Newspaper Page Text
Pag* Tan
Friday, Dac. 13, 1968
Compliment*
of the
ATLANTA
FISH, INC.
662 Mean* Street, N.W.
876-6331
‘Mai Hanuka”
By DR. EDWARD T. SANDROW
Rabbi of Temple Betti El, Cedarhnnt, UL
Paat President N.Y. Board of Rabbi*
Hanuka i* a spiritual holiday,
par excellence. Children know it
as the festival of the dreddel, the
spinning top. Adults relive the
military prowess of Judah Ma-
cabee and his brothers. Teachers
and preachers point to the Men-
orah and retell the absorbing
KELLY’S CLUTCH SERVICE CO.
21# Memorial Dr., S.E. — Atlanta, Ga.
525-1602
A HAPPY HANUKA
POWELL AND COMPANY
INSURANCE
3TT-*«92 DECATUR, GEORGIA
A Happy Hanuka
B. Q. Martin Florist Shop
1891 Cheshire Bridge Road, N. E.
875-2332 Day or Night
Gracious Holiday Greetings
Artlite Office Supply Co.
1869 Piedmont Ave., N. E.
874-6355
VERY HAPPY GREETINGS
COOK’S PHARMACY
3918 N
Druid Hills Road
634 - 7302
Decaur, Ga.
The Best of the Season to All
TASSIE’S COMMUNITY
BUSINESS SERVICES
108 Pryor Street, S. E.
Direct
Mailing-Copying
Laminating &
Secretarial Services
523-8113
Greetings . . .
TUXEDO PHARMACIES
Reliable Druggists
3659 Roe well Road, N.E.
233-2112
Medical Center at Lenox Square
233-4497
1943 Peachtree Road
355-7333
WE FEATURE LOFT'S KOSHER CANDIES
legend about the tiny cruse of oil
which kept the eight branched
candelabra. lit for a week. But
Hanuka, albeit a minor festive
occasion, is a holiday of trans
cendent importance in the Jew
ish religious calendar. The rabbis
out of impatience ask “Mai Han
uka?” “Why Hanuka?” Why do
you miss the whole thrust of it?
The lights are holy. Hanuka is
not the celebration of a military
triumph. It is not an experience
calculated to entertain the young
sters. It is a ‘dedication’ - a ‘com
mitment’ to a way of life and a
world which brings man closer to
^ God and his fellow man in a
spirit of peace and justice.” It is
a call to Jews to continue to be
society’s ioonoclasts, the “smash
ers of the world’s idols” which
have brought man to the abyss
of moral calamity, of persecution,
hate, thermonuclear warfare, so
cial injustice. The tragedy is
that the world has not caught up
with the basic message of Han
uka.
Why is Hanuka filled with the
sparks of religious idealism? It
speaks of man’s relationship with
God. It echoes the concept that
man is “made in the image of
God.” It reminds us that man has
autonomy. He has free will, but
he tends always to make decis
ions according to his own egoc-
entricity rather than being true
to the image of God within him.
How do we know? Nellie Sachs,
the Nobel Poet Laureate, writes
about the agony and death of
Jews under Hitler in which she
describes the annihilation of
human beings including chil
dren in which “the image was
defaoed.” She is horrified at the
thought that men “delight in
death rather than life.” The Hol
ocaust came and went and men
still engage in the shocking
misery of war and poverty and
racism and anti-Semitism.
We belong to a small people.
We are bearers of a dream for
mankind. We have a “vocation”
in this world. We are needed by
this society. Everyone, the Black
and White and Puerto Rican and
Indian, the poor, the underprivi
leged, the exploited, the mental
ly retarded, the aged—all must
achieve full rights and the Jews
have a responsibility to help
achieve these social and demo
cratic goals. For this we must
strengthen our Jewish roots, our
traditions, our language, the fact
that the Almighty is One, that
our four thousand year old cul
ture gives us our raison d’etre.
Otherwise, we must ask again
with dour Talmudic stages “Mai
Hanuka?” “Why this fuss about
Hanuka? You are missing the
point!”
Hanuka should take on the
mature and deeply spiritual
meaning it had for our sages.
The light of the divine, the torch
of the Menorah is still a goal, a
potentiality. For the Jew who
faces our society realistically, it
calls for spiritual health which
affirms goodness even though we
do not yet see the flame of per
fection. It calls for Jewish iden
tity through religious and moral
commitment. It calls for a sense
of covenant to Torah, the living
of a Jewish style of life and a
Holiday
Greeting’s
*
NELSON
Brokerage
Company
Terminal St., N.W.
523-2817
Atlanta, Georgia
sacrificial concern for Israel —
Israel the people and Israel the
State. The light of freedom must
never be dimmed in the land of
our forefathers cleansed twenty
years ago and rededicated to lib
erty and freedom. Hanuka was
relived in 1948 and 1987 and the
enemies which surround Jerusa
lem must never be allowed to
desecrate its temple of democ
racy.
All this presents a challenge to
the American Jew to struggle
for the right otf his people and
make relevant the universal
values of our faith at one and
the same time. Hie world yearns
for social changes and the unity
of mankind. Let us light the Han
uka Menorah and let the flamee
increase In intensity lifting us to
greater hope in spite of the dark
ness which tends to envelop us.
Let the Jew with oourage show
the world what love of God and
man truly mean In terms of free
dom and the holiness of Life.
Gracious Greeting’s
Whited Employment Exchange
Professional Help Carefully Screened
116H Whitehall St, S.W.
523-2211 and 523-3529
GRACIOUS GREETINGS
Plumbing & Heating Engineering Co., Inc.
3551 Chamblee Dunwoody Road 451-5456
Chamblee, Georgia
Contracting and Repairs
Southeastern Engraving Co. Inc.
177 HARRIS STREET. N.W.
Photo Engravers—High Quality Engravings
In Black, White and Color Process
We Specialize in Printing Plates
Phone 625-0628
The Very Best Good Wishes
MARTIN & JONES
PRODUCE CO., INC.
State Farmers Market
Forest Park, Ga.
PO. 7-0535
Gracious Greetings
TRINITY GLASS COMPANY, INC.
326 East Howard Ave., Decatur
Mirrors - Shower enclosures - Deck tops - Glazing
378-2595