ADAR 1-11 5733 / FEBRUARY 1973 VOLUME IX, NUMBER 1 FIFTY CENTS

From to : THE SECOND MIRACLE

RUSSIAN IMMIGRANT, KISSING SEFER UPON ARRIVAL IN

also The Akhashverosh Riddle Why ? The "Aveirah" Syndrome Letters • Books • Index THE JEWISH QBSERVER

in this issue ...

FROM RIGA TO JERUSALEM: THE SECOND MIRACLE, Herman Branover, as told to Nissan Wolpin ...... 3

A MODEST PROPOSAL, Aaron Brafman 6

FIGHTING FOR SHABBOS ON THE LEGAL FRONT-ADDENDA, Judah Dick ...... 8

WHO WAS THE REAL AKHASHVEROSH'?, Shelomoh E. Danziger 12

THE JEWISH OBSERVER is published SOUNDS FROM SILENCE (POEMS), by Aaron Brafman 15 monthly, except July and August, by the Agudath Israel of America, WHY PURIM'?, Elkanah Schwartz ...... 16 5 Beekman Street, New York, New York 10038. Second class THE "AVEIRAH" SYNDROME, Moshe Spero 18 postage paid at New York, N. Y. Subscription: $5.00 per year; Two years, $8 ..~0; Three years, $12.00; BOOKS REVIEWED: outside of the , $6.00 per year. Single copy, fifty cents. CHAZON [SH, A BIOGRAPHY ...... 21 Printed in the U.S.A. RELIGIOUS JEWRY AND THE UNITED NATIONS ...... NISSON WOLPIN IN THE STRUGGLE AGAINST DISCRIMINATION ...... Editor TEN YEARS OF HOPE ...... 22 Editorial Board A PRESENT IN MY TREASURE CHEST 23 DR. ERNEST L. BODENHEIMER Chairn1an As DREAMERS WE WERE (A POEM), Aaron Blech ...... 24 RABBI NATHAN BULMAN RABBI JOSEPH ELIAS JOSEPH FRIEDENSON LETTERS TO THE EDITORS ...... 26 RABBI YAAKOV JACOBS RABBI MOSHE SHERER INDEX TO ARTICLES, VOLUME Vlll: SUBJECTS 30 THE JEWISH OBSERVER does not assume responsibility for the AUTHORS 31 Kashrus of any product or service advertised in its pages. PICTURE CREDJTS: Cover, Courtesy of Herb Brin, Herit(lge and South West FEB. 1973 VoL. IX, No. l Jen-'ish Press (Calif.); page 4, courtesy of Greater N. Y. Conference or ...... @> Soviet Jewry; pages 12 and 16, details from a graphic by Sigmund Forst. FROM RIGA TO JERUSALEM: The Second Miracle by Herman Branover as told to Nisson Wolpin

It is really a two-fold miracle. First the survival demand for the Jewish experience.-Beyond doubt, of Jewish feeling and a life of Torah and Mitzvos another miracle. among some Russian who had been brought up with our religion. These people had to withstand Eight Years in Ten Minutes every conceivable pressure and threat-from the Yevsektzias at the time of the Revolution, through I always knew I was Jewish. I remember going the various Stalinist purges. They actually advanced to shul on Yomim Nora'im (the High Holy Days) in personal Torah knowledge, and raised new with my grandfather in Riga ... the Pesach Seder generations with the same loyal ties.-Clearly a together ... learning Aleph-Reis in cheder before miracle. World War II. But that was the extent of it. And now this new awakening. Young people who Then, when I was doing my research in Marxist have no background or conscious memory of a ideology in preparation for my comprehensive Jewish existence are as if driven by an urge to examinations, I was struck by the terrible inadequacy live as fully a Jewish life as possible. The apparent of dialectic materialism in explaining the human inspiration is miuimal and the obstacles are seemingly condition. There had to be more to man than insurmountable, and yet they continue to thirst and producing and consuming. The library in Leningrad was immense. I made DR. YIRMIYAHU (HERMAN) BRANOVER is a world re­ up my mind to read every work on philosophy, and nowned physicist whose name has been 1nentioned as I just about did-from Ptolemy, Aristotle, and Plato a possible Nob el Laureate in connection with his de­ through the modern existentialists. The rational fin#ve work in hydro-dynamics. He begged not to be philosophers did not even scratch the surface. The nominated, so as not to endanger his hopes for immi­ idealistic ones were more satisfying to me, but once gration. A number of his published books are used as they dealt with national groups and their destinies, texts in the field, and during his visit to the U.S., his they fell into the rationalistic trap. Then I read calendar is crowded with lecture engage1nents in the works on by Graetz and Dubnow, U.S. Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C., Cornell, I became more acutely aware of the inadequacy of Purdue and other universities. descriptive works in explaining history-especially In spite of his enviable credentials in his field, Jewish history. Branover was fired from his professorship at the Intuitively, I felt that the key to the puzzle of Academy of Science in Riga in April, I97 I, when he mankind must lie in the Jewish experience, so I applied for a visa to Israel. He finally left Riga this ventured into the Jewish section of the library. I was past December, after diplomatic intervention on his illiterate in Hebrew, and besides, the librarian behalf and payment of a $40,000 headtax-which in­ warned me: "If you want something in particular cidentally has made him the "most precious '' to tell me, and I'll it for you. Otherwise, I would leave the Soviet in modern tin1es. recommend that you not frequent that section. It could Dr. Branover is a tall, bearded man in his early 40's. harm your career." Speaking with him is like sitting in the proverbial calm I stayed away, but I found a Tanach with Russian of the hurricane's eye. But in spite of his underspoken . I read it through several times. manner, and his almost total negation of self, a full­ Everything fell into perspective. Life, peoplehood, length portrait of the Second Miracle emerges-the Jewishness all took on meaning. see1ningly spontaneous return of the individual to his Understanding led to commitment, and a con1mit~ Jewishness, as reflected in one man's awakening. ment must be translated into action .... I kept the

The Jewiv/1 Observer/ February, 1973 3 little I knew: From that time on, I never worked on Shabbos-I would not strike a match, but I didn't realize that electricity was in the same category. I refrained from eating pork or mixing meat and dairy-but I did not know much more. Baek in Riga, I began attending shul on Shabbos. This time I was told officially that it was not the place for a budding scientist to spend his time, so I sought out an underground . Some Lubavitcher Chassidim befriended me: "Wouldn't you rather understand what you're saying instead of simply mouthing the words?" Of course I did, and they launched me on an intensive program on , from and Rashi through and Tanya-which I found deeply satisfying to my philosophical thirst. * * * In ten minutes I have attempted to summarize an eight year period in my life. But should I speak for hours, I could not do justice to what in retrospect I cannot explain. One nllght attempt to dissect and analyze the Jewish experience, but it cannot be done. A miracle will clothe itself in the trappings of a natural event. In the final analysis, however, it is still a miracle. Professor Branover at a recent press conference in l'\/ew York The Road Back to the "Avos" investigate our activity. It did not like the text of Riga ghetto was destroyed by the Nazis in our planned inscription. So we secretly engraved a the early 1940's. No one seemed to know the burial epitaph on a stone: CT'tvltD )1D mi~iv (Victims place of the Ghetto inhabitants nor did anyone of Fascism), placed it on the site at night, and seem to care. Then we discovered a young lady who photographed it. We sent prints of the photograph had been in the Ghetto, and had somehow escaped to cities throughout the world .... It was not befitting the annihilation. She promised to show us where for the government to order it removed. So the our predecessors to Riga were buried. 1nonument stands. I cannot tell you why we cared-"we" meaning But the real monument to the fallen Jews of the a group of twenty young people-boys and girls, Ghetto are the two hundred youngsters who found some still in their teens. But with great excitement their way back. They came from all walks of life, and a deep sense of dedication we followed her to and from all levels of Jewish consciousness. By the a mound in the middle of a forest, some distance time we finished, all-virtually every single one­ from the city. were G-d fearing, religious Jews. And all have The spot was covered with weeds and tall grass­ managed to leave the . They found a terrible desecration, we thought, and we felt that their avos. we owed the place-the people-our attention. Every Sunday we armed ourselves with picnic baskets filled not with wines and cheeses, but with hoes. 'W:ilc life as a religious Jew was not dangerous, shovels, and gravel. there were difficult, unpleasant, and even oppressive Our ranks grew from week to week, until we aspects. I always managed to be free from work on numbered fully two hundred. We cleared the grass Shabbos, but my Shabbos tisch and my wife's candles away, hand-paved a road to the mass grave site. were hidden away because Friday night was a It was a work of several years. favorite visiting time with my "friends." ... My son When we felt that we were finished, we decided to had to be trained to keep silent about those things put up a stone with an inscription in Russian, thnt were dearest to us, and this was a terrible strain Latvian, and Yiddish. The government was aware of on us all .... I always timed my vacation month to our plans and a committee from Moscow came to coincide with the month of Tishrei. We would go to

4 The Jewish Observer I February, 1973 the town of Munkatch or to Tashkent, where the It's hard to say if anything happened as a direct religious oppression is not so severe, and I could result, but today almost every one of those thirty-five go to shul . ... At times, years would go by with no is now in Israel. taste of meat. J remember packing my tiny car * * • with live chickens, driving some 50 or 100 miles Is it not similar to the study of nature? My to the shochet for ritual slaughter. The incongruity, colleagues in the laboratory woufd not like to accept the sounds, the smells .... The mikvah was some what I am saying, but neither can they deny it. At twenty miles from our home. It was seldom used so best, we can onJy describe natura] pheno1nena­ it was only heated several times a week. Other times, how something behaves, but we cannot penetrate it was not usable .... lvhat it is, or why.

Without a Song Dr. Branover described his personal Odyssey from a man-of-the-test-tube to a man-of-faith in a Russian A small group of people that I had contact with language pamphlet De Profundus. It was smuggled to were in various stages of finding their : Israel, where it was reprinted in Hebrew. It is a stirring A young fellow who at sixteen was influenced by a document of belief, and was recently translated into religious classmate, and soon surpassed him in his English by the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Yiddishkeit. He would bring no books or pen and leivs. Excerpts from an earlier translation appeared in paper to class on Shabbos. He refused to eat at home, THE JEWISH OBSERVER in April, 1970. subsisting on bread and tea, except when his parents would feed him by sheer force. No sympathy from them-··-they even burned his tallis kattan . ... The ... And When They Get There twenty-four year old math genius who leads a double life. He is reluctant to buck his family's opposition, Lns of thousands have come. We can expect but in these past three years he has advanced from tens of thousands more. The air in is charged not recognizing Alef-Beis to studying Gemora on his with excitement. Things are different. You realize own .... The thirty year old laborer who used to that fifteen years ago perhaps 50% of the Russian attend church on Sundays, along with hundreds of Jews intermarried, while during these past few years other searching Jews. He found emptiness there; J do not know of one such case! now-he had himself cireumeized and puts on Something is driving the Soviet Jew, and he does daily .... I personally know some twenty not know what it is. Many have identified this drive others, whom I was teaching. I would estimate with a void in their Jewishness, yet they do not really that a quarter million Jews in the Soviet are thirsting know what it is to be a Jew, to be a member of the for their Jewishness but do not know what it is.- People. In Israel, they hope they will find out. A spiritual thing?-A sense of history?-Does it A rush of changes greets them when they arrive involve risks to self?-To family?-Is it worth it? in Israel. The Jewish Agency and the Absorption The crowds at the Riga shul this past Simchas Tor ah Ministry handle many of the adjustment problems were just as large as last year, but the leaders of the admirably: jobs, housing, language. But the void o]d crowd were mostly in IsraeJ, and the new ones remains unfilled. Even the greatest activists write did not know the songs we sing. home that it just may not be worth the risks, the effort, the expense to make the change, and as a A Jewish Protest result, immigration has tapered off. A hundred and tweny of us have banded together 0 nee I had applied for my visa, my wife and I and formed an lgud Akademi'im Shomrei Torah were both fired. Mrs. Branover is a physician and MiBrit HaMoetzet (Organization of Religious was heading a nurses' training school. We were Academicians from the Soviet Union). We plan to threatened, warned, even jailed several times on prepare and publish literature in Russian-to call charges of "hooliganism." Finally, we decided to assemblies, to reach these ·.Russian immigrants and protest our inabiJity to emigrate from Russia. but explain Judaism to them, to n1ake the trip worthwhile. to do so in a decidedly Jewish fashion. A group of thirty-five intellectuals gathered in an apart1nent and The American Landscape declared a three-day fast on the Sunday-through­ Tuesday holiday, May 7 to 9. We ate nothing the asked what strikes me 1nost in Aincrica. entire length of the day, all three days. Those of The neighborhoods are exciting us who knew Hebre\v said Tehillbn, others read it in with Yiddishkeit, the way I pictured them. The college Russian, some reviewed the Alef-Beis . ... campuses are dreadful wastelands. beyond what I

The Jewish Observer / February, 1973 5 had expected .... I lectured at Cornell University, front of the Soviet Consulate, and goes home to his in Ithaca, New York. There are 2,000 Jewish students family. By contrast, sending a package cost a fellow there. There were eleven at the campus Shacharis something. minyan-only eleven! I am told that during Yomim At worst, a street demonstration hurts us in the Nora'im not even 1,000 are accounted for as Soviet. While the newspapers in Russia are silent on davening in a shul-any shul: Hillel, Young Israel, substantive measures such as the Jackson Amendment, even a Reform Temple. Incredible! they make much over every little JDL incident. The Americans are anxious to hear about conditions The normal Russian citizen becomes incensed over in the Soviet, but if I say the unexpected, some the indignities his representatives abroad suffer people become irritated-even outraged. A man in because of "us Jews." And we Soviet Jews could Queens thought it immoral that ransom money be feel their bristling hostility in many ways. paid to the Russians for the release of hostages .... Worse yet, well-meaning channel I cannot pass judgment on the halachic and mussar time and effort towards activities of dubious value, implications of such payment. But I can testify that when the same funds and effort translated into a family that had applied for a visa, saved pennies packages would be of indisputable value. over the years, has a son on the threshhold of Worst of all, people have become deluded into military age, and could leave for Israel if they had thinking "my power and the might of my hand a few dollars more. Is there not a case for sending have achieved this glory for me"-the release of them packages, to be converted into money, to Jews from Russia. Remember-this totally inexplicable allow them to get out on time? turnabout in Russian policy, the opening of the gates for immigration, began in November 1968. Of Packages and Protests The sizable street demonstrations in America began two years later-in December, 1970. The Soviet Parcels of food-tins and clothing are a life-line to had ignored World Communist pressure, and marched the Russian Jew. $150 in American merchandise can into Czechoslovakia in 1969. They can afford to sustain a family for three months. It gives a jobless ignore several thousand Jews in America. But they visa-applicant the means of lasting the long wait for still continued to let us go. approval to leave. There are many who would As I said, there is so much that cannot even be contemplate leaving, but cannot put themselves, described in rational terms, so much that points their families into a situation of losing all sources of unequivocally to the Hand of G-d in our lives. income. When they see packages coming to others, When it is there for us to see, it is of paramount they will take the risk.-And it is psychologically importance that we do not fail to recognize it. This reassuring, that someone cares. street activity distracts our attention from what should Public demonstrations? We find them amusing at be uppermost in our minds: the miraculous nature best-a man shouts slogans at a TV camera in of the times throngh which we are living. D

Aaron Brafman A Modest Proposal on opening our doors and joining the revolution

NEVER BEFORE IN OUR HISTORY have we experi­ before have the alienated been searching for something enced anything comparable to the present situation. spiritual. This places a great responsibility upon the Never before has such a large segment of Kial Yisroel shoulders of the committed religious Jews. Perhaps it been alienated from Torah, without any feelings of is time that we stopped fighting with a holding action, hostility. Never before have so many Jews been so merely seeking to maintain our own close knit circles, ignorant of any knowledge of Judaism. And never which seem to be getting smaller and tighter, and opened ourselves and our homes to these searching RABBI BRAFMAN is Menahel of the J)erech Ayson in youths. A number of organizations have various proj­ F

