THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
THE COLLECTION OF NORTH CAROLINIANA
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1959
1959 September Kcsh Haskomk 5720
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VOLUME XXV
SEPTEMBER 1959
= EDITORIALS
Thoughts on the High Holy Days
By Rabbi Joseph Asher Temple Emanuel, Greensboro, N. C.
While the Holy Days of our calendar are of prime concern for Jews, our thoughts and aspirations at this time cannot re- main confined to matters of personal and parochial interest alone.
We utilize, it is true, these days for intimate contempla- tion. We think of the year that is past, its joys and sorrows, its rewards and disappointments. We also take time to voice our hopes and aspirations for the coming year, even pledging new resolves that will vest our lives with greater meaning and use- fulness.
These Holy Days are also to bring into focus our lives as Jews, part of the whole complex of the Jewish people. Another year has been added to our long and often glorious history. The precarious balance of history has so conditioned us that we ask as though by reflex: is it good or bad for the Jews? As we look back upon this past year we may say that it represented a re- spite from the manifold pressures that so often beset our people. Even from that segment of our people most exposed to religious prejudice and political discrimination, namely, the Jews of the Iron Curtain countries, rays of light, even if only dim ones, are to be seen. The past year has seen Jews emerging from the iso- lation of Rumania and Poland to rejoin the body of our people here or in Israel. A beginning, we hope, of a greater flow to freedom yet to come.
The State of Israel in its 12 th year continues to astound the free world with its comparative political and economic sta- bility in the midst of a sea of upheaval and churning revolu- tions.
Again the prognosticators of gloom have been proven wrong in their dire predictions for the future of American Ju- daism. In spite, or perhaps because of, the recurrence of attacks on Jewish institutions in different parts of the land by what is sure to be a lunatic fringe of hate-peddlers the American Jew- ish community emerged unscathed, testifying to its increasing maturity as a distinct and distinctive cultural and religious en- tity in our nation of many cultures and religons.
Thus the question: is it good or bad for the Jews? might well be answered: it is good for the Jews.
We are equally concerned with the state of the world as a whole. Not only because we know from long and often bitter historic experience that universal equinimity produces tran- quility for our people, but also because we are inextricably bound up with the fluctuations of world history. If we have seen during this year a lessening of international tensions, how- ever superficial or short-lived they may be, we rejoice at these signs and fervently pray that they may lead to a continuing im- provement of world conditions.
Being a people dedicated to the highest standards of mor- ality and ethics, regardless of the consequences, we would urge
Chester A. Brown, Editor
that the price of the lessening of tensions shall not be the com- promising of the great ideals on which America has been found- ed. No peace established on the betrayal of the essential values of our republic can possibly be worthy of the word 'peace.'
In order to comprehend the meaning and function of these Holy Days we turn to the prayers of its liturgy. To their ma- jestic language urging personal and universal salvation we must add the fervor of our own prayers that flow from our hearts. They need to be undergirded by a sense of personal consecration and commitment to the teachings of our religion and a reaffirmation of our loyalties to our people and the whole family of man.
Wishing alone will not make it so, but actual commitment
may.
As the awesome tones of the Shfoar call upon us to serve God and our fellow man, we pray that they will reach the ears of all men and become the signal for another step toward the Messianic Age.
L'shana Tova Tikatevu. May all of us be inscribed for a year of life and peace.
The 12th Annual B'nai B'rith Institute
A. D. Gordon, Franz Rosenzweig, Kaufmann Kohler, Her- man Cohen, A. Kuk, Ahad Haam, Solomon Schechter, Martin Buber . . . how many of these names ring a bell for any ex- cept the scholars among us? And yet they are all men who have played most important parts in the advancement of Judaism in this country and abroad.
It was among these notables, and others, that we lived at Wildacres at the 12th annual B'nai B'rith Institute of Juda- ism, August 2nd through the 6th. Their fascinating stories were told to us by the able faculty of the Institute, which this year included Rabbis Ephraim Fischoff, Emanuel Rack- man, and Mordecai Waxman. In carrying out the theme, "Modern Jewish Thinkers," these eminent scholars spoke before a rapt audience of 80 students — the largest Institute of them all. As the past and current Jewish scene unfolded, there was genuine regret that this banquet of choice delicacies had of necessity to come to an end.
