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Page :.Two

Purely
Commentary

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

RELIGION IN THE SCHOOLS
A brief opposing religious education in .
the public schools of Ontario, presented
to the Royal. Commission on Education of
Ontario by the Canadian Jewish Con-
gress, places emphasis upon the principle
of the separation of church and state. The
brief protests against "many biased and
unfriendly referehces to the Jewish re-
ligion and history contained in textbooks
officially aPprOved for use in religious
education in public schools of Ontario."
In the introductory remarks to the
commission, made. by Rabbi Abraham L.
Feinberg, some very important points are
advance. Rabbi Feinberg stated:

"Religious instruction in the public school en-
dangers Canadian unity, the indefeasible equal-
ity of all citizens, the balance between Church
and State, the psychological health- of children,
and the development of techniques for living
together in a democracy. We belieVe that it
will do more harm than good. We respectfully
urge, therefore, that the regulations which made
religious instruction an integral part of the
school system be abolished, and that the Depart-
ment of Education, in cooperation with other
agencies, explore thoroughly the present meth-
ods and further possibilities of shaping moral
character through the inculcation of democratic
ideals in a manner integral to the entire school
system.
"Members of the Commission, I beg you to
realize that the Jewish community asks no spe-
cial privileges. Nor does it demand rights; you
have shown they will be graciously and freely
granted, once our situation is made . clear. We
have conceived it our duty, however, to Iay
before you our position and our plight. I speak
to you as the voice of our precious children, the
citizens of tomorrow, who look hopefully and
eagerly forward to their future as citizens of
this great Dominion.
"After all, what is the only abiding hope for
sews? Is it not the character of Christians, and
their own religions faith? Only through the
strengthening of trueChristian character, as
we understand that noble phrase, can prejudice
and bigotry be purged. What has massacred
almost six million Jews in Europe if not the
heathen rage of. godlessness? Just because we
want and need a genuine, social-minded Chris-
tian morality. patterned after the brotherhood
and love of Jesus the Jew. we ask you. humbly
arn recr.e., finuh,-. to co .nsidee Any pies."

In its brief to the Royal Commission on
Education, the Canadian Jewish Congress
declared:

"We are of the opinion, that religion, espe-
cially as taught by Judaism and Christianity, is
the sniritual and nhilosonhieal foundation of
Democracy. because it teaches the dignity of all
human beings as created in the image of God.
and the inalienability of the basic rights of
every individual. We believe. however, that
Religious Fdneation, to serve its purnose, must
be free of influence of any kind on the nart of
the State. We regard the nrincinle of the sen-
arstion et Church and State as vital to the
d emocratic way of life. We feel that anv aeti,
ite en the nort of the Pub)ig , S"hool SysteTn
which contains elements of such influence would
ultimately result in the weakening of democ-
racy, with Consequent injury to the well-being
of

clnada."
This view applies with equal force to
conditions in the United States, - and the
memoranda of the Canadian Jewish Con-
gress should serve as guides for policy to
be established by Jewish communities in
our country.
* *
THE "RELEASED TIME" PLANS
This Commentator firmly believes that
the "released time" plan for religious ed-
ucation is similar to the proposals that
are fought by the Jewish Congress in
Canada. The proposals should be fought
everywhere, and at present there is an
obligation upon Detroiters who are con-
cerned that Church and State should be
kept separated to join in the battle
against the introduction of religious stud-
ies in the schools.
In Canada, our people are compelled to
fight against the injection of anti-Jewish
references in textbooks used in religious
studies. It would be far better for us to
prevent the necessity of fighting against
such dangers by making every effort in
advance to eliminate the introduction of
religious studies in the schools: Our duty
is to make certain that we shall not have
to face a divided community on the basis
of religion.
Not so long ago, a powerful statement
in opposition to the introduction of reli
gious studies in the schools was issued by
Dr. Robert Gordis in behalf of the Rab-
binical Assembly. His statement estab-
lishes a principle which should guide our
actions in this issue.
* *
THE BRADY PLAN
This brings us to brief consideration of
the issue that has arisen over the Brady
School Plan in Detroit.
Your Commentator has studied the
pamphlet containing the prayers and the
programs for character and citizenship -
training in the Brady School.
On the strength of the material con-
tained in this pamphlet, it is clear that
the Detroit CommittCe for Separation of
Church and State has a tough problem in
its attack upon the Brady School princi-
pal, Miss M. C. Sullivan: Most of the
material in this pamphlet is non-denom-
inational and does not carry with it any
threat to any group. -
But the idea of introducing religion in
the school strikes at the very root of the
problem, and ought to be avoided. Even
if both Hanukah and Christmas songs are
sung during Christmas ,festival observ-
ance, we should be on guard lest some

