KISLEV, 5734 / NOVEMBER, 197S VOLUME IX, NUMBER 7 rHE EWISH SIXTY FIVE CENTS BS ERV ER

THE YoM KIPPUR WAR

... AND US

a series of searching articles

based on addresses

by leading Roshei • The Faces of War a photo-anecdote feature • also Chassidus and the Lonely Jew

a critique of Elie Wiesel's "Souls on Fire" THE JEWISH OBSERVER

in this issue ...

THE YoM KrPPUR WAR: (Prinled in order of their presentation) WHAT rs DEMANDED FRoM Us?, ... 3 MORTAL MIGHT IN WAR AND PEACE, Hagaon Horav ...... 6 WHAT ARE OUR WEAPONS?, H agaon Hor av Y aakov Yitzchok Ruderman ...... 8 THE FACES OF WAR ...... ,...... 9 CHASSIDUS AND THE LONELY JEW (a review article of Elie Wiesel's "Souls on Fire"), Alter Ben Zion Metzger... 12 UP FROM INSANITY, Yaakov Feldman ...... 20 BOOK REVIEW: UNIVERSAL JEWISH HISTORY: THE PATRIARCHAL AGE (part II conclusion) ...... 24

SECOND LOOKS AT Kmuv RECHOKIM: SAVING TEXAS, Nachum Zvi Josephy ...... 26 ONE SouL, Chaya D. Rosenzweig ...... 28 WHo's QUALIFIED?, Elkanah Schwartz ...... 29 LISA AND ME/THEM AND Us, Nechama Krupenia ...... 30 THE JEWISH OBSERVER is published monthly, except July and August, WHo's NOT QUALIFIED?, R. D. Adlin ...... 31 by the Agudath of Amercia, 5 Beekman St., New York, N. Y. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ...... 32 10038. Second class postage paid at New York, N. Y. Subsctiption: $6.50 per year; Two years, $11.00; PICTURE CREDITS: Cover, UPI; Page 9, Sha'arei Zedek Hospital, ; Three years $15.00; outside of the Pages 13, 14, 17, A PEOPLE APART: HASIDISM IN AMERICA, Photographs by $7 .50 per year. Single Philip Garvin, E. P. J)utton & Co., Inc. Ne1v York 1970; Page 19, THE copy sixty-five cents. FACE OF FAITH by Gershon Kranzler, Photographs by Irving I. Herzberg, Printed in the U.S.A. The Hebrew College Press, Baltin1ore, Md. 1972; Pages 34, 35, ZELMAN STUDIOS.

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• What lS Demanded From Us?

The following is based on an address delivered by RABBI YAAKOV WEINBERG, of Ner Israel-Baltimore, at a meeting of Umesorah's National Conference of Yeshiva Principals.

The Question Somewhere in the fabric of the legal structure of WE ARE EXPERIENCING a time of great significance. the Torah there must lie the din covering a Jew's re­ Not only in the sense of the dawning awareness of how sponse to such a time. If we do search through the the Yad Hashem is becoming undeniably visible in entire and the codes and to answer what appeared to be random meanderings in the flow a question in hilchos tarfos (dietary laws); if we cannot of history, but in the reality of a time of adversity. accept simply an educated guess, a reasonable opinion, A time in which all -wittingly or not-so-wittingly or an inner conviction when it comes to hilchos -are involved. A time in which lie portents of pro­ Shabbos; then infinitely more so must we be wary of found changes in the status of Jew among Gentile, of anything less than the dvar Hashem (word of G-d) Jew and his relationship to Eretz Yisroel, and of when approaching the question of our response to a Yisroel's relationship to Hashem Yisborach. situation which threatens the entire Kial Yisroel. We relieve our sense of helplessness and frustration One need not search very far to discover that there by sending money, writing congressmen, and perhaps is indeed an entire body of dinim concerned exclusively attending rallies. And we certainly say some Tehillim. with detailing this response-the Hilchos Ta'anis (Laws Yet when we approach the "Why"-which is, of of Fast Days) : course, the only realistic basis for determining our I. "It is a positive commandment in the Torah to cry response-we tend to sink to the imprecise romantic out and sound trumpets on any infliction which notion of the Jew's fate in hostile history, some mystical befalls the community.... cosmic tension, as if to put the Creator on trial, as 2. "And such action is of the paths of teshuvah (repent­ others have done in the past. And there are those who ance). For at such time as trouble comes and there are quick to point to the irreligious elements in Eretz is crying out and trumpeting, then all will come to Yisroel, and how "they had it coming to them.'' But understand that the source of such misfortune is there is rarely an honest attempt to discover the answer their own misdeeds ... and this will bring about the to the truly basic question: What does G-d want of us? withdrawal of the affliction. The Source of Guidance 3. "However, if there is no crying, no trumpeting, but rather will they say that what has befallen is an THE NATION THAT ACCEPTED on Sinai for all time the aspect of life, a pure coincidence that all this has Torah as its only source of axioms cannot afford to happened-this is a cruel reaction and causes one ignore the basic terms of that treaty with G-d. We to continue in those same misdeeds. And so over cannot look elsewhere for judgments, either moral or and above this misfortune will still more be added, practical. Torah must be our guide, or "Na'aseh as it says in the Torah, 'If you will act with me V'nishma-We shall do and we shall harken" is nothing keri (with happenstance) then I, too, will act with more than a memory of what was once a relationship. you in furious keri.' That is to say, if when I bring

The Jewish Observer/ Noven1ber, 1973 3 upon you affliction in order that you do teshuvah, In the Rambam's halacha, then, "cruelty" is the ex­ you will say it is keri-coincidence-I will bring pression of choice. What deeper manifestation of total upon you the fury which such keri-reaction insensitivity is there than not caring enough to cry warrants." out at murder, brutality and hardships affecting millions (Halachos 1-3 of Hilchos Ta'anios of Kial Yisroe/. in Rambam, first chapter) Still, one protests, one must retain a sense of what is practical. There doesn:t seem to be much gain The Rambam's Emphasis in raising alarms and crying out. Millions have done so AT FIRST GLANCE, there is nothing new here, only the before; teshuvah was rarely forthcoming, and the age-old lesson that teshuvah will cure our ills. And as crisis itself see1ns to pass only when it has run its for the element of coincidence-who among the G-d course. At this point, reference to the Rambam's second fearing can believe that all is coincidence? It is certainly halacha is in order. well-known that the Ramban () writes Read closely.... The Rambam proclaims that there in his commentary on Parshas Bo that whoever attri­ is no requisite to do teshuvah in order to secure the butes events of historical impact to coincidence has no relief of the crisis. Only that we recognize that our part in our Torah. misdeeds have created the infliction. At that point (says It would seem, then, that our type of low-keyed the Rambam) the misfortune will be withdrawn! reaction is simply not covered by what the Rambam Simply stated, if we consider crying out in tefillah­ has written. For the overwhelming majority of religious not as a petition to a despot who, if beseeched suf­ Jewry seems to be in some middle stratum, not really ficiently, will take to heart our needs-but rather as covered by this halacha. We do not believe in coinci­ an admittance of fault, as a self-indictment, as a dence, so we do not go in keri; but neither are we conviction that things 1nust change within us and in about to cry out or blow trumpets. For whatever reason our actions, we will avert the crisis. If we understand -be it habit, laziness, fear of public opinion, or not that crying out and sounding the trumpets serve the fully caring enough-we find ourselves in a nether same purpose-the awakening of the Kial, not of world seemingly not covered by dinei Torah. Hashem Yisboruch, then there will be no crisis upon Look again. crisis, no more suffering for the stubbornness of our For the Rambam seems to make a puzzling choice keri attitude. of words when he says, "This is a cruel reaction." The Onus of Responsibility Improper, evil, ignorant-these would seem to be adjectives more suited to the context of the halacha. THERE JS YET ANOTHER subtlety which remains to he And it is odd, too, that the halacha should concern uncovered in these few illuminating halachos, and the web which is to entangle us in electrifying responsibility itself here with those who do not accept hashgacha­ Divine control of events. For certainly the demands of will have been completed. In his third halacha, the the pasuk cited by the Rambam are quoted from the Rambam states, "When I bring upon you affliction in chapter addressed to the ma'amin (believer) who has order that you do teshuvah . ..." The purpose of all not done teshuvah-not to those who are totally lost crises, then, is to bring us to teshuvah. No greater case to our nation. And so it has been historically: that can be made for placing the onus directly upon our heads. Those unfortunates who have never heard of when the imprecations in those very same verses were fulfilled, it was Kial Yisroel who suffered, the ma'amin hashgocha, or who have been actively brainwashed of b'nai ma'aminim, those basically loyal in their belief any remnants of emunah, are not being addressed by and trust in G-d-not the scoffers and the doubters, the Rambam's words. They are not expected to respond nor those ignorant of the Torah's expectations. to the crisis with a crying out as prescribed by the Rambam, and thus they cannot be culpable. We who The Cruelty of Indifference believe are. YET, IF WE WILL ACCEPT for a moment that the Ram­ We can not longer evade the issue. If people are bam is indeed not referring to those who deny hashga­ being killed and maimed in Eretz Yisroel, if the situa­ cha but rather to all of us, his words take on an tion of Jews the world over has been made precarious, awesome impact. The Rambam is incisively saying the we are responsible for that carnage and for that poten­ presumed middle ground is a platform with no supports. tial of inutterable tragedy. That one whom a crisis does not affect to the extent We are responsible because with all our correct that he is compelled to cry out and sound alarm, is not statements and proper gestures, we have been unable truly aware that the crisis is a result of his own short­ to make the connection to our hearts which would comings. For not only is intellectual awareness mean­ have impelled us to action. We do not truly believe that ingless when not coupled to emotional response, it is the only practical response to this event is recognition profoundly cruel. that this is all truly the work of G-d, that we are

4 The JeH'ish Observer I November, 1973 suffering because we did wrong. Our job, then, is to our hearts. After singing praise to G-d for His countless turn intellectual acceptance into inner realization. This miracles, we proceeded to take pride in the strength, is what this momentous time must mean. bravery and cunning of our soldiers, the might of our The awareness must penetrate that our tefillah, our air force, and to ridicule the cowardice and foolishness learning, our mitzvos, are real, not ceremonies. That of the Arabs. There was even an element of silent they directly affect the course of history, more so than agreement when editorial writers proclaimed: "We have any of the seemingly practical activities in which we finally redeemed ourselves in the eyes of the world engaged. from the ignobility of World War II, when Six Million So long as life goes on as before, so long as we can went to their slaughter like sheep." still be involved in our day to day inanities, turn a Like Bar Kochba, our tefillos began to reflect the callous back on the crisis of an entire Klal Yisroel, subconscious attitudes that we can really manage on our hands spilled that blood m~ crm 1~D!I/ 1l'1'! our own-just please, Ribono Shel Olam, don't help If we truly believed what the halacha in the Rambam the enemy! Our major project was writing to people in demands of us to believe-that people are being killed. position of influence in Washington requesting support families losing young fathers, parents mourning their for lsrael. True, we paid lip service to "these with children because, and only because, we have obstinately chariots, and others with horses, but we rely on the refused to recognize that we are at fault-could we invocation of the Shem Hashem," but it was only lip cold-bloodedly continue without a cry of anguish, with­ service. We bartered our trust in "calling on the Shem out begging that the tragedy be ended, that we will Hashem" for a reliance on the "horse and chariot," change ourselves?! which is the hallmark of those others; and by so This, and more. If we go on as before, then we are misplacing our trust, we became "others." We aban­ poreish min hatzibbur-separating ourselves from the doned our mission to preserve and perpetuate a "People community, we have lost contact with the Klal. And of G-d." And now we are faced with fruits of our he who does so loses his portion in Olam Haba. Besides folly. losing sensitivity, such a man has lost his membership The activities that had been mitzvos to engage in­ in Klal Yisroel, relinquishing his right to a relationship those aimed at military and diplomatic reinforcement with Hashem Yisborach. For He who chose Yisroel of Israel-assumed the role of sole salvation in our entered into a union with a nation. not with individuals. eyes, and as a result, we required a painful lesson: this Remember: our Avos were among the greatest men to misplaced reliance became a stumbling block, and in tread this earth. Yet Torah was not given to them. It effect the hollowness of that which provided us with our could be given only to a Klal of 600,000. moral and physical suport was thrust into our faces.