Incidentally, the over-capacity attendance poses a serious problem for the Institute management. Since it seems that it will be impossible to add to the accommodation facilities at the Blumenthal estate — and since holding it elsewhere would deprive the event of so much of its charm, the question be- comes one of how to take care at future Institutes, of all those who will want to come. This is a relatively new situation, as in most previous Institutes there was the reverse problem of getting an adequate attendance.
The only suggestion that occurs to us at the present is to limit the Institute to B'nai B'rith members and their immedi- ate families. After all, the Institute is a B'nai B'rith project,
(P!ease Turn to Page 18)
The Amskican Jewish Times-Outlook, published monthly at 530 Southeastern Building, P. O. Box 1469, Greensboro, N. C. Chester A. Brown, Editor; David Bernstein, Pub- lisher; Nathan Kesslcr, Manager, Virginia Office; Seymour Messitte, Associate Editor; Florence Byers, Virginia News Editor: Broad Grace Arcade, P. O. Box 701, Richmond, Va. Member Seven Arts Feature Syndicate, Inc. $2.00 per year payable in advance. Entered as Second-Class Matter at the Post Office at Greensboro, N. C, under Act of March
jS. 1879. The views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the publishers, but may be published in the interest of freedom of the presfi. Thi American Jewish
~Fu»«B-0»TfcooK is owned and edited solely as an independent enterprise and is not a Jewish community undertaking.
6
The American Jewish TIMES-OUTLOOK
PLAIN TALK
By ALFRED SEGAL
Contents
Editorials 5
Plain Talk— Alfred Segal 6
Woman of the Month — Jennie Grossinger 8
Reflections on the American Scene — Abba Eban 9
The Return to Prayer — Harry E. Wedeck H
First Love — William Ornstein 13
American Notables — Major Alfred Mordecai —
by Harry Simonhoff 15
A Visit With Justice Frankfurter — Murray Frank 20
Zalmar Schneour — Itzhak Ivry 23
Our People In Europe — Jack H. Gordun 24
Where a Synagogue Used To Be — Trude Dub 25
Student Services — Anita Engle . 28
Why Did O. Henry Become O. Henry 30
What the Shofar Says — Rabbi Samuel M. Silver 34
Time and Judgement — Ben Nathan 36
Ray of Hope in the Tunis Ghetto — Paul Lieber 38
A Sage Has Fallen — Dr. Oscar Z .Fassman _. . 40
A Time of War — Barbara M. Ribakove 42
A Program For Jewish Teen-Agers — Burton Donner 44
Inbal — Sara Levi-Tanai 46
Brynwood, Greenwood and Kenwood — Rabbi Joseph L. Baron 49
The Ultimate Cruelty — Arnold Forster 51
A Sermonette — Nathan Ziprin 56
The Ceremony Takes 18 Minutes — E. L. Levey 70
"Nusach Ari" — A Strange Ceremony. — Alfred H. Paul 71
Rosh Hashonah Among The Indians — Ben Schocher 73
Seeming Economic Waste 74
The Frank Lloyd Wright Synagogue — Philip Rubin ____ 76
Scientists at the Hebrew University — Lucien Meysels 89
North Carolina
Wilmington — Mrs. Norma May 43
Around Greensboro — Mrs. Richard Forman and
Mrs. Daniel Hollander 45
Salisbury — Mrs. S. W. Guyes 54
Charlotte Temple Israel — Mrs. Jerry Fisher 57
Weldon-Roanoke Rapids — Miss Louise Farber 60
Rocky Mount — Mrs. Louis Wald _ 61
Raleigh — Beth Meyer Synagogue — Mrs. Oscar Legum 62
Gastonia — Pauline B. Chinn 64
High Point — Mrs. David Lafferman . — 65
Statesville — Mrs. Milton Steinberger 67
South Carolina
Columbia — Mrs. Bernard Laden 55
Charleston 57
Spartanburg — Mrs. Stan Treinis and Mrs. Joel Tannenbaum 59
Virginia
Richmond Jewish War Veterans — Bert Simmons _ 69
Richmond Hadassah — Mrs. Allen Minko _ 69
Richmond J.W.V. Auxiliary 71
Roanoke ._ °^
Norfolk — Mrs. William Schwartz 100
Norfolk J. W V.— Fred Handel _. 100
Newport News — Mrs. Martha B. Shapiro 112
THEY RUN-AWAY
Another year gone! Another Rosh Hashonah come! So quick! So quick! It seems only the other day that mama was helping me to dress up in my best little suit to go with her and papa to schul . . . and papa asking, "You know what day
ALFRED SEGAL
this is? It is Rosh Hashonah, and do you know Rosh Hashonah? It is a new year. We are going to schul and see that you behave yourself there." I was about six years old.
