DETROIT
hie Two
Friday, Aug 2, 1946
SWISH CHRONICLB and The Legal Chronicle
Personal Problems
Strictly Confidential
By DR. W. A. GOLDBERG
By PHINEAS K. BIRON
Your wallow; on personal problems kill be answered by mall as far
as possible. Send a self-addressed. stamped envelope to Dr. W. A.
Goldberg, 1314 Eaton Tower, Detroit 20, 311chlgan, or to the Editor
of thls paper.
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How Much Time Shall a Child Spend
In Parochial School?
"We seem to be having more and more
discussions, in our home, about how much
time our son should spend at parochial
school. My wife believes that a parchial
education is needed by every child and
wants the boy to have it. But she says
he doesn't have enough time to play. He
rushes home at 3:30, grabs a bite to eat
and rushes off to school for a four o'clock
class. Ho doesn't come home until 8:20.
I agree with my wife that perhaps this
is too much for a ten-year-old, but I want
my child to have a firm foundation in
religion . . . Will you be the umpire?"
You touch upon a sore spot in the con-
flict between an old-country and an Amer-
ican culture. At the risk of having brick-
bats thrown at me, I would like to make
a few comparisons. I would like to point
out the differences as I see them. We have
compulsory, all day schooling by law. We
abide by it since we value its worth. Yet
we would like to add our own culture to
this general education, adding religious in-
struction, language, history, music.
I can only project what I have seen.
Four hours a day for five days Is equiva-
lent to 70 percent of the time spent in
public school. A child also requires play,
social activities. What is the objective of
this intense course of study? Why do
other parochial schools in your own group
only require one hour or one and a half
hours daily? Do they teach properly? Do
the children have knowledge when they
finish this less intense course? I think
you will find that they do creditably for
the purpose in mind. That purpose is a
general acquaintance with religion and
customs. The aim of the longer weekly
course cannot be the same general infor-
mation, else they accuse themselves of in-
competence. For the same result, they ap-
parently use three to four times the work.
That is not the answg, of course.
The . objectives ofth v g"itwo types of
schools differ markedly. The?...first school,
the one you favor, apparently is attempt-
ing to create specialists, as much as young
children can absorb. They operate a semi-
nary. They attempt to transfer to this
American culture an old-country substitute
for general education. It goes without say-
ing that we do not need the substitute,
having free public schools. Of course the
children can repeat, by rote, the text and
translation of this extensive study. I couid
too at this age. But at ten or twelve or
fourteen, a child cannot assimilate such
specialization because he lacks maturity
and experience.
THE GROWING CHILD
You may use, as a comparison, the time
spent by d child learning to play the vio-
lin. The ordinary child spends one, two or
three hours home in practice and one
hour or a half-hour in instruction. He
plays moderately well. If he is a genius
or has special skill, you sacrifice some of
his play time to learning the specialties
he will need.
Sound principles of child-raising dictate
the reverse of intense study. The child be-
tween six and fourteen spends seven hours
in public school. He sleeps eight to ten
hours a day. He needs to play, to be in
the air, to work off excess energy, to meet
physical competition from other children.
He needs time to spend in quiet games.
Four hours of added study plus, home-
work for public school adds up to a sched-
ule which few normal children can take
without actual harm.
We believe in cultural and religious edu-
cation. We believe in piano, violin, danc-
ing instruction. But we know too well the
possible rebellion by a child and the dan
gers of scheduling the child intensely.
Childhood is a time for growth, for social-
ization, for learning to get along with
others. Most children require • the compe-
tition of their peers. They need an occa-
sional fight, both verbal and physical.
They need to get dirty, if nothing more
than.to get clean. They need considerable
sunshine, room to play, run, yell and work
off the inhibitions of daily living.
All children can profit by a measure of
religious education. Parochial education
for the masses of children is intended to
give a limited education in the basic
ideas of a religious group. It was never
intended to give specialized knowledge.
Parochial education modelled after any-
thing but needs here defeats itself. The
parochial school has a limited place for
most children. A seminary-type of educa-
tion is adapted to but few youngsters,
those with special fitness and desires. It
may well be delayed, for usual children,
until the body has reached full physical
stature. For the majority of children, a
limited amount of parochial 'education
should be sufficient.
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Capital Letter
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By CHARLES BENSON
New Diplomatic
Technique
r
A
Besides peace conferences and foreign
ministers' conclaves and the workings of
the world's great corps of diplomats there
is a new, and increasingly important, dip-
lomatic technique being used by govern-
month to ease the wheels of international
relations.'
More and more, nations are looking to-
ward programs which extend a knowledge
of their country and people to other na-
tions to promote the kind of understand-
ing that helps to minimize troubles in the
international field.
