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July 11, 1941

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and the Legal Chronicle

Detroit
Jewish Chronicle
and THE LEGAL CHRONICLE

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

JACOB

H. SCHAKNE

President

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

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Sabbath Scriptural Selections

Pentateuchal portion—Num. 22:2-25:9.
Prophetical portion—Micah 5:6-6:8.

Readings of the Law for Fast of Tammuz,
Sunday, July 13

Pentateuchal portion—Ex. 32:11-14; 34 :1-10.
Prophetical portion—Is. 55:6-56:8.

JULY 11, 1941

TAMMUZ 16, 5701

The Soviets and the Sabbath

There is said to be a resurrection of
religious tolerance in Russia as a result
of the new conflict with the Nazis. (This
turn-coat business is not new by this
time).
But only three weeks ago it was re-
ported that a letter of protest was pub-
lished in the Emes, Communist organ of
Kovno, indicating that Sabbath observers
are being forced to keep their places of
business open on Saturday in Soviet-
occupied lands. To which the editors of
Emes replied with the suggestion that
Jews who wish to abstain from work on
the Sabbath should employ non-Jews to
carry on their affairs.
Here is a concession that is in itself
unique for the Soviets—to permit others
to carry on for those who wish to ob-
serve their faith.
But the fact that there were protests
against the prohibition of store-closing on
the Sabbath is in itself an indication that
Judaism does' not die so easily—even
under Soviet domination.
Life goes on—and religious observance
with it.

This Is NOT Like 1917

Back in 1917, Senator George W.
Norris of Nebraska led the fight against
America's entrance in the war against
Germany. He then believed the war reso-
lution to be "our greatest national mis-
take." Today, this man who is looked
upon as" America's No. 1 Liberal" whole-
heartedly supports President Roosevelt's
foreign policy and believes that this is
NOT like 1917.
Senator Norris, who reached 80 on
July 11, believed in a militant stand to
prevent recurring horrors for the future.
This man who abhors war and militarism
sees danger in Nazism, and he is con-
vinced that Germany must be completely
disarmed.
But there are some who believe other-
wise. In Palestine, for instance, the Jew-
ish Agency issued a call for general mo-
bilization. But Dr. Judah L. Magnes dis-
sents: "As long as the government has
not introduced conscription the Jewish
Agency must not use pressure or apply
sanctions to induce Jews to enlist," was
part of a statement he issued. Jewish
leaders disagreed with him, and right-
fully so. If we are to defend the position
of Jews as Jews and of men as men, we
must take the lead, we must become mili-
tant, we must not wait to speak of saving
the horse by the time the barn will have
been on fire.
Tel Aviv's Hebrew Daily Davar said
that Magnes' statement is "tantamount
to the denial of the character of Pales-
tinian Jewry as a national entity." This
is the correct attitude. We have so much
to protect and to defend, and so much
to strive for in the future ! But there is
still this element made of the proverbial
ostrich which tells us to wait, and wait,
and wait! Palestinian Jewry, active,
courageous, unafraid, aware of the peo-
ple's need to be master of its own destiny
—and to retain this independence—
knows better. Sometimes you wait too
long, sometimes you miss an historic

chance to achieve liberty, for yourself
and for mankind.
"Pacifist" Judah L. Magnes is wrong
again. He is an individualist and he must
be honored for sticking to what is for
him a principle. But he is as wrong today
as he was in the days when he advocated
the Brith Shalom movement for unlimited
concessions to the Arabs in the day of
the outrages in 1929.
We are in a war, and we are in it to
a finish. And a war is never won by
weaklings who wait, or by a people with-
out a courageous army. English authori-
ties may not encourage us; but our needs
call upon us to be prepared. Palestine
Jewry is preparing. That is an encourag-
ing factor in the present battle for ex-
istence.

Bakeries' Sabbath Closing

One of the most important news stories
of the year is the announcement made this
week by the Michigan Synagogue Con-
ference and the bakers of Detroit to the
effect that bakeries will henceforth be
closed on the Sabbath day.
It is a significant bit of news because
for a period of close to 20 years Sabbath
closing by food stores had become a
rarity. The most important factor in Jew-
ish religious life—Sabbath observance—
had been abused to an extent that instead
of seeing Jews on the way to the syna-
gogue on Saturday, women were out with
their baskets, shopping and preparing
their meals as if there were no Sabbath
on the Jewish calendar.
While it is generally recognized that
some Jews must abstain from synagogue
attendance on the Sabbath because they
are compelled to earn a livelihood, Jew-
ish home life has been weakened and
the beauties of Sabbath observance have
disappeared because the women, too,
have abandoned their religious life.
The closing the bakeries on the Sab-
bath is the first step towards the restora-
tion of the beauties of Jewish home life,
of the revival of the traditional observ-
ances, of the strengthening of the ele-
ments of faith which are responsible for
giving power to Jewish survival. The
Michigan Synagogue Conference deserves
to be commended for this achievement.

A Nazi Slave Offer

Meeting in Dresden, the Nazi Colonial
Association was said to have been in-
formed that negotiations are under way
with the Vichy government for the set-
ting aside of large tracts of the Sahara
where Jews would be sent for slave
labor, for road-building, railroad con-
struction and other hard tasks. The Nazis,
who boast of these plans, have forgotten
the fate of Pharaoh, whose program they
aim to resurrect. But it won't help them.
History has long ago issued the verdict
—that he who digs a pit for others shall
fall therein.

The New Temple

Detroit is unique among the larger
Jewish communities in this country in
that it has only one Reform Temple
(Beth El) and only one Conservative
congregation (Shaarey Zedek). National
leaders in both groups have decried this
fact for years, and had hoped that other
synagogues would be formed in these
groups.
The formation of a new temple in
Detroit, under the leadership of Rabbi
Leon Fram fulfills the aspirations of one
of these groups, and will no doubt be
hailed with satisfaction by many Reform
groups.
Rabbi Fram's ability as an organizer,
as rabbi, as educator, should assure a
successful life for the new temple. There
are so many unaffiliated men and women
who will want to join his congregation, in
addition to his following of many years'
standing who will undoubtedly partici-
pate in the formation of the new syna-
gogue, that Detroit's Jewish community
life should be enriched as a result of the
new effort.
After 16 years of educational and min-
isterial work in Detroit, Rabbi Fram is
in position to render even greater services
to Detroit Jewry as a result of the forma-
tion of the new congregation. He will
have the blessings of thousands in his
new venture.

.'.Heard in the Lobbies...

UNKIND CUTS

Did Rabbi George Zepin quit
as secretary of the Union of
American Hebrew Congregations
because Rabbi Louis Mann of
Chicago demanded that the "old
men" go and new blood be
pumped into the organization?
Pierre van Paassen, "Days of
Our Years" author who used to
be like this with the Zionists,
got sore at being taken for
granted and attended a Revision-
ist mass meeting after an an-
nouncement had been issued by
the official Zionists, without his
knowledge, insisting that he
would not be present at the rump
affair.
Gabriel Heatter, famed radio
commentator who has been say-
ing that he couldn't attract at-
tention to his Jewishness by
commenting favorably on certain
Jewish topics, found himself He-
braically labeled recently with
the long obituary notices of his
philanthropically minded mother.
Louis Fischer, former Philadel-
phian school-chum friend of Jew-
ish National Fund President Is-
rael Goldstein, has no use for
Zionism today although he got
his first start in international
affairs when he joined the Jew-
ish Legion to fight for Palestine.

