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followed to Beauvallon in the south
of France by a number of Jewish
scout leaders A camp was estab
lished there dedicated to educating
new leaders who were to help the
young Jews of France in their tra
gic predicament.
Of the original group of twenty-
five leaders a handful survived the
Nazi and Vichyite terror. Many
Jewish scouts, like the courageous
robert Gamzon, gave a very good
accounting of themselves as fight-
ms and leaders in the French un
derground.
Of the final Friday night in that
hastily imnrovised camp M. Fleg
writes:
"In a silence which lent weight
to the sorrows of the world, our
admit able Robert Gamzon express
ed the thought: 'll shall be neces
sary for us. perhaps, to go as far
as martyrdom.’
"I feel now as in a catacomb. Of
the twenty-five who had been alive
then, fifteen have disappeared un
der the bullets, or in the gas-cham
bers of the Nazis."
To these young people, living
then so close to the terror M. Fleg
brought his great learning, and his
great faith. His faith proved
stronger than his sorrows, break
ing through the thick clouds of
anguish as if hope were his sun.
He does not deny that he was pro
foundly shaken, almost to tin* point
of collapse. To deny the truth as
he had always apprehended it to be,
to feel in the face of great trials
a bleak in the continuity of these
conceptions that the Jewish peo
ple had struggled to express and
amplify for so many centuries, ev
er sinci the days of Abraham, was
a violation of his own personal
sincerity.
Gut in the open, under the ev
ening sky reflecting the lovely wat
ers of the Mediterranean, in the
flickering candlelight under the eu
calyptus trees the scholar and the
young people examined in the
harsh light of modern problems
their ancient faith. The sore of
heart found a great, invisible wall,
and if this could not shield a trou
bled heart from the bullets of the
enemy it elevated a man and gave
him courage.
As each lecture was finished, it
was mimeographed and circulated
among the Jewish youth of the
scout movement. The entire series
was appropriately named "l,e
Chant Nouveau," the new song.
The volume finally appeared in
1 iMunder the imprint of the new
Jewish publishing house. "F.ditions
I)u Chant Nouveau."
When the brutality rampant in
the world could point to despair
only, the dreamer heard a new
song and envisaged unity in the
divided Israel and a strong rejuve
nated Israel living in a United
World. When personal sorrows and
bitter memories could counsel res
ignation and bitterness the man
identified himself with youth and
ovation. Israel has survived the
greatest trials by emphasizing from
generation to generation the dyn
amic. growing structure of Juda
ism. The Torah, M. Fleg explains,
urges man toward constant in
ward renewal which has fm its out
ward form ever higher social forms
and to those who comprehend
this there can be no room for de
feat or for despair.
A Convert to Judaism
B\ JAC K TAYLOR
It may seem strange but I hope
not impertinent for one not born
and brought up a Jew to be sug
gesting a program for Jewish fam
ily living to members of the Union
of American Hebrew Congrega
tions. I married into Judaism and
found no family religious problem.
My original Anglicanism had be
come watered down to a vague
ethical Christianity devoid of the
ological content. I found no dif
ficulty in occasionally attending,
out of deference to my wife, syn
agogue services when we lived in
London. From the late Rabbi Is-
Dr. Jack Taylor, who is a mem
ber of Temple Brith Kodesh of
Rochester, N. Y., is Professor of
Economics at the University of
Rochester.
rael Nattuek, who seemed to me
to have more of the Biblical pro
phet about him than any man I had
ever met, I learned much about Ju
daism. Almost imperceptibly, I
was being transformed from a gen
tile sympathizer with Judaism into
an avowed adherent. For some
years it was possible for me to stay
in a somewhat comatose condition
until, when my own children be
came of an age to need religious in
struction, a decision had to be tak
en. It seemed perfectly logical for
me to become a member of a Re
form congregation. Perhaps be
cause of this background of a ra
ther slow but carefully considered
conversion to Judaism, my remarks
may contribute to the discussion on
Education to occur at the Union Bi
ennial.
I find myself not infrequently
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The Southern Israelite
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