Pag«2-THE NEWS-April. ISU
Editoriols
Passo ver5743
In truth, only three of the holidays in
our Jewish calendar year still retain a
real “hold” on our religious loyalties.
They are Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur
and Passover.
Purim - with its melodramatic story
and its fun aspects — has become a
favorite of the children. However, its
theme of deliverance from tyranny is
more dramatically marked by Passover.
Hanukkah, with no Biblical basis, is
an heroic story of the fight for religious
freedom; but its present power derives
from the rise of modern Zionism and
more particularly from its proximity to
our neighbors’ major winter holiday.
Sukkot, too, has become very much
child'centered: Consecration of new
students; however, it has little meaning
for adults. Shavuot also has been “sav
ed” by Confirmation.
But Passover speaks to the entire
family. The family-centered Seder meal
with its powerful symbolism — and its
grand theme of human freedom
—speaks to our hearts, to our sense of
history, our solidarity as a people.
Similarly, the High Holy Days are
Passover - Time to Meet Goals
I know of no festival which is as time
ly and pertinent today as is Passover,
because it focuses attention uppn a
curse which has afflicted man from time
immemorial.
When the Bible speaks of the Plague
of Darkness which was visited upon
Pharaoh and the Egyptians for their in
humanity to the Israelites, it describes
the darkness as being of such intensity
that people were unable to see one
another. ‘And they did not see their
brothers.’
The Bible is actually telling us that
the darkness was inevitable because the
people refused to see their brothers, to
recognize and respect their fellow
humans as brothers and sisters.
Passover insists that nothing must in
terfere with this great religious and
moral principle, the Fatherhood of God
and the brotherhood of man.
God created man to be free and not
enslaved. He created us in His image,
not as particles of dust to be stepped on
by dictators and tyrants, but rather in
the words of the Psalmist, “but little
lower than the angels.”
How especially meaningful is this
concept in an ecumenical age when the
great religions of the world are seeking
to break down the walls that close off
one from the other, to eliminate
distrust, misunderstanding and hatred.
We live in an age of scientific
discovery. The glories of ancient Rome
and Greece are dwarfed by the epic
greatness of our civilization. We are told
that it will soon be possible to melt the
snow and ice of the Arctic regions by
means of atomic energy so that the earth
beneath can be used to feed the entire
world.
Our excursions into outer space pro
mise countless blessings for the future
of man. And yet, we sit on a volcano
that may erupt any day and pour the
lava of destruction upon all humanity.
We are able to conquer space and time
and control the forces of nature, but we
have not yet learned to control our
selves. We have not learned to live as
human beings, as children of God.
: This is what religion has always
taught. It’s what the prophet meant
when he thundered the words, “have we
not all one Father? Hath not one God
created us? Why then do we deal
treacherously one with the other.”
This was the vision of Isaiah who pro-
phecized, “they shall beat their swords
into plowshares, their spears into prun-
inghooks.” This is the challenge of the
Biblical word, “love thy neighbor as
thyself.”
When the world was big it did not mat
ter if people were small, but now the
world has shrunk and humankind must
be big. We must rise to the heights of be
ing created in God’s image. We must
select the principles of brotherhood, of
understanding, of sympathy, of
cooperation and above all, of faith. We
must accept the idea that all men are
equal before God, even though they dif
fer in race, in color and in creed, and we
must learn to reach across these dif
ferences and love and respect.
Let us engage in one huge mission of
breaking down walls that divide and
build bridges of understanding and
goodwill. This is the goal of Passover.
Thankfully, there are good people in
our community who envision the day
when this community becomes united in
purpose and goal. We will erect a cam
pus for all Jews to engage in pursuit of
holiness, to gather together for religious
instruction and for community affairs.
We will build bridges of understanding
and goodwill and break down the walls
that {artificially separate us. The
challenge is before us. We will meet it.
May this be our goal.
AMEN
— Rabbi Richard Rocklin
c^'mrjtvf
spiritually gripping though they have
no historical relevance; every Jew with
a scintilla of concern for the state of his
spirit is aware of the shofar of Rosh
Hashana and the Kol Nidre of Yom Kip
pur. And so the synagogue is filled at
this Season of Awe and Repentance.
Thus — the Holy Days and Passover
are pre-eminent both for the soul and
body of the Jewish people.
The power of Passover comes from its
crying relevance. The struggle for
human freedom is far from won, but we
have not the “luxury” of abandoning
the struggle — whether here in our
beloved land, or in Israel, or anywhere
on earth.
Thus, we oppose the rise of Moral Ma
jorities and the like, who would cast us
all in their own mold. Thus, we urge our
government to desist from supporting
tryannies wherever they are.
Passover is as relevant as tomorrow
morning’s newspaper.
May we wish you and your dear ones a
Happy and Fulfilling Pesach!
SHALOM
— Rabbi Harold I. Krantzler
f?
PA^overl98CL
To Oni Btoden
To Our Readers:
We are sorry that the Ran
dom Thoughts column has
been discontinued. Our
faithful columnist, Muriel
Levitt, and her husband, Hy,
are moving to Florida. We
have enjoyed her stories and
her friendship these several
years and she will certainly
be missed. We wish them
both many years more of
good health «and happiness
now that they have retired to
the **land of sunshine and
orange trees.”
•
We look forward to your
letters and comments and
urge you to continue to send
them in. Unfortunately,
some very interesting and
stimulating letters have been
written but they have not
beeni fully signed, nor has
there been an address and
telephone number included.
We must have this informa
tion in order to print your
ideas. Please submit all ar
ticles typewritten and
double-spaced. We reserve
the right to edit.
Last month we came out
with a new-look to the
newspaper. We hope that
you noticed the new
masthead and the new type
for the headlines. We feel
that it is a great improve
ment and we would ap
preciate your comments. We
are also experimenting with
color and special issues
periodically throughout the
year. All this is being made
possible through our
generous advertisers.
We constantly complain
about the increased prices on
food, utilities, clothing and
cars. The cost of college tui
tions is on the rise each
semester. Rentals and mor
tgage payments are steadily
increasing. Virtually nothing
has escaped the double-digit
inflation. This is also true of
the newspaper. The cost of
paper, ink, supplies and
postage have skyrocketed
this past year; in fact we an
ticipate an increase in prin
ting costs.
Inspite of ail this we are
continuing tu mail The
Charlotte Jewish News free
to the community and have
not raised our advertising
rates since the beginning of
the paper 3V2 years ago. We
feel that advertising in the
“News” is a BARGAIN!!
We are still not operating
this paper in the "black”
even though we have a
volunteer staff; the sponsor
ing organizations:' the
Jewish Community Center,
Charlotte Jewish Federation
and the Hebrew Academy
have been paying the
deficits. To them and our
advertisers we owe a hearty
“thank you.”
This Passover we have
done a special issue which
was made possible only by
the generosity of the adver
tisers and many of our
readers who have placed
greetings to their friends and
families. We hope that this
will become an annual
endeavor and that more peo
ple will help us next year. We
would enjoy some “feed
back” on this issue.
— The Editors
THE CHARLOTTE JEWISH NfWS
Published monthly by:
Charlotte Jewish Federation
Marvin Bienstock, Director
Jewish Community Center
Harold Cohen, Director
Charlotte Hebrew Academy
Eleanor Weinglass, Director
Editors Ann Langman A Rita Mond
SUff Monroe Katz A Liaaa Millman
Copy dMdlin« the 5tb ofemch month
P.O. Box220188, Charlotte, N.C. 28222
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