THE JEWISH NEWS

Page Four

As the Editor
Views the News ...

Sweep Out the Filth

By DAVID SCHWARZ

. Aroused by Arab denials of the authen-
ticity of the accord which was reached by
Jews with Arab leaders after World War I,
establishing a short-lived modus vivendi the
Palestine, Israel Rosoff, in a letter to the
Palestine Post, gave the following'testimony,
as an eye-witness, on the Arab-Jewish En-
tente of 1919:

Among those present were the Emir Feisal
with his interpreter, Dr. Weizmann, Mr. Na-
hum Sokolow, Mr. Ussishkin, Judge J. Mack,
Prof. Frankfurter, Messrs. Bernard Flexner,
Israel Sieff, Simon Marks, Dr. L. Motzkin and
The welcoming speeches
the undersigned.
were delivered by Judge Mack, Nahum Soko-
low and Dr. • Weizmann. In their speeches
Judge Mack and others stressed that the Zion-
ists in the USA as well as in other parts of
the world, would help, the Arabs, whenever
the need arose, to promote their interests in
the Middle East.

In reply, the Emir Feisal delivered a force-
ful_ speech. He said that whoever used a

sword knew that it might be broken on a
stone; it might cut deep into a free, but it
could never cut through a silken thread float-

ing in the air. "Our relations with the Jews,
our cousins, are like the thin silken threads
and will never be sundered by the sword," the
future king of Iraq said.

I was seated next to the Emir. During
lunch the interpreter asked me, on behalf
of the Emir, to give him two of my visiting
cards. This I did, and the Emir put one in
his pocket and returned the other one to me,
fully signed and dated.

I enclose the photostatic copy of the card.

3t-/-4/4— 1644 L

,
• JIM.. TRIAOft•Hic MIErec

Haifa Tragedy: Britain's Fault

At Lake Success, we were told by British spokesmen that
Haifa would be the last center to be-evacuated in the process
of progressive removal of Britain's troops from Palestine.
Such a decision could only have been interpreted as im-
plying an acceptance of responsibility for the security of that
area.
British authorities, however, have failed miserably in
their duties... The massacre in Haifa should have been pre-
vented, and it is our firm belief that it could have been avert-
ed had the British soldiers acted firmly. The announcement
that they "shot in the air" during the outbreak does not lend
glory to ,;the British record. British troops did not find it
necessary to shoot into the air when they attacked bus-loads
of Jews in Tel Aviv. They did not shoot into the air when
they shot down children in Jerusalem.

The 'arrest of Mrs. Goldie Meyerson on the charge
that she was carrying firearms on her trip from Jerusalem
to Tel Aviv is another indication of Great Britain's flag-
rant disregard of human rights and of the privilege of -
Jews to carry weapons for self-defense, especially when
they make the dangerous trip by automobile from the
Holy City to Tel Aviv.

