THE JEWISH NEWS
Page Sixteen
Friday, April I, 1943
What's Happening in Detroit
ETROIT'S Jewish community is taking forward
D steps to keep our constituency fully informed on
w hat is transpiring in the world affecting our people.
The most important educational effort is the series
of lectures sponsored by the Jewish Welfare Federation
and its allied agencies and the Jewish Community Cen-
ter. The first lecture, on Tuesday evening, at the Jew-,
ish Community Center, will be delivered by Frank L.
Weil, president of the Jewish Welfare Board. Full de-
tails regarding these lectures will be found elsewhere in
this issue.
Youth Adopt Policy of Action
Our youth have also adopted a positive program for
the spread of information regarding Jews everywhere.
The inspiring annual conference of the League of De-
troit Jewish Youth, • held last Sunday at the Center,
dealt frankly with Jewish issues and undertook to en-
courage a policy of action and education among our
young people.
The "Children's Day of Sorrow and Call to Faith,"
set for Sunday morning at the Shaarey Zedek and the
Hampton School, is also intended to keep our boys and
girls informed on what is happening to their people
everywhere.
Esther Cornblit Crowned Queen
Zionist Youth of Detroit recorded another successful
event at the Jewish National Fund carnival held Satur-
day night at the Bnai Moshe. A capacity audience par-
ticipated.
Louis Levine and Danny Raskin were masters of
ceremonies.
Esther Cornblit of Hashomer Hatzir was crowned
Queen Esther by Mrs. Philip Cutler, president of the
Ladies' Auxiliary of the Jewish National Fund, Hasho-
mer Hatzair having sold the most trees to be planted in
the Forest for Freedom in Palestine.
Religious Book Week Observed Here
Religious Book Week was observed in Detroit at a
luncheon meeting held Thursday at the Detroit-Leland
Hotel. Observance of this week was set nationally from
March 28 to April 3.
The Detroit speakers included Mrs. Avis Schulman
of Chicago, the wife of Rabbi Charles Schulman of
Glencoe, Ill., Miss Barbara Fleury, librarian of the De-
troit Public Schools, and Dr. Edgar DeWitt Jones, of
Central Woodward Christian Church. Miss Katherine
Hoey, chairman of Religious Book Week and member
of the Detroit Public Library staff, presided.
Jewish Best Sellers
An interesting comment on Religious Book Week is
made this week by David Schwartz, on the subject
"Jewish Best Sellers," in his column syndicated by the
Jewish Telegraphic Agency. He writes:
"The 'best seller' of all times in the publishing field
is a Jewish book commonly called the Bible. But
in the main, books dealing with Jewish subjects have
rarely been 'best sellers.' This was the reason, as a mat-
ter of fact, for the organization of such societies as
`The Jewish Publication Society.' There is little money
to be made in selling Jewish books, in fact, such pub-
lications are usually published at a loss.
"I remember years ago a young fellow who lived in
a small southern town. The environment was definite-
ly non-Jewish. His parents were fine people but their
entire background scarcely fitted them for the task of
adequately interpreting the Jew and Judaism to their
sons. But there was one family which was a subscriber
to the works of the Jewish Publication Society and I
remember how this young fellow used to like to tarry
at their house. It was there that he met Heinrich Heine,
the poet; the historian - Graetz; the novelists, Grace
Aguilar and Emma Lazarus. You can imagine how a
young fellow, thirsty for companionship, would feel
about meeting such people. They did more than they
knew at the time. I can talk about that young fellow,
for it was myself.
"Not very long ago, I had occasion to be at the home
of the parents of the bombardier hero, Meyer Levin;
and as I stepped into the living room, Mrs. Levin said
to me, as though by way of excuse for the furniture in
the house: "We never had much money for furniture,
but we always managed to have a little library for the
children." I looked at the shelves. There was a very
representative collection of the best in literature, Tol-
stoy and Emerson and Dostoievsky and a considerable
sprinkling of the kind of Jewish books gotten out by
the Jewish Publication Society. When you saw those
shelves, you understood Meyer Levin better.
"In contrast with -this home, I can tell of another. It
was a much lovelier looking home as far as externals
go and the father and mother were fine people, with
excellent Jewish backgrounds. They have two sons,
and to look at them you would feel that the parents
must indeed be very proud of them. But I left that
home, nevertheless, with the feeling that these two
bright young men were actual anti-Semites. How was
this to be explained?
"The answer is—that they live in a largely Chris-
tian environment, a fashionable suburb of New York in
which there are few Jews—and I think part of the
answer is that there is not a Jewish book in the house.
I believe if those men had come in contact with such
works as those put out by the Jewish Publication So-
ciety, their entire attitude toward their own people
would change."
Coming Events
April 4—Demonstration against Nazi atrocities by
the children of Detroit Jewish schools, at the
Shaarey Zedek Auditorium and the Temple Israel
headquarters at Hampton School, at 11 a. in.