THE JEWISH NEWS

Friday, 'January 4, 1946

Strictly
Confidential

Brotherhood Week Proclamation

By PRESIDENT HARRY F. TRUMAN

The armies of the United' Nations won a conclusive victory over the forces
of tyranny which exploited racial and religious hatred to divide the world
and destroy freedom. The ideal of democracy is a society in which each seeks
the truth in his own way andall are united by understanding and mutual
need. The good world of the fut
ure must be built on the foundation of the
recognition of the dignity and rights of each individual, whatever his race,
creed or national background.
Among all the nations the United States stands as the exemplar of a
people grown great through this liberty. Now, as never before, we as a people
are called upon to demonstrate with even greater brilliance the glory of our
freedom. It is the light which alone can guide the future - of mankind into
the ways of peace.
Within our own borders' we are facing the huge task of reconversion.
This is a job of such magnitude' that it can be done well only as al• of u8
work together. The teamwork of the armed forces won the war. The spirit
of teamwork should extend to our national life. As we united for victory, we
must unite for peke. Let our aim be "In Peace as in War—Teamwork. '
Because I believe that the health of our democracy draws its strength
from the wells of deep spiritual understanding, I am happy to join with the
National Conference of Christians and Jews in calling upon our people to
observe Brotherhood Week from February 17 to 24, 1946. I hope that in every
community throughout the country our people will meet together to rejoice
in the greatness of the land which belongs to all of us and to pledge them-
selves to the continuance of that loyalty which will unite our country as the=
leader of peace and the happy home of all our citizens.

H eard in

The Lobbies

By ARNOLD LEVIN •

(Copyright, 1946, Independent Jewish
Press Service, Inc.)

BACKGROUND ON BOYCOTT
The following throws interesting light
on the Arab boycott of Jewish Palestine
goods and services . . . Besides British
policy, which aims at aggravating the
condition of the Jews, there are other
factors—professional jealousy, for in-
stance, which led so many Germans into
Hitler's camp . . . Arab physicians, many
of whom acquired their medical education
in the questionable medical schools of the
Turkish Empire, are jealous of Jewish
doctors. They- spread all kinds of malici-
ous rumors. There is the rumor that Jew-
ish doctors mulct poor Arab patients, to
which Jews retort by reminding the
Arabs that it was the Jews, after all, who
through Hadaasah and Labor's Kupath
Cholim cured gratis thousands of • Arabs
of Trachoma and other diseases . . . They
remind the Arabs of the Jewish dispen-
saries throughout Palestine which are
open to Arabs and Jews . . . They need
not remind them of the efficiency of the
Jewish physician, a fact testified to by
the circumstance that Nuri es Said Pasha,
one of the most vicious anti-Zionists in
the Arab world, is attended by a Jewish
physician . -
No less interesting is the fact that
Arabs are crowding Jewish stores in
Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to buy up Jewish
goods before the Arab League's boycott
goes into effect officially . . • They fear
that they will be unable. to buy the pre-
ferential Jewish goods when the boycott
becomes effective, for terrorist bands are
sure to take their toll of the boycott vio-
lators . . . Arab merchants have lost their
normal trade, because the boycott en-
hanced the popularity of Jewish goads.
Arab merchants, many of whom are set
on circumventing the boycott, feel that
by boycotting Jewish goods, which are,
after all, native Middle East products,
they would be opening the market for
British goods and thus undermining Mid-
dle East industry , . . They are certain
that British capital is behind the boycott,*
and that should the boycott be effective,
the British will jockey their prices which
they are now adjusting to meet the prices
of goods manufactured by Jewish Pales-
tine whose production costs are so much
lower . . . Jewish Palestine, on the other
hand, is actually little worried by the
boycott, since it foresees fine overseas
markets for its goods.
The Arab Chambers of Commerce in
Palestine demand an open door for over-
seas imports as a stroke against Jewish
Palestine's industry . . Palestine's Jews
are not worried, for open doors for im-
ports would relieve them of their depen-
dency on Transjordan's wheat and Iraq's
cattle . . . Should Jewish Palestine cease
buying wheat from Transjordan, that
country will be thrown into the throes
of a violent crisis, and Iraq's peasant pop-
ulation would feel soon enough the effect
of no sales to the. Jews of Palestine.