The Jeivish Observer / February, 1973 however, has not really participated. As a result, the devoted their Jives to Torah and Chinuch (Jewish task of presenting and representing Yiddishkeit has education). beeu left to those who might be far from its true In Far Rockaway, much to my delight, I found a representatives. community which is steeped in hachnosos orchim-the What I propose is the opening of the homes of bnei finest form of hospitality. On any Shabbos, hundreds Torah and "frum" families to these searching youths. of ba' a lei teshuvah and Yeshiva students are accom­ It is the way fraught with the least danger, for they will modated in homes throughout the community. Jf the be coming to us. It does not involve going to some greater New York community would open up its doors, college campus or seminary where the religious few are how great an impact it would be! outnumbered by all the others. And it would give these youths a chance to experience living Yiddishkeit. ASIDE FROM TlJE MJTZVAH of hachnosos orchim that would be resurrected, there is an important benefit of which people are not aware-the personal growth RECENTLY, THE YESHIVA I am associated with was that the host undergoes. When a ba' al teshuvah is a instrumental in bringing a group of teenagers from guest at one's table, the host gains in his own ruchniyos upstate New York to Far Rockaway for a Shabbos. (spiritual status). It can shake a person out of his The girls who had stayed at our home left a note routine, habitual way of doing things. One begins to which brought tears to our eyes. It also brought notice things one has always taken for granted. One home the realization of what could be done with so begins to see the beauty of Torah through fresh eyes little effort. They wrote: and everything one has always done by rote quite suddenly becomes significant. When a long practicing "Much will burn in our hearts as ba'ale teshuvah Jew watches a ba'al teshuvah at his table struggle with (people returning to Judaism). In particular the "Ivra," as he says Birchas Hamazon (Grace) and teaching of the essence of Yiddishkeit to the watches him say each word distinctly and with kavana young, and seeing the understanding of the Key (concentration), the observer, too, begins to bentsch of Judaism, the Shabbos, at the age of three . ... difierently. Seeing that to a five year old it makes a difference Many attempts are being made to preserve our what clothes to wear to meet the Shabbos Kallah. Yiddishkeit. All of them involve attempts at shutting ... Seeing a family unit disregarding all M'lacha, out outside influences which infiltrate even more than not rushing through a Kiddush to watch the latest ever. Perhaps if we--espeeially our children-realized ball game . ... Basically you have exemplified and saw that we have a way of life and a sense of that Torah is a living, breathing--as well as stability which others are searching for and are envious spiritual and mystical-entity and that herein lies of, we would not have to live with such fear. the secret of Jewish existence." We are increasingly concerned with our crumbling There was nothing exceptional or special about the communities. We are alarmed at seeing areas into Shabbos they witnessed. It was simply seeing Shabbos which we have poured so much wealth and sacrifice Jived, as it is in thousands of other homes, that was slowly disintegrate. We who believe in hashgacha (the significant. Divine hand in human events )-and espouse it so often-why do we not stop to think about the possible whip?-Is it only the irreligious who are punished for their transgressions? Perhaps our punishment for being Tms FORM OF INVOLVEMENT has another advan­ tage. For these youths it is not a search for a host self-centered is the breakdown of those very communi­ who must be able to engage them in long philosophical ties which allow us to feel so complacent and apathetic debate. These children who are searching have read about the state of Yiddishkeit. enough about Yiddishkeit; thank G-d, there has been There are numerous organizations and that a tremendous output of material in English. They have have contact with these searching youths. If one would also listened to lectures and speeches on all the relevant let them know that he is interested in helping, they will topics. What they lack is the living experience of send him those in need. Yiddishkeit. This almost any "frum" home can provide. In, particular, National Council of Youth (affiliate of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congrega­ There is a family in the Washington Heights section tions) is always in need of placing students for Shab­ of Manhattan who, through its hospitality and concern, bos. The Agudah office has contact with many youths has made countless searching souls into ba'a/e teshuvah. who are searching for Yiddishkeit. By joining in this They have helped countless bdalei teshuvah through task one could thus become party to helping a Yiddishe their struggles and triumphs, become not merely mar­ neshomo-a Jewish soul-in its struggle to mold itself ginal Jews but deeply committed ones, who have into a full-fledged Torah Jew. u

The Jewish Observer / February, 1973 7 Judah Dick Fighting for Shabbos on the Legal Front-Addenda A Story of "Hashgacha Protis"

MUCH PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE in establishing the Reynold Metals appealed, and succeeded in obtaining legal rights of Jews in the employment field-especially a reversal: Mr. Dewey need not be reinstated. The in regard to conditions arising from the necessity to be Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, by a 2 to 1 vote, basic­ absent from work because of the Sabbath and festivals. ally decided that Dewey was bound by an arbitration COLPA* (National Jewish Commission on Law and decision which he had lost, but also expressed doubt as Public Affairs) has been in the forefront of this battle. to whether the guidelines of EEOC were authorized by and has found it imperative to fight for the employment the Civil Rights Act of 1964. COLPA was dismayed by protection of non-Jews as well as Jews, since bad pre­ this decision and requested reconsideration by the cedents set is cases involving non-Jews would adversly court.2 On Tisha B'Av of 1970, the same court, again affect the rights of observant Jews as well. by a two to one majority, reaffirmed its prior ruling In September 1969, The Jewish Observer carried my and explicitly declared the EEOC guidelines to have article entitled "Fighting for Shabbos on the Legal exceeded the requirements of the Civil Rights Act of Front-A Study of Orthodoxy's Capacity to Protect 1964.3 its Civil Rights." The purpose of this present article is In the opinion of the court, the term "religion" in to bring developments in that area up-to-date. the Civil Rights law meant only abstract faith or The previous article mentioned the case of Robert belief, and did not cover religious practices such as K Dewey of Grand Rapids, Michigan, in which COL­ observance of the Sabbath or religious holidays. In PA submitted its first brief in support of the guidelines other words, an employer was not obligated to make issued by the EEOC** which required reasonable ac­ any adjustments in the regular work week for anyone. commodations to the needs of Sabbath observers in the The court went so far as to express doubt as to whether absence of undue hardship to the employer.1 Mr. Congress had the power to protect the rights of Sabbath Dewey is a member of the Dutch Reformed Church observers without violating the separation of church who would not work on Sunday or even arrange with and state under the First Amendment. another employee to replace him on that day. As a COLPA sought review of this decision by the United result, he was fired by his employer, Reynolds Metals States Supreme Court. But after hearing argument, the Company. The District Court directed the employer to court split evenly, four to four, with Justice Harlan reinstate him with back pay. At that time COLPA had abstaining.4 While a split decision meant an affirmance hoped that this would prove to be a landmark decision. of the lower court decision, no opinion is written in such cases and it is not regarded as a decision on the Short-lived Elation: merits. Religion, a l\'latter of Conscience Only Other Cases, Elsewhere THIS OPTIMISM PROVED to be short-lived, for the EEOC guide1ines were rejected in court-case after court-case. DURING THE TIME that the Dewey case was going through the appellate process, other cases were pro­ * COLPA was founded in 1966 by Rabbi Moshe ceeding elsewhere. Sherer, Reuben Gross and Marvin Schick on the initi­ • In Louisiana, a federal district court applied the ative of A gudath Israel in order to provide Orthodox EEOC Guidelines to a case involving a Seventh Day Jewry with its own legal representation. Agudath Israel Adventist who worked as a chicken plucker in a poultry provided COLPA with its first office and related ser­ market and directed reinstatement with back pay.5 vices. It is now located at 66 Court Street Brooklvn New York 11201 (Tel. (212) 875-5630). ' - ' JUDAH DICK is a senior attorney of the office of the Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, Vice-President of COLPA, ** Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. and a frequent contributor to these pages.

8 The Jewish Observer / February, 1973 • . A Sabbath observer who lost his civil service job tion concept one step further, covering manner of dress with the State of California did not meet with much and appearance. Thus, the New York City agency ruled success in the California courts, nor with the United in favor of a person who was fired by the Stock Ex­ States Supreme Court." change because he wore a yarmulka on the job; the • In West Virginia, another federal district court dis­ New York State agency ruled for a Black Muslim who missed a complaint by a Seventh Day Adventist postal lost his job with Eastern Greyhound because he wore clerk who had been dismissed by the post office for a beard; and the EEOC ruled in favor of Old Catholic refusing to work on Saturday.' nurses whose dress was more modest than that of other nurses. The rationale that the term "religion" It must be recalled that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applied to all religious practices that do not cause excluded federal, state and local governments from its an undue hardship to the employer was applied to coverage, although it did direct the President to assure such cases. equal .employment opportunity in federal service by executive order. It was not until May 28, 1971, that When Eastern Greyhound appealed its case to the after much prodding by COLPA, the United States Appelate Division (an intermediate appellate court in Civil Service Commission finally promulgated a regula­ New York) in June 1970, that court ruled in favor tion to protect Sabbath observers in federal service, of the employer, stating the rule prohibiting employees but provided that such accommodation should only to have beards represented practical business policy he made without undue interference with the business and was not unlawful discrimination. It went on to of the agency or with rights of other applicants or s.ay that .an empl?yer was not required to make excep­ employees. 8 The broad and ambiguous "proviso" made t10ns. to its established and uniformly applied personnel the. regulation far weaker than the EEOC guidelines, policies to accommodate the religious practices of a which made only one exception: undue hardship. It was potential employee.1° COLPA had not been involved still the best that could be gotten from Civil Service in the case up to that point, but was disturbed about as it had to contend with opposition by the postal the impact of this case and in December 1970 entered workers'. unions. These unions had successfully blocked as amicus curaie (friend of the court). But the Court efforts m Congress to enact legislation for Sabbath of Appeals unanimously affirmed the ruling of the observers that Rabbi Moshe Sherer, with considerable Appellate Division, specifically stating that an employer backing by influential senators and congressmen, had could not be required to accommodate individual idio­ sought to obtain in the early I 960's. Thus, the num­ syncracies, whether they involved personal appearance 11 erous Sabbath observers who worked in the post office or variations in time schedules. had to depend on the good graces of their supervisors A Campaign Promise Delivered and fellow employees to avoid working on the Sabbath. This problem was especially pressing for new em­ COLPA HAD ANTICIPATED this result, in view of the ployees who usually had to take the least desirable decision in the Dewey case, and requested Agudath shifts, since employees with seniority had first choice Israel to obtain an advance commitment from Governor as to the work week, in accordance with the union's Rockefeller, who was then running for re-election to collective bargaining arrangement. Often, the personal promote legislation spelling out the rights of Sabbath pleas of or Jewish organizations were successful observers. After a series of meetings between Rabbi in working out an individual problem; other times, the Sherer and the Governor and his staff a formal letter Sabbath observer lost his job. to this effect was written by the Gove(nor and became part of the camapign literature. It was not until May 28, 1971-when the United States Civil Service Commission adopted its regulation The result was that at the 1971 session the Gover­ -that any legal protection was given to Sabbath­ nor's office, working with COLPA, draft~d a bill to observing postal employees, and even that protection extend the 1967 law for public employers to cover was relatively weak. pnvate employment as well. The bill was enacted into !t was thus becoming clear that new federal legis­ law with the personal assistance of the Governor and latmn would become necessary, if nation-wide protec­ became effective on September 1, 1971." Under this lton for Sabbath observers was to be achieved. The law, an employer must show that he would suffer undue necessity for new legislation became even more urgent economic hardship by allowing an employee to miss as one court after another rejected the EEOC Guide­ work on Saturdays; or that the personal presence of lines as beyond the intent of the Civil Rights Act.9 the )Ob-holder is regularly essential on the Sabbath (such as a sport coach where the games are played Further Accommodations: on Saturday); or that his position deals with health Broader Definition of "Religion" and safety, and the job-holder must be available for MEANWHILE THE EEOC and the New York State and duty whenever needed. City Human Rights agencies extended the accommoda- This bill ended the serious doubts regarding the

The Jewish Observer / February, 1973 9 validity of the EEOC Guidelines, and their applica­ "cease and desist" powers making it more effective. bility under the New York Human Rights Law. After a lengthy debate and filibuster the Senate finally Since this law was adopted, COLPA has been gen­ passed a bill similar to that of the House. Meanwhile, erally successful in gaining an employer's cooperation, COLPA with an assist from Agudath Israel influenced although sometimes this occurred only after a complaint Senator Randolph of West Virginia (a Seventh-Day was filed and an informal conference was held with Baptist) to introduce an amendment from the floor the State Human Rights agency. of the Senate. The amendment had to look innocuous enough not to catch the attention of the business lobby. 1971: No protection for workers who Drafted by COLPA Vice President, Nathan Lewin, formerly one of the top men in the office of the Solici­ wore yarmulkas or Hassidic garb tor General, it simply added a definition of the term on the job, or for bearded people. "religion" as including all aspects of religious obser­ vance and practice. After a short debate, the amend­ The New York law fell short of covering dress and ment was passed by a vote of 55 to 0. This amendment appearance, and there was stiH no protection against survived the various revisions of the bill, finally passed discrimination for persons who wore their yarmu1kas the Senate, and was sent to House-Senate Conference on the job, for Hassidic Jews whose dress differed from Committee where both bills were to be reconciled others, and for bearded people. In October 1971, after negotiation. COLPA had a bill introduced in the New York City Purim Action Council to take care of these religious practices, and after a lengthy delay due to intra-party rivalry, the THE HOUSE MEMBERS of the Conference Committee bill was passed and signed into law by the Mayor in held a caucus on Ta'anis Esther, 1972, and decided to 12 insist on deletion of the Randolph amendment. COLPA early 1972. " learned of this development on the same day and On the National Front immediately contacted rabbis and communal leaders COLPA THEN TURNED its attention to federal legislation. from all of the districts which the House members Obtaining federal legislation is generally a very difficult represented. On Purim the Conference Committee met, task, and can take many years of effort and lobbying. and after some debate, left the Randolph amendment in In this case, it meant overcoming the opposition of the bill. The bill then went back to both houses where labor unions as well, who are concerned about seniority it was easily passed. The report of the Conference Com­ rights. In New York State, Orthodox Jewry has a mittee stated that the purpose of the Randolph amend­ powerful voice, but nationwide, its clout is compara­ ment was to reinstate the EEOC Guidelines and over­ tively weak. The prospects for federal legislation seem­ rule the Sixth Circuit's decision in the Dewey case.14 ed rather remote. The President signed it into law-known as the Equal A special hashgacha protis (Divine guidance) seems Employment Opportunity Act of 1972"'-on March to help those who work l'shem shomayim (for the 24, 1972, without any fanfare, and his approval of the sake of Heaven). In less than three months from the bill was not even reported in the newspapers. The law time COLPA started working on the matter, the became effective immediately-as of Shabbos Hagadol -for all establishments employing 25 or more workers, objective was realized. and as of March 24, 1973 for all employers of 15 or The 1964 Civil Rights Act was the end result of more. The law also extended coverage to federal, state many years of effort by Negroes and liberals in the and local government employment. Thus, in one fell white community to obtain fair employment practices swoop, almost all employers were required to make legislation. As a product of compromise, however, the accommodations not only for Sabbath observers, but EEOC was created as a conciliation agency with no also for persons with beards, as well as those who enforcement powers. wore a yarmuJka or Hassidic dress at work, unless the If it failed to obtain voluntary compliance, all it was employer could prove undue hardship. able to do was to advise the aggrieved party to take It must be emphasized that "undue hardship" differs his case into the federal courts on his own. sharply from inconvenience to the employer or to Since 1964, Presidents Johnson and Nixon had fellow employees; it means that it is not possible for both sought legislation to equip EEOC teeth (power another employee to fill in for the Sabbath observer or of enforcement) but they did not succeed in getting a to postpone the work to another day. 16 bill through both houses at the same session of Congress. Finally, in 1971, the House passed a bill Evaluation sponsored by the administration that allowed EEOC THE BUSINESS LOBBY was obviously caught napping, to sue violators in Federal Court. The Senate Labor since the Randolph amendment received very little Committee adopted a version that would give the EEOC publicity in the newspapers. Divine Providence had

