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THE SO UTHERN ISRAELITE
f oge Four
Friday, April 24, 1953
The Southern Israelite
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PANORAMA by David Schwartz
Thinking Machine
Machines that think and Rabbithking machines.
Akiba Eger! Dr. Weiner, a professor of ma-
They are the new thing. Newer j thema tics at the Massachusetts
than three dimensional films. We j i nst itute of Technology, is the man
THOUGHTS ON ISRAEL'S FIFTH BIRTHDAY
GUEST EDITORIAL
pie or church, we will hear a ser
mon by machine.
Could a machine think up a bet
ter sermon than Rabbi Akiba Eg
er?
Why do I happen to mention
Rabbi Akiba Eger? He was a rab
bi of Prague—a distinguished rab
bi—who lived about a hundred
years ago.
The first time I ever heard
mention of Rabbi Akiba Eger was
in an anecdote about the rabbi
who succeeded him at Prague.
The story ran that this rabbi
was a man of many striking quali
fications, “that he was like God’
Recent events behind the Iron Curtain, especially Stalin s
death, have sent a tremor of fear throughout the Eastern World.
Even the peace rumors are suspected because of ulterior desigsn
ascribed to them. Yet these crises, to mention but a few powder
kegs in the world today, were in themselves born of fear. The
tragic truth is that all fear tends to bring about the very situation
that it dreads, until what were once theoretical dangers become
concrete ones. Fear, with its accompanying evils, has such a de
structive potential and creates such a vicious circle that before
long even liberal governments can find themselves in a position
where moral values and righteous considerations must lx* sub
ordinated to military and political expediency, occasioned by fear
ftiid its corrolary the threat of war. Witness the Uniferl States
loss of face because of the McCarran Walter Act which is breed
ing fear, hysteria, and suspicion and sets up insurmountable
immigration harriers for those wishing to enter the land of the
free and the home of the brave.
Not so many years ago the late President Franklin D. Roose
velt told Americans facing serious domestic problems that we
tiave nothing to fear but fear itself.” Ironically enough, the world
today stands in dread of the explosive power of the atom, but
tlie atom cannot he ignited unless nerves explode first. This war
of nerves must he brought to au end. Whatever* philosophy we may
|>elievc in there is none which strives for the suicide of the hu
man race. But it may be asked how about ideological differences?] Akiba Eger couldn’t speak Ger-
Can communism and free enterprise live in the same work!? It m i '>* s ° this othe r rabbi couldn t.
ghould he apparent even to the casual student of history and
gvorld affairs that ideological conflicts also prevail within nations.
There are clashes of interest within the United States, within the
British Empire, within Canada, ves, within the Soviet Union too.
But those conflicts do not normally degenerate into internal rev
olutions. for the very reason that domestic problems within the
above countries are submitted to law and governmental regu
lation. What is good for the United States with its many races,
for the British Empire which traverses continets, for the Soviet
Union with its manv nationalities, for Canada with its bi-racial
approach, should also be good for the United Nations. We dare
liot despair of human reason and its ability to build tip an inter
national authority, and law capable for abolishing war. It is to
l»e deplored that not only cynics and war mongers, hut morally
Sincere and religious leaders have helped to spread that despair.
Some would argue that man is bv his very nature selfish and
greedy. Since nations consist of human beings, the contention is
that there is therefore no hope for peace. This view tends to
Stress the dreary side of man’s nature.
Yet on the other hand we must admit that men are not en
tirely given to destructive negative impulses. In our dailv lives we
assume that human beings are sensible, cooperative and freedom
loving. If we really have faith in Cod. it is up to us to see in the
positive side of human nature a manifestation of the Divine, and
to predicate all of our peace seeking efforts on this emphasis.
We can stop the drift to war and eliminate fear by mak
ing the World War taboo, by exciting the imagination of na
tions and people to think only in terms of peace. We must
make the United Nations a United Mankind. Knowing war
is the absence of law we must create a law of humanity and
exalt it alwne national laws. Let us settle our conflicts in the
spirit of reverence for life, and thereby effect the humanization
end achievement of universal peace.
saw a demonstration of them last
election night. The machine was
“fed’’ certain data and asked to
predict whether Eisenhower or
Stevenson would win. Some day,
maybe the President instead of
having a Cabinet, will just have
one of those machines to advise
who coined the name for the new
science “cybernetics.” I discover
from reading his autobiography
that he is a descendant of Rabbi
Akiba Eger.