Apparently the British are more interested in pursuing
their -policy of "divide and rule" and of creating so _much
discord that the foundation for the Jewish and Arab states in
and again. England was then informed about
Palestine
will be damaged beyond repair. By sowing dis-
the Weizmann-Feisal negotiations designed to
bring about mutual good relations between
trust, by providing the Arabs with arms, by pursuing a policy
World Jewry and the Arab world.
of non-cooperation with Jews whose defense weapons have
been confiscated by British troops, the mandatory power is
Let the Arab leaders of today look well
through - the historical files of those days,
directly to be blamed for the major outbursts of trouble in
sweeping aside the cobwebs of lies and deceit
Eretz Israel.
with which these files are covered. They
* * *
would then discover the truth about the past
and the bright hopes which then prevailed
On the eve of the Haifa massacre, a call was issued to
and which today can still lead us to better
the Arabs of that community by their labor leaders to return
times.
to work and to avoid conflict with Jews. At about the same
To my deep regret many of those who were
time,
it became known that Haganah and Irgun had signed a
present then are no longer with us, but
pact
for
mutual cooperation, only the Sternists remaining
those still alive will no doubt confirm my re-
outside the united defense front.
marks.
The horrible . tragedy in Haifa has brought denials that
I am seventy-eight years old and I am pre-
Haganah and Irgun had joined forces, and Irgunists are blam-
pared to testify on oath that the above is all
true.
ed for the irresponsible act of throwing a bomb into a line of
We quote this statement in full in the • Arab job-applicants.
While we recognize the difficulty of judging the situa-
interest of historical accuracy. Mr. Rosoff, a
veteran Zionist leader, outlines well known tion from the vast distance which separates us from Pales-
facts which the Arabs—including Emir Ab- tine, we believe that it is safe to assert that the disgraceful
dullah — refuse to acknowledge. We seek act of the bomb-throwers is a continuation of repudiated pol-
peace and amity with the Arabs and even at icy of the terrorists who have done us an immense amount
this late date it is well that the truth should Of harm and have undermined peace efforts in Palestine.
* * *
be revived and widely publicized. Every iota
The birth-pangs of nation-building therefore are becom-
of evidence is valuable in the struggle for
ing more painful. Not only external troubles, but the internal
peace and good will in Palestine.
controversies do not help the situation. Moshe Sneh's un-
timely and regrettable resignation from the Jewish Agency
Executive has injected another note. of disunity in Zionist
Member Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Independent Jewish
ranks. While we do not take his withdrawal from office
Press Service, Seven Arts Feature Syndicate. Religious
News Service, Palcor Agency, King Features, Central
seriously, the publicity given his resignation temporarily has -
Press Association.
removed attention from vastly more important issues and
Member American Association of English-Jewish News-
papers and Michigan Press Association.
therefore has not helped the cause of Eretz Israel's recon-
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Detroit. 40 cents per year.
On this score, too, Great Britain is at fault. Lacking the grace
Entered as second-class matter Aug. 6, 1942. at Post Of-
fice, Detroit, Mich. under Act of March 3. 1879.
of recognizing the validity of the UN decision in favor of the
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
re-establishment of the Jewish state, the British, instead of
Maurice Aronsson
Philip Slomovitz
opening Palestine's ports for. Jewish immigrants, are shut-
Fred M. Butzel
Isidore Sobeloff
Judge Theodore Levin Abraham Srere
ting the doors tighter. Under the circumstances, it may take
Maurice H. Schwartz
Henry Wiseman
several months, until such time as the British evacuate Pal-
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ. Editor
estine, before a port of entry can be opened for Jewish settlers
under Jewish auspices.
VOL. XII—NO. 17
JANUARY 9, 1948
The situation is grave, but we must fight it through. We
•
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
dare not permit panic to invade our ranks. We have refused
This Sabbath, the twenty-eighth day of Tebet,
to let Arab riots of 1922, 1929 and 1936 to frighten us and we
5708, the following Scriptural selections will be
must resolve to defy fright and danger in the present, vastly
read in our synagogues:
more important, period in the history of Jewish national
Pentateuchal nortion—Ex. 6:2-9:35.
redemption. By working resolutely together we shall win—
Prophetical portion—Ezek. 28:25 29:21.
and we must strive for victory over sabotage, fright • and
On Monday, Rosh Hodesh Shevat, Num. 28:1-15
panic.
will be read during morning services.

Feisal's friendly and promising remarks
were not unexpected, as I had heard of his
attitude to Zionism from Dr. Weizmann time

THE JEWISH NEWS

-

Humor in the Talmud

"An Egyptian woman gave birth to 600,000
sons." Such, according to the Talmud, was the
opening statement once made by Judah Hanasi,
in beginning one of his lectures at the rabbinical
academy of old, some 1,800 years ago.
When the students expressed surprise at such
a statement, the Talmudic sage pointed to Joche-
bed. the mother of Moses. Was it not said in the
Midrash that Moses was equal in himself to the
whole 600,000 Jews who participated in the Exol-
dus from Egypt?
The Talmudic sage was merely indulging in the
appetizer of humor to whet his hearers for his
serious discourse. It was a common practice among
the Talmudic sages.
The Talmud is probably the most misjudged
book or set of books in the world. It has been
maintained that the Talmud epitomizes the Jew-
ish people. It has been abused, arraigned, banned
and burned, but lives—and it is my opinion that
Jewish , people live primatily because of it.
The Talmud will probably never receive the
justice it deserves because it is such a torrential
sea of everything. . Law, . fantasy, ethics, meta-
physics, wit and humor cascade through itt pages
in a most helter-skelter fashion.
The average person labors under the delusion
that the Talmud is all legalism. The one thing
he is sure of is that the Talmud does not contain
any humor. Well, lets see.

