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Friday, January 19, 1MZ
OFF THE RECORD—by Nathan Ziprin
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Pare Seven
Jewish Giving....
PLAIN TALK—By Alfred Segal
About Mama Sarah
One of the inconsistencies in
Jewish life today is the disparity
between Jewish affiliation with
and Jewish Riving to synagogues
The post-war trekking to syna
gogue has diminished, but not
perceptibly enough to indicate a
reversal of the trend Yet Riving
for religious causes has diminish
ed to a point where the religious
institutions are beginning to feel
the lag. A most recent case in
(K)int is last week’s warning by a
leading spokesman for the Com
bined Campaign for American
Reform Judaism that if sufficient
funds were not forthcoming soon
the Hebrew Union College-Jew-
ish Institute of Religion will be
forced to curtail the training of
rabbis.
A recent survey by Dr James
N. Morgan of the University of
Michigan disclosed that while
Jews in America rated highest
among all religious denomina
tions in giving to charitable
causes, they rate lowest in giving
to religious institutions. The Jew
ish percentage of giving to relig
ious institutions is 55% as against
67% bv Lutherans, 65% by Cath
olics and 63% by Episcopalians
What is the explanation for this
development 0 Does it reflect a
diminution in religious concern
or a mounting of interest in hu
man areas that are peripheral to
but not necessarily a part of the
religious experience 0 It could be
surmised — in fact, it has - that
“most Jews in the United States
place their sense of obligation to
their less privileged brethern
even higher than to their religi
ous institutions’* If so, there has
been a radical transformation not
in Jewish values but in the as
sessment of values and their pri
orities.- This writer would give
highest priority to Torah, but he
must admit he would be lacking
in retort to the cynical conten
tion that there is little relat'On-
ship between modern religious
sanctums and the sanctity that is
Torah. If there has been a deple
tion in Jewish giving to houses
of worship, the synagogues them
selves are to blame, for they have
too often neglected their vine
yards for orchards meant for
other climates.
Facts Toll The Story . . .
If you have a fear of statistic?
— and figures can be boring —
you can skip this item. Rut if you
do, it will be only to your edu
cational detriment, for these are
really not statistics hut nuggets,
culled from Israel’s official Year
Book
To begin with wo might tell
you that the Israelis are a loqui-
Royalties of
Eichmann’s Rook
To Go to Lawyer
TEL AVIV, (JTA)-Dr Rob
ert Servatius. chief of defense
for the convicted Adolf Eich-
tnann, said here Monday he has
obtained exclusive rights for the
royalties expected from publica
tion of Eichmann's 500-page book
of memoirs, written while the
former Gestapo colonel has been
m Israeli prisons. Eiehmann, un
der sentence of death—which Dr
Servatius is appealing to the Is
rael Supreme Court is now
putting the finishing touches on
liis 500-page book in his death
cell, Dr. Servatius stated.
The attorney, who left Israel
this week fcfl- Germany, said he
believed the royalties from pub
lication of the book will prob
ably be enough to cover the de
fense costs in full. So far, how
ever, the lawyer said, “no one
has read what Eiehmann has
been writing.” He expressed
hope that first publication of the
Eiehmann book would be in Is
rael. The volume will be Eich-
mann’s “true atonement,” he
said, adding that, in the book,
Eiehmann will warn the youth
of the world against a revival
of Nazism.
nous people if we are to judge
them by their Proclivity to talk
on the phone. Last year the Is
raeli found enough time to make
more than 266,000,000 telephone
calls, many of them to distant
countries throughout the world
More than 40,000 of them were
holding civil service jobs, not
counting the police. Some 2,200
quit their government posts for
one reason or another and only
166 came under fire for miscon
duct in office
I he truth that Israel is a land
of learning is evidenced in many
of the facets of its national life,
hut most uniquely perhaps in the
huge numbers studying m the
various yeshivoth of the land Ac
cording to the Year Book there
are some 10,500 ya.shiva boehurim
(yeshiva students) in the vari
ous yeshivoth, among them 800
who continued their studies after
marriage. Last year some 7,000
illiterates were taught to read
and write at special courses con
ducted under the aegis of the
Ministry of Education. At the He
brew University of Jerusalem,
half of the registrants studied
tlie humanities and social sci
UNITED NATIONS, (WUP)-
When the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights was adopted
by the General Assembly on
December 10, 1948—the very year
Israel attained her sovereignty-—
little attention was given to the
fact that Jewish minds contri
buted greatly to its materializa
tion.
