American Jewish Periodical

Friday, March 9, 1951

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE

Page 4

Detroit Jewish Chronicle

Dry 'Statistics
Reveal Pattern
of Jewish Life

'Typical Enlisted Man

Published Weekly by the Jewish Chronicle Publishing Co., Inc.
WOodward 1-1040
900 Lawyers' Building, Detroit 26, Michigan
SUBSCRIPTION
$3.00 Per Year. Single Copies, 10c; Foreign, $5.00 Per Year
Entered as Second-class matter March 3, 1216, at the Post Office at
-
Detroit, Mich., under the Act of March 3, 1879

By GERHARDT NEUMANN

AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR
BOOK, Vol. 52, 1951, American
Jewish Committee, New York,
and Publication Society of
American, Philadelphia, 5 8 5
P1)., $4 .

S&NIOUR TILCIIIN
Publisher
GERIIARDT NEUMANN
NORMAN KOLIN
Editor
Advertising Manager

Friday, March 9, 1951

II Adar 1, 5711

The publication of the Ameri-
can Jewish Year Rook is a year-
ly event of great importance, for
"As soon as a child can speak, his father should teach
here is a source of information
him the Slim, Tora, and the sacred tongue," Rabbi Abba
on Jewish life which can hardly
Hillel Silver,quotes from Jewish writings in his recent
be found anywhere else.
speech on "The Future of the American Jewish Corn-
The book, which was edited
by Morris Fine and Jacob Sloan,
munity."
contains articles on the Jewish
"Extended to all age levels, here is the formula not
population of America, the civic
only for survival, but for a creative and satisfying life
and inlitical situation, com-
munal life, cultural events as
for the American Jewish community of tomorrow," he
well as resumes on the situation
says.
. eye in of .h Wti in Israel and other
Pfc.
Harry
Dessner,
20-year-old
Philadelphian,
who
lost
an
The speech, which was reprinted in the Yearbook,
the Korean war, was selected as the "typical enlisted man of the countries abroad.
Recent checks of earlier popu-
Vol. LX,of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, is
year" by Brooke Army Hospital authorities, Vort Sam Houston,
lation
studies confirm that the
worthwhile reading. Silver lashes out against the "intel-
Tex., where he is a patient.
average age of the Jewish popu-
lectually uprooted" Jews who are ignorant of everything
lation is 33 years, that gaps ex-
ist for the 5-9 and 10-14 age
Jewish and are obligated to no group, yet "would like to
groups, while the 0-4 age groups
be the recognized leaders in the intellectual life of the
are fairly broad. The average
Jewish people."
family site among Jews is
slightly smaller than that of the
The American community, as Silver sees it, will con-
general population. Two and
tinue to be "on a purely voluntary basis of allegiance,
three-person families remain the
By CHARLES ANGOFF
re-enforced by no legal constraint, no guaranteed minor-
predominant
type, although the
managing
Angoff,
asked
Charles
Chronicle
has
The Jewish
four-person family still repre-
ity rights, and no quasi-governed mandates." It will
editor of Mercury Publications, to give our readers his views
sents a fair proportion of the to-
remain "loosely knit, though it may evidence in the future
on Jewish writing these days. Mr. Angoff has sent us'the follow-
tal number of families.
of
our
interest
to
many
be
of
we
believe
will
which
ing notes
strong capacity for unity of action in times of emer-
The chapter on religion suffers
new book, "Journey to the Dawn," tens re-
Angoff's
readers.
gency." Silver also believes that the American Jewish
from the lack of statistics. It is
on this page several weeks ago.—Ed.
viewed
community will strive "for progressive democratization
•
•
estimated that in the large Jew-
•
of its organized, life." The trend he forsees is in the di-
IDDISH JOURNALISM—As the circulation of the Yiddish press ish centers with 85 per cent of
rection of stronger and more representative community
has been going down, for obvious reasons, the quality of that the Jewish population less than
10 per cents are members of con-
councils.
press, paradoxically enough, it seems to me, has been going up.
gregations. Their number is esti-
But, most of all, the Jewish community "will be
The editorials are .better in-0
mated
at 600,000. Approximately
formed and written with more they are good judges of what
centered in Judaism or it will not survive." Silver be-
grace of style than they were, makes a good Jewish short story. 250,000 attend High Holy Day
lieves that our future life will have to be centered in the
services. Other estimates say
• • •
say, at the time of World War I.