What ls Our Weakness? "If Only ... To See This Now" IT IS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE to step outside the current IF ONLY WE SHOULD be able to see this now, we will yet rush of events and say, "This particular incident of accomplish the reversal of the tragic scenario before it suffering is meant as retribution for that sin ... as a plays out until its potentially catastrophic end. No one corrective device for that aberration in character or will deny that the ingredients of disaster have been faith." Only Chazal (Rabbinical authorities of the past) prepared. Yet still we have not risen to make the or Prophets are capable of such penetrating insight. necessary commitment. We can, however, see the general direction of the weak­ For in 1967 as well, so many were blinded by nesses that must be rectified by witnessing the results obstinacy. Who could have been so foolish as to assume of the affliction. that Arabs cannot ever learn technology? that they are In this case, a war broke out and the Arabs were incapable of discipline or pride? that the Russians, not defeated decisively. Indeed, untenable losses were bent on domination of the Arabs, the Persian Gulf and suffered in merely maintaining our positions for the its riches, the Mediterranean and its commanding first few days. Some positions were tragically over-run. position, will not supply and re-supply her Arab clients? The Israeli air force was hurt badly with new missiles, that she will not find it worth-while in MIG's and more our armour was disabled with new anti-tanks equip­ sophisticated weaponry to carry out her perfidious. ment. The most glaring perception to smash into our designs? that Western Europe and Japan have interests awareness was that we cannot rely on the modem-day dictating policy other than the survival of Israel? chariots and horses. Here, undoubtedly, lies a key to Now the lesson has been driven home. Israeli determining which of our wrongdoings brought about soldiers can also suffer defeat. And the efficacy of this time of adversity. "horses and chariots"-and Phantoms, too-are merely After the 1967 war, we all exuberantly shouted, fantasy. We are a nation that was created by the will "Miracles!", but somehow our words failed to penetrate of G-d, sustained by His will, -and destined to survive

The Jewish Observer/ Novenzber, 1973 5 only by miracles. That is our natural modus vivendi. lesson, and we have not begun to respond. And in There is no other. such a case, next time there will be fewer Arab mis­ If only we could see it now-for if not, must wc takes, less American support. not await the inevitable fury which follows subconscious commitment to keri? Ever Changing, Ever Dependent We must create an Am Hashem, a nation aware NEW ERAS INTRODUCE new aspects in the eternal re­ of its special relationship with G-d. We must teach lationship between G-d and Israel - then more our children and influence others to understand that concealed, now more revealed than ever. As this bond although we must, of course, persist in pressuring of love and total dependence becomes more apparent, Washington, in fund-raising campaigns, in procuring we must respond with an ever-firmer declaration of weaponry, these are not the practica1ities. Torah, Ye­ faith. If not, we will bring further suffering on ourselves shivos-only these are practical. The rest is simply and yet more profound lessons of dependence. to fulfill our responsibility to Hashem Yisborach. allow­ We must pray for the insights to rise to this chal­ ing Him to act within nature. Until we understand that lenge, for a challenge it is: We dare not be the same this is not just empty pious talk, we have learned no as we were before Yom Kippur 5734. D

THE YOM KIPPUR WAR

• Mortal Might 1ll War and Peace

this and vanquished ( Gittin 57a and Rabbah The following essay is based on an address Eichoh 2:4). One cannot say I'll do it alone, but delivered by HAGAON HORAV MOSHE FEIN­ rather one must be fully aware that "Hashem is the Master of war" and directs all warfare without even STEIN N"t:l'7t:' at the recent 51 st Annual the guise of a natural order. Convention of Agudath Israel of America. By contrast, Yehonasan, with only his weapons carrier to assist him, took on the Philistine Army "We Are In Good Hands" saying, "There is uothing preventing Hashem from delivering the enemy, whether to many or to few"­ THIS IS A TIME OF CRISIS for Israel, but we must not and, indeed, they were victorious (Shmuel I, 14:6). lose faith. The Torah instructs us "Be wholehearted Of course, as a rule, one must not rely on miracles. with Hashem your G-d" (Devarim 18: 13), and Yet, these two did, even in war, out of the fullest reali­ comments that we should not speculate as to the zation that nothing in warfare is ever short of the future, but rather we must realize that we are in good miraculous. bands. Beware of the Scornful Wars do not follow natural guidelines. They are fullv miraculous events and are directly manipulated IT CAN BE DIFFICULT for some to accept miracles when by ·the hand of G-d. I shall cite just two historical there are those who refuse to believe in the possibility events that bear this out: Under natural conditions, of miracles, and others who simply ridicule what Bar Kochba, whose forces were stronger than the should be obvious. Of the two, the company of those Roman army, should have been victorious over the who mock is actually more debilitating. Romans. He erred, however, when he asked Hashem One can have dialogue with the wicked, and they not to interfere with the course of the battle by may listen and return to the Torah's teachings. Others, helping either him or the enemy. He was punished for who are overpowered by their passions, can be brought

------·---~-···- back upon experiencing an overwhelming awareness of Translation prepared by A VROHOM FISHELIS. divinity-and, indeed, after the war six years ago, many RABBI FISHELIS, principal of Yeshiva Tifereth Jerusalen1, ha,<1 non-observant Jews became deeply religious. One who recentlv written "Bastion of Faith," an English translation of con-iments on Chun1ash by lfaJ?aon Horav Moshe Feinstein. mocks, however, cannot be spoken to at all. The

6 The Jewish Observer / Noven1ber, 1973 first verse in Tehillim bears this out: "Fortunate is the "My Might and My Power" Do Not Exist man who did not walk in the counsel of the wicked, and WE HAVE MUCH TO LEARN from these Kings who were never stood in the path of the sinners, and did not so deeply concerned that people should not attribute sit among the scornful." "Scornful" is mentioned last, their successes to themselves. We have an overriding representing the extreme in undesirability. Words of obligation to avoid this pitfall, especially in this era of reason do not enter their ears, and shattering events ikvasa dimoshicha, when we are on the very threshhold do not penetrate their hearts. of Moshiaeh's arrival. The final Mishnah in Sotah This tendency of the mockers to ignore the obvious describes his era as a time when the honor of Torah will is an oft-experienced phenomenon. A simple example suffer, the numbers of those who study Torah will is the reaffirmation of A vraham's paternity of Yitz­ diminish, many economic and material problems will chok "lest the scoffers say that he was fathered by beset us, and there will be no one to rely upon except Avimelech or Pharaoh" (Rashi in Bereishis 25: 19). our Father in Heaven. That is, after suffering material Some texts delete Pharaoh's name from this passage. and spiritual deprivations, we will come to realize that After all, some thirty years had elapsed from the time we can only rely on Hashem. All suffering we endure is that Pharaoh had held captive, and he could not geared toward bringing us to this ultimate realization, have possibly been responsible for Yitzchok's birth so and the sooner we come to it, the sooner we will be many years later. Yet, there is validity in this version, spared. During the War of '67, we were exposed to the for those who ridicule do so in defiance of the facts Hand of G-d. Had we all been fully aware of what we and simply ignore the obvious. They would not hesitate had witnessed and the impact of all the stories we had to suggest that Pharaoh had fathered Yitzehok. heard, we would not have needed this recent war to awaken us. The Ways of the Kings As long as we persist in attributing success to "my THE TEMPTATION TO ATTRIBUTE victories to human might and the power of my hand," we are still in prowess is a strong one, and Kings of Israel came to need of the lesson that there is no such thing: "my grips with it in different ways, as is described by the might and the power of my hand" are non-existent. Midrash ( Y alkut Shimoni: Shmuel II 163) : David asked Hashem that he be allowed to pursue his enemies An Added Obligation and overtake them, and Hashem fulfilled his request. THUS, IN ADDITION TO OUR OBLIGATIONS to study Torah, Asa prayed that he pursue his enemies but that Hashem give tzedakkah, and share in the burden of our fellows, destroy them, and He consented. Yehoshafat merely we are charged with another specific responsibility sang praises to Hashem while He wiped out the enemy. today: declaring for ourselves and all others that there And Chizkiyahu did even less: he asked that he be is nothing other than Him. Some textual renditions allowed to sleep, while Hashem direct the war without say: There is no god other than Him. This is insufficient. any involvement on his part. We must revert to the version that says: There is nothing other than Him. Nothing, in any aspect of life One might assume that each king later mentioned -the material, the economic, as well as the spiritual­ demonstrated greater faith in Hashem than did his exists or functions except through His will. predecessors, but the contrary is true. The generation of David had such deep faith in Hashem that even As in all phases of a Torah life, the intellectual should they use their own ammunition and fight their realization and the emotional acceptance must be ac­ own battles, they would still recognize that the victory tively expressed every day. The entire Exodus episode, was Hashem's doing. The faith of Asa's generation was which was designed "to teach that G-d prevails over on a lesser level, and had they actually engaged in all the Earth," is a reference point for a great 1nany of battle, they might have thought that they were re­ our 1nitzvos as well as our devotions, day in and day sponsible for their victory; so Asa requested that he out. The imprint of "and they believed in Hashem only pursue the enemy and leave the actual conquest to and Moshe His servant" is reinforced with all mitzvos Hashem. Yehoshafat realized that his generation may that involve recalling the Exodus. be deluded into crediting the enemy's flight to their So, too, must we imbue all our activities with our pursuit, and he therefore limited their activity to singing commitment to the doctrine of nothing exists other praises to Hashem, so His role would emerge as than Him. This must be a dominant theme in our undeniable. Chizkiyahu feared that his contemporaries writings-in Yiddish and in English. This must be a may even attribute their victory to their hymn-singing­ guide to our thoughts and our activities. as an evocation of some form of supernatural power or a psychological warfare of sorts and they would stiil We will then require no further lessons in "We can fail to see the hand of G-d; he thus asked that Hashem rely on no one but our Father in Heaven" and the do everything. Moshiach will be with us. [J

The Jewish Observer/ Noi·en1ber, 1973 7 THE YOl\1 KIPPUR WAR

What Are Our Weapons?

TEACHING G-DLINESS TO OTHERS is an assurance of peace, and by the same token, a weakening in dedica­ The fallowing essay is based on an address tion to is a threat to victory in the battle field. When Yehoshua was preparing to lead the Jews delivered by HAGAON HORAV YAAKOV YITZ­ in their attack on Yericho, he was confronted in the night by a malach (an angel of G-d) in the form of CHOK RUDERMAN K"•!.'l7tl' at the Convention. a man with a sword outstretched in a threatening gesture. After identifying himself, the malach said: "Attah bosi-l have come now" ( Yehoshua 5: 14). The Midrash explains attah to be a reference to the IT Is A TIME OF WAR, and it is essential that we identify mitzvah that is binding under all circumstances, at all the key point of our vulnerability, and our primary times-the eternal "now"-the obligation to study powers of attack and defense. We Jews are a Torah Torah. Yehoshua's response to this directive is record­ people not only because of our allegiance to Torah, but ed prior to the battle for the city of Ay: "And Yehoshua because Torah is our life substance, and without com­ lodged in the deep valley"-Yehoshua spent the night plete dedication to Torah, without our corps of students plumbing the depths of halacha. The sole strategy for totally immersed in Torah, we are more than Yulner­ Israel's success in the battlefield is the Torah scholars' able. We are lost. total immersion in their studies. This is not a personal interpretation, but runs like Indeed, Achaz King of Yehuda was surrounded by a thread of truth through our history as recorded in the armies of enemy nations-Retzin King of Aram our seforim kedoshim (our sacred literature) : to the East, the to the West, and Pekach King of Yisroel-all positioned to attack. When the Yitzchok Avinu was surrounded by hostile groups. Prophet introduced the Chapter describing his plight, He was banished from G'ror by the King Avimelech he said, "Yayehi-and it was" ( V eshayahu 7: 1), which because his people were jealous of Yitzchok's wealth. is an expression of foreboding. The Midrash says that His efforts to become settled in nearby areas were this is not an allusion to the state of siege besetting sabotaged by Philistines and the shepherds of G'ror, Yehuda, but to the loss of the protective merit of Torah who stuffed his wells with earth. G-d promised him study, for Achaz had closed down all houses of Torah His protection, prefacing His words of assurance with: study (Midrash Rabbah, Shemini). Aggressive nations "I am the G-d of Avraham ... have no fear for I am do not constitute the threat to Jewish survival. The with you . . . for the sake of Avraham, my servant." true threat is the poor state of preparedness emanating The loyalty of his father would protect him, but the from a lack of involvement in Torah. merit of his own dedication to G-d-even his willing submission to death at the akeidah-were insufficient THE MESSAGE IS OBVIOUS. When a call is issued to to protect him from hostile neighbors. This is followed strengthen our own dedication to Torah as well as our by "Vayikra besheim Hashem-and he proclaimed support of others who are studying, this is not peripheral in the name of G-d"-that is, Yitzchok taught the to the war effort. It is the essence of success in battle. glory of G-d to those who were ignorant of His Stating that the message is obvious and most urgent ways. Once Yitzchok engaged in teaching others, G-d's is insufficient. We must awaken to it. When Avraham protection was enhanced: No longer a mere defensive Avinu, in the covenant of Bris Bein Habesorim, was shield against aggression, now a Divine blessing graced informed of the years of go/us his children were des­ Yitzchok, and suddenly good relations with him became tined to endure, his vision of a great flame \Vas pre­ desirable: "And Avimelech went to him from G'ror, ceded by "tardeimah-a deep sleep" (Bereishis 15: 12). and a company of his friends and Phichol his chief of Insensitivity to that rages is the worst staff .... And they said, ' ... Let there be a covenant aspect of golus. We must quicken to the urgency of between us'" (Bereshis 26:13-29 see Sepurno). the hour. D

8 The Jewish Observer / Noven1ber, 1973 THE YOM KIPPUR WAR The Faces of War

The Y om Kippur War was marked by men in kittel'ach and sneakers racing through the streets of Jerusalem in response to the cal/­ up . ... Jews of every allegiance and conviction suddenly realizing that we are one . ... Words from prayers, the Prophets and chapters of Psalms that were so often recited in haste, without hardly a second thought-and sometimes without a first-now revealing precise, urgent meanings to their readers . ... Y eshivos humming with Torah and tefillah round the clock, even during the customary Succos interses­ sion . ... Monies reserved for "necessities" became expendable for the one true necessity: Survival, with Jews everywhere Riving more than they had ever thouRht they could. Every war has its own character, its own heart and soul. By reviewing the face of events, we can often see deeper and understand more.

