Friday, October 15, 1943

THE JEWISH NEWS

Page Two

Purely
Commentary

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

APPLAUSE VERSUS BOOS

Dr. Jacob Klatzkin's "In Praise of
Wisdom," published last Month' by L. B.
Fischer Publishing Corp., 381 4th Ave.,
New York, has been hailed by so emi-
nent an authority as Dr.. Thomas Mann
as being the most colorful. and brilliant
collection of aphoristha to appear since
Nietzsche.
There are Many justifying reasons
for such a tribute. The psychological
essays, the microscopic studies of life,
the charming aphorisms, make this book
stand out as an unusual creation.
; Most interesting among the psycholog-
ical articles in the book is the one on
"Applause and Its Kin."
To Dr. Klatzkin, applause is an in-
strument used by an audience to attract
attention to itself. "People," he writes,
"sit quietly for a long while, and gaze
and listen passively at a speaker over-
flowing with quakes and gestures and
excitements. They are themselves there-
by stimulated to activity. At any rate,
their sense and organs, strained by a
prolonged idleness and stillness, require
some kind of stir or movement. In such
circumstances, people are likely to break
into applause or hurrahs Without really
intending to eXpreas goodwill or joy.
That's just their way of finding relief!'
What about the negative expressions
—yells, boos and hisses? Dr. Klatzkin
has the answer: when the public doesn't
know its own mind it will lean toward
positive relief-seeking: but ---"negative
relief requires some extra incentive for
it must overcome'.;:,:the • inhibitiOns - of
custom and politeness,"
" His conclusion is "Boda and hisses
have a greater _degree_ of - honesty than
applause." -

"I ask you to remember that the USO is your share of what we
are doing for our fighting men, and the forces behind the lines. I ask
you to consider that War Prisoners Aid does what no government
can do. I ask you to think of the United Seamen's Service in terms
of the people's debt to the men who took our ships across in the
darkest hours of the war.
"And I ask you not to forget that the people of Russia, and
China, and of all the other United Nations—and especially the un-
fortunate, hungry. men, women , and children of all the overrun and
enslaved countries—see in your personal and. friendly concern the
brightest ray of hope and the greatest power for good in the world
today-7-the sovereign voice of the people of the 'United States.
"I -ask you, therefdre, - to give thoughtfully, and generously, and
proportionately—remembering as you give, that a share in the war
fund is a share in winning the war, and in winning the right of free
men to live in a bettei' world."

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Agencies Inciu
War Chest

By DAVID DEUTSCH

(Copyright, 1943, Independent
Jewish Press service)

HEARD IN THE PULPIT

One of the most remarkable addresses
ever made by the head of a national.
Jewish organization of repute was heard
from the pulpit . of San Francisco's Tem-
ple Emanu-El, headed by anti-Zionist
Rabbi Irving Reichert, when Mrs. Mau-
rice L. Goldman, president of the Na-
tional Council of Jewish Women, gave
her impressions of the American Jewish
Conference. She said that she was "con-
fused, saddened and fearful" as a result
of the Conference. These, are some of the
reasons:

—PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, In Radio.
Appeal in. Behalf of the War Chests.

Between
You and Me

By BORIS SMOLAR

(Copyright, 1943, Jewish Telegraphic Agency,
'
Inc.)