congregation, the school and the synagogue. The syna-
that as many as 1,500,000 Jews
vulgar
vituperation
that
used
The
AFFIRMATION Something of
gogue, according to Silver, "is to become the institution
to fill the editorial columns, historic importance has taken are connected with congregations
primarily responsible for the survival of the American
when one editor wanted to take place in Jewish-American writ- in one form or another.
The United Synagogue of
Jewish community."
it out on a rival editor, is vir- ing during the past 15-20 years. American reports a constituency
tually no more.
Jewish - American writers are of 400 congregations numbering
The short stories, the "skitzes," rapidly losing their sense of in- 150,000 families. The (reform)
the poetry are more mature; even feriority. They apologize less and Union of American Hebrew Con- .
the "romanen," though still large- less, to others and to themselves, gregations indicates a member-
The extension of U. S. aid to Israel under the Point
ly pulp, are a bit more tolerable. for writing about Jewish themes. ship of 400 congregations with
Four program is welcome news indeed. The announce-
And I think that the news They stress, less and less, the 100,000 families. The Union of
ment — maybe not without significance — came on the
coverage has greatly improved. depressing aspects of Jewish Orthodox Jewish Congregations
heels of the visit of Gen. Brian Robertson, commander-
The foreign news, for example, life in America.
also has a membership of 100,000
in-chief of the British ,Middle East command.
in the Forward and the Morning They see now more of the families. Altogether this would
Israel will now receive certain technical assistance
Journal is generally of a high truly wonderful things in the indicate a congregational, mem-
from the United States but will not be under full Marshall
quality. •United States—wonderful for all bership of 1,155,000 Jews.
aid as the European countries. The training of experts
The educational picture is not
Perhaps the only department Americans and especially for
seems to be the most pressing problem for the Israelis.
discouraging. Total enrollment in
wherein the Yiddish press still Jews.
However, as we pointed out last week, it is high time
Jewish-American writers now 1950 was 266,609 students. Of
has much room for improvement
that we start building up Israel as a bastion of democracy
is criticism. The literary and write more frequently in the af- these, 111,238 or 41.7 per cent
dramatic review are too often firmative about the American attended weekday afternoon
in the Near East, before it is too late. This can be done
callow, ignorant, and malicious. way. They have gained in self- schools; 21,404 or eight per cent
'only by giving Israel the full benefits of the Marshall aid
Which leads one to contemplate respect—and, in time perhaps, went to day schools, and 130,574
plan, plus the delivery of weapons and food.
another strange fact: The Yid- will feel about the Jews as or 49 per cent to Sunday schools.
It becomes ever more apparent that the aid-to-Israel
dish-American press has pro- Saroyan feels about the Armen- Enrollment in 1950 was 4.2 per
program is getting too big to be handled exclusively by
duced first-rate political anal- ians, cent higher than in 1949.
the Jews of America and a few other countries. Effective
Another chapter details the
Then they will have achieved
ysts, humorists, cartoonists (such
help can be rendered only on a big scale through the
as Foshke in the Day) and philo- complete integrity toward their fund - raising activities of the
American government.
Jews of America. The United
sophical commentators (the late subject.
This, of course, does not free Jews from their obliga-
And out of this integrity will Jewish Appeal, in its 1949-50
Dr, A. Koralnik was a penetrat-
tions towards Israel. The United Jewish Appeal drive—
ing writer), but one cannot call come better books—better artisti- drive, raised $105,000,000, or 30
to mind a single critic of the arts cally, which means, inevitably, per cent less than the $150,-
or Allied Jewish Campaign in Detroit—imposes heavy
also better as documentary in the 000,000 raised in 1948. Of the
of the same stature.
duties upon each and everyone of us. It should be ob-
Surely the Jews as a whole struggle against anti-Semitism, money raised, the United Pales-
vious to every Jew who feels some link with the Jewish
are not deficient in critical tal- which will probably linger on tine Appeal received $48,100,000,
community that the money we give to Israel will be
