Fridayi'Septejnber 21, 1962
JEWISH WESTERN BULLETIN
Bar-Mitzvah and Jewish education ^^ith. History and Opinion
By RABBI BERT A. WOYTHALER
Editors Note: This is the second in a series of pre-High Holiday articles, written in preparation for the Solemn season by Rabbi Bert A. Woy-thaler. Spiritual Leader of Congregation Beth Israel).
A Bar-Mitzvah l& a beautiful occasion in the life of a Jewish boy and his family. It often brings about a warm family reunion and as sucn, it should be Celebrated in its proper manner.
But, with some of the Bar-Mitzvah celebrations fashionable in North American Jewish circles, these days, one senses little connection with the religious occasion, or the warm family reunion. And when they, unfortunately, also terminate the Jewish education of the child, they become nonsensical and meaningless.
One of the greatest disappointments experienced by some parents, and still in store for others, is that their children, in later years, when the thrill of receiving gifts is forgotten, and the excitement is over, have little appreciation for this type of superficial religious celebration, and insufficient educational efforts.
A Jewish educator, visiting the campus of the University of Minnesota, gives evidence of this when he tells us that in the
course of a discussion with Jewish students, one student exclaimed, "I will never forgive my parents for letting me quit Hebrew school after my Bar-Mitzvah. After all, I was only a kid. But they were adults and should have known^ better."
Yes, parents should know better, than to think that a superficial form of Jewish education, extending only over a child's immature pre-BarMitzvah years, and terminating with a partylike celebration, could impress youngsters, and imbue them with ffride and respect for their Jewish heritage. Youngsters sense sincerity, and if we wish to impress them with our Jewish inheritance, we had better make sure that we do not only go through the motions of Jewish education, but pursue it with sincerity and honesty.
To get an idea as to the length of time a child should attend a Jewish school, let me quote Rabbi Jehudah, one of the great Talmudic scholars: "At five years a child should start to study the Talmud." Modei'n children may find it difficult to adhere to such an intensive program of Jewish education. But there are no Short cuts for them either.
Only if our children walk on the strenuous road of years_ of Jewish studies, can they become informed jews. Ana only if the instruction includes a High School curriculum, can it be meaningful for their adult years, and help them to gain a mature understanding of our heritage.
All Jewish schools in Vancouver now offer courses for post-Bar-Mitzvah and Bat-Mitzvah youngsters. I call upon all parents to make sure that their children take advantage of this opportunity to gain a Jewish
High* School education. I also hope that the day may not be far when the Bar or Bat-Mitzyah will not be the end, but the beginning of a mature type of Jewish education to all boys and girLs in our Community.
Rebuke to weekly hailed by Jews
. NEW YORK ~ The Catholic lay journal "Commonweal" was applauded today by rabbis and lay leaders of the Conservative Movement in Judaism for its "forthright and dignified editorial" rebuking the Jesuit weekly "America" for its stand in the Regents prayer controversy.
Rabbi Theodore Friedman, pi=esident of the Rabbinical Assembly, and Ceorge Maislen, president of the United Synagogue of America, commended "Commonweal" for championing the rights of any minority group to "wage a strong battle by legitimate legal or political means." The two organizations are the rabbinical and lay arms of the Conservative Movement and embrace about a million and a half Jewish men, women and children in the U. S.
In their statement. Rabbi Friedman and Mr. Maislen said "CommonweaFs" outspoken editorial has done much to alleviate the distress felt by many Americans of all faiths as a rf^ suit of the recent statement in "America" 'warning' the American Jewish community- of thr threat of 'a wave of anti-Semitism'." "America's" warning followed widespread efforts by Jews and others to seek clarification, through judicial process, of the religious guarantees of the First Amendment.
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myself "French like the others" without any attachment to my coreligionists, I should be able to challenge the judgment of the social milieu which decrees me to be a Jew. But I would be wrong in attempting this, because the community to which my grandparents still belong, is quite close to me. What is the nature of this community? One could go into details but I think it sufficient to make it clear that I am "of Jewish origin even though I refuse to say "of the Jewish religion."
Not a Race
As a Jew; "dejudaised" or assimilated, to make use of banal expressions, I appreciate the theological interpretations of Jewish destiny, but I no longer subscribe to them. This destiny, to me no longer seems any more inexplicable than that of other people. Neither the wrath nor the benevolence of God is indispensable for an understanding of the survival of a group fiercely attached to its unique God and His law, or for an understanding of the persecution to which those who rejected the divinity of Jesus were subjected. Theological interpretations do not replace historical ones; they postulate a plan which does not accord with reason. It is therefore futile for Christians, even those who evince the greatest sympathy for Jews, such as the Catholic philosopher, Jacques Maritain, to aitempt a theological explanation for the sufferings of the "chosen people." The Jews are not a race. Anthropologists are almost unanimous on this point. Jews, dispersed throughout the world, display no homogeneity. It is only necessary to have been in Israel to note that Jews from Iraq resemble Iraqi Moslems far more than
ttie sidelocked Jews from Poland or Russia.
Conversions
What modern observation suggests, history confirms. The
Jews of today, for the most part, are not descendants of the Jews of Palestine who, after tte destruction of Jerusalem, dispersed themselves throughout the world. In the last centuries before Jesus and in the first centuries of our era, the prosperous Jewish communities on the Mediterranean periphery were composed just as much of converts to Judaism as of emigrants from Judea. Judaisn and Christianity, up to the second and third centuries of our era, were proselytising religions of the same common stock and rivalling each other. The Romans converted to Judaism were not racially different from those converted to Christianity. The ancestry of these Jews is European not Semitic.
The Jews are no longer "a people like the others" because for nearly two thousand years, until the creation of Israel, they were not politically organised and were without a State. Yet whatever the fate meted out to them in the milieux wherein they dwelt, they never completely merged with the surrounding population. The term "Jewish community" suggests gn exceptional destiny. The Jews had their religion, their customs, a language (Yiddish), and their own culture.
Now, without impinging on the controversy among historians as to whether or not anti-semitism existed before Jesus, it can hardly be contested that
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You Dreamt ft! You Built It!
Come and Be Thrilled By It!
The New Centre Membership Committee cordially invites you to its "Open House'' this Sunday, September 23, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Guided Tours will take you through our magnificent new facilities. We'll answer your questions concerning membership and program services, and the Centre offices will be open to handle membership applications.
Four years of work, planning and tzores culminate this Sunday. I hope you'll
be there with us.
Yours sincerely. Membership Chairmon