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THE JEWISH NEWS

THE JEWISH NEWS .

Getting a Little Gun-Shy

Member of Independent Jewish Press Service, Jewish Tele-
graphic Agency, Seven Arts Feature Syndicate, Religious News
Service. Palcor News Agency, Bressler Cartoon Service, Wide
World Photo Service.
Published every Friday by Jewish News Publishing Co., 2114
Penobscot Bldg., Detroit, Mich. Telephone, RAndolph 7956. Sub-
scription rate, $3 a year; foreign, $4 a year. Club subscription of one
issue a month, published every fourth Friday in the month, to all
subscribers to Allied Jewish Campaign of Jewish Welfare Federa-
tion of Detroit, at 50 cents a club subscription per year.
Entered as second-class - matter August 6, 1942, at the Post
Office at Detroit, Michigan, under the Act of March 3, 1879.

Director, Detroit Round Table of
Catholics, Jews and Protestants

The stars in their courses fought
against Sisera.—Judges 5:20,

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MAURICE ARONSSON
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
FRED M. BUTZEL
ISIDORE SOBELOFF
THEODORE LEVIN
ABRAHAM SRERE
MAURICE H. SCHWARTZ
HENRY WINEMAN

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ, Editor

FEBRUARY 19, 1943

This Week's Scriptural Porfions:

This Sabbath, the fifteenth day of Adar Rishon, the follow-
ing Scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Ex. 27:20-30:10; Prophetical portion,
Ezek. 43:10-27.

As the Editor
Views the News

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Brotherhood Week

The Jewish News dedicates this issue to the cause of
good will and better understanding among all faiths in our
population, on the occasion of the observance of Brotherhood
Week.
The special articles by the Catholic, Jewish and Protest-
ant co-chairmen of the Detroit Round Table of Catholics,
Jews and Protestants; the guest sermonette by the Rev.
Joseph Q. Mayne, executive director of the Detroit Round
Table; the special drawing on our first page, together with
the quotation from one of the earliest good will statements
on record in this country—that made by George Washington
in 1790—serve to emphasize the importance of the move-
ments to weld together the three religious faiths in a spirit
of amity and cooperation.
Continuation of efforts for harmonious cooperation of
the three faiths should redound to the benefit of all the in-
habitants of this great land. The inter-faith activities, which
lead to a common understanding of the need for recognizing
the right of people to differ, and which lead to more whole-
some cooperation on principles intended for the good of all
peoples, are among the most encouragino . proofs of the in-
destructible strength of the idealism of America.
b
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,

The Weekly
Sermonette

The Stars Fought Against Sisera*
A Brotherhood Sermonette
By REV. JOSEPH Q. MAYNE

MAURICE H. SCHWARTZ and PHILIP SLOMOVITZ, Publishers

VOL. 2—NO. 18

Friday, February 19, 1941

A Challenge to United Nations

Demands in Christian and Jewish circles in England and
the United States that Germany and the Nazi-ruled countries
of Europe be negotiated with to permit the emigration of
Jews to territories of the United Nations apparently are being
heeded by some states.
The test of the validity of such demands has come this
week with the information communicated to the United Na-
tions, in London, by the Rumanian government, expressing
readiness to transfer 70,000 Rumanian Jews from Trans-
Dniestria to any refuge selected by the Allies.
As in previous instances, which involved the settlement
of very small groups of refugees in Palestine, the plan again
is being viewed as complicated and as presenting numerous
obstacles.
The Arab-Jewish question is said to stand in the way of
the settlement of these refugees in Palestine, which is men-
tioned in the Rumanian proposal as the most convenient
place for the transfer of the 70,000 from Trans-Dniestria.
Fear is expressed that spies may be smuggled out of Nazi-
held territory as a result of such a_ transfer, and the problem
of shipping the homeless Jews is considered serious.
If Great Britain and our other Allies desire it, they can
find a way out of these difficulties. The principle to be
definitely established is whether the United Nations, the
United States included, are prepared to undertake the gig-
The mere fact that the question whether Jews are par- antic task of saving large numbers of Jews NOW, without
ticipating in the armed forces of the United States in pro- gambling with their lives until the war is over.
portion to their numbers in the population is being raised is
Our own government and our Allies know the problem
an insult to the common sense thinking of the average
kmerican.
• and they have indicated that some measures must and will
be taken to save the Jewish populations in Nazi-ruled coun-
Anyone who questions our loyalty challenges even more tries.
the loyalty of the draft boards which are responsible for
The United Nations Review, the Monthly Summary of
the selection of men for the Army. For, if Jews are evading Documents on the Allied Fight for Freedom, in its last issue
the draft, then the draft boards are parties to unpatriotic • which has just reached us from London, devotes five pages
action. The raising of such suspicions in the minds of the - o a compilation of records of the wrongs committed against
American people is a cheap Nazi trick. . the Jews. Will the United Nations take steps to facilitate the
Nevertheless, Mr. Russell Gore is to be commended for saving of 70,000' unfortunate Jews?
The Rumanian proposal represents a serious challenge to
lis fair appraisal and splendid review of the issue .in answer
:0 the question that was addressed to him. In his article the United Nations. It is a matter that must not be treated
`Kill That Rumor Now!" in last Sunday's Detroit News, lightly. It is to be hoped that no difficulty will be considered
qr. Gore makes use of figures which correspond with facts insurmountable and that a way will be found for the Allies to
herald the news to the Axis powers that life is sacred and
)ublished in The Jewish News.
- that the objectives of the democratic cause do not permit
He shows that there are between 4,000 and 4,500 Detroit wholesale persecution of our people.
Jews in the service of our country, and that these figures
Only if it is to be definitely established that the Ruman -
)lace Jewish participation. in the war within the general ; an offer
is a Nazi trick either to extract funds from Ameri-
average.
.
can Jews or to embarrass the Allies should the offer for the
Readers of The Jewish News already know that until ( migration of Jews from Trans-Dniestria be ignored.
low we have published the names of more than 3,000 De-
roiters who are in the armed forces. The list appearing
i n this issue boosts the total to 4,000 and additional lists
o be published in forthcoming issues of The Jewish News
For many months we had come to believe that on at
will bring the total of known names to a figure exceeding
east one front, in our relations with the Polish Government-
hat mentioned by Mr. Gore.
But even the figure of 4,500 Detroit Jews in service , i n-Exile, we had established amicable relations. But the re-
s incomplete. While the Army and Navy Committee of the i orts of the past few weeks are discouraging even on that
newish Welfare Board, the Jewish Welfare Federation, 1 ront. The unfortunate incident in Mexico and the abuse of
numerous local organizations, as well as relatives and friends 1 ;he Mexican Jewish community by an official Polish spokes-
)f men in the service cooperated in compiling the list of , an, and the report of a riot instigated by Poles in Tel Aviv,
erve to cast a shadow of glOom over the friendly dealings
4 :,000 names for publication in The Jewish News, many
tundreds of others could not be gathered to be included in Yews had with the Poles.
Fuel has been added to the fire by the violent attack
t he published total.
i pon the Jews of Palestine in the Mysl Polska, the organ of
Similarly, the charges that medical boards are packed i Polish extremists published in London. Jews are charged
vith Jewish doctors represent a gross libel not merely with "cheating and profiteering" in this periodical, and its
.gainst the Jews but against the entire community whose author writes in the language of the anti-Semites of the
1 eaders were made responsible for the selection of the draft
lays of anti-Jewish pogroms in Poland.
.nd medical boards. Mr. Gore has made excellent use of
The revival of anti-Semitism in Polish ranks is a matter
f actual information in refuting the anti-Semitic libels.
c f deep concern for Jews. We certainly did not expect the
It is a matter of deep regret that such libels should i ise of a bigoted movement within the free countries that
have to be discussed at all. Unfortunately, the charges are re fighting for mankind's liberation. Unless such rancor is
a n inheritance from the anti-Semitic outbursts of the Cough- ( eliminated, suspicion rather than confidence and mutual trust
Mites and their ilk, and it always is necessary to fight 1 rill again dominate negotiations among the various peoples
a gainst their being broadcast among the unknowing masses i whose one aim today is the re-establishment of decency in
I the American neonle. t he world.