WASHINGTON NOTES

People. in Washington are very much
interested 'in knoWing who is behind the
-
: newly - formed "American Resettlement
Corrimittee for Uprooted Jews" which
recently inserted a full-page advertise-
ment in the New York press .. . • There
may even be an attack on it from the
floor of Congress because of its slogan:
"Jews to Palestine, Arabs to Iraq!" . . .
It is suspected that this is another
branch of the same group which • orga-
nized the Committee for a Jewish Army,
the pageant "We Shall Never Die," and
the Emergency Cominittee to Save the
Jewish People of Europe . The, pro-
A JOB FOR DR. KLATZIQN
gram of the new organization seems to
Too bad Dr. Klatzkiii was deprived be based on the book ."The Middle. East"
of an opportunity :of studying the posi- by Elihau Ben-Horin • Urging the transfer
tive and negative eleinents in applause of all Palestinian Arabs to Iraq in order
at meetingslike_ Gerald L. K. Smith's. to make room for European Jews in.
There, the boos predominate—but not Palestine . . . Incidentally, Mr. Ben-
against -the ;rabble-'rouser; ; rather against Horin is the executive director of the
those Wlidm the rabble-rousers hate and new organization.
invite others• to - hate;
Washington correspondents are begin-
In more 'than one sense, : Dr. Klatzkin's
ning to get annoyed with the flood of
point is well taken in the- instance of
G. L.K. Smith_audience; or "anYandience publicity releases which they have been
where..anti-Sernitiain=--or _anti'1\T-e-W . Deal-- receiving from busybodies in the capital
isai—is the • topic _for _discussion.. The in behalf of Jewish organizations or del-
frustrated. 'liatera' .r4u-st haVe public ...a,t- egations . . . One of them asks me to ad-
terition..and they find relief: in beifig vise Jewish publicity men that it would
'able AO
Sh
out—epithets
- at -- Jews, or at' be better for them to place a few copies
;Roos.evelt,_ or at :Some ::one Whose skin of their releases in the press room of the
State Department, or the White House,
is of a different color.
and at the National Press Club, and re-
DIt :KLATZKIN'S" BACKGROUND
Dr
-Klatzkin's training—in Russia, .rain from tagging alOng after delega-
. •
-
Germany and Sw;tzezjanci,.. tions . . . Copies may alao be placed in
stands :Yu
--itead -in. his new the press galleries of the House and the
philbsophio -research ' activities
this '•Senate . . . The tagging . along isn't cus-
tomary and makes a bad impression . .
countrY:-:-
-
- Gt:04#0
that-add --year- of 1882, when )i-iO-gronis in The name of the press agent and the
Russia -drove .
the ref-Crea- telephone number should be on the
tion of their honorable:Stattis: in
COrii= handout, and a representative should re-
monwealth
Hiaftraining an main at the telephone all the time to an-
many lands has sharpened: 'his'encyclol- . swer questions . . . "I think they. would
find that their stories' would get better
pedic mind. -
-
His arrival in this _eat-in:tr y' 'in. -1941 - play if they did this," this Washington
.
marked --hie secOnd visit
` iii
United - correspondent asks me *to tip off the in-
States—the- Brit dating - back to -1-908, terested Jewish organiiations.
when he :ca
* * *
:came
ae
. here to atticly Jewish,aori-
ditions, to assist him
_Nsiark_as_ ...ARABIAN THEME
•
HIAS re5reseiitative—in-Europe : •
Arabs in the United States are now
'discussing the questiOn of launching an
Arab newspaper in the English lan-
guage . . . Such a newspaper, if pub-
lished, would concentrate chiefly on
combatting Zionism, Arab leaders in
New York admit.
Detroit Community Fund
While the nature of 'the conversations
between President Roosevelt and Emir
USO (United Service
Feisal in Washington remain a state se-
Organizations)
cret; it' .is known that the son of King
United Seamen's Service
Ibn Saud made a rather disappointing
War 'Prisoners Aid
impression on some of the Congress-
Allied Jewish Campaign
men . . . "All he wants is money," one
Belgian War Relief Society
of the mernbers of the Foreign Affairs
British War Relief Society
'Committee said after the Arab' guest was
French Relief Fund
presented to the Committee by Con-
Friends of Luxembourg
gressman Sol Bloom . .-. Some members
of :the Committee wanted to know his
Greek War Relief Association
attitude on the Arab-Jewish question
Norwegian Relief
. . 'They made no complimentary re-
Polish War Relief
marks later about his, reply.
Queen Wilhelmina...Funcl...