In fact, one of the main archi
tects of the Declaration was the
Freneh-Jewish professor Rene
Cassin who still carries on the
battle for human rights within
the United Nations.
Another great Jewish figure,
who had no official standing
here, but was seen here daily
and who moved about like a
golem from another planet, like
a .“ghost" constantly reminding
the diplomats of the six million
murdered Jews and challenging
them into action for human
rights, was the late Polish-born
Jew Raphael Lemkin. Father of
the Genocide Convention
History has yet to record what
part Lemkin played here in goad
ing delegates into action for the
rights of man.
Roth both Cassin’s and Lem-
kin’s work rejnains unfinished
and the Economic and Social
Council with its subsidiary or
gans such as the Commission on
Human Rights and the Subcom
mission on Prevention of Dis
crimination and the Protection
of Minorities still has a battle
to fight. Anti-Semitism still per
sists in many countries and slav
ery is accepted in some Also
political rights are denied many
national, likewise the right of
emigration. All this despite the
adoption of the Universal Dec
laration which has not yet be
come a Covenant and therefore
is unratified by governments.
The General Assembly is now
in the process of transforming
the “Declaration” into a “Cove
nant ”
In the continuing battle for
human rights -such as is going
on right now in the current
session of the Subcommission on
Prevention of Discrimination
leading Jewish personalities are
still playing a vital role. The
US representative in the Com
mission is the erstwhile Judge
from Buffalo Philip Halpern.
Moreover, Philip Klutznick is
on hand at all times in his offi
cial capacity as Minister. His
wise counsel is respected and
heeded.
Present also and taking a vital
interest in the debates are many
ences. One-fourth of thi^^XuderrU
were registered in' the natural
sciences. Since its founding the
University conferred 6,180 docto
rate decrees'
But there was also the other
side of the coin law violations,
crime, delinquency, and traffic
violations at the rate of a thous
and a dav On the whole, how
ever, the Israelis emerged as law
abiding citizens. Their low vio
lation ratio is 287 to 10,000 neo-
ole The rise in traffic violations
is due largely to the mounting
utilization of cars and station
wagons, some 90,000 of them
covering Israel’s streets, avenues
and roads
On the whole the Year Book
reveals the story of a people at
work, diligently, imaginatively,
feverishly and with a dedication
that stems from national purpose
There are crimes in the country
and delinquency, divorces and
separations, and all the social
ills that are the concommitant to
group living, but, above all, the
faats pevpal a sense of urgency,-
of purposeful mobility, of direc
tion and pride of accomplish
ment.
non- Governmental representa
tives such as Dr. Moses Mosko-
witz of the Consulative Jewish
Organizations and author of
“Human Rights and World Ord
er,” to which Rene Cassin has
written a laudatory Preface; Dr.
Isaac Lewin, spokesman for Or
thodox Jewry, author of ‘‘In the
Struggle Against Discrimina
tion” and “Religious Jewry and
the United Nations”; Dr. Maur
ice Perlzweig, the noted spokes
man for the World Jewish Con
gress, who is ably assisted by
Ralph Zacklin and Henry Gross-
man W Korey. representing the
JEWISH LEADERS
IN FOREFRONT
Co-ordinating Board of Jewish
Organizations, and Sidney Lis-
kosfsky, the American Jewish
Committee
Thus we see great Jewish
minds, in the true tradition of
ancient Israel, imbuing this new
body with a spirit that was ori
ginally enflamed some 3,500
years ago at Sinai when the
greatest of all legislators, Moses,
presented mankind with the first
Declaration of Human Rights
and Freedom. It has taken hu
manity all this time it seems,
finally to come around to the
r mm
I thought maybe I should make
a column about a lady named
Sarah who knew nothing about
canasta or mah jong, but made
a useful life of her 127 years.
(Not that I dare find any fault
in other ladies who love canasta
or mah-jong, but it occurred to
me that it is historically good
to report on one who made an
interesting life for herself at
other recreations.)
Sarah! She was the Sarah who
was the wife of the biblical Ab
raham. I hear all about her from
Rabbi Martin W Weitz of Con
gregation Beth Israel, Atlantic
City He reports on her loveli
ness in one of the pamphlets
called, “The Weekly Sedra”
which he mails around among
his congregants.
Yes, this Sarah who was so
worthwhile that she was allowed
to keep on living until age 127,
according to Scripture! And Rab
bit Weitz in his high praise of
this lady quotes what the He
brew Rashi book tells about her.
