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DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle

4

Detroit Jewish Chronicle

and THE LEGAL CHRONICLE

.)ubllshed Weekly by Jewish Chronicle Publishing Co., Inc.

JACOB H. SCHAKNE

JACOB MARGOLIS

Pres.-Gen. Mgr.
Editor

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

ciation of the blessings, privileges and ad-
vantages of America.
In fact, practically all the subversive
activities carried on in this country have
been carried on ni the English language.
If such a bill should by any mischance
become a law it would mean that our
Hebrew and Yiddish schools would have
to be closed. We do not really fear that
the bill will be passed. In fact, it may
never get out of committee, but the very
fact that such a bill is offered should
make us aware that the K. K. K. anti-
foreign, anti-Semitic and isolationist ele-
ments have not all disappeared.

Japanese Degeneracy
According to reports from Attu, not
a single Japanese prisoner was taken.
Pentatuchal portion—Numbers 1:1-4:20.
Prophetical portion—Hosea 2:1-22.
This is more than confirmed by a Tokio
5703 report in which the action of the sick
SIVAN 1,
JUNE 4, 1943
and wounded who committed suicide was
praised.
Giraud, De Gaulle Meet
We had thought that the doctrine of
At long last General Charles De Gaulle death had reached its final form in the
and General Henri Honore Giraud have Nazi ideology of dying for the Fuehrer.
but in this we were mistaken, for now
met at Algiers.
we
learn that one must go even further
Out of this meeting there will no doubt
emerge an interim French government than dying in battle, but one must com-
that will function until the people of mit suicide if he would live up to the
France shall have an opportunity to tradition of honor of the Japanese army.
This behavior of the Japanese is con-
choose their own government.
vincing
proof of man's capacity for
The problems that will have to be dealt indoctrination.
It proves what condition-
with by the Girarud-De Gaulle regime ing and training
can do. It negates the
are numerous and vexing. Not the least
alleged first law of nature, the law of
of these problems is the clarification of self preservation.
the status of the Jews in North Africa.
Apparently the first law of nature
The first problem in the agenda relating
among
the Japanese is saving of one's
to the Jews is the reincorporation of the
face
and
living up to the code of arms
Cremieux decree, which was abrogated of the military
caste. We are persuaded
by the Giraud government.
that the dominant military caste of Ger-
The De Gaullists were opposed to the many if given sufficient time can so in-
abrogation of the Cremieux decree and doctrinate the whole nation that its
we have every reason to believe that they soldiery will act just as did the Japa-
are stlil of the same mind. If they are, anese on Attu.
they will surely insist that the Jews of
Despite the conduct of the Japanese,
North Africa be given the same political, the first law of nature for normal,
economic and cultural rights they en- healthy human beings is self preserva-
joyed before the Nazis dictated French tion. Such a departure from the norm
policy.
as suicide of the wounded and ill is a
If, however, the status quo ante is definite sign of degeneracy.
not established immediately we should
Can these men be regenerated? Or
be patient. We must have confidence that has the process of degeneracy gone so
our State Department will do all that it far that nothing can be done about it?
can to see that all rights are restored.
We are of the opinion that given proper
The Vichy and North African prob- conditions these men who have been
lems have been handled admirably by thus indoctrinated with the belief that
Secretary Cordell Hull up till now, and one must die for the emperor can be so
we are convinced that the same tact, regenerated that they will regard such
ingenuity and firmness will be employed stupid docrtine as arrant nonsense.
until the whole problem is finally solved.
The first requisite for such regenera-
Despite the clamorous insistence of tion is the liquidation of the military
many zealots we are of the opinion state . As long as there are military states
that at no time did our diplomatic rep- we may be certain that those in control
resentatives compromise any principles of those states will indoctrinate their
when they dealt with Darlan and Giraud. people with the belief that the greatest
We are especially confident that if and honor and glory comes from dying for
when the United Nations Armies take the Emperor or the Fuehrer.
If we are really convinced about the
over the other side of the Mediterranean
health
of the human family, we must do
that our diplomatic representatives will
more
than
defeat the military states;
not compromise any of the principles for
which we are fighting. They can be we must refuse to deal with the mili-
counted upon to make no deals with tary camarillas of Japan, Germany and
Italy. We must go even further and
either civil or military Fascists.
use all our power, prestige and influence
They will always have in mind the end to see to it that military states shall
of Italian militarism, even though it may have no place in the post-war world.
appear at times that the road that is
being followed is devious and the objec-
Heartening News
tives obscured.
A report comes from Stockholm of
mass demonstration in Sofia against the
We Must Be Vigilant
Nazi order to expel 25,000 Jews from
Hinshaw H. R. Bill 1360 now before the Bulgarian capital.
Congress is evidence that the forces of
This report may well be true, for if the
ill will and disunity are still in our midst. pattern of disintegration of the Axis fol-
The Hinshaw bill would prevent the lows that of the last war we should ex-
use of any language other than English pect the first signs of disaffection among
in all schools of the country. This is the least Nazified adherents to the Axis.
supposedly a patriotic measure because
Bulgaria entered the war on the side
to the group who would suppress foreign of the Nazis only with the greatest re-
languages, anti-foreignism is a mark of luctance and after a most painstaking
patriotism. This is the kind of isolation- heart searching. They were filled with
ism that would hermetically seal the grave doubts and serious misgivings, and
country against the contamination of all only after they had seen that there was
differing cultures.
no hope of escape did they throw in their
The proponents of the bill are bad lot with the Nazis. The actual material
Americans. They are bad Americans be- assistance given the Nazis has been neg-
cause they fail to understand that Amer- ligible. In fact, they have refused to
ica means that groups have a right to send any troops to the Russian front.
cultural autonomy, and if these groups
Now that they see that the Nazis can-
want their children to learn a language not win the war, they are emboldened,
other than English they have a right to and may even go so far as to oppose the
do so.
deportation of their Jewish population.
American experience has taught us that
This is heartening news. May it soon
the love of the culture and language of be followed by similar episodes elsewhere
the land of nativity of one's forebears in the sattelite states and in the Third
does not militate against the sound appre- Reich itself.

