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THE JEWISH OBSERVER (ISSN) 0021-6615 is published monthly PERSPECTIVES ON CHANUKAH except July and August. by the AgU· dath Israel of America, 84 William Street. New York, N.Y. 10038. Second class postage paid at New York, N.Y. 8 Darkness: Concealment and Contrast Subscription $18.00 per year, two Rabbi A Sheinman years. $30.00: three years. $40.00. 12 The Enigma of Moses Mendelssohn Outside of the United States (US Rabbi Avi Shafran funds only) $10 surcharge per year. Single copy: $2.50: foreign: $3.00. 19 Geometry and Judaica: An Artist at Work Send address changes to The Jew Moshe Yehuda Bernstein ish Observer. 84 William St.. N.Y .. N.Y. I 0038. Printed in the U.SA 25 Dialogues #2: The Chosen People Rabbi David Gottlieb 31 By the Way, Whatever Happened to Chanuka? RABBI NISSON WOLPlN. Editoc Rabbi Emanuel Feldman
Editorial Board DR. ERNST BODENHEIMER Chalnnan 33 Books in Review RABBI JOSEPH ELIAS JOSEPH FRIEDENSON The Pentateuch Trumath Tzvi/Aqaydat Yitzchaq/Hilchos Bais RABBI NOSSON SCHERMAN Habechirah/Torah Faith: The Thirteen Prtnciples/Torah RABBI MOSHE SHERER Perspectives/The Complete ArtScroll Machzor: Yorn Kippur/ The Torah Anthology: The Book of Eicha/Effective Jewish Management Board Parenting NAFTOLI HIRSCH ISAAC KIRZNER RABBI SHLOMO LESIN NACHUM STEIN Second Looks on the Jewish Scene RABBI YOSEF C. GOLDING 39 Bnai Brith: Keepers of the Covenant? Business Manager 41 My Fountain Pen Runneth Over Tl-HD JEWISH OBSERVER does not as sume responsibility for the Kashrus of any product or service advertised in its pages. Postscript © Copyright 1986 43 Thank you, Nick
DECEMBER 86. VOL. XIX. No. 9 44 Letters to the Editor :-rt:-r T~T7 1lS7').:i!U ,,,::i .,., '0::1 l+ASl+l~AFAI+ PUBLICATIONS The Standard of Excellence in Hashkajah Literature Introduces
TJiE ETJiICAL H
• Ethical-Muss;i,r PERSONALITY narra1ive~ by Rabbi Zechariah Fendel welr~known author and Torah educator ''" '""'" "'" "'""'"' "I lo• HI ... I.lb My o.n Child"
•"""to "" T"'"#m•mh~Me"I""" ;.,t.b0>., " s,..,.,,,, 0 "'" "'"'"""· • '"'."' "'"""" ~ ''""·"""'"' ...."'"'~··"·--·· '""'""" 1.,,,,,,. .~::d·.~.~·~ ,,~:; ::~~~':;::::~ ·:~·:~.:·.~·:~~ :~~~E~:'..::::~·7:~7~,'.~,~~~:.:~:~:~~ '°"JW•h•m•n•od,,.,,j "'"'"""i•P''>'" kl,.,O,ml••••"°""'h ol!l>.fon0<.o\olh~><>•-••·••w.h.C.< of the Torah approach to ethics; ,..1...... ""'""' 0.1... J ••,,J.., lun<"I. ol • n<•jhbo< """""' ~·· '°""' ""'" "'-" llom h" >O•·•O·I• including the lggeres haMussar "'"''oloh ·J111· Jn·. chanuka marks the resolution of the · .•. . . .· ·•· .· .· conflict between the Hellenists and the Maccabees-in truth a battle for the soul of the Jewish People. Our celebration of ·.n·.. ·.· . the victory of"the righteous over the wicked" can be enhanced by a deeper appreciation of the metaphysical level of the conflict-how .I Greek enlightenment was indeed character- "R· • N·U. ff .ll 857.·4·.7. izedas "darkness"bytheTorah,asexplained " a a by Chazal (the sages of the Talmud), and ex- panded upon by the Maharal of Prague. For · ·w1·1n. ·.· · · .· · an analysis of the supremacy of the light of 1 . · · .. . Torah, the reader is directed to Rabbi Shein- .______n __.__. man's "Darkness: Concealment and Contrast:' Kulturkampj, like that of the Maccabean era, have been a constant compan ion to Jewry in its wanderings from land to land. Rabbi Avi Shafran examines the life of one of history's most enigmatic figures, who-perhaps wrongly-has come to epitomise submitting to the tendency to accommodate the host culture at the expense of Jewish values: Moses Mendelssohn. Another focus of the Hellenist-Judaic conflict is the role of esthetics in the Jewish value system. It is therefore refreshing and even tantalizing to note how a leading figure in the avant garde of experimental art should come to embrace his Jewish roots, and use his artistic gifts to express eternal truth. See "Geometry and Judaica." The underlying theme of the Greek demands-that the Jews give up the Sabbath, Rosh Chodesh (in effect, their calendar), and milah (circumcision) was a demand that they relinquish their distinctiveness, and cease to be Am Segula-a Special People. Then all would be well. In one of his eye-opening "dialogues," Rabbi David Gottlieb deals with the concept of Jewry's Chosen ness as explained to a questioning novice who approaches the idea from his American, egalitarian point of view. And then, we'll want to savor Rabbi Emanuel Feldman's comment on Cha nuka and gift-giving, as food for the thought. Rabbi A. Shein man I. CONCEALMENT fest at the time of creation. Rather. history as revealed to Daniel in a they are intrinsic to the process of dream, leaving their impact upon creation itself. Every created being, mankind for generations to come. and the earth was tohu explains the Maharal, is by its very These are the empires of Babylon, and vohu, with darkness cov nature limited and imperfect. Only Persia, Greece and Rome. Each em ering the abyss." the Creator is perfect. boundless, pire was a national and cultural (Bereshis I. 2) limitless. These four "imperfections," embodiment of one of these four then, are not limited in time to the dimensions of evil: Tahu denotes he story of creation begins dawn of creation, nor to the manifes Babylon, descrtbed in seforim as the with a prelude-the enumer· tations (tohu, vohtL etc.) mentioned embodiment of self-deification and T ation of four states of flaw previously. Rather they constitute egoism. Vohu signifies the unres and imperfection present in the the antecedents of every evil and trained hedonism of Persia, cha~ universe at the moment of creation: fault in all of its dimensions-per shech represents the intellectual en· tohu (empty). vohu (without form), sonal, national and historical-that lightenment of Greece, and tehom choshech (darkness) and tehom manifest themselves during the en· the seemingly intenninable wicked (abyss). The Maharal explains that tire duration of the created world. don1ination of Rome. these four states of imperfection are The Midrash Rabba (loc. cit} de Upon closer examination of the not incidental deficiencies that monstrates how these four flaws Midrash's pairing together symbol merely happened to become mani- have made their appearances and nation, we notice a subtle differ throughout history, most promi· ence between the characterization Rabbi A Sheinman, who studies in a Kolle! inJer· nently under the dominion of the of Greece as darkness and the di· usalem, is a frequent contributor to these pages. four kingdoms that dominated world mensions of evil attributed to the 8 The Jewish Observer, December 1986 Darkness represents the mechanism of nature designed to conceal and disguise the Creator, Who is continuously directing and conducting the affairs of the universe. other empires. The other evil traits sian decree of total annihilation.And can be considered as resulting from our attempt to lid ourselves of Ro a lack of perfection and godliness. man domination failed. It was only the shortcomings of an incomplete the rule of Greece that we challenged and as yet unformed world; "dark and were able to vanquish. What. ness" by contrast is different. It is a then, is the essence of this Helle "positive" dimension, in terms of nism. so tantalizingly similar in being an object of creation, purpose character to Israel. yet so apparenily fully introduced into the universe. opposed to everything lsrael repres Rashi IPesachim 2a) also makes ents? What is the Grecian beauty this point clear, where he explains which can adorn the tents oflsrael? darkness not as the absence oflight What is its sinister darkness, which but, rather. as a positive force that will be overcome by the light of "darkens" the world, so to speak. Moshiach? Indeed. the Prophet (Isaiah 45, 7) declares G-d to be "Yotzeir ohr uvo rei choshech-He who forms light II. DAWN OF DARKNESS and creates darkness." Darkness is indeed created. If this distinction between dark n'.:nJ NJ) OP NJ N)il !\!IN OP ness and the other flaws of creation "-A day that is neither day exists on the metaphysical plane, it such common ground is shared by nor night" must perforce also be evident in its Israel and the other kingdoms. in (Passover Haggadah. based on human and national manifestation: regard to their traits of idolatry, Zechariah J4, 7) Greece as compared to the other hedonism or subjugation of others. powers. How does one understand Chazal point out the relationship human being perceives the the cultural essence of Greece as a between Greece and Israel in the world around him through positive yet destructive force? What pasuk (Bereishis 9, 27), "G-d shall A his senses, each of which distinguishes Greece's trait of wis endow Japhet with beauty and he conveys a different type of informa dom or philosphy from the identify will dwell in the tents of Shem.... " tion. The clearest and most vivid ing traits of Rome, Persia and Baby The beauty of Japhet will find its sense is that of sight, for while other lon? place in the tents of Shem. In the senses provide limited data, vision Perhaps one can begin by noting historical sense, this was realized in gives one the feeling of total percep how Greece's national character, i.e .. the translation of sacred texts into tion and cognizance. Thus, "seeing Greek philosophy or wisdom, relates Greek (the Septuagint), the incorpo is believing." Other senses give the to [srael. While idolatry, hedonism ration of elements of the Greek lan feeling of knowing about the object and imperialism are totally alien to guage into the Oral Law, and the use in question; sight focuses on the the Jewish national character, wis of Greek philosophy by many Risho object itself. dom is an attribute shared by the nim (such as the Rambam) to ex It is this concept of "light" and Jewish nation. True, our wisdom, plain and illustrate many concepts "vision" that we must bear in mind "Torah wisdom," is on a plane of its of Torah. No such relationship was when discussing the "light" and own (as in Devarim 4,6: "for it is established with any other empire or "darkness" of creation. Were crea your wisdom and understanding in culture. tion fully illuminated and were we to the eyes of the nations"); and theirs. Yet, in spite of this seeming affin actually perceive the Omnipresent by contrast, is superficial, or "exter ity, Greece is the only empire that and Omniscient Deity, there would nal wisdom" (T11'J1:::~Pn nn::in). lsrael succeeded in fighting and be no room for self-perception as The common denominator of wis overpowertng. Babylon disintegrated independent beings-'"'""' N? 'J dom, however. is unmistakable. No on its own. Israel avoided the Per- 'n1 01Nn-For man cannot see Me The Jewish Observer, December 1986 9 Not only does darkness suggest a dimming of the Divine illumination, it simultaneously makes us aware of the illumination. and live" (Shemos 33.20). The only entering that area on Yorn Kippar. feasible way for humanity to retain The incense would burn and form a the semblance of an independent cloud so that no longer would clear existence, with the possibility of free perception be possible; rather, "In a will and constructive potential. is cloud will I appear on the ark" [Va· with the introduction of a veil of yikra 15,2-see Yalkut Shimoni, loc. "darkness," which effectively con· cit). ceals the Divine radiance. • When Moshe Rabbeinu was en· What is this "darkness"? How do sconced in the nikras hatzur-the we encounter it? It is what is com crevice of the rock-G-d covered the monly referred to as "nature"-the entrance to Moshe's cave so that he laws, concepts and formulae that would not be blinded by the Divine dictate and run the universe. Within radiance. this framework, the Divine Being is Darkness represents the mecha· neither visible nor apparent; rather glimpse of what lies beyond the ob· nism of nature designed to conceal it is the natural order of events that vious; to a bit of an inkling as to how and disguise the Creator. Who is seems to bring sensibility to our the hashgacha, Providence, con· continuously directing and con· examinations of the universe. "Cause ducts the affairs of the world. Even ducting the affairs of the universe. and effect" replace "Divine Will" and the Torah, which is the direct word Yet every Jew can utilize this very "Divine Dictate." of Hashem. is clothed in the fabric of system as a means of achieving per· Greece plunged headlong into this nature; Oxen goring one another, sonal growth, by gaining a more pro· darkness. It is wisdom, indeed, but a marriage and divorce, and so on: yet found understanding of G-d. This, wisdom of the external world. di· these mundane concerns express then, is the natural progression of vorced from the essence of Creation cosmic truths, and convey deeper learning to detect G-d within crea· and denied of its association with spiritual concepts. tion. Initially all is seen as impenet· the Divine. Taken as such, the dark· Darkness, then, serves as a meta rable darkness; only later does the ness becomes an end unto itself: or phor for the concealment of the Di· light of day become apparent worse yet. it is mistaken for light. In vine in the universe. In addition, through this darkness. the words of the prophet; 'Woe to several specific incidents recorded those who define darkness as light in the Torah refer to darkness in its ill.CONTRAST and light as darkness." literal sense as masking Divine Israel. on the other hand, exam· revelations: ines this same darkness and uses it •At Sinai, the mountain was en he elementary understanding as a means of discovering the very veloped in three increasingly dense of the concept of darkness is light which it is meant to conceal. layers ofcloud. In order to receive the T as a cloak, concealing the Di· When one carefully examines a veiled luchos, the Tablets of the Law, Moshe vine presence and radiance so as to countenance, one can obtain some was required to step into the "thick· allow man free choice and a mean· idea of the existence of a force or est and densest" layer of the three. ingful existence as an independent substance behind the veil. As the • Aaron's children, Nadav and being. But the full meaning of this Zahar (Emor) states; Even the per· Avihu, were guilty of gross conduct concept is far deeper. Darkness is son not informed of the secrets of at Sinai described as-D'P1'JN nn'1 actually a prime element of sight, as the Divine may discern them by "'""' i?oN>1"-They gazed at Hashem we will demonstrate. It is in this con· carefully studying the "external" and they ate and drank"-meaning text that we understand the concept universe and extrapolating to the that they feasted their eyes, so to of beauty as it expresses itself in "internal" universe. The complexity speak. on the gloryofG-d. Their pun· Greece. Not only does darkness sug of nature, human drives and psychic ishment was death. Aaron was con· gest a dimming of the Divine illumi· composition, the patterns of his· sequently commanded to bring in· nation, it simultaneously makes us tory-these can all lead man to a cense into the Holy of Holies before aware of the illumination. 10 The Jewish Observer, December 1986 Since light and observation are "good," one needs the distinctive focus and division between light and darkness for light to be fully appreciated. Aside from providing a back· and there is no room for doubts and ground for observation, darkness is struggles. an integral element of sight, for the This idea of beauty as interplay eye distinguishes shapes through and contrast may also explain the the medium ofcontrast.An area that Gemora: "Poverty becomes Israel as is mono-luminous and mono-chro a scarlet strap to a white horse matic contains no visual informa ( Chagiga 9b )." The Gemora is tell· tion. We are able to "see" a picture by ing us that, indeed, poverty (red) is discerning between lighter and an obstacle to Israel's task, but when darker areas and different shades of Israel succeeds in raising itself spir· color. Thus, "sight" is the perception itually (white) in spite of its difficul of the contrast between light and ties, a thing of "beauty" has been darkness. Eliminate darkness, and created, as startling as the contrast light becomes meaningless as well! between red and white. The Ramchal. • in Daas Tvunos. uses a similar concept to explain • • • that our understanding of G-d refers Beauty, too, is the relationship solely to the attribute of unity. Why and interplay between two or more The lights of the menora in the is this so? Because no other attrib· elements, but it is far more complex. Beis Hamikdashand those of Cha· ute can be understood or defined by "Strong," "smart," "good" are all de nuka are both lit at night. The rea· negating its opposite. For example, finable in terms of one unit. Beauty, son is not utilitarian, for one is not lack of stupidity does not imply in· on the other hand, represents an permitted to benefit from the lights telligence, lack of weakness does not interplay between various different of Chanuka nor from those of the define strength, nor does "not ugly" elements. When two or more ele Temple. The reason for nighttime describe beauty. Achdus--Oneness. ments are in harmony. symmetry, kindling, then, is that one perceives however, can be defined as "not· contrast or balance, we have the the light at its clearest at night. multi." True, we may not perceive components of beauty. when it contrasts with the darkness. G-d's unity in its essence, but we can The Sfas Emes uses this concept It is in this perspective that Israel sketch its parameters (for the per· to explain the Mishna (Avos 4,22), and Greece relate to each other. son who believes in Divine forces) by "One hour of repentance and good When thelinesareclearlydrawnand negating polytheism. Having de· deeds in this world is more beauti the contrast is sharp, then not only fined the set "not-A," we have ade· ful than all of the World-to-Come." does Israel appear in its fullest quately defined "A" He asks: "[s the next world not far beauty and radiance, but Greece too This gives us a new insight into more perfect than this world in its finds its place in adorning the Batei the pasuk: "And G·d saw the light highest form?" He answers: "Better, Midrash shel Shem. However. when that it was good, and He divided yes. More beautiful, no." For "beau the boundaries are unclear and the between the light and darkness," ty" in this context refers to the con distinctions blurred: when the hav (Bereishis i,4)-since iight and ob trast between the person's yeitzer adala between "sacred and profane, servation are good, one needs the hora (evil inclination) and nisyonos light and dark, Israel and the na distinctive focus and division be· (tests for the purpose of prompting tions" is unclear, then not only does tween the two for them to be fully the individual to rise above this Israel's light dim, but Greece's beauty appreciated. A gray picture is mean· inclination) on the one hand, and turns a colorless and amorphous ingless. On the other hand, when the his actual raising himself above the gray. Conversely, only when the lights and darks contrast sharply, challenge through teshuva and havdala-light distinguishes be we have a picture with high resolu· mitzvos on the other. The beauty of tween "sacred and profane, light and tion. this interplay, says the Sfas Emes, is dark, Israel and the nations," then without counterpart in the World does the beauty ofJaphet burst forth •Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato (l70T·l 746). to-Come, where pure truth reigns in the tents of Shem.• The Jewish Observer, December 1986 11 AviShafran The Enigma Of MOSES MENDELSSOHN he pamphlet emphasized the urgently, "with the Jewish children a man who, in spite of his wide primacy of the role of lashon who, ... desiring to taste the savor of spread fame and prodigious literary T hakodesh in the life of the the Torah ... in a language they are output, remains a curious enigma to Jew, asserting It to be the only au familiar with, find nothing?" most religious Jews today. His name thentic language of the Jewish peo The text ofan appeal for donations was Moses Mendelssohn and his ple. It then went on to lament the fact to an Agudah educational project? stoiy mer! ts our attention, especially that, as a result of exile after exile, A preface to the latest Artscroll today. the Jewish nation had been forced to venture? yield to foreign influences, to absorb A transcript of a Torah Umesorah foreign languages. convention speaker? ONE MAN, TWO UNIVERSES "How are we to deal," it asked Not exactly. Rabbi Shafran, who teaches in the high school of The pamphlet is entitled ''.Alim tis striking to occasionally stand the New England Academy of Torah in Providence, Letmfah"and it served as the intro back and regard the different Rhode Island, is a frequent contributor to Jewish duction to the most ambitious and worlds-no, universes-which periodicals. His "Abraham Geiger, Are You There?" I was featured ln JO, Jan. '86. controversial project undertaken by have co-existed, side by side, 12 The Jewish Observer, December 1986 throughout history. For instance: them can, disturbingly. be traced to Iietta in Palis, Dorothea in Vienna; While the Vilna Gaon sat in his parents of blemishless reputation. their intellectual bent apparently room. flouting sleep and piercing the Siyatta d'Shmaya-Divine assist remained, even when the Jewish hardest diamonds of Divine wisdom ance-in one's children is not just a ness for which it should have pro with the laser of his mind focused factor, but the overwhelming one. vided fertile ground had been sown through the crystal lens of his pris Furthermore, to see the child as the thoroughly with salt. tine character ... invaliable outcome and reflection of Dorothea, in 1802, wrote in a let ... Mozart and Haydn were creat the parent would yield the suspi ter: " ... my heart tells me that Pro ing their awesome music. And Kant cious slandering of Avraham Avinu testantism ... is purer and supelior was penning his philosophical mus as Yishmael's progenitor, and Yitz to Catholicism: the latter appears to ings. Goethe, his poems and plays. chak as Eisav's. me to be too similar to that old Juda Blake, his visions. The American ism which I greatly condemn." She Revolution raged.And in Paris, some was, it would seem. not the average unremembered soul presented to the THE DISTURBING END Jewish-born social climber. OF MENDELSSOHN'S CHILDREN world the velocipede, the precursor Her brother Abraham also joined of the bicycle. the Christian world. It was he who Those universes ran concurrently, n the other hand, there is, fathered the famous composer Felix but independently, blissfully unac without doubt. something Bartholdy-Mendelssohn, who, quainted with one other. The Gaon, 0 nebulous but distinctly dis among other musical accomplish turbing about the end of the Men though most keenly aware of the ments of note. is credited with re very essences and principles of delssohn family's identification with newing the populalityofJ.S. Bach's science. logic, history and music, the Jewish people. works in 1829with his performance, proficient in their formulae and Firstly, their father was no am at the Singakademie in Berlin, of the cognizant of their implications, like ha 'aretz, no ignorant rote-Jew, un "St. Matthew Passion." For such is ly did not discuss the Amelican col able to intelligently communicate the name Mendelssohn most often onies. and surely was not concerned his helitage to his offspling. He was recalled. with the man called Mozart or any not just a brilliant and articulate In the end, all but one of Moses part of his world. scholar of secular thought, but Mendelssohn's grandsons went over knowledgeable of traditional Jewish to Chiistianity. But, like the tendrils of a creeping sources as well. He not only lived a vine, searching for vistas beyond meticulously observant, if unusual, their own, seeking to graft them Jewish life, but bravely and elo AND THEN ... THE DISCIPLES selves onto an unfamiliar but allur quently defended the principles of ing host. there emerged a number of the Judaism of the Ages in the face of nd then there is the further personalities from the Jewish people Chlistian challengers, and he did so disturbing matter of Men of the late eighteenth century, men with accuracy and finesse, and A delssohn's Jewish disciples, and women who sought to bridge without apology or shame. those whose relationship to him was the chasm which separated the uni Furthermore, thoseveryfacts seem by conscious choice and acceptance, verses. to underscore the bizarreness of the not fickle genes and blood. The most illustlious of the lot was headlong rush with which Mendels One of the most dedicated stu Moses Mendelssohn, a man who, sohn's children tumbled over one dents of Mendelssohn-the-scholar having spent his youth studying another to fling themselves into the was David Fiiedlander, who eventu Talmud with his rebbe, lived his fires of apostasy. and the particu ally came to propose to the provost of adult life in those houses of intellec larly ugly scenes which resulted. the Protestant consistory of Berlin tual ill repute, the salons of Berlin, in The Mendelssohn children were that his family (and those of several the company of noblemen and, not lip-service Chiistians, Jews at other Berliners who were Jews) be though he knew it not. on the very heart who saw the cross as a mere baptized into the Lutheran Church. edge of his lineage's Jewishness. crutch, a token for admission to the His only problem was-he wrote in For, as it is often noted. his chil theaters of social respectability and his request, "The Epistle to Pastor dren converted to Catholicism or financial success. Moses' daughter Teller" ( 1799)-certain dogmata of Protestantism-all but one, his old Henrietta has been described-by a that church which were "contrary to est son, Joseph. With the security of secular source-as "a violent Catho reason." As was, presumably, the hindsight we often tend to hastily lic"; her sister Dorothea eventually entirety of his own heritage. indict the man on the mere evidence ran off with her co-adulterer, Fred Another illustlious follower was of his children's choices, yet we must rich van Schlegel, a particularly un Solomon Maiman, a man who re remember that thousands ofJews of savory character, well known to the peatedly castigated the religion of that era, beckoned by the sirens of other universe as a romantic poet his people as backward, an unreas tolerance and egalitarianism, made and novelist. onable agglomerate of Iitual and su similar choices. choices of conveni Both women opened salons for the perstition. To him, Judaism was a ence or of confusion, and many of intelligentsia and the literati, Hen- doomed dinosaur of a culture. The The Jewish Obseroer, December 1986 13 Aujklarung alone was eternal, with For the problem of Moses Men Germany its standard-bearer. delssohn was not his low standard of A third was Marcus Herz, whose Torah observance, his self-hatred, or house was frequented by the cul his ignorance of Judaism; none of tured and talented, theologians and those things existed in him. To sug statesmen. Their main attraction, gest that they did is to look for an though, was evidently to Herz's easy solution to a complicated ques young wife Henrietta, who easily tion. It is also to ignore the historical cuckolded her husband, stany-eyed evidence. And, most importantly, it as he was in the company of such is to forefeit a subtle but potent les famous and honorable gentlemen son, one which could not likely be acquaintances. paralleled in importance for our own Henrietta waited only for her times. mother's death to become an official WINDOWS TO Protestant. Markus Her~ The devastating totality of the des MENDELSSOHN'S MINDSET truction of the people left in Men delssohn's wake is more than stun he Rosetta stone of the Men ning. It is strange and disturbing, as delssohn enigma is the his well. What, then, do we do with this T tory of the Biur, his transla evidence ofsubsequent generations? tion/commentary of/on the Torah In all fairness, guilt by association is the history, not the substance or the not an acceptable means of judg very idea of it. ment. and even the spectacle of the The translation of kisvei hako fate of Mendelssohn's family and fol desh into the vernacular has illus lowers cannot allow us to condemn trious precedent in R' Saadiah him automatically. Furthermore. his Gaon's Arabic rendering, as did chezkas kashrus-the assumption, Mendelssohn's involvement with the based on his personal life, of his science of philosophy and his famil faithfulness to his religion-cannot iarity with non-Jewish sources of be so offhandedly discarded! the time. Nor can we project from the failure Indeed, groundbreaking but un of his family and associates to as Solomon Maimon arguably authentic Jewish sources sume that Mendelssohn must have like R' Saadiah Gaon and the Ram resented Yiddishkeit in his heart of bam were the very models for Men hearts; that were he alive today, we delssohn, in his own mind. would easily recognize him for what Furthermore. Rabbi Yechezkel he was and he would quickly ostra Landau, the famed Noda BYehu cize himself through his actions da, when urged to put a ban on the from the Torah community. Biur, refused to do so. Though he did There is little doubt that. would he disapprove of it, he saw nothing mis be alive, he would never seek out a leading in its content, and, accord watered-down version of Judaism ing to a supposedly knowledgeable unencumbered with "ancient ritu correspondent, one Avigdor Levi, he als." He would most likely identify had a personal respect for Men with those who uphold Torah's delssohn. eternity and perfection. His most The Vilna Gaon himself was al controversial project, it should be leged to have counselled opponents remembered, was the writing of the of Mendelssohn to refrain from con Biur, a translation into the vernacu demning him and the Biur. David Friedlander lar of the Chumash, with a com What then were the objections mentaryreportedlyvoid of any ques years fraudulent or worthless. In a based upon? tionable philosophical speculations. crucial sense, Mendelssohn did fail But. before that. what clues, ifany, Hardly a shocking proposition to us as a Jew, as a link to subsequent to the solution of the Mendelssohn today. A judgment of his righteous generations, in spite of having lived enigma are provided by the story of ness in personal religiosity, bein as a Jew. If there are clues to why his life. adam laMakom, is best left to The that happened, we must take note of The first clue is to be found in Judge Himself. them and try to. objectively and care events of the year 1772. But neither is the evidence of the fully, understand, and learn. The Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwe- 14 The Jewish Obseroer, December 1986 rin had issued an order to his Jew ish subjects, prohibiting day-of Having studied Talmud during his youth, death burial and requiring a three day waiting period, to ensure that Mendelssohn lived his adult life in the the deceased was indeed so. Prema salons of Berlin as an observant Jew in the ture burial had, as it periodically does. become a popular fear to the company of noblemen-on the very edge of general populace, including here the his lineage's Jewishness. duke. With the help of a meshummad's testimony, the duke had overruled his cabinet. which had advised him had managed to present to the secu ter was strong because it was meant that. in light of the Jewish burial lar authorities until that point. to save him from causing his name rites, the tahara process, it was un to be slandered (apparentiy Men necessary to make such a rule. The delssohn already had detractors, and Jewish community was in a state of THE R' YAAKOV EMDEN Rabbi Yaakov Emden was anxious CORRESPONDENCE alarm. to see them silenced, for Mendels The people of the community sohn's sake). turned to Rabbi Yaakov Emden as hen Mendelssohn realized "As 1 noticed from your second let their great rabbinic authority to that Rabbi Yaakov Emden ter," he wrote further, "you find it present the case for immediate bur W had been approached as difficult to change your mind and ial as a valid and undeniable part of well, he wrote Rabbi Yaakov Emden admit truth." Jewish tradition, hence guaranteed that he (Mendelssohn) would never "l had assumed," he continued. by the legal protection granted the have written a thing on the issue "that your affection for me would be Jews by the king. had he known that so great a scholar the stronger (than the hurt engen Rabbi Yaakov Emden, by his own had been consulted. He then added dered by the rebuke offered) ... for testimony, suggested that Mendels his own personal doubts about the this is my way. In matters concern sohn instead write the petition to validity of the halachic requirement ing the Torah, 1am not a respecter of the duke to convince him to rescind of immediate burial. He quoted some persons." his order. Mendelssohn. he said, "en sources in support of his position The issue of immediate burial re joys a high reputation at the courts and politely asked for a reply. mained dormant (as the duke had of princes and kings, (is) a master of He got one. Rabbi Yaakov Emden accepted a doctor's certification of the vernacular, (and knows) how to lovingly but bluntly rebuked Men death to be sufficient as evidence of explain and present matters in a delssohn for his views (and for his full expiration) until 1787, when convincing way." The messengers of propagation of them), which he then Mendelssohn's personal views on the the community refused to leave systematically proceeded to prove issue, somehow having found their without a letter from the gadol ba erroneous, based on a mistakenly way to the general public, were used Torah, and he finally conceded and interpreted Talmudic passage. He by a court physician, in Mecklen wrote a teshuva on the subject in understood, he wrote, that Mendels burg-Strelitz, to pester the Jewish Hebrew, entrusting it to the repre sohn's views had been expressed community anew. Over the ensuing sentatives to be translated into "through mere error. no doubt. decade, various Maskilim used the German. without intention to do damage." "authority of Mendelssohn" (who As it happened, the representa But he rhetorically asked how Men had in the meanwhile died) to attack tives (or others) had already asked delssohn could have questioned the the halacha of immediate burial, in Mendelssohn to write a petition for legitimacy of a practice so universal a sort of "test case" for Haskalah. them as their "intercessor and pat among Jews. and so clearly stated in The issue is here belabored be ron," as his command of German the Mishna itself. cause it contains what may be the would surely present a strong im Mendelssohn's letter in response very crux of the Mendelssohn mat pression. He did so, anonymously, is lost. But Rabbi Yaakov Emden's ter. Mendelssohn was not a halachic since he felt obligated to supply the subsequent letter is extant and from authority and he knew that. never community what it requested of