?larch 14, 1941
DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and the Legal Chronicle
16
Hedera Club Celebrates
Second Anniversary
The Hedera Club will give a
dinner-dance Sunday, March 16,
at Niebiolo's, to celebrate its sec-
ond anniversary as a chapter of
the Pioneer Women. Mrs. Doro-
thy Schechter is in charge of ar-
rangements.
On March 3, Hedera Club held
a social and open meeting at the
home of Mrs. Emma Schreier,
4271 Cortland Ave. Mrs. Rosa-
mond Hammerstein gave a re-
port on the "Plow-Woman".
All Detroit Is Talking
About
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BEN-AVI
Continued from Page 1
Ittamar Ben-Avi is one of the
first leaders of Palestine Jewry
to have arrived in the United
States following the outbreak of
the war for a lecture tour. His
message, shedding light on the
situation in the near East and
on the war-time problems and
tasks of the Jewish National
Home in Palestine, is eagerly
awaited in many communities.
A native of Jerusalem, Ittamar
Ben-Avi is the son of Eliezer
Ben Yehudah, the late famous
Hebrew author and lexicographer
who is regarded as the father
of modern Hebrew as a spoken
language. Himself the first Jew-
ish child in modern times to have
been reared with Hebrew as his
native tongue, Ittamar Ben-Avi
received his early education in
Jerusalem and later studied at
the universities of Paris and Ber-
lin.
A gifted linguist and eloquent
speaker, Mr. Ben-Avi is one of
the most colorful personalities in
the political and social life of
Palestine and the Near East.
Formerly editor of Doar Ha'yom,
the Palestine Daily Mail, he has
written extensively in Hebrew as
well as in several of the Euro-
pean languages and has played
a leading part during the World
War and in the post-war era.
During the World War, Mr.
Ben-Avi was twice sentenced to
jail for a period of several
months, for having conducted
pro-allied political activities in
Palestine and was later con-
demned to death, but managed
to escape a few hours before
the time set for the execution.
Mr. Ben-Avi came to America
after his escape, in the interest
of the Zionist movement, and
was invited to address the Con-
ference of Minority Rights, held
in Independence Hall, Philadel-
phia, under the leadership of
President Masaryk of Czecho-
slovakia. The following year, Mr.
Ben-Avi accompanied the Zion-
ist delegation to the Peace Con-
ference in Versailles.
In the 20-year period between
the conclusion of the first World
War and the beginning of the
present conflict, Mr. Ben-Avi
participated in every important
movement that accompanied the
growth of the Jewish National
Home in Palestine.
(Mr. Ben-Avi is referred to
in the Purely Commentary
column on page 5 of this
issue.)
Hebrew Letters in Morse Code
JERUSALEM. —(Palcor Agen-
cy)—There are at present 44
post offices in Jewish settlements
which receive and transmit He-
berw-character inland telegrams,
according to an announcement
made at the end of December by
Palestine's Postmaster-General.
This interesting development
is due mainly to the practically
single-handed and devoted efforts
of Israel Amikam, now a lawyer
in Haifa. Twenty years ago, as
a young telegraphist in the Pal-
estine General Post Office, Ami-
kam first broached the idea that
Hebrew could be sent by Morse
code, just as Arabic was. Before
long he had devised a system for
so doing.
Shortly thereafter Israel Ami-
kam left the Post-Office service,
but he retained his faith in his
plan. For the next 15 years he
bombarded the League of Na-
tions, the British and Palestine
Governments, and successive High
Commissioners with his memo-
randa and petitions that Hebrew
should be allowed over the tele-
graph wires in Morse, rather than
in the Latin characters that were
used for the purpose.
Finally his diligence was re-
warded. On Jan. 1, 1935, the
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P urely Commentary
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
(Continued from Page 5)
is "Longing for Jerusalem," as translated by
Emma Lazarus:
0 City of the World,
With sacred splendor blest,
My spirit yearns for thee
From out the far-off West.
(Answer: An ear of corn.)
Without an eye its weeps, and we
Do laugh with joy its kiss to see,
But when its eyeless face is dry,
'Tis then our turn to weep and sigh.
A stream of love wells forth
When I recall thy day,
Now is thy temple waste,
Th y glory passed away.
(Answer: A cloud.)
Had I an eagle's wings,
Straight could I fly to thee,
Moisten thy holy dust
With wet cheeks streaming free.
