tlie Canadian Jewish News - Wednesday, September 14, 1966 - Page 5
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ROSH
MAGAZINE SECTION
ROSH HASHANA
ROUND-UP
By Mo.s/ic Davis
You know, of course, (hat Rosh Hashana falls on the first and second days ol Tishri, but did you know that Ihe name "Rosh Hashana" (meaning the "head" or "chief" of the year) does not Gppear in the Bible ?
In I^eviticus it is called a " memorial proclaimed with the Wast of horns," and similarly, in
Numbers, it is termed "a day of blowing the horn." The term Rosh Hashana came much later, In Mishnaic times, when it is described as being only one of four New Years each year.
Similarly, the name of the taonth of Tishri does not appear unywhere in the Bible. It is fiimply referred to as tiie "seventh" month of the year, Nisan being the first. In the Book of Kings it is called " Ethqnim," but this name is no longer used.
However, the name Tishri Is certainly appropriate. It is a Babylonian word and means "commencement." The rabbis said that this was the month in which the world begin. That is why, each year, it is the " birlh-oay " month, in which the world and all its creatures are judged.
Tishri is dso the mcnth in
whith Adam ami Pal nan lis arc reputed lo have hcen boiii. It is the month that Adam entered the Garden of Kdcn and, in the same month years later, he and Kvc were driven out.
In subsequent history. .loseph came out of prison on Rosh Hashana and, on that day. our forefathers in Egjpt were relieved from the "rigorous work " lo which they had been subjected. Solomon dedicated the First Temple on Rosh Hashana and, in the days of Ezra, sacrifices began again on that day, thus leading to the establishment of the Second Temple.
Although the Fast of Geda-)iah is kept on the third day of Tishri, Gedaliah was really killed on Rosh Hashana, but obviously we cannot keep it as 2 fast day and It is thus po-st-poned. The fourth of Tishri is the anniversary of the death oI a very famous rabbi—Aki\.a.
The Zodiacal sign for Tishri Is a set of scales, the symbol of justice. This is appropriate for the month in which at are judged, but the rabbis gave a further explanation. September IS the time of the autjn.na: equinox—when the hours of day and night are equal—and the two scale? balance exactly.
Some of the foods we a^sf)-(iate with Rosh Hashana are well known—for example, eating a piece of apple dipped into honey. Tliere are, however, many other special foods for the festival.
The loaves of bread aiC Cfep. .shaped in the form of ladders, as a \varning sign that the fate in store for us may take us up or down. Sometimes the loaves are shaped like birds, watching over us and protecting us. Other communities favour semicircular loaves, mounted with a crown, to illustrate the sovereignty ol God.
In addition to apples and honey, some people eat pomegranates, fish and a sheep's head, cabbage and carrots. Each of these has a special significance connected with Its name. Among certain Jews it Is customary not to eat anything soar (including lemons) and not *o eat nuts.
Is celebiated for two days.
The .Musaf of Kosh lla.shana Is the longest Amida of any during the year, but it contains only nine blessings compared with 19 of the ordinary weekday Amida.
On the lirst afternoon of Roih Hashana It Is customary to go to a stream or river and symbolically (0 cast away one's sin.s. In Jerusalem where .streams are very hard to find—this prayer of Tashlich Is said beside a well, providing there Is water still in It!
Tlie inhabitants of Safad say Tashlich on the roofs of their houses, while looking towards Lake Kinnercf, some 15 miles away. In Tel Aviv and Haifa one simply goes down to the seashore.
DIVIDED AGAIN
AREA OF CONFLICT
London (JCNS) Once again the Arab world is split down die middle, with King Hussein of Jordan, King Feisal of Saudi Arabia and President Bourguiba of Tunisia under heavy fire from Cairo and Damascus, accused of "pulling the chariot of imperialism and Zionism".
Hussein - whose physical annihilation is now openly canvassed by Damascus radio - is accused of permitting an Iraqi jet pilot to defect to Israel with his MiG 21 across Jordanian air space (a charge denied by Jordan, which alleges that the pilot flew across Syria, a claim supported by Israel).
Saud is accused of selling out his oil resources to the United States so as to re-
Everyone associates the blowing of the Shofar with Rosh Hashana. but did you know that this is the only "mitzva which the Torah commands for this occasion ?
Rosh Hashana. Inridentall.v, Is the only festival which, in Israel, as well as the Diaspora,
You probably know that one greets friends on Rosh Hashana with the words " May you be inscribed for a good year." Some people use this greeting on the first evening only and absolutely avoid it afterwards.
The reason \s that we are told that the righteous are Imnudiafely Inscribed In the Book ot Life. To greet people after Rosh Hashana has begun Is to imply that they havenl already been inscribed and hence are not righteous !
