The Sentinel, v.131 no. 13, 1943

              September 30, 1943 THE SENTINEL
"MAY YOU BE WRITTEN DOWN
FOR A GOOD YEAR!"
That is what we wish each other
today. But this year we can very well
change it to:
"May we be written down for a
good year! May the world see a better
year !"
When you think back to the way we
felt last Rosh Hashonah you can see
at once how much forther we have
gone towards the Victory we must win.
We can count each success as a bless-ing.
The defeat of the enemy in Tuni-sia.
The taking of Sicily. The Japa-nese
slinking away from the Aleutians.
The capture of Salamaua. The great
Red Army sweeping the Nazis out of
the Ukraine. The surrender of the
Italian government to the United Na-tions!
All that makes us so much hap- pier than we were last year.
May the Hebrew Year 5704, now in
its first day, bring us Victory and the
overthrow of the cruel enemy! That
is the great hope for today.
Be Thou my Judge, 0 God, and plead
my cause against an ungodly nation;
O deliver me from the deceitful and
unjust man.
-Psalm 43, verse 1
NOT TO BE BAD
A New Year's Day Story About an
Everyday Little Girl
By Judith Ish-Kishor
Dorothy worked out her arithmetic
examples, with only two crossings-out,
made sure that she knew how to spell
"receive" and "receipt" and "re-prieve,"
then closed her books and sat
still to think awhile.
That was what her class in Sabbath
School had been told to do last session,
to "sit still and think awhile" how to
do better in the coming New Year.
Dorothy sat and thought for what
seemed to her a long while. She tried
to think of all the bad things she had
done in the past year, and to repent
of them. But she found to her dismay
that she couldn't remember many of
her sins. Only a few little ones. So
she couldn't do much in the -way of
repenting. But on one point she was
determined. She would not be bad in
the New Year. She wouldn't even be
"annoying." That was what her moth-er
called her sometimes, annoying. Dor-othy
took her pencil and wrote:
I will try not to forget things.
I will try not to spill things.
I will try to look what I am doing.
Beginning with tomorrow, which was
the first day of Rosh Hashonah, she
would keep these resolutions. Just
these three. That would already make
her less "annoying," and perhaps if
she tried hard all through the ten days
before Yom Kippur, the great day
when the Book of Judgment is sealed,
God would think well 'of her because
she was trying so hard.
Dorothy had already started to be
good, in fact. She had come to the
library straight from school and had
already finished her home lessons, in-stead
of waiting until the last possible
moment. She was starting the New
Year right. Gathering up her lesson
books, she set out for home.
A Young Folks' Page. Conducted by Judith Ish-Kishor
(Copyright, 1943, by Judith Ish-Kishor)
RIDDLE BOX
This is the answer to the Diamond Puzzle we had for September 2. Only one
reader guessed it, so all the glory goes to Deborah Glickman, who lives at 3820
Van Buren Street, Chicago, Illinois. Just to make sure you all know how to work
one out, before I give you the next, watch this:
I. The first letter in the name of a tiny, industrious insect._. A (nt)
2. A tall bird, something like an ostrich------ --------------- E M U
3. What Isabella was in Spain------------------------ Q U E E N
4. A great country discovered by her encouragement ---- A M E R I C A
5. What we feel when we think of this country -------------- P R I D E
6. What a fine aviator is called- -------------- A C E
7. The first vowel in the first name of our President-------------. A
Was this too easy for you, Lorraine? And how about the rest of you? Here's
one that's harder, at least I hope you'll think it is!
I. The first letter in the name given a soldier who has
fought through other wars ---------------------
2. What we are trying to wipe out right now - - * *
3. A part of a ship (plural) ----- - -. * *
4. What we want most -- - * * * * * * *
5. Things we enjoy and learn from both-* * * * *
6. A part of the verb "to be" (present tense, plural) - *-*
7. The first letter in the name of a bright color - - -
Well, my critical friends, will that suit you better? Write to me, and address
your envelope to The Sabbath Angel, c/o The Sentinel, 511 S. Sangamon Street,
Chicago, Illinois. How do you like school This term? Are you very busy?
It was only half-past four when she
reached the house, but the best white
tablecloth was already spread in the
dining room, the silver Kiddush cup
stood beside the covered hallahs, and
there was a vase of flame-colored glad-iolas
on the sideboard.
"Dorothy," her mother called from
the kitchen, "didn't I ask you to bring
me some soup-greens as soon as you
were out of school?"
"Oh Mamma !" gasped Dorothy, "I
forgot. Wait a second. I'll go at once,
I have the money." She pulled on her
hat again and was already by the door.
"Do you think I waited for you?"
said Mrs. Sieglitz, half-laughing.
"I was doing my lessons," Dorothy
stammered. "I forgot all about it.".
Here was the first resolution broken.
Broken in the very making. She heaved
a deep sigh and turned away, dragging
her feet a little, to put her school
books on their shelf. As she crossed
her room to the little desk, she almost
fell over Essie's teddy-bear. That gave
her an idea. Here was a chance to be
good. She would tidy up her bedroom
closet and see that all her books and
Essie's toys were put away neatly.
