Onetime Home Hails Hebrew Radio Stars Aid Fight on Bigots • • • BEYOND IIERZL DREAM NOT EVEN A VISIONARY like Dr. Theodore Herzl who imagined that it would be possible to trans- plant the whole Jewish people with all its resources to Eretz Israel, in a peaceable fashion in a short time, without unusual historic re- verberations, a visionary who imagined that the Jewish Home- land would be completed In the early twenties of this century — even he did not dare tell us that the Jews there would be using the Hebrew language daily. That an ancient difficult, ori- ental language would be capable of revival—even his fertile imagi- nation could not fathom. Our great Hebrew writers, even the most prominent among them, had their doubts, and looked upon the at- tempts to revive the Hebrew lan- guage for daily use as a waste of energy. Suffice it to name such writers as Ahad Haam, Frishman, or Men- dele. When the latter recreated his novels from Yiddish into Hebrew, little did he think that he was creating a living tongue, soon to become a spoken language. Indeed it is not easy to picture the re- vival of spoken Hebrew without the contribution of Mendele, al- though I never heard him make an attempt to speak Hebrew. • • • NO CHANGE FEARED THE REVIVAL OF the Hebrew language in the school, and in the street, on the farm and in the factory, at the office and at home, is an elementary fact, so thorough- going, that no change will occur should in the shortest possible time all 600,000 Jews enter Eretz Israel as we hope they will. There is less of a risk to pre- dict that all collective farmers will revert to the form of private en- terprise, or that all private en- terprises will go collective, than that the Hebrew language will be supplanted by another language. JDC Maintains Long Supply Lines to Meet Food, Medical Needs of DP' A RAG DOLL, little Sonya L IKE sprawled across her small cot Palestine Linguistic Melting Pot for Jews By DR. NATHAN ECK THE JEWISH renaissance move- -I- ment set for itself from the very beginning, very high goals in every phase of Jewish life. It is erroneous to say that only now, when we are in the midst of at- taining those goals, are we fully aware of the difficulties which did not appear to be insurmount- able when our program was mere- ly wishful thinking. Not only was it thought that the difficulties would be what they are, but that they would be even bigger. The majority of the Jew- ish people considered the program of the renaissance movement im- possible of realization. There is one field where our goal has been attained in full. We are referring to the revival of the Hebrew language. Let no one think that in this field the outlook was more promising, or the doubts fewer. Friday, December 20, 1946 DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle Page Fourteen Doing their bit to oppose religious bigotry, Jinx Falkenberg, (left) and Tex McCrary, (right) husband and wife team currently star- ring on the radio program "Ili: Jinx," appeared as featured speak- ers at a recent luncheon forum sponsored by the women's division of the Joint Defense Appeal. Mrs. Joseph S. Berenson, (center) was chairman of the event. Eretz Israel became a linguistic "melting pot" for Jews, more potent and effective than the American melting pot for its ra- cial strains. That is true not only about children, but about adults as well. The latter struggle with the Hebrew language no more, and perhaps less than they do with English in the United States. In short, in the field of Hebrew all our dreams have come true. As yet the full importance and consequences of this fact for the Jews all over the world were never fully appreciated. The time is coming when the Hebrew langu- age will become the strongest positive link among Jews. Who- soever will not possess the knowl- edge of Hebrew, will be like the Jews of a hundred years ago, who could not recite the prayers. • • • OPPOSITION VANISHES EVEN TODAY—it is noticeable, it is harder to get along without Hebrew in secular Judaism than in religious circles. The most po- tent and dangerous enemies of living Hebrew were not the radi- cal secular Yiddishists but the strictly orthodox Jews. This opposition has all but dis- appeared. In short: "It is diffi- cult to be a Jew" without Hebrew. It is, therefore, high time that those parents who wish to pro- vide their children with a Jewish education, should realize that there is no such thing as Jewish edu- cation without living Hebrew. It should be further realized