ELUL 5728 / SEPTEMBER 1968 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 4 rHE FIFTY CENTS

The Rising Cost of Life

Torah Jewry "Down Under" New Morality - How New Is It? THE JEWISH OBSERVER

In this issue ...

THE RELEVANCE OF SANCTITY. Chaim Keller ...... 3

ORTHODOXY IN AUSTRALIA, Shmuel Gorr ...... 8

THE NEGRO AND THE ORTHODOX JEW, Bernard Weinberger 11

THE RISING CosT OF LIFE, Yisroel Mayer Kirzner ...... 15 THE JEWISH OBSERVER is published monthly, except July and Aug~st, by the Agudath Israel of America, DR. FALK SCHLESINGER, n,,~~ i'"lt ,,T ...... 18 5 Beekman Stret, New York, N. Y. 10038 Second class postage paid at New York, N. Y. THE SUPREME COURT TEXTBOOK DECISION, Judah Dick...... 19 Subscription: $5.00 per :year; Canada and overseas: $6.00; single copy: 50t. Printed in the U.S.A. THE Loss OF EUROPE'S ToRAH CENTERS: A LEssoN FoR OuR GENERATION ...... 22 Editorial Board DR. ERNEST L. BODENHEI~!ER Chairman SECOND LOOKS AT THE JEWISH SCENE: RABBI NATHAN BULMAN Jews Without a Press...... 26 RABBI JOSEPH ELIAS JOSEPH FRIEDENSON RABBI MoSHE SHERER A PERSONAL NOTE ...... 29 Advertising Manager "RABBI SYSHE HESCHEL Managing Editor RABBI YAAKOV JACOBS

THE JEWISH OBSERVER does not assume responsibility for t_he J(ashrus of any product or service advertised in its pages.

SEPT. 1968 VOL. V, No. 4 Chaim Keller The Relevance of Sanctity How New is the "New Morality"?

Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will set your paths straight Be not wise in your own eyes Fear G-d and turn away from evil. Proverbs, 3 : 6-7

At a time when society faces a disintegration of all separation between the sexes which has given the moral standards, King Solomon's words-especially in authentic Beis Haknesses that sanctity which alone translation-take on a puritanical ring. What the wisest makes it a Beis Mikdash Me' at-a miniature sanctuary. of all men is saying to us is that there is an objective Authentic Judaism, having taken its stand at the standard of what is right and what is wrong, what is Mechitza has paid dearly in terms of its image, but good and what is bad: that morality is not decided by has thereby re-affirmed the cardinal significance of the consensus. principle of Kedusha to the eternity of Kial Yisroel. We have been taken to task lately by the forces of The Meehitza, besides fufilling the halachie require­ "liberal" religion for not relating to the problems of ments of separation between men and women without society. The measure of relevance in these circles is which the synagogue is unacceptable for public worship, one's commitment to civil rights or stand against the has served as the symbolic representation of the fence war in Viet Nam. If Orthodox Jews are not manning against the immorality which must result from the the ramparts in the fight for racial equality or carrying mingling of the sexes. the signs in the anti-war demonstrations, then we have, in this view, retired from the arena of world involve­ Speak to all the congregation ment and isolated ourselves behind impenetrable walls of the People of Israel of seclusion. and say to them: Yet these same religious leaders are silent on what is perhaps the most serious and far-reaching social Be holy, for I the Lord your G-d am Holy. problem which faces civilized man today: the break­ Leviticus 19-2 down of morality which portends the abdication of the Rashi, quoting the Medrash, explains this seemingly Divine image in Man. abstract concept of holiness enjoined on the collective It is of no small significance that the line of demarca­ body of Israel: "Be holy: Separate yourself from sexual tion between those retaining their allegiance to Torah immorality and from sin, for wherever you find a ii~ law and those who have shed this allegiance has been mi;, a fence against immorality, there will you find the Mechitza in the synagogue. holiness." Names can be very confusing: a synagogue can call Certainly the Viet Nam war has some bearing on itself Traditional, or Modern Orthodox, or simply Or­ Jewish life and survival, as does the problem of open thodox, and still have set off on the one-way street occupancy. But towering above these problems is the which leads away from Shulchan Aruch and Daas realization that Kedusha is vital to our survival, and Torah. The Mechitza has been the one tangible, dis­ immorality among Jews is a greater threat than any timmishincr factor, over which the battle of "the Chris- o 0 social issue external to the Jewish people. This does tianization of the Synagogue" has beeu fought, and not mean that Jews shonld adopt a policy of callous which has removed a great deal of the confusion en­ disregard for the problems of others or that we should gendered by these labels. It is the readily discernible be insensitive to the ideals of peace and social justice. It does mean, though that Jews as Jews and Jewish RABBI CHAIM KELLER is Rosh Yeshiva at the Chicago Branch organizations as such, must first and foremost address of the Telshe Yeshiva, and a frequent contributor to these pages. themselves to the problems which affect the very exist-

The }elvish Observer / September, 1968 3 Relevance in the Synagogue

Conservative rabbis and their congregations Rabbi Harlow said that the remarks by Mr. throughout the country have received booklets Alston, a Protestant, had appeared in The Chris­ that include special prayers and pronounce1nents, tian Science Monitor, adding that they were used including remarks by Walter Alston, manager of because "wisdom and virtue are inherent among the Los Angeles Dodgers, for use on the High the pious of all faiths." Holy Days. Mr. Alston, in an interview in the paper, criti­ More than 50,000 copies of the booklet en­ cized ballplayers for spending "too much time titled, "Yearnings, Prayer and Meditations for the talking about what happened last year or com­ Days of Awe," have been distributed, Rabbi Jules paring this season with last," adding, "its not Harlow publications director of the Rabbinical only useless conversation, it's dangerous." Assembly, the international association of Con­ Mr. Alston concluded with: servative spiritual leaders said. . . . "Each spring I try to wipe my slate clean and "We feel," said Rabbi Wolfe Kelman, execu­ start all over again, and I think that the new tive vice president of the assen1bly, "that we nzust spring is the 1nost important in my life." keep the services in our congregations 1nore re­ lated to the lives of our people." -The New York Times, August 25, '68

ence of their own people and culture. We are not at closing, he wrote something like this: "Now please all that secure in our positions-no one else will secure don't 1nisunderstand me. I'm no square. I am opposed them for us-that we can afford to dissipate our ener­ to the draft and the war in Viet Nam. l favor a federal gies and substance in combating all the injustice that open housing bill. I endorse selective free love and an1 there is under the sun. Too long have we guarded all for the legalization of marijuana. But I feel that the the world's vineyards. with the result that our own administration should . ...'' vineyard is in such a state of neglect. Apparently be felt ill at ease in voicing an opinion From all sides we hear what has already become a which was at odds with the prevalent mood on campus monotonous refrain: we must concern ourselves with and therefore hastened to present his credentials, and the defection of our college youth, who have become to assert that he, after all, was "no square" but one disenchanted with Judaism because our rabbis refuse of the crowd, who conformed with the "in" thinking to talk out on the burning issues of our day. Those on all other matters. who sound these alarms, however, seem to overlook To compound the problem: not only do those who the most obvious factor in the loss of these young speak in the name of religion not speak out forcefully people. The real problem is that they are introduced on this and related subjects; not only do they not con­ on the college campus into an intellectual at1nosphcrc demn the trends which are corrupting our youth, un­ of agnostic disdain for spiritual values and-what is dermining the family structure and gnawing at the very even worse-into a life of sheer hefkairus--of heart­ roots of our society; not only do they not clamor for rending and soul searing amorality which no manner an end to profane living as they do for an end to the of anti-war or civil rights pronouncements can cure. Viet Nam war. Their silence on these matters would be bad enough. But when they do speak out on matters THE UNIVERSITY CAM PUS has become the center of of morality, more often than not, they speak of "up­ intellectual ferment, the focal point of social agitation. dating" and "revising" moral standards. They turn the source of militant idealism-and the breeding to, of all people, these very same college students for ground of Ubertinism and promiscuity. guidance as to what should or should not be considered A recent letter to the editor in the Chicago Sun­ acceptable human conduct. Times signed by an undergraduate with a typical Amer­ ican Jewish name, brought this point home most poig­ The National Jewish Post and Opinion (May 17, nantly to me. The student protested the tactics of a 1968) recently reported: group of black students who had taken over the ad­ Fallowing through on its previous view that 'the ministration building at his school. His point was that traditional conception of sex relations can no they had no right in advancing their own interests to longer be accepted,' the Reconstructionist move­ adopt such measures which tend to wreak havoc with ment adopted a resolution at its recent convention the educational process of the university. But before ca/linfi for a 'study [of] the appropriateness of

4 The Jewish Observer / September, 1968 traditional Jewish norms in confronting problems Those generations sought out a new form of worship; of sexual morality that challenge us in this day.' our generation seeks "more meaningful relationships." The resolution called for the convening of a com­ They both have this in common: a simple desire to mission consisting of rabbi, psychologist, sociolo­ satisfy their lust; and in order to do so they must throw gist, /a1,vyer, marital counselor, student coun­ off the yoke of moral discipline imposed by the word selor, layman and college student (emphasis mine) of G-d and seek new idols to worship: new "codes of 'to consider bringing in a preliminary report on the nzorality." question at the next conference.' What sort of nonsense is this we hear: "problems The report goes on to cite the views of Rabbi Arthur of sexual morality that challenge us today." There are Gilbert of the Reconstructionist Foundation, who pro­ no new problems. Man's biological and psychological posed the resolution which "pointed out that traditional needs and drives are the same today as they were Jewish law on sexual morality ... is more restrictive 3,000 years ago when the Creator spoke to the people ... than the current practices of Jews." He suggested of Israel on Mount Sinai. Sociological pressures of the "that the search by college students for meaningful non-Jewish milieu are no different today than when human relationships had challenged rabbinical leader­ the Torah first introduced the prohibition of sexual ship to the reconsideration of the codes." An analogous aberations by enjoining us: "You shall not behave as situation would be a commission on revision of the they do in the land of Egypt, where you dwelled; and laws of narcotics including a drug addict "whose search not as they do in the land of Canaan, where I now for an uplifting human experience" had led the experts bring you; nor shall you adopt their ways." (Leviticus to a reconsideration of the legislation. (Actnally the 18:3) example is not so much rednctio ad absurdum. There There is a difference however. Whereas in former is already talk of legalizing use of marijuana-which years a Jew found it necessary to worship idols for is quite in vogue on the college campus.) condonation of his debauchery, today he can look to the clergy for a "revision of the code" and still be a good Jew. "The Realities of Modern Living" There is here a classic example of Reb Yisroel Sal­ ARE THE Reconstructionists alone in this? Not quite. anter's penetrating analysis of the social forces in No reader of the daily or Anglo-Jewish press can motion affecting the lives of Jews before the advent escape notice of the frequently recurring statements of Moshiach. by Jewish (and Christian) clergymen and organizations calling for revision of state laws and religious attitudes Before Moshiach comes and codes on contraception, abortion, even homosex­ the "face" of the generation uality. The gist of !he reasoning behind most of these will be like the face of a dog. pronouncements is !hat we must bring our laws and Sotah 49b attitudes into line with the realities of modem living. There is the implication that contemporary society is Reb Yisroel explains that when a dog runs ahead of somehow unique, and !hat modem man has undergone a carriage drawn by a team of horses one might think profound changes in these areas, which require com­ that the dog is leading the horses and the driver of mensurate adjustments in the field of law and ethics. the carriage. When the carriage reaches a crossroads, If the forces of enlightened religion think that our the dog, not knowing which course the driver will take, generation has discovered the Yetzer Hora they have stops and looks behind. As soon as the driver has committed a grave error. started down one of the roads, the dog races ahead, resuming his "position of leadership." Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: In the period preceding Moshiach, says Reh Yisroel, the Jews knew that there was nothing to idolatry: the 'JO-the leaders of the generation-will have "the they worshipped idols for no other purpose face of a dog," courageously leading the masses down the path which they have already chosen. than to permit themselves blatant immorality. If the ears of these leaders would only hear what Sanhedrin 63 their lips are saying! "We must consult the college stu­ We should not be naive enough to think that those who dents and find out what they are doing so that when lived at the time of the First Temple and worshipped they come to ask us (which by the way they aren't idols really believed in them-nothing so idealistic as interested in doing) what is the correct path and what that. As Rashi explains: "Their lust for sexual immoral­ are the proper moral standards, we shall be able to ity was so strong that they said 'let us completely break tell them "this is what is right; since it is what you are off the,yoke of Torah from ourselves, so !hat we shall doing." Then the college student will be happy, for not be reproved for our immorality'." they were doing it all along. The psychologists, et al,

