Page 4 - The Canadian Jewish News, Friday, Januaiy 13,1967
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Eitz Chaim Dinner
Toronto's Eitz Chaim annual dinner this coming Sunday will feature for the first time as its guest speaker a former principal, ah educator of renown, Rabbi Solomon JakO|bovits.
We believe this innovation in a program of an institution such as Eitz Chaim worthy of emulation. For who in our Jewish educational system in North America has the experience, the intimate knowledge and the vision of the Jewish
First in Bonds Sale
day school if not those who guide its desthiy?
At the same tinier the dinner will honor the women who for decades have been the most loyal workers for Eitz Chaim, one of North erica's most honored institutions of Jewish learning, the alma mater of some of our most outstanding citizens.
We predict this year's Eitz Chaim event will be unusual in every re£^t and unusual hi its attendance.
Toronto's Jewish community wUl record with pride the statement by the State of Israel Bonds leadership at the conclusion of this year's drive.
According to official information, close to two million dollars cash already has been forwarded to Israel — a record achievement. •This proves that the Toronto com* munity realizes at this moment its obligation to consolidate economic^ ally the Jewish state while the citizens of Isrziel make enormous sacrifices in the area of the defense of then: country.
At this tune, the survival of Israel is not a problem for Jews only. Every attack against a coun-
try in the Middle East may provoke an international flareup. And, of course, Jews the world over realize that the economic defense of the most important democratic outpost in the Middle East affects them also as citizens of the world mterested in international democracy in peace and as Jews.
When delegates of Toronto's Jewish community participate in the March conference with David Ben Gurion in Miami, to review the progress of the Bond campaign, they certahdy will be happy to hear that Toronto's contribution has helped secure important economic positions in the Jewish state.
Contraversary iit Moritreiil
KASHRUT - BUT HOW?
1- ■ "!.,;*,?
The controversy surrounding tbe kashrut problem in Montreal is more than a local Quebec issue^ even more than a national Canadian Jewish problem. When a butcher or kosher products manufacturer rejects the supervision of a community controled institution and appoints his own supervisor, he sets a precedent which the total community must denounce with vigor and determination.
A daury fhm cannot appoint its own inspector; nor can a meat packmg corporation suggest to the authorities who should check the hygienic conditions in its plant. Such example would make a farce of public control of any industry effecting the health of the general community.
We do not question the personal integrity, of those in Montreal who have denounced the kashrut supervision of the Jewish Community
Council there. They may be upright citizens and well meaning. Yet a self-respecting community never will allow a private individual to be his own controller of kashrut operations.
The Rabbinical Council of America, Montreal regioni in issuing a statement this week^ declared that it exclusively recognizes the jurisdiction of the rabbmical tribunal of the Jewish Community Council there in matters pertainmg to kashrut. Rightly the Rabbmical Council cautions the community agamst anarchy in the field of kashrut.
Outside Israel, Montreal has the most efficiently organized community kashrut supervision apparatus in the Jewish Community Council. This institution will be defended by the entire community. irrelevant of political, ideological or religious convictions.
The Lighter Side
The traditional New Year's Lev6e of the Governor-Geheral this year had been postponed for Her Majesty's representative here was counseled by his physicians not to undertake such an engagement for reasons of health.
This news was singled out for appearance in the confidential report of the Canadian Jewish Con-greiss internal byllethi known as I.O.I, because the chairaian of the Religious Affairs Committee re^ ceived' a communication to this effect.",..,-
Had the chairman of this committee not received this formal announcement, God forbid, readers of the confidential I.O.I, would have hadvto satisfy themselyes with the news as it appeared hi the daily, press.
Accordmg to this bulletm of December 23, 1966, the chahroan of this committee is Rabbi Zam-browsky^ the administrative chair-man of a Zionist group here. V For those who may not recall the traditional meaning of the term, Lev6e, may we be permitted to mention that /the word stems from the Versailles Palace when the French king got up and during the process of dressing received visitors? ■ • a .. ■ ,
En passant, this I.O.I, confidential bulletin informs us that the same Rabbi ZambroWsky, chairman of the CJC religious affairs com-
mittee, recently was "recognized as the ecclesiastic head of the Jewish faith in Canada on State occasions." In plahi English, the Jewish community has been "recognized" as a church group and this "church", of course, requires an "ecclesiastic" leader.