Oh, the years run away so fast, and in no time it was Bar Mitzvah year for me, and papa was telling me that morning, "I hope you truly understand what it is all about. To- day you become really a Jew. Until now you have been a Jew only be- cause you were born that way. From here on you become a Jew who must understand what being a Jew means. Are you sure you under- stand?"
And I replied, "Yes, I got to put on t'fillim every morning."
"But is that all you know about being a Jew? papa asked. "There's a lot more to it."
Rosh Hashonah alter Rosh Has- honah — like today coming right after yesterday, and tomorrow al- ready in sight! Those veirs hurry one through school, and there came running a year when I was old enough to be thinking of what to make of my life.
That year papa asked me: "What do you think you're going to do with yourself? What work, what job, what profession?"
Willy, the boy who lived two doors away from us — he was two years older than I — had started to- ward the purpose of becoming a rabbi. We had been playing base- ball together and he was a good pitcher; I admired Willy. I replied to papa: "I'll go along with Willy; I'll try to be a rabbi, too."
So I entered Hebrew Union Col- lege in our town, to be educated into the Reform rabbinate. It was a time when the college was taking high school boys to make rabbis out of them during eight years. But there were only two of those eight years for me in the college, and I was put out of there, and papa was saying, "Maybe you can still help yourself to be a worth- while Jew after all. Why don't you try?"
Rosh Hashonah . . . and another Rosh Hashonah . . . and another— one running into the next in a hurry: but in that time of my life I wasn't noticing the swiftness of the years. Years go more slowly when you're young and it seemed a long time to my restive soul before I found a job as reporter on a news- paper — a long time before I was earning enough to marry Rose.
More than 50 Rosh Hashonahs have run away since that wedding day, and it seems no time at all since the hour I first looked at our first-born, Joe, in the hospital, and after him, Bernie and Dilly, and to- day this Segal already is the grand- pa of seven of whom all but one already are teen-agers. (Only the other day, it seems, these grandchil- dren were crawling along on our living room rug.)
When crawling on the rug had tired them, this grandpa cuddled them in his arms and thrilled at the joy of being an ancestor. But now! Those kids in their teens would rather go their own ways and grandpa no longer means much to them. Grandpa merely is that old- timer whose fluttering, aging heart feels troubled when those grand- sons go driving in the night; just an aging guy, and what does he know about living today? What can he know of the joy of driving that last on the roads? Poor, old grand- pa!
That's the way all those hurrying Rosh Hashonahs leave a man who only the other day, it seems, was looking joyously and prayerfully at his first-born; only the other day he was on Locust Street.
But I hope that no one who's reading this gets the idea that this is a sad Rosh Hashonah for this
Segal who has come through so many Rosh Hashonahs in a hurry. Anyway, through all those quick years he has managed to acquire a bit of wisdom . . . not much, but just enough to understand what Rosh Hashonah is all about.
Well, in schul, in this new year time, maybe I shall permit my mind (Please Turn to Page 44*)
The American Jewish TIMES-OUTLOOK
7
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The American Jewish TIMES-OUTLOOK
JENNIE GROSSINGER
Woman a£ ike MosttA
Jennie Grossinger
Fabulous Woman
Jennie Grossinger has spent so much time in Durham, N. C. in the past few years, that the Dur- ham community would like to claim her as one of its own. The facts are, however, that no one community can claim Jennie— for she belongs to the world.
"When we started the hotel 45 years ago, we accommodated only nine guests and charged nine dol- lars a week," Jennie Grossinger said in a recent television inter- view. "Then, when more people came," she continued, "we put up tents in the back of the house for them."
