Detroit Jewish Chronicle

and THE LEGAL CHRONICLE

Published Weekly by The Jewish Chronicle Publishing Co., Inc.

Presider

J \COB H. SCHA ► NE

Entered as Second-class matter March 3, 1916, at the Post.
office at Dotioit, Mich., under the Act of March 3, 1879.

General Offices and Publication Bldg., 525 Woodward Ave.

Telephone: Cadillac 1040

Subscription in Advance

JACOB MARGOLIS
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
MAURICE M. SAFIR

Cable Address: Chronicle

$3.00 Per Year

Publisher
Editor
Advertising Manager

To insure publication, all correspondence and news matter
must reach this office by Tuesday evening of each week.
When mailing notices, kindly use one side of the paper only.

The Detroit Jewish Chronicle invites correspondence on sub-
jects of interest to the Jewish people, but disclaims responsi-

bility

April 18, 19

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and the Legal Chronicle

4

for an endorsement of views expressed by the writers.

Readings of the Law for Seventh Day of Pass-
over, Friday, April 18

Pentateuchal portion—Ex. 13:17-15:26; Num. 28:
19-25.
Prophetical portion—II Sam. 22.

Readings of the Law for Eighth Day of Passover,
Saturday, April 19

Pentateuchal portion—Deut. 15:19-16:17; Num.
28:19-25.

APRIL 18, 1941

NISAN 21, 5701

The U. A. H. C. Convention

Detroit Jewry has been selected for a
distinct honor in being chosen to be host
to the 37th biennial council of the Union
of Amer i c an Hebrew Congregations,
which will assemble here the end of this
month.
Representing one of the s t r on g e s t
groups in American Israel, the Union
brings to Detroit not only its own dele-
gates but also spokesmen for its affiliated
groups — the Brotherhoods, Sisterhoods
and the youth. Jointly, they are to assem-
ble here to plan religious activities for
the coming two years.
The tragic times demand greater em-
phasis on faith and on belief in the ulti-
mate triumph of justice in the world. The
Synagogue must stand in the center of
activities for the restoration of faith. For
this reason, the forthcoming convention
of the Reform congregations is of great
importance. We are confident that Detroit
Jews will extend a welcome hand to all
delegates to this convention and will pray
for the success of their deliberation.

Dr. Weizmann's Visit Here

Dr. Chaim Weizmann's visit to Detroit
next week, in the interests of the forth-
coming Allied Jewish Campaign, is a
mark of honor for this community. The
distinguished Jewish leader, statesman
and scientist, by including Detroit in his
itinerary, whenever he visits this country,
pays tribute to our large Jewish commu-
nity and to its achievements in efforts to
aid less fortunate Jewish groups as well
as to strengthen the Jewish national posi-
tion.
Dr. Weizmann continues to rise in
stature as a statesman and as the leader
of his people. He is the unchallenged
head not only of the nationalist Jewish
groups but also of all other Jewish
groups, by virtue of the recognition given
his efforts by the democratic nations of
the world, and by virtue also of the con-
tributions he makes for the preservation
of democracy as a scientist.
We have no doubt that Cass Technical
High School will be filled to overflowing
next Thursday evening, by a tremendous
gathering of Jews who will assemble to
honor their distinguished leader.
It is a privilege to be able to join in
welcoming Dr. Weizmann to Detroit, and
in extending a welcome hand also to Mrs.
Weizmann, herself a distinguished Jew-
ish leader who has been elevated to the
presidency of the Women's International
Zionist Organization, who will accom-
pany her brilliant husband to Detroit.

Who Had a Seder?