The Jewish Observer / September, 1968 5 will be happy for having removed the students' guilt cealment of one's self and one's deeds-a withdrawal feelings, and the rabbis will be happy because they from the public eye, as opposed to brazen exhibition­ have provided "religious guidance,'' made a break­ ism. through in providing a modern sexual code. Which The Sages tell us: "To walk modestly with your G-d: leaves only the Ribono Shel Olam, the Lord of the This refers to accompanying the dead and bringing the Universe very unhappy, kvayochol, because His chil­ bride to the marriage canopy. Now if those acts which dren have gone astray. are ordinarily done publicly, the Torah tells us must This is what King Solomon meant when he said: he done in a modest manner, how much more so those "Do not be wise in your own eyes, Fear G-d and turn acts which are done in private." (Makos 24a) away from evil." Do not label as wisdom what you have chosen to do merely because it is pleasing in your mortal eyes. Fear G-d: stand in awe of Him whose A Guiding Principle eternal wisdom has created Man in the pattern of The Prophet teaches us that this quality of Tznins Torah and who alone is the ultimate judge of that should be a guiding principle in all of our life. Even which is good and that which is evil: turn aside: reject where ostentation is the rule, and the very nature of that evil. the activity is public, such as a funeral or a wedding, we must act with restraint, limit the pomp, remove the A Heart Filled With Anguish boisterousness, conceal something of ourselves. What shall we say, then, of relations between the sexes which We pray that all this shall not be read as just an­ by nature are private? (It is characteristic that the other polemic against the non-Orthodox. These words section of Shulchan Aruch (Orab Chaim 240) dealing are the expression of a heart filled with anguish; deeply with proper conduct in marital relations is entitled troubled by the spiritual bondage of a people whose Hilchos Tznius.) existence depends on the sanctity of the individual and the family: a sanctity which can only be preserved by The Torah imperative of Tznius, as it is applied to the fence against immorality of which we have spoken. dress and to relationships between the sexes is not The heartache over the profanation of the Divine merely negativism. It is not, as Torah detractors would Image among our fellow Jews who have strayed from have it, a litany of "thou shalt nots." It is a positive the path of Torah grows from day to day. But there and practical application of the concept of sanctity to is also a growing fear of what new inroads the pre­ the human psyche and to the human body, which serves valent amorality will make in the ranks of those Jews to invest them with a sense of dignity befitting the who retain their faith in Torah Min Hashomayim and Divine Image. That which is precious is guarded, that who are still committed to Torah observance. They which is divine is concealed. have not been immune to the assimilation of foreign Clothing is not merely a human invention: "And the values and mores which travel the well established Lord G-d made for Adam and for his wife garments of infiltration route: from Gentile to Secular Jew, from skin and clothed them." (Genesis 3 :21) After Adam Reform to Conservatism, and from there to the Or­ and Chava had precipitated the present state of human thodox Jew. existence by their sin in seeking an intimate knowledge The laws of Family Purity which have introduced of Good and Evil, Divine wisdom decreed that the sanctity and sanity into Jewish marriage, are set into a human form should no longer remain unclothed. broader framework which has provided the most power­ When the Yetzer Horah-the evil inclination, which ful preventative to moral laxity in Jewish life: the had previously been external (the serpent), entered principle of l11ll'll, of modesty in dress, in speech and into and became a part of them through their partaking in social conduct. of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the Actually the concept of ·Tznius is much broader, Creator, in His wisdom, saw that in order to retain affecting the conduct of the Jew in all areas of life, their spark of divinity, man and woman must clothe not only in those matters narrowly understood as "mo­ themselves, lest they descend to the level of the beasts. rality." The prophet Micha included Tznius in his So G-d Himself made clothes for them and clothed listing of the three main principles of Torah (see them. Makos 24a). "He told you, man. what is good and It is a truism of Torah that standards of morality what the Lord asks of you: to do justice and to love and ethics are absolute and not relative. The fact that kindness and to walk modestly with your G-d." (Micha many people, or even most people do wrong does not 6:8) make it right. If a mob loots and burns, each individual The term l1~? )lll:'! (usually translated "to walk is still a robber, still an arsonist. If society accepts un­ humbly," more correctly: "modestly") implies a con- faithfulness in marriage, each individual is still an

6 The Jewish Observer / September, 1968 adulterer. Aud if clothing is immodest, wearing it is too are the constants of Tznius. One of these constants still a transgression of the standards of decency. is: "The upper leg of a woman [from the knee up] is There are certain Torah norms of feminine Tznius, indecent nakedness." (B'rachos 24a) which have long gone unheeded by a large segment of If there is anything that we can learn from the current Jewish women, including many in the Orthodox camp. unrest on the university campus; if there is some area These lapses have become so widespread that they in which it would benefit us to take lessons from twen­ have ceased to be considered a matter of grave concern. ty-year-old college students, it is in their complete We have learned to look the other way-figuratively, disdain for public opinion in matters which they feel that is. affect their conscience; their matter-of-course refusal But the inexorable pressures of an amoral society to conform to standards and pattern of behavior which, continue to nibble away at whatever standards of mod­ although accepted by society, are unacceptable to them. esty remain to us, and, little by little, slowly but surely, This faculty has, from the time of the Patriarchs been the concept of Tznius is being vitiated. the secret of Jewish survival among the nations of To be sure, society has passed no laws forbidding the world. The Jew has historically rejected the values modesty in dress or requiring skimpy and provocative and morality of his host culture where they have been clothing. But they are not necessary. Nor could they be found inimical to his own. Ever since Abraham smashed as effective as the all-powerful dictates of Fashion. It the idols of his father Terach, his descendents have is painful to witness the phenomenon of sincere, ded­ been at odds with society. They refused to offer their icated women who take great pains to maintain their children as sacrifices to the Molech. They refused to Jewish identity and personal integrity, who at times prostrate themselves ·before the idols of Rome and make great personal sacrifice in order to adhere to Greece. They refused to accept forced conversion in Torah Jaw, and yet who do not realize, or cannot accept the period of the Crusades; and they have stubbornly the fact, that there are fashions which come within refused to give up their Torah way of life in the face that law-and there are fashions which are just as of tremendous social and economic pressure. unaccptable as are Shatnes or Treifus. Why, then, shonld we Jews, living in a country We cannot rely in these matters on a native sense of which allows ns freedom of choice, which even lionizes propriety. We live in a society which attacks not with non-conformers, feel constrained to adopt a mode of gun or lash, but with words of derision such as "prud­ dress which is nothing more or less than the outer ish" and "puritanical." The greatest affront is to be manifestation of an insidious debasing of morality? If called "Victorian" and the greatest disgrace is to be there are women in America who feel no shame in "unstylish." pioneering new styles whose appeal is quite openly and Styles which only yesterday were looked upon with bluntly sensuous, why should Jewish women, whose disdain and considered vulgar, are worn today by dignity and heritage is at stake, not take pride in setting married women--the same women who would have a style of modesty in dress? Why should they feel raised their eyebrows then at a girl seen in public with ashamed to appear in public with their hemlines a few her skirt above her knees. faches lower than the rest of the crowd? What shocked American society by way of literature Is society to be the arbiter of our sense of right .and and entertainment only a decade ago has now become wrong, of what is proper and improper? If that were part of the American way of life. And the situation is the case we would have ceased to exist a long time ago. deteriorating. If society is seeking new solutions to problems of Shall we, in the face of all this, relinquish the G-cl contemporary morality, I submit that it should take given insights of Halacha and rely on Society for stand­ a page from the book of the people of the Book, who ards of what is pure and what is prurient? have been eminently successful throughout the ages in maintaining the highest level of morality. The Sages of the Talmud and the early contemporary halachic authorities have defined for us what is ervah It is no accident that the divorce rate among Jews and what is not. With their divinely-inspired perception is lower than that of other groups. It is no coincidence of the nature of man they have set certain immutable that Jews comprise an insignificant percentage of sex constants defining what is permissible in dress and offenders. what is not. There are those who carp at such specific It did not just happen that the stability of the Jewish halachic regulations; they would leave the details of family unit is legendary. dress, for example, to our own good understanding. In these momentous days in which we live, when, They do not realize that the highest ideals mean little as our Chachomim presaged for the days preceding the and are easily lost sight of, unless they are expressed advent of Moshiach, Evil is rampant, Jet us proudly in clear, unambiguous terms. This axiom is basic to reaffirm our eternal values and earn for ourselves the the entire structure of Torah and Mitzvahs-and so title of a Holy Nation. D

The Jewish Observer/ September, 1968 7 Shmuel Gorr Orthodoxy in Australia The Newest Torah Frontier: Down Under

The order was given, and the rope secured. The hangman triggered the trap door for release, but it failed. There was great consternation among those present. The order was given a second time: a.gain. the trap door was triggered for release, and agam 1t faded. The large crowd of spectators was stunned. Wa~ the G-d of Israel really defending this Jew who claimed to be innocent of the charges against him? Finally, the officer in charge gave the order for a third attempt­ the gallow had been tested each time-and again the trapdoor refused to budge. Pandemonium broke out among the spectators. They cheered and demanded that the Governor withdraw the charges and proclaim the prisoner completely innocent, seeing this occurrence as an act of G-d. The prisoner Shmuel Gorr was released and given a full pardon in accordance with Anglo-Saxon tradition. (This event is documented For two thousand years since the destruction of the in the archives of the Australian Jewish Historical Beis Ham>kdosh, the Jew has wandered the earth and Society). made his home in most every land on the face of the A few years later, a number of Jews in Sydney came earth. One of the last frontiers to be opened to Jewish together and formed a Minyan for the High Holy Days. settlement is Australia, a massive continent situated in This was the first congregation convened in Australia, the South Pacific and Indian Oceans. and was known as the York Street Synagogue. In 1842, The first Jews to set foot on Australian soil arrived a congregation was started in Hobart, the Capital of in the nineteenth century with the first shiploads of Tasmania. The Hobart community built a mikveh- British convicts who were pardoned on the condition apparently the first in Australia. . that they settle in the new British colony. Little is When early settlers came across from Tasmama to known about these Jews, but it is hardly likely that start a settlement in Melbourne, there were a few Jews they were at all observant. Their presence became among them, and it wasn't long before a Jewish Burial known only when an application for a burial lot for ground was allocated, and a Minyan started i~ some­ people of the Hebrew Faith was lodged with the Gov­ one's home. Shortly afterwards, the congregat10n was ernor of the new Colony. inaugurated. An interesting episode occurred in the early years The cry of "gold!" brought thousands of colonists of the Colony. A Jew was arrested for highway robbery, to the inland Victorian city of Ballarat. Many Jews and sentenced to death by hanging. When the rope joined the rush; not so many as actual miners, but as was put around his neck in the open area reserved for traders to cater to the needs of the increasing numbers public hangings, he called on the G-d of Israel to bring of settlers and miners in search of gold. vengeance against those unjust Christians who had The newly-founded harbor at Corio Bay-Gee'.ong sentenced him to death, and he then proceeded to curse City, also attracted many Jews. Smaller ~ongregat1ons all the Christians present. were started in many places on the Australian mamland, but as the gold petered out, so did the Jewish commu­ SHMUEL GORR was born in Melbourne in 1931. He was the first native Australian to go abroad to attend a yeshiva. He studied nities, and there are today one or two "Ghost Syna­ at the Te/she Yeshiva in Cleveland, the Nitrer Yeshiva in Nelv gogues" in the interior of Australia. I hav~ seen the York and at yeshivas in Great Britain. He has written articles one in Goulburn, New South Wales. Imposmg houses for ~arious journals, but his first love is poetry, and he has published several volumes of his poen1s. of worship were erected by our brethren in those days,

8 The Jewish Observer / September, 1968 all built in adherence to traditional practice: women's bring it from Shepparton 120 miles away). Most of sections were always separate, and most often located the Orthodox Jews have since left the vicinity, although in an upstairs gallery. some still have their businesses there, and travel there during the working week. THE FIRST SETTLERS were Orthodox and keen on main­ taining their ties with a Jewish way of life. The great IN THE EARLY DAYS of the Melbourne Jewish commu­ problem was the absence of competent rabbis. There nity, there were quite a number of free settlers besides was also difficulty in finding suitable Jewish women to the few pardoned convicts. Among the free settlers were take as partners in marriage: the few Jewish maidens many affluent Jewish businessmen who helped to lay there at the time, were nowhere near the number de­ the foundations for the original congregations and manded. No sooner had the London Chief Rabbinate communal institutions. At that time, more than fifty sent out a few reverends and lay-ministers, than there percent of the Jewish settlers were from England, and was a great clamour for conversion for many non-Jew­ they took a significant part in the early civic life of fah women who were married to Jews, and many waiting the city and state. to enter the faith. Among them were some sincere and Melbourne has had two Jewish Lord Mayors: one, devout women who accepted Judaism as demanded by Sir Benjamin Benjamin, was a Shomer Shabbos. He Halachah. Many others were refused on justifiable was in shul when the Town Clerk came to inform him grounds. that official confirmation had come from London that he had been made a knight. The Town Clerk was asked THE INLAND CITY of Ballarat was quite unique. There to wait in the vestibule of tlle Bourke Street Synagogue had come to Geelong from Russia a great talmid until the conclusion of Divine Service. It was only then chochom, Rav Shmuel Herman, probably the greatest that he could break the news to Sir Benjamin Benjamin. talmid chochom to be a resident rabbi in Australian Many members of Parliament were Jews in those Jewish history. He published sephorim and wrote many days, both in the city and state governments. Before responsa. The Geelong community found him to be the turn of the century, there was a Jewish Day too "froom" but the Ballarat Jewish community eagerly School in Melbourne. which closed down, however, sought his services. He served there as spiritual leader after twenty years. No attempt was made to re-open till his death before the turn of the century. Ballarat snch an educational institution till the late forties of was for fifty years the "Yerushalayim d' Australia." H this century. had its own Day School, mikveh, communal shechita, Two major groupings comprised the Melbourne Jew­ burial grounds, and at one stage a Shtiebel formed ish Community-the descendants of, and incoming by a group of Chasidim who had broken away from migrants from England, and immigrants from Eastern the rest of the community. Europe. At times the two elements did not get along, Many present day Jewish leaders in Australia were but they always united on matters affecting the whole born in the old Ballarat community, and many of them community. The older faction of English Jewish settlers are Orthodox to this day. One of the biggest department resented the East European settlers because of their stores-STONES of Ballarat is still closed every Shabbos awkward speech, their difference in dress, and their and Yorn Tov-and the owner is president of the con­ general appearance. It was probably due to this fact gregation. Unfortunately, as the gold gave out and that East European Jewish settlers found it more dif­ Melbourne grew in importance, this congregation dwin­ ficult to achieve affluence, and remained ever the "poor dled to a small reflection of its former glory. brothers." Another interesting community in Victoria is in The old district of Carlton in Melbourne, is probably Shepparton. a city which lies in the rich and fertile the only district in Australia which parallels the East Goulburn Valley, the center of the Australian citrus End of London, and the old Lower East Side of New fruit industry. About sixty years ago, the Australian York City. Most of the Jews from Eastern Europe government financed a scheme to settle Russian Jews settled there, and a shtetl atmosphere developed. But on land in this part of Victoria. unlike the European ghettoes, the streets are as wide The descendants of Reb Moishe Zalman Feiglin, a as boulevards and there are many parks and gardens Lubavitcher Chosid who was an early settler. are now in the area. Jewish residents of Melbourne were virtual­ prominent leaders, teachers and askonim for the local ly unaware of antisemitism. Lubavitcher Yeshiva. This community built a schul, Almost a century ago, Rabbi Chaim Schneerson, a mikveh and every amenity required for Yiddishkeit. descendant of the early line of Lubavitcb, came to From its inception, the Shepparton Jewish community Australia to seek funds for the Mosdos Chabad in always maintained a schochet who served as Melamed Jerusalem. His photograph appeared on the front-page and Chazan. (There were times when no kosher meat of the local daily newspaper The Argus, and the Lord was available in Melbourne, and it was necessary to Mayor of Melbourne himself called upon local Chris-