Oh, how I long for thee,
Although thy King has gone,
Although where balm once flowed,
The serpent dwells alone.
Could I but kiss thy dust,
So would I fain expire,
As sweet as honey then
My longing, my desire.
The Jewish Publication Society of America,
always in the forefront as producer of excellent
literature, several years ago published a volume
of Judah Halevi's poetry, containing the Hebrew
as well as English texts, with the translations
by Nina Salaman. At a time when we observe
the 800th anniversary of the death of Judah
Halevi, we should also spread his work, and the
Jewish Publication Society Volume is among
the important books to be utilized on this
occasion.
The diversity and universality of Halevi's
poetry is indicated in the following selections
which are in place for quotation at this time:
RIDDLES
What is it that's blind with an eye in its
head
But the race of mankind its use cannot
spare;
Spends all its life in clothing the dead,
But always itself is naked and bare?
(Answer: A needle.)
Happy lovers, learn our law,
Be joined in one, as we;
Aught that parts us, through w e saw,
And again are one, you see.
(Answer: A pair of scissors.)
service of telegrams in Hebrew
characters between specified of-
fices was introdued.
Hebrew Language Day Inaugu-
rates Hebrew Week
Mr. Amikam's service to the
cause of extending the use of
Hebrew in every day public and
private intercourse, to which
cause the first week in January
—dubbed "Speak Hebrew Only"
week—was devoted, was given
due recognition on Hebrew Lan-
guage Day, which inaugurated the
week on the first day of the
secular year.
Public meetings were held
throughout the country on that
day as part of the campaign to
strengthen the domination of the
language in the life of the
Yishuv. Speakers explained the
vital need for popularizing He-
brew as a medium of expression
in Eretz Israel.
Ben Yehuda, "The Father of
Spoken Hebrew", Memoralized
Eliezer ben Yehuda, "the Fa-
ther of Spoken Hebrew", was
memoralized at a public meeting
at the Histadruth Hall in this
city on the occasion of the 18th
anniversary of his death and the
60th anniversary of his arrival
in Palestine.
The scholar's widow, Mrs.
Hemda ben Yehuda, recalled
some of his earliest efforts on
behalf of a "living" Hebrew.
Professor Harry Noah Torczv-
ner, who has occupied the Bialik
Chair of Hebrew Philology at the
Hebrew University since 1933
and who was one of the Ben
Yehuda's collaborators, declared
that it was Ben Yehuda's great
faith in his people, in the He-
brew language and in the future
of Palestine that had inspired
the few active Zionists then in
the country to follow his lead
and to speak Hebrew.
Nathan Greenblatt, prominent
writer, and Professor Joseph
Klausner, Professor of Modern
Hebrew Literature at the He-
brew University, both paid trib-
ute to Ben Yehuda's combination
of classical and modern terms
which imbued the language with
the spirit of a living, every day
tongue.
Palestine Lodge Passover
Charity Party Mar. 25
Palestine
Lodge No.
542,
sponsor a charity
card and package party on Tues-
day. March 25, at 8:30 p. m., at
3707 Fenkell Ave. Refreshments
will be served. Proceeds will be
used to aid needy families during
Passover.
I.O.O.F., will
'Tis dead and scattered on the earth,
And men bury it all bare;
Yet in the grave to children give birth
That start full clothed from their lair.
A SERENADE
Awake, 0 my dear one, from slumber arise,
The sight of thy face will give ease to my
pain.
If thou dreamest of one that is kissing thine
eyes,
Awake, and the dream I full soon shall
explain.
LOVE, THE ROGUE
Once I nursed love on my knee.
He saw his likeness in my eye,
He kissed the lids so tenderly,
'Twas his image he kissed, the rogue, not
me.
SEPARATION
And so w e twain must part.
And so we twain must part ! Oh, linger yet,
Let me still feed my glance upon thine eyes.
Forget not, love, the days of our delight,
And I our nights of bliss shall ever prize.
In dreams thy shadowy image I shall see,
Oh, even in m y dreams be kind to me!
Though I were dead, I none the less would
hear
Thy step, thy garment rustling on the sand;
And if thou waft me greetings from the grave
I shall drink deep the breath of that cold
land.
Take thou my days, command this life of
mine,
If it can lengthen out the space of thine.
The undying spirit of an old, yet ever-young,
people, is reflected in the poetry and the life of
Judah Halevi. It is poetry to be read at this
time, and a life to be studied for inspiration in
this hour of gloom.