him, it one can surmise the content of the insinuating otherwise. He did not though he added in a private letter to one he received. Rabbi Yaakov Em present himself as a rabbi at all, and the community itself that he felt the den wrote, after thanking Hashem always had shown the utmost rever entire business was needless, that forthe restoration of Mendelssohn's ence for Rabbi Yaakov Emden, ad they should happily accept the health (which had been failing). that dressing him as "my rebbe," and duke's edict, as it did not really vio he was disturbed that Mendelssohn asking his decision on varied Torah late the true halacha, and further should be angry with him, that he issues. morewas not worth risking the good (Mendelssohn) should understand Yet, when he was confronted with image that the Jewish community that his (R'YaakovEmden's) last let- a situation in which his own convic~ The Jewish Observer, December 1986 15 the great leaders of the realm, even, Blame him for his children's defection to perhaps, the Danish king himself, of whom Rabbi Kohen was a subject. Christianity? Thousands of Jews made This would, Mendelssohn reasoned, very likely intimidate Rabbi Kohen, similar choices ... choices of convenience helping him, so to speak, see the or confusion, without reflecting on their error in his position against the Biur. parents' blemishless reputation. Hennings, on hearing his good friend's suggestion, lost no time and had the Secretary of State imme tions vis-a-vis a halachic matter were diatelysubmit the proposal to Crown Prince Frederick, who then secured in conflict with those ofagreat hala chic authority, instead of recasting the approval of the king who, inci dentally, recognized the full signifi his own views in the mold of those of a greater mind, he refused to budge, cance of his involvement in the plan. When. in 1783, the complete edi and evidently continued to propa gate his own idea of what he felt the tion of the Biur appeared. the list of subscribers with which the book halacha should be. began was headed by "His Royal Majesty, Christian the Seventh, King MORE THAN A TRANSLATION of Denmark," followed by "His Royal Highness, the Hereditary Prince of ow, to the history of the Biur, Denmark." Rabbi Raphael Kohen was the Thus, the champion of tolerance Ngreatly respected chief rabbi once more waxed somewhat less of the "three communities," Ham than tolerant-and of a rabbinic burg, Wandsbeck, and Altona, the leader. then Danish city in which he resided. The plot, it would seem, thickens. He had strong reservations about NODAH BIYEHUDA the Biur, Mendelssohn's translation Rabb; YECHESKEL LANDAU POINT OF DIGRESSION of and commentary on the Torah. though he had no objection what His objection was likely based on a soever to its use by adults who had digression at this point is concern which, a few years later, already mastered traditional learn advisable, not just to take found expression in a haskama, an ing and, presumably, the German A stock of what has thus far approbation, written by the Noda language. become evident. and not just to set BYehuda for a later, linear trans·· Rabbi Raphael Kohen made no the stage for the telling of conclu lati on of the Torah into German. He secret of his objections to the Biur, sive facts to come. but to focus on a noted there that Mendelssohn's ear and that unconcealed position fundamental ofTorah-life-emunas lier translation presupposed a pol caused Mendelssohn some conster chachamim. ished expertise in German and would nation. There has been an erroneous im require Jewish children to spend In I 779, a consul at the Danish pression afloat that "the concept of time learning German grammar and legation in Berlin, a good friend of daas Torah doesn't exist in the usage. Which would, in his words, Mendelssohn by the name of August Talmud; it is an invention of recent "reduce our Torah to the role of Hennings, suggested to Mendels times." maidservant to the German tongue." sohn that he, Hennings, use the This approach was, and is, a fatu Though the Noda BYehuda im governmental coercion available to ous one. The principle of following mediately added, 'We have to assume him to repress the problematic Rabbi the advice, example and decisions of that the intention of the translator Kohen. the Torah scholars of each genera (Mendelssohn) was good. and ... (we Mendelssohn responded that he tion may not be mentioned per se in must be) dan l'kajz'chus,especially considered the situation to be insuf the Talmud precisely because it is concerning someone ofsuch renown ficiently advanced to justify such the very substance ofthe Talmud. It as a scholar." He concluded, 'We rash measures. is imbued in the very existence of the cannot rest satisfied with the inten At that point, though, Mendels idea of Torah shebaal peh and it is tion that prompted him, if the result sohn made a suggestion of his own. implicit in every line ofevery piece of of his action is so devastating." It He proposed a clever course of action. every masechta of the Talmud, con was for this reason that the Noda Since the Biur was being sold by cerned as it is with every thought BYehuda had ruled that the Biur subscription before publication, a of every leader of the Torah Jews of not be introduced into schools, subscription might be taken out by that seminal period. I6 The Jewish Obseroer. December 1986 And it is that veiy concept, the Could all that baggage, and all the without reservation, that he was not idea of respect for and awe of the praise heaped on him from different ready to deviate in the slightest from Torah-illustlious ofeach generation, directions, be expected to wither Mosaic law even in order to gain even to the point of recasting one's away and disappear, and not go to civic lights. What then did he mean views in the mold of their attitudes his head? Was he not, after all, a in his letter to Hennings? and decisions, that identifies Torah gadol himself? The answer is simple. He meant Jews within the larger set of Jewiy, Can he be blamed for thinking, that the leaders of Judaism, i.e. the today as always. amidst all the adoration. that he had gedolim recognized by Klal Yisroel, If, however, a Torah autholity is a realistic picture of the needs of were hopelessly uncultured, that he respected and heeded only when his Judaism for future times and that alone was privy to the needs ofJewiy attitudes and instructions reflect the rabbis of his era were less in and Judaism for the coming era. He one's own feelings, then one heeds touch with the true nature of the meant no slander against Torah ob· not the autholity at all. but oneself "real" world? That he. more than servance, but merely was groaning alone. For it is precisely in cases others, was sensitive to the vision of under the ponderous weight of the where the gedolim point us down a the future which lay just around the veiy different approach to the times path that seems to us an uninspired bend in the road of Enlightenment? propagated by the chachmei ha· one, that we are most in need of, and Evil, no. He was just veiy. veiy sure dor-the sages of that generation. benefit from, their inspiration. And of himself. Even, unfortunately, to At times, his attitude lapsed from it is exactly such a situation which the point ofdiscounting the plimacy the subtle to the outlight cynical. In truly separates the Torah-committed of Torah scholarship. 1785, upon receiving a copy of the from the rest of the nation. which To return to the stoiyofhis life, to other translation of the Chumash makes us examples for all Jews. the evidence available . . . . into German-the linear translation It is worth taking note that the veiysourceof anti·Torah movements ~Rl!llll!ill!Rl!llllllillllllilRl!llllllillllllilRl!llllllillllllillllllillllllillll!ill!Blllllillllllill is in the rejection not of the concepts of Torah, but of Torah-authorities. The principle of following the advice the gedolimofthe times. From Kor· and decisions of the Torah scholars ach, Jewiy's first Judaism-splitter, until the Reform movement, it has of each generation may not be mentioned been autholity, not theology, that per se was the crucial issue. The first step in the Talmud precisely because it toward the abyss is the step with is the very substance of the Talmud. which the gedolim are left behind. ~!llllll!l!llllll!l!llllll!l!llllll!l!llllll!l!llllll!l!llllll!lllllllll!llllll!l!llllll!l!llllll!l!llllll!l!llllll!l!llllll!llRlll! And the exquisite example is Moses Mendelssohn. FOR WHOM THE "BIUR"? lauded by the NodaBYehuda in his It is my thesis that Mendelssohn's haskama to it-Mendelssohn wrote mistake can be seen as nothing more n his introduction to the Biur, the sender, one Rabbi Hanoch, a than varied manifestations of one Mendelssohn claimed that he response laden with sarcasm. In it central. pervasive theme: a lack of I had undertaken the translation he insinuated that the author of the regard for the opinions of Torah for his children alone, and that only haskama was evidently unfamiliar scholars and thegedo!imofhis time. the entreaties of Solomon Dubno, with poetic Hebrew usage and "could If this is so, the hindsight of his· their tutor, had made him decide to not possibly care if the merest nu· toiy, the image of the fate of Men· publish it.Another intent altogether ance of beauty is lost in the transla· delssohn's family and entourage. can emerges from a letter he wrote to his tion (of the Chumash into German, benefit us with a timely insight and fliend Hennings, dated June 29, line by line)." He may, to assume the momentous lesson. 1779. best, have thought that the haskama He was not a bad Jew in any clear In that letter he wrttes: itself was Wiitten by some student way: he was just convinced that he "(The translation is to be) a first and then just signed by the Noda knew better than those who were the step toward culture, from which my BYehuda, thus disparaging not the unchallenged Torah giants of his nation is, alas, kept at such a dis· gadol but some unknown neophyte. time as to what response was re tance that one might almost despair However. later in that veiy letter, he quired of Judaism to those times. of the possibility ofan improvement." is more clear: Before blaming the man for even Now. in all fairness, it must be "The more it is opposed," he wrote that mistake, take note. He was. after stressed that there is no evidence about his own opus, "by the so· all, the darling of two universes, that Mendelssohn desired to see called chachmei hador. the more respected both as a great German Judaism swallowed up in the En· necessaiy it is. Originally l wrote it philosopher, eloquent and gracious, lightenment. He simply did not for. only for the masses, but now I find and as a champion of Jewish lights, see any weakening of Judaism's that it is still more important for the a stalwart defender of his faith. principles. At a later date. he wrote, rabbis.... " The Jeu,ish Observer, December 1986 17 rabbinical measures of late vintage. F:rom Ko:rach until the Reform movement, which create such detrtmental bar riers between Jews and Christians? it has been authority, not ideology, that ... Yet you, my most worthy Herr was the critical issue. Mendelssohn, have abandoned the faith of your fathers." The line that follows is, in retro Something distinctly less than Judaism. (He chided. in this respect, spect. tmly chilling: reverence is clearly evident for the his fellow Jews to "imitate the virtue "One more step, and you have men of that era known as the of the nations whose vices you become one of us." chachmei hador, in those words of hitherto thought it necessary to Thus, what a man as brilliant as Mendelssohn's. copy.") Nevertheless, it would seem Mendelssohn could not perceive If indeed the thesis is correct, and to be a rather rninor issue of aca that the denial of the supreme role of the pervasive negative element in demic debate. the Torah leaders of each genera Mendelssohn's life was a lack of bitul Until, that is, one sees it in the tion was tantamount to the nega (self-effacement) in favor of the ge light of Mendelssohn's life as a whole. tion of the very essence of Judaism dolim of his day. then a heretofore Then it takes on a positively trans was eminently apparent to a critic unheralded and seemingly minor cendent symbolism. For cherem is, not even in the Jewish camp, a critic opinion of his suddenly takes on of course, the quintessential expres with the benefit of objective per pregnant significance. becoming. as sion of the power and influence of spective. it were. the very embodiment of the the Torah scholar. It gets caught in one's throat. it imperfection of the man. Nothing could conceivably com wants to be voiced, but an angry municate the essence of Meridels condemnation of Mendelssohn CONTRA-"CHEREM" sohn's silent internal struggle with cannot, in good conscience, be Judaism better than his inability to spoken. First one must ask himself: ne area of halacha that stomach cherem as a truly Jewish Do I not, on occasion, ignore the Mendelssohn wrote exten license. His entire dilemma was the exhortations of our own gedolim, or 0 sively on. and which he con the implications of what they say? difficulty he had with the notion of sidered to be parochial, uncharac daas Torah, the idea that men im Do I give their every word the atten teristic of "pure" Judaism and su mersed in Torah and of the purest tion and commitment! should? Do I perfluous, was the concept of myself not on occasion, even sus cherem. character are better equipped than the rest of us to determine what is pect them of naivete? Do I some Cherem, the designated ability of right and what is wrong. times assume that things they say the rabbis of a community to exert are politically or subjectively mo pressure on an individual by ex tivated? communicating him from the gen THE CHALLENGE In other words, is my own emunas eral populace, irked Mendelssohn chachamim intact? greatly. He wrote that it was not n I 782, an anonymous tract ap Ofcourse, one may not wax cynical really part of "pure Judaism," violat peared which challenged Men or subversive, nor reject our leaders ing as it did the tenets of Enlight I delssohn to confess that Chrts outright, but the difference is a enment egalitartanism. a system that tiani ty was the answer to the prob quantitative one and not a qualita he deemed fully compatible with lems of the world. The point of the tive 011e. Judaism as he understood it. Indeed, challenge concerned that which So, rather than condemn Moses the "religion of reason," meaning the Mendelssohn had written about the Mendelssohn, a man who was dedi system of faith and law that a fully incompatibility of religion and power cated, all said and done. to the ideals enlightened man would, on his own, (Le. the illegitimacy of cherem). of Torah. we would do better, much develop. was essentially, according The challenge contained the fol better, to relate ourselves to him, lo to Mendelssohn, identical with lowing paragraphs: understand him, and ultimately to Judaism-and it had no place for "To what extent can you, my dear learn from him. primitive coercive tactics like the Herr Mendelssohn, abide by the faith For the lesson of his life is of vital Bannrecht, or the privilege of of your fathers and, by removing the concern for our own lives today: It is cherem. cornerstone, shake the whole edi not enough, not nearly enough, to be A seemingly minor point. Needless fice, contesting ... the system oflaw frum.11 to say. the prominence of the con that was given by Moses, claiming cept of cherem in the Talmud, even the authortty of Divine Revelation? Con1monly known facts of Mendelssohn's life, as recorded in this article, can be found in greater to the point of its invocation by "If it be possible ... to abolish detail in the Margolis/Marx HtstoryqftheJewish Tannaim to affect other Tannaim. churchly prtvilege (cherem), which People and the Encyclopedia Judaica. The pri would seem to belie Mendelssohn's is based on positive Mosaic laws, mary source for the- information upon which this article is based is Moses Mendelssohn: A Biogra opinion of it as a mere nuisance of a why should it be impossible to can phical Study, by Alexander Altmann, Jewish Pub custom with its source outside of cel. for the nation's benefit, mere lication Society. 18 The Jewish Observer, December 1986 ·------.C.C.'--'----:...:....Moshe __ Yehuda:..:..::,.:..;__;::__::_c.:.._:._:...:_:..:..::, Ben1stein GEOM TRY ANDJUDAICA-= An Artist At Work THE ABSURDITY OF TRUTH To solve this mystery, we will have to embark on a journey to the holy city of Safed ITefasJ, a city steeped in n the wall of the Klausenberger Rebbe's private mysteries of its own. many of them grappled by the kab quarters in Union City. N.J., hangs a very special balists who lived there, including the Holy Ari and his O painting unlike any work of art usually found in disciples. Even today. there is a vibrant quality of mysti· religious ho1nes. Done in luminous acrylics, the canvas cism that permeates Safed with its winding. sky-blue depicts a series of concentric polygons, interlacing with alleyways and time-worn cobblestones. The Klausen one another with a precision that boggles the optic berger Rebbe himself, during his first visit to lsrael, nerves. Any connoisseur examining this 1nasterpiece of remarked that in Safed he was "able to see the holiness of geometric art would no doubt conclude that its influence Eretz Yisroel." So let us amble down these historic cob was from the psychedelic drug culture of the late sixties. blestones, past the synagogue of Rav Yosef Caro, until we In fact. such an assessment would be quite accurate. come to theOHA Gallery. (Ora means light in Hebrew; it is What place. then, does such a painting have on the also an acronym for Organisation of Religious Artists.) rebbe's wall? Inside. talking animatedly to a group of young tourists from New York. is a lean. tall Chassid with lively, dark eyes Moshe YehudaBemsteln, an Amelican oleh who lives in S.