THE JEWISH NEWS
Page Four
Friday, November 19, 1943
Fools' Paradise
THE JEWISH NEWS
By DAVID MORANTZ
Member of Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Independent Jewish
Press Service, Seven Arts Feature Syndicate, Religious News
Service, Palcor News Agency, Bressler Cartoon Service, Wide
World Photo Service, Acme Newsphoto Service.
Published every Friday by Jewish News Publishing Co., 2114
Penobscot Bldg., Detroit, 26, Mich. Telephone, RAndolph 7956. Sub-
scription rate, $3 a year; foreign, $4 a year. Club subscription of one
issue a mouth, published every fourth Friday in the month, to all
subscribers to Allied Jewish Campaign of the Jewish Welfare
Federation of Detroit, at 40 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.
THE WAR? ON YES--
WE'LL WIN-,
OF COURSE --
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
MAURICE ARONSSON
ISIDORE SOBELOFF
FRED M. BUTZEL
ABRAHAM SRERE
THEODORE LEVIN
HENRY WINEMAN
MAURICE H. SCHWARTZ
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ, Editor
VOL. 4—No. 9
NOVEMBER 19, 1943
As the Editor
Views the News
The Spirit of Thanksgiving
In the midst of sorrow, with millions of our kinsmen liv-
ing in the Nazi slaughterhouse, with our relatives and close
friends engaged in battle against the destructive forces of
Nazism, we have much to be thankful for.
Those who have the great fortune of living under the
Stars and Stripes have been blessed in a thousand ways. We
are enjoying the bounties of a great country. We have the
protection that comes from a government whose major moti-
vating force is to give assurances of peace and security for its
citizens.
As Jews we are doubly blessed. We enjoy freedom of
worship and freedom of speech. We have not abandoned the
right to criticize and to protest against indignities. We have
the privilege of battling for justice for ourselves and our
neighbors, and of pleading the case of our persecuted breth-
ren in the European inferno.
we may well utter prayer that the
On Thanksgiving
genius of America should last forever and that the entire
world should learn to understand the blessings which make
America great.
Women's Council's New President
Another distinct honor has been accorded the Jewish
community of Detroit in the election of Mrs. Joseph M. Welt
as president of the National Council of Jewish Women, at
the triennial convention held in Chicago last week.
Mrs. Welt's services to the Council of Jewish Women
have earned for her the position she now holds. The women
of Detroit especially will be gratified with the honor accorded
her, her devotiOn to the Council's causes having placed her
in a position of leadership over a period of years.
The Council of Jewish Women, having completed a half
century of service to the foreign-born in the field of Ameri-
canization and in relief efforts, now enters a new period of
important activities. The challenge that comes to all free
peoples to join in the defense of human rights and to bring
about the defeat of barbarism everywhere places the Coun-
cil in a pivotal position among the women's movements in
this country.
Under Mrs. Welt's leadership, we are confident that the
National Council of Jewish Women will continue to rise to
great heights as an important agency for the advancement
of the highest ideals of Americanism and Judaism.
Jewish Book Month
Jewish Book Month, to be observed this year from Nov.
20 to Dec. 19, with the last week in this celebration to be set
aside as special Jewish Book Week, is a new holiday on the
Jewish calendar. Its observance deserves to be hailed as a
very wholesome manifestation of adherence by our people to
sacred traditions which have earned for us the title Am
HaSefer—the People of the Book.
The setting aside of such a special month, for cultural
purposes, in the midst of war, is an act worthy of the best
traditions of America and Israel. At a time when we fight for
the preservation of the most sacred principles of democracy,
we must strengthen the love for learning and must lead man-
kind to understand that knowledge leads to an understanding
of truth which must in turn bring about everlasting peace.
Observance of annual Jewish Book Month should be
utilized to encourage the reading of the best available litera-
ture. We must encourage the purchase of books and the es-
tablishment of Jewish libraries. Our best publishing organi-
zations, notably the Jewish Publication Society, the Exten-
sion Department of the Union of American Hebrew Congre-
gation, Bloch Publishing Co., Behrman's Jewish Book House
and Hebrew Publishing Co., should have our unstinted sup-
port in their efforts to produce a wholesome Jewish litera-
ture.
Jewish Book Month should be an occasion for giving
truth .o the claim that we are the People of the Book and for
making this claim valid.
This Week's Scriptural Selections:
This Sabbath, the twentieth day of Heshvan, 5704, the fol-
lowing Scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion: Gen. 23:1-25:18.
Prophetical portion: I Kings 1:1-31.
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Talmudic Tales
Fight on White Paper Continues
Too many people have been misled by the statement of
Col. Oliver Stanley, Colonial Secretary, in the House of
Commons last week, that the White Paper would not be
implemented on March 31, 1944.
The Colonial Secretary has made it quite clear that the
White Paper is not being abrogated, but that its implementa-
tion is being extended to permit the admission of 31,078 more
Jews, under the terms of the restrictions originally imposed
which called for the entrance of only 75,000 Jews in a period
of four years.
It is evident that the British government is not rescind-
ing restrictions on land sales. Also, we are warned that
Jews will not be admitted into the Jewish National Home—
a ruling that is gruesome in its unfairness.