'1 he Jewish Observer / September, 1968 9 tian citizens to give unstintingly to such a worthy cause. this too proved to be inadequate, and eventually a He stressed that it was most right that Christians should proper mikveh building was designed and built after help their Jewish brethren in Jerusalem, the Holy City. the plans had been approved by the Satmar Rav and Two thousand five hundred pounds were collected by the Lubavitcher Rebbe. . public subscription. The Adas Yisroel opened their own Cheder and The Carlton Jewish community was self-contained. Talmud Torah-the system of education was the same It had one major synagogue whose spiritual head was as that of pre-war Hungary. Daily shiurim were con­ a talmid of Reb Chaim Ozer Grodzinski. ducted morning and evening after tefilah, and there were Shabbos shiurim for boys and girls. But the Kehil­ WORLD WAR II was a major stimulus to Orthodox Juda­ lah lacked a rav and spiritual leader. By unanimous ism in Melbourne. In 1939, fifteen yeshiva bochrim consent, Rav Yaakov Yitzchak Neuman, the Rosh who had been stranded in Lithuania and Poland when Yeshiva of Antwerp was asked to accept the post. war broke out, found their way to Australia, since they When he arrived at the Essendon airport in 1952, his were all British subjects and able to obtain visas. The first act as Rav was to instruct the president of the local Zionist Federation, which controlled the Jewish Kehillah to apply for a permit to found a Day School. Board of Deputies, was loathe to accept responsibility On the very next day fostruction began in the new for their welfare, and agreed to pay their expenses to yeshiva. travel away from Australia. Most of them left soon after their arrival, but a few chose to remain. The Adas Yisroel and the Lnbavitcher communities, At the same time, a large number of German and in a sense, complemented each other. Adas maintained Austrian Jews who were stranded in England after its traditional "Austrit" approach, concentrating their escaping from the continent, were interned and sent efforts on strengthening their own Kchillah, while to camps in Australia. A small number of these Jews Lubavitch moved out into the community to reclaim had been active members of Agudath Israel before the Jews who had drifted from Yiddishkeit. Dozens of war, and when they were released from internment, young men from the Adas left their homes to learn some of them settled in Melbourne. Together with some in yeshivas in Eretz Yisroel, America, and England. post-War immigrants from Poland aud Russia, they They have all returned to Melbourne, where they have organized the Beis Ephraim Congregation, the first married and bnilt their homes adding new strength to Agudah-oriented shul in Australia, located in the St. the Kehillah. Kilda section, which is similar to the Baro Park area Lubavitch has created a network of institutions in­ in Brooklyn, New York. cluding a Day School with classes from the primary The year 1949 saw a rapid acceleration of the growth level through high school; a Beis Rivka school for of the Orthodox Kehillah in Melbourne. The war was girls, with the only high school for girls in Australia, over, and many Jews anxious to leave the D.P. (Dis­ and a Yeshiva Gedolah. On Shabbos, bochurim from placed Persons) camps, wanted to get as far away from the Yeshiva visit the many shuls that have sprung up Europe as they could. Australia seemed to be the end in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, where they con­ of the world, and at first only a small trickle came. duct classes for the congregants and youth groups for Ultimately the flow of immigrants was so great that the children. (The tefilin campaign initiated by the what had been a modest Minyan was now a bustling Lubavitcher Rebbe has had remarkable success in congregation, with the shul packed each day. Melbourne.) In co-operation with the entire commu­ Around this time, a number of Lubavitcher families nity, Lubavitch recently formed a Mikveh Committee came to Shepparton where they set up a yeshiva. Hav­ to build a new community mikveh, scheduled for com­ ing no yeshiva of their own, the Beis Ephraim families pletion by the end of this year. They have also been sent their sons to Shepparaton to study. active at Monash University in Melbourne, where daily The Beis Ephraim Congregation moved from their minyanim are held for Mincha, with a shiur twice each store-front shul to larger quarters, and adopted the week. Many of the lecturers and professors are Shomrei name "Adas Yisroel" in the tradition of the European Shabbos. Apart from the Adas and Lnbavitch, there are Ashkenazic congregations. other Orthodox congregations, some of which sponsor their own Day Schools, and these varied forces have combined to make a thriving Torah community. FOR MANY YEARS, the only mikveh in Melbourne was located in a special section of the City Municipality Australian Jewry has come a long way since that Baths. The newcomers found it burdensome to have to first Jew stood with his neck in a noose and cried to make special arrangements with the officers of the City the G-d of Israel to be delivered from his oppressors. Baths each time the mikveh was needed. One of the Yiddishkeit in Australia is now a vital link in the members of Adas Yisrael built a mikveh in his own chain of Torah which joins Jews through the centuries backyard and made it available to the Kehillah. But and over the face of the earth. D

10 The Jewish Observer / September, 1968 Bernard Weinberger The Negro and ·the (Orthodox) Jew

Recently, I received a call from a Chassidic Rebbe who us for not reacting to the burning issues of the day, thought I could be helpful in solving a serious problem and for thinking in our own narrow terms. Why aren't he anticipated. "What will happen," he asked, "if we concerned, they ask, with how these issues affect CHALILAH riots come to New York City this summer the total community and why don't we offer our views and the Governor imposes a curfew-does that mean to the total community? They point to Reform and that Jews will not be al/owed to go to Mincha-Maariv Conservative leaders who every day of the week release to daven?" He honestly was troubled by the prospect statements to the press on the injustices perpetrated of not having a minyan in his shtibel every evening by our Society on the disadvantaged and the poor. They and he thought that if we started using our political are constantly devising new programs and proclama­ acumen now we might be able to eke out some pledge tions on what we ought to do to meet these crises. They that religious practice would be excluded from any are "where the action is," while we Orthodox sit back curfew, particularly in a year of presidential primaries. waiting to react to some new emerging problem. We "And what about women who have to go tvillah in the have no conferences to discuss urban problems, we evening," he argued even more forcefully. do not sponsor "dialogues," we have no social action After I put down the receiver, I pondered-half­ committees, and we lack the Universalism that is the smiling and half-crying-how we react to an issue essence of uProphetic Judaism." that threatens the survival of our country and the very It is true that many yeshivas were closed on the day fabric of American life. Is it not time for Orthodox of national mourning proclaimed for the late Dr. Mar­ Jews to develop some strategy on how to confront the tin Luther King. But, there seemed to be no Orthodox crisis of the cities, which threatens the nrban centers rabbis at the funeral. There were no memorial services where the majority of Orthodox Jews in this country held in the large Orthodox synagogues or yeshivas. live? Our nation is sharply divided on the Vietnam War, It is of course true that we Jews have been pushed hut no pronouncements appear from Orthodox leaders. around for such a long time that our own individual The New York Times carried four full-pages of sig­ and communal survival is a task that requires all our natures protesting American involvement in Vietnam energies and occupies all our available time. We have and no Orthodox academicians of note were included. learned to relate every issue, almost instinctively, to The New York City educational system is being chal­ how it affects us as Jews. We had to learn how to take lenged by the Bundy proposal for decentralization care of our own needs because there was no one else which affects many Orthodox Jewish teachers, and not who cared. It should therefore not be surprising that a word is heard from the Orthodox leadership of the the average observant Jew will react to the problem city on this important issue. Few, if any, Orthodox of riots in the streets on the basis of how it affects his rabbis walked side-by-side with Dr. Abernathy in the going to and from shul in the evening. It may seem Poor People's March on Washington. The negroes' picauyne to think in terms of the minyan, the yeshiva struggle for equality has received at least lip service banquet or Melave Malka, the Daf Yomi or adult class, from every important Jewish group from the Jewish as issues of significance in the context of riots and War Veterans to the Anti-Defamation League, and yet bloodshed in the streets. Yet, this is in fact the rellex­ the Orthodox leadership has not been deeply involved. thought and reaction of the Orthodox Jew. Yes, there were some Orthodox rabbis marching in There are many who will argue that it is this kind Selma, Alabama. but, the respected and authoratative of intellectual chauvinism that is leading our youth leadership was not there, nor were their voices heard. away from our traditions. The youth, in turn, criticize It was a Reform group that got extensive coverage in the press when they left their suburban homes to cotne RABBI WEINBERGER is a prominent leader of the Jewish Com· to East Harlem to help slum dwellers rehabilitate their munity of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York, and serves as spiritual leader of Young Israel of Brooklyn. homes with paint-brushes and brooms.

The Jewish Observer / September, 1968 11 THE ORTHODOX COMMUNITY must explain its non-in­ in his neighborhood. But how many Conservative and volvement and its ostensibly disquieting silence.• In Reform rabbis who are lecturing Jews on "open hous­ responding to this challenge, I must begin with the ing" or on combatting poverty among the disadvantaged perhaps shocking countercharge that those Jews who live in integrated neighborhoods or know at first hand are "involved" in the issues of the day, threaten the the experience of the slum-dweller? It is Orthodox Jews survival of the Jewish community in America. That we in New York City, Los Angeles, Detroit. Baltimore, have survived as Jews in such a hostile world is a Chicago, and other urban centers, who live in the slum miracle that the most careful analysis of the social neighborhoods, that account for whatever integration scientists has been unable to explain. But, no small in fact exists. Long after the few middle- and uppcr­ share of this miraculous survival is due to our aware­ class have left, Orthodox Jews remain in the Browns­ ness that we simply cannot afford to tell our neighbors ville, Hunts Point, Boyle Heights, and Dexter neighbor­ how to govern their lives. We were always cognizant hoods throughout the country. It is only after ethnic that we are in fact a minority, tolerated at best, tor­ frictions becomes intolerable that the Orthodox Jew tured at worst, no matter where we lived in the dias­ finally leaves these communities and deprives the neigh­ pora. Our experience has taught us that what is per­ borhood of the measure of integration that it achieved. missable for other groups--even minorities-was still Yet, it is the middle-class leaders who usurp our rights denied to us. This is true in the United States as it was and purport to speak on behalf of the Jewish commu­ in Germany; it is true in France as it is true in the nity. The affluent Jewish leaders who arc far removed Soviet Union. The sad reality is that Jews simply cannot from the confrontation with slum living are quick to speak their mind, openly and honestly, without jeopard­ offer advice on how to cope with the tensions within izing Jewish lives. It is those to whom the well-being these ghettos. But, Orthodox Jews who face the daily of other Jews is of little concern, who are the headline­ challenge remain silent. makers and the self-annointed "spokesmen" of the As noted above, ironic as it is, it is not difficult to Jewish community. understand when one considers the Orthodox training It is easy for the northern liberal Jew to speak out in a sense of responsibility for the total Klall Yisroel. for the civil rights of the negro. Indeed, the Jewish There is a tremendous temptation to want to get in­ belief in equality and justice for all men would dictate volved and let our voice be heard. It would be wonder­ that we are duty-bound to do so. Yet, every such ful if we could offer our advice and wisdom to help statement causes some Jew to suffer at the hands of save America. Alas, we must stand by and bite our a white racist in the south. The rabbi who joins the tongues in silence. We can only remain observers in vigil in Washington protesting our involvement in Viet a society that rejects us for whatever position we take. Nam-however honest his conviction-may not be It is perhaps a great price to pay, but, the image of aware that his participation may affect a million and appearing to be "relevant" cannot supplant our de­ a half of his brethren in Israel or other remote places termination to survive as a Jewish community and our in the world. It may not be obvious to him, yet his reluctance to hurt any of our brethren. action may affect U.S. policy in the Middle-East. But, even after we conclude that onr public silence is both prudent and just, it by no means implies that 'THF IRONY AND AGONY of the situation is that these we ought not talk within Jewish circles on how to very same people who are "involved" in the issues and cope with these problems. We must develop a common speaking for the Jewish community are almost never strategy on how to exist in these high-tension areas affected personally by their own positions. Very few and troubled times. The fact is that Jews and partic­ Reform and Conservative leaders, if any, live in the ularly the Orthodox Jews are most directly affected by ghetto areas where riots usually erupt. They rarely the crisis within the cities. It is the Jewish merchant confront the problem of integration directly. Insulated whose store is being looted during riots. It is our bomes within the plush areas in which they live: in the "silk­ that are being vandalized and burglarized. More sig­ stocking"areas within the cities, or in their split-level nificantly, we have a tremendous stake in the social suburban homes, they offer advice on integration. It order that prevails. Jews can live with some measure is not difficult for a rabbi in an upper middle-class of security only where there is law and order. As soon area, to lecture an Orthodox rabbi in Queens that he as there is a breakdown of the law we are in serious ought to encourage a city-planned low-income project trouble, for we are the easiest victim for all combatants. The current spirit of rebellion against law and order * In TORAH AND RELEVANCE (TJO: Sept. '67), Prof. Leo Levi which seems to engulf our society imperils our future states the case, based on Biblical and Talmudic sources, that lvhile Torah is 1nost relevant to every aspect of contemporary in this country. The riots at Columbia University as life, Jews as a community nlust play a passive role on the well as the slaying of the apostle of peace, Dr. Martin world scene. Rabbi Weinberger here approaches the problen1 Luther King, affect us far more seriously than the fro1n a n1ore pragmatic viewpoint. See also: TO PICKET ... OR TO PRAY? (TJO: April, '68).-ed. question of whether we will be able to get out to daven