that, to acquire the knowledge of Heb- rew, an hour or two a week will not suffice. SACRIFICE NEEDED THE AIM SHOULD be that the student acquire in due time the ability to read a Hebrew book and a newspaper, as well as to con- verse in Hebrew. This cannot be achieved by peda- gogical black magic. Jewish edu- cation whose central theme is Hebrew, is a serious and Impor- tant matter for which an appro- priate price must be paid. The price consists of the readiness to sacrifice sufficient time, infinite patience, and painstaking effort. Without a complete Jewish edu- cation, without a sufficient knowl edge of the Hebrew language and literature, Jewish children will grow up to be not full-fledged Jews, but half-Jews or less. The last few years have graphic- ally demonstrated the fate of half or quarter Jews. They had only one thing in common with full- fledged Jews, namely persecution and degradation. They shared with them in their sorrow, but never in their joy. that first night in the Joint Dis- tribution Committee's reception center for refugee children in Linz Too exhausted to eat, she fell asleep, even while the JDC work- er washed her wan little face and removed the torn sandals Sonya had worn in her long journey from . Poland to Austria. In sleep, her taut face relaxed but never did she loosen her clutch of the little handkerchief bundle she brought with her, for it contained all she had In the world—a pair of socks, a few dried prunes, a broken doll and a green crayon. She would not give them to any- one. At breakfast, she ate • half her roll and put the rest in the package. Sonya had never known a day when there was food as- sured for the next day. She had learned to store up for the hun- gry days ahead. • • • ONE OF 150,000 FOR SONYA IS. ONE of the 150,000 Jewish children in Europe. a symbol of the immediate, vital need of the survivors for food, clothing and other supplies. To meet this need, the Joint Distribution Committee, major American agency aiding Jewish survivors abroad, has responded with the greatest shipping pro- gram in its 31 year history. Total JDC 1946 appropriations for supplies to Poland and other countries, for Passover relief and special medical shipments to Jews in Soviet Russia are estimated at $20,000,000. What does JD() send? The list Fri 1 'j Je goes from salamis especially packed for shipment in plastic to layettes for newborn infants, from saws and hammers to Yiddish films for the displaced persons in the camps. Forty dif- ferent types of foods go to Eu- rope to supplement the meager diets of needy Jews; canned or prepared meat, wheat products, jams and sugars, vegetables and soups and juices. RI oft. • • • 110ST FROM U. S. AS MIGHT BE EXPECTED, the ;renter portion of these supplies 'sas come from the United States. since the first of this year, more han a ship a day has sailed for Europe carrying JDC cargo. In October alone freighters with JDC supplies amounting to $221,625 sailed for Europe from the United States. Invaluable in the JDC supplies program has been the cooperation of the U. S. War Assets Admin- istration. Recent purchases from this organization included 83,000 army blankets and 75,000 yards of overcoating which will soon be shipped to Germany for manu- facture into coats by displaced Jewish tailors. Meat from South America, jams from South Africa, shoes from Canada—all funnel into the zones of greatest Jewish need through the JDC. The American housewife knows how difficulb it Is to purchase the articles she needs for her own home. Thousands of Europe's Jews have no homes, no furniture, no stores in which to shop, or money with which to buy. To these thousands, the JDC supply pro- gram means life. st)tu ' :4;;P He i t i oe o An o nt i s u s r) p i e idea: s i they i i :i e l n y : r rati i t`.1's , 91 / t I h i o e rn Co n; t he SeUr :ti l ern Chat h C waa1 7 i nt ih e i s ei T tli kW) Ye rt n (ol e r d r w o , f i th o Sam Grenadier elder us k prov recoi JOINS YOU... weal Ye atior . ic) u: tu Ys o ut in greeting the spirit of Chanukah 111•1111 ■ 11P Chanukah Greetings DENSEN'S MODERN DELICATESSEN 8600 - 12TH ST. MA. 9435 CHANUKAH GREETINGS My Sincerest Wishes ... Oa ooj a s e n ti n rn, y n : et .z il tw al r 1V ti il h et s le To my many friends, patrons i ts p we c Jewi to u node TI and to all Detroit Jewry for a Joyous and Happy Holiday. • S. A. GRANADIER Jewi 4...... „., Tailors of Distinction and Good Wishes! • 5th FLOOR—UNITED ARTISTS BLDG. 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