Jerusalem, October 17. The Reality Is Brought Home THE OLD WOMAN makes her way slowly up Jerusalem's AS A JEWESS from the Diaspora, now living in Israel, Ben Yehuda Street, sobbing uncontrollably. "He volun­ I am struck for the first time by the personal and teered," she is heard to mumble as she weeps. "He individual face of war. During the Six Day War, com­ volunteered!"* fortably ensconced in the United States, I feared for * * * my people in Israel and prayed for the victory of the

The Jewish Observer / November, 1973 9 Israeli Defense Forces. During this latest struggle, I western side of the Suez Canal do not put away their have learned who the IDF is. As Mr. Begin put it guns, neither by day nor by night. during a recent Knesset debate: "We are told that Suddenly a different melody strikes the ear-an Zahal () stopped the enemy's old, well-known one. The eye searches the landscape advance. But who is Zahal? They are our children." and spots a group of soldiers sprawled out on the The reality of this simple statement has been brought sands, scorched by the hot African sun, with Gemoras home to me in recent weeks: my landlord, my neigh­ Kesubos in their hands. Y cshiva men learning aloud, bor's husband, my doctor and dentist, my boss and while their Uzzi sub-machine guns are lying within his son-have all been mobilized. Every hour on the reach. The circle grows. Not all have Gemoras, not hour, clusters of those of us at home gather around the all learn; they listen to the voice, and they listen to nearest transistor radio to hear the latest news from the old, well-known Gemora melody. the front. There is discussion of the cease-fire. Does it On the side stands a Commander who only recently, mean that my friend can cease worrying about David together with these soldiers, broke the Egyptian front. who is on the western bank of the Canal? He mumbles to himself "Sha/ ne' alee ha-remove thy Esther is happy today. Her husband phoned from shoes for these are an Am Kedoshim, a nation of Sinai this morning, so she knows that all is well. sacred people." The cafeteria owner's wife is nervous and preoccu­ In : Am Kedoshim. pied, unlike her usual cheerful self. She hasn't heard FROM THE FRONT TO A HOSPITAL IN TEL AVIV: A doc­ from her son in five days and doesn't even know where tor tells me, "I do not have time to sort out my he is stationed. thoughts of the days I spent here in the hospital with Leah comes in to show me the woolen cap she is the wounded soldiers, of the high morale that unfolded knitting for a soldier in the Golan. It gets very cold before my eyes. . . . I cannot forget the picture of a there at night, I am told. soldier who bit his lips in pain when I fixed him up. Vivian drops by to ask a question and I see a piece There was not time for anasthesia, so I could not of gauze bandaging her arm. She has given blood this reduce his pain. He looked up to me and pleaded: morning. Don't call my mother, don't let her see me in this The beverage stand next to the post office is closed. situation . ... The owner's military post box number is displayed in "And another patient-he was on the operating the window. table, and he told me: Doctor, today is Shabbos. My A sign in a cafe window asks for help-a boy is parents are religious. Wait until tonight with the needed to wash dishes. I remember: the owner's son telephone call to my parents. Why should they have a was in uniform the last time he served me. disturbed Shabbos?" "Take out your Voluntary War Loan here," reads And the doctor also murmurs to himself: "Am Ke­ the notice on the bank door. People have and continue doshim ... a sacred people." to do so, despite financial hardship. The phone begins to ring. Did I hear about ...... ' s son ...... 's cousin ...... 's brother-in-law? I ask Yael if he has heard about Zelda's son. "Yes," he says. "I have heard about many sons." He does not know if he has the courage to face their family, now sitting shiva. P. VAN GELDER* In a Hosvital DURING A VISIT to a hospital, the Chief Chaplain to the Defense Forces, Rabbi Brigadier stopped at the bedside of a tank gunner, badly burned and still in pain. The gunner bearded and wearing peyos, a boy from Bne Brak, whispered to the Rabbi: "Please, Rabbi, tell me a D'var Torah.'' The Rabbi gave a discourse on the subject of Milchemes Mitzvah, and the wounded soldier listened with rapt attention.* West of Suez: "Am Kedoshim" IT IS TWO WEEKS since the cease-fire has gone into effect, but peace is still far off. Israeli soldiers on the

* Reprinted from THE JEWISH TRIBUNE, London, England.

10 The Jewish Observer / November, 1973 Rejoice? I thought that my friend was incoherent from the shock of losing his son in a burning tank. "Yes," he repeated, "I should rejoice. Who, today can offer a olah temimah-a pure and sacred burnt offering to Hashem? A korban requires four days of bikur-examination against defects before it can be offered. Which of us can be so pure in our thoughts over so long a period of time? Four days ... the first day was Erev Yorn Kippur when each man is involved in his personal teshuvah ... the second was Yorn Kip­ pur, when forces o.f evil are power1ess and men are - And in Suez City free of petty thoughts and impulses ... on the third ON THE OTHER SIDE of the Suez Canal in the city of day, David was called up, and he had no time for Suez, one spots a group of youngsters in uniform. Are anything but preparation to go ... and on the fourth they merely children in disguise? day, who pauses from the thick of battle to entertain A group of soldiers surrounding an elderly bearded thoughts of evil?-So my son passed through his four Jew, an army chaplain; he speaks to them and then days of examination without flaw before he was con­ helps them don tefil/in. No, they are not religious boys. sumed on the altar.-Shouldn't I rejoice?" Possibly once before, when Bar-Mitzvah, did they Later, my wife told to me of the mourning women put on tefillin. Now they arc besieging the chaplain and of the Mizrachi family. The martyred boy's grand­ swear that from here on, they will don tefillin daily. mother was weeping uncontrollably. Mrs. Mizrachi The Rabbi says to thc1n: "When you return home, turned to her in other and softly reprimanded her: make certain to recite the Birkas Hago1nel in shul." "We have no cause to inourn, Mother. We were given But these boys do not want to wait, and all of a a keepsake-a pure, untainted soul. And now we have sudden you get carried away when one of them, returned this soul to its Maker, still pure and untainted. literally a child, exclaims: "There is no time. We When can one ever claim such a rare achievement?" n1ust do it now. All the Jews throughout the land "When The Last Moment ls Upon Us" n1ust say Birkas Hago1nel today. The entire nation IN A SHUL IN ZJCHRON MOSHE (Rabbi Grossbard re­ must bench goime1-thanking G-d for having delivered ported) a young man, after being called up to the Torah us from dealh. ·- DAVID PLINKER benched gomel-the blessing to G-d for having survived In "Der Algemeiner Journal" Noven1ber 13. 1973 a life-threatening situation. I asked him what had ---·----·-- occurred. He began his reply in matter-of-fact tones, "On the Eve of ... a Test" but he quickly choked with emotion: Dear Folks tv"i~s, Jerusalem Remember how I wrote you that Friday here "The other three who were with me in the tank were not religious, so I was alone in my Tehillim saying. at the ...... Yeshiva is vacation, like an Then a shell struck the hatch, and, in effect, sealed us erev Yom Tov (holiday eve)? You know, after a inside. The tank started to burn, and we realized that Thursday mishmor when we're up all night, and we there was no escape. prepare for Shabbos.-Well, forget it. Since the "The others eyed me anxiously and one of them war broke out-and after it stopped, too--you broke out with a plea, 'You're a dati. You know what walk in the bais medrash right up to Mincha on to do. What does one say at the last minute?' Friday, and the place is packed tight, humming "I told them Shma Yisroel, Hashem Elokeinu, Ha­ with Torah. Like just before a bechina (test), or shem Echod. Together we screamed: Shma Yisroel ... during · · from a letter from an American in Jerusalem Then, miraculously--could it be anything but a miracle? "Nichum A veilim"-A Condolence Call -another shell hit the spot where the first one had RABBI YAAKOV MIZRACHI lvho represents Agudath landed. The hatch blew open and we all scrambled to Israel in the Knesset, lost his son David in the safety .... So now I benched goimel." opening days of the war. HORAV SHRAGA GROSSBARD, It struck me that perhaps that was all that G-d director general of Chinuch A tzmai, told of his con­ had wanted from them: to realize that they were at dolence visit to the Mizrachi fan1ily, at the recent Agu­ His mercy. Knowing this, and expressing it in Shma, dath Israel Convention: is enough. Then the trap can be sprung, their fate UPON ENTERING, I was struck by the tableau of the unsealed. men wrapped in their taleisim, sitting in the heat and Now. it seems, the last moments are indeed ap­ flickering light of the many candles. proaching. It is time that we recognize it and join voice. -Then, by Rabbi Mizrachi's greeting: "I truly shouting together Shma Yisroel Hashem Elokeinu have cause to rejoice!" Hashem Echod! D

The Jewish Observer / November, 1973 JI Elie Wiesel's best-selling Souls on Fire is a collection of biogra­ phies of Chassidic leaders. It is more than a curiosity item, for Wiesel deals with a vibrant segment of Jewry. The book demands our attention as it provides many readers with their sole aware­ ness of this phenomenon. We thus deem it of importance to examine both the movement and Wiesel's treatment of it: What role does Chassidus play in the mainstream of Jewish history? What type of men led the Chassidic movement? Are they depicted faithfully in this book? RABBI ALTER BEN ZION METZGER, a student of Chassidus who has written frequently on Chassidic themes, offers insights into those Chassidic leaders discussed in Wiesel's book-based on their own utterances and writings-and contrasts them with the Wiesel image.

Alter Ben Zion Metzger Chassidus and The Lonely Jew

Prefatory Parable Others were not content with this reply: Would Many came to the "Mezritcher Maggid" desiring not any individual, even of lesser parentage, give admittance to his inner circle, but not all were heed to the spoken word of G-d? accepted. Despite their rejection, some remained, at Another replied: "His haste was the winning factor. least hoping to benefit as servants for the Maggid and He arose early and did not linger in fatherly love his students. These individuals were called "the with his son, even though the Almighty had not oven-stokers." decreed that he perform the task immediately." The Alter (author of the ) stated that among them were many persons of lofty spiritual A third oven-stoker objected: If G-d Himself were station. One night, three of the oven-stokers came to to decree this task upon him, he would depart heat up the stove. The Alter Rebbe had already immediately. The explanation lies elsewhere: "G-d retired but was not asleep, and he overheard their stated after the deliverance of Yitzchok, 'and you conversation. One advanced the question: "Why is it did not withhold your son ... from Me.'-'from Me' so remarkable that our father A vrohom was willing would seem superfluous. Avrohom was joyous, not to sacrifice his son Yitzchok? Who wouldn't, if G-d because of Yitzchok's deliverance and survival, but Himself demanded it of him? Haven't countless because Avrohom had also fulfilled the Divine martyrs given their lives for the sanctification of G-d's Command in not sacrificing him. Withholding Yitzchok name, though G-d did not address Himself to them?" 'from Me' was also in service to G-d. This was the After some discussion, he offered: "Other Jews greatness of Avrohom, our father." inherited this spiritual quality from the Patriarchs The Alter Rebbe, when recounting this incident, Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov. Avrohom, however, would state: "Voss er hot gezogt hot er derbei was a son of Terach, the idol worshipper. His response gehalten." Each individual's answer was a reflection had to be his own, resulting from his own spiritual of his own spiritual level. growth. Despite this, he endured this test." SIPUREI CHASSIDIM (Compiled by . Y. Zevin)

RABBI METZGER teaches Jewish Studies in Stern College for Women. He is a regular contributor to the N'shei The manner in which one interprets a tale­ publication DIE YIDDJSHE HEIM. Chassidim say-is a reflection of one's personal station.

11 The Jewish Observer / November, 197J "A Jew is never alone.

Chassidus: Part of the Historical Continuum Elie Wiesel's Souls on Fire seems to subject Chas­ sidus to challenge from a new vantage point. Wiesel as a victim and subsequent literary spokesman for the Holo­ L THE OBSERVANT JEW, history is a fused phenom­ caust has painfully described the ordeal and suffering enon. The tenses of "past," "present" and "future" are of the Holocaust in his previous works to a constantly necessary for the orderly arrangement of his daily growing audience. Much as he has assumed the right, concerns. In the realm of spiritual awareness, however, in this role, to question Divine surveillance and mercy the entire panorama of Jewish existence is contem­ in general, so has he focused his questioning, reductive poraneous. The Patriarchs, Prophets, Talmudic figures gaze on religious leaders--Chassidic leaders, in this and subsequent Rabbinic personalities have a vibrant case. relevance to the traditional Jew far surpassing that of Not everyone is so torn apart by the doubts Wiesel current events. The grandeur of the past is also an proffers in his writings. While the responsive reader impelling force, demanding a constantly ascendant must concede that Wiesel is an artist of exceptional level of aspiration: self-refinement, a sense of involve­ talent, one hesitates from total involvement in his ment in Kial Yisroel, a humbling awareness of one's bizarre world. Is the author a mere human expressing place in the totality of humanity and existence. Accu­ inhun1an pain?-an artist yielding to creative impulse racy as to the fact of Jewish history and fidelity as to without the inhibitive discipline of axiological criteria? its spirit are therefore requisites in the authentic ob­ -or a masterful painter of portraits with words, more servance of Jewish life. concerned with effect than fact, now depicting an Chassidus is a movement of primary import in the amorphous nihilistic universe, then belying these im­ historical continnum. Superficially a sharp break with posing canvases, asserting strong belief in ethics and the past-particularly in its added significance invested human values ... pirouetting from one stance to an­ in the simple heartfelt commitment of the unlearned other with graceful faultless movement? The spectator Jew-it actually infused an adrenal vitality into the reflects and tries to discern between authenticity and Komah Shlemoh, corpus Israel, which had been weak­ artifice, between reality and illusion. ened by external and internal viscissitudes. This has always been difficult, and in this book­ Its leaders are charismatic religious personalities, Souls on Fire- it is not in any way easier. Here, too, differing at times in temperament and in the focus of Wiesel alternates in his depiction of Chassidus: now their teachings, yet consistent in their explication of respectful of the many present Chassidic communities mystical doctrine as it relates to ethical and moral and then derisive, assuming the posture of friend, foe, conduct, concern for the physical and spiritual welfare cynic, satirist, admirer, adversary-all in one broad of all Israel, and altruistic self-negation in the pursuit flowing movement. But this one must concede: He is of these ideals. As part of the continuum of Jewish ever mindful of human anguish and suffering, and thus history, Chassidus is a reference point for all times, even his most discriminating reading public often grants all conditions, and their myriad challenges. him literary license with facts, for pain has many voices

