Page Four THE JEWISH NEWS As the Editor Views the News "They That Dwell in MY House . .." Another Stab in the Back British Foreign Secretary Bevin's pledge that Transjordania—historically a part of Palestine and known as Ever Hayarden, the other side of the Jordan—will be declared an independent state, represents another stab in Jewry's back. It means another vote detrimental to Jewish interests in the council of the United Nations Organization, It represents a mockery of the Jewish position. For years, Bedouins have been free to come to Palestine from Transjordania, but Jews have been barred admission to Pal- estine and it has been dangerous for a Jew —Herz in South African Zionist Record to visit in Transjordania. "They that dwell in my house . • . count me a stranger . . . I Great Britain continues to be a party to 'ant an alien in their sight." Job, 19.15. the breaking of pledges to our people and to mocking us whenever issues affecting our rights are involved. Is this what the democratic world has On Tuesday evening, the community leaders of Detroit fought for? heard stirring messages from a visiting delegation represent- ing the three causes included in the United Jewish Appeal, and were moved to action to inaugurate at once this city's drive for $2,000,000, as part of the national UJA emergency $100,000,000 campaign. World Jewry mourns the passing of Dr. It was not an ordinary meeting. Joseph Herman Hertz, the Chief Rabbi of The gathering was occasion for the presentation of exist- the British Empire. ing facts with regard to Jewry's responsibility in the present His great contributions to Israel's wel- crisis. fare were not limited to the countries to If the surviving 1,250,000 Jews in Europe are to be kept which he ministered. alive; if facilities are to be provided for those who desire He was a fighter for justice and he had to settle in Palestine to go there as speedily as the doors never conceded to the pressure that comes can be forced open through the pressure of public opinion; from bigots and from bigotry. if other colonization centers are to be made available, then When he was called to head the Jewish we have a duty, ALL of us, to provide the necessary means congregations in Johannesbur g, South for this rescue work. Africa, towards the end of the last century, * * * he became famous, during the Boer War of How is such an unprecedented task to be achieved? 1899, as an advocate of the removal of dis- Will American Jewish communities, including Detroit, abilities from Jews and Catholics. He was expelled from South Africa for taking this measure up to this great responsibility? firm stand and was recalled to his post when We have proven in the past that we can raise large the British gained control of the territory. sums of money, and it has been indicated that in an hour As leader of the Anglo-Jewish communi- of need Jews know how to live up to their historic title ties, in his position as Chief Rabbi, he was of being "rachamonim bnai rachamonim" the_ merciful sons of a merciful people. in the forefront of the fighters for justice. If we mean well by ourselves and by the kinsmen whom He never hesitated to excoriate the British government for unjust acts in Pal- we strive to rescue and to rehabilitate, we must begin the estine„-and the people of England, without great task with the assumption that we can not and dare distinction as to creed, honored and respect- not fail. * * ed him for it. If this task is to be truly successful, however, we must Author of important volumes which con- tinue to serve as guides for Jews every- recognize also certain basic responsibilities. where, he was recognized for his great We can not succeed unless all our appeals for unity scholarship and for his devotion to tradition- cease to be idle talk. al Jewish principles. We must throw all our resources into a drive which His memory will live as a blessing for should stand out as the one and only great Jewish effort many generations to come. in behalf of those who represent not only themselves—as the survivors from Nazism—but also the six million martyrs who challenge us not to forsake the living. All conflicting efforts MUST be abandoned, if a truly A committee under the chairmanship of unified community is to be counted upon as an army of Morris H. Blumberg has undertaken to make defense and relief workers. repairs at the old Beth Olam (Smith Street) * Cemetery, and it is seeking a fund from We are confident that this task CAN Nand WILL be the survivors