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Heard in
The Lobbies

Quotation of the Week

"I was completely confused. because
over half of the speeches were in Yid-
dish and to me that was not American.
It seems to me that in any conference
held in America by American Jews, the
proCeedings Should have been in Eng-
lish.

Strictly
Confidential

"I, a loyal and devout Jewess, felt
strange and confused in this gathering
which had . been called for one of the
most serious purposes 'which has ever
affected Jewish life in the 4,000 . years of
our Jewish . history—" because the Ha-
tikvah was sung three times during the
period when there was fervent discus-
sion of the Palestine Resolution.

By PHINEAS J. BIRON

(Copyright, 1943, Seven Arts Feature
Syndicate)

LOOKING TO ZION

An American League for a Free Pales-
tine is being launched by the Committee
for a Jewish Army to enlist 1,000,000
member's, Jewish and non-Jewish, for
the cause of a free Palestine ... And the
League will launch a nation-wide cam-
paign, with all the paraphernalia of
modern propaganda . . We wonder
what will be the official Zionist attitude
toward this League . . . The ZOA cannot
very well fight a non-sectarian organiza 7
tion dedicated to a cause it stands for.
At a public meeting . in the State
Theater at WellingtOn, New Zealand,
Prime Minister Fraser spoke in un-
equivocal terms about "four-square jus-
tice for, the ancient home and the new
hope of the Jewish people" . . . New'
Zealand is the only country whoae
Premier has addressed a public _Zionist
meeting . . . Bravo, Mr. Fraaer.
,
*
*
*
HERE AND THERE -
The Amercian Jewish Conference is
finding it difficult to organize its activi-
ties . .. While some of its leaders think
that it is the duty of the Conference to
get busy and take the lead in the imple-;
menting of its resolutions, `.- others are
hoping that the Conference, now that it
has held its assembly, will die 'a peaceful
death . . There will be firewords when
the Conference's Interim Committee of
52 meets this month.
Aside to Chaplain Abraham Dubin of
the T.T. S. Army: Those 15,000 Jews you
found In India are not quite the "forgot=
ten .colony'! - you believe them to be . . .
Indeed,- a Coinprehensive article on their
history and life appears in the Universal
Jewish 'Encyclopedia, under the heading
"Beni Israel."
A sCho o
- i principal in Amsterdam,. in
his farewell speech to his class, said: "I
am speaking with Mixed feelings, be-
cause. I am , thinking of the Jewish chil-
dren who formerly shared the benches
with' you boys and girls . . . I hope that
you will never forget your Jewish fel-
low . Whereupon the coura
geous teacher was made to feel the bar-
barous rage' of the Nazis . . But his sac-
rifice- is another proof that Holland has
not submitted to her oppressors.
*
*
*.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS

"I was saddened because missed 'the
spiritual Jewish note. I missed the - fact
that there were no prayers . except in the
beginning." This sentence must be read
in connection with another: 'The entire
Memorial 'service to our Jewish dead
was in Yiddish, with the exception of
the Hebrew prayers and :one- Psalm
whioh was read in English." (The me-
morial service was the Most impressive
period in the entire Conference with
only Hebrew spoken, except for a few
English words . DD).

"I say to you; the Congregation of
Temple Emanu-El, you can no longer be
indifferent to these paths of: Judaism
which are charting their way across the
historical lives of our people, fcir we are
fashioning :the mold which will stamp
the pattern of Jewry in this world for
generations to come. You cannot be in-
different any , more. I charge you in this
consideration of what kind of Jewry you
want for the Jews the world over, to use
as your basis for think
_ ing the teachings
of social justice which were taught to us
by our Prophets, and not the. mystic pas-
sions and emotions which guide most of
us in our thinking today."

'

Check List for
Your All-American

By MORRIS WEINER

Inc.)