10 The Jewish Observer I February, 1973 certainly guided COLPA's efforts and it may On January 21, 1972, a full page advertisement in now safely be said that almost any Jew who so wishes many Israeli newspapers claimed that many recent ar­ can be a Shomer Shabbos and Yorn Tov without fear rivals from Georgia, U.S.S.R. were discharged as por­ of losing his job. There are very few jobs where the ters in Lod Airport because of their refusal to work on employer can prove that he would not be able to sub­ the Sabbath, and compared this with the situation in stitute another employee for the few hours on Friday U.S. where Sabbath observers were protected. This afternoons in the winter, or during Yomim Tovim. caused a furor in the and the Knesset Com­ This law should encourage a concerted effort on the mittee on Labor voted that no Russian immigrant part of Orthodox Jewry to win more Jews to Sabbath should lose his job because he is a Sabbath observer.19 observance. Many of us have become too apathetic This resolution, while not binding, resolved the im­ to our contemporary scene where only a small fraction mediate problem of the Russian Jews but not for of Jews observe Sabbath. Since shmiras Shabbos is the anyone else, especially the technical and engineering key to observance of the whole Torah, we must not personnel interested in . allow this singular opportunity to pass without con­ A young, dynamic attorney, Simcha Meron of Giva­ strnctive results. tayim, is waging a campaign to obtain legal protection Anyone who is unable to obtain or retain a job for Sabbath observers. He sued the Broadcasting Au­ because of his observance of the Sabbath or other thority which has a work permit for radio and television religious practices is advised to turn to COLPA for broadcasting on the grounds that such activities exclude free legal assistance. COLPA has published a poster Sabbath observers from employment opportunity. His setting forth the legal rights of observant Jews. case was dismissed on the ground that he lacked standing to bring such an action since he did not The Israeli Scene personally have the job qualification.20 COLPA HAS RECENTLY BEEN REQUESTED to take an He then undertook to represent a Ben Uliel, an active role in securing the rights of Sabbath observers engineer with the Ministry of Communications who in Israel. Strange as it may seem, such a problem really became an Orthodox Jew many years after he had exists in the despite a law enacted by started working there.21 Meron commenced legal action the Knesset in 1951 declaring Sabbath as the weekly in the Labor Court, citing U.S. law as precedent, but day of rest for .16' This law allows the is­ was unsuccessful in obtaining a preliminary injunction. suance of work permits for industries engaged in defense He sought COLPA's assistance in the case, but has work or other important functions to work on the since informed us that the case has been settled under Sabbath. The Ministry of Labor has granted numerous pressure of the National Labor Court, by working out permits, and an estimated 50,000 jobs are covered by a transfer of job for Ben Uliel. He now feels that only such work permits.17 The Ministry of Labor has been legislation by the Knesset can achieve the desired quite liberal in issuance of such permits and they cover protection. such industries as pier operations in Haifa and oil Israel can surely afford to provide no Jess protection drilling.18 In effect, many qualified technical and scien­ to Sabbath observers than the U.S.A. since one of the tific personnel can not obtain or retain a job in such basic reasons for its existence is that Jews can freely industries unless some special accommodation is worked live there without in any way compromising on their out with a fellow employee. religious beliefs. D FOOTNOTES I. Dewey v. Reynol

The ]elvish Observer / February, 1973 II Shelomoh Eli'ezer Danziger

Probing the "Megillah" for Clues to the Perpetual Purim Riddle: Who Was the Real Akhashverosh?

OUR FAITH IN OUR SACRED Torah heritage is absolute. sity quotes an Aramaic cuneiform inscription found by For us, it is unnecessary to Hconfirm" the historical archeologists in Egypt, which, translated, runs as authenticity of, for example, the Purim events. How­ follows: ever, a legitimate by-product of (/imud "Thus says Artakhshatso the great King, King of haTorah) and Torah analysis (chiddushei Torah) will Kings, King of the lands of all the earth, the son of often be the discovery of information very useful "to Daryavesh the King; Daryavesh the King was the son answer the Apikoros." The same is true regarding the of Artakhshatso the King; Artakhshatso the King was identity of Akhashverosh of the Megillah. the son of Khshayarshu the King; Khshayarsh the King These are the Persian kings recorded in history: 1 was the son of Daryavesh the King; Daryavesh the King was the son of Ishtazpo of the seed of Hebrew English A clunenish." I. Koresh Cyrus This could have been said only by Artakhshasta II 2. Kamhiz Cambyses (Artaxerxes JI, number 9 on our list), son of Darya­ 3. Daryavesh Darius vesh (number 8), son of Artakhshasta (number 5) 4. Kserkses Xerxes (Since he was the son of number 5, there was no need 5. Artakhshasta Artaxerxes to mention the two preceeding kings, Sogdyan (no. 7) 6. Kserkses II Xerxes II, son of Artaxerxes and Xerxes II (no. 6) ), son of Khshayarsh (number I (assassinated after 45 4, Xerxes of our list), son of Daryavesh (number 3), days hy Sogdyan). son of I shtazpo (because Cambyses, number 2, left no 7. Sogdyan (assassinated after 7 heir). Consequently, the king we know as Xerxes, a months by Darius II, son corrupt version of the Persian name which derives of Artaxerxes I) . from the Greeks, is called in this original cuneiform 8. Daryavesh II Darius II inscription: "Khshayarsh." 9. Artakhshasta II Artaxerxes II, son of Darius II Adding the Initial "A" I 0. Artakhshasta III Artaxerxes III PROFESSOR JAMPEL STATES that Khshayarsh (Xerxes) I I. Daryavesh III Darius III is Akhashverosh. The initial "A" (the prosthetic "A") was added because in Hebrew grammar a word cannot Where then is Akhashverosh of the Megillah? There begin with two consonants (Heth, Shin-Khshayarsh). have been differing opinions. Josephus identifies The initial "shevd' of a word must always be mobile, Akhashverosh with Artaxerxes II. Among the moderns, vocalized ("sheva na"). The "A" is therefore added opinion is divided between Artaxerxes II and Xerxcs. 2 to make the following "sheva" quiescent (nach). Thus In his book, "Die Wiederherstellung Israels" (p. Khshayarsh becomes (A)khshayarsh, which ultimately l 06), Professor Sigmund Jampel of Heidelberg Univer- becomes (A) khashverosh. This is as far as Jampel goes. I, See Rosh Hashanah 3b, and Baal Ha1n1naor thereon. 2. See "Comparative Jewish Chronology" by Rabbi Simon The initial "A" is, of course, a well-recognized and Schwab, who identifies Akhashverosh with Cambys. However, frequently used device in Hebrew when foreign words the Gaon-historian, R. Yitzchak Isaac Ha1evi z"tl, identifies beginning with two consonants are employed. Thus Akhashverosh with Xerxes. the Greek "Plato" (Platon) becomes in Hebrew RABBI DANZIGER says shiurinl in the Rabbi San1son "Aplaton" and ultimately "Apalton." Without the Raphael Hirsch, and is the Rabbi of Congregation Beth Horab in Riverdale, New York. initial "A" the name would be pronounced in Hebrew

]2 The Jewish Observer I February, 1973 plicitly written: "And the king (A)KHSHaRSH laid a tribute upon the land, and upon the isles of the sea!" The "kri" (reading) is indeed Akhashverosh, as in all other places of the Megillah; but the "ksiv" (written text) is (A)KHSHaRSH (Aleph, Heth, Shin, Resh, Shin), which but for the prosthetic "A" is almost iden­ tical with the original Persian KHSHaYaRSH (the difficult "Y" sound being omitted). (The nekudos are intended to express only the kri, of course, not the ksiv.) However, not only have we found the name of the king (A)KHSHaRSH (KHSHaYARSH) clearly men­ tioned in the Megillah, but, by further analysis of the variations in spel1ing of Akhashverosh's name, it is also possible to prove the historical authenticity of the miracle of Purim. Let us suppose that areheologists were to find in the ruins of ancient Susa (Shushan) not only the palace discovered by Marcel Dieulefoy (which corresponds in all details to the Megillah's description), but also with a "sheva na"-"Pe1aton." Similarly, the Latin the following four royal Persian documents: word "Specularia" (window glass) becomes in the I) a document which tells that Mordechai the Jew Talmud "aspaclaria." In the Megillah itself we find saved the King from his would-be assassins; this device used in the words: "(a)khashdarpenim" 2) a document containing the detailed text of the (satraps), and "(a)khashtranim" ("royal") from the decree which Haman sent in the name of the King Persian "khshatra" ("kingdom"). ordering the destruction of all the Jews on the SuJJstituting "V" for "Y" thirteenth of Adar; IN THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT of Akhashverosh from 3) a document telling of the greatness of Mordeehai (A) khshayarsh, it should be remembered that tbe who was promoted by the King; Persian-sounding KHSH (a) Y (a) RSH is difficult for a 4) a document containing the detailed text of the non-Persian to pronounce. The Jew found it easier to counter-decree which Mordechai sent in the name substitute a "V" for the "Y." Substitution of Vav for of the King telling the Jews to gather themselves Yud is common in Hebrew, since the original Hebrew together and to stand for their Jives to destroy the Vav was the light-sounding "W" rather than the ''V." forces that would assault them. "W" and "Y' are both light consonants that border What a reaction there would be to such an archeolo­ on vowels. The pronounciation of the consonantal suffix gical discovery! All would admit that these documents (KHSHaYa) RSH is also facilitated by giving it a confirm the main aspe<::ts of the Purim miracle as vowel (ROSH). Thus, in terms of the written letters recorded in Megillas Esther. (without the "nekudoth"), KHSHYRSH becomes Naturally, after more than two thousand four hun­ (A)KHSHWROSH, the Hebrew containing two dred years, we cannot expect to find preserved exactly ''vavs," whereas the original Persian contained none. those documents which we seek. But if we search well, It seems obvious that Akhashverosh is nothing else but we can "excavate" those documents from the hidden the Hebraized form of the original Persian Khshayarsh. recesses of the Megillah itself! An explanation is in The Greeks, on the other hand, not having an SH order. sound, attempted to express KSH as KS,=X. Thus the development from Persian to Greek is: Khshayarsh= Digging the "Megillah" Khsharsh= Khshersh= Kserks+es=Xerxes. PREPARING FOR A LECTURE on Megillas Esther, I once wrote an outline of the Purim narrative. Among my The "Megillah" Clues notes I had written the following sentence: "In her so FAR, OUR EVIDENCE, as to the identity of Akhash­ honor the king makes another banquet, the banquet in verosh. has been external-archeological inscriptions honor of Esther." As an American I wrote the word and Jampel's highly probable hypothesis. However, "honor" twice according to the American spelling, Hashem has opened our eyes to an actual pasuk written without a "u"-not "honour," as the British spe11 it. I in the Megillah itself which removes all doubt from the was therefore surprised to find that in another part of highly probable hypothesis and confirms it as a fact. the same notes I had written: "Mordechai the Jew For at the end of the Megillah, 10:1, we find it ex- refused to bow down, probably because Haman claimed

The Jewish Ohserver I Fehruary, 1973 13 divine honours for himself." Here I had used the British Here again the author of the Megillah-Mordechai spelling: honours-something I would never do on my -was quoting from the Persian book of the chronicles own. The reason, however, became clear. The last six which lay open before him, and consequantly, the words of the sentence, "Haman claimed divine honours spelling was beru' ach hakodesh modeled after that for himself," had been copied by me from a British original document. Therefore, we have an approxima­ book, the Soncino "Five Megilloth," page 209. The tion, (A)KSHaWaRSH (with only one vav}, instead of original British source that lay open before me when the usual AKHSaSHWeROSH, the Hebraized version I wrote that sentence had influenced my spelling of the with two vavs. We have thus "excavated" and authen­ word. ticated the second of the four documents-the one which tells how Mordechai saved the king. The (;realness of Mordechai I believe that in exactly this way, the reason for The Genocide Plan the kesiv (A)KSHaRSH which we find at the end of The third document, Haman's decree to destroy the the Megil/ah was an indication of the Persian source Jews, is contained in 3:12-14. that lay open before the writer. For after having copied "Then were the King's scribes called in the from the Persian source the words: "And the King first month, on the thirteenth day thereof, and (A)KSHaRSH laid a tribute upon tbe land, and upon there was written, according to all that Haman the isles of the sea," the writer explicitly indicated this commanded, unto the King's satraps, and to the Persian source in the very next verse; governors that were over every province, and to "And all the acts of his power and of his might, the princes of every people; to every province and the full account of the greatness of Morde­ according to the writing thereof, and to every chai, how the King advanced him are they not people after their language, in the name of King written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings (A)KHSHaWaRSH (minus one vav) was it of Media and Persia?" written, and it was sealed with the King's ring. It was this original Persian document ("The Book And letters were went by posts unto all the King's of Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia") provinces, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to which lay open before the writer as he quoted from perish, (Note: The repetition of similar expres­ it, that served as a model for the spelling of the King's sions is common in legal documents. We have name (A)KHSHaRSH in close approximation of the here the actual text of Haman's legal decree.) ali original Persian KHSHa YaRSH. Instead of the usual Jews, both young and old, little children and Hebraized AKHaSHWeROSH (with two vavs) we women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth have (A)KHSHaRSH (minus both vavs). (Note: In day of the twelfth month, which is the month the reading of the Megillah the official kri is in all cases Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a the Hebraized "Akhashwerosh," and nekudos are sup­ prey . ..." plied for this reading, regardless of how the name is Here again, because Mordechai was referring directly written.) And so, b'ezrath Hashem, we have "exca­ to the actual text of the original document which lay vated" from the Megillah one of the four documents­ before him, we find (A)KHSHaWaRSH (minus one the one which tells of the greatness of Mordechai and vav) instead of the nsual (A)KHaSHWeROSH (with his promotion. · two vavs)! The Assassination Plot The Counter.. Decree The document which relates that Mordechai saved The fourth document is the counter-decree of Mor­ the King's life is contained in 2:21-23: dechai, which in its legal phraseology is almost identical "In those days, while Mordechai sat in the with Haman's decree, since both follow the official king's gate, two of the King's chamberlains, Big­ text of Persian royal decrees. It is contained in 8:7-13. san and Teresh, of those that kept the door, "Then the King (A)KSHaWaRSH (minus one were wroth, and sought to lay hands on the King vav) said-Write ye also concerning the Jews, as (A)KSHaWaRSH" (minus the second vav.) it liketh you, in the King's name, and seal it with Why is the second vav missing in this case? Let us the King's ring; and it was written according to read on: all that Mordechai commanded concerning the "And the thing became known to Mordechai, Jews, even to the satraps, and the governors and who told it unto Esther the Queen; and Esther princes of the provinces which are from India told the King thereof in Mordechai's name. And unto Ethiopia, a hundred twenty and seven when inquisition was made of the matter, and provinces, unto every province according to the it was found to be so, they were both hanged writing thereof and unto every people after their on a tree; and it was written in the Book of language, and to the Jews according to their Chronicles before the King!" writing, and according to their language. And

