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Yom Kippur
ATONEMENT
Ma'ariv'
Tradition has it that Moses descended from Mount Sinai on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. He held in his hands the second tablets of the decalogue. His message to the people in the desert: God had forgiven the worshiping of the Golden Calf.
The commentators dwell at length on the factlthat there had to be a second set of the tablets containing the Ten Commandents — man made and not presented by Heaven without any human effort.
When we pray on Yom Kippur for forgiveness, for atonement, when we review our deeds in the year past, we necessarUy remind ourselves of opportunities missed because too often we rely upon miracles.
Not only is the principle of man's treatment of fellowman the central theme of Yom Kippur. For as we all know, no outrage committed vis-a-vis a human being can be forgiven by Heaven — only by the person hurt by our sin. The same principle applies to the tasks involving our community and, in a larger sense, our people and mankind in general.
What occasion to serve man have we disregarded because of the wor' ship of the Golden Calf? If this worship affects only our relationship with the Lord in Heaven, the faults are forgiven by Him. However if this worship of the Golden Calf destroys His creations, if it weakens our fellowman, the only toad to salvation is reparation to the victim, to the one who suffered by our misdeed.
For the last three-and-a-half months, it seems that Tablets given from Heaven have created the greatest historic opportunity to Jews the world over to regain in their full glory a place among the nations. Have we exploited it ?
The free world has been given the chance to build and consolidate our culture — have we responded to the new challenge?
This is Yom Kippur. The luhot, the tablets broken by the Golden Calf worsSpefs, still are floating around. And while the benign symptoms from Heaven have reached us in His city, we still must atone for negligence and inaction. We must atone by action. Then only will our prayer have meaning.
THIS WEEK
Poland
Bans The "Joint
Londdn^(JCNS) All activities of the American Joint Distribution Conunittee in Poland will come to an end on January 1. Ort (Organisation for Rehabilitation through training activities may well suffer the same fate, though no firm decision has yet been taken on this matter, the JONS correspondent on East European Affairs learns.
According to a group of Western European economists who have just returned from Poland, the Warsaw Government's decision to close down the "Join^* in Poland was taken several weeks ago.
It is a decision whichadds to the anxiety felt in numerous quarters about the new official Polish policy - (emphatically anti-Israel and with strong anti-Jewish undertones.
EXTREME POLICY
It is a peculiarity of the interfactional struggle now going on inside the Polish leadership that those who are at present^ supreme interpret the "reinstatement" of party unity and discipline" as meaning to carry the Soviet-Union's anti-Israel policy to extremes.
There have been - and still are - occasions when the Polish press exceeds Soviet newspapers in the virulence of Its anti-Israel propaganda. This gives an indication of how far Poland has moved from its once-liberal stance to become the most reactionary and anti-semitic East European country.
The Soviet press has made a number of attacks on the "Joint", stemming from a series of articles signed by Yurilvanov.
Arab Arms Bulld-Up
Haifa, (JCf® Egypt's Air Force already has more Migs than before the Six
Atonement Excursion
AT THE TOMB
"Dearest motiier do not forget us", cried an aged Hasid swaying in prayer at the Tomb of Rachel, five miles south of Jerusalem. Of the four Matriarchs it was Rachel, favourite wife otJa-' cob, who was destinied to become the ideal Jewish mother and one of Israel's fevourite heroines.
Fifteen hundred years after her death, the sensitive prophet Jeremiah declared:
"Thus saith the Lord, a voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, ahd bitt|er weq;>ing, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuseth to be c(Hnfortod for her children/' •
The Bo<A of Genesis records:
li./'And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to E^hrath, - the same is Bethlehem"/ It is related that Jacob ''set up a pillar upon her jgrave; the same is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto
this day".
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And wtgr was Rachel buried near Bethldiemf? To the rabbis this was not a mere coincidence. Sorrowfully Jacob foresaw that his descendants, dooined to exile, would pass by her grave. And Rachd, c 0 mp a s s 10 n a t e, tender motiier, would rise and pray for her suffering children.