(COpyright; 1943

Football is not football unless it winds
up... with all-American selections at the
end of the. season and; though we're only
at the beginning of the pigskin campaign
for "43 we've already got • more than a
handful of names who should be on
everybody's check4ist for a selection, of
any 1943 Jewish all-America eleven:-

The strangest thing about this year's
football games will come about as a re-
sult of the Service elevens, the pre4light
institutions and
schools, •the naval -
the Navy V-12 programs. There has been
a most miraculous hocus-pocus shuffling
of players all along the line and if a
football fan goes nuts trying to follow
the teams, it won't be so amazing.

.

Stefan Heym, author of "Hostages," is
with the Army in more ways than one ,
. . Not only is Heym hiinself a private,
but Army authorities are said to be dis-
tributing 50,000 copies of his book among
soldiers overseas. •
Take the case of Elroy Hirsch .
Pvt. Robert L. Nathan, former chief of
the- War Production Board's Planning super - dynamic • dazzling halfback who
Board, has been ill, and may receive a' starred for Wisconsin only a year ago.
Elroy would have been the spark and
medical discharge from the , Army . . .
During the enforced leisure of his hos- sparkle of the Wisconsin Badgers this
pital stay- Nathan wrote the outline for a season- but instead of performing for the
book- hp is planning on post-war eco- Badgers, Hirsch 'is now a WolVerine. The
Navy V-12 Program got him and he was
nomic problems.
assigned to a :Nairal training school—
Abraham Goldberg's p o s th u m o u s
Michigan.
book, "Pioneers and Builders," is out .
It looks good and reads well, and Pierre
Here are some- names for your all-
van- F'aassexi's short foreword is a mas- American check list of 1943:
Refugee Relief Trustees
MARCH OF EVENTS..
terpiece • . . Pete Gros, the editor, did a
Position
.
Russian War Relief
The Zionist Organization of America is swell job with 'rather uneven material
,End • Lester. Salzer,- -United States "'Military
United,: 'China'
"' • • " - -
finding diffiCultY'in securing a..managing
. deserves a place' in' every' JeWish
Academy; (Army) ; . Babe , Platt, Iowa
United Czechoslovak Relief
pre-flidht (Formerly, Florida) ;; Clem
editor for its official` organ . The : New home.
Bauman:', Michigan. • '
'Carl Alpert - able " editoeof
U. S. Committee ,fo•-Care of
- •Palestine .
•
Tackle
Lou
Feldman, West Virginia; Larry
the publication, is going into the Army A ROTHSCHILD IN ST:: THOMAS'
European Children
..
Weiner, Centenary. :
few.weeks, and the ZOA is con-
Wonder what the shade of , old Mayer
.
United Yugoslav Relief Fund -
Guards 'Bill Cohn.••Saria'Clara; .' Phil TeS6liner,
Rothschild, founder of the fa-
Brown ; Hall Fischer, Southwestern.
Our Allies
.
$2,201,424 fronted with a real pi-oblern - in Obtaining . Anischel
_ a successor for him .
The ZOA is also Mous banking family, thought the other CeritOrs' 1 ■ 461:v Prebulman, :Michtgan; Joe Wolf.
Our Fighting IVIen
2,530,986 . loSing 'to'the - Army its comptroller,, Zvi
Southern California . ; , Eck Spielman,
day when his descendant, Bettina . de
Our Neighbors
3,517,590 ' Levavay, who at one time "served- with Rothschild; formerly of Vienna, and on
Bucknell.
Bbcks Max Minor. U. S. Military Academy,
the Department of Immigration' Of the her' Mother's side a member of the fa-
•
(Arniy).; Hal Hamberg, U. S. Naval
.$8,250,000 Palestine Government, and' was formerly Mous Moritefiore family of England, was - •
Academy, -(Navy); Elroy Hirsch',•'Mich-
• gan (former Wisconsin); Pete Glick,
War Services $4,732,410-57.4% secretary of the Danish Consulate 'at Tel Married in New York by the rector of
Princeton ; Mort Landsberg, North Car-
Local Corn. Services 3,517,590-42.6% Aviv.
St. Thomas Church.
olina Pre-flight.

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