All/erica Apish Periodical Older CLIFTON AVENUE - CINCINNATI 20, OHIO DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle eptcmber 11, 1942 Good Will In Action 1 In the thoughtless Twenties, a handful of social-minded vision- aries, searching for a cure for the prejudices engendered by w„,1,1 War I, sowed the seed of the organized inter-faith good will moment. Fertilized by the traditional American attachment to fair play, watered by the mem- ory of those who died to make America what she is and tilled by the millions who were de- termined to keep her that way, the seed sunk such (loop roots that by World War II it had sprouted throughout the land. Weathering two decades of un- precedented changes in the na- ton's economic, poltical and social climate and successfully resisting the drought of neglect, storms of ignorance and the pestilence of propaganda, good will grew into the rich harvest that did so much to enable America to withstand the locust swarm of hate and bigotry that destroyed other coun- tries. Of the many varieties of good will, the best and most useful is the species known as good will in action, or the kind which con- verts inter-faith speeches, resolu- tions and mass meetings into what President Roosevelt has aptly de- scribed as "the practice of broth- erhood", as Americans, need tame than armaments and armies to make safe our democracy." For the past three years, this writer has made it his hobby to appraise annually the scope and character of good will in action. It is good to be able to report It Happened in America By BERNARD POSTAL Director of Bnai Brith Publicity EDITOR'S NOTE: While hate and prejudice had their innings last year, good will hit harder and scored more heavily. Mr. Postai points out in his fourth annual appraisal of good will in action. that this year's crop of good will in action is as bumper as ever. Although periods of national emergency often exacerbate exist- ing prejudices, the mobilization of the national wealth and man- power on behalf of the war effort has contributed greatly to the growth of good will in action. The men in the armed forces, who are fighting to preserve de- mocracy, have been particularly productive. Last Christmas, in vir- tually every Army camp and Naval station, Jewish soldiers and sailors voluntarily accepted double duty and additional assign- ments in order to permit their Christian comrades to have Christ- mas furloughs. At Passover time the Christian soldiers returned the good deed. In many communi- ties the same kind of good will in action was in evidence in the case of Jewish and non-Jewish members of the Home Guard and State Militia. At Fargo, N. D.. for example, 50 members of Bnai Brith spent Christmas eve and all day Christmas patrolling the city's airport, radio range sta- tion, bridges, waterworks and other utilities so that non-Jewish guardsmen could spend the holi- day with their families. The same Rosh Hashonah Greetings—A Year of Happiness to All Seward Hotel 59 SEWARD AVE. SINCERE HOLIDAY uu•riNGs FEDERAL ENGINEERING CO. DAVID M. LeVINI: 8'30 OAKMAN BLVD. TOWNSEND 8-7222 FINGS SINCEIU, 1101.11)A1' SIARTO MACHINE & TOOL CO. A. SI AWE() REdford 7550 21000 WEST 8 MILE ROAD MAY THIS BE 'IHE HAPPIEST NEW YEAR EVER! STEWART'S "CHICKEN IN THE ROUGH" East Side West Side 15923 E. WARREN 16805 LIVERNOIS At Haverhill Opposit: U of D TU. 1-4040 UN. 3-7909 NEW YEAR'S GREETINGS TO ALL HARRY MARLIN Of the Piano Department of Grinnell Brothers ExtPnds an Invitation to His Many Friends to Visit Him at 1515 WOODWARD AVENUE Where He Ca. Display to Them the Latest Piano Creations kind of good will in action was shown by the members of Bnai Brith at Salem, Mass. The Rosh Hashonah and Pass- over holidays were especially rich in the crop of good will in action incidents among the men in uni- form. On board one Navy vessel a Disciples of Christ chaplain (t•rang.ed Passover services for 45 Jewish seamen while their ship was on the high seas. Two Jewish sailors read the Hebrew parts of the ritual and the Christian chap- lain read the English parts. At Rockingham, N. C., Rosh Hasho- nah and Yom Kippur services for Jewish men on maneouvres with the First Army were ar- ranged with the help of a Protes- tant chaplain, and the services were held in a Methodist church. At Passover time the handful of Jewish families in an Okla- homa town sent word to the com- mander of a nearby post asking that he send them Jewish soldiers as seder guests. The commander spread the invitation so well that 250 Jewish boys showed up. The result was a novel demonstration of good will in action. The spa- cious auditorium of the Methodist church was thrown open for the seder. The Baptist church vol- unteered the loan of its acces- sories and from the army post itself came 16 _chaplains of all denominations to help wait on the Jewish troops. Out at Fort Riley, Kansas, Jewish soldiers were anxious to hold regular Friday evening serv- ices, but no Jewish chaplain was available. Stepping into the breach, came Protestant Chap- lain Campbell, who not only or- ganized the services but acted as rabbi, delivered the sermon and led the Jewish boys in singing "Arlon Olom". The following week the Jewish Welfare Board as- signed