As her tears flowed in a never eiiding stream before the ThhMie of Judgement, Israel was granted clemency and thepromise was renewed that Rachel's children would
Today the Tomb itself consists of a plain, stone building. A small ante-chamber leads into the square-doomed vault. Constantly the ante^Raniber aind vault are ^ crofwded widi worshippers, and It is a moving and awesome experience to watch tjhem at prayer, j
Current belief in the au7 thentlclty of the Tomb is, based on evidence more than
a thousand years old. Ac-^^ cording to FJaviusJos^hus, Rachel was "buried in the land of Ephrath". The close proximity of the Tomb to Bethlehem, the city of David and the site of the Church of the Nativity brought maay pilgrims to the Matriarch's s^Hilchre. ft is recorded that as early as the year 333 tiie Pilgrim of Bordeaux visited the "monument".
The Crusaders later erect ed over the Tonib a little square building crowned a ciqwla. Graphically the f^ous Jewish traveller^ Benjamin of Tiidela, who visited some 300 places between 1165 and 1172, describes tiie Tomb: "ft is made iip of eleven stones corresponding to the raunber of thesmis Jacob. Upon it is a cupola resting cm four columns and ail the Jews that pass hy carve their names iQKHi the stones of the pillar". Why ieleven stones and hot twelvd? The traveller does not e^^lain.
The S^)anish scholar and commentator Moses ben Nachman, known as Nach- \ mahides (1194-1270), settled in the Holy Land in 1267. To his commentary on the . Book of Genesis he adds this topographical note: "Now that I have arrived in Jerusalem. . . I have seen with,
. my eyes that the distance from Rachel's Tomb to Bethlehem is not even one mile". In the fifteenth or sixteenth century the stones disappeared and the four open arches of the sepulchre were walled up by the order of Mo- . hammed Pasha.
On Friday, June 14, 1838, Sir Moses and Lady Monte-fiore arrived in Bethlehem. "On reaching Rachel's : Tomb", writes Lady Monte-flore, "we found several of our brethren assembled here in ejqpectation of our arrival. Here we prayed and I inscribed miy name amid, the
-thousand   others   on the sacred monuments. The wall
1 is fast crumbling into ruins
.and we directed inquiries to
by H. Rabinovitch
be made as to the sum required for its repairs".
In 1841 Sir Moses added a square vestibule to the Tcnnb, and to the end (tf Ms life he lavished loving care on the memorial to this most beloved of Israel's mothers.
Tradition has it that Rachel died an Marcheshvanll.For many hundreds of years Jews have visited the Tomb (XI this date, They have also prayed at this sacred place at other iniportant monuments in the . Jewish year, particulairly the Three Weeks (from Taimmuz 17 to Av 9), during the month of Ellul and during the Ten Days of Penitence. S^ial prayers were composed for people to crecite here and • one such prayer was printed' as early as 1708.
One of the holiest places in the Holy Land is the ancient Cave of Machpelah, in Hebrcxi, last resting place of the Patriarchs. . Seventeen miles south-west of Jerusalem, Hebron is one of the "Four Holy Cities" of the Holy Land, ft is also one of the oldest cities in the Bible.
The first reference to the Cave (tf Machpelah is found in Chapter 23 of Genesis. This relates how Abraham purchased the Cave froni E^hron the son of Zohar for "four hundred shekels of silver", which was then a substantial sum of money. Here Arbaham buried Sarah, his beloved wife.
ft is said that Caleb, one of the twelve scouts who were sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan, first visited the graves of the : Patriarchs: ''My fathers", were the words of Caleb, "pray on my behalf that I may be delivered from the plans of the spies". Later, , the prophet Jeremiah was advised to summon Abraham, Isaac, Jacoband Moses from.their graves. At once Jeremiah Repaired to the cave. V Arise," he 1 exclaimed. "Ye are summoned to appear before God". V Countless , references to tlie cave are found in^ both
Jewish and non-Jewish sources.
"Abraham, the progenitor of the Jews, inhabited Hebron after he migrated from Mesopotamia", records Jo-s^hus, the first-century historian. "Their monuments are to be seen in this city, and at the present day are made of beautiful marble and carved in the most elegant manner".
And, in the tenth century, Saewul^ the Anglo-SaxMi who journeyed to the Holy Land in the wake of the Crusaders, notes: "Even at tiie present day the smell of the balsam andprecious aro-matlcs with wMch the bodies were anointed, rising sweetly from the sepulchre, fills the nostrils of those who stand around them".
