sources and consequences of status.

Having established that these two factors cannot be judged apart from one another, it is necessary to emphasize that they operate in similar fashion where poor students are (concerned.

Someone who does not adjust well to the yeshiva regimen is likely to find himself limited to friends of similar bent. On the other hand, the poor student may prefer their company because he has more in common with them. Nevertheless, membership in such a group both confirms his status in the institution and at the same time denies him many of the benefits that come from high po­ sition.

Cliques often form on the basis of who one's roommates are.

This means, of course, that friendship may have nothing to do with considerations mentioned earlier. Room assignments may be motivated by the hope on the part of the dormitory supervisor that an excellent student in a room with those who are not stu­ dious may positively influence them. Whatever the case, it is gen­ erally recognized that one has a responsibility toward one's room­ mates that transcends personal preferences. Over a period of time a student comes to identify closely with his roommates who often become his confidants and who play a significant role in his devel­ opment at the yeshiva.

Because one can belong to different groups within the insti­ tution, situations can and do arise where the student experiences a certain degree of role conflict. For example, a student may have a friend from his local community who is performing poorly in the 17

yeshiva while he himself is friends with certain students who/like himself, are very studious. The desire to retain his old friendship may result in diminished esteem from his newer friends. Similarly, an individual's roommates may violate certain rules of the insti­ tution such as listening to the radio. His membership in a small circle of friends who study privately on an extracurricular basis with the dean of men may cause him great discomfort, especially when the dean tells him that there is a problem involving radios in the dormitory.

Being a good student can bring about a number of rewards.

Some yeshivas have journals in which scholarly articles by stu­ dents (chiddushim) are published. Publication is considered a great honor within the institution. Naturally, good work results in promotion, in itself a tangible mark of achievement. In the classroom setting a good student may have his status acknowl­ edged by being called on to read a particularly difficult portion in the text. Sometimes criticism is an indication of high status. As a member of the class to which I belonged a a participant observer explained to me: The fact that the rebbe puts him down doesn't mean that he's asking the wrong questions. It just means that he can take being put down more. If you're handled gingerly it may well mean that the rebbe doesn't feel you're ready yet for roughter treatment.

O f course, within the system students carefully observe how the teacher relates to each of their peers. Rleationships between good students and the rebbe are usually more relaxed. In addition, the rebbe may invite the better students to his home more frequently.

Among the students it can mean being asked for help by others, and receiving certain honors in the synagogue. Finally, minor in­ fractions, such as coming late to services, are more likely to be overlooked if the student learns well. Even a major violation will not result in as severe a punishment for a student whose behavior is otherwise exemplary as for one who is seen as a so-so student.

Special treatment for various students may bring about re­ sentment in others, particularly when the treatment is accorded on the basis of inherited rather than achieved status. Thus one young man in an out-of-town yeshiva voiced the following bitter com­ plaint: There's a lot of politics. Like we were leaving for vacation and I was supposed to leave early. The mashgiach found out about it. So what did he do? He screamed at me and said it's not fair that I shoudl be allowed to leave one day before the New York guys do. On the other hand there's one kid who's loaded; he's got a stereo and a gorgeous car—I think it's a Cadillac—and he gets away with it.

As indicated earlier, differential treatment on such a basis varies 18

greatly from one school to another. It is clearly a potential source of trouble in maintaining morale and high motivation.

Competitiveness in the Yeshiva: Pros and Cons: Dispensing privileges to those who study well is a different matter, for the yeshiva can justify its actions as based on a desire to provice incentive for others to do better work. Yet, when, as is often the case, such privileges are given out because of a student's accomplishments rather than his efforts, it can also have negative effects, for not everyone is similarly equiped to compete success­ fully in the yeshiva world.

Meir Wikler, a social worker who counsels yeshiva students, often at the request of the institutions themselves, had this to say when asked about the problems confronting the "average stu­ dent."

Because of the emphasis on producing an elite there is a tremendous pressure on performance and achievement. (Yet) the blessing we make on the study of Torah is laasok bedivrei Torah (to be involved in the study of Torah) . . . regardless of the outcome. So the message is not supposed to be how much Torah you know, but how hard you try to learn. Sometimes . . . others around him will say, /You really try.

That's great.' It's nice if a guy sits and tries, but the one who is really praised is the one that chaps (impresses with his knowledge) the tosh

yeshiva.

Defenders of the system have argued that competitiveness makes the student try harder. One former rebbe said: "If you try to be Mickey Mantle you'll at least be Hector Lopez." He claims that the teachers often pay attention to "so-called average stu­ dents" by helping them realize potential they may not believe they have. The rebbe does not, however, touch on the question of what happens to those who simply do not have such potential, an­ swering such a query with "It's a difficult problem." Wikler agrees that the yeshiva makes strong efforts to reach everyone but argues that they do not proceed in a professional manner: It's not that they ignore the average bochur. They don't. What they do is they make him feel he's missed the mark, that's he's failed. They do this by making it clear that the overall goal is to be b ok i beTorah (very knowledgeable in the Torah) . . . When a student gets a C he really feels that he failed. It would be better to say: 'Try your best, and if you do, you'll get an A .' I'm not saying that's easy to do. In elementary schools, where there is more emphasis on pedagogical expertise and training . . . they have ways of rewarding children for their eforts . . . for making a child feel good about his work.

It may seem reasonable to ask why the student who cannot compete successfully does not simply leave and go somewhere where he is likely to be more appreciated. This is, however, not an easy matter as Wikler points out: 19

They stay because the insular nature of a yeshiva places a stigma on anyone who leaves. You may have no status in the yeshiva because you're an ignoramus . . . but you're made to feel that you're one of the in-crowd because they're there, and once you leave, you've lost even that.

The value for the student of being in the "in-crowd" should not be underestimated. His parents, teachers, friends, and relatives have shaped his perceptions of the yeshiva community as the place to be and of superior learning skills as the highest attainment pos­ sible. It is not easy for him to turn his back on such a world for he has little preparation or even inclination for another way of life.

Moreover, as noted by Wikler, this is a world that offers certain psychic benefits irrespective of one's location within its status hi­ erarchy. Leonard Topp, a psychologist and ordained rabbi who attended the Rabbi Jacob Joseph Yeshiva for many years, at­ tempted to express what was essentially an emotional feeling about membersip in the community: Those who succeed in the yeshiva sometimes find ad­ justment to the outside world difficult because the very cri­ teria by which such success was judged do not apply beyond the yeshiva. Thus a person who has enjoyed high status because he is a scholar may find that his colleagues in the clothing industry are not in the slightest bit impressed by what they regard as a nonmarketable skill.

You couldn't get this anywhere. The k o v o d (honor) that you got from learning in a yeshiva. There was just a total aura in some sense.

This "aura" comes both from the yeshiva itself, which incul­ cates pride in its students by instilling in them the conviction that they belong to an elite group and from the community which does in fact give respect to yeshiva students. A student need only men­ tioned to many other Orthodox Jews that he attends an advanced yeshiva to be respected. This is especially true for top-ranked schools such as Lakewood and Telshe. Not only do the students themselves benefit but their parents and friends received reflected prestige too.

Those who succeed in the yeshiva sometimes find adjustment to the outside world difficult becaus the very criteria by which such success was judged do not apply beyond the yeshiva. Thus a person who has enjoyed high status because he is a scholar may find that his colleagues in the clothing industry are not in the slightest bit impressed by what they regard as a nonmarketable skill. His status in an accounting firm will depend upon the clients he brings in and how he handles them, not in whether he was the one of the best students in his rosh yeshiva s class. Such status loss often comes as a rude shock to the recent alumnus and the ad­ justment can be painful. The situation is probably exacerbated by the fact that the compétitive nature of his yeshiva experience may cause the young man to place an inordinate degree of importance on success in general.

What can be done to alleviate such problems? If, as some maintain, competitiveness is a necessary element in developing outstanding scholars and community leaders, it would seem that there should at least be a stronger recognition that, notwith­ standing differences in ability, all are working toward a common goal of understanding the material and that this must be a cooper­ ative process. It is, nevertheless, utopian to believe that all stu­ 20 dents are capable of demonstrating such selflessness of purpose.

Moreover, there will be those who simply lack a certain degree of ability, no matter how hard they try. To satisfy their needs the yeshiva must confer status in both tangible and intangible ways on those who exhibit a high level of ethical conduct and who try their best to comprehend the talmudic texts even they have relatively little to show for their efforts.

It must be emphasized that whether or not a student succeeds in the yeshiva may have as much to do with his attitudes toward success as with the view of the particular yeshiva. Social worker Yaakov Salomon emphasized the role of the individual in dis­ cussing his own yeshiva experience: The people who cope best are those that sort out other areas for com­ peting. It wasn't 'if you can't beat em, join em,' but, 'If you can't join em, go someplace else' (within the yeshiva). Guys used to stand out in different ways. One guy became the expert in mussar (ethics). He Couldn't learn so well, so that's what he did. Another person who couldn't learn that well would try to hang around with the high school guys to influence them. One became a (the one who takes care of administrative duties in the synagogue) in the beis medrash.

There are, in fact, many possible roles for students in the ye­ shiva and the degree to which students can adjust to their strengths and weaknesses plus the willingness of the school to aid them in doing so will ultimately determine,the success of both.

C IR C L E T H E D A T E !

ORTHODOX UNION 83RD ANNIVERSARY NATIONAL CONVENTION T h a n k sg iv in g W eekend N ovem ber 25, 28, 1982 at the new

Hyatt Regency, New Brunswick, N .J.

C all the U n io n o ffice, (2 1 2 ) 5 6 3 -4 0 0 0 , fo r fu rth e r in fo rm a tio n .

21

«

22

Rochelle Furstenberg

A Letter from Yerushalayim Anyone who lives in Yerushalayim knows that the Western Wall has transformed religious life and created new patterns of Torah living. It is common to see individuals making their way in the middle of the night to the Kotel, there to pray for a sick child, to bid good bye before a journey, or simply to say T ehilim iot con­ tinued sustenance. "The K otel," a shortened form of K otel M aaravi, is in itself an endearing term, almost a diminutive which expressses the warmth and familiarity, the personal relationship which was so quickly re-established after '67.

This relationship already existed throughout the years when Turkey and England ruled in Eretz Yisroel and Jews would crowd into the narrow streets before the Kotel. Today, much enlarged— and perhaps less intimate—this vestige of the glorious Bet Ha M ikdosh continues to elicit intense individual reaction, the still small voice of "Kol dodi d ofek." But today, in addition to the individual relationship to the K otel that has always existed, there is another public dimension of religious experience which could only develop as a free and sovereign people determines their own fate in their own land.

As we stand back and observe the patterns of celebration and worship that are developing we realize the meaning of "B'rov am hadrat M elech , " Amidst the multitude of the people is God's glory found." We understand, by analogy, the spectacle and drama of the Bet Ha M ikdash. We perceive in Judaism the full-toned sym­ phony, the large experience, as well as the small, individual one.

Certainly, the Jewish community has always talked of itself as a nation, as Am Yisrael. But it was a nation that could only express itself the periphery of other nations, other cultures. As the poor man collects for himself that which was left at the edges of the field, so too the Jew was allowed thè cultural leftovers, the unused space of others. For, try as we may to ignore it, the field belonged to someone else.

Today, as one watches the young men dancing down to the Kotel on Friday night it is clear that this is no longer the case.

There is neither shame nor exhibitionism: they know this is their place, their field.

There are countless occasions to manifest this feeling throughout the year. Perhaps, the most joyous of the processions is on Simchat Torah. From synagogues and yeshiva groups around the City they make their way to the Kotel. Open-collared they dance through the streets with the Torah as old Sephardic

Rochelle Furstenberg is an American transplanted to Israel. She will be writing a letter from Yerushalayim pe­ riodically.

23

women gather on their balconies to shower the young men with sweets.

There are those for whom other patterns have become en­ trenched. On Yom Kippur as the shadows deepen and the day turns, many have made it their custom to come to the Kotel for the closing Ne'ila service. Indeed, as one watches the men in their 'ka patot' gather near the K otel it is imposible not to recreate in the mind's eye the awesome moments of Yom Kippur in the Bet Ho'Mikdash. For those living outside Yerushalayim the custom has developed to come up to the K otel during Choi Hamoed. The Rabbanut , perceiving this spontaneous movement, has initiated a mass public “Birchat Cohanim" which, with the help of micro­ phones, makes of the scattered minyanim, one congregation, one nation.

But it is in the Spring season when the centrality of the Kotel can best be observed. In the balmy days from Pesach to Shavuot the Kotel is the focus of celebration and commemoration. In general, life in Israel is much closer to the natural rhythms of the seasons.

One experiences Spring in a primal sense after the cold and rainy winter, and Israelis greedily come out to the sun. There is a resur­ gence of street life and it is Jewish street life. Much of the spectacle and excitement is generated by the vitality of the young people involved and often, the dramatic hours in when they take place.

When the dancing and strolling dwindle in the streets on Israeli Independence eve, the young men of Mercaz Harav Yeshiva then begin their hearty midnight stomping and singing across town.