ent. The English periodicals are for a long, long time, even in the the Joint Distribution Committee
translated there into terms of life, reconstruction and
$39,300,000 and the United Serv-
full of the writings of first-rate United States.
liberation from tyranny.
Good literature is, of course, ice for New Americans $13,-
Jewish-American literary and
The combined efforts of the Jewish community and
dramatic critics. Why they are good in itself, but it is also a 800,000.
the American government are needed to make the infant
A little item about hospitals
absent from the pages of the mighty weapon against evil.
Jewish state strong and independent.
Yiddish press is somewhat mys- While prophecy is a dangerous should be of particular interest
occupation, one has the persis- to Detroit: 49 Jewish hospitals
terious.
• • •
tent belief that the future for gave 3,828,275 clays of care to
JEWISH SHORT STORIES— Jewish-American writing is very 318,922 patients in 1949. The lo-
cal institutions for the tubercu-
The remaining English "quality" bright.
Displaced persons residing in Germany, we reported
• • •
lous showed a drop of seven per
magazines are becoming more
in last week's issue, will from now on be normal human
AMERICANIZATION — Jew- cent, while the hospitals for the
hospitable to stories about Jews,
being: with equal rights before the law and the unem-
though some of their editors still ish-American writers, when de- chronically ill showed the larg-
don't always know the difference picting the Americanization of est increase (seven per cent).
ployment office.
How many Jews are there
between genuine merit and the their immigrant parents (and of
While the number of DPs willing to stay in Germany
themselves) often forget that still in Europe? The Year Book's
merely quaint and queer.
is relatively small, there are some who find Germany a
Still, a really good Jewish Americanization is a two-way estimate is 3,550,000 — including
good place to make their home. It is also interesting to
short story has more of a chance street: the Christian Americans 2,000 Jews in Russia. Outside
note that it took quite a bit of pressure on the part of the
of getting into Atlantic or liar- were being influenced by their the Soviet Union, Britain with
American government to induce the German parliament
per's now than was the case 25 Jewish neighbors almost as much 450,000 Jews, Romania with 335,-
to enact the law.
years ago. In fact, it has a better as the Jews were being Ameri- 000 Jews and France with 235,-
We are sure the Germans will find ways and means
chance of making their pages canized by their Christian neigh- 000 Jews are the largest Jewish
settlements. Germany's Jewish
to sabotage the law, and we predict that the situation of
than of making a magazine like bors.
On a national scale the Jewish population is estimated at 40,000,
the DPs in Germany will continue to remain a precarious
Commentary.
But the best market of all for influence has been so marked including displaced persons.
one. They will not be accepted as full partners; they will
Hundreds of similar interest-
quality Jewish stories is the as to be noticed by all. Jewish
always be pariahs in the eyes of the Germans.
"little
magazine"
field.
They
set-
humor,
for
example,
has
become
ing facts can be found in the
In the meantime, we feel it would be more fruitful
dom pay money, but the prestige a definite and important part of Year Book. It is an invaluable
for the western Allies to concentrate on the restitution
of appearing in them is high— American humor; so has Jewish source for students of Jewish
issue which is more pressing to Jewish victims of Nazism
life, particularly because of its
and sometimes "pays off" very music; and so on.
all over the world than the issue of equal rights for DPs
But the influence in the purely accuracy, reliability and objec-
handsomely: the editors of the
in Germany. Restitution so far has been badly bungled
two "best" story collections are inter-personal relationship must tivity. From figures and facts
through the neglect of the "victors" and the skilful' boy-
partial to these "little magazines" not be forgotten; fiction writers, emerges a picture of the throb-
(and for very good reasons), they in particular, should not lose bing activity of the Jewish corn-
cott by the Germans. We should not let them get away
read them with special care, and sight of it. munity.
with it.

Silver Discerns the Future

Jewish Writing Faces

Bright Future in U.S.

Y

—

Aid for Israel

Equal Rights for DPs

a