Benjamin ot Tudela writes in great detail about tills celebrated sepulchre:
"Here tiiere is the great Church called St. Abram, and this was a Jewish place of worship at the time of the Mohammedan rule, but the Gentiles have erected there six tombs... The custodians tell the pilgrims that these! are tiie tombs of the Patriarchs, A lamp burns day and night upon the graves. One finds there many casks filled with the bonds of Israelites, ^ for Jews were wont to bring the bones of their fathers thither and deposit them there to this day". . The Haram, a parallelogram 183 feet by 112 feet, was buUt over the traditional site of the graves, the ramparts are composed of huge . blocks said to date back to the days of Herod. In the year 576 Antonini Placentlni found an ornate basilica on the site of the sepulchre, an iron grating dividing it in the middle. On one side the Jews entered and on the otiier, Uie Christians.
In the twelfth century the basilica was rebuilt. I became a cathedral in 1167, and twenty years later it was transformed into a mosque.
Witfiin tiie mosque are the six stone cenotaphs. Each tomb is in a s^iarate apartment.
On the north and south sides the mosque is approached by two flights of st^s. On the southern staircase Christians and Jews were permitted by the Moslems to descend as far as the sixth st^ but were not allowed to go further. Four massive columns divide the mosque into a nave and aisles, The architectural . style is part Byzantine and part Gotiiic.
fti the centre of the hall, the most honoured site, are the two cenotraphs named after Isaac and Rebecca. Inscribed (XI the walls are quotations from the Koran. Then there are two small chambers with doors, which face each other. They are In memory ol Abraham and Sarah. The monuments are covered with cost-fc^drapes.
On tiie northern side are . two chambers containing the tombs of Jacob and Leah. There is also a small Window witii a grating, containing a stone which, according to l^nd, bears the imprint of Adann's foot. In anotiier small room is a monument Inscribed in Arabic: "This is the tomb of tiie prophet Joseph. May he , rest in peace".
No otiier holy place has been so revered and so jealously guarded by the Moslems. Even Edward Vn, tiien Prince of Wales, had to exercise considerable pressure before he was allowed to enter the cave. Sir Moses Montefiore visiting Hebron on June 14,1839, was fortunate enough to receive per-missipn, and tiiree days later he ac^tually visited the cave.
It' is ho longer "impossible" for anyone to visit tiie Cave of Machpelah. Now tiiat Hebron is once more in Jewish hands, members of every creed can pray in peaceXat tiie sepulchre of tiie Patriarchs.
1^ War, and new SA-2SAM missile sites are being built all over Egypt, Syria and Algeria.
This Soviet arms supply programme is being carefully watched in Israel, but it is pointed out tiiat tiie new Mig 21s Egypt is receiving to replace tiie older ones knocked out by tiie Israelis during tiie war, tiiough supersonic, have not the rai«e to strike at Israeli population centres, because of the changed map of the area.
Russia is also supplying Egypt with tiie Sukhoi-7, which is capable of flying at Mach L6 speeds fully loaded with rockets and bombs. Like tiie Mig 21, however, its range is limited, and it is a small threat to Israel at present.
But the situation could change radically if Russia were to send additional ^U-16 long-range bombers to the Arab countries. These alone have both the range and the payload to do considerable damage to IsraeL
In the meantime, the Israelis are keeping a weather eye on the arms balance in the Middle East, particularly in tiie li^t of reports about discussions between tiie U.S.A. and U.S.SvR. on limiting the arms race in the area.
Refugees
Rome, (JCN$) More tiian 2,000 Libyan Jews are now in former refugee camps in Europe, having fled from Tripoli and other places after the murder of Jews and arson and looting by Libyans on the outtireak of the Six-Day War, according to an article in "Epoca", an Italian news magazine.
(Until June of this year there were 4,000 Jews fa ' Libya, where tiiere has been a community sface before the Common Era).
The writer of the article, a well-known journalist and pubUcist using the pseudonym of "Riccardietto", says tiiat many Libyan Jews who have not fled are also fa Camp Gurgi, some four miles outside Tripoli,
A total of at least 15 Libyan Jews, whom the article names, were killed by Arab mobs when the Six-Day War started, the writer states, after the Libyan Government had allowed a demonstration to be held faaugurating'< Palestine Week".