Wherever he is, G-d is with him." - Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov

The Jewish Observer/ November, 1973 13 and compassion for the suffering is, indeed, a Judaic desk, shot back as if in refutation, "What about imperative. Does this, then, not classify him as the the Holocaust?" quintessential Jewish writer? Reserve yielded to intensity. The teacher replied: "Why ask me? Why don't you take a trip to Baro Judaic Compassion and Wieselian Anguish Park or Williamsburgh, London, Antwerp, Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak-wherever survivors of the Holocaust UDAISM Is INDEED acutely sensitive to both individ­ are to be found?-While it is still dark many who ual and collective tragedy. Among many other J bear concentration canip tatoos arise and go to a purposes, its halacha provides cathartic structure and mikvah, a ritual bathhouse, to immerse theniselves, ritual to religiously give vent to otherwise inexpressible and when night yields to day they assemble in shul." emotion. In its sacred literature it records and perpetuates The teacher's voice rose in intense rebuke: "We the consciousness of past anguish and tragedy. The praise Thee G-d,-We thank Thee G-d,-We ask Jew believes in G-d's beneficence and mercy, and in of Thee G-d,-go ask them why they are praying. the ultimate equation of virtue with reward and evil They lived through unimaginable experiences but with inevitable punishment; but the ways of heaven are their faith is firm. Go find them on Simchas Torah, inscrutable and bounded by the limitations of human when they dance with joy, and ask them your vision. We can not pretend to understand the justice question-if you can. of His ways. Thus we refer to Job, Lamentations, the "Ask them: why do you pay so much extra for your many tragic figures and occurences in Biblical, Tal­ special breads and milks? for your kosher meat? mudic, and subsequent religious historical sources, for the education of your children? 1nnre than a which are archetypical prefigurations of anguish in the hundred dollars for the Tefillin on your arm and life of man and the community. Thus, in the Torah of head!" Life, life, reality, experience, and emotion ideally are subsumed in this all-encompassing framework. In perceiving the searing anguish of bester paniin (concealment of the Divine countenance) in lingering or abrupt unanticipated tragedy, the outcry and ex­ change of Job with his companions is here and now, and we are mute bystanders . ... The broad sweep of Lamentations has been reexperienced in Crusade, ex­ pulsion, inquisition, pogrom and Holocaust. Merciful mothers who cooked their children are kindred to the incidents of babies whose lives were tragically stilled to protect others concealed in the bunkers . ... And if we tend to forget, then voices of the bypassers through Emek Habacha-the Valley of Tears-con­ stantly remind us. But there is a Divine imperative-difficult to observe but religiously incumbent: after every Tisha B'Av there must be a Shabbos Nachamu, and beyond the stillness of the vast graveyard there is always the city of life. The sufferings of a generation ago may gain depth of understanding from tragedies of the past, much as the more recent events add emotional immediacy to other sufferings of other times. But does the immensity of these more recent events add anything essentially new in the way of challenge to our older concepts of religion?-the interrelationship of the human and the Divine? Is there not some legitimacy to this question that was in the hearts of so many, and that Wiesel's pen has brought to their lips? } Bringing the Qnestion Home The teacher spoke impassionately of the beauty of Sabbath observance to his Talmud Torah class. A twelve year old freckle-faced boy, slumped at his

14 The Jewish Observer / Noveniber, 1973 The teachers voice then dropped to a whisper: ished on a diet of Marcuse, Marx, Hegel et al. But it It was in Auschwitz or Treblinka, I don't know does not represent the Maggid's true concern, which the name. When Hell was divided into many was to awaken an abiding awareness of G-d, and the parts and scattered upon the face of the earth, introspection and self-evaluation that could affect inner eould names be of importance? I never asked Reb self-transformation .... The Kotsker's interpretation Shloime but he told me in his own matter-of-fact of the Divine malediction that the snake eat earth and way: eternally avoid hunger is not that "complacency is an "The SS officers came in to search us. On me they avoidance of life's task," but that the snake shall be found a pair of tefillin and the picture of my denied prayer and communication with the Almighty. father. One Nazi confronted me with a choice: The phrase: "whoever believes in miracles is an 'Which of the two do you desire, the picture or imbecile" would never be stated by any faithful Jew the tefillin? I unhesitatingly answered: the tefillin. -Chassid of Misnaged. The original expression begins: He struck me savagely many times, verbally abus­ "He who believes all Chassidic narratives-" thus ex­ ing me for lack of regard for my father. He thrust plicitly expressing concern with the authenticity of Chas­ the picture into my hand and cast the tefillin out sidic tales .... The insightful Chassid cites his source the window. and refers with tolerant humor to those works rooted The Ribono Shel Olom works in strange ways. in imagination.-Which serves to underscore this first A friend of mine on the outside found the tefillin. objection regarding Souls on Fire: The author is ex­ I ended up with both the tefillin and the picture," ceedingly careless with documented fact and long-cher­ Reb Shloime concluded triumphantly. ished insights in his subjects. This will not deter the academicians who, with long Errors of Fact and Focus trays of reference cards, wiH produce ponderous articles on the many works influencing Wiesel. How much is to be ascribed to Buber, Kafka, Poe, Hoffman and IT WOULD BE REI.A TIVELY SIMPLE to tick off Wiesel's Gothic authors? Which nuance of Sartre or Dostoyefsky total errors of fact, but to include them all would be is to be perceived in this or that passage? And does the time-and space-consuming; and would draw on the outlook parallel Kierkegaard? Lists shall be made of unsafe assumption that the reader is thoroughly fam­ the books read during Wiesel's intellectual development iliar with the book. Nonetheless, one must cite a few to and scholars will joust with erudite vortmanship to indicate the scope of the inaccuracies: Contrary to his identify the primary factor influencing this work. assertion, Rabbi Avrohom Kalisher was not granted While all this is not relevant to us, our primary con­ an audience with the .... It is utterly un­ cern, too, is not with facts. Our major objection is that imaginable that the Seer of never forgave the he demeans men of towering stature to puny dimension friend who protected him from self-inflicted harm .... and blurs awareness of their incredible commitment Let us not dwell excessively on his inadequate de­ and service to G-d. The author implies that Chassidim scription of, among others, the work Tanya in the were basically men-children in an evil world, enveloped inappropriately titled section "Background Notes." in their tradition as protection against harsh reality. Any initiate to Chassidus is aware that this classic The Holocaust supposedly shattered this shield and text, among other things, elaborately formulates the now, during the post-Holocaust period, that entire era Chassidic interpretation of Lurianic ; and is to be viewed primarily through the prism of bitter­ that its present widely circulated edition contains five sweet nostalgia. sections, not two. The contrary is obvious: The many historical events Most knowledgable readers will immediately in­ from the beginning of Chassidus to the present time terject in the opening story of the Baal Shem Tov's constantly confronted the Chassid with abrasive reality. recitation of the Aleph Beis as having occurred on the Econo1nic privation, governmental tyranny, the con­ way to Eretz Yisroel . ... The Baal Shem Tov's instruc­ scription of children to the Czarist Army; the sequence tions to his servant to go about relating tales of the of wars-the Napoleonic war, the Polish Revolution, Baal Shem Tov after his demise was not to grant him the Russo-Japanese and First World War-all these the liberty to "add," "embelish," tell "exaggerations," imposed an oppressive reality for which no realm of "impress admirers." Rather it was to finally encounter fantasy could serve as sanctuary and refuge. one individual and tell him a narrative, thus informing When presenting dominant personalities, Wiesel in­ him that his long tortuous penitence was finally ac­ verts perspective, skews our angle of vision in a Goya­ ceptable in the eyes of G-d .... like manner projecting configurations that stand in The imprecise use of phrases such as "the task of defiance of the essence of its subjects. He denies them the [Mezritcher] Maggid's emmisaries was to upset the heroism in death and in each instance describes their estab1ished order" may awaken a responsive chord in later years as characterized by ebbing strength, futility, the heart of a romantic anti-establishmentarian nour- despair and decline. Every Chassid and every Chassidic

The Jewish Observer / November, 1973 !5 gathering is vibrant contradiction to this literary affec­ ble": those who adhere to the spiritual service of tation. G-d; "in judgment": with personal unceasing in­ We look in vain for citations from such works as trospection and spiritual self-evaluation. Subse­ Tanya, Toldos, Kedushas Levi, Noam Elimelech, Li­ quently he teaches them to go "in His ways" with kutei Mahran, Meor Einayim, and other Chassidic dvekut: invoking cleavage to the Divine, causing classics to reveal the true inner thought and life of Divine bestowal and beneficence to Israel. these personalities, but to no avail. NOAM ELIMELECH, 88b The cynic is skeptical. Man is a physical being, Rebbe Elimelech's Testament occupying the center of his own solar system. Even if man does possess a capacity for altruism and spirit­ REBBE EL!MELECH did not demand much of uality, is it possible for him to overcome the oppressive his Chassidim, according to Wiesel, only leaving them effect of an environment that unremittingly pulls him a Tzetl Katon, a "seventeen point program ... to be a toward regression to his instinctual level? Can man's good Jew with a minimum of effort." Let us look at deeds actually bridge the incredible gulf betwixt the the first paragraph in this epistle and then later cite terrestial and the celestial? Rebbe Elimelech's expo­ thoughts from his radiant classic Noam Elimelech. sition upon a biblical verse casts light on all these Whenever an indivdual is not engaged in the enigmas: study of the Torah, particularly when he is un­ "And G-d appeared to him (Avrohom) in Eilo­ occupied . . . alone in his room or on his bed, nei Mamrei and he was sitting in the door of the unable to sleep, he should reflect upon the com­ tent during the heat of day" (Bereishis 18:1 ). mand: "And I shall be sanctified amidst the How was it possible for G-d to appear on this children of Israel" (Vayikra 22:32). He should site possessed by Canaanites? 1'he Divine Pres­ envision a great and awesome flame ascending to ence does not manifest itself in an alien realm. the very heart of the heavens. This person, for "And he was sitting in the door of the tent" is the sake of G-d' s holiness, shatters his nature and the manner of the tzaddik. Though he is below, casts himself into the flame for the sanctification his primary abode is above in the celestial worlds of G-d's name. G-d values a virtuous thought as which are described as the tent of encounter. The equivalent to an actual deed. Consequently, this tzaddik who constantly yearns and strives to person is neither sitting, nor reclining idly, but ascend in thought to the upper world is described actually fulfilling a positive biblical command. as sitting at the door of the tent. Is it possible for So much for the "minimum of effort" required for him to be simultaneously both below and above being a good Jew. . . . -in the upper worlds? The verse declares, "the By what principles does G-d govern the universe? heat of the day": just as the sun is in the heavens Is He indifferent to the fate of humanity? The Rebbe and radiates light below, appearing to be in nei­ Elimelech's answer is unequivocal. ther world, so is the tzaddik: he is of this world, The Creator, Blessed be He, has no fear aside but the light of his Torah and sanctity illuminates from His apprehension lest man sin. This concern the upper world. is based upon His love for man and His desire to NOAM ELIMELECH, 8b bestow goodness upon him in the After-Life. Thus, G-d-fear is actually based on love, and The Ryzhiner's Martyrdom similarly, punishment inflicted upon man is mo­ tivated by His desire to subsequently bestow MosT MALIGNED IN Souls on Fire is the famed benefit upon him. The anguish of this world is Heileger Ryzhiner-Rabbi Israel of Ryzhin, who was to enable man to receive the goodness of the revered by scholarly religious leaders and a wide fol­ future world. Thus, the phrase "And Thy fear is lowing. His spiritual influence extends to the present as Thine anger" (Tehillim 98)-just as Your fear through his descendants as well as his Torah utterances. is based upon Your love for man, so is Your The author describes the Ryzhiner as his favorite wrath and the punishment accorded to man mo­ Rebbe and then commences to impugn the majestic tivated by Your love and desire to act mercifully manner and the wealthy splendor which characterized and magnanimously later. his external mode of conduct. Outer riches serving as NOAM ELIMELECH, 25a a veil for inner humility were found in many others, What is the role of the tzaddik-the righteous man? such as the Talmudic figure, Rabbi Y ehudah Hanasi, Is his labor solely one of self-discipline or does he who declared prior to his demise that he had not de­ hear responsibility to others? Rebbe Elimelech clarifies: rived pleasure from this world to the extent of a small "He guides the humble in judgment and he finger. ... We are thus with precedent for not equating teaches the humble His way" (Tehillim 35.9). opulence with indulgence. This is to say that the tzaddik guides "the hum- As for the moral aspirations of the Ryzhiner, let his