civilian rabbis to take over the services. The same thing hap- pened in Greenland, where Father Walsh, a Catholic chaplain, helped organize Jewish religious services. Even more striking an illustra- tion of good will in action is the story told by a Jewish Welfare Board representative of the Chris- tian chaplain who was pressed into emergency service while vis- iting a base hospital. One of the Jewish boys who was to be op- erated on the following morning., asked for a Hebrew prayer book. The chaplain found one and flashed his light on the page and told the boy to proceed. "Sir, said the ill young soldier_ I'm Orthodox. Would it be possible to get a hat?" Without a word the Christian chaplain removed his own hat, put it on the boy's head, and said, "Go ahead son." Col. John W. Oehmann of Camp Claiborne, La., is the hero of another piece of good will in action. So the men in his com- mand could worship as they fight —together—Colonel Oehmann as- sembled the entire body of en- listed men. officers and their wives in three groups. each ac- cording to his own faith. Volun- tarily and simultaneously, Jews, Catholics and Protestants gather- ed to pray, each according to its own conscience. with chaplains of their own faith participating in the services. Something even more unique happened in Wilmington, Del. When word came that Sgt. Ben- jamin Fineman was Delaware's first war hero, hundreds of men and WOM011 thronged St. Anthony's Catholic Church to pray for the soul of the Jewish soldier. Fa- ther .1. Francis Tucker, pastor of the church, who conducted this requiem mass for a Jewish sol- dier. lit a vigil light in the alter of St. Anthony's as a continuing prayer for the health and welfare of Rabbi Henry Tavel. of Wil- mington's Temple Beth Emeth, when the Rabbi enlisted as a chaplain. "The light will he kept burning until Rabbi Tavel re- turns to his home and congrega- tion," Father Tucker said. And if you think that's strange look at Jefferson Barracks, Mo., where it Roman Catholic and a Jewish soldier, both sculptors, did the statuary for the chapel used by all faiths. Private Benjamin Kaplan from Columbus, Ohio, and Private Martin Pucetti, complet- ed a crowned head of Christ as • the first piece. And they worked in the house of the Protestant chaplain! No wonder Lt, William Nolan of San Diego, Calif., could say that "Pearl Harbor created in me a love for my fellow man that I never had before. Race, color or creed makes no difference to these men. Thy work side by side . . . There wasn't One man who felt that he was any better than the other. All of us were Amer- icans and proud of it." But this kind of good will in action is not confined to the men in uniform. It is being practiced by War workers on the home front, too. The Ilnai Brith's Wo- men's Auxiliary of West War- wick, R. I., were anxious to organ- izze a Red Cross first aid class. But because many of their mem- bers live in East Greenwich, where they are enrolled in a local first aid class, the West Warwick wo- men could not enroll the 30 mem- bers needed to form their own class. They then requested the Red Cross to add to the Bnai Brith unit any other women not already enrolled in first aid classes. As a result half of the Bnai Brith-sponsored class in- cludes Protestant and Catholic women and the instructor is a Catholic of Italian parentage. In San Francisco common War- time problems have created a novel "know your neighbor" move- ment, with whole blocks of neigh- bors of all races, creeds and colors organized in local clubs which met in churches, syna- gogues, cellars, garages and pri- vate homes. One of the principal purposes of the clubs is to break down all racial and social bar- riers between neighbors by get- ting them together for social pur- poses during blackout periods. To- day you find men and women who never knew their neighbors and cared nothing about them playing cards and chatting amicably in these clubs during blackouts. As a matter of fact civilian de- fense officials everywhere report a striking increase in neighborli- ness attributed to the contacts arising from mutual service in civilian defense projects. These dramatic examples of good will in action growing out of the war are matched by others in the sphere of religious coopera- tion. What is destined to become one Of the major centers of inter- faith amity in the country has been established in New York See GOOD WILL—Page 13 5703 - HAI'PY NEW YEAR - 1942 KERSCHER ELEVATOR CO. 4624 HAMILTON AVE. TEMPLE 1-7840 A NEW YEAR'S MESSAGE FROM Governor MURRA Y D. VAN WAGONER In spite of the hysterical waves of prejudice. which from time to time rise up. the good common sense of the American people can be trusted to go for- ward with that fine spiritual friendship and broth- erhood which know no sectarian lines and certainly no religious or racial ones. Anyone who has given any thought at all to the principles upon which our nation is founded cannot but be conscious of the spiritual liberty and fairness to all which they were intended to maintain. I am very glad to present my greetings to the Jewish people of Michigan in the hope that it may bring every citizen peace. happiness and pros- perity during the coming year.