"Where will they be at one o'clock?" youngsters ask one another and the group swells as they proceed. On the day celebrating the liberation of Yerushalayim buses go out from yeshivot all over the country to appear at the crack of dawn winding their way into the Judaean hills. A sea of white shirts covers the plaza of the Kotel. — But the most inspiring celebration of all is that of Shavuot.

Here, young and old, men and women, of all shades of religious orientation gather in yeshivot, homes, synagogues and even com­ munity centers for all-night study sessions, as is the custom all over the world. But in Yerushalayim one feels what is called "critical mass". The sheer numbers involved, its uninhibited na­ tional character, create an experience which is qualitatively dif­ ferent than study sessions any place in the world. The phones buzz on Erev Shavuot and women discuss the merits of various allnight study sessions as eagerly as they exchange cheese-cake recipes. Some personal examples come to mind. A friend whose husband fell in the Six Day War has a Tikun Lail Shavuot in his honor with different people teaching all night in her name. A pro­ fessor at the University has been learning Megillat Ruth with all the commentaries and translations in various languages, each year advancing a few sentences. But Shavuot night study is not just the

A friend whose husband fell in the Six Day War has a Tikun Lail Shavuot in his honor with different people teaching all night in her name.

A professor at the University has been learning Megillat Ruth with all the commen­ taries and translations in various languages, each year advancing a few sentences.

But Shavuot night study is not just the property of the select few. It draws many different kinds of people seeking to participate in its dramatic ca­ tharsis.

24

property of the select few. It draws many different kinds of people seeking to patricipate in its dramatic catharsis. This occurs, before dawn, when sleepy eyed, people begin to emerge from the warm circle of friends and the all-night camraderie of study into the darkness of the night. In ones and twos they come from hushed side streets, ever moving, ever merging as tributaries into the main arteries of the city. One cannot but help be reminded of the de­ scription in Mishneh Bikurim of Jews gathering and rising to go up to the Bet Ha M ikdash, "Come let us go up to Yerushalayim to bring our first fruits" echoes in one's footsteps as more and more people join the streaming crowds until there are thousands moving in the quiet of the night to the Old City and the Kotel to arrive as the first rays of light rise over the gray stone walls of the Old City.

And so a new consciousness is being created within Torah Ju­ daism. Professor Shalom Rosenberg of the Department of Jewish Philosophy of the Hebrew University has explained the place of the Kotel within the larger dialectic taking place in Israel. "In our century," says Professor Rosenberg," the main impulse for re­ turning to the Land was the striving for sovereignty, which brought the establishment of the Jewish State. Immigrants came because they wanted to live in a Jewish country albeit one in Eretz Yisroel in which we are historically and emotionally involved. But the emphasis was on the sovereignty finally gained in '48. With the regaining of Yerushalayim and the territories the emphasis shifted to the concept of place and the connection to Eretz Yisroel the holy places and most of all, Yerushalayim. "The Kotel" became the center of this attention, the example par excellence of what it means to have recovered the holy places. But a new dialectic has developed. We do not return to the K otel and other holy places as we did in pre-Zionist days. A sovereign people, we impose a na­ tional consciousness upon these places. " The Kotel" becomes a catalyst and a focus fo r religious expression on a national basis.

It is the contention of many here that this consciousness has spilled over to the Galut, where it seems that Jews are less inhibited about celebrating and commemorating holidays publicly. One can, of course attribute this to the greater self-confidence of the Orthodox Jewish community, particularly in the United States, but it would be myopic not to realize that Galut Jewry has new models for public Jewish life, new forms of observance which are being carried over from Israel. One can even hypothesize that the thousands of observant young people who come to study in Israel carry back with them expectations for public commemoration, an appetite for spectacle and the larger forms of observance which they have witnessed in Israel. All this is not to say that there is not intense personal observance in Israel. But that is a subject for an­ other letter. Until then, Shalom.

25

Record o f the first minyan assembled in South Africa.

26

Bernard M. Casper

The Beginnings of Jewish Life in South Africa Earlier this year an exhibit was held at the University o f Witwatersand in South Africa depicting the life and history o f South African Jew ry . R abbi Casper was asked to deliver a lecture in con­ junction with the exhibit, He has graciously consented to permit us to publish his paper in a som ew hat shortened version.

Jewish immigration into South Africa came in waves at certain well-defined periods. The first wave consisted of individual Jews who came within the fram ew ork of the Dutch East India Company. They settled here in small numbers during the period of about 150 years until 1800. Little is known of them and their ac­ tivities; and this is hardly surprising/ in view of the fact that the Dutch East India Company required that all its servants and set­ tlers be Protestants. Unquestionably those Jews who did come in those days drifted away from Judaism and left little impact so far as the history of the Community is concerned. At the same time it would be little short of a miracle in Jewish history if, in such a half­ way house to the East as the Cape, no Jew should have lived or Jewish influences been at work; and it should be remembered that during the 150 years we are speaking of, the Cape was a dependancy of Holland, the first land to have welcomed the Jew and granted him full liberty.

The second wave of Jewish immigration dates from about the 1820's. From then on we encounter a growing number of pro­ fessing Jews, some of whom played an outstanding role in the general life of the country. Notable names related to that period are Benjamin Norden, Simon Marcus, and many others who came in the 30's and became commercial pioneers to open up the whole interior of the Cape Colony to industrial possibilities. For ex­ ample, the development of the wool and hide trades will certainly be associated with the name of Mosenthal. It was largely due to the enterprise of this family in importing some Angora goats in 1850 from Asia. Similarly Jews were among the first to take to ostrich farming; and everyone knows of the very clear association of Jewish names with the first stages of the Diamond Rush in the fields of Kimberley.

Moreover these early pioneers did not confine their activity to trade. They took an active interest in the political and State affairs of that time. Joshua Norden was killed while serving as a captain in the war of 1846; so also was Lt. Elias de Pass. And Julius Mo­ senthal was a member of the Cape Parliament in the 1850's.

It was in this period also that we find the earliest beginning of Jewish Communal life. It was due to the initiative of these families I have just mentioned that in 1841 the first religious services were held in Cape Town, services which led to the formation of the first

Rabbi B.M. Casper has served as Chief Rabbi of the South African Jewish community for several decades. He is the author of various mono­ graphs on aspects of Jewish teachings. We welcome him to our pages.

27

"/ see occasionally from your paper, that there are in England Jewish ladies as anxious to get married as we are. It is, I know, ungallant to ask them to come to us. But this I may say without fear of contradiction, that any En­ glishman of our faith with a good family of grown-up daughters would find it here as easy to earn a livelihood as he finds it difficult to do so at hom e; besides which, he would secure husbands for his daughters in a position that he could not hope for in England. "

28

Hebrew Congregation. In 1843 this was followed by another con­ gregation in Grahamstown, and Port Elizabeth followed soon afterwards with its congregation in 1857. In 1872 Kimberley formed a Jewish congregation with Colonel David Harris C .M .G . as its President. To this day the name of Colonel Harris is remembered with a great deal of reverence in Kimberley. He served under General Warren in 1885 and was prominent in the defence of Kim­ berley in 1899 to 1900; and as a member of the Old Cape Par­ liament, and later of that of the Union, Sir David Harris was ac­ knowledged as the mouthpiece of all those who were in any way part of the Diamond Industry.

In speaking of Kimberley in the 19th Century, one must make mention of several other names such as Barney Barnato, Alfred Beit, Lionel Phillips, and a whole host of others who played a leading role in the development of the area. As in so many cases, the development of local community life was founded on the sad necessity to find a piece of burial ground. A correspondent on the River Diggings wrote in 1872: "After the ground was purchased a wall was erected around it, again through our co-religionists. In one of our local papers Mr Giddy the Magistrate, in the Chair at the Meeting, spoke in flattering terms of the Jews as being the first to respect 'God's Acre' ".

By 1874 the "Jewish Association" numbered 120 members, and according to one writer, "there was such competition for Synagogal honours that even non-Jews took an interest in the elec­ tions." The Synagogue itself was built in 1876, and I had the honour of officiating at the Centenary Service a few years ago.

■Contemporary records speak of the charitable endeavours of the local Jews at that time and of their philanthropic societies. "Their charities, however, are not confined solely to their co-religionists, Jewish citizens having ever been found to the front in all works of charity."

A further report from 1881 tells of unemployment and hard times, but it also makes clear that the Community was by this time well established. Thus the Diamond News of October The last days have been almost like a couple of successive Sundays in camp, owing to the observance of the Jewish period of fasting. All the houses of business were closed and the Diamond market was deserted, proof how strong a hold the Jewish People have succeeded in establishing in Kimberley." It is also proof of the way in which, though the Jews had come to Kimberley for reasons of expected material gain, the spirtual aspect of their life, and the traditions of their people, had not been forgotten. Indeed that formed the center of their thinking, and it is a great tribute to the teachings they had inherited from their past in England and Germany.

The name Mosenthal has already been mentioned. Joseph Mosenthal came from Germany in 1839, followed by his brother Adolf with whom he set up as a General Merchant in Cape Town.

The family spread and eventually their headquarters were estab-

lished in Port Elizabeth. The brothers Mosenthal were conforming Jews and associated themselves with the furtherance of the reli­ gious welfare of their brethren very actively: Mosenthal and Company became one of the important mercantile concerns in Southern Africa. In the 1860's the beginning of a settled Jewish Community emerged in Port Elizabeth; and in 1862 a congre­ gation was established in modest circumstances in the home of one of the local congregants. A humorous, though somewhat pa­ thetic, note is found in a letter written to the London Jewish Chronicle by someone who signed himself "Young Hopeful." He wrote: I see occasionally from your paper, that there are in England Jewish ladies as anxious to get married as we are. It is, I know, ungallant to ask them to come to us. But this I may say without fear of contra­ diction, that any Englishman of our faith with a family of grown-up daughters would find it here as easy to earn a livelihood as he finds it difficult to do so at home; besides which, he would secure husbands for his daughters in a position that he could not hope for in England, I cannot hold out any inducement of anything in the shape of amuse­ ments, except it may be an occasional theatrical performance or concert. But if a good climate and almost certainty of a respectable livelihood, and a good probability of good husbands for their daughters will satisfy the fathers of families, then I say: come!''

This was written in July 1862 when the local Jewish Community numbered some 12 families and a number of single men.

It is the third wave of immigration which really represented the great and important turning point in Jewish communal life in South Africa. Until then the major influence in such Jewish life as there was emanated from England. Thus the form of prayer and the customs in the Synagogue were those of the Great Synagogue of London, Indeed, long after they were outnumbered by the influx of Jews from Eastern Europe, the influence of English Jews continued to be felt in communal life, particularly in its organisa­ tional forms. Yet, as Gershater has written: I t is doubtful whether the devotion of the comparatively few enthusiasts from England could have withstood the impact of non-Jewish surroundings in a new land without the subsequent reinforcement from Eastern Europe. If immigration of Jews to South Africa had ceased in I860 little might have remained of the few early and lively communities and congregations in South Africa. Indeed, to-day there are hardly any Jewish descendants left of the men who founded the first Hebrew Congregation in 1841." We have already noted the difficulty for young Jewish men to find themselves Jewish wives.

There is no doubt that there must have been a great deal of assimi­ lation and many of the Jews certainly lost their identity.

But a radical change was to set in with the arrival of the new stream of immigrants from Eastern Europe in the 1880's. They formed part of the great exodus of Jews from Eastern Europe, in flight from political oppression and in search of some economic opportunity. Most of those who came to this country hailed from Lithuania and before long they outnumbered the older residents 29

Jewish life in South Africa today may be said to rep­ resent, as Saron has put it, "a unique blend, resulting from the interaction of Litvak and English elements. "

who had come mainly from England and Germany. Although most of them came from Lithuania, they were generally known as Russian" Jews and gradually they spread over the whole of the country from Gape Town right up to Johannesburg. After the South African War Johannesburg grew to be the major centre of Jewish life, as it has continued to the present time.

Altogether it is estimated that some 3 million Jews migrated from Eastern Europe during the period from 1881 to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Of these only a small fraction— maybe 40,000—came to South Africa. Jewish life in South Africa today may be said to represent, as Saron has put it, "a unique blend, resulting from the interaction of Litvak and English ele­ ments." Commenting on the Gzarist pogroms of the late 19 th Century a distinguished South African, Olive Schreiner has written: "The study of European history during the past century teaches us one uniform lesson: the nations which have received and in any way dealt fairly and mercifully with the Jew have pros­ pered; and the nations that have tortured and opposed him have written out their own curse."

Like every living organism, the Jews, in the course of their journeyings through history, not only took in—they also gave out.

And while it is undoubtedly true that the experience of the Jew has been enriched by his centuries of contact with other peoples and cultures, it is at least equally true that wherever he settled he, in turn, contributed greatly in service, in loyalty, in patriotism, in scholarship, yea, in philanthropy, to the welfare and ad­ vancement of the lands where he was permitted to make his home.