16 The Jewish Observer / November, 1973 own words, regarding the devotional martyrdom of constant spiritual service, they strive to evoke heavenly Rabbi Akiva, speak to us: mercy. It is this quality that characterizes all great When Rabbi Akiva was taken out to be slain, Chassidic leaders, from the Baal Shem Tov, through He recited Shma, extending the word "echod" at the Ryzhiner, to our contemporaries. length. His students said, "Our master: To such a degree?" The Berditchever: Melodies and Parables And he replied, "All my life I desired to sanc­ tify G-d's name and now that I have been enabled BERDITCHEV: the mere name of the city awakens to do so, shall I not act accordingly?" thoughts of G-dly love, optimism, certainty that in the He sustained the word "echod" till his soul darkest shadows of evil there arc sparks of virtue-­ expired and a heavenly voice emerged declaring: sparks that the tzaddik Rebbe Levi Yitzchok will dis­ "Praised be you Rabbi Akiva whose soul has cover, thus aiding the alienated to personal redemption. expired with echod" (Berachos 6!b). We cannot have the privilege of meeting Rebbe Levi The holy Rabbi Israel of Ryzhin asked: "Why Yitzchok of Berditchev, but his Kedushas Levi is con­ were the students of Rabbi Akiva perplexed by vincing evidence of his towering brilliance and the his devout recitation of Shma? And what need unusual qualities of his soul. This is in total dissonance was there for a heavenly voice to declare an with the strange Falstaffian personality described in apparent truth?" Souls on Fire. He continued: "The human soul can be so Others who were in his presence, also bore testim011y overcome by profound love for G-d as to cause to his greatness, such as the description of his Ma'ariv it to depart from the body and revert to its sacred tefillah with particular intent of inspiring someone to source-thus causing the expiration of human teshuvah: life. But the Torah forbids this: 'And thou shalt The Berditchever Rebbe began the melody. All live by them (the Torah's precepts).' When one is present were suddenly entranced by his voice overcome by love he must bear in mind: 'And the and were so gripped by inner sadness that each heavenly creatures advance in love and withdraw person was wholly oblivious to the others. in fear.' When gripped by 'rawtzo'-the surge forward, the desire to depart from the physical and cling to the spiritual-man must awaken the quality of 'shov'-return, and reversion to the physical. "When Rabbi Akiva was taken out for exec­ ution, he recited the Shma with such profound intensity of spiritual love that his students feared he would expire. He explained: 'All my life I have longed for this spiritual ascent, but have been forbidden to do so by the Torah's command. Now the Romans intend to slay me and the prohibition no longer applies. The profound emotion of ascendant love and of devotional martyrdom is therefore permissible. Shall I not act accordingly?' The heavenly voice declared: 'Praised be you Rabbi Akiva whose soul has expired with echod.'-Not with the pain and anguish of the Roman iron combs clawing at his skin. His death was spiritually transcendant, a demise impelled wholly by the devotional love of echod." NACHALAS YJSROEL, 174~5 There are various forms of martyrdom. Some en­ counter it in a brief episode of confrontation and ordeal; others submit to the arduous trial of a lifetime Each was preoccupied introspectively in the of heroism. They open their ears and hearts to the solitude of a personal enclosed world, a private unceasing outpour of anguish of fellow Jews. Their reabn not accessible to others, where one can life is involved in the collective anguish of the Jewish not see nor hear any other human being; in pain People. They are inundated by the tears, sorrows, and deep remorse over his past life. frustration and suffering of their fellow Jews. And in LEKUTEI DIBURIM, vol. I, p. 334

The Jewish Observer / Aloren1ber, 1973 17 MARTYRDOM: Some encounter it in a brief episode of confrontation and ordeal. Others, in a Zif etime of heroism, open their ears and their hearts to the anguish of their fellows, and strive to evoke heavenly mercy.

Chassidus affirms that in ultimate reality there is no Israel to repentance and his perception of the primary evil, since "it is the will of Hirn Who is good to do role of the tzaddik in this task .... That in the depths good." Human suffering is explained by various phil­ of evil, man should not yield to futility and despair is osophical and mystical doctrines: to cleanse man from a recurrent theme in this work. And even in solitude, evil so subtle that it is indiscernable to human intellect; the tzaddik himself relates to fallen man and aspires to test man; to edify and uplift him. How are these to uplift him: concepts of justification reconciled with the laws of Great tzaddikirn are the primary ba'alei teshu­ mourning over Zion's loss of grandeur described in vah-"masters of repentance," rather than nierely Lamentations, commemorated in fast days during the "repenters." Though they have never tasted evil, year? Rabbi Levi Yitzchok succeeds in revealing the they constantly repent on the limitations of their inner light of spiritual joy that even dwells in tears, earlier awareness of G-d. They also descend to through a parable: the lowly realms with devotional thoughts of up­ A regal prince was so accuston1ed to the lifting souls fro1n there, ta cause their repentance. majestic splendor of his father's court that it By virtue of these personalities, there is hope was as natural to him as the breath of life. for all those that cling to them to rise from He once sinned against his father and was profound decline to great ascent. . . . banished to simple, austere circumstances. As MESHIVAS NEFESH, 47 he became accustomed to his coarse mode of life, he feared: "If I do not retain the memory The Rebbe's Mission: of the wealth and glory of my father's court, I shall never readjust to my former mode of life IN CHAssrnus, the ultimate focus is not on the ex­ when my father allows me to return!" ternal miracle, rescue or aid. It is on man achieving He therefore began to deliberately dwell on insight as to his spiritual self-realization. Devoid of the imposing majesty of his father and to mourn this self-knowledge, man labors in an illusory world, over his painful decline from his station. He with accomplishments of questionable significance: thus protected himself against his callousing environment. And the hope of return abided To a once affluent Chassid who bewailed his within him like an eternal flame. inability to 1naintain his generous philanthropy So, too, do we reflect on the grandeur of the of the past, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of L ya di A !mighty and mourn for the exile of the replied: "You are concerned with your needs Shechina, in yearning and preparation for the but give no thought as to the purpose for which grandeur of the G-dly revelation of the Messianic you are created." In the flash of personal Era. awareness, the Chassid fainted. KEDUSHAS I.EVI, J 10b There are two striving..;; within each person: one, the pure aspiration toward G-dliness; the other, egocentric The Bras/aver narcissism capable of causing awesome cruelty even under the most innocent of guises. Man must awaken RABBI NACHMAN OF BRASLAV is presented in Souls the sanctity dormant within him to conquer and master on Fire as being erratic, impulsive, and prideful. Wiesel these instinctual impulses that veer toward evil. Both quotes him as citing laughter as the only response to the upward striving and the stifling of the impure arc "existential absurdity." This is presented as the core given voice by the shofar' s call: of his thought, portraying him in bizarre projection. The blowing of the shofar on Rosh Hashono The intellectual discipline and psychological insights is explained by the Baal Shem Tov as being the of his Torah discourses and the elaborations upon them heartfelt outcry to G-d, "Father, Father, save by his student Rabbi Nathan are not even mentioned. me,"-the reach toward the Divine. The Talmud Thus, the major body of his thought is neglected. tells us that it is to still the ancient cries of the A collection from these teachings-Meshivas Nefesh mother of the slain general, Sisera-the conquest --convinces the reader of his dedication to inspire of the impure.

18 The Jewish Observer I November, 1973 It is the perceptive vision of the tzaddik that reveals Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch writes in his Torah to us in his teachings, in his deeds, in his melodies with commentary on "Shma" that ancient polytheism was shofar-like clarity those sentiments and emotions that rooted in man's confusion over the coexistence of are authentic in their spiritual striving. Thus the Mittele benign and destructive forces. It would be a sardonic Rebbe of Lubavitch, Rabbi Dov Ber, states: travesty of history if, from our current vantage point We perceive many futile human endeavors­ from a time when lives and flourishes, and as for example, great wars in which tens of thou­ the forces of evil that rode high a quarter of a century sands of souls are slain in vain, since the original ago lie in ashen defeat, there should emerge a dogma reason for the conflict no longer exists. However, which gives even partial credence to a philosophy of from the cries of embitterment, of exultant tri­ nihilism and denies the all-pervasive authority of umph, of those groaning in pain during the course Divine providence. of battle-from all these mingling together, there emerges a melody which can awaken aweso1ne fear and love in the hearts of righteous person­ alities. TORAS CHAIM, 105b And the Rebbe's perception is conveyed to his followers. The tzaddik is above all a teacher who provides a glimmering of distant radiance; and by mystical, in­ telkctual or emotional means he instills awareness of this vision in those he encounters, much as the Luba­ vitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, fore­ most living authority and spokesman for Chabad, describes the longing for G-dliness: Rawtzo, the state of closeness to G-d, occurs not because man endeavors to achieve it for his own gratification, for such proximity to G-d would be a source of joy to 1nan. But he strives for rawtzo to fulfill the will of the Most High, the command of the Holy One Blessed Be He, "And thou shalt love . . . with your allness" (Devorim, 6:5). LIKUTEI SICHOS, vol. III, p. 990

Emunah: Yesterday and Tomorrow

IN ms PRESENTATION of these prototype Chassidic , Wiesel has not merely relied upon the latitude of literary license; implicit is Holocaust-provided sanc­ tion to completely restructure our vision of the past. The Jew walks the gauntlet of history with caution But there is another tradition far more faithful to the and apprehension, constantly mindful of peril and integrity of the Judaic heritage that was reinforced, adversity. Placid environments are suddenly trans­ more than it was challenged, by the Holocaust. If formed into human jungles and the face of supposed found expression in the admonition of Rabbi Elchonon friend contorts into that of predatory foe. History has Wasserman to sustain devotional co1nmitment even al ways described strange cycles, ranging from societal when confronted by death; it manifested itself in the disruption to temporary respite. question of Reb Eliyahu of who, prior to a The Jew advances on this path uncertain as to the "selection" by the in the Kovno Ghetto, came complexion of the morrow; fortified only by Torah to inquire as to the blessing for Hash em; in belief, he moves forward, resolute and faithful of an the declaration of Rabbi , of War­ ultimate encounter with inevitable Messianic redemp­ saw, that whereas in the past Kiddush Hashem con­ tion. All the prophets command [Israel] to repent, and sisted of martyrdom, in the context of the Holocaust Israel will only be redeemed through teshuvah. The it called for a struggle for survival; and in the anguish, Torah assures us that in the end Israel will repent ... frustration and yet sustained faith of Rabbi Michel Ber and they will be redeemed forthwith (Rambam, Hil­ Weismandel of the Nitra Yeshiva .. chos Teshuvah VII, 5). D

The Jewish Observer I Noven1her, 1973 19 charming girl with whom I was preparing to build Y aakov Feldman a life together, blissfully unaware of the clouds gathering on the horiwn. Then, the disease came. It started with the development of a lack of self­ confidence, a physical and mental lethargy, and a lack of resistance to colds. Our relationship collapsed, and this began a nightmare of horrors, not diagnosed Up as chronic schizophrenia until eleven years later at the psychological clinic of Kent State University. Despite a continuing slackening of self-confidence and ability to concentrate, I completed my last year From for a bachelor's degree at Ann Arbor. I went on to law school, bnt the symptoms only grew worse, and by the end of 1961 I flunked ant in a curriculum designed to "weed-out" succeptible students. The Insanity school's psychiatric clinic had little to offer but sympathy. Active Duty I HAD also lost the graduate school deferment from military service, so I was ordered to report for SOME of our people like to think that mental­ active duty at Fort Gordon, Georgia. I lied all the illnesses such as paranoid schizophrenia spare Jewish way through the psychiatric examination and the homes. Others, who are far from our religion, choose battery of psychological tests, to prevent the loss to think that the Orthodox Jew's almost obsessive of my ROTC officer's commission. involvement with seemingly petty details can drive In the Army, under the stimulation of the "gung­ him to distraction, even pushing him into other ho" officer's orientation program, I developed the worlds. Both are utterly wrong, and my own battle syndrome which was later identified as a with insanity and my ultimate victory are testimony hyperideational, manic reaction. My training officers to the truth: Schizophrenia strikes Jewish families; became snspicious of that elated omnipotence I pretending it doesn't can only severely limit any felt when I held a weapon in my hands, and they possibilities for cure. And my religious experiences wisely changed my orders from a unit destined for were crucial to me in my slow tortuous trek to sanity. Vietnam to a signal supply officers' course at Fort My war with this disease raged for over thirteen Monmouth, New Jersey. years, on a trail which led from a comfortable, loving In August, 1962, I was shipped out to Poitiers, home in Akron, Ohio; to the bustling campuses of France, where I was assigned command of an aspect the University of Michigan and the Ohio State of computerized records of Army communications. University; to a U.S. Army garrison in Pointiers, I was unable to master the responsibilities, and within France; to the executive jungle of the American a year I finally went berserk, ending up in the U.S. business world; to a confinement in a mental institution Army hospital in Croix-Chapeau. Following my in New England; to the National War College in release under a blanket of tranquilizers, I was ·washington, D.C.; to the tradition-laden halls of an assigned lighter duties there. Orthodox Jewish seminary in Wickliffe, Ohio; to the .outer-most reaches of suicidal despair; to a mental Home Again health clinic in Princeton, New Jersey; and finally to a position of fulfillment as director of the Ohio BY THE spring of 1964 I was discharged, back in Schizophrenic Foundation. This is the story of that my hometown. 1 embarked on an ambitious program. .campaign. The pressures of school by night and the executive jungle by day soon began to tell, and I gradually The Seeds of Doubt became reluctant to engage in my customary recreational activities, or even to go to work or LIKE many other college boys in the late 1950's, classes. I became uneasy about travelling out-of-town, I was studying pre-law with the goal of entering my then about town, then around the block, then out father's firm. l was engaged to marry Linda, a of the house, and finally I didn't even venture out of my bedroom. There, with the door and windows securely locked and the curtains tightly drawn, I MR. FELDMAN is the Executive Director of the Ohio Schizo­ phrenia Foundation. Akron. Ohio. felt some degree of safety from that blind, groundless,