That made her feel better, especially
as it gave her the chance to hold her
big doll, Isabella. Dorothy had been
told that she was too old to play with
dolls, being ten her next birthday; but
she couldn't get herself to give Isa-bella
to her little sister. Essie was too
little to appreciate the lovely long
curls and the natural eyelashes. Es-sie
would pull her hair and break her.
By the time her father and her
brother, Moe, were ready to take her
to the synagogue, Dorothy was happy
again. And the services made her even
happier. During the singing, she joined
in or listened very closely; and during
the other parts, she thought about her
resolutions. While they were walking
home, Moe talked to her all the way
and promised to tell her all about the
best stamps in his collection. It made
her wonder whether Moe also had
made some resolutions. Anyway, it was
a wonderful evening. Dorothy thought
she would always remember it.
Nothing went wrong the following
morning either. Dorothy stayed at
home and played with six-year-old Es-sie
so that her mother could go to the
synagogue. She herself would hear
the Shofar on the second day of the
festival.
The family sat down to dinner and
each of the children ate a slice of
bread and honey before the soup was
served. If she had anything to do
with it, Dorothy thought, this would
be a very sweet year! She made her
final bite last as long as she could.
Then she moved her chair nearer to
the table, as her soup-plate was set
before her. Since she had resolved not
to "spill things" she couldn't be too
careful. Not a single drop of soup
should stain her pretty white dress,
or fall in a greasy spot on its pink, bro-caded
ribbons.
As Dorothy's mother began to eat,
the telephone rang.
"I'll answer that, Mamma," cried
Dorothy. "You eat. You only just sat
down !"
She sprang up from her chair. The
soup plate, drawn so carefully near,
seemed to push against her malicious-ly.
It tilted up, then down. The soup
was on the tablecloth and on Dorothy's
dress.
It was Mr. Sieglitz who answered
the telephone, after all. Dorothy was
weeping bitterly.
"Don't cry so, Dorothy," said her
mother a little wearily. "You didn't
mean to spill it. And your dress will
wash."
"It's so annoying !" wept Dorothy.
"Come, never mind, you meant
well," said her father, patting her.
Mother brought her a fresh plate of
soup. Dorothy tried to smile and cheer
up. Besides, the holiday dinner. was
really very good. She enjoyed the
chicken and the dessert in spite of her
regretful thoughts.
That afternoon it rained. So Essie
played with her dolls, and Dorothy read
"Little Women," embroidered with
scraps of "Huckleberry Finn," which
Moe graciously read aloud to her, when
he found a part too good to keep to
himself. Then, to crown her joy, her
brother sent her to his room for his
stamp album, and made ready to tell
her all about it. Dorothy ran with the
book down the hallway and into the
living room. Then she went back and
shut the door, so that the draft should-n't
blow any loose stamps away.
There was a scream of pain from
Essie, who had been playing in the
corner. Her fingers had been caught
in the door hinges.
"Dorothy, why don't you look what
you are doing !" cried her mother.
"I didn't notice," faltered Dorothy.
And she turned away, too discouraged
by this new misfortune to wait for the
answer or the stamp book. She didn't
want Moe to see her cry again. Here
was her third resolution broken al-ready,
and it was only the first day
of the year!
Soon after supper Dorothy slipped
away to her room and prepared to go
to bed. She didn't want anything more
to happen that day. She looked at
Essie, who was already fast asleep,
one cheek buried in her pillow and one
little hand with a vaselined bandage,
lying proudly and stiffly on the cover-let.
Dorothy drew in her breath, hard.
She went to the closet, took Isabella
out, and laid her at the foot of Essie's
cot. She reflected bitterly that she
might not know how to keep her reso-lutions,
but she did know how to "re-pent."
The choking feeling in her throat
gradually melted away and Dorothy
fell asleep.
She awoke two or three hours later.
Was it her fancy, or had there been a
light shining on her face? She heard
her parents' voices from behind the
portieres, which shook a little from
having been drawn aside.
"Went to bed early tonight, didn't
she?" chuckled her father. "Isn't that
funny?"
"She's such a good child," said her
mother tenderly. "Last week, when I
took Essie to begin school, you know
what Miss Swinnerton said? She said,
'Dorothy's a little lady. She tries so
hard and is so sweet-natured.' She said
if ever a child in the class is sick,
Dorothy is the one to go and visit and
bring word how the patient's getting
on.
"'I'm not surprised," said Mr. Sieg-litz,
slowly. "She's a dear kid. Had a
bad day today, though, didn't she?"
They both laughed.
A pang of joy shot through Doro-thy's
heart. She wanted to run to her
father and mother and throw her arms
around their necks and thank them
a bett r a todothat. Nwsh eal
ly would be good! Why, she wasn't
bad! Not even "annoying!"
The Book of Judgment lay open.
But Dorothy wasn't afraid.
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