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Description of
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H NEWS
Breaking
AN Records:
Agency at Wort
A Weekly Review 11 411 of Jewish Evoits
VOLUME XI—NO. 19
2114 Penobscot Bldg., Detroit 26, Michigan, July 25, 1947
Tisha b'Ab—Day of Sorrow
And Fight Against ftire
Page 2.0
olipoi $3.00 Per Year; Single Copy, 10c 34
oad to Freedom Blocked
e uise of 'Exodus'
espairs Survivors,
Inspires Resistance
PARIS. (JTA).—The French Foreign Office announced that the pas-
sengers on the "Exodus 1947" are being taken to the Riviera Port Ville France
Sur Mer. The anouncement said that the refuge-es would be held in France un-
til arrangements could be made to send them to Colombia, South America, for
which they have visas.
The French Ministry of the Interior told the JTA that a decision con-
cerning the disposition of the immigrants
would
made this week, and that the
Receives Permit French be
government is taking a "most seri-
For Relief Operation ous" view .of the situation.
JDC'
In Russian Territory
(The British ship "Empire Lifeguard" which was
used to transport Jewish deportees from Palestine
was blown up by the Jewish underground off the
coast of Palestine Wednesday.)
Dr. Brodetsky Protests Deportation
to Colonial Office
LONDON. (JTA).—The Colonial Of-
THE WAILING WALL—A SAUL RASKIN LITHOGRAPH
By DAVID SCHWARTZ
I don't' suppose any Congressman will ever propose to,
make Tisha b'Ab a national holiday. I suspect if you queried
the whole lot of American historians, if there is any reason
why it should be declared an American holiday, not one
would volunteer any reason for such a commemoration.
-Nevertheless, there is a very good reason why it should take
its place among the primary holidays of America. It was on
Tisha b'Ab in 1492 that Columbus set sail from Spain.
On Oct. 12, America Waif discovered, but the voyage
of Columbus began onTisba b'Ab„-the same day on which
the Jews were expelled from Spain.
Columbus makes mention of the fact in the first para-
graph of the journal of his trip. On the same day in which
the Jews were forced to quit the soil of Spain, he says, he set
out to discover a new world.
a
*
*
The order for the expulsion of the Jews from Spain was
issued on the same day on which the order came from the
Spanish court to Columbus to get ready to undertake his
voyage. Both orders were issued on April 30, 1492.
The last thing the 300,000 Jews did before they left
Spain was to arrange for Columbus to undertake this voyage
of discovery. It is clear that all the main backers of the
project were Jews and I cannot get over the feeling that
Columbus himself was a Jew.
- a
*
*
Tisha b'Ab is a terribly sad day in the Jewish calendar,
yet Jewish legend held that the Messiah would make his
appearance on Tisha b'Ab.
What a terribly sad day Tisha b'Ab has been other-
wise! It is a three times sad day—the day of the destruc-
tion of Jerusalem by Titus, the day also of the final defeat
of the Jews in the Bar Kocbba uprising and the day of the
L - expulsion of the Jews from Spain.
In Rome today you see the Arch of Titus erected by the
Romans to memorialize the victory over the Jews. It seems
strange that the great Roman Empire should glory over the
defeat of such a small power as the Jews. It is a tribute to
the terrific f;ght which the Jews put up. Graetz remarks
that the Jews almost won, that but for conflicts among them-
selves, added to the treachery of some Jews, they might have
defeated the Romans. * * *
Tacitus speaks of the Jews as being "contemptuous of
life." He is all wrong. The Jews are the _least contemptuous
of life. Because they esteemed it so, - they could not bear the
galling yoke of Rome. .
Today a similar fight is taking place in Palestine" against
another Empire. Already the Jews of the Yishuv have shown
that they are made of the same stern stuff. There is danger
that we may be too heroic. We are a people who go in for
David who slew giants. Mostly, algs, it is the giants who win.
(Copyright, 1947, Jewish Teletraphic Agency, Inc.)
fice confirmed the above announcement to
Prof. Selig Brodetsky, president of the
Board of Deputies of British Jews, who pro-
tested the secrec surrounding th e re f'
ugees
Russian zone, JDC is the first voluntary
organization to be allowed to provide
relief assistance in the area.
Levy reported that Soviet authorities
in Berlin had also indicated a willing-
ness to permit the JDC to visit Jewish
communities in 'seven cities located in-
side the Russian zone, to check on the
effectiveness of the distribution of re-
lief packages. These cities include
Magdeburg, where there is a concentra-
tion of Polish Jewish survivors. Dresden,
Halle, Leipzig, Ehrfurt, Chemnitz and
Schwerin.
JDC food packages, which were first
sent into - the Russian zone in June,
weighed eight to 10 pounds each and
contain canned meat, cheese, fat. egg
powder, powdered milk, fish, soap, cig-
arettes and coffee.
Levy estimated that at least half of the
Jewish survivors in the Russian zone re-
ceiving JDC food packages were 50 years
of age, or older.
United Palestine Appeal Trains Pioneers
-7W- 1;T:r-
ri
Training schools throughout Palestine are converting unskilled Jewish immigrants into me-
chanics, electricians, engineers, chemists end precision workers. Once jobless, untrained and home-
less in Europe, these youths now are being prepared for productive work in Palestine's growing
Jewish community. United Palestine Appeal agencies—primarily the Keren Hayesod and the Keren
Kayemeth (Jewish National Fund)—which secure their income through t h e $170,000,000 United
Jewish Appeal, support'vocational schools as pait of their program of rehabilitating immigrants.