Page Two
Purely
Commentary
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
RELIGION IN THE SCHOOLS?
An AP report from Grand Rapids,
Mich., reveals that:
"Members of the Grand Rapids MM-
isterial Association have adopted a resolu-
tion asking that the Lord's Prayer be read
at public school assemblies. Support of
other religious organizations will be
sought before the resolution is submitted
to the board of education, which previous-
ly had rejected a proposal that the Ten
Commandments be taught in the schools."
This should serve as additional warn-
ing that unless those who are determined
to keep church and state apart are on the
alert, an old American principle will be
abandoned.
All that is necessary is a wedge. .
The moment a single concession is
made to the principle of separating
church and state, there will be other
dangers of the introduction of religious
training in our schools. Then, our school
system will no longer be a free and
democratic institution.
The moment either the Lord's Prayer
or the Ten Commandments are intro-
duced as part of our studies in the
schools,. there will be an excuse for in-
terpretation. As soon as we have inter-
preters, we shall have partisanship.
We can readily see how approaches
such as are made in the Brady School
in Detroit, or proposals heard in Grand
Rapids, will serve as encouragement for
various religious groups to break away
from the regular public school system
and to establish schools systems of their
own. It may lead to widespread systems
of parochial schools—and then we shall
have not American systems but revivals
of conditions which prevailed in Ro-
mania and Hungary and Poland, where
various Christian and Jewish groups had
their own school systems. Your Commen-
tator is against it.
*
*
*
NON-JEWS FOR JEWISH PALESTINE
Elmo Roper's recent survey of the at-
titude of Jews towards a Jewish Pales-
tine revealed that more than 80 per cent
of American Jewry are in favor of a
Jewish State.
George Gallup's follow-up poll on the
question among non-Jews is of even
greater interest.
It reveals that three out of every four
non-Jews who have followed discussion
of the Palestine question are sympathetic
to the Jewish side; that nine out of every
10 Jews interviewed desire the free ad-
mission of Jews into Palestine; that only
a handful favor Jewish resettlement in
Palestine out of an anti-Semitic outlook.
The Gallup Poll on the question re-
veals:
The questions used in the survey taken
throughout the country are as• follows:
"Have you followed the discussion about per-
mitting Jews to settle In..Palestine?' 7 . .•
Replies:
Yes
55%
No
45
The- second question, asked .only. of those who
replied yes to the first question: - -
'What is your opinion of the issue?"
Those favoring the idea
76%
Those favoring if •Jews do
4
Those against the idea
Favor leaving question up to British
• 1
Favor leaving question up to Arabs
1
Miscellaneous
3
Don't know
8
These facts are extremely interesting—
and important. They show that the trend
is in favor of rendering justice to the
Jewish people. They even augur triumph
for the Zionist cause.
*
•
*
AN EXPOSE OF ANTI-SEMITES
The American Jewish Committee's pub-
lication "The Home Front,"—a semi-
monthly digest of anti-Semitic manifes-
tations in this country—reveals shocking
evidence of a spread - .of bigotry.
"The Home Front" warns against the
activities of Col. Charles R. Vincent of
Chicago, Rev. A. Staskiewicz, "The Buck-
eye Poet" Samuel Hardin Stille, Upton
Close, the Detroit physician Dr. Fred
W. Thomas who was convicted as a spy
last year who is at large pending a new
trial, Eugene Flitcraft, Gerald L. K.
Smith, and a number of Christian Front
leaders.
The item with regard to Upton Close
is of particular importance. "The Home
Front" reveals the following:
Upton Close, radio commentator whose
irresponsible statements about the Tyler
Kent case were among the causes of the
discontinuance of his broadcasts last July,
has announced that he will soon resume his
comments on the air on a nation-wide hook-
up under the sponsorship of Merwin K.
Ilart's National Economic Council.
The initial expenses for the radio hook-up,
it is reported, are $300,000, and after an
intensive two-month campaign on the part
of Close and his supporters, funds and com-
mitments aggregating .$280,000 have already
been secured.
Merwin K. Hart is best remembered as an
ardent supporter of the fascist cause of
General Francisco Franco. Waving been asso-
ciated with John Eoghan Kelly in this work.