From those humble beginnings has risen the giant Grossinger Country Club at Grossinger, N. Y., a resort that Jennie Grossinger and her family started as a farm in 1914 and have since built into one of the world's foremost vaca- tion spots.
Today, the Grossinger Country Club accommodates more than 1200 guests in its .32 buildings. There are more than 900 staff members at the resort, which is open all-year-'round. On it's 1,000 acres are facilities ranging from an official Olympic swimming pool to an 18-hole championship
golf course, from an artificial ice skating rink to a huge private air- port, from a beautiful private lake to a r i d i n g academy with thoroughbred horses and miles of bridle paths.
There are eight all-weather and (lay tennis courts, an artificial snow-making machine for the ski slopes, which were designed by Hannes Schneider. There's a to- boggan with a trolley to transport guests and their sleds back up the hill after they've zoomed down, and many other facilities lor vacationers to enjoy them- selves and enable the resort to live up to its famous slogan: "Grossinger 's Has Everything."
Struggled To Success
Behind it all is the story of a woman, the story of Jennie Gross- inger, who struggled to build a resort that would be a favorite with vacationers from all walks of life. And she has succeeded. At Grossinger's, you'll see Hollywood and Broadway stars, the entertain- ment world's new laces of 1 959, columnists and other newspaper- men, sports champions, lads and lasses with romance in mind, tired business men and tireless youths.
Although her husband, Harry, prefers to remain in the back- ground, he has contributed con- siderably to the prosperity of the resort. It is he who does all the buying. Through the years, he has purchased the best of foods to enable the Grossinger chefs to prepare the wonderful cuisine lor which the resort is world famous. He also plans and supervises all improvements and construction.
He recenth' completed a $1,- 500,00 indoor swimming pool and two health clubs, one for men and the other for women. Florence Chadwick, only woman ever to swim the English Channel both ways, is the Grossinger aquatics director. She is in charge of the activities at the resort's four swimming pools. Miss Chadwick gives swimming lessons and stages exhibitions.
Mr. and Mrs. Grossinger have two children, a son, Paul, and a daughter, Elaine, both of whom are married and have three young- sters each of their own. Paul, who is managing director of the resort, is married to the former Ricelle (Runny) Persky of Atlantic City.
V J. He is a graduate of the Cor- nell University School of Hotel Administration. Elaine is the wile of Dr. David Etess, a medical doctor who has his office in near- by Liberty, N. Y. Mrs. Etess also participates in the hotel's manage- ment. Her favorite chore is plann- ing and supervision programs for the children, teen-agers, and young adults at the resort. Father Comes to United States Jennie Grossinger was born in Vienna on June Hi, 1892. She is the eldest of the three children of Selig and Malka Grossinger. There is a sister, Lottie, and a brother, Harry. The father, Selig, emigrated alone from Austria to the United States in 1898. Two years later, when he had a job and enough money, he sent for his family. They came on the S. S. Potsdam. Upon arriving in this country, the Grossingers settled on New York's teeming East Side.
Within a few years, the brother, Harry, began having trouble with his hearing. At that time the world's foremost eye, ear, nose, and throat specialists were in Vienna; so, Malka Grossinger took him back to the old country for medical care. Lottie went along. Then Jennie and they send funds to the other members of the family in Austria. To do this, he woi\ed very hard from six in the morning until 8 at night, six days a week. Before long, he be- gan to feel the effects of the drudgery. Noticing this, Jennie decided to get a job so that she could help him raise the money needed for the family. Jennie was attending grade school at the time, but although she was extremely anxious to get a good education, she felt that helping her father, mother, sister and brother was more important.
Jennie, 13, Works in a Factory
The law called for children to go to school until they were 14 vears old. Jennie, who was only 13, sought to avoid clashes with the truant otiicer: so, she made herself look older. She put her hair in a bun and donned long skirts.
Jennie got a job making button- holes in a dress factory. The hours were from 7 a. m. to 6 p. m., with a half-hour for lunch. She didn't mind the hours or the work. She was happy, knowing that she was helping her family.