one, years hence, • once the idea of re-
ligious instruction in the schools. is ac-
cepted, undertakes to do some interpret-
ing of prayers or customs or denomina-
tional practices.
The founders of this republic did not
need religious instruction outside the
home or church to prepare them for char-
acter and citizenship training in the
schools, and neither do we.
We have the highest respect for Miss
Sullivan, but we do not like her plan,
and we believe it should be fought, for
the sake of preventing dangerous prece-
dent.

By PHINEAS J. BIRON

Copyright, 1946, Seven Arts
Features Syndicate, Inc.

.

Between
You and Me

By BORIS SMOLAR

(Copyright, 1946, Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, Inc.)

POLITICAL NOTES
It is possible that American Zionist
groups will not appear before the Anglo-
American Inquiry Committee on Pales-
tine in Washington on Jan. 7 . . . At pres-
ent there is a good deal of bargaining
behind the scenes between leading Amer-
ican Zionists and that Inquiry Commit-
tee .. . The hearings in Washington are
expected to last 10 days, and the Ameri-
can Zionist Emergency Council is - insist-
ing that sufficient time be given by the
Committee to Zionst spokesmen . . . The
commttee is willing to devote only one
day of its hearings to the testimony of
Zionist representatives . . This is not
considered adequate by the leaders of the
various Zionist groups . . . They argue
that the issue upon which the Inquiry
Committee is to decide concerns primar-
ily the Zionists, and, therefore, Zionist
leadership should be given more time at
the hearings than other Jewish and non-
Jewish groups who are only indirectly
involved in the Palestine issue . . . They
are also demanding that Zionist repre-
sentatives _ be admitted to all sessions of
the Inquiry Committee, whether private
or public . . . They are in a good strate-
gic position to insist on their demands,
since they can lose nothing by ignoring
the hearings in Washington . . . After all,
the Zionist case will eventually be pre-
sented to the same committee by the
Jewish Agency when hearings take place
later in Jerusalem . . . It would, how-
ever, be a poor start for the committee,
if at the very beginning of its work it
,fails to secure the cooperation of _Ameri-
can Zionist bodies.
* * *
WASHINGTON SIDELIGHTS
President Truman's order to admit 3,-
900 displaced persons monthly into the
United States under the existing quota
regulations will not be of such great
benefit to displaced Jews as many be-
lieve . The order specifies that the
visas are to be issued to the displaced
persons on the basis of the countries of
origin . . . This means that the bulk of
the visas will go to people born in Ger-
many . . . Today there are only about
4,000 Jews in Germany, according to
Chief Rabbi Leo Baeck of Berlin .. .
The President's order will hardly relieve
the situation of displaced Jews in 'the
U. S. zone in Germany, since of the 3,900
visas, only about 500 will be issued to
displaced persons born in Poland .. .
And even these 500 visas will not be is-
sued to Jews alone, but also to Poles who
greatly outnumber the Jews in the camps
in the U. S. zone . .. The same is true of
displaced Hungarian Jews, or: Romanian
Jews, since the monthly quota for Ro-
mania • and Hungary does not even run
into the hundreds . • . To top all this, I.
the President's order provides that pref-
erence in granting U. S. visas be given
to orphaned children . . . Few Jewish
children have survived, and most of the
children in the camps for displaced , per-
sons are non-Jewish . . . Thus, if 'Presi-
dent Truman hoped to solve the problem
of the displaced Jews by his humanitar-
ian directives, he will find that his order
will bring little solution, since most of
the displaced Jews are Polish-born or
Hungarian-born, while the bulk of the
visas will go to German-born people . •. .
On the other' hand, the. President made it
easier for displaced Jews and others to
come to the United States by stipulating
that welfare organizations can issue affi-
davits for such persons and that their
affidavits are to be accepted by U. S.
consuls.