CONGRATULATIONS
ARE DUE

To Martin Agronsky, NBC
correspondent in Ankara, who
left the U. S. in despair be-
cause he couldn't even land a
$20-a-week newspaper job de-
spite the pleas of his brother,
Gershon, publisher of the Pal-
estine Post and who is today a
top-flight air-wave reporter . . .
To Al Paul Lefton, advertising
man for the Pennsylvania Rail-
road and guiding genius of the
Philadelphia Jewish civic-protec-
tive program, who has been
named to the civil liberties com-
mittee of the Philadelphia Coun-
cil of Defense . . . To Leon Kay,
United Press ace, who is back
home for a rest after weary
months of eluding the censors
of Central Europe with first rate
news and after coming back alive
from a three-week disappearance
following the Nazi aerial attack
on Belgrade . . . To Adolph
Shelby Ochs, general manager of
the Chattanooga Times, whose
high place among his colleagues
was stressed in their selection of
him as chairman of the library
committee of the Southern News-
paper Publishers' Association.

ODDS AND ENDS

Josiah Wedgwood caused many
a chuckle in Pittsburgh the other
eve when he addressed a din-
ner lauding William Rosenwald
and his late father, Julius Ros-
enwald—while Zionists wondered
where this Palestine advocate
was going—only to add that the
only thing he couldn't understand
was why these fine people were
not Zionists.
Groucho Marx says that he
and his brothers are abandoning

their zany comedy because in
this grim world they just can't
see themselves throwing slapstick
pies and chasing dizzy blonds.
But Meyer Steinglass, clever
Uuited Jewish Appeal publicity
chieftain, says if Jews are going
to be drafted anyhow for sack-
cloth and ashes, Why enlist in
advance?

CONFERENCE RUMBLINGS

Laurels sought at the annual
gatherings of the Central Con-
ference of American Rabbis are
not for the best sermon but for
the prize story. The recent At-
lantic City session was no ex-
ception . . . Dr. Israel Bettan,
who tells the boys how to write
their sermons, is responsible for
recalling a famous one that Dr.
Isaac M. Wise used to tell. Once
Dr. Joseph Krauskopf, one of
his first graduates, came to him,
saying he was shocked to learn
that rabbis were taking money
for performing weddings. To him
such conduct was unethical. Dr.
Wise asked his discipline for
what he performed weddings.
"Only for the honor," Kraus-
konf replied. "Well," said the
Reform Jewish leader philo-
sophically, "every man takes
what he needs most." . . . Now
that handsome Jim Heller of
Cincinnati w a s automatically
elected Central Conference pres-
ident, do you remember way
back when his father, Rabbi Max
Heller, was a candidate for the
same nost—and before he was
elected a round-robin was cir-
culated among anti-Zionist col-
leagues to the effect that the
election of a Zionist would be a
disgrace to American Jewry? .
A nd now. after all these decades,
the revolution in the C.C.A.R.
is to be climaxed by the appoint-
ment of a year-round committee
to deal with Palestine!

SUCH A GOOD BOY!

Jacob Fishman, newspaper
bachelor for whom shadchanim
are devising all kinds of angles
to get him netted, was comment-
ing on the number of Jewish
leaders who themselves are mar-
ried to Christian women or
whose sons and slaughters have
wedded out of the fold. To re-
lieve the seriousness of the dis-
cussion, Jack told this one: An
East Side mother was terribly
worried when she noticed that
her boy made a habit of going
with non-Jewish girls. She may
not have known her Emily Post
but she knew her psychology, so
she didn't rebuke him too nag-
gingly. But she hoped her dis-
pleasure would be evident. One
night, after her son had come
home and she was fondly going
through his clothes to see if
they needed any repairs, she
found a lipstick in a pocket. She
examined it carefully and read
the name "Helena Rubinstein."
She sighed happily. "At last,"
she soliloquized, "he has started
going with Jewish girls again."

(c.pyrIght 1911 by Independent Jewish
Press Servhl% In•.)

Cootiwy.NationOlowWhIloWMt
Publishod by B'sit

Fellow-Americans! How long can
we afford to let this continue?