Kelly was convicted of being an unregistered
agent of the Franco government.
It is clear that Mr. Close will have to
be watched, in view of his repeated ut-
terances which smack of prejudice. The
radio remains an important factor for
good or for evil—depending upon the
direction it is to receive. If we permit it
THE JEWISH NEWS
Friday, January 18, 1946
Crossed Signals: Religion at Work
By DR. MAEA.NNA CHESERTON-MANGLE
From the Pacific comes a story how an Episcopalian Chaplain led a party
of Jewish sailors to a Japanese Presbyterian Church for Rosh Hashanah, and
ended up in a Buddhist Temple.
When the Jewish New Year came, the battleship "Alabama" was anchored
in Tokyo Bay and Lt. Comdr. Charles Leslie Glenn, who was the Senior
Chaplain, planned the services. At sundown the Jewish enlisted men and
officers gathered in the crew's reading room and intoned the ancient liturgy,
led by the Episcopal clergyman.
Chaplain Glenn said he was a "little uncertain about when to stand and
when to sit, but a well-versed signalman, who was in the front row, helped
with whispers and gestures." The next day all the Jewish personnel of the
Third Fleet had been invited to a service at the "Presbyterian Church two
blocks from the Customs House." Since the ships were actually nearer the
Yokosuka Naval Base than any other, they assumed that the church was in
Yokosuka. About 400 men set forth in search of the church.
The "trail" led them to the Japanese Naval Headquarters, to the office of
the mayor of Yokosuka and then to a church miles out in the suburbs, which
proved to be the wrong church. Apparently the service was in Yokohama or
Tokyo. But the Japanese clergyman was polite and brought out some fans
as souvernirs for the boys. By then it was too late to reach the larger cities
before nightfall, so the group went sightseeing.
Eventually they came to a Buddhist Temple where they were received
with great courtesy and given more souvenirs:- this time paper lanterns. It
was late afternoon and the final service of the Rosh Hashanah had not been
held. After a consultation with the servitor of the Temple, permission was
granted for Chaplain Glenn to hold the service there. So as the sun sank in
the West, the last tones of the Jewish New Year ritual floated through the
ancient Buddhist Temple.
Heard in
The Lobbies
Between
You and. Me
By BORIS SMOLAR
By ARNOLD LEVIN
(Copyright, 1946, Indepndent
Press Service, Inc.)
Jewish
STATE DEPT. ROOM 474
These notations are being jotted down
on the third day of the hearings in Wash-
ington of the Anglo-American Committee
on Palestine. They are- written in haste
to make the deadline. Next week we may
give our readers a more comprehensive
report.
Dr. Stephen S. Wise's testimony before
the committee was the highlight of the
session and of his own long and trying
career as a Jewish leader and public
figure. Dr. Wise apparently was nervous
and humble as he appeared to testify in
behalf of his people. Throughout his
testimony there was about him the
noticeable humility of the Orthodox
Synagogal "sheliach tzibur". When he
was finished and found himself within
the circle of his friends- - who congratu-
lated him on his effective presentation,
Dr. Wise was evidently still- distracted
and pale like the "sheliach tzibur'' after
the Orthodox "long musaf" toward the
end of the Day of Atonement. One could
almost visualize him- in the. "kattel" of
the Orthodox pleader.
An interesting minor incident at the
hearing: Suave Sidney Wallach, Lessing
Rosenwald's Zionist-baiting 'Man Friday,
came into the room and sat in the chair
nearest Dr. Wise. Dr.-Wise . rose, crossed
and sat down several feet away, so that
there would be one chair's space between
him and Wallach. •-•:"•:-
There was a charming young lad in
the audience on the day Dr. Wise testi-
fied—his grandson, Justine Pollier's son.
*
*
*
QUICK ON TRIGGER
Oscar Gass, while less spectacular than
Robert Nathan, his associate, apparently
the Number One man of the Nathan-Gass
team, was quick on the trigger and suc-
cessfully countered British Chairman
Singleton's judicial sophistry with his
inexorable logic not lacking in sophistic
charm.