In South Africa the Jew has found liberty, tolerance and oppor­ tunity for a century. When one reads the annals of the beginnings of Jewish life in South Africa, one marvels at the optimism, the ideaiism, the sturdiness of character, the humanity and the pio­ neering spirit of the founding fathers; as well as the enormous contribution they made to the opening up of the country and the development of its resources. Even while struggling for a foothold which would enable them to earn a living and scramble into the economic arena, they were already responding to the cry of brethren in other lands, who looked for material and moral aid in their struggles for right and justice and life itself.

But perhaps most of all, South African Jewry owes its lustre to In the course of some years these communities put their men and women who came from Eastern Europe and brought with hard-earned savings together them traditions of piety, a love of learning, and a self-sacrificing and built Synagogues and adherence to Jewish practice. However much they toiled for classrooms; and to this day worldly goods, they found their real contentment in following the when one visits these outlying advice of the Sage Rabbi Meir, to "be busy in the Torah." Thus the communities one can still find the literary treasures, the Synagogue was for them not only a House of Prayer but, much sacred Talmud volumes, more, the House of Study,—the "Beth Hamedrash", and evening which were frequently by evening, after a hard day's work, they eagerly foregathered to brought by the immigrants as their prized possessions when hear The Blat" expounded,—and taste the intellectual bliss of they made the journey to Talmudic argument and discussion. these far offshores.

30 This religious strand in the outlook of the people who were seen

as a remnant of 'T h e People of the Book" resulted in a special relationship between the new immigrants and the non-Jewish Boers among whom they mingled. It is interesting that in 1901/a Reverend David Wasserzug who had just returned to England from some years of service in the Transvaal, wrote in the Jewish

Chronicle: Among the grim and dour children of the veldt, the Bible and the people whose history is inextricably interwoven therewith are held in the deepest reverence. To Oom Paul and his Burghers, the Jew was the sacred vessel in whom the oracles of God were imperishably en­ shrined. Hence the singularly friendly attitude towards the 'People of the Book.'

In 1891 a Lithuanian Jewish journalist wrote, in Hebrew, for his Jewish readers in Europe. He spoke of the common bond of the people which was so prominent in the relationship between Jewish immigrants and the Boers in this country.

The farmers in South Africa, he wrote, respect the Jews very much and exalt them above all the nations under the sun. The Jew is, in their eyes, a hallowed being of a people chosen from all the nations. When the Jew comes to these farmers they receive him with great hospitality.

They outspan his horses, bring them into the stable and give them fodder, and then the Jewish guest is called inside, is honoured, given food and drink and a place to spend the night.

The snakes of anti-semitism have not laid their poisonous eggs in this country . . .

Even at the height of the struggle for the removal of Jewish disabil­ ities in the Transvaal in 1898, Rabbi Joseph Herman Hertz who played a leading role in the struggle for religious emancipation, and who later became Chief Rabbi of the Jewish communities of the British Empire, said in a major address: I would much rather live in Johannesburg or Pretoria where I am sub­ jected to a great many disabilities on paper, than live in Paris or Vienna, where a Jew enjoys all the rights, privileges and prerogatives of his fellow citizens—on paper.

Life for the newcomers was certainly not easy. But they were hardy and active, and quickly adjusted themselves to the condi­ tions of South African life. Above all they were industrious and regarded no legitimate work as beneath their dignity. Very many of them became pedlars, petty traders and artisans. Like their predecessors before them they wandered far into the interior of the Platteland and settled, and formed small communities, wherever they saw a prospect of making a better living. Everyone of these small communities had its own religious functionary, usually a man competent as a Shochet and also as a Mohel. Invariably he performed also the duties of a teacher for the children and the leader of the adult Talmud circles; and of course he led the ser­ vices. In the course of some years these communities put their hard-earned savings together and built Synagogues and class­ rooms; and to this day when one visits these outlying communities 31 one can still find the literary treasures, the sacred Talmud

volumes, which were frequently brought by the immigrants as their prized possessions when they made the journey to these faroff shores. . . . when they first intended This major period of Jewish immigration coincided with the dis­ to invite then President covery and exploitation of the new mineral wealth in South Kruger to lay the foundation Africa, first diamonds and then gold, and many of the Jews natu­ stone. He received the Jewish rally congregated where the big rush was on. This also led to the duputation cordially and said he would be pleased to formation of several smaller communities. But it was Johan­ perform the ceremony but nesburg which became the real centre of attraction. The growth of that he would feel himself free Johannesburg Jewry deserves a monograph to itself. It was from to say whatever he pleased. the start blessed with religious and lay leaders of very high calibre.

There was a real fear on the part of the Jews that he would It is impossible not to make mention of the late Chief Rabbi use the occasion for indulging Landau who held his office with great distinction for 40 years. Dr in conversionists. propa­ Hertz has already been mentioned. He had come here from ganda. Accordingly the invi­ America and became quickly embroiled in the political struggles tation was not proceeded with. of the time. Soon he came to be recognised as the spokesman not only of local Jewry but also the Uitlanders as a whole, of which the Jews formed an integral part.

In the Transvaal, Jews, together with Roman Catholics, suf­ fered from a number of religious disabilities under the Consti­ tution, and the Jews became involved in a protracted struggle to have the disabilities removed. This really was a struggle for reli­ gious emancipation; yet over and again one finds records of Jewish spokesmen declaring that the apparent discrimination against them was not occasioned by anti-semitism, but rather by some sense of insecurity on the part of the Boers who were anxious that the dominant culture of the land should remain theirs. The question had undoubtedly its religious, political, and economic aspects. Thus when the first Johannesburg Synagogue was built, it was at first intended to invite the President Kruger to lay the foun­ dation stone. He received the Jewish deputation cordially and said he would be pleased to perform the ceremony but that he would feel himself free to say whatever he pleased. There was a real fear on the part of the Jews that he would use the occasion for indulging in conversionist propaganda. Accordingly the invitation was not proceeded with. However, when the Synagogue was completed Kruger was approached to perform the official opening in Sep­ tember 1892, no doubt with some safeguards.

On another occasion, dealing with the question of the franchise for Uitlanders, Kruger made another statement which is very re­ vealing. "My late father," he said "and all of the Voortrekkers, sacrificed everything in order to get their country, and this is all that remains for them from what their ancestors possessed. The foreigners come here now to make profits. Would it not be unjust to give them also the ownership of the country?"

It was these problems concerning franchise, naturalisation of aliens, admission of ajiens, the fight for educational rights; the struggle in a word, for full emancipation, as well as the safe­ guarding of all the political interests of the Jews, that led even­ 32 tually to the formation of the South African Jewish Board of Dep-

uties. Right from the start it was recognised that this was by no means to be seen as a Jewish Parliament. In the nature of things its degree of representation was, and still is, subject to question. But the Board represented an attempt to effect a degree of unity among all the Jewish segments of the community such as had not existed previously; and this unity of expression enabled the community to make represenations in the Jewish interest to such State authorities as there were from time to time. It was by no means a simple task to bring about this degree of unity. There were very deep differ­ ences among the Jews themselves; and only the wise states­ manship and persistence of the leadership of the time ultimately succeeded in unifying the disparate elements.

The years from 1903, when the Board of Deputies was founded, right up to the outbreak of the First World War, were full of diffi­ culties and hardships for many of the Russian Jewish immigrants.

Some of them may indeed have come with the idea of making a quick fortune and returning to their families in Europe. But this became increasingly unlikely because of the harsh and repressive measures which were being applied in Russia at the time. It was fortunate for the newcomers that there were leaders here at the time of considerable stature. And this applied not only to the lay leaders who had combined to form the Board of Deputies. It ap­ plied even more in the case of the two dominant Rabbinic figures who both occupied positions together in Johannesburg at the same time. They were Dr. Hertz of the Old Witwatersrand Hebrew Congregation and Rabbi Dr. Landau of the Johannesburg Hebrew Congregation. Dr. Landau arrived to take up his position only in 1903, but very quickly he came to be recognised as one of the most important spiritual forces in South African Jewry. When Hertz left South Africa in 1907, Dr. Landau carried the full weight as Chief Rabbi in South Africa. It was under his imposing authority that the two major congregations eventually merged into the United Hebrew Congregation and the present Great Synagogue was built in 1914—when guns were already firing the blasts of death of the' First World War. One of the major tasks confronting the Rabbinate in those days was that of Jewish education. The Jewish Community received no help for the schooling of the young. Jews and Roman Catholics did not qualify for State aid and therefore had to provide for the secular as well as the religious education of their children. Under Synagogue auspices a Jewish school was founded and in the course of years many hundreds of Jewish children received their edu­ cation there. On the other hand there are many Jews held in high esteem in the Jewish Community of today, who had their edu­ cation in Catholic schools, which were thought by some to provide a better secular education. Some of those anomalies were eventually righted, especially after the passage of the Smuts Edu­ cation Act of 1907. But the entrenched Christocentric aims have remained a problem, in one form or another, to the Jewish com­ munity right to the present day.

33

The 1930's saw yet another wave of Jewish immigration, this time from Central Europe, principally from Germany. They came plainly as refugees running from the Hitler persecution. It remains one of the tragedies of history that at a time when the Government of South Africa had as its Deputy Prime Minister none other than General Smuts, an undoubted friend of the Jews, he was appar­ ently unable to prevent the Aliens Quota Act from being inter­ preted and applied with such stringency. Had there been a more liberal approach, and had the Government of the time heeded the many calls made by Jewish leaders, and had they perhaps been more sensitive to the desperate situation of the Jews in Europe, many scores of thousands more might have been saved from the eventual catastrophe.

A large part of the answer to this enigma undoubtedly lies in the attitude of the Official Opposition with which the Government— and Smuts and Hofmeyr in particular—had to contend. In an ar­ ticle in the Sunday Times of some weeks ago, Henry Kenny the historian and a biographer of Dr. Verwoerd, wrote of the latter's hostility concerning 'Jewish immigration'. Verwoerd, says the author, and someother intellectuals like him, "showed remarkable insensitivity in protesting against the "STU TTG A RT" refugees (the 'Stuttgart' was the last ship to being Jewish refugees from Germany) when they knew that they were doing so at the same time as the enthusiastically pro-Nazi and anti-semitic Greyshirts . . . "During the War years," says Kenny, "Verwoerd con­ sistently rejected Nazism; but only because of its incompatbility with what he saw as democratic principles, not because of its per­ secution of the Jews." This is not the time or place for a full as­ sessment of this issue. But one may wonder if it is not somehow linked with the offensive and obscene Nazi-style student cele­ bration recently at Pretoria University. That sort of incident is quite intolerable in the South African Jewish scene of today. It may be unequivocally condemned and censured.

When one thinks of the way the problems of race relations have developed to-day, there must be many in South Africa who rue the antagonistic decisions made in the 1930's. As it is, some 4,000 were admitted as refugees from Nazi-Germany until the outbreak of World War II in 1939. These Jews in many cases brought with them a wealth of tradition. After all, their communities had been established in Germany for many hundreds of years. In the Exhi­ bition one will be able to see many objects of religious interest which were in fact brought here during that period; and when one surveys the Community to-day, it is clear that these refugees had an impact completely out of proportion to their small numbers.

They were a close-knit group of people, zealously guarding their identity and heritage, while at the same time trying to adapt them­ selves to the new life over here. In both these tasks they may be said to have succeeded admirably.

In the decade immediately following the war approximately an­ other 2,000 Jews found their way to these shores. They belonged

to the remnants of European Jewry after the holocaust.

Just as the Lithuanian immi­ Those Jews who managed to gain entry to South Africa before gration at the turn of the Europe was virtually sealed off by the outbreak of war—"Brands century strengthened the waning Judaism of the earlier plucked from the fire"—formed themselves into congregations so settlers, so now, in the post­ as to be able better to preserve their hallowed traditions. Two such war era, the latest arrivals congregations still exist in Johannesburg, namely, the Etz Chaim have helped to fortify and re­ Congregation in Berea and the Adath Yeshurun in Yeoville. Be­ vitalise the traditional Jewish piety and allegiances, at least tween them they had thousands of close family relatives who were in certain somewhat polarised martyred in Nazi Europe. circles.

Most of the Jews who came to South Africa after 1945 had them­ selves been inmates of the Nazi Concentration Camps. Many of these survivors still bear numbers tattooed on their arms, a per­ manent reminder of their gruesome ordeals. These survivors have formed an organisation called "She'erith Hapleta", the remnant that has escaped. Though they themselves survived, they know full well how many of their own families—husbands, wives, parents and children—were slaughtered. Indeed, there are few Jewish families in South Africa to-day which did not lose relatives, often close relations, in the great and terrible holocaust. Every year the South African Jewish Board of Deputies arranges Me­ morial Gatherings for the Six Million Jews who perished at the hands of the Nazis. These solmn gatherings are attended by thou­ sands of Jews, for many of whom they evoke traumatic memories.

This latter-day addition to the ranks of South African Jewry has added a new dimension to our lives. They are a spur to our na­ tional memory. The more religious elements among them have certainly influenced our religious and educational standards. Just as the Lithuanian im migration at the turn of the century strengthened the waning Judaism of the earlier settlers, so now, in the post-war era, the latest arrivals have helped to fortify and revi­ talise the traditional Jewish piety and allegiances, at least in certain somewhat polarised circles.