14 The Jewish Observer I February, 1973 they wrote in the name of King (A)KHSHaWa­ chai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the RSH (minus one vav) and sealed it with the Jews-that they should keep the fourteenth day-and King's ring . ..that the King had granted the Jews gifts to the poor''). From that point on ("and the Jews that were in every city to gather themselves took upon them to do as they had begun, and as together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, Mordechai had written unto them .. .") until the end and to slay, and to cause to perish, all the forces of the Megillah, we have the summation of the editors of the people and province that would assault of the Megillah-the Anshei Kenesses Hagedolah. them, their little ones and women, and to take Rabbi Halevy explains thereby the fact that the Talmud the spoil of them for prey." (Megil/ah 2a and Baba Basra !Sa) ascribes the Megil­ In connection with this fourth document, the name lah of Esther to the Anshei Kenesses Hagedolah, al­ (A)KSHaWaRSH (minus one vav) appears twice, though Esther (9:20) clearly states that Mordechai instead of the usual (A)KHaSHWeROSH. was the author. Accordingly, it is understandable that Mordechai and the Anshei Kenesses Hagedolah used Now let us consider the facts. The name of King different approximations. Akhashverosh occurs in the Megillah a total of twenty­ nine (29) times. Of this total, the name is written The variations in spelling we find in the Megillah twenty-four (24) times in the usual, nonnal Hebraized are evidence of the fact that the author had before version-AKHaSHWeROSH, with both vavs malei him actual texts and official documents which contained (plene). Of the total, only five (5) times is the name the main facts of the Purim miracle. Having been written chaser (defective) in an unusual way which guided to "excavate" these treasures from the inner approximates the original Persian KHSHa YaRSH. recesses of the sacred Megillah, where they have been That is to say, five (5) times either the second vav or hidden for thousands of years, let us close wi!h the both vavs are missing. And what is extraordinary about words of the Psalmist: "Open Thou mine eyes that I these five ( 5) exceptional chaser (defective) spellings may behold hidden things out of Thy Torah." · D is that they always occur only, exclusively, in connec­ tion with an official written Persian quotation! The author of the Megillah, Mordechai was so carefully exact when he copied beruach hakodesh from the of­ ficial Persian documents, that he even used an approxi­ ~01t11.ds ft·om ~iltit,et mation of the Persian spelling instead of the usual Jewish version. I To sum up, let us again bear in mind that the The gray clouds and rolling fog blot out the sun Persian name KHSHaYaRSH is a difficult one for a The horizon where the ocean ends and the sky non-Persian to pronounce. There are two ways to overcome the difficulty: One is to eliminate the "Y" begins appear as one entirely, getting (A)KHSHaRSH (minus two vavs), Hester Panim! as we have found it at the end of the Megillah. Another Yet the sun is there and so is the Ocean way is to substitute the facilitating vav (W) for "yud," All that is needed is one ray of light a substitution which is often made in Hebrew, as has The fog melts and the clouds disperse- already been explained. We would then get (A)KHSH­ One little insight into Torah-one flash of truth! aWaRSH (minus the second vav). Thus, the original name is KHSHaYaRSH (with no vavs); an approxi­ II mation of the original is (A)KSHAaWaRSH (with the first vav, but minus the second vav ); another approxi­ Hashem: 1'l"lr;;p l:l'j?t:l))t:lt:l mation is (A)KHSHaRSH (minus both vavs); and the (I call from the depths!) non-approximation, the complete Hebraization, is All I hear is silence. (A)KhaSHWeROSH (with two vavs). Hashem: 'li'1i' 1li))1tt'; As Halevy Said ... (I anticipate Your salvation!) THESE DIFFERING APPROXIMATIONS, (A)KHSHaRSH A resounding silence. (both vavs missing) and (AKSHaWaRSH (minus one Hashem i:l';p:l il:J1t:l:J 't:l vav) correspond significantly to what has been ex­ (Who is like You amongst the mighty?) plained in a different connection by the Gaon-historian The silence is deafening! Rabbi Yitzchak Isaak Halevy, 7"XT. In his Daros Hari­ And then I perceive the answer: shonim, Tekuphas Hamikra, concerning Megillas Esther (pp. 262-269) he points out that Mordechai "I have already spoken!" is the author of the Megillah until 9 :22 ("and Morde- by AARON BRAFMAN

The Jewish Observer I Fphruary, 1973 15 Elkanah Schwartz Fundamental to Jewish belief is recognition of Divine control of the universe. There are no accidents. Everything-literally everything-is so because the Almighty makes it so. The concept of hashgacha pro tis (specific supervision) refers to the control of the Divine Being over everything there is and Why over everything that occurs. This belief is, in fact, the first of Rambam 's Thirteen Principles of Faith: "/ firmly believe that the Creator, blessed be His name, is the Creator and Ruler of all created beings, and that He alone has made, does make, and ever will Purim? make all things." Divine control, however, functions in two patterns, tevah-nature, and nes-miracle. Nature means the Almighty moves everything within an identifiable and predictable order. (We describe as "natural" those events that occur by Divine control within this order.) Miracle means "unnatural" -something which, while occurring through Divine control, does not fall within any identifiable or predictable order. Miracles, too, function in two patterns: in one, the nes nigla, Divine control is revealed, and the miracle is recognized as such; in the other, the nes nistor, Divine control is hidden, and the miracle is made to appear as a natural occurrence. The miracle of Chanu­ kah was through the first pattern; the miracle of Purim, through the second. While the miracle of Chanukah was obvious-a one-day supply of oil burned for eight days-the miracle of Purim was not obvious. The entire Book of Esther reveals nothing miraculous: a pleasant story, of almost fairy-tale outline, telling of a wicked man's downfall, and the triumph of the hero and heroine. The Rabbis of the Talmud discuss this, reporting that the Book of Esther, which does not mention even once the name of the Almighty, is a case of a miracle camouflaged to appear as a natural occurrence.

0 ne might wonder whether any natural-appearing event is really a camouflaged miracle. If so, is one required to make a holiday for every joyful event, since one cannot always know whether, Some answers, like Purim, it is a miracle in disguise? Perhaps so, were it not for our Rabbis who revealed the miraculous nature of the Purim events, thereby focusing on teaching faith in the Almighty, to recognize that He is truly directing the circumstances surrounding individ­ ual and collective lives along patterns destined for their the Purim mirack benefit, though one may not at the time be aware of

ELKANAH SCHVl.'ARTZ is the author of "A1nerican Life: Shtetel­ S1y/e"-a collection of stories and sketches. He is a frequent contributor to n1any periodicals, including THE JEWISH OBSER­ VER; his 1nost recent piece in JO was "My Student, My and other "natural events." Teacher," in the June edition.

16 The Je1rish Observer / February, 1973 it- just as Mordechai, Esther, and the other Jews but before the eyes of all the world, who recognized of the time were initially not aware of the miraculous the miracles as such: "The peoples have heard, they nature of the "natural-appearing" events of their time. tremble; pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of Now that Purim has been identified as a miracle, it is Philistia. Then were the chiefs of Edom affrighted; the to be treated as such. Many a disguised miracle may Mighty men of Moab, trembling takes hold upon them; be taking place at any time, but we do not treat them all the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away. Terror as such, since they have not been identified. and dread falls upon them; by the greatness of Your The unique standing of Purim as a hidden miracle arm they are as still as a stone" (Shemos 15: 14-16). later revealed, is identified in the Talmud (Chullin l 39b): "Where is Esther indicated in the Torah? In the verse, 'V'onochi hastayr astir ponei'-'For I will The miracle of Purim might have surely hide my face' (Devorim 31:18)." slipped by as another of many events where good Rather than merely developing a play on words triumphed over evil, had not the secret been revealed. (Estber/"astir") the Rabbis of the Talmud were ask­ The reason-to remind us of that important aspect of ing: "Where is it indicated in the Torah that there can our faith: the "Hidden Face" of the Almighty, which be a miracle in disguise? In the verse wherein the functions not only on Purim, but eternally. (See the Almighty is telling Moses that He will always guide commentary of the Vilna Gaon on Esther 1 :2.) the Jews through all the tribulations that may befall Small wonder, then, that the fulfillment of Purim them, except that His hand may not be revealed in the is through acts which appear ordinary, but when process; that He will never forsake His children, though understood within the above context become extra­ they may not always be conscious of His presence; ordinary. Consider, first, the reading of the Megillah: that 'Hester Ponini,' literally 'Hidden Face,' is also Every Shabbos and Yom Tov morning, and every a process of Divine Guidance." fast day at Minchah, following the reading of the In fact, the commentary Sforno explains that verse Torah, a selection from the Prophets is read with in Devorim: "Wherever the Jews may be, my Divine blessings. Every Tisha B'Av evening, the entire Book Presence will be within them." How else, truly, can of Eycha is read without the preface of a blessing. the continued existence of the Jewish People through­ Thus, the essential practice of reading scripture publicly out these milennia of golus and persecution be ex­ is not unique to Purim, but Purim is the only time one plained, other than to recognize the Divine Presence must both read scriptures from a parchment scroll within Jewry, even if it be hidden from them. and recite blessings over the reading. Then, a second of Purim, mishlo'ach monos, sending food packages to a friend; or a third mitzvah, As is well known the miracle mata nos lo' evyonim, gifts to the poor; or a fourth of Purim took place outside Eretz Yisroel, in contrast mitzvah, seudas Purim, the festive meal. None of these to the miracle of Chanukah, which occurred in Jeru­ is of a unique nature as is blowing the shofar on Rosh salem. Purim is the reassurance to the Jewish People Hashana, handling the lulav and esrog on Succos, or that they will never succumb, even amidst the worst eating marror and charoses on Pesa ch. There are other offensives by the nations of the world, in their own times during the year when we read from the scriptures; terrain. when we send gifts to friends, and to the poor; and And while Purim was not the only time that the when we enjoy a hearty meal. Almighty helped His children through difficulties by But then, if Purim is a celebration of a miracle in natural-appearing methods, Purim is the only such disguise as something natural, then the fulfillment of event whose identity was revealed to give Jews an Purim should also appear as something natural, al­ annual reassurance of the Divine Presence behind the though in reality it is not. One must be aware, while Hester Ponim (the "Hidden Face)." listening to the reading of the Megillah, sending food That is why the Purim celebration goes beyond packages to friends, giving gifts to the poor, or enjoying celebrating the miracle of Mordechai and Esther, just a festive meal, that all may appear "natural"-but in as Mordechai and Esther willed it to the Jewish People reality are not. Instead, one must be mindful of loftier to go beyond that. It must enter the realm of year­ meanings. It is simpler to be reminded of faith when round service to the Almighty, to seek greater grasp and doing something exotic; it is more difficult to be so deeper understanding of faith in the Almighty. reminded when we are doing something ordinary. But Purim occurs exactly one month before Pesach. The then, once reminded, the ordinary becomes extraor­ ' miracles of Pesach are recounted for us: in the Torah, dinary. in the Haggadah, and every day in our prayers when Purim, then, in a very special way is an annual we speak of "zaycher l'yetzias Mitzrayim"-"'rcmem­ reminder of the very special way the Almighty takes I brance of the Exodus from Egypt." The miracles of care of His children: He is always there, even when we Pesach occurred not only before the eyes of the Jews do not realize it. D

The Je1vish Observer I February, 1973 17 Moshe Spero The "A veirah" Syndrome

Some thoughts on human frailties and man's ability to contend mth them as reflected in the opening passages of the ''Sbmoneh Esrei"

THE "SHMONEH ESREI" brachah of Gevuros speaks in the final analysis the individual has the power to of G-d's ability to lift the fallen, heal the sick and free mold, modify or even restructure his personality. There the imprisoned. The obvious reference of this phrase are no hidden forces at work that a person is incapable is to the Al-mighty's ultimate power of salvation in the of combatting. physical sense. When a person "falls" ill-even when medical science can allow him but a few days to live­ On the other hand, possessing Free Will does not Hashem, the source of all ]ifc, can still revitalize his mean that one will do the correct thing merely because health completely. The brachah concludes with the he "chooses" to. It is one thing to decide to attend climactic, penultimate praise: Hashem will quicken a minyan, and to be more involved in one's prayer. the dead in the period of T'chiyas Hameisim (the It can be quite another thing to get there. The gaps resurrection of the dead). This literal interpretation is between decision, determination, and performance have most certainly the intention of the brachah. been discussed by many Jewish thinkers. Perhaps one might be permitted to infer another The concern of this discussion is the vast area of level in this praise of G-d's omnipotence, while taking human frailty that is too often shrugged off as the toll into account the requests that follow. The brachah of of being victim of unconscious forces, when in truth Binah (understanding) sets the stage for one's pleas Conscious Man can affect positive changes by restruc­ for Teshuvah (repentance). Only when one realizes turing behavior patterns. that Hashem bestows people with the ability to choose When these patterns are described as "habits," between good and evil can one appreciate the concept actions mastered by rote and without much conscious of teshuvah, for without free choice in one's actions attention, they are often dismissed as being unimportant one cannot be held responsible for them. Perhaps, areas of activity of which we are relatively unaware. then, there is some way in which Gevuros can be As a simple example, one does not give much thought understood as an introduction to the concept of binah, to taking the fork in his left hand and the knife in in as much as the opening paragraphs of Gevuros his right when eating. If one were to stop and reflect introduce all that follows. upon that action for a moment, however, he would JEWISH BELIEF IN HUMAN FREEDOM tends to challenge understand that he has learned to handle these utensils the concept of an unconscious as an uncontrollable in this manner since childhood. There is no unconscious force that dictates attitudes and decisions to the un­ force that drives him to perform that act-such is the knowing human victim. Man, as possessor of free case with most of our behaviors,* including those that choice, must be in power to combat, modify, and ma­ are more heavily laden with emotional value. nipulate the life forces within himself. True, the Talmud The major difference between acts and decisions states that "All is in the hands of Heaven, except the determined by acquired habit and those dictated by fear of Heaven"(Brachos 33b), hut this refers to the unconscious forces is that the individual has the ulti­ circumstances of life, not to alleged overpowering mate control over his habits. When a person commits forces that predetermine good or evil behavior. As the the ordinary aveirah, Judaism does not view him as Rambam (Shmona Prokim: VIII) explains, people do being driven by some uncontrollable, inaccessable have predispositions to certain modes of behavior, but primitive force. It is generally an act one has come to perform (or an objection one permits himself to

MOSHE SPERO studies in the Reis Medrash of the Te/she Yeshiva of Wickliffe, Ohio. His "Wisdom-as the Cock Cro;vs" appeared in the Oct., '72 edition of JO. * This discussion does not deal with reflex actions.

18 The Je1vish Observer / February, 1973 ignore) by force of something one has justified in his wrong-thus relieving anxiety and unspoken gnilt­ conscious mind with the very first perpetration. Later, and by concentrating on not repeating the aveirah, to he commits it again without much thought. "Having erase the habit. The rest of the illness is ultimately transgressed once-and then again, the prohibition cured when one completes his teshuvah. Hashem heals becomes as if 'permissible' "-i? nll!Yl-71:2 71lllli ;ii:iy the sick completely when He accepts the person's in"n~. teshuvah. "Great is teshuvah, for it bring a cure to the After a while, a person becomes desensitized to world" (Yoma 86a). this change in his behavior and he persists in it. BUT IF THE SPREAD of the disease is not brought here Yet, it is the very nature of habit-as something the to an immediate halt, then one succumbs to complete individual himself has brought into being-that gives imprisonment under a new master will, the yetzer hora one the ability to override it ... to do teshuvah, and (inclination for evil). One's entire sense of cognition to modify the acquired pattern to conform with the and reality is warped, and works for the wrong ends. Torah-mode of behavior. If anything, the yetzer tov has been rendered "uncon­ THIS CONCEPT MAY LIE behind the framework of the scious." Sociologists have found the prison situation, brachah of Gevuros, for it traces the three step syn­ where the inmate loses his identity and sense of self drome of a specific psychological illness-the act of (anomie) as society's opportunity to reconstruct the succumbing to one's adverse will .•. the act of com­ prisoner's personality.-Is this not the· case with a mitting an aveirah. prisoner of one's wiII? One loses his identity as a Initially, there is a slightly accidental-or moderately Torah Jew, with his will to do good diminished almost to non-existence. As a resu1t, one's free will is a1so intentional--0ccurrence of an aveirah. Temptation has ]essened because he can no longer make intelligent felled the person and weakened the defenses of the decisions regarding good and evil. He is lost in the yetzer tov (his inclination for good). "The beginnings habits of resha and iniquity. of an aveirah are the musings of the heart" ( Avos IV :2). Slightly, almost imperceptibly, but nonetheless with a definite measure of awareness, the heart has strayed. Yet, this is only a slight abnormality. If ar­ rested immediately, tbis faulty behavior can be cor­ ~:r,Sql{oLL ,S~ttDl:O,Strl>.~ rected. Since this was a conscious error, he who committed it knows he has committed it and can be expected to effect a teshuvah. And that G-d's amountc2sJtirno.ve.JotafP!'.~~rnotr1cis·•;.n promise to accept the penitent is a source of rein­ forcement to him. All he has done, so far, is to (It stumble .... G-d will raise the fallen, if man makes the initial effort. Yet, the aveirah-act has satisfied some need-for pleasure, money or power-albeit in a harmful way­ and the person's predilection for this act has been reinforced. If his will is not strong, one can almost guarantee a repetition of the aveirah. "One aveirah causes another" (Avos IV:2). A habit will form.-One might no longer concentrate on each act, but initially it was caused by the person's own volition, and ul­ timately he can control it.

