Page Four
THE JEWISH NEWS
As the Editor
Views the News . •
A Prayer for the World
SOS Call to Detroit
Starting on Sunday, an entire week will be
- devoted by the Jewish community of Detroit
to the SOS (Supplies for Overseas Survivors)
Drive for food and clothing for the surviving
remnant of our people in Europe.
The drive will culminate with a full day's
activities in behalf of SOS on Sunday, Dec. 7.
Canned goods and warm clothes are needed
for the displaced persons in Europe.
It is imperative that the response of the
Jewish community of Detroit should be as
wholehearted as it has been in the past.
Every Detroit Jew is obligated to start
packing his or her contribution at once and
to have the gift for the current SOS effort
ready for pick-up on Dec. 7.
No one is, exempt from this obligation.
Our kinsmen's needs are great, and until
they are completely liberated, none of us
dares to rest peacefully in the comforts of
our American homes.
Respond liberally to the SOS drive and
help speed the hour of liberation.
Freedom versus Disaster
Dr. Daniel A. Poling, one of America's
most eminent Christian leaders, reveals in his
column "Americans All" in the New York
Post that he has read a "confidential" state-
ment issued by an Arab committee affirm-
ing that "the Jew in Palestine is an atheist,
that he has no God and Wants none," and
emphasizing what should be the solidarity of
all who believe in one God—meaning Mohom-
medans an& Christians.
Pointing out that his column in the Post
stands for unity without uniformity—"unity
for freedom, brotherhood and world peace"
—Dr Poling states that there are atheists
among Jews in Palestine just as there are
atheists among all faiths in America. "but the
leadership of Jewry in Palestine, as in Amer-
ica and throughout the world, is profoundly
religious, sacrificial, inspired and dynamic."
Dr. Poling proceeds to point out that
the majority UN plan for Palestine calls for
the protection of the Holy Places in Pal-
estine, and adds that "to call upon Christians
to oppose Jewish aspirations in Palestine be-
cause of Jews who are atheists, to charge
that the Jewish community in Palestine is
atheistic, is as false to freedom and democ-
racy as.the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem is."
"The part played by the Grand Mufti in
the liquidation of 5,000,000 Jews is one answer
to the present document," Dr. Poling writes,
"Also, -State Dept. records include a signed
contract in which Hitler agreed to pay the
Grand Mufti 50,000 marks a month to stir up
Arabs against the Allies. This is the man who
now labors to defeat the United Nations'
settlement of the Palestine issue."
Dr. Poling's concluding statement is sig-
nificant. He declares: "No gentlemen, your
document does not support unity. Rather
it is a declaration for division and disaster."
This great American statement is a sig-
nificant contribution to the cause of free-
dom for all men. Jews—and all libertarians
—owe a' debt of • gratitude to Dr. Poling and
the N. Y. Post -for fearless repudiation of
bigotry and courageous adherence to the
cause of justice. They who fight so consistent-
ly in defense of the Jew also will battle for
justice for all peoples.
THE JEWISH NEWS
Member Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Independent Jewish
Press Service, Seven Arts Feature Syndicate. Religious
News Service, Palcor Agency, King Features, Central
Press Association.
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., A. 7956.
Subscription, $3 a year; foreign, $4. Club subscription,
every fourth Friday of the month. to all subscribers to
Allied Jewish Campaign of Jewish Welfare Federation of
Detroit. 40 cents pei year.
Entered' as second-class matter Aug. 6, 1942. at Post Of-
Ace. Detroit, Mich., under Act of March 3, 1879.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Maurice Aronsson
Philip Slomovitz
Fred M. Butzel
Isidore Sobeloff
• Judge Theodore Levin Abraham Srere
Maurice H. Schwartz
Henry Wineman
mum, SLOMOVITZ, Editor
VOL. XII—NO. 11
NOVEMBER 28, 1947
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 16th day of Kislev, 5708, the
following scriptural selections will be read in our
synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion—Gen. 32:4-36:43.
Prophetical portion—Hos. 12:13-14:10 or 11:7-
12:12 or Obadiah 1:1-21.
( Courtesy Institute for American Igmocracy, ins
The Hour of Liberation
As this is being written, it is only a matter of
days before the UN will take final steps to plan for
an independent Jewish state.
