Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 18, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 28, 1964 Page: 6 of 12
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Worth Texas ; Jewish Pest Thursday, May 28, 1964
OLD SONG OF LOVE
Panorama
BY DAVID SCHWARTZ
(Copyright 1964—by JTA)
Nathan Appleman
Heads AJCommittee
Board Of Trustees
I ove songs are eternally popu-
*" lar. The disc jockeys play
new ones every day but few if
any have enjoyed the popularity
o? one which is sung in the
synagog. Harry Simonhoff tells
about it in his book, The Chosen
One.
Wherever Jews have been dis-
persed, they have sung it. Life
might be hard. There might be
no money to pay the groceries.
There might be the fear of po-
groms, but when the JeW went
id the synagog and heard this
love song, somehow the material
gj things; didn't matter for the mo-
ment. When the cantor sang
Lecha Dodi, "Come my beloved
to meet the Sabbath bride," the
Jew felt transported to a sweeter
smelling world, where there
were more flowers and less
.thorns.
Lechi Dodi was written during
the Marrano period, which is the
background of The Chosen One.
Simonhoffs book deals more
specifically with the story of the
Messianic visionary, S h 1 o m o
Molcho, who carried on a kind of
mystic love affair with God. The
story of Lecha Dodi comes in
only incidentally as part of the
background but Simonhoff being
the son of a once eminent South-
ern cantor naturally makes the
most of it. Many a cantor has
made his mark with his singing
of Lecha Dodi.
The Marranos were Jews, who,
forced to convert, secretly prac-
ticed the rites of Judaism. There
are still the descendants of Mar-
ranos in Spain today. They have
long lost all vestiges of Judaism
but they remember they are Jews
—by one thing—anti-Semitism.
It is reported, one was asked
when he thought the anti-Semi-
tism against them would end.
"Only the blessed Mary knows,'*
was the reply.
The Marrano period was the
:time of the discovery of America
as well as of the Spanish Inquisi-
tion and if you read of Simon-*
hoff’s book, you will find it was
also the time of the compilation
of the Shulhan Aruch, which
contains all of those 613 religious
laws which you no doubt piously
observe. In The Chosen One,-
you meet not only Molcho but
Joseph Caro, who compiled the
Shulhan Ark. He'fled from Port-
ugal in the same year that
Columbus took off to America.
It was a time when Messian-
ism, mysticism and the Cabala
were in their bloom. Facing the
fires of the Inquisition, Jews
found solace in mystic visions. In
each letter of the Bible, new eso-
teric meanings were found, new
dimensions of faith discovered
even as Columbus discovered a
new world. Incidentally, many
think that Columbus himself
was a Marrano and he found a
new meaning in the words of
Isaiah, which said that God
would reveal "new heavens and
new earth." Columbus always
maintained that it was this pas-
sage which inspired him in his
explorations. He was looking for
the new heavens and new earth
when he found America.
Jewish tradition said the Mes-
siah would come at a time of
great trouble. There was no bet-
ter time than this period. Diego
Pirez learns on his mother’s
deathbed that he is a Jew. He
changes his name to Shlomo Mol-
cho, immerses himself in Caba-
listic literature and is inflamed
with Messianic visions. Jews
flock to hear him preach. He
even hopes to get the support of
the pope who is impressed, but
there are counter forces and fi-
nally he too is consigned to the
flames of the Inquisition. At the
last moment, Molcho is offered
his life, if he will renounce Juda-
ism but he prefers to die ‘‘a
sweet sacrifice to the Lord.”
He was the mystic but also
a kind of early Theodor Herzl,
the first to take any active steps
to the fulfillment of the Zionist
hope.
This is a book which offers a
great deal of education and en-
joyment.