That is to say, Rashi interprets
her 127 years to mean this: “That
when she was 100, she had the
purity of a 20-year old girl; when
Siraitic message within the con
text of the UN Declaration which
now remains to be implemented.
Meanwhile, as Moses Mosko-
witz concludes in his book, “it
cannot be* too strongly empha
sized that the debates on the
covenants have taken on the
form of a crucible in which are
being crystallized all contempor
ary ideas and ideals of human
rights. The synthesis that will
emerge in the end wil have a
profound effect on the course of
future events and on the lives
'of people everywhere, irrespec
tive of whether or not the coven
ants are ratified by a sufficient
number of states to enter into
force within the foreseeable fu
ture This places upon those na
tions which have made the great
est progress in the field of civil
liberties and personal freedom a
special responsibility to play
their rightful role in guiding the
developments which are taking
place in the United Nations to
achieve the highest common de
nominator in the struggle for
human rights.”
The bestial inhumanity dis
played by nations vis-a-viz Is
rael through the ages is now ap
parently being sealed via the
UN with the word fines as a new
day dawns upon this war-weary
Planet.
•Y NfNRY LfOMAJtO
she was 20 she had the beauty
of a 7-year old child.” (Yes, she
was such a girl all through her
127 years, and Rabbi Weitz says,
“Though a legend it is also a
lesson for the landscape of life,
for each stage of it leaves its im
print on the total personality.”)
Sarah is the one who in ripe
old age became the mother of
Isaac and saw to it that he be
came a worthy man. In time he
was to be the father of Jacob . .
yes, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
the three who turned out to be
the father of us all who are
Jewish, you might say.
Sarah was oar mam*, and
speaking of her 127 years Rabbi
Weitz says that the “7” in these
127 years suggests that this
“matriarch of Israel had a child
hood that was filled with play,
activity and happiness but that
this play was not merely child
ish, for it was In the service of
others.”
Then the 20 years in her 127!
These 20 years of her 127, ac
cording to the rabbi, “intimate
that she had the persistence of
youth, that she sought for ideals
to enrich her own life and to
enhance those about her. The 100
years of her given age bespeak
maturity and responsibility.”
And more: “These separate
years of hers . . . 7-20-100 . . .
indicate that every year, like a
necklace, may bear a different
series of gems; that each year
may be an anniversary celebrat
ing some value in the life of a
family, an individual or a peo
ple."
Well, at last, after the 127
years Mother -Sarah died . . .
“And Abraham came to mourn
for Sarah and to weep for her.” t
She was buried in the cave of f
Machpelah but she keeps on liv- )
ing as the original of Jewish/
mothers . . . the mama of us all/
Yes, this mosk worthy mothV
er’s name . . . Sarah . . .has beeij
handed on to thousands of Jejr-
ish girls since; though in these
newer times girls are given such
names as Rosemary, JuanitaAetc.
And I must add that in all\the
ages since Mama Sarah was
buried in Machpelah cave, her
descendants have tried to live
up to her goodness. I recall my
own mama who was of a time
when mamas’ lives were dedi
cated to their households exclus
ively . . . cooking and keeping
the house clean. Mama’s recrea
tion was mostly of the Sabbath
. . . her hands raised in bless
ings over the Sabbath eve
candles, her religious dedication
to the Sabbath day’s rest, her
spiritual recreation in the syna
gogue.
But her religious devotion was
not all in schul. She had God in
own house. Her life was sacredly
dedicated to bringing up the
seven children along the right
way to keep going. She felt Jew-
lshly let down when this kid of
hers . . . me, that is ... at times
strayed a bit from the exact path
of righteousness.
“Is this the good Jewish way
of doing?" she asked him. “The
Jewish way is for you to be a
good boy every day. I want you
to grow up to be a fine man.
That's being Jewish; it is as good
ly Jewish as going to schul every
day.”
Yes, she was another Mama
Sarah, though her name was
Rosa. She died 40 years ago; be
fore she passed she whispered:
“It has been a good Jewish life
for me; the way my children
have grown up right.” (Yes, even
I who at times had been a
troublesome problem child had
managed to grow to a fairly de
cent life.)
So I join with Rabbi Weitz in
tribute to the Sarah who was the
mother of us all, and set the
exemplar for all mamas in Jew
ish life, even unto now. Of
course in these times mothers
have a lot more leisure time . . .
for canasta and mah-jong . . .
what with their automatic kit
chens and electric sweepers and
thank goodness for their lives
being made so much easier.
Cm. i*l. tnw Hdwim
BEHIND UN SCENES — Bv David Horowitz
In the Battle For Human Right