.20 The ]elvish Observer / Noveniber, 1973 nameless fear of the imagined and the unknown Return Home-Temporarily known as paranoia. I started psychotherapy at Clinic, but B Y 1967, I had returned to my hometown and I contracted a severe virus infection and my body assumed a position with the U.S. Defense Department. chemistry began to break down. The administration I made my bids for leadership positions in several of barbiturates to calm me down really cut the cable local civic organizations; and as my Akron psychiatrist on the elevator, and a last minute switch to Thorazine lowered my dosage of tranquilizers, I became engaged was too late to avoid incarceration in a mental to a lovely Israeli sabra who was teaching at a institution up in New England, in October of 1964. Jewish parochial school. Tragically, though, as my drugs were lowered, that manic balloon in my mind began to rise. As the inexorable laws of body Safe in an Asylum biochemistry began to assert themselves, I began to react with great panic to the nationwide disorders AT FIRST I was both relieved and pleased to see the doors of that institution close on the outside which broke out during the long, hot summer of world behind me. This old-fashioned, Victorian edifice 1968. Schizophrenics are like everybody else, from the nineteenth century at first gave me a only moreso-more sensitive, more perceptive, and nostalgic feeling of comfort and security; but then more prone to react. Our engagement ended as I the chief resident told me, "You know, we have no began to fall apart once again, and I knew that I such thing as a cure for an illness like yours, so would not he able to fulfill the responsibilities of you might just as well settle down and learn to like a husband and a father. this place-you are going to be here for a long time." My unsuspecting Defense Department bosses This information struck me like a thunderbolt, but sponsored me to the National Security Sen1inars I was soon drugged into a practically insensible in Washington, D.C., where I studied the zombie-state by overwhelming dosages of Thorazine catastrophic upheavals which were convulsing the and Stelaziue. country, and this finally did blow my mind. So 1964 became 1965 ... 1965 ... 1966, and "I Had to Get Out" the world of mentally aberrant people passed before my eyes like some kind of horror movie which never A MERICA appeared to my manic and over-sensitive ended and where one cannot leave the theatre. mind, to be another falling Roman Empire-I bad to get out. A blunt, hut kind, Israeli immigrant Synagogue Furlough recruiting officer phrased it for me: "You'll never 'cut' it over there if you can't 'cut' it over here!" SOMETIME during the first part of 1966, I was I had to find another way. placed on a lower relative dosage of Mellaril, and In January, 1969, I immersed myself in the centuries­ the world began to creep forward like a shadow in old world of peace and serenity of an Orthodox the rising sun. In order to resume the religious Jewish community in Wickliffe, Ohio, built around practice I had observed in the years preceding my the Telshe Yeshiva Seminary. I felt that I could hospitalization, I took those first fearful and hesitant fall back on my people's tradition and re-enter steps outside the institution to an old synagogue the timeless world of the Torah, which has already located in the center of town. There a handful of survived thousands of years of the world empires, old Jews was still holding services, long after wars, and cataclysms. It was obvious to me that their affluent children had moved to the suburbs. strict self -discipline was the key to the Jewish After that first Sabbath morning service, they asked survival over the centuries. me what I was doing in their city, and I told them The faculty and student body went out of their way that I was at a local mental institution. When they to shower me with understanding and encouragement. asked me if I was a doctor there, I said, "No, I'm But within less than six months, I discovered to a patient there," and we all cried together. my dismay that my attempt to convert my entire One of the elderly gentlemen, Nate Linn, had way of life to meet the demands of living in the lost his wife only a few months earlier, was childless Orthodox chevra required a tremendous feat of and very much alone. We became fast friends. Every personal adjustment. ,-My previous religious life was Sunday he would drive me out to his home and we too superficial and I bad to learn and apply a complex would cook chicken dinners. By the following system of rules of self-discipline governing all aspects summer, he had brought me back to this world, and of everyday life, regarding food, Sabbath observance, had encouraged me to leave the institution and move worship, and study that to me simply seemed too in and board with a family of modest means. I soon much at once. Adapting to the demands of so strict found a position as Law Clerk for an attorney who a life was far beyond the capabilities of my highly was a friend of Nate's. irrational and disorganized mind at that time. So I

The Jewish Observer I Noven1ber, 1973 21 reluctantly departed from that world that had of therapy he had been successfully using since 1952, promised a degree of shalom and fulfillment which controlling symptoms by using large dosages of I had never known before. Yet, much to my relief, vitamins and minerals to absorb the schizophrenia­ I took more home with me than I ever suspected. causing substances resulting from aberrations in the body's chemical processes. Over a decade of psycho­ Locking the Door-Not Tightly therapy, shock, and tranquilizers had not helped me, so I decided to give this a "whirl." I SPENT the last half of 1969 in my bedroom back home .... I had given up, and only awaited that Handling the Defeat Syndrome blessed moment when I could get up the guts to take my old "45" automatic and fire a bullet into '!:E IDEA of a sugar-free diet seemed basically my rabid brain. But the residue of religion left over harmless and worth a try, but it is impossible to from the Telshe Yeshiva, and the realization that I describe how years of defeatism had created an would hurt those whom I loved far more than I would almost insurmountable obstacle of inertia, and it hurt myself, prevented me from implementing the required a self-imposed herculean discipline to act ultimate solution. I would spend the endless hours out a deceptively simple regimen of taking specific curled up in my bed holding on to the of my pills at a prescribed time. I had to build on my childhood, repeating snatch phrases like Modeh Ani Orthodox-based conviction that life is of primary and Shma Yisroel as the last remaining threads that importance, and draw on the last vestiges of strict bound me to existence. schedule-adherence that remained with me from my At that time, a new Israeli-trained psychiatrist in months in Telshe to perform the pill-taking rites. town correctly diagnosed my illness as schizophrenia, and this was confirmed by psychological testing at Coming Out of It! nearby Kent State University. My indefatigable father, once given a diagnosis, turned his voracious WE WE'RE referred to a Brain-Bio Center in reading habit in the direction of schizophrenia. Princeton, for treatment. Improvement was slow, but Soon he discovered a book written by Dr. Abram it was readily perceptible: Thank G-d-I was coming Hoffer, of Saskatoon, Canada, which outlined a type out of it! The sensory experiences associated with mitzvos­ tasting wine, smelling spices, and testing candle-light at havdallah; binding tefillin straps on my arm; even holding on to a Siddur-all of these were little ridges NOW in the otherwise unyielding face of existence that wielded to my gripping nails as I attempted to scale more the wall to a life of order, meaning, and sanity. Finally, in the spring of 1971, I ventured the than courage to leave my bedroom. I moved out to New York, where I joined an integrated community ever ... system to provide support for the convalescing schizophrenic by integrating him back into the outside Let Agudath Israel Travel world through a series of steps ranging from show you Eretz Yisroel! hospitalization, to half-way house, to vocational • Group ond individual departure available almost rehabilitation, to Schizophrenics Anonymous Groups every day. • Hotel reservations and all land arrangements to suit your specifications. SCHECHTER • Special Agudah all inclusive package tours. • European stopovers available. For oil your travel needs K:~:Rl/a7ill£11N'H@L U.S.A., Europe, Israel £NTIW£ OCUNFIONT ILOCK- 31th •• 31th.SL MIAMI BEACH the world over ...... is a GREAT Kosher Hotel - you'll love it! .• DiA1. For Reservatio·ns Speok to Write or phone: MIAMI SAM SCHECHTER FREE PA.RKING AGUDATH ISRAEL TRAVEL BEACH 800 _ 327 _ 8165 PRIVATE POOL 5 BEEKMAN STREET 10038 FREEi Or Call N.Y.· Off: Pl 7-4238 SAND~N~EACH (212) 964·2097 oc 258·0709 • Evenings & Sunday FA 7-1742 Ask for ALIZA

22 The Jewish Observer / November, 1973 which help in the final adjustment to job, family, and the community-at-large. NECINAH ORCHESTRAS Initially, I found it extremely difficult to find a 1309 48th Street, , N. Y. 11219 normal environment that would accept me, for the 854-2911 - 10:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. New York community was its usual suspicious Superb Musical Entertainment paranoic self. I eventually found a warm, religious For All Your Simchas family with a house full of kids, love and Also: For Home Entertainment understanding, where I was able to re-enter society. NEGINAH RECORDS As I look back over the last thirteen years For information write our Record Dept. it all seems like a long nightmare from which I can celebrate for having awakened. And I have firm faith that G-d, the family, and the people who have NOTICE seen me this far, shall continue to guide me through the struggle ahead, as I pass on to others the same HOUSE PARENTS NEEDED kind of help that was, through the Grace of G-d, CHILDREN'S HOME, the only profes­ passed on to me. sional child care agency under Torah auspices is seeking an understanding Orthodox couple Too Much? ... Not Enough? with a background in lvorking witl1 children to serve as Houseparents for its nelv GROUP HOME FOR GIRLS IN BROOKLYN. P ERHAPS I have told you too much. Sometimes one strikes up an innocent conversation The couple will care for 8 girls and have an with a casual acquaintance, and he unburdens himself opportunity to work closely with Ohel's pro­ too generously on the listener. I have that fault. fessional staff. They will have their housing, food costs and utilities paid conipletely by the But if, after this reading, you are still not aware agency in addition to salary. that mental illnesses are indiscriminate in whom they strike; that they can hit the very Orthodox, too; This is a challenging opportunity for the right people to find fulfillment in providing care that mental illness must be treated openly and for our young people in need. objectively; that Judaism per se may not necessarily prevent illness, but it can give one the structure, For further information, please call or 1vrite purpose, and inspiration to combat it-if you are MR. KAUFMAN, ACSW, Dir. of Professional Services - OHEL CHILDREN'S HOME, 4907 still not aware of this, then perhaps I have not told 16th Ave, Brooklyn, N. Y., Tel. (212) 851-6HOO. you enough. . . . D

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The Jewish Observer/ November, 1973 23 can turn for detailed refutation of their pseudo-scien­ tific heresies. That does not mean that there are no alternative answers; thus, his approach to geological or BOOKS biological evolution, in particular, may be subject to arguments; but unquestionably bis treatment of histori­ 'UNIVERSAL JEWISH HISTORY, vol. III: THE PATRIAR­ cal and archeological finding is masterful and unique. CHAL AGE (part II, conclusion)' by Rabbi Philip In principle, the thesis that similarities between our Biberfeld (New York, 1973; P. Feldheim, $8.75). written and oral tradition, on the one band, and the ways of life of the Biblical era are bound to exist is IN EMBARKING UPON this vast undertaking of a "Uni­ utterly logical and indeed inescapable, once it is versal Jewish History," Rabbi Biberfeld set himself a pointed out to us. At the same time, however, the most ambitious and difficult goal: not just to pen a application of this thesis can encounter certain pitfalls. history of the Jewish people but to relate it to the The recognition of such similarities can lead the un­ history of mankind and indeed to the development of wary or superficial reader to a "tishtush hagevulim," our world, its creation and its progress (albeit slow) a failure always to remain conscious of what is unique toward the End of the Days. It was the pursuit of this in the personalities of the Tanach, their way of life, objective that Jed the author in his earlier volumes to and their experiences. chart the guiding principles that also provide the foun­ Rabbi Biberfeld refers to the excavatious of houses dation for this, the third volume; above all, the prin­ protected by great heavy doors, which "the excavators ciple of spiritual-moral evolution, based upon the have called . . . 'the Ahrahamitic house' because it survival of the fittest to carry on G-d's purpose in corresponds fully to the description given in the Bible the world (an idea echoing Rabbi Yehuda Halevy of Lot's house in Sodon1 with its mob~proof door" (p. in the Kuzari, pt. I, 95); and the idea that mankind 52). The reader must remember, however, that-after preserved many memories of its earliest experiences closing the door-the angels miraculously blinded the and "Noachide" laws as set out in the Torah (hence, mob, in order to save Lot. Likewise, when he reads of the proliferation of ancient myths, law codes, and Semitic hospitality similar to 's (p. 71), be social forms, showing certain similarities with Torah must not forget the special character and purpose of accounts and legislation). Abraham's hospitality, as characterized by our Sages. Rabbi Biberfeld brilliantly applies these principles When Rabbi Biberfeld assumes that and his and, in the process, answers many of the challenges family were clad similarly to the way shown on a offered to the believing Jew by historians, archeologists, contemporary Egyptian relief painting (p. 79), such and Bible critics. His is, in fact, the only work to which a comparison obviously cannot extend to the tunics students of general writings on early Jewish history worn by the women of Jacob's family.