LIKE A GERM THAT WILL SPREAD infection to all parts of the body if not destroyed, so can an aveirah, if not checked, corrupt all one's senses and actions. One no longer sees, feels, hears, or understands things with a healthy Torah attitude. He has allowed himself to become ill with a malignant ailment that crowds out the yetzer tov and deflects his energy toward deeds that f/J{¥an£!/P!jf~Jml/ffU!f!J.C, wuflllt !M(fawad.h •. are contrary to his better judgment. One can be "healed," however. if he cooperates with the diagnosis of the Master Physician and tries scrpf!J.!fr»trj~11i!1!JStf!ff kPt~ittPl//JlllU'/iJrllhM, to combat this destructive condition. The symptoms. overt acts of an aveirah, are eased by admitting to being

The Jewish Obsen·er I February, 1973 19 Despite this grim picture, "He redeems the im­ Thus the totality of Gevuros-supporting the fallen, prisoned." The highway robber who becomes Resh healing the stricken, and releasing the imprisoned­ Lakish and the boor who becomes Rabbi Akiva are spells out the various aspects of overcoming the differ­ examples of the reprieved. Indeed, in our own day, ent stages of the aveirah syndrome, anticipating the we can look to all the prisoners of the Iron Curtain, arduous journey from binah (understanding) to teshu­ who had no "conscious" Jewish identity, and suddenly vah (repentance). revived their everpresent "Pinteleh Yid." This basic will is always accessable, no matter how suppressed it THIS IDEA ALSO SHEDS SOME LIGHT on another concept. "Who is mighty? He who conquers his passions" (A vos may be. IV: I). If might, on G-d's level, is the rebuilding of fallen personalities, then we, on our level, attempt to emulate this attribute by mending our errant personal­ Jews i:n Bussia ities and conquering our intemperate desires. Finally, it is this knowledge that one has this ultimate control over his personality that permits teshuvah to be Need Matzos effective. True, the individual has committed an evil act, but it is he who can decide to do teshuvah. Even 'Ibis Pesacb ! an ingrained evil pattern can be converted to a positive For nearly three decades Agudath Israel pioneered one. shipping Kosher food for Pesach to the needy overseas. Good deeds are reinforced by the realization that --·Now mainly to Jews in Russia, discreetly and with responsibility. Agudath Israel has in its po..,session re· one's guilt is relieved by G-d's accepting his teshuvah. l'eipts testifying to the safe arrival of the parcels. This, then, insures that the mitzvah will be repeated: THIS YEAR, THE NEED IS ~ill~ ;mi~ i~tv On the ultimate level, one is motivated solely by good deeds, and he need no longer look for GREATER THAN EVER! external reinforcement. His mitzvos are performed only Russian immigrants in Israel have provided thousands for the achievement of the goal of personal perfection. of new addresses of Jews in Russia who will not have [] Matzos this Pesach unless we provide them. Our offices in Zurich and are working around-the-clock to meet this increased demand. Mail your MA'os CHITIM contribution TOI>AY. u1hile shipping arrangements can still be made for arrival WHY DO THE WORLD TORAH AUTHORITIES before Pesach. CONSIDER RABBI GOREN'S "PSAK" PLEASE ACT QUICKLY SUCH A DANGER? Presfrlium of Agudafh Israel of America Rabbi Rabbi Moshe Horowitz The last two issues of the stimulating, informative R bb" N h M d h .(Bo•fone' Rebbe) • ' oc um or ec ai Rabbi Boruch Sorotzkin Yiddish-language magazine Dos Yiddishe Vort Perlow Rabbi Schneur Kotler feature extensive material on this subject, worth (Noveminsker Rebbe) Rabbi Cheskel Besser reading by every Jew interested in the current religious situation in Israel. Rush your Ma'os Chitim contribution ta: OVERSEAS PESACH CAMPAIGN This month's Dos Yiddishe Vort features six pages AGUDATH ISRAEL OF AMERICA of excerpts (in the original Hebrew) from a 5 BEEKMAN ST., NEW YORK, N. Y. 10038 halachic critique of Rabbi Goren's psak, by the Rav Attention Rabbis and Presidents of Shuls: of Jerusalem: RABBI BEZALEL ZOLTY Please arrange for an appeal in your shul for Overseas Pesach Campaign of Agudath Israel. If a separate Send $5.00 for a year's subscription and you will receive the appeal is not possible, then please send a significant last three issues as a bonus, plus a copy of "THE PESACH share of your l\1A'os CHITJM fund to the Agudath ALMANACH" / or send $1.00 for single copies of the current Israel Overseas Pesach Campaign. issue featuring Rabbi Zolty's treatise.

Gentlemen: Enclosed please find my Ma'os Chifim contribution of $...... for the Jews in Russia. Name DOS YIDDISHE VORT Address 5 Beekman Street New Yark City 10038 C;+y . .. .State ...... Zip

20 The Jewish Observer I February, 1973 reading. For this reason, this book should be required reading for anybody who cannot tackle the more com­ prehensive Hebrew original. Where else could he find BOOKS those succinct and epigrammatic sentences in which the Chazon Ish was wont to sum up an entire philosophy of life? One example may be given here. In reply to the CHAZON ISH A Biography of Rabbi Abraham Isaiah Karelitz, remark of the Satmarer Rebbe, with reference to living translated and condensed from the original Hebrew in Eretz Yisroel today, that " 'the Rambam stipulates that one must flee from a district of evildoers, and even manuscript settle in caves or wildernesses, rather than be influenced by Rabbi Shlomo Cohen by them,' the Chazon Ish said, 'The Yeshivoth are the (Netzach Publications, 1971, $7.50) caves and wildernesses of our generation' " (p. 189). 'THIS BOOK is a condensed translation of the first two Yet, though so deeply committed to living in Eretz volumes of "Pe'er Hador," the justly renowned Hebrew Yisroel, the Chazon Ish peremptorily silenced some­ biography of the Chazon Ish; it covers his background, body who criticized the gedolim of the last generation his life in Lithuania, the move to Eretz Yisroel, and that opposed settling in Eretz Yisroel: "Your words the turn which his life took at that time. In its 279 are full of heresy ..." (p. 157)-a heresy, incidentally, pages it includes 79 illustrations, as well as innumerable that is sufficiently widespread today to warrant stories and sayings throwing a penetrating light upon publicizing the Chazon Ish's words. the personality and teachings of the Chazon Isb. More­ It is to be hoped that not only will this volume see over, the style of writing is easy-flowing, holding the a second edition, but that it will be fo1lowcd by interest of the reader without much effort. further volumes drawing on the treasures of the "Pe'er Yet this reviewer is deeply distressed that a book of Hador." D such importance should be flawed by a very large number of English mistakes. Whoever was charged with reviewing the English translation did a most unsatisfactory job, and the publishers are urged to have the necessary corrections made before they print a second edition-whichi this reviewer is confident, will be necessary. It should be pointed out that this is not just a question of literary merit (for instance, the use of "confidante" instead of "confidant") but affects the accuracy of the book. For example, we find on page 1 12 that "the Y od of the Tzadi must be written straight THE FIRST KOSHER DRIVE-INS IN AMERICA and not upside down," while the real meaning of the Char-broiled Burgers, French Fries, Franks, Farm passage is that, according to the Chazon Ish, the Y od Fried Chicken, corn on cob. Fillet of fish & More. must face forward and not backward. On page 181 @ Supervised • Gloff Kosher • Shomer Shabbos there is quoted the precept, "eject the heretic and do 96 MAIN STREET, NEW ROCHELLE not elevate him" which should read "throw down the Boston Post Road - Just North of the Mall heretic and do not lift him up." and At the same time, it has to be emphasized again that SURF AVE. & W. 15th ST., CONEY ISLAND such mistakes should not discourage the reader, for wherever he will open this volume he will find precious SCHECHTER & HIRSCH'S insights that will linger with him, long after he finishes

Do you have room in your heart .K:~:Rlla7!78£/l#H@L ENTIRE OCEANFRONT BLOCK- 37th " .... St. MIAMI BEACH for a Jewish child in need of a foster home? ••• is a GREAT Kosher Hotel - you'll love it! • DiAt. for Reservations Speak to Call OHEL FOSTER CARE MIAMI SAM SCHECHTER FREE PARKING (212) 851-6300 BEACH 800 _ 327 _ 8165 PRIVATE POOL FREE! Or Call N.Y. Off: PL 7-4238 SAND~N~EACH The only Orthodox child-caring agency in New York Evenings & Sunday FA 7-1742

The Jewish Observer I February, 1973 21 fortunate, indeed, that-as shown by the books before BOOKS (continued) us-we have had the organization and the spokesman to present our concerns and successfully to draw atten­ RELIGIOUS JEWRY AND tion to our needs. It is interesting to note that, while THE UNITED NATIONS iu the area of American national and local politics the by Dr. Isaac Lewin assertion of the needs of religious Jewry by its own (N. Y., 1953, $2.50) spokesmen has only come to be accepted relatively IN THE STRUGGLE AGAINST DISCRIMINATION recently (primarily through the work of the American by Dr. Isaac Lewin Agudah), Orthodox interests on the international (N. Y., 1957, Bloch, $2.75) scene have always been watched by Agudath Israel. TEN YEARS OF HOPE For example, an Agudah delegation (the only repre­ by Dr. Isaac Lewin sentative of religious Jewry) played a crucial role at (N. Y., 1971, Shengold, $4.00) the great 1944 Montreal conference of UNRRA and the planning of post war refugee relief and rehabilita­ tion done there. WHEN, DURING WORLD WAR II, the future organization With the establishment of the United Nations, the of the community of nations was discussed, there were Agudath Israel World Organization was accepted as two schools of thought: those that looked forward to one of the official "Non-governmental Consultative an association of all the free and sovereign states in Organizations" and Dr. Isaac Lewin, chairman of the our world, and those others that were sure that no such American section of World Agudath Israel, became its association could ever function effectively. The latter accredited representative. The books before us bespeak was convinced that sovereign states would always the wide range of causes and issues that Dr. Lewin pursue their own interests and not voluntarily sub­ has discussed in his appearances before United Nations ordinate them to the will of the majority; hence, inter­ bodies. national order could only be established if all final A number of the addresses concern the freedom of authority rested in the hands of a supernational body. re1igious observance, religious education of orphans Very obviously, the world was not ready for such a and religious discrimination, and it is therefore of daring step, and so the United Nations came into being particular interest to note that the entire subject of as a loose association of states, a forum for debatmg religious rights and practices, and discrimination in this current issues but unable to take the action necessary area, was only taken up in 1952 by the United Nations to resolve them. Despite all the pomp and circumstance Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and on the East River, the prestige of the United Nations Protection of Minorities, upon the urging of Dr. Lewin. has sunk to a very low point. Other subjects discussed include rights of refugees, Yet the inability of the United Nations to solve the revival of Nazism, calendar reform, and defense of major political crises of our world should not blind Shechita (some addresses to U.S. congressional com­ us to the valuable positive contributions made by the mittees on this matter are included in "Struggle Against organization to the welfare of humanity. There are th.e Discrimination"). specialized agencies such as the World Health Orgam­ As on the national scene in the U.S.A., the Agudist zation, that have made nations cooperate on important representative has had to contend with the desire of projects and enterprises. And there is the moral effect such groups as the World Jewish Congress and the of the work of such groups as the Commission on World Zionist Organization to present themselves as Human Rights and its sub-committees, which have had the exclusive spokesmen for the Jewish people. They a very real impact on public opinion and even on the were not successful in this, for a number of reasons. policies of member-governments. . . Very obviously, Dr. Lewin's presentations in behalf of Many of the issues that gravely concern rehg10us historic religious Jewry had an authenticity of spirit Jewry in all parts of the world belong within the scoi:e and concern that could not be rivalled by men who of the work of these United Nations agencies. It IS themselves had cut most of their traditional Judaism. Moreover, in an organization in which the State of Did You Ever Think of Becoming HOUSEPARENTS Israel is a subject of violent controversy, organizations with close political links to the Jewish Agency and OUR NEW GROUP HOME FOR GIRLS needs a mature the government of Israel (with "interlocking director­ Orthodox couple to care for 6-8 Jewish girls. ates," so to speak) cannot aspire to the same dis­ - Salary Plus Full Room and Board. - passionate hearing as a group obviously and purely Work closely with our professional staff. concerned with the social and religious welfare of the Inquire OHEL CHILDREN'S HOME Jew. Lastly, however, the success of the World Agu­ (212) 851-6300 dah's work at the United Nations is a tribute to the The only Orfhoclox Jewish Child Care Agency in New York. dedication and ability of its outstanding spokesman. O

22 The Jewish Observer I February, 1973 significance of Shabbos, and through at least a cursory A PRESENT IN MY TREASURE CHEST summation of the laws of Shabbos observance. There by Rabbi Jacob G. Wiener is a list of Torah passages where Shabbos is discussed, (N. Y., 1971, Shulsinger Bros., $3.00) a "Shabbos dictionary" of terms connected with Shab­ bos and synagogue attendance and a list of Rabbinic This small volume is a labor of love-in the first sayings about Shabbos. The book aims to aid in the place for the author's mother to whom the volume is conducting of Oneg Shabbos programs, and offers sug­ dedicated, but beyond that for the Shabbos which is gestions for planning such programs, in addition to the subject of the book. Its purpose is to enhance the furnishing a good deal of material for use in an Oneg proper observance of the Shabbos, particularly among Shabbos. The author will undoubtedly reap a rich Jewish youth, in a variety of ways: through poems and reward for his endeavor, as his volume will contribute stories (many drawn from the Medrash) that reflect to the proper appreciation of Shabbos and its better the inner light of Shabbos, through essays on the enjoyment. D Great New Jewish Books UNIVERSAL JEWISH HISTORY VOL. Ill THE PATRIARCHAL AGE !Conclusion) By the noted Jewish Historian and Thinker Rabbi Dr. Philip Elberfeld. A \\'ork based on genuine Jewish traditions and modern scientific research. The results of archeology provide a vivid historical background, and the Jife of the Patriarchs is shown as anticipating the story of the Jewish People. And is brought to new life. A most important and eye-opening contribution to early Jewish History. 368 pages $8.75 Also available: Vol. I Ancient Jewish History $3.75 Vol. II. Patriarchal Age I. $6.75 JUDAICA PRESS' STUDENT EDITION A NEW POPULAR EDITION of the THE PENTATEUCH HIRSCH SIDDUR with translation and commentary by translated and explained by Rabbi Samson R. Hirsch (in English). SAMSON RAPHAEL HIRSCH Same content and pages as the larger edition in a smaller (5Y2" x 8~ ") size, rendered into English by Dr. ISAAC LEVY printed on fine Bible paper. Here is a peerless masterpiece of Biblical scholarship ... a brilliant repre• 760 pages only $3.50 sentation of the traditional Jewish heritage in accordance with the realities of THE INESCAPABLE TRUTH n1odern times, as conceived hy Rabbi Samson Raphael IIirsch - one of the by Rabbi Eli J. Gottlieb - a foremost 1nost profoud inteHects of the last century. Rabbinic thinker and teacher. Enlighten­ In his Comn1entary on the Pentateuch, Hirsch uses every facet of his vast ing insights into many problems of knowledge to forge an inevitable and self-contained unity between Torah (the Enu1nah and Hashkofoh. $7.95 Written Law) and the l\1ishnah and Talmud (the Oral Law). In so doing he portrays the beauty and significanC'e of the Divine Ethic, not only for his time, Avanable Again: The Famous but fol' our time and, indeed, for al1 time. No study of contemporary Judaism - CHILDREN'S HAGGADAH l or, for thnt n1atter, of comparative religion, can he complete without a careful \vith movable colored pictures and reading of this extraordinary work. Seder melodies. Edited and translated And no'\\\ for the first time, this c,omplete and popular priced handy student ir.to English by Dr. A. M. Silver- edition offers an added measure of e:tse and convenience in the study of this \ mann. A beautiful Gift. $6.00 modern explanation of the Torah. I The "Hirsch" Pentnteuch set consists of 6 volumes containing the five books of Please include 50¢ postage for the first l\Ioses (Leviticus is in two volun1es) including the complete original Hebrew copy and 25¢ for each additional one, text (vocalized), translation and commentary. plus sales tax where applicable. 6 volumes, 5"x7'/2", 3,698 pages Student Edition $36.00 Our Catalogue available upon request. Gift-edge, Leatherette, Presentation Edition $50.00 Special Pre~Publication Price {until May 31, 1973) PHILIPP FELDHEIM, Inc. (Please add safes tax where applicable} STUDENT EDITION $29.95 "The House of the Jewish Book" PRESENTATION EDITION $39.95 96 EAST BROADWAY, N. Y,, N. Y. 10002 Available at your book store or direct from: Telephone: WA 5~3180 JUDAICA PRESS, INC. FELDHEIM PUBLISHERS Ltd. 520 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK, N. Y. 10036 39 Tachkemoni, Jerusalem, Israel

