Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 24 November 1999 — Page 18

NAT 10 November 24. 1999 Digest of the Yiddish Press Hebrew by the byte

Tape teaches Torah Reviewed by MARVIN MIGDOL

By RABBI SAMUEL SILVER One of the miracles in Jewish history is the rebirth in Israel of conversational Hebrew. That saddened the Yidd ishists who had hoped that new

country would adopt mame loshen. Now that Hebrew has been established, the Hebraists are reducing their hostility to Yiddish. Two years ago the Israeli Kenesset created and funded an organization to promote the use of Yiddish. Tnat action resulted in the formation of a month-long Yiddish festival in the land. It was dubbed "Yiddish Lebt," "Yiddish lives." Opening the festival was a - friendly dialogue in Tel Aviv between a Hebraist, Abraham Meged and the head of the Yiddish Institute, Dr. Abraham Melamed. They spoke about the need for the amiable coexistence of the two languages. Hundreds attended the gathering, including a firsttime convocation of the Yiddish clubs in Israel under the leadership of Melech Ziv, the executive director of the Yiddish Institute. In the Forward a full page spread records the happenings of the festival.An organization called Language Teacher has created a Yiddish-English dictionary that can be accessed by computer. The service includes 50,000 Yiddish words and their English equivalents and 100 idioms. It is also available in book form. For information call 1-800-710-7920. (Dr. Rachmiel Fishbein, the Algemeiner Journal.) Editor's edict irks Years ago Time Magazine, whose founder, Henry Luce, was the son of a Christian missionary, had a slight tinge of anti-Jewishness. Those days are gone forever, as Time-Warner is headed by Gerald Levin and the magazine's editor-in-chief is Norman Pearlstine. But you

can be Jewish and still have a little self-hate. Proof? Early this year Pearlstine sent a directive to his writers: Never use a Yiddish word, even it if has become an English idiom. When that occurred the students in Yiddish courses at Columbia University sent a strong letter to Pearlstine, upbraiding him, arguing that the English language has been enriched by the verbalisms of many other tongues. In the Forward, Miriam ShmulevitchHoffman, who teaches Yiddish at Columbia, reprinted her students' broadside. It isn't clear whether the letter . was written in English or Yiddish. Hoffman writes that William Safire, who writes about language in the Sunday New York Times, recently asked her to check the meanings of some Yiddishims about which he wanted to write. Hoffman also reports that Yiddish has even reached entrance into legal documents. A survey disclosed that many judicial decisions have utilized chutzpah, shmooz, kibbitz, klutz, etc. And she hears that chutzpah made it in a decision by the Supreme Court's Antonin Scalia. Harsh critic In a letter to the editor of the Algemeiner Journal, Rabbi Seymour Hirschman, a psychologist and author of a book called Let Us Not Destroy Ourselves, discusses the desire of Reform rabbis to be permitted to do weddings in Israel, something they are not now permitted to do. He has some harsh things to say about Reform. Examples: "Isaac Mayer Wise, founder of their seminary in Cincinnati, said he did not believe in a Messiah nor resurrection. The students at the Hebrew Union College were required to study the Koran and the New Testament but not the Talmud." Also, Dr. Kaufmann Kohler (once head of HUC) "sanctioned marriage to gentiles and referred to circumcision as barbaric." Also, "A study of Reform clergy in 1972 reported that only one in ten of them believed in God. Most of them described their theology as being atheistic and agnostic.

What's that you say? You would like to learn more about Judaism but you don't have the time? Better get another excuse, because you can now listen to stimulating, provocative lessons on the entire cycle of Torah portions from Reform sources. Become a maven while driving or getting ready in the bathroom. The Union of American Hebrew Congregations and Hebrew Union College-Jew-ish Institute of Religion has released Engaging Torah: Contemporary Insights on Tape, a project that took more than a decade to complete. It's a collection of 28 attention-getting cassette tapes, which make studying religion anything but boring. Students hear a Parashah (a portion of the Torah read each week in the synagogue) with commentary by Reform rabbis, UAHC leaders, and HUC-JIR scholars with a variety of views and backgrounds. Among the readers are UAHC President Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, Rabbi Lawrence Kushner (When Bad Things Happen To Good People), Dm Greenwood, and Dr. Carole Balin. For example, Dr. Michael Chernick gives an interesting modem commentary on Genesis l:l-6:8. Some Orthodox Jews may find fault with the view that Adam and Eve live a type of myth, but few can