This polarisation is due on the one hand to the establishment of the Reform segment in the Community during the last few decades—also, in some way, an importation from Germany, and certainly a curious novelty for the older established Lithuanian and East European Jewry. But even within the orthodox Com­ munity itself there has recently been evident a certain trend, hitherto unknown in South Africa, toward sectarianism. While there are some healthy aspects to these groups, the divisiveness they encourage is seen as a threat to the Establishment with its traditional solid network of religious, educational and Zionist in­ stitutions based upon an unquestioned and disciplined acceptance of central authority.

It is of course impossible to speak of South African Jewry without reference to Zionism. The Zionist ideal runs like a golden thread right through the annals of this community, and, more than any other factor, the movment had a determining influence upon its character ever since the Lithuanian immigration began.

The whole of East European Jewry was electrified by the pro35

What is, I think, coming to be more widely recognized among students and intellec­ tuals is that the desired changes should, if possible, be brought about by peaceful means rather than with anger and violence and more suf­ fering. As Reinhold Niebuhr and some other modern thinkers have been saying: in the City of Man—the sinful, imperfect world in which we live—there must be room for compromise. Revolutionary perfectionist delusions, whether of the right or the left, have invariably inflicted more, rather than less, hurt and woe.

nouncements of Theodor Herzl and the calling of the first Zionist Congress in Basle in 1897. The Jews who made their way to South Africa were, so to speak, born into Zionism; and by about the year 1910 there were Zionist societies spread over this southern Continent from the Congo to the Cape. The Zionist sentiment and fervour were encouraged by the attitude of the general popu­ lation. We have already noted how the Burghers identified the Jews with the Bible; and this common Biblical tradition seemed to lead naturally to the concept of the Jewish ingathering and reset­ tlement in the Promised Land. Another pronounced factor was the presence and influence of Jan Smuts who saw the Balfour Decla­ ration of 1917 (of which he was one of the chief architects) as the very fulfilment of Divine Promise. 'T h e Balfour Declaration", he declared, as reported by his biographer Sarah Gertrude Millin, "has become the foundation of a great policy of international justice . . . The greatest and most ancient wrong has at last been undone and the prophecies of restoration enshrined in the world's greatest poetry have come true."

The contribution of South African Jewry to the establishment, defence and development of the State of Israel will be written by future historians in letters of gold; and, if I may quote what I myself have written elsewhere: South Africa's help, given so freely in th early days of want and danger, will not easily be forgotten in the endless unfathomable pattern of Jewish history.

In this connection there is another external factor which should not be overlooked. The general cultural and political climate in South Africa emphasised always the separate identity of the various racial and cultural groups of all the population and this produced an atmosphere favorable to the perpetuation of Jewish group and community life, and formed a context conducive to the fostering of Jewish national consciousness. To the extent that there may now be forces in this country, as in most parts of the Western world, tending to the removal of barriers of ethnicity and the creation of a homogeneous, standardised, 'Open' society, the identifiable Jewish Community could be confronted by a new challenge. For in our inner communal and religious life, as in our outward political motivations, we have tended to be somewhat conservative and traditional, continuing the thread of our history with an intense love of the past and loyalty to it.

This conservatism has also influenced the attitude of Jews to general political issues in South Africa. There has never been what might be called a "Jewish attitude"—that is, a political identifi­ cation representing the Jewish Community . For that reason there is also nothing equivalent to a Jewish vote. Yet, as individual cit­ izens, Jews have always been urged from pulpit and platform, to be alert to the moral implications of the complex racial situation which is so unique in this country; and many have played, and are 36 playing, a role in seeking to bring about a just and compassionate

society based on human rights for all the inhabitants of this land, without discrimination and with equal opportunity for all. Espe­ cially is this an issue of conscience with the younger generation who have shown themselves particularly sensitive to the injustice of racial discrimination; and University authorities have no doubt noted this attitude in student circles on campus. What is, I think, coming to be more widely recognised among students and intellec­ tuals is that the desired changes should, if possible, be brought about by peaceful means rather than with anger and violence and more suffering. As Reinhold Niebuhr and some other modem thinkers have been saying: in the City of Man—the sinful, im­ perfect world in which we live—there must be room for com­ promise. Revolutionary perfectionist delusions, whether of the right or the left, have invariably inflicted more, rather than less, hurt and woe.

Finally, in speculating on the Jewish Community's future, we should add to these considerations the process of acculturation which is bound to increase in future generations bom and reared in circumstances undreamed of by Lithuanian forebears. The late Solomon Schechter once wrote: "We are living on the shadow of the past. Our children will be living on the shadow of a shadow."

This is a danger that has already overtaken large sections of Jewry in America and elsewhere. It has not yet reached us here to any considerable degree, but we feel it in thé wind; and we are battling valiantly to resist it.

A Jewish international leader recently said: "For centuries the Jew had to fight for the right to be equal. To-day we have to fight for the right to be different."

Will our youth be ready for this fight? Upon the answer to this question depends the future of South African Jewry.

37

Consulate General of Israel

Elli Wohlgelernter

Israel's Olympic Games: Athletes Come Back Home It was not the season for sports, nor the reason most people go to Israel. The Maccabiah games, the Jewish Olympics held every four years, were taking place in Israel from July 6-16. It was a strange time for athletics: three weeks before the opening cere­ monies, a World Gathering of Holocaust Survivors was held in Jerusalem; two weeks later, a nasty political campaign had re­ sulted in a near tie between Menachem Begin and Shimon Peres; and always there was the imminent threat of two-way shelling—if not outright war—across the Lebanese border. So it seemed a bit ludicrous to travel to Israel to watch a basketball game.

On the other hand, perhaps sports would prove to be just the right respite from it all. In the midst of the social and political unrest, the games were being held anyway—at a time when almost every newscast had a story that began "Israeli warplanes today . . . ," when The New York Times itself seemed to be at war with Begin, and when Jack Newfield and Alexander Cockburn were waging, in the Village Voice, their own weekly skirmishes over antisemitism and silence.

But what, I wondered, is the point of a Jewish Olympics? Is there any purpose in 3,500 athletes from 34 countries coming to­ gether to participate in their own intra-religious games? And how did these Jewish kids feel about coming to play : were they coming as athletes, as nationalists, or as Jews? Did the games mean any­ thing to them, or was it just an opportunity to come to Israel, in some cases, for free.

Israel tried to get the athletes to see themselves as Jews: for the first time in international competition, athletes were housed ac­ cording to sport, instead of by country. It was a revolutionary idea, because sports has traditionally used national allegiance and pride as a motivating force. But here, Israel was saying, you are connected as Jews and as athletes—your country is incidental.

So I went looking for the sportsmen to find out what the Jew/ athlete Connection meant to them, and their reasons for coming and playing. Along the way I made some friends . . .

Elli Wohlgelernter is a jour­ nalist now with W NEW /TV News in New York City. This first-hand report is his first contribution to Jewish life.

***** 39

My family was the only Jewish family in Piedmont, Alabama. At 6 '6 " , with blond, nearly yellow hair and a ruddy beard, there is no mis­ taking his sport, and every­ where he went to play bas­ ketball, Israeli kids would come up to him for his auto­ graph.

Mones Mark Musieracki comes from the. Ipanema section of Rio de Janeiro. He came to the Maccabiah to play volleyball, his third time at the quadrennial games. With him on the trip was his broth­ er's family, who were going there not only to see Mones win the gold medal, but to celebrate their son's bar-mitzvah at the Kotel.

A double simcha.

For Mones, it would be his third celebration if he won the gold: two weeks before, his wife had given birth to their first child, a baby girl. I wondered why he would leave his wife at such a time, to go play a volleyball game. "I left my wife and daughter, and I came to win," he said. "Not for fun, but because I have a responsi­ bility to the Jews of Brazil, because I lost twice."

(At the last two games in '73 and'77, he had won the silver medal, losing to Israel in the finals.)

He was not alone. His best friend from Ipanema, Ricardo Gelbaum, was also on the team. They are both 24, and have played volleyball together for 11 years. They play for A .A .B .B ., the Association Athletes Bank of Brazil, a non-Jewish club in Rio. Ricardo said playing in Israel is different. "When I play a tour­ nament in volleyball in Brazil, I'm.a volleyball player. Here I'm a Jew on the volleyball team."

Ricardo had also won the silver the last two times, and he, too, had family rooting him on: his brother, Luiz, a 30-year-old en­ gineer. For Luiz, this would be his fourth Maccabiah—three times he had won the silver, losing to Israel all three times.

I asked them if the Jews of South America fraternized with each other, country to country. Ricardo said no, Jews stay by them­ selves, except in sports. But he knew about Jacobo Timerman, and the situation in Buenos Aires.

"We went to Argentina once to play," he said, "and I was wearing a Star of David. A girl came up to me and told me to take it off, it would be dangerous to wear it, people in the street would look at me strangely. Another friend's family had to change its name, otherwise they couldn't get into certain schools."

The Jews of Brazil, Ricardo said, had to watch over their own government. "When Israel attacked the nuclear plant in Iraq, Brazil sent them uranium, and the ambassador from Israel was called in for a talk." He did not want to talk much about it, prefering to revel in the M accabiah. . * * * * *

Ralph Daniels comes from Piedmont, Alabama, a town of 5,000 near the northern Georgian border. "I was born in Atlanta, but my grandfather had a clothing store in Piedmont, and we took it over when I was 12 years old. My family was the only Jewish family in Piedmont, Alabam a." At 6 '6 " , with blond, nearly yellow hair and a ruddy beard, there is no mistaking his sport, and everywhere he went to play basketball, Israeli kids would come up to him for his autograph. Ralph is an honest, straight-

forward guy, who won't hesitate to do you a favor if he likes you, even if it means driving from Yerushalayim to Tel Aviv at 1:30 a.m. He doesn't smoke or drink, except for his mandatory twice-aday milk shakes. Listening to his southern accent can fool you into thinking he's a country hick, but in fact he's well read, and very opinionated.

Four years ago, Ralph came to Israel for the first time, as part of the Belgian delegation to the Maceabiah. He had gone to Belgium to play ball after graduating from Berry College in Rome, Georgia. But his record at the '77 Maceabiah was so outstanding that many teams made him offers to stay. So he did, right then and there, not even returning to Belgium to get his clothes. That's Ralph. If he believes in something, he does it.

"First of all, I'm Jewish, and I wanted to play ball overseas, so the best place to play is in Israel. Second of all, I'm not a real famous, big-name college star, and I couldn't play first division in Europe> but I can here. Here I'm one of the better players in the league. It's very nice, too, the feeling, the nationalistic feeling, and I became a citizen. I've served in the army, even though I don't do much, but still you feel proud to do it. I've served 14V2 months, I've got 3% more to serve."

Ralph lives and plays for a kibbutz on the Lebanese border, Kibbutz Kfar Giladi, "the place where you hear about all the rockets," but he doesn't worry about it."

"I've been in Kiryat Shemona when the rockets h it," he said.

■'One time a rocket came down diagonally and took the kitchen right out of this apartment building, and the people were in the living room and it didn't even touch them.

"Another time I was in the shower, 8:00 in the morning, and four rockets hit our kibbutz, the only time the whole year the rockets hit our kibbutz. I just stayed in the shower, I mean, what are you going to do? One guy got wounded, and his leg is a little messed up. I don't know if he'll ever walk correctly again.

Ralph's basketball contract calls for 20 minutes of free long­ distance phone calls a month (which he uses to call his mother for five minutes every week), one round-trip plane ticket a year to the States, and a tax-free salary. His mail comes to him at the kibbutz addressed simply "Ralph Daniels, Basketball Player." He is aware the kibbutzniks are jealous of his status, but he just shrugs his shoulders, explaining, "I'm a basketball player."

Ralph maintains dual citi­ As the only American on the Israeli-Maccabiah basketball zenship, "But I'll tell you this, team, Ralph does not get to play much. Not because he is not good and I mean this seriously," he enough, as he is clearly better than most of them. But the coach said. "If it came down to fighting for Israel or fighting feels compelled to play the local boys in their native land. for America, I'd much prefer Still, Ralph is happy to be playing in his second Maceabiah, fighting for Israel." even if the competition is not strong. Ralph looked at the bigger picture: "The Maceabiah is to have Jews from all over the world get together and relate," he said. "It enforces Jewish solidarity. I think it's a great thing for Jewish kids, who as a rule don't get into 41

athletics that much.

"For Jewish kids who are just run-of-the-mill athletes, the Maccabiah gives them a chance to compete in something that oth­ erwise they would never have an opportunity to do. But it's not just sports, that s what people don't realize. The sports gets them here, but it s the feeling of the whole thing, and this is a chance for many kids who would never get a chance to come to Israel."

Ralph said he doesn't agree with those who think that all Jews should live in Israel. "I think it's good that Jews live all over the world, because the day that all the Jews come back to Israel, I believe, will be the day the world doesn't care anymore, and will tend to forget about what happened to the Jews in World W ar II." Ralph maintains dual citizenship, "But I'll tell you this, and I mean this seriously," he said. "If it came down to fighting for Israel or fighting for America, I'd much prefer fighting for Israel."