12 'rhe ]elvish Observer / September, 1968 Maariv. It places in serious question our ability to Many Americans and particularly Jews, misunder­ remain in this country. America can possibly survive stand the meaning of "Black Power"-it is not simply even if the ominous prediction of the President's Com­ an attempt to seize power away from the whites, and mission on Civil Disorders, that we are heading for not simply a militant, anti-white, racism in reverse. It a two-fold society of blacks* and whites, comes true. is rather the black-man's way of saying to the white Jews, however, will not be able to function in such a community, "we are tired of being catered to, treated divided society. Uke a little helpless child that needs mothering by the We are, therefore, faced with an extremely difficult benevolent white man." It is the negro's way of saying choice with almost no options. We would like to pre­ "just give me the opportunities and the resources arul serve our tradition of silence. But to do that would I'll take care of myself." By misreading of the concept mean that we may imperil our future in a society that of Black Power, the white community has helped Stokey is being polarized into two extremes with Jews having Carmichael, Rap Brown, and other militants become no place in either society. It, therefore, behooves us the spokesmen of the negro community, rather than to help resolve some of the problems that confront Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young and other moderate our society. leaders. The secular Jewish organizations have reacted with There is also special resentment which the negro a common passion to develop crash programs that will harbors for the Jew which is even more violent than help th.e negro in the ghettos. Millions of dollars are his general hatred for the whites. Jews are also a min­ being collected to pour into these areas in the hope of ority group. They, too, have been persecuted and dis­ keeping it "cool," while demonstrating the Jewish con­ dained all over the world for a long time. They have ern for the negro. With this new vigor in helping the been the most universally disadvantaged people in the disadvantaged comes public breast-beating that Jews world. Yet, they have managed to surmount these have not done enough to help the non-white slum hardships and emerge from all of it as a gallant, proud, dwellers. Somewhat apologetically, these secular agen­ and solidified people. Thus, they pose a serious chal­ cies are restructuring their organizations and programs lenge to those who are prone to point to the prejudice to make room for the non-writes to demonstrate Jewish they suffer. The Jews who lecture the negroes are, wiliingness to help the ghetto negro. therefore, the most despised and hated of all whites But, these well-intentioned and misguided secularists since they are living witness that poverty and slums miss the point: blacks resent the white man's conde­ do not inevitably lead to delinquency and broken­ scending benevolence even more than they detest their homes, just as denial of equality does not justify law­ poverty. "Whitey" is hated not only for his racism, but lessness. It is because of this special condition of the even mere so for his help. It is now commonly rec­ Jew that he is singled out for a more intense and more ognized that the real evil of ghetto life is not alone its zealous kind of enmity. In this light, too, we can com­ poverty, with all the concomittant frustrations that prehend the otherwise incomprehensible anti-Israel po­ accompany it, but, the self-degradation and lack of sition recently taken by some militant blacks. self-respect which overwhelm the slum-dweller. By providing services for the negro we are not helping THESE IRONIC FACTS ADD UP to an illogical, but never­ him but contributing to his sense of helplessness and theless, sad reality in Negro-Jewish relations. Jews futilitv. What he needs is the restoration of faith in have had little to do with causing the unfortunate plight himsdf as a human being, capable of handling his own of the American Negro. There is, in fact, little that affairs. Of course it is the responsibility of all Americans Jews can do to rectify the situation. Yet, Jews stand to overcome prejudice in housing, education, and em­ in a singularly dangerous and precarious position vis­ ployment without which the negro can never extricate a-vis the negro community. Outstanding negro spokes­ himself from the poverty that immobilizes him. But, men such as Bayard Rustin have tried to ease the blow with that help must go an injection of self-esteem and of negro antisemitism by indicating that it it a man­ self-reverence without which he can never retain what­ ifestation of what he calls "the love-hate syndrome" ever social and economic gains he may have achieved. which in effect says that you hate the one you love most. He suggests that Jews are hated in the same way THERE IS AMPLE EVIDENCE that with all the efforts of as moderate negroes are hated. While what he says Jews to help the cause of Civil Rights, equal employ· can in no way assauge the pain Jews experience, he ment, and equal opportunity, there has been an increase makes an important point that is being overlooked. and not a dimunition of negro antisemitism. The Jewish cop, Jewish school-teacher, Jewish landlord, and the Blacks today are no longer satisfied with "tokenism" Jewish merchant is still the target of negro hatred. --even including substantial expenditures-that does not get to the root of the problem. Therefore, unless "' While we see no stigma attached to the word "negro," you are able to make real changes in the social structure most negro )e~ders prefer the use of "black." that imprisons the black slum-dweller you will only

The }elvish Observer / September, 1968 13 be regarded as a deceiver: You either "deliver" or -is to encourage a stable family life. Money, jobs, "get the hell out of the way," and stop pretending. and equal opportunity alone cannot achieve this. The Succinctly stated, it means that Jews would be better example provided by the Orthodox Jewish community advised to do nothing rather than insignificant efforts affords the negro the inspiration which he instinctively that cannot really bring about the social upheavel and feels compelled to emulate, and which is worth in­ restructuring that the blacks rightly demand. finitely more than all our programs. Jn terms of a practical program, therefore, I think Jews must develop a new strategy in their relations FINALLY, WHAT WE CAN DO in a positive way is to with the Black community. We must learn to get out support the changes in the social structure that tend of their way wherever possible. This may mean giving to work against the disadvantaged blacks, as well, I up exploitive businesses in ghetto areas. It may mean might add, as the impoverished Jews. We can support public non-interference in their efforts to decentralize the efforts to ease the restrictive procedures of the the school system. It certainly means desisting from welfare system, the narrow requirements of the civil overtly paternalistic efforts at helping the negroes. We service system, the outright prejudiced employment delude ourselves-more seriously: they easily sense practices, and the antiquated and domineering New the deception that is inherent in such ostentatious York City Board of Education. but fruitless efforts. Negro leadership today is sophisticated enough to We must learn 10 live with blacks and not to fear prefer honest criticism to deceptive liberal posturing. them. The whites who Jive in integrated areas of We would be better advised to challenge them to live Brownsvi1le, Morrisania, West-Side, Crown Heights, up to certain basic standards of social relationships and Wi11ia1nsburg are Orthodox Jews. It is when Or­ rather than the pretensious sympathy that we offer thodox Jews leave that the area becomes a totally non­ them. We need feel no sense of guilt for the white white ghetto. We Jews have too much resources in­ racism that engulfs America since we had no share in vested in these areas to afford the luxury of constant its development. But, we cannot remain indifferent to moving and running. We must learn to hold on to an injustice that corrodes our society. such neighborhoods and adjust to the reality of in­ Jews have a tremendous stake in the current crisis tegration. When such integration occurs a dialogue that transcends local and specific problems of religious between the leadership of the respective groups emerges observance; our continued survival is here at stake. naturally, and a determination to coexist becomes a We need to begin discussions on how to cope with it reality. This is not to suggest that tensions are com­ even if we are not direct parties to the conflict. It is pletely obviated, but. the desire to keep things "cool" perhaps an unprecedented dilemma which confronts has a stabilizing effect. It should also be noted that the Jewish community, and as always, we must seek the greatest contribution that we can make to the black the guidance of our Torah leaders in this burning issue community--this has been almost completely ignored of the day. D

5Je ~IXo/I ulfa,,£ o/ G/~a/bce LOOK FOR IT UNDER THE FLAP OF THE INNER ENVELOPE OF MORE DISTINCTIVE WEDDING AND BAR MITZVAH INVITATIONS. IT IS YOUR ASSURANCE THAT THE INVITATION REFLECTS THE ELEGANCE OF THE OCCASION. NOT ALL INVITATIONS COME FROM ARTSCROLL, BUT THE CREATIVE ONES DO.

Write for our free brochure

156 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10010 • Tel. 12121 989-4114

NOTE: The proper time to place your order is 10 weeks before the affair

14 The Jewish Observer / Septe1nber, 1968 Yifroel Mayer Kirzner 1''he Rising Cost of Life A 1orah View on the Economics of G'hoosing Life

It was a distinctly chilling experience to read of current tions of this panel was the emphasis laid, in explaining suggestions being put forward asking that new criteria the need for revisions in the accepted legal criteria for be used in the legal determination of the cessation of the definition of death, upon the element of cost. The human life. A panel of legal, medical and other experts difficult problems raised by organ transplant possibili­ - including, inevitably, a "theologian" - grappled ties, in situations where the "cost" of the donor's life with the problem of the definition of life and of death, is the life of another human being, may be, for present in the light of contemporary medical developments. purposes, left on one side. But, apart from these diffi­ It seems that the conventional criteria employed to cult problems, these reports are, in effect, telling us determine the instant of death impose, in certain in­ that because of the high monetary costs of keeping stances, heavy costs upon the family, or upon society some patients alive, it has become a matter of acute in general, in order to preserve patients in a state of importance to search about for some way of defining irreversible coma, a state which, beyond a certain point, death that shall, without doing offense to popular it is now urged that society consider as a state of ethical norms, make it possible to avoid these costs. death. The costs that are involved here arise out of The following notes on the nature of costs and of modern developments in medical technology that make the cost of preserving life, arose out of reflection on possible the artificial prolongation of certain physical the attitudes suggested by these chilling reports, and processes normal to life, as well as the more recent on the gulf that separates these attitudes from the possibilities opened up of transplanting vital human Torah-outlook. organs, possibilities that may be precluded if conven­ tional criteria for the definition of death are adhered WHY DOES MENTION OF COSTS in the same breath to. In the light of the high costs involved, the experts as the preservation of life have this chilling effect? now urge a redefinition of life and of death that shall We are accustomed to taking it for granted that no permit physicians to halt efforts to prolong - what material sacrifice is too great for the preservation of has hitherto been considered - life artificially, and life. Conversely the renunciation of life is invariably to remove vital organs from patients from whom such referred to as the '"supreme sacrifice/' and is, barring removal would have hitherto been considered murder. pathological cases, thought of only in the context of Now, this writer refrains, on the grounds of lack of causes possessing transcendent significance. It is prob­ competence, from passing judgment on the relation­ nbly because we are accustomed to this cast of thought ship between the alternative criteria that are at issue that we are jarred by the cool calculation of the rela­ here, and those prescribed by our codes in the halachic tive costs of alternative definitions of the cessation of determination of the instant of death. Needless to say life. While it is true that threats to life that are avoid­ the clarification of this relationship must be of crucial able at .either high cost in material resources (air­ concern to Orthodox Jews. Nor, despite the obviously pollution?) or high cost in renounced pleasure (smok­ ominous possibilities for extensions of their 2pproach, ing?) are often ("irrationally") not avoided, we are is one entirely shocked that the experts, theologian not normally used to deliberating upon the worth­ and all, seem to consider the criteria for the definition whileness of keeping oneself alive at high cost. Indeed of life and death to be simply a matter for arbitrary the panel of experts pondering the appropriate defini­ determination, a matter of agreed convention. What tion for death did not, of course, dream of suggesting this writer found chilling in the reports of the delibera- that where the preservation of life carries with it a sufficiently high cost, murder, or even the deliberate refusal to prolong life, is to he countenanced. Instead RADBY KlRZNER studied at the University of Capetown and re~ ceived h;s doctorate froni New York UniversiJy where he is the awareness of the high cost of preserving - what presently Assistant Professor of Econo1nics. He is the autho1• has been hitherto considered - life has called atten­ of two books: The Economic Point of View and Market Theory and the Price System. His For Me Was the World Created tion to the possibility that on an ethically and medical­ appeared in our issue of June, 1967. ly acceptable redefinition of death, this cost is entirely

The Jewish Observer / September, 1968 15 For the Jew ... identifying as he does the fulfilment of Torah with the preservation of life, it follows that no sacrifice is too great when the fulfilment of Torah is concerned. More correctly, when the fulfilment of Torah is concerned, no notion of sacrifice can possibly be involved at all. A life without Torah, is, for us, a contradiction in terms. There is simply no alternative, for the Jew, to a Torah life, as there is no alternative to life itself.

uncalled for. Nonetheless it cannot be denied that sources in order to preserve life, one is renouncing hard-boiled calculations in the context of the preserva­ nothing; the alternative to life, in such situations, is tion of life run sharply counter to patterns of thought not the alternative enjoyment of these resources, but based on a deep-seated reverence for the inviolateness simply non-existence. nnd the sanctity of human life. Something of this is no doubt responsible for our The truth is that in one important sense cost calcu­ haiJits of thought in which life is viewed as beyond lations seem to be inherently inappropriate with re­ the yardstick of cost calculations. In considering the spect to the preservation of life. In the literature of preservation of life we are accustomed to view all economies the notion of cost is interpreted in broad possible relevant sacrifices as of the palest significance. terms of sacrifice. Where an individual is faced with a In considering life we are well aware that there simply choice between two courses of action, the outcome is no alternative, so that nothing at all is being sacri­ of each is viewed as the "opportunity cost" of the ficed, no cost at all is being incurred, when life is other. Whichever course of action is ndopted, is adop­ preserved, no matter how heavy the material expendi­ ted by renouncing the results offered by the alternative ture that may be involved. It is true that in strict logic course of action. What any one pleasurable experience the costlessness of life as discussed here pertains only costs, is the alternative experience that is being sacri­ to one pondering the expenditure of resources to save ficed in order to enjoy the first. But it follows from his own life. But the attitude towards life which is this insight into the nature of cost, that where an in­ consistent with the recognition of its costlessness, ap­ dividual chooses a pleasurable experience, the alter­ plies no less to the life of one's fellow man. Whether, native to which is a state in which he would no longer then, it is one's own life that is to be saved with the exist, then this pleasurable experience is costing him expenditure of one's resources, or whether one ex­ nothing at all. He is renouncing nothing, in order to pends one's resources to save the Jife of another, we enjoy this experience. There is no alternative (enjoy­ are accustomed to a cast of thought in which life is able or otherwise) that is being sacrificed, in this inherently costless. situation, for the sake of the pleasurable experience being embraced. To the extent, therefore, that death THESE OBSF:RVATIONS ARE of particular interest in the connotes the absence of experience and of sensation, light of the frequent comparisons between Torah and its rejection constitutes no sacrifice whatsoever. Of life itself. Torah is Toras-chaim, a Torah of life: we course it is only in the narrowest of senses that death are told in the Tornh itself to identify the good with may be described as connoting the absence of exper­ life, and we are admonished "choose life." At ihe ience and of sensation. But to the extent that death giving of the Torah at Sinai, we were shown that our does connote the absence of sensation and of existence, very lives and existence - and indeed the very exist­ the preference for life over death involves no sacrifice. ence of all Creation - depended upon our acceptance Nothing at all is being renounced. Despite the material of the Torah. Again and again the Torah, its study and resources which may be required for the preservation the observance of its mitzvos, are likened to life, to the of life, the true cost is zero. In renouncing such re- tree of life, to life-giving water, and so on.

