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! 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