Arep•ma.,
Page Two
Purely
Commentary
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
HANUKAH AND CHRISTMAS
Jewish educators find it a perennial
responsibility to urge teachers and par-
ents to make the spirit of Hanukah domi-
nate all activities in schools and homes,
in order to recapture for the Feast of the
.Maccabees whatever influence • may be
lost in Jewish observance as a result of
the predominant community attitude to-
ward Christmas.
We are grateful to one of our readers,
Evelyn Koppelman, Tor an interesting
letter in which she reiterates the need for
strongest possible emphasis on Hanukah
observance. Miss Koppelman is right
when she declares that "Judaism has
many occasions to observe which bring
joy and happiness, not only the sad
days." Hanukah, it is true, is one of the
most thrilling of the happy days, and the
festival should be utilized to greatest
advantage by young and old.
Our correspondent, in our view, never-
theless is wrong when she advises our
going so far as to eliminate all reference
to Christmas. It is wrong to overlook
certain general attitudes—for by failing to
recognize them our battle for retention
of our own inner strength becomes more
difficult.
Christmas being the most important
Christian religious festival, it is our re-
sponsibility to divert the attention of our
children, who are being filled with the
Christmas spirit in the schools and on the
streets (true: in some instances also in
Jewish homes), toward Hanukah and the
heroism of the Maccabees.
But in the community at large there
are other influences. There are business
and social considerations. Jews do not
forget the caretakers in their apartment
houses. their mailmen, their children's
teachers, their business associates, their
employes, etc. When, therefore, Jews
purchase Christmas gifts, they are not
necessarily Christmas gifts for their chil-
dren or for other Jews. And because they
often are, it is the duty of the Jewish
community so to enhance the Hanukah
observance as to make it fascinatingly
most important for us without necessi-
tating the abandonment of social, busi-
ness and neighborly loyalties to. Chris-
tians.
•
•
•
THE SHORE DIMLY SEEN'
brilliant governor, Ellis
Georgia's
Gibbs Arnall, dedicating his book, "The
Shore Dimly Seen" ;J. B. Lippincott Co.,
Philadelphia), to his children, expresses
the hope that "when they grow up the
shore will be seen more clearly."
The reader feels upon conclusion of
the very first chapter that this great
American actually wishes this for the
entire country: else he could never have
written so masterful a record of his
experiences, nor could he otherwise have
set forth so many ideal proposals for the
betterment of. the South, the advance-
ment of our country and the eradication
of prejudices.
Governor Arnall's book deserves re-
view in more than a single column. It is
one of the very rare volumes in which
the very warmth of the author's sincerity
and idealism captures the reader's heart.
The humanitarian and libertarian angles
must especially be emphasized, even if
the comments must be brief.
•
•
•
'UNTIL . .. ALL MEN ARE FREE'
A great admirer of FDR, it is under-
standable why the concluding words to
Governor AI-nall's book should be: "We
can have freedom, if we make the free-
dom of other men our concern, because
nowhere in all the world can some men
be free, until everywhere all men are
free. And they will be free on the shore
dimly seen . . . "
The idealism which motivated this
sentiment finds its counterpart in the
initial quotation in the book, from Ma-
caulay's "History of England," accredited
to Richard Rumbold who said, on the
scaffold, in 1685: "I could never believe
that Providence sent a few men into the
world ready booted and spurred to ride,
and millions ready saddled and bridled
to be ridden."
.6 Without such idealism, the Georgia
governor could not 1 -.iv(.! written the
following description of a bigot:
"To a demagogue on the Pacific Coast,
the scapegoat very likely will be the
Nisei. When he lived in Germany, before
he put a bullet through his brain, his
scapegoat was labeled 'Jew% his soul goes
marching on in 'Boston where he sup-
presses books, and overturns the monu-
ments in graveyards, and writes filth on
the walls of synagogues, and waylays
little Jewish papercarriers on their way
P•• ■■ •./...,•,.... ■ ow.
Friday, December 13, 1946
THE JEWISH NEWS
The 1947 $170,000,000 Challenge
The Period of Decrease Is No t Yet Here
Excerpt from Address by the Chairman of the JDC European Executive Council
UJA Conference
at
By DR. JOSEPH J. SCHWARTZ
As long as there are a quarter of a million Jews who are uprooted, we
cannot have a• normal situation in our community life in this country, in our
giving in this country, in any other aspect of our communal. activity or partici-
pation. We realize as well as you do that we cannot come back
to you year after year and say to you: "We want $100,000,000;
we want $150;000,000; we want $200,000,000." That is an impos-
sible situation, and we are convinced that there must come a
period of tapering off. There must come a period of decreasing
the demands that are made upon you. ti
r
But that period has not yet come, and when there are a
:quarter of a million of our people • who are homeless and who
are destitute and who are without immediate hope of resettle-
ment, this is not the time to talk of decreasing; this is not the
time to talk of 'lower quotas; 'this is not the time to talk of
returning to normal giving and to normal living.
