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THE BOtJTBEEN ISRAELITE
THb SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
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Israelite Invite* literary contributions and correspondence but te not to be
considered a* sharing the views expressed by writers. DEADLINE Is
» P M., FRIDAY, but material received earlier will have a much better
-bur* at publication.
Adolph Rosenberg, Editor and Publisher
Kathleen Nease, Jeanne Loeb Joseph Redlich
Vida Goldgar, Harry Rose, Betty Meyer, Kathy Wood
Georgia Press Association
NATIONAL EDITORIAL
cjfel l»# c 6 T, S w
7 Arts Features
Jewish
Telegraphic
Agency
World Pres*
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
GUEST EDITORIAL
More than a century has elapsed since the death of
Abraham Lincoln. The face of the world has undergone s
tremendous change in that century. The total American popu
lation in Lincoln’s day was little more than thirty million. The
Jewish population in the United States then numbered be
tween two and three hundred thousand.
There were the beginnings of the railroad and telegraph
but little else beside of the machinery which now dominates
the landscape.
The slavery which Lincoln fought seems antiquated as the
flint which our ancestors rubbed for matches. Probably the
historians of the future will say that the Civil War only hast
ened the abolition of slavery. Slavery could not have coexisted
with the industrial age. The more significant achievement,
they may say, was his preservation of the Union. Had the
Union perished, not only our country’s history but the history
of the whole world would have been vastly different.
Yet, while so much has changed, it is remarkable how
many things have changed so little. Prejudice has changed
little. There is still discrimination on account of color and race
and religion. There is still the battle of civil rights. If there
are Nazis today, there was the Know Nothing movement
against Catholics and Jews in Lincoln's day.
Indeed, considering how strong prejudice and militarism
Is, one might even despair of humanity. But the memory of
Abraham Lincoln is an antidote to this despair. Not only by
what Lincoln did, but by what he was. If humanity can
produce Abraham Lincolns, may we not be hopeful of
humanity?
CANTORIAL ART
For centuries, Jews have been inspired at synagogue
services by the melodic themes of our prayers. The cantorial
song, chanted in the liturgy of lamentations, praise, gratitude,
joy and pleas for forgiveness, truly has been one of the un
mistakable historical ties of contemporary Jews to the tradi
tions of their ancestors.
There are those who feel that the venerated art of the
cantor is being eclipsed by the modern trend toward choral
and solo work. In selecting “The Cantorial Art” as the theme
of the 22nd annual Jewish Music Festival, the National Jewish
Music Council may very well help to dispel this notion.
Over the years, the National Music Council, which is spon
sored by the National Jewish Welfare Board, has built the
Jewish Music Festival into a significant cultural event and
has done much to encourage and promote community efforts
to foster appreciation of Jewish music. This year, through the
more than 2,000 Jewish Music Festival programs to be con
ducted by synagogues, Jewish Community Centers, Hillel
Foundations, Hadassah and Council of Jewish Women chap
ters, B’nai B’rith lodges, Jewish schools, radio and TV stations,
colleges and choral groups, the cantorial art will be reaffirmed
and appreciated as a meaningful expression of Jewish living.
To assist religious, cultural, educational, fraternal and
women’s organizations in preparing for the Festival, which is
to be observed from Purim, March 6 to Passover, April 6, the
National Jewish Music Council has published a volume of
articles and essays devoted to the cantorial arts and related
matters.
In essence, the cantorial art is being projected beyond the
inner circle of practitioners, proponents and musicologists By
the time this years Jewish Music Festival is over, many mem
bers of the general Jewish public should have come to regard
the art of the cantor as a cultural form that merits their serious
and sustained attention.
University
Hospital Has
Kosher Meals
—AUGUSTA
Through the cooperation of
University Hospital Director
Whitelaw Hunt and Rabbi May
nard C. Hyman, kosher dinners
for hospital patients who observe
dietary laws are now available.
• • • •
Mrs. Murray Schulman was in
stalled president of the Women’s
Division of the Jewish Commun
ity Center at a luncheon on Feb
ruary 21. Serving with Mrs.