(Please Turn to Page 83)
The American Jewish TIMES-OUTLOOK
Reflections on the American Scene
By Abba Eban
This address was delivered by Mr. Eban at t'.ie 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Jewish Committee. It is his "swan-song", as (he left the post of Israel Ambassador to the United States, to go to Israel Because of its im- portance we want to reproduce it in its entirety, and for that purpose have divided it into two parts, of which this is Part 1. Part 2 will appeal* in our October issue. The Editor.
ABBA EBAN
I am now near the end of a jour- ney which began eleven years ago, when I first came to the United Nations to plead for Israel's rights of sovereignty, statehood, peace and self-defense. That journey broaden- ed out into another highway two years later, when I was dispatched to Washington bearing letters of credence from President Weizmann to the President, Government and people of the United States, bid- ding me labor for the establish- ment and reinforcement of friendly relations between these two democ- racies, so different in all the ele- ments of their physical strength, but so mysteriously linked by the memories of a common historic ex- perience.
They have been unforgettable years: years touched by tragedy and exaltation— years which began with our people stunned by grief as it stood before the charred remains of six million of our kin; and years which now end with our sovereign nation striding proudly towards the fulfillment of its destiny.
It is natural that a warrior leav- ing an arena such as this, after an epoch so full of travail and color, should find many crowded mem- ories arising before his mind. Some of my most vivid memories belong :o Israel's exploits and progress in the United Nations. I cannot for- get our moments of frustration and defeat in the international tribunal.
But when all is said and remem- bered, Israel has gained far more from her association with this union of sovereign peoples than she has ever lost in occasional moments of disillusionment and defeat. I know not what the story of our Jew- ish generation would have been if Israel's desperate leap forward to- wards freedom had not intersected
with another line of historic devel- opment — that which brought into existence an international forum in which international problems could be discussed in terms transcending the interests and strategy of any single nation.
Moreover, our people has learn- ed, throughout its long, historic journey, that ideas have an inde- pendent value irrespective of de- fects in their implementation. There is no concept in the modern world of ideas which conforms more closely with Israel's prophetic tradition or with her hopes of free- dom, than this majestic design of a family of nations joined together in a covenant of justice and peace.
I therefore lay down this part of my mission in the conviction that Israel owes gratitude to the United Nations, and reverent honor to its flag.
A similar verdict comes to my lips as I look back on the other arena in which I have been my country's sentinel. Words cannot express the value which American sustenance and support have brought to Israel throughout the years of her ordeal. America was first to recognize Israel; first to de- fine our independence and integ- rity as essential elements of her own international policy; first to sponsor Israel's recognition as wor- thy of emulation by other nations; first to proclaim and first to uphold our crucial right of free and inno- cent passage across the Gulf of Aqa- ba — thus forming the bridge on which we have constructed our new fraternity with the continents of Asia and Africa; first and unique in the massive infusion of aid which she has injected into the veins and arteries of our own economy, socie- ty and culture; main citadel and central reservoir of our public sym-
pathies and our Jewish solidarities. In all of these acts of friendship America lias shed a gracious light upon our early years.
Jerusalem and Washington have- not always seen everything alike. But on the substantive, crucial, lundamental issues — of our sov- ereignty, our survival, our state- hood, our right to recognition, our membership in the international community, our hope for economic and social progress— there has been a constant stream of American pol- icy and sentiment flowing along the road of our salvation.
As I lay down my mission to America I am convinced that there are no differences between the gov- ernments of the United States and Israel which cannot be resolved by tenacious and friendly discussion. For the theme of the American- Israel dialogue no longer bears on the more c rucial issues of our state- hood, our integrity or our consoli- dation. These have been common ground between us for several years.
There is far less of crisis and ten- sion in our relations than a nervous and volatile press would sometimes have us believe. Indeed, our prob- lems spring not from incompatibil- ity, but from perplexity — a per- plexity common to America and Israel, as each faces the torrential gusts of conflict and passion in the Arab world.
America and Israel, as members of the democratic family of nations, have much to gain from contempla- tion of each other. Can Israel's rise fail to strike a chord of memory in the heart of any American who still cherishes the saga of his own revo- lution? Surely our nascent society, despite its own unique and specific attributes, is in essence a repetition in miniature of the sweeping events whereby America was built through
the immigration and pioneering movements of her formative years.