In fact, the I.O.I. hiforms us, Rabbi Zambrowsky seems to take this "recognition" very seriously' for in the royal tiradition of Levte, he deigned to 'kronvey New Year sentiments to the Governor-General in writing."
We resent very much the fact that such an hnportant appoint* ment as that of the ecclesiastic head of the Jewish faith is kept secret and relayed only to the readers of the internal CJC bulletin. Why shouldn't the Jewish community know that it has reached the pohit where it finally has a Chief Rabbi, "recognized"?
So far as we know, at this moment, outside Israel, only Rou-mania has a recognized chief rat>bi.
However, if we da have a chi^ rabbi, why aren't we told by whom he was elected -r by the Conservatives, the Orthodox, the Refoim? And by whom was he recognized? By, the Government of Canada? Does the Canadian government appoint ecclesiastic heads?
What or which ecclesiastic head made up this story?
Abendreltung. MUnchen Von Thaddan'a NPD viawed bv Carman nawspopar cdrtooniat. NPD-Nao-Naxia: Elact NPDI Wal forgot avarything; Wa laarnad nothing...
New Ybrl^ (JCNS) - The ,lgud Harabbanini - the Rabbinical Alliance of America -which has been sharply critical of other Orthodox rabbis for tteir tolerant attitude towards Conservative and Llber^ rabbis, now has threatened to cross swords with the ultra-Orthodox, though for different reasons.
A Jewish Parable
by S. Y. Agnon
Our Sages ot blessed memory have said that we must not enjoy any pleasure in this world without reciting a blessing. If we eat any food, or drinit any beverage, we must recite a blessing over them before and after. If we breathe the scent at goodly grass, the fragrance of spices, the aroma of goodly fruits, we prcmounce a blessing over the pleasure. The same applies to the pleasures, of sight: When we see the stin hi the Great Cycle of the Zodiac in the montti of Nissan, or the trees first bursting into blossom in the spring, or ai^r sturdy and ' beautiM trees, we pronounce a blessing. And the same applies to the pleasures at the ear.
It is through you, dear sirs, that oo6 of the blessings concerned with hearing has come my way.Ithappen-ed when the Swedish Charge d'Affaires came and brouglit me the tidings Uiat the Swedish Academy has bestowed the Nobel Prize iqkxi me. Then I recited hi full the blessing that is enjoined upon one who hears good tidings for himself or others: Blessed be Re who is good and-doeth g9d^*;VGd8d'»;'inthar the good God put it into the . hearts of the sages of the illustrious Academy to bestow tiiat great and esteemed Prize iqxx) an author who writes in the Sacred Tongue; "Who doeth good", in that He favoured me by causing them to choose me. And now that I have come here, I will recite (Hie blessing more, as enjoined iqxm^hlm who beholds a monarch: "Blessed art Thou, 0 Lord, our God, King of the Universe, Who hast given of Tljy gloiy to a king of flesh and blood". Over you, too, distinguished sages of the= Acaden\y I say the prescribed blessing: "Blessed be He Who has given of his wisdom to flesh and blood*'. .••■■■** *
It Is said in the Talmud (Tractate Saidiedrin 23a): "In Jerusalem, the men of discrimination did not sit down to dine in company until they loiew who their com-panI(His were to be"; so I will now tell you who ami, whom yoO have agreed to , have at your table.
As a residt of the historic cata:strophe In which Titus of Rome destroyed Jerusalem and Israel was e^ed from its land, I was bom in oob of the cities of the Exile.
But always I r^arded myself as one who was born In Jerusalem. In dream, in a vision of the nighty I saw myself standing with my broth-er-Levites in the Holy Temple, singing witii them the songs of David, King of Israel, mdodies such as no ear has heard since the day our city was destroyed and its people went into exile. I suspect that the angels in charge of theShrine of Music, fearful lest I sing in wakefulness what I had Bvuog in dream, made me forget by day what I had siing at night; for If my brethren, the sons of my people, were to ^ar, they would be unable to bear their grief over the happiness they have lost. ; To console me for having prevented me from singing with my mouth, they enabled The to /compose, songs in writing. ^
I belong to the Tribe of Levi; my forebears and I are
SHMUjBLYOSEF AGNON
Isroall nova lat and^araat apl c' wri tar of mddam HabraW lltarotura, Nbbal Rrlia 1966. /
of tiie minstrels that were in the Temple, and there is a tradition in my father's family that we fttisof tiie lineage of the Prophet Samuel, whose name I bear.