Schulman will be Mrs. Leopold
Mothner and Mrs. Manuel Weis-
man, vice presidents; Mrs. Rich
ard Roher and Mrs. Max Rubin
stein, secretaries; and Mrs. El
liott Serotta, treasurer.
* • • •
The Daughters of Israel met on
February 23 at the Abram Pom-
erance Memorial Hall for dessert
and card party.
• • • •
Mr. and Mrs. Sydney Schlosser
and daughter Ellen of Atlanta
were recent visitors with Mrs.
Schlosser’s parents, Mr. and Mrs.
Alex Slotin.
Friday, February 28, 19M
What The Press Is Saying
A Digest of Contemporary Opinion
Israeli Press Scores
West On Arms Race
A Digest of Contemporary Opinion
Davar: “The tanks and planes which Jor
dan and Saudi Arabia will now receive from
Western sources are not aimed at complement
ing the modern weapons which the other Arab
States receive from Soviet sources . . . but to
counter-balance the Soviet supplies. However,
as far as Israel is concerned . . . the Western
supply of weapons upsets ‘the balance of
power between her and the members of the
Joint Arab Command.’ ’’. . . Ha’aretz: “The
Western Powers’ fear that they may lose their
positions in the area, in view of the status that
the Soviet Union has gained as the supplier
of arms to the Arabs, is not entirely incompre
hensible. However, weapons in the hands of
the Arabs are not less dangerous because they
are of American, British or French origin. . .
We must demand balancing armaments from
those Western States which supply arms to
our enemies.” . . . Hatzofeh: “In spite of the
reassuring explanations from the Western
GDur JpiUiifiJi
% p r i ta 5 p
Extracts from "The Graphic History
of the Jewish Heritage." Edited by
P. Wollman-Tsamir. Published by
Shengold Publishers and Foundation
For A- Graphic History of Jewish
Literature.
A Seven Arts Feature. ... ■■
5. AARON PHK
Aaron arrayed in the
eight priestly garment*.
"And Mom brought
Aaron . . . And ht put
upon him the tunic . , .
the breast plate . . . tht
Urim and the Thummim
. . . the mitre . . . and
. . . the golden plate, tht
holy crown” (Lev. 8.6-9).
Aaron was bom three years before Moses.
Because of his eloquence he served as an inter
mediary between his brother and Pharaoh. He
also helped Moses perform miracles before the
Egyptian ruler (Exodus 7.1,2,8,19). When the
Torah was given, only Aaron ascended the moun
tain with Moses and when Moses went up to
receive the Tablets of the Law, he and Hur be
came the judges of the people (Exodus 24.14);
it was for this reason that the people turned to
Aaron when they wished to make a golden calf
(Exodus 32.1). After the Tabernacle was built,
the priesthood was promised to Aaron and his
descendants for eternity. God reaffirmed this
promise after the revolt of Korah (Numbers
18.7). Aaron died at the age of 123 upon Mount
Hor.
Aaron was second in rank to Moses during the
wanderings of Israel in the desert (Psalm 99.6;
1 Samuel 12.8) and sometimes Scripture even
gives him precedence over his brother (Mekhilta,
Exodus 15, §71). At times God spoke to Aaron
and Moses, and on four occasions the High Priest
was addressed individually (Sifra, the beginning
of Leviticus). The sages remarked that 80 years
before Moses began to prophesy, Aaron already
had prophesied in Egypt (Yalkut Shimoni, Ex
odus, §172). Also, in 1 Samuel, Eli the priest is
admonished by a man of God, who says: “Did I
[not] reveal Myself unto the house of thy father
when they were in Egypt?” (see also Ezekiel
20.5). Aaron loved peace and pursued it, loved
his fellow men and drew them near to the Torah
(Aboth 1.12; Aboth d’Rabbi Nathan, Text A,
52; Pirke d’Rabbi Eliezer 17; see also Malachi
2.6; Psalms 133.2). According to the sages,
Aaron bowed to the will of the people when they
demanded a golden calf only because he sought
to prevent bloodshed (Sanhedrin 7). The rabbis
declared that “clouds of glory” accompanied the
Israelites because of Aaron’s presence and that
when he died the clouds departed (Taanith 9).
