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A New Attack on Blue Laws
A recent convention of Seven Day Ad
ventists held in the resort produced a rather
strong but thoughtful conclusion over Sun
day blue laws. It was the view of Cyril M
Miller, director of the Religious Liberty
Department of the Adventists that “Sunday
legislation infringes upon the inherent rights
of the individual. It smacks of Middle Ages
darkness and can lead to religious persecu
tion and the abolition of liberty.”
It is comforting for Judaism to engage
in the abolition of blue laws supported by
such a profound Christian sect as the Ad
ventists. They observe Saturday as their
Sabbath following closely the tenets of the
Old Testament. At stake is the inherent right
of each faith in this pluralistic democratic
society to be free of restrictive covenants
contrary to their belief. Sunday blue laws
are discriminatory in every sense. It should
be the prerogative of the individual to wor
ship and work in according to his own con
science.
The adventists adopted a four point pro
gram calling for an end to Sunday blue
laws and in a closing statement Mr. Miller
offered these conclusions: “Sunday legisla
tion is discriminatory. It forces a man who
observes Sabbath on Saturday to earn a
livelihood in five days when others are do
ing the same in six days. I can’t agree with
those who back Sunday legislation on the
reasoning that “to put one man’s problems
above another man’s relationship to his
God.” “It is possible,” he concluded, “to limit
the work week without encroaching upon
any man’s religious conviction.”
—THE JEWISH RECORD
Atlantic City, N.J.
False Alternatives
We have long felt that no one has ef
fectively pinpointed a simple answer to
those who equated support of the U.S. Su
preme Court ruling against official prayer
in the public schools with anti-religion, or
atheism, or secularism. All of us must be
watchful that we don’t get boxed in between
false alternatives. That’s the little demago
gic trick on soapbox, rostrum, or at dinner
party table to force one to choose this posi
tion or that—both of which might be repug
nant.
Rabbi Levi Horowitz, head of the New
England Chassidic Center and chairman of
the committee on religious practice of the
Massachusetts Council of Rabbis, last week
took to task those who make a play of such
either-or arrogance. He told his followers
that those who supported the Court’s posi
tion “may be just as religious as those who
oppose it.” Further, said Rabbi Horowitz,
the Supreme Court’s supporters “have the
additional advantage of upholding the great
American tradition of separation of Church
and State.” That just about says it in a nut
shell.
—JEWISH CHRONICLE
PITTSBURGH
Freedom-
Man’s Noblest Possession
The Passover Festival will begin the eve
ning of April 8. It is the time of the year
when the ideal of freedom becomes part of
the home ritual and the family gathers to
recite the Haggadah and relate once again
the liberation story.
It is a wise custom to instill into the life
of a people such concepts that build up
morale and give impetus to the young in
carrying out the idealism of their fathers.
Were there more nations, more people
who had undergone such an historical ex
perience the world would be much better
and the generations much wiser and more
appreciative. Were there more nations and
people understanding the inner feeling of
liberty after a long period of slavery, trans
lating that feeling not toward hate but to
love; not toward destruction but to survi
val; not to animalism, but to civilized be
havior with regard to the sacredness of life
and ethical conduct as a daily mode of liv
ing—there would be fulfillment of Isaiah’s
prophecy.
As it is, neither we nor the rest of the
peoples of the world have learned to live
in dignity, to regard humanity as one con
cern of all. We have permitted the urgency
of the moment to block off the ideal life
which emanated from Sinai. Instead of fol
lowing the prophets of life we followed the
prophets of doom.
—JEWISH HERALD VOICE
HOUSTON, TEXAS
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The Southern Israelite Invites literary contributions and correepond
cnee but Is not to be considered as sharing the views espressed bj
writers. DEADLINE Is 5 P.M., FRIDAY, but material received earlier
will have a ranch better chance of publication.
Adolph Rosenberg, Editor and Publisher
Gustav Oppenheimer, Kathleen Nease, Jeanne Loeb
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Passover’s Strong Hold
By RABBI SAMUliL SILVER
Next to the High Holydays, Passover has the strongest hold
on modem Jewry.
It powerfully involves not only our beliefs but our behavior.
Passover’s hold is understandable; theres much to the holi
day that evokes immediate responses.
As intricate as gefilte fish is the historical background of
Passover. On the level of nature, it deals with the arrival of
Spring, so welcome to our bodies. On the level of human na
ture, it touches the theme of freedom, so welcome to our spirits.
As multi-faceted as charoses is the appeal of the holiday.
There’s the colorful Seder, at once spiritual and social. There
is the stamp of Yizkor, concluding the holiday, with its remind
er of lovely memories.
The enormous tug which Passover has on our lives is under
scored especially this year when we observe the one-hundredth
anniversary of the Jewish chaplaincy.
The measure of Passover’s pulling power is the fact that in
military situations, now being recalled in chaplaincy celebra
tions throughout the land, the wildest terrain and the most
untoward circumstances rarely prevented the observance of
Passover.
In connection with the commemoration of the centennial of
the Jewish chaplaincy, which was instituted by that Moses-like
American, Abraham Lincoln, a volume has been published
called “Rabbis in Uniform.” The book brims with exciting stories
of the manner in which religious ministrations continued even
in times of war. But although all the reminiscences are thrilling
the most enthralling of all in the book are those which tell of
the exertions by chaplains to conduct Passover and the exer
tions by Jewish GI’s to get them.
Rabbi Joseph S. Shubow tells in “Rabbis in Uniform” of a
Seder he conducted for several hundred Army men in 1945 in
the castle once occupied by the unspeakable Pharaoh of modem
times, Goebbels. Rabbi Ernst M. Lorge clutches your heart as
he describes a Seder he ran, with the aid of the army, in the
very part of Germany from which he fled, a victim of Nazism.
