Religion: The Oasis

Among the sun-baked hills of Santa Susana, covered with rough brush and scrub oak, the priests and prophets of ancient Israel might walk without surprise; such was the hard land where Jacob lay down to dream on a pillow of stones and David praised God with song and sword. But the hills of Santa Susana are 35 miles from Los Angeles, and the Jews who walk there are men like Furniture Manufacturer Julius Fligelman or Actor Paul Muni. They and other U.S. Jews of all ages come to Brandeis Camp Institute as to a spiritual oasis where they may find peace and the wisdom of their ancestors.

Little & Big Oaks. The camp was set up seven years ago and named for the late Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, who had felt all his life that Jews can become better Americans by becoming better Jews. Originally a cattle ranch and hunting lodge, its barns and outbuildings were converted into studios, social centers and meeting halls. The institute tries, in the words of Director Dr. Shlomo Bardin, 54, “to open up for our people a heritage that is thousands of years old—by prayer, by music, by drama, by art—by living life in [terms of] ‘we’ rather than ‘I.’ ”

About 200 young men and women over 18 are sent to Brandeis each summer by their parents or by their local congregations (cost: $200 each). This year a new, younger group (from 13 to 18) has been added, known as the Alonim (Little Oaks). But Brandeis has found its biggest success with the older oaks, in the short retreats for adults started last summer.

The 60-odd men who wound up their visit at Brandeis last week came from Hollywood and San Francisco and from as far away as Denver and New York City. Among them: Radio Writer Norman Corwin, Manufacturer (Period Furniture Co.) Edward Meltzer, Papermaker (Hudson Pulp & Paper Co.) Joe Mazer, and David Tannenbaum, acting mayor of Beverly Hills.

The group got a spiritual pep talk from the institute’s music director, Max Helfman. He told them about young people turning to their religion—”Imagine, 80 young college girls in Bikini bathing suits sitting beside that beautiful swimming pool practicing their parshah [the part of the Bible to be read in the Sabbath service] … I know some of you are asking, ‘But why is a return to true Judaism so important?’ I will tell you why. Because 2,000 years ago the Jews brought their message to the world and Christianity was the result. But the sad truth is, gentlemen, that it didn’t take. For if we had a truly Christian world today … we would not need Judaism so badly. Gentlemen, the whole thing must be done again. The Jews must again bring their message of love and peace and dignity to the world . . .”

The men slept in tents, made their own beds. They read the Bible, learned chants and rituals, and rehearsed the religious play which climaxes each retreat. This one, titled The Spaniard, was about the life of Maimonides, 12th century Jewish philosopher, and was written by Film-scripter Michael Blankfort.

“I’ll Be Back.” There was plenty of joking and laughter, but also long hours of serious give & take with a rabbi. As with each retreat, the most moving moment was the evening ceremony of Havdalah (Separation), which ushers out the Sabbath, Music Director Helfman’s voice rose in the sacred song of Elijah, who will herald the coming Messiah; in three concentric circles, their arms around each other’s shoulders and waists, the men picked up the chant, swaying with the cadence. When the service ended and the lights came on one by one, many of these harddriving, hard-driven city men seemed to feel their Jewishness for the first time with a sense of privilege and joy. “I’ll be back,” said Manufacturer Edward Meltzer. “Even without this I’d be back. But when you’ve taken part in Havdalah here, you couldn’t stay away if you wanted to.”