Planted to Stay
As the Editor
Views the News...
Dr. Kaplan s Provocative
Book Highly Praised
No Fear in Israel
There will be ups and downs in the for-
tunes of the State of Israel for many years
to come.
Even after the brave forces of Haganah
will have checked the onslaught of the over-
whelming masses of Arabs converging upon
the small Jewish state, there will be need
for defense and protection, and for being
constantly on guard against marauders who
can not tolerate the progress made by Jews
in Zion and their introduction of civilized
methods of living into the neglected deserts.
There will be great responsibility on the
part of Jewries everywhere and upon friend-
ly governments which have recognized Israel
to assist the small band of modern Maccabees
in their fight for progress and for freedom.
Jews outside of Palestine will have the
added responsibility of being patient, of con-
trolling their tempers and fears, of having
and retaining faith.
It is easy to become panicky every time
we hear of a defeat by our gallant men. It
is saddening to learn that outstanding Jew-
ish leaders, their sons and daughters, either
have been killed or taken prisoners.
But in order to win the battle and to
help the fighters for liberty to carry on, WE
must be as confident and as fearless as they
are. We must have faith in ultimate victory
and we must provide the means for victory.
There is no room either for fear or niggard-
liness in the hotisehold of Israel.
During his recent visit in Detroit, David
HaCohen, vice-mayor of Haifa, was ap-
proached by an anxious Zionist with a ques-
tion relative to Israel's security. "If we are
not afraid under so many trying circum-
stances, why should you be," was his reply.
Let's remember that and let it spur us on to
greater effort for surer victory.
Jewish Centers' Program
At the recent meeting of the National
Council of the Jewish Welfare Board, a very
significant statement of principles w a s
adopted as an outline of the purposes of our
Jewish Centers. Declaring that Jewish con-
tent is fundamental to the program of the
Jewish Center, that the total program seeks
to develop and enrich human personality
and group association by employing all re-
sources and skills of informal education and
leisure-time planning, the preamble to the
statement of principles asserts:
"The individual American Jew is identi-
fied with every phase of American life and
is politically, economically, culturally and
intellectually a part and parcel thereof."
Emphasis is placed in the outlined pro-
gram on Jewish content. on service to the
community, personality development as mo-
tivated by traditions of our religion and
American democracy, furtherance of the
democratic way of life and assistance in the
integration of the individual American Jew
into the total American community.
This program is of more than passing
importance and significance. It aims to
strengthen Jewish and American ideals and
strives to advance the Center's educational
and recreational objectives.
In Detroit, such a program has been in
effect for many years, due to the sincere
approach to the chief objectives by the di-
rectors and their staff. The earnestness with
which the parent .organization of the Jewish
Centers — the National Jewish Welfare
Board—approaches the needs in the Centers
promises progress along these lines through-
out the country.
THE JEWISH NEWS
--
Member Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Independent Jewish
Press Service, Seven Arts Feature Syndicate, Palcor
,1-ncy, King Features, Central Press Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publish-
ing Co., 2114 Penobscot Bldg., Detroit 26, Mich., WO. 5-1155.
Subscription, $3 a year; foreign, $4.
Entered as second-class matter Aug. 6, 1942, at Post Of-
Lee, Detroit, Mich., under Act of March 3, 1879.
Board of Directors: Maurice Aronsson, Fred M.
Butzel (deceased), Judge Theodore Levin, Maurice
H. Schwartz, Philip Slomovitz, Isidore Sobeloff,
Abraham Srere, Henry Wineman.
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ, Editor
VOL.
11 Page 4 MAY 28, 1948
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
this Sabbath, the twentieth day of Iyar, 5708,
the following Scriptural selections will be read in
)ur synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion—Lev. 25:1-26:2.
Prophetical portion—Jer. 32:6-27.
American Jew's Future
THE FUTURE OF THE AMERICAN JEW
By Dr. Mordecai M. Kap lan. The Macmillian Co.
1nieRwywa4..