--:i.fed, was n•presenced and a long, black beard streaked with frost-white. To cy·Tue Safed Midnight F..xprc&<( In thf' Man?h '86JO. judge fron1 his appearance and mannerisms. dressed in The JeuJish Observer. December 1986 19 Geometric art, expressing the wisdom qf how things tie together, is a fitting vehiclefor conveying the truth qf Torah, which teaches us how all things in the world tie together. "You see this painting," Kaszemacher signals the group towards a painting of a Magen David composed of nine bars that inter-connect in a multi-level three dimensional construction. "The construction is absurd. It cannot exist in real life. Yet it contains nine pieces, the 'small number' of emes, or truth, which has a numertcal value of four hundred and forty-one. It seems a contradic tion. Also the very existence of the Jewish people is an absurdity when we see how many persecutions we have suffered, how many enemies have risen against us. But just like these nine bars when joined together exist in a way that seems to defy nature, so too, we Jews, when united, also exist. defying all the odds." How, then, did Jacques Kaszemacher, who once walked the streets of Greenwich Village hair down to his shoul ders, leading his pet cheetah on a leash, become Yaakov Kaszemacher, the gabbai and mainstay of the Zanser shul in Safed? How did he come to forgo the be-ins of acid-guru Timothy Leary orYippie leader Jerry Rubin for Jacques Kaszemacher in his studio. the tisch of the Klausenberger Rebbe? How did an art his long. black caftan. knickers, and black knee-socks, we form made to satiate the expanded consciousness of hal would guess that this man. Yaakov Kaszemacher. was lucinogenic drugs develop into a medium of expression born and bred in Mea Shearim. If. however. we were able of Torah values? to peer back in time less than twenty years, we would see a very different incarnation of this Chassidic soul.At that FROM CREATIVE DESIGN TO time the name Jacques Kaszemacher of Paris was well DESIGNS OF THE CREATOR known among the avant-garde founders of the anti establishment sub-culture in America and Europe. as a cques Kaszemacher was born in Lyons, France, master ofa newly developed media inherently linked with he son of working-class Polish immigrants who hallucinogenic drugs: the light show. But, for the mo had already abandoned every vestige of Jewish ment. let's return to the present. identity. Duling the Second World War, when Kasze The back wall of the ORA Gallery is full oflarge, richly macher was still a young boy, his parents managed to colored geometrtc paintings similar in optic effect to the escape to Switzerland. At the end of the war they painting which hangs in the home of the rebbe. Yaakov returned and settled in Paris. Kaszemacher had a rough Kaszemacher is the creater not only of these marvels of childhood: with no Jewish friends and a feeling of mal symmetry and color but also of the ORA Gallery itself. For adjustment towards French society, he was a constant an artist to create a gallery is not such an extraordinary source of trouble to his teachers in school and was occurrence, but ORA Gallery has several features that unable to concentrate on his studies. Given an aptitude make it truly unique. First. every artist who exhibits in test in high school, however. he scored exceptionally high ORA is an observant Jew, several of them baa lei teshuva in industrtal design, much to the surprise of both par living in Safed.Also, most of the art on display contains a ents and teachers. Torah-related message, which reaches and affects the After high school he landed a job in the Parisian gar many assimilated Jewish tourtsts who pass daily through ment industry, where he had increased contact with the gallery. Finally, the gallery is a non-profit organiza non-religious Jews of Polish ancestry like himself. Far tion. and the proceeds of all sales support the Zans seeing the future trend towards clothing styles geared to Academy for Higher Rabbinical Studies just across the the younger generation, Kaszemacher attempted to revo street from the gallery. lutionize the garment industry but his ideas met with 20 The Jewish Obseroer, December 1986 persistent rejection from the design establishment. At this peliod in his life, Jacques Kaszemacher led a double life. Daytimes he dressed in a Brooks Brothers suit and passed as a typical young businessman. Evenings he was to be found in the small jazz clubs in St. Germain-des Pres among his cohorts from the beat generation, dis cussing existentialist philosophy or smoking hashish purchased from AJgelian workers. Eventually the high pressure competitiveness of the business world got to THE him. One morning he stayed home from work and while talking on the phone with a fliend, he began to doodle. He continued to doodle after the phone call ended for another two days. This doodling led him to expelience an JEWISH inner tranquility: it was the beginning of his emergence as an artist, and he knew that he could never return to the business world. He quit his job and flew to New York. OBSERVER He spent a few months in Greenwich Village, forging contacts in artistic circles of the newly-budding sub culture of 1966. Overcome with a desire to see more of the Wedo more world, he set off alone on a hitch-hiking tour of the South Amelican continent. It was during this tlip that he than just observe. opened up to the wonders of nature which strengthened his belief in the Creator. He also encountered numerous perils from which he emerged unscathed: isolation in the ------D One Year/$18.00 (for ten issues) Mexican desert, torrential rains, attacks from machete D Two Years/$30.00 (a $50 value) wielding bandits, sickness and poverty. and a week in a D Three Years/$40.00 (a $75 value) Panama jail. Sometimes Kaszemacher spent days on iso lated dirt roads in the middle of tropical jungles, waiting D Outside the U.S.A. add $10-year for the next car to appear: he learned how to trust in for each year ordered. Divine Providence. 'When I look back on the situations I U.S. FUNDS-DRAWN ON A U.S. BANK ONLY put myself in," reflects Kaszemacher, "I am very lucky to still be alive today. It makes me realize how much 5 Beekman Street/New York, N.Y./10038 Hashem loves His people." Send n1agazine to: Name ______ NO ROSES IN FLOWER-POWER COUNTRY Address ______~------ City ______StatC-----~iP•--- fter one year on the road Kaszemacher returned 0 Enclose gift card 0 Master card 0 Visa to New York, where he lodged in a tiny loft, in a A friend's kitchen. It was during this period of time Account No. DDDDDDDDDDDDDDD that he met his future wife. He began expelimentingwith Expiration date DD (month) DD (year) hallucinogenic drugs, especially LSD, which enhanced Signature ______his dynamic perceptions of geometric patterns. Many of these visions were projected onto multiple screens !n Kaszemacher's light-shows at the famed off-Broadway SINGLE(,,., DOUBLE BREASTED discotheque, the Cheetah. Soon, discotheques and rock bands from all over the States were installing Kaszem * MENS' Surrs * acher light-shows. In addition, several galleries held exhibits of Jacques Kaszemacher's bold geometlic art, including the Lower East Side Coda Gallery, Brentano's SILBIGER'S on Fifth Avenue, and 1-2-3 Infinity. Not all, however, was rosy in the flower-power world. Kaszemacher began hav •Slacks * Rainwear ing his doubts realizing that he had gone "from one type •All Wool Coats ' Sports Jackels of conditioning to another. I saw that by breaking the structure, we could not succeed; that what was really Unbe/.ievable Prices needed was an inner revolution that could change the 1769 51 St., Brool The Jewish Obseroer. December 1986 21 also came to the conclusion that one could not be free without mastering these impulses. Finally, the drugs took their toll: Kaszemacher had a "bad trip." He turned on the television set and on eveiy channel found violence. Out on the New York streets he found a world which ov.rn sense of imprisonment." His geometric art had appeared ugly and degenerate. Two days later he Ocw rnade him intensely aware of a sense of order in the back to France and rented a chalet in the Alps in order to universe, but in his own life he knew only chaos and recover and regain peace of mind. unceriainty. His inability to break loose from his internal Back in Paris Kaszemacher found himself gravitating and external bonds forced him to withdraw; he became towards a circle of spirit11al seekers. He became a macro depressed and llncomxnunicative. biotic vegetarian and began to delve into mystical theo· sop hies. in particular the work of George Gurdjieff. His friend, reknowned pop-ariist Peter Max. whose real name THE TANGIER IMAGE-ALIVE IN SAFED is Tu via Finkelstein, had already attempted to bring him into the meditation cult of Swami Satchinanda, but Kas ne day the image of the Moroccan Jews he had zemacher resisted attaching himself to any particular seen in Tangier came to his mind, and he sud group. Ironically. almost all the swami's disciples were denly understood what was bothering him. He Jewish. lfis search for a more pristine, spiritually aware made an immediate visit to the Jewish Agency, and one life-style took him and his wife to Morocco. where they month later Kaszemacher. his wife and their infant son lived for fifteen months in exotic Tangier. During that made aliyah to Eretz Yisroel. The first year the Kasze time, Kaszemacher exhibited in the American Cultural machers used a tiny room as a studio and began to Center and received acclaim in both the French and produce the dazzling geometric acrylics which are now Moroccan press. Kaszemacher became enamored with his trademark. An exhibition at the Hebrew University the primitive beauty of the Moroccan landscape, the received outstanding reviews. At the end of the year, they kaleidoscope of colors in the rambling bazaars and laid moved to the BayitVegan section of Jerusalem.Although back pace of life. One Saturday, while walking through Kaszemacher had become observant shorily after his the souk, Kaszemacher spotted two old, bearded ,Jews. arrival in Israel and was attending shiurim at the Dias cloaked in their tallises, returning from synagogue. pora Yeshiva, he still had not found his niche in Yiddish Although he knew next to nothing about the meaning of keit. They had a few acquaintances in Bayit Vegan, but Shabbos. an instinctive impulse ofguilt made him hasti Kaszemacher still felt uncomfortable in the "bourgeois" ly discard his cigarette. atmosphere of the neighborhood. After a year and a half, Some time, thereafter, Kaszemacher returned to he purchased a house in the Old City of Safed, a city France. He became involved in a communal art st11dio which brought to mind the vibrant intensity of his Mor outside of Paris and was very active in developing his occan experience. In Safed he felt a sense of well-being light·sbow techniques, including a production for the and tranquility. gala rock-festival held in Les Halles in 1968. Kasze Shortly thereafter, Kaszemacher found his way into macher, however, felt uneasy about his sitttation. "Every the shul founded by the Shinover Rav, the son of the artist has a big ego, and life in the commune was a Divrei Chaim of Zans. He became very close with the continual clash of very strange egos. I realized that I was Rosh Kolle! at that time. Rabbi David Leiffer, and with the also in the grip of the yetzer hara, the evil inclination. bachurim who learned there. Kaszemacher was im though. at the time. I was unable to define the cause of my pressed with their devotion to Torah study. their willing- 22 The tletvish Observer. December 1986 "Th e construction is absurd. It cannot exist in real life. ... Yet in numerology it represents Truth. In view of the endless persecutions we Jews have st!ffered, our existence is also an absurdity. Yet we are here." ness to love and help a fellow Jew. and their reverence for There are few who leave the ORA Gallery without feel their rebbe, which still never prevented them from show ing impressed at the achievements of these religious ing great respect for other tzaddikim and their chassi artists, many of whom devote the majority of their time to dim. He began to daven permanently in Zans. When Kas Torah study. As the mayor of Safed, Zeev Pearl, com zemacher first met the rebbe in 1976. he was over mented in a recent newsletter: "Without a doubt. the ORA whelmed. He watched the rebbe stretch out on the grave Gallery has made a significant contribution to both the site of his grandfather, the Toltshover Rav and begin to spiritual and aesthetic qualityoflife in the city ofSafed," sob until his entire body visibly convulsed. More impres For Kaszemacher, who radiates real joy upon seeing sive to Kaszemacher was the genuine warmth he found the positive effect his art has on others. providing them in the rebbe's smile. "Only a man who can love every Jew with a new link to the Torah world, the fulfillment of the and feel his pain can be a leader in Israel," Kuszernacher dream embodied in the ORA Gallery is just the beginning. observes. After the first meeting, he became a chassid of the rebbe. The rebbe, in turn, treated Yaakov Kasze macher as a member of his own family. PLACE: Bnei Brak, Israel DATE: 111 n'lln J.N n11 1 TYING THINGS TOGETHER Mother and breadwinner age 35 tragically killed by ince his arrival in Safed fifteen years ago, the estab bus. Father with disabling heart condition left with lishment of a gallery for religious artists has been nine young children with no income. Sone ofKaszemacher's prime concerns. Despite his Please open your hearts for this worthy cause. May official accreditation, the secular Safed artist's guild the n1)1 of your giving npi--s, bring us a year of nn':J'Sn denied him membership and display space in the general and n1Y1\!J). exhibition hall for several years. In 1979 Kaszemacher Rav Nissim Karelitz Rav Yosef Shalom Eliyashuv opened a small gallery called Tifferet which lasted two Bnei Brak Yerushalayim years until tbe landlord inexplicably refused to renew the lease. The ORA Gallery with its prime location nearthe R Rav Ovadia Yosef Rav Avrohom Blumenkrantz Yerush;:ilayim Far Ror:kaway, N.Y. YosefCaro synagogue and its bright spacious layout. is truly the fulfillment of a long-time dream for Kasze Please sf>nd your tax deductible donation to: macher and a feather-in-the-cap for Zans Institutions of N'Shei Chasdei Malka Safed. which along with the synagogue. mikveh, and c/o Schwartz religious housing projects now sponsors an art gallery. 95 Lawrence Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11230 On the relevance of geometric art to Judaism, Kasze macher explains. "Geometry is a universaJ wisdom. known to every civilization. past and present. It is the wisdom of how things tie together. The Torah as well FEIVEL KIRSHENBAUM, Ph.D. teaches us how all things in the world lie together and FINANCIAL ADVISER merge in the path of service to the Creator." In addition. he cites an inherent connection between geomet zy and Expertise in financial planning, investment numbers. 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JMPORTED BY MEOEK W!Nf.S& SPIR!TSCO., NEW' YORK, NY Rabbi David Gottlieb "DIALOGUES #2" CHOSEN PEOPLE Dialogues, discussions and debates ... conversations and kibbitz ing-we frequently face off with others, challenging their opinions, defending our own views from their verbal assaults. Sometimes a heated argument can center on an abstract principle or an element in national policy that is beyond the reach of our influence and, at the same time, has little or no bearing on our personal lives. Other times, the exchange may be soft-spoken and almost casual, but could affect a person for his entire lifetime. and then some. A master teacher-currently a member of the faculty of Yeshiva Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem-Rabbi David Gottlieb examined various approaches employed in helping people who are estranged from Judaism make the transition from skeptic to believer in "Dialogues in Judaism" (See the Summer '85 edition of the Jewish Observer). Here he guides the Inquiring Person-and the reader-in dealing with a challenging concept. "CHOSENNESSIS UN-AMERICAN" ('We hold these truths to be self the idea of chosenness. 