This is a time which requires extraordinary efforts on our
part, which requires sacrifice, sacrifice even beyond what was
given
in 1946, sacrifice of the kind which will say to those people
Dr. Schwartz
who are homeless, "There is somebody who cares for you; there
is somebody who thinks of you; there is somebody who is concerned with your
welfare and with your future. And we, the Jews of America, are not going to be
the ones to turn our backs upon you and say, 'We cannot help this year because
we must get back to normalcy.' "
Heard in
Between
The Lobbies
You and Me
(Copyright, 1946, Independent Jewish
Press Service, Inc.)
WASHINGTON WIRE
U. S. government circles would like to
see Zionist participation in the London
conference. It is not clear whether these
circles have positive proof that the Brit-
ish have become more amenable, or
whether they hope that Jewish participa-
tion in the London Conference will auto-
matically create conditions which will
break the deadlock between the Jews
and the British and relieve the U. S. of
pressure.
Zionist opinion continues divided on
participation. We have heard little advo-
cacy in recent weeks in favor of partici-
pation. Certainly the recent deportations
in Haifa and the tragedy comedy of the
Habeas Corpus proceedings before Pal-
estine's high court hardly justify any
change in the Jewish attitude with regard
to participation in the London Conference.
•
•
•
MAGNES vs. BERGSON
Much of what Dr. Magnes has said
about the Hebrew Committee of National
Liberation in his letter to Mrs. Roosevelt,
asking her to withdraw her name from
the board, sponsoring "A Flag Is Born,"
is true enough. The Bergsonites are un-
representative, their actions are arbi-
trary and may prove calamitous for Zion-
ism and Jewry.
But it is not unlikely that the Bergson-
ites took a leaf from Dr. Magnes' politi-
cal protocol.
Dr. Magnes' statements, letters to the
press and speeches over a number of
years, adVocating his personal solution of
the Palestine problem, have created the
impression that his opinions were repre-
sentative of large segments of Palestine
Jewry. They are not. Dr. Magnes, in all
honesty, should have underscored that he
speaks for himself and for a small coterie
of people of like opinion. He has not
done so. He has transmitted the impres-
sion that he speaks for the Yishuv. So has
Bergson. Dr. Magnes and Mr. -Bergson
have something in common.
home at evening. If he lives in the South
he hates 'niggers.' "
•
•
•
CURE BY A DOSE OF DEMOCRACY
Therefore, Governor Arnall is able to
say: "There is nothing wrong with gov-
ernment today that a good dose of de-
mocracy will not cure."
"The Shore Dimly Seen" is a powerful
denunciation of Quislings and men of ill
will, and he does not hesitate to condemn
Rankin and Bilbo and their ilk. He takes
to task those who advocate "Select Chris-
tian Clientele Only." He insists that if
we say over and over again: "No Ameri-
can .anywhere has been taken in by the
apostles of hate . . . we may come to be-
lieve it; but it still will not be true. The
hatemongers and their nasty little pam-
phlets have poisoned many American
minds." Because he warns against this
danger, his book is very valuable.
His warnings are against the anti-
Semites and the anti-Negroes, the Klan,
Black Shirts and Silver Shirts, the
peddlers of hate and the publishers of
"the infamous 'Protocols of Zion,' the
handiest bit of forgery ever to feed the
appetite of the anti-Semitic propagan-
dist."
It is a very great book. It should be
read not only by liberals but by all
Americans, and' if its contents can be
injected into the minds of all thinking
men, we shall indeed one day see the
shore more clearly.
By BORIS SMOLAR
(Copyright, 19-16, Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, Inc.)
TALKING IN MILLIONS
Jews in the United States should be
prepared to contribute a million dollars a
day during 1947 for Jewish charity and
social work . . . About a half-million
dollars a day will be contributed by
American Jewry to the United Jewish
Appeal alone if the UJA quota of $170,-
000,000 is to be realized . . . The Joint-
Defense Appeal proposed to the UJA
that its New York drive be included in
the New York UJA quota . . . However,
leaders of UJA campaign in New York
rejected the proposal . . . An economic
survey made for UJA by Robert Nathan
shows that a substantial proportion of
Jews in the middle and higher income
brackets do not contribute to the United
Jewish Appeal ... Also that a substantial
segment of the Jewish community makes
contributions far below its financial abil-
ity . . . Most of the contributions made to
the UJA this year came from current in-
come rather than from capital . If the
1939 ratio of the UJA quota—which was
then $15,000,000—to current savings had
been the basis of the goal for each en-
suing year, the actual contributions in
those years would have been $280,000,000
more than was collected . . . In other
words, the contributions for 1940-1945
would have totalled about $400,000,000
instead of the about $120,000,000 which
were actually collected.
•
•
•
BOSTON CALLLNIG
Attention was focussed at the United
Jewish Appeal Conference in Atlantic
City on two Bostonians, Herman Gilman
and Sidney S. Cohen . . . Gilman, who
told the conference how to persuade
donors to make large contributions, re-
ceived over 50 invitations to speak in
various parts of the country after deliver-
ing his speech at the conference . . .