Jews in the Armed Forces

The Polish Scandal

Sisera was a Canaanitish chief-
tain who had cemented a coalition
which threatened the very exist-
ence of the Hebrew people. His
strong points completely separat-
ed the Hebrews of Central Pales-
tine from those of the North. The
Hebrews were separated, not so
much because they lacked cour-
age but because they had no
strong leaders to unite them. A
great crisis now occurred in
which the work of Moses was
almost undone. The situation
called for a leader to inspire the
people to united action. In De-
borah a Joan of Arc was found.
The war cry sent out to the
leaders was: "Come to the help
of the Lord against the mighty."
This appeal chal-
lenged the cour-
age of the brav-
est. It summed
up the achieve-
ments of t h e
past. A recent
prophet has put
i t "only t h e
brave can b e
free." The cour-
age of these .....
early pioneers Rev. Mayne'
was rooted in their loyalty to
God; therefore, they fought not
only for their lives and their
hoines, but for their religious
heritage.
Need for United Action
In a poetic account of the bat-
tle between the Hebrews and the
forces against them a vivid series
of pictures is presented of the
great conflict: you hear the
shock of the battle, the pounding
of the hoofs of the chariot horses;
you see in the flight of the Cana-
anites that the "stars fought
against Sisera." While the battle
was in progress a heavy storm
swept across the plain. With mar-
velous skill the poet brings out in
the Hebrew the sound of the
plunging horses hoofs in the miry
soil. The storm which caused the
stream to become a raging tor-
rent was proof to the Hebrews
that God was present and fight-
ing for his people. This was the
decisive battle of their history.
The victory demonstrated the
necessity of united action. When
personal jealousy was set aside
and men fought shoulder to
shoulder, they proved invincible.
In the fiery experience of life-
and-death conflict Israel's faith
was justified. "The stars in their
courses fought against Sisera."
We have come in our own day
to a parallel experience. A gang-
ster nation is on the loose, having
wrought a coalition of the forces
of evil. Nations which stood for
decency, justice and liberty fell
one by one before the onslaught
of the ruthless conqueror. Had
they joined forces in the begin-
ning such a crisis would never
had occurred, but only through
hard experience could they learn.
We Must Preserve Unity
People said to one another
"God is dead" but the higher
power was roused against Hitler
as against the Cannanites. There
is a moral law as immutable as
the law of gravity and in the
final analysis those who attempt
to break the laws of God only
succeed in breaking themselves
against them.
James Thurber pronounced an
epitaph upon our generation
when he said "slowly but surely
mankind is slipping back on all
fours." There has been this moral
slump but God is not dead, nor
does he sleep. Today as in simi-
lar crises leaders imbued with
the flame of lofty idealism are
arising. Again the stars are fight-
ing against the forces of tyranny
and oppression. The night has
been black but day is breaking.
It is our responsibility to preserve
this unity among races, creeds
and individuals won in the heat
of battle. It must not be lost in
the days of peace and reconst•uc-
tion.