The United States basketball team was not concerned about a war between America and Israel—only the inevitable battle for the gold medal.

The star of the American team is Willie Sims, a third generation black Jew ("on my mother's side") from Long Island City. Four years ago, he had played at the Maccabiah on the U .S. gold medal team fresh out of high school. Last spring, he made it to the final four with L.S.U . in the N .C .A .A ., the pinnacle of American col­ lege basketball competition Now he was playing in the Maccabiah again, this time as a fifthround draft choice of the Denver Nuggets. If he didn't make it with Denver, he said, he was coming back to play for Haifa.

"The Maccabiah means a lot to m e," he said, "because it's like a family, a Jewish family that has gotten together to have our own Olympics. It really means a lot, because you've got guys from all over the world participating in every sport, and it helps the young­ sters in the future look into this and try out again, and see what's going on in Israel and get the experience, and continue to come back and eventually live in Israel."

You don't see many blacks in Israel, and when Willie walks by, the children whisper to each other, "KKushi. " But ev when he sat by the pool at the Avia Hotel, he had a swarm of young fans sitting around his chair talking to him. "They're friendly here," he explains, "it's not like New York . . . ." * * * * *

Paul Friedberg is a modest 21-year-old fencer who began his career eight years ago playing for a Jewish Community Center in Bal­ timore, his home town. When you ask him how good he thinks he is, he tells you, "Well, I'm all right. I had a couple of good suc­ cesses in college," and after pondering a second more, he says, "Yeah, in collegiate fencing I was Q .K ."

When one has been named All-Ivy three times (at the University of Pennsylvania), twice All-American, twice N .C .A .A . champ, and ranked in the top ten in the country, all inside of your birthday, you are more than O .K .—you are a potential Olympic champion.

Friedberg had a busy July, first competing in the Maccabiah, and then the World University Games in Bucharest. He compared the differences in these back-to-back tournaments.

"In Bucharest, I'm a fencer representing America. Here, I'm a Jewish fencer. There's nothing more special them winning a medal in an event like this, there's no doubt about it. To actually be here and have the opportunity to participate in it, it's really special."

He said the purpose of the games, however, is not going for the gold, but going to Israel. "The competition is a small part of the games, it's really the whole experience of coming over here. The Maccabiah is more a gathering of people with a common back­ ground, and the competition is really secondary. Not to play down the competition at all, but the whole experience means a lot more than the actual being here and doing it.

Last year I came here as a tourist, and I can feel the difference.

Even though they really appreciate people coming over and seeing the country, I feel a lot more warmth this time. There's a special feeling with the M accabiah."

In his competition the next day, Friedberg faced off against Paul Klenerman of Great Britain for the gold. It was not Friedberg's day, as he lost the close battle, 10-8. Still, he had the silver, and he knew there would be better days. He still had the experience of the Maccabiah.

The ultimate purpose of the games, Paul said, was "to get you to make aliyah, eventually. It's to bring you here and experience the country, meet the people and live here for a while, and really feel like a Jew. It's just to give you a taste of it . . * * * * *

Dianne Israel is a world class long distance runner from Scarsdale, New York. We sat and talked under a tree at her hotel one afternoon, just hours before she was to compete in the half­ marathon at Kibbutz Haogen.

Dianne, like other distance runners, feels her sport is different, that the people who compete in it "think more about things," and are friendlier to each other than other athletes. But she saw a dif­ ference in the Maccabiah.

"Usually when I meet runners, I feel that sense of family, but I feel it more in the sense that I'm a runner that I'm getting along so well and being accepted. But here I'm being accepted and nobody even knows how I run. The race hasn't gone yet and I feel that people like me here and accept me. Usually I feel that I have to

"My understanding of Judaisim, and understanding of my own heritage and every­ thing has been really bad, and if anything, this trip has given me a much greater awareness.

Yesterday we went to the Western Wall and I felt a special something, an awak­ ening, and just being here, just seeing the people, has really helped me a lot. "

43

prove myself, but I don't feel that here."

Dianne said she feels that Jews share similar characteristics and traits, but that you cannot really define it until you see Jews to­ gether from all over the world. Coming to Israel, she said, made her more aware in general.

"M y understanding of Judaism, and understanding of my own heritage and everything has been really bad, and if anything, this trip has given me a much greater awareness. Yesterday we went to the Western Wall and I felt a special something, an awakening, and just being here, just seeing the people, has really helped me a lot.

"They said in the program this is an opportunity for Jews from all over the world to get together and learn more about their her­ itage, and I think I am. If I go home with anything, I hope to be able to go home and feel just a little more—I don't know, I guess I can use the word Jewish, but I guess just a little bit more what I am, and that is Jewish."

Dianne didn't go home. After winning the bronze in the half­ marathon in 1:27:55, she decided to stay on the kibbutz.

The final medal count showed the U.S. with the most gold medals, 85, but second to Israel in total medals, 199-178. For those whose scorebook records only the results of the playing field, it was a successful XI Maccabiah for the U .S.A . For the athletes, like the 60-year-old who played on the Uruguain basketball team, just competing was winning.

But Israel keeps a different scorecard. These games cost Israel three and a half million dollars, at a time when the inflation rate last year was 133% . But it's considered well worth the expense, because they believe that if Jews from the Diaspora would visit Israel, surely they would want to stay and live there.

There, too, it was a success. For despite the killing of three people in the bombing of Kiryat Shemona two days before the games were over, despite world opinion of Israel's policies, and despite the feeling of isolation many Israelis feel, over 50 athletes decided to join Dianne and stay in Israel. For everyone involved, the Maccabiah had served a purpose. An ingathering.

AVRAHAM AVINU WAS THE FIRST. WHY NOT FOLLOW IN HIS FOOTSTEPS? For details about living a full Jewish life, contact Rabbi Michael Starr at the Orthodox Union Aliyah Department, 45 West 36th Street, New York, N.Y. 10018 (212) 563-4000.

44

Summer Programs Presents . . .

3 FANTASTIC SUMMER TRAVEL PLANS FOR TEENS CROSS COUNTRY TOUR — Ju ly 1 - August 18, 1982 For H igh School Students. New Y ork to C alifornia by plane and bus, including the spectacular 1982 W orld ’s Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee.

ISRAEL SUMMER SEMINAR — Ju ly 11 - August 19, 1982 For High School Students. T h e ever-popular, in-depth tour of Israel, including a week at a field school, a stay at G adna and an extensive stay in Jeru salem .

JUNIOR NCSY CAMP IN ISRAEL — ■Ju ly 6 - August 15, 1982 Ages 12-14. Com bines camp program , based in the beautiful Yem in Orde youth village near H aifa, with extensive touring around Israel.

For further inform ation, call or write today N C S Y Sum m er Program s 45 W est 36th Street New Y ork, N .Y . 10018 (212) 563-4000

lìc T

46

Barbara Soferr

An 'A m erican" Israeli In China

^ -S

A massive lazy susan heaped with shrimp, fried pork and candied fruit dominated the round wooden table in the Wuzi dining hall, two hours by train west of Shanghai. Ten blue-tunic-clad officials of the People's Republic of China-commune leaders, a local mayor and scientists-lifted their stemmed glasses of rice wine to the four foreign guests.

Com peh the person offering the toast said in a firm voice, and tipped the now-drained glass towards the guests, a gesture that obligated them to similarly empty their glasses.

One plate-a green plastic snack tray-did not match the care­ fully set porcelain dishes on the table. It belonged to one of the guests, Dr. Gerald Schroeder, who had brought it from Boston where he was on a sabbatical from the Israeli Ministry of Agri­ culture. The Chinese hosts, in a manner that reminded guest Schroeder of his own mother, piled high with delicacies all their guests' plates but this one.

At the same time, one of the group's four private waiters ap­ peared, carrying a 10-inch frying pan which he continually refilled with food cooked to conform to Schroeder's restrictions: fish with scales and fins, pure vegetable oil for cooking; no meat. He brought sizzling pans of spiced carp, tofu, cabbage and eggs, al­ monds and beansprouts. An aluminum pot of rice was placed on the table next to the guest's personal chopsticks.

Such was the courtesy accorded Schroeder, a scientist at the Volcani Institute in Beit Dagan and the guest of honor of the People's Republic of China. He was invited there last February by the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, one of two scientists asked to assist the Chinese in setting up their first pan-Asian research center. " I doubted if my visa would be approved, despite the UN invi­ tation. Most of my research in aquaculture was done in Israel," said Schroeder. "There was no way anyone interested in my scien­ tific work could ignore my connection with Israel. Every publi­ cation carries my work address: Agricultural Research Organi­ zation, Beit Dagan, Israel."

American-born, Dr. Schroeder has lived in Israel for nine years.He is an expert in nuclear geophysics as well as aquaculture.

His work in geophysics was done primarily in the United States, at the Massachusettes Institute of Technology, where he earned a double doctoral degree in physics and oceanography. But it was Dr. Schroeder's pioneering work on re-cycling agricultural wastes in fish ponds and not his work in the natural radiation of the envirionment that interested Chinese scientists. Their foreign guests

Barbara Soferr's, "Return; Case History," appeared our "Teshuva Issue" (Winter 77-78).

47

A thick cloud of smoke hangs over Peking because of the soft coal and charcoal used by most of the city's residents for cooking and heating.

48

may have been served a multi-course banquet, but the Chinese suffer from a scarcity of available feeds, and the fare of most Chinese is not inspiring. They count on recycling agricultural res­ idues, such as vegetable crop wastes and manure for most of their food production. They wanted Dr. Schroeder to use his expe­ rience with Israeli carp ponds to help them outline a research program to understand why and how cabbage stems turn into carp in an organically fertilized fish pond.

The Chinese authorities approved the visa application and the Israeli government added its approval to the trip. Dr. Schroeder would travel on his American passport, leaving his Israeli docu­ ments in the United States. A cable from the Washington office of the FAO advised Rome that scientific business could not be carried out on late Fridays or Saturdays. Dr. Schroeder would need this time "to observe the Jewish Sabbath."

He packed reprints of his publications, cooking and eating utensils, and 25 xerox copies of lengthy explanations in Chinese of the laws of kashrus and Sabbath observance.

"I took my daughter Hadas to the doctor the week before I left and was surprised to find the doctor treating her was originally from Shanghai. After caring for Hadas, she kindly wrote exact instructions for preparing kosher food, and labelled that page "diet" since the characters were unintelligible to me. In a second page she outlined the laws of Sabbath observance. I labelled that page "religion."

Dr. SchroederVtrip included visits to Peking, Shanghai and rural villages. Even on trains the cook produced a kosher meal for the visiting scientist.

This was one example of the courtesy he experienced on his visit. When he arrived at Beijing (Peking) airport, the customs official who stamped his passport closed the customs booth in order to escort him to a waiting entourage-government represent­ ative, host, scientist, translator and driver-of hosts.

His ride into Peking was unforgettable.

"The driver hunched over the wheel like a river pilot on a foggy night, incessantly tooting the horn of the blue Chinese-made sedan to warn the thousands of bicyclists on the road of our ap­ proach. He wouldn't use the headlights lest they glare in the eyes of the oncoming bicyclists and the few other car drivers on the road," Schroeder recalled.

"At one point he swerved quickly into the oncoming lane.

When we passed the disturbance I saw a bicycle that was carrying a three-meter long board, sweeping a path clean on both sides.

Our driver went out of his way not to disturb the bicyclist. Such is the extreme to which the Chinese go for courtesy."

A thick cloud of smoke hangs over Peking because of the soft

"I was told over and over that had I been 'an Israeli scientist' I never would have been in­ vited. At the same time, it was clear to all that my research was done in Israel, " he said.

When he broached the subject of Israel, he was told flatly that there were no rela­ tions between the countries and that China was de­ pendent on Arab oil, despite its own growing oil potential.

Consulate General of Israel

coal and charcoal used by most of the city's residents for cooking and heating.

"We often identify environmental abuses with capitalist exploi­ tation of natural resources. China is in a hurry to industrialize, and environmental protection is not at the top of their list of prior­ ities," Schroeder said.

It is common to see Chinese walking on the streets of Peking wearing face masks. Some say this is for warmth or protection against catching a cold, while others explain that they want to filter the air they breath.

In Peking, Schroeder was given an orientation and was taken sightseeing. He was driven past consular officers, and the office of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which is the only such office tò have pictures hanging on its wall: a large portrait of Yasser Arafat and pictures of refugee children.

From Peking, the small UN delegation travelled 20 hours by train to reach the site of the proposed research centre in Wuxi, a "village" of 700,000. Sitting rooms in thè stations and cars on the train are strictly segregated by social class. Schroeder and his companions rode in a first-class car, with elaborate wood pan­ elling, lace and velvet curtains and velvet seats.

The other cabins were stark and crowded, with fish and live poultry mixed in with the hand luggage.

Schroeder, a father of four, said that in his travels around China, he rarely saw a pregnant woman or a large family. Birth control is readily available for married people in China's mass effort to limit its population growth. Families are rewarded for education, clothing and medical care for their first child, receive something for the second, but get nothing if they have more than two.