ALLOCATIONS
(Continued from Page One)
Coons Speaks for J.D.C.
Describing the 1941 require-
ments for the Joint Distribution
Committee and its accomplish-
ments in 1940, Isidor Coons, na-
tional director of the agency, out-
lined the situation today as fol-
lows:
"For Jews the hardships of
war have been multiplied by the
effects of persecution and legal
restrictions, with the result that
today European Jewry has
reached its lowest social and eco-
nomic depth.
"Not all can be saved. We must
decide who will live and who
must die. The governments will
not and cannot aid because of the
war and other problems to which
they must give their undivided at-
tention and resources. American
Jewry alone can and must aid.
"The J. D. C. pledges and has
pledged not one American dollar
to the German economy, by rea-
son of the clearance arrangement
which is used. Neither does it at-
tempt to break the British block-
ake or deviate in the slightest
from the regulations of the United
States Treasury Department."
Haber Speaks for N.R.S.
Speaking for the National
Refugee Service, Dr. William Ha-
ber, former director of the agen-
cy, told the group that American
consuls abroad were operating
under relaxed rulings and prac-
tically guaranteed the filling of
the total immigration quota in
1941.
"Twenty-six thousand visas
were issued from July 1 to Dec.
31 of the past year," he said.
"Of late we are not so keenly
aware of the influx of refugees
into this country because it is no
longer dramatic. The days when
one thousand persons entered New
York Harbor on a single boat
have disapapeared. But, in No-
vember of last year alone 3,400
people drifted into the port of
New York on 53 boats. We must
plan for the admittance of refu-
gees in the same number in 1941
as we received in 1940."
Blaustein Here Thursday
Jacob Blaustein of Baltimore,
chairman of the Jewish Tele-
graphic Agency, will present the
petition of the J. T. A. for in-
clusion in the 1941 Allied Jewish
Campaign, before the sub-com-
mittee of the campaign budget
committee, conducting a hearing
on Thursday, March 20, at 3:30
p. m., at Hotel Statler, Room
1474.
Mr. Blaustein is hailed through-
out the country as the liaison
man most largely responsible for
the bringing together of Joint
Distribution Committee and Unit-
ed Palestine Appeal leaders, after
the United Jewish Appeal disso-
lution already had been an-
nounced. It was Mr. Blaustein
who encouraged them to recon-
stitute a single unified drive to
preserve Jewish life in Europe
and to defend the Jewish home-
land in Palestine.
Other Appeals
The sub-committee, to which
Mr. Blaustein will address his
petition, on behalf of the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency, has been
considering the requests of na-
tional education and research or-
ganizations. Dr. Leo M. Franklin
and Maurice A. Enggass are
serving as chairmen of the group.
To be presented also, at the
Thursday afternoon meeting, will
be the budgetary request of the
Menorah Association. Dr. Henry
Hurwitz of New York, chancellor
of the Menorah Association, will
make the presentation.
In addition the sub-committee
on national education and re-
search agencies has weighed the
budgetary petitions of the fol-
lowing organizations: American
Academy for Jewish Research,
Bnai Brith II illel Foundation,
Jewish Braille Institute of Amer-
ica, Jewish Chautauqua Society,
Young Judaea, Histadruth Ivrith,
Avukah, Yiddish Scientific Insti-
tute and Graduate Faculty of
Political and Social Science.
The budget hearing both for
national and local civic, protec-
tive and defense organizations,
seeking inclusion in the 1911 Al-
lied Jewish Campaign, is sched-
uled for Monday afternoon, March
17, at 4 o'clock, at Hotel Statler.
The committee is headed by Fred
M. Butzel and Abraham Cooper.
Among the agencies to be heard
by the civic-protective sub-com-
mittee are the Jewish Community
Council, the American Jewish
Committee, the American Jewish
Congress, the Bnai Brith Anti-
Defamation League and the Jew-
ish Labor Committee.
Wayne Instructor to Teach
Creative Writing at
the Center
Dr. Alice T. Crathern of the
English faculty at Wayne Uni-
versity will be the instructor in
the Jewish Community Center's
course in "Creative Writing,"
which will be given on Wednes-
days, 8 to 9:15 p. m., beginning
March 26. The course will be de-
voted to the short story, essays,
feature articles, descriptive ma-
terial, etc. A literary newspaper
will be pulished in connection
with the course.