New Controversy
eOLOMAN IN JERUSALEM
ATTACKS FREE PRESS
Jerusalem (JCNS) - Israeli's newspapers had become "a menace to the country" and delighted in character assassination. No other country had such "a terror press" as Israel, Dr. Nahum Goldmann, the president of the World Zionist Organization, told a press conference here on Sunday. He added that whereas other countries had both a serious and a yellow press, Israel had only the latter.
Dr. Goldmann was speaking after a meeting of the Jewish Agency executive at which he was bitterly attack-
ed for a recent interview on German television on the relations between Germans and Jews.
Hysteria on the subjept of Germany was developing in Israel, Dr. Goldmann declared, adding: "I deny that the attitude of the press represents that of the public."
He said that it was wrong of Israelis to accept German money, while insulting Germany day and night He believed there was no future for Jews in Germany.
Asked about the other top organizational posts he oc-
cupies (apart from his position as president of the W.Z.O.), Dr. Goldmann said that he had been forced into the leadership of these multi-^ious organizations against his will, because he was always being told he was irreplaceable.
Reviewing the position of world Jewry, Dr. Goldmann earlier had told the Agency executive that the fate of Russian Jewry was a matter for profound anxiety. "I can no longer speak, as I used to, in optimistic terms", he said. (See ^mmentary 90 M.J. Nurenberger).
lease money to satisfy "the cravings of the princes and their preparations to escape on the day of the great revolution".
Bourguiba, constantly attacked for his famous speech calling for Arab-Israeli peace, is now denounced as a traitor for seeking to link his country to what the Tunisian leader calls "the French-speaking Commonwealth".
AU three were jointly denounced by Cairo this week for allowing their officers to be trained at United States military establishments, thus meeting the desire of the West "not to raise the standard of ability of officers, but to educate them to ensure and consolidate the Zionist presence in Palestine".
Arab Students Accuse Nasser Of Dictatorship
Bonn, (JCNS) - About 170 Egyptian and other Arab students staged a demonstration against President Nasser of Egypt in Bonn this week.
Nasser was a dictator suppressing the Egyptian people, according to a spokesman of the "Fighters for Democracy in Egypt", which organized the demonstration. He also told a press conference that Nasserwas a Communist exploiting Socialist ideas for propaganda purposes.
Copyright, The Canadian Jewish News 4 JCNS-
PA6ES ROM HlfTORY
In 1391, In Catalonia A Quiet, Sultry Night
It was quiet, hut and sultry in Barcelona on the evening of August 5, 139L Suddenly the 9uetness was shattered for the large and wealthy Jewish community of the city by the raucous shouts of a hostile mob advancing ontiie "Call", or Jewish quarter.
Soon, this rabble, urged on by the religious fonatics and potential looters, swarmed into the "Call". The Jews, meanwhile, filled with fear, just waited, hoping for intervention by the King's troops before the mob could begin to pillage and murder. Tlie soldiers of Kuig John I of Catalonia and Aragon had often protected tiiem during the incidents which had occurred with growing frequency in the recent past
But this time. King John was making a rojalprogress elsewhere, and Uie royal guards left in Barcelona would not, or could not, intervene. When the rampaging mob finally dispersed all was quiet again in the " CaU''.
The silence was not one of relief however. It was flie silence of death. The strongest Jewish community in the Western Mediterranean and, indeed, in the contemporary world, hadbeenbrutally destroyed, with few survivors. Small woitder tiiat, vrtien King John returned to Barcelona a short time afterwards, he abolished all the restrictions previously imposed on the "Call" - ihey were no lonjgei: needed for the 100 or so Jews who had somehow escaped the slau^ter.
The decree ejq?elling the Jews from Spain,' was promulgated 101 years later, in 1492. Nearly six hundred more years were tolapse before the Jews were, once a-; gain, granted legal status in $pain. As firom lastyear.the
Jews of Spain were able to regain their ri^tAiI place in a country that still bore many signs of aieur honorable and glorious past there.
Among Jews who wereonce an integral part of flie var-ied'Hispanic world, the Jews of Barcelona had earned a place of hi^ honor. The community in Barcelona and self-governing Earldom of Ctitaluiia, of which Barcelona was the capital, who were so crueUy robbed and murdered on that sununer evening in 1391, had had a long and notable history and had deserved well of their country.
The Jews of Catalonia, vdiich covered an area about 100 miles wide from Valencia to the frwitier of Fwnce, particularly those of Barcelona, had little contact with the other important communities of Spain. Their relationship witfi the communities of other European countries, especially with the FrenchJews of Provence, was much closer. There are also grounds for believing that Barcelona Jews visited and had other connectiMis with fteir coreligionists ui England.