Lord Morrison, of the British team, was
silent throughout the first two days of
the hearings, and therefore his plea to
Dr. Emanuel Neumarin to "modify" the
charge that British policy was respon-
sible for the deaths of 6,200,000 European
Jews, was doubly effective and touching,
revealing a conscience-burdened per-
sonality.
James G. McDonald, gaunt, grey and
wise, participated very little in the ex-
changes at the hearings, but his smile is
self-explanatory, and the occasions when
it clashes, reveal- weariness with Single-
ton's "confidence" in the "humanitarian"
solution and his profound knowledge of
the Jewish dilemma.
Women . missionaries dot the audience,
and are ea
sily 'recognized by ti1.6ir
fashioned hair-do's, high-collared blouses
and gnarled, nervous hands, as they
make hurried_ notations in little note-
books.
*
*
*
PRESIDENTIAL TIMBER
Harold Stassen is reportedly favored by
the Political Action Committee, which is
deeply disappointed in Truman . . . Stas-
sen's record on Palestine in his capacity
as American delegate to the UNO foun-
ders' conference at San Francisco, has
also made him a favorite of Jews.
(Copyright, 1946. Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, Inc.)
THE POLITICAL POT
The Anglo-American Inquiry Commit-
tee on Palestine may feel well satisfied
with the hearings conducted in Washing-
ton . . . But will the committee have it
as easy in London and in Jerusalem? . .
This is the $64 question bothering the
British government . . . Foreign Minister
Bevin has good reason to suspect that the
Jewish Agency may refuse to appear be-
fore the committee if his promise to ad-
mit 1,500 Jews to Palestine each month
is not implemented before the committee
begins hearings in London . . The Arab
Higher Committee in Palestine, now
recognized by the Palestine government,
may also boycott the committee.
The Soviet government has, for the
first time, taken an attitude which di-
rectly affects Palestine . . In a note to
the Lebanese government it indicated
opposition to the establishment of a
Greater Syria composed of Syria, Leba-
non, Palestine and Transjordan . . . Its
opposition is due to the fact that the
project to merge Palestine and Trans-
jordan into one territory is considered
by the Russians to be British-sponsored.
. . . The "father" of this plan is Emir
Abdullah, ruler of Transjordan, who is a
British puppet ... The Soviet note, over-
shadowed by other political events, says
that if the Lebanese government decides
to oppose the Anglo-French Levant
agreement, Moscow will support the
Lebanese
*
*
*
DOMESTIC TRENDS
Believe it or not, but the "true Israel-
ites" are not the Jews, but the Germans
. . . At least the magazine Truth and
Liberty thinks so . . . The Jews are mere
pretenders . . . And another magazine,
Destiny, keeps on hammering on the same
subject, except it claims that the "true
Israelites" are the Anglo-Saxons . .. The
Jews, it argues, are not Israelites, be-
cause Israel left Palestine, while the Jews
remained . . • The magazine traces Israel
out of the East and across Europe to the
British Isles, then on to America . . . And
all this to "prove" that the real Amer-
icans, and not the Jews, are also the real
Israelites.
The violently anti-Semitic Chicago
sheet "Women's Voice" has come forth
with a "suggestion" that the U. S. gov-
ernment buy Greenland and deed it to
the Jews . . . The "suggestion" is, of
course, accompanied by vitriolic anti-
Jewish arguments.
*
*
THIS AND THAT
Edward M. M. Warburg, newly elected
chairman -of the Joint Distribution Com-
mittee, no longer believes in the word
"impossible" . . Visiting the camps for
displaced Jews in Germany, he was
asked by the Jews in one of the camps
to supply them With a linbtyPe machine.
. . . "That is impossible," was his reply.
• • • "Don't use the word 'impossible'
after seeing us alive," the leader of the
camp said to• him pleadingly. "Whoever
among us would have believed that it
would be possible for us to survive after
what we went through" . . . Young War-
burg also dropped the word "philan-
thropy" from his dictionary after the
to become an instrument for bigots, there misery he saw in the camps for displaced
will be trouble. If we fail to remain on Jews . . . He believes that the word
guard, the security of American princi- "philanthropy" should be replaced by
ples will be threatened anew.
the words "social readjustment".