The Jewish Observer / February, 1973 23 As Dreamers We Were Aaron Blech

They flew in formation. How long has it Hearts beat and swell in anxious anticipation. been? The months the years matter not, for The ungodly cold is behind them now. To climb, time cannot blunt the eternal, the unceasing wish. to soar the heights of heaven, to warm themselves in a brother's touch is all they seek. Ascend! The pen was but open for a moment, that Ascend!-is their tearful cry. Come, come, is iron bar begrudgingly lowered for those who our sympathetic reply. ventured the risk. Could these limp wings carry these determined souls? Ascend! Ascend! is That ancient perch is now in sight. Home, to their tearful cry. Hearts rising and drawing erase the years of blight. But alas, this shall untrained wings. sl:all not be, for the clever hunter with bow Instinctively these birds know their way, no in hand lies in wait, for the unwitting pilgrim obstruction now could them delay. Pain and who has taken the bait. The string is plucked suffering they have endured, longing only to and the deed is done. To have lived, to have died, deliver the message entrusted to them. To have to have carried the word. lived, to have died, to have carried the word. To be sure, there are no desperate fowl, no

AARON BLECH studies at Beth Medrash Gevoha of Lakewood, vicious huntsman stalking his prey. Rather, N.l. His poem "Till Shiloh Con1es" was featured in the May, '72 edition of JO. just Cain-and-Abel whom he did slay.

FVl,FILL YOUR DAVGHTE'R'S DRE'AM .•. CAMP S'dEi CHEMEd £,ET HER COME' 1'0 INTERNATiONAl ,·ISRAEI BNOS YEHUDA for boys 10-17 INTERNATIONAL SUMMER CAMP 7 weeks of enjoyable, memorable FOR GIRLS---IN RECHOVOT, ISRAEL camping and touring in Israel Founded in Memory of Ages 10-11 $895 • Ages 12-17 $995 RABBI YEHUDAH GoLDBERGEn,7"'ST Prices are all-inclusive W'ite or ca11 .. -TQDAY--lor illustrated brochc-1r and 11'NHary The only camp in Israel for girls ,\·ho seek a TRUF. c;,,_mr S de: Chcmeci ln1cPrnliona1 •Rabb; Eli Tcctelbaum. Exec D" ·3~9 51sl St .. Braoklyr, N.Y. 11219 • •.2i2; 633-1909 Torah atmosphere Spo~somd t>y Ze.'mi Agudatl> lsr~e; o' Ere:T i,srce 7 weeks of the best in camping combined with extensive touring THE fiNEST iN CAMpiNG Happy environn1ent, i;piritual enlightenment whose effect 'vill linger on throuii;h the year THE bEST iN TOURiNG l\iature staff, individual attention as if she were in her own home 217 Broadway, New York, N. Y. • Bus.: {212) 267-33b3 AGES 10-11 - $895, all included BENJAMIN B. GIFTER AGES 12·17 - $995, all Included NEW YORK LIFE INSURANCE CO. For information and personal interview, calf or write Life, Health, Group Insurance, N.Y. AREA: Mrs. Tovah Danziger, 501b I Ith Avenue, Brooklyn, Annuities, Pension Plans N.Y. 11219 - (212} 435-1221 ISRAEL: Mrs. Ruthy Assaf, P.O. Box 9049, Haifa Don't be remembered as the ancestor who ruined the family corporation. Protect it wifh key~man fife insurance on yourself. DETROIT, MICH.: Rabbi Ephraim Spero, 24651 Radclift, Oak p,.k, Mkh. 48237 - {313} 399-6376 CLEVELAND, OHIO: Mrs. Sarah Spero, 3784 Bendemeer, Cleve­ land, Ohio 44118 - {216) 321-3845 • ? Be sure ta notify us in BALTIMORE, MD.: Rebetzin Esfher Hoberman, 1017 Smoke Tree ov1ng advance so that your copies Rd., Baltimore, Md. 21208 M • will continue to reach you.

24 The ]e1t"is,'1 Observer / February. 1973 Make him smile again He's Yaakov Yaakov Flishvilli frorn G(!.Orgia. U.S.S.R. He·s in lsrGei now and he wants lo remain a Tor:=ih Jew just as his parents d'1d under Stalin.

AND HE NEEDS YOUR HELP TO DO IT. NOW

Russi11n Immigrant Rescue Fund has been he!p"1ng thousands of Ya;:ikovs Muc:h hri.s bGen done_ Mure must be done. Do your share 1------i : RUSSIAN IMMIGRANT RESCUE FUND : 1 5 Beekman Street_ New York City 10038 1 Enclosed riease !inrl rny donation of$. . lo this historic under!Rking to spiritually save our Russian brothers in Israel. Please enter my pledge of S. Name. Address .. City. .Slate...... Zip.

SANDER KOLITCH, Chairman DR. ERNST L. BODENHEIMER, MOSHE BRAUNSTEIN, Treas.

The Jewish Observer / February, 1973 25 Letters to the Editor

centered activity. We cannot give Recognize the Secular up so much time from genuine Pitfalls-Don't "Kosher" Them Torah learning to devote to a sub­ ordinate form of Torah. Under our To the Editor: present system, we make it clear (or I would like to comment on S. should) to the student that Torah M. Breslauer's article " is our main purpose in life. We the Secular Departments." study secular subjects only because Mr. Breslauer proposes the the law of the land requires it, and teacher make the students aware never the twain shall meet. that their secular studies are com­ Then, at least, we are being patible with the aims of Torah honest with ourselves. Chinuch and do not spell an inter­ And Jet it not be the goal of ruption in the day of a Torah every Jewish mother to have her student. son "participate in community I think this proposal is fraught projects," become a shtadlon or with danger. If we follow these Jines "Seek the peace of the city"-but we will have "kashered" the secular rather, as it has always been in our department. If we don't want the past, to have a son who is a ben­ student to feel "for three hours a Torah or a frum Jew with bitachon day I engage in a goyish pursuit" From Switzerland, Denmark and the in the "Chasdei Hashem." U.S. come these fine gourmet we will lead him to believe that There are many points in the delicacies. Made from "CHOLOV YISROEL"-(100°/c supervised the whole day is pure Torah. article which need further discus­ kosher milk)-to the highest Mr. Breslauer proposes that "All sion and clarification. However, I standards of KASHRUS and QUALITY. •SWITZERLAND subjects should be considered as would agree that having teachers PORTION GBUYERE •SWITZERLAND preparation for or an intrinsic part who are Bnei Torah (in order to SLICED EMMENTHAtER •SWITZERLAND of some sort of Mitzvah, such as: keep things in the proper perspec­ PROCESS SLICES •DANISH SLICED tvBD earning a living at a job or pro­ tive) would be commendable. •DANlSH SLICED DAVID KLEINBARD HAVARTI fession ... civic involvement etc." •DANISH SPREAD Brooklyn, N. Y. •PROCESS AMERICAN If this were so, then any subject SLICES is permitted. A student would study Shakespeare or Chaucer or any of Reply: A Matter of Reality the other "giants" of literature and and Perspective he would have no qualms about it. He is studying it in order to teach It is unpleasant to disagree with or influence others or to earn a one who so nobly pleads for the living. supremacy of Torah. Fully ack­ A student would feel no pangs of nowledging this preeminence I must, remorse if he misses one "seder" in nevertheless, defend my view. "Torah-Nation" the Yeshiva because he had to study Mr. Kleinbard concedes that By for a test. Why should he? This is a ben Torah teacher for the English RABBI AVIGDOR MILLER also 'forah or a "Mitzvah-centered" department to maintain the right 321 Pages • $6.50 activity. perspective is commendable. We I do not think we can justify differ, however, as to what the At All Bookstores three hours a day in a Mitzvah- right perspective is.

26 The Jewish Observer / February, 1973 He contends that, were my philo­ What is the student to think when MEHL FAMILY sophy implemented, students would he learns (Drach Chaim 231: Mish­ be led to believe that secular sub­ nah Berurah #8) that all a person jects are pure Torah or , does, he must do l'shem shomayim would lose sight of the overwhelm­ (for the sake of Heaven), after he J~~ ing prominence of genuine Torah, spent twelve years in a Yeshiva­ and no matter how much interest, sponsored, unproductive, negative time, and effort they would devote atmosphere presided over by none to secular studies, they would need other than a ben Torah? What will feel no guilt since they are, after be the student's sense of value for all, occupied with Torah and time spent away from genuine Mitzvos. Torah, if he is inculcated with the Therefore, his ben Torah teacher -to be honest with himself and with his students-would have them feel that they are engaged in an undesirable "goyish" pursuit, that the prominence of Torah demands that we devote ourselves only to UNITED Torah, and time is given to secular ~~;NllBASSJti studies only because it is the law CATERERS of the land. Furthermore, his teach­ Chevra Kadish aD' chasidim Announce that they are now the exclusive er would not attempt to guide stu­ Har Hamnuchot • Eretz Hachaim Glatt Kosher Caterers, available under dents towards useful utilization of Founded 1856 supervision of Rabbi Dr. Joseph Breuer, maintaining their own Glatt Kosher Kitchen the skills they would acquire for BURIAL IN JERUSALEM the benefit of Mitzvah or Chessed AND ALL CEMETERIES IN ISRAEL AT activities, and would urge them only to become frum bnei Torah with bitachon in Chasdei Hashem. • If my approach is fraught with ~!~~:~~-~!-~"' maal1n sakobesh Your own special occasion, catered to danger, then Mr. Kleinbard's is perfection, in the most dramatic setting, pedagogically devastating. If a stu­ SOCl€ty offering spectacular panoramic views of dent can be told that he undergoes 44 CANAL ST. the entire City of New York. twelve years of unjustified secular NEW YORK CITY 10002 • training, under the aegis of his Nr. E. Broadway Sta. "F" Train ACCOMMODATIONS FOR yeshiva-his makom Torah-with 100 to 1000 GUESTS the lame excuse of "law of the Day & Nite Phone With Parking & Open Chupah land," then does there not exist a 925·2277 ·8 Also still available at all rationale which will equally allow leading Hotels and Temples. him to neglect Torah in later life? Call (212) BO 3-1070 or 592-5000 In Canada: Chevra Kadisha for choice Weekend or Weekday dates. of United Jewish Congregations Weddings ·Bar· Mitzvahs Montreal Tel.: 273~3211 • US.A. / lsraei 111 St. at 52 Ave., Flushing, Queens

WHAT'S REALLY HAPPENING IN ISRAEL? 11 Get a day·by-day, first-hand report delivered to you by air·mail PHOT~:;f!ii 1111111 ZELMAN STUDIOS "" -Y'ii~;i 623 CORTE l YOU ROAD (OFF OCEAN ~WY) The Agudath Israel daily, published in Jerusalem BROO~LYN. N.Y. 11218

For subscription information, call: (212) 941-5500 LEIB ZISHINSKY, !2121 493-7170/772·2837-7·9 a.m. & 7·10 p.m.

The Jewish Observer / February, 1973 27 Mitzvos that are not equal to Torah study in importance: Must @ TT we ignore them or should we teach them with encouragement and correct perspective? LETTERS CONTINUED limudei chol altogether, circumvent the case, I maintain that it must be attitude that, rather than spend this the compulsory schooling law as done positively, in a Torah oriented tin1e constructively in the interest conscientious objectors, and let fashion. If this includes Mitzvah­ of areas of which Hashem approves, each Yeshiva parent fend for him­ centered activities or Mitzvos them­ he must bear with it passively for self in seeking the secular education selves, then at least we have found no other reason than that it is the they feel they must provide for their a redeeming factor on which we law of the land? Must we not give sons under the far reaching duty should capitalize. account for such waste of time, (Kidushin 29a) and Mitzvah (Shab­ I also take exception to the con­ energy and human resource? And, bos !50a, Rashi) of teaching their trasting of "shtadlonus" (diplomatic above all, might not those very sons a trade to be able to earn a intervention) with "bitachon" (trust many students who do display in­ living. in Hashem) as though they were terest in the secular subjects, either Please note that it was not the mutually exclusive. Indeed, were on their own accord or because of purpose of my article to campaign Yaakov Avinu, Reb Yochanan hen parental prompting, become per­ for or against limudei chol; to es­ Zakai, Don Yitzchok Aharbanel, manently disenchanted with genuine tablish the amount of time that and Reh Y ossehnan of Rossheim Torah just because of this attitude? should he expended or the subjects lacking in trust in G-d? I think not. If we force them to chose between that should be taught. (For a tho­ Concerning correct perspective: one and the other, how many will rough exposition on basic re-evalua­ I thought I had done this point jus­ heed us to turn their backs on tion and revision see the lead article tice by simply stating, "The general limudei chol (secular studies) to in the December 1972 J.0.) It was studies would thus be presented as embrace Torah exclusively? Is it my purpose simply to deal with an deserving the care and respect of not apparent that this approach established fact; that the average any Mitzvah centered activity, sub­ would be counter-productive: com­ Yeshiva day school does provide ordinate, of course, to the primary miting those few who are most approximately fifteen hours of secu­ lifetime pursuit of Torah study." likely committed to Torah anyway, lar instruction per week, which l see, however, that brevity breeds and alienate the multitude? It would closely parallels the public school misunderstanding, and I must be far wiser for Mr. Kleinbard, curriculum, and as long as this is elaborate. rather than to subject our students ------to such inconsistencies during their most formative years, to eliminate o,. of W""" '°""" ~ =~C~a=m=e~r~a=S=t~o~r=e<:!!s-~

n:nu i~1111 1/t/I!/tee/ ~me/'a fucha~e Complete Line of Cameras and Photo Supplies 82 WALL STREET NEW YORK, N. Y. The Most Trusted Name Telephone: WH 4-0001 in Kosher Poultry Wholesale • Mail Order • Retail CLEANED Special Reductions to all Readers of "The Jewish Observer" SOAKED and SAL TED READY-TO-COOK and COOKED e EARN$$$ MONEY • Sell Jewish-Oriented Commodity from your telephone. '"' }<~or more inforn1ation, EMPIRE KOSHER POULTRY, Inc. Send inquiry (with brief resun1C) to: MIFFLIN TOWN, PA. 17059 THE JEWISH OBSERVER, Box 77 / 5 Beekman Street / New York City 10038