The scientists and officials Schroeder met were unanimous in their condemnation of the Cultural Revolution and the "Gang of Four," several of whom were on trial during his three-and-a-half weeks in China. Scientists there are eager to bring in Western tech­ nology, but only if the new ideas can be adapted to the native systems. That is why they-like other Southeast Asian scientists-received Schroeder's suggestions for the Wuxi center with so much enthusiasm.

In China, aquaculture is practiced by state-run farms and by communes as part of a program of integrated farming. Produc­ tivity on the communes far exceeds that of the state-run farms.

The fish grown are primarily a poly-culture of carp plus Tilapia. The ponds are operated on a labor-intensive basis and the state provides electricity at reduced rates for pumping and aer­ ation. Intense organic fertilization, mostly by by-products such as manure and crop wastes and grasses, provide the primary organic input to the ponds. The bacteria, protozoa and their mucopoly­ saccharide exudates plus algae, all of which are abundant

49

50

Consulate General of Israel

products of the fertilization of the ponds, provide the food for the fish. Such microorganisms would be uneconomical for man to harvest, but the fish do the job nicely.

The Chinese have traditionally approached fish farming as a means of re-cycling feeds, as opposed to using costly food pellets to fatten their fish. (In Israel, both these methods are combined.)

Now they want to refine their empirical data and relate it to other fish farming procedures in Southeast Asia, and in other parts of the world. This is China's first major attempt at an international training center.

Schroeder himself has visited fish ponds in Thailand, Malaysia, the Phillipines, Kenya, as well as North and South America.

"J was told over and over that had I been 'an Israeli scientist' I never would have been invited. At the same time, it was clear to all that my research was done in Israel," he said.

When he broached the subject of Israel, he was told flatly that there were no relations between the countries and that China was dependent on Arab oil, despite its own growing oil potential.

When he was not on official business during his visit, Schroeder was free to wander about by himself. Never did he think he was being watched or followed. Only once was he reprimanded for taking a photograph and that was because he had failed to ask the local commune leader's permission. The photograph was of a fish pond being dug by hand.

"It was quite a sight," he said. "No bulldozers. Just a hundred or so men and women digging away, and the dirt flying in the air."

In hotel rooms and on trains belongings are left unguarded and rooms unlocked.

"There is an assumption of total honesty that was not contra­ dicted by anything I experienced."

The only trickery he experienced was with urchins at the Great Wall, ("Ours is greater," Schroeder says), selling manufactured "ancient" coins to tourists. It is one of the signs that China yvill change as it opens up to the West.

He was surprised to find graffiti written on the Great Wall.

"But somehow," he said, "it doesn't look so bad in Chinese."

ORTHODOX UNION

84th ANNIVERSARY NATIONAL DINNER Sunday May 2,1982 9 New York Hilton Hotel

5742

E L IZ B O R O W SK I GUEST OF HONOR, Recipient of the KETHER SHEMTOV AWARD

AL H. TH O M AS Recipient of the NATIONAL DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

RABBI H ASK EL LOO KSTEIN Recipient of the NATIONAL RABBINIC AWARD Plus distinguished Presidents Awardees

PH ILIP FUCHS CHAIRMAN

Gershon Z wick

The Stranger: A Fantasy Sender was a tailor. In a small Ukrainian shtetl 3 Jewish tailor is not exactly a pillar of the community, and neither was Sender.

But, being the son of Mote The Tailor, whom some considered a tzadik in a small way, Sender wasn't an am haaretz, either. He was one of the regulars at the weekday minyan, and was often seen opening a sefer on Shabbos afternoon and delving into the small print. And since he was blessed with what might be called "not a bad voice," he often davened at the Amod, and not only on weekdays, but also on Shabbos and even on the Yomim Noraim Our story begins on Yom Kippur morning in the Terpinsker shul. It was nearly mid-morning and everybody was there, taleisim over their heads and waving like reeds in the wind, with Sender at the Amod. Suddenly his voice faltered, then failed alto­ gether, and he slowly slid to the floor and collapsed. Men rushed over, women craned their necks over the mechitza, wondering and asking: "What is, w hat happened?"

"He fainted."

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a man appeared. Squat, sharp of features/ with small dark eyes and a clipped grayish beard. The talis over his shoulders suggested more of a cape than a talis. He bent over the prostrate figure, stretching him out full length.

"It's nothing," he almost cackled, "I'll take care of him."

The whispering resumed.

"Who's that?"

"Who knows? I never saw him before. A stranger."

"Where did he come from?"

"Not from around here. Look at his short coat, and the clipped beard!"

Sender was still flat on the floor, his features gaunt and bloodless, his eyes shut and lips fluttering faintly. He was appar­ ently regaining consciousness. The stranger meanwhile pulled his tallis around his shoulders and stepped over to the Amod.

"I'll finish for him," he chirped.

"It's not necessary, there are others," the Gabbai remarked, somewhat resentfully. The stranger seemed a bit put out, shrugged his shoulders, but said nothing. In the meantime, Sender _________ ________ was propped up to a sitting position, apparently fully conscious. Mr. Zwick, a retired engineer His face was as pale as the yellowed talis that had slipped from his %ho !ives in sJ ni^htown^ shoulders, and his eyes were wide open and staring-staring at the pelting, ' Writing * W spot where the stranger stood just a moment before. The small learning.

53

crowd around him kept murmuring, although more calmly now.

"Well, thank God, he's sitting up. For a moment I thought . . . " "You thought what? Just because a man faints from fasting?"

"Fasting? It's not even noon yet!"

"But did you see his face? I thought it was the end."

"The end? Nonsense! Sender is still a young man, with a good thirty years ahead of him."

"Thirty years?" The voice was harsh, as if complaining. It was the stranger. All eyes turned in the direction of the voice.

"There he is again. I thought he was gone."

"Thirty years," the stranger repeated, this time in a subdued voice, as if in resignation to the inevitable . . . Now the Gabbai stepped up to the Amod and the davnen continued. It was only then that heads began turning in everywhich direction, looking, searching.

"He's gone! He was standing right here, just a minute ago!" The man was gone allright, but where to? It made no sense, but this was Yom Kippur, so the congregation returned to the task of praying.

During the afternoon intermission a few people walked over to Sender, now back in his seat, apparently recovered, and inquired: "Nu, feel a little better, Reb Sender?"

He nodded in silent reply and sighed, as if to say, "thank God!" The moment Maariv was finished, wife Rifke and daughter Chanele were by his side, fussing a bit and exchanging wishes with everyone. Finally, they walked home, a bit slower than usual, for Sender's sake. Within a few days, the incident was seemingly forgotten-by everyone else, that is, but not by Sender . . .

Winter comes early to Terpinsk, and that year was no ex­ ception. The sleepy little town settled down to its usual winter routine. For Sender, however, things were no longer the same. He seemed restless, frequently standing at the frosted window of his little shop, looking, searching, as if expecting someone. Rifke no­ ticed his strange behavior and wondered.

"Looking for someone, Sender?"

"No, no one, just the postman," he added in a subdued voice.

"Expecting a letter maybe, from whom?"

"Well, if you must know, from cousin Ethel."

"From America? Why all of a sudden?"

"Because I wrote to her, for papers. Now you know."

"Papers? What for?"

"What for? And what are papers from America for, do you think? For going there!"

"But why, what for? What's suddenly wrong with here, Ter­ pinsk?"

"Nothing's wrong, Rifke, I just can't live here any longer-you wouldn't understand."

54

She didn't understand, yet hoped it was but a passing fancy, soon to be forgotten. Only Sender couldn't forget. To everyone else the incident on Yom Kippur was nothing more than a fainting spell; to Sender it was a traumatic experience-a vision which left him with a haunting fear and a sinister premonition. Who knows, it might happen again. And if it meant what he feared it meant, what could he do? He had to get away-far away, and the sooner, the better. He was now living for the day when "papers" from America might save him. In the meantime he kept working and saving and scraping together the money for the steamship tickets.

At last the big day came, they were going. Late in the summer, well before the Yom Tovim, Sender, wife Rifke, and daughter Chanele bade goodbye to friends and neighbors, piled a couple of trunks on the hired horse-drawn wagon, and headed for the railroad station in the city on their first leg of the long journey to America.

The years passed and with time a measure of success came to Sender. A four-room apartment in the Bronx, a "Custom Tai­ loring and Dry Cleaning" establishment downstairs and a fine husband for Chanele—these were tangible evidence of Sender's success in the Goldene Medinah. And before long he became a grandfather, twice in fact within four years. Now and then, mostly in the first few years, there'd be an occasional letter from "hom e," and Rifke would dutifully answer—Sender didn't want to bother, as he put it—andstuff a dollar or two into the envelope. But soon this, too, stopped and Terpinsk was forgotten, or so it seemed . . .

In the meantime Sender was getting on in years. He was now almost seventy, ailing a bit now and then, and otherwise slowing down. He still tended to the store, but slowly shifted responsibility to his son-in-law. "I'm taking it easy," he would say, but Rifke was not convinced. Sender frequently seemed out of sorts and didn't seem to sleep well. Once or twice when Sender took to bed-"to rest up," he would say-Rifke called the doctor, despite Sender's grumbling objections. But the doctor wasn't much help, just the usual: Sender wasn't young anymore, we all age, you know, and so on. But to Rifke this wasn't very reassuring-the man was ailing, he didn't eat too well and his sleep was often disturbed. He would mumble, obviously dreaming; once Rifke was sure she heard him say something like Terpinsk. Something was apparently troubling him and she determined to find out. Next morning, as Sender was sitting at the window "resting," Rifke broached the subject, not without trepidation.

"Sender?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"You can't sleep?"

"I sleep, I sleep, why do you ask?"

55

"Last night you kept turning and tossing and talking in your sleep. Something's troubling you?"

"Nothing's troubling me. So what if I sometimes talk in my sleep a little, is that so terrible?"

"Perhaps you were dreaming of the old country?"

"The old country! Why the old country all of a sudden?"

"You know, the old days, our friends, the shul, Terpinsk."

Gradually Sender seemed touched. Nostalgia softened him for the moment, and his voice became almost mellow.

"You're a foolish woman, Rifke. A man dreams sometimes; it means nothing. And the old country is far away and long for­ gotten."

But forgotten it was not . . .

As time passed, Sender gradually drifted into a state of lethargy. He had given up his visits to the store altogether and even began missing Shul more and more often. On sunny days he would sit on the stoop in front of the store in the high back chair, with a shawl around his shoulders, the latter at Rifke's insistence.

He had now developed a puzzling habit of squirming-moving his head left and right and looking at passers-by as if trying to rec­ ognize someone. Once when his wife came up behind him, he almost fell out of the chair, startled.

"Looking for someone, Sender?"

"Wha, who's looking, I'm not looking. So what if I'm looking at people, is it not permitted, maybe?"

"Sure, sure it is permitted, you look all you want, no harm."

That's what she said, to calm him. But she couldn'i resist the feeling that he was not "ju st lookirig"-he was searching.

Neighbors would nod as they went by, and occasionally one of them, usually an oldster would stop and exchange a few words-Sender didn't seem to relish even that little, and people noticed that.

"How do you feel this morning?" No answer; anyway, not in words; perhaps a nod or a sigh, as if to say, "what's the use com­ plaining." As if exhausted by the interlude, he would close his eyes for a few moments before resuming his looking and searching.

Come evening, after store closing, Chane and her husband would stop for a moment-they had two boys at home and dinner to prepare.

"How do you feel, Papa?" Chane would invariably ask, and the reply, just as invariably, "Thank God," sometimes adding philo­ sophically, "one lives." Gradually it came to be accepted-Sender was getting old and a bit cranky, a sort of semi-invalid. And the less he frequented the Shul, the less he cared to, even on special occasions. It took some loud arguing to get him to go to Shul on Herbie's Bar Mitzva Shabbos. Rifke was furious.

"But you own grandson's Bar Mitzva, how can you refuse to 56

go?"

"I can, I can, I don't like those old fools in Shul!"

"But they're your old friends, most of them from the old country."

"Well, I don't like them, that's all, especially those from the old country. They remind me of, of. . ."

"O f what, Sender, of what?"

"Nothing, forget it."

"Allright, don't go to your first grandson's Bar Mitzva. And I thought you always hoped for the day . And poor Herbele."

Sender grumbled some more, but finally relented and went to Shul. He half resentfully responded to the "Shalom Aleichem" and "Boruch Habo" and "How Are You, Reb Sender," and when the Gabbai invited him to the Amod for Schachris, he stubbornly refused. O f course, he couldn't refuse an Aliah, but immediately thereafter returned to his seat and to looking at the faces around him. To all the "Mazel Tovs" later on he responded with no more than a nod and a quick "Amen." He was obviously uncomfortable and wanted out.

"Come Rifke, let's go home." But even as they walked out, he and Rifke and Chane and husband and the children, he still kept looking back over his shoulder. Eight-year old Heshie spoke up.

"Forgot something, Grampa? Looking for somebody?"

"I didn't forget and I'm not looking; let's go home."

Then Rifke came to the rescue.