16 The Je1vish Observer / Septe1nber, 1968 For the Jew, therefore, identifying as he does the values that renders obi~rval1ce less desirable than its fulfilment, of Torah with the preservation of life, it worldly alternatives; to be deplored is the very notion follows that no sacrifice is too great when the ful­ that the cost calculus .is at all appropriate to the ques­ filment of Torah is concerned. More correctly, when tion of Torah observance. the fulfilment of Torah is concerned, no notion of sacrifice can possibly be involved at all. A life without Of course the Torah itself makes provision for Torah, is, for us, a contradiction in terms. There is situations in which the proper choice may be the non­ simply no alternative, for the Jew, to a Torah life, as observance of (what in other circumstances would be) there is no alternative to life itself. Just as cost calcu­ a Torah-precept. There are systematic priority rank­ lations with respect to the preservation of life involve ings governing cases where one precept comes into an almost blasphemous disregard for the bottomless conflict with another, where a precept calls for the gulf that separates life from its absence, so does use expenditure of large fractions of one's wealth, and, of the notion of sacrifice and the yardstick of cost of course, where a precept comes into conflict with calculation in the context of Torah observance almost the preservation of human life. But where a precept blasphemously imply the possibility, at least in prin­ yields ground, this is never to be interpreted as an act ciple, of an existence free of the Torah yoke. Theo­ of deliberate calculative choice made from some van­ retical recognition - at least - of the utter identity tage point located outside the Torah life. This is never of life with Torah, is surely part of the mental equip­ to be interpreted, it should hardly require to be pointed ment of every observant Jew, with numerous degrees out, as an instance where the cost of Torah observance of graduation possible with respect to the depth of his is too high for observance to be worthwhile. Even the everyday practical consciousness of this identity. The case of pikuach nefesh, (when a mitzvah yields as a readiness to assume greater and greater n1aterial bur~ result of its conflict with the preservation of life) does dens, to renounce more and more imperiously beckon­ not, of course, mean that the Jew himself independ­ ing pleasures, for the sake of Torah and mitzvos, re­ ently ranks the preservation of his life higher than the flects, then, not only greater and greater awareness of observance of the Divine Will. It means that in the their transcendent value, but even more fundamentally Torah ranking of priorities. the preservation of life perhaps, the awareness of their inevitability, the con­ takes precedence, in general, over other precepts. And sciousness that existence without them constitutes a in those cases where the preservation of life does not state of paralysis. Our baalei-mussar tell us that al­ take precedence over relevant Torah precepts, this though it is of the essence of man that he is a baal­ means that continued existence in violation of these b'chira: one with the freedom to choose, nonetheless precepts is, in the Torah view, unthinkable under anv the consistent pursuit of the Torah life should point circumstances. · to a spiritual plane where the very possibility of choos­ ing evil fades away into nothingness. One measure of For the Torah-Jew the observance of Torah is in­ one's progress towards this plane surely consists in the separable from life itself. His very identity is merged degree to which one's awareness of the utter in1possi­ with that of Torah observance. Just as all living things bility of an existence without Torah has permeated struggle passionately to preserve their lives, so does one's being and dominated one's practical actions. the Torah-Jew as individual, and so does Kial Yisroel as a whole, struggle passionately to preserve their life and existence, through unswerving co1nmitment ·to the THERE ARE .JEWS WHO maintain a kosher home, but Torah. As we have seen, cost calculations have little who, with greater or lesser sense of guilt, suspend their place in the context of the preservation of life. And kashrus observance when away from home. Each of it is because of this that men cling to life passionate­ us is aware of circumstances in which one feels sorely ly, recklessly, even irrationally. Even so does Kial tempted to relax observance of some Torah precept - Yisroel cast all calculations to the winds in its yearn­ more weighty or less - that one normally holds in­ ing aud striving for life, the life of Torah, the life of violate. The economist is 2ccustomed to interpret this a people that cleaves to its Soul and Creator - the in terms of cost; whereas at home or under normal G-d of Life. circumstances the sacrifice called for in order to ob­ serve the Torah precept is small enough to render And if for no other reason than the awareness of observance preferable to transgression - the sacrifice all this, it is entirely healthy that we feel chilled, at other times or under other circumstances becomes jarred, and shocked whenever we encounter attitudes sufficiently great to make observance seem the less in which the preservation of human life is treated as desirable of the two possible courses of action. From something less than sacred, as something for which the Torah perspective what is to be condemned in the material cost calculus is, in principle, a matter of such instances is not merely the perverted sense of relevance. D

The Jewish Observer / September, 1968 17 into every detail of the daily operation of the hospital Thus preparations and arrangements made for emer­ Dr. Falk Schlesinger gencies so as not to violate the laws of Shabbos and i1 :J1J. '1 p>"T~ 1:JT Yorn Tov, both for patients and staff, are extended to the minutest details. And nobody who visited the hos­ pital on a Friday afternoon and watched the arrange­ ments being made for the candle lighting would ever forget the actual feeling of the Shabbos spirit descend­ ing into the wards and bringing along the accompany­ ing peace of mind to the patients. Dr. Schlesinger-the man, the doctor-was beloved, trusted, confided in and revered by thousands all over the Land. from the far right to the far left of the religious spectrum. As Medical Director of the hospital he came into contact with many circles and many in­ dividuals, and he was able by the sheer force of his charming personality to make his influence widely felt and to reach and to attain many goals for the benefit of the hospital. However, if necessary, he was equally ready to take a determined and unafraid stand in issues like Nituach Meisim that threatened to endanger the supremacy of the Daas Ha'Torah in the medical field.

HTS COLLEAGUES in the hospital respected him highly; the entire staff was completely devoted to him; the nurses loked upon him as a father-but his patients adored him. He had only to stand alongside a patient's bed to give that person the feeling that he was already a bit better; that his fate was in the hands of one, who deeply cared and was committed to help improve it, and that with G-d's help all that was possible was being The sad news has reached us that Dr. Falk Schlesinger, done for him. Medical Director of the Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jeru­ Throughout his life Dr. Schlesinger had the good salem, has passed away. fortune to have at his side a wife who not only fully This writer's admiration for Dr. Schlesinger dates shared his convictions, but who understood, supported back to the years in Berlin, when as a student, he was and encouraged her husband, and who was ever ready often invited to the home of Dr. Schlesinger: the home to do her part and be at his call when needed. She, of a highly respected physician, and thoroughly per­ the six children and their families, will be comforted meated with the spirit of Torah in all its aspects, at the in the knowledge that their husband and father will be same time radiating the unique warmth and charm that deeply mourned, sorely missed and gratefully remem­ were so characteristic of Dr. Schlesinger. bered by his many friends in all spheres of public and When-having come to Eretz Israel with his family private life in Israel and abroad for his unfailing good­ in 1933-the leadership of the Shaare Zedek Hospital ness and kindness and his exemplary service to his was entrusted into his hands in 1949, he was able to hospital and to Klal Yisroel. channel these very qualities towards intensifying a hos­ Although Dr. Schlesinger for a long time was deeply pital atmosphere that has no counterpart anywhere in concerned with the question of his successor, he was the world. The hospital was started by German Jews unfortunately not privileged to see the solution of this in 1903, based on the concept that the laws and the problem. Let us hope that his tremendous Zechuyos spirit of the Torah mnst forever be its guidelines, and will stand by and aid those responsible for the fate of that the highest medical standards would be upheld. the hospital in finding a man imbued with the same Like Dr. Wallach, his equally dedicated predecessor Torah spirit as his predecessors and equally committed and first Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Schles­ to the perpetuation of the unique concept of this inger was able to translate this concept magnificently hospital. ERNST L. BODENHEIMER

18 The !elvish Observer / September, 1968 Judah .Dick '"fhe Supreme Court Textbook Decision Its Background and Meaning

Orthodox Jewry has unauimously supported govern­ and secondary schools. Although the law has been mental aid (Federal, State or local) to the secular widely discussed in the press, yeshivos have thus far studies programs of yeshivos and Day Schools. This obtained only nominal assistance under the Federal law. position is in sharp conflict with many secular Jewish groups who contend that such aid contravenes the con­ AS WAS EXPECTED, both laws were challenged in the stitutional principles of separation of church and state. courts. Court action against the Federal Law was initial­ The Orthodox position is relatively new, developed ly dismissed for. lack of standing by a taxpayer to only recen!ly in response to the rising cost of education challenge the power of Congress to appropriate funds. and the difficulties yeshivos are having in meeting their But on June 10, 1968, the Supreme Court reversed its budgetary requirements and in providing quality edu­ long-standing rule on the subject and sent the case cation in both the religious and secular departments. back to the lower courts for an adjudication on the Rabbi Moshe Sherer, of Agudath Israel, and Reuben merits. (Flast v. Cohen, 392 U.S. 83.) On the same E. Gross were largely responsible for the evolution of day, the high court upheld the New York Law on the an independent Orthodox position on this issue. merits. The New York Court of Appeals had previously ruled that the law does not contravene the "Blaine Since the opponents of governmental aid argue that Amendment"-which bars all aid whether direct or such aid is unconstitutional under both the Federal and indirect, to sectarian schools-by a 4 to 3 vote. In State Constitutions, it was reasonable to expect that doing so, it adopted an argument presented by COLPA, they would make every effort to block any legislation the National Jewish Commission on Law and Public granting such aid, however indirect or incidental, and Affairs, in its amicus curiae brief on behalf of all major challenge the validity of such legislation in the courts. Orthodox Jewish organizations. The brief argued that Two major laws were enacted which provide some aid such textbook Joans are primarily intended to provide to Yeshiva students (as well as students of all other all students in the state with up-to-date textbooks to parochial schools) in recent years: the New York prepare them for good citizenship and an ability to Textbook Law and the Federal Elementary and Sec­ earn a living, and that any aid which accrued to the ondary Education Act of 1965. The New York Law sectarian school as a result of such textbook loans was provides for the State to loan textbooks to all students neither direct nor indirect: merely collateral to the in junior and senior high schools in the state. The main purpose of the state. Federal Law provides for certain types of financial There was anxiety in the Orthodox community when assistance to local educational agencies in poverty. the Supreme Court decided to hear the appeal from areas for remedial reading, remedial mathematics, psy­ this decision, since it had not ruled on the subjects of chological services and other related matters, and for indirect assistance to parochial schools since 1947 the acquisition of library materials, textbooks and other when it sustained a school bussing law by a 5 to 4 instructional material. The law provided that such vote. COLPA put some of its most competent legal talent resources be made available on an equitable basis for to work on the brief and presented a very congent the use of children and teachers in private elementary argument: that the State of New York had a secular legislative purpose in supplying quality secular edu­ JUDAH DICK is an attorney ·with the Corporation Counsel of cational tools to all of its schoolchildren, irrespective New York Citv. and an active worker for the defense of Or· of the school they attend. It argued that the purpose thodox interesis. in the courts and legislative bodies. In his The Tuition Squeeze on Yeshiva Parents (THE JEWISH OBSERVER, of the First Amendment was to promote religious toler­ March 1968) he argued that a major portion of funds for the ance and freedom while minimizing religious conflict support of Yeshiva education must conie /~om federations a~id and tension; that it would be wholly consistent with }elvish philanthropists, who 1nust be convinced of the crucial hnportance of Yeshiva education to !elvish survival in America. the Constitution to ( 1.) make available public benefits

The Jewish Observer I September, 1968 19 to children attending parochial schools which fulfill secular education available to their children. They their parents' desire to give their children a religious have considered high quality education to be an indis­ education, and (2.) meet the state's requirement to pensable ingredient for achieving the kind of nation, provide a proper secular education to such children. and the kind of citizenry, that they have desired to The Court, by a 6 to 3 vote, agreed with these ar­ create." The court concludes that parochial schools guments. Justice White in writing for the majority perform, in addition to their sectarian function, the stated that "Americans care about the quality of the task of secular education and that government assist­ ance in the performance of such secular functions is not unconstitutional. (Board of Education v. Allen, 392 us 236.) Israel Esrogim Center This decision opens the way for new legislation to extend "equal educational opportunity" to parochial CENTRAL DISTRIBUTOR FOR ISRAEL school children. COLPA has successfully argued before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that the equal protec­ ESROGIM IN THE U. S. A. AND CANADA tion clause requires states to provide the same benefits to parochial school childrn as it does to public school • • • children, to the extent that it does not violate the First Amendment. (Rhoades v. School District of Abington Township, 424 Pa, 202; 226 A 2d 53.) Israeli esrogim are especially beautiful IF THIS ARGUMENT is adopted by the state legislatures this year. The Center makes them and Congress, we will see further developments in the available at the lowest prices. law to provide assistance to children attending yeshivas. It is likely that the "child benefit" theory will be utilized to extend the textbook program to all grades, and to • • • provide remedial programs and special services not generally available to yeshiva students. The "Blaine Gedolei Torah from Israel and Amendment" in New York and similar constitutional provisions in other states may limit the type of assist­ America urge every Jew to ance offered to the more peripheral and indirect areas of aid, and rule out any per-pupil grants or funds to provide himself with an pay teacher salaries. It is unclear how far the Supreme Court of the United States would be willing to go to Esrog From Israel. sustain more direct fonns of assistance. (See COLPA Symposium: Governmental Aid to Parochial Schools • • • -How Far? edited by Marvin Schick, New York.