We are witnessing the rebirth of the Jewish
nation.
From this point on, the responsibility for Eretz
Israel's complete redemption is not for Zionists alone
but for all Jewry.
We have a great task ahead of us.
We must not be found wanting.
Libya, Britain and the Jews
An appeal by the Jewish communities of Italy to the
United Nations in behalf of the Italian request that it be
permitted to administer its former North African colony of
Libya has international significance.
A staff correspondent of the Christian Science Monitor,
writing from Rome, provides adequate reasons for the inter-
cession of the Italian JeWs. "Apart from the natural patrio-
tism of Italian Jews toward a country which has shunned anti-
Semitism," the chief reason given is that exactly two years
ago the arrival of Arab leaders from Moslem countries "re-
sulted in one of the worst anti-Jewish pogroms to occur in
Italian North Africa." The four-day massacre took place
under the very eyes of the British administrators who, the
Monitor correspondent writes, could have stopped it, accord-
ing to "universal agreement," by the "smallest show of
strength."
The Jews of Italy are anxious that Libya shotild not
be placed under a Moslem trusteeship, such as Egypt, and
that it should not be under irresponsible British control.
* * *
The situation in Libya has deeper implications. Great
Britain's failure in the Middle and Near East, her muddling
policies in Moslem countries and in Palestine, have resulted
in bloodshed. The frightful Libyan pogrom of 1945 is only
one of many examples of maladministration.
A precarious situation exists. in Moslem countries, and
Jewish lives are insecure. The affirmations of friendship by
Arab leaders before the UN and in radio debates have been
exposed as insincere attempts to mislead public opinion, and
apologists for the Arabs, like Kermit Roosevelt, have, unfor-
tunately, placed themselves in the path of progress and the
liberation of the dispossessed European Jews.
A typical example is the fate of 400 Jews from Morocco,
Tunis and Algeria who were prevented by French police
from embarking on a vessel destined for Palestine. These
Jews did not undertake a perilous journey out of sheer love
of adventure. They feel compelled to leave the danger zones
of Moslem countries where the Mufti spirit is pursuing a Jew-
ish population that has lived - there for more than a thousand
years. The 400 Jews whose journey was interrupted were cap-
tured at the Guyotville port near Algiers.
* * *
It is evident that French interference with Jewish im
igration efforts is ascribable to British pressure. Foreign Sec-
retary Bevin was in France at the time the ill-fated Exodus
1947 was to take off from the French port. Frederick
Courtney, a British intelligence agent, was responsible
for the shadowing and final capture of the Exodus. He is the
evil inspirer of attempts to sabotage visaless Jewish immigra-
tion efforts in France. The charges leveled against him that
he is acting in matters which belong to diplomatic channels
may, at last, lead to his expulsion from France.
While British rule in Palestine is nearing its end, the sit-
uation in Libya calls for vigilance. Nearly 150 Jews perished
in the 1945 pogroth. Therefore all possible precautions must
be taken to prevent future massacres. That is why the inter-
cession of the Jews of Italy in behalf of their government
should be looked upon with sympathy and receive support
from UN.
F riday, November 28, 1947
`Rabbinic Anthology'
Fascinating Collection
By 2 Eminent Scholars
"A Rabbinic Anthology," selected by Dr.
Claude G. Montefiore, the venerable British Re-
form Jewish leader, and H. Lowe, Reader in Rab-
binics 'at Cambridge University and Fellow of
Queens' College, Cambridge, an orthodox author-
ity (Macmillan), is not a new book. It was pub-
lished several weeks after Dr. Montefiore's death
in 1938. But it neverthless is a very good and a
most important book—perhaps the best on the
subject.
Drawing upon rabbinical thought in the eras
before and after the advent of Christianity, the
book assumes significant authority by virtue of the
fact that it was compiled jointly by two extremists
in Jewish theological ranks.
' There are about 1,700 excerpts from rabbinic
wisdom—incorporated in the book's 900 pages—on
a wide variety of subjects.
God's love for Israel and Israel's Love for
God; The Law, Reward, Merit, Atonement,
Prayer, Charity, Poverty, Riches, Asceticism,
Peace, Sufferings, Proselytes, Gentiles; The Sab-
bath, Man's Repentance and God's Compassion,
Hope and Faith, Resurrection and Judgement—
these are among the topics quoted from the rabbis.