Israel has been much contemplat- ed by Americans. Envoys, econo- mists, tourists, commissions, sena- tors, representatives, writers, movie producers — all have examined us, up and down. Israel has been bom- barded with praise, criticism, and, above all, unlimited advice.
No nation has ever sustained such a constant barrage of counsel. Only a rugged people could have sur- vived.
Until this evening we have never retaliated. There is no literature on what Israel thinks of America- how the contemporary life of your nation reflects itself in our eyes. There is a rich tradition of com- ment left by emissaries from other lands. Many, even the brilliant dc Toccjueville and the perceptive Bryce, fell victim at times co the utter incalculability of 9 society too vast and turbulent for portrayal, let alone for prediction.
No one could fail to be awed by the sheer vastness of American life; by the majestic grandeur of her landscape the vastness of her lulls, the endless expanse of her valleys; the inimitable variety of her peoples; the mysterious pro- cesses of her union, creating the tap- estry of a new civilization out of so many variant and seemingly con- flicting threads. The genius of her freedom and the overpowering ele- ment of her size create a condition in which almost every generaliza- tion can be at once true and mis- leading. Nor is her true temper always visible on the surface of her life.
America is thus the most studied and the least understood of nations. Anyone who goes through this lit- erature becomes sharply aware that the final answer has not been given.
lO
The American Jewish TIMES-OUTLOOK
The forecast ol America's destiny still challenges the political schol- arship of our times.
I am the son ol a nation which has had many prophets in its his- tory. All of them have got into seri- ous trouble. I do not offer you my reflections without knowing the acute necessity of treading warily.
I see before me a growing society. The United States to which I came in 1948 was a people of 140 million in 48 states. Today there are 175 million in 50 states. Thus, within a short period in the lifetime of a man far short of decrepitude, Amer- ica has increased by numbers not far less than the total population of a great European power.
Even at the appare nt pinnacle of her strength, America is still com- manded by the laws of growth. This is still a young society, even though it controls the greatest aggregate of materiat power ever assembled un- der any government amongst men.
The consequences are manifold and fundamental. A growing peo- ple is not shackled by the dead hand of tradition. Its eyes are on the perspectives which lie ahead, not on the journey it has already accomplished.
This forward-looking outlook is specifically and uniquely congenial to Israel's tradition and tempera- ment. All civilizations contempo- rary with ancient Israel had in their legend and philosophy the concept of a golden age in which the con- flicts between order and freedom were transcended. But each placed its golden age in the past, at the very beginning of history. When they compared the past perfection with the failures and ills of their own existence, they were plunged into a deep melancholy. Human life appeared to them as a futile repetition, a wheel going round and round, coming back to a start- ing point in darkness and chaos.
But Israel in a burst of lucid and revolutionary genius put this gold- en age in the future, and thus con- ceived of history as unfolding itself across time in a pattern of prog- ress. This was the deep purport of Jewish Messianism. Whether di- rectly through the ancient Jewish stream or through its vast Christian tributary, America has maintained this forward-lookingness as her
most characteristic attribute of tem- per and spirit.
In the old world, other civiliza- tions once more powerful than the United States have long ceased to advance or, at most, advance slowly and with difficulty. America is a society still moving swiftly in a con- tinual growth to which the re- sources of this continent set no vis- ible limit.
Beyond this strong impression of growth, I have observed the en- largement and deepening of Ameri- can libertarianism. It is visible in the crumbling of barriers between America's own races and classes, and in her active sponsorship of national freedom in the awakening continents of Asia and Africa.
Nothing more important can be said about America than that it is
the central fortress of democracy. When de Tocqueville wrote his treatise, he made it clear that he was not writing about America at all. He said, "I confess that in America I saw more than America. I saw the image of democracy itself!"
America, as conceived by its founders, was not yet a nation with deep historic roots or a clearly de- fined cultural personality. The Dec- laration of Independence hardly speaks of creating an American na- tion. It was concerned with a peo- ple deprived of freedom and the object was to create a society in which men could be liberated from each other. From all over the world men would -come-to America — not- to be Americans, but to be free.
