Newspaper Page Text
Put Two
TH* SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Friday, Jan. 11, 1963
STORY OF AMERICAN JEWRY
© By American Jewish Press
IN 16*4 21 JEW* LEFT BRAZIL
0BCAU0C OW 0I#OTRV AND LANOID
IN NEW AM^TCROy^ H^WlVIR,
THEY FOUNP
A MO*TILE
RECEPTION
FROM <SoV.
PETER
6UIYVE6AMT.
ultimately, through their own
COUf»A<;i ( AND THE HELP CF
SEPHARDIC JEWS IN HOLLAND,
THEY WERE ALLOWED TO STAY.
7. The Shearith Israel Synagogue
Text by DANIEL ELAZAR Illustrated by MAURICE DEL BOURGO
uKh-*v>Js7
IN DUE TIME A 6R0JP CT LEADiliC
JEWISH CITIZENS >..CT TO CR5»N-
IZ£ A CONCflEJATlON.NAIAELY
THE SHEARITH ISRAEL SYNAEPGUC.
They RENTEP a BuilDinj in i68z.
WHICH WAS TO aIVF. WAY ClN 1730)
TO A cpccially BUILT HOUSE
Or WORSHIP.
RaBBI CsCRBMOM MCNDC5 SOYA'S, LIKE
MOST JEWS IN AMERICA, WAS A
Staunch champion op the
AMERICAN REVOLUTION, HE REMOVED
all Ceremonial object*, and not
UNTIL VICTORY WERE ‘SERVICES
'RESUMEP /
SAVANNAH NEWS
Sam G. Adler was recently
appointtd to a two-year term on
the Board of Business Education
of the University of Pennsyl
vania’s Wharton School of Busi
ness and Finance. Mr. Adler,
who is president of Leopold Ad
ler Co., is a graduate of the uni
versity (class of 1915).
Last May, Mr. Adler received
the coveted William Washing
ton Gordon Award one of Sa
vannah’s four top citizenship
honors—for “outstanding con
tributions in the field of indus
try and business.’’
Adler was cited for his leader
ship in organizing the city’s
first Community Leadership
Seminar for young business ex
ecutives.
PLAIN TALK-By Alfred Segal
I Have A Boy Visitor
The boy . . . he's about 18 . . .
was calling on me to ask me for
help toward his becoming a rab
bi. A tall, sturdy boy who might
be a football player
He was saying “Maybe I
should tell you that in our house
we aren’t very Jewishly religious.
We aren’t exactly kosher at the
table, though I do like the kre-
plach my mam cooks for us. My
papa goes to the synagogue only
on Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kip-
pur, and he’s at his business every
Saturday. Mind you, I’m not de
nouncing them. It’s their way of
religion and as their son I ap
preciate them as parents who
have done so well by me.”
I asked him: “Why are you
calling on me about this matter
of your parents? They seem to be
worthwhile people after all,
though they aren't religiously
very Jewish.”
And he replied: “Well, I want
to become a rabbi, and I’m not
sure which way to go to become
one. As I understand it, there are
three ways to get there . . Orth
odox, Conservative and Reform
. . and which one of these three
kinds of rabbis shall 1 become?
Shall I go to the Reform Hebrew
Union College which is of our
city, or the Conservative Jewish
Theological Seminary whi h is of
New York, or New York’s Yesh-
iva College which, as I under
stand, is Orthodox To which of
them shall I go to become a rabbi,
maybe?”
I asked him: "Why do you call
on me about all this? Oh, ir my
column 1 feel confused about the
ways of Judaism in the world
. . . three ways, that is . . and
on which of these ways shall my
column keep go'ing'’ Well. I solve
the problem by being respectful
of all three of these Jewish re
ligious ways in my column.”
"But. Mr. Segal," the bright
boy interrupted, “you really
aren't solving my problem You.
as columnist are able to go the
Jewish Daily Forward Celebrates 65th
Anniversary: Creeled hv Kennedy
NEW YORK, (JTA) — Presi
dent Kennedy and Israel’s Presi
dent, Izhak Ben-Zvi, led an illus
trious array of political person
alities and heads of Jewish and
non-Jewish organizations con
gratulating the Jewish Daily
Forward, world’s largest Yiddish
newspaper (published here), on
the occasion of its 65th anni
versary.
The newspaper itself celebrat
ed the 65 years of its existence
by publishing a 120-page issue
that reflects the growth of
American Jewry over a three-
generation span since the For
ward was founded.
Others who sent special mes
sages of greetings included
Prime Minister David Ben-Gur-
ion of Israel and Governor Nel
son A. Rockefeller of New York,
Mayor Robert F. Wagner of
New York City and the leaders
of the Jewish Agency for Israel,
the American Jewish Commit
tee, B'nai B’rith, the Interna
tional Ladies Garment Workers
Union, the Amalgamated Cloth
ing Workers of America and
many other labor, civic, Zionist
and communal organizations
throughout the United States,
Israel and the rest of the free
world. The messages wej-e ad
dressed to Dr. Lazar Fogelman,
editor-in-chief of the Forward,
and to Adolph Held, general
manager.
