NISSAN, 5731 I MARCH, 1971 VOLUME 7, NUMBER 5 THE FIFTY CENTS --··---------·-·- -- Kolel F'ello.vs as Activists THE REAL EliE WiESEl Iii a oo K in Review: Religion in the Soviet Union second looks Roll call in Brussels No Face in the Newsweek Mirror Religious Neutrality in the Public Schools? • ···· :rr ® · Letters and Answers · ~~ "Ff fHE JEWISH OBSERVER In this issue ... ()BSERVER ON ''.'HE ISRAELI SCENE: THE KOLEL FELLOWS Go ACTIVE. Ezriel Toshavi . 3 THE l~EAL ELIE W!ESEL. 1\Iosso11 Scher1nan ............ 6 THE JE\\'ISH OBSERVER is published monthly, except Aug. and Sept., by the Agudath Israel of A1ncrica. 5 Beck1nan Street, New York, THE BIRTH Or A PEOPLE. THE EMERGENCE OF A NATION, New York 10038. Second class postage paid at New York, N. Y. Pays<1c'1]. Krohn ............................ Subscription: $5.00 per year; Two 12 years. $8.50; Three years, $12.00: outside of the United States, $6.00 per year. Single copy, fifty cents. THE WHITE ELEPHANT AND THE JEWISH PROBLEM, Printed in the U.S.A. 1"ri Sciw11t/1,d .............................. 15 R,\BBI NISSON WOLPIN Editor BooK IN REVIEW• ASPECTS OF RELIGION IN THE Editorial Board SOVIET UNION. 1917-1967 ..................... 18 l)R. ERNEST L. BODENHEIMER Clininnan RABBI ~'ATilA'N BOIJ\fAN SECOND LOOKS AT THE JEWISH SCENE RABBI JoSFPJI ELIAS ROLL CALL IN BRUSSELS .........•....•....... 21 }OSFPJ! FRIEDE!"SON How "'NEUTRAL'" THE Punuc SCHOOLS ? ........... 23 RABBI YAAKOV JACOBS RABBI ~fOSHE SHERER VACUUM. PACKED ............................ 24 \'<'le.'leeek, No FACE IN THE MIRROR .........• 25 THE JE\VJSH OBSFRVER docs no[ assume respon>;ibility for t}1c Kashrus of anv product or service ;'ldvcrtised in its pages. LETTERS To THE EDITOR .......................... 26 MARCH. 1971 VOL. VI I. NO. 5 l'""'drnl ..,,I. GRO.<> 111!0.1. P'rnl<r.g r "· '"' Ezriel Toshavi QBSERVER on the Israeli Scene The Kolel Fellows Go Active A man who dedicates his life to the study of the Temple Mount, and the scund of Torah discus­ Torah need do nothing else to justify his existence. sions arc unrealized drcan1s. 'This has rcsulteJ in a In fact, his involvement in Torah study n1ay very generation, cultural, even civilization-gap, a "future well justify the day-to-day activities of other less shock" that has left older people bewildered and scholarly Jews who support him. So the kolelim - teenagers totally loosed from the moorings of their institutions where married men are i1nn1ersed in hcritagc 1 open prey to drugs. prostitution. conver­ Torah study to the exclusion of everything else - sion, and even i11tcrn1arriagc with n1c1nbers of the arc to be greatly admired, and contemplating the local Arab population. addition of any outside obligations to their roster Whereas each of these problems individually is of responsibilities is definitely out of order. being grappled with by legisbtive and law enforce­ Yet in Israel there are some kolclirn whose n1c1n­ ment officials, the kolel'niks have seen the situation bers find it impossible to view the desperate spir­ as a whole as one of a people cut adrift from their itual situation a1nong so 1nany of the new oliln - old values. 1'hcy, n1orc than anyone else, are especially those of Sephardic or Oriental extraction equipped to re-introduce the people of the Book to - without doing something about it. the Book. and as a result, they have bcco1ne "activ­ For n1any Jews, the aliyah experience results in ists." a devastating let-down. They find themselves thrust into an environment that is strange even hostile 'Fite "'}'u1u1'' in i\lotio11 - in technology, in social custo1ns, in econornic demands, and in lack of religion. Many abandon Several years ago. the '/'11ua Lcl/(1j(Jtzas 'J'oralz the traditions of their fathers. and even the n1orc (Movement for the Spread of Torah) was created stalwart find the task of guiding and educating with the blessings of the Chief Rabbinate, the Vaad their children simply too much for them. The cus­ Hayeshivos, Misrad Hadatot. the guidance of all tomary pillars of reassurance and support - the Gedolci Torah of Israel, and cooperation from the large family unit, the presence of patriarchal P'eyli1n volunteers. 