The Bloom bill, which has just been
passed in the House, and the Thomas bill
soon to come up in the Senate, are de-
signed "to enable the Department of State
more effectively to carry out Its respon-
sibilities in the foreign field" by means of
providing information to other countries
about the United States and by a program
for the exchange of persons, knowledge
and skills.
Representative Sol Bloom, sponsor of
the bill as Chairman of the House For.
eign Affairs Committee, in bringing the
legislation up for consideration, spoke of
the program as "a new concept in dip-
lomacy, a broader approach In the twen-
tieth century."
M one instance of this new interest of
the average citizen in foreign affairs,
Bloom cited the great numbers of letters
which members of the House had received
in the past few months regarding such
International issues as the British loan,
Palestine, Spain, control of atomic energy,
and relations with the Soviet Union.
The actual process of bringing a true
picture of "our American character, our
American freedoms, our American consti-
tutional processes and our teal American
zeal to make friends with all peoples" to
other peoples includes a number of very
concrete steps.
A plan to exchange students, professors,
technicians and ideas is an extension of a
program which has been effectively car-
ried on with countries of the Western
Hemisphere since 1940. American libra-
ries of information which were set up by
the Office of War Information in many
foreign countries would be maintained and
improved, and special foreign service• of-
ficers appointed to serve as information
directors at consulates and embassies. Spe-
cial texts of official documents would be
made available to foreign newsmen for
accurate reporting. Movies and film strips
about American life would be shown
abroad.
One of the most controversial parts of
the program seems to have been ironed
out by an amendment to the original bill.
Flat refusals by the Associated Press and
the United Press early this year to con-
tinue selling their services to the State
Department for use in scripts for over-
seas shortwave broadcasting was felt to
be such a detriment to success of the pro-
gram that the House Rules Committee
was asked to delay a rule on the bill un-
til the thing blew over a bit. The amend-
ment seeks to allay fears of the wires
services by making It perfectly clear that
the Department of State has no monopoly
on this or any other medium of informa-
tion, and by a pledge that any informa-
tion disseminated by the Department will
be labeled as coming from a Government
source.
An interesting decision recently handed
down by the Federal Communications
Commission puts the Commission almost
in the position of espousing atheism. Tak-
en in a broader light, however, it seems
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Tidbits from Everywhere
Guest Columnist Pierre Van Paassen
Our good friend Pierre Van Paassen
has generously consented to pinch hit
for us this week...His exclusive story
why he wrote his latest best-seller,
"Earth Could Be Fair," is a personal
document of real interest....We give
you Pierre Van Paassen. — P.J.B.
In the writing of "Earth Could Be Fair"
there has been no attempt to propagate
or defend any cause or idea, unless it is
an ideal to deal with the only cause I
can recognize, conscience.
I have sought in a simple manner to
picture the life of a generation of my
own generation, which began tranquilly
enough in the mellow atmosphere of the
turn of the last century and which ends
in the years now passing over us, years
of challenge and of tumult that try the
souls of men. I give the story of my
school-fellows, and show how some of
them waged the struggle of free men for
the undying fatherland which is beyond
the land of our birth.
Yet "Earth Could Be Fair" is not a war
book, although the war, inevitably, ob-
trudes here and there on the story. Facing
opened-eyed all the dangers this involves.
some of these boys and men I knew
would rather and actually did rather re.
pudiate life than the leadings of the
spirit. This was the case with Ary Brandt,
the burgomaster's son, with David Dalma-
den, the Jewish charity student, with Al-
fons Boogaert, who became a Catholic
priest, and with Adriana von Alphen, the
daughter of a wealthy family whose love
was stronger than an army with banners,
and who, all of them, might have avoided
the bitter struggle In which they became
Involved, as so many managed to avoid
it, had they not been drawn ineluctably
to take sides when justice was Involved.
Their feeling was that of the Italian vol.
unteer in the South African war who
said: "My fatherland is wherever liberty
is threatened," be that in the schoolroom,
in the playground, in the office or factory,
or wheresoever.
Yet again, "Earth. Could Be Fair" is not
a thesis, a political or theological argu•
ment, nor a lay sermon. It Is fashioned
out of the superabundance of life. It is
not fiction. It's a story, a chronicle of
events from the lives of six or seven
Dutch people, now interwoven, now sepa.
rated as the destinies of unseen brothers
whose hands nevertheless touch each
others' and I hope, the readers'.
They arc ordinary people who eat, drink,
love, quarrel, laugh, weep, fight, triumph
or go under. They are average men and
women, and the story is concerned with
what the critical years did to their minds.
My reason for writing this book was a
secret hope that unknown strangers may
derive some enjoyment out of its pages,
and, perchance, too, learn _compassion,
greater compassion. For this is the high.
est heroism and the highest good; to
know life and still to live it, to know
men and yet to love them.