Strictly
Confidential
By PHINEAS J. BIRON
Copyright, 1946. Seven Arts
Feature Syndicate, Inc,
FASCIST FRONT
A t t e n t i o n, Defense Organizations:
American Action, Inc., is extending the
scope of its anti-Semitic activities .
.
The Rev. Walter M. Haushalter, formerly
the minister of a church in Baltimore, is
one of the key "brains" of Action, Inc.
. . . Another master manipulator in this
organization is Eric Arlt, who was instru-
mental in getting Gerald L. K. Smith to
speak in Baltimore three times during
1.945 . . . We would not be surprised if
Mr. Arlt were behind the distribution of
anti-Semitic leaflets in the Hampden sec-
tion of Baltimore . . . Christian church
leaders are herewith warned that Haus-
halter is looking for a new church con-
nection from which to operate.
Federal post office authorities recently
stated, in answer to a query, that they
cannot legally stop the mailing of anti- .
Semitic literature . . . Washington can
intervene in the mailing of Esquire be-
cause of Varga's drawings,' but it is
powerless to put an end to vulgar and
even pornographic anti-Semitic propa-
ganda.
*
*
*
PERSONAL-ITIES
On the 20th of this month Pierre van
Paassen will be officially ordained a full-
fledged minister of the Unitarian church.
B. Z. Goldberg, chairman of the Amer-
ican Committee of Jewish Writers,
Artists and Scientists, is now in Moscow.
Jacques Zucker, the Palestinian-born
painter, is having a one-man show at the
Bignou Gallery, New York, and earning
the plaudits of the critics.
Dinah Shore's recordings of sentimental
love songs are outselling all others of
the genre.
Eleazar Lipsky, son of Louis, has re-
signed as assistant . district attorney of
New York county and resumed private
practice.
Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson
will be the guest speaker at the 39th an-
nual meeting of the American Jewish
Committee next month.
Maurice A. Bergman, advertising
genius of Universal Pictures, has just
completed a tome under the title "A
Guide to Worry" . . . It's a series of
satirical essays about the advantages of
worrying about yourself instead of the
atomic bomb.
Remember the name of Barry Stavis,
a returned GI who will make a big dent
in the writing profession . . . His first
book, "The Chain of Command," is climb-
ing fast.
*
*
*
QUESTION PERIOD
One of our correspondents, who prefers
to remain anonymous, demands an ex-
planation for this . . • "The resignation
of Morris Margulies as secretary for Or-
ganization of the American Jewish Con-
gress without any explanation has
aroused considerable speculation .. . Mr.
Margulies, formerly executive secretary
of the Zionist Organization of America,
has during the last three years been
building up the organizational base for
the Congress . . . Mr. Margulies' unex-
pected withdrawal from this work has
become all the more conspicuous by
reason of the fact that it follows in the
train of a regular exodus of old-time
mrorkers for the Congress . . . The list of
departing leaders includes, among others,
the Hon. Carl Sherman, Louis Lipsky,
Judge Nathan Perlman, Jacob Fishman,
Prof. Horace Kallen and Prof. Jerome
Michael" .. . We don't know the answer
. . . Perhaps Dr. Wise could enlighten us.
*
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*
MISCELLANY
The late Shimon Ginsburg's Hebrew
collected works are being published in
10 volumes by an American' committee
. . . The first volume, containing essays,
is already omit.
The Council Against Intolerance has
established a photographic serv,ice. tinder
the name of Pictures for Democracy.
Jacob BillikOpf has, been named chair-
man ;of the War Department's .special
clemericy , boards. . . The„ clemency
board's., review every
sentence in the
Army's 35,000 general court martial cases.
A German editor takes violent issue
with Sholem Asch's "One Destiny" -.•
He claims that Asch is all wrong when
he writes that -the Vatican was ,"in im-
minent danger of being stormed, by Hit-
lerite• bandits, • as the Gestapo. openly
threatened the Holy Father".
Hats. -off to Alan Corelli, head of the
Theater Authority, • for his untiring . ef-
forts. in behalf of the Essex College . of
Medicine and Surgery, America's only
medical college without racial or religious
quotas.