Now that the Passover festival is draw-
ing to a close, it is proper to ask our peo-
ple to ponder over the lessons of the
holiday of freedom and to recognize the
realities of the present tragic situation
in the world.
Let our people ask, first of all, who in
Jewry actually had the privilege of con-
ducting Sedorim. Except for the Jews in
the free Americas, there were only black-
outs everywhere. It is encouraging to

record, as we do elsewhere in this issue,
the fact that Jewish soldiers in the British
forces observed the festival, and that
Jews were assured of a plentiful supply
of Matzos. But the blackout was enforced,
and, as in the days of the Spanish Inquisi-
tion, the Sedorim were conducted under-
ground.
Therefore, we who are privileged must
ask another question : Having been chosen
for freedom, and having been accorded
the great distinction of being the excep-
tion to the rule among the Jewish com-
munities of the world, we must decide
for ourselves how we are to express our
gratitude for the liberty that is ours..
It appears self-evident that the only
way in which self-respecting free peo-
ples can possible assume positions of
freedom is by making it possible for
others to have similar liberties. There is
no other way of showing appreciation for
the bounties. that are ours.
Therefore, when Jews in the free Amer-
icas observe Passover, their first resolve
must be to provide the necessities for life
to those who do not possess them ; and
to fight to the bitter end not only that
they should retain their freedom but that
others should acquire similar freedoms.
The first resolve is made possible by the
forthcoming Allied Jewish Campaign, to
which Jews must, this year, contribute
out of all proportions to their incomes;
and the second resolution demands that
there be no concessions and no appease-
ments, that we join hands with all those
who fight for freedom to the end that
we may assure liberty for mankind and
that it should be said in every free home
that it is better to die for justice than to
submit to slavery.

Is Palestine Next?

Is Palestine next in line to become a
battlefront for freedom? All indications
are that it is, and that crucial battles may
be fought there soon. The fact is that
the Suez Canal is one of the pivotal posi-
tions to be fought for in this terrible con-
flict.
But it is certain that Palestine will offer
good battle and that it will not be an easy
task for the Axis to subdue the brave
Jewish groups in Eretz Israel.
This is a war to a finish by the forces
of decency and advocates of democracy
and justice against the tyrants and total-
itarian oppressors. As the first objects of
attack in this war, Jews will prefer death
in the battle for freedom to slavery at
the hands of the Nazis.
Like the Greeks and the Yugoslavians,
Jews, and Arabs fighting side by side
with them and with the British troops
already stationed in Palestine, are cer-
tain to give a good account of themselves.

The Hebrew University

On April 1, the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem celebrated its 16th anniver-
sary.
This is a significant occasion worthy of
being recorded in its true light.
In spite of the war, Palestine is not
forgetting the cultural aspects of Jewish
national reconstruction. Learning is being
advanced ; graduates are being awarded
their diplomas from the great institution
of learning which, despite its brief exist-
ence, assumes a place among the best in
the world ; research is carried on; refu-
gees—professors and students—have ac-
quired the chance in life for teaching and
study brutally denied them in lands that
have reverted to medievalism.
It is encouraging to know that the 16th
anniversary of the Hebrew University was
observed by the completion of four new
buildings; that the present enrollment of
1,259 students is the largest since the uni-
versity's founding in 1925 ; that the aca-
demic staff now includes 135 members,
many of whom possess worldwide promi-
nence in their respective fields.
The progress attained by the Hebrew
University is symbolic of the Jewish
achievements in Palestine during two dec-
ades of struggle and determination on the
part of our pioneers. It is a symbol of
the undying faith of Israel that the home-
less shall be housed, that those who crave
for knowledge shall have it, that through
learning man's desire to be free shall be
attained, and that through such attain-
ment mankind shall achieve the greatest
blessing of all—peace!

• STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL •

Tidbits from Everywhere

By PHINEAS J. RIRON

YOU SHOULD KNOW

Chaim Weizmann and his mis-
sus, although showered with in-
numerable invitations for Pass-
over, celebrated the first Seder
in the home of Meyer Weisgal,
who on that evening also enter-
tained Dorothy Thompson and
her son . . . On May 6, inci-
dentally, the Non-Sectarian Anti-
Nazi League is tendering a din
ner to Miss Thompson, on which
occasion President Roosevelt's
mother will present the guest of
honor with a bust of herself-
i. e., of Dorothy Thompson . . .
The bust is the work of the in-
ternationally famous sculptor Jo
Davidson.
We wonder whether you no-
ticed that PM's big expose of
New Jersey's new anti-Semitic
outfit, the Legion of Death, was
unearthed by the Investigation
and Research Department of the
Anti-Nazi League?
Lillian Hellman's new play,
"Watch on the Rhine," has come
up to expectations, and is pack-
ing 'em in night after night . .
Which is one way—and a good
one—of getting across an anti-
Nazi message.