April 6—Address by Frank L. Weil, president of
Jewish Welfare Board, on "The Jews of America and
the War," at Jewish Center. .
April 11—Closing event of Gewerkshaften drive
at Detroit Institute of Arts. Speaker, Dr. Solomon
Goldman of Chicago.
April 12—Address by Joseph C. Hyman, execu-
tive vice-president of J. D. C., on "An American Jew
Looks at Europe," at Jewish Center.
April 22—Address by Dr. James G. Heller, Pres-
ident of the Central Conference of American Rab-
bis, at the Jewish Center.
May 2—Symposium on "The American Jew and
the Post-War World," featuring spokesmen for lead-
ing national Jewish organizations, at Jewish Center.
Michigan Oddities
When the first Detroit directory as published
in 1837, not a single Jewish name was included
in it. The next directory, in 1845, contained the
two Jewish names of Solomon Bendit and
Moses Rindskopf.
*
*
The 1850 directory, which recorded a Detroit
population of 21,000, listed only three Jewish
firms and five Jewish individuals. The history
of the Jewish community of Detroit began. in
1850, with the organization of Temple Beth El.
*
*
Hyman Keidan and Samuel Raskin won't
talk about it, but in their day they were among
the best basketball players in Detroit.
*
*
Samuel Benavie's name is generally inter-
preted as meaning BEN AVI—the son of his
father. But Mr. Benavie informs us that it
actually stands for BEN NAVI—the son of a
Prophet.
*
*
The late David W. Simons was a member
of the first Detroit Nine-Man Council.
Addendum to Last Week's Oddity
Editor, The Jewish News:
"In your last issue of "The Jewish News" un-
der the heading of "Michigan Oddities" you men-
tion the interesting fact that Mr. David Zemon
has had the same telephone number for 42 years;
that it started as a "Main" exchange and is now
the "Randolph."
"I can point out to you a better record than
that of my good friend, Mr. Zemon. Adolph Slo-
man, one of the outstanding Michigan lawyers in
the early part of this century, had the telephone
number 1095 before the numbers in Detroit were
identified by exchanges. I have seen this number
on the stationery of the law firm of Sloman and
Groesbeck printed in the 1890's. The junior mem-
ber of this firm was former Gov. Alex J. Groes-
beck.
The number then became part of the "Main"
exchange and was used by the law firm of Slo-
man and Sloman for many years, and subse-
quently the "Main" exchange was named "Ran-
dolph." The number still is that of Mr. Edward
M. Sloman, who continued the law practice of the
firm of Sloman and Sloman.
—MORRIS GARVETT.
The Martyrdom of
Francisco Maldonado
de Silva
—Continued from Page 6
acy, to transport him to the prison at Lima, there
to await execution with other condemned Judaizers.
In 1634 the Lima prison was sadly overcrowded
with such victims. They were all facing the fearful
fate of being burned alive. There were those who,
in the face of such a threatened ordeal, weakened
and sought, by renouncing their faith, to escape
death. Francisco heard of this in his prison cell.
He asked for maize-husks in place of his ration of
bread and twisted these husks into a rope by which
he escaped from his cell and made a round of
neighboring cells urging the prisoners to be brave
and to hold to their faith. Captured, he freely ad-
mitted what he had done and defied the authorities.
He could only be sent back to his cell and kept a
close prisoner. He then wrote letters and verses
which were transmitted secretly to the other prison-
ers to inspire them to keep up their courage.
A Sign from Heaven
At last the eventful day arrived for the auto de fe.
It was a gala occasion for Lima. Large crowds as-
sembled, augmented by an influx of folk from the
surrounding country. A great procession was form-
ed with distinguished church and government
officials and sixty-three Jewish victims. Of these,
eleven were to be burned in the auto de fe, while
the others, "reconciled' to the Church, were to
suffer lesser degrees of punishment. As they pro-
ceeded to the square, sixty-two of the prisoners
carried green crosses as part of the pageantry. Fran-
cisco alone refused to do so, insisting that he would
go to his death as an impenitent, por it rebelde.
As they stood around the scaffold, the "sermon
of faith" was preached and the prisoners were turn-
ed over to the secular authorities who thereupon
pronounced the dread sentence of burning. Fagots
were piled about the victims, bound to their stakes,
and the fires were about to be set when, says the
Chronicler, "A strong wind arose that old inhabit-
ants of this city affirm (that) they had never seen
any wind so strong in many years. It tore away with
great violence the awning which darkened the scaf-
fold at the very spot where Francisco was standing,
who, looking up towards heaven, said: 'The God
of Israel has ordained this in order to see me face
to face from Heaven.' "
So Francisco Maldonado de Silva went to his
death for his faith.