28 The Jewish Observer I February, 1973 It is elementary that not all ac­ --Should we strike noy succah sleep needed for tomorrow's Torah tivities which may be labeled Mitz­ from our dinim lessons because lessons, who will discourage secular vah or a Mitzvah-centered activity some will attribute more importance reading on Shabbos even though it are of equal importance, especially to the decoration than to the s' chach may be permissible-can success­ when measured against the primary (the required covering) itself? fully make limudei chol a Mitzvah­ Mitzvah of Talmud Torah. Never­ --Should a Rebbi teach his centered program while at the same theless, we find such mundane ac­ taln1idin1 to consider recess as an time maintaining the proper rela­ tivities as bathing (Shabbos 50b, auxiliary Mitzvah to refresh them­ tionship between Mitzvos of varied Vayikrah Rabbah 34), earning a selves for another two hours of magnitude. This in itself carries a living even beyond immediate need effective Torah study, or should he valuable chinuch potential, for is (Drach Chaim 248: Beru­ burden their conscience with the not every adult faced with the need rah #34), decorating a Succah rebuke that recess time is nothing for such discretion? (Drach Chaim 638: Mishnah Be­ more than legalized bi tu/ Torah To latch on to Mr. Kleinbard's rurah # 11 ) , or a congenial meeting (time wasted from Torah) Jest they example: I could very well see a of friends (Drach Chaim 531: Mish­ be tempted to expand this Mitzvah present day Yeshiva high school nah Berurah # 14) are called a unwarrantedly? senior hearing some fragment of my Mitzvah. philosophy and thereby justifying The apparent answer, in my his interest and desire to delve into The question is: Should we sweep opinion, is that any Mitzvah prop­ Shakespeare and Chaucer exten­ these under the carpet and conceal erly taught will be properly kept, sively (-as if without my words he the1n so as not to provide a con­ and those who seek other paths do would never have dared!). But venient excuse for those who seek not need us to provide their sub­ would he have had eleven years of to neglect more important Mitzvos? terfuge. Torah-oriented secular schooling Or should we teach them and en­ I am confident that a ben Torah under suitable bnei Torah teachers courage their fulfillment in the right secular teacher-who himself sub­ behind him, he would most likely be perspective, the correct emphasis of scribes to the primacy of Torah, imbued with the correct perspective, importance, and proper allot1nent who encourages hasmadah ( dili­ would not look for cheap excuses, of time and energy? gence in Torah study) by word and artificial Mitzvos, or unwarranted --Did Hillel refrain from call­ example, who cocks a disapproving "heteirim," and would inevitably ing bathing a Mitzvah so that some eyebrow at a poor Hebrew mark on find his way to feel at home in the ta/mid should not use it as an ex­ the report card, who insists that Bais Hamidrash no matter what cuse to squander precious hours in homework must be done but not at occupation he eventually chooses. the public baths? the expense of the evening seder or s. M. BRESLAUER

ISRAEL Burials and American Disinterments 7M1n'ii11w M~'iw is privileged to announce that RIVERSIDE is the only licensed funeral director in the U.S. able to effect TRADITION PERSONNEL AGENCY Transfer to Israel within 24 hours RIVERSIDE also is available as the "At Your Service With All Your Employment Nee'as" Sole agent for Sanhadrea Cemetery Need A Shomer Shabbos Job? HAR HAZEITIM • HAR HAMENUCHOT Looking For A Shomer Shabbos Person? AND ALL CEMETERIES IN ISRAEL RIVERSIDE only can offer this service: For Fast, Efficient and Courteous Service Enroute to Israel within 24 hours 18 W. 45th St., New York, N. Y. 10036 • 563-3994 • Strict adherence to Halacha and Minhagim. • Arrangements made durinp: lifetime with no oblip:ation. Open Monday night by appointment only Chapel secured in any community. RIVERSIDE Day & Night: 425-5749 Day only: 435-5742 Memorial Chapel, Inc. • Funeral Directors MANHATTAN: 76th St at Amsterdam Ave. - EN 2-6600. NECINAH ORCHESTRAS BROOKLYN: Ocean P'way at Prospect Park - UL 4-2000 Superb Musical Entertainment BRONX: Grand Councourse at 179th Street - LU 3-6300 WESTCHESTER: 21 West Broad Street, Mt. Vernon For All Your Simchas {914) MO 4-6800 Also: For Home Entertainment FAR ROCKAWAYo 1250 Cent.al Avonue - FA 7-7100 Chapel, ;n MIAMI and MIAMI BEACH • JE 1·1151 NEGINAH RECORDS SOLOMON SHOULSON ANDREW FIER For information write our Record Dept.

The Jewish Observer / February, 1973 29 INDEX TO ARTICLES / THE JEWISH OBSERVER / Vol. 8, No. 1·10

Subjects ISRAEL-SOCIAL COMMENT The Ghettoes ORTHODOXY A Victory Centennial, of Eretz Yisroel. Sept. '72. May '72. ACTIVISM "Come Out, Come Out, ISRAEL-SOVIET IMMIGRANTS Displaced PERSONALITIES 100 Years Since the Wherever You Are!", Jan. '72; The Glory, Dec. '71; "Tell 1vle, Rabbi Orthodox Jew as a Social Activist, "Chofetz Chaim," Jan. '72; Rabbi A. Butrashvilli ...",Dec. '71; The Long June '72. Kalmanowitz (Last of a Species), Trip From Russia . . Where is Ful­ Mar. '72; Vizhnitzer Rebbe (Come AMERICAN JEWISH CONGRESS Second fillment?, Mar. '72; We Can No Looks: Beyond Analysis: The Pfeffer­ With l\1e to the Tisch), Apr. '72; Longer Remain Silent, June '72. Syndrome, Apr. '72. Rabbi Arye Baksht (Reb Archik), ISRAEL-RABBINATE The Rabbinate at BOOKS REVIEWED "Lithuanian Hasi- Oct. '72; Rabbi Dovid Rappaport (A Bay, Dec. '71; Rabbi Goren Takes dism," Mar. '72; "A World at "fwi­ in Baranovitch), Jan. Over, Dec. '72; A Matter of Facts, light," "Tully Filmus-Selected Draw­ '73. l)ec. '72; Terror Tactics in Israel, ings," "The Hasidim: Lubavitch­ POETRY Till Shiloh Comes, May '72; Jan. '73. " (a film), June '72. The Wall, June '72. ISRAEL-RELIGION Voluntary National BRITISH JEWRY Second Looks, Jan. '73. POPULATION EXPLOSION What Ever Service for Girls-Compromise of a CHAss1ous "Lithuanian Hassidism," Happened to Motherhood?, Jan. '72. Nation's Purity, Dec. '71; Storm Mar. '72; Come With Me to the Clouds Over Hebron, Apr. '72; What PRAYER Wisdom-as the Cock Crows, Tisch, Apr. '72; "'fhe Hasidim: Lu­ is a Jew ... , May '72; We Can No Oct. '72. bavitch-Chabad" (a film), June, '72. Longer Remain Silent, June '72; The A Victory Centen- An Epitaph "Halacha" Vote in the Knesset, Sept. nial, l\1ay '72; Second Looks, June for Conservative Judaism, May '72. '72; The Roots of Religious Strife in '72; Second Looks, Dec. '72. DIN TORAH Can Modern Legal Dis- the Holy Land, Oct. '72; Rabbi Goren putes be Settled by .Din Torah?, Mar. SATIRE The Jewish Vote-Getting Takes Over, Dec. '72; A Matter of '72, Filled Up, Oct. '72. Pacts, l)ec. '72; Shmittah, Dec. '72; DIVORCE Letters to the Editor, June SEFIRAH (See Festivals). Second Looks, Jan. '73; Second '72. SOCIAL COMMENT What Ever Happen- Looks, Jan. '73; Terror Tactics in DRuos Second Looks, Jan. '72; Letters ed to Motherhood?, Jan. '72; The Israel, Jan. '73. to the Editor, Jan. '72. Great Public School Rainbow, Dec. fsRAEL-SETTLEMENTS Storm Clouds FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES '72; Second Looks, Dec. '72; Second Second Looks, Jan. '72; Religious Over Hebron, Apr. '72. Looks, Jan. '73; Letters to the Editor, INTERDENOMINATIONAL COOPERATION Tradition and Social Services, May Jan. '73. Second Looks, June '72. '72; Second Looks, June '72. JEWS IN U.S.A. Crisis for the Urban SOCIAL SERVICE Religious Tradition FESTIVALS & FAST DAYS When the Jew: The -a Community and Social Services, May '72; Letters Penny Vanishes from the Purse . . . Stabilizer, Sept. '72; The Terrible to the Editor, Jan. '73. June '72; Tisha B'Av Tears, June '72; Toll of Moving, Sept. '72; Our SOVIET JEWRY Displaced Glory, Dec. King Over All the Earth, Sept. '72; Readers React to: "Crisis for the '71; "Tell Me, Rabbi Butrashvilli ...", Second Looks, Oct. '72. Urban Jew," Oct. '72; The Steadfast Dec. '71; The Long Trip From GOVERNMENT AID TO YESHIVOS Second Jew in the Mobile Society, Oct. '72; Russia ... Where is Fulfillment?, Looks: Beyond Analysis: The Pfeffer­ The Jewish Vote-Getting Filled Up, Mar. '72; Second Looks, Apr. '72; Syndrome, Apr. '72. Oct. '72; Second Looks, Oct. '72; Is There Shabbos in the Soviet HAsHKOFO Thoughts From the Roshei The Cireat Public School Rainbow, Union?, May '72. Yeshiva, Dec. '71; When the Penny Dec. '73; Second Looks, Jan. '73. & ADAPTATIONS Thoughts Vanishes from the Purse ... June JEWISH GRAPHIC ART Of a Time Gone From the Roshei Yeshiva, Dec. '71; '72; King Over All the Earth, Sept. By, June '72; A Review Article, Sefirah: Days of Counting, Apr. '72; '72; For Whom Does Hope Burn June '72. What is a Jew ... , May '72; We Brighter? Sept. '72; Wisdom-as the JEWISH JOURNALISM Second Looks: Can No Longer Remain Silent, Cock Crows, Oct. '72; Shmittah, Era Gaps in Communication & The June '72; Tisha B'Av Tears, June Dec. '72; The Roshei Yeshivos Speak, 'White House Lunch, Apr. '72. '72; For Whom Does Hope Burn Jan. '73. JEWISH OBSERVER, THE Letters to the Brighter?, Sept. '72; Roots of Reli­ HEBRON Storm Clouds Over Hebron, Editor. Mar. '72. gious Strife, Sept. '72; Letters to the Apr. '72. JUDAIC STUDIES From "The Diary of Editor, Oct. '72; A Matter of Facts, ISRAEL-ARMY Voluntary National a Judaic-Studies Student," Apr. '72; Dec. '72; Shmittah, Dec. '72; The Service for Girls-Compromise of a Judaic Studies: Another Look, Apr. Roshei Yeshivos Speak, Jan, '73. Nation's Purity, Dec. '71; Second '72. URBAN CRISIS Crisis for the Urban Looks: The Conspicuous Je\v and the LAW Can Modern Legal Disputes be Jew: The Terrible Toll of Moving, 27th Amendment, Apr. '72. Settled by Din Torah?, Mar. '72. Sept. '72; Crisis for the Urban Jew: IsRAF:L-AUTOPSIES Second Looks, NARRATIVE The Little Fellows, Oct. The Kehilla~a Community Stabi­ Dec. '71. '72; My Student, My Teacher, May lizer, Sept. '72; Our Readers React fSRAEL-JEWISH IDENTITY The "Hala- '72; The Day the Clock Stopped, to: "Crisis for the Urban Jew," Oct. cha" Vote in the Knesset, Sept. '72. Apr. '72. '72.

Copies of articles listed are available in back issues at fifty cents each. If the issue is out.of.print, a photo.copy of the specified article will be sent at the same rate. Write to: The Jewish Observer / Back Issue Department / 5 ·Beekman Street, New York, N. Y. 10038. Remittance must accompany your order.

30 The Jewish Observer I February, 1973 WORLD WAR JI Rabbi A. Kalmanowitz GOLDHABER, YISROEL Book Review, TosHAVI, EzRIEL Voluntary National (Last of a Species), Mar. '72; Letter Mar. '72. Service for Girls-Compromise of to the Editor, May '72~ A Rosh Ye­ GORR, SHMUEL The Ghettoes of Eretz a Nation's Purity, Dec. '71; The Long shiva in Baranovitch, Jan. '73. Yisroel, Sept. '72. l'rip From Russia ... Where is Ful~ YFSHJVOS Second Looks, Mar. '72; KATZ, CHANINAH Of a Time Gone By, fillment?, Mar. '72; Rabbi Goren Second Looks, Jan. '72; What is June '72. Takes Over, Dec. '72; Terror Tactics in lsrael, Jan. '73. the Thinking of Our Yeshiva Youth?, LANDYNSKI, YAAKOV The Orthodox Jew Apr. '72; My Student, My Teacher, as a SOcial Activist, June '72. WEINBACH, MENDEL The Day the May '72; "fhe Great Public School Clock Stopped (a story); The Little Rainbow, Dec. '72; Torah Educa­ MEYER, PHILIP E. The Steadfast Jew Fellows (a story), Oct. '72. in the Mobile Society, Oct. '72. tion's Neglected Frontier, Dec. '72; WEINBERGER, PAUL AND DOROTHY Re- Yeshiva Education: Reclaiming the MEYERS, DAVID The Rabbinate at ligious Tradition and Social Services, Secular Departments, Jan. '73; Letters Bay, Dec. '71. May '72. to the Editor, Jan. '73. OREN, STEPHEN Storm Clouds Over WEISBROD, MANNY From "The Diary YOUTH CULTURES Letters to the Edi- Hebron, Apr. '72. of a Judaic~Studies Student," Apr. '72. tor, Jan. '72; Letters to the Editor, ROKEACH, MENACHEM King Over All WoLnE, SHLOMO We Can No Longer Mar. '72. the Earth, Sept. '72. Remain Silent, June '72. The Goldmann Affair-a SCHERMAN, NossoN 100 Years Since WOLPIN, NISSON Displaced Glory, Rude Awakening, Jan. '72; We Can the "Chofetz Chaim," Jan. '72; Crisis Dec. '71; What Ever Happened to NO Longer Remain Silent, June '72; for the Urban Jew: The Terrible Toll Motherhood?, Jan. '72; An Epitaph The Roots of Religious Strife in the of Moving, Sept. '72; Shmittah, Dec. for Conservative Judaism, May '72; Holy Land, Oct. '72. '72. Is There Shabbos in the Soviet ScHONFI:LD, MOSHE The Roots of Union?, May '72; Jewish Graphic Authors Religious Strife in the Holy Land, Art, June '72; The "Halacha" Vote in ABRAMSON, NATHAN For Whom Does Oct. '72. the Knesset, Sept. '72; The Jewish Hope Burn Brighter?, Sept. '72. SCHWARTZ, ELKANAH My Student, My Vote-Getting Filled Up, Oct. '72; Teacher, May '72. The Great Public School Rainbow, BLECH, AARON Till Shiloh Comes (a Dec. '72. poem), May '72. SHAPIRO, CHAIM Rabbi A. Ka1mano~ witz (Last of a Species), Mar. '72; BRENNER, LEWIS Come With Me to Reb Archik, Oct. '72; A Rosh Ye­ the Tisch, Apr. '72. shiva in Baranovitch, Jan. '73. Lapidus Bros. Gemiloth Chesed BRESLAUER, S. M. Torah Education's SINGER, SHMUEL A Victory Centen~ Ass'n of the Crown Hts. Neglected Frontier, Dec. '72; Yeshiva nial, May '72. A9udath lsroel, Inc. Education: Reclaiming the Secular Department, Jan. '73. SoKOL, MoSHE The Wall (a poem), For Applications: June '72. DrcK, JUDAH Can Modern Legal Dis- Call RABBI JosHUA SJLBERMINTZ putes be Settled by Din Torah?, Mar. SoRSCHER, YEHUDA A. Crisis for the at: WO 4-1620 or write: '72. Urban Jew: The Kehilla-a Com­ c/o AGUDATH ISRAEL munity Stabilizer, Sept. '72. FrsHEJ,JS. AVROHOM The Roshei Ye- 5 Beekman St., New York 10038 shivos Speak, Jan. '72. SPERO, J\l[oSHE \.Visdom-as the Cock Crows, Oct. '72. FRYSH~fAN, BERNARD "Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are!", SPIEGEL, YISROEL What is a Jew •.. ? TO OUR OVERSEAS READERS: Jan. '72. May. '72. Get Airmail Delivery of THE JEWISH OBSERVER RABBI JOZEF KATZ AND MARK LOVlNGER Regular overseas subscription 83 Division Avenue Brooklyn, N. Y. 11211 rate ...... $ 6.00 Airmail (at $1 per copy) ...... 10.00 OF $16.00 Your saving 4.00

Your price $12.00 Effecfive immediately. ALL LEADING HOTELS BANQUET HALLS JEWISH OBSERVER I SUBSCRIPTION AND JEWISH CENTERS AVAILABLE DEPT. / s Beekmen St. / N.Y.C. 10038

ii'5lii ~;,11 388-4204 388-3590 863-8892 EV 7-1750 • Catering Agudath Israel Convention - 5733 • ll",!l ,~l) iti'tt'T,"C!Vtt "Cl}f)~Ti~11tit.:?)