Sabbath Readings of the Law

June

Plain Falk...

•

4, 1943

by Al Segal

Doctor of Divinity

DAY is close at
G RADUATION
hand in the various rabbini-

cal seminaries and shortly many
new young rabbis will be given
to the house of Israel. Will this
Mr. Segal be taking too much
upon himself to give an ordina-
tion sermon for them?
Mr. Segal should explain that
he is no bounder who intrudes
where he hasn't been invited. Yet
it seems to hint that it is about
time a layman were allowed to
say the admonitory words by
which young rabbis are sent out
into the world.
After all, rabbis are made for
laymen and shouldn't the laymen
have their say in the matter of
what they expect of rabbis?
Yes, my dear young men, we
are goihg to have you in the
house of Israel a long time and
you may as well know the kind
of rabbis we prefer in the house.
This is to say, the kind of rabbis
the little people of Israel prefer.
They are the ones who do not
belong to the country club. They
never sit at the speaker's tables.
They are small business people or
they have jobs.
They are the majority. They
are trying to do the best they
can in the world, to bring up
their children right, to have
something left over to keep them
at the end of their working days.
They have debts and other
troubles.
They are seldom presidents or
even secretaries of congregations.
They are quite content to sit in
the back pews on the holidays;
meek people who require no spe-
cial privileges before God. God
is the one they thank tor any
little blessings. Thank God the.
child has become well. Thank
God the daughter is happy in
her marriage. Thank God there
is good news from the boy in
the Army.
They have their doubts, too.
Why and why and why? Why
this heavy travail when one has
lived in all the ways required
of him? Why this life, amity,
with all this pain that has to be
curried? The way is so dark
and there is no compass, and
which is the right direction? They
search their own wisdom and
find no light and feel lonely in
the dark.

I

f

HEY admire rabbis who are
T repositories
of scholarly learn-

I

ing just as they admire from a
distance a great library full of
hooks they can't understand; just
as they admire stately mausole-
ums and look with reverence at
the hallowed bones they contain.
But they prefer the great and

understanding

heart—the rah',
whose learning is also the
dons he has gathered from lif,•
itself. He has attained the high-
est degree of the rabbinate whici
is compassion. He troubles him
self with the problems of t in
little people, and is not mu,'
concerned about Mr. Zilch, IL
congregation's president who L
managed to attain the high plac.
before God on the altos- ever
Sabbath. Zilch seems to be abh•
to take care of himself.
The little people approach lid ,
rabbi without any fear of falling
into his profundity. His sermons
never are exhibitions of his
scholarly learning. Nor does he
attempt to be a dazzling light in
international field showing states-
men the way to go. He know::
there are foreign commentator.;
enough and most of them are
wrong most of the time anway,
and he could only confound con-
f usion,
He does not carry the world
on his shoulders, He feels he is
rabbi enough if he helps to carry
some of the little people over
the rough spots of their lives,
through the darkness and over
turbulent streams when their
strength fails and they are about
to sink.
His sermons have to do with
their lives and how they may
be made strong and brave. He
does not pretend to be another
Moses ordained to deliver the
world from the current Pharaohs.
His light is for the stumbling
feet of the people he serves and
he feels dazzling enough to be
their humble lightbearer.
He is not like a hired hand
who may quit any time when he
finds a better job. He makes
himself one of the family of Is-
rael in his community and share ,
its life; he is no transient who
has come to get bed and board
for a day and goes on when he
finds a better boarding house.

,'

I

E IS CONTENT to stay and

do his portion of the work
as long as the people want him,
for they have become his friend,;
and kinsmen. The children of the
congregation are growing up and
he must see them through their
religious education. Then in no
long time they will be getting
married and he must stay for
the sake of their children wl o
will be coming along. He can't
run away to a better job. This
is the best job, serving these
friends, seeing them through
their generations, helping the is
to carry their griefs, rejoice g

On Mission of Mercy Overseas

O expand its programs of re let
T and
rehabilitation on behalf of

thousands of refugees in Portugal,
Spain. Switzerland and North Afri-
ca, the Joint Distribution Commit-
tee, major American agency for aid
to Jews overseas, has dispatched
these three noted social workers
abroad. Reading from left to right,
they are: Kurt Peiser of Philadel-
phia, Donald Hurwitz of New
Haven, and Mordecai Kessler of
New fork.
Peiser and Hurwitz are en route
to North Africa. They will assist
local relief committees there in in-
creasing Joint Distribution Com-
mittee aid to refugees now being
released from internment and labor

camps, and to map civilian aid in

Tunisia. Kessler is travelling to
Portugal to act as an aisle in the
rescue of children from Spain and
Portugal to the Western Ilemis
phere, and in the work of providing
augmented relief to thousands of
persons who escaped to Spain from
France.
Peiser, Hurwitz and Kessler are
additions to the overseas staff of
the Joint Distribution Committee,
which (iring 1912 alone appropri '
ated $7,250,000 for Its work of
mercy. It plans shortly to send am
other representative to the Middle
East in connection with the rescue
of refugee youngsters and adults
from occupied lands to Palestine.