The Israel Esrog Center, KIRYATH MATERSDORF on Manhattan's Lower East Side JERUSALEM brings together the outstanding dealers Announces the Opening of A Special Office in New York and orchard owners who are respon­ • sible for the sale of over 100,000 Located at 44 CANAL STREET, EAST SIDE esrogim each year. NEW YORK CITY • • • • STILL AVAILABLE! 3, 4112 and 51/2 Room Apartments Good Mortgage Arrangements ISRAEL ESROGIM CENTER • DROP IN, VISIT OUR OFFICE, CALL OR WRITE 123 DIVISION STREET KIRYATH MATERSDORF New York, New York 44 Canal Street, New York City • 925·7483

20 The Jewish Observer / Sept~mber, 1968 1968). The dissenting opinion of Justice Black, forsees undue diversion of funds from public education to non­ a logical extension of the child benefit theory to buying public education. land for parochial schools, erection of buildings, and Even if the Supreme Court's rationale that govern­ payment of salaries of personnel in such schools. New mental assistance to the parochial school in the per­ forms of indirect assistance such as tax credits or tax formance of its secular functions is taken literally and deductions for tuition may be considered. Jn certain would permit per capita grants of $600 per students as parts of Canada, a property owner may designate which envisioned by certain Catholic groups, or payment of school board-Catholic or Protestant-is to receive salaries of teachers of secular subjects, the enormous his school tax. cost of such a program in an era where the states are Prudence on the part of the proponents of govern­ spending very heavily on education in the public sector, mental aid would ditcate a cautious and deliberate would still seem to preclude any substantial aid to evolutionary program in seeking new forms of aid to yeshiva education in the near future. D parochial schools, lest the courts be tempted to erect a fortress between government and religion to prevent n:i.ni nn'nrn n:i.'n::i I\Y\J. Meier Schenkolewski From the GARTENBERG FAMILY is happy to announce to all his friends and acquaintances SPEND YOUR YOM TOV that he is now associated with AT THE PIONEER the well-known Travel Agency: For reservations call: TABS TOURS In New York City / direct line: WI 7.7717 In the Mountains: (9141 647-4200 49 West 47th Street 1/imelTi&r, you get more at ... New York, New York 10036 1 and is prepared to serve you with all travel arrangements .eioii'iei.;;~~R~F~EL~!AA~~~~- to Israel and the entire world COMPLETE TRAVEL AND TOUR SERVICE Telephone: 246-2552 - Open Sundays Acclai1n<~d By Educators TORAH & TRADITION hy "Leave the Caring to Us" WALTER ORENSTEIN and IIERTZ FRANKEL A Superior Hotel This Bible textbook for religious schools of all for Senior Citizens trends has a new and creative approach to the teaching of .Chumash by emphasizing the ethical Newly Renovated teachings of the text, while laying due stress on the understanding of the Hebrew. The authors have received much acclaim for their MIAMI HOTEL volume TORAH AS OUR GUIDE. TORAH AND TRADITION' is the textbook Jew· 375 WEST BROADWAY, LONG BEACH ish teachers have long been hoping for. It is highly Tel. 516 GE 1-5500 recommended by prominent educators who have Under the penona~ Management ol seen advance capies of this unique tool for the MR. and M". I. WALDMAN effective and enjoyable teaching of Chumash. who haYe many years 'of experience, B'raishis: $2.50, Sh'mos: $2.50 Strict Kashrus observed • Friendly, homey atmosphere • Order from your bookdealer, or directly from Delicious balanced meals • Special diets upon request • Telephone in every room • Shul with Cha?an • Entertainment HEBREW PUBLISHING CO. • Elevator service • Very reasonable rates. 79 Delancey Street New York, N. Y.

The Jewish Observer / Septe1nber, 1968 21 A Torah Perspective 1~he Loss of Europe's Torah Centers: A Lesson For Our Generatio,n

for the very thonght is a sin, so must its expiation­ The following is adapted from an essay by the Gaon by the principle of ;ii~ 1ll~ ;;i~ -be internal, with Rav Eliahu Eliezer Dess/er, 7"~1, in which he focuses no help at all from his environment. For example: on the destruction of the great spiritual leaders and a man finds himself in a sound spiritual society where Torah centers which were forever lost together with everyone is bound to spirituality and labors at it. European Jewry. Citing traditional sources, he outlines If a person in such an environment is drawn to the reasons for the destruction, and its meaning for spirituality, it is possible that his behavior is snperficial, every Jew lt'ho has survived. The original essay ap­ for it is motivated by external forces-the influence of peared in Hebrew in the Rais Yaakov journal of Teves. his environment-and does not originate in the depths 5722. It lvas adapted by Shea Lieman, who is no1v of his heart. While in the course of time he may rise living in Israel where he is engaged in learning, writing, to the level where his actions are internally motivated, and translating. D this takes a great deal of effort and travail. But if a person lives in an environment where he is The ways of Providence are beyond our comprehen­ forbidden to learn Torah, where our enemies rule over sion: we know only that His ways are just. Nevertheless, Torah, where the entire environment is hostile to spir­ we must study those ways to determine what duties they ituality, and there he rises to spirituality and faith in may teach us. In this light, we will examine the sub­ Hashem and in His Torah, that person's faith and jects of Gal us (Exile) and Ch urban (Destruction) to service are clearly internally motivated. Only such in­ determine what obligations the events of our own epoch ternally-motivated service of Hashem can expiate in­ impose upon us. ternally-motivated sin. Why did Hashem permit the destruction of Torah INTERNALLY-MOTIVATED service of Hashem has unique centers and allow Torah scholars and teachers of Torah value: it not only makes no use of external forces, but to be ruthlessly murdered? This severely lowered the the person so motivated stands in opposition to the spiritual level of our generation-why then did it hap­ external environment. The value of such inner sprit­ pen? It is clear that physical pain and the tribulations uality is inconceivable to anyone who has not experi­ of Galus expiate our sins; but what purpose can there enced it. This explains the words of our Sages: be in the destruction of our spiritual resources? R' Moshe Chaim Luzatto poses a similar problem: The vision of Ovadyahu: This is what Hashem said to Edom . . . Why was Ovadyahu chosen for We know that all Hakadosh Baruch Hu does to Edom? [As he offered no other prophecies, why was the Jewish People is for their benefit. Yet how can he chosen for this prophecy over other prophets?*] it be beneficial ... when the nations of the world Rav Yitzchak said, Hakadosh Baruch Hu rea­ do not allow them to study Torah, as in those soned: Let Ovadyahu, who lived with two wicked places where the Inquisition banned the study of people [Ach'av and Eezevvel*], and did not adopt Talmud . ... any of their ways, prophesy about Eisav, who lived -IGROS RAMCHAL, Number 50. with two righteous people [Yitzchak and Rivka*] and did not adopt any of their ways. He explains that this punishment comes to offset the Sanhedrin 39b sin of idolatrous thinking: the mere thought of serving Ovadvahu was raised and trained in an environment any force other than Hashem. On this subject Yechaz­ dominaied by two great evildoers, Ach'av and Eezevvel, kail (14:5) prophesied, "to bring Israel to repent the and did not adopt any of their ways. As a result, he sins of its heart," and our Sages taught (Kidushin 39b) knew at first-hand the greatness of internally-motivated that merely thinking of worshiping other forces is con­ spirituality in opposition to its external environment, sidered an actual deed. Since the sin of idolatrous thought is an internal sin, * Rashi.

22 The Jewish Observer / September, 1968 The Gaon of Vilna writes that the generation in which Moshiach comes will be externally motivated: a generation whose ideolo­ gies are superficial. This refers to their sins as well as to their worthy acts. That generation's sins will not result from analytical or philosophical heresy as in previous generations, but from an exaggerated desire for the material comfort, and from a general desire to throw off all discipline: "Eat and drink for tomorrow we die." Similarly the good deeds of that generation will suffer from superficiality; they will be motivated by the external force of a sound spiritual environment. Great effort will be required to 1ise beyond the external nature of things spiritual and to experience their internal nature. and could fully fathom the depths of Eisav's degrada­ The sin Isaiah here warns about is the fulfillment of tion and the enormity of his wickedness in living with Torah and the observance of mitzvos not for their own two saintly people, yet not learning any of their ways sake-lip service-acting for various external ends but turning to evil-in opposition to his environment. such as wealth and honor, or simply out of habit, This qualified him to prophesy Eisav's end and the without a thought for the sake of Heaven. And the extent of his punishment. removal of the righteous is a punishment for "honored He who allowed himself to be drawn into evil de­ me with their lips." spite a sound environment has only one remedy: he can amend his sins only in the same manner as he BUT THIS POSES several questions: Didn't our Sages transgressed. In other words, he must confront an evil, say, "From acting n~117 M71V, not for Hashem's sake, materialistic environment and yet cling to good. For one will ultimately act n~iv;, for Hashem's sake?" Why only then will his penance be genuine and of sufficient should the people then be punished? Wouldn't their weight to offset his sin. lip service ultimately bring them to heart service? And why so severe a punishment-"worse than the ninety­ THE DESTRUCTION OF A spiritual environment as punish­ eight curses?" And what purpose can this punishment ment for the entire nation is a subject spoken of by the serve? Once the righteous are gone, their generation, Prophets and elaborated by onr Sages: bereft of leadership, will find itself even more in the And the Lord said: Because this people sought to dark-how will the people's failure to serve for approach me with their mouth and honored me Hashem's sake be amended? with their lips, yet was his heart far from me, and Let us first analyze the spiritual situation of our fear of me was at the order of men who taught generation. The Gaon of Vilna writes that the gen­ them how to look pious: therefore, I will shock eration in which Moshiach comes will be externally this people with one shock after another; the motivated: a generation whose ideologies are super­ knowledge of its scholars will be lost and the ficial. This refers to their sins as well as to their comprehension of its wise will be hidden. worthy acts. That generation's sins will not result from Isaiah 29: 13-14 analytical or philosophical heresy as in previous gen­ And our Sages comment: erations, but from an exaggerated desire for the material Hakadosh Baruch Hu considers the removal of comfort, and from a general desire to throw off all the righteous worse than the ninety-eight curses discipline: Eat and drink for tomorrow we die. Sim­ and the destruction of the Bais Hamikdosh. Of ilarly the good deeds of that generation will suffer the curses it is written, "Hashem will shock you from superficiality; they will be motivated by the ex­ with punishments • . ." while of the removal of ternal force of a sound spiritual environment Great the righteous it is written, "one shock after an~ efforts will be required to rise beyond the external other ..." And why is "shock" repeated here? nature of things spiritual and to experience their in­ Because "The knowledge of its scholars will be ternal nature. lost . .." It is axiomatic that Providence grants the aid and Aicha Raba 1: 7 abilities needed for the achievement of spirituality to .