Plain Talk
By ALFRED SEGAL
Pvt. Israel Synagogue
I have in hand a copy of a letter by
Dr. Jacob Billikopf of Philadelphia on the
behavior of men of Jewish faith In the
U. S. armed forces. It was written by Dr.
Billikopf to Mr. Louis Kraft, executive di-
rector of the Army and Navy Committee
of the Jewish Welfare Board in New York.
Dr. Billikopf should know something
about the way the boys behaved, since he
is civilian chairman of one of the three
Military Clemency Boards appointed to re-
view court martial sentences inflicted upon
soldiers during the war.
(It seems there was plenty of Injustice
perpetrated and the Clemency Boards have
been squaring things up.)
Dr. Billikopfs function In this has not
been Jewish particularly, but then, as a
Jew, he couldn't help noticing rather
proudly some facts related to Jews in the
armed services of whom there were some
500,000, enough to make 30 divisions.
What Dr. Billikopf observed was this:
"It is a source of great satisfaction to me
that rarely ever do we come across a
Jewish case. I have spoken to about four
reviewing officers (Jewish) connected with
the correction -branch and who analyze
cases for us . . . and they too confirm my
opinion that one has to use the lamp of
Diogenes to discover cases of our co-reli-
gionists."
But the other week there came to Dr.
Billikopfs attention a name that suggest-
ed that at last he had the case of a con-
victed Jewish soldier to review. Sure, his
name was Isidore Levy, who had been
given a life sentence by the Army.
"I read the complete record, wanting to
know something about the young man and
his antecedents," Dr. Billikopf reports.
"What did I find? Isidore Levy is an
Irishman. No, not an Irish Jew but an
Irish Catholic!"
Names is names, as the saying is. Then
Dr. Billikopf goes on to report the case
of Pvt. Israel Synagogue that came be.
fore his board. Dr. Billikopf, when he
first heard the name, could feel sure that
this was the matter of a Jew. True, not
many Jews are named for the sacred
places of Jewish worshigand few enough
call thmselves by the !hit name of "Is-
rael" and much fewer carry "Synagogue"
as their last name.
"Israel Synagogue", indeed! Hero seemed
a rare Jew. It would be less surprising
even to find a Jew calling himself Chris-
topher Montgomery. But here was Israel
Synagogue, a member of the U. S. Army.
Israel Synagogue had been court-mar-
tialed and sentenced for being AWOL and
for stealing 17 chickens from an Arab In
North Africa. Even such minor crime
didn't seem fitting to a man named lame
Synagogue and Dr. Billikopf inquired
Who is this Israel Synagogue and when
does he come from?
Well, it turned out that Israel Syria.
gogue is a Negro who came from Florida
and even tho Southern colonel on Dr. Bit
likopf's Clemency Board didn't think that
stealing 17 chickens in North Africa wa:
something for which Israel Synagogue
should continue to suffer in prison. 11(
said he was in favor of remitting the un•
finished portion of Israel Synagogue's sen
tence.
Dr. Billikopf could agree that this we:
the way to do with Israel Synagogue—no
just because of his name. On the Clem
ency Boards in the Pentagon Building it
Washington he had gathered the repute
tion of being the most lenient of all till
members...."I plead guilty to this in
dlctment," Dr. Billikofp wrote to Mr
Kraft.
In one way and another Dr. Billikopr
happy report brings me to the genera
matter of wrong-doers who are Jews. Cer
tainly, it is a cause of fine satisfaction b
know that among some half million Jew
in the armed forces there were so fee
who got in bad enough to be court-mar
tialed. It proves what we've always sal(
among us: Jewish evil-doers really area'
many; the few of them manage to ge
their names big in the headlines.
Yet I keep on wincing upon reading th
names of occasional Jewish wrong-doer
in the public prints. It's like a slap in th
face to read of a Jew being accused, eve;
though he is only one in a million, an'
haven't the Jews a right to their share 0
crooks? Haven't the Gentiles a much high
er percentage of them?
But to accused Jews (there have bee:
some few prominently mentioned in Wash
ington lately) I feel like saying: "Gent'
men, gentlemen, what's the idea? As
we should avoid even the appearance
wrong-doing. As Jews wo must bo to.
ever conscious of a certain fact of life
That a Jew bears two moral burdens -
one to be a decent man on his own ac
count, the other to be a decent man o
account of his people.
The second burden Is the heavier an
more important. The moral wrong that
man does to himself alone is his own pal
and if a man is that kind of a damfoo
I say, objectively, to jail with him.
But if his wickedness injures not onI
himself and his immediate victims bt
also all his people—as it does if a Je
is involved—I get mad and say this is a
enemy of all his people. He has traduce
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