The book mentions this fact
only incidentally. Dr. Weiner is
better known as one of the most
him. Perhaps when we fo to tern- , {amous child prodigies . when he
was ten years old, he was deliv
ering lectures on higher mathe
matics. His father, Dr. Leo Wei
ner, was a professor at Harvard.
Among the other things his father
did was to write a history of Yid
dish literature.
I am old enough to remember
the days when Dr. Weiner was a
boy prodigy. At the time, he was
not the only Jewish boy so fea
tured. There was also another
youngster, William James Sidis,
son of Prof. Boris Sidis, who was
hailed in the newspapers for sim
ilar precocious achievement. Many
like Moses, bnd like Rabbi Akiba vears later 1 met Sidis - He had
Eger.’,
"He is like God, because he is
no man. He is like Moses, because
he has an impediment of speech
as Moses had, and he is like Aki
ba Eger, because just as Rabbi
That story was my first acquain
tance with Rabbi Akiba Eger. La
ter I heard many others. A great
personality naturally becomes the
pivot of many Stories.
I mention Rabbi Akiba Eger in
connection with thinking ma
chines, because I have just been
reading "Ex-Boy Progidy,” the
become an operator of mimeo
graph machine and collected trol
ley car transfers as a hobby. He
resented all the studying and dis
ciplining imposed by his father in
the course of creating him a child
progidy. Happily in the case of Dr.
Weiner, there was not this sharp
ly hostile reaction, but I think
Dr. Weiner would agree that the
creation of boy progidies is a very
precarious undertaking and should
be practiced with extreme care.
Coming back to Rabbi Akiba
Eger, I recall two other stories
which I think are worth retelling.
One was about a mean and stingy
had never contributed to the Jew
ish community’s charities. The
community, on his death, demand
ed more for his burial plot and
the family of this mean Jew had
Rabbi Akiba summoned to court
to justify the higher charge.
“It is this way,” Rabbi Eger ex
plained to the Czech officials, “we
charge rent for the burial ground
for the time it is occupied. Most
of the Jews buried here will rise
on the great day of Ressurection,
but according to Jewish law a us
urer will not participate in the
resurrection. He therefore will oc
cupy the ground for all time, so
we must charge him more.”
The other story about Rabbi Ak
iba Eger that I would like to tell
is the night a poor widow came to
him - crying that she was to be
evicted the following day for non
payment of rent.
Rabbi Akiba Eager went down
to the Kehilla offices, but none
of the leading Jews were there.
He thought he would try the
Spots Club and there sure enough
he found all the leaders playing
cards. When they saw the rabbi,
they stopped playing. “Hold,” said
Rabbi Eger, “the game must go on
—but the proceeds I will take to
pay the rent for the poor widow
who is threatened with eviction
tomorrow." ,
What I would like to say to Dr.
Norbert Weiner, master of the sci
ence of thinking machines is "Doc
tor, you can create machines that
think—machines that have brains
—but can you create a machine
that has a heart that will be mov
ed by the plight of a poor wid
ow?”
autobiography of Dr. Norbert j Jew of Prague. He had made a
Weiner, the great authority on fortune by usurious interest and
BETWEEN US by Boris Smolar
Israel's Fifth
It is in this sphere of thought and operation that the State of
Israel looms like a refreshing oasis in an otherwise crisis ridden
world. On the 5th of Ivar, this year, April 20, Israel’s Independence
was celebrated. This constitutes the fifth anniversary of Israel’s
Statehood. For a people which has known fear and persecution
the last 2.000 years, the Jews in Israel have proved conclusively
to the world that democracy can exist and flourish in the middle
east, no matter how staggering and overwhelming the odds..
Yet we Jews living in countries outside of Israel dare not
permit any diminution of our support for the hard pressed state
through the medium of the United ewish Appeal, by purchasing
bonds for Israel and by keeping alive an interest and giving moral
Support to our people in Israel.
In a world torn asunder by power politics and the specter of
war, let us hope that the cfav will soon lie nigh, when we may
witness and realize Micha’s famous prophetic enunciation, “But
they shall sit every man under his vine, and under his fig tree
ami none shall make them afraid."