The Jewish Observer / September, 1968 23 each generation according to its level. And it would destruction of a sound, stimulating environment-for then follow that our generation, the generation in they are only means for the attainment of spirituality. which Moshiach will surely come, needs secondary­ The hazardous operation of removing the righteous not-for-the-sake-of-heaven-aids: that the ben-Torah, who aid and support Hashem's service had to be un­ the Jamdan, and whoever it is who strives for spiritual­ dertaken. And now there is hope that whoever labors ity, be respected; that he be elevated by the masses under his own power to achieve internality-his heart in order to survive spiritually and to strengthen the will be truly close to Hashem and his fear of Him will generation's spirituality. Yet, amazingly, we see the be pure and not ;;i~i?~, simple habit. opposite prevailing. The value and the honor of the The same is true for the burning of Sifrei Torah, Torah and of the fear of Hashem are debased and outlawing learning Torah, and the destruction of so­ the not-for-the-sake-of-Hashem attitude, always so cieties that fostered sanctity, purity, Torah, and ;;Ni'. much a part of spirituality is far Jess in this generation Of course a tremendous decline in the generation's than in previous ones. Why? spirituality results. But those individuals who hear I have elsewhere explained (Michtav Mai'Eliahu, Hashem's call, who are privileged to turn their hearts Volume I, pp. 24-29) that since the sole purpose of heavenward despite the great and awesome darkness m~!I!? N?!ll is to help a person achieve ;;~!11?-there is when the entire external environment of Torah is great danger that this generation, motivated by external rocked and destroyed; who confront the great and factors and mired in materialism, wil remain satisfied awesome chailenge not to be goaded on by the yi;; iX' with the element of ;;~!II? N?!ll in spiritual matters, and who demands that one question Hashem's ways,* but will never attain ;;~!II?. Therefore ;;~!II? N?!ll, the en­ to strengthen one's faith in Providence-these are the vironment conducive to spiritual advancementi was men of pure internality, pure without a single stain of taken from us, for its sole value is as a conduit to ;;~!II?. externality. The truth is that the normal way to advance spirit­ This idea is of ever greater concern in our genera­ tion: an external generation-the generation of Nll~i'Y ually is with the aid of ;;~!II? N?!ll, using external aids to attain 01>!11?-internality. This is the way of spiritual­ Nn1!11~1, the coming of Moshiach. ity: to first grasp at even the externals of spiritual We are far from the internal values of mi~N and matters, and by constant effort to achieve internality­ )1nD~, pure C'~'L' l1Ni', purity of heart, and Jove of clinging to Hashem. And so from step to step till one others. Yet we perceive with our own eyes that the reaches the level of internal unity. n~!ll? x?•o of the honor accorded Torah has been dimin­ ished, and that the guidance of a great rav and a spirit­ The rav who teaches his student provides him with ual environment have been diminished. Every place the means to discover his own internality. Once the in Europe where Torah blossomed has been destroyed. rav has transmitted the C1'0 l1Y1'1 it is the pupil's func­ The Torah greats are gone; masses of Bnei Torah and tion to fulfill 1~~? ?N 111~'!1101-to place the words deep Talmidei Chachamim sanctified Hashem in death. Can in his heart and to make them a part of his internality. one help seeing that our generation has undergone a Yet, should the student he content with having a great hazardous "operation," that the possibilities for internal rav, with being in the atmosphere of Torah-environ­ ment, and so ignore his internal needs-that all his advancement through external means have been min­ Torah and service remains external, superficial, and imized? How great is the danger to us if we do not habitual aspects of "the order of men who taught them now seek the means of arousing our hearts' internality ho\V to look pious"-then there can be no solution to cling to Hashem-by constant devotion to the study other than: "The knowledge of its scholars will be lost of His Torah; by devotion to His service through prayer and the comprehension of its wise will be hidden." and mitzvos. For without this service-what will be our end? THERE ARE GENERATIONs--ours among them-whose THE GREATS of past generations tanght us the critical situation precludes step-by-step advancement from ex­ need for the study of the heart's service: prayer, Musar, ternality to internality for the reason given above: and Chasidus. Now we lesser people have almost no there is the danger that instead of advancing from ex­ one to advise us how to serve, how to earn merit. So ternality to internality, they will sink into externality, we must labor, and must begin internal service by set­ and never attain ;;~!II?. In this case there is no alterna­ ting aside fixed hours for the study of the heart's tive but to do as the physician who advises a dangerous­ service. For the dangers are very great, and without ly-iJI man to undergo surgery, even though the surgery internal service there is no hope. May Hashem aid us itself endangers his life. Given no other choice, surgery and open our hearts to serve him in Truth. D must be risked. The same is true in spiritual matters. It becomes mandatory to perform an extremely dan­ * As witness the well-known words of Rav Elchonon Wasserman i"'il when he and his students were about to be gerous operation: the ·Temoval of aids to spirituality, killed by the Nazis: to be careful to let no impure thought the removal of spiritual guides and influences, and the spoil the sacrifice each of them was to be for a1l Jewry.

24 The Jewish Observer / September, 1968 A new aristocratic hotel in Jerusalem that fills all the needs of the discriminating Orthodox tourist

We are happy to announce the opening of the Central Hotel TJ1lli1 11.,tl

0 FIRST-CJ,ASS HOTEJ,: with all modern acco­ RELICIOUS ATl\iOSPHERE D 77 AIR•CONDITIONED modations 0 STRICT KASIIRUS: supervised hy ROOMS D TWO KOSHER RESTAURANTS D DINING the Vaad Harrabonim of Agudath Israel FINEST ROOM SEATING 1,000

Your stay at the Central Hotel will make your visit to the Holy City an even richer experience

Write to: Central Hotel Make your reservations NOW for 6 Pines Street I off Davidka Square J P.O.B. 1351 / Jerusalem Rosh Hashonah, Suc:c:os, or whenever you Cable Address: CENTHOTEL, JERUSALEM plan to visit the Holy Land.

The Jewish Observer I September, 1968 25 second looks at the jewish scene

issues of Commentary magazine. Jews Without A Press Commentary is published by the American Jewish Committee, but There is no more widely organized ment, which has aped most every since 1961 it has been "de-Ju­ Jewish community in the world than American institution, at times even daized." Its editor, Nonnan Pod­ American Jewry. There is at least improved upon them, has not seen horetz, in his recent book Making a score of national agencies with Jlt to create for itself a Fourth Es­ It, takes credit for having initiated complex organizational stnictures, tate: an American institution which this process, and boasts that he is expensive and expansive suites of some of the Founding Fathers under no obligation to his employ­ offices - some even housed in their thought to be more vital than gov­ ers other than to produce a good own buildings. The combined bud­ ernment itself. magazine. This he has II/HIER ll.A8D\NICAL concern over its own prospects 5UHRV!SION Of TllE UNION IQ\ look at the Jewish Establishment I]or ORTHODOX CONGREGHIONS w for survival, there seems to be U.S. GOVUNM£NT INSPECHD. in the pages of a publication that little sense of how survival should communicate with would reach even a cross-section Mr, M.A. V. Hofstein be promoted and scarcely any Gourmet Enterprises of American Jewry. New H.A.T.S. Bldg. Kaitak Airpori thought about what its purposes Kowloon, Hong Kong Phone: 820·211, Ext. 7112 THESE THOUGHTS were stimulated might be. If it is survival for Jew­ by - surprisingly - two recent ish country clubs and bowling

26 The Jewish Observer I Septen1ber, 1968 leagues, for sisterhood luncheons ty of American Jews is even to English - who are capable and fashion shows, for mom1- dimly aware of the presence of of reading the Bible in its origi­ ments to collective ego in million­ these institutions, yet these are nal language, who understand dollar synagogues, one can hard­ the schools, supposedly, that the Hebrew of the prayer-book ly be surprised that young peo­ train the teachers of our children, and of rabbinic law and legend, ple want no part of it . . . and the activity first undertaken and for whom the reborn lan­ Survival might not seem so within their walls has consider­ guage of Israel, if not always crassly irrelevant if all that it able bearing not only on the im­ fully intelligible, is at least not ought to involve or all that its plementation of survival but on a foreign tongue. failure implies - even for the its definition as well. proverbial "alienated" Jewish in­ Alter finds these teachers colleges tellectual were carefully - only one is under Orthodox thought through. One of many nuspices - to be peculiar and to symptoms that there has been have achieved only "a modicum of little thinking on this score success." He refers to a volume of an1ong American Jews is their essays, The Education of American general indifference to serious Jewish Teachers, which lists the es­ Jewish culture, despite all the sential facts on the subject, but notes o n e of unctuous lip-service to our "glor­ that: AMERICA'S LEADINC ious heritage" and despite the CAMERA STORES continuing vogue of a sentilnen­ ''. . . the individual contribu­ tally recollected shtetl world. tions to the volume, with only a Wall Street few exceptions, are flat, dull, A case in point is the painful and repetitious, operating on the condition of the American He­ Camera Exchange level of stylistic and intellectual brew teachers colleges, which 120 Wall Street sophistication of perhaps a very have existed now in a cultural, New York, N. Y. dutiful high-school sophomore. J social, and financial limbo for Telephone: WH 4-0001 say this not to be gratuitously un­ nearly half a century. I would Complete Line of assume that only a small minori- kind but because the lackluster quality of the essays suggests Comeros, Projectors something of the miasma of me­ and Photo Supplies diocrity that pervades so much Closed Saturday of American Jewish education at o r all levels. To be perfectly frank, Open Sunday - 9-3 reading the Janowsky volume Wholesale Retail stirred in me feelings of both Mail Order UHlTED apprehension and depression: if this is the degree of intellectual and imaginative energy with Chevra Kadisha which we are confronting the D'chasidim • Har Hamnuchot vast problems of training those KOSHER MEALS Founded 1856 who are to transmit Jewish cul­ ..- WHEN VISITING ture, hotv much hope can there be for the enterprise?" PUERTO RICO? BURIAL IN JERUSALEM (and the Caribbean) You can arrange to be served {by It is unfortunate that Alter has AND ALL CEMETERIES IN ISRAEL requesting your hole! or airline) with nothing to say about the fantastic a delicious variety of growth of Day Schools in America, 1maal1n sakobesh and the teachers training program ,,..e,,~,.ti~tt" SOCl€ty of Torah Umesorah, but he unwit­ STRICTLY KOSHER FOODS tingly pays tribute to the Day P~EPARrD UND£R ~AllllltllCA~@) 44 CANAL ST. School when he writes: Sllr!RVISlON OF lilt UNION u • OF ORTHODOX CONCRE, Nr. E. Broadway Sta. "F" Train communicate with for surviving as a distinctive com­ Mr. Jack Powell munity unless there are appre­ Pueblo Wholesale Company Day & Nite Phone San Juan, Puerto Rico WA 5°2277 ciable numbers of Jews - how­ Phone: 769-4242 ever strong their linguistic loyalty

The Jewish Observer / September, 1968 27 (Alter's comments on the Jewish if a Jewish intellectual insists on I like the partition. Because of intellectual are also worth quoting: the Jewish component of his in­ it, men are more intent on the Alter writes: tellectual identity (of course he liturgy (and, for that matter, wo­ is free not to), he at least ought men are, too) than they might An intellectual would hardly to feel a suspicion of incongruity otherwise be. The original rea­ think of talking about political in the fact that he has never son for separating the sexes, a theory without ever having read read a word of Maimonides, that practice which dates all the way a word of Machiavelli, Hobbes, he wouldn't know a sugia in the back to the Temple, when wo­ Burke, or Marx, or pretend to Talmud from a sura in the Ko­ men were assigned to the ezrat place and assess conten1porary ran, that Akiba and Rashi, Judah nashim, was, presumably, to dis­ writing without any knowledge Halevi and Bialik, are no niore courage amorous thoughts. Later, of the national literary past, in­ than names in an encyclopedia to ensure the same purpose, deed, without so1ne 1ninimal to him, that his closest approach rabbinic le a de rs prescribed awareness of the broad Western to the Bible experienced by Jews special galleries for women in the literary tradition fron1- Homer on­ over the centuries is the King synagogue so that they "should ward. I would contend, then, that James Version.) look down from ahove and men look from below."

IN THE SAME ISSUE, a frequent con­ IT IS THIS KIND of journalism that tributor to Commentary, and staff Atnericun Jewry desperately needs, member of the American Jewish and that it so sadly lacks. The Committee, Lucy S. Dawidowicz, American Jewjsh Committee has contributes a very warm piece On poured millions of dollars into Com­ Being a Woman in Shu!. Mrs. mentary over the years. (It is only KOSHER Dawidowicz has found her way to recently that a talented new busi­ an Orthodox shul, and in as beauti­ ness manager has boosted their cir­ -but strictly! ful a sentence as we have seen in culation and advertising volume, a long time, she writes, "I like this but they may still be operating in shul." and then proceeds to tell why: the red.) They might more easily justify this huge expenditure if the This shul is, above all, a place talents and resources of Commen­ lVhere people come to pray. tary were directed to filling at least When there is a bar-mitzvah some of the vacuum in Jewish ceremony, it does not usurp the journalism. service. The boy reads maftir; But, we mentioned two issues of the rabbi acknowledges the oc­ Commentary: the August issue con­ casion in his sermon and bestows tained a cynical article about the upon the celebrant the sister­ Association of Orthodox Jewish hood's gift of a siddur; then the Scientists. Is this the sort of jour­ service goes on as usual. The nalism we are looking for? - yes, women, too, come to pray. it is. We leave it to the AOJS to re­ Cleaned, Fresh-Eviscerated Whenever they arrive - no mat­ Soaked & Salted r

28 The Je'A4sh Observer / September, 1968 do come to an end; when your A Personal Note strength begins to flow back into The greatest challenge the Torah the mind to the heart. We do not your weakened muscles, the mind thrusts upon the Jew is to be con­ seek out such opportunities, but For stantly aware of the Presence of when thrust upon us by a Wisdom Service and Savings G-d - an awareness which must infinitely greater than our own, they on your reflect itself in his very act and can be used to advantage. General Insurance Mutual Funds thought. The intensity of this chal­ Days and weeks spent in a hos­ aod lenge is today compounded by an pital bed are by their nature un­ L I F E endless stream of physical and in­ productive in the realm of achieve­ call tellectual distractions which clutter ment; unfinished, unstarted work man's mind and becloud his utter piles higher on your desk. But for dependence on Chasdai Ha'Shem the neshomo it can be a fruitful for his every breath. So many experience. events which were, in the past, And yet, when the tubes are re­ 189 Montague Street classed as "acts of G-d" are today moved; when the endless injections BrooUyn,• N. Y. UL 2·8200 "handled" by a telephone call to some public or private agency. While living in St. Louis, Mis­ America's largest Selling Imported souri, a number of years ago, we looked out our back window one Wine of its Type summer day and found that the creek behind our house was over­ flowing its banks and creeping towurd us. Our first reaction was to consult the "Yellow Pages" for the proper number to call for stop­ ping a flood - until we realized that technology had not yet devel­ oped a flood stopper. But technol­ ogy has developed so many "stop­ pers" which we cheerfully accept. but which limit the opportunities to be made aware on an emotional level of our dependence on Chasdai Ha'Shem. While in the midst of preparing LET ISRAEL'S our 1ast issue for the press, we were NUMBER ONE rushed to the hospital with severe BRAND OF pains on our left side. Surgery re­ WINES & LIQUORS vealed that our appendix had burst GRACE YOUR several days earlier, thus account­ YOM TOV TABLE ing for the absence of the tradition­ al pains on the right side, and for the failure of our June issue to The only wines and liquors, fa­ mou.r since 1882, produced In appear. Richan Le·Zion and Zichron Jacob, Israel.

