Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 31 March 1967 — Page 4

Friday, March 31, 1967

Spectator Editor: Services Great Debate Russian Termed Disgraceful

Little Understood, Too Long

NEW YORK — Modem Jews have lost the span of attention and concentration required by regular Sabbath services extending over two or three hours and which they little understand, Trude Weiss-Rosmarin told the annual kallah of the New York Metropolitan Region of the Rabbinical Assembly of America (conservative). The editor of “Hie Jewish Spectator” told the approximately one hundred rabbis she advocated an abbreviated service without repetitions of prayers. She would use the time taken from prayer services for study sessions in the synagogue. IN ORDER TO preserve the worship atmosphere, she proposed study sessions brssed on the familiar prayers and hymns HELP PAY A DEBT Thousandi of Jewish families •re alive today, rescued from the Nazi terror by the selfless heroism of the Scandinavian people during World War II. i You can express your gratitude by contributing to a $1 million Scholarship Fund in their name, this program is bringing young Scandinavians to study in the United States. Send your contribution (tax deductible) to: Victor Borge, National Chairman f HANKS TO SCANDINAVIA, INC. 527 Madison Avenue New York, Naw York 10022

of the service. She pointed out that those prayer texts which are familiar to virtually every Jew should be studied with a view to highlighting their idea content. Thus, Dr. Weiss - Rosmarin said, the very first sentence of the Shema Yisrael, affirming the Oneness, or rather the Uniqueness, of God should be made the springboard of a study in depth of what Judaism teaches on God. Then, she added, “every time the Shema is being intoned, those who have studied it in depth, will be thrilled by the joy of recognition, remembering what they learned. Dr. Weiss - Rosmarin cautioned the rabbis against a study of the Siddur concentrating on origins, authorship, etc. of the prayers. This should come later, she said, after the “great ideas” and the “profound philosophy” of the most frequently repeated prayers have been absorbed. She said that such a prayer opening as: “My God, the soul which you have given me — it is pure!” (elohai neshamah shenata li tehora hee), is the most succinct affirmation of indeterminism and ethical freedom. “It is the very antithesis of the Christian belief in original sin and man’s unfreedom to attain salvation by his own efforts and free will decision.” SHE ALSO SAID that some of the Psalms recited at Sabbath services, even in English translation, are meaningless to most worshippers because their semantics is obscure. She suggested that those psalms should be replaced by other Psalms. She argued that, instead of reading Psalm 92 responsively at Friday evening services, Psalm 19

News OF TH€ PKST

(Continued from proceeding page) that is a moral choice,” he said. “In Vietnam you can’t eliminate one and eliminate the second at the same time. They are both things we’d like to see happen at the same time but we

can’t.”

RABBI ROLLER agrees that the people of Vietnam should have the right to select the kind of government they want. Rabbi Wolf denounced the war from the pulpit and asked members of his congregation — whether they shared his opinion or not —- to express theirs in

writing.

But as far as Rabbi Wolf is concerned, the Vietnam war is unjust “and we deserve to lose it; what our country says it wants and what it usually does are not congruent; what our government tells us is happening in Vietnam is very often not happening, and the wily hope for peace in Asia is unconditional negotiation. There is only slim hope the latter will be realized, he said.

should be read because "it conveys a sense of the Ineffable night in the opening passage, ‘The Heavens tell of God’s glory and the firmament declares His deeds.’ ” Dr. Weiss - Rosmarin said, “There is no need to study Jewish history at synagogue services. On the other hand, the understanding of the meaning of the prayers in depth will open up new insights into Jewish history.” Dr. Weiss - Rosmarin first suggested abbreviated prayers and “lecture-sermons” in 1951, so as to make Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur services “lasting experiences” for three-days-a-year Jews.

ft, W«L M

Russians Take tazar Capital I Sviatoslav’s Forets Press 0a gainst Fierce Kkaxar Resistance By Our Correspondent |NTTVOPl.E, 15 At. — lilt, of the kingdom of HhnanrU. jj^^ptured yesterdnv |>Y thn force* of S\ Latoulftv tered Kh&zar •long ^Of Use tiMi L C*o-

Vol. II Just OutJ f

SPANISH JEWRY FETES CHASDAI IBN SHAPRUT AT CORDOVA BANQUET By Moam Ben Solomon . CORDOVA; 16 Av— The Jews of Andalbn (the Cordova Caliphate) last night paid homage to their distinguished leader, ex-M1n-later Chasdal |bn ShapruL At a banquet held In honour of the great Jewish .'rtate.vman, -the leaders of

EGYPTIAN CAPITAL FALLS TO JEWISH FATIMID GENERAL

Jauhar-Paltiel's Army Cheered As It Marches Through Fuslat Only250Ml', from Jerusalem