RABBI NORMAN N. SHAPIRO
Beth Tzedec Congregation
Toronto.. Out., Canada
Israel’s Fifth Anniversary is now
being observed by Jewish com
munities throughout the world, in
cluding the United States. Those
who want to know to what extent
the United States Government —
and especially former President
Truman—was responsible for the
establishment of Israel, shpuld
read "State in the Making,” just
published by Knopf.
It is a book by David Horowitz,
until recently Director General of
Israel’s Finance Ministry.
The author, who actively partic
ipated in theUnited Nations ses
sion at Lake Success at which the
partition decision was voted five
years ago, partly lifts the curtain
on behind-the-scene activities at
that historic session. He reveals
fascinating facts which have not
been made known till now. One
•SHEVUOTH
May 20, 31
•ROSH HASHONA
Sept. 10, Thursday
•YOM KIPPUR
Sept. Id, Saturday
•SUKKOS
Sept 24, Thursday
Oct 2, Friday
•HOLIDAYS BEGIN
Previous Evening
SIMCHAS TORAH
of the most interesting revela-
Ncgev at Lake Success. The Am
erican delegation, influenced by
the British, had decided against
the inclusion of the Negev in the
Jewish State. And the head of the
U. S. delegation, Herschel John
son, was in the midst of breaking
the sad news to Moshe Sharett in
the delegates’ lobby some 30 min
utes before announcing it to the
U.N. session.
While Johnson was speaking to
Sharett, one of his aides told him
he was wanted on the telephone.
Johnson refused to break off his
conversation with Sharett at this
delicate moment. But, he quickly
changed his mind when his aide
whispered to his ear: “The Presi
dent, sir”. After spending 20 min
utes in the telephone booth, John
son emerged and indicated to Sha-
| rett that the U. S. delegation would
vote to support Israel’s claim to
the Negev. Israel’s struggle for its
frontiers at the United Nations thus
ended in victory due to a timely
! telephone call from Truman who
had promised Dr. Weizmann that
the Negev would be part of the
Jewish state.
There were other critical mo
ments for Israel at the United Na
tions during which Truman per
sonally stepped in—against the
will of the State Department—and
saved the situation. Mr. Horowitz
also has much to reveal about the
stand of the Soviet delegation on
the issue of voting for the estab
lishment of a Jewish State in Pal
estine. And he tells very interest
ing and hitherto unknown details
of how it came about that Moscow
surprised the world by voting in
favor of the historic partition res
olution which brought about the
creation of Israel.
QUIZ BOX
BLESSING OF SUN
by RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX
QUESTION: What is meant by
j the “blessing of the Sun”?
ANSWER: The “Blessing of the
Sun” is the name given to a cus
tomary benediction made when
the sun reaches its original posi
tion and begins a new solar cycle.
This time is called the beginning
of the “vernal equinox" and takes
place only once in 28 years. The
ceremony usually takes place at
sunrise or after the morning pray
ers.
QUESTION: What is the origin
of this custom?
ANSWER: The custom is men
tioned in the Talmud (Berochoth
59b). Among the reasons advanced
for this custom is that the sun
reaches the original position where
it was placed at the time of cre
ation. The day of the week like
wise corresponds to Wednesday,
which is the day upon which the
Bible tells us that the sun was cre
ated. The general idea behind this
custom is quite self-evident. Jew
ish tradition always paid respect
to the various forces of nature
which give benefit to man in the
universe at which man looks with
awe over their majestic display of
the powers of the Almighty. The
sun, which i sone of mankind’s
greatest aids in life certainly de
serves the blessing of mankind for
its great powers.
QUESTION. Why are weddings
prohibited during the period be
tween Passover and Shavouth?
ANSWER: Several reasons are
advanced for this custom of re
fraining from having marriages
performed in the period between
the Passover and Shavuoth fes
tivals. Generally, this is considered
as a means of mourning because it
was in that period when thousands
of the students of the great Rabbi
Akiba were slaughtered. Others
claim that the custom pevailed be
cause of the pilgrims who were
busily engaged in their travels to
and from the Temple. Since they
had to return home and then come
again to the Temple between the
two holidays, marriages were post
poned lest they interfere with their
return to the Temple in time.