My Dear Friends, n,;i and hostility to ;nin '"1Y.l11V thousands more Yiddishe Kinder, and n11y1::i1. This is the root of the escalating On xyi1 '!:l nJW at the Agudah give them a Torah Chinuch, to become a Convention, I was privileged to address conflict between the Orthodox and the pride and joy to ?x1wi ??:::i. Strengthen the great assembly, and I n1ade a heart­ Secularists in Israel today. and expand the network of 'KIJY.Y lUn. rending appeal to "go all out" to promote "Get involved," as the Novominsker There is only one remedy that could Rebbe said at the Convention. and expand the Torah Chinuch in Eretz change the whole image of Israel and turn Yisroel it into the f·loly Land, the residence of the Let us mobilize all our efforts and How can we fr)lerate a situation, Divine people, that it should be. It is a dedicate a!l our resources to this nnn?n where hundreds of thousands of children peaceful, amicable remedy, without '11YY.l and we will achieve miracles even a·re exposed to a non-religious or offense to anyone. Open wide the doors as in the days of the 0'KJ1DWn irreligious chinuch, which breeds nK)IV of Tora(< schools and fill them with - n",IV'1DJ:J. II ... and we will auueve-L~ mirac• Ies. '' r---------------------,. ''"";u,S<hool TORAH SCHOOLS FOK ISRAEL I I '"''"' '"·ooo CHll'!UCH ATZl'IAI • Sponso1 Prefab 167 Madison Avenue. New York. NY !0016 • 212·889·0606 I I Classrooms $10.500 ' Enclosed (ind my contribution of$.,. I I • Playground Facilities $3,600 I • Nassi Layom $1.600 N<i::il~e :::'.'! my pledge of$ I • '1emorial Plaque $1,000 I • Child Sponsorship $360 Address -·-··----- I • Annual '1embership $200 City _____,_ I • Summer Camp $54 Stille -----"'---·· I 1 - ----- TORAH FOK orrn DOLLAK A DAY- ---- ... In This Issue THE JEW IN GOLUS•.. GOLUS IN THE JEW THE JEWISH OBSERVER (ISSN) 0021-6615 is published monthly ex­ ceptJuly and August. by the Agudath 5 Israel of America, 84 William Street. The Struggles of the Jew in Golus New York. NY 10038. Second class based on an address by Rabbi Mordechai Gifter postage paid at New York. NY Subscrip· tion $18.00peryear: two years, $30.00: three years, $40.00. Outside of the 8 United States {US funds only} $10 sur­ The Jew in Golus: How High a Profile? charge per year. Single copy: $2.50: foreign: $3.00. Send address changes based on an address by Rabbi Shimon Schwab to The Jewish Observer. 84 William St., N.Y., N.Y. 10038. TeL 1212) 797-9000. 15 Printed in the U.S.A. The Torah Jew Encounters the World of Science RABBI NISSON WOLPIN. Editoc A Review Article Editorial Board 23 DR. ERNST BODENHEIMER J"::!1 Chairman Rabbi Shaul Yedidyah Elazar ofModzitz Yehuda Nathan RABBI JOSEPH ELIAS JOSEPH FRIEDENSON 33 RABBINOSSONSCHERMAN RABBI MOSHE SHERER Of Sanctity and Security based on a lecture by Rabbi Zev Leff, adapted by S. Chaimson Management Board NAFTOLI HIRSCH 37 ISAAC KIRZNER RABBI SHLOMO LESIN Poetry NACHUM STEIN To a Former Foster Child David ben-Zvi RABBI YOSEF C. GOLDING Business Manager 39 THE JEWISH OBSERVER does not Second Looks on the Jewish Scene assume responsibility for the Kashrus of any product or service advertised in "Today I Put on Tefillin" its pages. Eliyahu Mayer ©Copyright 1988 41 Letters to the Editor FEBRUARY 1988 44 VOLUMEXXI. NO. 1 Index to Articles: Subjects and Authors VolumeXX,Nos.1-10 A triumph of stunning beauty - in its simple yet accurate translation, its enlightening comments, and its magnificent full-color illustrations D Over 30 full-color illustrations D Large 8 x 11 page size D Simplified English translation D Blessings before and after the Megillah D Comments from the Tal­ mud and commentaries D Sturdy, sewn binding; soil-resistant cover hardcover $13.95 paperback $10.95 Order last year's best-seller early Of all the beautiful Haggadahs available, this is the standard-setter D Large, clear text D Translation that incorporates added words or phrases to clarify difficult Talmudic passages D Dozens of com­ ments to be repeated and discussed at the Seder D Full-color illustrations throughout hardcover $13.95 paperback $10.95 And don't forget these popular thought-provoking ArtScroll books: The Fire Within - Provocative character sketches on House Calls to Etemlty - The warm and Inspiring the great masters of the Mussar movement. biography of Dr. Selma Wehl, a heroine of kindness and By Rabbi Hillel Goldberg Torah IMng. By Rabbi and Mrs. Yaakov Wehl $14.95 hard cover $11.95 paper back $10.95 hard cover $7.95 paper back Available from local bookseller or direct from publisher: fii+JIJJC!'ti'/111 timfJ ·1~P"'''' ~ / ficl 1969 Coney Island Ave. I Brooklyn, NY 11223 I (718) 339-1700 Direct mail: Please add $1.95 per order for postage and handling; NYS residents add appropriate sales tax. Israeli distributor: J. Grossman-Mesorah Mafitzim / Rechov Harav Uziel 117 I Bayit Vegan, Jerusalem THE JEW IN GoLUS The Struggles of the JEWINGOLUS - I£ LL &Q&J based on an address by Rabbi Mordechai Gifter N"IJ'J~. Rosh Ha yeshiva qf Telshe Wickl!ffe, Ohio, and a member qf the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (Council of Torah Sages} qf Agudath Israel of America delivered at the recent national convention qf Agudath Israel of America THE ROLE OF THE JEW rim 8,5). In that vein, golus is meant INGOLUS to be instructive, prodding us and guiding us to improvement as Jews e Jew in Golus: We are all and as ethical beings. ware that at specific points Yet, throughout history there n history our conduct was have been those who have failed to unworthy, and as a result. we-the respond to the teachings of golus, Jewish People-underwent a chur­ and instead of seeking to strengthen ban, suffering the destruction of our their commitment to Torah, they en­ Beis Hamikdash and exile from our deavored to blend in with their host homeland. The prophets had culture. Not just in Germany, not warned us of the consequences of only the Reform movement, but in our conduct and, tragically, their all places of our exile, throughout admonitions crune true-not once, our long golus, there have always but twice .... In fact we are still in punitive state, but an expression of been those who thought that assi­ the midst of the second golus, yet G-d's paternal concern, for "As a milation would win them accept· to be redeemed. father punishes his son, so does G-d ance by their non.Jewish hosts, and Golus, however, is not simply a inflict punishment on you" (Deva- total acculturation would win them The Jewish Obseroer, February 1988 5 The Jew who guides his every step with Turah is a Jew who has purged himself of Golus from within, and is bringing us closer to the day when we are totally free of Golus. respect and love. .. As one step 7">i, during the early years of their QUESTIONS WE MUST ANSWER toward accommodation followed heroic undertaking of transplanting another, it took the likes of a Hitler Telshe to America's Midwest. Reb efore we can consider '""''" to demonstrate that even after Elya Meir remarked that he was so ourselves free of influence four successive generations of inter­ unaffected by the change in his en­ Bfrom our golus environment. marriage, a trace of Jewish ancestry vironment that "at this moment I'm we must answer some basic cannot be lost. Even the hapless not even in the United States. I'm questions: offspring of so many generations of sitting in Telshe.'' dilution was banished to the con­ Responded Reb Motte!: 'You're so • Can our business activities centration camps as a Jew! infiuenced by your environment stand up to a point-by-point In its function as a means of in­ that you've even lost your sensitivity examination by criteria based on struction, golus is meant to refine to the fact that you're here-in the the Shulchan Aruch? Are our the Jew, for the experience of being United States!" financial dealings truly free of tossed about on the stormy seas of In the case of such men of stature, deceit, usury, and misleading exile can ultimately serve to bring "loss of sensitivity" was a very subtle practices? or are we infected by the out the best in the Jew. Indeed, today matter. Our gedolim have always atmosphere of greed and wealth-at­ the realization is growing: Sur­ been concerned that their commit­ any-cost, so prevalent in today's vival-and for that matter, salva­ ment to Torah values not be diluted marketplace of values? tion-lies in discovering our heri­ by the golus environment. A hun­ • How important is Torah in our tage, and asserting it. We are wit­ dred years ago, Rabbi Alexander daily lives? Would it be dominant (as nessing the fulfillment of Malachi's Moshe Lapidus, RavofRatzin, wrote it should be), then we would not find prophecy: "l will return ... the hearts an unsigned tzava'a (ethical will)to ourselves spending thousands of of sons to their fathers"(3, 24). Who his community, entitled Divrei dollars on vacations with such ease, would have expected that the Emes, in which he said: "My dear when our Torah institutions are Shavler Rav, Rabbi Meir Atlas 7">l, children, we live in a corrupt world. suffering so from financial hard­ one of the founders of the Telshe We have abandoned mitzva observ­ ships.