of the 3,500 dead buried there achieved and that our people, in the main, understand the for that purpose. Responsibility for retaining respect for great obligations of the present hour. What is needed is that confusion,: which usually is in- the memory of the dead Detroit Jewish pioneers makes this undertaking the duty jected through conflicting drives, is avoided; that the leaders of the various segments of our population explain the em- of the entire community. Many of the graves on this cemetery are ergency properly to our people; that we begin to think in in disordered condition, the markers are de- terms of ONE PEOPLE rescuing the remnants of this ONE faced, the general condition of the Beth PEOPLE in Europe and wherever else the survivors from Olam is a disgrace to Detroit Jewry, and a the Nazi terror exist today. serious effort should be made to rectify The great drive HAS BEGUN. Let us carry on in the this neglect. name of a great humanitarian cause, and in the interests of our own dignity and self-respect. — The Rescue Campaign Has Begun! The Late Dr. J. H. Hertz — Respecting Memory. of Dead THE JEWISH NEWS 2114 Penobscot Bldg., Detroit 26, Mich. Member oir, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Independent Jewish Press Service," Seven Arts Feature Syndicate, Religious News Service, Palcor News Agency, Wide World Photo Se/ vice, Acme Newsphoto Service, Icing Features Syndicate, Central Press Service. Member American Association of English-Jewish News- papers and Michigan Press Association. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publish- ing Co., 2114 Penobscot Bldg., Detroit 26, Mich. Telephone RAndolph 7956. Subscription rate S3 a year; foreign ;4 a year. Club subscription of one issue a month, published every fourth Friday of the month, to all subscribers to Allied Jewish Campaign of the Jewish Welfare Federation of Detroit at 40 cents a club sub- scription per year. Entered as second-class matter August. 6, 1942 at . the Post Office at Detroit, Michigan, under the Act of March 3, 1879. BOARD OF DIRECTORS MAURICE ARONSSON PHILIP SLOMOVITZ FRED M. BUTZEL ISIDORE SOBELOFF THEODORE LEVIN ABRAHAM SRERE MAURICE H. SCHWARTZ HENRY WINEMAN PHILIP SLOMOVITZ, Editor A. R. BRASCH, Advertising Counsel VOL. 8—NO. 19 JANUARY 25, 1946 The Week's Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the twenty-fourth day of She- vat, 5706, the following Scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentatecuchal portion—Ex. 18:1-20:21, Prophetical portion—Is. 6:1-7:6;9:5.6. Candle-lighting time this Friday is at 5:05 p. tn. Terrorism Must Be Uprooted Terrorists in Palestine are rendering a great disservice to the Jewish people. There is justification for resisting when British police attempt to arrest Jews who had entered Palestine without visas, because we accept it as a basic principle that no one has a just right to keep Jews out of Palestine. But it is another matter when Jews resort to terrorism and destruction. Since OUR fight can be won only on the basis of the highest principles of morality, we must strive to eradicate all semblances of terrorism in Palestine. The murders and destruction from which Jewry has suffered in the past few weeks have already been repudiated by the Jewish Agency and by responsible Zionist leaders everywhere. They have been the work of the irresponsible Irgun Zvai Leumi and the Sternists. At no time were they condoned by the Haganah, the official Jewish defense organizatian in Palestine. These facts must become known and they should serve as- the basis for established principles for Jewish action in Palestine. Friday, January 25, 1946 Facts You Should Know Answers to Readers' Questions About Jews Why are the prayers still recited mainly in Hebrew? While the talmudic sages, in general, were of the opinion that any language was permissable for prayer, there was a minority who insisted that only Hebrew be the langauge (see Tractate Sotah 32, 33). The technical decision of law was given to the majority who claimed permission to pray in any language. Still, it remains a fact that custom which many a time overrides law in Jewish religion, insisted that the prayers be mainly in Hebrew. This was practically univers- ally accepted until the middle of the 19th century when the reform movement swept Ger- many and a Jewish prayer-book completely in German was published under the leadership of Geiger. This aroused the antagonism of the Orthodox leaders and Rabbis and the result was a long debate