By Oar' Correspondent

FUST AT, Si At. — Amidst the roll of a hundred drums and with flags fluttering In the wind, the Jewish eom-

ml Jauhar-Paltlel, yesterday led the vleo€ Caliph Mo lx* Into Foetal, the capital

thousand t through *ta, which wildly

Bulletin

Kailmid army, lead-

ed by ih* Berber comman-

der,. dWfer bea Failaefc, at the gates at 1~ ^

retlnbly j rale* tine

The

NEW FATIMID

CAPITAL: KAHIAA (Clrontcki Jftut Brrvfct}

FUSTAT, M Av.-— I Art night Ceneml J«uh»r J’iUtlfl. ror,TT..M.r of CtllpKj Molzx'a torca, omclnlly Inia th» foundation ot'IM Callph'a new capital, to ho known as ■ El Kahlra. ■—! which means "the yJcto. .The General dteag u DM capital'a alt* a apot not fair from Fuslat. to the north. After a consultation with

*» the Kina’* astrototer* (Pah. ■a Uel la Mmaetf an aetroto* f r'f of eoaaMerable acta),

pmelaa moment waa

‘ at.whtek (

From the Maccabean revolt to the golden age of Spanish Jewry Vol. I - Abraham thru the Prophets History In Newspaper Format EXCITING! INTERESTING! DRAMATIC! price: $3.50 per volume Both volumes now available at your local bookstore, religious articles dealer or sisterhood gift shop. if unavailable write: Chronicles, 870 East New York Ave. / Brooklyn, N.Y. 11230 (tel: 212-IN 7-5973) * . •

Morris Abram

Abram Lets Go At Delegate GENEVA — The sharpest attack on Russia by a Jewish spokesman was delivered here by Morris Abram, president of the American Jewish Committee. Mr. Abram spoke as chief U.S. delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Responding to a remark by Yakub A. Ostrovski, whose thrusts as head of the Soviet delegation have often bordered on anti-Semitism, that this was not a meeting of the American Jew-

ish Committee, Abram said:

"I DEEPLY REGRET that my Soviet colleague has exceeded the normal standard of conduct here by twice making reference to my Jewish conneo lions. I understand also that he

. / f i has indulged in religious implit 1 cations with respect to another

member who is Jewish in the deliberations of a working party. I have many private connections with foundations, colleges and universities, one of them a Negro college, and numerous civil right* organizations and bar groups in

the United States. The Soviet delegate, however, has now twice referred in two caustic and sarcastic terms to my connection with the American Jewish Committee. Of that affiliation, as with all others — Jewish and non-Jewish — I am proud.” Continuing, Mr. Abram said that singling out of the American Jewish Committee was no mere slip of the tongue, but “in keeping with the policy, which has become iiJamous in all the world, of claiming non-discrimination and tolerance while practicing discrim-

ination and repression.”

“It is a disgrace,’’ Mr. Abram went on, “that in this place, the Human Rights Commission, and at this session at which we have passed the historic draft Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Religious Intolerance, that the Soviet delegate should raise this crude implication. I am a man, but he would not refer to me as that, I am an American; he did not so identify me. I am honored to be the American representative; he said nothing of this. I am a Jew and president of the American Jewish Committee. This he chose to mention in an obviously angry and polemical way. The choice of this one association, to which the Soviet delegate has now twice referred, shows what all mankind now knows — that deep prejudice which has been deplored by Communist parties in

other states.”

CONCLUDING, MR. ABRAM reminded the Soviet delegate of the manifestation of anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union and of the fact that Communist parties around the world had been morally compelled to denounce the infamous Kichko book which was published under Soviet imprimatur. The crude attitude of the Soviet Union, Mr. Abram went on, “is now unmasked," adding that, contrary to Mr. Ostrovski's “pious adherence to high principle” the Soviet delegate “has displayed his bias by his barely concealed and coded message here.” At the same time the AJC president asserted that he regretted with all his heart both the fact that he had been forced to make the statement and that there was need for making it. Arguing for the need of establishing a new United Nations office under a High Commissioner for Human Rights, Israeli representative on the commission, Supreme Court Justice Haim H. Cohn, condemned the Soviet Union’s “policy of forcible assimilation” of its Jewish nationals. Without mentioning the Soviet Union but leaving no doubt about the direction of his statement, Justice Cohn said the commission must “find ways and means to bring home to all nations, even the most powerful and prestigious among them, that the right to freedom of religious and racial minorities are being watched and taken care of by the international commu-

nity.”

FOLLOWING ADDITIONAL debate, the Soviet delegate reiterw ated his earlier blast at American Jewish Committee president Morris Abram, accusing him of taking orders from American Jewry and the Zionists and of thus serving two masters, the U.S. and the Jewish community. When the proposal for the establishment of a new office came to a vote, it was approved by 20 to 7, with two abstentions. The resolution recommends to the U.N. General Assembly establishment of the post of High Commissioner for Human Rights.

JUDAICA Jewish Ritual & Ceremonial Art

MICHAEL &AMFMAN