FINDING YOURSELF flat on your Certified Strictly Kosher by the Chief Rabbinate oj Israel bnck, with tubes running in and CHIEF RABBI YEHUOAH JSSER UNTERMAN out of your body, is a humbling ex­ CHIEF RABBI YITZCHAK NISSIM perience. Evidently, the Hashgocha finds it necessary at times to inflict such an experience on some of us Imported by · to heighten or to revitalize our II CARMEL WINE co., INC. awareness of our dependence on CJ RD\(EL. 114 E. 40th St., N.Y., N.Y.10016 G-d; to shift this awareness from

The JewiSh Observer / Septen1ber, 1968 29 begins to forget. The vivid images the neshomo, which, for a while The Almighty wished to purify of doctors working around you, the has held greater sway. Israel and, therefore, bounti­ constant jabs of needles, the dis­ It is never easy to remain close fully bestowed upon them comfort, the pain, the troubled to G-d; to maintain the constant Torah and Mitzvohs. · looks of family and friends which awareness of His Presence which is they try to hide with tired smiles our goal. But this closeness can be In the new year to come may we - these memories fade and the achieved through the medium of all merit and achieve greater close­ body having recovered even part Torah and Mitzvahs. As our Sages ness to Hashem through Torah and of its strength, renews its fight with put it: Mitzvohs and may this be the year of Geula. YAAKOV JACOBS

Ortler Now - SHOMER SHABBOS your prefabricated HELP WANTED FEMALE Bookkeepers: PACKAGED SUKKAH Assistant, with lite typing $75-$100. The l.ifetime Easy-To-Assemble Portable Sukkah Full Charge, some up to and others including the designed by the Spero Foundation General ledger $100·160.00 Biller-Typists: $85.00 and up WALLS: Made of SIZE: 714• long, S*' wide, yellow DURA • RUE Receptionists, Must know plug or and 71,4' high. Will 1«0m• DUCK. Weight 10 oz. monitorboard - $85 and up per square yard. Mil· modate up to 10 penon~. dew-Residant and water• Steno Typists: $75.00·125.00 Repellent. FRAME and FITTINGS i Secretaries: $100 and up DECORATIONS a re Made of an alloy of &ilk screened on upper Typists: $75.00 and up aluminum and magne1:mm, four waHs in maroon eolor, will nol fade. Some of the above are FEE PAID by three-quarter inch diameter the companies. A few Part-Time jobs pipe which will not nut LIGHT: We furnish an eleclric fixture com· are still left. or corrode. No tools neeea­ plete wilh 25 fl. water­ ury wilh our patented proof wire, 80<:kel, plug and plastic shade. MALE fillings to aoemble or dis· Salesmen Office Manager mantle, other than one ROOF: We furnish lhree wooden or bam• Drivers Production Manager 1mal1 wrench which we bo

S'CHACH: We will also I-TI; ~~s; ~;R~;------Jupply you wilh 80 bamboo POSITIONS AVAILABLE •licks I" inch in diameter I 5 Beekman Stt'ect by 6. feet long to cover entire Sukkah. J New York, N. Y. 10038 ADDITIONAL 818.00 ! Gentlemen: SECRETARY (FEMALE) Excellent steno and typing skills. Experi· • I 0 Please ship me one Packaged Sukkah designed by the SPERO enced, five days, permanent. Congenial air­ COMMUNITY SIZE FOUNDATION, Cheek for the amount of $102 is enclosed, conditioned office in Wall Street area, good l4lh FT. LONG-10 FT. I WIDE- 7%, FEET HIGH I 0 I also want 80 bamboo sticks, which will cover entire Sukkah, salary. Start immediately. Call: 422-2030, WILL ACCOMMODATE and I am enclosing an additional $18.00. UP TO 24 PERSONS I MALE - ASSISTANT TO THE PRICE s21z.oo TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT F.O.B. FACTORY ! Name------·-----~·------1 INTERNATIONAL TRADING COMPANY • I Addren.------· seeks ASSISTANT, primarily for Traffic De­ Bamboo S'chaeb f(lr aboVe. partment. Experience preferred, but not ADDITIONAL 836.00 essential. Closed Sabbath and Jewish Holi­ All other featu:ret at above. I City and Stat~---·----- days. Reply with detailed letter: The Jewish Observer, Box No. 30, 5 Beekman Street, New York, N. Y. 10038.

30 The Jewish Observer I September, 1968 NEW METHODS STUDIED News· of Agudath Israel BY PIRCHEI LEADERS OVER 200 Jeaders of Pirchei Agudath Israel branches from every part of the to accept the Agudath Israel proposal, United States and Canada participated U.S. ESROG .BAN AVERTED in the annual Labor Day weekend con­ BY AGUDATH ISRAEL ACTION and in a subsequent Jetter to Rabbi Sherer spelled out their approval of this vention, spcnsored by the National Coun­ American- Jews win be able to use the plan. As a result of this intervention, a cil of Pirchei Agudath Israel, in Camp Israeli Esrog this Succos after jnterven­ serious religious crisis for American Jew­ Agudah, Ferndale, New York. The del­ tion by Agudath Israel of America caused ry was averted. Approximately 50,000 egates benefitted from workshops outlin­ the U. S. Department of Agriculture to R~rogim are imported from Israel, and ing better methods for Torah youth lift a new regulation, which would have it is estimated that one million Jews use Jeadership, as well as from panel dis­ in effect banned the import of the Esrog the Esrog during the Succos holiday. cussions on the role of the Yeshiva to this country. student in preparation for assuming com­ Earlier this year the Department of In a subsequent statement Rabbi Sherer munal responsibility in adult Jife. The hailed the U. S. Agriculture Department roster of speakers, which was headed Agriculture issued a regulation which for 'acting in the finest American tradi­ requires the fumigation of all citrus by the presidium~mernber of Agudath lion by extending its fuBest cooperation Israel Rabbi Moshe Horowitz (Bostoner fruits entering the U. S. A. from the to negotiate a satisfactory solution to a Mid-East, to protect the American citrus Rebbe), included Rabbi Mordecai Wein­ problem which vitaJly affected Jewish berg, Rabbi Shlomo Rotenberg, Rabbi crop from possible Mediterranean fruit­ religious practice." fly infestation. This fumigation, because Yaakov Goldstein, Rabbi Joshua Si1ber­ of the sensitivity of the Esrog peel, mintz and Rabbi N. Josephy. The Agu­ would render it unfit for use (posul). WORLD CONFERENCE IN dah administration was represented by After the U. S. Government turned LOCARNO MAPS FUTURE Rabbi Baruch Borchard and Rabbi down all appeals by representatives of AGUDAH PLANS Svsche Heschel. Shimon Zweig was elect­ the Israel Embassy, the Israeli Esrog ed chairman of the Leaders Council of ,growers and the American importers, A THREE DAY CONF"F:RENCE of the inner Pirchei Agudath Israe1. Rabbi Moshe Sherer, executive president executive of the Agudath Israel World NEW CALL GOES OUT of Agudath Israel of America, met in Organization, which took place in June June with top officials of the Agriculture in Locarno, Switzerland, m'apped a broad URGING STUDY OF THE Department in Washington. He presented plan to intensify Agudah's activities on DAFYOMI :a lengthy _memorandum proposing an 'the international scene. The gathering, ON THE OCCASION of the Siyum of the interim plan, whereby each Esrog des· .attended by .35 delegates from .8 ocun­ second tractate (Shabbos) of the current tined for export to the U. S. this year, tries and 3 continents, also discussed the cycle of the study of the Daf Yom-i on would be inspected in Israel by a U. S. ideology and policies of Agudath Israel, September 4th, Agudath Israel of Amer- Agriculture Department .inspector,- to­ especially concerning Israel. The prob­ 6ca issued a public manifesto calling gether with an Israel Agriculture De· lems of Torah education and East­ upon Jews to join this unique Torah­ partment inspector. The E<>rog would be European Jews, also were a -major sub­ -study plan. Many new Daf-Yomi study stored in a special warehouse in Israel ject of discussion. groups were organized in recent months for a ten-day incubation period after throughout the United States, and this• cutting, prior to inspection. NEW AGUDAH CENTER daily study of the Talmud has revo]Uw For the 1969 season, the Agudab RISING IN BORO PARK tionized the spiritual life-pattern of those memorandum proposed that chemical who participate, the Agudah statement testing be undertaken to develop a furn ... THE NEW THREE-STORY community center declared. With the beginning of the new igant which would not harm the Esrog being built on 14th Avenue, Boro Park, tractate Eruvin, a new opportunity has peel. by Agudath Israel of Boro Park. is been offered to Jews to join such study slowly rising. The branch, which has groups in their neighborhoods or to undertaken a $300,000 building fund AT THE CLOSE of the conference, the help create new -groups. Assistance to Agriculture Department officials agreed campaign, hopes to have the building further this plan in any neighborhood erected and serving the entire Boro Park can be obtained by writing to the DAF .community again this Fall. Heading the YOMI COMMISSION, Agudath Israel. of Auto Service campaign is the branch president Abra­ America, 5 Beekman Street, New Yotk, ham Plotzker. N. Y. 10038. 16th AVENUE GARAGE CO. 0 E'pe.t Repeiirs, free Road Service O Big Discount On Tires 0 Plaid Stamps with Every Sale 1602 - 62nd Street, Brooklyn, N. Y. 11204 0 DE 1-0229, BE 2-9513 0 GULF GAS :=:~1•11£4 --,-EE-- 1 1 is a Great Kosher Hotel Chaise Loun1es <::J - you'll love ill Reol Estate Mats • Parkinc Uftcler @ Supervision • Only Glatt Meats Sef'Vtlcf TV le Radio SYNAGOGUE ON PREMISES tn All Rooms LOFTS, FACTORIES To Rent or Buy 0 Writa Dept. I for FREE ltodau,. aH loold.t All Areas 0 EARL H. SPERO 0 11 West SALT, SUGAR •ncl For Reservations Phone: (305)531'.0061 fAT·fREE DIETS 42nd Street, New York, N. Y. 10036 O BR 9-1539 On the Oceanfront • 37th to 38th St, Miami Beach, Fla.

T,he Jewish Observer / Seplef1!ber, 1968 31 Books lrom E'eldbeim

THE SONG OF SONGS (C'i'1Vn i'1Vl $6.50; Vol. II: Sabbath, High Holidays of great value hut also makes enjoyable as echoed in its Midrash. I-Iebrew text, and Festivals, $8.50 and informative reading. Clothbound English translation and commentary by 304 pp. . $6.95 Rabbi Yitzhak I. Broch, Bournemouth, PATH OF THE JUST by Rabbeinue England. An insight into the traditional Moshe Chaim Luzzatto...... ~. $5.50 FOUNDATIONS OF JEWISH BELIEF t'-Onception of Jewish nationhood. by Rabbi Martin H. Schwarz. A reasoned 136 pp. $3.95 GATES OF REPENTANCE by Rabbeinu exposition of the faithful Jew's belief ·.ronah of Gerona. Both fully vocalized in G-d and His Law: the Torah. $3.75 THE WAY OF G·D A textbook for the Hebrew text. Facing each page of the teaching of Jewish Precepts and Ethics Hebre\\' text is th~ new English trans· THE LAWS OF REPENTANCE (HiJ. by Rabbi Moshe M. Max. Illustrated lation by Shraga Silverstein $6.50 C'hot T eshuvah) by the Rambam. In the 328 pp. $3.75 English tranSlation by Rabbi Moses CHAPTERS OF THE FATHERS by Hyamson. Paperback...... - $ .50 COMPANION TO THE ROSH HASHA· Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch. This NA AND YOM KIPP\JR MACHZOR by Commentary is now available with the MAIMONIDES I. The Book of Know!· Rabbi A.. L. Rubinstein. Historical and Hebrew text and English translation. edge; 2. The Book of Adoration. Hebrew homiletical explanations of the Services Clothbound 128 pp. 82.95 text with English translation by Rabbi and principal Prayers. Second revised Dr. Moses Hyamson. Two vols. $10.00 edition. ~3.75 THE PSALMS. With the translation and commentary of Rabbi Samson Raphael CHOVOS HALEVOVOTH - DUTIES ETHICS FROM SINAI by Irving Bunim. Hirsch. This commentary also <"ontains OF TIIE HEART by Bachya Ibn Paqu· An eclectif', wide-ranging commentary the Hebrew text ful1y vocalized. Vol. I, dah. Complete Hehre1v text and English on Pirke Avoth. Vol. I Perek 1-3, $6.50; S7.50; Vol. II, $8.75; Both volumes translation by Rabbi Dr. Moses Hyamson. \'ol. II Perek 4, $5.50; Vol. III Perek boxed, $16.25. Five parts in two vols. . ... $10.00 5·6, $7.50; Set Boxed, $19.50. AHAVATH CHESED {Kindness as Re· TALES OF FAITH by Rabbi Solomon quired by G·d) hy the Chofetz Chaim PHILIPP FELDHEIM, Inc. Alter Halpern. A col1ection of short zt'l. Translated into English for the first stories with a special aim of presenting 'ime by Rabbi Leonard Oschry. $4.75 The House of the Jewish Book ageless Torah to today's generation. (with source index) Clothbound $3.50 THE IlliBNO MAGGID AND HIS PARABLES by Dr. Benno Heinemann. 96 EAST BROADWAY WORLD OF PRAYER. The classic com· The fruit of many years of studv and New York, N. Y. 10002 mentary on the Prayerbook by Rabbi research, The Maggid of Dubno a.;d his J)r. Elie M11nk, Vol. I: Daily Prayers, Parables is not only a reference ·work Tel. WA 5-3180

,------1

FIRST CLASS No stamps PERMIT NO. 25230 around the house? NEW YORK NEW YORK Paste this form

on any envelope BUSINESS REPLY MAIL No Postage Necessary if Mailed in U.S.A. and mail your order for a subscription postage will be paid by: right now-­ The Jewish Observer we'll pay the postage. 5 Beekman Street

$ 5.00 ...... 1 Y~ar New York, N. Y. 10038 8.50 ...... 2 Years 12.00 ...... 3 Years --~------1