,

FASCIST FRONT
The KKK is girding its loins for a mili-
tant comback campaign . . During the.
last three months of 1945 the Klan inten-
sified its activities, climaxing its effortS
with elaborate cross-burnings in Florida
. Several newspapers in the South have
interpreted this KKK activity as a mean-
ingless bid for publicity . But it is much
More than that . . . The Klan leaders feel
that America is psychologically ripe for a
strong anti-Negro and anti-Jewish driVe.
More power to the small -
of re,
turned war heroes who Continue, to the
best of their ability, the fight against the
New York Daily News and • its columnist
John O'Donnell. .
*
*
*
QUESTION PERIOD
Why is there silence on the increase of
anti-Semitic activities on the part. of the
Quebec Union Creditiste des Electeurs,
which has the support of many Catholic
priests in the Province of Quebec? . .
Why is Sir Oswald Mosley permitted to
make political speeches in England while
his soulmate, young Amery, was executed
for high treason? . . . Is it true that Pierre
Van Paassen is pondering on _writing
Chaim Weizmann's biography against the
background of a half century of world
politics? . . • And can anybody find the
answer to the puzzle why Tyler Kent,
American anti-Semite involved in a treas-
onable act, and Ezra Pound, self-
confessed American anti-Semitic pro-
Fascist, are now beyond legal prosecution?

*

* . *

MISCELLANY
If you have wondered why the Xmas
cards our friend lit. Henry Gellerman
mailed to his friends were. signed by
Adolf Hitler, the explanation is this: they.
WERE the cards Hitler ordered for 1945.

Molly Picon, the quicksilver chanteuse,
is leaving soon for a European tour of
Jewish refugee camps.

Don't miss the new recording of Max
Brush's Concerto No. 1 by Yehudi Menu-
hin . • Incidentally, rumors about a mat-
rimonial split in the Menuhin menage are
unfounded, we're told . . . And music
lovers will be happy to know that the re-
cording of Beethoven's Concerto No. 3 in
C minor, played by Artur Rubinstein with
Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony
Orchestra, is now available.

A campaign to send Yiddish, Hebrew
and English books to •the Soviet Union
will soon be launched by the Jewish
Council of Russian War Relief and the
Committee of Jewish Writers, Artists • and
Scientists.

*

READER'S GUIDE

Paul Phelps Morand, the great anti-
fiscist writer who resides in this country,
is the author of a volume of poetry, "The
Black Years," a book that will give you
Much pain, but pleasure too.

Ernest Hemingway's "To Have and.
Have Not" will be published in Hebrew
this spring.

The Washington News Letter issued by
the ADL is a well-done journalistic job
which any true democrat should read .
We recommend it.

Maurice Samuel has finally • completed.'
his major work, a historical novel with
an Italian Renaissance background.

"Focus," the anti-Fascist novel, is
climbing high on the best-seller list.
*
*
*
CONTEMPLATIONS

I. F. Stone, Washington expert of the
Nation and PM, went to Palestine with
the blessing of the Zionist Emergency
Council and returned a convinced parti-
san of Hashomer Hatzair, advocating a
binational state.

It. was Moscow protests against Rudolf
Raab, anti-Semitic pro-Fascist, which
forced his removal from the • Austrian
cabinet.

That masterpiece, "The Warsaw Ghet-
to," a symphonic poem by Sam Morgen-
stern; composer, and Harry Granick,
ter, will have its world premiere at Car-
negie Hall, New York, on Feb. 10 . . It
will be played by the 90-piece American
Youth Orchestra under the baton of•Dean -
Dixon, the Negro conductor.

Let us all resolve that in the year 1946
we will not let go unchallenged any un-
democratic act by the inereasing , number
of un-American Arhericans who use 'rac-
ism to promote Fascism.