I was five years old when I wrote my first scmg. ttwas out of IcMiging for my father that I wrote it. It haK)ened that my father, of blessed memory, went away cm business. I was overcome with limging for him and I made a song. After that I made maiQr songs, but nothing has remained of them. iSy father's house, where I left a roomful of writings, was burned down in the First World War, and all I had left there was biimed with it. The young artisans, tailors and shoe-makers who used to sing my songs at their work were killed in the First World War — and of those who were not killed in the War, some were buried alive with their sisters in the pits they dug for themselves by order of tiie enemy, and most were burned in the crematoria of Auschwitz together with their sisters, who had adorned our town with their beauty and,sung my scmgs wltb tlieir iireet vdlees. ^^Tliev;«p^. the Singer? who^J'lllfeepiy songs, went up in flame was also the fate of the books which I later made. AU of them went 19 in flame to Heaven together in a fire which. brd(e out one night at.my home in Bad Homburg as I lay ill in hospital. Amcmg the books that were burned was a large novel of some 700 pages, the first part of which the publisher had announced he was about to bring out. Together with this novel, called Eternal Life, was burned everything I had written since the day I had gtxie into exile from the Land of Israel, including a hocM I had written together with Marthi Buber, besides four-thousMd Hebrew books, most of which had come down to me from mjr forebears and some of which I had bought with money set aside fr<Mn my daily bread.
t said, "aince tfaedaylhad gone hito-«xile from the Land of Israel," but i have notyet related that I had dwelt in the Land of Israel. Of this I will now speak.
At the age.of 19-and-a-half I went iq> to the Land of Israel to till its soU and live by the labour of ray hands. As I did not find work, I sou^t my livelihood else- -where. I was appointed Secretary of the Hovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion) Society, and Secretary of the Palestine Council — which was a kind of parliament-on-the-way — and I iwas also the first Secretaiyrpf the yblun- ■ taiy Jewish Magistrate's Court. Through these offices it was my privilege to get to know every Jewish person, and those whom I did not come to know through these offices I cante to know . through love and a desire to know my brethren, the members of my people. It Is almost pertain that in thpset years there was not a man. woman or infant In the Land of Israel whom. I did not know.
, After all my possessions had been burned, God gave me the wisdom to return to Jerusalem. I returned to Jerusalem, and it is by virtue of Jerusalem that I have written all that God has put Into my heart and into my pen. I have also made a book about the Givit« of the Tor-ah, aiid a book on the Days of Awe, and a book on the books
of Israel that have been written since the day the Torah was given to Israel.
Since ray return to the ^and of Israel, I have left it wice; once in cranection with the printing of mybooks by the late Salman Schocken, and once I travelled to Sweden and Norway. TTieirgreat poets had implanted love and admiration for their countries in ray heart, and I decided to go and see them. Now I have come a third time, to receive your blessing, sages of the Academy.
During the time I dwelt iii Jerusalem, I have written big stories and small. Same have been printed, most I still have in manuscript
.« "' * ♦ ♦
I have already told how my first songs came outof l(Hig-ing for my father. The be-ghmings of my studies also came to me fnmi my father, as well as from tiie Rabbinical Judge of our town. But they were preceded by three tutors under whom I studied, one after the other, from the time I was three-and-a-half tin Itumed eight-and-a-half.
J^p.jWere.my mentors in poetry aincl' Uteraturcf? That is a matter of opinion. Some see in my books the influences of authors whose oames, in my ignorance, I have not even heard, while others see tiie influences of poets whose names I have heard but whose writings I have not read. And vihst is my opinioif? From whom did I receive nurture?? Not every man remembers tiie name of the cow which siqiplled hbn with each drop of milk he has drunk. But in order not to leave you totally in the dari^ I will try to clarify frwn whom I received whatever I have received.