At that gathering, in Bad Ems, a general addressed the men and
said, “More than ever do you have a right to celebrate this
Festival of Freedom because you yourselves are participating
in a mighty battle which will bring freedom to the oppressed
all over the world.”
The centennial volume contains accounts of Passover rites
observed under exceedingly adverse circumstances in wartime
Tunisia, in Korea (1953), and in the Pacific theater in World
War II. Rabbi Oscar Lifshuts tells about the way the army in
Korea provided full cooperation to the chaplain in an operation
called MAPS (Mobile Army Passover Seder).
The gripping quality of Passover is also illustrated, both
in these wartime memoirs and in other outlets, by its impact
not only on Jews but on non-Jews. In the Army, high-ranking
officers invariably attend Sedarim, not only for the food, but
because one touch of freedom-glorification makes the whole
world kin. Similarly, in communities throughout our country,
non-Jews are attending model Seders and savoring both the
festive nature of the observance and the delicious idea of lib
erty which is its theme.
When morale was low in Korea, Chaplain Louis Barish
(editor of the book, “Rabbis in Uniform”) led a Seder in 1953
for hundreds of men of the 8th Army. A number of generals
were on hand, along with a big-wig from the National Jewish
Welfare Board, which makes so many religious observances
possible for GI’s. One of the officers present was General Max
well Taylor.
After the ceremony was concluded, Gen. Taylor told the
assmbled men in effect that “time matzos on.” The general
couched his sentiments in the form of a prayer, saying:
“May the ancient struggle of freedom, which the Passover
symbolizes, inspire us all to ever increasing devotion to those
same ideals for which we strive in our day. With faith in God
and with the spirit of freedom ever aglow in the hearts of men,
we will achieve a world of liberty and peace for all mankind.”
Yes, Passover is a most popular holiday. It has a strong
hold because it extols freedom, a stronghold of civilization.
JEWISH CALENDAR
•PASSOVER
Tuesday, April 9, 1963
(First Day
Wednesday, April 10. 1963
(Second Day)
Tuesday, April 16. 1963
(Eighth Day)
SHAVUOT
Wednesday, May 28, 1963
(First Day)
Thursday, May 30, 1963
(Second Day)
ROSII HASHONAH
Thursday, September 19. 1963
(First Day)
•Holiday begins
preceding evenings
Friday, April 5, 1963
Orchids to the Ladies
On its 70th birthday, the National Coun
cil of Jewish Women has given a remark
able demonstration of its youth and resili
ency. That unusual organization, the oldest
major Jewish women’s group in the world,
has decided to go to school.
At its Minneapolis Convention, reported
elsewhere in this edition, the Council women
pinpointed one of the most urgent prob
lems in our country today—the thousands
upon thousands of young people who are
either dropping out of school or who are
graduating with inadequate education to
equip them for life m our increasingly auto
mated economy.
Not content with simply issuing state
ments or calling for action by others to mend
this emergency, NCJW s local Sections are
setting up a new kind of adult education
program—the NCJW School for Communi
ty Action—which in its first year will teach
Council members how to deal with this
issue in their communities. In the new
Schools, the Council women will be learn
ing how to track down the facts about
school budgets, dropout rates, jobs available
for youth in local industry. They will also
be learning how to go about getting more
vocational counselors, more job-training
programs and more community attention
for the under-privileged, and often de facto
segregated, schools that spawn the drop
outs and the male educated youngsters
destined to be unemployable misfits.
Explaining the purpose of the Schools,
which will be held annually on public issues
of concern to Jewish women, Council quotes
Hillel: “Do not separate yourself from the
community. Do not say you will study when
you have leisure, for you may never attain
that leisure.”
The vigor with which the Council is
tackling this enormous and complex job is
certainly proof of its dedication to its con
vention theme, “As I build, so is the world
built,”—a line taken from its Code of Per
sonal Commitment to social progress. The
Jewish community well may be proud when
one of its leading organizations, in the true
spirit of the Jewish ethic, takes such tasks
upon itself.
Talmudic, Pont-Talmudic
Gems and Maxims
COLLECTED AND TRANSLATED
BY JACOB L. FRIEND
Take precaution before you become sick,
says Ben Sira in his “Wisdom of Sirach,”
or as we say it now: an ounce of preven
tion is worth a pound of cure.
Pay heed to the physician while you are
still healthy.
People die prematurely because of self
neglect.
It is forbidden to dwell in a city that
does not possess a physician.
The apprentice (or what we now call
an interne) should accompany the physician
making his rounds.
The surgeon wounds with his knife, and
heals u'ith the plaster.
The physician should not be discharged
until the patient is cured.
The physician should examine the pa
tient’s pulse.
Almost every sickness has its remedy,
provided the physician makes the proper
diagnosis and thereby prescribes the proper
medicines.
When sight is lost, the other senses be
come keener.
Insanity need not be incurable: in cer
tain cases it is only temporary.
Although all of the glands derive their
material from the same source, each gland
secretes a fluid peculiar to itself.
The structure of the teeth differs in
herbivorous and carnivorous animals.
The condition of the heart changes from
hour to hour. «
The gullet has tiro skins—the outer red,
the inner white.
When the liver is excited, the gall pours
a drop over it, and quiets it.
A reed tube was inserted in the per
forated windpipe of a lamb, and it recovered.
Tall men are usually slower of percep
tion—first because their chests are narrow
and this diminishes the capacity for blood
and weakens the action of the brain; second
because it requires a longer time for the
heart and the brain to cooperate.
Heart trouble is the worst ailment. (And
is also one of the greatest killers of our
times).
Dropsy and gout may be caused by su-
pressing urination.