1) In fact. all evident. that all men are created people are equal; 2) people should equal ....") Since people are equal. therefore have equal rights and res Inquiring Person: "I have heard that they ought to be treated equally. ponsibilities; 3) distinguishing we Jews are supposed to regard our each having the same rights and the groups on the basis of lineage is selves as a chosen people-different same responsibilities. To single one racism, and racism is unacceptable. from. and better than everyone else. group out as chosen on the basis of "Let's take each point In tum.1 That idea is particularly offensive to lineage smacks of racism. We, who You believe that people are equal. In me. Modern, democratic societies have suffered so much from racist what respects are they equal?" start with the principle of equality. ideologies, should certainly not be l. The strategy followed here ls explained ln "Dia~ racists ourselves!" logues in Judaism," Jewish Obseroer. Summer Rabbi Gottlieb lectures on Torah topics in Israel as 1985; first address the critic on his own ground well as in virtually every English-speaking countiy so as to expose the shortcomings of his position. on the globe. His "Love and Marriage," appeared in Orthodox Jew: "It seems that you Then, when he is open to hear an alternative point JO, Nov. '86. have three basic complaints against of view, describe the Torah's position. The Jewish Observer, December 1986 25 "Even if people are not factually equal in all respects, shouldn't they be treated equally in terms of their rights and responsibilities?" I.P.: 'What do you mean?" height. weight and beauty. But even vices-is that equality? The state O.J.: "Obviously people are not equal for character and intelligence your spends much more on the education in height and weight. Nor are they response is inadequate. 1) You have ofa blind. deaf or retarded child than equal in beauty and intelligence. no evidence that infants are born it does for a normal child-is that Their characters differ quite sharp equal in these respects-obviously equal opportunity?" ly-one is more sensitive than we cannot test their character and I.P.: 'Well, of course I don't mean another, or more caring, or more intelligence directly! 2) There is some that equality should be blind. Im irascible etc. Their abilities with evidence to the contrary from stu portant differences between people respect to every human endeavor dies of identical twins and from the have to be taken into account. You vary widely. Given all those differen genetic and chemical origin of be can't ask a cripple to be an in ces. what is there that makes them havior and emotions.2 3) If different fantryman!'" equal?"" opportunities produce differences in O.J.: "So people should be treated I.P.: 'Well. all people are born and character and abilities. notice that some differences in opportunities differently in accordance with the die. eat. sleep. feel pleasure and pain, relevant differences between them?" experience happiness and grief.... " are impossible to avoid. Physical dif ferences affect one's opportunities I.P.: "Sure." O.J.: ''You're right-there are cer in sports; differences in beauty affect tain general constants in the human O.J.: "Then what is the point of a one's social opportunities: not all principle of equal treatment?" condition. But in the specifics there children can be first (or middle, or I.P.: 'Well, maybe the point is that is still enormous variety. The need last) among the siblings, etc." for food and sleep varies widely. peo each person's life should be regarded ple take pleasure in strongly con I.P.: 'Well, even if people are not fac as equally valuable. Physical differ tually equal in all respects, it seems trasting activities (e.g. Roman gla ences, and even differences in intel~ diators vs. a Mozari minuet). and the to me they ought to be treated equally ligence and character should not contents of a happy life are as varied in terms of their rights and res lead us to treat one life as more valu as are people." ponsibilities." able than another." I.P.: "But some features are rela O.J.: "If so. why is it that millions of "PEOPLE OUGHT TO BE dollars are spent protecting the lives tively constant-the death of a loved TREATED EQUALLY" one produces grief, release from ofcertain government officials, while danger-joy, etc." far less is spent protecting other O.J.: "So we pass to your second O.J.: "All right. 1 admit certain con citizens who are also in danger (e.g. point. Notice that it now has no the staffs of foreign embassies)?" stants even in the specifics of human obvious rationale: How could we life. But you have to admit the wide decide in general whether the fac I.P.: "That's because their lives are variety in human abilities, charac tual equalities or the factual in more important to other people. If ters, and physical characteristics." equalities should determine the dis the president dies that is a crisis for tribution of rights and responsi the whole country. I meant that peo bilities? And I wonder if you really ple's lives are intrinsically equal in "SURELY ALL INFANTS believe in this equality yourself. The value." ARE BASICALLY EQUAL" draft law has at various times O.J.: "Maybe so (though you still exempted women. men over a cer have no rationale for such a prlnci I.P.: 'Tm not sure I do. Perhaps you tain age, people from whose imme pie). But notice that this has no are right about adults, but surely diate family two members have died direct practical consequences. Just Infants are basically equal. All the in foreign wars-was that discrimi as we spend more to protect the differences you cite are due to train natory inequality? The graduated president. even though his life is not ing and culture. If all were given the income tax makes the rich pay many intrinsically more valuable, so other same opportunities, adults would be times more than the poor for essen·· distinctions could be made." much more equal." tially the same governmental ser- I.P.: "!am lost. What then could the founding fathers have meant?" O.J.: "Obviously, you are not res 2. CF. U.S. New and World Report, April 20. 1981. ponding to physical differences like pp. 75-76 O.J.: "Maybe they meant what they 26 The Jewish Observer, December J 986 said: ·... all men are created equal since only maternity is relevant to matter of humanitarian policy. True, and endowed by their Creator. .. .' being born a Jew.4 can distinguish Nazi Germany introduced euthana They were religious men: they re ing Jews from non-Jews be properly sia for its 'unproductive' citizens. garded each other as equal in G-d 's called 'racist'?" but our society's example shows that eyes. But that won't help you found I.P.: ''Technically, I suppose not But it does not necessarily follow." a secular political ideology!" it still seems to be dangerous to I.P.: "But is it realistic lo regard I.P.: "Maybe equal treatment ought regard groups as inherently super peoples as inherently different?" to be a kind of initial position. Sure. ior or inferior." relevant differences must be taken O.J.: "Now we have come to the crux O.J.: "Is it realistic not lo? All the into account. But people should be of the 'racism' problem. Ifwe identify observations we made concerning treated equally until it can be proved a group as inferior, it is assurned individual differences apply as well that they are relevantly different." that some sinister policy of victimi to groups in terms of their group O.J.: 'Why? Look: treating people zation or even elimination must fol character. Take modem nations. for the same who are relevantly differ low. In fact, nothing of the sort need example. Why is it that the Germans ent is just as wrong as treating dif happen. Consider our society's consistently excel in music and ferently people who are the same. treatment of handicapped people scientific research? The Americans Why should preference in a doubtful the blind, deaf. paralyzed, retarded, in technology? Why is it that in Eng case always go to the side of etc. We extend to them extra care as a land most police (and most crimi equality?"3 nals!) forswear the use of firearms, 4. I.e. th(' children of a Jewish woman are Jewish. whereas in American everyone uses I.P.: "l don't know. I see that my whethf'r or not the father is Jewish. A race, by belief in equality is very problematic. contrast. should be determint'"d equally by father them? And why is it that the Jewish But I still can't accept a doctrine like and mo1her. contribution to world culture is al- chosenness which is racist." il"J ''WHY ISN'T IT RACIST?" DIAL-A-DAF O.J.: "That's your third point. Before we tackle that. let's sum up what we spans have so far. We have agreed that 1) although lives are the same in some respects. 2) they differ in many res The Daily Daf Available Every Hour On The Hour pects. including intelligence, per 24 Hours A Day_ sonality, and abilities. 3) these dif ferences are to some unknowr1 ex" tent innate. and 4) rights and res ponsibilities should be distributed in accordance with relevant differ ences hetween people. Finally 5) al though equality might refer to the intrinsic value of life (or dearness to G-d), 6) no direct social consequen ces follow. Do you accept these con clusions?" I.P.: "I don't see how 1 can disagree with them." O.J.: "Then let's go on to the charge AVAILABLE IN YIDDISH NEW YORK (718) 4J6....499'J * Loni kland ...... (718) •:J6.4'1'.1'9 of racism. I suppose by 'racist' you OR ENGLISH Sta1 .. n l The Je1vish Observer, December 1986 27 "Isn't equal treatment of people who are different just as wrong as treating differently people who are the same?" ways many times out of proportion inherently different. But you have O.J.: "First, because it is inconsist to its population?" produced no positive evidence to ent with the classical Jewish sour I.P.: "l agree that different nations show that Jews are in fact inher ces (as we shall see). But second, have what might be called different ently different." consider what is implied concerning 'national characters.' But can't that O.J.: "That's true. Since what we are G-d's selection process. He has a be explained in terms of different is a product of both our inherent unique, very demanding challenge national experience rather than in nature and our unique historical to assign to a particular nation. And herent differences?" experience, it is difficult to rule out you admit that nations differ in the possibility that the latter alone their character and abilities. Never "DO YOU HAVE accounts for our uniqueness. Never theless you want to see the choice as POSITIVE EVIDENCE?" theless, classical Jewish sources do basically random-it might just as rule it out, and you have agreed that well have been the Chinese or the O.J.: "If so, let's see the explanation! this is not unreasonable.'' Eskimos as the Jews!?" Until we have such an explanation, I.P.: "! agree to defer the point until I.P.: "No. that is clearly ridiculous. we shouldn't simply assume that it we consider the sources. But first, I Given that national character varies, exists. Remember also that the im· have heard an interpretation of cho G-d should choose that nation whose pact an experience has on a person senness in terms of a special task: character best suits it to the chal or a nation depends upon the char not that Jews are different from lenge. Any other choice would be acter that it brings to the experience, non-Jews, but that G-d gave them a inefficient and unfair.'' as well as the nature of the expe challenge to live in a special, exem rience itself." plary way. Why can't you be satisfied O.J.: 'Well said! Let's note our addi I.P.: "All right, I admit that it may with such a definition of chosen tional conclusions to this point: 7) not be unrealistic to view nations as ness?" chosenness is not racism; 8) identi fying groups as inherently superior/ inferior may be part of a benevolent social policy; 9) it is not obviously wrong to attribute different national character in part to inherent na AN URGENT REMINDER tional differences; and 10) the 'task' FROM explanation ofchosenness is absurd. What else bothers you on this sub CHEVRA DOR YESHORIM ject?" 1111Dllill!IB!illlilllillll!lll&llllllllllllifll81llllllliillUll!lilllillllilllillllilllillllilllillllilllillllillli!&lllli&llli&l!&llllllillliillllllillli~ "ISN'T IT SELF-SERVING YOUNG PEOPLE OF MARRIAGEABLE AGE TO SAY 'I'M CHOSEN'?" MUST BE TESTED I.P.: "Only this: to say that the Jew in order to prevent the scourge of Tay-Sachs ish people is better suited than oth disease from striking the next generation, in ers to a great moral and spiritual accordance with the directives of the Gedolei Hador. challenge implies that they are mor ally and spiritually better than oth Call for an appointment. ers. Isn't it very self-serving (and (718) 384-6060, (914) 783-1370, (914) 425-4466 therefore suspicious and alienating) to regard one's group as superior to No fee. Confidentiality assured. all others?" CHEVRA DOR YESHORIM, INC. O.J.: "!think you are partly right 33 Spencer Street• Brooklyn, N.Y. 11205 claims of this kind do create suspi cion and alienation. But that does not mean they are necessarilyfalse: 28 The Jewish Observer, December 1986 if Einstein had boasted of his intel a Jewish community is, the less dis O.J.: "That is an enormous subject. I lect, or Artur Rubinstein of his mus tinguished is their quality of life." can give you only the barest outline. ical ability. their statements would O.J.: "That's true. But the perfor Adam contained within himself all also have been 'self-serving,' but true mance of a community {or an indi the characteristics of his descend 7 nevertheless. The statistics of vio vidual) depends upon its inherent ants. As mankind proliferated. peo lent crime. drug addiction. alcoho nature and the extent to which that ple came to possess more narrowly lism, family stability. literacy, social nature is developed. (A child growing defined selections of those charac support, etc. verify the higher moral up among animals will not talk. even teristics. Thus individuals start life and spiritual quality oflife in Jewish though it inherently possesses the with considerably different inherent communities. Furthermore. I think power of speech. which they do not.) natures. For an initial period of his your point can be mitigated some We see non-Orthodox communities tory, itwaspossibleforaperson to so what. How self-serving the claim to as suffering from underdeveloped peifect his given nature through his superiority is depends in part on Jewish characteristics. due to their own actions that he could perman what is meant by 'superior.' I) If it lack of exposure to Judaism. Besides, ently raise his descendants to his means 'more meritorious' then in the statistics were not supposed to level. This was accomplished by the deed it is self-serving, suspicious, prove inherent superiority, but Patriarchs, so that Jews are the in and alienating. But no Jewish source rather the possibility of inherent heritors of their characteristics and, asserts that Jews, just by virtue of superiority even though the claim is collectively. their spiritual level. 8 It is being Jews. are automatically more self-serving." this inheritance that makes the meritorious than non-Jews5 . 2) But Jewish people inherently unique. if it means 'excelling in moral and "To describe this uniqueness in spiritual characteristics,' then it "WHAT DOES OUR UNIQUENESS detail requires Kabbalistic sources need not have so negative a connota CONSIST OF?" which are beyond my competence. tion. since the superior characteris But we can infer its general nature tics may be the result of G-d's in from the special challenge the Torah vestment in us. and not our own I.P.: "Perhaps I should stop sniping assigns to the Jews. (As you pointed at your belief in your chosenness. eyjorts. It may be that G-d fashioned out, we expect G-d to match the chal since I seem to be out of ammuni our people especially so that they lenge to our abilities.) That chal would be suited for His challenge. If tion. Can you describe to me what lenge can be described in the follow- so, we can take no credit for those our unique characteristics are sup characteristics-they rather serve to posed to be, and how it is supposed 7. Cf. Shemos Rabba, 40:3. obligate us to a higher standard of we came to possess them?" 8. Cf. Derech Hashem Il:4. performance.s" I.P.: "I understand that one does not take credit for gifts received, and THE YITIY LEIBEL HELP-LINE that this reduces the self-serving nature of the claim to superiority. A Free Service of the But I don't see how the statistics you Yi.tty Leibel Chesed Fund cited help prove that Jews have in herently superior moral and spirit • Marital problems? • Fear ofbreak-down? ual characteristics, since those sta • Overpowering stress? • Parent-child friction? tistics only apply to Orthodox Jewish communities. The more assimilated Do you have problems like these and are afraid or ashamed to talk to anyone? ... Do you want a trained, wise, warm professional who will 5. For example, some Jews are denied entrance talk to you on the phone? into the World-to-Come, whereas some non-Jews are admitted. "Are you not as the children of Cush Some ofthe Torah community's highly skilled psychologists, social to me, Oh children of Israel? ... didn't I take Israel workers, and therapists are ready to help. Your consultation will be out of Egypt and Phillistlnes from Caftor and Aram from Kir?" (Amos 9, 7) In other words, G-d treated with the utmost discretion. You may remain anonymous if has guided the destinies of other nations as well; you prefer. They understand. They're trained. They have Ahavas if we fail, shall He not punish us as He has pun ished thl:'m? (see Rashl). Yisrael. 