First and foremost, there are the Sacred Scriptures, from which I learned how to combine letters. Then there are the Misbna and the Talmud and the Midrashlm and Rashi's commentary on the Torah. After these come the Poskim — the later esgslica-tors of Tabniidlc Law — and our sacred poets and the medieval sages, led by bur Master Rabbi Moses, sod of MaimMi, known as MaIm(Hi-ides, of blessed memory.
; WhenI first began to com-bli^ letters other than Hebrew, I read every book in German that came my way, and from these I certainly received according to the nature of my soul. As thne is short, I shall not compile a bibliography or mention any names. Why, then, did I list the Jewish bookiS? Because it is they that gave me my foundations. And my heart tells me that it Is they who recommended that I be honoured with the Nobel Prize.
; There is iahdther kind of Influence, which I have received from eyeiy man, every woman, every child I have encountered along my way, both Jews and non-Jews. People's talk and the stories they tell have been engraved on my heart, and some of them have come up into my pen. It has been the same way witli the spectacles,of nature. The Dead Sea, which I used to see every morning at sunrise from the roof of my house, the Arnon Brook in which I used to bathe, the nights I used to spend with devout and pious men at midnight; beside the Walling WaU -nights which ' gave me^eye^ to see the land of the Blessed Holy One, ;
which He gave us, and the city in which He estabUshed His Name.
Lest I slight any creature, I must also mention the domestic animals, the beasts and birds from whom I have learned. Job said long ago (35:11): "Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth. And maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaveri?" Some of what I haye learned from them I haye written in my bo<^, but I fear that I have not learned as much as I should have done, for when I hear a dog bSrk, or a bird twitter, or a cock crow, I do not know whether they are thanking me for all I have told of them or whether they
are calling me to account. ♦ * * ♦
Before I conclude my remarks, I will say one more thtag. If I have praised myself too much, it is for your sake that I have done so, in order to reassure you for having cast your eyes on me. For AQrself; I am very small indeed in my own eyes. Never in all my life have I forgotten the Psalm in which David said (131): "Urd, my heart is not hau^ty, nor mine eyes lofty; neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me." If T un proud of anything. It is that I have been granted the privilege of living to the land which God promised our forefathers to give us, as it is written (EzeWel 37:25): "And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob My servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever."
Before ccxicluding, Iwould say a brief prayer: He Who giveth wisdom unto the wise and salvatimunto kings, may He increaseyburwisdombeyond measure ana exaltyour Sovereign. In his days and in ours may Judah be redeemed and Israel dwell in safety. May a redeemer come to Zion, may the earth be filled with knofwledge and eternal jpy for all who dwell therein, and may they enjoy much jieace. May all this be God's will. Amen.
(Copyright The Nob*/ InstlhiH)
CIVIL COURTS TO DEAL WITH DIVORCES
Jerusalem, (JCNS) - Israel's civil courts soon may be asked to deal with divorce, cases between spouses of different faiths, the Mtalster of Justice, Mr. Yaa-cov Shapiro of Mapal, told the Knesset. He said his Ministiy was drafting a Bill' on the matter to be present -ed to the House. The Minister for _Rellgious Affairs, Dr. Zerah Warhaftlg, endorses the new Bill in principle, he added.
The president of the Is- ' rael Supreme Court recently indicated _that;.the Knesset BhotiM^ffil the gnp In the law. rAt present, ohjiy reli-gioM^/courts had jurisdiction it) divorce for members of their respective communities, leaving' mombcris of mixed marriages without any rocpuirsc. •■ v-r---v---
The new battle towards which the Rabbmical Alliance is heading concerns glatt kosher" (strictly kosher) products and the monopoly exercised over their supervision. At its winter conference here, it was decided to set up a commission to look into the matter and suggest how to correct alleged abuses.
Most of the kosher products sold in America carry the "UO" seal approval of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.
No cMie has questioned the kashrut (rf the "Vfy* products but the ultra-Orthodox prefer to have their own supez*vi6ors and their own brand of kashrut - "glatt kosher"
The Rabbfaiical Alliance is seekii^g now a foothold in this sector of kashrut although it would not be opposed to a toehold, or better. In the "UO" field as well.