A(.!PK
Israel Must Stand United
Only three days before the establishment of the State of
Israel and its recognition by the United States, former As-
sistant Secretary of State Sumner Welles, in an article in the
N. Y. Herald Tribune, made the following important asser-
tion:
"The conclusion is now inescapable that if the "Jewish
commonwealth survives the approaching crisis, and if the
Jewish refugees eventually find a home in Palestine, it
will be solely because of the strength and devotion of
the Jewish people, and in spite of American policy.
The State has been established, Jewish refugees are en-
tering Israel and our fighting forces are putting up a heroic
battle to defend Israel's lifeline. Mr. Welles points to our
achievements as being "solely because of the strength and de-
votion of the Jewish people." While we do not go as far as that
and contend that important forces in the world have been
helpful in our battle for justice—after all, there are Christians
in the U. S. (Sumner Welles is one of them) and other lands
who fought and are still fighting for our cause—it will gen-
erally-be admitted that without the strong fight put up by
our people in Palestine we would not have reached the pres-
ent status as a nation among the nations of the world.
* • *
Israel's battle remains two-fold: the internal struggle to
survive and the imperative need to enroll international sup-
port for the Jewish State. On the score of the latter, it is of
the utmost importance that the United States and other
friendly nations should provide Israel with arms for self-
defense.
The United States and the other member states of
the United Nations owe it to their self-respect and to
humanitarian considerations to demand that there should
be an end to Arab aggression and that the British stop
conniving with the aggressor Arab nations against the
State of Israel. The N. Y. Herald Tribune has pointed out
editorially, in its condemnation of the direction of the
Transjordan Legion by Brig. John Bagot Gitlin) Pasha:
"Much better uses could be found for the British officers,
the arms and the money that are being used against the
Jews. The British government might well consider
whether there is any objective it is likely to achieve in
Palestine that is worth the price Britain will pay in good
will all over the world for connivance in Arab aggres-
sion." The United States can, on the other hand, remain
the world's unchallenged humanitarian leader by de-
manding an end to British connivance, by supplying Is-
rael with arms and by acting to put an end to Arab ag-
gression. To these ends we appeal to President Truman
to act at once for the c. Implete fulfillment of American
objectives in recognizing and supporting the State of
Israel.
Insofar as the internal problem is concerned, the Jewish
people has a great obligation in the present crisis. We owe it
to ourselves not to lose faith, to be courageous, to refuse to be
driven into a state of panic and fright. *e must be ready to
fight at all costs for the protection of the little State of Israel
and we must seek the encouragement that is so sorely needed.
This is the last fortress. Having sacrificed 6,000,000 lives
to Nazism, we now must reject every manifestation of Hit-
lerism=even if it is a British brand—and must not abandon
the right of Jews to statehood and independence. We must
remain united as a people and must enlist all possible help
for our people's independence.
It is possible that the most serious fight is yet ahead;
Therefore we must be prepared for it. We are on the verge of
lasting victory and peace if we stand united against a corrupt
enemy who is trying to keep his own people in bondage by
engaging in a war against the progress that is being brought to
the Middle East by Israel.
*
*
*
It is regrettable that a great empire should be respons-
ible for all the present troubles in the world and that the
present government of Great Britain should assume a role
which had driven the Nazis to destruction.
We retain hope, however, that the saner people of Bri-
tain will reject the Bevin tactics and that a new era of sanity
will dawn for the British who traditionally are friends of the
cause of Israel's rebirth.
A REVIEW by RABBI HAROLD B. WAINTRUP
of Steubenville, 0.
Dr. Mordecai M. Kaplan, distinguished. Jewish
scholar, who has been professor at the Jewish
theological Seminary since 1910, and who -is the
:ounder of the Jewish Reconstructionist movement
and of the Society for the Advancement of Juda-
ism. is well qualified to write this provocative
gook on Modern American Judaism.