President Kennedy’s message
noted: “From its earliest days,
three ways of religion, but as
rabbi I’ll have only one way to go
religiously . . Orthodox, Con
servative or Reform. So which
way? You, as columnist for the
Jewish press shoa'd be able to
tell me something about the best
way.”
"Well,” I replied, "I really don’t
know the best way I belong To a
Reform temple and my three
grown sons were educated re
ligiously in the Sabbath school
there, and they turned out to be
spiritually o. k Nevertheless, I
can't honestly tell you which is
the best way to De a Jew . . .
Orthodox, Conservative or Re
form They’re all three worth
while for people who live up to
them . . though not all of us
keep living up to the ideals of
whatever of these sections of
Judaism.”
Then the boy said: “So you
can't really tell me which way
to go as rabbi? You, as columnist,
are supposed to know it all. but
you don’t know any way in par
ticular You must excuse me for
saying it, but you don’t know as
■ much as other columnists who
seem to know everything in the
world
So I went on to tell him “Yes.
you're right I really don’t know
everything in the world, but 1
can tell you which way* I'd go if
I thought of beccming a rabbi.
By the way. there was a time in
my much younger life when I
the Forward has played a vitally
important role in the lives of its
reader s—both by presenting
them with important local, na
tional and international issues,
and by helping many genera
tions of foreign-born Jewish-
Americans to become productive,
concerned citizens while main
taining the cultural and religi
ous traditions of their home
lands. The dedicaton of the Jew
ish Daily Forward to the causes
of justice and social, economic
and political freedom for all our
citizens merits the special com
mendation and gratitude of us
all.”
President Ben-Zvi’s message
declared: “Your newspaper,
which accompanied the Jewish
immigrant on his life’s path,
starting with his first steps in
the New World, may take pride
in his significant achievements
—whether in the communal or
ganizations of broad masses of
Jewish workers, in the retention
of his Yiddish language, in the
guardianship of the treasurers of
Jewish culture, or in his dedi
cated struggle for a better life
for the working masses in a re
gime of freedom and genuine
peace among the nations of the
world. Above all, one must
praise you and value your aid
and unstinting help to the Ilis-
tadrut, the organized Jewish
labor movement in the State of
Israel.”
The 120-page issue published
today carries a number of arti
cles devoted to its founders,
especially to its first editor Abra
ham Cahan and to his successor
Harry Rogoff, who recently re
tired from his post as editor-in-
chief but is still contributing
political and literary articles to
the newspaper. Other articles,
by more than 40 writers, deal
with various aspects of Ameri
can Jewish life in the past and
present.
started out toward being a rabbi
in the Reform Hebrew Union Col
lege. I lasted there only one year,
though.
“Well, my boy, il now m my
ripe years 1 thought of becoming
a rabbi, I wouldn't tie myself up
with any of the three Jewish re
ligious groups I would become
a rabbi who in his synagogue
would know and respect all three
of our Jewish denominations Out
of respect for Orthodoxy and
Conservatism I wruld wear the
skull cap of Orthodoxy in the
pulpit, and would read much of
the prayers in English out of Re
form’s Union Prayer Book; since
in English too, the words of
prayer are to the One God, and
my congregation could under
stand the words better in Eng
lish I’m thinking of one such
prayer in particular, all ; n Eng
lish but devoutly Jewish It goes,
as I remember it: “Fervently we
pray that the day may come when
all man shall invoke Thy name,
when corruption and evil shall
give way to purity and goodness,
when superstition shall no longer
enslave the mind nor idolatry
blind the eye, when all who dwell
on earth shall know that to Thee
alone every knee must bend and
every tongue giv" homage
may all created in Thine image
cognize that they are brethren,
so that one in spirit and one in
fellowship, they may be forever
united before Thee. Then shall
Thy kingdom be established on
earth."
1 paused in my praying and
looked up at the boy . . . “What
do you think,” I asked him, “of
AVGUSTA NEWS
Mrs. Wolf Beson of New York
City, the former Anna Morns of
Atlanta, visited her sister, Mrs.
Dora Smolen in Augusta, for
the holidays.
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Shapiro
of Leesville, S.C., announce the
birth of a son on December 14
Mrs. Shapiro is the former Su
san Sinshetmer, daughter of Mrs
and L,t Col. M B Sinsheimer
Jr., of Augusta.
• • •
Rosalyn Estroff, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Max Estroff, made
the dean’s list for the fall quar-
er at the University of Georgia.
being a rabbi of all three kinds
. . . Orthodox, Conservative and
Reform ... a rabbi who doesn’t
know himself as Orthodox, Con
servative and Reform, but serves
all three."
The bright boy's eyes gleamed
. . . "Thanks, thanks,” ne said,
“that’s it. That kind of rabbi 1
hope to be, maybe ”
“And ataM thete arc time* that demand great
courage fn the pulpit ... I now wt|h to *tote
imcqulvooally, that TRUTH li TRUTH!"
qr.
LANDER MOTORS
is happy to announce the
appointment of
MR. IRVING SILVER
to their sales staff
ALL OUR NEW CARS AND TRUCKS
ARE GUARANTEED FOR 50,COO
MILES OR FIVE YEARS.
DODGE - DODGE DART - DODGE TRUCHI
LANDER MOTORS
635 WEST PEACHTREE, N. E.
TR. 2-6661