Later, of course, a national tem- perament and character were to
emerge. But nationalism was only the second phase in the develop- ment of American society. Freedom was the purpose of its existence; and freedom set the horizons of its progress.
Israel, too, is born of an idea— the idea of historic reunion be- tween a people, a land and a lan- guage. When they lived together, these three achieved an incompar- able burst of intellectual and spir- itual radiance; and in coming to- gether again, they may well recre- ate their previous greatness.
. ^Because democracy is an inherent ;md organic part of America's very existence, nothing is more impor- tant for other free nations, great and small, than the manner in which democracy vindicates itselt here. America is the crucial labora-
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The American Jewish TIMES-OUTLOOK
1 1
A Ketum Zo Prayer
A Story For The High Holy Days
By Harry E. Wedeck
HARRY E WEDECK
"You'll be a good-for-nothing, Sam," his father rebuked him. "Never wanted to go to school. Never a prayer. Nothing but sport and cards. What is to become of you?" His voice rose in deep anger.
Sam, just seventeen, stood there before his father, sulky, resentful.
"1 don't want to study, pop," he grumbled. "Aw, leave me alone. I want to get around, to make money. Fast."
"Fast, Sam," "his father splut- tered." Have I made money? You can't make money fast. You must give before you get."
"Aw, pa," Sam answered.
"Let the boy be, Morris," Sam's mother pleaded, coming in from the kitchen.
"Let him be," Sam's father shrieked. "Let him be what? A thief? A criminal? A dope fiend? A racketeer? I tell him to go to school, and he answers me like that."
But Sam had his way. In a few years he had shrewdly branched out, bought up some store in the town, closed a deal in real estate. He became a partner with another enterprising man, and together they flourished.
Sam, in his thirties, was eager and restless. He was rarely at home. Always out with someone or other, planning a deal, consummating a deal. It was always money that was involved; large sums of money. And by some quirk of fate Sam was in- variably lucky.
His wife now had two mink coats. His Cadillac was exchanged every year. He bought, without a mortgage, a house in the suburbs.
People came to visit him: acquaint- ances, a business men. sometimes humble men in search of a favor.
Sam was lavish. He was generous. "We'll soon be beggars. Sam, if you hand out such favors," his wife sometimes rebuked him.
"Nonsense, Flo. The more I give, the more I make. I'm in a deal just now, Wait. You'll see."
Norman, his son, now eleven, went to a private school. In the summer, he was sent to a ranch in Arizona. There were two maids in the house.
"Would you like a car for a birthday present, Flo?" Sam asked.
"A Cadillac, Sam. Can I have it ahead of time? I'm going to a Canasta party next Wednesday." "You'll have it, Flo."
The car arrived, sleek and glit- tering, on Tuesday.
One wet Sunday Sam was at home. He looked out of the win- dow in the living room. The driz- zle was steady. The leaves drooped wet and desolate.
"What a day!" Sam exclaimed, going into the bedroom.
"What do you mean, Sam?" Flo asked. "What's the rain got to do with it? Aren't we going out this afternoon to the Minkins, then drive into town for dinner?"
"I mean now. This minute."
"Can't you call up any of your business friends, Sam?"
"I don't want to."
"Well, then?"
"I think I'll go and see the old man."
"See your father? Now? We've an engagement this afternoon."
"Never mind that. Anyway, I'll be back."
"As you please," she answered, sulkily.
Sam brought out the car, opened the engine, and started. He drove
clown into the Old Town, where his father had remained all these years. Even after his wife's death.
He had never wanted to leave, although Sam had offered him a loom of his own with the family.
"Don't coax him, Sam," Flo had said." If he doesn't want to come, let him stay where he is."
That is what she wanted, actual- ly, that is what happened.
"Ah, Sam, it's you?" his father looked up from the old volume, yellow and stained with age, that lay spread before him.
"How are you, pa? Need any money?" Sam jingled coins in his oxford grey pockets.
"Money? What do I need money for, Sam? I have this already." He pointed with an arthritic finger to the volume.
Sam smiled.
"Same old father. Well, as you like, pap. You know. You're wel- come. Anything you want. Just ask."
"Anything, Sam? I'll ask you one thing."
"Go ahead."
"Will you go