`Sword and Silken
Thread'

I have learned from the newspapers that
Kin g Abdullah of Transjordan has declared
. that he knew nothing about the agreement
between Dr. Weizmann and the then Emir
Feisal (later King Feisal) referring to Pales-
•tine. What were the relations at the time be-
tween the brothers Feisal and Abdullah I do
not know and it is possible that•the Emir Ab-
dullah (as he then was) really knew nothing
of the plans and actions of his brother.
However, I feel it to be my duty to state
that I was present on March 27, 1919, in Paris
at the lunch in the Hotel Plaza where the
Emir Feisal was the guest of Dr. Weizmann
and other members' of the Zionist Delega-
tion in Paris. This lunch was arranged in
honor of the Emir after his historic letter ad-
dressed to Prof. Felix Frankfurter, now a Jus-
tice of the Supreme Court of the U.S.A.

Friday, January 9, 1948

In ray recently published book, "Bitter Herbs
and Honey," I recalled the Talmudic story of an
early temperance effort. The Talmud tells how
the son of an inebriate father once saw a drunken
man lying ignominiously in a stupor on the road-
way. Quickly he rushed to his home and dragged
his father to the scene. thinking that if the old
man saw how unattractive an intoxicated person
appeared, he would thenceforth and forevermore
escheW alcohol.
So the son brings the father to the drunken.
man, and the father, truly enough is deeply moved.
So much so that he kneels down and shakes the
drunk, asking: "Where did you get such good
wine?"

I ask Mr. Earl Wilson, the distinguished saloon
editor, if this Talmudic tale is not on a par with
the best stories of the alcoholic category.
Then there is the tale Reb Yizhak, the black-.
smith, tells in the Talmud. A story of a man who
had two wives, one young and one old. The young
woman pulled out all of his gray hairs, because
she wanted him to be young and the older wife
pulled out all of his black hairs, because she
wanted him to he old. Between the two woinen,'
the man was not in an enviable position. - I don't
think that most "legal" books have as funny a••
story as this.

You will find in the Talmud not only laughs.
at the foibles of humanity generally, but even
laughs by the rabbis themselves.
The Talmud tells of one rabbi who was blessed
with a loving wife who liked to do the opposite
of everything her husband wanted. Well, you
know, every man has his favorite dishes, but this
sage never could get any of his pets. If he wanted
beans, she would be sure to have asparagus. If•
he wanted carrots, she gave him cucumbers. So'
it went on, until the son of the rabbi took a hand
in the situation. He began propagandizing his
mother in reverse as it were. He would persuade
his mother that pop hated beans and the rabbi
would get all the beans he wanted. What a system!

Yes, the Talmud has humor—and it has human-
ity. Read the simple tale it tells of a little girl who
passed with a covered bowl.
A sage was standing nearby, but sometimes
even a sage is overcome with curiosity. .
"What's in the bowl?" asked the sage.
"If my. mother wanted everybody to ' -know
what is in the bowl, she wouldn't have covered
it," replied the little girl.
I like the decision that is made in the Talmud
on the perennial question of whether it is up to
man to pursue woman or woman to seek the male.
A rabbi of the Talmud decides that it is more
proper for the mate to do the pursuing. This
follows, he explains, from the fact that it is the
usual practice for one who has lost anything to
look for it—and it was man who lost the rib.
The Talmud in general has a good opinion of the
ribbers. The Talmudic midrash relates that once
Elijah was standing at a busy road intersection
and was asked who Was sure of heaven. He re-
plied by pointing to some jesters, who, he said,
would be sure of a ticket to Paradise because
they allayed the anxieties of the people.

* .
If you want some real dynamite, consider the
following sentence from the Talmud:
"When we come in judgment before God, we
shall have to give an accounting for the lawful
pleasures we have not availed ourselves of."
This is revolutionary doctrine. Even Thomas
--Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence never
went as far as that. All that Jefferson insisted on•
was the right to pm-sue happiness. - The Talmud
tells us that it is not a right. it is a sin if we
don't try to be as happy as we should be.
Another saying of the Talmud which I think
Jefferson would have greatly admired is this:
"One cannot exaggerate the greed of power." The
thought is particularly apropos in this day when
we have witnessed the tyranny of dictators.
And speaking of dictators and fascism and such
things, consider this statement of the Talmud:
"When a dog barks, he soon will find other dogs
to bark with him." That's the eternal story of
the demagogue and the tyrant.
Says the Talmud: "If someone tells you that
so and so has died, believe him, but if it is told
you that so and so has gotten rich, don't believe
him. It is easier to die than to get rich." I sup-
pose .Poor Richard might have agreed with that.
I think he would also have agreed with the
Talmudic saying that "A man who has a trade
is like a woman who •has a husband."
A little more mystical, yet as practical, is the
Talmudic aphorisrn that "the handle of the hatchet
to cut the forest is taken from the - wood of the
same forest.".

(Copyright, 1948, Jewish 'Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)