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24 The Jewish Observer / November, 1973 The author himself, of course, stresses the unique­ pagan civilization that surrounded them. ness of the Patriarchs-human, indeed, but vastly su­ At the same time, many of the archeological findings perior beings-and he points out the worldwide and throw an interesting and illuminating light upon the lasting significance of their work as bearers of the history of the Patriarchs as we know it. For example, spiritual and moral evolutions of mankind. (He refers the author quotes the detailed reports filed by the in this context, on p. 9, to Rabbi Aaron Kotler's essay Egyptian border-guards concerning anyone crossing the in Rabbi Bloch's volume; this reviewer does not un­ frontier-a vivid reminder of the situation described derstand Rabbi Kotler to suggest that the Patriarchs by our Sages where not even a single slave could ever were without any blemish whatsoever, but merely that make his escape from Egypt. even their blemishes must be taken in a higher sense The arrangement of the material, with much of it not like those of ordinary people-a position that gibes relegated to the footnotes, makes the work much more perfectly with Rabbinic traditions (c.f. Michtav MeEli­ readable than one would expect such a scholarly vol­ yahu by Rabbi E. E. Dessler, vol. I, pp. 161-169). ume to be, and the writing is admirably clear and There clearly emerges from this volume the immense concise. All in all, this work is a most valuable con­ difference between the ethos of the Patriarchs and the tribution to Jewish historiography. D

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The Jewish Observer I Noven1ber, 1973 25 about 20 keep Kosher outside their homes?" I lashed out further: "Do you second looks know that Texas has a 49% inter­ marriage rate and that Torah-true Yiddishkeit in Texas is just about at ''kiruv rechokim'' ready for burial? But there are a few individuals and the two day schools, fortunately, that will not The .Tune issue of The .Tewish Observer featurd several articles permit the coffin lid to close." I on the theme of reaching out to the uncommitted .Tew, which ended the conversation almost at prompted much comment and lively response from our readers. the top of my voice with these part­ Several articles submitted on the topic are presented on the ing shots: "By the way, why are you following pages. leaving anyway.-Aren't the Glatt steaks at the local deli soft enough? If it's money for a Regen Shtrei­ Saving Texas mel (a Chassidic fur hat worn on a rainy Shabbos) that's bringing I HAD ENTERED the principal's office ter's teacher was modest in her you here, then stay there. I'll gladly of the local day school. He was talk­ manner of dress. Impulsively, and send you my extra one." I slammed ing on the phone to a prospective certainly not using good judgment, the phone down with a vengeance, teacher in New York City and he l interrupted and said to this ben but for the rest of that day I was motioned for me to pick up the Torah something to this effect: "A upset over my irrational outburst. extension phone and listen in on proper ben Torah should first in­ the conversation. quire about a Kosher Mikveh before That evening I phoned the young The young man at the other end moving to a community. And as man and I apologized for my rude­ was asking if Glatt Kosher meats long as I'm doing the talking, I'll ness in manner and tone, but before and "Cholov Yisroel" were avail­ throw you several questions: Do I could finish, he interrupted to say able in Houston; if the teacher you know that out of 8,000 Jewish that he should be the one to apolo­ instructing his son would be quali­ families Jiving in the greater Hous­ gize for his naive and selfish ques­ fied and knowledgable enough for ton area only 450 buy Kosher meat? tions. We had a lengthy discussion his son. He wondered if his daugh- And out of those 450 families only as to the problems of Yiddishkeit in Texas and we ended up agreeing that he wasn't so wrong at that in LET US posing those questions. GIVE YOU This time I hung up with less Max Ostreicher, Inc. THE PUSH YOU NEED anger, but still burdened by some Wholesale and Retail FOR THE PULL YOU misgivings. The young man's naivete WANT. JEWELERS Advertisements • Logos Posters • Monograms HELLER ELSO from Chechoslovakia, now Publicity Releases • Cartoons ELIZABETH BONDY lives in London, Special Discounts for Complete line of fine jewelry seeks to find her first cousin Heller Rosa, Non-Profit Organizations Daughter of Marta Heller, a brother of • LONGINE WATCHES 1'\ Free-lance Call' Leo or Lewis Beswalf Heller, son of writing, 997-4851 Hershel Lomes from Maromarosigen. If • DIAMOND RINGS illustratin{l,, anyone knows of any such persons please dPsignin.g, 851-9662 write to: MRS. E. BONDY, 48, Alkham • WEDDING BANDS & lettering. Road., London, N. 16, England. - Mrs. Shomer Shabbos Bondy came to London in 1951. Catalogue Senf Upon Request. Open Sundays Shomer Shabbos TRADITION PERSONNEL AGENCY "At Your Service With All Your Employment Needs" 101 CANAL STREET Need A Shomer Shabbos Job? Looking For A Shomer Shabbos Person? New York, N. Y. 10002 "Ip For Fast, Efficient and Courteous Service 925-1370 or 925-1472 ·-· 18 W. 45th St., New York, N. Y. 10036 • 563-3994 Open Monday night by appointment only

26 The Jewish Observer I November, 1973 could have been his undoing. Had major question that needs an an­ Have you seen the exciting he come and been undone who s\ver. Can we save Texas without neiv book? would have been to blame-we, the losing our soul in the process? If so, out-of-town rabbis and principals how? What can we do to better V'SHEE-NON-TOM who lure young, prospective teachers prepare our prospective educators by RABBI ELIAS SCHWARTZ with half-truths in order to acquire to do the job? These are the ques­ For each Sedra, Y'SHEE·NON-TOM brings you: a story (with a proper personnel? - the people in tions that need answering. moral) / two Torah thoughts I charge of his education who kept NACHUM Zv1 JosEPHY explains one mitzvah. him in the dark during years of Ideal for Chanukah, Bar Mifzvoh, Graduation, or New Home inadequate preparation as to what's Rabbi Nachum Zvi Josephy is a Tune the times into Torah ideals - going on outside of Brooklyn? Or past national vice-president of Pir­ "The variety and impressiveness of ma­ terial ••• make it most valuable in com­ does the fault lie with the ongoing chei Agudath Israel, and is presently municating basic Torah ideas and ideals." teacher training programs and place­ Education and Youth Director of -Jewish Observer ment bureaus? Where does the fault the United Orthodox Synagogues "A wonderful source of material for all occasions. Perfect Bar Mifzvah ••• hos- lie-with whom? is really not the and Schools of Houston, Texas. pitality gilt." -Torah Umesorah Principals Newsletter Discuss V'SHEE-NON-TOM at the Shabbos table and raise the The Jewish School of Zurich Kedusha of your Sltabbos. Mail your check for $6.95 tc: (the only in ) RABBI ELIAS SCHWARTZ 2109 83rd S+reet, Brooklyn, N. Y. 11214 Seeks a strictly Orthodox Principal to replace the incumbent, Send V'SHEE·NON.TOM to, who is retiring after many years of service. Name ...... Address... . • Applicant must be conversant in German. • ...... Zip ...... All qualified applicants are invited to address their queries Sale CHANUKAH Sale for further details to Now Going On At FLOHR'S JEWISH SCHOOL BOARD OF ZURICH CHANUKAH LAMPS IN CHROME c/o DR. D. RoTSCHILD from $.~.95 ISRAELI CHANUKAH LAMPS Manessestr. 10 from $2.95 STERLING SILVER CHANUKAH 8003 Zurich / Switzerland LAMPS - from $33.00 Largest Selection of Chanukah Gifts to Choose: Rel'ords • Books • Draidles • Paper Goods • Crystal • Silver Plate Gifts • Sterling Gifts • China • Melmac • D'>ti• Correlle • Flatware '7l7.!l>tY117 vp>t,>tit\TUit FLOHR'S is your store for Gifts of Discount Prices & Qualify Merchandise Yerelm Orthodox Chapel FLOHR'S 93 Broadway · Brooklyn, N.Y. 11211 4603 l3th A VENUE Brooklyn, N. Y. DIGNIFIED TRADITIONAL SERVICES Tel. 854-0865 Open Saturday Night & Sunday THROUGHOUT THE METROPOLITAN AREA Kovod Haniftar Observed Records Seforim Feel free to calf us for any SHALLER'S information regarding burial minhagim Menorahs - all types 24 hour service Chanukah Gifts Day and Night phone 384-6784 1495 ST. NICHOLAS A VE. WA 8-2140

The Jewish Observer / Noven1ber, 1973 27 THE WORLD FAMOUS One Soul DIGEST OF MEFORSHIM •t:Jip; iri::i •t:Jip; TISHA B'AV 5733 it was finally my own corner and daven to the Rib­ 'i•xr i11t1'iN 'ii111:1w ,, ;•nin1:1 zechus (good fortune) to be in bono Shel Olam in her own way. Available at Eretz Yisroel. I thought I would be Then one girl mentioned that she LEKUTEI INC. able to daven at the Kosel-right had brought a Tze'enoh Ure'enoh c / o I. Rosenberg there where it all happened! Our with her, which recounts in Yiddish 10 West 47th Street, Room 702 madrichim, however, felt otherwise. stories of the Destruction as told in New York, N. Y. 10030 20 Volumes on Torah, Perek, It's just not the place to be on the Gemora. As I was the only one Medrash, Megilas and Talmud. Tisha B'Av Eve. The atmosphere is fairly fluent in Yiddish, it was de­ Proceeds of sales distributed among not conducive to mourning, or to cided that we would all sit together, and used for reprinting any feelings of sorrow concerning and I would read and translate each of volumes out-of-print PRICE $4.50 PER VOLUME the Destruction. story. It turned out to be a lengthy process, and we sat huddled to­ Four friends and I decided that gether to keep out the cold. About if we couldn't be at the Kosel for half an hour after we began, as we Eichah, we would at least be there were engrossed in the story of in the early hours of the morning, Kamtza and Bar Kamtza, a young is relatively empty. when the plaza girl stopped near us and seemed to At twelve midnight we boarded the want to join our group. We invited number One bus and finally arrived One of her to sit down, and I n1ade a quick WORLD'S LARGEST at the Kosel. resume of the story until then. She CAMERA STORES It looked abandoned. Of course, seemed interested and stayed on. n:iw ioiw there were people there. Sephardic By morning we had five sueh young Wall Street men, wrapped in their tal/eisim, people in our group-all of them slept in every corner. Chassidim sat Americans, dressed in the conven­ Camera Exchange on the ground and cried as they tional jeans and shirt, and all des­ Complete Line of Cameras chanted Kinas. But, in essence, the perately searching for something to and Photo Supplies Kosel looked abandoned - alone. believe in. One of the girls seemed 82 Wall Street The dimmed lights lent an air of to be further advanced than the New York, N. Y. eeriness to the whole area. Was this others. She carried a Midrash Rab­ Telephone: WH 4-0001 the Kosel, the same Kosel which bah with her and knew countless • Wholesale had witnessed the terrifying and mystical stories about Chassidic • Mail Order terrible churban some two thousand Rabbe'im . ... This was the extent • Retail years ago? of her Yiddishkeit. Special Reductions to all Readers of At first, we all thought we would At four thirty we stood up and "THE JEWISH OBSERVER" separate, and each would go to her davened Shacharis. One of the girls remained with us, and one of our group davened with her-a long, painstaking process. This girl stayed on until eleven o'clock, arguing, dis­ cussing, and asking. Our madrichim, who expected us to be fatigued, were surprised at our heightened mood when we came home. We all felt as if we had ac­

The '"'wly remodele-d and complished something during the relwbished APERION offeu night, and yet, we all were plagued lu•vrioui Glott Kosher Focilitift the with tV

28 The Jewish Observer / November, 1973 religions, and worse, for their an­ swers, these young people turned Who} Qualified? towards Eretz Yisroel, towards the roots of our heritage. They want to REB YOSEPH ZUNDEL of Aishoshok "So do we," continued the Cha­ know. Are we willing to tell them? once criticized those Gedolim who fetz Chaim, "find ourselves in battle And then think of the thousands of were not sufficiently strict in giving from without and from within. We Jews who don't know where to look, semicha, and who certified for ha­ cannot today demand from a young or don't even want to look-those lachic decision-making some young man the same knowledge we once caught up in the destructive swirl of men who were not thoroughly demanded from a candidate for society and are unable to escape .... versed in Talmud and Shulchan semicha. We are in battle today for Aruch. Hashem. We must draft all our Many articles have been written The Chofetz Chaim, however, young men to establish themselves on this topic, speakers expound on found in their favor: "I recall that at the head of the combatants. In it, and various organizations have during the Franco-Prussian war, the course of their service in the undertaken to do something about the Germans drafted the students of Rabbinate they will hopefully add it. But what has the individual Jew the officers training schools, and knowledge to their knowledge." done about it? immediately appointed them as from SEGULOS HA-TORAH If every religious Jew would take officers. The Prussian king pointed submited by ELKANAH SCHWARTZ upon himself to bring one Jew back out in his address before them that to Yiddishkeit, the face of Jewry in spite of their knowledge being Rabbi Schwartz is a frequent con­ the world over would change dras­ as yet insufficient, he nevertheless is tributor to these pages. tica!ly. Only one soul-but isn't one appointing them as officers, because soul a world unto itself? ... Every­ the homeland is in danger and it one knows of one non-religious Jew becomes their responsibility to es­ SERVICES ARRANGED IN -a business associate, a neighbor, tablish themselves in the front lines. YOUR COMMUNITY or even a relative-who can be per­ He hopes that in the course of battle, suaded to return to the Torah way however, that they will acquire the of life. This need not entail a deep necessary knowledge. Norman L. Jeffer philosophical discussion. All that is needed is some will and some FRANKEL'S BOOK STORE COMMUNITY CHAPELS, Ahavas Yisroel-caring about other Inc. Jews-and offering them a bit of Hebraic,a & Judaica • Gifts exposure to Yiddishkeit. Menorahs • Records 47th Street & Ft. Hamilton Parkway The impact of such a mitzvah is BrooHyn Phone UL 3-4000 everlasting. One Jew committed to 4904 16th A VENUE Torah Judaism would have a re­ Brooklyn, N. Y. Mikvah under Supervision ol ligiously committed family. Then UL 1-7766 Bikur Cholim of Boro ParA should he and each member of his family each bring back one more Jew, the chain of Yiddishkeit would go on and on for generations-all RABBI JOZEF KATZ AND MARK LOVlNGER because one Jew took the trouble 83 Division A venue Brooklyn, N. Y. 11211 to bring back one soul. You. D CHAYA ROSENZWEIG OF

