Friday, September 27, 1946
DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle
Page Twelve
THE' COMING YEAR --- A FATEFUL ONE
By IL PHILIP
The year 5707, which starts on
September 26, 1946, is bound to
be a fateful, a decisive year In
the history of mankind, and In
the history of the Jewish people
in particular.
The year may witness the estab-
lish;nent of permanent peace
among the nations, after a year
in which, while the guns of World
War II were silenced, there was
no true peace. First and foremost,
an attempt will be made to get
an agreement on outlawing the
manufacture of the atomic bomb—
the most direful threat now hang-
ing over all mankind. As this is
being written, America and Rus-
sia have as yet reached no agree-
ment on international control of
the bomb. Will Russia finally ac-
cept the American plan? Will
America agree to the Russian
plan? This year will decide this
most important issue that faces
every nation and every individual
in It—shall we allow atomic war-
fare to destroy civilization or shall
we save ourselves before it is
too late?
Here in the United States dur.
ing the month of November we
shall elect a new Congress, or
rather, to be precise, two-thirds
of a Congress, the American con-
stitutional system being what it
Is. Because of the separation of
the Executive and the Legislative
powers of government in the
American system, we shall not
elect a new government—that's
done in a Presidential election
year. The most important thing
about this year's Congressional
election from an international
point of view is whether a major-
ity of the newly elected Congress-
men and Senators will support the
international point of view which
Franklin Roosevelt and Wendell
Willkie bequeathed to us and
which President Truman is up-
holding—the view of one world in
which nations shall try to be mu-
tually helpful—or will they return
to isolationism and thus nullify
the power for good which Amer-
ica, the most powerful country
in the world, could exercise in the
world at large? During the year
while the newly-elected Congress
will be meeting we shall know the
answer.
Internally, the question of whe-
ther America is to keep up its
economic prosperity or descend
into another great depression like
that of 1929 will be decided dur-
ing the year. Will what is called
"free enterprise," be given again
unlimited sway, or will govern-
ment controls over the economic
life of the country, like OPA, be
continued? Will we maintain full
employment or arrive at mass un-
employment? Will we build homes
for all who need them, or will
we allow speculating realtors,
gouging building material manu-
facturers, racketeering labor
unions and all the other forces
of selfishness to strangle the ef-
forts of millions of Americans to
obtain decent shelter for them-
selves? This coming year will tell
the story.
For the Jewish people this corn-
ing year 5707 will be one of the
most decisive in its entire history.
For the fate of Palestine for a
long time to come will surely be
decided during the coming 12
months. The unrest, the disorder,
the terror In which Palestinians
have been living cannot continue
much longer. A decision must
very soon be reached by the
United Nations Assembly in New
York, which will establish a mo-
dus vivendi, which will restore
some peace to the Holy Land.
Will that decision be favorable to
the yearning of Jewis people for
a national home of t eir own, or
will It make an end forever to
that aspiration? Will a large-
scale Jewish immigration into
Palestine be allowed, or only a
limited one? Will Palestinian
Jewry be given a large degree of
self-government?
Not only the fate of Palestinian
Jew's, but also that of a million
and a half Jews living in Europe
outside of Russia and Great
Britain, will be decided during
this year. Out of this million and
a half, who survived in Europe
after six million were cold-blood-
edly slaughtered there by Ger-
mans, at least half a million must
emigrate, since there is no fu-
ture, no hope for them in their
native lands. They are hungry,
they are destitute, they are des-
pondent—even those among them
who do not flee from pogroms
and take shelter in displaced per-'
sons' camps under Allied military
control. Will they be able to
emigrate to happier climes? How
many of them will Palestine take
in? Will they be able to emigrate
to happier climes? How many will
be allowed to enter the United
States? How many will other
countries admit? We shall learn
as the year goes on.
Will Poland, that once teeming
center of Jewish life, be emptied
completely of Jews, or will the
pogrom element of that unhappy
country be finally liquidated, so
that Jews may be enabled' to live
again in a country where they had
lived half a millenium and had
established a flourishing culture?
And will the Jews of Rumania
and Hungary see any future for
themselves in those' countries, or
will they too beg for immigration
visas? Will France admit a large
number of Jewish immigrants
from those countries, or will other
countries? We don't know as yet,
but during the coming 12 months
we shall probably learn.
We shall also find out during
the next 12 months whether ra-
cial and religious prejudice in the
United States, particularly anti-
Semitism, is decreasing or getting
stronger, and if the tide of preju-
dice is rising what we can do to
halt it. Some of the internal prob-
lems, too, of American Jews will
become more clarified during the
year. Shall our Judaism here re-
main what has been called a
"charity Judaism," a matter of
philanthropy, or shall it become
deepened and more spiritualized?
Shall we continue to neglect the
Jewish education of our children,
as we have been neglecting it for
a whole generation and thus lost
a generation, or shall we make a
real effort to imbue our children
with a love and loyalty for those
Jewish spiritual values that were
handed down to us by our an-
cestors? Shall we discard those
values for the superficial glitter
of something we call "modern"
and which is empty of all content,
by which human beings must
finally realize that. they cannot
live? The year 5707 may not be
decisive in this regard, but it may
point the direction in which
American Jewry is to develop in
the future, It may show whether
American Jewry wishes to embark
upon a healthy, full-blooded Jew.
ish life here or desires to embrace
an empty, anemic assimilationisra
So we must wait and hope that
5707 will turn out as we want it
to turn out, that it will not belie
all our aspirations.
Rosh Hashonah Greetings
and Best Wishes to All
Levin - Shevin Co.
Wholesale Cleaners and
Laundry Supplies
1435 Randolph
CA. 8944
Rosh Hashonah Greetings
and Best Wishes to All
Rosh Hashonah Greetings
and Best 'Wishes to All
United Store
Fixture Co., Inc.
Miller t Shapiro
Market
Designers of Bars
Restaurant and Complete
Store Equipment
12310 DEXTER
979.85 GRATIOT AVE.
TO. 8.0890
Cherry 7624
ALL Races-- ALL Creeds--
Fighting,Working, Side by Side!
DETROIT ROUND TABLE OF CATHOLICS, JEWS AND PROTESTANTS
This is Our Idea of a HAPPY NEW YEAR for Everyone
JORDON ELECTRIC
13567 Manor
NO. 7135
WELLER COAT & LINEN
567 BEACON
RA. 8035
L. H. GRIMES
HAROLD BLAKE CO.
TEXACO SERVICE
REAL ESTATE
12231 Dexter
NO. 9862
3915 W. 7 MILE RD.
UN. 1.4000
GEM SALES CO.
I
533 WOODWARD
RAIMI BROS.
EX - CELLO
Cleaners Z Dyers
RADIO & WASHER CO.
4608 Grand River
KELLY'S
TE. 1.6055
EQUIPMENT CO.
•
MAX SCHREIBER
•
3570 Fremont
DI. 9330
URIDGE PRINTING CO. KLEAN LINEN SERVICE
RICE and ASH
600 E. JEFFERSON
142 W. JEFFERSON
RA. 4675
ECONOMY PRINTING
TY. 4.6163
*
Cor. McNichol at Santa Barbara
Oscar Klausner
1414 FARMER ST.
RA. 4244
INDUSTRIAL HEATING
?123 • 12TH ST.
SERVICE STATION
Interior Decorating Studio
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Rosh Hashonah Greetings
Rosh Hashonah Greetings
and Best Wishes to All
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13847 LINWOOD
TO. 8-3475
By
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CA. 6745
3000 JOY ROAD , v
TY. 4.2300
MOE EHRLICH
1104 Metropolitan Bldg.
CH. 7797