Newspaper Page Text
Paf* Fourtewi
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Friday, September 19, 1959
PLAIN TALK by Alfred Segal
SEASON’S GREETINGS
Anderson Chemical Co., Inc.
“8peiali8t8 in making water behave”
MACON, GEORGIA
P. O. Box 1424 Phone 5-0466
Best Wishes
from
SHELDON SIMMS CO., Inc.
ANI»
SHELDON DEVELOPMENT CORP.
3401 HOWELL MILL RD., N. W.
CE. 7-0351
^^J^W»^W»W«WWWW#W*WWW«W*»WWWWWWW< '
a************************************************
* *
¥
¥
I
★
★
★
HEARTY GREETINGS
May they bring you a message
of Joy and good Cheer
J *
5 *
| Skyland Cleaners & Laundry, Ine. I
ME. 4-3944
Chamblee, Ga. $
★ 3404 Clairmont Rd.
I *
; +
v**+^***.Mt*++**********++*+*++****+****+*******+-tf
MAY THE NEW YEAR BRING
CHEER AND JOY TO OUR
” CUSTOMERS AND
FRIENDS
A. C. SMITH CO.
569 W. Peachtree St., N.E.
TR. 2-0511
Who Is A Jew?
Lots of furious talk is going on
in Israel on the question: Who
is a Jew? What are the quali
fications on which a citizen of
Israel may register himself as a
Jew? A couple of angry Ortho
dox members of the Israeli gov
ernment’s cabinet have resigned
because the question wasn’t of-
fically answered in accordance
with their way of thinking.
To settle the problem, the Is
raeli government had handed
down a definition: That a Jew is
“a person who bona fide declares
himself Jewish and not belong
ing to any other religion.” By
this definition he may register
Jewishly.
Well, those two Orthodox cab
inet members didn’t like that at
all. They and many others of the
strictly Orthodox in the land of
Israel insisted that to be right
fully registered as a Jew a per
son must meet certain tests ac
cording to Jewish law out of the
Torah.
So the argument continues in
Israel . . . Who is a Jew? . . .
and has spread over to our side
of the world . . . dinner table
talk over here ... to the col
umns of the American Jewish
press ... to the mouth of this
Segal. Only the other day Segal
was approached by a rabbi . . .
“And what do you, Segal, say a
Jew is.”
Segal had a quick answer. He
had just read it in the Wisconsin
Jewish Chronicle of Milwaukee.
The Chronicle’s editor had writ
ten: “We like Prime Minister
Ben-Gurion’s assertion that the
essence of Jewishness is to be
found in Psalm 15 which defines
a Jew as he that walketh up
rightly and worketh righteous
ness, and speaketh truth in his
heart; that hath no slander upon
his tongue, nor doeth evil to his
fellow; nor taketh up a reproach
against his neighbor; in whose
eyes a vile person is despised, but
he honoreth them that fear the
Lord.”
But the rabbi struck back with
reproach . . . "Is that all Ben-
Gurion knows about being a Jew?
And, Segal, is that all you know
about it . . . you who write a
column for Jews? If that’s all
you know about it, you’re scarce
ly qualified for column-writing.
For the good of Jewish life you'd
better retire. And, if that’s all
there is to being a Jew, how good
a Jew are you? Do you really
behave in accordance with the
instruction Psalm 15 gives?”
Segal laughted tolerantly at
this . . .“Anyway, I try,” he re
plied. “I do fall down on the
teaching of that Psalm every so
often ... I find myself despising
somebody for no reason but that
I disagree with him ... or, as
I did only the other day, occas
ionally I spread evil gossip that
I’ve heard ... or I look down on
some people whom I regard as oc
cupants of a lower stratum. But,
anyway, my dear rabbi, I do try
to live up to the teaching of that
Psalm, even though I flunk at it
occasionally. That’s something to
my Jewish credit . . . just trying,
isn’t it?”
I took the rabbi by his arm
and walked down the street with
him. “Well, Segal,” he said, “still
I say you don’t understand the
full meaning of being a Jew. Only
the other day I saw you enter
ing, without any sense of shame,
a restaurant that I’m sure isn’t
all kosher. Were you being Jew
ish then? I tell you frankly: If
I had anything to say in the
government of Israel I wouldn’t
permit one of your kind to reg
ister as a Jew in Israel.”
“But, my dear rabbi,” I replied,
“that Psalm doesn’t say a thing
about the kind of restaurant I
should eat in as a good Jew. It
tells me to walk uprightly and to
work at righteousness and to
speak the truth out of my heart,
and to keep my tongue clean of
slander ... all that sort of good.
And I agree with Mr. Ben-Gur-
ion and with the editor of the
Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle that
by trying so to behave I may
arrive at the summit of being
Jewish . . . that is, to the very
top of Sinai, even though I stum
ble and fall every so often on
the way.”
The time came for the rabbi
and me to go our separate ways.
He shook my hand . . . “Well,
Segal,” he said, “you do seem to
have something Jewish in you
but you have a long way to go to
earn God’s favor as a Jew who
lives fully by the Laws He gave
us in the Five Books of the To
rah. I still am not sure I would
let you be registered as a Jew in
Israel.”
We parted, and I keep going
with Mr. Ben-Gurion and with
the editor of the Wisconsin Jew
ish Chronicle who in the second
and last paragraph of his editor
ial wrote that in Psalm 15 “is a
standard of ethical conduct, and
what else is religion, but that
lofty inspiration of goodness and
truth and humility?”
I thank both Ben-Gurion and
the editor for their good Jewish
companionship.
H»oooopooqpoo»ooociopcooo»o»»o»»»oo»$»ooooooooo»»o
GREETINGS 1
and
BEST WISHES
for a
Joyous Holiday Season
| RHODES HAVERTY BARBER SHOP §
J. II. ALLEN, Prop.
I 107 Forsyth St., N.W.
JA. 3-9558 §
I
CORDIAL
HOLIDAY
GREETINGS
LUCKIE HOTEL
180 Luckie St., N.W.
JA. 4-9879
*-*■*-•;
Greetings and Best Wishes
for a
Happy New Year
Ranted Cj* ^IJichols (Lo.
84 PEACHTREE ST.
ATLANTA 3, GA.
Best Wishes
for the
New Year
Fred Reed Picture
Framing Inc.
★ 1158 Peachtree St., N.E.
★
TR. 4-5044 *