6. The Ropshitzer Rebbe once recited his yichus. Hewasasked:"lfyou aoegoeat.you don't need the Hours: Monday through Friday 8:00-12:00 a.m. goeatness of youo ancestol"S: and if you are not great. how does their greatness help you?.. He Sunday through Thursd The Jewish Observer, December 1986 29 It is the challenge of the Jew to teach the ultimate value of existence to mankind by exemplifying it by his life as a tzaddik. ing general way.9 Let's distinguish out a value the creation would real striving in which their lives also comparative value-things that are ize, and since the universe does not possess inherently valuable moral· valuable because they are better than yet exist, we are not faced with the spiritual quality.' The system of their alternatives. from inherent choice between that value and its com1nandments is designed to dev value-things whose value does not alternative-·this value will be in· elop this aspect of life. Jewish require such comparison. For ex herent. Such a value will justify the uniqueness consists in a natural ample. health is better than disease, very existence of the universe capacity to develop in this way knowledge than ignorance. intelli· {whereas comparative values can through Torah living. gence than stupidity; these compar· only grade different states of the "! realize this sketch leaves many isons show that health. knowledge. universe against one another}. It is questions unanswered, but perhaps and intelligence have comparative the challenge of the Jew to teach enough has been said to convince value. To show that something has this ultimate value to mankind by you that I) chosenness is not ob· inherent value, we must get beyond exemplifying it in his life. What is viously unreasonable, or to be re· comparisons. Imagine advising G-d this value? It is the unique moral futed out of hand. and 2) the subject on the creation of the universe. What spiritual quality of the life Qf a is deep enough to warrant further reason could we give in favor of the tzaddik. Our advice to G-d would be: study." creation? We would have to point Yes. create the world, because there I.P.: "Yes. I am convinced of those will be in it tzaddikim whose lives two points. Thank you!" 9. This ide *** LEARN AND EARN!! *** * We pay $1.00 for every m»v1:1 i''O you know by heart. C.O.D.l * Anyone canjolnl fill out application and return it at once. We'll send you all details. It cost's you nothing to join. * This Project is being sponsored >"I) Hagaon RavYaacov Kanievsky (Steipler) )"!II, Hagaon Rav Moshe Feinstein )""and Hagaon RavYaacov Kaminetzky )"!II. CHEVRAH MISHNAYOS B' AL PEH ----- JOIN THE CHEVRAll MISHJYA.YOS B'AL PEH AND EARN Sl.00 FOR EVERY nl')'(.11') pio YOU KNOW BY HEART! For additional details on joining this dub fill ou1 form below. Spon'°'ed ""TORAH COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK produceB of: Mishnah-On-The-Phone. Dial-A-Oaf. Dial-A-Shiur Return to: CHE\'RAH MISHMYOS B'AL YEH 1618-4Jrdstrcd. Brooklyn. rt.Y. t I :J().\ (718).\36-4999 I would like to join the Chew.ilh l'tlshna>05 B';al Pt':h. f"leasc send me all the dctalh. Name------Phone ------Date ___ Add«>S ------City ----Stale --Zip __ Yeshiva Attending r.;::::====== 30 The Jewish Observer, December 1986 Rabbi Emanuel Feldman By the Way, Whatever Happened to Chanuka? may be considered a heretic for Ha-Torah-the light of Torah-and who teach their children Torah. But the following statement. and its holy wisdom (chochma shel mass gift givingand card sending as I merchants and gift shops will be kedusha) as distinguished from we know it today seems to have upset at me for stating it publicly, the secular wisdom (chochma shel become a manifestation of the Amer but with a muted voice and bated chol) of Hellenistic culture. ican neurosis which I call Imitatio breath I hereby whisper it-tenta Is it not an irony that the festival Goi. tively, timidly, but publicly: a Jew is which celebrates Jewish uniqueness Certainly there is no objection per not religiously obligated to give gifts and which represents a defeat for se to Chanuka gift-giving. It is only on Chanuka. the age-old thrust towards assimila that I find it ironic that the festival of Please do not misunderstand: gift tion should have fallen upon hard Chanuka, whose theme is anti-as giving is a fine gesture at any time. times in America, and become a pale similation, should have capitulated and expresses one's care, interest. Jewish version of the December sea to the very assimilatorytendencies it concern, or love. Gifts can be given sonal festival complete with tinsel supposedly defeated two thousand on Wednesday, on Pesach, Shavuos, and gift wrap? If some Jews are pil years ago. Even the modem state of Succos, Sbabbos-for any reason or ing up Chanuka gifts under the Israel has fallen victim to this: it for no reason. My point is simply Menora on the first night ofChanu marks the festival by sending run that while gift giving in itself is ka, can the lighting of the Great ners with lit torches from town to neither within norwithout the spirit Menora at the top of Rich's"be far town in Israel. This bears the faint of Chanuka, our gifting of one behind? aroma of the ancient Greek Olympi another at this season should be There is an element of gift-giving ads: runners and torches. History more than just an imitation of the traditionally involved with Chanu does play some ironic jokes, does it holiday practices of the dominant ka, and that is "Chanuka geldt." not? culture around us. Parents would present coins as gifts What Chanuka celebrates is a to their children-as a reward, or as Let us all have a happy Chanuka miraculous victory of a handful of an incentive, for the study of Torah: and. gift-giving or not, let us remem ber that Chanuka was a battle for Jews over a tyrannical foe who wants and parents would send gifts to those to obliterate the uniqueness of Jud the preservation of Jewish unique aism. The Hellenists-non-Jews as *Atlanta's pre1nier depart1nent store ness.• well as some Jews-insisted that Judaism and Torah assimilate into the dominant Greek culture. The CAMP S'DEI CHEMED miracle was that we won not only the INTERNATIONAL , .. 00 military victory but the spiritual vic tory as well. The uniqueness of Juda ~ Modern luxurious campus in the beautilul resort city of Netanya •The ~ finest. best most comprehensive and intensive touring program ism remained untouched. And the available anywhere• Mature experienced stafl • Excellent camping cruse of consecrated temple oil program includes all sporls. swimming. learning and leisure • which contained enough for one ' The Jewish Observer, December 1986 31 A COPE diploma can lead to great things Like a job. • BASIC, COBOL, JCL & BAL • Full tuition scholarships through JTPA in conjunction with other federal financial aid • Extensive, hands-on includes IBM main for eligible participants frame, supermini and IBM PC experience. with limited family income or those • Program extension options include TSO, recently laid off or CICS, dBasell, Lotus 1-2-3. employed in a declining industry. • Comprehensive program recognized for its quality by the industry it serves. • Professional aptitude testing and career counseling recommendations with a proven reputation for integrity. • Effective placement assistance refers the "COPE GRADUATE" with pride. • Financial aid including grants and loans can provide full tuition assistance for eligible applicants. For Information and Enrollment Procedures Call COPE INSTITUTE The Computer Programming Training NEW CLASSES Center to Business and Industry 4419 18th Avenue BEGIN Brooklyn, N.Y. 11204 (718) 436-1700 JANUARY 19, 1987 Accredited by the Association of hidependent Colleges & Schools. Licensed by the New York State Educational Department. A Division of Agudath Israel of America . . .. BOOKS relate to his choices, but rather to the basic concept of an THEPENTATEUCHTRUMATH TZVI, Translation of the abbreviated Hirsch commentary. In leafing through this text and excerpts from the commentary of Samson work, this reviewer was delighted to find many of the Raphael Hirsch, with all Haftaroth and the Five MegiJ. most fundamental observations contained in the origi· lath, edited by Ephraim Oratz, English translation from nal, e.g., Rabbi S. R. Hirsch's comments on the relation of the original German by Gertrude Hirschler (Judaica the Oral to the Written Law (II. 21:2) or on the stages of Press, New York, 1986, $35). Israel's future redemption (III, 26:42). But at the same time he painfully noted the omissions and oversimplifi· By any standards this is a monumental work. Beauti· cations that were unavoidable. fully produced, graphically a masterpiece, it offers to the To mention just a few examples, Rabbi S. R. Hirsch's reader the Hebrew text of the Chumash, together with a discussion of the meaning ofblessingG-0 (I, 9:27), which new English rendering of the complete original German he considered of the greatest importance, is omitted; and translation of the Pentateuch by Rabbi S. R. Hirsch. Miss so is his definition of the relationship of Torah study to Hirschler has a felicitous way with words, and her trans· secular studies (III. 18:4·5) which is the foundation of lati on achieves both clarity and readability while preserv· Torah Im Derech Eretz.The passage dealing with the ing the nuances of the original: occasional explanatory meaning of Betzalmeinu is quoted (I, 1:27)-but the footnotes were added by her where necessary. To enhance equally crucial definition of Kidmuseinu (I, 1:26) is omit· the value of this work for synagogue use. the publishers ted. (It should be stressed that the translation of the added the Haftaroth for the whole year (including the chosen passages is truly excellent-through the words Yomim Tovim) and the five Megilloth, with introduc· "the generation" in the commentary to I, 11:1, are mis· tions and translation by Rabbi A J. Rosenberg. leading: the punctuation of the Hebrew in this passage But, of course, the heart of this work is the com· also is in error.) mentary-excerpts from Rabbi S. R. Hirsch's Pentateuch The question that has to be faced is: Can an abbre· Commentary, selected by Rabbi Ephraim Oratz. Indeed, viated Hirsch commentary do justice to the author and Rabbi S. R. Hirsch never meant his translation of the provide a full understanding of his work? There can be Chumash to stand by itself but to be elucidated by his no doubt that the work before us is of great value in profound and original comments. They were meant to introducing readers to the world of thought of Rabbi S. R. demonstrate the unity of Written and Oral Law and to Hirsch. Many who might never have made the effort to outline the worldview of the Torah. explore the full commentary may here learn to develop a In these circumstances, Rabbi Oratz had an unenvi· taste for Rabbi S. R. Hirsch's ideas. But this reviewer able task-to shorten where the author saw a need to believes that they also have to be told with all forceful· enlarge, to omit where the author felt it necessary to ness: wn '.>>1 p>N1-go and study the rest, ifyou want truly comment. Faced with the space limitations set to him-a to understand Rabbi S. R. Hirsch. It would be a great pity one volume edition-Rabbi Oratz did very well. If the if they were satisfied with excerpts in lieu of the entire reader is left with any doubts about this work, they do not great work. The Jewish Obseroer, December 1986 33 THE COMPLETEARTSCROLL MACHZOR: YOM KIP AQAYDAT YITZCHAQ, Commentary of Rabbi Yitzchaq PUR, a new translation and anthologized commentary Arama on the Torah, translated and condensed by by Rabbi Nasson Schennan, coedited by Rabbi Meir Zlo Eliyahu Munk, Two Volumes (R. Mass, Ltd., Jerusalem. towitz, designed by Rabbi Sheah Brander (Mesorah 1986. $24.00). Publication, Brooklyn, 1986, hardcover-$16.95 ). Rabbi Yitzchaq Arama's work on the Chumash has To say that this volume follows the example of the Art always been vastly admired and liberally quoted but scroll Rosh Hashana Machzoris correct but misleading, much less studied. The reason is simple: it is a very because it does not acknowledge the many unique fea difficult work, too difficult for most. The essays on each tures that distinguish it. It shares many features with Sidra deal with fundamental philosophical and exegeti the earlier volume: a most readable translation, clear and cal questions, and in exploring them the author touches detailed directions, a special section on the dinim of the on many different angles and issues, creating a complex day, an overview and a most helpful commentary. But tapestry of thought! The work before us represents an there are many other facets to this Machzor, such as effori to make the main insights and teachings of this translations of the Tf!filla Zakkah, the Shirey Hayi classic available to the English-speaking reader. In each chud, and Mishnayos Yoma, a tabulation of the se of the 105 sections it presents the central theme as well quence of the Avoda. and a detailed exposition of the as the questions offered on the Sidra under discussion, Viduy, based on Michtav M'EliyahlL To fit all of this in and the answers provided by the author. It includes the one handy volume required exceptional skill in design parables which the author uses to illustrate his points and graphics. The editors tried hard and generally suc and his original interpretations of relevant Midrashim. ceeded in including the wide variety of customs, practi Each of the two volumes opens with a detailed page-by ces. and liturgic variants that have arisen in connection page list of the topics discussed. so that the reader can with the Yorn Kippur Prayers. (One exception that this look for specific issues of interest to him (at the back of reviewer noted: no reference is made to the fact that at the second volume is also an index of all sources quoted Shacharis, Mussaf, and Mincha, the universal custom in the book). Though the condensation occasionally was to recite Selichos before Zechor Rachamecha; in makes choppy reading, and the style needs polishing in some congregations this is still done, and such a time places, the reader will find in these volumes an encyclo hallowed practice should at least be acknowledged.) This pedic wealth of ideas on practically every aspect of hash work is a remarkable achievement and will undoubtedly kafa. Rabbi Munk deserves our gratitude for his prodi find quick and widespread acceptance. gious effori. ::n" '.:Im KASHRUS To Our Dear FrienrL~ Mendy and Toby Shayovich MAGAZINE on the forthcoming rruirriage ®&@~ of their daughter the 40 page bimonthly magazine Chanie for the kosher consumer to We monitor for you • Mislabeled Products • Pareve I Dairy Michael Rothschild • Unauthorized Symbols • Supervision Changes May the mmn be, n 11 ~:i, • New Products nn'.:l~nm n:im n~l!!:i and may thq1 have Other features: The Kashrua Traveler. Consumer Alert. Kosher Services. What's Tbe Bracha. Ask Dr. Zimmerman much nm from all their children. 5 - 40 page Issues/yr. A special ::im '.:ltn to SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM the grandparents mall to: Kosltru!!I, sub. Serolce Dept., PO.B. 11305, Milwaukee, WI. 53211 U.S. DJ111"./IJO C2yrs./$J8 03yr./$26 Mr. c 34 The Jewish Observer. December 1986 TORAH PERSPECTIVES, expositions on Jewish liturgy, StelleVision thought and halacha, by Rabbi Mordechai Gifter (Me OPHTHALMIC DISPENSERS sorah Publications, Brooklyn. 1986, $9.95 hardcover. 925 45th STREET • 435-6036 $6.95 softcover.) Bet. 9th & 10th Ave.-side entrance 2 B!ocks from Miamonides Hospital HOURS: Sun. thru Thurs. 11 am - 6 pm, Closed Fri. & Sat. This collection of essays and lectures by the eminent FULLY LICENSED BY THE STATE OF N.Y. & N.J. Rosh Yeshiva ofTelshe Yeshiva spans forty years oflead *Price includes any ership of the American Torah community.and the topics frame selection. with which it deals are truly a cross-section of the con *Lenses are the finest ~- cerns of the Torah Jew during these decades: Jewish quality available education, faith in our Sages, Torah and the Jew's role on anywhere. SINGLE VISION earth, the need for ethical perfection. the Holocaust and *All special lenses and GLASS OR PLASTIC dvelopments in Eretz Yisroel. Some of the essays are prescriptions can be translated from Yiddish. having appeared in Dos Yid made here. $2995 dishe Vort; a few were originally delivered as Shiurei l~-coUPON---, BIFOCALS Da'as (ethical lectures ) in Telshe Yehsiva: all of them TK, ST25, ST28 evidence the authoritative voice of an outstanding Torah II FREE TINT : personality showing us how to relate to the happenings WITHANY I $4495 and problems of our age. l COMPLETE PAIR I READING I OF GLASSES : 1/2 GLASSES HILCHOS BAIS HABECHIRAH, the Laws of G-d's L ______J $2395 Chosen House. from the Mishnah Torah of the Rambam, Look soon for our translated with commentaries, notes, tables, charis, and Lakewood, N.J. opening RX Range+/- 6.00-4.00 cyl index, by Rabbi Eliyahu Touger(Maznaim Publications, New York-Jerusalem. 1986, $12.95). DESIGNER FRAMES This volume, the first in a projected series. provides the ELIZABETH ARDEN • GNENCHY Hebrew text. an excellent translation, and an English CAPEZIO • PICASSO • BILL BLASS & more ... commentary that explains the source, meaning and rami fications of each halacha. drawing on the various com mentators and using the lllustrative charts drawn by the Rambam himself (according to the edition published by THE SIXTH ANNUAL Rabbi Kappach). As Rabbi Touger points out in the introduction, we cannot today build the Temple: but WINTER studying its structure and dimensions-in demonstra YARCHEI KALI.AH tion of our longing for it-is the closest we can get to this mitzva. The present volume not only will be of value to SPONSORED BY the student of the laws of the Sanctuary who is In need of BETH MEDRASH GOVOHA help, but it provides a general and lucid introduction to anyone interested in knowing about its appearance and WILL LEARN operation. D'nt1£> ''.ll)J Pl£> - D'ntin n::>VD Fron1 Decernber 24, 1986-:January 4, 19()7 THE TORAH ANTHOLOGY: THE BOOK OF EICHA. by 11 Rabbi Shmuel Yerushalmi, translated and adapted by n:JD ') - 1'.JV::> '.1 :::> Rabbi Eliyahu Touger (Maznaim Publication Co., New 9:30 A.M.