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A Little More Quiet, Please!
—With an Apology for Preaching
By LOUIS LIPSKY
At the risk of being charged
with the faults I complain of, I
venture to say that—in addition
to being the victims of the gen-
eral confusion that prevails in
the world—we Jews are under
the pressure of diverse extremes
in all our discussions, with the
result that the Jewish world looks
like a caricature of a caricature.
If you say that Hitler is near
the end of his rope, you are en-
gaged in "wishful thinking." If
you talk darkly of the fighting
capacity of` the United Nations,
you are a "realist."
In short, if you are in the civ-
ilian fight behind the fighting
front, you have to qualify as an
obstinate partisan. There is no
middle ground. If you want to be
heard, the thing to do is to work
yourself up into an unrestrained
excitement. one way or the other,
and refuse to be calmed down.
The moment you show signs of
being reasonable, you will be
counted out. Beware of the weak-
ness of attempting to find a com-
mon denominator or a formula
to adjust differences. Agreement
destroys the fighting spirit. Any
agreement is softness, and soft-
ness is appeasement. If you want
to save your soul for the World-
of-Tomorrow—provided there is
to be such a world—it is your
patriotic duty to work yourself
into the immovable conviction
that you alone are wholly right
and all others are wholly wrong.
According to any definition, all
of us must be unbalanced. Ration-
ality is taboo, and anybody who
aims at a "considered conclus-
ion" is a Fifth Columnist. You
have got to play up to those who
function in the heat of discussion.
The best advice is, go along with
the turbulent stream and share
the common fate of the human
race: be reconciled with the
conclusion that you cannot alter
what is predestined. The world
is in a storm; it is tossing on a
heavy sea; the captain is asleep at
the wheel; the course is at the
ing faith, have allowed the Ad-
versary to be enthroned where
God should reign alone.
Faith has meaning only if it is
reflected in work. The civilian
fight against the Adversary im-
poses the duty of order and dis-
cipline, sobriety and self-sacri-
fice, quiet determination, disre-
gard of death in order that God's
world shall live.
Each one to his task. The sold-
ier at the front, the civilian in the
rear, wasting no time or thought
Hebrew and Yiddish Div-
isions Added to Observ-
ance Nov. 22 to 29
Hebrew and Yiddish cultural
divisions will for the first time
participate in this year's observ-
ance of Jewish Book Week; it
was announced by Dr. Mordecai
Soltes, chairman of the national
committee. Paralleling this new
organization set-up, the Jewish
Book Week Annual will be tri-
lingual in character, including
sections in English, Hebrew, and
Yiddish, which are being pre-
pared by corresponding editorial
committees. Dr. Solomon Gray-
zel is general editor of the 1942
edition.
The anniversaries of the fol-
lowing Jewish literary person-
alities, occuring in 1942-43, will
be featured in connection with
this year's celebration: Abra-
ham Ibn Ezra, Judah Leib Gor-
don, Abraham Mapu, Mendele
Mocher Seforim (Solomon Ab-
ramovitz), Yehoash (Solomon
Atonement, where the traditions
of faith are supposed to live. It is
part of the service, the duty of
the Preacher. For this unprofes-
sional intrusion, I offer my apo-
logies.
(Copyright, 1942, by Independent
Jewish Press Service)
with matters none of their own
special concern, going about their
work soberly, with thrift. There
is more of a contribution to the
war effort in stinting on the
things you consume than in the
indignation you express against
the clumsy strategy of the Brit-
ish, or the cruelty of the Nazis.
Thera is more of support of the
World-of-Tomorrow in going
about your business than in get-
ting yourself into a stew of dis-
cussion unrelated to your duties.
which creates irritation and hate
and confusion of thought. War is
a grim business and should not
be cheapened by chatter, and
mercy crf—accident. You are en- endless talk, which is conversa-
titled to guess where the world tional exercise substituted for
is going to, but no one really
knows or cares to know. This is
revolution without purpose, make
ri, ♦ mistake about it.
•
• •
But this cannot go on forever.
You will know that the storm
has begun to subside when a
glimmer of temperateness begins
to penetrate the babel of discus-
sion, when it will be possible for
a "still, small voice" to be heard.
The return of Faith is prelude
to the Dawn.
•
What is the cause of the
world's distemper? Life in the
largest sense depends •upon a
working balance between good
and evil. It is a struggle governed.
by ascertained and recognized
law. Instead of clinging to the
Law and recognizing the Vandal
as the eternal Adversary and ac-
cepting his challenge without
hesitation or equivocation, we
have lacked the faith, and lack-
yt
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— 5703
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May
It Bring
You and Yours
Contentment:
and Health:
Tap - Ballet
Acrobatic
Ballroom
and Dramatics
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13211 LINWOOD
TOwnsond 7-9736 - 6-1583
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From Democratic Officials:
C
SUPER MARKETS
WILLIAM R. DOWLING
—Prosecisting
JACOB P. SUMERACKI
—County Treasurer
BERNARD J. YOUNGBLOOD
—Register of Deeds
—and It Will
Be A Happy
New Year
for Everyone!
JAMES D. FRIEL
RAY HAFELI
OTIS U. WALKER
a
— County Auditors
GEORGE A. DINGMAN
—County Drain Commisioner
Fighting . . . working . . . and buying
bonds together, we'll make this New Year
a year of Victory for men of good-will
the world over!
ALBERT A. HUGHES
EDMUND J. KNOBLOCH
—Coroners
Over 52 Years of Service
DETROIT
GROSSE POINTE
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B 6c
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: Greeting to All Members and
:Friends on the New Year and
: Calls Upon Them for Renewed
:Activities in Behalf of Victory
: for the United Nations and :
Continued Progress for the Up-
: building of the Jewish National :
Home in Palestine!
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M. KRAMER, Secretary
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May the New ■ ■
Year Bring ■
Victory —
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The City Committee of the
Of course, all this belongs in :Detroit Branches of the Jewish
the synagogue on the Day of : National Workers' Alliance
(Farband) Extends Heartfelt
5703
Ben Yehudah, Max Nordau and
Isaac Erter.
National Jewish Book Week
will be observed this year from
Nov. 22 to 29 immediately pre-
ceding Hanukah, which will be
ushered in on Dec. 3.
Extends To You
and Yours
A HAPPY
NEW YEAR
genuine sacrifice.
• • •
Keep On
Buying Bonds
Bloomgarten), and Morris Rosen-
feld.
The committee which is su-
pervising the technical aspects
of the publication of the trilin-
gual annual consists of Maurice
Jacobs, chairman, Edward H.
Bloch, N. Chanin, Mendl Elkin,
Leon Reeder, Menahem Ribalow.
In addition to the six noted
scholars and authors whose an-
niversaries will be stressed, bio-
graphical sketches of the follow-
ing will also be included in the
1942 edition of the Jewish Book
Week Annual: Samuel ha-Na-
gid, Haym Nahman Bialik, Sol-
omon J. L. Rapoport, Eliezer