Therefore, the fight against the White Paper goes on, and
all energy at our command should be utilized to prevent its
being put into force—whether it is in 1944, or in 1954, or a
hundred years hence. The basic principle for which we are
fighting is that there can be - no restrictions on Jewish settle-
ment in Eretz Israel, and the imposition of such restrictions
must be interpreted as an extreme injustice.
We are confident that the outstanding Christian leaders
in the world will join with us in • the fight against the in-
famous White Paper.
(Based upon the ancient legends and ;
philosophy found in the Talmud and
folklore of the Jewish people.)
The Talmud does not consist
entirely of stories and tales. It
treats also of many other sub-
jects, including law, medicine,
health, history and social law.
According to the late Emanuel
Deutsch, eminent Talmudic schol-
ar, "It passes from myth to mor-
ality, from legend to logic, from
grave to gay, from lively to se-
vere topics."
Numerous gems of wisdom are
to be found among its pages and
from among them I have selected
some that apply just as aptly now
as they did 3,000 years ago.
For instance:
"Ask thy purse what thou
shouldst buy."
"He that would eat the kernel
must not complain of cracking
the nut."
"He that hath a head of wax
should not walk in the sun."
"Short are the triumphs of wit
when vice directs it."
`'The mob hath many heads,
but no brains."
"The crow thinks her own child
the fairest."
"Unwelcome news is always
soon enough heard."
"Unskillful workmen quarrel
with their tools."
"He who swells in prosperity
will be sure to shrink in adver-
sity."
(Copyright by David Morantz)
For a handsome 195 page, auto-
graphed gift volume containing 128
of these tales and 500 Pearls of Wis-
dom. send $1.50 to David Morantz,
care of The Jewish News, or phone
Plaza 1048.
LETTER BOX
Urges U. S. Jewry Fight
Against White Paper
Editor, The Jewish News:
Great powers seldom grant
political concessions to weaker
ones purely on the basis of
ethical considerations. The
granting of Palestine to the
Jews by the British was no ex-
ception. It was a concession
made on the basis of power con-
siderations. Both Great Britain
and Imperial Germany vied
with each other for Jewish sup-
port.
As liberals we have objected
to the State Department's policy
of supporting reactionary lead-
ers in North Africa, Spain, Italy,
Greece and Yugoslavia.
As Jews, we have resented the
A wide circle of friends and co-workers in numerous indifference to the extermina-
causes will greet Morris Garvett, president of Temple Israel, tion of European Jewry, to the
much belated repeal of the
on his 50th birthday next Monday.
Cremieux Decree and the failure
Rabbi Leon Fram's tribute to Mr. Garvett, in which we to abrogate the White Paper.
and many of his friends join with him, reviews only briefly
With the future of European
the share that Mr. Garvett has had in the advancement of Jewry in a precarious position,
congregational, educational and civic-protective movements it is incumbent upon American
Jewry to exert themselves to
in Detroit.
the utmost to ameliorate this
Of particular interest in Mr. Garvett's career is the fact situation.
that as a very young man he devoted his major activities
AARON SUMITZ
to the synagogue and the Jewish school. His devotion to the
2280 W. Philadelphia.
Morris Garvett at 50
faith of our people has served as an inspiration to many men
and women in our community.
It is naturally to be expected that Mr. Garvett should
only have just begun his career of leadership in this com-
munity. Jewry needs men of his vision and vitality, and we
are confident that he will respond to the many demands
that may be made upon him for service.
Our best wishes go forth to him and to his family on his
50th birthday.
Austria's Last Jews
Austrian underground channels report that the 200,000
Jews of Austria almost have been completely wiped out by
extermination and deportation. Very few of the 150,000 Jews
of Vienna remain in that community and the Hitler threat
to exterminate the Jews may become a reality in Austria.
This report states that occasionally a Jew may be seen
in Vienna—thin, underfed, with ragged clothing and split
shoes, on his left breast a yellow Star of David with the in- ,
scription "Jude."
It is a tragic story, and the complete report is sufficient
to drive all Jews to a state of mourning.
But one interesting fact has been overlooked: the occas-
ional Jew who is still seen on a Vienese street may be the
one to head the reception committee when the Allied forces
finally invade German-held territories and oust Nazism and
the spirit of destruction it has introduced in the world.
Hitier's threat of extermination of Jewry will remain a
threat. The blood-stains of millions of our people are on his
and his cohorts' hands. But the remnant alWays remains to
see the triumph of justice.
The last Jews in Austria will at . least enjoy the satis-
actiori sils_ee.ing the end of tyranny.' May. that 'day: cone soon.
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In Lighter Vein
The Week's Best Stories
Only the Poet: A Book Month
Story
Observance of Jewish Book
Month, beginning with next Mon-
day, makes- the following story
very appropriate at this time:
Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes was
in a Boston bookstore one day,
when a woman came in to pur-
chase a book for a holiday gift.
One of the first volumes shown
her was "The Last Leaf", a poem
which Holmes prized as one of
his best.
"Who is it by?" inquired the
customer.
"Dr. Holmes," replied the
dealer.
"The pictures are very nice.
Did he draw them?"
"Oh, no, he wrote the poetry."
"The poetry! Is that all?"
The shopman shot a startled
glance at the good doctor, but
was reassured when he discov-
ered the famous poet smiling in
amusement.
"The poetry! Is that all?" Dr.
Holmes repeated with a chuckle
when the lady _bad departed.
•
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