These foreign contacts led Catalonian Jews to diverge ftom their fellow Jewselse-where in Spate in the religious sphere. The rites used in Catalonia differed inform from the usual Hispanic-Arabic-Sephardi being closer to those of Provence. Their Beth Din was atone time so powerful,'^^that the King granted it jurisdiction over Jews for civil offences, even to the extent of beinig^ able to: condemn^nvicted crimin^s t(^death^at the stak^/a punishment carried out at le^t dnce. / Th^ordV'Cail" com^-^
by A.H. Jacobson from the Hebrew "Kahal" meaning, inter alia, community. By far the largest "Call" in Catalonia was that of Barcelona, which occupied almost the entire centre of the "Gothic", or ancient quarter of the city. Apart from the control excercised by the King's Warden, die Barcelraa "Call" was almost self-governing. Nobody knows for certain i^en it was founded, for altiiough it is thought that Jews entered ^;>ain in Roman times, the first written mention dates only from 825 c.e.
At the beginning of the Islamic conquest in the eighth century, many Jews Qed from southern ^)ain and took re&ige in the defended cities of Catalmia, especially Barcelona. It became necessary to enlarge the "Call", and additional streets were incorporated.
In the twelfth century, Benjamin of Tudela wrote of the exceptionally prosperous position of the Jews of Barcelona. This was continued into the following century under King James I of Catalonia and Aragon, who strongly Irotected and favored his Jewish sublets.. '
It was King James who signed the decrees which de-Gned the physical limits of the "Calls". Because Jews found it difficult, if not impossible, to practiise their religion when they lived a-mbng ChrisUans, the King ordered the establishment of "Calls" in airtowns and villages with Jewish com-riiunities. Among theSpanish Jews of the period, living in -this form of ghetto was con-sid^ed a privilege, because they could thus follow their religiim unmolested. ~ enclosure of
tians completely and at first it was only at night that the "Call" was closed to outsiders. Later, however, after attacks on Jews within the "CaU" it was forbidden for Christians to enter it at aU.
The Barcelona community continued to prosper and in 1320 the "CaU" had to be further enlarged. It already contained at least three synagogues, several very hi£^ regarded schools, and a hospital that became famous throughout Catalonia and Aragon for the skiU of its doctors.
To protect the Jews of Barcelona, a special bridge was buUt from the "CaU" ' to a nearby royal castle, so that, in time of danger the Jews could flee to the castle or the royal.guards rally forth to protect tiie "CaU". It was flrom this castle that die guards i^fUsed to come to die aid of the Jews
In addition to Barcelona, whose community was die largest ui the Kin^m, there were also important communities in Gerona andBes-' Like Jews elsewhere those of Catalonia were heavily taxed but, unlike many other places, Catalonia placed few restrictions on the foUowing of professions. Some Jews were even farmers or wine-
was rni the wane. In 1312 • law was passed making t compulsory for Jews toweai* the "RodeUa", a red or yellow disc. At the beginning of the century, Jews had already been compeUed to wear a yellow cap and hood.
From the early part of the fourteenth century, persecution grew. Some Jews, Uiink-ing to ease Uieir lot, became baptised, but they were distrusted and disliked, although man>' rose to high posts in die civil or ecclesiastical administration. A law was passed in 1319 prohibiting them from associating in any way wifli dieir erstwhile co-religionists.
In 1348 came the first signs of major violence. One Sabbath eve, a destructive mob led by religious fanatics broke into die "Call", battered to death more than 20 Jews, and sacked die houses of die community. Some nobles did attempt to rescue a number of Jews, but the "CaU" was only saved by a storm, which filled the looters wiUi superstitious fear and led Uiem to disperse.
The attacks.on the "Call" became frequent culminating ui die massacre of 1391.
After die destruction of die Barcelona "CaU" Cata-
©rowers, unusual for a Jew in j^nia soon lost most of its
odier Jewish inhabitants. By i492, when die crown of Catalonia and Aragon had been combined with that of Castilie and Leon, under Isabella die CaUiolic and her husband Ferdinand, and the De'cree of the' Expulsion
Europe at this period.
In die field of culture, Jews were pre-eminent, and, names such as Yehuda ben Samuel Salom,. "Masestro" Vidal Bonafos and Salamon Gracia have passedf into Spanish history cunong the
die
Th4
"Cair' was not interided to separate Jews from Chris-
great As m oUier places, p/Q^ulgated, Uiere were
Jews were often die physi-; scarcely any Jews left in.
Cians and surgeons of the tatalohia/The few who sadly
;'nobiIity, and King Peter the igftBarccilona were no more
ceremonious refused an>' u,an die poor remnants ol
other doctor. ^^hatliad once been one of the
By 1312, however,. the greatest Jewish communities
golden aRc of .Sunnish Jewry the world.
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