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The Jewish Observer I November, 1973 29 known all along-was too obvious Lisa and Me-Them and Us to deny. I had utterly and completely LISA WAS IN THE student's desk and bored pair of eyes, one set of lips failed. I had taken away from her I in the teacher's. But somehow our twisted in sly contempt-willing me the one thing she treasured most­ positions seemed to be reversed. to slip, phrasing awkward ques­ her freedom. I, with my Shabbos The expression on her face was tions calculated to trip me up. It and my mitzvos - and yes, my petulant and her eyes seemed to was uncanny. Almost as if she were chumros (stringent interpretations) mock. I read a question in them the Inquisitor, and I the unfortunate -had chained her when she wanted though she would not phrase it victim. to be free. So she had hardened her openly: "Why are you botheriug And now she sat before me in heart against those who would help me anyway?" She let her eyes that familiar pose: one bare foot her. wander in carefree insolence as if supporting a brown sandal swinging Hebrew-Israel-Zion-these could she could do no wrong. in defiance. do her no harm. She could accept Why did I bother? I hardly knew. I had one last chance and I grab­ theoretical Judaism, as long as it It wasn't only that my prestige as bed at it. Why-why-why? I coax­ was just a cultural function. But a teacher was at stake, although ed, pleaded, cajoled. Lisa's reply just touch her soul, and the im­ admittedly, that was part of it. After was quick, rehearsed: "I want to penetrable wall went up and she all, a student under my wing for do what I want to do, not what became unreachable. ten months who left to a public older people think is good for me." This, then, is where I had gone school was certainly no credit to me. I knew she was only parroting wrong. Lisa is one of the lost and But that wasn't all. This girl had what she had heard. It's so easy to frightened children - trapped by puzzled me-and yes, angered me. pick up right-sounding slogans and their elders in a world of half-truths. How often during a soul-searching then fling them in the faces of those Nothing is real to them. Everything, lecture to a group of open faces had who care most. once touched, must eventually be­ I found my gaze focusing on one The real answer-the one I had come tarnished, or crumble. And I

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30 The Jewish Observer / November, 1973 greet her with demands, dogma, and difficulties, No wonder she and the Whos Not Qualified? others are afraid to put their trust in our beliefs. IN THIS DAY of specialization even study instead of twelve, there is no How difficult our side must ap­ particular mitzvos seem to have be­ need to wrestle with the soul as pear through their frightened eyes! come the sole priority of certain to how to spend his time, and so And we, who know no other way, groups. One of the claims made the decision to re-assign the few pass judgment on them .... Can against the practical effectiveness of precious hours one does have for we condemn those tinokos shenishbu Reform and Kiruv Rechokim will not engender because we, in our good fortune, is that they do not have a learned the inner turmoil a yeshiva student were born to all this? Shall we hold laity-that virtually the only people experiences. them in contempt for a condition associated with these groups having No doubt Rabbi Feinstein did not they have been born to? Rather, a smattering of knowledge are those purposely exclude yeshiva graduates does not this force an awesome professionally involved with them. as a group in his statement. Never­ responsibility upon us? It is a sorry commentary that in a theless, one would be hard put to LISA IS ON HER WA y to public school much more subtle way Orthodox assume that someone for whom and a dubious future. But there Jewry is apparently suffering, to bitul Torah is not at least a soul are others who are still floundering some extent, from a similar sickness. wrestling affair is at the same time in Talmud- and Day Schools In a letter to the editor (Sept. someone who "bases his entire around the country who can benefit 1973) it was suggested that the ideology on G-d's Torah . . . ,'' from this mistake. There are so imperative of being Mekarev Recho­ someone who is "meticulous in ad­ many who can be helped. Their kim articulated by Rabbi Moshe hering to the teachings of our Torah willingness glows in their eyes and Feinstein M"D'?TV be extended to leaders and not misled by false reflects in their movements and in graduates of yeshivos and seminar­ ideologies"-the only type of person their pathetic eagerness to learn. ies, because "for them, in contrast properly equipped for attracting the And those prickly ones, whose to yeshiva students, not only is there non-committed Jew, according to insecurity and vulnerability force no wrestling with the soul regarding Rabbi Feinstein. Indeed, once one them to retreat behind icy barriers bitul Torah, for them such a pro­ suffers the loss of insight into the can be saved, too. Slowly and gram is their salvation." After importance of Torah learning, which gently, these too may be coaxed to having explained at length what fine must necessarily accompany any come out and enter the fold. products yeshiva graduates are, they lack of concern with bitul Torah In our own fierce day-to-day are matter-of-factly maligned as ex­ ( bitul Torah per se is not being •truggles, we hardly think of our­ periencing "no wrestling with the considered here, but rather the Jack selves as living in ivory towers. But soul regarding bitul Torah . ..." Be­ of concern, the lack of soul­ we do, and we have grown estranged cause someone is no longer an wrestling, regarding bitul Torah), from the mitzvah of truly caring enrolled student in a yeshiva, ac­ then that person's qualification as for others. As our Gedolei Torah cording to this assumption, bitul one "whose spiritual stamina is have said, this is a crisis situation Torah is no longer an issue. For fortified by the Torah" becomes and as a nation that is "areivim zeh a "lay" person who has only two seriously questioned. or three hours a day for Torah lo' zeh - accountable for one an­ R. DAVID ADLIN other," we must rise to this crisis. Baltimore, Maryland NECHAMA KRUPENIA Weddings· Bar-Mitzvahs Mr. Adlin, a psychologist, is a mus­ Miss Krupenia teaches at the Ye­ mach of Yeshiva Ner Israel - shiva of Kings Bay, Brooklyn. U.S.A./ /sraei Baltimore, Maryland.

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The Jewish Observer / Noven1ber, 1973 31 people of Worms did not return. The people of Jerusalem wrote to @ Z1 the Kehilla of Worms urging them to return so that they could be Oleh & Words of Judgment _,..... Regel to Yerushalayim, which was very distant from Worms. But the UNITED To the Editor: people of Worms paid no heed to Regarding the prophetic words of the words of Jerusalem and they Chevra Kadisha D'chasidim Meir Simcha ?"l! in your Elul wrote back this reply: "Sit where Har Hamnuchot • Eretz Hachaim issue, wherein he predicts that a you are in the great Jerusalem and holocaust will descend upon those Founded 1856 we will live here in our small Jeru­ who equate Berlin with Jerusalem salem." For, at that time, the Jews because they live there comfortably, BURIAL IN JERUSALEM were very respected in the eyes of I would like to call your attention AND ALL CEMETERIES IN ISRAEL the Prince and the Gentiles, and to a fascinating entry recorded in they were extremely wealthy. Be­ the Seder Hadoros under the date cause of this, Worms suffered from • 5380 (1620 C.E.): incessant persecution more than In his youth Rav Y osef Chamosh other places. maat1n sako0€sh learned in the Yeshiva of HaGaon AVROHOM CHAIM FEUER Pinchas Segal, the Rav of Fulda. In Wickliffe, Ohio SOCl€ty the year 1620, he said in the name (Rabbi Feuer is a member of the of his rebbi, HaGaon Valk, the au­ 44 CANAL ST. Kole! of the Telshe Yeshiva, and a thor of the SMA (Sefer Me'iros Ei­ NEW YORK CITY 10002 frequent contributor to these pages.) Nr. E. Broadway Sta. "F" Train na'im on Choshen Mishpat), that the reason terrible edicts are con­ tinually issued against the holy Editorial Suggestion Day & Nite Phone community of Worms more than Dear Editor: 925·2277 -8 other Kehillos and provinces is as Verbosity and rhetoric sometimes follows: After the churban Bayis tire. As an editorial change of pace, Rishon (destruction of the first Bais In Canada: I would like to propose the insertion Hamikdosh), the first Jewish settlers Chevra Kadisha in your magazine of small anecdotes arrived in Warms. At the end of the pertaining to terse sayings of Ge­ of United Jewish Congregations seventy years of exile, the dispersed Montreal Tel.: 273-3211 dolei Hador-frumkeiten, beautiful Jewish People returned to Bretz thoughts, gute verier which should Yisroel and Jerusalem, but the not be left untranscribed for our generation. There are those of Reh Moshe which bear repetition, as well as others. . . . May I repeat something told to DISTINGUISHED WEDDING BEGINS WITH me by a neighbor, a talmid of Horav ITS INVITATION, Hutner, who was present at his THE SPECIAL MARRIAGE BEGINS WITH seder. His remark bears the mark ITS KETHUBA ... of immortality. Horav Hutner was splashed by wine spilled inadvertently by his You are cordially invited to a private viewing brother-in-law at the seder. His of Rembrandt Associates exclusive line of Wedding kittel sustained a large stain and Invitations and Kethubahs for the discriminating-at very moderate costs. was quite red. With the grace of a Rembrandt Associates-creators designers and print· great man, he immediately remark­ ers of the scroll, tassle, photomontage and other fine ed, "A kittel from the seder not invitations. stained with wine is like a Yorn Kippur machzar not wet with tears." I cannot elaborate on the im­ Duk Engclh,udt Shimil' Silver by .ippointment "nly (212) 532-0300 pression left on the talmid. I just Rt>mhr•ndt Associ•les Advt>rlising ltd. 49 West 27 Strt>et, N.Y.C. 10001 learned a perek mussar. My mach­ zor will be wet ii'~'N on Yorn Kippur. IEMllANDT ASSOCIATES ADY. LTD.. BEREL BELSKY, Brooklyn, N.Y.

32 The Jewish Observer / Nove1nbt:r. 197:1 The principles of business life insurance simplified.

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The Jewish Observer / November, 1973 33' A call to Jews throughout the world for a "mass Torah revival in the after­ math of the Yorn Kippur War," as well AGUDATH ISRAEL OF AMERICA as a broad range of programs to intensify Jewish religious observance and outreach Agudatlilsroel of America • il!i''l:;~:i;~,.tia' programs to estranged Jewish youth, emerged from the 51st National Con­ !il~ N1\ilONAl C~Jfll/f,'YW1 vention of Agudath Israel of America, which closed its three-day session in At­ TbeAi'ion lantic City, N. J. on Sunday, November 25th. 'fhe entire gathering met under the impact of the mideast crisis, and although Agudath Israel's broad range of pro­ grams on the American scene were also .discussed, the recent events in Israel .dominated the deliberations. LOUIS J. SEPTIMUS, Convention Chairman, opening keynote session on Saturday niO"ht. Close to three thousand delegates and Seated at the dais (from l. tor.) are: Rabbi Schneur Kotler, Rabbi , Rabbi Moshe Horowitz-Bostoner Rebbe (Brooklyn), Rabbi Pinchas Lewin, Rabbi guests from all over the Americas and Yaakov Ruderman, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, Rabbi , Rabbi Gedalia Canada, Europe and Israel participated Schorr, Rabbi Shraga Grossbard, Rabbi Moshe Sherer, Rabbi Chaskel Besser. in various sessions of the Convention, and they eagerly sought guidance from pages, who addressed the convention are: rostrum of other officers, the Convention the world-renowned Torah scholars who Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Horowitz, Bostoner elected a Vaad Hapoel and regional were the major speakers at the conclave, Rebbe (Boston); Rabbi Dov Greenbaum Vice-presidents. -(many of whom are pictured on these (Yeshiva of Spring Valley); Rabbi Ye­ ZEIREI AGUDATH ISRAEL pages). In addition to addresses by the kusiel Bittersfeld (Mesifta Be'er Shmuel); Roshei HaYeshiva who were present (see Rabbi Tuvia Goldstein (Yeshiva Emek TWO HUNDRED DELEGATES from all parts pages 6-8), warm greetings conveyed by Halacha); Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Levin of the United States and Canada attended Hagaon Horav Eliezer Menachem Shach, (Telshe Yeshiva-Chicago); Rabbi B. the Convention of Zeirei Agudath Israel -the Agudah's vibrant youth organiza~ Ponevezer Rosh Yeshiva, were read to Lezerovsky (Philadelphia); Rabbi Yaa~ the Convention. Greetings from the kov Perlow (Beis Medrash Yeshurun); tion-which was held in conjunction ·Gerer Rebbe were conveye

34 The Jewish Observer I November, 1973 A REPORT

AMONG THE TORAH LUMINARIES who addressed the Convention on themes related to the Yorn Kippur War and the individual Jew's responsibility to Klal were: Rabbi Nochum Perlow (Noveminsker Rebbe), Rabbi Boruch Sorotzkin (Telshe Yeshiva-Wickliffe, Ohio), Rabbi Moshe Horowitz (Bostoner Rebbe-Brooklyn), Rabbi Schneur KotJer (Beth Medrash Gevoha-Lakewood). and Rabbi Gedalia Schorr (Mesina Torah Vodaath). (lower 1.) Horav Moshe Feinstein and Horav entering the Convention hall (accompanied by Rabbi Menachcm Shayovich who heads Agudath Israel's Commission on Legislation and Civic Action.

VISITORS FROM ABROAD ADDRESS THE CONVENTION

AMONG THE FOREIGN DIGNITARIES who addressed the Convention were (from I. to r.): Rabbi Pinchas Lewin (Chairman, Israel section of Agudist World Executive Organization), Rabbi Shraga Grossbard (Director General of Chinuch Atzmai), Mr. Boruch Cymerman (Vice-president of Agudath Israel of Great Britain), and Rabbi Shmuel Aryeh Levine (Head of KoUel in Buenos Aires, Argentina).

THURSDAY NIGHT ENGLISH LANGUAGE SYMPOSIUM

THE TOPIC was a vital one-"Kiruv Rechokim (Reaching Out David Refson, Jerusalem; Rabbi Aaron Brafman, Far Rock­ to the Uncommitted Jew), the Ends and Means: A Search for away; and Rabbi , Brooklyn. The moderator of Guidelines." Those who spoke were articulate and eminently the session was professor Aaron Twersky (Hofstra U.). Pre­ qualified to discuss the topic. The speakers were: Rabbi Meir sentations were followed by a stimulating question-and-answer Belsky (right), Memphis Tenn.; Rabbi J. David Bleich (sec. period from the audience. right), N.Y.C. The discussants (from I. to r.) were: Rabbi

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