'J'hc 'J'ruu1 is dedicated to the figures, the local chachani, the religious "1narkct establishment of kolelim in far-f1ung spiritual', place" - are often too distant or totally absent. poverty areas based on the conviction that the·, Many new olirn are assigned to far-flung border san1c 1'orah lishrno, in another setting, can assuinc sett1etncnts, or yishuvint in seldon1 visited areas. double potency. So the kolelirn have contributed where they rc1nain unacquainted with Jerusalcn1, the reassuring presence of young religious fatnilies Bnei Brak, or Tel Aviv; where the Kosel, a view of while enriching the at1nosphcre of the con11nunities with their Torah studv. In addition the kolcl mem­ bers and their wives youth groups, EZRJEL TOSHA VI oliscrv<'s the lsr·acli s,·1·n1' fin readers of ~rganizc after~ THEJE\V!SFI OBSERVER. school recreation and study centers, and adult ]'he Jewish Observer I Al arch, 1971 " education classes. And they also reach out geo­ The seven young families (Rabbi Grossman was graphically, traveling to small outlying settlements twenty-four at the time) were less than welcome in to bring together the people and their heritage. Migdal HaEmek. For several weeks they.could no_t These domestic peace corps units are generally even find living quarters. After months of effort, received with overwhelming welcome by the however, the kolel was finally functioning within an people of their host communities, but some are established routine -- primarily occupied with subject to more than a little abuse. Typical of the study, but also involving itself in a specific amount kolelim is Kole] Ohel Yaakov, of Kiryat Yam near of con1n1unity work. Haifa, headed by Rabbi Yitzchock Shaul Ernst. The extra-curricular program operates on several Each member must agree to undertake a minimum levels ~ one-to-one encounters, inforrnal group quota of reach-out hours per week. As a result, its meetings, and organized learn and play activities. fellows supervise over l 00 youngsters in a Yeshivas The one-to-one program is effective beyond be­ Hamasmidim evening study program, and they can lief ... Each of the kale! families (now num­ take credit for having sent some 150 boys ro the bering nine) has adopted a youngster who spends classical yeshivos of the Be'er Yaakov-Ponovezh every Shabbos with them. This offers a potent dose genre. Yet, when the kolel was initially opened in of living Judaism that soon becomes addictive in its nearby Kiryat Shmuel two years ago, "conditions joys and relevance. were none too accommodating," and the founders were forced to transfer their operation to Kiryat "Dear R.abbi: I Do Not Want to Fall" Yam. "Thanks for the Speech ... " One of the more flamboyant exploits of this type is a tiny Torah beachhead in Migdal HaEmek. This new community of 12,000 Jews - most of them Sephardic olim - is nestled between Upper and Lower Nazareth in the Galilean Hills. In other words, it is sandwiched between an established .~>1- 1c?t trouble spot for new olim on the hill and old Arab '·'· i \<,.!;" stronghold in the valley -- one of the largest con­ ~"'! '_,,,;) i' 1 centrations of Arab population in Israel, long (~( ' :1~-f) infamous for easy availability of hashish and pro­ miscuity. The unlikely leader of this invasion of tradition is Rabbi Yitzchock Dovid Grossman, Rabbi Grossman frequently steps outside of his scion of a rabbinical family in Jerusalem. He was customary orbit to find people in need of guid­ ordained by the Slabodker Y cshiva, and his appear­ ance. He once struck up a conversation with a ance reflects the Meah She'arim and Bnci Brak of group of rowdy teen-agers on an inter-city bus. his upbringing. One bushy-haired boy proved to be the son of a The challenge to his secure, cloistered existence <1aya1l, a judge in a rabbinical court in Morocco. He as a kolel member was hurled at Rabbi Grossman admitted to never having used his tefillin since his on one of his educational lecture tours sponsored arrival in Israel. In fact. his life had generally by the Tnua. "Thanks for the speech, Rabbi," one become devoid of religious content. The Rabbi of the olim rold him. "Now, how·about joining us listened closely, and urged him to '"come back": and seeing for yourself how rough things can be in and left the boy his address. a yishuv like this?" The next afternoon the boy came calling, but he So - after consulation with the Lellever Rebbe, did not find Rabbi Grossman at home. In despera­ and the Steipler (Horav Hagaon Rabbi Yaakov tion, he sent hin1 a postcard: "l sdiv you i11 the Kanyevsky) and encouragement from his wife - he <larkness of the {;us, tuui 1 rvoulcl very 1nuch like to dared to take up the challenge, bringing six other nieet you once again to speak 1vith you ... to learn kolel families with him. from you . .. to <!rink .fron1 your 1vells. 'J'he u;orcis The Jewish Observer I Afarcii, 1971 4 yuu spol-?c to 111e i11 the l1us aJ.fccfc(I rne ii11- rncnt agencies combined in the last ten years." 1nc11sely. I (lesper11tcly 11cc<I your counsel. I an1 Mayor Zvi Elderoti (Mapam) has also become (d1out to }~11/ .. help lflC . .. I !lo 1101 Uhlltt to f~dl. one of his staunchest supporters, and has cooperated Speak ruitli nic just '1 little /;it, for liu,~e t/laf!es are with him to keep shops closed on Shabbos and to pu.,·hi11g 111c into a y<1u•11i11g gu(( .