-6:00 P.M. York/Jerusalem, 1986, H $12.95) Shiurin1 will be given by: This is yet another volume in the Torah Anthology series, the translation of the Yalkut Me'.Am Loez. It contains Rav Shimon Schwab N"\J'J'l' summary of the dinim of Tisha Be'Av, as well as the N"\J'J'l' evening service and the Kinos thatare part of it. However. Rav Don Ungarisher its main part is the translation of Eicha, and a comment Rav Psachya Fried N"\J'J'l' ary on it, which is based on Talmud and Mid rash but also draws on later commentators. A number of appendices For i'v1orc InfiJrn1ation: round off this very useful volume: statements of Chazal Call Moshe Fulda ( 212) ~l21l-4538 about the destruction of the first and second Temples, an Aaron Jacobs Ul14 l 425-61lfiG/(D14) 3W-1100 account of the historical background, and a selection of the prophecies about the redemption to come. The trans Out of State 1-(dOO) 772-1212 lator must be commended upon the easy flow of his Free Transportation Provided translation, which will be appreciated by the readers. The Jewish Observer, December 1986 35 EFFECTIVE JEWISH PARENTING, by Miriam Levi (Feldheim Publishers, New York/Jerusalem, 1986, Famous $10.95). The Dairy Restaurant Our sages speak about "the pain of raising children," and every parent knows about it. It can have a variety of 222 West 72nd Street(212) 595-8487 causes-and in our days the most general source of pain and frustration is the uncertainty and insecurity par Cholov Yisroel • Shomer Shabbos ents feel when trying to bring up children in a world of Under the Supervision of K'hal Adath Jeshurun constanilychanging ideas and life styles. Simple author Open for !:lreal~ost, Luncheon and Dinner itarianism is as futile as is a permissiveness that spoils Catering • Parties • Meetings the child. In particular, the development of character and values, goals and emotions is today fraught with great difficulty, as pointed out by Rabbi Nachman Bulman in I I \ I his forward. The "how to" books on the market offer a ' B'r wide variety of approaches, and of course pay no atten tion to Torah teachings and goals. The present volume is ,, .. ,;;::; therefore truly a blessing. It builds on authoritative ~~ Torah principles and draws on the approaches of cogni 4 IJ ' v d >l tive psychology that can be of help to our parents. It Al I/ k• '" ~T clearly Jays down basic guidelines-emphasizing the need ofchildren for caring Jove as well as for firm parental 1 fl,. ' assertion-and applies them to the wide range of issues faced, by parents, from teaching KibudAv Va'em to say . -~ ing "no" when necessary, from dealing with jealousy and . - aggression to the use of praise and rewards. Perhaps - \. I I I most significant are the sections on how parents should ',' deal with their own emotions, and how they should get children to cope with theirs. All in all, this book is must O''W~"7" 71:Jl;J reading for parents. rill 7::i::i :ipix :itvill:i O'in1e7 o7•1eivr.i1 o•i5>o ::im::i:i :ii The Machon Yerushalayim announces a new edi tion of all seven out of print volumes of the Otzar Meforshei Hatalmud series. These seforim are ea gerly awaited by Bnei Yeshiva, Talmidei Chacho mim and Bnei Torah worldwide, Mesechet Baba The next time you go into a Metzia will ""YJ be available for the Daf Hayomi. Jewish book & record store, ask for Fulfill the Mitzva of n11m "i'tzm n11 tD'? 1Jn~1 by being a co-sponsor of an Otzar volume. For a con tribution of $1250 you can be one of four co sponsors of an Otzar volume, with a 1/2 page of THE BEST OF JEP dedicatory text, which can be reserved by $100 deposit A schedule of payments can be arranged A beautiful cassette tape with 11 of the best for the balance. songs from the original 4 JEP Records Snpport the Machon Yerushalayim including • 6 branches in Israel Someday, Nikolai, Reach Out, • Kolle! of 120 Talmidei Chachomim • Seven divisions Ani Ma'amin and Benjy. Otzar Meforshei Hatalmud, Chachmei Ashkenaz, You'll be glad you did, and you'll be helping Poland, Lita, Hungary, Or Hamizrach, Moriah • Published close to 200 seforim from original the Jewish Education Program ~· ':Jl1:J at the same time. For additional information contact our office at 5419 16th Ave. (718) 436-1300/1585. 36 The Jewish Observer, December 1986 TORAH FAITH: The Thirteen Principles, by Rabbi Ze chariah Fendel (Hashkafah Publications. New York, -NOW AVAII.ABLE- 1985, $12.95 hardcover, $9.95 paperback). 1i1'>?N 'l:J.1 Rabbi Fendel's earlier works (Anvil Q[Sinai, Challenge 1 of Sinai. and Legacy Qf Sinai), dedicated to Torah ideo n:nv ,D'no.£> ,rn:J.N on ?y logy and transmission, have been out of print for some time; it is welcome news that these important and useful By Rav Eliyahu Chazan 7 11 ~~ works have now been reissued-and that a new volume has appeared in this series, dedicated to clarifying the AVAILABLE AT BEIGELEISEN'S, Thirteen Principles ofTorah Faith. This book fills a long felt need: a clear exposition of the thirteen principles of EICHLER'S & OTHER faith of the Rambam, which in effect define the funda SEFORIM STORES mental worldview of the Jew and of their ramifications and implications for our time, presented in clear and OR readable style. These principles have been on the lips and AT YESHIVA TORAH VODAAS in the hearts ofJews, guiding them in life-and inspiring them in death. This is brought home in the most moving manner by the author's inclusion of Holocaust narra tives illustrating the thirteen principles; these historical accounts convey most vividly how Torah is rooted in the Jewish people. The scholarly reader will be particularly interested in Rabbi Fendel's discussion of the relation ship between the principles of faith and the Torah as a whole, and of the historical controversies over whether to lay down such a list of principles and which to include in CHANUKAH DELIGHT! it. 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Second Looks at the 'We have fought anti-Semitism," the pamphlet claims, and one is quick to agree that the B'nai B'rith's Jewish Scene ADL has been in the forefront of uncovering anti-Semitic acts and movements; although one can argue that anti-Semitism will sooner be solved by Jews deciding to be more Jewish than by Jews suing for the right to be equals among non-Jews. But the vigilance is apparent, and Bnai Brith: Keepers of the effort is there. " ... [we have] supported Jewish education ..... Just exactly how has the Covenant? B'nai B'rith been doing this? By joining in law suits against the fed eral government aimed at halting has lived in the hearts and minds of funding going to non-public schools the Jewish people. It has survived (read: yeshivas)? Millions of dollars generations of slavery, exile, and in funds and services have already dispersal.... The covenant lives on been cut off from yeshivas because because of our ancestors' belief and of such legal actions.... Certainly determination. Now it is ours to not by raising funds on behalf of preserve and protect." financially hard-pressed yeshivas. How are we advised to preserve The brochure continues: "Our that covenant? By supporting your greatest contribution has been to local yeshiva day school? By enroll our young people through the B'nai ing in an evening Torah class? No, by B'rith Youth Organization, B'nai recognizing that "For 140 years B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundations ... our leg B'rith has committed itself to keep acy to the future." ing Jewish life alive." B'nai B'rith? ls this legacy really being pre Possibly, they mean, by offering served and passed on by Hillel "Jewish" alternatives to such frat- Houses? Now, we are certainly real- After Hours, We're Still Cooking AT THE DAIRY PIANET he JO editorial desk is recipi A Landmark In Fine ent of a wide array of pam I The Jewish Observer, December 1986 39 istic enough to recognize that there "they are torn between their sense of (This and all subsequent quota are not vei:y many Orthodox rabbis Jewish correctness and their organi tions arefrom an article by Edwin among the hundred-plus rabbis zational idealism, which holds in Blake in The BostonAdovcate, Sept. serving Hillel Houses on campuses tellectual freedom as one of the 18, '86.) across the counti:y. But the Reform highest expressions of Judaism. and Reconstructionist Hillel rabbis Consequently, national Hillel has Integrity may be intact, technically, include some who actually officiate adopted a posture of silence on the but at the same time, the role of the at inter-marriages of "two very sin controversy. Their only enunciated Hillel rabbi qua Hillel rabbi in an cere people in love" (quote from public policy prohibits such cere intermarriage is not insignificant. Rabbi Lany Edwards of the Cornell monies from being conducted on " ... There is little doubt that the University Hillel). Hillel premises per se. families of the intermarried couples "Nonetheless, a small group of Hil themselves believe they are being lel directors across the nation regu married under the auspices of Hillel. fs not that the national Hillel larly use outside facilities for the One Jewish man who intermarried organization advocates per ceremonies, thus circumventing any with Rabbi !Albert] Axelrad !Hillel I forming intermarriages. Ifs that technical infraction." director at Brandeis University I che rished what he considered his Hillel sponsorship. 'I telephoned the Brandeis Hillel,' he recalled, 'we re ceived literature in their envelope, and were interviewed in the Hillel itself. Four other rabbis had tumed me down. Rabbi Axelrad was the only one who would accept us (em High Tech Clock Shows You Sunrise and Sunset Anywhere In the World! phasis ours-JO). It was of immense help to my parents to know that we were working through a national THE STORY· Bu111-m organization such as B'nai B'rtth A Saudi Arabian company comrn1ss1oned a major mtema compass tional high-tech tirm to manufacture a convenient "Prayer Hillels. It seems as though saying Times Clock," But they over!ookell one thing that it wasn't actually Hillel because They produced a truly amazing product This highly soph1s GREAT t1cated piece o! equipment 1s obviously the result of extensive NEW the ceremony was not on their research and developmen1 grounds is splitting hairs.'" What they overlooked 1n all their research 1s the simple !act GIFT I that Arabs don't need a Prayer Times Clock The ten million Rather than taking a strong stand people who WOllld have been 1he clock's market live w1thm 10EA! earshot of a mosoue with the muezzmcallrng from the mmaret against giving the imprimature of six times a day. ''A/latw akbar"(Allah rs great). acceptance to the scandalous pre TAKE ADVANTAGE siding over manying people out of Now you can take advantage of the Arabs' loss By usmg this amazing clock !or your own convernence their faith, "national Hillel officials As you may know. the Moslem times o1 prayer for sunrise don't know how to equitably deal and sunset correspond to our own netz/and shkiya. So just push a button 1n any city 1n the world and you'll with the question, and wish no one inslantly know what !rme Shabbos 1s or when to daven would ever discuss it.'' shachfls or mmcha Plus. 1he Prayer Times Clock includes a buill-m Where does one turn to protest compass !hat always points east No more guessing where mizrach 1s1 this waffling on such a key issue • In lhs home: Forget about checking calendars or especially crucial on the campus, newspapers tor what lime Shabbos 1s. Jus1 push a button "Jewish" campuses, like Brandeis, • Travalllng: the ult1ma1e travellmg alarm no less! Perhaps one should tum to clock-·-Tells you what time Shabbos and sunrise in any city any time zone Plus local federations, which provide 75% regular alarm and snooze feature •Anywhere: Preprogrammed al the touch of a button to tell of the funding of Hillel Houses' you sunrise and sunsel anywhere m the world budgets, and ask them whether the These clocks were ong1nally made to sell at $69.95 Now take advantage Jewish chartty dollar is meant to be by p1ckmg up this mcred1ble clock at the closeout pflce of only 129.115. Better yet, order several~ for gifts tha1 will never be !orgoUen-at !our tor only S99.95. spent on support of such "spiritual But, there's one catch Less than 1,IXKI of these clocks are actually available. They will never be manufactured again and they are not available anywhere else So order ngh! now advisors" as Rabbi Axelrad for our Each clock lndWld1111lly gift boxed. youth! Or one can take the envelope that Mail today to invites you to "help keep the flame of Dbtillcllva Dlftmnce Total check 01 money order enclosed $______234 Private Way, Lakewood, NJ 08701 Jewish life burning brightly," and (201) 364·0075 D Yes, t want the sunrise and tM sunset anywhere in the world at return it to the sender.And tell them 1he touch or a button P1ease sen 40 The Jewish Obseroer, December 1986 TORAH ACADEMY FOR GIRLS of Far Rockaway, New York wishes to express its deep sorrO\V My Fountain Pen and sincere conclolences to Runnetb Over RABBI RALPH PET.COVITZ. N"IJ'?l!I upon the loss of his beloved rcbetzin, FRUM! n11y who \Vas J true aishcs chayil and ezer to the senior Rahhi of the Far Rockaway con11nunity. Together, they helped lay the f oundarion for the dramatic growth and beautiful dcvdopmcntof our Torah community. Moshe Katz Rabbi l\fo~hc \Veitnrnn Pffsidcnt Dctm c2J1ATANAI QALLEJzy' 4~}(){) 1Blh 1\ve. Brooklyn, N.\'. (71H) B51-,144H c:======:::J n the minds of many, the classi and the contents reviewed, one Jevl'ish hook.'>, ]1ulaica, Tuln~<;in1 cal Bar Mitzvaspeech still abides imagines, as they were applied in Mcz.uzos, pct~WJnalized 'J'alis hag"::;, I in many circles, touching all day-to-day practice. This, too, has Tcjili11 hag">, Yannulknsa11dCholah bases, ranging from "Today I am a been on the up-escalator, and with co11cr~'>, record.'> and tape:·;, lurilc, man" to "I want to use this auspi the standard two black fedoras (one silver, Sfrlti-precioussf,011cs t111d gold cious occasion to thank my mother for Shabbos, one for weekdays), some jcvvclt)'· and father for ... and my Aunt Lilly other notable features are becon1ing for the the fountain pen she so gra widely accepted. ciously ... " For some, the pomp and Eight years ago, Pirchei Agudath ALL AT SUPER circumstance-the catering extra Israel initiated a ne\v program DISCOUNT PRICES! vaganza-have risen from the point alongside its popular Mishnayos of embarrassment to a plateau of shame, as lens of thousands of dol lars are lavished on celebrating at the bar. while the chief celebrant gets lost in the shuffle. But not only the nonsense has been upscaled. So in many circles INVITATIONS has the mitzva content of the bar SOCIAL PRINTING CRAFTED WITH DISTlNCTION mitzva celebration-as it should, considering that it is one of the most CLST())I 10:\ llAT!OC.:S FOR Ylll'R important milestones in a man's life. Until not too long ago, the standard WEDDING, BAR MITZVAH, DINNER AND "yeshivish" bar mitzva featured a pilpul based on a selection from the ORGANIZATIONAL AFFAIRS Shaagas Aryeh, reading from the Hajtorah and, at times, the Sidra, as R&A Design will create a L~ ~ & well. Weeks, even months in prepa stylized monogram or logo ---···----·--·-·------D I G h I ration, days in forgetting. As for the that \viii be Y?:.~1rs forever. laws of tefillin, these were studied (718) 376-233s ___J Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, from the ~------~·----.. --.. -· The Jewish Observer, December 1986 41 Baal Peh Contest, which is respon mitzva, with sixty six completing Mishnayos. Says Rabbi Ruderman, sible for the mastery and commit the entirety of Shas for the occasion! "There are areas of Talmud where ment to memory of a total of some Proficiency is confirmed in random my little friend is more knowledge 60,000 Mishnayos by youngsters testing by a local rabbi, testing that able than many Kolle! fellows!") every year. The new program entailed can take up to three hours or more. Another Pirchei program involv completing an entire Seder Mish Not only does this activity endow ing preparation for bar mitzva is the nayos (one of the six sections of the bar mitzva preparations with some study of Hilchos Tefillin. This en Oral Law) by one's bar mitzva. Not thing besides suit fittings and cat tails covering the relevant chapters memorization, just study and mas ering arrangements, it outfits the in MishnaBerurahor Rabbi Shimon tery of basic content. The first year young man with information that Eider's recently published Halachos that this was promoted. two boys will prove useful throughout his life of Tefillin. Many an 8th grade ye came forward, each with his Seder time of Torah study. (The venerable shiva rebbe, who deals with bar Mishnayos, and were given seats of Rosh Hayeshiva of Ner Israel, Rabbi mitzva boys, has noted keen interest honor at the annual Siyum celebra Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman ><''IJ'JIU In higher level study of these laws as tion. The idea has so spread that to relishes discussions he has been car of late-perhaps, in part, because date over 500 boys have completed rying on with a Pirchei youngster "every contestant is automatically a one or more Sedolim for their bar who to date has mastered over 2,000 winner." In addition to proud pos session of a Pirchei certificate, each contestant establishes a personal precedent that equates entering manhood with increas i Torah study, and gains detailed knowledge A~··· that will serve him for a lifetime ... stepping up to responsible man A Teachers' Seminary hood.• in Monsey, N.Y. n11 )'.)