"W hy shouldn't he look? He hasn't been in Shul for a long time so he looks at familiar faces." She didn't believe her own words, but Sender felt relieved.

Came the month of Elul, but Sender didn't seem to be aware of it. He didn't even go to the first Slichos-something he had not missed since early boyhood. On the first day of Rosh Hashana he did go to Shul; he couldn't resist Rifke's pleading.

"Want to come to Shul?", she meekly asked. The look in her eyes was too painful to ignore. The second day he stayed home, in bed, with grandson Heshie for company, or as Rifke said, "just in case," whatever that meant. Once when the boy came through the door after stepping out for a minute, the old man was startled to the point of panic. In a quivering voice, "Who is there, who is it?"

"Nobody, Grampa, it's me, they're coming out of Shul al­ ready."

"Oh, it's you child, good, good."

When Rifke came through the door a few minutes later, he again was startled, then relieved, seeing that it was only his wife.

During the next week he hardly left the bed, often dozing, face to the wall, and suddenly turning around whenever he heard the door open. Seeing a familiar face, he'd sigh deeply in relief, then

turn to the wall again. Two days before Yom Kippur, Rifke "Sender, tomorrow is Erev Yom Kippur."

"I know, I know, you needn't remind m e."

"Just thought I'd mention it. W ell all go to Shul together."

"I'm not going."

"But Yom Kippur, everybody goes, you must."

"I must? I won't go, I can't go, I'm a sick man, Rifke, you know I'm too sick to get out of bed." He was now pleading, so Rifke thought it best not to argue further-it just made him more irritable and stubborn.

"Allright, settled, don't go. You'll stay in bed and Heshele will stay with you again; he can run and call me if you need something.

The child will be disappointed to miss Shul," The argument over, Sender seemed relieved, although he still whimpered a bit. His wife sighed in resignation.

And so it was. Came Erev Yom Kippur and everybody went to Shul except Sender and grandson Heshie. His grandmother tried to ease his disappointment.

"Being with your grandfather is a mitzva, too, child. He'll be all alone without you."

The boy was resigned. He wandered about the room, picking up things and putting them down, finally settling near the window and gazing out into the semi-darkness watching stragglers run to Shul. Suddenly he was jarred from his daydreaming.

"Heshie, Heshie, where are you?"

"Here Grampa, watching if someone is coming, like you told m e."

"Good, good, child. But here it is Yom Kippur and me in bed!

Come help me with the Talis-at least I'll daven, even if alone, at home." The child obediently complied. He got the Talis from the mantle and came over to the bed. After some contortions by the old man, and with a bit of assistance from the child, the Talis finally ended up around Sender's shoulders, and the chanting began. The drone of the melody somewhat tranquilized the boy and he stood there at the bed, listening.

"K-o-ol Nidre-e-i Ve-esore-ei. You know what this is, child?"

"Yes Grampa, its Kol Nidrei. And you sing it just like a real Chazzan."

"I do? Well, I used to be a bit of a Chazzan when I was a young man, in the old country. Maybe your Mama told you?"

"No, Grampa/' "Come closer, child, and I'll tell you about it," the old man half whispered, as if to impart a secret. The boy hesitated-he seemed rather uncomfortable.

"You're not afraid of your grandfather, are you, Heshie?"

58

"N-n-no, Grampa, I'm not afraid/' the child stuttered and edged a bit closer. The old man began, almost in a whisper: "Once, a long time ago, in the old country, I was the Chazzan on Yom Kippur. But I didn't finish! He stopped me, he wouldn't let me!" Here the old man's eyes bulged out, he grasped the boy by the shoulders and began shaking him, all the while repeating in a ter­ rified voice: 'Tie stopped me, he didn't let me, he, he. . ."

Sender's eyes were like glowing coals burning into the now thor­ oughly frightened child. Partly from pain, but mostly from fright, the boy began whimpering and feebly squirming. That brought the oldman back to reality, he calmed down somewhat and added in a conciliatory voice, as if to make amends: "Ah, I'm so tired." He pulled the Talis from his shoulders and handed it to the boy.

"Here, Heshele, you know how to fold it." The child obeyed, grateful that the tempest had subsided.

The rest of the evening was relatively uneventful. Everybody came home from Shul, wished Papa a "Good Year" and asked perfunctorily: "How do you feel?"

How should I feel? It's Yom Kippur and I davned in bed!"

Here Heshie spoke up, now completely recovered from his ordeal.

"Grampa was davning like a real Chazzan, even better."

"A nd you were a good boy, Heshele, for keeping him company," Rifke chimed in. She was glad Sender was calm for a change, although this didn't last. A moment later, when there was a knock at the door, Sender bounced up, shocked.

"Rifke, the door, someone is knocking!"

"Why do you jump, just because someone is at the door?"

"Who knows who might be there, it could be anybody, a stranger!"

But is was only a neighbor coming to wish them a Good Year.

Sender heaved a sigh of relief. The rest of the evening passed quietly.

Came Yom Kippur morning and Chane came by, bringing Heshie over to "baby-sit" with Grampa. Before leaving the house, Rifke came over to the bed and gently but firmly laid down the law.

"Hear me out, Sender, no foolishness today! You stay in bed and if you want something you ask Heshele or send for me."

"What do you mean, 'want something,' a coffee maybe, or a little schnapps?"

"Don't make jokes and don't get off the bed for nothing, you hear?"

59

"For nothing, eh? Even if I have to go?"

"If you have to go, hold on to Heshie and walk slowly."

"And davnen, may I daven today, Yom Kippur?"

"Here's your Talis and Machzor, daven all you want. And child, remember, Grampa must not get off the bed, only if he has to go, then you help him. And if something should happen, God forbid, you come running and call me. Will you remember?"

"I'll remember, Gramma," the child replied, a bit proud of his newly given responsibilities. The women left, gently closing the door behind them. A momen later the old man spoke up: "Come here, Heshie, and help me with the Talis. I can do it myself, but Gramma said you should help. Then go the window and watch."

It was now almost noon. The old man, Talis over his head, was praying-now chanting, now whispering. Heshie was sitting at the window "watching," somewhat bored and a bit fidgety. Then: "Heshele, what time is it?"

"It's about twelve, I guess. I can't tell time too well."

"So it's almost time for the first intermission. Be a good boy, go out and look, maybe Gramma is coming."

Obediently the boy stepped out. The street was empty and no one was in front of the Shul-they didn't let out yet, he surmised.

He turned around, wanting to step inside, when he noticed a man standing between him and the door.

"You're Sender's grandson Heshele, aren't you?"

"Yes, but who . . .?"

"Oh, I'm an old friend, you might say. From the old country.

I'm sure your grandfather told you about me, heh, heh."

The child was uncomfortable-he didn't relish the chuckle, it was harsh and gritty. In fact, he didn't relish the stranger alto­ gether. Squat, with a little grayish beard, small, twinkly eyes, and, even to an eight-year old, rather presumptuous. The boy made a feeble attempt to step around the stranger and enter the house, but he didn't succeed.

"No, child, don't go in yet. You've been cooped up with your grandfather all morning; you stay out here in the sun and I'll sit with your Grampa for a while, for old times' sake, heh, heh."

Again the chuckle—it made the child most uncomfortable, like a chilling wind.

"But Grampa said . . ."

"Don't you worry. I'll explain to Grampa. You wait here."

With that the stranger stepped through the door and shut it behind him. Heshie stood there, feeling a bit guilty for disobeying his grandfather. From the inside came voices; no, not voices, just his grandfather's, but try as he would, he could not understand 60

what was being said.

He began regretting that he disobeyed his grandfather and was just about to enter the house despite the stranger's admonitions, when he noticed people coming out of the Shul. Gramma was sure to come out at any moment, so he remained on the stoop and waited.

"Good Yom Tov, Reb Sender!" The raspy voice, although seemingly cheerful, startled the old man dozing in bed. He looked up. f iWi,.'.,' m ihteV ‘ V v * ^ 1 ■*WJ "W ho, wh. . .YO U!" He was in panic. His voice all but failed him, terror showed on his face, his eyes bulging and staring. First he vainly tried to pull the Talis over his head as if to blot out the apparition, but a strange compulsion made him desist.

"Whom did you expect, Eliahu Ha'Novi?"

"B-b-but here, so far away! I thought that was all over, in the old country."

"Gome now, Reb Sender, did you really believe a man could run away, even across the ocean? I go everywhere, wherever and whenever I'm sent. And I can't wait forever, you know ."

The voice was now conciliatory and this calmed Sender a bit.

"The same, you're just the same as that time, in Shul, on Yom Kippur, you haven't changed!"

"No, I haven't changed- Did you expect me to?"

"I don't now, who knows these things. It's such a long time."

"Yes, Sender, a long tim e."

"Almost thirty years?"

"EXACTLY thirty years, thirty EXTRA years. I was against it, but was overruled. But that is all over now."

"And what now?", Sender whispered, as if dreading the answer, although there was no longer any doubt in his mind.

"What now, you ask! It's time, Reb Sender, it's time!"

"But I'm not so old yet, couldn't I . . ."

"Sender, Sender, you've had a full three score and ten, and that's thirty more than was meant for you. Now it's time."

"Just a few more years, I'm not hurting anybody."

"A few MORE years???" The words were shouted, as it in anger." 9« "Whose years, Reb Sender? A few of Rifke's years, perhaps, or maybe you'd like a few of Chane's years, she's still young, with two boys to bring up. O r maybe of the boy's years; they have plenty of years left. Heshele, for example? Would you like of few of Heshie's years???"

Mention of the boy made the old man wail.

"The poor child, he saw you!"

"No, Sender, I may be what I am, but cruel I am not, especially

to children."

"But he saw you, like this, didn't he?"

No, Sender, no. Let me explain. To you, on business so to speak, I look as I am, but to the child, and everyone else for that matter, I m just a stranger from the old country, you might say."

"And the first time, in Terpinsk?"

"Same thing-a stranger in town coming to Shul."

"But you disappeared so suddenly, where to?"

"Where to? To work, Sender, to work! I had a lot of stops to m ake."

'W ork? On Yom Kippur?" ^Yes, even on Yom Kippur. It seems my work is never done."

"So its no use begging for mercy?"

"No use." ^But I m so afraid!" The old man was barely whispering. ^What s there to be afraid of? You're ready, aren't you?" t No, no, I m not ready yet!" He was grasping for straws.

"Thirty years and you're not ready? Every time it's the same story: I'm afraid, Give me more time, I'm not ready. And this has been going on for years! THOUSANDS of years. They have all their lives to get ready and in the last minute they want more time.

And what about me? I have to get my work done, too, a sort of schedule, you might say. And besides, what about the others, waiting to come in? We've got to make room, you know; there's only so much room . . . Well, enough talk, I have yet others to see today. Here, let me take your Talis-I'll fold it and put it on the mantle so it 11 be ready. Now just lie back and leave everything to m e."

He sounded almost fatherly. He gently pulled the Talis from the man's shoulders, folded it neatly and put it on the mantle. Then he came over to the bed and almost tenderly pushed the old man against the pillows.

"There, now, you see, it's not so bad, is it?"

"N o," Sender whispered, his lips barely moving and his voice resembling the hiss of air escaping from a punctured balloon.

"Now close your eyes and have a long rest-you earned it."

The old man obeyed, no longer afraid . . . .

It was just past noon-first intermission in Shul-and Rifke came out, heading in the direction of the house, when she noticed Heshie on the stoop. Her pace quickened and presently she faced the child.

"Whassa matter, Heshie, why aren't you inside with Grampa?"

"The man told me to wait here."

'T h e man, what man?"

The man on the stoop. I went out to look, and when I wanted to go back in, he was there. He told me he was a friend of Grampa's from the old country and to wait here."

"From the old country? So maybe I know him, let's go in.

"But Gramma, he said not to come in, to wait here!"

"You think they want to talk alone? What can they talk about that's so secret? You heard them, maybe?"

"I just heard voices, no, just Grampa's voice. But I didn't under­ stand!"

Rifke gingerly opened the door and tiptoed in. The room was quiet and empty. Sender seemed to be sleeping peacefully. As she was about to step out, she noticed the folded Talis on the mantle.

She stepped out, and silently closed the door behind her.

'T h e truth, Heshie, W AS there a man?"

Honest, Gramma, he said he had some unfinished business with Grampa, honest." The child was in tears. Rifke relented.

"Allright, child, I believe you. And the Talis, you folded it?"

No, Gramma, when I stepped out, Grampa was still davning."

"You didn't fold it? It folded itself, maybe?"

"I dunno, I didn't fold it, honest."

"So you didn't. Come, lets go in. Maybe Grampa is awake by now." They tiptoed in. Nothing has changed. Sender still lay there, peacefully, as before.

This time Sender had answered the call.