In 1990, 25 percent of them were intermarried." Also, "They discarded the word Zion from their prayer books but still come to cause* trouble in Zion at the Kotel with their mixed-gender sessions." Furthermore, "Often Reform congregations dedicate Torahs. Since they reject Torah, they are suffering from a psychological malady known as hypocrisy." School founder honored The Institute for Advanced Studies is the name of one of the world's greatest yeshivot. Located in Lakewood, N.J., it was founded by a great scholar-administrator. Rabbi Aaron Kotler (1892-1962. On the occasion of Kotler's 58th yahrzeit the Algemeiner Journal devotes a full page to the school, which specializes in Continued on page 14

find fault with his articulation or thoughtfulness. In Genesis 6:9-11:32, Dr. Norman J. Cohen refers to the snake in Adam and Eve as a phallic symbol due to its shape. Sidrah Stories, a free audio cassette, is included with interpretations of Bible stories, along with a brief study guide.

By RABBI REUVEN BULKA Misconception: Shabbat is a day of rest. If Shabbat is a day of rest, rabbis are in deep trouble. They work harder on the

Shabbat than on any other day of the week, so that they who preach about the Shabbat are some of the worst offenders. This is only so if one assumes that Shabbat is a day of rest. In fact, this is not precisely true.

The tapes can be ordered for $180 through the UAHC Press toll free at 1-888-489-UAHC, or through the Web Site at http: //uahcpress.com. In this reviewer's opinion, the cassettes are a bargain and can play a significant role in extending Torah knowledge.

Shabbat is more precisely linked to cessation. On this day, one ceases from being involved in material creativity. Instead, the major thrust of our energies is directed toward human fulfillment. Nothing is cooked, nothing is baked, nothing is sewn, nothing is built. Only human interaction and direct human experience are the order of the day. Shabbat is different. Shabbat is a change, but it is not intended to be a rest. It is intended to be an invigorating experience. The rabbi or cantor who words hard on Shabbat works in the context of pedagogical, inspirational activity. This is work, this is sweat; this is not rest; but this is an appropriate endeavor for Shabbat. *

Quotation of the week What next? United Jewish Communities hires a private eye to find out who leaked the news that it hired a private eye to find out who leaked the news that it considered giving an award to Yasser Arafat? Enough leaks, enough Pis, and UJC could put a tune to the saga and market it as post-post-modern take on "Had Gadya," but that's all UJC would have to show for its efforts. That and the egg running down the esteemed faces carved into the Jewish establishments Har Rushmore. UJC was supposed to be U.S. Jewry's answer to corporate consolidation. Competing fiefdoms (United Jewish Appeal, Council of Jewish Federations, United Israel Appeal) merged into one mighty kingdom. Efficiency and unity were promised in place of bureaucracy, factionalism and duplication. The merger had its critics, who suspected that bigger might not be better. But it's doubtful that even the least enthusiastic observers ever thought we'd end up with not a well-oiled machine but a creaky vaudeville act. UJC shouldn't get the hook, regardless of how bad its performance has been, but it must get its act together. Pratfalls may be funny, but they're stumbling blocks to serious business. And if managing a philanthropic network that raises three-quarters of a billion dollars isn't serious business, we don't know what is. UJC has to put the nonsense behind it and get to work. Now. UJC has to demonstrate to the Jewish people that it is smarter than it has thus far appeared. It has to prove that it has learned key lessons of the 20th century as it enters the 21st. The first of these lessons is that cover-ups are ethically challenged and politically stupid. We know who leads UJC, and we know they were around to watch Richard Nixon and Bill Continued on page 12 Misconceptions

Shabbat not for the lazy