Cohen, executive director of Boston's
combined Jewish Appeal, was accepting
congratulations of both professionals and
laymen -for having directed the most suc-
cessful campaign in the country ... With
a $5,425,000 quota, Boston raised $6,880,-
000... Thus, the "home of the beans and
the cod" raised an average of $40 for
every one of its 125,000 Jews . . . This
included one $100,000 gift by Y. D. Mark-
son, and 38 contributions of over $25,000
each.
•
•
•
DOMESTIC TRENDS
The Council of Jewish Federations and
Welfare Fund wants to shorten its name.
The Anti-Defamation League of Bnai
Brith has decided to establish 10 univer-
sity fellowships for the study of group
prejudices and intercultural relations.
The American Jewish Committee is in
the midst of negotiations with top Zion-
ist leaders on the composition of the Jew-
ish Agency executive.
The American Jewish Conference is
considering establishment of a national
council to act as its governing body .. .
This is part of the plan to make the Con-
ference a permanent over-all Jewish
organization, representative of American
Jewry . . . The national council will con-
sist of 1,000 delegates to be elected bien-
nially, not more than 200 of them to come
from New York.
Dr. Joseph C. Hyman, executive vice-
president of the Joint Distribution Com-
mittee, will mark 25 years of service with
the JDC next month.
Moses A. Leavitt, secretary of the JDC,
expects to make
a
flying visit to Europe
Strictly
Confidential
(Copyright, 1946, Seven Arts
Feature Syndicate, Inc.)
FLASH!!!
Within the next few _weeks, a provi-
sibnal Jewish government for Palestine
will be established . . . It will be an-
nounced after the World Zionist Congress
by an independent Zionist group, in spite
of the opposition of the Jewish Agency
. Important sections of Palestine Jewry
will approve the move ... The provisional
government will immediately issue 100,-
000 visas for immigrants to Palestine .. .
The first foreign power to recognize the
Jewish provisional government will prob-
ably be France.
•
•
•
-
STAGE AND SCREEN
Attention Howard Fast: Several men
of means in Chicago are much interested
in helping to finance a screen version
a
your "Freedom Road" with Paul Robe-
son as the star . . . James Roosevelt, eld-
est son of FDR, is interested in produc-
ing a movie on Palestine. Ben Hecht has
promised to write the scenario ... David
Ellin, who conquered Broadway's drama
critics in Ben Hecht's "Swan Song" is the
son of the editor of the Montreal Yddish
Daily "The Eagle".
•
•
•
IRON CURTAIN
Louis Levine, president of the National
Jewish Council for Russian Relief, spoke
in Chicago recently on his return from a
trip to the Soviet Union ... He told how
he went out one day in Moscow "looking
for the iron curtain" ... He set up a cam-
era in Red Square and began taking
pictures . . . Expected arrest Or worse
. . . A large crowd gathered and closed
in on him .. . The sinister purpose of the
menacing mob? . .. They wanted to get
into the picture.
• •
•
THE LAST HERZL
Stephen G. Norman, grandson of Theo-
dor Herzl, who committed suicide re-
cently, is the third member of Herzl's
immediate family to end his life by his
own hand . . • Hans Herzl, only son of
Theodor, killed himself 15 years ago and
Pauline, a daughter, did likewise.
.111
111
•
ODDS AND ENDS
Is the "British Magazine," which made
its bow in New York a few days ago, a
British government publication?
An anti-Fascist Jewish World Confer-
ence is being planned for early next year
in Europe . . . It will be attended by a
large delegation from Palestine—unless
the British put the same stay at home
order to work that they used to keep
Hebrew University students from attend-
ing the World Student Congress at
Prague this summer.
The Dutch government is alarmed over
the rising tide of anti-Semitism in the
Netherlands ... One of the religious pa-
pers in Holland advises people to coun-
teract bigotry by reading Heine, the
great German poet ... We'd recommend
for this purpose the work of a native
Netherlander: "Earth Could Be Fair" by
Pierre Van Paassen.
American Dream
Must Be Maintained
By LOUIS ADAMIC
When this country was formed, there
were people, Jefferson included, who be-
lieved that the hope of the world was
here. They probably were right. But
we've got to be careful. There is need of
exerting our individual and collective -
intelligence, We have serious economic
and social problems; as we proceed to try
to solve them, we should watch out that
prejudice and intolerance don't turn the
American Dream into a Nightmare.
The future, ours as the world's, is in
unity within diversity. Our various back- -
grounds are important and valuable, but,
in the long run, not in themselves, not as
something perfect and final. They are
important and valuable only as material •
for our future American culture. As I
say, we have a chance to create a uni-
versal, a pan-human culture, more satis-
fying than anything humanity has as yet
devised or experienced.
The American Dream is a lovely thing,
but to keep it going, to keep it from turn-
ing into a Nightmare, every once in a
while we've got to wake up.
to study Jewish relief needs on the spot.
The JDC is planning a conference of
its top European workers to be held in
Paris soon after the return to Europe of
Dr. Joseph Schwartz, European director.
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congrega-
tions of America has started publication
of a streamlined pocket-size magazine
"Jewish Life."