The Shrinking of Our Menus
Meat rationing went into force on Monday, and Jew-
ish women will have to guide themselves in their pur-
chases, according to a special schedule for kosher meats
set up by the O.P.A.
The points allotted for kosher meats are naturally
the same as those for non-kosher products. The reason
for a special schedule is that there is variation in nam-
ing the different cuts that are prepared in accordance
with the Jewish dietary laws and that there are greater
losses in weight in the "breaking" of the meats.
Celebrate Fichman's Birthday
Kvutzah Ivrith, Hebrew Cultural Group ci Detroit,
invites all those who understand Hebrew to attend the
Jacob Fichman anniversary program Saturday eve-
ning, in the auditorium of the Rose . Sittig Cohen Bldg.
Fichman, who resides in Palestine and who has
reached his 60th year, is one of the leading Hebrew
writers. His anniversary will be observed by a study of
his works. Speakers will be Bernard Isaacs, Solomon
Kasdan and Abram Twersky. Leon Gura and Barbara
Malitz, students of the high school of the United He-
brew Schools, will read some of Fichman's poems,
The public is invited. Admission is free.
The Zionist Festival of Music
A capacity audience filled the social hall of Shaarey
Zedek last Thursday evening, at the annual festival of
music sponsored by the Zionist Organization of Detroit. .
Lawrence W. Crohn, who presided, delivered an ad-
dress on the development of Jewish music in Palestine.
The participating artists who won the plaudits of the
audience were: Cantors J. H. Sonenklar and Robert S.
Tulman and Marguerite Kozenn, vocalists; Julius
Chajes, and Mrs. S. Q. Kesler, pianists; Morris Hoch-
berg, violinist; and Rudolph Kramer, cellist.
What They're Saying
About the Jewish News
La Voce del Popolo, Detroit Italian news-
paper, in its recent issue congratulated The
Jewish News on its first anniversary, stating
that "the paper is a mirrored reflection of the
high morale of the Jewish people."
"We are happy to extend to Editor Philip
Slomovitz our congratulations and wishes for
continued success. Its principles are the same
as we subscribe to socially—the American idea
of fair play," La Voce del Popolo added.
A Welcome Letter From David A. Brown
"I too want to extend congratulations on the
first anniversary of THE JEWISH NEWS.
"As you may know I receive and read
weekly about eight Anglo-Jewish publications,
and while I do not read them all from cover to
cover, yet I get a very good picture of what
they offer to their public.
"I have no hesitancy in saying that THE
JEWISH NEWS is without question the best
all round Anglo-Jewish publication in this
country.
"Your editorials and your own column evi-
dence a knowledge of Jewish life, that places
you in the forefront of Jewish writers. The
manner in which THE JEWISH NEWS backs
up all campaigns, Jewish and non-Jewish, is of
the greatest value to all social agencies and in
this respect, I believe, I know something about
it.
"The Jewish community of Detroit is under
obligation to your publication for what you are
doing and I hope they show their full apprecia-
tion and that can be done in only two ways,
subscribe for your paper and back up your ad-
vertisers who support the publication."
—DAVID A. BROWN, New York.
(Nationally prominent Jewish
leader and famous campaigner
for Relief funds in the years fol-
lowing World War 1.)
Twenty Years Ago This Week
Compiled From the Records of the
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
ROME—The Italian Government has taken action
to combat the growing wave of anti-Semitism. A
government committee has announced that it will
hold a contest and award prizes for the best papers
demonstrating the fallacy of anti-Semitism.
VIENNA — The Hakenkreuzler Organization
issued a warning threatening the Jews in Austria
with "a blood-bath" if the Socialists attempt to
interfere with their projected military maneuvers.
They also threaten that they will press for the de-
portation of all the Jews to Palestine. The group is
alarmed by the demand of the Allied governments
that the Austrian authorities disband the organization
and deport its "foreign agitators." This would strike
a hard blow at the Hackenkreuzlers, since most of
their leaders come from the ranks of Adolf Hitler's
Bavarian Fascisti.
WARSAW—Squads of infantry and cavalry are
patrolling the Jewish quarter here following the
outbreak of anti-Semitic riots, during which property
valued at half a billion marks was destroyed. Pre-
mier Sikorski assured Jewish deputies that the gov-
ernment will not tolerate a repetition of the disturb-
ances and will punish the rioters. Premier Sikorski
has permitted the anti-Semitic party, "Roswoj," to
resume its activities.
JERUSALEM—Palestine Jews are incensed at hav-
ing been barred from the Wailing Wall on Passover
because of an anti-Zionist Arab procession.
BERLIN—The Old Testament has been "purged"
of its Jewish names and can now be read by even
a Bavarian Fascist without the slightest possibility
of infection, as the result of the efforts of the Ger-
man nationalist, anti - Semitic author, Henrich
Lhotzky.