WHAT IS A JEWISH FUNERAL? The Orthodox Union, in conjunction with the Rabbinical Council of America and the Jewish Funeral Directors of America, is committed to providing funerals in keep­ ing with Jewish tradition. For a copy of

THE JEWISH FUNERAL GUIDE SEN D A S E L F -A D D R E S S E D E N V E LO P E A N D 25C TO: T R IP A R TITE C O M M IS S IO N O N JE W IS H FU N ER A L STA N DA RD S c/o The Orthodox Union, 45 W est 36th Street, New York, N Y. 10018

63

UNION OF ORTHODOX JEWISH CONGREGATIONS OF AMERICA President J U L IU S B E R M A N C h airm an Board o f D irectors: N A T H A N K. G R O S S C h a ifm a n Board o f G overnors: M AR CO S KA TZ H onorary Presidents: HA R O LD M . JA C O B S J O S E P H K A R A S IC K M O S E S h F E U E R S T E IN M A X J. ETR A DR. S A M U E L N IR E N S T E IN H o norary C h a irm e n o f the Board: S A M U E L C. F E U E R S T E IN S A M U E L L. B R E N N G L A S S H o norary V ice Presidents: DR. B E R N A R D L A N D E R IR V IN G S T O N E D A V ID P O L IT I E M A N U E L RE IC H S e n io r V ice Presidents: BERNARD W. LE VM O R E M A R V IN H E R S K O W IT Z SH ELD O N RUDO FF FRED EHRM AN G E O R G E B. F A L K D A V ID F U N D

V ic e Presidents: SO LO M O N T. SCHARF M IC H A E L C. W IM P F H E IM E R M A X RICH LER DR. D A V ID L U C H IN S RO NALD G REENW ALD M ARCEL W EBER SA N FO R D DEUTSCH S ID N E Y K W E S T E L M AYER SU TTO N LA RR Y B R O W N Treasurer: DR. J A C O B B. U K E L E S

D A V ID W O O L F C e ntral C anada D O N A L D B. B U TLE R C e n tral East A L A N I. LA P P IN G C hicago G ERALD FELDH AM ER M e tro p o lita n N e w Y o rk DR. IS A A C B O N IU K M idw est JO SEP H M A C Y N e w E n glan d J O S E P H M . R Ü SS AK N orthw est E M IL FIS H Pacific Coast S A U L Q U IN N S o uth E. D A V ID S U B A R U p per N e w Y o rk J U L IU S S A M S O N Israel

Secretary: H A R V E Y B L ITZ F inancial Secretary: J O S E P H M IL L E R National Associate Vice Presidents: H E R M A N H E R S K O V IC A L H . THOM AS EA RL KORCHAK J O E L M . SC H R E IB E R JA CK M . NAGEL MARCUS ROSENBERG V ic e Presidents fo r Regions: N A T H A N IE L F U T E R A L A tla n tic S eaboard

RA B B I P IN C H A S S T O L P E R E x ecu tive V ic e President

REACHING OUT... Y y \V . . . t o YOU! The Orthodox Union since 1898 is representative to the world at large—speaking out on the critical issues facing the Jewish community, with the voice of Torah and 3,000 years of Jewish tradition. . .S H O W YOUR SUPPORT BY JOINING AS AN INDIVIDU AL MEMBER OF THE O RTH O D O X U N IO N — FOR ONLY $18.00 PER YEAR«

As a member, you'll receive a Magazine, Jewish MEMBERSHIP

fsubscription to Action,Kashruth publications, and more.

APPLICATION

Please enroll me as an individual member of the Orthodox Union. Enclosed please find my check for $18.00.

Name .. •..............................

Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . _____.

City/State/Zip........................... .

ADD YOUR VOICE TO O URS...

WE’U BOTH BE BETTER HEARD!

64

The Orthodox Union is proud to offer to its readers the newest publication in the ArtScroll Tanach Series

¿yeh osh tia j^nrr* 1 The outcome of the lottery for the Children of Joseph was: In the east —from the Jordan opposite Jericho to the Waters of Jericho to the wilderness which ascends from Jericho via the mountain to Beth

•>pb in n » E fftp «JÇ1» »331? VJjöij

"ina inn»« TÒv "Dion nnnin inn»

XVI he beginnin

fromJoseph's sons, Ephraimand Menashe (Genesis

phraim's territory, in*addition to the comolidated territory which Ephraim ceived, the tribe was granted a number of discrete cities within the borders of lamedFS These were known as the 'separated cities' and wilt be ex-

The Southern Border Ephraim and Menaahe •of lose Ephrail

”

Svipiunddbvestes^t

inheritance «««her <

Hie ArtScroit Tanach Series proudly o Detailed background introductions presents its first volume on the Early to the book and each of Its chapters.

Prophets - and it lives up to the expeca on Prophecy ^ <*, tatrons ^ scholars and laymen, teachers Joshua> the great prophet and leader and students who look to ArtScroll for whose stature Is overlooked because he th e h ig h e st sta n d a rd s o f clarity, g rew jn M oses' shadow, thoroughness and literacy In Torah □ Complete subject index. literature.

This is the largest ArtScroll book ever No other commentary of Joshua — in published — and it Is indispensable to any language — offers so much: anyone seeking a definitive understand­ O Complete anthologized comment- ing of Israel’s conquest of Eretz Yisrael. ary spanning 2 ,0 0 0 years of Torah Translation and commentary by literature.

Rabbi Reuven Drucker

□ Over 2 0 new maps Illustrating the geographical division of the land and Joshua’s military campaigns against the Canaanites.

(4 8 0 pages) hardcover

ORDER DIRECT FROM THE ORTHODOX UNION AND SAVE

10%

$16.95

Overviews by Rabbi N osson Scherm an

Published by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ltd.

paperback

$13.95

THE ORTHODOX UNION Publications Dept.

4 5 W est 36 th Street / N e w York, N.Y. 10018

YEHOSHUA/JOSHUA ......hardcover <§>$16.95 ......paperback @ 13.95 ARTSCROLL TANACH SERIES The Five Megillos (slip-cased) The Megillah/Esther The Book of Ruth Eichah/Lamentations Koheies/Ecdesiastes Bereishis/Genesis Vol. I: Bereishis Noach Vol. II: Lech Lecha-Vayeira Voi. Ill: Chayei Sarah-Toldos Vol. V: Vayeishev-Mikeitz Vol. VI: Vayigash-Vayechi Tehillim/Psalms VoL I: Psalms 1-30 Vol. li: Psalms 31-55 Vol. Ill: Psalms 56-85 Yechezkel/Ezekiel Three volume set (slip-cased) Vol. I: Chapters 1-20 Vol. II: Chapters 21-39 VoL III: Chapters 40-48 The Book of Daniel Yonah/Jonah

..

Qty hardcover

Qty paperback

........ @$49.95 ........@ $9.95 ....«..@ $9.95 ........@ $9.95 ....... @ $9.95 ........@ $9.95

..........@ $34.95 ..........@ $6.95 ..........@ $6.95 ..........@ $6.95 ..... ....@ $6.95 .........@ $6.95

....... @$13.95 ........@ $16.95 ........@$13.95 ....... @ $15.95 ....... @ $15.95 ....... @$15.95

........@ $10.95 ..........@ $13.95 ....... @ $10.95 ........ .@ $1295 ...... @ $1295 ..........@ $1295

....... @ $13.95 ....... @ $13.95 ....... @$13.95

..........@ $10.95 ..........@ $10.95 ..........@ $10.95

$44.95 ....... @$14.95 ........@$14.95 ....... @$13.95 ...... @ $14.95 ........@ $9.95

..........@ $11.95 ......... @ $11.95 ..........@ $10.95 ..........@ $11.95 ..........@ $6.95

........ .@ $35.95

ARTSCROLL MISHNAH SERIES The Mishnah: Seder M o e d Vol. It: Pesachim/Shekalim ........@$15.95 ..........@ $1295 Vol. Ill: Rosh Hashanah/Yoma/Succah ......... @$16.95 .......... @$13.95 VoL IV: Taanis/M egillah/M oed Katan/Chagigah ...@ $13.95 ARTSCROLL M ESORAH SERIES The Siddur voL 1(Friday Evening) ...@$8.95 a $5.95 Bircas Kohanim ...@ $7.95 §>$5.95 The Passover Haggadah ...@ $9.95 §>$6.95 The Haggadah Treasury ...... $9.95 §>$6.95 The Family Haggadah §>$1.95.

Akdamus Millin ...@ $9.95 §>$6.95 Bircas HaMazon/Grace After Meals ...@ $6.95 §>$4.95 Zemiroth/Sabbath Songs ...@ $1295 §>$9.95 The Family Zemiros ...@$6.95 §>$2.50 Tashlich ...@$6.50 §>$4.50 Hoshanos ...@ $9.95 §>$6.95 Kaddish ...@$6.50 §>$4.50 Bircas HaChammah ...@ $1295 §>$9.95 Aseres Hadibros ...@ $6.50 §>$4.50 Chanukah ...@ $8.95 §>$5.95 ARTSCROLL JUDAICA CLASSICS A Treasury of Chassldic Tales on the Torah Vol. I: Bereishis/Sh'mos @ $1295 ...........@ $9.95 VoL II: V ayikra/Bam idbar/D evarim ......... @$12.95 .......... @$9.95 A Treasury of ChasskJk Tales on the Festivals Vol. I: Rosh Hashanah/Yom K ippur/S uccos/C hanukah/P urim — ..«@$12.95 ......... @$9.95 Vol. II: Pesach/Lag B'Om er/Shavuos/Tishah B'Av ..........@$12.95 ..........@$9.95 The Festivals in Halachah VoL I: Yom Tov/Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur/Succos i: .... @ $14.95 .......... @ $11.95 Vol. II: Chanukah/Purim /Fast D a y s/M in o r Festivals ......... @ $13.95 .......... @ $10.95 ARTSCROLL JUDAISCOPE SERIES The Torah Personality §>$12.95 ....... .@$9.95 Seasons of the Soul §>$12.95 ........@$9.95

G entlem en,

ARTSCROLL YOUTH SERIES

Enclosed is m y check in the am ount o f ............... Please send m e the books in the ArtScroll Series that I checked off at your discount price.

The Best of Olomeinu Vol. I

§>$9.95

§>$6.95

RELATED VOLUMES The Unconquerable Spirit Hirhurei Teshuvah [Hebrew]

§>$9.95 §>7.95

§>$6.95

N a m e ___ ............................. ________ . A _______ ____„ y..„.

Address..

C ity___ m

Total $...

..Zip...

LESS 10% DISCO U N T - . . .

S u b to ta l...

(Allow 2-3 weeks for delivery.)

Make checks payable to: The Orthodox Union

Postage and h andling charge per order

+

Total check enclosed $........

$1.25

Breakfast at 9:00, Wall St. at 11:00, Uptown at 2:00. ¡1*

^

^osb ChiKlosfe j ty,tlh - Numbers

win WK-*

PRAISE asaS S B B sr* FROM RABBI MOSES FEINSTEIN “I wish you success with Luach Limud, which serves the f very important purpose of elevating Torah learning and making it available to laymen. Educators can also use this great innovation to teach Mishnah to their students, and encourage its transmittal to parents at ACCLAIM home FROM RABBI "JOSEPH B. SOLOVEITCHIK. “Any project which furthers the study of Torah and makes it more accessible is of enormous value!

I believe that the

jnOT nvna1?

The Month of N.san

n ^

**««*,hc

Prâyf * arTe iîM V lifl diH (usually * a‘^

flow ing

vi

kdays), (,flzkor«S

«jk’Vijì my*.

Vyitm j3<?3’31•mhm’31 tnd kissed

b a n d my disciple vn-that

Luach Limud Torah Diary of the Orthodox Union

is an innovative and worthwhile. endeavor. My best wishes J for your continued .y**F***

r^ i^ fe S S S E t .

the custom . T rah commémorât ng * the portion « g J J J J brought dunng the

m n1JV

J days

7 "W “

diW

Vvim vi

*

, h. s a l.c o i.tr « ! Ik '

r ^ l. ^

” * ^ S : t f o r So, toor»ko

condition that the

(C ontinued on pa& 62>

in any

A c tu a l page size 4" x i

.and MISHNAH at 3:00 wherever you are.

LUACH & LIM UD a monthly pocket size, business diary and TORAH study compendium. > A monthly magazine type, pocket size, business diary. * Combines a daily Torah study program and daily business appointment calendar information. > Provides luach. daily. Sabbath and Holiday taws and observances, candle lighting, end of Sabbath times for fifteen cities. ►Torah study based on a revolutionary new translation and commentary of the Mishna. * An ideal gift, a valuable daily personal reference and educational program. ►With convenient plastic carrying case.

Luach Um ud/Orthodox Union Order Dept.

P.O. B o x 17305 Milwaukee, W I 53217

SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FO RM □ Yes, please accept my subscription to the Luach/Limud Torah Diary at $18 for twelve monthly diaries. Please find my check enclosed. ($24 for foreign air mail subscriptions) □ Please bill me through Visa or Mastercard.

M—terC-e* Account No. on my CWtDa CAWO.

Li.1 I I I I I I I I I I ||||W JW M HOT M 11 ■ 11 i l l 1111 m «* VHA* Account No. on my CWEDtT CAWO:

SUBSCRIPTION N>

CITY/STATE/ZIP

^ T V T lU fi TORAH DIARY

GERTZ GRAPHICS Inc. — (212) 233-7669