POLITICAL HISTORY

To movie producer Sam Katz
is credited the following inside
tale, relayed by Sidney Skolsky:
It seems that back in 1930 Katz
was in Germany, and there met
Fritz Thyssen—the one who's
now in a Nazi concentration
camp . . . Thyssen asked a lot
of questions about America, and
especially about Al Capone, the
gangster king who at that time
was much in the news . . . When
Katz expressed surprise at the
German industrialist's intense in-
terest in the mobster, Thyssen
explained: "We've got a man
here we're modeling after Ca-
pone . . . We want him to break
up the unions and be a big gang
leader . . . We think this fellow
Hitler's going to be a big man!"

SHADOWS

There's a familiar sound to the
declaration Monsignor Fulton J.
Sheen of the Catholic University
of America is reported to have
made at a recent Knights of Co-
lumbus meeting. Monsignor Sheen
is quoted as saying "there are
many things in American life
which are not worth saying," and
as having intimated that Hitler
may be an instrument sent to
punish the world for its sins . . .
All of which has a practically
word - for - word correspondence
with what was said only a little
over a year ago by certain
French clerics—who thus, wit-
tingly or unwittingly, were do-
ing the spadework for the Lavals
. . . Is it true, by the way, that

in the New Yorker Staats-zeitung
editorial offices almost daily,
pitched battles occur between
Nazis and anti-Nazis on the staff?

WAR ECHOES

The thousands of Jews cep ,.
centrated in that European be'
tleneck, Lisbon, are terrified
the not unlikely prospect of II
ler marching into Portugal ti..
Spring . . . Hitler's excuse \5 i,!
probably be that he has to fw.

stall an American seizure of O.
Portuguese-owned Azores. .

Realistic observers are begin,
ning to agree with the astrol,,
gists and other soothsayers NO
have been insisting that the de-

cisive battle of the war will 1) ,
fought in Palestine, and that
the Jewish defense corps there
will play an important role in th,.
conflict.

Reports from Paris indicate
that the occupying forces are

having one grand time there .. .
As one French restaurant man
has put it, the Nazis "pay like
princes and eat like pigs" . . ,
And while we're on the zoologi_
cal subject we might pass on the
news that since the Nazi occu-
pation of Paris the former
French capital has suffered from
an enormous increase in its ro-
dent population . . The rats
are getting so bold that, like as
not, you can find them waltzing
into your bedroom at any time of
the day or night . . . The little
beasties, it seems, are aping the
tactics of their bigger brothers,
the Gestapo . . . All of which
brings us to our birthday wish to
Badolf: No more returns of the
day—but if there are returns,
let them be unhappy.

THIS AND THAT
Congratulations to Herbert
Klein, unorthodox and independ-
ent movie man, whose motion
pictures of the Czechoslovakian
crisis and of the eve of the war
were beautiful, but commercially
not successful . . . Klein has be-
come Metro's newest director ...
Felicitations also to scenario
writer Jerry Wald, who has now
been promoted to the rank of
film producer at Warner Brothers
. . . And to Jane Manner „Jen-
nie Mannheimer to you), on her
appointment as director of the
speech and drama department at
the School of Radio Technique,
New York • . . To actress Dolly
Haas is credited a new word
to describe those Aryan Germans
who refused to stay in Germany
under Hitler . . . They should
be called not "refugees" but "re
fusees," she claims.
That success can be excessive
was illustrated by Benny Good-
man last week . . . Ills swing
broadcast has been moved to
Abe Ellis' Manhattan Center to
accommodate the audience, the
idea being that in that enormous
hall the jitterbugs would be able
to dance while Benny swung his
baton . . . So over 6,000 boys
and girls jammed the floor--
and there wasn't room for any-
body to (lance.

Toward Reconstruction

Courtesy of The Synagogue

Union of American Hebrew Congregations

Bernard Segal