over the subject which entered into a philosophical rift between the two sects of Judaism. Today the Orthodox and Conservative synagogues still conduct the prayers mainly in Hebrew. There seems to be at least two good reasons for this continuity. The leaders of Jewry always felt that the highest expression could be given to the Jewish soul when it articulates it- self in its own language—Hebrew. We have only to imagine our cherished synagogue melodies sung in English to realize that it would be as incomplete as singing an Italian operatic solo in English. Secondly, the uniformity of language in prayer has the ingenious power of linking the scattered fragments of Israel throughout the world. The Hebrew language serves an un- deniable purpose in the unification of the ranks of Israel. Without it our bonds would certainly have been much weaker. It is one of the common denominators of the Jewish people. It would be plausible to understand, then, that the orig- inal reform movement which denied the Jews the name of a people should strike out the He- brew language from the prayer book. It must be noted, however, that even the most Orthodox of prayer books contain Aramaic prayers which were the result of the influence of the vernacular tongues on our people. Today, modern Orthodox prayer books are usually accompanied by direct English translations and modern Orthdox Rabbis occasionally inject some English prayers into the service. The precaution is always taken, however, not to substitute the vernacular tongue for the Hebraic. With the steadily increasing popularity of the Hebrew language, it seems safe to assume that Hebrew will always remain the basic tongue of prayer for the Jewish people. What • *, does the word "rabbi" mean? Rabbi means "master." It is Palestinian in origin and designated those learned in the law. It was originally a courtesy and not an official title. Children's Corner Dear Boys and Girls: Dr. Maeanna Cheserton-Mangle, who writes for us frequently under the title "Religion at Work," relates this fascinating "The White Paper" story: Irving Hoffman quotes this true story writ- ten by Sylvia Vaughn: "One summer evening my father caught me tearing down the street after another child, screaming: `Wop! Dirty Wop !' He took me_ into the house, sat me down at a desk and gave me a sheet of paper. `Now, I want you to write down every way in which you are different or better than that little Italian girl.' "Dinnertime rolled around, and my paper was still blank. I took it slowly to my father. He smiled. 'That's a good paper. Now, until you can create a wonderful human soul, as God can, don't presume to critize anyone because God chose to have him born a mem- ber of any one of His nations or races. Re- member this paper.' And I always have!" This is such a great lesson in human relations that I hope all peoples of all faiths will take heed and will apply it to their every day lives. I also like her "Friends in the Storm" story. Dr. Cheserton-Mangle tells about a great Negro, Booker T. Washington, and the late President Theodore Roosevelt : It was sleeting overhead and slushy under- foot. People hurried along Forty SeCond Street with their coat collars up about their ears, hardly glancing at passersby. A young Negro, carrying a heavy valise in one hand and a huge suitcase in the other, hurried toward the Grand Central Station, slipping and skid- ding as he went. Suddenly a hand reached out and took the valise while a pleasant voice said: "Let me take one, brother! Bad weather to have to carry things.". The Negro was re- luctant, but the young white man insisted: "I'm going your way." All the way to the station they chatted like two old buddies. Years later, Booker T. Washington 'said: "That was my introduction to Theodore Roosevelt." If everyone were to follow the examples taught by these two stories, we would have no fear of bigotry ever raising its repulsiVe head in this country ,or anywhere else. I am using these two stories at this time, as communities throUglidut 'the country are prepar- ing to observe Brotherhood Week. Let us have TRUE brotherhood, for the good of mankind. I wish all of you a very pleasant Sabbath. UNCLE DANIEL. * * * THE BIBLE„ BOOK OF THE AGES By Sir Walter Scott Within this awful volume lies The mystery of Mysteries: Happiest he Of human race To whom God has given grace To read, to fear, to hope, to pray, To lift the' latch, and learn the way: And better had he ne'er been born Who reads to doubt, or reads to scorn.