capitals, the Arab military reinforcement is
assuming threatening proportions which
weigh down the security balance to our detri
ment. . . The warning campaign which the
Israeli Government has launched in the world
capitals on the danger threatening us and the
entire region as a result of the increased
supply of arms to the Arabs should not be
abandoned”. . . She’arim: “All the explanations
with which London and Washington tried to
envelope the unceasing supply of weapons to
the Arabs are inadmissible to us and serve as
a further proof of the dangerous indifference
which has overcome our friends in the West—
who do not realize the dangers of dispatching
arms to the Arabs.”
DIGEST OF EDITORIALS
Israel News Bulletin
ABOUT YAHRZEITS
As far back as Talmudic times, Jews
have memorialized the anniversary of their
parents’ deaths and the deaths of great schol
ars. Some people fasted on these days. Later,
in Gaonic times, on the anniversary of the
death of great teachers, large crowds gathered
at their graves. It is therefore assumed that
children also visited the graves of parents on
the same occasion and is still practiced among
some people today.
Although observing the anniversary of
the death of parents goes back to the first
centuries of the Common Era, the word
“Yahrzeit” and most of its observances are of
late origin. The word “Yahrzeit” is not mem-
tioned before the 16th century and is derived
from the German word Jahrzeit (the J is
pronounced as Y in German). This word was
used by the Christian Church to denote the
occasion for honoring the memory of the dead.
The word “Yahrzeit” thus originated among
the Jews of Germany as well as the practice
of reciting the Kaddish. Even Persian Jews
use this Yiddish word for the observance of
the anniversary of death.
At first the Spanish and Oriental Jews
were opposed to reciting Kaddish on the
Yahrzeit day, maintaining that it implied that
the deceased parent had remained in Gehenna
(hell) for more than a year. This opposition by
the Sephardim (the Spanish and Oriental
Jews) was later overcome when Rabbi Isaac
Luria, the great Cabalist, explained that even
the soul which was already in Gan Ayden (the
Garden of Eden) was elevated every vear to
a hieher sphere by the recital of Kaddish on
the Yahrzeit.
To avoid quarrels as to who should recite
the Kaddish first, the practice where all
mourners and Yahrzeit observers recite Kad
dish together, was introduced among the
Sephardim and, more recently, among the
Ashkenazim (Western Jews). In the 17th
Century, burning a Yahrzeit candle for twen
ty-four hours was still considered a strange
custom. Jewish scholars ascribe it to the in
fluence of the Church. But the custom soon
became Judaized, because Jews saw in the
burning light a symbol of man’s soul.
Among the Chasidim (Mystics), the obser
vance of Yahrzeit was transformed from an
occasion of mourning to one of joy. Chasidism
arose in Poland in the 18th century and about
a century ago constituted almost half the
Jewish people. .They preached piety through
joy and observed the Yahrzeit of their rabbis
with hymns, religious dances and general re
joicing. The person observing the Yahrzeit
passed around brandy, H or some other such
drink, and cakes among the worshippers. This
custom spread in America also among the
Mi^nagdim (opponents of Chasidim).
RABBI ISRAEL GERBER Charlotte, N.C.
JEWISH CALENDAR
FAST OF ESTHER
March 3, Thursday
•PURIM
March 6. Sunday
PASSOVER
First Day,
April 5, Tuesday
Eighth Day,
April 12, Tuesday
LAG B’OMER
May 8, Sunday
•SHAVUOT
May 25-26, Wednesday
and Thursday
FAST OF TUMMUZ
July 5, Tuesday
TISHAH B’AV
July 26, Tuesday
•ROSH HASHONAH
Thursday and Friday
September 15-16,
•YOM KIPPUR
September 24, Saturday
•HOLIDAY BEGINS
SUNDOWN PREVIOUS DAY