T;, :s is a must book for every intelligent lay-
;flan, leader, rabbi and educator. Dr. Kaplan util-
izes the progressive approach of modern educa.
tion, namely the problem tech-
nique of the John Dewey
school of education. Thus,
Kaplan poses many problems
of the American Jew and sug-
gests many stimulating an-
swers for them. One of these
problems, for example, the
problem of the Status of the
Jew in his relation to other
groups and to the individual
American is answered as fol-
lows: The Jew, in order to
maintain a social and cultural
bond with the Jewish past and
to lead a healthy normal life,
and to exist as a civilization
within another civilization,
Dr. Kaplan
should form himself into some-
thing resembling a Kehillah. But Kaplan_believes
that this social structure should be a replica of
the Catholic Church with a democratic foundation.
Another problem attacked by Dr. Kaplan is
I the lack of a program for modern Jewish living.
I To this end there is suggested a change in our
sanct, ritual and worship, and our Theology. All
this, that Judaism -might be compatible with mod-
ern science and nationalism. Also, to the Recon-
structionist Kaplan. Eretz Israel stands as the
heart of Jewish life. All in all, the Jews of
America are presented as a religio-cultural group,
with a Commonwealth status in Palestine, a --
group, indeed, engaged in the religious quest for
human salvation.
As a group in Palestine and in America, Dr.
Kaplan points out many Jewish virtues and
faults. So, the problems of law, the status of
women, of a code of Jewish conduct, all are ex-
amined and tentative answers given for the wel-
fare of Jewry and Judaism. One of the most in-
teresting answers to the problems confronting the
Jewish insecurity in America is the educational
one. Here Dr. Kaplan believes that the problem
and answer technique would be very valid. Thus,
instead of teaching religion in the public schools,
Kaplan would have a combination of Judaism
and American history, personalities, and events.
We might imagine therefore, that to teach civil
war period would necessitate dealing with Lin-
coln, Moses and the Exodus. The problem of pri-
vate property and human rights would be tackled
by studying Ahab and Naboth's vineyard and
Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal. Supreme
Court Decisions regarding restrictive covenants
and religious education would be happily united
with both Talmudical and Biblical teachings.
To say the least, this book is well worth study-
ing the length and breadth of America in temples
and synagogues. A critique of this - book now
would take us too far afield. However, to be
criticized is Dr. Kaplan's conception of the social
structure of American Jewry. For he seems to
suggest that some element of compulsion and in-
timidation would be necessary to keep the Jew
ethical and moral. His treatment of the chosen
people concept may arouse a controversy also
when he advocates the elimination of it in order
to alleviate any suspicion of Jewish superiority.
Aside from giving a searching interpretation
of present day Jewish life, Dr. Kaplan has provid-
ed a homelitical treatment of many aspects of our
Jewish obligation. He applies, thereby, Judaism
and the ethical "new deal" approach to social
living for the welfare of Jewry. Dr. Kaplan has
given us an able—if debatable and moot—declara-
tion of Judaism to coincide with our present dec-
laration of Jewish independence. This book points
the way indeed to some sort of workable Ameri-
can Judaism. God grant us the "strength to ac-
cept with serenity the things that cannot be
changed, for courage to change what can and
should be changed, and for wisdom. to distinguish
one from another."
Facts
You
Should Know
Answers to Readers'
Questions ...
What is "R,osh Chodesh?"
The beginning of a new Hebrew month is
called "Rosh Chodesh." The word "Rosh" is a
Hebrew word meaning "the head" or "the be-
ginning." The word "Chodesh" is a Hebrew word
meaning "month."
The word "Chodesh" means "new" in Hebrew.
It is taken, according to some lexicographers,
from an old Semitic term meaning "to glitter" or
"to shine," the idea being that something new is
recognized by its glittering shine or "newness."
Others relate it to the word "Kodesh" which
means "Holy" in the sense that only God made
things that were really "new."
* * *
What is a "Shochet"?
A "Shochet" is the name commonly given to
one who is licensed to kill animals or fowl accord-
ing to Jewish ritual. "Shechita," the act of kosher
slaughtering is an old Biblical term. Slaughtering,
which is done with a sharp instrument, is denoted
with a word which stems from a Semitic root indi-
cating sharpness. By transposing the letters, one
might arrive at the root "Shotach" which means
to expose. This might imply that ritual slaughter-
ing is an act of exposing the animal's throat.