The IgudHarabbanim's to-vestigating commission was not asked to cmsider the organizaticMi's entering the "glatt kosher" field. It was charged merely with looking into the hi^ prices and low quality of "glatt kosher" products and tlie monopoly in their siqpervisicm.
A symposium (Hi the matter was held at the winter conference of the Igud, led by Rabbi Meyer Bilitsky, who asivOd why onehadtopay so much for a jar of "glatt kosher" sauerkraut wb^n the same product was available, without the rabbinical seal.
for half that price.
The Igud Harabbanim has "several hundred" mem-, bers, according to its pre-' sident, Rabbi Abraham B. Hecht, and they are to the main products of European yeshivot or their counterpart^ in America.
HAMBURG SENATOR PROTESTS
Hamburg, (JCNS) - Herr Heinz Ruhnau, Hamburg's senator for internal affairs, has protested against the publication of a large advertisement for the West German armed forces to "Deutschie Nachrichten", the weekly official Organ of the extremist National Democratic Parly.
Democratic people could not understand wby this journal was being siq)ported by the German tsxpsyera* mcHiey, he said to a telegram to Dr. Gerhard SchrPeder, the Defence Minister.
The senator said that the organ todulged toanti-denio-cratic "hatemongering" and each issue proved that its publishers differed only slightly from the ruling elements injGermany's darkest period.
letters to
The editor
Column will be resumed next week.
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Sermon of the week
AGE AND YOUTH
When Moses gave his immortal answer to Pharaoh, "We will go,with oui^young and with our old", he spoke not oniyHo the contemporary king of Egypt but to all men in all generations throughout the world. National survival, cultural continuity, the trans^ mission of a religious tradition or a spu-itual heritage is possible only on the basis of the unity of the ages, the solidarity in outlook and resolve of both young and old.
Notwithstanding its inherent magnifi cence, the Mosaic dictum bristles with difficulties. Can Age and Youth ever bridge the historic gap between them? In truth complete identity is impossible. It is the Creator's will that each generation should occupy a different stage in the ever-unfolding panorama of human evolution. Otherwise there would be no need for the never-endmg process of death and bh-tfa; one generation would suffice. The fossilised type of mind, which seeks to re-create dead worlds, is actually flying in the face of Providence.
Even more foolish and dangerous is the superstition held in certain other quarters that the mexperience of youth is to be equated with ultimate wisdom; or the belief that history marches in a straight line, without any reactionary regressions. These persons do not seem to realise that the chronologically later Dark Ages were no improvement on the age of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle; they seem to forget that Hitler came after Les-sing. ■ ■ ■ ,
Neither Age nor Youth has a monopoly of truth. But there are periods when the generations became integrated by a suigle, invincible purpose. At such times^ the nation or the race or the religious community .reaches new heights of understanding and achievement. This happens because the only factor that can enable the old and the young to strive in unison is a cause rooted in eternal values; values thiat transcend chronological time, values that belong to all the generations. Freedom, justice and faith hi God are such values. Hence Moses could proclaim with prophetic conviction that young and old would participate in the Exodus.
Our great lawgiver's Imperishable statement also^contains the key to Jewish education. Judaism is a tradition that must be transmitted from generation • to generation, if the Jewish people is to live. But to be effective, this heritage must be bequeathed in depth; a mere skimming of the ceremonial surface, or a superficial type of education, will not give us heroic heirs but only assimi-lationist quislings. .
Above all, we must inculcate in our children the abiding truths of Judaism that belong to all the ages. Given these, our youth will not shirk the sacrifices essential to Jewish survival They may not honour a halfhearted faith based on meaningless rituals; but for the Torah's sublime teachings our? vouth in the future, as in the past, will give their all, their very lives. . ^ .
The great tragedy of the modern diaspora is that all too often we transmit too little, to too few, of the traditions that have:, only minor value. But if we. make oui- religious education the channel for Israels eternal truths, we shall once agajn be able to declare with Mosaic certitu(|e: '"We Will go with our young and with our old . i
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