The Jewish Ohsc1Ttor /February, 1973 31 AGUDATH ISRAEL'S FIFTY-FIRST ANNIVERSARY DINNER Assured TO HONOR THREE FOR DISTINGUISHED TORAH SERVICE Over 1,000 Orthodox leaders and The Moreinu Yaakov Rosenheim activists, including the outstanding Torah Award for outstanding service to the authorities in this country, will join in cause of Agudath Israel will be awarded KASH RUTH the 51st Anniversary Dinner of Agudath to the eminent Agudist leader, Rabbi Israel of America, which will honor Dr. Michael L. Munk, whose decades three eminent personalities, on Sunday of devoted activities includes service as QUALITY evening, April 1. in the Grand Bal1room a pioneer in "forah education for girls of the Commodore Hotel in New York and worldwide defense of the practice City. of Shechita. 'fhe Horav Memorial Chaim Hertz, president of the Gerer VARIETY Award for distinguished service to T'orah Mesivta, will be honored as the "Shearis when you ask for will be presented to B. E. Spero of "fhe Hapleita" Man of the Year, the annual Spero Foundation of Cleveland, Ohio, Reb Elimelech Tress Memorial Award as "an exemplary Orthodox Jewish Jay­ for his outstanding work for Orthodox rnan, who with humility and without Judaism after arriving to these shores as fanfare has served as a catalyst for the a refugee from war-torn Europe after expansion of Torah in this country and . overseas." Glatt Kosher The elite of American Orthodox Ju­ daism will at this occasion also mark ENJOY OUR COUNTRY over half a century of accomplishments by the Agudath Israel movement in Airline Meals FRESH PRODUCTS wherever you travel by air on every area of strengthening Torah au­ major national and international • COTTAGE CHEESE thority and perpetuating authentic Juda­ airlines. INSISTON SCH RE! BER'S ism in this country and abroad through and be SURE. . . o·elicious • CHEESESPREAD a vast network of constructive projects. STRICTLY KOSHER Breakfasts, •SOUR CREAM Lunches, Dinners, Snacks. D • 99% FAT FREE MILK r ,,, j • BUTTERMILK • FARMER CHEESE

Under the Strict Supervision of Schreiber Airline Caterers, Inc., RABBI L. I. GREENWALD 9024 Foster Ave., Bklyn .. N. Y. 11236 (Phone) (212) ?72·9184 T xeilemer Rav J &J Dairy Products 72 Steuben Street A limited number of copies of Brooklyn, N. Y. THE JEWISH POCKET BOOKS

now available al only 39¢ each Spring/Summer in Jerusalem with Eleven volun1es stiH available. AGUDATH ISRAEL TOURS A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE!!! • Round trip air transportation • Strictly kosher hotels II Full sightseeing program expert Write for descriptive brochure, with Orthodox, licensed µ:uides or send check or money order to: II All transfers, guide and entrance fees Ask for Aliza !VOW at: Traditional Educational AGllDATH ISRAEL TRAVEL DEPT. Association 5 Beekman Street, New York City I 0038 11 West 42nd Street Phone: 964· I 620 or 258-0709 All fndividuaf and Group Travel Needs New York, N. Y. 10036 Israel - Europe - United Sfafes

The Jewish Ohserver / February, 1973 FREE! With your first-time subscription or your three-year renewal to the Jewish Obsen 1er

Your name in Hebrew or English

Actual selling price ...... $4.00 A package of 75 Bookplates Iitho· Annual subscription ...... $5.00 graphed with your name on highest quality gummed vellum will be

TOTAL VALUE $9.00 mailed to your home POSTAGE PAID, and your subscription starts Yours for only ...... $5.00 immediately!

THE JEWISH OBSERVER / 5 BEEKMAN STREET / NEW YORK, N. Y. 10038 ~ Friends: c 0 ~ Please mail Book Plates inscribed (type or print carefully to avoid errors) 0 "v ...... and enter my subscription • for one year to The Jewish Observer. I enclose $5.00 for each subscription; or $12.00 '"' for my three-year rene1NaL D Enclosed is a list of names and addresses for gift' subscriptions. Please send a card to each rec·1pient announcing rT.y g·1ft. Name ...... Address ...... City ...... State ...... Zip Code ......

The Jewish Observer / February, 1973 CAMPAIGN FOR TAX CREDITS FOR OVER 1,000 BOYS TO PARTICIPATE NON-PUBLIC SCHOOL PARENTS IN lOTH ANNUAL S!YUM ENTERS FINAL PHASE HAMISHNAYOS OF PIRCHEI A prediction that Congress will at this Over l 000 Pirchim from throughout session pass the bill granting tax credits the United States and Canada are ex­ LIKE for non-public school parents was made pected to attend the Tenth annual Siyum THE JEWISH OBSERVER ? by Rabbi Moshe Sherer, executive presi­ Hamishnayos of Pirchei Agudath Israel dent of Agudath Israel of America, at of America. This year will mark the You can share it with the final regional conference of Citizens tenth time that members of Pirchei Agu­ Relief for Education by Income Tax dath Israel of America will have com­ dozens of readers for (C.R.EDJ.T.), the national coalition of pleted the entire Shisho Sedrei Mishna. all non-public school forces. Speaking The 30,000-plus Mishnayos that are only $5.00 -- on February 26th at the LaGuardia Air­ learnt each year are mastered be'al peh port Conference Hall, Rabbi Sherer, who (by heart) by the more than 3,000 SEND A GIFT SUBSCRIPTION is the president of C.R.ED.I.1'., declared Pirchim within our ranks throughout the that the series of nationwide strategy United States and Canada. conferences which the coalition has just Prominent Roshei Yeshivos, Rabbo­ completed brought encouraging reports nini and lay-leaders of American Or­ Popular Z.A.I. Weekly from non-public school leaders of a thodoxy will be participating in this to delve into Pesach laws growing wave of Congressional support great Kiddush Hashem. We are proud to announce that our for this measure. This year's Siyum Hamishnayos is popular by-weekly Shiur on Hilchos The New York conference is the sixth being dedicated to the memory of the Shahhos is now a WEEKLY. regional mobilization conference spon­ Vishnitzer Rebbe, Horav Yitzchak Meir The exciting Shiur is given by sored by C.R.ED.l.T.; the others were Hagar, ZTL. The Siyum will be held on RABBI SHIMON EIDER held in Miami, San Francisco, Denver, Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Poroh Author, Hilchos Shabbos (English) Dallas and Chicago. Parshas Tzav, March 24, 1973 in the Member, Kolel Beth Medrash Govoha The tax credit bill which grants $200 Auditorium of the of Boro Every Sunday at 9 :00 P .M. annually per child to every non-public Park. at the ActtIEZER CoNGREGATION school parent has bi-partisan support on At this gathering the Pirchei will 1885 Ocean Parkway (near Ave. S) Capitol Hill, headed by President Nixon honor Rabbi Shimon Zweig for his a Dealing with Hild1os Pesaeh • and Congressman Wilbur Mills chairman years of unselfish and loyal devotion to April I and 8 of the House Ways and Means Com­ Pirchei Agudath Israel of America. Don't miss it! mittee. It is estimated that parents of Shaya Yaraslavitz is the Chairman of ZEIREI AGUDATH ISRAEL children attending Yeshivos would re­ the Siyum, with Ephraim Klein serving OF AMERICA ceive over $10 million annually in actual as the co-chairman of the Siyum Ha­ 5 Beekman Street, N.Y.C. 10038 cash benefits if the bill is passed. D mishnayos.

The first and ONLY ONE to have expedited THINKING SUMMER THOUGHTS? matters swiftly enough so tl1at interment was made in Israel in less than 24 hours. THINK: Over 21 Years Experience in FOR BOYS INTERMENT IN ISRAEL Graves Available in All Parts of Israel CAMP AGUDAH Fully Authorized Agenf Ferndale, N. Y. Licensed by Israeli Authorities • PINCUS MANDEL FOR GIRLS - No Associates - CAMP BNOS Over 43 Years of Cemetery Experience Liberty, N. Y. ( 18 years with Beth David Cemetery on Long Island: For information, phone, write, now Administrative Consultant of Beth Israel or visit city office today: Cemetery, Woodbridge, N. J.) Known for Personalized, ULTRA-ORTHODOX 5 BEEKMAN STREET, NEW YORK CITY 10038 Procedure in Rendering a Tel. 12121 WO 4-1620 Dedicated, Dependable, Efficient Service at Reasonable Cost Bus. M'gr. 175 LEE AVENUE, BROOKLYN, N. Y, 11211 Yitzchok Braun Day and Night Phone (212) 855-5121 ·~­ (212) 633-3381 Graves procured directly from Chevros Kadisha :!Bania appointed by ESTABLISHED KEHILOS, and ®rcfrcstras Michael Harbater responsible for their Community Cemetery. (212) 327-5526

34 The Jewish Observer /February, 1973 AGUDATH ISRAEL MOBILIZATION AGUDATH ISRAEL LAUNCHES The Commission on Legislation and DRIVE IN FULL SWING FINAL DRIVE TO STOP Civic Action of Agudath Israel of EQUAL RIGHTS PROPOSAL America, headed by Rabbi Menachem The drive to mobilize Torah-Joya] A nationwide drive was launched by Shayovich, has instructed its coordina­ Jews of all ages under the banner of the Legislative Commission of Agudath tors in those states which have not as Agudath Israel is now in full swing, Israel of America in a final attempt to yet ratified the amendment, to launch with special en1phasis on young people. halt ratification of the women's equal crash programs to convey this message The initial results indic::ite a renewed rights amendn1ent. This constitutional to their local legislators. The Agudah commitment to Agudath Israel by Ortho­ amendn1ent, which requires ratification women's organization, of which Mrs. dox Jews who realize that this world by 38 states, has so far been approved Josephine Reichel is national president, movement of independent Orthodoxy by the legislatures of twenty-seven has initiated a similar drive. Jed by the Gedolei Torah js the only states. The following are the states which defense vehicle against efforts to water In explaining its effort to prevent the have so far ratified the women's equal down or distort authentic Yiddishkeit. women's equal rights amendment from rights amendment: Alaska, California, Among the youth, special emphasis obtaining the ratification which it needs Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, has been placed, with unusual success, from eleven additional states, Agudath Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, to fiJI the gaps in the chain of member­ Israel declared that the amendment Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, ship in the Agudath Israel organization. would "mandate the conscription of Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, A new Senior division of Pirchei Agudath women into the armed services in the New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Penn­ Israel for boys from 13-18-Bachurei event when draft is renewed" besides its sylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Agudath Israel-has gotten off the "deleterious effect on the moral tone of West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. ground with an auspicious start and is our society." 0 making strong headway. Bnos Agudath Israel has also launched a senior division for post-high school girls-NAJR. Re­ THE WORLD FAMOUS SERVICES ARRANGED IN cent efforts to organize young marrieds DIGEST OF MEFORSHIM YOUR COMMUNITY in the Agudist movement have also '1'1i'7 il1:l '1'1i'7 struck strong roots. ?"?! i~~?X ?X11.llll 'i l";W11.l Norman L. Jeffer The l 0th anniversary of Pirchei Agu­ Available af dath Israel's national Siyun1 Mishnayos, LEKUTEI INC. ·will take place on March 24, 1973, c / o I. Rosenberg COMMUNITY CHAPELS, bringing together over 1,000 youngsters. 10 West 47th Street, Room 702 Inc. "fhroughout the United States, local New York, N. Y. 10036 Agudath Israel branches are sponsoring 20 Volumes on Torah, Perek, 47th Street & Ft. Hamilton Parkway community-wide dinners, which have Medrash, Megilas and Talmud. Broo~lyn Phone UL 3-4000 helped bring the message and world Proceeds ol sales distributed among Yeshivos and used lor reprinting view of Agudath Israel to large numbers Milc.Yah under SupeTYision ol ol volumes out-of-print of Jews in the grass-roots of America. Bilc.ur Chofim ol Soro Parle. PRICE $4.50 PER VOLUME 0

JOIN THE ELITE OF AMERICAN ORTHODOXY AT THE 51 st ANNUAL DINNER OF AGUDATH ISRAEL OF AMERICA SUNDAY, APRIL 1 at the COMMODORE HOTEL, N.Y.C. Stand Up and Be Counted in the Battle for Authentic Yiddishkeit THE FOLLOWING AWARDS WILL BE BESTOVED HAGAON RAV AHARON KOTLER MOREINU YAAKOV ROSENHEIM REI ELIMELECH TRESS MEMORIAL AWARD MEMORIAL AWARD MEMORIAL AWARD for distinguished service to to one of the Sheari::; Hap]eitah for for dh.tin~uisl1ed service to Torali: Ap;udath Israel: exemplary aecomplishments for Torah: B. E. SPERO l RABBI DR. MICHAEL MUNK I CHAIM HERTZ A beautifully illustrated journal will be published in conjunction with the dinner PLEASE MAKE YOUR DINNER RESERVATIONS NOW • $50 PER PERSON. NO APPEALS) AGUDATH ISRAEL OF AMERICA 5 Beekman Street • New York, N. Y. 10038 • (212) 964-1620

The Jewish Observer/ February, 1973 35 $50,000 EMERGENCY CAMPAIGN

DO SOMETHING NOW FOR CHILDREN WHO NEED A HOME! OHEL C:HILDREN'S HOME Ohel is the only orthodox institution in the United States caring for the neediest people of all - the children with no place to go.

Why is the Ohel Doesn't Govt. care What does Ohel do? Ohel does "·hatever must be done. Home needed? for these children? It's a young agency; its first facility There are a thousand and one reasons Of course it does. But Government is was opened in l 969. At the Ohel re­ -all of them tragic, all of them valid nonsectarian and cannot provide re· sidence, a new two story building in -why a rhild may he forl'ed to leave ligious surroundings for a Jewish Boro Park, 20 boys find a home and his family: divorce, death, physical or child. We, as a responsible community surro¥.:ate parents. They go to local emotional illness and n1ore. The most must bear the burden of our needy Yeshivoth and receive the finest ]1elpless debris of a broken home is community. psychological care needed. the child. For an orthodox Jewish child, Obe1 is his shelter and place· What is the ment agency for foster care. ultimate goal? What is a Reuniting familief'. and healing the Do all children live eniotional scars of family disintegra· Group Home? tion. Psychiatrists, Psycholpgists, So· in the Home? A l!;roup of teenap;ers live in a house cial Workers, Rabbis, Physicians, By no means. The Ohel Foster Home under the lovini;e: care and supervision Teat~bers, Administratorf'., Counselors l)ivfaion p)a('e5 hoy» an-phere. ours. You llelong to each other again!"

Can yov be a foster parent short term or long term? Many children need warm, intelligent orthodox foster parents. Generous allowances cover all expenses. To apply or for further information call or write Ohel. BUT OHEL IS THE ONLY ONE I There is so much to be done: We need a girls home! We need more group homes. We need expanded intake and office space for foster placement! And it needs your help to succeed and grow.

If there is room in your heart for a child, then contribute warmly, generously, and soon to

0 H EL 4907 - 16th Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. 11204 OHEL CHILDREN'S HOME I am willing to help 4907 - 16th Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. 11204 [j Enclosed is my contribution. 0 Please contact me. Tel.: 12121 851-6300 or 12121 494-7978 My Niilme ( Address