-
Happy Birthday
1 -Morris Hendleman
T Helen Prenovitz, Boston
1 Mrs. J. Rabinovich
2 Samuel Sheinberg
2 Leslie Cohn
2 Ruthie Zipper
2 Mrs. Alex Hoffman
3 Morton Rubin
5 Rebecca Sank ary
TRADE WITH
TEXAS JEWISH POST
ADVERTISERS
SAM
REZNIKOFF
Life, Annuities* Accident
Hospitalization and Grouf
NEW YORK LIFE
Insurance Company
mi See Ym Soon” ED 6-2565—AX2-00O4
YOUR DOLLAR BUYS MORE AT
BUDDIES
SUPER MARKETS
WE GIVE “SCOTTIE STAMPS’
OTMdmmk
TONITE
Music by Richard Rodgers. Lyrics by Oscar Hommerstein II. Book
by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. Suggested by "The Trapp
Family Singers" by Mario Augusta Tropp.
Jean Weldon Mon. . Tuef $2.75 Fri. - Sat. S3.75
Richard S W=d- * Thur*. &>»■ *o»in*« S2.0O
Lynne Forrester (Children under 12 $1.00 Matinee Only)
Box Office now open 9:00 AM. until 9:00 P.M. daily
CASA MANANA Box Office, Phone ED 2-6221
* m m m m a a a a a AAA
Nathan Appleman of New
York City is Chairman of the
Board of Trustees of the Ameri-
can Jewish Committee. His Dusi-
ness is oil producing and invest-
ments. The Board of Trustees is
a new body created to super-
vise the fiscal and development
pt/iiCivU Ok Lilc v/O-HiiiiibtC) ooIaa vO
maintain a continuing relation-
ship with cither communal
groups. The Chairman is elect-
ed by a national Board of Dele-
gates.
Mr. Applenhan has been a
member of the American Jew-
ish Committee since he was 21
years old, when he was a Com-
mittee representative from the
State of Oklahoma. Ee is vital-
ly concerned with discovering
the causes of all forms of pre-
judice and uprooting it.
A dynamic personality who is
a man of action rather than of
woi(k>, nir. Appieman is parti-
cularly interested in expanding
AJC activities in the Southwest,
Rocky Mountain and West Coast
states, and also in obtaining
■
m
I
wider exposure for the work of
the Committee.
Mr. Appleman has served on
Cabinet Committees of the Fed-
eration of Jewish Philanthropies
of New York, and is a Member
of the Board of Montefiore Hos-
pital.
He was bora in Marietta,
Ohio, in 1904; graduated from
Tulsa (Oklahoma) High School;
and in 1925 received a B.A. in
Economics from the Wharton
School of Commerce at the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Appleman is married to
the former Janet Greenebaum
of New York. They have two
daughters, Mrs. Thomas Unter-
berg and Mrs. William Roberts,
both of New York. He is a first
cousin to Frank Appleman,
prominent Fort Worth attorney
and civic leader.
-Xji--
A *
CASA STARS OPEN SEASON — Shown above are the four
stars of “The Sound of Music/' opening production of the
summer musical season at Casa Manana. From left to right
they are Joan Weldon, as Maria, Richard Torigi, as Von
Trapp, Joanna Simon as Mother Abbess, and Lynne Forrester
as Elsa Schraeder. The showopenedMay 25 for a three week
run through June 13 at Fort Worth's theatre-in-the-round.
AT AHAVATH SHOLOM
Friday Evening Services will
begin at 6:30 p.m. this Friday at
Congregation Ahavath Sholom.
Rabbi I. Garsek, assisted by Can-
tor Shimon Berris will conduct
services.
Saturday morning Services be-
gin at 9 a.m. The Bar Mitzvah
of Michael Sultanik, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Joseph C. Sultanik will
be observed at this Service. A
kiddush will follow the Service
in honor of the Bar Mitzvah.
Saturday and daily morning
Services will be continuous
throughout the summer.
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Wisch, J. A. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 18, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 28, 1964, newspaper, May 28, 1964; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth754456/m1/6/?rotate=90: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .