Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 10 November 1999 — Page 18

NAT 10 November 10. 1999

Digest of the Yiddish Press Topic worthwhile; telling is dull

Probe called ‘witchhunt

By RABBI SAM SILVER The editor of the Algemeiner Journal is "shocked" by what has been termed "the Bibi witchhunt." During the last few months

the Israeli police have three times entered the Netanyahu home and have taken valuables, jewels and other objects on the apparent suspicion that they were gifts given to them but which belong to the government. Sara Netanyahu has been carted off to the police to answer questions about some of her possessions. The editorial expresses astonishment that Likudnicks haven't protested the behavior of the police. And what about some of Bibi's admirers in the United States? Why, asks the editor, have they remained silent in the face of this questionable activity? Woman aids Ukraine Jews A remarkable woman is Judith Wolf, of Boston. Almost single-handedly she has created a link between the Jews of her city and the Jewish community of Dnepropetrovsk, in the Ukraine, where her parents originated. She has visited the city some 20 times, often in the company of other women and sometimes with doctors who have helped the people in the Ukraine City medically. The American Jewish Congress has cooperated with her in her beneficent cause. She has helped create a Jewish congregation in the Ukraine City where, for the first time, some of the Ukrainian Jews experienced a worship service and an Oneg Shabbat. (Michael Zhazin, in the Forward.) Rabbi!comic gets company In the pulpit Rabbi Robert Alper is an earnest expositor of Reform Judaism. But he has another persona. He has brought laughter to audiences

all over the country as "The World's Only Rabbi Who Does Comedy On Purpose." Influenced by his example, Gary Rosenblatt, editor of the New York newspaper. The Jewish Week, sponsored a program of rabbis spouting humor at Manhattan's Comedy Club. According to the Forward, the program was a hit. A cluster of rabbis exhibited their humor to an appreciative audience. A number wore yarmulkes. Ellie Landon, a student of Stem College, said that her rabbi uses levity to keep the congregation awake. The one who made the biggest hit was William Fleishman, who is on the faculty of a yeshiva in Paramus, N.J. His routine was about his bachelorhood. . One rabbi said that he now begins his sermon with an amusing story. If he doesn't, congregants set up a howl. 'Yiddish Week' a hit That Yiddish is attracting more and more young people is evidenced by the growth of attendance at a "Yiddish Week" sponsored every summer by the League for Yiddish. It takes place at a camp called Boiberik in New York State. The first gathering in 1976 brought an attendance of six youngsters. This summer 191 were on hand. And many of the young people brought their parents to the gathering. Some of those on hand were not Jewish but gentiles who have become interested in mame lashon. Some attendees were secular and some wereyarmulke-wearing traditionalists. Under the direction of Benjamin Schechter, a staff of instructors and lecturers held forth on literature, art and music. There were performances by dancers and musicians and a number of sing-a-longs. Those interested in joining the group next summer can get data from the League, 200 W. 72 St., New York City 10023. (Baile Gottesman, in the League periodical, Oifn Shvel, (On the Threshold). Writers' query Writers often provide inforContinued on page 14

Reviewed by MORTON I. TEICHER

The Fighting Rabbis, by Albert Isaac Slomovitz. New York: New York University Press. 1999,171 pp., $35. Albert Isaac Slomovitz, a navy chaplain at the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Fla., tells the saga of fellow-rabbis serving as chaplains in the American armed forces. He became a chaplain imrhediately after being ordained in 1979 and he has now reached the rank of captain, the equivalent of a colonel in the army. In 1995, he earned his Ph.D. at Loyola University of Chicago with a dissertation that is the basis for this book, bearing the same title. After a couple of very brief, references to military chaplains before the Civil War, Slomovitz recounts the story of how the law was changed for the Union forces, making it possible for clergymen other than Christians to serve as chaplains. A few rabbis served as hospital chaplains and one of them eventually became a regimental chaplain. In the Confederate army, confusing evidence suggests that one rabbi may have served as a chaplain. In any case, the Civil War paved the way for rabbi« to serve as military chaplains. During the years between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of World War I, anti-Semitic attitudes in the society at large and in the military in particular blocked the appointment of rabbis as chaplains. However, during World War I, 25 rabbis were permitted to enlist for active duty and they ministered to about 250,000 Jewish soldiers. They were helped by the Jewish Welfare Board, which was sponsored by the entire Jewish community to provide some 300 field workers and auxiliary rabbis at camps and bases. The Jewish Welfare Board built buildings that were used for religious, recreational and social services. Many of these buildings were turned over to the government after the war. Despite the anti-Semitism that flourished between the two World Wars, exemplified by such hate-mongers as Father Coughlin and Henry Ford, rabbis continued to serve as chaplains with a number joining the Reserve Chaplain Corps. The Jewish Welfare Board maintained relationships with Jewish soldiers. During World War II, more than 300 rabbis served as

chaplains for more than 550,000 Jewish soldiers, sailors and Marines. They also ministered to non-Jewish service personnel and they helped to save thousands of Holocaust survivors. The author describes some of the issues these rabbis had to resolve, such as observing kashrut and the Sabbath and conducting funerals on Saturday. He also recounts instances of anti-Semitic bias they encountered, including particularly grievous bigotry by Gen. George S. Patton. While a few human-inter-est episodes are mentioned, by and large this author mistakenly assumes he must be dull to be scholarly. The result

is a rather plodding recital of what is truly a splendid series of stirring experiences in American Jewish history. The most exciting thing about the book is its title. The academic apparatus documenting the author's extensive research undoubtedly impressed his dissertation committee. For the general reader, however, a few less footnotes and a bit more animation would have invigorated this significant story. Dr. Morton I. Teicher is the founding dean of the Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Yeshiva University and Dean Emeritus, School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Ml.

Polgars to buy home in Israel

BUDAPEST—The famous Polgar family which has produced world chess titleholders has decided to spend part of the year in Israel but will not be making full aliyah. The family includes Judit, 23, who beat Karpov last year and Zsusa, 30, who became the world's first female grandmaster in 1991 and now lives in New York with her Israeli husband and baby son. Judit

was the world's top-ranking woman player in 1988 and intends to remain in Hungary. The father, Laszlo, said that he and wife, Klara, intend to live for at least half the year in an apartment they have bought in Bat Yam, although they will not be making aliyah formally. The other daughter, Zsofi already lives in Israel.

Misconceptions

Candles for kinder

By RABBI REUVEN BULKA Misconception: For each child, one must add one more candle for kindling the Shabbat lights. It is not rare that one finds

families who light candles according to family size. In a family with seven children, nine candles are lit, and in a family with three children five are lit, and so forth. There are those who do add one candle for each child, beginning, upon marriage (without children), with the two required candles.

However, there is no obligation to add a candle for each child. The practice of adding one candle for each child may be related to another law. If one should forget to light candles on any given Shabbat, then one is obliged to add a candle permanently from then on. After childbirth, it is possible that the mother would spend a Shabbat in the hospital. She might forget to light the Shabbat candles that week, thus necessitating the compensation of one extra candle from then on. Although it is not obligatory to add a candle for each child, there certainly is nothing wrong with such practice. There is much significance to adding a candle for each child. After all, each child adds a measure of brightness to the home!