The pro-Nasser organisers incited the crowds to Mil Jews and loot their homes and property, but although the Government and police knew who the fasti-gators were, only some have ■ been arrested and no other steps taken.
The Jews of Libya have a choice of three courses of action: To stay fa the reAigee camp under Libyan police protection; to stay at home and never venture out; or to leave for more hospitable shores. j,;
Those who have chosen to do the last-named have been given exit visas witii the right of re-entry, but the Libyan Embassy in Italy refuses to help them in any way.
Meanwhile, . agents of Arabs who want to takeover whatever assets^ they have left, are ■. visiting them iii Europe, promising anything - for worids arelcheajjanddoi riot haive to be honoured for tiie right to acquire Uieir< possessions.
Rabbi Dr. S.M. Lehrman, formerly Minister of the New Synagogue, Stamford Hill, London, now lives In Israel. He is cultural director of the Israel Society for Bible Research and the World Jewish Bible Society.
It has been said that he who does nbt believe fa miracles tiiese days is not a realist So let us be realist^ and unflinchingly answer the challenge of these momentous days. This Challenge consists not only of mass emigration to Israel and of self-sacrificing financial efforts on an unprecedented scale, but also of a religious revival facorporating a new look throu^ traditional and halachic lenses at our vol-umfaous, encyclopedic laws, customs and folk-ways.
A great spurlowards this object, as well as a powerful dyke agafast tiie facreas-ing drift towards "unbaptised apostasy", would be rebuilding the pristine glory once attached to Israel - a Temple of peace and worship in which a believing humanity could commune with thefr heavenly Father.
Israel is plannfag to erect monuments to tiie heroes of the !^-Day War who died so tiiat the Third Jewish Commonwealth should contfaue to exist. Equally important, however, if not more transcending, is to raise a resplendent monument to Him who made thiis great triumph possible.
He surely deserves a place where His divfae presence could rest, which would become once again the rendezvous of all those who have immortal longings to breathe the rariefleld atmosphere of ai spiritual Delos, fa which harmony is peaceful co-operation prevails.
Is this just another pipe-dream? This question can be answered by Dr. Herzl's immortal saying: "If you wish it, it need not be a legend".
ITiere are several reasons why the idea of erecting a new Temple on the traditional site has now moved out of the realm of dreams. Foremost among them is the possession of a Jerusalem once agafa united after an enforced division of nearly 2,000 years. Second is the desire of many to convert tiie celebration of Independence Day f^om a military parade, a display of mus cular Judaism, fato a national demonstration of Thanksgiving fa the rebuilt Temple.
A third reason gives the suggestion a: more concrete form, and lends to it the force of a biblical command. No other religious fastitution has received so many detailed specifications and "blue-prints" as tiiat of tiie construction, first of the portable Sanctuary fa the wilderness, and later of Solomon's Temple. Whole chap^ ters are devoted to this theme fa both Exodus and-the First Book of Kings, so much so, tiiat a perfect model, on a mfaute scale, is on exhibition at the Holyland Hotel fa Jerusalem.
Not content wlththespeci-fic details recorded fa the Bible, our midrashic literature has lovingly lavished a pletiiora of additions to adorn tiie command fa exodus:" Let them erect a sanctuary unto me, that 1 may dwell fa their midst". Thus, a Rabbi opines that sface the Temple was destroyed, there is no joy fa heaven. The Zohar, the Bible of the mystics, seeks to assure us tiiat when the Temple was destroyed, the priests were biddien to cast their keys heavenwards. With the petition: "0 Lord guard Thy House Thyself now; for we have proved false stewards".
According to Rabbi Hisda, the world has not witnessed the true radiance of the siin fa a perfectly clear sky since the Temple was destroyed, fa the famous "Letter of Aristeas'* we read that the most complete silence reigned supreme (iuring service fa the Temple. Though the Oirongs of worshippers stood pressed together, that Talmud tells us that when they prostrated tiiemselves there was, by a miracle, ample room for each person./
Anotiier Midrash In tiieV name of Rabbi Jose B. Hal-afta tells us tiiat altiiough the Teniple Court was only
by Dr. S. M. Lehrman
■' ■■■■ - ■■' .....
one hundred cubits long, all the pilgrims who came to worship found accommodation. Those who have prayed these days in the precincts . of the Temple Wall, and to the presence of the milling crowds, will not dispose of this statement as another example of talmudic hyperbole.