The book assumes a position of true greatness
by virtue of the personal views expressed in two
introductory essays by the authors. They form a
sort of symposium of Jewish religious thinking
and in themselves nearly justify the cost of the
book.
In addition, there are several other essays by
the authors and an additional essay on "Rabbinical
and Early Christian Ethics" by R. H. Snape. Dr.
Montefiore wrote a very scholarly article on The
Use of the Adjectives, 'Jewish' and 'Christian' in
England." Mr. Loewe wrote on "The Rabbis, Their
`Generations' and Their Countries" and "The
Dating of Rabbinic Material." There also is ap-
pended a list of rabbis, a glossary, lists of editions,
Biblical, Greek, Latin and Rabbinic passages used
in the text and a general index.
Hilldring: Liaison Man
With the Jewish Agency
rBY BEATRICE HEIMAN
(Copyright, 1947, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
LAKE SUCCESS.—That boom through the
United Nations corridor was not an international
reverberation. It was genial Maj. Gen. John H.
Hilldring, alternate United States delegate on the
Palestine committee, emerging for a breather from
the windowless, smoke-filled conference room.
"How are things going, General?" waiting re-
porters called out.
The General's bright blue eyes twinkled and
he shook his head.
"Look at my face when I come out at the end
of the meeting."
Diplomacy, he was frank to say, was not his
forte. He tackled his Palestine assignment at the
UN from a professional standpoint and a per-
sonal feeling. Hilldring has the soldier's sense
of duty to carry through a project to a successful
conclusion. As chief of the Civil Affairs Division
of Army during the war, working intimately
with General Marshall, then chief of staff, Hill-
dring came to know, and sympathetically to deal
with, the displaced persons problem at first-hand.
This led, in turn, to familiarity with the Palestine
issue. When he transferred to the State Depart-
ment, as Assistant Secretary of State for Oc-
cUpied Areas, Hilldring moved closer to problems
connected with Palestine.
Bluff, hearty and warm-hearted, he took on
the grueling job at the UN despite -the state of
his health and other personal considerations which
earlier prompted him to resign from the govern-
ment.
At Lake Success, Hilldring played an active
and cooperative part in the Palestine deliberations.
With' Herschel V. Johnson, American representa-
tive on the Palestine committee, the general help-
ed to carry through the long, detailed and arduous
plan to implement partition. He served under-.
standingly and in friendly spirit, as liaison man
with the Jewish Agency.
Fine Study of Our Holidays
Dr. • Samuel Sussman and Abraham Segal are
co-authors of "Holy Days and Holidays: The Whys
and the How of Sabbath, Festivals, Fast days and
Other Occasions During the Jewish Year," pub-
lished by Bloch.
This small, moderately-priced volume of 100
pages is excellent for use in the home and the
school room.
In addition to its brief and thorough explana-
tions of all Jewish holidays, it contains a chapter
on Palestine Days and reviews the various Zionist
observances, for the Jewish National Fund in the
interest of the Zionist organizations. The work-
sheets which follow each chapter encourage the
reader and student to pursue further studies on
the subject and enable teachers to use the volume
as a textbook.
Facts You Should Know
What is the origin of the name "Fayvel?"
This name has a most interesting source of de-
velopment. Originally it was "Uri" which comes
from the word "Or," the Hebrew word meaning
light. The Aramaic translation of light, as found
'in the Targum for the Bible is "Shraga" (e.g. Tar-
gum to Psalms 119:105, Proverbs 31:18 where the
Hebrew word for light or lamp is translated as
"Shraga.") From the Greek there developed the
name "Phoebus" which was another name for
Apollo the "Sun God" and a poetic appelation for
the name "Sun" (which is the source of light.)
From this the Eastern-European Jews derived the
nickname "Fayvush," for the Hebrew "Uri" or the
Aramic "Shraga." "Fayvush" is sometimes called
"Fayvel." It is easy to understand from the fore-.
going why we sometimes find the name referred
to as "Uri-Fayvel" or "Shraga-Fayvel" which is
simply a means of combining the nickname with
its logical antecedent.