No 4

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle

Reflections and Thoughts of the New Year

Dr. Stephen S. Wise
Reports on Conditions
at Camp for Refugees

By RABBI MOSES FISCHER
of Bnai Moshe Synagogue

Five years have not passed yet in the swift flow of
time since Churchill, who had been appointed in the
most critical hour of her history, to the Premiership of
England, advised his people that he had nothing to offer
to them but "tears, toil, sweat, and blood." I say five
years have not yet passed since this critical hour in her
history, and Brittania has already been most abundantly
and gloriously compensated by the Power which rules
the fate of mankind for her sacrificial readiness rather
to die and perish than to be enslaved and make compro-
mises with Hitler. Rising from the depths of her humilia-
tion and defeat, England stands today more powerful and
more impregnable than ever.
More than 2,000 years have passed in the march
of Time since history offered to Israel nothing else but
"tears, toil, sweat, and blood" as its meat. Each advanc-
ing century has added—if anything—only new forms of
suffering, of spiritual pain and ache, in the life of the
Jew—individually and collectively. Words such as "Gal-
uth," "Chorbin," "Shmad,"—words, unknown in their
uttermost tragic indications of desolation to other peoples
—are but the reflections and mirror of the Martyrology
of the Jew. It remained to the last half decade to add
words and concepts even of greater horror to the die•
tionary of Israel. The terms "Hitlerism," "Forced Labor,"
"Concentration Camps," "Lethal Chambers," "Crema-
tion Ovens" have entered the annals of Jewish history,
in order to demonstrate to future generations the un-
equalled degradation and degeneration of our foes, and
the unparalleled sufferings of Israel.
I repeat, it is more than 2,000 years that Israel has
been fed with the classic diet of tears and blood; of sighs
and sorrows; and alas, where is and where does linger
and wait yet the compensation and reward of Israel,
the so-called historical Justice to the Jew for the Martyr-
ology and service to our people?
A devout, deeply religious Rabbi and "Ahev Jis-
roel," "a lover of his people," once made the remark
that in the chapter of the Bible called "Tochacha"
"Castigation" the Torah predicts 99 ills and ailments,
misfortunes and afflictions which shall, in the course of
Histot'y, visit and afflict Israel, and against this sordid
and dark background, the Torah points out only one
single cure and remedy for the rejuvenation and healing
of the Jew ! This single remedy and life elixier is : "Pal-
estine," "Eretz Yisroel"! "Esz Hooretz Axkor," "I shall
remember the land of Israel," says the Torah.
Alas, in this World War II, the 99 visitations and
afflictions foretold in the Torah were in hundred-fold
magnified scale fulfilled in our people, but the single
remedy for our spiritual, moral, and physical rebirth-
Eretz Yisroel is yet merely a matter of promise, debate,
of discussions and diplomatic exchanges among the pow-
es to be, who are the contemporaries and witness the
greatest tragedy that has ever afflicted a peaceful, high-
minded people with a mission that was to be a blessing
to all the peoples of the earth.
The very term and designation of Palestine as the
"Promised Land," how strangely must is sound and
affect every Jew whose eyes are turned towards Eretz
Yisroel as to the only hope and home-land for the Jew
as a whole. The very term "Promised Land" bears in
itself the indication that Palestine is only a "promise
to the Jew." A promise, that—if it be necessary—may
be broken and violated by the "Promising Powers." The
High Commissioner of Palestine once openly declared
that "Mandates are no sacred inviolable Bibles." The
spokesman and leader of the Jewish delegation respond-
ed to this "wisecrack" of the Commissioner with the
declaration that "Mandates may not be Bibles, but the
Bible is our Mandate, our deed, our claim to Eretz Yis-
roel! The Jew has, through the whole course of his his-
tory, never considered Palestine as merely a "Promised
Land," but far as he may have been cast away from its
sacred ground and soil, Palestine was to him a Reality,
a genuine Homeland. The sweet singer and bard of
Israel, Juda Halevy, expressed his great varity and sacred
truth and trust of the Jewish soul in the poetic words,
"My heart dwells in the East—while my body breathes
and lives in the West."
My most ardent prayer of hopefor the coming
year is that the far off divine event in i the History of
Jewry be soon fulfilled and realized in thesense that:
"Palestine May Not More be the Promised Land!"
but that it become to all intents and purposes "Eretz
Yisroel," the homeland of the Jew, the citadel of Justice
and Righteousness, the stronghold of Faith, Hope, and
Salvation to all mankind.

Refugees at Fort Ontario, Os-
wego, N. Y., appreciate the sym-
pathetic attitude shown them by
the director of the camp, Mr.
Smart. and his assistant, Mr.
James. They are happy to be in
the United States—said Dr. Step-
hen S. Wise, president of the
American Jewish Congress, in
his report to the executive com-
mittee of the Congress, at its
meeting on Friday, Aug. 31. Dr.
Wise visited the camp in the
company of Mrs. Wise who is
president of the Women's Divi-
sion of the American Jewish Con-
gress.
The visit coincided with the
first meeting of the democratical-
ly elected Council of the Camp.
As Dr. Wise expressed it, the
character of the proceedings
proved worthy of any (small)
democratic or parliamentary as-
sembly. The Refugee Council is
made up of a number of men
eminent in their various callings
—law, medicine, literature, the
theater—representing Yugoslavia,
Poland, the German-speaking
countries, Hungary, Italy, France
and Belgium. Arriving directly
from the well-known refugee
camps at Bari and Ferramonti,
their faces plainly showed the
suffering they had endured —
some of them for a number of
years — in concentration camps;
many of them were sorrowing
over the murder of beloved mem-
bers of their families. Members
of the Council and others ex-
pressed themselves as most grate-
ful to the United States of Amer-
ica, which offered them hospital-
ity after their dismal and tragic
experiences since 1939.
Mrs. Wise met with 160 of
the women and children refugees
and - ?ertained their most urg-
ent needs, which included books
for children, toys, yarn, knitting
and crochet needles. These items
will be provided immediately by
Mrs. Wise, with the aid of the
Women's Division of the Amer-
ican Jewish Congress and their
friends.
Dr. Wise said that his inspec-
tion had shown that while the
refugee camp was not entirely
ready for the reception of its
guests, there has been constant
improvement. The refugees told
Dr. Wise that Mr. Smart, Mr.
James, and their staff had been
most sympathetic and helpful and
that they were particularly ap-
preciative of the recent addition
of a kosher canteen for the
camp.

•

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Rosh Hashonah
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Happy and Victorious New Year!
•

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The message declares:
"On this occasion of the celebration of
the Jewish New Year, as I send cordial
greetings to all our citizens of Jewish faith,
I should like also to express my sincere
hope that the coming months will bring to
an end the present devastating world con-
flict, and with it the solution to the tragic
problems that endure for others of your
faith on the continent of Europe."

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ROSH HASHONAH GREETINGS

Friday, September 15, 1944

01.