Our suggestion.has an historical paralleL It was suggested by tiie late Rabbi J. L. Maimon that the historic Seder service at Bnei Brak, mentioned fa the Mishna and the Hagada, which was pre-
sided over by Rabbi Akiba and his colleagues, was for the purpose of strengthening Bar-Kochba in his rebellion agafast Roman tyranny*
God has reve^aled Himself in Jewish history " moving fa a mysterious way hls'manl-fold wonders to perform". Is it not our paramount duty to re-write the blank and fill fa the torn-out pages of Jewish history? One of the brightest of these pages was the existence of Solomon's Temple fa Jerusalem. It can still be the glory to come.
letters to the editor
ENCORE QUEBEC
Dear Editor:
This Itosh Hashana we dis--cussed fa our synagogue the very pragmatic and sometimes courageous stand taken by The Canadian Jewish News on the issue of the Jewish position fa the new' Quel)ec. We especially discussed your editorial about our Minister of Cultural Af-atrs, Jean-Noel Tremblay, who had been at tacked by many exc^t The Canadian Jewish News.
You understood that M.
Tremblay, no matter how one r^ards his political opinions, is friendly towards our Jewish aspirations.
I wish you had reported fa fiill his statement to a Jewish gathering which was held on Monday, Sq)tember 25tii, at the Quebec Pavili(ni.
Also Paul Emile Cardfaal L^r recently told a Jewish meeting that Jews and Catiiolics fa Quebec could work together whUe stOl remaining what they are individually.
M(Hitreal
Albert Gunzig
Sermon for the week
OTHER SANCTUARY
The faith of the Jew has no conscious beginning. He cannot remember having started to believe in God. It grew with them as he grew from childhood into manhood and old age. Judaism is the faith of the fathers; we simply continue. God is in our lives even before we started to think about the fact which makes us God-believing Jews.
We are never in the position of mere beginners, but we are often in the position of men and women who conscientiously need to rethink, to reinterpret, to^enew what we have received from past generations . . I mention this question which a Jew, rooted in his family tradition, would not find easy to ask. How can I come to believe in God?
I would say to him: Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged. Look unto Abraham your father and unto Sarah that bore you (Isaiah 51,1-2). "Hiese words mean: "Look to your origin. You came from a home where you had a father and a mother. With this fact you have^l that is needed tp understand the fatherhood of God, His justice and His mercy.
Jiistice and love may be contriadictions in the field of logical theory, but not in the reality of family life. Parental love cannot merely imply allowing the children to act as they please. Principles and laws must supplement love, in order to provide the children with an ordered life that can lead them to future happiness. From this we learn that it is no contradiction in our Jewish religion that we see God both as the God of justice, and the God of mercy.
What is the mercy of God? It is the most real thing in our reality. Mercy in Hebrew is rachamin, whose root, racham, means womb. The child in the womb of the mother, surrounded by warmth, food and the means of further growth, is like man in this world, created by God. If you remember your nioth-er, then you know of the mercy of God, the unending love, which always forgives, demands nothing for itself and gives wholeheartedly.
You know the meaning of the words: father, mother, children, Surely, you must know therefore that the family is not a mere warm nest but a sanctuary. Surely you must know that the love which parents bestow on their children, and children on their parents, is not an illusion which the psychologist can analyse. It is a holy love, and with this holiness in pur very lives we know of God and praise Him. '
The revelation of Sinai repeats itself in every Jewish home. As a Jewish family, parents and children, know God: He was, He is, and will be. And the fatherhood pf God is blessmg.
My Friends, when this day of worship, comes to a close, do not leave this place with this feeling that the holy hours which you spent in this synagogue are now gone and you have to step out into the profane world. There is a distinction between holy and profane. How else wpuld we know what is holy, without the background of a profane world? But when you leave this synagogue you gp^ home. There ypu efiter a sanctuary, the sari-tuary of the Jewish home. \ (A Neila sermon "The Faith of the Jew- ■ , ish Diaspora" by Ignats Maybaum).
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