\!11l ('87188) HOME ATTENDANTS * Geared for personal development * One year intensitle program * Culminating in Teaching Certificate -~- * 1mr.i:n m~>-r>:i nw>;:i nr.i7wn •... , -!fo:; * Accommodations for out-of-rowners ·~ I.\ * Outstanding Mechanchim .. ;'1 . * Unique rural Tor ah community I/j~/l'/_;.of. -" ".:) G ('Jj Y: . Under the direction of: needed for HOUSEKEEPING AND HORAV S.M. BRESLAUER N""''"' Dean PERSONAL CARE for the Call NOW for your information/application package DISABLED AND HOMEBOUND REBBETZIN NOA FLAM good pay and benefits Acting Menaheles Boro Park, Bensonhurst and (914) 356-9472 Flatbush Area full-time live in positions only Project OHR Inc. MONSEY SEMINARY FOR TEACHERS (Office for Homecare Referral) clo Congregation Beth T efiUa Maplewood Lane, P.O.B. 107, Monsey, N.Y. 10952 1308-40rh Street Brooklyn, NY 11218 853-2700 42 The Jewish Obseroer, December 1986 Rabbi David Mykqff Yaakov to do with a barber shop, responded Nick. "I'll be back," said albeit a small one? the youngster walking out the door. Well ... A few moments later Nick glanced When the news of Reb Yaakov's out the window. He noticed the boy petira (passing) reached the Yeshiva, walking back and forth outside the we felt that the talmidim should do shop. Opening the door Nick told something to express and deepen him that he would lose his tum if their feeling of the great loss. We anyone came in. "That's all right," decided to do two things-one a posi the boy responded and continued tive action and the other a negative pacing the sidewalk. Finally, his tum (Sur Mayrah, Va'asay Tov). The came.As he settled into the chair the positive had to do with learning youngster asked in an embarrassed Torah, the negative with television. tone, "Could you please shut the T.V. We proposed to the talmidim that off?" Nick wanted to know why. The everyone-whether he had one at boy simply repeated the request in Thank~You, home or not-accept upon himself so earnest a fashion that Nick com not to look at television during the plied. week of Shiva. For those that watch So, thank you Nick. for telling your Nick! regularly, this is an enormous nisa next customer about the strange yon (challenge) but a worthwhile yeshiva boy. And, lehavdil, thank one. We all recognize the educational, you Reb Yaakov. Tzaddikim are even moral, and spiritual destruction greater after their death than during wrought by the tube. Our problem is their lifetime. overcoming the temptation when it And thank you bocher'l. Reb Yaa actually lives in our home. The Ge kovwould have enjoyed telling about mora tells us that it took the power you. 1 don't know your name. I don't of an Anshei Knesses Hagedola to know who you are. Just this: You destroy the Yeitzer Hora for Avoda make it worthwhile.• Zora. Whence comes our help? Reb Yaakov was not very big on signing p>'.:>) ,,NY.l om:iN public proclamations. But he did N"'.:>:lt1 N"'.:>:lt:i 11'.ll?ll'.l 111'.1 lend his name to one protesting D'll1'.ljJr1 D'l'"T >n:i:i 'l'.11 1ll1\J1 watching T.V. Ours was an alto For Practical Assistance in NICK? WHO'S NICK? gether appropriate gesture. It was Settli11g Financial Disputes also a difficult one. According to J)in Torah in ick is a barber. We have two There is one more thing about N.Y. and Vicinity. barber shops in West Rogers Nick's. Park. There is the big opera Rabbi Avrohom Meir Gluck N One of the most brilliant talmidei (914) 356-5572 tion on Devon-six barbers. a shoe chachomim of our century was the shine man, and even a manicurist. Ragotchover Gaon, Rabbi Yosef And then there is the one off Devon. Rosen '"'1.lf you ever saw a picture DIGESTOFMEFORSffiM He has been there for many years, of him. you may have been perplexed but he still speaks Italian better by the overabundance of wildly 't>lp7 1n:i 't>lp7 than he understands English. One growing hair. !tis said that he main barber. two chairs, one television tained that he was unable to avoid '"::ll 1llP,N ,Nll'.lVI '1 l"rrtill'.l Available at and yesterday's newspaper-Nick's thinking Torah thoughts while his Barber Shop. hair was being cut, so he avoided LEKUTEI INC. Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky '"" haircuts for long periods of time. loved his town of Monsey. He often c/o I. Rosenberg How much Torah can we expect 10 West 47th Street, Room 702 said that on a map of the world, from a barber shop, then? How sig New York, N.Y. 10036 Monsey would be less than a speck, nificant can it be? (212) 719-1717 but in Heaven there is a different A couple of days after Reb Yaakov's kind of map. On that map, Monsey llO Volumes on Torah, Perek, petira, a young boy walked into Medrash, Megllos and Talmud. occupies a prominent position. Phy Nick's Barber Shop. As there was a sical size isn't everything. Proceeds ofsales distributed customer being worked on, Nick among Yeshivos and used for But. you may ask, what in this motioned him to be seated. Looking world, or in any otherworld, has Reb reprinting of volumes out-of-print around the shop, the boy asked Nick PRICE $7.50 PER VOLUME Rabbi Mykoff is principal of the Boys Division of how long it would take for him to Bais Yaakov of Chicago. finish. "About ten more minutes," The Jewish Obseroer, December 1986 43 many cases, shidduchim are reject ed on ephemeral grounds. A most L ers common fallacy is to assume herit ability in many situations for which ®W1*$1®~$@!@@1\t to the ~i@'®i\{;~@'®®i!t>®® no such evidence exists. For exam @@®®' @ll§L\];@$® ple, no evidence has been found for genetic transmission of most (al though not all) types of cancer. In addition, in those traits which may evidence predisposition to fa safety of a carrier-noncarrier mar milial disease, the penetrance (frac PERSPECTIVE ON riage, the prospective couple unfor tion of genetically predisposed indi GENETIC DISEASES AND "SHIDDUCHIM" tunately often decides that a risk viduals actually affected) is often ---- exists sufficient to break off the quite low. Finally, the trait in ques shidduch. In the new approach, such tion (like the mild scoliosis) may be To the Editor: a situation will not occur. For this of little importance according to Congratulations are due to Chevra reason, it will be necessary to ensure Torah hashkafa. Dor Yeshorim ("solving the Tay· the confidentiality of those few car It is difficult enough already to Sachs Dilemma", JO, May, 1986) for rier-carrier shidduchim which must find a compatible mate with proper providing a means of Tay-Sachs be discouraged. Also. one must hope Torah values. May I suggest that screening palatable to the observant that the program can be expanded to before a shidduch is rejected on Jewish community. This could be ac include more than the yeshiva keta genetic grounds, one seek both complished only by participation of na/Bais Yaakov population. Torah haskama and Torah-ortented both the Gedolei Yisroel and an I arr1 concerned about another ap medical advice. internationally respected authority plication of genetics to shidduchim. AVRAHAM D. NELKIN. PH.D. on inherited diseases, Professor Ro While I am not a genetic counselor, I Assistant Professor Qf Oncology bert Desnick. The novelty of the ap have received several inquiries con Johns flopkins University proach is in the coding of test results. cerning the heritability of various School q_f Medicine which serves to remove the unwar traits in the family, ranging from Baltimore, Md. ranted stigma of the carrier state. As mild scoliosis to,.,, cancer. Concern indicated in the article. while the about serious familial diseases is medical geneticist emphasizes the correct (Even flo'ezer 2:7). but, in JO ARTICLES FOR THE BLIND You're Readyto Leave HOTLINE To the Editor: New York City •.. BUT ... TO JERUSALEM Under separate cover we are for warding to you several Braille copies of You \Vant to continue to have a In lime of illness, surgery or your recent artide in The Jewish choicr of schools \vhich ofiCr a high crisis. special prayers will be Observer, entitled "Remembering quality of Orthodox and secular recited al the Western Wall and Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky" (May '86). education. al our Yeshiva in Jerusalem. The Jewish Herttage For The Blind You want your frunily to experience a CALL 24 HOURS has a special affection for the late close knit, \Vann ccnn1nunity dedi Rabbi, z"tl. Although he was already cated to Torah, 1\vodah and Gernillus (718) 871-411 l Chassodirn. A FREE PUBLIC SERVICE Of quite elderly and frail, he nevertheless The American Rabbi Meir took out time to provide us with an You \vant to be close to your job or endorsement for the activities of our business in MidtovVI1 or lc>\ver Man Baal Haness Charily hattan . organization, which we will always KOLEL AMERICA. chertsh. You \Vant excellent hon1c value with This. and similar publications are the lowest real estate taxes in Bergen provided free of charge to the visually County. handicapped. We would be honored if THEN ••• you would include in your publication, K'halAdathjeshurun ofParamus, a notice of the availability of this and under the leadership of Rabbi Yechez our other publications. kel Z1veig, n1ay he a solution you should consider. RABBI DAVID Torv call (201) 262-0797 Director, The Jewish Heritage for the Blind or (201) 265-6721 1655 East 24th Street 132 Nassau St• N.Y .. N.Y. 10038 Brooklyn. N. Y. 11229 44 'I'he Jelvish Observer, December 1986 learn 1}r'~~'e!'r Jr~ DIAMOND SETTING BIG "r "; Flexible class hours, day or APPLE 1406-45th St. evening. Pay as you learn. COPY & PRINTING CENTER TEmLIN, MEZUZOS Job placement assistance SIFREI TORAH Individual instruction, 87 NASSAU ST Shomer Shabbos NEW YORK, NY 10038 We make ''house calls" (212) 96H282 Rabbi Aryeh Schechter (718) 339-2640 (212) 267-9478 718-851-1637 The ZAVE KOLE.CHAD Women's Orchestra FROM FACTORY SHER UN Professional all-female band REPRESENTATIVE ORCHESTRA Lively entertainment for SAVE!!! (718) 434-3540 women's events Also Available As ONE MAN BAND Rachel/212-873-3449 STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP. MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION (Act of October 23.1962. &ctlon 4369. Title 39. THE NEGEV NEED NOT Bf. A DESERT Unlttd States Code) Date of 1'11ing &pt 20. l 985 2. 'Nile of Publication: The Jew1sh 0h1;erver/l 55N-0221- 6615 HAMAAYAN 3. Frequen.cy of Issue. Monthly. CXl't'.pf July and August. A The wellspring of Torah in the Negev No. o( Issue/> published atinually--Tcn. B. ArtnuaJ Suh· scrtptlon f>rl<'e-$18.00 4. Loc!i.Uon or Kno\.Vn Office of f>tlblicallon. 5 ikekrnan provides Stttet. New York. RY 10038 6. Namts and Address.of Publisher.. Editor, Mid .Manap;ing -EDUCATION SERVICES- E The Jewish Observer, December 1986 45 EDITOR'S NOTE: Reports on the activities of Agudath Israel of America that usually appear in the latter part of The Jewish Observer can now be found in greater detail in COALITION: News and Currents in Agudath Israel of America, which is issued five times yearly. From time to time. these pages will continue to present selected 4916 13th Ave., B'klyn, N.Y. 11219 news briefs of special interest and occasional photographs of (718) 854-2911 noteworthy events. If you would like to receive COALITION in your mailbox on a regular basis, send in your name and address to COALITION, Agu PINCUS MANDEL dath Israel of America, 84 William Street, New York City, 10038. CemeteryConsultant CORRECTIONS Over 30 Years of Dedicated Service to the OrthodoxJewish The biography of Rabbi Yaakov Kami Community netzky, 7":::n, (May '86) referred to an inci dent when, as "the young Rav ofTzitov yan !hel refused to officiate at the funeral Karka available on of an over-zealous congregant. The man all cemeteries in who had been told by his doctor to eat on Eretz Yisrael controlled and Yorn Kippur, for health reasons. was maintained by the instructed by that Rav to follow this Chevra Kadisha prescription, fasted nonetheless, and then died"" (from the story). Reb Yaakov of each community, did attend the funeral and, apparently to Jerusalem, Tiberias, Tzfas, discourage others from following this Miron, Holon, etc. reckless behavior, announced that the man had endangered his own life. He did Recommended by not. however, consider it a case of m 'abed Gedolal Hador- atzmo ledaas (taking his own life). The here and lJ1 Eretz Ylsrael family did sit shiva. for honesty-integrity and responsibility NO compromises in kovod baniftar 'l'hrough an oversight that we very The photograph of Rabbi Yaakov as evaluated by a much regret. the reviews of The Chqfetz Kamenetzky. '""· on page 6 (May 086) cemetery expert. Chaim and The Warof the Jewish Parti was one of three portraits by Yaakov san (Sept '86) did not mention that Feinstat, 405-120 Shelbome Ave., To A service from the beart these works were translated, in his usual ronto, Ont. M2R 3G5. They are available wtth a beart exemplary fashion, by Rabbi Charles in various sizes, as well as on canvas, Wengrov, earlier translations of whom from the photographer. have been described (and correctly credit The photograph on page 5 of the arti 1569 47th Stree~ Brooklyn, N.Y. 11219 Day and Night Phone-(718) 855·5121 ed) by The Jewish Observer, notably his cle "How to Raise Children By Really Try outstanding edition of the Sefer Ha ing" (Nov. '86), shows Mordecha1 Schon chinuch. brun with a grandson. Notjustacheese, 1 a t1cWition ... ; Haolam, the most crusted name in Cholov Yisroel Kosher Cheese. A reputation earned through 25 years of scrupulous devotion to qualu:y and kashruth.W1th 12 delicious varieties. Under the strict Rabbinical supervision ofK'hal AdasJeshurun, N.Y. Ha<>lam. a tradition you"l~:::~~:: I Tao THURM BRO!:> .. WORLOCHl:.ESE.C.'O .. INC, NEW YORK. N. Y .J.:.... ,.,,, 46 The Jewish Obseroer, December 1986 Have it all with the Greater All-In-One Account. Open the one account that keeps you on top of your money ~1-!~>el no matter where you are or what time it is. Look what you get r;h;;e;;N::-Yo;;v;; B-;; ---- I PO. Box 1. Von Brunt Station. Brooklyn. NY 11215 Request I in a Greater All-In-One Account, with a minimum opening deposit of just S1,000: :·:;I enclose a check for S____ ·w·· ______(Minimum S1,000} • High money-market earnings. Please open a Greater All-In-One Accoun1 for me. I '. J Please send information . 1 .. GreaterFund unlimited checkwriting. • Pay By Phone" convenience that lets you pay your bills ~-NAME (P'Ll1\St""PiifNTj___ ---I or check your account balance by telephone, no (AtJor Checking and------ P ay By Phone; .. ~"" ~That'sa too? . Greater Idea! Customer Service: 718-965-7526. In Brooklyn: Fifth Avenue, 9th and 10th Streets. 718-965-7500•Church and McDonald Avenues. 718-435·4300· 18th Avenue and East 2nd Street, 718-435-4100•Seventh Avenue and President Street. '718-789-4100•Bay Parkway and 6'7th Street. 718-837-8-100•13lh Avenue and 53rd Street. 718-436·9505•Neolune Avenue and West 5th Street. 718-996-4100·1045 Flalbush Avenue at Duryea Place. 718-282-7500•1550 Flatbush Avenue at Nostrand Avenue, 718·859-5300. 1(, Manhattan: Lexington Avenue and East 51st Street. 212-752·8282•Broodway and West 79th Street, 212-873-3730 In Queens: Hillside Avenue at 179th Stree!, '718-291-3100. In Nassau: 222 Station Plaza North and 3rd Avenue. Mineola. 516-747-6100 In Westchester: Caldor's Shoppiflg Center. 535 Boston Post Road. Port Chester. N.Y. 914-937-6760 Give Your Child's Imagination Good Companions! The fatelul Mission by Meir Baram Thirteenth century France. The Crusaders are tear· ing through Europe; not only destroying Jewish com· munities, but Jewish holy writings as well. In the midst of this turmoil a leading Rabbi sends a young student on a dangerouSj secfet rriission irt order to rescue, for all time, a collection of sacred Talmudic manuscripts. A colorful, exciting, historical novel. h.c. 9.95, p.b. 6.95 The Pamas by Meir Baram The year .is 1096 C.E. Outside the city of Cologne a young wounded Jew is discovered with a fearful tale to tell about the fate of his fellow Jews in nearby Mainz. But the Parnas, hea,d of the Jewish com· munity, refuses to believe the lad until it becomes painfully clear that all the Jews of Cologne are in danger as well. A historical novel full of excitement, suspense, courage and faith. h.c. 9.95_. p.b. 6.95 The Gill That Grew by Yaffa Ganz Elisha owns something special: a wonderful tree that provides many pleasures-to Elisha, his family, and friends. When Elisha takes his tree for granted, some· thing terrible happens; and Elisha learns, the hard way, about the mitzva of not destroying that which G·d created. A gentle, caring story about our responsibilities toward the world we live in. Beautifully illustrated by Harvey Klineman, h.c. 8.95 The Terrible-Wonderful Yaffo Ganz Why is it that some people have such a good time, while others have such an awful time~and they may both be doing the very same thing? The Terrible· Wonderful Day provides you with an answer that young and old alike will quickly grasp and long appreciate, A unique book: at once very funny yet deeply insightful. Delightfully illustrated by Y,E. Taub. h.c. 7.95 The Mentchkins Make Shobbos Malkie and Mordie are surprised by all the preparing they have to do for Shabbos, but other 'surprises' await them as well in this newest addition to the Sifrei Rimon Series. Told in lively-rhyme by Chaya Leah Rothstein and delightfully illustrated by Ruth Perlstein. p.b. 2.50 ~~~~xt~~~~~~~~ Available at Jewish bookstores of order from: FElOHEIM PllllL!SHERS 200 Airport Executive Par!<, Spring Valley, NY 10977 • 914-356-2282 • Out of State Call Toll Free 800-237-7149 When in Jerusalem visit our Bookstore at: 20 Strauss St., Tel.: (02) 233~554 • Visa & Master Card accepted